Questions to ponder during the bye week

[FilthyBeast]

This was a crappy loss but not necessarily unexpected given the nature of this league and this team likely wasn't going 16-1 anyway. With that said there are a lot of questions to ponder in the next few weeks:

 

1) How good is this team? Are they really a SB contender?

My biggest concern with losing against the Titans is the totality of the season as a whole thus far. Yes we dominated 3 lessor teams and beat what we assume is also a playoff team in KC, but there will be critics that now look at the Bills as paper tigers especially if the Chiefs continue to play inconsistent football. By default the Bills are certainly going to be an AFC contender given the weak remaining schedule and clear path to division titale, but after last night I'm really not sure if they are in the same class as a team like the Cardinals who dominated this same Titans team on the road, and several other contenders in similar fashion. Still plenty of time to go but right now I think the Bills are just another good team that's probably in the secondary tier until proven otherwise.

 

2) Speaking of the Chiefs, was this the Bills 'Super Bowl'?

As of right now I would say check back with me in a few months. But no matter what the players say, there's no question there was an extra motivation last week to have a good showing and get a win if anything to exorcise a necessary demon. I keep thinking back to the 2018 Jaguars who ironically started the season 4-1 that year and destroyed the Patriots (who they lost to in the AFCCG) and them completely falling apart the rest of the way after putting all their eggs in the proverbial basket for that specific game. Obviously this bills team is not a one  hit wonder like the 2017 Jags, and they also have a favorable schedule on deck but you can't argue how emotionally drained they were last night against the Titans particularly on defense. And to essentially lose the game on the last play of the game coming up short on 4th down play could foreshadow a similar end to the season come playoff time.

 

3) Can the Bills overcome the glaring flaws that were on full display again last night?

No team is perfect, but the same specific issues that cost this team against the Steelers (and have still lingered to a certain degree during the Bills 4 game win streak) are why this team lost again. Starting with the oline, they are way to inconsistent and simply not built to handle physical teams. John Feliciano in particular continues to show why he's not an NFL starting olinemen and both tackles struggled mightily again including Spencer Brown crashing to earth in a major way. On defense once again the pass rush was non existent against a QB and team that has been among the worst in the league until they played the Bills off course. As a result once again Levi Wallace was exposed as the weak link getting throw at and completed on over and over again. Just not sure the Bills can overcome this even if they attempt to address at the trade deadline and this is why sadly I don't think they ultimately go very far in the playoffs this year especially if they match up against the Titans or a simliar team again.

 

4) Defense owned and exposed?

Piggy backing off the last question, it's really hard to know if this defense simply had a let down or just isn't as good as we thought. Realistically for me it's probably somewhere in between. Yes there is a talent on defense but it's more a collection of really good role players/above average players and no true game changers (at least against other playoff caliber teams). And once again this is why I've always hated this scheme and the whole 'bend but don't break' style because when it works great, but when it breaks it truly breaks as we saw pretty much the entire game after the 1st quarter against the Titans. I'm sure this defense will come out of the bye week and look great again against the likes of the Dolphins, Jets, etc but there are still going to be a lot of question marks until we play a legit team again.  Also no matter what way you spin it,  a defense that some were comparing to the 2000 Ravens has lost to a washed up Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill so far this year in just 6 games.

 

Anyways, hopefully this team comes out angry and has a similar finish to the season after last years pre bye week debacle.

[frostbitmic]

Question to ponder - What will it feel like to have a 1 PM Sunday game again.

[Bangarang]

This team is still really good. Like, one of the best in the league good.

 

No, the Chiefs game wasn't our SB. That's nonsense.

 

Tough to overcome OL and DL issues mid season. 

 

Yes, the defense was exposed. All the other teams we play that also have Derrick Henry are licking their chops. Is this a serious question or are you just looking for a reaction? 

[stevestojan]

Question to Ponder: 

 

Will Dawkins stop tweeting about “you already Shnow” and actually hit the weight room? 

[FilthyBeast]

Just now, Bangarang said:

This team is still really good. Like, one of the best in the league good.

 

No, the Chiefs game wasn't our SB. That's nonsense.

 

Tough to overcome OL and DL issues mid season. 

 

Yes, the defense was exposed. All the other teams we play that also have Derrick Henry are licking their chops. Is this a serious question or are you just looking for a reaction? 

 

Yes you are right, this team is good and I stated that.

