Last night’s game was the quintessential example of how close NFL teams are…

[eball]

…and why no team should EVER take another team for granted.

 

The 49ers were missing their starting QB, top 3 WRs, star TE, and all-pro edge rusher.  That’s SIX out of 22 starters (27%).  They were facing a stacked Rams team that was basically healthy.

 

The difference between success and failure in this league is a hair’s breadth, which is why Bills fans sound like lunatics and entitled A-holes when complaining about how many style points the Bills have amassed during their first four wins of the season.

 

Ask the coaches and players around the league if they care how much they win by or whether their team beat the spread.

 

This is also why I and several others on this forum have chosen to appreciate and enjoy what we have the privilege to witness right now in Buffalo, rather than starting insane thread after thread about WRs or that Babich/McD can’t coach.  I’ve said it before — if you tie your enjoyment of Bills football solely to whether or not they hoist a Lombardi Trophy, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

 

Go Bills!!!

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by eball

[chris heff]

Can I still yell at the television when the Bills allow a team to pick up 3rd and 12? I won’t invoke any one specifically.

[GunnerBill]

It has also long been the case that the person who best knows how to stop Sean McVay's offense is Kyle Shanahan. Which is because it isn't really McVay's offense. It's Shanahan's. 

[Walking Tall]

Brock Purdy is so overrated. 

[RichStadiumGuy]

23 minutes ago, chris heff said:

Can I still yell at the television when the Bills allow a team to pick up 3rd and 12? I won’t invoke any one specifically.

3rd and 12? Hell... I don't even expect them to stop something that short!

 

What REALLY gets me screamin at the TV is a fantastic rush on 2nd down resulting in a 10-15 yard loss and then turtle up on 3rd down resulting in a 1st!

[BuffaloBill]

There will be be some around here that will complain that the Bill’s Lombardi is not shiny enough.

[zow2]

47 minutes ago, eball said:

…and why no team should EVER take another team for granted.

 

 

 

That's another reason why it's insanely frustrating that the Bills do not have a SB appearance in the Allen era.  Their point differentials over the past few seasons (prior to this one) have been other-worldly for an NFL franchise.  You just don't see it.  These opponents are all professional football players and it's not like you can just push them around that easily.  Many fans here are probably younger and don't get it.

[eball]

20 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

It has also long been the case that the person who best knows how to stop Sean McVay's offense is Kyle Shanahan. Which is because it isn't really McVay's offense. It's Shanahan's. 

 

And they didn’t really stop them, either.  Those two RB fumbles were killers.

 

[BuffaloBillyG]

53 minutes ago, eball said:

…and why no team should EVER take another team for granted.

 

The 49ers were missing their starting QB, top 3 WRs, star TE, and all-pro edge rusher.  That’s SIX out of 22 starters (27%).  They were facing a stacked Rams team that was basically healthy.

 

The difference between success and failure in this league is a hair’s breadth, which is why Bills fans sound like lunatics and entitled A-holes when complaining about how many style points the Bills have amassed during their first four wins of the season.

 

Ask the coaches and players around the league if they care how much they win by or whether their team beat the spread.

 

This is also why I and several others on this forum have chosen to appreciate and enjoy what we have the privilege to witness right now in Buffalo, rather than starting insane thread after thread about WRs or that Babich/McD can’t coach.  I’ve said it before — if you tie your enjoyment of Bills football solely to whether or not they hoist a Lombardi Trophy, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

 

Go Bills!!!

 

 

While you're correct in saying that NFL teams have to take each other seriously and not overlooking opponents....that doesn't have a darn thing to do with how FANS are allowed to view things. 

 

I also agree that basing your enjoyment level on a Super Bowl win is absurd. Mainly because we have no hand in the outcome. Even a day where the good guys lose in the scoreboard can be a fantastic day spent with friends and family making memories. 

 

So while it's ok to have fun win or lose and just enjoy the wonder that is Josh Allen and this version of the Bills....it's really ok to have independent thoughts about how they could be better. How and where they improve. There's no sense in gatekeeping how others view the game.

 

So, perhaps after spending my life watching 4 straight Super Bowl losses and 17 years of missing the playoffs, it's reasonable that come Sunday's nowadays, I go into the game with expectations.  Because this franchise has become that good. 

[Buffalo ill]

1 minute ago, eball said:

 

And they didn’t really stop them, either.  Those two RB fumbles were killers.

 

On one fumble I actually wonder if  the punch to the head, that turned the rb's head sideways, came close to KOing him and thats why he fumbled.  The DT straight up jacked him in the side of the head.

[eball]

I don’t disagree with any of that, @BuffaloBillyG

[MJS]

27 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

It has also long been the case that the person who best knows how to stop Sean McVay's offense is Kyle Shanahan. Which is because it isn't really McVay's offense. It's Shanahan's. 

Sean McDermott has a very good record against the Shanahan tree of coaches as well.

23 minutes ago, RichStadiumGuy said:

3rd and 12? Hell... I don't even expect them to stop something that short!

 

What REALLY gets me screamin at the TV is a fantastic rush on 2nd down resulting in a 10-15 yard loss and then turtle up on 3rd down resulting in a 1st!

Other teams must be really frustrated with the Bills because they pick up 3rd and longs all the time as well.

[eball]

I’m sure this is coming so I’ll address it now:  this thread is NOT a suggestion that fans shouldn’t discuss the team’s weaknesses and opine regarding ways to fix them.  I both expect and welcome that sort of discussion.  If people are truly reflective they understand the difference between doing that, and a lot of what is happening on this forum currently for a friggin’ 4-0 football team.

 

 

Edited 16 minutes ago by eball

[WideNine]

17 minutes ago, RichStadiumGuy said:

3rd and 12? Hell... I don't even expect them to stop something that short!

 

What REALLY gets me screamin at the TV is a fantastic rush on 2nd down resulting in a 10-15 yard loss and then turtle up on 3rd down resulting in a 1st!

It is kind of funny how our defense works so hard to get teams in 3rd and long and the opposing team must be thinking "we got them right where we want them".

It has been a breath of fresh air watching Shaq Thompson quickly diagnose plays from the second level and close on the ball and make tackles. Here's hoping it becomes a contagious thing.

But to OP's point the margin for error in wins and losses in the NFL can be slim, and any team facing the Bills this season is going to treat this game like a litmus test that either confirm they are a great team or they the potential to be if they can hang with Buffalo. So we will be seeing their best shot and that is what comes with having a team the rest of the league considers elite. We can enjoy that rarified air a lot better than the musty old basement we were in for almost 2 decades.

I like to critique Bills performance win or lose. There are positives you can take out of the losses and there are lessons learned from even our most resounding wins. For me that and enjoying games are not mutually exclusive - I can do both. I can go farther and say getting more into the X's and O's is therapeutic and can keep a fan from the extreme highs and lows.


 

[Alphadawg7]

Lost in the noise of TSW is just how insanely good the Bills really have been and the number of records we have seen individuals and the team set, break, and are even continuing to set right now.  And they are doing it in the AFC, which is, and has been, the better conference during the Allen era.  To be fair, I think the gap this year between the AFC and NFC is probably closer to even this year given the struggles and injuries to some of the teams expected to contend this year like Balt and Cincy.  But no doubt, over the past 5 seasons overall, the AFC has been the clear tougher conference.  

 

For example - Heading into the Saints game, in Josh Allens previous 12 games, including the playoffs, he had 30 TD's to 1 Int.  I don't if people truly understand just how crazy good that is.  Bills are also in the midst of what is already an NFL record of not losing the turnover battle in consecutive games and growing. 

 

And while the comment still gets mocked to this day, the facts are "Its hard to win in the NFL".  Every game matters, and matters a lot, over the course of a season.  This isn't baseball or basketball where if your team just isn't clicking, doesn't have it, etc one game then big deal, its not that important over the scope of a season.  Your team has to bring it each and every week in what is already a physical and mentally draining game.  The complexity of defenses and offenses is nothing like you find in other team sports.  You have to be ready both physically and mentally each and every week, and in some weeks on short weeks before you body fully recovers from the previous game.  

 

For a team like the Bills to do things at the level they have done them for as long as they have done them is pretty remarkable.  Even the streak they had never losing a game by more than 1 score, thats so unheard of in todays NFL.  

 

All that being said - they won't be celebrated or remembered for any of that unless a Lombardi trophy is sitting in our trophy case in the new stadium.  And with the landscape in the NFL right now, this season is clearly their best shot.  If they can handle their business against the teams they should beat, we could have the 1 seed locked up early and get that all important 1st round bye and the even more important road to the SB in Buffalo.  

 

 

 

 

Edited 14 minutes ago by Alphadawg7

[eball]

1 minute ago, Alphadawg7 said:

they won't be celebrated or remembered for any of that

 

They will by me…this era is rapidly approaching that of the early 90s as my favorite in Bills’ history.

 

A Lombardi will merely be the cherry on top.

 

[Alphadawg7]

1 minute ago, eball said:

 

They will by me…this era is rapidly approaching that of the early 90s as my favorite in Bills’ history.

 

A Lombardi will merely be the cherry on top.

 

 

Oh I am with you, this is even better than the SB era IMO in terms of weekly fun and enjoyment because Josh Allen is just that fun to watch.  I was more referencing how they will be celebrated and remembered in general.  

[billsfan89]

Thursday games are very very funky. Teams don’t have the rest they need and these games just are always extra unpredictable. That being said yes it’s hard to blowout even the worst team in the NFL

[Mango]

37 minutes ago, Walking Tall said:

Brock Purdy is so overrated. 

 

This AM I was just thinking what a get Baker Mayfield would have been for Shanahan. He is CHEAP and was available at one point. Certainly an upgrade from Mac Jones and Brock Purdy. 

[GunnerBill]

25 minutes ago, eball said:

 

And they didn’t really stop them, either.  Those two RB fumbles were killers.

 

 

Haven't seen the game yet sadly.