Steelers @ Bills. Monday, January 15th at 4:30pm.

[ngbills]

33 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

OK. But what team that is in the AFC playoff field would you rather be playing on Sunday? Would you rather be going back to Miami again? Would you rather be playing in Arrowhead? Imagine the panic this week if the Bills were playing the Browns defense. Imagine if the Jags and Colts had won and this board was facing the prospect of playing Jonathan Taylor in a snow game. This is the best possible situation that the Bills could be in, and most Bills fans have already lost the game in their minds. Yes, the Bills could lose this game. Any team can lose to any other team in this league, especially in the playoffs. I just can't believe that there is not a single poster on TBD that is confident in their team beating a team that just backed into the playoffs after barely beating the Ravens' backups. Remember, that game was tied going into the fourth when Harbaugh decided to remove everyone and rollover. I just checked the snap counts. We all know the offensive inactive for the Ravens, but Roquon Smith didn't play, Madubuike didn't play, and even guys that did play like C Linderbaum, OT Stanley and TE LIkely only played for the first quarter. The Ravens decided to allow the Steelers into the playoffs and it still took them until the 4th to get that done. I choose to be confident. 

 

BTW, every Steeler fan that I know wants the great Mike Tomlin fired yesterday. They hate him for being too conservative on offense and for focusing too much mental energy and draft capital on his vaunted defense. Sound familiar?

I expect the Bills to win this week. I expect them to win again next week vs KC, CLE or HOU.

 

I dont think any team is scary. BAL has mean the most consistent of the bunch but we have seen them crumble in the playoffs enough times. Is this years team better? KC has been a shell of itself but will they hit a switch and go into playoff mode? HOU has a rookie QB and I dont know if they beat CLE. CLE is playing with Flacco, who knows what will happen there but cant see them winning vs playoff defenses. MIA with all the injuries is a toss up based on what KC team shows up. PIT is lucky to be here but the story is ending this week or the next if the Bills give this one away. Bills can beat anyone or lose to anyone. I think this year is a crapshoot more than any other year. 

 

I guess to the question of who to play this week - I think PIT and HOU are the easiest outs. HOU would struggle in the BUF weather and I take a rookie QB in the playoffs. I also take PIT and Mason Rudolph. The only edge there is if is one of those snowy days it helps PIT more. 

[CSBill]

30 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Our rushing defense may very well be the key to winning on Sunday. 

 

Let me fix this for you: "Our rushing defense may very well will be the key to winning on Sunday."

[boyst]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

Am I crazy to want Linval Joseph active for this game, given the weather forecast and the Steelers' recent success running the ball?

I'm not sure there's a position elsewhere on the roster where the Bills could realistically sacrifice a roster spot, and I can't recall ever seeing the Bills have five DTs active on game day, but if there was ever a week...

over Fraud Miller, 100% the move to make.

 

We need to lay some licks on on them early.

[Scott7975]

 

[finn]

3 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

Ok everybody. We’ve all been here before. Some are expecting the bills to take care of business but that’s not our bills. We will take a huge lead, take the foot off the gas and let them come back. We will score to go ahead in the 4th quarter. The Steelers will get the ball back on the last possession down 6 points and we will all be biting our nails until they fail a 4th and 1 pass to end the game at our 30 yard line. We then kneel the ball 3 times and win 

 

Bills win 24-18

The Bills I know will make Rudolph look like Joe Montana but will keep him to one TD and two field goals. Meanwhile, the offense will stall, punt, turn the ball over, and score two TDs and a field goal, after missing at least one. Rudolph will get the ball back with three minutes left just miss a chance to win, and we'll all age five years. Again. 

 

17-13 Bills. 

[Aussie Joe]

1 minute ago, finn said:

The Bills I know will make Rudolph look like Joe Montana but will keep him to one TD and two field goals. Meanwhile, the offense will stall, punt, turn the ball over, and score two TDs and a field goal, after missing at least one. Rudolph will get the ball back with three minutes left just miss a chance to win, and we'll all age five years. Again. 

