Don't look now, but Bills rounding into playoff shape.

[Bronxbomber21]

10 hours ago, Kaenon said:

We are on a 7-game win streak.

Impressive in today's NFL.

And it should be longer than that if it wasn't for them blowing the Vikings game 5 different times .if they knocked down the 4th and 18 to Jefferson instead of Lewis trying to int it and the just fumble in the end zone we would be 14-2 with a bye and playing ether the Chargers or Jags

[Since1981]

8 minutes ago, Bronxbomber21 said:

Lewis trying to int it and the just fumble in the end zone we would be 14-2 with a bye and playing ether the Chargers or Jags

Cam. Kind of amazing how thin the difference is in NFL, when viewed this way.

[BobbyC81]

11 hours ago, Mark92 said:

It's the defense for me.  Can they stop the 3rd & 8, 10, 15.  Get off the field.  The red zone d is pretty solid but damn.  

I hate their pass defense. Guys are running open all over the field.  If you’re going to play back and then make the tackle, don’t let the receiver get the yards for a first down.  Today it was play after play.  They made Jones look like Brady, 

[Matt_In_NH]

11 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

The pass rush is generating pressure without Miller

I have missed this while watching the games.   Do you have any data to back this up?  I view pass rush as the problem.  

Edited January 9, 2023 by Matt_In_NH

[oldmanfan]

1 hour ago, BRH said:

I know!  And since the league decides standings and playoff seeding based on first half performances, we’re ***** ed!

One bad half can sink us in the playoffs.  We all love Josh, but the pick he threw at the end of the half was one of his worst throws in his career.  

[BearNorth]

12 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

We all love Josh, but the pick he threw at the end of the half was one of his worst throws in his career.  

I thought either his arm got hit or the ball was tipped.  Cook had just come open. Josh had all sorts of white jerseys around him.

[CoffeeDrip]

24 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

I thought either his arm got hit or the ball was tipped.  Cook had just come open. Josh had all sorts of white jerseys around him.

I thought I heard Romo say his arm was hit as he threw. He was hit from behind pretty hard on that play I believe.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

1 hour ago, BobbyC81 said:

I hate their pass defense. Guys are running open all over the field.  If you’re going to play back and then make the tackle, don’t let the receiver get the yards for a first down.  Today it was play after play.  They made Jones look like Brady, 

 

Not many instances of Brady coughing up 3 INTs in crunch time.

[Greg S]

They need to clean up with the turnovers. The INT before the half, and the fumble deep in our territory. I can't get on the Bills too much as the week leading up to the game was stressful. Practice time wasn't normal either. But now this should be a normal week for them especially with #3 on his way to a full recovery. They need to be much better protecting the ball.

[Mrbojanglezs]

I wouldn't expect any blowout games in the playoffs this year 

[TampaBillsJunkie]

13 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

The pass rush is generating pressure without Miller.

And the secondary is too.  Benford off IR and White with and INT.

Can't agree on these too.  We've had no interior pressure and made Mac Jones look like Burrow. Speaking of whom,  (Burrow) was carving us up with all day to throw. Pass rush and secondary are a major concern going into the playoffs against 3 very good passing teams ( Miami, Cincy, KC) 

 

Marlowe was exposed, they are playing soft and not communicating. Tre made a nice play, and a few tipped balls went our way. Better QB's will not give us that luxury, especially Mahomes. I'm not sure how we compensate for the loss of Hyde, Hamlin and Von but it starts with getting a real push in the middle. Oliver, Phillips, Settle, Basham and Shaq need to step it up or this weak secondary will get torched.

All other points are good signs, especially the deep ball to Brown.  Gabe and McKenzie and the OLine need to play their best if we have any hope of advancing to the Super Bowl.
 

Edited January 9, 2023 by TampaBillsJunkie

[What a Tuel]

13 hours ago, AlfaBill said:

I’d love to believe that but I don’t think so. Last year the bills crushed the pats in The final game. 
the bills this year are an enigma to me. They struggle on D with every team. The O looks pedestrian at times and then explodes. The games seem so close and yet the final score is 2 score wins. Hard to put my finger on it. The Bills last season had an overrated D but a super explosive O

 

We didn't punt last year but it was much closer than people remember. 26 to 21 with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter. A long final drive by Josh that took 5 minutes and ended with a TD put the Pats out of their misery.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I'm not as concerned with our turnovers as some. In my view we will need to take some chances and be aggressive offensively. We need to try and score 35 every game. Play stupid and reckless...No, be aggressive...without a doubt. Our Defense just let Mac Jones have a decent 2.5 quarters before he showed us who he is (a QB who can't get it done at crunch time).

