A Few Thoughts about the Chiefs Game, in no particular order

[rusty shackleford]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

6 - Mistakes - If there's one thing that worries me for the playoffs, is us making the dumb mistakes that we can't come back from.  The defense had two horrible tackles on Juju that allowed him to look like a real receiver again and break 100 yards.  I want to say Juju had almost 75 YAC thanks to poor tackling.  You could argue that those plays made the game closer than it should've been.  Same on the McK pitch play.  I'm not going to fully blame McK, but he really needed to be more ready if that was the call.  Josh also needed to look and realize McK wasn't ready.  In any case, we missed Hyde on those tackles and were able to overcome in the end, but this is now 3 games where dumb mistakes early put us in tough situations late.  If we can clean those up, none of these games are even close.

 

Misc

-Can we please start using Shakir more.  I can't handle anymore McKenzie mistakes.  We aren't using him as a speed decoy anymore, so get the rookie some more reps

When you think about some of those mistakes combined with the injuries we battled with while playing through what was thought to be the toughest part of our schedule, it really is amazing what they have been able to overcome and the results that they achieved in the process. Many really good teams would have struggled to overcome those challenges. It should be really interesting what this team will be able to do after we clean up those mistake, get back to almost fully healthy and get into the softer parts of the schedule.

 

I like McKenzie but I think he is best suited in the role he has been playing the few prior years for us as that speed/gadget guy with occasional plays designed specific to him. McD seems to really keep rookies down the depth chart unless he has no choice (like our early CB situation). I get having to earn the playing time, but it seems like he could be a little less conservative in this area and give Shakir a bigger role. It can't be any more risky than having to rely on McKenzie to be a consistent starter.

[Big Turk]

47 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

When you see Pickett put up 300 yards but only 3 points, and Mahomes put up 340 yards and only 20 points... I'd say we're pretty close to bend but dont break. It's will always be the case in the cover-2 shell we run. Teams can move down the field to an extent, if they are happy to take what we give them. But once we get inside the 40-30 yard line, it naturally tightens up.

 

Pickett put up yards in large part to the Bills playing soft much of the game, plus they had no real game tape on him.  He had a good game for a first start.  

 

Bills D is much more like the first 4 games where they held 3 teams to 220 yards or less and the other to under 300 than the last 2

[buffaloboyinATL]

3 hours ago, Virgil said:

Being a Bills fan, I think it can be very difficult at times to find a sustained "happy place" within the season.  There's always another game on the schedule against someone that could ruin your day, a recent loss that gives you doubts about how far the team can go, or just some devastating loss due to a dumb play that lives on national tv for a week.  However, for the first time in a long time, I'm at peace as a fan and don't see that changing until after the bye week.  I'm not foolish enough to believe that Chiefs win has any impact on how we play them again in the playoffs or if we will win it all, but I am able to take comfort in the fact that we can, and SHOULD, expect this team to win every single game they play.  That we have a balanced offense, MVP quarterback, bend but don't break defense, and coaching staff that has what it takes to be the best team in the league.  And for that, I can take comfort in knowing this is going to be a very good team for long time.  We may lose some games, but it's because we found a way to lose, not because we were beaten.

 

1 - Diggs/Dorsey - While I know there are so many other things to talk about, this is something I've wanted since the start of the 2021 season.  After Diggs breakout first season, teams really started to focus on him and he wasn't as explosive or game changing for us.  I always watch players like Kupp or Jefferson and wondered why our OC can't move Diggs around like that, to create mismatches and more opportunities.  Well, this was the game for that.  Considering how the Chiefs have neutralized Diggs in the past, it was even more special to see him put up a 10 catch day and come up big, over and over.  Dorsey had Diggs in motion, the slot, stacked, and just plain everywhere.   And as you see Diggs get fed the ball, you remember more and more how special of a talent he is, because he doesn't drop anything and makes the contested catches look easy.  Add a healthy Davis on the other side of the field, and watch out.

 

2 - Milano - I've never hidden my love for Milano as my favorite player on this defense.  But I don't think I'm being a homer here when I say that he was the best overall player on the defense, and was just as responsible for the game ending pick as Von was.  I'm not trying to take away from Von as he made two HUGE plays that helped steer the Bills to victory, but Milano was playing like a man possessed.  I don't know if he broke into Josh's locker and ate some of his sugar, but Milano was absolutely flying to the ball.  He looked as fast as I've ever seen him.  There were some RB swing passes that Milano tracked from the middle of the field and brought the ball carrier down with almost no gain.  I'm talking 25-40 yards of coverage and did it with authority.  His ability to watch that last defensive play, know when to switch from spy to blitzer was perfect.  He covered the middle lane enough for Pat to hesitate, Von comes up at him, then the moment Pat is distracted by Von, Milano rushes in and helps force the quick throw to TJ.  Milano is having an all-pro season to this point and was another player who really stepped up in a big game.