 

But anybody that thinks they are in the same class as the Cardinals for example show me the proof otherwise. Again this team has lost to Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill who have been among the worst QB's in the NFL thus far. Cardinals for example destroyed this same Titans team on the road, and the Browns and Rams. Does anybody really believe we'd beat them head to head right now regardless of the venue, especially against that offense and the weapons they have?

 

The good news is that it's a week to week league and there's still a long road ahead but the questions I asked are legitimate and why I've said all along that Bills mafia might want to humble themselves and tap the brakes a bit especially in terms of making travel plans to LA next february.

[Gugny]

Question to Ponder:  Are Meltdown Tuesdays better than Meltdown Mondays? 

[nedboy7]

These 2 weeks are gonna be painful. 

If our D was owned so was theirs.  We could have won that game no doubt.  With our crappy line. 

I do like your last sentence however. 

[First Round Bust]

yeah and still we were inches away from winning ugly and feeling better..they can draft and gameplan and scheme all ya want, we were out-executed man-to-man....kind of reminds me of the playoff win over the Colts, only this time the opponent did not screw-up

[teef]

Just now, Gugny said:

Question to Ponder:  Are Meltdown Tuesdays better than Meltdown Mondays? 

i like to think of it as an over reaction week.   it's the same people letting us know we're just not good enough.

[WhoTom]

Just now, Gugny said:

Question to Ponder:  Are Meltdown Tuesdays better than Meltdown Mondays? 

 

Normally, yes, since we have less time before the next game. But that's of little comfort when the meltdown occurs just before a bye.

 

[nedboy7]

Just now, teef said:

i like to think of it as an over reaction week.   it's the same people letting us know we're just not good enough.

 

2 weeks.  Meltdowwwnnn.....

[Process]

Holy **** it's gonna be a long two weeks on here

 

The bills are currently second in Superbowl betting odds

 

They are still a top 5 team in the league

 

They are still the favorites to win the conference

 

We didn't get "exposed." We lost a tight game on the road to a good team. We are clearly better than the Titans. But they match up well against us and played tough. It happens. 

 

In a month we will be 8-2. Relax.

[JohnBonhamRocks]

Don’t mind being a top AFC team and barely losing in a great game to another top AFC team right after stomping another top AFC team.

Edited October 19, 2021 by JohnBonhamRocks

[gonzo1105]

Yes the Bills are still a super bowl contender they lost by 3 playing terrible to a really good football team with a lot of talent 

[Bangarang]

4 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

Yes you are right, this team is good and I stated that.

 

But anybody that thinks they are in the same class as the Cardinals for example show me the proof otherwise. Again this team has lost to Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill who have been among the worst QB's in the NFL thus far. Cardinals for example destroyed this same Titans team on the road, and the Browns and Rams. Does anybody really believe we'd beat them head to head right now regardless of the venue, especially against that offense and the weapons they have?

 

The good news is that it's a week to week league and there's still a long road ahead but the questions I asked are legitimate and why I've said all along that Bills mafia might want to humble themselves and tap the brakes a bit especially in terms of making travel plans to LA next february.

Should the league just give the Lombardi to the Cardinals now then? I don’t understand your point with this.

[Gugny]

1 minute ago, teef said:

i like to think of it as an over reaction week.   it's the same people letting us know we're just not good enough.

 

1 minute ago, WhoTom said:

 

Normally, yes, since we have less time before the next game. But that's of little comfort when the meltdown occurs just before a bye.

 

 

Don't get me wrong ... Meltdowns are one of my favorite activities here on TBD!!  It's like those Facebook friends I have who are only my Facebook friends so I can watch them lose their ***** from time-to-time.  Is it wrong that I think that's fun?  I find it fun here, too!

 

[teef]

4 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

 

2 weeks.  Meltdowwwnnn.....

i mean...the bills are going to lose more games this season.  it happens to the best teams.  the titans lost the the jets and they never should have.  i don't know why people let their lives be ruined over this.

[Bills fan since 87]

15 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

Question to ponder - What will it feel like to have a 1 PM Sunday game again.

 

Nice, and 4 in a row to boot

[Gen2]

I think all of your questions can be answered at the same time.

