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

[Ralonzo]

10 hours ago, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

Honestly that forecast is gold for me. A slight slickness so their run game is a touch slower/Rudolph's timing is a bit off, and winds where Josh won't be super accurate, but should be accurate enough on intermediate throws.

 

Of course, if things change, so does the game plan.

 

Rudolph throws a moon ball that won't be happy in that wind. However Pickens is a contested catch monster.

[AKC]

36 minutes ago, Rockinon said:

I think Brady is able to see the big picture better than Dorsey. Dorsey I believe, could draw up great plays but just didn't have a feel for the game. There are many great plays that look great on paper but if you can't think about what needs to be done to fool the defense your toast. In fact, I think this is Brady's bread and butter. He just seems to know what play to call and when.

To Brady's credit the timing of his promotion (for him) was awful, taking over an early season fave reeling and looking like they had already played their way out of the post-season. He has gotten past that gauntlet to now face a FAR bigger test in the playoffs, where better defenses and better defensive coaching is the bane of pretenders. Dorsey was so awful at situational football that Brady has a chance to take the product he was given and improve after the few games he now has under his belt, but the odds are not in his favor. We are entering the "second season" of the NFL when the best in the business exacerbate even smaller flaws in opponent strategy. The one thing it's safe to say about Brady is that we are in better hands than we were with Dorsey. It will be much to his credit to see our O start playing up to their potential right now since he's already been able to reel in the slide Dorsey dragged us into.

[zow2]

1 hour ago, Aimee75 said:

They're talking whiteout conditions now. I don't see this as being some shootout. It's going to be a low scoring game and probably who ever makes the least mistakes, wins!

 

This seems like a bit of hyperbole. I’ve seen the forecast from my trusted weather sources. Sat eve the temps plummet and it gets windy as hell (50 mph gusts). We are fortunate the game isn’t scheduled for Sat night. By Sunday at 1pm there’s a 30% chance of scattered snow but no real accumulation. Winds 20-30 but trending a little less towards the 4th Qtr, and no huge gust predictions.  Sunday night temps are in the low teens and that’s when 2-4 inches is expected.  Of course this could all change but 4 days out it’s coming into focus.

[Ralonzo]

8 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

 

I've never watched an episode of Hard Knocks before.  I was going to watch a little bit of it and said no way am I watching this for almost an hour.  I couldn't stop watching and ended up watching the entire thing lol.  It actually is an interesting program.  I especially liked all the field view footage of the game.  From broadcast angles you don't actually realize the speed of everything on the field but this view is a whole new perspective of how fast those guys are really flying around out there.

 

I presonally liked the footage from Tua's GoPro. Made me feel like, "Hey I could do that!"

[BillnutinHouston]

18 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

 

Rudolph throws a moon ball that won't be happy in that wind. 

 

I'm going to dispute that very general statement with two points.  First, an opinion, Rudolph will not be throwing "moon balls" in Sundays weather.  Second, fact, his throw for the long TD vs. the Ravens was on a rope and a great throw with some mustard on it.  Granted it was 15-20 yards in the air, but that is exactly the type of intermediate range pattern they will likely run in Sundays weather.

 

Edited January 11 by BillnutinHouston

[stevewin]

5 hours ago, BuffBills51 said:

I asked in the tailgate forum but seems to be limited activity there. I am bringing my 68 year old mother to her first playoff game Sunday and got Pepsi Club tickets. I normally park in a private lot but am considering parking in lot 7 due to its proximity to the club. If we get to the stadium by 10:30 should we be able to get a space or do you need a pre-purchased pass? It says on the site it is a public lot. Also, is the lot unbearable to exit at the end of the game. I know traffic is always an issue but some lots are worse. 

Does she have a car handicap placard?  If so - park in one of the two ADA lots next to the stadium.  That is the best thing going if you have it.

 

Also - if you have a wheelchair you can wheel her in throgh the VIP gate and staff can direct you to elevators that are behind unmarked doors located outside the stadium.  If she walks in, you can still get stadium staff to take her up to the level in a wheelchair once you enter the gate.

 

My (89 yr old) Dad still gets around, but long walks are tough for him.  A few years ago we started using his handicap placard (which he normally never uses) to park in the ADA lot, and got him to swallow his pride and wheel him in with a transport wheelchair he has from some old injury - it is so much easier for him and makes the day go much smoother.

