A Few Thoughts about the Pats Game - Post yours as well

[CirclnWagons]

Significant moves have to be made on the defensive side of the ball ASAP. Where’s po? You can’t tell me he’s not better than what we have out there right now. His leadership and game experience eclipse anything we currently have back there. Feel like Brady got way too cute when he should’ve went with tried and true plays. Every team has a handful of plays saved for those kind of situations and I doubt a jet sweep to your tight end is one of them. We’ve been in survival mode against far weaker opponents the last few weeks and this time it bit us. Not trying to go full on sky is falling mode here but getting some serious PTSD about having to move back into the studio apartment in the basement of the afc east that the pats kept us in for about 2 decades 

[Murdox]

57 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

Some takes that won’t be popular.  
 

Maye outplayed Josh.   The reason we don’t have Diggs is Josh.  The reason we have Koen is Josh. This is the type of offense Josh wants to play. 
 

Penalties are on the players.  Not the coach.  These guys are not toddlers.  
 

those uniforms were so bad I can see how they affected the teams visual cortex which demanded more energy from the frontal cortex which resulted it looking like morons.  
 

This defense is not above average.  Which is a huge concern.  
 

Offensive play calling needs to improve to make this group of WR work. 
 

I think they got full of themselves.  So enjoy your loss.  
 

 

 

Meh, I understand the sentiments, but I don't think Maye outplayed Allen last night.  The Pats defense had someone in Allen's face repeatedly.  Allen's pocket was consistently messy. I was impressed with Vrabel's defensive scheming, which outclassed what our coaching staff can pull off.  Interesting blitzes and schemes that kept the intensity up on Josh and stopped the Cook express in its tracks.  Not to mention the Pats secondary, which stepped up even when Allen was giving himself a lot of time to throw such as on that last drive.  The Shakir missed connection before the FG might have been defensive pass interference, but they kep tight coverage on guys the whole time Allen was running around creating time.

 

On the flip-side, I see the Bills D once against struggling for most of the game to get any meaningful pressure on Maye.  It's very inconsistent.  And, I felt when watching the game that if we failed to get any pressure on Maye, our secondary was not up to the task - either because of individual failures or poor scheming.  Several Pats drives ended because Maye missed guys.

[Billsfanatic8989]

1 hour ago, BillsVet said:

Buffalo had 8 turnovers last year out of 1,300 combined offensive regular and post-season snaps and somehow people expected that to continue?  And now it's an issue?  No, it was a statistical anomaly that a team could pull that off.   

 

Low risk, low-reward offenses are good...until they're not.  Then you need a player who'll demand a defense's attention and perhaps Kincaid elevates his game and becomes that.  What is evident is that their hodgepodge of receivers aren't much of an improvement off the 2024 early-season group. 

 

Nope. Very few can get seperation. And Allen has to scramble and find as much time as possible to get it to them. Need someone who can consistently beat man and take the top off of defenses. 

 

Why they stopped going to Kincaid I don't get. New England had trouble stopping him. You keep going to what works. 

[Mango]

1 hour ago, Bruffalo said:

The penalties killing any and all offensive rhythm over and over again I think are the main reason why the Bills floundered in the first half.

 

This isn't a popular opinion here, but the offense is mostly fine, and they're punching above their weight considering the investment. Joe Brady is going to end up a head coach in the next two years, I'd put money on it. People are complaining about the offense because they subconsciously know the defense isn't going to stop anything unless there's an incredible individual effort.

 

Making the offense need to be perfect isn't sustainable.

 

The defense is the problem and so much of it has to be with scheme. The secondary is never close to anyone. They can't play out of structure at all. If we don't get pressure with the front 4, it's always a completion because we never actually cover anyone, just sections of zone that we're obviously too slow or can't process quick enough to attack the ball. I refuse to believe that all of the corners we have are just not athletic enough to actually cover WRs. 

 

 

At scale the defense is the problem. 

Last night, 3 turnovers cost us the game. 

Drafting and then having to redraft the same positions in the top 100 because they keep missing are slowly sinking this team. 

