NFL Week #3 - Bills at the Dolphins - Post game thread

[3rdand12]

3 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

The concern in these losses is how everyone has all the other excuses and they're valid 

 

The heat, the injuries, the concussion on Tua... 

one of the most exciting Games I have watched in awhile

hell of a chess match. But the ending was wild

 never turn off the Game when Josh is playing
Go Bills

 helluva game !

[Rc2catch]

1 minute ago, DCbillsfan said:

IIRC Eric Wood said it was 112 degrees on the field today.  I'm not making it an excuse but that's a home field advantage that's unrivaled in the NFL.  

 

I would disagree. You know what you’re getting into going there every year. 60+ pass attempts it’s not a big surprise your receivers can’t run anymore in the 4th quarter. 
Especially when there’s only 4 of them after Kumerow is hurt. 
They lost this game. Weather is weather everyone has to deal with it. Their defense was on the field all day in the heat as well. 

[3rdand12]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

Eh. McKenzie is a knucklehead and lacks some football smarts IMO.

he is fast enough. but had nothing left to get outside or turn the corner as expected

[Talley56]

On top of all of this, I picked the Chargers in my eliminator.  Looks like I'm about to be eliminated.  This week sucks.

[WideNine]

28 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

I am not sure - as @BADOLBILZ and others have pointed out, losing 8 close games in a row is not random.  It’s a mentality.  McD may lack that killer instinct or just have a poor overall feel for game flow - he takes his foot off the gas at the craziest moments.  Not just 13 seconds, this has happened repeatedly.  Case in point today, the Bills force a punt at a key moment early in the game and then rather than go for the jugular, they call timeout before the punt, then call two Moss runs for zero yards and get a play in late resulting in a fumble.  You KNOW the decision to run up the middle twice was all McD - he probably thought he’d “reward” his defense for getting the stop by buying them some rest with clock-eating nonsense.  We saw that crap with Frank Gore in 2017.  That was the time to press and instead we gifted the Dolphins a score.

 

McDermott is a fantastic program builder but that may just be his ceiling.  It’s the same in business, there are CEOs who specialize in turning around failing companies and they’re almost always parachuted out once the business has stabilized, and replaced with a visionary who can get the company to the next level.  If the Bills fall short in ‘22 and ‘23 (meaning anything less than a Lombardi) then it is time to cut bait.  Squandering Josh Allen’s prime years would be a war crime.

 

Could be onto something.

 

Or it could be correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Not dismissing it.

 

Losing close games where you are behind is a different animal than losing close games where you are ahead. Both do require excellent clock management to pull out a win.

 

Not sure how we go for the jugular on this one with both Diggs and Davis hobbled, but I do feel there is a play it safe mentality that sets in when we have an edge that often backfires.

 

I try to balance that out with how many times McD now goes for it on 4th down. The early McD would never have done that.

 

Too many injuries and injured players playing for me to assess this game. The only coaching decision I hated was the 3rd and 22 call that sent 3 after our d-line was dominating the LOS. Allowed Tua all day to look for Hill or Waddle.

 

The analytics show when Tua has time he becomes pretty darn accurate. Bad way to play the odds.

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by WideNine

[MAJBobby]

It is what it is. 
 

didn’t make enough plays to win from our High scoring offense and the fins did. 
 

week 3 Division slightest to MIA. 
 

regroup for Baltimore. 

[DCbillsfan]

5 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

 

They copped a flogging in the Colts game last year... it was their worst performance of the season,,,

It was terrible.  And the Patriots Monday night game was pretty bad too.  It amazes me how this team can look like World beaters one week and then have real clunkers.

[Luka]

Players could not execute today. Nothing to do with coaching. We had multiple, multiple opportunities to win this game. Milano drops a pick 6, Gabe Davis drops a TD, Allen skips a pass to a wide open McKenzie which would've been a TD, Bass misses a field goal... that's 24 points right there. And if that's not enough McKenzie for some reason decides to stay in bounds with no time outs left which would've set up a game winning field goal chance. 

