A Few Thoughts about the Texans Game - Community Edition

[L Ron Burgundy]

16 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Offense gave up 6 points on turnovers. Sorry I'm not blaming the D on this one. 

Davis Mills.  They deserve blame too.  

[Virgil]

3 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

The Thursday night product is terrible.  Always.  I was worried sick about injuries coming in and wasn’t surprised they got bullied and battered against a tough defense on the road on a short week.  It’s just a really tough ask.

 

As for the coaches, Brady is clearly limited but I just don’t know how much coaching is to blame here.  The problem is personnel.  It is a matchup league and the Bills have just not acquired enough matchup winners.  That is on the GM.  Maybe genius coaches steal another win or two or three maybe - but that’s asking a lot with how poor the personnel is especially on offense.  
 

I know folks are sick of McDermott but to me he’s not the villain and I worry about who would replace him.

 

Brandon Beane, I would fire without hesitation.  He is fully replaceable.  Since he gave Allen the big dollars he has drafted terribly and they needed the exact opposite.  
 

He’s just not a very good GM.

 

How many games do the players have to look like they didn't get off the bus before you want McD gone?  When we are getting physically manhandled and you can see the effort declining, that's the coach to me.  It's not personal with McD, but his defense lost to Penix, Mills, and Tua.  At this point, what is McD bringing to the team that you feel can't be replaced or has earned him job retention.  

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

5 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Hot take - this game is on the defense. Games that Houston lost this year:

 

9-14

19-20

10-17

19-27

15-18

 

They barely beat Tennessee last week 16-13.

 

We just spent all of our most valuable resources in the offseason on the defense. We have a defensive head coach. If they can't win an ugly TNF scrapper against a bad offense, what is the point of all that?

 

Best we can do is blame injuries and blather on about complementary football 

[billsfan714]

16 minutes ago, PepeSilvia said:

Dawson Knox was wide open on the last play. Wide open. 

Very true and it would of been called back.   You are right in that there are many examples where Josh is trying to bite off more than is required.   Missing guys underneath for new set of downs.   I can recall several of them tonight.

[uticaclub]

20 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

This roster is cooked. Beane failed to evolve past 2021. He was mentally broken by 13 seconds and has spent every season since trying to beat the Chiefs, without realizing that the league has completely caught up to it. 

 

There is nothing McD can do with this dog**** core. We realistically need to cut Johnson, Milano, and Tre. Bernard is atrocious but is probably very hurt.

McDermott could have hired more experienced coaches, instead of yes men

[HappyDays]

1 minute ago, BillsFan130 said:

13 points isn't going to beat most teams in modern day NFL. (The other points being a Ray Davis kick return TD)

 

We passed up two FG attempts because the defense had us on our heels from the start. You absolutely cannot spot Davis Mills and that horrendous offensive cast 20 points in the 1st half. Good for them for pulling it together in the 2nd half but that is too little too late. This needed to be a game our defense controlled from the start.

[Virgil]

Post game show just said that Josh was pressured on 28 of 35 drop backs.  That's insane.

[Desert Bills Fan]

Joey Bosa is playing hurt. It is his left hand/ wrist. That is why he looks so bad. Playing on the left side he won’t tackle with his left (outside) arm.

Matt Milano is still not right. So he too looks bad. He is not extending his arms. Fear of another pec injury? Also he has slowed down, not flying all over the field anymore.

the middle of the D line was getting pushed around too. Lots of double double teams when we only rushed 4.

Poyer and Tre are smart seasoned vets, but age has caught up they are slow.

 

[BillsFan130]

Just now, HappyDays said:

 

We passed up two FG attempts because the defense had us on our heels from the start. You absolutely cannot spot Davis Mills and that horrendous offensive cast 20 points in the 1st half. Good for them for pulling it together in the 2nd half but that is too little too late. This needed to be a game our defense controlled from the start.

That's fair. And I'm usually the one to criticize the defence.

 

But one offensive TD just isn't good enough IMO especially when Josh Allen is your QB

[billsfan714]

Anderson and Hunter vs Rousseau and Bosa and whoever is a first round knockout.  Night and day the difference there.

[nbbillsfan]

Josh Allen is my favorite athlete of all time.

 

That said, I have been enormously disappointed in his play this year. Last year he took a huge step in becoming elite at playing the QB position. Pre-snap, reading defenses ect, it felt like he had finally evolved into an elite passer who could find the open guy and move the chains; That he was truly running an offense.

