Game week thread - Buccaneers at Bills

[SirAndrew]

12 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Who was our WR's and How did Josh look compared to this year?    Apples and Hand Grenades is how different the 2021 and 2025 teams are.

It’s sad but we have to hold our breath during practices this week.

Interesting topic. I just got done watching highlights of the 2020-2022 Bills. The offense was a different beast then. I know Josh is the MVP, but the unleashed Josh was a different beast. The defense giving up points was also a theme during those years, and it’s frustrating when you have a “defensive” coach. It seems the defense always fails us, but we don’t have the offense to get hot at playoff time anymore. 

[RyanC883]

57 minutes ago, Success said:

 

Irving playing would be a challenge.

 

But - we should embrace that.  We need this team to really show us something - not just beat up on a banged up team.

 

All of TB’s backs could be an issue, esp. Irving. 

[MiltonWaddams]

6 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

Interesting topic. I just got done watching highlights of the 2020-2022 Bills. The offense was a different beast then. I know Josh is the MVP, but the unleashed Josh was a different beast. The defense giving up points was also a theme during those years, and it’s frustrating when you have a “defensive” coach. It seems the defense always fails us, but we don’t have the offense to get hot at playoff time anymore. 

I haven’t been able to go back and watch highlights of the past years outside of Josh’s highlight reels on YouTube. It’s too painful to see what should have been.

5 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

All of TB’s backs could be an issue, esp. Irving. 

Yes. Mainly because we have seen the Bills D make good RB’s look like first ballot hall of famers this year.

[ShakAttack]

I was looking at Irving's rushing stats this year. They actually aren't great at all. I think he poses more of a threat as a receiver than anything else.

 

That said, I hope he does sit out, and not to be a dick, but if they put him out there too early, he deserves the same fate as Mike Evans.

 

Irving was not supposed to return this week. Too risky. Bucs would stay in first even with an L. If they rush him out there and something happens, they deserve those consequences, especially after Mike Evans.

[Clyde Smith]

Irving is listed as doubtful in the NFL fantasy league FWIW. 

[ShakAttack]

14 minutes ago, MiltonWaddams said:

Yes. Mainly because we have seen the Bills D make good RB’s look like first ballot hall of famers this year.

 

I think its a big part of the reason the Bills coaching staff has emphasized taking control of the game and building an early lead, particularly coming out of the bye, because of the obvious fact that if you're playing with a big enough lead, your opponent's running game is not much of a factor.

 

Rico Dowdle would have gone off on us a couple weeks ago if it were a close enough game, for instance. And it's not like we stopped him either. Think he still averaged around 5 YPC, but once the game was a blowout he became a non-factor.

[transplantbillsfan]

46 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Who was our WR's and How did Josh look compared to this year?    Apples and Hand Grenades is how different the 2021 and 2025 teams are.

 

 

I dunno... this year reminds me a lot of 2021 actually.  Allen had 22 TDs and 8 turnovers through 9 games in 2021.  Through 9 games this year he has 22 TDs and 7 turnovers.  The team success reflected his struggles in 2021 just like it does this year.  

 

I really think people forget about what happened in the regular season of 2021.  Those losses to Jacksonville and Indy in 2021 were more embarrassing losses than our losses to the Falcons and Miami this year, IMHO.

[Jrb1979]

6 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I dunno... this year reminds me a lot of 2021 actually.  Allen had 22 TDs and 8 turnovers through 9 games in 2021.  Through 9 games this year he has 22 TDs and 7 turnovers.  The team success reflected his struggles in 2021 just like it does this year.  

 

I really think people forget about what happened in the regular season of 2021.  Those losses to Jacksonville and Indy in 2021 were more embarrassing losses than our losses to the Falcons and Miami this year, IMHO.

I disagree completely. While they had 2 bad losses in 2021, the offense didn't  struggle like they have in many games this season. 

 

 

[Shortchaz]

17 minutes ago, Clyde Smith said:

Irving is listed as doubtful in the NFL fantasy league FWIW. 

