Week 4: Bills at Ravens 10/2 1pm

[Bob in STL]

19 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

Benford can bring back the "Too Tall Jones" head slap that would leave opponents ears ringing and dizzy. Jam the WR's with a head alsp at the line to throw them off balance.  🤣

 

Kidding obviously... that would be a personal foul these days for a hit to the head.

David "Deacon" Jones mastered the head slap, right into the earhole of the opposing OT.   

9 hours ago, LOVEMESOMEBILLS said:

 

 The defense is not a shell of itself. Just played the QB with the most passing yards through 2 weeks and he failed to hit 200 yards. Bills defense leads the league in yards per game and is 4th in points per game averaging 12.7 points allowed. The biggest part of containing Lamar is the defensive line, which should be in good shape for Sunday.

 

 

Great point.   We lost Benford but hoping that the experience and confidence gained by the others (Johnson, Hamlin, Lewis, etc.) helps them next week too.  

 

Would love to see Oliver back.  Phillips too. 

[Big Turk]

9 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

David "Deacon" Jones mastered the head slap, right into the earhole of the opposing OT.   

Great point.   We lost Benford but hoping that the experience and confidence gained by the others (Johnson, Hamlin, Lewis, etc.) helps them next week too.  

 

Would love to see Oliver back.  Phillips too. 

 

Poyer would be major in helping stabilize the back end if he can go...Jackson loves scrambling around and then throwing deep this year.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

15 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

I am a bit worried about Baltimore's front three/four against our banged up O-Line.  Big Guys don't recover super fast and most of our big guys were either hurt or had heat-related illness during the Miami game.  Calais Campbell is still playing at a high level, and his DT partner Madabuike may be better than Campbell.  Hoping that Morse is able to go on Sunday.  Also a threat of the Hurricane Ian's remnant may impact the game in Baltimore on Sunday, Lamar on a slippery field is not a prospect you want to see.

 

Some of our oline losses were heat stroke and I think Mitch was close to ready Sunday so I’d be surprised to not see him this week. Bates could clear concussion protocol this week too so despite being down 5 guys last week we could be business as usual Sunday  

[HappyDays]

30 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

I don’t believe that MIA has put forth any blueprint on beating the Bills. They racked up 31 first downs and almost 500 yards of offense. The Bills stopped themselves in the red zone. Only a couple of errors and a poor throw that Allen rarely makes kept the Bills from scoring 31 points. Not a formula for winning many games. 

 

The issue is that we aren't a particularly good red zone offense because we can't run block. Being one dimensional in the red zone makes it a lot more difficult to score. So if teams can force us to drive all the way down field playing mistake free football and then score in the red zone that is the recipe for success against us.

[corta765]

I have a feeling Buffalo finally breaks the losing drought in Baltimore, only win was in 99 which is wild. The flipside is Baltimore has only won once I believe in Buffalo or twice.

[Warcodered]

29 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

I don’t believe that MIA has put forth any blueprint on beating the Bills. They racked up 31 first downs and almost 500 yards of offense. The Bills stopped themselves in the red zone. Only a couple of errors and a poor throw that Allen rarely makes kept the Bills from scoring 31 points. Not a formula for winning many games. 

As long as none of these other teams know Solar Beam we should be good.

[Boatdrinks]

6 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

The issue is that we aren't a particularly good red zone offense because we can't run block. Being one dimensional in the red zone makes it a lot more difficult to score. So if teams can force us to drive all the way down field playing mistake free football and then score in the red zone that is the recipe for success against us.

The Bills were #1 in redzone going into Sunday. If Davis doesn’t get lazy with his catch and Josh hits an easy throw I’d venture they’d still be at the top or close too it. ( I have no idea where they rank now). One off game with a lot of injuries and players missing series etc is no referendum on the Bills red zone offense. 

9 minutes ago, corta765 said:

I have a feeling Buffalo finally breaks the losing drought in Baltimore, only win was in 99 which is wild. The flipside is Baltimore has only won once I believe in Buffalo or twice.

Yeah, not a ton of history in this matchup. Not sure how many games in the series but I’d guess not a lot. Only 3 in the Allen era iirc and one was his first NFL game in off the bench . 

[HappyDays]

6 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

The Bills were #1 in redzone going into Sunday. If Davis doesn’t get lazy with his catch and Josh hits an easy throw I’d venture they’d still be at the top or close too it. ( I have no idea where they rank now). One off game with a lot of injuries and players missing series etc is no referendum on the Bills red zone offense. 

 

That's fair. I guess my point is that if teams choose to blitz us we lose our ability to create big plays. We'll happily dink and dunk our way down the field but I don't see that as a long term recipe for success. We need to find a way to punish teams for blitzing us other than just dumping it off for a quick 1st down.

