We don't have the mentality to win close games

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

12 hours ago, UKBillFan said:

Trying to compose myself. The issue is the majority of injuries was on defense. If we lost 42-38 or something I don't think I'd be so annoyed. But somehow we only put up 17 points (plus the screwed up safety on their part). We needed the offense today, we needed our MVP today. And it didn't work out.

The dude passed 63? times, 400+ yards and 2TD, no INT IN A LOSS.

 

Loss isn't on Allen, it's on the coaches. The extra pass at the end of the first half, not taking the points repeatedly in the red zone.

 

Always always ALWAYS take the points on the road, IDGAF what the math nerds say

[78thealltimegreat]

6 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

 

well, not hit the turf in front of a wide open receiver?  Defense not blow a 3rd and 22 by rushing 3.  (Frazier)

Maybe not have Gabe Davis drop a touchdown pass or have Milano drop a layup pick 6 if you wanna go there 

[billsfan_34]

14 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

Dude save it what more do you want Allen to do? They where down 7 starters on the road 

In 100 degrees temps on the field. This might be a top nomination for dumbest threwd of the year. 

6 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

 

well, not hit the turf in front of a wide open receiver?  Defense not blow a 3rd and 22 by rushing 3.  (Frazier)

You realize he put up huge numbers and carried the team on his back while his throwing hand was banged up? Everyone wants to pile on after a loss- get over yourself.

[Just in Atlanta]

The team, a quarter of it injured, left everything on that field Sunday. Missed opps bit us. Not a mentality. 
 

This place is miserable sometimes.

[JoshAllin]

1 hour ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Loss isn't on Allen, it's on the coaches. The extra pass at the end of the first half,

The coach didn't call that play, that's mostly the centers fault and being off with Allen all game. 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

8 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

It’s going to be talked about until they actually win a close game…. 

let them. 
 

I would rather they lost by 3 than 10. 
 

that means it was competitive 

 

Now if it was 10 to 7 sure I’d complain 

 

but that only happens infrequent 

 

[K-9]

16 hours ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

Just win one close game before I die!

Too bad you missed the 2020 season when they won six of them. 

[zow2]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Too bad you missed the 2020 season when they won six of them. 

 

True, we were all there.  But the streak they are on of not winning close games is becoming a huge story.  National outlets are picking up on it too.  

Bills are not sniffing a Super Bowl until they can figure out how to win some of these.  They are absolutely choking at the end and all three phases have contributed. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

18 hours ago, UKBillFan said:

Complete chokers across the board, with no clue how to play when under pressure. Offense was putrid and the play calling little better. Favourites for the Superbowl? Only if the defense is fully fit because the Offense, even with the so called predicted MVP, is not good enough.

 

ETA 15 minutes later - Won't delete the original post because I have to own it. But now I've calmed down slightly... still annoying. And I think I'll still have doubts about us being able to able to cope with the pressure of a one score game at the death until we win one of them.

What’s this we crap, i eeked out win in a very close ping pong game just this weekend.. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Over 29 years of fanhood

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

Too bad you missed the 2020 season when they won six of them. 

 
 

I missed a lot of things in 2020

[Straight Hucklebuck]

19 hours ago, UKBillFan said:

Complete chokers across the board, with no clue how to play when under pressure. Offense was putrid and the play calling little better. Favourites for the Superbowl? Only if the defense is fully fit because the Offense, even with the so called predicted MVP, is not good enough.

 

ETA 15 minutes later - Won't delete the original post because I have to own it. But now I've calmed down slightly... still annoying. And I think I'll still have doubts about us being able to able to cope with the pressure of a one score game at the death until we win one of them.

We do stupid things, for sure this Coaching staff has not figured it completely out. 

 

Tennessee on the goal line, go for all the marbles, can't convert. 

 

Kansas City we play prevent defense (and still rush 4) knowing KC has 3 timeouts and has to get rid of the ball in <2 seconds. We watch Tyreek Hill gain an immediate 25 yards, then we roll the same defense out again the next play. 

 

2nd and Goal from the <1 yard line at the 2-minute mark, and we don't just ram it 3 times for the lead and bleed clock. Nope we do a fancy Josh Allen RPO thing, pass, pass. 