Usually the second game back is better imo

[Low Positive]

4 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

Interesting topic. I just got done watching highlights of the 2020-2022 Bills. The offense was a different beast then. I know Josh is the MVP, but the unleashed Josh was a different beast. The defense giving up points was also a theme during those years, and it’s frustrating when you have a “defensive” coach. It seems the defense always fails us, but we don’t have the offense to get hot at playoff time anymore. 

Highlights are misleading. I'm negative right now too, but we forget how we felt in the past. We complained about the offense before, just highlighted the lack of a running game and Daboll's playcalling. Let's look at 2021's disasters. I already posted the Jags postgame thread in the Daboll thread, but here are a few more. I'm not going to single anyone out because this is not about posting receipts. What interests me is the primary source material of how we felt in the middle of what many remember as our best team of the Allen era.

 

Here is the post-game thread after the wind game.

Here is the post-game thread for the Colts blowout. A lot of people declared the season "OVER!!!" Remember, the Colts missed the playoffs that year. 

[SirAndrew]

3 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

I disagree completely. While they had 2 bad losses in 2021, the offense didn't  struggle like they have in many games this season. 

 

 

Exactly, we had a few bad games, but the offense didn’t look limited. I know somewhere out there is a real football guy who might criticize my next thought. This offense was fun to watch in those years, yes we had some duds, but overall they were fun to watch. I don’t enjoy watching this offense in 2025, even when things are clicking. It’s a dull offense that’s almost college like in style meant to hide limitations. I don’t see that as championship football. 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Well I must say watching the Pats/Bucs rewind was frustrating…mostly because it looked like one I thought the Bucs should have gotten. 
 

Here are the two big Henderson runs. I posted them because of the likeness to some of what we do. Pretty awful secondary tackling and angles allowing the big scores (sounds familiar). 
 

The first is interesting because it’s out of 11 personnel, but with Mac Hollins as a wing, so we will call this 11 BIG. It’s a duo right at ya and the corner and safety just blow it here.

 

 

The game sealing score was a full on student body left, outside/toss zone with a lead blocker. The edge was just completely lost and it was off to the races with guys taking poor angles trying to come up and get a stop for minimal gain. 

 

These are both concepts the Bills run, just evidence that if we can get Cook to the second level…look out! 
 

PS #8 on the Bucs is trash. Run at him all game. 

[SirAndrew]

9 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

Highlights are misleading. I'm negative right now too, but we forget how we felt in the past. We complained about the offense before, just highlighted the lack of a running game and Daboll's playcalling. Let's look at 2021's disasters. I already posted the Jags postgame thread in the Daboll thread, but here are a few more. I'm not going to single anyone out because this is not about posting receipts. What interests me is the primary source material of how we felt in the middle of what many remember as our best team of the Allen era.

 

Here is the post-game thread after the wind game.

Here is the post-game thread for the Colts blowout. A lot of people declared the season "OVER!!!" Remember, the Colts missed the playoffs that year. 

I agree, we had some duds, but the offense was dominant when it clicked. My concern in 2025 is that James Cook needs to perform well for the offense to work. We don’t have receivers for Allen to take over a game. Unfortunately you might need that in the playoffs. We don’t have Diggs, Beasley, or even John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. Those guys made a huge difference. 

[Scott7975]

9 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

Highlights are misleading. I'm negative right now too, but we forget how we felt in the past. We complained about the offense before, just highlighted the lack of a running game and Daboll's playcalling. Let's look at 2021's disasters. I already posted the Jags postgame thread in the Daboll thread, but here are a few more. I'm not going to single anyone out because this is not about posting receipts. What interests me is the primary source material of how we felt in the middle of what many remember as our best team of the Allen era.

 

Here is the post-game thread after the wind game.

Here is the post-game thread for the Colts blowout. A lot of people declared the season "OVER!!!" Remember, the Colts missed the playoffs that year. 

with Daboll we were one dimensional with just a passing game but we were explosive almost all the time. With Brady we are one dimensional with just a running game but that running game is pretty explosive. I guess they call running plays explosive if they hit 10 yards. 
 