 

This year it’s like we went back to pre-mvp Josh. Everything feels like backyard football and off-schedule plays. Feels like there are less than 5 plays a game where we see him take a 3-5 step drop and get the ball out and completed within the design of the play 

[BuffaloRebound]

Game was lost when the defense gave up 7 after the ray davis return TD.  Completely pathetic D.  We got much better when Bernard went out.  The pass protection was horrendous.  The ball needed to come out quicker and we needed to stay committed to running the ball.  Why is Ray Davis not getting carries the way he is returning kicks the last 2 weeks?  This coaching staff simply doesn’t have it takes to win a championship.  Im not sure Josh does either but I know that McDermott doesnt.  

[Niagara Dude]

I think if Pegula wants to bring back McDermott next season at the very least he needs to tell McDermott he needs to bring in big name defensive cordinator and let that person run a whole new defence.  It's been 9 years and this defence looks the same year after year. 

[Virgil]

Just now, nbbillsfan said:

Josh Allen is my favorite athlete of all time.

 

That said, I have been enormously disappointed in his play this year. Last year he took a huge step in becoming elite at playing the QB position. Pre-snap, reading defenses ect, it felt like he had finally evolved into an elite passer who could find the open guy and move the chains; That he was truly running an offense.

 

This year it’s like we went back to pre-mvp Josh. Everything feels like backyard football and off-schedule plays. Feels like there are less than 5 plays a game where we see him take a 3-5 step drop and get the ball out and completed within the design of the play 

 

You get hit on 28 out of 35 drop backs when there's no one open for most of the game and see how you play.

[Coach Tuesday]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

We passed up two FG attempts because the defense had us on our heels from the start. You absolutely cannot spot Davis Mills and that horrendous offensive cast 20 points in the 1st half. Good for them for pulling it together in the 2nd half but that is too little too late. This needed to be a game our defense controlled from the start.

They don’t have elite speed.  They don’t have elite power.  They try to win on both offense and defense with precision, because they don’t have the talent to do anything else.  They give themselves the smallest margin for error.  If not for Allen they’d be a 3-4 win team.  

[HappyDays]

1 minute ago, BillsFan130 said:

But one offensive TD just isn't good enough IMO especially when Josh Allen is your QB

 

I agree but that's how they built the team. They gave the offense scraps and bet it all on defense. So my standards are high. If they can't win this kind of game there's no sense in investing on that side of the ball.

[BB2004]

19 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Every year, the Bills seem to lose two games in October where we look like we forgot how to play football and definitely don’t look like a championship contending team.  We panic in the moment, but McD regroups the team and we figure it out.  This year, the dominant wins feel like the aberrations and are immediately followed up by games that make us dismiss any progress we saw in the prior wins.  You can bring up injuries all you want, but we overall have guys we consider starters out there, on top of the fact that all teams deal with injuries.  To me, the McD/Beane era needs to be over.  I can no longer tell you what they bring to the table beyond building a good culture.  Thank you for ending the drought, but it’s time…

 

1 – Special Teams – I don’t usually do grades, but I’m compelled to give them a D-.  The kickoff return for a touchdown is the only thing saving them from a F.  So many dumb decisions and penalties gave the Bills terrible field position.  Prater’s missed extra point came back to haunt us, shockingly.

 

2 – Tackling – I’m honestly surprised the Bills were able to grab their luggage off the plane with as bad as their hands and strength are.  Do websites track yards after contact, because the Bills missed more tackles than a bikini Jello pit contest.  You almost had to see it to believe it, it was so bad.  Meanwhile, the Bills go down immediately on contact, usually for a loss.  Is it effort? 

 

3 – The Trenches – I can’t remember a game where the Bills got destroyed on both sides of the ball on the line of scrimmage.  For some reason, Brady didn’t give Josh an extra blocker for much of the game and Josh paid the price for it.  But don’t worry, even when we did have a 6th blocked, the Texans just bulldozed them. Seriously, our line was getting smacked around and knocked on their ass.  Defensively, not only could we not stop the run, but we also couldn’t generate a pass rush.  Considering McD considers this his passion in the game, he’s failing to prepare his team.

 

4 – Josh – I don’t even know how to evaluate Josh in this game.  The only real positive is that you could see him frustrated on the sidelines, even calling out the playcalling on the terrible 4th and 1 run call up the middle.  I don’t think any change is going to happen without Josh speaking up.  Josh had no time, couldn’t step up, and couldn’t scramble.   I mean, he was sacked 8 times!!!  On the 7th sack, there was literally no one open.  Miles Garrett can’t wait to play us.

 

5 – Linebackers – May none of them return next season.  I know that’s incredibly unlikely due to the contracts, but my god are they terrible.  Sadly, I hope we find out that Bernard is playing through a broken leg, because his contract sucks now.  Milano had one decent tackle but was otherwise a ghost out there.  

