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What if the Bills had scored before halftime?


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The Singletary drop with the score 9-7 is particularly mind-numbing. We are in FG range and answering their score if he simply just doesn’t drop the ball and we show RB pass catching threat.  I couldn’t believe it when it happened and 9 plays later the game was indeed nearly over. They get to tee off on third and long. Then a 5 play TD drive. Then a 3 and out while our O pressing. Disgusting drop. 

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9 hours ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

I think he just had absolutely no confidence we'd convert those 4th downs after we used that nice 4th down play earlier in the game...he had to know our defense wasn't stopping anyone lol

 

I agree and I'm saying that in a good way.  Based on what we displayed on the 1st 3 downs, it wasn't very likely we would score, so kicking the FG still kept us a little closer so that if we did finally figure things out and could look like the team that played all season, maybe then could get back into it.

 

All the comments about playing scared and didn't learn anything after being aggressive all season, it was a different team all season, a team that couldn't be stopped and likely never would have got to 4th down as would have already scored on 2nd down.  But not Sunday, that team couldn't do anything.

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9 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Playing scared was a bad decision...........I gave McD too much credit........I really didn't expect him to actually turtle up like that again.    

 

Guess the lessons learned in the WC last year and in so many unnecessarily close games earlier this season were lost after a long winning streak that coincided with an aggressive mindset.

 

Sounds like McD regrets it so hopefully lesson is hardwired in now.

 

I thought the FG at the end of the half was the correct call, but not the second one. They (especially Allen) looked lost in that goal-to-go sequence, and the Chiefs had them figured out.

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7 hours ago, NewEra said:

going for 2 to cut the lead to 15 when we could’ve gone down 16 .......what was I missing?  How was that a good idea. I was flummoxed.  Still am.  

 

 

Guess I don't understand the difference?  Before we scored the TD we were 23 points behind so needed  to score 3 TD's and on two of them needed to convert the 2 point conversion to tie.  So what difference does it make if we went for and made the 2 pointer on the 1st two TD's or the last two?

 

You could argue going for it on the first two TD's scored makes the most sense as then you know where you are, once they missed they then knew they'd need 2 more TD's plus a FG. 

 

If they kick after the first TD, get the two on the 2nd TD, now they come down score another TD with 20 seconds left, go for two and fail, there's no time left to do anything else.   The sooner in  the game you know what you need to do to come back the better.

 

Here's an except from one article and if you Google, you can find a dozen other articles all basically stating the same, go for it early:

 

Knowledge is power. You need to get a two-point conversion at some point, and knowing whether you’re going to convert is important information. There is no reasonable reason not to go for 2 after your first touchdown. Yes, missing out on the two-point conversion earlier could be demoralizing. But what would you call missing out on a two-point conversion with 5 seconds left when trailing by 2?

 

https://www.footballperspective.com/trailing-by-15-in-the-middle-of-the-4th-quarter-teams-are-foolish-to-not-go-for-2-after-touchdowns/

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4 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Guess I don't understand the difference?  Before we scored the TD we were 23 points behind so needed  to score 3 TD's and on two of them needed to convert the 2 point conversion to tie.  So what difference does it make if we went for and made the 2 pointer on the 1st two TD's or the last two?

 

You could argue going for it on the first two TD's scored makes the most sense as then you know where you are, once they missed they then knew they'd need 2 more TD's plus a FG. 

 

If they kick after the first TD, get the two on the 2nd TD, now they come down score another TD with 20 seconds left, go for two and fail, there's no time left to do anything else.   The sooner in  the game you know what you need to do to come back the better.

 

Here's an except from one article and if you Google, you can find a dozen other articles all basically stating the same, go for it early:

 

Knowledge is power. You need to get a two-point conversion at some point, and knowing whether you’re going to convert is important information. There is no reasonable reason not to go for 2 after your first touchdown. Yes, missing out on the two-point conversion earlier could be demoralizing. But what would you call missing out on a two-point conversion with 5 seconds left when trailing by 2?

 

https://www.footballperspective.com/trailing-by-15-in-the-middle-of-the-4th-quarter-teams-are-foolish-to-not-go-for-2-after-touchdowns/

It gives the player more hope.  Hope is what drives every them.  
 

I get your point and I thought about that when it happened.  I just don’t agree with it.   

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11 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

This game could have played out differently. Looking back on it 48 hours later, a different decision before halftime could have changed the game.

 

None of this "what if" scenario even factors in the Singletary drop or the idea of the defense just getting one stop on one of KC's scoring drives.

 

0:11 - 2nd. 4th & Goal at KC 2. Bills go for it and score, kick XP.

 

5:49 - 3rd. 4th & 3 at KC 8. Bills go for it and score, kick XP.

 

13:20 - 4th. 2nd & 10 at KC 20. John Brown catches the ball at KC 12. Bills go on to score and convert two-point conversion.

 

31-31. In real life, Chiefs and Bills then traded TDs. 38-38, ball to Chiefs at 4:08 - 4th.

 

The Bills could have done this. Imagine: they then get an interception, throw a strike and go up 45-38. Defense holds on final possession. Bills go to Super Bowl.

 

It's very easy to imagine it playing out this way. It could have played out this way, with the players we currently have and despite the game plan leaving much to be desired on both sides of the ball. The whole "KC would've responded differently if we had scored those TDs" rebuttal won't really work, because KC scored on all of their possessions surrounding these anyway and I haven't taken any points away from them here. If anything, our offense getting TDs might have sparked our defense to come up with a stop.

 

I think if we play this game 10 times, we win 3 or so.

Can we end the fiction that Brown “dropped” the pass? It was a bad decision by Allen and he was completely covered: 

 

 

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8 hours ago, NewEra said:

 

going for 2 to cut the lead to 15 when we could’ve gone down 16 .......what was I missing?  How was that a good idea. I was flummoxed.  Still am.  
 

hopefully he continues to evolve as a HC

 

That made sense to me.

 

Either way you're going to need the two point conversion, so it makes sense to go for it earlier. That way if you don't get it, you have more time to adjust rather than to wait and not get it later in the game.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, BuffaloBobs said:

 

That made sense to me.

 

Either way you're going to need the two point conversion, so it makes sense to go for it earlier. That way if you don't get it, you have more time to adjust rather than to wait and not get it later in the game.

 

 

Cool.  Didn’t make sense to me.  

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52 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Can we end the fiction that Brown “dropped” the pass? It was a bad decision by Allen and he was completely covered: 

 

 

 

Most of the articles I've read all blame Brown for running a poor route.  That he shouldn't have been covered that tight if he had fought thru it.  But he didn't and Allen expected him to get open.

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25 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Most of the articles I've read all blame Brown for running a poor route.  That he shouldn't have been covered that tight if he had fought thru it.  But he didn't and Allen expected him to get open.

My inexpert take: that was a pretty bad play design and no one was open. Easy for me to say, of course. 

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12 hours ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

I think he just had absolutely no confidence we'd convert those 4th downs after we used that nice 4th down play earlier in the game...he had to know our defense wasn't stopping anyone lol

 

 

Josh Allen with the ball in his hands should have been enough confidence for them.

 

Again,  hopefully lesson learned.

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