[Cray51]

Just now, Murdox said:

 

Meh, I understand the sentiments, but I don't think Maye outplayed Allen last night.  The Pats defense had someone in Allen's face repeatedly.  Allen's pocket was consistently messy. I was impressed with Vrabel's defensive scheming, which outclassed what our coaching staff can pull off.  Interesting blitzes and schemes that kept the intensity up on Josh and stopped the Cook express in its tracks.  Not to mention the Pats secondary, which stepped up even when Allen was giving himself a lot of time to throw such as on that last drive.  The Shakir missed connection before the FG might have been defensive pass interference, but they kep tight coverage on guys the whole time Allen was running around creating time.

 

On the flip-side, I see the Bills D once against struggling for most of the game to get any meaningful pressure on Maye.  It's very inconsistent.  And, I felt when watching the game that if we failed to get any pressure on Maye, our secondary was not up to the task - either because of individual failures or poor scheming.  Several Pats drives ended because Maye missed guys.

Maye absolutely outplayed Allen last night.  A part of that was Diggs' ability to haul in sideline grabs, but Allen was not good.  He looked to rush out of the pocket early and often, especially in the second half.

 

Bills defense sacked Maye four times last night, whereas New England sacked Allen once.  Allen also threw a TERRIBLE interception in the redzone that you simply cannot do in a close game.

 

Maye was a 6 out of 10 last night, Allen was a 3.5 out of 10.  Neither spectacular, but one committed too many errors himself

[Bruffalo]

3 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

At scale the defense is the problem. 

Last night, 3 turnovers cost us the game. 

Drafting and then having to redraft the same positions in the top 100 because they keep missing are slowly sinking this team. 

Yeah, the turnovers and the penalties are the biggest contributing factors to the loss. No doubt there.

 

There wasn't a single recorded pass breakup by a DB the entire game though. I asked this before, and I have no idea what the answer is: Has a team ever won a game without a pass defended from the secondary?

 

The D-Line was actually getting a healthy amount of pressure on Maye, but once the play went out of structure the DBs were basically no where to be found. It's like the secondary scheme and the D-Line are out of sync.  

[Fleezoid]

The last time I saw a spark in this team was the drive that beat the Ravens. Ever since, they just seem to have zero swagger. Just going through the motions imo. The whole is less than the sum of the parts, and the parts don't add up to much. They don't look like a cohesive team with a clear goal. Just stuck in the process. 

[Billsfanatic8989]

I thought NE would turn it over or miss the kick on the final drive. They have been screwing up for three years. Especially last year. 

 

Unfortunately...it did not happen

[Steptide]

Here's my thoughts - 

1 - I'm exausted and look forward to more afternoon ganes

 

2 - we DESPERATELY need a true number 1 receiver 

 

3 - we DESPERATELY need a corner back opposite benford. Hairston may be that, but I doubt we see that this season. Even if he plays, he's so far behind 

[dpberr]

Mike Florio said it well last week - "the Bills play with their food, and let teams hang around."

 

I don't understand why the Bills didn't do something about Maye's move to the right.

 

Tre White shouldn't be starting games going forward.  His body gave the Bills the starter minutes it could provide.  It was always a small, finite number.

[tigerthelion]

Kincaid has been a bright spot this year.  Good to see.

 

Makes me laugh to see people on their couch pretend like Josh is missing all these open guys.  They watch a still frame and it looks to them like the WR was open, not taking into account whether he was the fourth read on the play, whether Josh was already pressured, whether the DBs would have closed on the "open" WR in real time by the time the ball got there.  Having said that, ---Newsflash -- every QB in the history of the NFL misses SOME opportunities every single game.  Yes, the great Tom Brady missed throwing to receivers who may have been open plenty of times.  It is unrealistic to look at the play after and pretend like he is missing all of these easy plays.  

 

Josh Allen played pretty well last night.  Not his best game but certainly not like last year against Houston.  He made one terrible throw for an INT, which was a costly mistake for sure.  Other than that, he was pretty accurate. He seemed like he didn't have the extra jump he usually has.  Maybe that's frustration or maybe it was just one of those nights.  The offense was not operating very efficiently, but the QB was not a huge problem to my eyes.  The O-line had a rough night.  It is not realistic to expect your QB to go all year without throwing a few interceptions.  

 

Shakir had some nice plays, but overall, he had a rough night, I thought.  Key drop on the last drive. 