 

3 - Mahomes - Before the break, I did want to take a moment and really appreciate the talent we got to witness in Patrick out there.  No matter what happens, Josh is the perfect QB for the Bills and I wouldn't change a thing, but Mahomes operates in just a very different way.  Sometimes, I think his swagger is a little arrogant and he can have a punchable face.  But he almost dances with the ball behind the line.  Where Josh is a psychopath wrecking ball, Mahomes is a graceful ballerina (no pun intended).  All of his movements, throws, and overall stature on the field looks effortless and make you think anyone could do it.  The fact that we get one half of the new Brady/Manning era is amazing, and I'm almost appreciative that the other guy is Mahomes.

 

4 - You have the choice
To hear the noise
Or hear the sweet sound
Of your sweet voice
I know I've heard it
I heard it in my sleep

 

5 - Allen - The Bills are backed up against the goal line after one, of many, great punts by the Chiefs.  Someone, I honestly can't remember who, drops a pass and it's 3rd down I think.  The camera zooms in on Josh's face and there's a look on his face that is hard to describe.  He's not panicked.  He's not frustrated.  It's confidence, but determined while also being relaxed.  For me, beyond all the throws, that was when you could see that Josh was in complete control of this game.  You knew that, if we did lose, it wasn't going to be because of Josh.  The moment wasn't too big for him, the situation wasn't too daunting....Josh was going to win this game, it just hadn't happened yet.   Now, with that being said, holy ***** that throw to Knox.  I could watch that play all day.  Sometimes, you see receivers catch the ball with their outstretched hands and think "wow, what a throw, but the receiver equally made adjustments to the pass to make it happen.   On this throw to Knox, I'd love to see the sports science of it, because that was a 1 out of 100 throw to me.  It had the absolute perfect elevation and speed to get just over the outreached fingers of a defender.  But it also has the accuracy to hit Knox just as his toes got to the sideline, around the other defender, and thud into his chest.  I could talk about how perfect the deep balls to Diggs and Davis were, which is so damn refreshing, but this Knox pass was next level.  I remember them showing a stat of him going 0-8 in a row, and then almost like he heard the announcers, proceeded to hit his next 10 (I think?).  Josh is a MVP, make no mistake about it

 

6 - Mistakes - If there's one thing that worries me for the playoffs, is us making the dumb mistakes that we can't come back from.  The defense had two horrible tackles on Juju that allowed him to look like a real receiver again and break 100 yards.  I want to say Juju had almost 75 YAC thanks to poor tackling.  You could argue that those plays made the game closer than it should've been.  Same on the McK pitch play.  I'm not going to fully blame McK, but he really needed to be more ready if that was the call.  Josh also needed to look and realize McK wasn't ready.  In any case, we missed Hyde on those tackles and were able to overcome in the end, but this is now 3 games where dumb mistakes early put us in tough situations late.  If we can clean those up, none of these games are even close.

 

7 - Von - Let's be clear, games against the Chiefs are the reason we paid Von.  With that, I'd say Von is exactly as advertised and was huge in this game.  Von was a massive part in stop the Chiefs in the 4th quarter and seemed to know the exact moment to turn it on.  I was disappointed to not see him get more help from Groot or the rest of the line, but he clearly didn't need it at times.  Additionally, some of Mahomes best plays came when Von wasn't on the field.  The lack of speed rush threat hurt us, even moreso why we need other guys to step up.  Honestly, I wouldn't care if they reduced Von's snaps down to 40% the rest of the year to keep him fresh.  We need this man in the playoffs.

 

8 - Ref - I actually appreciate being able to talk about the refs after a victory because it doesn't come off as much of an excuse.  Holy ***** were these guys terrible.  Granted, it went both ways at times, but the lack of offensive holding calls were insane.  I'm all for letting people play, but wow.  You could see defenders getting tackled, spun around, and jerseys pulled within feet of the quarterback.  The missed tripping call was impossible to comprehend.  There was another obvious facemask penalty that makes you think all the refs blinked at the same time.  The offensive PI against Kelce felt like an apology call for the Bills.  I'm incredibly worried about this trend of no holds being called, as our front 4 being able to get to the quarterback is a massive piece of our overall defense,

 

9 - Motor - When I saw that Moss was a healthy scratch, I figured it was going to be time for the Cook show.  Nope.  What a game for Motor!  I mean, this might be the most usage I've seen out of him and he did an absolute smashing job.  There was only one play where he danced a little too much behind the line and cost himself a first down.  But outside of that, Motor was used often and was incredibly effective.  No turnovers, multiple 7+ yard runs.  He hit the hole hard, fast, and dragged guys with him.  I would argue this was the perfect balance of running in our offense.  The only thing missing was a goal line drive where Motor got to punch one in.  If teams have to start respecting our rushing attack, watch out.

 

10 - McD - Don't tell me this game didn't mean more than others.  The players can say it's just the next game on the schedule all they want, but watching the locker room speech after the game was all I needed to see.  McD was as fired up as I've ever seen him and it was amazing to see.  McD has done a fantastic job this season of leveling expectations, getting his team ready, not forgetting the past, but also not letting it define the future.  Like Allen, we have the perfect coach for this team.  He has the perfect coordinators and built a culture that's unparalleled in the NFL.  This could finally be his year to win Coach of the Year.  

