Footing on Sunday

[JMM]

Not to rehash or in any way not understanding that we were dominated on both sides of the ball. But to me it seemed like the Bengals were doing better on the snow covered field. They didn't look tentative at all. Whereas to me it looked like the Bills were absolutely tentative at times, trying not to slip and slide. It felt like the Bengals were playing on a high natural grass surface and the Bills were playing on their old horrible carpet. Is it possible they screwed this up too, not having the proper length cleats?? Did anyone else notice this or was it just we were that slow and flat?

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

You are not alone in this observation. It was obvious from the very first series. Basham looked like he was trying to rush the passer wearing brand new penny loafers! The head scratcher was why the staff didn’t do anything about it. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 hour ago, JMM said:

Not to rehash or in any way not understanding that we were dominated on both sides of the ball. But to me it seemed like the Bengals were doing better on the snow covered field. They didn't look tentative at all. Whereas to me it looked like the Bills were absolutely tentative at times, trying not to slip and slide. It felt like the Bengals were playing on a high natural grass surface and the Bills were playing on their old horrible carpet. Is it possible they screwed this up too, not having the proper length cleats?? Did anyone else notice this or was it just we were that slow and flat?

 

 

 that would be beyond unbelievable if there was a disparity in cleats contributing to the difference in footing. 
 

 

[TheWei44]

1 minute ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 that would be beyond unbelievable if there was a disparity in cleats contributing to the difference in footing. 
 

 

Agreed - I'd be shocked if that were true, but I guess anything is possible.

[GolfandBills]

Bengals players were slipping too.  They were already 15 yards open though so it didn’t matter 

[Southern_Bills]

It's called coaching, thankfully the same guys will be back to give you more of the same next year.

 

I can't wait....

[DrPJax]

1 hour ago, JMM said:

Not to rehash or in any way not understanding that we were dominated on both sides of the ball. But to me it seemed like the Bengals were doing better on the snow covered field. They didn't look tentative at all. Whereas to me it looked like the Bills were absolutely tentative at times, trying not to slip and slide. It felt like the Bengals were playing on a high natural grass surface and the Bills were playing on their old horrible carpet. Is it possible they screwed this up too, not having the proper length cleats?? Did anyone else notice this or was it just we were that slow and flat?

 

 

The bengals were not running laterally , they were driving ahead on both lines.  There is no  excuse for our lack of talent at positions along the lines.  Almost every player on the o line was beaten individually that day. Lg was of course the worst along with Brown. The d line was just manhandled and the bengals schemed them into very light boxes with a nickel back facing a pulling tackle at times.   It was about athleticism and scheme and the Bengals having a well prepared offensive game plan that made our d look foolish.  There was no surprise or footing issue with Talent like epenesa , Basham , settles , having been avg at best all year and Oliver is a chronic underachieving draft pick.  
 They had a good season when Allen could mask most issues with his unicorn talent , helped at times by Diggs and a slew of role players.  Good teams now know how to stop Allen from just taking the game over, but this can be fixed with talent infusion in the wr corp and that o line has to be fixed in 2-3 areas.  That’s not footing.  But you can’t run laterally and be poorly prepared along the line.   Go watch cover 1 ‘s last YouTube video about the last game and you will see the real issues.  Best wishes !  

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

They played like people that have dealt with snow for the last few months and know how to walk gingerly on the sidewalk so as not to slip. 

[Donuts and Doritos]

[mabden]

19 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 that would be beyond unbelievable if there was a disparity in cleats contributing to the difference in footing. 
 

 

 

You will know this was the case when the equipment manager gets fired.

[DrDawkinstein]

 

 

[Buffalo Junction]

The Miami game seems to play into this as well…. They were getting pushed around until it started to snow then they did the pushing. 

[Figster]

19 hours ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

Kinda looked like Cook the 1st time he touched the ball on Sunday

[B-Large]

in our Defense, we were gassed...

 

 

mmkay?

[ExiledInIllinois]

20 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

They played like people that have dealt with snow for the last few months and know how to walk gingerly on the sidewalk so as not to slip. 

AND Bills were playing like players that have dealt with death.

7 minutes ago, Buffalo Junction said:

The Miami game seems to play into this as well…. They were getting pushed around until it started to snow then they did the pushing. 

Yet... That was before their PTSD incident... 

[TheBrownBear]

I thought the same.  Looked like we were on skates all day.  I think it's entirely possible they messed up their choice of footwear.  We heard leading up to the game that the snow wasn't supposed to stick on the field.

[SydneyBillsFan]

This may well be a valid contributing factor as to why we were soundly beaten but really, it's a distant third on the reasons why we lost list, the first two being soft play on both sides of the LOS and coaching / preparation.

[Buddo]

A couple of things may have played into it, not just maybe having the wrong cleats. 
 

Anyone playing ‘banged up’ is likely going to be naturally more tentative.

 

Also, we have been called more of a ‘finesse’ team in the past, a style of which isn’t going to be favoured in the conditions.

 

Tbh, while footing issues seemed more noticeable for the Bills, they also looked flat and disjointed regardless.

[Old Coot]

Reminiscent of the 1934 NFL Championship game?

 

The Giants beat the undefeated Bears 30-13 by outscoring their opponents 27-0 in the fourth quarter.  Their victory was attributed to the fact that during the fourth quarter the Giants wore sneakers, giving them better traction on the frozen, icy field.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_NFL_Championship_Game

[LABILLBACKER]

7 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

I thought the same.  Looked like we were on skates all day.  I think it's entirely possible they messed up their choice of footwear.  We heard leading up to the game that the snow wasn't supposed to stick on the field.

