Perspective: It's been 1-game since AFC Loss

[Jobot]

There was so much hype surrounding this Bills squad going into week-1, and for good reason. But let's not forget that this is the same roster that lost in the AFC game, just ONE game ago. So expecting a massive improvement week-1.. is just not realistic. Last year when the Bills beat the Steelers, they were playing their best football of the season, and firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, they were rusty, sloppy, and not at their best.. and still realistically should have won that game. So take comfort in the fact that  McDermott has steadily made improvements from day-1 that he arrived  at OBD. This team will continue to improve, and come playoffs, be at their new ceiling of play, which hopefully is good enough to win a Super Bowl.

[BuffaloRebound]

I believe in McDermott.  Time for him to put Daboll on a shorter leash.  We played a soft brand of offense and right into Steelers’ hands.  Same against KC.  We can still be a pass heavy offense but sometimes you gotta grind out 4-5 yards a pop if that’s what defense is giving you.  

[MAJBobby]

Does anyone know here the play that was called, vs the play that was snapped??  You know Josh is given ALOT of freedom to change plays...  Just Saying.  

 

They were outcoached.  Happens, and actually happens ALOT in the NFL especially on Week 1, when you do not know what teams are even thinking going into the week 

[Brennan Huff]

The offense sucked yesterday. Spin it any way you want to. They were awful. And we’re allowed to be mad about it. They better get their ***** together next week

[MAJBobby]

Just now, Brennan Huff said:

The offense sucked yesterday. Spin it any way you want to. They were awful. And we’re allowed to be mad about it. They better get their ***** together next week

No if they cannot handle an AVG MIS Defense, THEN we have problems

[dorquemada]

6 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Does anyone know here the play that was called, vs the play that was snapped??  You know Josh is given ALOT of freedom to change plays...  Just Saying.  

 

 

 

what play do you think was called on the 4th down when we were still in the game?

[LABILLBACKER]

2 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

The offense sucked yesterday. Spin it any way you want to. They were awful. And we’re allowed to be mad about it. They better get their ***** together next week

Twice last year KC showed everyone else the blueprint on how to slowdown our offense. Rush 4-5 and put as much pressure on JA as possible. Drop everyone else into coverage. Ignore Buffalo's TE's and RB's. If I was a DC, that's exactly what I'd do. So for those that want JA throwing 60-65% of the time be careful what you ask for. Against weaker defenses you'll get away with it. But top defenses will blow us up without a change of pace strategy. 

[MAJBobby]

4 minutes ago, dorquemada said:

 

what play do you think was called on the 4th down when we were still in the game?

That one.  

 

But lets talk the execution of the 70 plus OTHER plays while we were still in the game, football does not come down to one play if your top nd talent is executing.

 

Bottomline the Bills laid an egg, it happens, we will still win the AFCE

Edited September 13, 2021 by MAJBobby

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

I'll probably get blasted for suggesting this but all along I've felt the roster may still be one year away from being able to win the SB.  This off season between decrease in salary cap and other $$ issues, they were very limited in what they could do to improve the roster very much.  Both lines would need to show big improvement this year to win now.  At this point I'm more worried about the O-Line.

 

Next year they are supposed to have more money to use to improve the offensive line.  Sign the top FA guard and center out there. Also give one full year for all the young blood on D line to improve and get rid of some of the bad contracts there too.  Maybe sign a top replacement for Star.  Draft a legit #2 CB in the first round.

 

What FA does Carolina have coming up this off season??  LOL

[MPL]

It's really the NFL Schedule Maker's fault for not giving us the Jets week 1 like they have 3 out of the past 4 years. 

In all seriousness, that Steelers defense is great, and that front 4 is going to wreak havoc on a lot of offenses. TJ Watt might very well be DPOY and that secondary doesn't get enough credit. 

We struggle against teams that can generate consistent pressure with 4 men rushing and keep 7 in coverage. That's how KC beats us and that's how Tampa beat KC. It's also how the Giants beat New England in both Super Bowls. The good news is that most teams we play don't have the DLine talent to do this.

 

The bad news is, KC, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh can do this. 

Hey, at least Tennessee and Indy also looked terrible yesterday. 

[dorquemada]

1 minute ago, MAJBobby said:

That one.  

 

But lets talk the execution of the 70 plus OTHER plays while we were still in the game, football does not come down to one play if your top nd talent is executing.

