A Few Thoughts about the Bengals Game - Community Edition

[QLBillsFan]

KO returns and coverage have really been a big issue. With the exception of the Davis play. The Bills are not getting to the 25 and are giving up the 30.. probably an 8 yard swing each kick. It doesn’t seem like much but that’s another first down for the O and one less the D can give up. Requires just a 37 yard drive to get a very manageable FG. Part is coverage but Sunday Prater struggled to get it past the 10 maybe averaging the 8 while the Bills caught it about the 3. It’s actually a tough thing to do.. a very precise KO. 

[GunnerBill]

12 hours ago, Marv Levy said:

THIS! I was wondering out loud why the hell he would do this? If it accomplished anything, I really don't know what it was?! Seemed like a gigantic waste of a TO.

 

Did we get an explanation? I can only presume there was some sort of clock issue that the refs wouldn't acknowledge (happens sometimes where it doesn't reset) and so he had to take it to prevent a DOG, but I don't know.

7 hours ago, billsfan714 said:

You mean the Bills defense that let Cincy convert 10 of 12 3rd downs?  Thats a 83 percent conversion rate.   The same point of emphasis they were talking about on hard knocks in August that needed to improve.  Sorry, but my lying eyes tell me its the same old Bills defense and its not good enough to go to a bowl.

 

3rd down has been better since McDermott took over playcalling. It was rough Sunday, agreed. