9/12/2021 Steelers @ Bills Post Game thread

[TheBrownBear]

The defense was fine.  Yes, Wallace got picked on a bit in the second half, but he was right there on a couple of those plays.  The Johnson TD was good coverage.  It was just a great play by Johnson.  The Steelers have a great group of receivers and overall the D held up their end of the bargain.

 

We lost this game for three reasons:

1. Terrible offensive playcalling, especially in short yardage situations.

2.  Horrible offensive line play.  (But some of this falls at the feet of Daboll for not sprinkling in more Singletary runs until it was too late)

3. And obviously, the blocked punt TD.

 

Overall, I'm not too worried.  And this might have been a good wakeup call for the team that nothing comes easy in the NFL.

[SirAndrew]

3 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

 

bingo.  We are beginning to look like the Marvin Lewis Bengals.  

I don’t want to say the sky is falling at all, so I say this hesitantly. I don’t want to hear about how great the Steelers are as an excuse. I didn’t realize the Stillers were considered contenders first of all, and secondly, we are Super Bowl contenders, you shouldn’t be getting bullied by Pittsburgh at home on opening day. Today’s game had the same complexion as the two Chiefs losses last season, that is at least slightly concerning. 

[Best Williams Available]

14 minutes ago, klos63 said:

no homefield advantage for Buffalo. We are better in an empty stadium. I blame the fans.

I can’t tell if you’re joking but it’s like the refs try to offset the clear home fan advantage with lopsided calls. Because you can’t expect the fans to help that much AND get home field advantage refereeing.

[Governor]

1 minute ago, Meatloaf63 said:

I love people who watch a game clueless of what’s actually happening on the field and then acting like they are the superior fan, when their take is as bad as possible. It’s entertaining to see fools flapping their gums with no understanding of the game.

I feel pretty good about this loss. We fixed a bunch of things that we lacked down the stretch last year. 
 

The defenses will start to dial in around week 8. 
 

I’m feeling pretty good now.

[Iiiiiiiiive Got a Feeeelin]

We lost this one on our own. had so many chances to win this and failed and not to mention all the terrible penalties.  we grow from it and get better. also go roughly 15-1 from here

[Hapless Bills Fan]

21 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Right about that.  The OL was outplayed by Pitt’s completely retooled OL.

 

Um…our OL does not play their OL

[ganesh]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Allen sucked. He was elite last season. There is the difference between today’s game and last season. The team goes as Allen goes.

Allen played more or less like the same in the last years game.   The difference this time was that their offense woke up in the 2nd half.

[That's No Moon]

5 minutes ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

 

Pass rush was terrific. 

Not sure what game you watched. Pass rush was terrible, particularly in the second half, and particularly when they needed it to do something.

[Malazan]

1 minute ago, vincec said:

I don't think Miami's DL is as good as Pittsburgh's. Maybe no one's is.

 

They're not, but they can play the same defense that caused the offense to fall apart today. Fast, aggressive, attacking the receivers while keeping a bunch of guys in coverage and still getting pressure. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 minutes ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

 

I don't get this take. I thought we were MUCH better this week. Holding them to sub-300 yards of offense is no easy feat. 

People have forgotten how abysmal the dline was last year haha we may not have gotten good defensive pressure still but we were still miles ahead of last season

[Saint Doug]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Allen sucked. He was elite last season. There is the difference between today’s game and last season. The team goes as Allen goes.

We saw 2019 Allen today. Glimpses of greatness, but not getting it done. 

[Orlando Tim]

I am already over it because I have watched enough seasons to know that the first two weeks teams are still finding themselves but the loss might cost us at the end of the year.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

11 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I thought Wallace made some solid plays

Yeah Ben tried to get him involved in the play every chance he could. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

Just now, jeremy2020 said:

 

They're not, but they can play the same defense that caused the offense to fall apart today. Fast, aggressive, attacking the receivers while keeping a bunch of guys in coverage and still getting pressure. 

Yea they can try the same gameplan obviously...anyone can.  But it comes down to their front 4 winning up front and if they can't do as good a job as Pitt they will get absolutely torched 

[SirAndrew]

Just now, jeremy2020 said:

 

They're not, but they can play the same defense that caused the offense to fall apart today. Fast, aggressive, attacking the receivers while keeping a bunch of guys in coverage and still getting pressure. 

I haven’t seen it discussed much, but our receivers didn’t do a great job getting open today either. I’d have watch again to confirm, but I saw some issues with that. 

[Bangarang]

The good:

 

-Thought defense played well for the most part

 

-Bass kicked the ball well

 

-Singletary ran the ball well

 

 

The bad

 

-Josh looked horrendous, like rookie year bad. He was off on throws as evidenced by missing a wide open Sanders in what should’ve been a deep TD. He looked flustered a lot and his ball security when running was questionable at best.

 

-The o-line looked overmatched and got pushed around. 
 

-Haack takes a while to get his punts off. 
 