 

Misc

-Can we please start using Shakir more.  I can't handle anymore McKenzie mistakes.  We aren't using him as a speed decoy anymore, so get the rookie some more reps

-Considering how well we shut down Mark Andrews, I wonder if there was a different plan for Kelce as he seemed to be left wide open a little too much.

-If that interception by Elam is a flash of things to come, get ready....

-Congrats to Knox on a moment that I'm sure meant a lot to him

-Is anyone more underappreciated on this team than TJ?  Dude just makes plays in the biggest moment of the biggest games.  

 

Enjoy the bye week everyone!  Go Bills!!!!!

Great write up Virgil. Definitely not a homer when it comes to Milano. He is clearly one of the best defenders in the league. I am absolutely amazed at what a sure tackler he is.  He has made so many clutch, open field tackles so far this season, I have lost count.  

 

As far as Singletary goes, he seemed to be gaining huge chunks at will early in this game. I thought he was going to put up 200 yards, but they stopped feeding him. 

 

Side note: I was at this game and their crowd is definitely loud, but it was funny.  The lady next to my wife, a Chiefs fan, kept trying to shush us when the Chiefs had the ball saying things like "don't distract them, they need to focus" They are apparently not used to visiting fan bases making noise.  We obviously did not make an impact, but our players definitely heard us.  I was 16 rows back, behind the Bills bench, and several times when I was yelling, Jordan Phillips would interact and get the Bills fans fired up.  We had a great time! The Chiefs fans kept trying to use the "13 seconds" taunt the whole game, and afterwards, they kept saying, that's ok, we win in the playoffs when it matters... It was so fun to get that win and watch the smugness fade off of their fans faces.  

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by buffaloboyinATL

[Big Turk]

This...is...amazing...

 

 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

2 - Milano - I've never hidden my love for Milano as my favorite player on this defense.  But I don't think I'm being a homer here when I say that he was the best overall player on the defense, and was just as responsible for the game ending pick as Von was.  I'm not trying to take away from Von as he made two HUGE plays that helped steer the Bills to victory, but Milano was playing like a man possessed.  I don't know if he broke into Josh's locker and ate some of his sugar, but Milano was absolutely flying to the ball.  He looked as fast as I've ever seen him.  There were some RB swing passes that Milano tracked from the middle of the field and brought the ball carrier down with almost no gain.  I'm talking 25-40 yards of coverage and did it with authority.  His ability to watch that last defensive play, know when to switch from spy to blitzer was perfect.  He covered the middle lane enough for Pat to hesitate, Von comes up at him, then the moment Pat is distracted by Von, Milano rushes in and helps force the quick throw to TJ.  Milano is having an all-pro season to this point and was another player who really stepped up in a big game.

 

That open field tackle by Milano was incredible.

 

Oddly enough he was one of the lowest graded Bills this week.

[LABILLBACKER]

One of your best Virgil. I do agree a little with Big Turk. If this defense were not held on every other play, they would probably average 5-7 sacks per game. And we're #1 without Tre & Micah.

    Putting Diggs more in motion is brilliant. Milano always has and always will be our best clutch LB.  The way McKenzie played was an abomination. Get Shakir in there and stop dicking around. And as others have said that throw to Knox reminded me exactly of his throw to Diggs in Arizona.  Enjoy this journey fellow brethren. This is going to be a special season. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by LABILLBACKER

[TPS]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

Allen is like Neo from the Matrix after Morpheus tells him "Don't think you can do it...KNOW you can!" and once Allen started to believe that midway through last season it's been pretty much over for opposing teams on D.

I don't think that was the issue--believing in himself.  I was looking at discussions from the past two years, and the issue many of us described, as I phrased it, "the only person who can stop Josh Allen is Josh Allen".  Once he learned to stop the hero ball and always looking for the big play, and realizing that taking the check-down was okay, he became nearly unstoppable. 

[hemma]

Thanks Virgil.

 

Always good and I always read.

[Fleezoid]

2. Milano - Yes, love that dude. Instincts are incredible and an absolute ball hawk. 

 

3. Mahomes - Miss Piggy absolutely loves him!

 

5. Allen - Yes, the throw to Knox was a ting of beauty! But the other 2 TDs to Davis and Diggs were nearly as impressive.  They went to nearly the same spot on the field, but each one went to spots where only the receiver could get it. The one to Davis was high and slightly outside if I remember correctly, while the one to Diggs was thrown slightly to the inside allowing Diggs to seal off the defender preventing him from making a play on the ball. Just perfect passes. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Fleezoid

[Special K]

Until the KC game,  the Bills D hadn't given up a TD in 21 straight drives....thats an amazing stat!!!!

 

Only giving up 2 TD drives to KC is also a sign of how great this defense is playing!

 

Now the Bills will be adding an  All-Pro CB in Tre White to the mix....the cherry on top to an already dominant D!!!

[WyoAZBillfan]

Great write up. Thank you for sharing. 
 

Go Bills!

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

This...is...amazing...