 

17-13 Bills. 

The O is going to have to win them a game eventually… been a few weeks now… the banged up D cant keep doing it ..

[Warriorspikes51]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

It's been a while since I got info like this, but here's what I was just told about injuries:

 

Douglas - Moderate MCL knee sprain. Will almost certainly miss this week and possibly the divisional round too...

 

Dodson - Tore his left labrum and partially tore his rotator cuff (ouch). Same injury timeline as Douglas.

 

Rapp - Calf & achilles strain. Not a huge concern.

 

Almost certainly going to missing Douglas, Dodson, and Davis against the Steelers... Let's hope they can be back the following week.

 

 

Thanks for the info.  Sigh.  Rasul has helped make this a Top 5 D since he got here.   

Jackson is hopefully up to the challenge

Dodson has actually played really good ball for us too.    Thankfully, Spector looks ready to fly 

Edited January 9 by Warriorspikes51

[mjt328]

1 minute ago, ngbills said:

I expect the Bills to win this week. I expect them to win again next week vs KC, CLE or HOU.

 

I dont think any team is scary. BAL has mean the most consistent of the bunch but we have seen them crumble in the playoffs enough times. Is this years team better? KC has been a shell of itself but will they hit a switch and go into playoff mode? HOU has a rookie QB and I dont know if they beat CLE. CLE is playing with Flacco, who knows what will happen there but cant see them winning vs playoff defenses. MIA with all the injuries is a toss up based on what KC team shows up. PIT is lucky to be here but the story is ending this week or the next if the Bills give this one away. Bills can beat anyone or lose to anyone. I think this year is a crapshoot more than any other year. 

 

I guess to the question of who to play this week - I think PIT and HOU are the easiest outs. HOU would struggle in the BUF weather and I take a rookie QB in the playoffs. I also take PIT and Mason Rudolph. The only edge there is if is one of those snowy days it helps PIT more. 

 

The Bills have proven over the last 4 seasons, they can beat anyone in the NFL.

In the last 3 years, they have exactly TWO losses over 7 points (last year's playoff game against the Bengals, and a blowout by the Colts).

Nobody...including the Ravens and 49ers...should feel extremely confident about going up against us.

 

Our problem has always been sloppy play.  Unforced turnovers.  Drops.  Penalties.  In other words...BEATING OURSELVES.

 

This season, we learned that if we play sloppy enough, even the worst teams in the league can defeat us.

Five of our six losses were against teams that didn't even make the playoffs.

 

The road to a Super Bowl win is there for the taking.  More than anytime I can remember.

The Steelers barely deserved to make the playoffs and will be without their best player.  The second round will either be against the most flawed Chiefs team since Patrick Mahomes became the starter, old-man Joe Flacco or a rookie QB.  The best squads in front of us are led by Lamar Jackson (who we've shut-down before) and Brock Purdy.

 

But can the Bills play clean, disciplined football for the rest of the postseason...

 

 

[PBF81]

41 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

I wish the forecast wasn't calling for so much wind. Allen is ready to go on a tear passing. After the game on Sunday he said "On those final 2 drives the ball was coming out of my hands the best all year".

 

Allen hasn't gone on a tear in five games except for the 2nd half last week.

 

We're the better team on Sunday no matter what the weather, and they have them same obstacles with a worse QB, by far, so there's zero excuse for not winning.  

 

 

[Logic]

44 minutes ago, Governor said:

3:04 left on the clock.

 

1. run up the middle for nothing

2. designed run to left. Josh falls inbounds. No gain. (Kneel-down play) 

3. Pass to shakir short of the marker

4. silly hut hut tactic

5. Time out. LMAO

6. Josh run up the middle for nothing.

7. Turnover on downs

 

That's a guy that’s terrified to run his normal offense at the most crucial point of the game.

 

I've been all over McDermott at times this year, including calling for the Bills to replace him after the season.