[BuffBills51]

4 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Does she have a car handicap placard?  If so - park in one of the two ADA lots next to the stadium.  That is the best thing going if you have it.

 

Also - if you have a wheelchair you can wheel her in throgh the VIP gate and staff can direct you to elevators that are behind unmarked doors located outside the stadium.  If she walks in, you can still get stadium staff to take her up to the level in a wheelchair once you enter the gate.

 

My (89 yr old) Dad still gets around, but long walks are tough for him.  A few years ago we started using his handicap placard (which he normally never uses) to park in the ADA lot, and got him to swallow his pride and wheel him in with a transport wheelchair he has from some old injury - it is so much easier for him and makes the day go much smoother.

No handicap sticker. Fortunately she gets around extremely well but with the potential for heavy snow and cold would prefer she didn’t need to walk a mile before and after the game. 

[stevewin]

4 minutes ago, BuffBills51 said:

No handicap sticker. Fortunately she gets around extremely well but with the potential for heavy snow and cold would prefer she didn’t need to walk a mile before and after the game. 

Yeah I was just going to update I actually initially mis-read her age as 86 😛

 

Relative to regular parking I would think yeah you'd have to get there early to get close in a regular lot - and then be prepared to wait a while after for the lot to clear.

Edited January 11 by stevewin

[newcam2012]

57 minutes ago, Aimee75 said:

Yeah, I feel like, at the very least, it neuters The Bills more than it does them and puts them at borderline equal playing field. I think The Bills are no doubt more talented, but I feel like they have a better run game. I don't think we will see a lot of passing in this game. We cannot make any mistakes. No turnovers. It would be devastating I think. I doubt field goals will even be a thing.

 

If we lose this one, I am not sure I ever want homefield "advantage" again. I am almost wondering if we would have been better off losing in Miami and playing on the road. I hate saying that because I usually like the comfort of home, but our offense cannot air it out in this type of weather. 

I think you just found the "out" if the Bills lose. It won't be McD's fault, the roster, player execution , etc... Rather it will be the weather. 

 

So hope this doesn't happen. 

31 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

 

Rudolph throws a moon ball that won't be happy in that wind. However Pickens is a contested catch monster.

Pitt has been pounding the rock well lately. Harris and Warren have looked very good down the stretch. 

[wjag]

My thoughts heading into the weekend

 

1. The short to medium passing game should be the order of the day.  

2. Likely to be a 2 Qtr game into wind/against wind

3. Rudolph to Pickens is heating up.  

4. Friermuth is going to be a handful

5. If there was ever a game the pass rush needs to get home, this is it.

6. Figure Harris is going to get 20-25 carries in this game.  Warren another 10

7. I was advocating bringing Lenny F back.  Figured he had fresh legs.  Not seeing it.  They really haven't thrown to him yet.  Might be the game to try and get him some YAC.

8. With the exception of 90, Pitt looks reasonably healthy for this time of year.

9. I think this is a Joseph game.  Need to clog the middle to keep their OLINE off of Bills 2nd level.

10. FGs might be hard to come by. 

11.  FTLOG, could we have a few offensive wrinkles in the game we haven't seen before?  Some creativity.  

12. I'm encouraged by Allen saying he felt the 4th qtr was the best he has felt throwing the ball all season.  Hoping that is going to carryover into the playoffs.

 

[JustAnotherBillsFan]

1 hour ago, TH3 said:

Do you have any actual stats to back up this hot take?

I was mostly going for the James "Butter Fingers" Cook humor.  The eye test has been obvious for me but here is a post that supports what my eyes tell me.  I would like to see Fournette get a few more touches because he has a history of fumbling less and is also more physical, which I think will be needed this weekend.  

 

McDermott obviously knows a zillion times more than I do so (for this week only  ) I will defer to his judgement.
 

[Ralonzo]

18 minutes ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

I'm going to dispute that very general statement with two points.  First, an opinion, Rudolph will not be throwing "moon balls" in Sundays weather.  Second, fact, his throw for the long TD vs. the Ravens was on a rope and a great throw with some mustard on it.  Granted it was 15-20 yards in the air, but that is exactly the type of intermediate range pattern they will likely run in Sundays weather.

 

 

If you're gonna dispute it, dispute it.

1) Does Rudolph throw or not throw a moon ball? A "rope" of 15 yards isn't what I was referring to.

2) Would said moon ball be more or less affected by the wind?

[Aimee75]

31 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

This seems like a bit of hyperbole. I’ve seen the forecast from my trusted weather sources. Sat eve the temps plummet and it gets windy as hell (50 mph gusts). We are fortunate the game isn’t scheduled for Sat night. By Sunday at 1pm there’s a 30% chance of scattered snow but no real accumulation. Winds 20-30 but trending a little less towards the 4th Qtr, and no huge gust predictions.  Sunday night temps are in the low teens and that’s when 2-4 inches is expected.  Of course this could all change but 4 days out it’s coming into focus.

I was going by the Don Paul podcast someone linked here.

12 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

I think you just found the "out" if the Bills lose. It won't be McD's fault, the roster, player execution , etc... Rather it will be the weather. 

 

So hope this doesn't happen. 

Pitt has been pounding the rock well lately. Harris and Warren have looked very good down the stretch. 

Yeah, it could be Sean's get out of jail free card. It also just makes me sad, if we lose this and sense it was because of the weather(like the first Pats game of 2021) because then we have to wonder if working so hard to get "home field advantage" is worth it. I don't blame the crappy weather in the divisional game last year, but I don't think it helped. Do they keep trying for home field and hope there will be a year where the weather isn't god awful? Don't get me wrong, it's January, it's Buffalo. I get that, it's just that it's not going to be just bitterly cold, or just windy, or just snowy, it's all of the above. It's a lot.

[Since1981]

Bad, sloppy, weather favors the less capable team. Especially, with unicorn passer. Will the mafia inspire the players more than the weather detracting form the better team? We will see. Sucks.

[zow2]

14 minutes ago, wjag said:

My thoughts heading into the weekend

 

1. The short to medium passing game should be the order of the day.  

2. Likely to be a 2 Qtr game into wind/against wind

 

The Bills in this win streak have not been explosive really. Which is good, because the kind of game they will need to play this Sunday is the same kind of game they’ve been winning lately. Ball control, move the chains, don’t be reckless and dumb.

 

McDermott and the captains need to be smart with the field direction. They must have the wind in the 2nd and/or 4th Qtrs. Those are the two long Qtrs with all the timeout usage, 2 min warning, guys getting out of bounds, extra plays,etc.  

There was a wind game either last year or a couple years ago where our opponent had the wind advantage in the 2nd and 4th Qtrs. That was egregiously bad decision making and coaching. That can’t happen Sunday. 

[Success]

I'm worried about the weather, like most here.  But what I like about it is that if we CAN take a lead of more than a score, we'll be sitting pretty.

 

I don't think they can come back against us, if they need to pass in that weather w/ Rudolph.

 

[zow2]

2 minutes ago, Since1981 said:

Bad, sloppy, weather favors the less capable team. Especially, with unicorn passer. Will the mafia inspire the players more than the weather detracting form the better team? We will see. Sucks.

 

If Buffalo was a pass happy explosive chunk play team i’d be worried,  but instead they are more grind it out and tough D lately. Plus we have the QB that goes off script and makes play with his legs. They don’t. That’s huge in weather.

[Since1981]

3 minutes ago, zow2 said:

They must have the wind in the 2nd and/or 4th Qtrs. Those are the two long Qtrs with all the timeout usage,

See! You should be HC. I just have so little confidence that these guys think like this. I could be wrong

[zow2]

1 minute ago, Since1981 said:

See! You should be HC. I just have so little confidence that these guys think like this. I could be wrong

 

If the Steelers manipulate the coin toss to have the wind in the 2nd AND 4th Qtrs i’m going to rip my 60” TV down and throw it out on the street. It’s our stadium, our weather and McDermott should know how to play it.

[uninja]

2 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

If the Steelers manipulate the coin toss to have the wind in the 2nd AND 4th Qtrs i’m going to rip my 60” TV down and throw it out on the street. It’s our stadium, our weather and McDermott should know how to play it.

how do you “manipulate” a coin toss?