Rapid Reactions Saturday Night vs 20/20 Hindsight Monday Morning

[SCBills]

I know we all had rapid reactions Saturday Night in regards to the offense, the defense, coaching and Josh Allen.  
 

It’s now Monday Morning.  All the WC Weekend Games have finished.  
 

With hindsight being 20/20, do you feel the same today, as you did immediately following the game?

 

I imagine many will be like me and have a very different view of Josh Allen and the defense today, after having watched the other games play out.  

[Casey D]

It was a great playoff game and a tough loss.  Best game of weekend from entertainment perspective IMO.  Change anyone of about 10 things and Bills win-- of course Houston might say the same if we won because the game was that close.  I'll try to take the what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger view.  Maybe this stinging loss is what they needed to become a championship team down the road. You learn in adversity, not success.  They were not good enough to win it all this year anyway IMO.  So maybe this is short term extreme pain for long term gain for both the team and us fans. At least that's how I see it 20/20.

[Dr Doom]

I am more upset about the TD taken away at the start of the second half than I was on that night.

 

[Bleedbuffaloblue]

10 minutes ago, Dr Doom said:

I am more upset about the TD taken away at the start of the second half than I was on that night.

 

Same here!

[teef]

saturday was the first time in a very long time that a bills loss legit upset me.  i'm over it today.

[Gugny]

29 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I know we all had rapid reactions Saturday Night in regards to the offense, the defense, coaching and Josh Allen.  
 

It’s now Monday Morning.  All the WC Weekend Games have finished.  
 

With hindsight being 20/20, do you feel the same today, as you did immediately following the game?

 

I imagine many will be like me and have a very different view of Josh Allen and the defense today, after having watched the other games play out.  

 

My rapid reaction was that Daboll sucks and I couldn't make sense of how they handled the end of regulation and OT with the play calls.

 

In hindsight, now I know that Daboll REALLY sucks and he should be fired.  Unless it's McDermott making Daboll call stupid plays after we get leads ... in which case, HE should be fired.

 

Either way ... whomever is responsible for the play calling in the 2nd half/OT, should be fired. 

[Do The Reich Thing]

14 minutes ago, Dr Doom said:

I am more upset about the TD taken away at the start of the second half than I was on that night.

 

Here here!

34 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I know we all had rapid reactions Saturday Night in regards to the offense, the defense, coaching and Josh Allen.  
 

It’s now Monday Morning.  All the WC Weekend Games have finished.  
 

With hindsight being 20/20, do you feel the same today, as you did immediately following the game?

 

I imagine many will be like me and have a very different view of Josh Allen and the defense today, after having watched the other games play out.  

I feel about the same honestly, but more heated over the TD/Safety screw job on the 2nd half kickoff from the ref.

 

The NFL needs to fix things fast and stop biting the hand that feeds them. I'm talking league wide. Greed will eventually be their collapse if they continue to stay the course. 

[Ned Flanders]

First and ten at the Houston 42 in OT.  Failing to gain even 5 or 6 yards here is inexcusable.

 

From then on, the proverbial poop hit a really big fan.   

[SectionC3]

I don’t care so much about the TD being taken away, but I dislike the 15 flag on Ford even more now.  Common sense prevailed on the kickoff at the start of the second half, and it should have on that play, too. 

 

I was sold on Josh before the game, and I’m even more sold on him now.  The kid could have played better, but he always was going to take time given his relative inexperience in college.  

 

I wish we went for the throat in the second half.  But maybe that’s not on Daboll.  And, in any event, if one of the three blockers on the QB sweep on which Allen was creamed in overtime picks up the DB, he’s going for 10 yards and we’re going to win the game. 

 

Finally, I wondered whether we might be a major regression candidate for next year.  Perhaps we are.  But we lost nearly as many close games as we won, which bodes well for us.  And the offense has major upside if the right tweaks are made in the offseason.  I am much more optimistic about next year than I was on Saturday, and I can’t wait for training camp. 