The coaching at the end of the Dolphins game was not cautious or "scared" in any way.

Once you go for it on 4th and 1 on your own 35 with four+ minutes left in the game, you've proven that you're coaching aggressively. If that didn't do it, then going for it AGAIN on 4th and 1 in the same drive should do the trick.

As for running the ball instead of passing it downfield -- there's a fine line between smart and reckless. If the Bills had aggressively passed the ball in that instance and thrown two incomplete passes on 2nd and 3rd down, I'd be willing to bet you'd be here complaining in the other direction.

It's a balancing act of how aggressive to be on both offense and defense in the waning moments. As someone who has lobbed plenty of criticism at our coaching this year, Sunday was NOT an instance to accuse them of over-cautiousness, in my opinion. They toed the line very well, managed to bleed significant time off the clock, were inches away from sealing the game on a Josh Allen sneak, and oh yeah, they won the game.

Edited January 9 by Logic

[Warriorspikes51]

1 minute ago, PBF81 said:

 

Allen hasn't gone on a tear in five games except for the 2nd half last week.

 

We're the better team on Sunday no matter what the weather, and they have them same obstacles with a worse QB, by far, so there's zero excuse for not winning.  

 

 

 

Masterclass 4D chess by the staff.  We can now run the ball.

Cook has been established as a good back.

Allen's threat to run has been firmly re-established

 

Now we can kill teams on play-action and deep....if Allen can remember how to put the proper air on 40+ yard passes 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

18 minutes ago, CSBill said:

 

Let me fix this for you: "Our rushing defense may very well will be the key to winning on Sunday."

The Steelers have great running backs and WRs. Going to need to prioritize stopping the run and bank on Rudolph struggling to get the ball downfield. 
 

No TJW is enormous. 

10 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Allen hasn't gone on a tear in five games except for the 2nd half last week.

 

We're the better team on Sunday no matter what the weather, and they have them same obstacles with a worse QB, by far, so there's zero excuse for not winning.  

 

 

having zero excuses doesn’t always stop them… 😆 

 

It’s a 10 point spread ffs

[DieHardBillsFan]

1 minute ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

The Steelers have great running backs and WRs. Going to need to prioritize stopping the run and bank on Rudolph struggling to get the ball downfield. 
 

No TJW is enormous. 

I was concerned by how strong the Dline is for them. I know it was preseason but they looked unstoppable. Big relief here.

[Big Turk]

2 hours ago, finn said:

The Bills I know will make Rudolph look like Joe Montana but will keep him to one TD and two field goals. Meanwhile, the offense will stall, punt, turn the ball over, and score two TDs and a field goal, after missing at least one. Rudolph will get the ball back with three minutes left just miss a chance to win, and we'll all age five years. Again. 

 

17-13 Bills. 

 

The Bills went to a Super Bowl once off the strength of the defense winning 10-7 over the Broncos in the AFCCG with a defensive TD and 1 FG.

 

It doesn't matter how they get it done. Just that it gets done. You don't earn any style points at this time of year.

 

Pretty sure if we win a Super Bowl but do it scoring 25 points or less every game, nobody is going to complain that it wasn't "good enough".

Edited January 9 by Big Turk

[Scott7975]

14 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Allen hasn't gone on a tear in five games except for the 2nd half last week.

 

We're the better team on Sunday no matter what the weather, and they have them same obstacles with a worse QB, by far, so there's zero excuse for not winning.  

 

 

 

I agree.  We should 100% win this game.  Honestly, if we lose I would be back on the fire McD train.  Pitts has a good physical team and good coaching but we have a better team and we are at home.  If we lose this game then 100% it's on coaching.

 

That said, I have no doubts we win this game.

[HappyDays]

Last year with TJ Watt the Steelers went 8-2 and ranked 6th in pass defense. Without him they went 1-6 and ranked 30th in pass defense.

 

He's arguably just as important to their defense as a franchise QB is to an offense. Him being out is a massive advantage in a game where we already have several advantages.