 

 

 

LOL at Shady fanning that one guy who's saying the Bills are equal or better: "Hot Take" I assume that means

[Big Turk]

38 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

2. Milano - Yes, love that dude. Instincts are incredible and an absolute ball hawk. 

 

3. Mahomes - Miss Piggy absolutely loves him!

 

5. Allen - Yes, the throw to Knox was a ting of beauty! But the other 2 TDs to Davis and Diggs were nearly as impressive.  They went to nearly the same spot on the field, but each one went to spots where only the receiver could get it. The one to Davis was high and slightly outside if I remember correctly, while the one to Diggs was thrown slightly to the inside allowing Diggs to seal off the defender preventing him from making a play on the ball. Just perfect passes. 

 

I remember hearing Michael Irvin saying Allen might as well have gone over and handed the ball to Davis and Diggs on those TD throws, they were so perfect.

[buffaloboyinATL]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

That open field tackle by Milano was incredible.

 

Oddly enough he was one of the lowest graded Bills this week.

He was? That has to be a mistake.  He was everywhere on that field, and made several tackles that saved either first downs, or substantially larger gains. Whatever grading system graded him low, must not take those things into consideration.   

[Einstein]

7 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

He was? That has to be a mistake.  He was everywhere on that field, and made several tackles that saved either first downs, or substantially larger gains. Whatever grading system graded him low, must not take those things into consideration.   

 

Yeah he graded in the 40’s.

 

 

 

 

 

[Coach Tuesday]

Mahomes can do things inside the pocket that Allen does in the open field. The game seems to slow down for him inside the pocket, he is the best (maybe ever) at moving around and resetting (or just throwing off-platform) with rushers in his face.  

[Ralonzo]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

Someone, I honestly can't remember who, drops a pass and it's 3rd down I think. 

 

 I'm incredibly worried about this trend of no holds being called, as our front 4 being able to get to the quarterback is a massive piece of our overall defense,

 

If someone dropped a pass, it was McKenzie.

 

If someone called a holding penalty, it was Mahomes. Pretty much every other incompletion he's pointing downfield at the magic flag and the replay booth can't find the foul.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Ralonzo

[HappyDays]

6 hours ago, Virgil said:

I could talk about how perfect the deep balls to Diggs and Davis were, which is so damn refreshing

 

Allen has, miraculously, become the best deep thrower in the league. I can't remember the last one he missed. Has it happened this year? It's at a point where as soon as I see the ball come flying out of his hand on an upwards trajectory I'm already out of my chair ready to celebrate. Remember when he couldn't hit a receiver downfield to save his life? Of all the weaknesses he's turned into strengths this might be the most impressive. I don't even know what Allen's weaknesses are right now. Maybe he could be a little better against blitzes?

 

6 hours ago, Virgil said:

Considering how well we shut down Mark Andrews, I wonder if there was a different plan for Kelce as he seemed to be left wide open a little too much.

 

I think our plan against Kelce was more like our plan against Kupp - we'll give your #1 guy his completions but good luck getting the ball to anyone else. The strategy worked. The two Chiefs TDs were because of 3 DBs missing tackles which almost never happens in this defense, and Mahomes making an incredible pinpoint throw despite us having perfect coverage. That 2nd one is the kind of TD you live with against an elite QB. The goal with the Chiefs isn't to stop them, it's to keep them out of the endzone. Conceding some short/intermediate completions to Kelce isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a lot better than the Raiders stopping him most of the way down the field but giving up 4 TDs.

[Solomon Grundy]

The clip they showed on Get Up of Ed Oliver getting pancaked by Orlando Brown was hilarious!! Even Ed couldn't believe it. He took his helmet off and looked at Brown all while the play was still going😂😂😂

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Solomon Grundy

[billsfan_34]

6 hours ago, Virgil said:

Being a Bills fan, I think it can be very difficult at times to find a sustained "happy place" within the season.  There's always another game on the schedule against someone that could ruin your day, a recent loss that gives you doubts about how far the team can go, or just some devastating loss due to a dumb play that lives on national tv for a week.  However, for the first time in a long time, I'm at peace as a fan and don't see that changing until after the bye week.  I'm not foolish enough to believe that Chiefs win has any impact on how we play them again in the playoffs or if we will win it all, but I am able to take comfort in the fact that we can, and SHOULD, expect this team to win every single game they play.  That we have a balanced offense, MVP quarterback, bend but don't break defense, and coaching staff that has what it takes to be the best team in the league.  And for that, I can take comfort in knowing this is going to be a very good team for long time.  We may lose some games, but it's because we found a way to lose, not because we were beaten.

 

1 - Diggs/Dorsey - While I know there are so many other things to talk about, this is something I've wanted since the start of the 2021 season.  After Diggs breakout first season, teams really started to focus on him and he wasn't as explosive or game changing for us.  I always watch players like Kupp or Jefferson and wondered why our OC can't move Diggs around like that, to create mismatches and more opportunities.  Well, this was the game for that.  Considering how the Chiefs have neutralized Diggs in the past, it was even more special to see him put up a 10 catch day and come up big, over and over.  Dorsey had Diggs in motion, the slot, stacked, and just plain everywhere.   And as you see Diggs get fed the ball, you remember more and more how special of a talent he is, because he doesn't drop anything and makes the contested catches look easy.  Add a healthy Davis on the other side of the field, and watch out.