-Levi Wallace continues to be a liability and gets picked on. Still amazes me that we didn’t draft a CB early 

-Speaking of taking a CB early, we elected not to and drafted Basham instead just to make him a healthy scratch. Mind boggling stuff.

 

 

[Big Blitz]

EVERYONE underestimated this Steelers defense.  I was feeling that after the Watt signing a bad feeling.  That we still don't matchup well with them my concern was running the ball but their pass defense is better.  Engram is better then Dupree.  Much better.  

 

It might be the best D we see all year.

[gonzo1105]

2 minutes ago, Best Williams Available said:

I can’t tell if you’re joking but it’s like the refs try to offset the clear home fan advantage with lopsided calls. Because you can’t expect the fans to help that much AND get home field advantage refereeing.

Most of the calls were legit. Their defensive line flat out owned our OL. Both Dawkins and Williams were terrible today. Feliciano and Ford were not great either. The PI on Wallace was the one a that I was miffed about 

[Governor]

2 minutes ago, TheBrownBear said:

The defense was fine.  Yes, Wallace got picked on a bit in the second half, but he was right there on a couple of those plays.  The Johnson TD was good coverage.  It was just a great play by Johnson.  The Steelers have a great group of receivers and overall the D held up their end of the bargain.

 

We lost this game for three reasons:

1. Terrible offensive playcalling, especially in short yardage situations.

2.  Horrible offensive line play.  (But some of this falls at the feet of Daboll for not sprinkling in more Singletary runs until it was too late)

3. And obviously, the blocked punt TD.

 

Overall, I'm not too worried.  And this might have been a good wakeup call for the team that nothing comes easy in the NFL.

I mostly agree but horrible offensive line play? Allen had a clean pocket most of the day and was actually able to step up into that pocket quite a few times, which is kinda new.

[wjag]

My aww shucks after thoughts:

 

1.  Pitts DLINE owned the Bills OLINE.  So many Bills holding calls accepted or decline based on the results of the play.  Watt played a heckuva game.  Heyward too.

2. Just about everyone on the Bills seemed off.  

3. The blocked punt was the play of the game.

4. Pitts DBs played well, very well.

5. The 4th down call was a curious call.  Maybe a half back option, but it never developed and Sutton blew it up from the get.

6. More drops than I can recall with this receiver group.

7.  Bills did well to stop the run. Najee learned the hard way he isn't in Alabama anymore.

8. Give Ben his due, he made the plays that Josh could not.

9. Not getting 7 on the opening drive was a harbinger of what was to come.

10. Knox did well today.  Probably the only receiver who did not drop a pass.  

11. Outside of McKenzie, I think the Bills came out of a very physical game relatively healthy

12. The PI calls were all one way in that game..

[The 9 Isles]

Bills football is such a let down. 

[SCBills]

3 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

I don’t want to say the sky is falling at all, so I say this hesitantly. I don’t want to hear about how great the Steelers are as an excuse. I didn’t realize the Stillers were considered contenders first of all, and secondly, we are Super Bowl contenders, you shouldn’t be getting bullied by Pittsburgh at home on opening day. Today’s game had the same complexion as the two Chiefs losses last season, that is at least slightly concerning. 

Yup.. Chiefs x2, Titans, Steelers, all just bullied us all game - and much of it is OL issues and all of a sudden Daboll’s play calling becomes bizarro world.  
 

Steelers have one of, if not, the best DL’s in football.. but you have to be able to counter punch and this coaching staff has not shown the ability to do that against good teams. 

[MiltonWaddams]

1 minute ago, Big Blitz said:

EVERYONE underestimated this Steelers defense.  I was feeling that after the Watt signing a bad feeling.  That we still don't matchup well with them my concern was running the ball but their pass defense is better.  Engram is better then Dupree.  Much better.  

 

It might be the best D we see all year.

My opinion both before and after the game is that Pittsburgh’s defence is the best in the league. Ergo, it’s the best we will see all year against the Bills.

[Bob in STL]

39 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Well this will be a real test for McD. He usually gets his team to respond to adversity.  Can't go 0-2 in the AFC to start the season.

Well sure.  McD made many questionable decisions and Daboll called to many cute, low percentage plays.  The players did not execute.  All of it starts with McD.  

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

14 minutes ago, CEN-CAL17 said:

I’ve said it a thousand times… it’s harder on the oline when the defense knows you’re gonna pass.

Absolutely- this 5 wide stuff seems to play into what the Steelers do best. It’s good I’m not a coach because Its baffling what the bills offense was thinking they wanted todo. 

[vincec]

1 minute ago, SirAndrew said:

I haven’t seen it discussed much, but our receivers didn’t do a great job getting open today either. I’d have watch again to confirm, but I saw some issues with that. 

Yeah, that's the other half of it. Usually when you spread it out with 4 or 5 WRs you hope guys come open quickly vs single coverage or soft zones. It didn't happen.