 

Let alone this staff benching Kahlil Shakir on a day where we needed anyone to make a play down the stretch, the constant meltdowns on critical defensive plays (Texans 2020, 3rd-22). 

 

This constant insistence on Zack Moss. 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Straight Hucklebuck

[K-9]

9 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins&#x27; Rib said:

 
 

I missed a lot of things in 2020

That makes two of us.

[Donuts and Doritos]

This was a team loss. Hopefully they learn from this that the little things, focus & execution are the difference between winning & loosing close games. (If they do, then this will have been the best loss they could have). Until they learn to win close games, I fear they'll be vulnerable in the post season when the margin for victory tightens.

[Jauronimo]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

Do they get some sort of trophy for keeping it close but still losing? 
 

You were satisfied they just kept it close in KC last January?

Do you think yesterday's loss was continuation of a trend or a factor of running out of healthy bodies?

[Shake_My_Head]

This is a particularly useful thread.   Thanks, OP.

[Milanos Milano]

1 minute ago, ScottLaw said:

Do they get some sort of trophy for keeping it close but still losing? 
 

You were satisfied they just kept it close in KC last January?

They should start handing out trophies for close loses. It’s a hard to win in the NFL… 

[freddyjj]

19 hours ago, UKBillFan said:

Complete chokers across the board, with no clue how to play when under pressure. Offense was putrid and the play calling little better. Favourites for the Superbowl? Only if the defense is fully fit because the Offense, even with the so called predicted MVP, is not good enough.

 

ETA 15 minutes later - Won't delete the original post because I have to own it. But now I've calmed down slightly... still annoying. And I think I'll still have doubts about us being able to able to cope with the pressure of a one score game at the death until we win one of them.

 

Give it break Nigel!

[Shake_My_Head]

Seems ironic that the OP is taking about mentality.

[FilthyBeast]

This is still a soft team at it's core and that's a direct reflection on the head coach sadly.

 

And until this team proves they can win a close football game again these narratives will be front and center.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

I’ll bet that the Bills could win the super bowl and @ScottLawwould still B word and complain. 
 

 

[UKBillFan]

11 minutes ago, SlimShady&#x27;sSpaceForce said:

I’ll bet that the Bills could win the super bowl and @ScottLawwould still B word and complain. 
 

 

 

The afternoon after the night before and I actually look back on this and feel embarrassed. It was an emotional take posted straight after the loss. I should have waited by it was cathartic at the time.

 

Saying that, I do still have concerns about our ability of getting over the line in close games. Seven straight losses is not good for Super Bowl favourites, and we seem to find interesting new ways to lose as well - McKenzie running in the wrong direction and failing to stop the clock being the latest. I love the blow outs, it's great when things click we can blast teams away. But sometimes we need to grind results out.

 

Injuries are the primary concern now. Offense were spent having to be on the field so much to try and help the defense. We need to be able to trust both sides of the ball and we understandably can't at the moment.

[Dr.Sack]

Good teams should lose by close margins. 

[KHAN]

Just an FYI:

 

The Rams game was 17-10 into the 4th quarter. Seems like that would qualify as a close game.

Yeah, they won by 21 in the end because they slapped them around in the 4th.

[somnus00]

22 hours ago, ganesh said:

We left too many points on the field.   They came back to haunt us. 

20 points left on the field by my count.

Clock management left 2 field goals out there.

Gabe Davis dropping the TD. Settled for FG.

Missed Bass FG.

Turnover on downs on the goalline.

[corta765]

2 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

This is still a soft team at it's core and that's a direct reflection on the head coach sadly.

 

And until this team proves they can win a close football game again these narratives will be front and center.

 

After going 0-5 last year and then the KC collapse these narratives have come front and center. Honestly I think even if Buffalo went 3-0 the rest of the year the narrative will only full die if they make the SB. If they win the division but can't close again playoff time it will grow louder. If they become a wild card the narrative will be farrr louder and he will have a hot seat next year from fans.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

18 games decided by 3 points or less in 3 weeks 

An NFL record- Troy Aikman  on MNF
 

11 hours ago, IronMaidenBills said:

They should start handing out trophies for close loses. It’s a hard to win in the NFL… 

 

[Tipster19]

On 9/25/2022 at 4:15 PM, UKBillFan said:

Complete chokers across the board, with no clue how to play when under pressure. Offense was putrid and the play calling little better. Favourites for the Superbowl? Only if the defense is fully fit because the Offense, even with the so called predicted MVP, is not good enough.