 

Bottomline the Bills laid an egg, it happens, we will still win the AFCE

 

Don't get me wrong, this was a team loss, like virtually all of them are.  It was a tale of 2 halves.  The Bills squandered their opportunities to go up by more than 10 in the first half, McD got outcoached by an order of magnitude in the second half.  Insult to injury that we had a bunch of guys looking like they would rather have been anywhere but in a football game. 

[Low Positive]

8 minutes ago, dorquemada said:

 

what play do you think was called on the 4th down when we were still in the game?

It was supposed to be a HB pass to the rookie OT Spencer Brown. But the whole thing just blew up in their faces when Brown slipped.

[jkeerie]

The last few years, the Bills have looked shaky early in the season offensively.  I did not expect us to come out firing on all cylinders.  The problem is this year we faced a good team in the opener with one of the best defenses in the league.  The offense will come around.  The good news is, the defense looked good.   The officiating didn't help particularly on the PI calls.  Ultimately, it was a special teams gaff that beat us.  Also, none of the teams in the AFC east looked like world beaters.   I expect McDermott will do some coaching this week and they'll look better next week.

[dorquemada]

16 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

It was supposed to be a HB pass to the rookie OT Spencer Brown. But the whole thing just blew up in their faces when Brown slipped.

 

This is my point.  When you have proven playmakers at (almost) all your skill positions, and a really good QB, why are you having a HB throw a ball to an OT, at a critical juncture in the game?

[Ethan in Cleveland]

3 minutes ago, dorquemada said:

 

This is my point.  When you have proven playmakers at (almost) all your skill positions, and a really good QB, why are you having a HB throw a ball to an OT, at a critical juncture in the game?

If it worked you would call it genius and deceptive.  You can't criticize one play call. 

 

You can criticize the game plan.  Going 4 and 5 wide nearly 40% of the game played into Pittsburgh's strength.  They rush 4 against our 5 OL and they drop 7 against our 4 or 5 wideouts.  The numbers are in their favor.  

[dorquemada]

4 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

If it worked you would call it genius and deceptive.  You can't criticize one play call. 

 

You can criticize the game plan.  Going 4 and 5 wide nearly 40% of the game played into Pittsburgh's strength.  They rush 4 against our 5 OL and they drop 7 against our 4 or 5 wideouts.  The numbers are in their favor.  

 

imma gonna go on and criticize that one play call.

[Jobot]

49 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

I'll probably get blasted for suggesting this but all along I've felt the roster may still be one year away from being able to win the SB.  This off season between decrease in salary cap and other $$ issues, they were very limited in what they could do to improve the roster very much.  Both lines would need to show big improvement this year to win now.  At this point I'm more worried about the O-Line.

 

Next year they are supposed to have more money to use to improve the offensive line.  Sign the top FA guard and center out there. Also give one full year for all the young blood on D line to improve and get rid of some of the bad contracts there too.  Maybe sign a top replacement for Star.  Draft a legit #2 CB in the first round.

 

What FA does Carolina have coming up this off season??  LOL

 

I 100% agree and feel that next year is the year that we see an unstoppable force in Buffalo. We've got so much talent on the squad right now.. but it's young talent that needs to improve throughout this season.

[FilthyBeast]

1 hour ago, Jobot said:

There was so much hype surrounding this Bills squad going into week-1, and for good reason. But let's not forget that this is the same roster that lost in the AFC game, just ONE game ago. So expecting a massive improvement week-1.. is just not realistic. Last year when the Bills beat the Steelers, they were playing their best football of the season, and firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, they were rusty, sloppy, and not at their best.. and still realistically should have won that game. So take comfort in the fact that  McDermott has steadily made improvements from day-1 that he arrived  at OBD. This team will continue to improve, and come playoffs, be at their new ceiling of play, which hopefully is good enough to win a Super Bowl.

 

I still think the whole the 'run it back' idea is what will ultimately lead to this teams downfall and why they may flounder this year and be nothing more than a WC or one and done playoff team even if they win the division.

 

Obviously TB did it because they won a SB and have the GOAT on their roster.

 

The Chiefs who made the SB and throttled the Bills decided it wasn't enough to 'run in back' as did many other playoff teams from last year.

 

With all that said, I think what we saw yesterday and in the AFCCG is this teams floor which isn't good enough to win against other good teams 9 out of 10 times. I feel we'll see their ceiling soon but don't be surprised if this team as a whole does regress because they simply aren't as good as most fans think and when you have multlple glaring holes like we do you aren't a legit SB contender.