Not sure how all that equates to "coaching." 

[3rdand12]

Just now, Rc2catch said:

I would disagree. You know what you’re getting into going there every year. 60+ pass attempts it’s not a big surprise your receivers can’t run anymore in the 4th quarter. 
Especially when there’s only 4 of them after Kumerow is hurt. 
They lost this game. Weather is weather everyone has to deal with it. Their defense was on the field all day in the heat as well. 

Just to point out as the announcers did
The Home Team gets all the sideline shade and the Away team gets full on sun all game , by design of the stadium addition they did. Its an advantage.

[fergie's ire]

47 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

2nd game in a row that Josh has tossed a ball into the ground on a simple short pass to the sideline.  Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue. 

They were looking at his hand on the sideline, but it looked to me like the toe on his lead foot got stuck in the turf as he tried to step into the throw causing it to go into the dirt.

 

[Big Turk]

2 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

I would disagree. You know what you’re getting into going there every year. 60+ pass attempts it’s not a big surprise your receivers can’t run anymore in the 4th quarter. 
Especially when there’s only 4 of them after Kumerow is hurt. 
They lost this game. Weather is weather everyone has to deal with it. Their defense was on the field all day in the heat as well. 

 

They live and practice it in all the time...big difference. The body cannot adjust to that in one day.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Every single one of these losses is followed up with a laundry list of excuses. We don’t win close tough games. Enough excusing it. The coach needs to be better on game day. Period.

[BillzFreak]

7 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

 

They got to 3-0 somehow.  Keep underestimating them......

So there 3-0 in a 17 game season. Congrats to them for squeaking out a win today. But let's be honest here, if it take all the injuries and mental mistakes by the Bills for them to win only by 2 points I'd feel very iffy about how good my team actually is.

[Bing Bong]

1 minute ago, DCbillsfan said:

It was terrible.  And the Patriots Monday night game was pretty bad too.  It amazes me how this team can look like World beaters one week and then have real clunkers.

Every team does that

[Billz4ever]

1 hour ago, RunTheBall said:

 

Honest question, what specifically about the coaching did you think was in error? What game day decisions led to the loss?

 

The loss sucks but doesn’t really bother me too much. My biggest concern is the complete lack of running game. 2nd and goal from the 2 should be an automatic TD. Having Josh in the shotgun is f’in stupid down there. Even though the 4th down play was there, you shouldn’t need to pass. If we don’t develop some semblance of a running game this team is not going all the way, period. 

3rd and 22, 3-man rush.  How do you allow a deep ball that wide open with 8 in coverage?  That was the time to bring pressure.  If your secondary is decimated, you don't give the opposing QB time to find the holes.  

 

That was the play of the game in my view.

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, DCbillsfan said:

It was terrible.  And the Patriots Monday night game was pretty bad too.  It amazes me how this team can look like World beaters one week and then have real clunkers.

Hard to call todays stat sheet a clunker. The Bills and Josh failed to close but they controlled this football game. This loss is definitely  on the offense but it wasn’t a clunker on that side of the ball. 

[Billz4ever]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

4 plays that would have made a difference…

 

1 - clock runs out at end of half; no FG attempt

 

2 - clock runs out at end of game; no FG attempt

 

3 - Milano dropped what would have been a sure pick 6

 

4 - Bass shank

Not to mention allowing a deep completion on 3rd and 22 because you decided to only rush 3 and allow Tua to find the hole in our depleted secondary.

[DCbillsfan]

6 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

I would disagree. You know what you’re getting into going there every year. 60+ pass attempts it’s not a big surprise your receivers can’t run anymore in the 4th quarter. 
Especially when there’s only 4 of them after Kumerow is hurt. 
They lost this game. Weather is weather everyone has to deal with it. Their defense was on the field all day in the heat as well. 

Weather is not weather when you're talking that kind of heat and humidity.  Your body actually adjusts to those conditions.  Losing fluids to a point where you are cramping up and can't breathe is terrible.  It just sucks.  I live here in DC and deal with that crap in July and August.  I'm guessing you don't live in heat.