[Roundybout]

Just now, The 9 Isles said:

Bills football is such a let down. 

 

Can we save the doom takes for like Week 9 or something

[Playoffs?]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

He sucked. Plain and simple. He had an excellent 2nd half last season against the Steelers…. He was worse in the 2nd half this game. He had a bad game. 

He did suck considering the bar that has been set for him. He did not play to that contract. He’s being paid to put the team on his shoulders (right wrong or indifferent).  I agree he was not the Josh Allen he needed to be today. Hopefully he gets focused for next week. 

[BuffaloRebound]

We are still too much of a 1 trick pony.  Josh is awesome but we still need either a RB or Tight End that can move the chains against the better defenses.  All our skill players outside of Josh are on smaller side and can be bullied by physical defenses.  This wasn’t addressed in offseason. 

[appoo]

Feel good that the bills played about as poorly as they can and still hung in there. That blocked punt was a back breaker 

[Bangarang]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

Josh and the deep ball had been a consistent struggle for him. He still can’t throw an accurate deep ball. It’s a concern at this point. 

Yep, definitely true

[klos63]

6 minutes ago, Best Williams Available said:

I can’t tell if you’re joking but it’s like the refs try to offset the clear home fan advantage with lopsided calls. Because you can’t expect the fans to help that much AND get home field advantage refereeing.

I'm mostly joking. I really don't think home field advantage is significant, the 3 very questionable PI/Holding calls against us hurt a lot.

[HappyDays]

I guess I'm alone on this but I didn't think Allen was bad today. He definitely underperformed in the 1st half compared to what he showed last year, but the pass rush got to him a ton. He settled in just fine at the end of the 1st half but the whole last 20 minutes of the game he had no chance. Dumbest 4th and 1 call I've ever seen. Sanders dropped a perfectly placed seam pass. Numerous offensive holding calls that brought good passes back. Allen would have had to play a nearly perfect game to win this one and I can't expect that from him every week.

 

The biggest culprit in this game BY FAR was the o-line. Dawkins is seriously worrying me. He has to get his conditioning back in the middle of a season. That's a tough ask. The guards were awful all game long. Someone needs to remind the Bills offensive holding is getting called this year. It is my #1 concern about the team right now.

[Best Williams Available]

Just now, gonzo1105 said:

Most of the calls were legit. Their defensive line flat out owned our OL. Both Dawkins and Williams were terrible today. Feliciano and Ford were not great either. The PI on Wallace was the one a that I was miffed about 

Yeah I’m not keen on blaming refs but you have to say that home field advantage i.e. biased refereeing in favor of the home team, is really not a thing in Buffalo. Does flagrant undisciplined penalties explain it, possibly. It’s not a thing though.

[ROCBillsBeliever]

It would be cool to have a post-GAME thread... It would have also been cool if we had actually played a GAME... 

 

We were playing hop-scotch... NOT football...

[Roundybout]

Just now, HappyDays said:

The biggest culprit in this game BY FAR was the o-line. Dawkins is seriously worrying me. He has to get his conditioning back in the middle of a season. That's a tough ask. The guards were awful all game long. Someone needs to remind the Bills offensive holding is getting called this year. It is my #1 concern about the team right now.

 

Pretty much this. Feliciano is a disappointment, for one thing. 

[Coach Tuesday]

1 minute ago, ScottLaw said:

Josh and the deep ball had been a consistent struggle for him. He still can’t throw an accurate deep ball. It’s a concern at this point. 

Agree.  We’re in year four here and he’s got $258 million or whatever - stop throwing the ball out of the stadium on basic college fly patterns.  Enough already Josh.

[pigpen65]

Play it safe on two 4th and shorts and go for it on 4 and 8. Wtf was that?

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

5 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

I don’t want to say the sky is falling at all, so I say this hesitantly. I don’t want to hear about how great the Steelers are as an excuse. I didn’t realize the Stillers were considered contenders first of all, and secondly, we are Super Bowl contenders, you shouldn’t be getting bullied by Pittsburgh at home on opening day. Today’s game had the same complexion as the two Chiefs losses last season, that is at least slightly concerning. 

You not realizing the steelers are contenders is very much on you 🤣 why should the steelers pay for most football talking heads on TV being idiots and not giving them enough attention lol they have a great roster if their oline is decent

[Meatloaf63]

10 minutes ago, Mango said:

So a lot of people around me in the stands thought that Sanders drop was at fault for the blocked punt.

 

Two things:

 

1. Sanders should have caught that seem pass that resulted in a pint the next down. 
 

2. I think a lot went wrong on that punt that resulted in a block. The previous play was totally irreverent. 
 

extra point: totally unrelated but very unpopular in my section. Levi Wallace HAS to turn his head around. The WR slowed up and looked for the ball. Wallace didn’t do anything particularly egregious other than play the WR and ran right into. Which is fine….if he’s try to make a play on the football. 

He actually didn’t run into him, shouldn’t have been a call…