Hines slipped on all his kickoff returns.  Cleary the cleats selection was wrong.  I just think the days of the Bills having some advantage in bad weather is over. Regardless of wind, rain or snow. With as much as we throw and as little as we run, it's pointless to think it favors us.

Edited January 27, 2023 by LABILLBACKER

[QB Bills]

Its possible there was an inexcusable equipment blunder that we may never hear about. Look at the way Cook was running compared to Mixon. It's like our guys were on skates.

[Dr.Sack]

Allen is super mobile in the pocket. He was compromised a bit unable to make his usual Super Mario cuts. 

[Figster]

 

The Buffalo Bills play many of their home games towards the end of the season and into the playoffs on a half frozen snow covered playing surface. Against the Bengals in the playoffs it did appear poor footing was very one sided. It may help explain why the Bills failed executing plays properly more often then not IMO. We have all experienced slippery surfaces and know how hard even the simplest task can become when dealing with ice and snow. When I started exploring different types of cleats and how they match up with different playing surfaces and in different weather conditions. I can see how complex it is to prevent injury while achieving good traction in different conditions. I bring this subject up because even when the new stadium is completed the Bills will still be playing on an ice and snow covered playing field. I think its important the Buffalo Bills do everything they can to make sure poor traction doesn't become a deciding factor in the outcome of a football game. I'm posting a link on one of the studies I looked at that was very insightful. It showed a machine that could be used to test a cleats traction real time on the surface it would be used on. 

 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0216364

 

Heres another recent article that shows the problem some NFL teams are having in finding a middle ground beween safety and good traction. Same culprit in Tennessee. Ice and snow

https://sports.yahoo.com/titans-ditch-natural-grass-for-artificial-turf-at-nissan-stadium-cite-injuries-player-safety-230654543.html

 

 

 

 

 

[Dr.Sack]

Traction is key on any surface 

[BillsfaninSB]

So are they not allowed to change cleats after the first couple of series?

 

I know they can’t sign a pass rusher after the 1st quarter but I assume they can change shoes. 

[HOUSE]

Well, you guys wanted home field advantage . I begged you guys to stop but nooooooooo......

[Not at the table Karlos]

On 1/25/2023 at 6:22 PM, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 that would be beyond unbelievable if there was a disparity in cleats contributing to the difference in footing. 
 

 

It's happened a lot over the years. Announcers catch it from time to time and make a comment about it. It's usually a player or two not the whole team. 

 

Our field is very slippery when wet. If you don't have the correct cleats on you'll slip and slide all over. The fake blades of grass are all smooth plastic.  Little league team was practicing on the field after a light rain and the Bills told us no cleats. It was like practicing on ice. We decided to just take pictures on the field of the team and left. If you tried to slow down your feet came out from under you 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Not at the table Karlos

[Billsfan1972]

I'm wondering if anyone has pictures of the cleats worn or more insight.  To me it certainly seemed Cincy had better traction.

[BarleyNY]

6 hours ago, BillsfaninSB said:

So are they not allowed to change cleats after the first couple of series?

 

I know they can’t sign a pass rusher after the 1st quarter but I assume they can change shoes. 

Exactly this. From reading this site, you’d think we were a JV high school team. “Hey, Coach we’re slipping all over the place out there on these cleats!” McD: “Wow, that too bad. I guess you’ll just have to deal with it today. We’ll try to get it worked out for next week.” LOL

[Figster]

I'm hearing we may be installing heated natural grass in the new stadium. Eagles, Chiefs and Packers are already doing it.

 

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=zhWo7%2b4s&id=200E3A8FA6AD7980A4C82BD95056A9A00A1585FA&thid=OIP.zhWo7-4seQUiJ41lQlUL9QHaEK&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fstatic.clubs.nfl.com%2fimage%2fprivate%2ft_editorial_landscape_12_desktop%2fchiefs%2ffsk3pu7p0wqz8rvpnvxj&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.ce15a8efee2c790522278d6542550bf5%3frik%3d%2boUVCqCpVlDZKw%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=720&expw=1280&q=stadiums+with+heated+football+field&simid=608033061791809570&FORM=IRPRST&ck=9AAD0EBC5A3EAD548CE0E9FF48E1C944&selectedIndex=0&idpp=overlayview&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

 

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 hour ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

It's happened a lot over the years. Announcers catch it from time to time and make a comment about it. It's usually a player or two not the whole team. 

 

Our field is very slippery when wet. If you don't have the correct cleats on you'll slip and slide all over. The fake blades of grass are all smooth plastic.  Little league team was practicing on the field after a light rain and the Bills told us no cleats. It was like practicing on ice. We decided to just take pictures on the field of the team and left. If you tried to slow down your feet came out from under you 

Cook def seemed like he had the wrong shoes on. Embarrassing to even thing our guys don’t know best how to deal with the home feild. 

[LABILLBACKER]

On 1/25/2023 at 3:19 PM, SoCal Deek said:

You are not alone in this observation. It was obvious from the very first series. Basham looked like he was trying to rush the passer wearing brand new penny loafers! The head scratcher was why the staff didn’t do anything about it. 

These are the little things that can cost you a game. Like not verifying a pooch kick with 13 seconds left to failing to equip your team with the right snow cleats.  

[Fleezoid]

So, the label of this game is "Cleats?"