5 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

Hard to call todays stat sheet a clunker. The Bills and Josh failed to close but they controlled this football game. This loss is definitely  on the offense but it wasn’t a clunker on that side of the ball. 

I was referring to last year's losses.  Today was frustrating though.

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, BillzFreak said:

So there 3-0 in a 17 game season. Congrats to them for squeaking out a win today. But let's be honest here, if it take all the injuries and mental mistakes by the Bills for them to win only by 2 points I'd feel very iffy about how good my team actually is.

I feel good about their talent and ability to be in every game, but make no mistake this was a blown opportunity that could haunt the Bills come playoff time. The Super Bowl is the only thing that matters for this group anymore and their chances took a hit today. 

[K-9]

37 minutes ago, HalftimeAdjustment said:

We basically managed to lose this game on offense. I think we would have won it if we had a better running game, or if Mitch Morse had played. Late in the game Josh was pressing and maybe fatigued. He missed throws that he just did not miss early in the game. No wonder, with the heat and the not great OL play, he looked tired. The good thing is, very few games will be played in those conditions. And, we still had several chances to win... if we can do just a little better we'll be fine.

Offense ran 90 plays. 90. Yeah, I’d say Josh was fatigued. 
 

Which is why I’m taking the Bengals on Thursday night. Dolphins D was also out there for 90 plays in that heat. And on a three day week, I just don’t think that’s enough time to recover adequately.

Edited September 25, 2022 by K-9

[Aussie Joe]

2 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Every single one of these losses is followed up with a laundry list of excuses. We don’t win close tough games. Enough excusing it. The coach needs to be better on game day. Period.

 

I agree...

 

Whats even more annoying is 5 seconds later people saying "they have already moved on" after the loss,...

 

If the losses dont matter, how can you savour the wins?

[atlbillsfan1975]

12 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

They are a playoff team… do they beat us out for the division? Not unless Josh is out long term. 
 

My concern isn’t the Dolphins. It’s the 1 seed…. And more blown games like today they will ***** that up for sure.

Luckily there are no more games playing in 100 heat coming off a short week after playing a physical opponent on Monday night. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

3 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

3rd and 22, 3-man rush.  How do you allow a deep ball that wide open with 8 in coverage?  That was the time to bring pressure.  If your secondary is decimated, you don't give the opposing QB time to find the holes.  

 

That was the play of the game in my view.

I’m arbitrarily choosing to blame the Matt Milano dropped pick six that hit him right in the mitts but there’s a lot to choose from 

[Billz4ever]

1 hour ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Was Von on the field for that play?

I would need to see the replay to be sure, but I'm thinking he was not, which defies logic.

[Rc2catch]

Just now, DCbillsfan said:

Weather is not weather when you're talking that kind of heat and humidity.  Your body actually adjusts to those conditions.  Losing fluids to a point where you are cramping up and can't breathe is terrible.  It just sucks.  I live here in DC and deal with that crap in July and August.  I'm guessing you don't live in heat.

I live in Tennessee which can get a little warm. 

I don’t agree it’s an unfair advantage though. They prepared the best they could for heat, and still chose to throw 60+ passes while controlling time of possession all day. They should have been able to run right over Miami the entire 4th quarter. 

[BillzFreak]

Just now, Boatdrinks said:

I feel good about their talent and ability to be in every game, but make no mistake this was a blown opportunity that could haunt the Bills come playoff time. The Super Bowl is the only thing that matters for this group anymore and their chances took a hit today. 

Yes blown opportunity for sure. But again it's week 3 there are so many unknowns about the season still to come. I hate losing, especially a division game, but it's way to early to say this haunts us come playoff time. We have no idea what any team will look like by then. Tough loss today but in no way does this kill our season.

