Game week thread - Pats at Bills SNF

[Richard Noggin]

Just now, Harold Jackson said:

This might be one of the 2 or 3 games ,Bills lose this season.

 

 

It's a candidate for an upset, for sure. Divisional game against a team that has bottled up the Bills offense better than anyone else since the start of 2024. I can see meathead Vrabel's squad coming in here aggressive and physical, on both sides of the ball. We get every team's best shot, and we'll definitely get theirs.

 

I don't expect the Bills coaches to unveil some uniquely brilliant gameplan designed to counter whatever they expect to see out of New England on either side of the ball; instead I expect them to double-down on who and what they want to be, with minor wrinkles for New England. 

 

If Cook is bottled up early and often, which will happen eventually, can the Bills win in other ways? Will they adjust their approach early enough? 

[Pete]

4 hours ago, Harold Jackson said:

This might be one of the 2 or 3 games ,Bills lose this season.

 

I agree.  
 

Pats are one of the only teams to hold Buffalo under 30 points couple years, and they’ve done that twice.  They have a great defense.  

 

Drake Maye is a very efficient mobile QB, and Buffalo is vulnerable to running QBs.  NE upgraded their WR room with a great draft.  They have a dangerous returner.

 

Ive been predicting NE to make the playoffs as a wildcard, and that they would make noise.

 

NE is a tough division game.  Bills better tighten up on defense, and play much better than they did against NO.

 

Bills favored by 9 seems crazy to me, and it seems like free $ if you take the Pats with points.

 

A win puts Buffalo way out front in AFC East and AFC, so this is a big game for Buffalo.  It sure would be nice to get to break undefeated.

 

GO BILLS!

Edited Wednesday at 09:57 AM by Pete

[RunTheBall]

What’s infuriating is the same problems we’ve had for years on defense seem to be worse. I know it’s early and we’ve got a lot of reinforcements coming, but we are weak on the fundamentals. 

 

I think the defensive strategy with Drake Maybe has got to be a contained rush, stop Stevenson, and make Maye dink and dunk again and again. He’s got a lot of potential but some guys are talking like he’s already in the Top 10 which is ridiculous. McBabitch should be able to confuse him pre snap if our D actually knows where the hell to line up.

 

Just make the damn tackles, don’t let Maye burn is with his legs, and we should be fine. 

[finn]

11 hours ago, TFBillsfan said:

Cam Lewis missed a wide open tackle on the 3rd and 7. 

 

Solomon whiffed on the next Rattler scramble.

 

In the TD, Taron Johnson is in position and whiffed, Taylor Rapp then whiffs again and finally Tre was the last resort but was being blocked. Not sure what our LB’s were doing.

 

Also, they are at the 18 yard line so why is our S playing 16 yards deep at the snap?

 

That first drive highlighted  how atrocious the tackling was. They could have /should have easily gotten off the field on 3rd and 7. What is extremely disappointing, is these are experienced players making crucial mistakes. I believe we could understand if our rookies were struggling.

 

On Sunday, I saw way too many substitutions that resulted in the D not being set. In addition, New Orleans was purposely playing with pace offensively and yet we didn’t adjust. This resulted in multiple timeouts that were used by the defense. 

Wow, this is not good, especially coming off a mini-bye--and a game after not playing well against Miami. In all four games, the defense made clutch plays, but in all four them they put themselves in a position of having to. That's living dangerously. I really thought the defense would handle either Miami OR the Saints, both weak teams, competently and decisively. Instead, they continue to play poorly, which makes me wonder what is going on. Winning helps tamp down the urgency, but the coaches have to be concerned, maybe even alarmed. As you say, it's not just the rookies who are struggling; it's the veterans, too. The problems are cropping up everywhere: poor communication, missed tackles, players out of position, undisciplined play. It's not all bad, not by a long shot. Walker, Strong, Bishop, and Sanders are improving in front of our eyes, and Bosa, Daquan, Oliver, and Benford have all played consistently well. It could just be a perfect storm of rookie mistakes and veteran off games, or maybe the defense as a whole just needs to gel, given all the new players (with more to come). I hope so. But I'm not all optimistic about the Pats game. This feels like a team in need of a wake-up call, and the Pats appear to be a team that is primed to be the alarm clock. 

[finn]

10 hours ago, boyst said:

Yes. It's finally made some articles but a lot changed after that. Hughes was a spark plug of it - he always butter heads with McD. The offense vs defense. 

Maybe that's why he was ushered out. I always wondered how it would have gone if Beane had kept Hughes and not invested so much in Von Miller. I'm not criticizing the move, which was bold and exciting and might have paid off big time. Hughes wasn't Von, but he was a good player and continued to play well for his new team. Plus, maybe he was right to butt heads with McDermott, especially after the way that game ended. 

[26TrapDraw]

Anyone see anything on if we get Big Aed and Milano back this week?

[HamptonBillsfan]

This is the game that should send a message to the rest of the AFC that the path to the SB runs right through HighMark Stadium. I’m hoping Oliver and Milano are active and Brown can play. At full strength, with an improved pass rush and a fast developing Strong and Walker, I see the prospect for a dominant performance after two games that we sleepwalked to lackluster victories. The home field advantage will never be bigger than Sunday night’s crowd. With Cook getting off to the start he’s had and Josh showing trust in all our receivers, Vrabel will have a challenge defending our offense.

