Saffold said guys were "exhausted" this week and "out of gas"

[CoudyBills]

6 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

“Amazing” that you feel that these highly paid professionals fell apart because of the items listed above. 

This.  The mass shooting didn't directly affect any of the players or coaches, unless I am mistaken?  Injuries happen to every team, every year.  Damar dying on the field was traumatic but he lived.  Luke Knox dying will obviously take Dawson a lifetime to get through, but he was able to bring it on Sundays.  Using any of these events are a reason for failure is just an excuse.  Many people go through tremendously stressful and emotional things in life and rise to the challenge.  

[5ths the charm]

9 hours ago, Success said:

It was pretty easy to see.

 

I've gotta give 'em a pass on that. They're human beings.  Buffalo has been to hell & back over the past year.

 

Ya, one and done...but your tired. Poor things. The hell with the playoffs if they need more sleep. Saffold needs to go. Along with the right side.of the line and anyone not on a rookie contract for d line

[HappyDays]

The more I think about how this season ended the more I hate it. Our 2020 season ended with the motto "on the cusp." 2021 ended with the motto "Superman will get it done." 2022 ended with the motto "ran out of gas." I mean what the hell man. That is embarrassing.

[Beck Water]

7 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

We do need a Safety (ducking for cover) we might not have any ...

 

Poyer - A FA 30+ who will likely price himself out of the Bills range

Hyde - I'll believe he'll play again after he tackles someone in preseason and gets up.

Hamlin - I think his career is over as a football player

Marlowe - FA that maybe we'll re-sign because he'll be cheap and knows the system

Johnson - FA I wouldn't bring back for vet minimum.

 

In McDermott's presser, he was asked about converting Christian Benford to safety and he said it was a consideration.

 

We'll see on Hamlin.  I think it's more about how his lungs recover, and what he personally wants to do, than his heart.

 

Marlowe would not be a bad re-signing for cheap.  You may see Jaquan Johnson brought back, but that would be for a ST role, not as a safety.

 

9 hours ago, Einstein said:

Ouch.

 

“Guys were exhausted during the week and our coaches did the best they could try to modify the week . . . but there was just uncharacteristic things that were kind of happening . . . I have to kind of put that into effect and not as an excuse just this team has been fighting for so long and fighting through all of this adversity you almost run out of gas at some point,” Saffold said

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/23/rodger-saffold-on-bills-loss-you-almost-run-out-of-gas-at-some-point/

 

If Saffold was exhausted and out of gas, maybe he needs to play on a team that ends its season after week 18.

 

9 hours ago, somnus00 said:

I'm hoping Doyle pushes Brown for the RT spot. But we need an influx of young cheap talent on the oline via the top 3 rounds of the draft.  draft.

 

That's hoping against hope, IMHO.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Beck Water

[Haslett_Stomp]

8 hours ago, Billz4ever said:

For how little Dorsey used the short throw, I don't know why they even bothered bringing him back.

 

As Florio points out here, the personnel they have doesn't match the offense Dorsey is trying to run.

 

https://twitter.com/MichaelFFlorio/status/1617562332665872384?s=20&t=MtvA-GMGthvzdXjk9saWWQ

 

Didn't they say the same thing about Rick Dennison?

[The Frankish Reich]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

The more I think about how this season ended the more I hate it. Our 2020 season ended with the motto "on the cusp." 2021 ended with the motto "Superman will get it done." 2022 ended with the motto "ran out of gas." I mean what the hell man. That is embarrassing.

True.

For me ... I've been a hardcore bills fan for over 5 decades. At this point in my life of fandom, I find that it's just as important to enjoy a season -- the ups, the downs, the kind of narrative that unfolds from September to January -- as it is to have the season end triumphantly (after all, that's never happened in my life). This season just wasn't as enjoyable from a pure entertainment standpoint. Lots of close games, sure, but a little flat compared to 2020 and 2021 (and really flat compared to the bizarro "we broke the playoff drought in the most unexpected way" 2017). I think some of that may be the lack of Sunday afternoon games, but some is also that the team lost just a little bit of that youthful fire that made it so compelling the last few years.

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

In McDermott's presser, he was asked about converting Christian Benford to safety and he said it was a consideration.

 

That is very telling coming from a guy who gives up nothing.

Seeing him standing in Poyer's spot next August would give the Bills one less hole to deal with.

[Beck Water]

2 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

That is very telling coming from a guy who gives up nothing.

Seeing him standing in Poyer's spot next August would give the Bills one less hole to deal with.