[Nextmanup]

For some reason, Bills fans don't want to talk about Josh Allen's terrible performance yesterday.

 

It all comes down to the QB, on all teams, in all games, every weekend.

 

It's not that hard to figure out.

 

If Josh plays like he did a few seasons ago, we'll be a fringe wildcard team.

 

If he plays consistently like he did last year, we'll be a force to reckon with with and have a deep playoff push again.

 

Keep your eye on Josh.  Who is he?  We keep finding out 1 week at a time.  

 

 

[FilthyBeast]

1 minute ago, Nextmanup said:

For some reason, Bills fans don't want to talk about Josh Allen's terrible performance yesterday.

 

It all comes down to the QB, on all teams, in all games, every weekend.

 

It's not that hard to figure out.

 

If Josh plays like he did a few seasons ago, we'll be a fringe wildcard team.

 

If he plays consistently like he did last year, we'll be a force to reckon with with and have a deep playoff push again.

 

Keep your eye on Josh.  Who is he?  We keep finding out 1 week at a time.  

 

 

 

I've noticed this as well, especially from some of the homer bloggers/local media who are all blaming Daboll, McD, oline, etc but no mention of Allen.

 

The bottom line is that one game doesn't make a season, but in this one game Allen looked like pre 2020 Allen which is not a good thing. And if he doesn't come out have a great statistical game against the Dolphins (win or lose) you better believe it will be time to start questioning the big contract extension which personally I felt was premature if anything because I wanted to see Allen repeat 2020 especially in full NFL stadiums with fans again.

 

Allen was flat out horrible yesterday and you don't get a pass when your worth a quarter of a billion dollars especially with wildly overthrown passes to wide open players.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

33 minutes ago, Jobot said:

 

I 100% agree and feel that next year is the year that we see an unstoppable force in Buffalo. We've got so much talent on the squad right now.. but it's young talent that needs to improve throughout this season.

I know it is silly and it is only 1 week but it feels like Bills 1989.  So much pent up anticipation and pressure to perform.  I give McD crap all the time but honesty this is one of his strongest traits as a HC. He usually does a good job in keeping the team focused.  Case in point the run they went on after the Hopkins miracle TD catch.  

[Jobot]

39 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

I still think the whole the 'run it back' idea is what will ultimately lead to this teams downfall and why they may flounder this year and be nothing more than a WC or one and done playoff team even if they win the division.

 

Obviously TB did it because they won a SB and have the GOAT on their roster.

 

The Chiefs who made the SB and throttled the Bills decided it wasn't enough to 'run in back' as did many other playoff teams from last year.

 

With all that said, I think what we saw yesterday and in the AFCCG is this teams floor which isn't good enough to win against other good teams 9 out of 10 times. I feel we'll see their ceiling soon but don't be surprised if this team as a whole does regress because they simply aren't as good as most fans think and when you have multlple glaring holes like we do you aren't a legit SB contender.

 

What I always go back to is the steady and consistent improvement from McDermott going back to his first day on the job. It would be betting against everything that we have already watched, to think that the Bills suddenly plateau.

[Jobot]

37 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

For some reason, Bills fans don't want to talk about Josh Allen's terrible performance yesterday.

 

It all comes down to the QB, on all teams, in all games, every weekend.

 

It's not that hard to figure out.

 

If Josh plays like he did a few seasons ago, we'll be a fringe wildcard team.

 

If he plays consistently like he did last year, we'll be a force to reckon with with and have a deep playoff push again.

 

Keep your eye on Josh.  Who is he?  We keep finding out 1 week at a time.  

 

 

 

I think what we saw is consistent with what happened all playoffs last season.. Top D-lines that can stuff the run easily and generate pressure with their front four alone, is a problem for the Bills, not just Josh. They NEED to figure out the counter to these types of opponents.

 

Now if Allen had this game against a mediocre D-line/opponent.. then you'd see more alarms sounding from Allen's play.

[hondo in seattle]

3 hours ago, Jobot said:

There was so much hype surrounding this Bills squad going into week-1, and for good reason. But let's not forget that this is the same roster that lost in the AFC game, just ONE game ago. So expecting a massive improvement week-1.. is just not realistic. Last year when the Bills beat the Steelers, they were playing their best football of the season, and firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, they were rusty, sloppy, and not at their best.. and still realistically should have won that game. So take comfort in the fact that  McDermott has steadily made improvements from day-1 that he arrived  at OBD. This team will continue to improve, and come playoffs, be at their new ceiling of play, which hopefully is good enough to win a Super Bowl.