Edited January 9, 2023 by D. L. Hot-Flamethrower

[CoffeeDrip]

14 minutes ago, TampaBillsJunkie said:

Can't agree on these too.  We've had no interior pressure and made Mac Jones look like Burrow. Speaking of whom,  (Burrow) was carving us up with all day to throw. Pass rush and secondary are a major concern going into the playoffs against 3 very good passing teams ( Miami, Cincy, KC) 

 

Marlowe was exposed, they are playing soft and not communicating. Tre made a nice play, and a few tipped balls went our way. Better QB's will not give us that luxury, especially Mahomes. I'm not sure how we compensate for the loss of Hyde, Hamlin and Von but it starts with getting a real push in the middle. Oliver, Phillips, Settle, Basham and Shaq need to step it up or this weak secondary will get torched.

All other points are good signs, especially the deep ball to Brown.  Gabe and McKenzie and the OLine need to play their best if we have any hope of advancing to the Super Bowl.
 

Idk, Mahomes has a tendency to throw balls that are often tipped or should-be picks - they just tend to fall his way most of the time.

[The Frankish Reich]

21 minutes ago, CoffeeDrip said:

Idk, Mahomes has a tendency to throw balls that are often tipped or should-be picks - they just tend to fall his way most of the time.

Mahomes has thrown 3,000 passes in his career. 49 have been intercepted. 1.6%. Every QB has lucky/unlucky INT streaks, but when you’re looking at a big sample size like that, the numbers don’t lie. 

[John Gianelli]

Another possible advantage for the Bills versus Miami: In the Cincinnati game, the Bills defense was on the field for about 4 minutes. The offense was on the field for about 6 minutes. Because of what happened to Damar, the Bills went through a grueling week mentally and emotionally. But physically, not counting the injury to Taron Johnson, didn't they and Cinci both get in effect a late-season bye week in that it gave them a chance to recover a little bit from the bumps and bruises that accumulated over the previous 16 weeks? 

[nucci]

14 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

The Allen/Diggs connection is back.  Elbow looks good

 

Dawson Knox has come on strong over the last several games.

 

Singletary and Cook have established a non-Josh running game.

 

The pass rush is generating pressure without Miller.

 

Milano and Emunds are playing lights out.

 

Hamlin is gonna be ok!!!  And the secondary is too.  Benford off IR and White with and INT.

 

Special teams? Hines just struck fear into the hearts of the opposition moving forward. 

 

Bring on Miami! 

our pass defense and pass rush are not up to par for the playoffs

[CincyBillsFan]

3 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

I hate their pass defense. Guys are running open all over the field.  If you’re going to play back and then make the tackle, don’t let the receiver get the yards for a first down.  Today it was play after play.  They made Jones look like Brady, 

It frustrates me to but in the end it's working.  And while Jones at times looked like Brady his 3 INT's at critical points in the game sure weren't very Bradyesqe and in the end NE lost by two scores.

 

 

[RiotAct]

9 minutes ago, John Gianelli said:

Another possible advantage for the Bills versus Miami: In the Cincinnati game, the Bills defense was on the field for about 4 minutes. The offense was on the field for about 6 minutes. Because of what happened to Damar, the Bills went through a grueling week mentally and emotionally. But physically, not counting the injury to Taron Johnson, didn't they and Cinci both get in effect a late-season bye week in that it gave them a chance to recover a little bit from the bumps and bruises that accumulated over the previous 16 weeks? 

yes absolutely.  The way that game was going, I have little doubt that at least a couple more of our players would have gotten injured.

[nucci]

4 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

It frustrates me to but in the end it's working.  And while Jones at times looked like Brady his 3 INT's at critical points in the game sure weren't very Bradyesqe and in the end NE lost by two scores.

 

 

more difficult against Burrow and Mahomes

[BRH]

2 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

One bad half can sink us in the playoffs.  We all love Josh, but the pick he threw at the end of the half was one of his worst throws in his career.  

 

The one where his arm was hit and he was tackled at the knees with no flag?

 

Interesting hill you've picked.

[dpberr]

The offense looks good.  I like that other players are getting involved, and Allen is back to taking opportunities, and not forcing it.  

 

The marshmallow soft passing defense is adequate against mediocre QBs, but it stands little chance against keeping Burrow and Mahomes out of the end zone consistently, without a change in approach.  The physical talent is there, but the approach gives away too many easy yards.  This year - 214 passing yards allowed per game.  Last year: 178, and that defense was soft too.

[TheBrownBear]

Well, at a minimum, we still have Josh Allen and all the potential he brings from play to play, and we are a veteran and battle hardened team.  It hasn't always been pretty, but we've continued to find a way.  That's a pretty important skill come playoff time where the pressure ratchets up and the games can tend to get uglier.  