 

Keon made some nice catches, and had a bad fumble.  Those things happen.  Like QBs, WRs are not always perfect.  The troubling aspect for Coleman is that nothing came easy to him last night.  These jump balls to him may work from time to time, but it is not a winning strategy in the playoffs.  I think he is what he is at this point and I don't see a lot of upside.  He is a decent player, he will make some crazy high point catches at times, but he can easily be shut down.  He may even put up a 1,000 yard season, which means he isn't terrible, but I just don't see star potential in him.

 

I think teams will key in on really stopping Cook and I hope the Bills have a plan to counteract that.  

 

Overall, disappointing night to be a fan but they weren't going undefeated.  Brings more pressure on the team to not drop many more winnable games.  I don't see the Patriots as some juggernaut, and I can't see them really challenging the Bills for the division, but Maye has potential.   Call me crazy, though, but I see the Bills winning comfortably in New England. 

 

 

 

 

[DaVinci]

I guess Bean was rite in criticizing WGR. They dont need a number one receiver. And if they did Brady will bury him like Diggs.

[Maynard]

1. McDumpster and Beano are going nowhere. Unfortunately, we are stuck with them indefinitely.

2. Babich should be relieved of his duties immediately.

3. Allen is aging, I can see it. 30 years old next year.

4. We are the San Diego Chargers by way of Martyball and Rivers.

5. All of the investments in this D have been a complete waste. 
6. These WR’s suck and we did little to address this by way of the draft and FA.

[Nitro]

Penalties altered the game for the Bills.  Not blaming the refs.  The teams were undisciplined.

[stlbills13]

I love the guy but Tre is just washed. He'll still make a big tackle or two in the run game (which somehow is more valuable considering our other tacklers) but teams are absolutely abusing him in coverage. It's scary and it will be a fatal flaw for us

[CincyBillsFan]

10 hours ago, Virgil said:

5 - Coleman - After a terrible start to the game with a fumble and penalty, Coleman went right back to being our 50/50 jump ball guy.  I just don't understand how that's the only thing we seem to think he is good for.  Can Coleman not run actual scripted routes and get open on his own?  Whatever we were hearing in the preseason about a next step from Coleman seems to be greatly exaggerated.  Since the 4th quarter of the Ravens game, he's been the same disappearing act in this offense until it's time to throw up prayers.

 

 

I thought Coleman also screwed up to pretty good first half sideline throws where he wasn't the 50/50 jump ball guy the Bills need him to be.  

[BVBILLS]

A white out in October is pretty dumb

[tigerthelion]

3 hours ago, Sweats said:

 

 

 

 

............I think the Eagles proved last SB that D's still win championships.

It's clear that the Bills will never field a Super Bowl caliber defense to win them a championship, though.  So, what now?  They have no difference makers on defense, but have two on offense.   Is the team's best chance to give Allen more weapons and roll the dice or try to load up on defense again and again and try to build a stout defense?  Would love to have a stifling defense, but do you really believe that is possible with Mcdermott and Beane at the helm?  

[sonyab1974]

Pats did a great job, I must admit, but it hurts. The flags were so annoying!!!  I hope the Bills get it together next Monday and win!!! 

Edited 1 hour ago by sonyab1974

[corta765]

39 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Maye absolutely outplayed Allen last night.  A part of that was Diggs' ability to haul in sideline grabs, but Allen was not good.  He looked to rush out of the pocket early and often, especially in the second half.

 

Bills defense sacked Maye four times last night, whereas New England sacked Allen once.  Allen also threw a TERRIBLE interception in the redzone that you simply cannot do in a close game.

 

Maye was a 6 out of 10 last night, Allen was a 3.5 out of 10.  Neither spectacular, but one committed too many errors himself

 

Maye played a really solid game as needed AND had some really great razzle dazzle plays which if he keeps doing will put him in that top echelon of QBs which separates good to great. Our defense also just cannot tackle and cannot cover which is getting to a point that is going to sink the long term goals of the team.

 

As for the offense it was the first game this season where I do not think they dictated the game on their terms and once they were in catch up mode the mistakes only magnified this. Allen was C+ last night, some good, some great as always, but too much meh or forcing things rather then letting it come to him. Between the penalties and turnovers + the Pats D playing very well you could see they just never found the rhythm they had in the prior four games. That is not common for them and I am sure majority of the upcoming games they will get going but it did expose that they do not have help from the D if they have issues or their off script and the WRs cannot do enough to help either.