[H2o]

I just don't see how the Texans could have no in game penalties the ENTIRE 2ND HALF. Our guys were getting held rushing the passer, at least 3 blatant I saw where the guy's jersey was clearly clenched and twisted. The non-call of the delay of game on 3rd and 18. On the opposite side of things the opportune penalties in favor of the Texans when we had what could have been important positive plays in the game. This stuff is getting BEYOND old. Daboll not running Singletary much in the 2nd half when the kid was doing nothing, but picking up 4yds+ a carry. I still think Duke should have come down with the ball in the endzone just before halftime as well. Even with that if our defense makes the stop on 3rd and 18, still trying to wrap my brain around that one, we could have won that game. My hat still goes off to Watson for coming up big time in the clutch. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by H2o

[Casey D]

According to Kubiak, the kill to the run at the end of the 1/2 was the right call and would have been a big gain but there was a missed block that blew up the play.  FWIW.

[CincyBillsFan]

On the positive side:

 

*  This team is going in the right direction and making progress.  I think this off season is the time to be bold in improving the Offense but you can't deny that earning a spot in the playoffs and not backing in and playing a tough game at Houston leaves us reason to be optimistic going forward.

 

*  Josh Allen is our franchise QB. Yes he still has much to improve in his game but he's shown me everything he needs to for me to be confident he will make those improvements.  In the context of how QB's played this weekend and how young QB's fared in their FIRST playoff games, Allen acquitted himself well.  That doesn't mean he didn't make mistakes - he did.  But he also made plays - some of which were spectacular and overall he played well enough that we could have won this game had even one other thing broke the Bills way. 

 

*  Singleterry is going to be a star.  Other then Allen, our rookie RB is the only other true game changing skill player on the field.  if the Bills can get one more game changing skill player to pair with Singleterry and our two stalwart & dependable WR's in Brown & Beasley and we'll have a solid offense.

 

*  NFL officiating is trash.  I haven't changed my opinion on that in hindsight.  And it's no comfort that trashy NFL officiating is not a conspiracy but rather just wide spread incompetence.  Did you see how Clowney knocked out a starting QB with a nasty helmet to helmet head shot?  NO penalty and no ejection of Clowney but the Eagles lost their QB for the game.  The problem is that over a long NFL season bad officiating tends to even out and you benefit as much as you're screwed over.  But in the playoffs this is no longer true and bad officiating can and does lose teams games.  It's not an excuse to say had the officials done their jobs on Saturday we would be getting ready to play KC this weekend.  And that's a fact.

 

 

 

 

 

[PolishDave]

36 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I know we all had rapid reactions Saturday Night in regards to the offense, the defense, coaching and Josh Allen.  
 

It’s now Monday Morning.  All the WC Weekend Games have finished.  
 

With hindsight being 20/20, do you feel the same today, as you did immediately following the game?

 

I imagine many will be like me and have a very different view of Josh Allen and the defense today, after having watched the other games play out.  

 

In some ways I am over it - in others I am more concerned than I was before.

 

I am over the fact that the Bills just weren't a good enough team - especially offensively - especially at Quarterback (even though I still like Allen and am optimistic about his future potential).

 

I am concerned about the fact that the Bills dominated the first half and even into the 3rd quarter - only to curl up and let the other team regain their composure like we did to Houston in the comeback game.    I still think McDermott is afraid to throw a knockout punch.   He hopes we accidentally land a knockout punch instead of actually trying to.  Situational awareness in the second half and late in the game sucked by coaching staff and offensive players.

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Outside of punting from the Texans 40 on 4th and 5 how exactly did they not go for the throat in the 2nd half? 

 

I thought the playcalling should've been a bit more balanced. The running game got away from them. Allen ended up throwing the ball 47 times..... 

Fans typically confuse execution failures for play calling failures.  

 

That said, John Brown taps his toes, Duke makes the end zone catch, and we get better blocking on that QB sweep, and we are talking about the Bills' blow out and how happy we were that Dabol was so aggressive.  A little more balance would have helped, but play calling is not the reason we lost this game. 

[Ned Flanders]

5 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

Finally, I wondered whether we might be a major regression candidate for next year.  Perhaps we are. 

Look at this season's 8-8 Bears team...12-4 a year before with a relatively soft schedule and a QB on the rise (sound familiar?).  

 

The 2020 schedule is a death march compared to this past season.  Four trips out west and another to Nashville.  Long way to go until September, but going 10-6 next year will be a bit more difficult.

[Ned Flanders]

11 minutes ago, H2o said:

The non-call of the delay of game on 3rd and 18. 

I know all reviews in OT come from the booth, but a Bills timeout here could have had the zebras upstairs look at this play a little more closely.  Delay of game can be reviewed. 