[Billz4ever]

14 hours ago, BlazinBill said:

Agree- Davis is just not on point and it's getting old- he doesn't watch his feet and uses his body to much to catch the ball- I'm not sure he should be on the field as much-

The secondary hopefully gets better with Benford back but that's a lot to hope for a rookie just getting back- I'm hoping we get back to Early season form- on offense somehow and it almost won't matter 

Hate to say it, but at this point, I feel more comfortable with Diggs, Smoke, and Beasley than I do Diggs, Davis, and McKitrick.  Unless Davis decides he's going to flip the playoff switch, I've seen about all I want to of him this season.

[Billz4ever]

13 hours ago, Ga boy said:

Flip it over to Cook so he can ball in space.  That will be the new wrinkle. Boom 💥

Cook has some crazy acceleration.  In that QB option that Josh kept yesterday and took a loss rather than giving it to Cook, I seriously believe Cook may have taken it the distance on that play.  If not, certainly a big gainer.

13 hours ago, SCBills said:

We started to see some of the “Playoff Bills” out there today.  
 

Those explosives should be more available for us moving forward when teams have to deal with us running Allen anytime. 
 

Defense, mixed bag .. but when you see Allen tear up during the postgame, it’s clear they were emotionally spent heading into this game.  
 

Just goes to show how much better they are than NE to beat a team fighting for their life, while being mentally drained. 

It was a great win for sure, but we also need to remember 14 of those points came from ST, which we certainly should not be expecting every game.  The Offense can't go dormant for like an entire half of the game and expect to win.

[NoSaint]

5 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

Cook has some crazy acceleration.  In that QB option that Josh kept yesterday and took a loss rather than giving it to Cook, I seriously believe Cook may have taken it the distance on that play.  If not, certainly a big gainer.

It was a great win for sure, but we also need to remember 14 of those points came from ST, which we certainly should not be expecting every game.  The Offense can't go dormant for like an entire half of the game and expect to win.

counter: the offense lost 2 full possessions yesterday and still put up league average scoring 

[Billz4ever]

13 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

What pass rush?

The only pressure we are getting is when we blitz.  With just the front 4, it's almost non-existent.  No push inside and off the edge, AJE gets pushed out of the play almost every time.  Groot is the only one really putting in work out there.

[Toyo321]

14 hours ago, Kaenon said:

We are on a 7-game win streak.

Impressive in today's NFL.

No offense we were on our way to losing to Cincinnati on Monday night.  There is no way we would have pulled that game out.   They were gutting our secondary until the #3 event happened.

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Toyo321

[LABILLBACKER]

15 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

The Allen/Diggs connection is back.  Elbow looks good

 

Dawson Knox has come on strong over the last several games.

 

Singletary and Cook have established a non-Josh running game.

 

The pass rush is generating pressure without Miller.

 

Milano and Emunds are playing lights out.

 

Hamlin is gonna be ok!!!  And the secondary is too.  Benford off IR and White with and INT.

 

Special teams? Hines just struck fear into the hearts of the opposition moving forward. 

 

Bring on Miami! 

I agree with everything except the front 4 is definitely NOT generating pressure without Von. 

[SCBills]

7 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

The only pressure we are getting is when we blitz.  With just the front 4, it's almost non-existent.  No push inside and off the edge, AJE gets pushed out of the play almost every time.  Groot is the only one really putting in work out there.

 

We consistently had whoever is opposite Rousseau looping to Canada, completely out of the play.  We need someone over there to step up.

 

Meanwhile, would be super cool if Ed Oliver can at least attempt to be a top 10 pick in the middle against good teams. 

[YattaOkasan]

1 hour ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Mahomes has thrown 3,000 passes in his career. 49 have been intercepted. 1.6%. Every QB has lucky/unlucky INT streaks, but when you’re looking at a big sample size like that, the numbers don’t lie. 

Yes but last two years Mahomes has thrown 13 and 12 INT.  That bumps Int rate up to about 1.9.  Josh is at 2.3% for career and 2.4% for the past two years.  Mahomes recently has been more susceptible.  

59 minutes ago, dpberr said:

The offense looks good.  I like that other players are getting involved, and Allen is back to taking opportunities, and not forcing it.  

 

The marshmallow soft passing defense is adequate against mediocre QBs, but it stands little chance against keeping Burrow and Mahomes out of the end zone consistently, without a change in approach.  The physical talent is there, but the approach gives away too many easy yards.  This year - 214 passing yards allowed per game.  Last year: 178, and that defense was soft too.