[Royale with Cheese]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

That's fair. I guess my point is that if teams choose to blitz us we lose our ability to create big plays. We'll happily dink and dunk our way down the field but I don't see that as a long term recipe for success. We need to find a way to punish teams for blitzing us other than just dumping it off for a quick 1st down.

 

We have the ability to go over the top on a blitz too.  The Gabe Davis post and catch against the Rams was a good example of that.

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

That's fair. I guess my point is that if teams choose to blitz us we lose our ability to create big plays. We'll happily dink and dunk our way down the field but I don't see that as a long term recipe for success. We need to find a way to punish teams for blitzing us other than just dumping it off for a quick 1st down.

I think the Bills O will adapt to with opponent specific game plans and seasonally, as they did last year. The run game is a work in progress to be sure, but later in the season it will be emphasized a bit more. It’s a conundrum for them right now. With the current state of the defense due to injury, you’d like to keep the opposing offense off the field. You’d also like to build a lead. They did a good job limiting the defense’s exposure vs MIA. They definitely allowed too many points for the TOP the Dolphins had. 

[Scott7975]

1 minute ago, Boatdrinks said:

I think the Bills O will adapt to with opponent specific game plans and seasonally, as they did last year. The run game is a work in progress to be sure, but later in the season it will be emphasized a bit more. It’s a conundrum for them right now. With the current state of the defense due to injury, you’d like to keep the opposing offense off the field. You’d also like to build a lead. They did a good job limiting the defense’s exposure vs MIA. They definitely allowed too many points for the TOP the Dolphins had. 

 

7 of them basically came from the offense giving them the ball on the 10 yard line.

[SCBills]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

That's fair. I guess my point is that if teams choose to blitz us we lose our ability to create big plays. We'll happily dink and dunk our way down the field but I don't see that as a long term recipe for success. We need to find a way to punish teams for blitzing us other than just dumping it off for a quick 1st down.

 

Allen kills the blitz.  Miami's recipe for success was 100% dependent upon the heat/injury situation.  

 

Credit to them.. they knew this was the case.  Morse was out, they relentlessly blitzed.  Got burned early, but also forced a fumble early.  Then Spencer Brown went down to heat exhaustion.. 3/5ths of our starting line remain.  In the heat.. on long drives.. they just blitzed and blitzed.  

 

Fast forward to the second half and we're down to 2 remaining starters on the OL.  Backups all over.  We found out Tommy Doyle literally finished the game playing on a torn ACL because we had nobody else. 

 

Allen is dependent upon guys getting open to burn the blitz.   OL can't protect... Allen buys time.. WR's are dropping like flies due to fatigue..  Reporters saying they were running 3/4th speed midway through Q3.   Diggs & Knox couldn't even finish the game.  Davis is playing snaps hobbled on a bad ankle.  

 

PLEASE Miami... try that again under normal conditions.  They will get torched.  

[nucci]

9 hours ago, LOVEMESOMEBILLS said:

 

 The defense is not a shell of itself. Just played the QB with the most passing yards through 2 weeks and he failed to hit 200 yards. Bills defense leads the league in yards per game and is 4th in points per game averaging 12.7 points allowed. The biggest part of containing Lamar is the defensive line, which should be in good shape for Sunday.

 

 

they only had the ball 20 minutes,,,, having said that, the defense played well

Edited September 27, 2022 by nucci

[newcam2012]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

 

To be clear I'm not saying I want the Bills to change their entire offensive philosophy or become a run-first team. I'm saying they need to find ways to create offensive production without Allen doing everything. Either through the run game or through easy YAC. Offenses that run entirely through the QB don't make it through January. And we can't wait until January to figure out that aspect of our offense. It's something we have to intentionally work at over the course of the season. Even accounting for the injuries on Sunday, Miami just laid out the book on how to beat our offense - blitz us, allow Allen to get his easy quick pass or scramble for a few yards, do this all the way to the red zone and force us into a compressed field. Typically to beat the blitz you would either run the ball or get a YAC receiver involved. We don't have the ability to do either right now so Dorsey has to figure something out. Supposedly this is why we brought James Cook in. I don't know if he's the solution but we have to figure it out.

You are wildly inaccurate again!

 

Do you realize who the Bills had playing on the offensive line in the second half? Back ups and back ups for the back ups and practice squad guys. Add on the weather conditions. 

 

The way you stop the Bills offense is not by blitzing the Bills. Allen will touch defenses that consistently blitz. Allen was very successful moving the ball. 500 yards of offense and 41 minutes of time of possession. Where Allen and the Bills failed was putting the ball in the end zone. Davis not holding the ball, missed field goal, poor execution at before halftime cost potential 3 points, 1st and goal at the 2 and no points, holding call and  game ending expired clock, etc...The Dolphins didn't stop the Bills. The Bills stopped themselves. 