 

I thought he actually gave up a number of significant bites.

 

He said that he thought Tremaine Edmunds had the best season of his career, and was the sort of player who will continue to work to get better.  I thought that was very telling.

 

He said that the game starts and ends at the line of scrimmage on both sides, and so we've got to look at that.

He said that the DL was inconsistent, especially after Von Miller went out (this is big to me, considering the number of high draft picks invested in it).  With Oliver coming up towards a contract, and with several FA, I thought that was telling.

 

Biggest thing to me was saying he wasn't going to discuss staff, when asked if the same coordinators would return.  He tried to follow up and soften it saying it was less than 24 hrs and they'd spent the day doing player interviews, but it was far from a vote of confidence.

[Beck Water]

9 hours ago, Einstein said:

Ouch.

 

“Guys were exhausted during the week and our coaches did the best they could try to modify the week . . . but there was just uncharacteristic things that were kind of happening . . . I have to kind of put that into effect and not as an excuse just this team has been fighting for so long and fighting through all of this adversity you almost run out of gas at some point,” Saffold said

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/23/rodger-saffold-on-bills-loss-you-almost-run-out-of-gas-at-some-point/

 

"It's not an excuse because I don't even know how you run out of gas. It's the playoffs. It's win or go home," WR Isaiah McKenzie said. "I felt like yesterday, it could have been the weather, it could have been all type of stuff … But I don't think we ran out of emotion, fuel, or whatever you call it. I just feel like we just lost, that's what it was. We played a very good team."

 

[zow2]

It just makes players or fans feel better to say stuff like they ran out of gas. It sounds better than we played hard but they are better and kicked our a$$.  

 

I’ll say the same thing i’ve said since Super Bowl 28 ended. I don’t want to see the Bills back in the SB until they are darn sure to win it. Or as close as you can be to a sure thing.  Clearly in this playoffs they were nowhere near as good as we thought early on. This club was not capable of winning the big game.

[PBF81]

10 hours ago, Einstein said:

Ouch.

 

“Guys were exhausted during the week and our coaches did the best they could try to modify the week . . . but there was just uncharacteristic things that were kind of happening . . . I have to kind of put that into effect and not as an excuse just this team has been fighting for so long and fighting through all of this adversity you almost run out of gas at some point,” Saffold said

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/23/rodger-saffold-on-bills-loss-you-almost-run-out-of-gas-at-some-point/

For the amount of money these guys get paid, from coaching to playing ... 

 

I've had to work 60-90 hours/week perpetually over most of the 10 years prior to the lockdowns, missing quite a bit in my life, simply to try to save my business.  At the end of it all I had nothing.   Sorry if this doesn't resonate with me.  

[boyst]

1 hour ago, TampaBillsJunkie said:

 

I'm betting it comes out sometime after the Super Bowl.  Once the league year ends and players know they won't be back, some will talk about things that went on. 

No one let out what happened in KC, Jacksonville, or San Diego. 

 

[Fan in Chicago]

46 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

 

If Saffold was exhausted and out of gas, maybe he needs to play on a team that ends its season after week 

But he wasn't talking only about himself,  he said "guys". Whether that is 2 or 10 or the entire team is not clear.  But right after the very underwhelming first drive of the second half,  I knew the goose was cooked.  The team had looked pretty unmotivated in the first half and if the break did not turn things around, that game was out of reach already.  In told my wife, the team doesn't have the fire today to win the game.  It was maddening,  one of the very few performances of the McD era where the team did not come to play.  

[PBF81]

10 hours ago, Einstein said:

Ouch.

 

“Guys were exhausted during the week and our coaches did the best they could try to modify the week . . . but there was just uncharacteristic things that were kind of happening . . . I have to kind of put that into effect and not as an excuse just this team has been fighting for so long and fighting through all of this adversity you almost run out of gas at some point,” Saffold said

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/01/23/rodger-saffold-on-bills-loss-you-almost-run-out-of-gas-at-some-point/

For the amount of money these guys get paid, from coaching to playing ... 

 

I've had to work 60-90 hours/week perpetually over most of the 10 years prior to the lockdowns, missing quite a bit in my life, simply to try to save my business.  At the end of it all I had nothing.   Sorry if this doesn't resonate with me.  

 

Some of our players have been "out of gas" all season.  

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

True.