[stevewin]

27 minutes ago, finn said:

 we'll all age five years. Again. 

Pretty sure I'm 1265 yrs old in Bills years

[Budkin]

4 hours ago, buffblue said:

The Steelers yahoo fans seem downright cocky about this game. Will be great to send them packing 

I’m seeing the same thing. They are acting like it’s a lock for them because JA throws picks. 

[Matt_In_NH]

48 minutes ago, stevewin said:

I remember Taron's rookie season he hurt his shoulder the first game - and kept playing througout the year and flying around like a missle until he would inevitably have to come out of a game with his arm hanging by his side - then unbelievably show back up again.  Eventually they shut him down for surgery with 4 games left - he was playing the whole time with a torn labrum.  Not sure I've ever been more impressed by a player playing through injury.

He is growing into my favorite player on the defense....he is so good and is such a gamer

[eball]

58 minutes ago, Governor said:

3:04 left on the clock.

 

1. run up the middle for nothing

2. designed run to left. Josh falls inbounds. No gain. (Kneel-down play) Just an absurd play call right there. As bad as it gets.

3. Pass to shakir short of the marker

4. silly hut hut tactic

5. Time out. LMAO

6. Josh run up the middle for nothing.

7. Turnover on downs

 

That's a guy that’s terrified to run his normal offense at the most crucial point of the game.

 

 

You're proving yourself to be one hell of an obvious troll, as the breakdown above completely ignores the earlier big balls decision to go for 4th down on their own 35.  I was as big a critic of McD as anyone when the Bills were 5-5, but the man has changed the way he operates at the end of games.  I don't know what happened but the Bills are now aggressive and play to win.  That last series forced Miami to use all of their timeouts and we were literally inches from ending the game on a 6-minute drive.

 

Stop the nonsense.

 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Fan in Chicago said:

With Rudolph throwing and 30-50 mph winds, there is no need to defend the perimeters or the medium to deep zones. Just stack the box and bring up a safety. 

I am having visions of Rudolph attempting a medium depth pass and the wind taking it for a ride. The trajectory of that ball will be quite amusing

Does Rudolph have a weak arm? I googled it and I got conflicting info. Not sure what to believe.

[Gman10]

58 minutes ago, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

It means a defense first team is worse without it's best defensive player. It's a "no duh" thing and is in no way an assurance of victory, but it is relevant. 

Eh again Dolphins were 11-0 when leading at halftime...doesn't mean much

[Bferra13]

4 minutes ago, Gman10 said:

Eh again Dolphins were 11-0 when leading at halftime...doesn't mean much

That stats a bit misleading when it's all against subpar crap teams. 

[Low Positive]

8 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Does Rudolph have a weak arm? I googled it and I got conflicting info. Not sure what to believe.

Mason Rudolph throws the ball downfield more than Pickett or Trubitsky, but he throws moonballs. He takes advantage of teams selling out to stop the run. If he had great arm strength, accuracy, and good decision making he wouldn't have ridden the pine for 6 years.

[Fan in Chicago]

16 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Does Rudolph have a weak arm? I googled it and I got conflicting info. Not sure what to believe.

When I saw his passes in a couple of games, they looked lazy and wobbly to me. Dude had a strong arm when he came into the NFL but in games this year, it looked average to weak. 

But now that you said it, I went looking

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/how-the-steelers-mason-rudolph-has-completely-turned-around-the-offense-kept-pittsburgh-in-the-playoff-race/

 

"Rudolph throws deep with a moon-ball style, giving his receivers plenty of time to field the football and adjust to it before making a play. He understands with that high-arcing trajectory that the ball has to be thrown early in the down to avoid safeties ranging to help the corner. "

Edited January 9 by Fan in Chicago

[26TrapDraw]

On 1/8/2024 at 9:58 AM, Einstein said:

 

Look at how this guy has embraced his new team. Can't say enough about Douglas he is an absolute Home run trade. The guys is just a Pro and handles his business. He's one of the hearts and souls of this defense.

