Game week thread - Bills at Patriots*

[PaattMaann]

Just now, Mat68 said:

Great to see.  If Bosa can go great.  I would not rush him.  Rather have him healthy and be a wildcard team than win the division and he doesn't play in the playoffs.

 

Yes. And, we can beat the Patriots without Bosa (not saying this is an easy game, just saying we just beat a better offense without Bosa, it can be done).

[kkim0904]

1 hour ago, bills742 said:

 

Hoping Bernard is sitting out the rest of the season.  I really like our LB plays since he was gone 

[BeastMaster]

2 hours ago, fergie's ire said:

Yeah the very thought that something like that could happen is ridiculous.  It would be like a 9-3 Dolphins team a couple of years ago losing to a team like the Will Levis led Titans.

History shows that for whatever reason the Dolphins give the Patriots trouble. This dates back to even the Brady era

 

Wouldn't surprise me at all if they lost to them

[Warriorspikes51]

If Shaq Thompson is removed from the starting role, the defensive staff should be gone

[SCBills]

8 minutes ago, BeastMaster said:

History shows that for whatever reason the Dolphins give the Patriots trouble. This dates back to even the Brady era

 

Wouldn't surprise me at all if they lost to them

How much does that team rally around McDaniel in what could be his final

game or a game that will factor into the offseason evaluation process of him.  
 

And while im not high on the possibilities of NE losing any of their two remaining divisional games… we also haven’t seen Maye in meaningful December football when it’s cold, guys are beat up and the pressure is real. 

[mannc]

8 minutes ago, BeastMaster said:

History shows that for whatever reason the Dolphins give the Patriots trouble. This dates back to even the Brady era

 

Wouldn't surprise me at all if they lost to them

The Dolphins are quietly playing extremely well, especially on defense.  It’s not inconceivable that they could finish 10-7, while beating the Pats. They are still alive.

[transplantbillsfan]

33 minutes ago, kkim0904 said:

Hoping Bernard is sitting out the rest of the season.  I really like our LB plays since he was gone 

 

I think now is the time to start repping him at what should be his permanent position moving forward at WLB to take over for Milano starting next year.

 

Shaq Thompson still has a couple years in him at least.  Draft a MLB in the middle rounds to develop and let Shaq and Bernard be our LBs.

[Walking Tall]

Maye reminds me a bit of Burrow. Just deadly accurate, strong arm and smart.

Edited 2 hours ago by Walking Tall

[kkim0904]

1 minute ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I think now is the time to start repping him at what should be his permanent position moving forward at WLB to take over for Milano starting next year.

 

Shaq Thompson still has a couple years in him at least.  Draft a MLB in the middle rounds to develop and let Shaq and Bernard be our LBs.

I see differently that should stay with what is working, Shaq and Milano.  No room for Bernard to mess up the current  LB chemistry.

[GoBills808]

1 minute ago, kkim0904 said:

I see differently that should stay with what is working, Shaq and Milano.  No room for Bernard to mess up the current  LB chemistry.

and it looks like theyre actually in the process of reducing milano too tbh

 

hes coming off the field on some important third down spots, esp passing situations

[Buffalo4Life01]

8 minutes ago, Walking Tall said:

Maye reminds me a bit of Burrow. Just deadly accurate, strong arm and smart.

Same.  But he isn't throwing the ball to a trio consisting of Chase, Higgins, and Gesiski.  Diggs, Boutte, and Hollins are, collectively, an above average trio of receiving weapons but they are no where in the realm of the Bengals receivers listed above.  IF Buffalo took Diggs for granted in the first match up, I'm pretty hopeful they won't make the same mistake this Sunday.

Go Bills!!

Edited 1 hour ago by Buffalo4Life01

[IBTG81]

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

1 hour ago, appoo said:

Blitzing Burrow and those WRs is basically begging to be blown out. You gotta be real picky when doing that 

This is the NFL. You’re gonna have a good defense unless you have a good pass rush.

The Bills simply do not have the horses to have a good pass rush. There’s no way to get around that 

I think they can get by if Ed comes back and bosa is healthy but without those two pieces (and hoecht but we’ve only had him for 2 games really 😂) it becomes tough. 