 

The Bills have built their team over the last few years to be able to consistently beat the Patriots who were a passing offense and run the ball almost as an afterthought kind of team, last year the team realized that they had attained that goal (attributed as much to the Pats decline as our buildup). The team then started to build to be able to consistently beat the Chiefs who are also a pass first team, and IMHO have attained that goal. The problem is that when your team is centered on being a fast strike score a billion points on offense, and a flood the passing lanes to harass the the passing game type of defense, you run into problems with smash mouth run it up the gut bully the opponent kind of teams. I think we will always have problems with the Titians and Ravens of the world, but the majority of teams in todays NFL are the air it out to score on any given play rather than the "I'm going to run it a dozen times a series to march down the field", so I think we'll be just fine.

[Greg S]

6 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

Yes you are right, this team is good and I stated that.

 

But anybody that thinks they are in the same class as the Cardinals for example show me the proof otherwise. Again this team has lost to Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill who have been among the worst QB's in the NFL thus far. Cardinals for example destroyed this same Titans team on the road, and the Browns and Rams. Does anybody really believe we'd beat them head to head right now regardless of the venue, especially against that offense and the weapons they have?

 

The good news is that it's a week to week league and there's still a long road ahead but the questions I asked are legitimate and why I've said all along that Bills mafia might want to humble themselves and tap the brakes a bit especially in terms of making travel plans to LA next february.

 

It took a great special teams play by the Steelers to win that game. The Bills D held the Steelers O in check for the most part. Watt was healthy that game and he is a game changer on defense. He is the exact kind of player the Bills could use to make their D elite. 

[teef]

4 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

 

Don't get me wrong ... Meltdowns are one of my favorite activities here on TBD!!  It's like those Facebook friends I have who are only my Facebook friends so I can watch them lose their ***** from time-to-time.  Is it wrong that I think that's fun?  I find it fun here, too!

 

oh no.  i love the over reaction.  it's especially fun to look who started a thread, and immediately know the whiney tone it will have.  it will calm down in a few days.    

Edited October 19, 2021 by teef

[Success]

Super Bowl teams are easier to identify in December than in October.

 

The Bills played a great game yesterday. TN played better (and got a few more breaks).  There are no good losses, but I think that is one that will benefit them in the long run.

 

[teef]

Just now, Success said:

Super Bowl teams are easier to identify in December than in October.

 

The Bills played a great game yesterday. TN played better (and got a few more breaks).  There are no good losses, but I think that is one that will benefit them in the long run.

 

no doubt.  when looking at this past 2 game stretch on the schedule, i felt the bills would be in great shape if they could split one of these 2 away primetime games.  they did, and although losses aren't fun, i'm not worried about this team at all.  

[FilthyBeast]

7 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Should the league just give the Lombardi to the Cardinals now then? I don’t understand your point with this.

 

No because it's a week to week league, but at this moment in time they are better.

 

The good news is the Cardinals have yet to have their Titans type of loss and the Bills got it out of the way.

 

I just think at the end of the day the Bills have serious flaws that will ultimately keep them from hoisting the Lombardi trophy or even having that chance for that matter.

[RyanC883]

dude, you are not allowed to "ponder" anything after a bad loss.  The team is great, just a hiccup, no corrections need to be made.  We are awesome.  (1/2 the posters on here today).  

 

 

[ToGoGo]

15 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

Yes you are right, this team is good and I stated that.

 

But anybody that thinks they are in the same class as the Cardinals for example show me the proof otherwise. Again this team has lost to Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill who have been among the worst QB's in the NFL thus far. Cardinals for example destroyed this same Titans team on the road, and the Browns and Rams. Does anybody really believe we'd beat them head to head right now regardless of the venue, especially against that offense and the weapons they have?

 

The good news is that it's a week to week league and there's still a long road ahead but the questions I asked are legitimate and why I've said all along that Bills mafia might want to humble themselves and tap the brakes a bit especially in terms of making travel plans to LA next february.

 

It's a week to week league, but it doesn't mean you have to be a week to week thinker.

 

Cardinals still have a lot to prove. More than us. Murray slips up next week and then what? Will there be another boogie man that we should be scared of? 

[dave mcbride]

12 minutes ago, Process said:

Holy **** it's gonna be a long two weeks on here

 

The bills are currently second in Superbowl betting odds

 

They are still a top 5 team in the league

 

They are still the favorites to win the conference

 

We didn't get "exposed." We lost a tight game on the road to a good team. We are clearly better than the Titans. But they match up well against us and played tough. It happens. 

 

In a month we will be 8-2. Relax.