[Governor]

15 minutes ago, eball said:

 

You're proving yourself to be one hell of an obvious troll, as the breakdown above completely ignores the earlier big balls decision to go for 4th down on their own 35.  I was as big a critic of McD as anyone when the Bills were 5-5, but the man has changed the way he operates at the end of games.  I don't know what happened but the Bills are now aggressive and play to win.  That last series forced Miami to use all of their timeouts and we were literally inches from ending the game on a 6-minute drive.

 

Stop the nonsense.

 

McD was trying to win the game until he wasn’t.

 

The goal in mind was to run out the clock(for whatever reason) and seal the game. Ok, that obviously failed miserably. We did not accomplish that at all.

 

I listed the pays for everyone. Watch it again if you need to. McD starts out pretty gutsy. Omg, we’re doing it!

 

McD then closes his eyes and rolls up in a fetal position on the last set of plays.

 

Turns the ball over.

 

Then puts ALL of the pressure on the defense with a ton of time on the clock against a quick strike offense with a HOF WR.

[Rubes]

6 minutes ago, Governor said:

McD was trying to win the game until he wasn’t.

 

The goal in mind was to run out the clock(for whatever reason) and seal the game. Ok, that obviously failed miserably. We did not accomplish that at all.

 

I listed the pays for everyone. Watch it again if you need to. McD starts out pretty gutsy. Omg, we’re doing it!

 

McD then closes his eyes and rolls up in a fetal position on the last set of plays.

 

Turns the ball over.

 

Then puts ALL of the pressure on the defense with a ton of time on the clock against a quick strike offense with a HOF WR.

 

What are you talking about? If Allen gets that first down on the final 4th and 1, the Bills would have run out the entire final 5:30 (or whatever it was) of clock, which would have been super impressive to me. He was that close to doing it.

 

[Goin Breakdown]

2 minutes ago, Governor said:

McD was trying to win the game until he wasn’t.

 

The goal in mind was to run out the clock(for whatever reason) and seal the game. Ok, that obviously failed miserably. We did not accomplish that at all.

 

I listed the pays for everyone. Watch it again if you need to. McD starts out pretty gutsy. Omg, we’re doing it!

 

McD then closes his eyes and rolls up in a fetal position on the last set of plays.

 

Turns the ball over.

 

Then puts ALL of the pressure on the defense with a ton of time on the clock against a quick strike offense with a HOF WR.

 If he had called called passing plays and they were incomplete that gives Miami more time being the clock would stop. Take also I to account that with running the ball the defense knows what you are going to do. It's risk reward. I too was yelling at the tV to take at least 1 shot before failed running attempts but again an incomplete would have spared Miami some time. Just my thoughts. But I just don't think he curled up like a baby they just didn't get the first they wanted. 

[DeltaDigital]

Buffalo just needs to play clean. Pit is +11 on the season turnover differential. buffalo is +2. Don't turn the ball over. we win. 

[uninja]

3 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

 If he had called called passing plays and they were incomplete that gives Miami more time being the clock would stop. Take also I to account that with running the ball the defense knows what you are going to do. It's risk reward. I too was yelling at the tV to take at least 1 shot before failed running attempts but again an incomplete would have spared Miami some time. Just my thoughts. But I just don't think he curled up like a baby they just didn't get the first they wanted. 

 

By running we also forced MIA to burn all their time outs before they wanted to, and yeah that missed 4 & 1 was so so close.

[DieHardBillsFan]

35 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Pretty sure I'm 1265 yrs old in Bills years

Right there with you!

[JGMcD2]

16 minutes ago, Governor said:

McD was trying to win the game until he wasn’t.

 

The goal in mind was to run out the clock(for whatever reason) and seal the game. Ok, that obviously failed miserably. We did not accomplish that at all.

 

I listed the pays for everyone. Watch it again if you need to. McD starts out pretty gutsy. Omg, we’re doing it!