 

2 - Milano - I've never hidden my love for Milano as my favorite player on this defense.  But I don't think I'm being a homer here when I say that he was the best overall player on the defense, and was just as responsible for the game ending pick as Von was.  I'm not trying to take away from Von as he made two HUGE plays that helped steer the Bills to victory, but Milano was playing like a man possessed.  I don't know if he broke into Josh's locker and ate some of his sugar, but Milano was absolutely flying to the ball.  He looked as fast as I've ever seen him.  There were some RB swing passes that Milano tracked from the middle of the field and brought the ball carrier down with almost no gain.  I'm talking 25-40 yards of coverage and did it with authority.  His ability to watch that last defensive play, know when to switch from spy to blitzer was perfect.  He covered the middle lane enough for Pat to hesitate, Von comes up at him, then the moment Pat is distracted by Von, Milano rushes in and helps force the quick throw to TJ.  Milano is having an all-pro season to this point and was another player who really stepped up in a big game.

 

3 - Mahomes - Before the break, I did want to take a moment and really appreciate the talent we got to witness in Patrick out there.  No matter what happens, Josh is the perfect QB for the Bills and I wouldn't change a thing, but Mahomes operates in just a very different way.  Sometimes, I think his swagger is a little arrogant and he can have a punchable face.  But he almost dances with the ball behind the line.  Where Josh is a psychopath wrecking ball, Mahomes is a graceful ballerina (no pun intended).  All of his movements, throws, and overall stature on the field looks effortless and make you think anyone could do it.  The fact that we get one half of the new Brady/Manning era is amazing, and I'm almost appreciative that the other guy is Mahomes.

 

4 - You have the choice
To hear the noise
Or hear the sweet sound
Of your sweet voice
I know I've heard it
I heard it in my sleep

 

5 - Allen - The Bills are backed up against the goal line after one, of many, great punts by the Chiefs.  Someone, I honestly can't remember who, drops a pass and it's 3rd down I think.  The camera zooms in on Josh's face and there's a look on his face that is hard to describe.  He's not panicked.  He's not frustrated.  It's confidence, but determined while also being relaxed.  For me, beyond all the throws, that was when you could see that Josh was in complete control of this game.  You knew that, if we did lose, it wasn't going to be because of Josh.  The moment wasn't too big for him, the situation wasn't too daunting....Josh was going to win this game, it just hadn't happened yet.   Now, with that being said, holy ***** that throw to Knox.  I could watch that play all day.  Sometimes, you see receivers catch the ball with their outstretched hands and think "wow, what a throw, but the receiver equally made adjustments to the pass to make it happen.   On this throw to Knox, I'd love to see the sports science of it, because that was a 1 out of 100 throw to me.  It had the absolute perfect elevation and speed to get just over the outreached fingers of a defender.  But it also has the accuracy to hit Knox just as his toes got to the sideline, around the other defender, and thud into his chest.  I could talk about how perfect the deep balls to Diggs and Davis were, which is so damn refreshing, but this Knox pass was next level.  I remember them showing a stat of him going 0-8 in a row, and then almost like he heard the announcers, proceeded to hit his next 10 (I think?).  Josh is a MVP, make no mistake about it

 

6 - Mistakes - If there's one thing that worries me for the playoffs, is us making the dumb mistakes that we can't come back from.  The defense had two horrible tackles on Juju that allowed him to look like a real receiver again and break 100 yards.  I want to say Juju had almost 75 YAC thanks to poor tackling.  You could argue that those plays made the game closer than it should've been.  Same on the McK pitch play.  I'm not going to fully blame McK, but he really needed to be more ready if that was the call.  Josh also needed to look and realize McK wasn't ready.  In any case, we missed Hyde on those tackles and were able to overcome in the end, but this is now 3 games where dumb mistakes early put us in tough situations late.  If we can clean those up, none of these games are even close.

 

7 - Von - Let's be clear, games against the Chiefs are the reason we paid Von.  With that, I'd say Von is exactly as advertised and was huge in this game.  Von was a massive part in stop the Chiefs in the 4th quarter and seemed to know the exact moment to turn it on.  I was disappointed to not see him get more help from Groot or the rest of the line, but he clearly didn't need it at times.  Additionally, some of Mahomes best plays came when Von wasn't on the field.  The lack of speed rush threat hurt us, even moreso why we need other guys to step up.  Honestly, I wouldn't care if they reduced Von's snaps down to 40% the rest of the year to keep him fresh.  We need this man in the playoffs.