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Mostly agree.... even after last off seasons additions offensively, they still need better playmakers. Please don’t neglect the importance of the WR position. They need a real good option opposite Brown. 

 

I want a WR more than I want a pass rusher.  Luckily its a good draft to pick up a WR. 

[Southern Bills Fan]

8 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

Look at this season's 8-8 Bears team...12-4 a year before with a relatively soft schedule and a QB on the rise (sound familiar?).  

 

The 2020 schedule is a death march compared to this past season.  Four trips out west and another to Nashville.  Long way to go until September, but going 10-6 next year will be a bit more difficult.

I think 10-6 wins the division next year. 

[NewEra]

We’re on the right course.  
 

Next year we’ll be better.  

 

The refs will always suck

[Cheektowaga Chad]

17 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

Look at this season's 8-8 Bears team...12-4 a year before with a relatively soft schedule and a QB on the rise (sound familiar?).  

 

The 2020 schedule is a death march compared to this past season.  Four trips out west and another to Nashville.  Long way to go until September, but going 10-6 next year will be a bit more difficult.

I went over the schedule next season with a few friends. And we thought 9-7 or 10-6 is probable

 

Line of thinking:

3-3 afc east

3-1 afc west

2-2 nfc west

1-1 Pitt and Tennessee

 

Gets you to 9-7, a lot of the tougher games next season are at home which helps not to mention that maybe just maybe brady leaves new england and they take a step back

Edited January 6, 2020 by Cheektowaga Chad

[Ramza86]

Josh Allen is really doing his best to control his natural instinct of desperation. 

 

The "hero" ball that usually ends up in disaster. 

 

You can see him really trying to be a poised QB and understand situational football, but this game and how close and high pressure it was anyone could have made mistakes. 

 

Hell...you saw Drew Brees give up the ball at the end of that game. Didnt even protect the ball with a pass rusher attacking him.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Ramza86

[oldmanfan]

Not really feeling different. Still really sad because he had the game in hand.

[Boatdrinks]

While I wanted a Bills win in the worst way, the game did sum up the team’s offensive issues. Maybe a win would have given McD, Beane et al a false sense of security. There is much work to be done still, and the vast majority of effort and $$ must go to surround Allen with offensive skill players. The line must also be addressed if they want to achieve championship caliber. Hugely important offseason coming up. 

[Xwnyer]

52 minutes ago, Dr Doom said:

I am more upset about the TD taken away at the start of the second half than I was on that night.

 

agree especially now that some bozo on sideline came in versus going with ruling on field TD and tossing it to Replay officials since it was a scoring play.   On further review play would have stayed TD since they rules say the guy must do two things and he only did one of them.

[Mr. K]

Hold on to the ball Josh. Dont put Dimarco on a route ever again. Wrap up when you tackle. Catch passes that hit your hands. Feed the motor.

 

We got a pretty solid performance. The only things left to question is how do we improve the offense and maintain a solid defense.

 

Brandon has got some work to do in the draft. I hope the success rate continues.

 

Go Bills

[BuffaloBillies]

The other three losses this weekend were worse than the Bills (all favored teams).

Not that it makes me feel any better about it. Just Sayin'

 

NE -5.5 at home

NO -7.5 at home

Philly -1 at home

 

Bills +2.5 at Hou

 

[billsfan1959]

49 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

A few botched plays cost them the game. Namely 3 Bills not blocking ONE Texan on Josh's QB sweep that would've easily put the Bills in FG position to win the game in OT....and then allowing a 3rd and 18 to be converted on a dump off due to the Bills defense falling asleep on where the sticks were. I knew that was the game when it happened.... but the missed 7-8 yard sack on Watson that turned into a 40 or so yard gain topped it off. 

 

I didnt think the coaching was as conservative as it had been in previous games.... just thought it sucked royally at times. They basically abandon the run in the 2nd half and OT and running Gore with 30 seconds left before halftime deep in Houston territory with 1 TO was ***** stupid, but apparently Allen checked to the run.(Still he shouldn't even be allowed to check to a run play in that situation) 

 

I think the better QB and better team won. Bills have to improve the WR, RB, and TE position this offseason. WR is an absolute must. I don't ever want to see Lee Smith and DiMarco running deep routes again..... next years really the measuring stick for this regime. Year 3 for Allen/Beane,  a likely much tougher schedule coming off a cake schedule and winning season in which the team barely beat anyone of merit.