I want and I feel any good offense needs to be two dimensional. We kind of had that last year. Our passing O was better last year. Our running O is better this year. They still haven’t completely found that balance. 
 

this is a reflection of what McD wants. Long sustained time killing drives. I believe that is completely flawed. You want to be able to do that but only to close out games, not as an overall game plan. 
 

if I had to choose which dimension we were good at then it would be passing. They chose rushing. In a perfect world it would be both but our system and build is not setup that way. 

[Low Positive]

1 minute ago, SirAndrew said:

I agree, we had some duds, but the offense was dominant when it clicked. My concern in 2025 is that James Cook needs to perform well for the offense to work. We don’t have receivers for Allen to take over a game. Unfortunately you might need that in the playoffs. We don’t have Diggs, Beasley, or even John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. Those guys made a huge difference. 

We didn't think that at the time. We complained about being one-dimensional and a lack of consistent high-level play from Josh Allen.  The OL was also a constant source of complaints. Again, I don't want to call posters for being "incorrect," especially in the heat of a post game thread after a bad loss. I'm using them the way a historian (which I am by graduate training) uses primary sources to get an idea of what public opinion was at the time. We know that the perfect game was in the future for that team. Nobody would have predicted that after the 9-6 loss to the Jags.

[billsherd]

https://www.cp24.com/news/sports/2025/11/13/anonymous-buffalo-bills-fans-begs-toronto-to-stop-cheering-for-the-team-citing-curse/

[RiotAct]

42 minutes ago, ShakAttack said:

I was looking at Irving's rushing stats this year. They actually aren't great at all. I think he poses more of a threat as a receiver than anything else.

 

That said, I hope he does sit out, and not to be a dick, but if they put him out there too early, he deserves the same fate as Mike Evans.

 

Irving was not supposed to return this week. Too risky. Bucs would stay in first even with an L. If they rush him out there and something happens, they deserve those consequences, especially after Mike Evans.

yeah they were talking about that on WGR this afternoon; the Bucs have the Rams the folllowing week so there’s a pretty decent chance they rest Irving up for that game.

[SirAndrew]

48 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

We didn't think that at the time. We complained about being one-dimensional and a lack of consistent high-level play from Josh Allen.  The OL was also a constant source of complaints. Again, I don't want to call posters for being "incorrect," especially in the heat of a post game thread after a bad loss. I'm using them the way a historian (which I am by graduate training) uses primary sources to get an idea of what public opinion was at the time. We know that the perfect game was in the future for that team. Nobody would have predicted that after the 9-6 loss to the Jags.

You’re right, and maybe I have revisionist history. People will always complain, but I’d like to think I was fine with a “one dimensional” Allen led passing game. That’s what you do with an elite QB. People seemed to forget about Diggs in those years. Josh is incredible, but Diggs was a huge part of his ascent, and somehow people acted like Josh had no help those years. Now he doesn’t. Overall I agree, it’s easy to forget Daboll’s frenetic offense. I just think there needs to be a middle ground between that and “everybody eats”. 

Edited 2 hours ago by SirAndrew

[Kelly to Allen]

Really hoping to see something different in the 1st qtr vs Tampa.

 

 

Open up spread no huddle with Palmer & Gabe outside

 

If things aren't working then Brady needs to actually change something. 

 

Beating your head against the wall and continually running on 1st down, with these forever drives increases the likelihood for mistakes and you create less possessions for your all world QB. Which plays directly into the hands of our opponents who literally want to shorten the game....

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 minute ago, Kelly to Allen said:

Really hoping to see something different in the 1st qtr vs Tampa.

 

 

Open up spread no huddle with Palmer & Gabe outside

 

If things aren't working then Brady needs to actually change something. 

 

Beating your head against the wall and continually running on 1st down, with these forever drives increases the likelihood for mistakes and you create less possessions for your all world QB. Which plays directly into the hands of our opponents who literally want to shorten the game....

Is Palmer even active