 

8 - Ref - I actually appreciate being able to talk about the refs after a victory because it doesn't come off as much of an excuse.  Holy ***** were these guys terrible.  Granted, it went both ways at times, but the lack of offensive holding calls were insane.  I'm all for letting people play, but wow.  You could see defenders getting tackled, spun around, and jerseys pulled within feet of the quarterback.  The missed tripping call was impossible to comprehend.  There was another obvious facemask penalty that makes you think all the refs blinked at the same time.  The offensive PI against Kelce felt like an apology call for the Bills.  I'm incredibly worried about this trend of no holds being called, as our front 4 being able to get to the quarterback is a massive piece of our overall defense,

 

9 - Motor - When I saw that Moss was a healthy scratch, I figured it was going to be time for the Cook show.  Nope.  What a game for Motor!  I mean, this might be the most usage I've seen out of him and he did an absolute smashing job.  There was only one play where he danced a little too much behind the line and cost himself a first down.  But outside of that, Motor was used often and was incredibly effective.  No turnovers, multiple 7+ yard runs.  He hit the hole hard, fast, and dragged guys with him.  I would argue this was the perfect balance of running in our offense.  The only thing missing was a goal line drive where Motor got to punch one in.  If teams have to start respecting our rushing attack, watch out.

 

10 - McD - Don't tell me this game didn't mean more than others.  The players can say it's just the next game on the schedule all they want, but watching the locker room speech after the game was all I needed to see.  McD was as fired up as I've ever seen him and it was amazing to see.  McD has done a fantastic job this season of leveling expectations, getting his team ready, not forgetting the past, but also not letting it define the future.  Like Allen, we have the perfect coach for this team.  He has the perfect coordinators and built a culture that's unparalleled in the NFL.  This could finally be his year to win Coach of the Year.  

 

Misc

-Can we please start using Shakir more.  I can't handle anymore McKenzie mistakes.  We aren't using him as a speed decoy anymore, so get the rookie some more reps

-Considering how well we shut down Mark Andrews, I wonder if there was a different plan for Kelce as he seemed to be left wide open a little too much.

-If that interception by Elam is a flash of things to come, get ready....

-Congrats to Knox on a moment that I'm sure meant a lot to him

-Is anyone more underappreciated on this team than TJ?  Dude just makes plays in the biggest moment of the biggest games.  

 

Enjoy the bye week everyone!  Go Bills!!!!!

Thanks Virgil

[Irv]

Nice write up.  It's a little thing, but I liked the way they put Davis in motion on the short yardage plays and he pushed Allen forward.  I don't think I've seen that before.  Nice wrinkle.  I could do without Allen going Renaldo Nehemiah anymore this year unless absolutely necessary.  

[Punching Bag]

7 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Mistakes.  There have been several comments about points left on the board, mistakes, etc.   There also have been several comments about how the Bills' margin of victory is becoming historic, and I think the two are related.   When you have an offense that can perform like this offense, and a defense that can perform like this defense, you can take more chances.   Even if you screw up, there's a good chance that the offense or the defense or both will bail you out.   So, the smart thing to do is to push the envelope and take more chances.   That necessarily will result in more mistakes.   In the face of a good pass rush, Tom Brady would fall to the ground, take the sack, move on to the next play, because minimizing mistakes was part of what made him great.   In the face of a good pass rush, like Chris Jones coming at him, Allen looks for ways to extend the play.   Does he get in trouble sometimes?   Yes, but he also makes some jaw-dropping plays that Brady only wet dreams about.   I think we'll always see some mistakes from this team. 

 

Corrected.

7 hours ago, Rico said:

Agreed that the Rat has a very punchable face, the fugliest player in the league. My favorite shot of him was after Josh’s hurdle, such seething jealousy.

 

His lips appeared animated with CGI in real time. 

[Punching Bag]

7 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

That open field tackle by Milano was incredible.

 

Oddly enough he was one of the lowest graded Bills this week.

 

It is clear the PFF graders did not understand Milano is a unicorn and did not understand what he was doing.  

 

I hope they have a safe trip home on their short yellow bus home.

 

 

[Patrick Duffy]

8 hours ago, Virgil said:

3 - Mahomes - Before the break, I did want to take a moment and really appreciate the talent we got to witness in Patrick out there.  No matter what happens, Josh is the perfect QB for the Bills and I wouldn't change a thing, but Mahomes operates in just a very different way.  Sometimes, I think his swagger is a little arrogant and he can have a punchable face.  But he almost dances with the ball behind the line.  Where Josh is a psychopath wrecking ball, Mahomes is a graceful ballerina (no pun intended).  All of his movements, throws, and overall stature on the field looks effortless and make you think anyone could do it.  The fact that we get one half of the new Brady/Manning era is amazing, and I'm almost appreciative that the other guy is Mahomes.

 

Just wanted to jump in on this particular subject here....I'm definitely with you about the magic both these QBs do game in and game out. It's clearly (or should be crystal clear) that these 2 QB's are the best in the league right now and by a very good size margine. There's no Rodgers, Brady etc even worth mentioning anymore and their time has passed. There's no Herbert, or any other QB in the league right now that's even close enough to discussing.

 

I feel after that KC game with the show Josh put on he has (at the moment that is) made some of those that had P.Mahomes at 1 and Josh 2 to switch it around. But both are neck and neck and everyone else is JV

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

10 hours ago, Logic said:

Thanks for the writeup.

Just wanted to comment on the quoted items above.