Not so sure about this. The bizarre thing about this season is that everyone thought that the AFC was better than the NFC going into the season, but I'd argue that four of the best five teams in the league are in the NFC: AZ, LAR, GB, and TB. The other top team is somewhere between Buffalo, KC, and Baltimore. I love the Bills, obviously, but I can't get around the fact that they're 3-0 against terrible teams starting backup QBs and 1-2 vs. pretty good-to-good teams with their regular starting QBs.   

1 minute ago, ToGoGo said:

 

It's a week to week league, but it doesn't mean you have to be a week to week thinker.

 

Cardinals still have a lot to prove. More than us. Murray slips up next week and then what? Will there be another boogie man that we should be scared of? 

Murray is good. The jury results are arriving.

[Jobot]

Our defense is built to defend mobile qbs, not to stop derrick henry. Our offense is built to stop Derrick Henry, unfortunately the titans hung around because we settled for field goals early on. Even with this, the Bills convert that 4th down 9 times out of 10 and win that game.

[Toledo Bill]

28 minutes ago, stevestojan said:

Question to Ponder: 

 

Will Dawkins stop tweeting about “you already Shnow” and actually hit the weight room? 

He is far from an elite left tackle. He has regressed terribly.

[Beast]

I will be pondering none of those questions.

[dave mcbride]

18 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

No because it's a week to week league, but at this moment in time they are better.

 

The good news is the Cardinals have yet to have their Titans type of loss and the Bills got it out of the way.

 

I just think at the end of the day the Bills have serious flaws that will ultimately keep them from hoisting the Lombardi trophy or even having that chance for that matter.

Yeah, I don't see them as a SB winner this season. I think the only chance they have of getting there is getting home field advantage throughout, which is possible but I don't think probable. Presently, I have them going 13-4, which is good but I don't think good enough. I think they lose to TB and lose either to NO or the Pats once. Too many of the Pats games are 50/50 propositions, and their luck is bound to turn at some point in those games. They're 1-3 in such games now. For the Bills sake, you want those two losses to be to TB and NO (despite it ruining Thanksgiving). The problem is that the Ravens schedule isn't that hard. They're clearly the best team in a weaker-than-expected AFC North (I'm not a believer in the Bengals vs. good teams), and they get GB and the Rams at home. 14-3 is a very legit possibility for them: https://www.baltimoreravens.com/schedule/.

Tennessee is a problem, but they have the Pats and the Rams on the road and the Chiefs at home: https://www.tennesseetitans.com/schedule/.  The rest of their schedule is pretty easy, although the Colts always play them tough. Jax, Miami, Houston twice, and SF at home are basically five guaranteed wins. I know it's problematic to pull for the Chiefs, but given the tiebreaker situation, we definitely want them to beat TN this week. That's a big game for the Bills. I'm guessing 12-5/11-6 at the end of the day for TN.

 

The Chiefs have a tough schedule, but the toughest opponents outside of LAC are at home. I think the Chiefs win that division at the end of the day. Chargers gonna Charger. And the Raiders will implode at some point.

Edited October 19, 2021 by dave mcbride

[FilthyBeast]

8 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

 

It's a week to week league, but it doesn't mean you have to be a week to week thinker.

 

Cardinals still have a lot to prove. More than us. Murray slips up next week and then what? Will there be another boogie man that we should be scared of? 

 

My whole point is that as of Ocober 19, 2021 the Bills are not the best team in the league (both record wise and tangible results on the field). Arizona looks like a real powerhouse if anything based on easy blowout wins on the road against the same Titans team, Rams (who many also see as a SB team) and Browns.

 

Both the Browns and Titans are teams that are an obvious bad matchup for the Bills because of their physical style of play and the Cardinals dispatched both easily on the road with the games essentially over by halftime.

 

Yes things can change, but again in a week to week league nobody can sit here and tell me unbiasedly the Bills are the clear cut #1 team in the NFL, or conference for that matter.

[UKBillFan]

I have had about two hours sleep so might be over-tired; I may look back on this later in the week and think I’m an idiot. However, at the moment, for me, we’ve proven nothing but we’re flat track bullies. We can steamroller weak teams and we managed to beat an out of sorts Chiefs but when someone has our number? We lose. Until we hit maybe the Saints in week twelve we will not be able to prove otherwise either (unless we lose again in the meantime). It may be unlucky, it might be something we “learn from” but how many times have we heard that? And how many times do we make the same mistakes, proving we learn little?
 