 

6 – Taron – I’m going to start calling TJ “King of the Piggyback Rides.”  Like Bernard, I hope we find out he’s playing hurt because he can neither cover nor tackle. The only action he seems to get is when he’s being dragged across the first down marker by the opposing offense.  Don’t worry, we restructured his deal, so he has dead years to come.  

 

7 – Shakir – Brady isn’t doing him any favors by only throwing to him behind the line of scrimmage.  And maybe other teams are scheming to take him away, but something is off.  Even his big play in the 4th was behind the line of scrimmage. Yes, he approached 100 yards and flashed in the 4th.  I’ll forgive the fumble because he never does that, but something is off.  

 

8 – Brady – This is going to be repetitive, but I just can’t help myself.  Is it me, or does he call plays regardless of his players or the situation?  I feel like Brady is incapable of getting the most out of his players or finding mismatches.  He’s been bailed out by Josh, Cook, and Kincaid.  Like in Carolina, he showed a great spurt of production, but then got figured out, couldn’t score, and was rightfully fired.  He should be fired for this 4th and short run to Cook, because clearly, he did not see how this game was being played.  But again with the credit where credit is due, the 4th and long pitch back play to Shakir was beautiful.  I remember the Lions running that play against us last year and wished we could do something like that.  

 

9 – McD – Prior to McD coming here, the Bills were losers in every sense of the word.  We lost mentally, physically, and in the standings.  We didn’t just miss the playoffs, we believed we would miss the playoffs.  McD fixed that.  He developed Josh with Daboll, created a new community amongst the fans, and made Buffalo a place that players wanted to come play. McD also got us to one game of the Superbowl twice, for which I am incredibly thankful.  McD has peaked now.   He’s taken us as far as we can go and now, we must worry about wasting any more of Josh’s prime years.  Thank you again McD, but it’s time.  Results matter and, in a season, where the Ravens and Chiefs were never in contention for the one seed, you blew it.

 

10 – Texans – Credit where credit is due.  The Texan’s defense is fantastic.  This is the type of defense that can win you a championship.  If Stroud and their offense was fully healthy, I think they are playing for the one seed right now.  Will Andrerson is a monster and never seemed to get tired.  Nothing but respect to their defense. 

 

Side note – Is there anyone out there who believes that the outcome of this game would have been different had Coleman played?  Yeah, me neither.  

 

Goodbye one seed, we hardly knew thee.  Besides the Jets game, I don’t see a single game remaining on the schedule that I would expect us to win.  Yes, I’m including the Browns unless Sanders is going to start for them.

 

Go Bills…. I guess…...

That was a fast write up Virgil. This game felt like the losses at the end of the Jim Kelly days. Painful.

 

The line today was flat bad and had a bad game. I do believe they will bounce back and play better the rest of the season. Pittsburgh defense will be a good test for this.

 

Unfortunately there aren’t many options to throw too that can get consistent separation. I thought getting away from the ground game was a mistake by Brady considering we were having success running the ball. 

 

Defense kept us in it as much as they could. Better game from Milano. Bishop continues to get better. 

 

 

 

 

[BeastMaster]

2 minutes ago, nbbillsfan said:

Josh Allen is my favorite athlete of all time.

 

That said, I have been enormously disappointed in his play this year. Last year he took a huge step in becoming elite at playing the QB position. Pre-snap, reading defenses ect, it felt like he had finally evolved into an elite passer who could find the open guy and move the chains; That he was truly running an offense.

 

This year it’s like we went back to pre-mvp Josh. Everything feels like backyard football and off-schedule plays. Feels like there are less than 5 plays a game where we see him take a 3-5 step drop and get the ball out and completed within the design of the play 

He has a terrible coach, an even worse coordinator, and not one receiver that can win consistently down the field. Oh, and a defense that gets manhandled in the run game every single week

[BillsFan130]

Just now, HappyDays said:

 

I agree but that's how they built the team. They gave the offense scraps and bet it all on defense. So my standards are high. If they can't win this kind of game there's no sense in investing on that side of the ball.

Ya I definitely agree with that. Dont get me wrong I'm not excusing the D as giving up over 200 yards in the first half to Davis Mills is embarrassing.

 

I guess where I stand is getting one offensive TD is probably gonna lose you 95% of football games

[Mikie2times]

Beane is the biggest issue. But I don’t think it gets fixed with just Beane. This team needs an entire schematic overhaul and it will probably hurt for a year, because this regime drafts players so specific I doubt many would even function in a traditional scheme. At the end of the day we wasted our best shot at a Super Bowl win since the early 90’s in a slow and painful way. I really don’t know how people could sign up for more of this, but I have a feeling Terry is going to make us.

Edited 47 minutes ago by Mikie2times