1 - This is my favorite part about Dorsey so far. The way he moves Diggs around and, unlike Daboll, basically doesn't allow defenses to take him out of the ball game. The way Dorsey has schemed up ways to isolate Diggs on a linebacker the past few weeks is a thing of beauty.

3 - Mahomes is amazing. In all of the dislike of other teams and the Bills-centric viewing habits, I hope Bills fans are able to step back every now and again and appreciate just how awesome Mahomes is and how great it is that we live in an era where we get to watch Josh Allen AND Patrick Mahomes. He will be Allen's primary rival throughout his career. There's no doubt about it.

6 - I agree that the Bills need to get over the dumb mistakes. The one silver lining is that it seems that for the first time in a long time, they're learning to do just that. A mistake-filled start like the one we saw against Baltimore or in moments against the Chiefs used to doom this team. Not any more. They FINALLY seem to be learning to consistently push through that adversity and come out on top. Still, it would be better if they didn't make the mistakes to begin with, obviously.

9 - I hope Motor's usage this week means that the running back by committee experiment is over and he'll be the bellcow going forward. Let Cook be the change of pace, and if you want a third back active, let's see what Duke Johnson's got.

10 - This game ABSOLUTELY meant more to McDermott. I think that beating his mentor gets him fired up, and I think that beating the other "best team in the league" gets him fired up. One need only watch the post-game speech he gave to see just how fired up he really was.

Enjoy the bye week, Virgil.

GO BILLS!!!

 

It's a long season - i don't mind heavy usage in a game like this.  But Id want to run some wear and tear on moss and cook over the course of the year so A - Cook is more ready and B - So Singletary has fresh legs for the games the playoffs.

[RiotAct]

6 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

Yeah he graded in the 40’s.

 

 

 

 

 

lol PFF is drunk.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

19 minutes ago, RunJoshRun said:

Agreed about McK - get him out of the starting slot receiver.

 

This was an interesting one.  McKenzie played 37 snaps to Shakirs 15 and Hodgins 3.  Sweeney had 8, Gilliam had 21, and Morris had 12.  

 

I wouldn't mind seeing that number be closer to even between McKenzie and Shakir - he's earned a boost in playing time.  But I do like that we rotated both TE's in not entirely Jumbo sets, and used our fullback a few times in the passing game.  The PA pass to Sweeney was nice too, easy read pitch n catch.  

5 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

lol PFF is drunk.

 

He had 3 solo tackles, 3 combined tackles, and 3 missed tackles.  

Edited October 20, 2022 by Bleeding Bills Blue

[wjag]

I really can’t express adequately in words what JA17 and PH15 means to football.  And as much as KC and Buffalo fans may not want to admit it, they are both necessary for the good of the game.  No one wants another era of football where one QB and one team dominate the league.  
 

The KC-Buf series is compelling, must see TV. And both fan bases have their heart in their throat watching every drop back.  And the best  part is that you don’t know the outcome.  

 

The 2 QBs have vastly different styles but are both as dangerous as anyone has been in the league for years.  How lucky we are to watch it.

 

Brady and Rodgers rarely played H2H.  Brady and Manning did but only 10 or so times in their careers.  

 

Josh and Patrick have played 5 times already, likely a 6th time later this year and a 7th time next year and both are only 26-27 years old. We could be looking at a series between them of 15-20 or more times over their careers.  And I’m here for it. 

[Ga boy]

Virg:  Any random thoughts in no particular order @ James Cook #28?  Like is he the real deal??  Like can he “Rock me like a wagon wheel” as in nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills 🦬😲

[Logic]

1 hour ago, Ga boy said:

Virg:  Any random thoughts in no particular order @ James Cook #28?  Like is he the real deal??  Like can he “Rock me like a wagon wheel” as in nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills 🦬😲

[LeGOATski]

17 hours ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

He was? That has to be a mistake.  He was everywhere on that field, and made several tackles that saved either first downs, or substantially larger gains. Whatever grading system graded him low, must not take those things into consideration.   

 

17 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

Yeah he graded in the 40’s.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't subscribe to PFF grades, but I imaging it's his first-half play that contributed to a poorer grade. That game was a tale of two halves for Milano.

[Terry Tate]

14 hours ago, Irv said:

Nice write up.  It's a little thing, but I liked the way they put Davis in motion on the short yardage plays and he pushed Allen forward.  I don't think I've seen that before.  Nice wrinkle.  I could do without Allen going Renaldo Nehemiah anymore this year unless absolutely necessary.  

I've noticed a couple teams doing this in the past couple weeks, man in motion timed to be behind the QB at the snap to push the pile. Pretty successful so far, but if/when defenses plan for it, it provides a tell when the ball will be snapped. Will be interesting to see this wrinkle evolve on both sides.

[Virgil]

11 hours ago, Ga boy said:

Virg:  Any random thoughts in no particular order @ James Cook #28?  Like is he the real deal??  Like can he “Rock me like a wagon wheel” as in nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills 🦬😲

Trust the process.  If he was good enough to be playing, he would be 

[Big Turk]

12 hours ago, wjag said:

I really can’t express adequately in words what JA17 and PH15 means to football.  And as much as KC and Buffalo fans may not want to admit it, they are both necessary for the good of the game.  No one wants another era of football where one QB and one team dominate the league.  
 