 

ETA 15 minutes later - Won't delete the original post because I have to own it. But now I've calmed down slightly... still annoying. And I think I'll still have doubts about us being able to able to cope with the pressure of a one score game at the death until we win one of them.

Wow, I don’t ever remember seeing so many emojis on one post! With that being said I just came to a realization that maybe people are looking at these 1 score losses the wrong way. Either you win a game or you lose it so when the Bills do lose a game it isn’t by much because they are a very good team and they don’t get blown out and when they do win a game it is more times than not a convincing win by a large margin because of the same reason as when they lose, it’s once again because they are a very good team.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

On 9/25/2022 at 4:15 PM, UKBillFan said:

Complete chokers across the board, with no clue how to play when under pressure. Offense was putrid and the play calling little better. Favourites for the Superbowl? Only if the defense is fully fit because the Offense, even with the so called predicted MVP, is not good enough.

 

ETA 15 minutes later - Won't delete the original post because I have to own it. But now I've calmed down slightly... still annoying. And I think I'll still have doubts about us being able to able to cope with the pressure of a one score game at the death until we win one of them.

Calm down UKBills just a week ago we were trashing the Titans and that was after taking the Champs to the shed and unloading a whipping on them. We just had the most miserable week injury after injury depleted our team of there depth and we still should of won in Miami by double digits. This team will bounce back once we get healthy. The only thing I want to see them do now is make a trade for an elite RB this team needs that in the worse way. 

[PromoTheRobot]

People have short memories. You think this team lacks a winner's mentality?? Holy cow! You want to go back to the days of Dick Jauron? Check down QBs? Our best player being the punter? Please find someone to slap some sense into you.

 

Good teams lose games. It happens.

Edited September 27, 2022 by PromoTheRobot

[UKBillFan]

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

People have short memories. You think this team lacks a winner's mentality?? Holy cow! You want to go back to the days of Dick Jauron? Check down QBs? Our best player being the punter? Please find someone to slap some sense into you.

 

Good teams lose games. It happens.

 

Record is 14-1 in our favour in terms of multiple score games but 0-7 when it comes to one score games. We just need to be able to get over the line more than once in eight. The 2020 season was good in this respect, so not sure why things haven't fallen in our favour.

 

I disregard everything I said in the opening post as an over-emotional stupid outburst except this. When it gets close, we need to get over the line more often.

[Royale with Cheese]

McDermott is above .500 in his career in one score games....

[UKBillFan]

33 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

McDermott is above .500 in his career in one score games....

 

So a case of things evening themselves up after a very good start with one score games?

[eball]

I don't have the mentality to take a thread like this seriously.

 

[teef]

Anger!!!!

[Royale with Cheese]

6 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

 

So a case of things evening themselves up after a very good start with one score games?

 

I mean one was a Hail Murray, Allen throwing the ball into the dirt on Sunday, 13 seconds, Allen slip on the QB sneak against TN....these are more shooting ourselves in the foot than I think mentality.  

[zow2]

40 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

McDermott is above .500 in his career in one score games....

 

We can all appreciate this stat.  But a team with a knockout punch as good as Buffalo's and a roster this stacked, Must be better than 0 for 7 or whatever it is recently.  It's hard to look at them as the Super Bowl favorites with those last 7 swings and misses.   

[UKBillFan]

Just now, Royale with Cheese said:

 

I mean one was a Hail Murray, Allen throwing the ball into the dirt on Sunday, 13 seconds, Allen slip on the QB sneak against TN....these are more shooting ourselves in the foot than I think mentality.  

 

Actually, that's what I was wondering - are we shooting ourselves in the foot because we're getting tight, nervous, panicking slightly, trying to force things?

[Royale with Cheese]

Just now, UKBillFan said:

 

Actually, that's what I was wondering - are we shooting ourselves in the foot because we're getting tight, nervous, panicking slightly, trying to force things?

 

I could see uptight last week.  The others were blunders in some sort of way.  

[PrimeTime101]

this topic aged well

[RoyBatty is alive]

On 9/25/2022 at 3:44 PM, Sammy Watkins&#x27; Rib said:

Just win one close game before I die!

you can die now