[Donuts and Doritos]

Any idea if we sustained any long term injuries or were they just heat related? Thinking Kumorow & Vanrotten in particular seemed more than just the heat. (hard to win when the entire O-line goes out of the game except 1. Yet they almost pulled it off).

[Billz4ever]

1 hour ago, Motorin' said:

And they should be blitzing more. Instead of playing soft zone on 3rd and long. 

That right there is what gets this coaching staff in trouble.

 

Against the Rams and Titans, we were getting pressure on the majority of plays just rushing 4.

 

This coaching staff hasn't figured it out yet that if you're not getting good pressure with just the front 4, you're going to have to blitz a backer or something.  Far too often they think they can get away with this and with a secondary depleted by injuries, you most certainly cannot.  

[WideNine]

We play them again.

 

In our house.

 

In December.

 

Winter is coming, along with some payback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RochesterLifer]

1 hour ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 

The goal isn't to be fine. As in the 2 or 3 seed or just win the division. The goal is to get the one seed. As of right now I would not say we are fine. That said, we certainly can beat any team any day. But we won't be cruising to a one seed unfortunately. 

Have some mild and cookies. You’ll be fine too.

[Billz4ever]

57 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

2nd game in a row that Josh has tossed a ball into the ground on a simple short pass to the sideline.  Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue. 

Josh shouldn't be in the position of having to throw it 63 times in a game either.  This was supposed to be the year we finally got a complementary running game to take some heat off Josh.  Saw some flashes against LA, but outside of the long run by Moss today, I'm not impressed. Josh is incredible, but we can't expect perfection from him every week. 

[DCbillsfan]

8 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

I live in Tennessee which can get a little warm. 

I don’t agree it’s an unfair advantage though. They prepared the best they could for heat, and still chose to throw 60+ passes while controlling time of possession all day. They should have been able to run right over Miami the entire 4th quarter. 

We'll just disagree on the weather issue.

[Rc2catch]

Just now, DCbillsfan said:

We'll just disagree on the weather issue.

That is completely fair. Appreciate a respectful response despite a disagreement. 

[Billz4ever]

40 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

I just think it’s a bad look for our fanbase. People saying OSHA should be brought in to investigate, etc.. I get people are upset, but cmon. both teams played in it on the exact same field. After all the nonsense and injuries we had TWO chances to win the game at the end, and blew em both.

The way it's supposed to work is the defense that's on the field the whole game is the team that is supposed to be in trouble with fatigue.  It was our own offense that it appeared to impact more, not Miami's D.  It was hot. It was hot for Miami and their D was on the field for 42 mins compared to 18 for ours.  That clearly should've worked in our favor, but it didn't.  

[RunTheBall]

The lack of a competent running game is the single most important issue to fix. Even we can’t be one dimensional and go far in the playoffs

[mannc]

Green Bay doesn’t seem to be having much trouble with the heat in Tampa…

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 minutes ago, mannc said:

Green Bay doesn’t seem to be having much trouble with the heat in Tampa…

I think the later start time there helps with the heat. I don’t think the heat index is over 100. 

[Billz4ever]

31 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

 

They got to 3-0 somehow.  Keep underestimating them......

How many times did the Bills start off like gangbusters in the lean years only to implode later? A Bills fan of all people should know better than to making a huge deal about 3-0.

 

You're going to have to really try hard to convince me why I'm supposed to be impressed by a team that barely broke 200 yards of offense against a decimated defense.

[BillzFreak]

3 minutes ago, mannc said:

Green Bay doesn’t seem to be having much trouble with the heat in Tampa…

But you can also say Brady is down his 3 starting receivers and a bunch of starting offensive linemen. Funny how this works right 😉

[UKBillFan]

5 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

The way it's supposed to work is the defense that's on the field the whole game is the team that is supposed to be in trouble with fatigue.  It was our own offense that it appeared to impact more, not Miami's D.  It was hot. It was hot for Miami and their D was on the field for 42 mins compared to 18 for ours.  That clearly should've worked in our favor, but it didn't.  

 

And it has to be asked why they coped far better with it than us.