The KC-Buf series is compelling, must see TV. And both fan bases have their heart in their throat watching every drop back.  And the best  part is that you don’t know the outcome.  

 

The 2 QBs have vastly different styles but are both as dangerous as anyone has been in the league for years.  How lucky we are to watch it.

 

Brady and Rodgers rarely played H2H.  Brady and Manning did but only 10 or so times in their careers.  

 

Josh and Patrick have played 5 times already, likely a 6th time later this year and a 7th time next year and both are only 26-27 years old. We could be looking at a series between them of 15-20 or more times over their careers.  And I’m here for it. 

 

They ruin watching football with the other 30 teams tho...OMG some of the QB play in these games...🤮🤮🤮🤮

[Ta111]

12 hours ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

This was an interesting one.  McKenzie played 37 snaps to Shakirs 15 and Hodgins 3.  Sweeney had 8, Gilliam had 21, and Morris had 12.  

 

I wouldn't mind seeing that number be closer to even between McKenzie and Shakir - he's earned a boost in playing time.  But I do like that we rotated both TE's in not entirely Jumbo sets, and used our fullback a few times in the passing game.  The PA pass to Sweeney was nice too, easy read pitch n catch.  

 

He had 3 solo tackles, 3 combined tackles, and 3 missed tackles.  

Again, PFF doesn’t know what his true assignment was. How many times did he force Mahomes to rush a play like on the pick by Johnson? If you watch carefully you’ll see he did a great job in his “spy” capacity.

[WotAGuy]

Great write up Virgil.  When you were talking about Josh being backed up to the goal line in the first half, and then jumped to the TD to Knox, I was surprised you didn’t mention the throw to Gabe on 3rd and 13 at the one yard line with about a minute left in the half. 
 

That throw was amazingly gutsy, and to be aggressive in that situation was the most “unBillsy” thing ever.  For over a decade the Bills would have punted on third down in that situation. But with Josh, all things are possible. 

[Big Turk]

24 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

Great write up Virgil.  When you were talking about Josh being backed up to the goal line in the first half, and then jumped to the TD to Knox, I was surprised you didn’t mention the throw to Gabe on 3rd and 13 at the one yard line with about a minute left in the half. 
 

That throw was amazingly gutsy, and to be aggressive in that situation was the most “unBillsy” thing ever.  For over a decade the Bills would have punted on third down in that situation. But with Josh, all things are possible. 

 

Legit question...how many teams backed up at the 2 yard line like the Bills were late in the half would have just tried to find a way to run the clock down and get out of the half without having to punt and give the Chiefs the ball back and consider that a HUGE win? Maybe 29 of them?  30 of them?

 

The Bills causally just are like...nah...we got this and march 98 yards in barely over a minute for a TD 😂

 

Sometimes I have to wonder if I am watching a different sport than other teams are playing.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Big Turk

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

39 minutes ago, Ta111 said:

Again, PFF doesn’t know what his true assignment was. How many times did he force Mahomes to rush a play like on the pick by Johnson? If you watch carefully you’ll see he did a great job in his “spy” capacity.

 

That was just stats - his stats say he missed 3 tackles.  Thats a lot. 

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

That was just stats - his stats say he missed 3 tackles.  Thats a lot. 

 

I'm not sure how many points they could have assigned for his open field tackle on Pacheco after he caught the pass and was running laterally towards the sideline and potentially turning it upfield if Milano doesn't make that tackle with nothing but 30 yards of green grass in front of him, but that might have been one of the best open field tackles I have seen in the last 5 years.  

 

He runs with him laterally(Pacheco runs a 4.38 40), then makes a diving tackle and he didn't just barely trip him up, he perfect two leg wrap up form-tackled him to the ground...just an amazing play.

 

I mean maybe they thought on that pass to McKinnon right before the half where he picks up 19 yards and gets out of bounds on the first play of their drive before the FG they thought Milano was supposed to cover him, but he was clearly doing his "spy game" move and waiting for Mahomes to break the pocket...although not sure why the Bills would call that D with only 12 seconds left...

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

8 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I'm not sure how many points they could have assigned for his open field tackle on Pacheco after he caught the pass and was running laterally towards the sideline and potentially turning it upfield if Milano doesn't make that tackle with nothing but 30 yards of green grass in front of him, but that might have been one of the best open field tackles I have seen in the last 5 years.  

 

He runs with him laterally(Pacheco runs a 4.38 40), then makes a diving tackle and he didn't just barely trip him up, he perfect two leg wrap up form-tackled him to the ground...just an amazing play.

 

I mean maybe they thought on that pass to McKinnon right before the half where he picks up 19 yards and gets out of bounds on the first play of their drive before the FG they thought Milano was supposed to cover him, but he was clearly doing his "spy game" move and waiting for Mahomes to break the pocket...although not sure why the Bills would call that D with only 12 seconds left...

 

Missed tackles aren't missed coverage by PFF.  It's he tried to tackle someone and didn't.