 

That makes it a two game losing streak.

 

Just saying.

[Jobot]

22 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

That makes it a two game losing streak.

 

Just saying.

 

Yes it does, in hindsight it's an obvious example of consistent performance against Top D-Line opponents. The point is, this team didn't have the answer to this type of opponent last year, and still doesn't because it's the same cast of players. It's going to take a lot of work by the coaching staff and players to figure this out. Thankfully, the McDermott track record of being able to improve year over year, week over week, gives me confidence that they'll solve this in time for playoffs.

[Dr. K]

2 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

I've noticed this as well, especially from some of the homer bloggers/local media who are all blaming Daboll, McD, oline, etc but no mention of Allen.

 

The bottom line is that one game doesn't make a season, but in this one game Allen looked like pre 2020 Allen which is not a good thing. And if he doesn't come out have a great statistical game against the Dolphins (win or lose) you better believe it will be time to start questioning the big contract extension which personally I felt was premature if anything because I wanted to see Allen repeat 2020 especially in full NFL stadiums with fans again.

 

Allen was flat out horrible yesterday and you don't get a pass when your worth a quarter of a billion dollars especially with wildly overthrown passes to wide open players.

Aaron Rodgers yesterday:   

 

15/28, 133 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int, Passer Rating of 36.8

 

I would not draw conclusions from one game. 

[FilthyBeast]

6 minutes ago, Dr. K said:

Aaron Rodgers yesterday:   

 

15/28, 133 yards, 0 TD, 2 Int, Passer Rating of 36.8

 

I would not draw conclusions from one game. 

 

Again, this was a home game for Allen and the Bills which I feel is not getting enough attention.

 

Had this game been in Pitt I would have walked away feeling much better knowing that road clunkers happen especially against a team that appears to still be playoff caliber.

 

But it was on our field and elite SB teams and QB's find a way to win even when the opposing team throws their best haymakers at you (i.e. Browns/Chiefs).

 

Sure the final margin was 7 points, but the Steelers came into the Bills house and destroyed the oline (without blitzing) and made Allen look terrible in the process. Against a team like the Chiefs that doesn't have a work in progress offense and QB past his prime we lose by 14-17+ points easy.

[Dr. K]

14 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

Again, this was a home game for Allen and the Bills which I feel is not getting enough attention.

 

Had this game been in Pitt I would have walked away feeling much better knowing that road clunkers happen especially against a team that appears to still be playoff caliber.

 

But it was on our field and elite SB teams and QB's find a way to win even when the opposing team throws their best haymakers at you (i.e. Browns/Chiefs).

 

Sure the final margin was 7 points, but the Steelers came into the Bills house and destroyed the oline (without blitzing) and made Allen look terrible in the process. Against a team like the Chiefs that doesn't have a work in progress offense and QB past his prime we lose by 14-17+ points easy.

If elite QBs find a way to win, does that mean Rodgers is not elite? The Packers were playing the Saints on a neutral field after the Saints could not even practice in their own facility, starting a QB (Winston) who warmed the bench last season.

 

Even elite QBs crap the bed sometimes. 

 

Yes, Allen had a poor game, and the Bills offense as a whole was out of synch. The o-line got beaten up. Against this same Steeler team (which was 10-1 at the time) last year, Allen played an excellent game. I don't think yesterday's result  tells us anything dispositive about Allen or the Bills.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Dr. K

[TPS]

5 hours ago, Jobot said:

There was so much hype surrounding this Bills squad going into week-1, and for good reason. But let's not forget that this is the same roster that lost in the AFC game, just ONE game ago. So expecting a massive improvement week-1.. is just not realistic. Last year when the Bills beat the Steelers, they were playing their best football of the season, and firing on all cylinders. Yesterday, they were rusty, sloppy, and not at their best.. and still realistically should have won that game. So take comfort in the fact that  McDermott has steadily made improvements from day-1 that he arrived  at OBD. This team will continue to improve, and come playoffs, be at their new ceiling of play, which hopefully is good enough to win a Super Bowl.

Yeah, they may look back on this game similar to the loss to Arizona last year.

[without a drought]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

That makes it a two game losing streak.

 

Just saying.

Yep, haven't won a game in 8 months either