For me ... I've been a hardcore bills fan for over 5 decades. At this point in my life of fandom, I find that it's just as important to enjoy a season -- the ups, the downs, the kind of narrative that unfolds from September to January -- as it is to have the season end triumphantly (after all, that's never happened in my life). This season just wasn't as enjoyable from a pure entertainment standpoint. Lots of close games, sure, but a little flat compared to 2020 and 2021 (and really flat compared to the bizarro "we broke the playoff drought in the most unexpected way" 2017). I think some of that may be the lack of Sunday afternoon games, but some is also that the team lost just a little bit of that youthful fire that made it so compelling the last few years.

 

I think it was less fun because the regular season was just a waiting game. I heard that from many Bills fans I know in real life. Everyone just waiting for the playoffs to see if we finally made it to the top of the mountain. Personally I still make it a point to enjoy each and every game no matter what, but the agony of 13 seconds was looming in the background all year and there was never any worry that we wouldn't be back in the divisional round at least with a chance to right that wrong. All of that waiting and it ends with a whimper as every unit on the team turned in their worst performance of the season.

 

I respect the fans that want to give the team a break after all the adversity they went through. But honestly the biggest problem in this playoff loss is the same it's been for 4 straight years now - our opponent had more game changing talents on the field than we did. Allen and Diggs are the only guys that step up and make plays outside of the scheme on either side of the ball. It has been a problem all year long. To be fair Von Miller was that guy. But the other contenders have guys like that all over the field on offense and defense. I think if the team ran out of gas it's because there aren't enough top tier players carrying the load for their teammates, the way that a Nick Bosa and a George Kittle and a Christian McCaffrey and a Deebo Samuel do. I think Allen after 5 years of singlehandedly dragging this franchise into relevancy finally started to feel all the bumps and bruises at the end of the season. Diggs exploded in a way we haven't seen since he demanded his way out of Minnesota. That's not a matter of too much adversity, it's a matter of too much being put on just a couple of guys in a sport that requires 4 or 5 elite guys to carry a team to the top of the mountain.

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by HappyDays

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, PBF81 said:

For the amount of money these guys get paid, from coaching to playing ... 

 

I've had to work 60-90 hours/week perpetually over most of the 10 years prior to the lockdowns, missing quite a bit in my life, simply to try to save my business.  At the end of it all I had nothing.   Sorry if this doesn't resonate with me.  

 

I Hear That

 

I had similar thoughts when I heard Hyde talking about how it was hard to get up and go to work when it's cold and snowing out.  Like "dude, cash a reality check, you are talking to an audience of people who do that day in and day out for years, just to pay rent and put food on the table, get paid a fraction of what you get paid for it."

Some of the jobs I had, I didn't have a choice to be "out of gas", people's health or even lives were at stake.

 

I'm sure playing football all season is draining in a way I can't even imagine, but if they can't find some inner fuel when it's "win or go home" maybe they need to seek a different profession.  Or just take their pile of money and go sit on the beach.

[Bookie Man]

13 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

We do need a Safety (ducking for cover) we might not have any ...

 

Poyer - A FA 30+ who will likely price himself out of the Bills range

Hyde - I'll believe he'll play again after he tackles someone in preseason and gets up.

Hamlin - I think his career is over as a football player

Marlowe - FA that maybe we'll re-sign because he'll be cheap and knows the system

Johnson - FA I wouldn't bring back for vet minimum.

This team has glaring holes all over the roster now it seems. OL, WR, CB, possibly LB. But S might be the biggest all of a sudden. 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Just excuses, you are millionaire athletes with all kinds of resources to recover, use them and be prepared. These chances dont come around very often, rest in the offseason.

 

 

[TampaBillsJunkie]

5 hours ago, boyst said:

No one let out what happened in KC, Jacksonville, or San Diego. 

 

No one died on the field and had to be brought back to life either. There's more to the story here.

[davefan66]

12 hours ago, BRH said:

And since I've seen a few people bring it up... I didn't think bringing Damar into the locker room before the game AND at halftime were the best moves.  Every player has a bit of PTSD from that night and every player's trigger is different.  Just because you think it's going to be a motivator for the players doesn't mean it'll work for everyone.  

 

The team should have had plenty of motivation to win yesterday regardless.  This seemed manufactured, especially since the team had already seen Damar around the facility.  I'd like to know who thought it was a good idea and ok'd it.  

I’m conflicted with this. Damar has been attending meetings, hanging around the facility for the last week. Not sure why he would deflate the team.

 

What Saffold said about “uncharacteristic things” is more concerning.  Is he pointing to a divide in the locker room? Was it a poor week of preparation?  Is he trying to bolster his view the team was tired? Not a great choice of words without providing context.