On the Sunny Side of the Street...

[folz]

Yes, the Bills let Tampa hang around and have a shot in a game that should have been well over. But crazy stuff happens in the NFL. Think of Tampa's last TD drive. They were bailed out once on 4th down by the refs with a BS illegal contact penalty. Then on another 4th down, Jordan grabs the facemark when he didn't need to to extend the drive. And both their TD pass (also on 4th down) and 2-point conversion were a bit lucky (ricochets). Then Von gives Baker an extra 5 yards on the Hail Mary on the next drive. Yes, two of those were Bills' players making a mistake, but just look at how many balls bounced just right for Tampa to even have a shot at a desperation attempt (that yes was closer than it should have been). Again, how many near interceptions did the Bills have, how many times was one of Baker's passes hanging in the air after a tip and nothing? Yet the one time they tip one of Josh's passes, it goes right to a Bucs player. A lot of things went the Bucs way for them to even have a slim chance of pulling that game out. 

 

Now, I'm not saying I was happy with Dorsey's goal-line play calling (I wasn't). And, yeah, I think that MCD got a little too conservative (I would have gone for that first 4th down at least). Of course, we need to stop the dumb penalties, etc., etc.

 

But, I wanted to focus on some of the positives from the game:

 

1. The team had emotion and passion again across the squad (feels like we haven't seen that since before London).

 

2. With Knox and Morris out, we had to go away from the 12-personnel and I think that is good. A buddy of mine said, "they finally look like the offense from early last year." I think because that is who they are at their best. The 12-personnel made a lot of sense (with Knox and Kincaid), but I don't think that is who they are. They will have to do this a few more weeks with Knox on IR and I'm hoping they finally find their identity and then mix Knox back into that. They can still go 12-personnel here and there against certain teams, but that shouldn't be  their base identity.

 

3. Other guys not named Diggs stepped up in the passing game:

3a. Dalton Kincaid is finally starting to break out! 

3b. Shakir proved that he deserves the more reps that he got on Sunday. 

3c. Gabe silenced his doubters for at least another week with an excellent game, a TD, a contested catch, etc.

 

4. Sam Martin was a weapon last night.

 

5. Harty had three beautiful punt returns (two called back on penalties that we never got a replay of on the TV broadcast)

 

6. Josh was more Josh-like: on top of his 324 passing yards and 2 passing TDs, he had 41 rushing yards and a rushing TD. Just the threat of Josh running affects the defense.

 

7. The defense only gave up two TDs. A short-field TD where Tampa started on the Bills 23-yard line (after the interception) and the last TD when the Bills were basically in prevent, and as mentioned above Tampa got a lot of luck/help on that drive. From 6:46 left to go in the 2nd quarter until 10:00 left in the 4th quarter (almost 2 full quarters) the Bucs had a total of 17 plays for 62 yards and 4 punts. Godwin had 5 recs for 54 yards and Evans had 3 recs for 39 yards. They held two really good WRs pretty much in check. And though Rachaad White did some damage as a receiver, the Tampa Bay backs were held to 45 yards rushing (yes, I know they are a bad rushing team, but still..)

 

8. Bass made all 4 of his kicks.

 

I could go on with a few more I'm sure, but you get the picture. With my Homer glasses securely on, I don't see this game as another near-failure, but as a step in the right direction. We were in a 3-game slump, looking lethargic. Last night didn't bring us all the way back, but was a big step up from the previous three games in many ways. Let's hope the climb continues and they get back to where we know they can be at just the right time to get hot heading down the stretch and into the playoffs. I still believe they can make things happen this year!

 

Go Bills!

 

 

[sonyab1974]

Oh damn! The song popped in my head! Thanks for the ear worm!!

[RiotAct]

9.  Escaped the game with no additional injuries (I think?).

 

Well, besides Josh maybe re-aggravating his shoulder a bit.  Hopefully the 9 full days of rest will help in thay regard.

[Seventeen]

3 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

9.  Escaped the game with no additional injuries (I think?).

 

Well, besides Josh maybe re-aggravating his shoulder a bit.  Hopefully the 9 full days of rest will help in thay regard.

 

Unlike Deshaun Watson, Josh will play through it. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

17 minutes ago, sonyab1974 said:

Oh damn! The song popped in my head! Thanks for the ear worm!!

Agreed re: the ear worm, but for some reason I read the lyric and heard the tune as being in this ditty:

Not quite as optimistic as OP's original.  I think I need help. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[sonyab1974]

On 10/28/2023 at 10:35 AM, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Agreed re: the ear worm, but for some reason I read the lyric and heard the tune as being in this ditty:

Not quite as optimistic as OP's original.  I think I need help. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Hahaha. Oh no another ear worm, but a good one.

[Haslett_Stomp]

to add, the Bills were two plays from a blowout win:  Poyer dropping a potential pick six deep in the Tampa zone and Allen overthrowing Davis on what likely would have been a long TD pass.

[skibum]

I thought they played a great game for the majority of the time. Yes, they are still their own worst enemy at times, but I never thought the Bucs had a real chance at any point in that game. I don't know what all the hand-wringing is about this week.

 

Also worth considering is that it was a Thursday game, and we all know that these games can be both unpredictable in their result, and dangerous to player health. To walk off with a solid win and no major injuries is huge, in my book. Especially going into next week vs. Cincy on the road. 

[NBDawg15]

19 minutes ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

to add, the Bills were two plays from a blowout win:  Poyer dropping a potential pick six deep in the Tampa zone and Allen overthrowing Davis on what likely would have been a long TD pass.

My two plays are to sneak on 3rd and goal and avoid the facemask on Phillips and it's 31-10.

 

If we keep the aggression on offense and use tempo, this can be a dominant offense as Allen is a true unicorn.  Despite the struggles at times for the offense, he leads the league in total touchdowns and QBR.  Now that we can run him and Kincaid is finally being used appropriately, along with 3 wr sets, we should be able to name our score on offense.

 

Allen is literally a cheat code that Dorsey and McDermott seem to not want to fully utilize.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

No Bills were fined from their week 7 game!! That'sa first!

 

Wait, that's right, Ed Oliver didn't play

[Freddie's Dead]

6 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

No Bills were fined from their week 7 game!! That'sa first!

 

Wait, that's right, Ed Oliver didn't play

 

That *****in' punter better get fined for swinging that helmet!!