 

In the first 2 games a relatively healthy offense scored 70 plus points. 

 

I do agree that the Bills have to establish a more reliable running threat. This has been a resounding theme of the Bills for quite some time now. I'm sure Dorsey is aware of this and changes will be made. It remains to be seen how effective they will be. 

 

 

[Jauronimo]

4 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

Allen kills the blitz.  Miami's recipe for success was 100% dependent upon the heat/injury situation.  

 

Credit to them.. they knew this was the case.  Morse was out, they relentlessly blitzed.  Got burned early, but also forced a fumble early.  Then Spencer Brown went down to heat exhaustion.. 3/5ths of our starting line remain.  In the heat.. on long drives.. they just blitzed and blitzed.  

 

Fast forward to the second half and we're down to 2 remaining starters on the OL.  Backups all over.  We found out Tommy Doyle literally finished the game playing on a torn ACL because we had nobody else. 

 

Allen is dependent upon guys getting open to burn the blitz.   OL can't protect... Allen buys time.. WR's are dropping like flies due to fatigue..  Reporters saying they were running 3/4th speed midway through Q3.   Diggs & Knox couldn't even finish the game.  Davis is playing snaps hobbled on a bad ankle.  

 

PLEASE Miami... try that again under normal conditions.  They will get torched.  

It was obvious.  The lack of separation.  No adjustments to the ball.  They were playing on fumes.  Once Diggs and McKenzie couldn't stay in the game we were toast.  You know the situation is bad when we dust off the 2019 wildcard playbook and start going deep to fullbacks again.  

[SCBills]

1 minute ago, Jauronimo said:

It was obvious.  The lack of separation.  No adjustments to the ball.  They were playing on fumes.  Once Diggs and McKenzie couldn't stay in the game we were toast.  You know the situation is bad when we dust off the 2019 wildcard playbook and start going deep to fullbacks again.  

 

That's why the Davis drop/strip in the end zone was sooooo bad.  We had nothing left.  That was a time consuming drive, where we lost Bates to a head injury and emptied the tank.   That was the TD we needed to carry us over the finish line.  

[Jauronimo]

2 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

That's why the Davis drop/strip in the end zone was sooooo bad.  We had nothing left.  That was a time consuming drive, where we lost Bates to a head injury and emptied the tank.   That was the TD we needed to carry us over the finish line.  

I gotta believe a healthy Gabe makes that play 10/10 times.  I can't believe he played every snap running 75% speed. 

 

This loss has bothered me so much.  I believe just one more healthy body would have won that game and I will not be convinced otherwise.  We just ran out of guys.  On a neutral field, that was a 3 score victory.

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Spencer Brown sucked from snap 1 on Sunday. It’s been a consistent struggle for him since he became a starter…. He was benched. It wasn’t heat/exhaustion. Dude was awful…. That game was a mirror image of what plagued them last season when they lost most games. Shotty offensive line play and inability to run the ball effectively with receivers struggling for any sort of YAC ability. 

 

Yea.. you're right.. probably was benched.  So bad that Tommy Doyle on a torn ACL was a better option late in the game than Quessenberry at RG and Brown back out there.  

 

WR's just can't get YAC.  Again, spot on.  Had nothing to do with the heat/injury situation.  Why can't the 3 healthy WR's running 90 plays in 110 degree field temps do better?  What are we even paying them for?? 

[SCBills]

9 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Guess you missed my point about it being from snap one him struggling…. They also couldn’t run the ball from snap one…. and couldn’t run the ball against the Titans.

 

 

Yes, we have some things we need to work on.  Point noted. 

 

You said they benched Brown, that it wasn't heat related.  So, does that mean you truly believe he is so bad that the Bills coaches thought Tommy Doyle on a torn ACL was a better option late game - when we had no OL left - than an, apparently, well rested Spencer Brown?

 

What kind of YAC are you expecting when Davis is hobbled, Kumerow goes down early in the game, and we're left with 3 healthy WR's?  Diggs couldn't even finish the game.  

 

Why do you think Allen had to throw to RB's incessantly?  Miami's secondary is SO good that Diggs and McKenzie can't get open against man coverage as they blitz Allen?

 

We won two games by a billion points.  Lost a game under extreme circumstances, where we made a ton of mistakes and our lack of running game was exposed.  You decided to take one valid point and lump every other grievance you have with this team into your complaints after a loss.  

 

There are valid critiques (lack of run game, in-game coaching decision and personnel decisions), and then there's posters like you. 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by SCBills

[SWATeam]

25 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Guess you missed my point about it being from snap one him struggling…. They also couldn’t run the ball from snap one…. and couldn’t run the ball against the Titans.

 

LOL, now you're concerned that we can't run when your biggest offseason concern was that we were going to take the ball out of Josh's hands and go run heavy?