I dont really disagree about elite QBs seem to do better against us (I think thats what youre saying).  But i take exception to the idea that 214 pass yards per game is bad.  Were 8th in Pass yards allowed with more attempts than any of the teams below us.  Also 178 is a crazy number.  Are you saying our pass d isnt crazy efficient this year (true) or that our passing defense isnt efficient enough (not true)?

[TheBrownBear]

35 minutes ago, Toyo321 said:

No offense we were on our way to losing to Cincinnati on Monday night.  There is no way we would have pulled that game out.   They were gutting our secondary until the #3 event happened.

 

We were less than 10 minutes into the game and Cincy offense is known for their fast starts and then bogging down as the game goes along (check out their past few games) and our defense tends to be the exact opposite.  I absolutely do not buy the argument that there is no way we would have beaten the Bengals, especially when you consider that we were in our 3 losses until the very end and really should have pulled those games out.

[What a Tuel]

49 minutes ago, Toyo321 said:

No offense we were on our way to losing to Cincinnati on Monday night.  There is no way we would have pulled that game out.   They were gutting our secondary until the #3 event happened.

 

This is absurd. New England was "gutting our secondary" too in most people's opinions today and yet we won by 2 scores. How is that possible?

 

You can't judge a game by its first 8 minutes.

Edited January 9, 2023 by What a Tuel

[Success]

57 minutes ago, Toyo321 said:

No offense we were on our way to losing to Cincinnati on Monday night.  There is no way we would have pulled that game out.   They were gutting our secondary until the #3 event happened.

 

 

Cincy had a hot start against the Ravens yesterday, too. They were lucky the opposing QB was a 3rd stringer.

 

[boyst]

45 minutes ago, TheBrownBear said:

We were less than 10 minutes into the game and Cincy offense is known for their fast starts and then bogging down as the game goes along (check out their past few games) and our defense tends to be the exact opposite.  I absolutely do not buy the argument that there is no way we would have beaten the Bengals, especially when you consider that we were in our 3 losses until the very end and really should have pulled those games out.

This team has gas 1 game lost by more than 7 pts in 2 seasons. And everyone thinks we would be blown out. 

 

We hang with every team. The one we didn't we ***** the bed against the colts in a mismatch game where we didn't stand much hope. 

[John from Riverside]

4 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

One bad half can sink us in the playoffs.  We all love Josh, but the pick he threw at the end of the half was one of his worst throws in his career.  

You’re really going to blame Josh for that throw when he was getting hit at the knees almost immediately because of a jail break on the office of line
 

Josh Allen is almost super human almost he still needs pass protection sometimes

[oldmanfan]

2 hours ago, BRH said:

 

The one where his arm was hit and he was tackled at the knees with no flag?

 

Interesting hill you've picked.

I dispute your description.  Plus there was no Bills WR anywhere near where he threw it.

[John from Riverside]

1 hour ago, Billz4ever said:

Hate to say it, but at this point, I feel more comfortable with Diggs, Smoke, and Beasley than I do Diggs, Davis, and McKitrick.  Unless Davis decides he's going to flip the playoff switch, I've seen about all I want to of him this season.

Josh Allen threw a bullet that hit McKenzie right in the chest and bounced off him. Just embarrassing.

Just now, oldmanfan said:

I dispute your description.  Plus there was no Bills WR anywhere near where he threw it.

I think you’re missing the point getting your arm hit and being hit in the knees is going to affect the accuracy of the throw

[oldmanfan]

1 minute ago, John from Riverside said:

You’re really going to blame Josh for that throw when he was getting hit at the knees almost immediately because of a jail break on the office of line
 

Josh Allen is almost super human almost he still needs pass protection sometimes

As said above I would dispute your description.  Look, we all love Josh, and he played great in the second half.  But is anyone seriously going to deny he’s had some bad parts of games the second half of the season?  All I am saying is we need the good Josh; one poor half loses playoff games.

2 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Josh Allen threw a bullet that hit McKenzie right in the chest and bounced off him. Just embarrassing.

I think you’re missing the point getting your arm hit and being hit in the knees is going to affect the accuracy of the throw

I watched the same game and didn’t see his arm get hit.

[Billz4ever]

1 minute ago, John from Riverside said:

Josh Allen threw a bullet that hit McKenzie right in the chest and bounced off him. Just embarrassing.

I think you’re missing the point getting your arm hit and being hit in the knees is going to affect the accuracy of the throw

Without even seeing the number, I knew it was McKenzie.  Not to mention, Davis should've had long toss late in the game too.  Josh's completion % would probably be at least 5 points higher if the balls that should've been caught actually were.