 

 

Good post. This game really came down to lack of execution on 3-4 plays. I posted this in another thread:

 

 

All Knox has to do is get a shoulder into Cunningham and the next guy with a chance at Allen is getting destroyed by Ford at the 29 yard line.

 

Allen made his share of mistakes and shoulders his share of the blame; however, he doesn't have the playmakers around him at this point either. In spite of some questionable decisions on his part, some misses on some throws he should have made, some questionable play calling, and some poor blocking/pass protection on critical plays, Allen still put up 372 yards of offense and made some plays that should have resulted in more points had the execution been better by othe players (think Williams in the endzone).

Edited January 6, 2020 by billsfan1959

[Mr. K]

Just now, billsfan1959 said:

 

Good post. This game really came down to lack of execution on 3-4 plays. I posted this in another thread:

 

 

All Knox has to do is get a shoulder into Cunningham and the next guy with a chance at Allen is getting destroyed by Ford at the 29 yard line.

 

Allen made his share of mistakes and shoulders his share of the blame; however, he doesn't have the playmakers around him at this point either. In spite of some questionable decisions on his part, some misses on some throws he should have made, some questionable play calling, and some poor blocking/pass protection on critical plays, Allen still put up 372 yards of offense and made some plays that should have resulted in more points had the execution been better by othe players.

 

I like how he turns back to look. Probably thinking "oops"

[I'm Spartacus]

In hindsights, I'm even more pi$$ed at Dabol, for some stupid play calls.

How many run plays with Gore up the middle for 1 or 2 yards, before he abandons it?

What on God's green earth was Dabol thinking lining up DeMarco as a wide out? (boy, that really had the Texans confused).

We need better and more creative offensive play calling next year. Either Dabol wises up, or can him & get somebody better in here.

[Ned Flanders]

9 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

 

Good post. This game really came down to lack of execution on 3-4 plays. I posted this in another thread:

 

 

All Knox has to do is get a shoulder into Cunningham and the next guy with a chance at Allen is getting destroyed by Ford at the 29 yard line.

 

Allen made his share of mistakes and shoulders his share of the blame; however, he doesn't have the playmakers around him at this point either. In spite of some questionable decisions on his part, some misses on some throws he should have made, some questionable play calling, and some poor blocking/pass protection on critical plays, Allen still put up 372 yards of offense and made some plays that should have resulted in more points had the execution been better by othe players (think Williams in the endzone).

Thanks for this clip...I'm even more depressed.  Knox makes this block and JA is at least down to the 30.  UGH!

[billsfan1959]

1 minute ago, Ned Flanders said:

Thanks for this clip...I'm even more depressed.  Knox makes this block and JA is at least down to the 30.  UGH!

 

I know, Ford took out the one DB at the 29 yard line and there was only one other DB out there. I'm thinking Allen is easily to the 20 - or scores. 

[Talley56]

Disappointing but I am also happy

with how the Bills did this year.  I’ve seen a lot of nay-sayers talk about us being happy with “participation trophies”.  The Bengals earned participation trophies.  The Bills did more than that.  They won 10 games for the first time in 20

years and made the playoffs which has been rare of course in the 2000s.  I certainly hope this is a building block to better years to come but given what the Bills have been through since the turn of the century I’d say a 10-6 season with a close playoff loss to a pretty good team is a successful season.

[Casey D]

57 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

Look at this season's 8-8 Bears team...12-4 a year before with a relatively soft schedule and a QB on the rise (sound familiar?).  

 

The 2020 schedule is a death march compared to this past season.  Four trips out west and another to Nashville.  Long way to go until September, but going 10-6 next year will be a bit more difficult.

Yeah, but the whole division has largely the same schedule.  Wild card spots are for losers, need to win the division and 2020 should be the year.

[appoo]

We lost inspite of Allen having such a good game.  He was mostly accurate, made good decisions, was a playmaker.

 

struggled to protect him at times

don't have someone who will make contested catches downfield, such as the one Hopkins made

Hard to play against DeShaun Watson when he's playing like this. Dude was like this in college, and now he's doing it in the NFL. Hats off to him.

