On to Cincinnati

[Einstein]

50 minutes ago, fergie's ire said:

Yeah, it's one of those things though.  The defense was historically bad early in the season but has improved.  Now?  Just held Baltimore to 14, so may not be as dreadful as we think.

 

No, their defense was just as dreadful against Baltimore.

 

Derrick Henry averaged 6 yards per carry. Their backup RB (Mitchell) averaged 9.5 yards per carry. 

 

As an offense, Baltimore averaged over 6 yards per play (compared to Cinci’s 4.8 yards per play).

 

The reason Cinci’s defense “held” Baltimore is because Baltimore fumbled FOUR (4) times and had an INT. Five (5) turnovers will doom any offense.

 

3 of those turnovers happened on Cinci’s end of the field (aka Baltimore was close to scoring), and one of them was a Baltimore TD but the play was overturned after replay showed that the Baltimore player fumbled through the endzone as he was crossing the goal line, so it turned into a touchback.

 

And prior to the Ravens game where they were helped by 5 turnovers, their defense gave up 26 to NE the previous week, and 34 to Pitt the week before that. 

 

If we don’t run all over that defense, it’s 100% on us.

 

Now, whether our defense can stop them is a whole different story.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Einstein

[gonzo1105]

I’ll be keeping an eye on Tee Higgins and whether he plays this week. I’d say they wouldn’t risk bringing him back but they are only two games back in the AFC North. I expect him to play but still worth watching 

[nosejob]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Depends on the injury status on many players. 

 

They had to elevate Spector and Latu this week to cover for some injuries. If by chance we are healthier this week or the Bosa hammy holds him out I would expect either Fox or Lawson elevated for the game. 

 

If we are still missing guys to injury, they have to backfill that first 

I was hoping he'd be ....in addition to, not in lieu of.

[BuffaloBillyG]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

 

No, their defense was just as dreadful against Baltimore.

 

Derrick Henry averaged 6 yards per carry. Their backup RB (Mitchell) averaged 9.5 yards per carry. 

 

As an offense, Baltimore averaged over 6 yards per play (compared to Cinci’s 4.8 yards per play).

 

The reason Cinci’s defense “held” Baltimore is because Baltimore fumbled FOUR (4) times and had an INT. Five (5) turnovers will doom any offense.

 

3 of those turnovers happened on Cinci’s end of the field (aka Baltimore was close to scoring), and one of them was a Baltimore TD but the play was overturned after replay showed that the Baltimore player fumbled through the endzone as he was crossing the goal line, so it turned into a touchback.

 

And prior to the Ravens game where they were helped by 5 turnovers, their defense gave up 26 to NE the previous week, and 34 to Pitt the week before that. 

 

If we don’t run all over that defense, it’s 100% on us.

 

Now, whether our defense can stop them is a whole different story.

 

Very nice post. Good breakdown of more than the box score will show.

[Livinginthepast]

I really hope our coaching staff can come up with a gameplan to disrupt Burrow and their offense. He has had 3 games against us and burned us completely in 2 of them and looked to be on the way to doing that in the Hamlin game before it was stopped.

[gonzo1105]

4 minutes ago, Livinginthepast said:

I really hope our coaching staff can come up with a gameplan to disrupt Burrow and their offense. He has had 3 games against us and burned us completely in 2 of them and looked to be on the way to doing that in the Hamlin game before it was stopped.

Yes this is my concern as well. We have shown in the past, we have had no answers for the Bengals especially their offense. We just haven’t slow them down a bit. The strategy will probably be ball control to keep the ball out of their hands 

[Process]

1 hour ago, gonzo1105 said:

I’ll be keeping an eye on Tee Higgins and whether he plays this week. I’d say they wouldn’t risk bringing him back but they are only two games back in the AFC North. I expect him to play but still worth watching 

Hendrickson is another big one given the injuries on our o line. Not sure if he is close to coming back. 

[Jauronimo]

15 hours ago, Einstein said:

Cincinatti’s defense is so bad that there is zero excuses for not running the ball down their throat repeatedly.

Hopefully Kincaid is back.  Cinci is getting killed by opposing TEs. 100+ yards and a TD pretty much guaranteed.

[Fan in Chicago]

14 hours ago, TFBillsfan said:

Curious what Hairston’s snap count was vs Pitt as it seemed like White played a lot. 

He didn't play a lot

 

 

 

[Livinginthepast]

27 minutes ago, gonzo1105 said:

Yes this is my concern as well. We have shown in the past, we have had no answers for the Bengals especially their offense. We just haven’t slow them down a bit. The strategy will probably be ball control to keep the ball out of their hands 

Thats definitely part of it but yesterday showed how crucial defensive turnovers are to our success. The Bosa hit on Rogers has to be one of the plays of the year by our defense. If we can get even one of those vs the Bengals we will be on our way.

[Billsfanatic8989]

7 minutes ago, Livinginthepast said:

Thats definitely part of it but yesterday showed how crucial defensive turnovers are to our success. The Bosa hit on Rogers has to be one of the plays of the year by our defense. If we can get even one of those vs the Bengals we will be on our way.

If the Bills do not lose another game this season (SB win), that Bosa play may be what everyone looks back on as the "momentum shifter. "

 

As for this game, feed Cook. This needs to be run first to control the game & limit their possessions. If it turns into a shootout, The Bills could find themselves at 8-5 headed to New England. 

 

 

 

 

[BuffaloBillyG]

38 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Hopefully Kincaid is back.  Cinci is getting killed by opposing TEs. 100+ yards and a TD pretty much guaranteed.

If he's not back I'd like to see Hawes as a constant target. I actually think he's a better receiver than Knox already. 

[SCBills]

If Bosa did pull his hamstring to any degree, I’d be shocked if he’s out there on Sunday. 
 

He’s way too important to any postseason success to be playing games with injuries that could get worse this late in the season. 
 

Get Dawkins, Palmer and Kincaid back and see if this Offense can win a shootout. 

[TFBillsfan]

20 minutes ago, SCBills said:

If Bosa did pull his hamstring to any degree, I’d be shocked if he’s out there on Sunday. 
 

He’s way too important to any postseason success to be playing games with injuries that could get worse this late in the season. 
 

Get Dawkins, Palmer and Kincaid back and see if this Offense can win a shootout. 

Agree on Bosa. Make sure he’s healthy for the playoffs! Assuming Brown and Benard are out for a while. Hoping this team can stay/get healthy down the stretch!

[CNYfan]

2 minutes ago, TFBillsfan said:

Agree on Bosa. Make sure he’s healthy for the playoffs! Assuming Brown and Benard are out for a while. Hoping this team can stay/get healthy down the stretch!

Again, it is my opinion that saving people "for the playoffs" is wrongheaded.  The Bills lose the tie breaker to the Texans so there is zero margin for error, and as we have seen this version of the Bills is far from perfect.

Not playing Joey Bosa so he doesn't aggravate and make worse his injury condition is fine, but any thought that we are "saving anything for the playoffs" is putting the cart before the horse.   One win at a time.  

[BananaB]

Hopefully McD finds a different game plan on D than the last few times they played Cinci

[Process]

Hendrickson out, that's big

[HappyDays]

 

[Buffalo Ballin]

Beat dey ass. All day. Tired of Burrow and Bengals controlling the game when we face them. We better come out swinging.

[gonzo1105]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I find it amusing that Hendrickson wanted to be moved, they refused, gave him a pay raise to make him happy for this remaining season and then he’s been hurt all year essentially stealing Mike Browns money before he hits free agency and leaves the Bengals