This is the game that should send a message to the rest of the AFC that the path to the SB runs right through HighMark Stadium. I’m hoping Oliver and Milano are active and Brown can play. At full strength, with an improved pass rush and a fast developing Strong and Walker, I see the prospect for a dominant performance after two games that we sleepwalked to lackluster victories. The home field advantage will never be bigger than Sunday night’s crowd. With Cook getting off to the start he’s had and Josh showing trust in all our receivers, Vrabel will have a challenge defending our offense.

[Goin Breakdown]

10 minutes ago, 26TrapDraw said:

Anyone see anything on if we get Big Aed and Milano back this week?

Practice reports will be out today at some point with injury updates. 

[Magox]

Usually the defense responds well after they have a poor week.  They weren't poor against the pass but their tackling was terrible and I do not expect that issue to repeat this week.  I fully expect the defense to come out fired up.   The offense I expect to try to continue to keep doing what they have been doing, which is dominate the line of scrimmage, establish the run game and run lots of play action.   This is who the Bills are and that is their identity.   McD and Brady and the offense would want it no other way.

[boyst]

32 minutes ago, finn said:

Maybe that's why he was ushered out. I always wondered how it would have gone if Beane had kept Hughes and not invested so much in Von Miller. I'm not criticizing the move, which was bold and exciting and might have paid off big time. Hughes wasn't Von, but he was a good player and continued to play well for his new team. Plus, maybe he was right to butt heads with McDermott, especially after the way that game ended. 

it was and Hughes handled it very well by not going scorched earth on the Bills. a few former players from that defense had some comments after. ty dunne's piece had them air their grievances which people just dismissed as scorned lovers.

 

many on the team knew McD meddled in a little too far that game and caused a problem. and hwen it came time to practice what he preached he didn't and jettisoned the ST coach.

 

the team mutinied in san diego when peterman got the start over taylor. there was damn near a revolt after halftime when he refused to pull peterman. players were irate.

 

the team nearly did it again with dorsey having their players only meeting to put forth on McD that he needs to fire dorsey. the meeting was called by not the typical leaders, iirc. it was like ty ojhnson and a few others who led it.

 

the defense was getting mad that the offense wasn't doing what they were supposed to... which had been historically the case.

[Just in Atlanta]

That meathead Vrabel tends to give us fits. 

 

Curious how our run game / pass protection will fare. I’m imagining a low-scoring game but our D did just allow the Saints to hang 19 on us and … we have 17 so anything’s possible.

[Low Positive]

5 minutes ago, Just in Atlanta said:

That meathead Vrabel tends to give us fits. 

 

Curious how our run game / pass protection will fare. I’m imagining a low-scoring game but our D did just allow the Saints to hang 19 on us and … we have 17 so anything’s possible.

Did they trade for Derrick Henry? Because that's what Vrabel had that gave the Bills fits.

[Goin Breakdown]

6 minutes ago, Just in Atlanta said:

That meathead Vrabel tends to give us fits. 

 

Curious how our run game / pass protection will fare. I’m imagining a low-scoring game but our D did just allow the Saints to hang 19 on us and … we have 17 so anything’s possible.

All It will take is for the Pats to stop our offense. Buffalos offense does stall at times so there is opportunity for the Pats to get into a shootout with Buffalo. I'm concerned about the defense stopping the Pats. 

[TFBillsfan]

33 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Practice reports will be out today at some point with injury updates. 

Hoping at minimum Ed and Brown are back this week. Let Milano get fully healthy.

[gobills404]

 

[Bigvinny]

6 minutes ago, TFBillsfan said:

Hoping at minimum Ed and Brown are back this week. Let Milano get fully healthy.

Have Shaq Thompson start for Milano. Dorian sucks.

[Goin Breakdown]

6 minutes ago, gobills404 said:

 

4-22? That's sounds like we've won 4 and lost 22. I mean that's how it works right?  I know I'm wrong here as I typically am wrong. What am I not getting? 

Edited Wednesday at 01:59 PM by Goin Breakdown

[Mr Info]

2 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

4-22? That's sounds like we've won 4 and lost 22. I mean that's how it works right?  I know I'm wrong here as I typically am wrong. What am I not getting? 

Vorse’s post was from Oct 1 thirteen years ago.

[gobills404]

2 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

4-22? That's sounds like we've won 4 and lost 22. I mean that's how it works right?  I know I'm wrong here as I typically am wrong. What am I not getting? 

The embedded tweet is from October 2012. I guess the date doesn’t show when it gets posted on here.

[Low Positive]

I'll ask this again. Did the Bills lose on Sunday? Because this board feels like it does after a loss. In many ways, it's even worse. The Bills held the Saints to the same number of yards and points as every other team that played them without the benefit of two kick return TDs. They say there is no such thing as a moral victory, but is there such a thing as a moral loss? I guess there is.

 

How about this for something constructive? The Patriots haven't won a game this year in which they didn't get a least one punt return for a TD. In fact, in both of their wins, they were gifted 14 points due to long kick returns. I'm not talking about a return out to midfield. I'm talking returns either for a TD or to the opponent's 15. #1 thing the Bills can't do this week is to let Marcus Jones return punts. He's been the Pats biggest weapon and it's not even close. Tell that new punter to kick touchbacks or to punt out of bounds.

 

Don't let this happen:

 

Edited Wednesday at 02:08 PM by Low Positive