 

McD then closes his eyes and rolls up in a fetal position on the last set of plays.

 

Turns the ball over.

 

Then puts ALL of the pressure on the defense with a ton of time on the clock against a quick strike offense with a HOF WR.

The defensive holding penalty that stopped the clock on Josh’s 3rd and 13 conversion screwed things up quite a bit on the drive. It required us to convert another 1st down when we may not have had to otherwise. 

Edited January 9 by JGMcD2

[K-9]

26 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

Mason Rudolph throws the ball downfield more than Pickett or Trubitsky, but he throws moonballs. He takes advantage of teams selling out to stop the run. If he had great arm strength, accuracy, and good decision making he wouldn't have ridden the pine for 6 years.

Moon balls won’t work either with or against the expected winds on Sunday. Passing game is gonna require frozen ropes. Advantage Allen and the Bills.

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, Fan in Chicago said:

With Rudolph throwing and 30-50 mph winds, there is no need to defend the perimeters or the medium to deep zones. Just stack the box and bring up a safety. 

I am having visions of Rudolph attempting a medium depth pass and the wind taking it for a ride. The trajectory of that ball will be quite amusing

 

"The Hawk" making a triumphant return...

 

If a player hasn't played in the stadium before they are going to have a hell of a time trying to figure out winds.  Balls will sail, get caught up in the wind, dive into the ground and everything in between. Winds at one end of the field are different and swirl around meaning the pass you threw 5 minutes ago that got caught in the wind could now end up being an overthrow. The flags on the goalpost often are not blowing in the same direction as the wind on the field.  It's wild.  Jim Kelly talked extensively about it in his book.

 

  Allen has a clear advantage because he throws lasers that can cut through the wind. Trying to throw arcing balls of any type is a recipe for INTs, unless you have the wind going with you, but then it can just as easily be a 15 yard overthrow if you don't take a little off it.  Kicking and punting will be fun too...

Edited January 9 by Big Turk

[CaptnCoke11]

24 minutes ago, DeltaDigital said:

Buffalo just needs to play clean. Pit is +11 on the season turnover differential. buffalo is +2. Don't turn the ball over. we win. 

Clean game from Josh… Stop their running game which I’m sure will be their focus and it’s lights out for them.  

Edited January 9 by CaptnCoke11

[Governor]

29 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

The defensive holding penalty that stopped the clock on Josh’s 3rd and 13 conversion screwed things up quite a bit on the drive. It required us to convert another 1st down when we may not have had to otherwise. 

I guess when you take a step back and reanalyze those downs, the run to the left kneel down to keep the clock running, there’s no way that call came from Brady up top. That original call (whatever it was) was overruled by McD 100 percent. There’s no intent to get any yardage on that play whatsoever to get us into FG range.  
 

And we still didn’t kill the clock.

[stevestojan]

My lord the weather looks like it’s going to be BRUTAL. 
 

So the home field advantage lies solely in all of you maniacs being LOUD. I have faith in you…. 

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, Low Positive said:

Mason Rudolph throws the ball downfield more than Pickett or Trubitsky, but he throws moonballs. He takes advantage of teams selling out to stop the run. If he had great arm strength, accuracy, and good decision making he wouldn't have ridden the pine for 6 years.

 

That decision making point interests me.

 

In 2019 vs Cleveland, he threw 4 INTs, leading to Tomlin benching him in favor of Duck Hodges.  Next 2 years the Ghost of Big Ben Roethlisberger took over again.  So now 4 years later, he's started 3 games.  I wonder if McDermott will be able to bedazzle him and bait him into Interceptionland again.

[Aussie Joe]

18 minutes ago, stevestojan said:

My lord the weather looks like it’s going to be BRUTAL. 
 

So the home field advantage lies solely in all of you maniacs being LOUD. I have faith in you…. 

There seems a different opinion of the weather every hour … 

 

Perhaps it’s still a little early to be too concerned ?