 

#1 offseason priority must be to get this from a 20 point offense to a 30 point offense. Need at least 1 more play maker on the perimeter, need better play from the RT.  Sustain the defense, add that, and you're looking at a team that can challenge BMore and KC for a top 2 seed

[texasjute]

17 minutes ago, Talley56 said:

Disappointing but I am also happy

with how the Bills did this year.  I’ve seen a lot of nay-sayers talk about us being happy with “participation trophies”.  The Bengals earned participation trophies.  The Bills did more than that.  They won 10 games for the first time in 20

years and made the playoffs which has been rare of course in the 2000s.  I certainly hope this is a building block to better years to come but given what the Bills have been through since the turn of the century I’d say a 10-6 season with a close playoff loss to a pretty good team is a successful season.

 

I'm feeling the same way. There's also a lot of talk about the loss being "Billsy" and/or the "same old Bills." There were some very Billsy moments to be sure, but two things about the game and one about the last stretch of the season stand out as being non-Billsy and help me feel that the team is headed in the right direction.

 

1) The D did a tremendous job on the 4th down stop just at the end of regulation. Huge gut-check moment there to get us the ball back.

 

2) Coming back to tie the game at 19 after the blow-up sacks on the previous series. Everyone thought the game was over, and the Bills had been on the ropes doing nothing for almost the entire half. I'm really impressed that they got up off the mat, fought back to FG position, and made the kick. That in itself was very "non-Billsy"

 

3) Stepping up in the late part of the schedule, taking care of Miami and Denver, and then the two primetime wins at Dallas and Pittsburgh. It has literally been decades since a Bills team has come through when needed in the later part of the season. Add to that the way they played on the road this year, and the fact that there were no blowout losses.

 

I hope they can build on these elements and grow forward from here...

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1 hour ago, teef said:

saturday was the first time in a very long time that a bills loss legit upset me.  i'm over it today.

this is where I am.

 

if there is any lingering bitterness, it’s the dumb luck fluke of Watson staying upright on that sandwich hit at the end. Because two guys sandwiched him at the same time, he was able to stay upright. It was a great play by our D and a lucky play by him, and so I am bitter about that. 
 

I’m otherwise over the missed opportunities and officiating snafus. 

[Dan]

41 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

Thanks for this clip...I'm even more depressed.  Knox makes this block and JA is at least down to the 30.  UGH!

Yeah... I didn't feel so bad... Then I see this clip and wow.  The play was there... all Knox has to do is block the one guy right in front of him and we, at the very least, have a FG attmept.

[CLTbills]

1 hour ago, Ned Flanders said:

Look at this season's 8-8 Bears team...12-4 a year before with a relatively soft schedule and a QB on the rise (sound familiar?).  

 

The 2020 schedule is a death march compared to this past season.  Four trips out west and another to Nashville.  Long way to go until September, but going 10-6 next year will be a bit more difficult.

A wild card will be a lot more difficult to obtain out of the AFCE next year.

 

Good thing we'll just be winning the AFCE outright.

[teef]

8 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said:

this is where I am.

 

if there is any lingering bitterness, it’s the dumb luck fluke of Watson staying upright on that sandwich hit at the end. Because two guys sandwiched him at the same time, he was able to stay upright. It was a great play by our D and a lucky play by him, and so I am bitter about that. 
 

I’m otherwise over the missed opportunities and officiating snafus. 

a few missed tackles and a few missed blocks just killed the end of that game.  billsy losses haven't been too much of a problem in recent years, but to have one happen in a playoff game that was there for the taking was hard.  

 

that being said, i do think this team comes back smarter and stronger as a result.

[falgobofu]

Why the heck can we not do better against arguably the worst secondary in the NFL?!??? Josh Allen throws 46 times against them and barely breaks 250 yards passing. We only get one TD on a trick play on our first drive, disappointing to say the least. Many of those CB's cant crack a starting lineup in any other team. There has to be some blame on playcalling, motor is having a great day but with the lead we pretty much abandon the Run, definitely dont understand this. I hope Allen progresses but honestly till he starts throwing with anticipation then he is barely an upgrade over Tyrod. I want to be a fan but until he is not one of the worst pct of a starting qb and raises is QB Rating we will continue to have this discussion. I hope he makes a considerable jump next year at being a QB or i may be beating the table for a new QB. Love the kid but needs to improve.

Edited January 6, 2020 by falgobofu