In truth, yesterday was an either way game and we fell the wrong side of it. But that happens far too often. And the Titans are a decent team but not world beaters yet we kept them in the game and allowed them to capitalise. We lost the game yesterday; they didn’t win it. Again that happens all to often - this season alone it’s the second game in six that has occurred.

[dave mcbride]

8 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

My whole point is that as of Ocober 19, 2021 the Bills are not the best team in the league (both record wise and tangible results on the field). Arizona looks like a real powerhouse if anything based on easy blowout wins on the road against the same Titans team, Rams (who many also see as a SB team) and Browns.

 

Both the Browns and Titans are teams that are an obvious bad matchup for the Bills because of their physical style of play and the Cardinals dispatched both easily on the road with the games essentially over by halftime.

 

Yes things can change, but again in a week to week league nobody can sit here and tell me unbiasedly the Bills are the clear cut #1 team in the NFL, or conference for that matter.

The Browns appear to have serious problems and Mayfield is going to be less than 100 percent all season. They're also probably going to lose twice to the Ravens.

[LeGOATski]

I stopped reading at "paper tiger"

2 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

I have had about two hours sleep so might be over-tired; I may look back on this later in the week and think I’m an idiot. However, at the moment, for me, we’ve proven nothing but we’re flat track bullies. We can steamroller weak teams and we managed to beat an out of sorts Chiefs but when someone has our number? We lose. Until we hit maybe the Saints in week twelve we will not be able to prove otherwise either (unless we lose again in the meantime). It may be unlucky, it might be something we “learn from” but how many times have we heard that? And how many times do we make the same mistakes, proving we learn little?
 

In truth, yesterday was an either way game and we fell the wrong side of it. But that happens far too often. And the Titans are a decent team but not world beaters yet we kept them in the game and allowed them to capitalise. We lost the game yesterday; they didn’t win it. Again that happens all to often - this season alone it’s the second game in six that has occurred.

Get some sleep. You're living in the past. The Bills were in the AFCCG last year.

[SinceThe70s]

34 minutes ago, teef said:

oh no.  i love the over reaction.  it's especially fun to look who started a thread, and immediately know the whiney tone it will have.  it will calm down in a few days.    

 

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of 300 yard passing game guy. He enjoyed yesterdays game far more than some of our wins over the past few years. 

[UKBillFan]

3 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

I stopped reading at "paper tiger"

Get some sleep. You're living in the past. The Bills were in the AFCCG last year.

Yes, the AFCCG. Not the Super Bowl. Not World Champions. Have we improved this year? I can understand why some are saying no.

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

Honestly i thought the OL did a bad job at points, and at other points, a great job. They played a good team, that was playing above their potential last night, at least on defense. Spencer Brown was a liability last night, that’s part of the growth process. Same with Rousseau. Now we’ll see what they’re made of and how well they respond to coaching. 
 

Im disappointed, but this is still a great team. 

[LeGOATski]

27 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

I love the Bills, obviously, but I can't get around the fact that they're 3-0 against terrible teams starting backup QBs and 1-2 vs. pretty good-to-good teams with their regular starting QBs.   

This is one of the biggest misconceptions, I think.

 

Great teams do exactly what the Bills have been doing since last year. Beat everyone they're supposed to beat and 50/50 against good teams.

 

Maybe the ball bounces their way and they end up 75/25 against good teams. Maybe not. 

 

But if they end up 13-4 and lost to some good teams in close games like last night, that's not abnormal or some kind of indication that they're not a real contender. Great teams lose games every year (unless they're the 72 Dolphins or the Cheaters).

[dave mcbride]

Just now, LeGOATski said:

This is one of the biggest misconceptions, I think.

 

Great teams do exactly what the Bills have been doing since last year. Beat everyone they're supposed to beat and 50/50 against good teams.

 

Maybe the ball bounces their way and they end up 75/25 against good teams. Maybe not. 

 

But if they end up 13-4 and lost to some good teams in close games like last night, that's not abnormal or some kind of indication that they're not a real contender. Great teams lose games every year (unless they're the 72 Dolphins or the Cheaters).

I think they're a contender, but I also think they're too flawed to get the SB without home field advantage throughout. I don't think that'll happen this year unless the Ravens lose in the first round (which is possible but not probable). Of course, I could be wrong about the Ravens, but I expect them to get to 14 wins.