[Success]

3 minutes ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

I think they can get by if Ed comes back and bosa is healthy but without those two pieces (and hoecht but we’ve only had him for 2 games really 😂) it becomes tough. 

 

Oliver & Bosa playing together really changes our D for the playoffs, provided Ed can be back at last 85-90%.

 

If we can stay relatively healthy the rest of the way, I'd feel really optimistic heading into the postseason.  There just isn't any team we can't beat this year as long as we don't commit too many mistakes/turnovers.

 

 

[BigAl2526]

5 hours ago, NewEra said:

The question is, who’s going to help us win a Super Bowl THIS year?  

Ed Oliver getting healthy enough to play by the playoffs would help.  Joey Bosa's hammy appears to be a minor one.  Hopefully he's back soon and can stay healthy through the playoffs.  Otherwise, McDermott and Babich may need to be willing to dial up some timely blitzes.

[transplantbillsfan]

29 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

and it looks like theyre actually in the process of reducing milano too tbh

 

hes coming off the field on some important third down spots, esp passing situations

 

I was listening to Football 301 with Nate Tice and Matt Harmon today.  The show was about X factors for each AFC playoff contender.  They actually focused on one X factor on both sides of the Bills unlike any other team.  (On offense it was Kincaid).

 

Tice said the spine of our D and more specifically Shaq Thompson is our X factor on that side.  He brought up some interesting metrics/splits for when Shaq Thompson has been on the field in the last 4 games vs. when he's been off.  One half of what he brought up is obvious: our run D goes from dead last or about dead last in the league when he's off the field to about middle of the pack when he's on.  BUT... when Shaq is off the field our pass D (and specifically our explosive pass D) goes from one of the best defenses when he's off the field to one of the worst.  I'm pretty sure he said we've given up the most or 2nd most explosive pass plays in the NFL during the time he's been on the field.

 

I'm not pointing that out to say that I think Shaq should be taken off the field.  I don't.  I also think those numbers are probably really skewed by the Bengals game.  However, it's still an observation McDermott should probably consider in his schemes.

[GoBills808]

1 minute ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I was listening to Football 301 with Nate Tice and Matt Harmon today.  The show was about X factors for each AFC playoff contender.  They actually focused on one X factor on both sides of the Bills unlike any other team.  (On offense it was Kincaid).

 

Tice said the spine of our D and more specifically Shaq Thompson is our X factor on that side.  He brought up some interesting metrics/splits for when Shaq Thompson has been on the field in the last 4 games vs. when he's been off.  One half of what he brought up is obvious: our run D goes from dead last or about dead last in the league when he's off the field to about middle of the pack when he's on.  BUT... when Shaq is off the field our pass D (and specifically our explosive pass D) goes from one of the best defenses when he's off the field to one of the worst.  I'm pretty sure he said we've given up the most or 2nd most explosive pass plays in the NFL during the time he's been on the field.

 

I'm not pointing that out to say that I think Shaq should be taken off the field.  I don't.  I also think those numbers are probably really skewed by the Bengals game.  However, it's still an observation McDermott should probably consider in his schemes.

yeah if you watch the all22 Thompson has been the single most impactful player in terms of the defense starting to turn around

[strive_for_five_guy]

38 minutes ago, Walking Tall said:

Maye reminds me a bit of Burrow. Just deadly accurate, strong arm and smart.

Except he can run a little too.  I’m hoping McD and Babich are ready to throw some confusing looks his way and get him off his game.  Maybe offer a blueprint to slow Maye down the rest of the season too.

[eball]

5 hours ago, chris heff said:

Palmer has not shown anything that makes me think he is a difference maker.

 

He made a huge play late against Baltimore, and had just made a huge downfield catch early vs. Atlanta when he got hurt.  That was Week 6, man...how can you draw ANY conclusions about Palmer at this point when he hasn't been able to play?

 

[transplantbillsfan]

21 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

yeah if you watch the all22 Thompson has been the single most impactful player in terms of the defense starting to turn around

 

You can definitely feel his presence on the field.  And his communication with the entire D seems as important as his play.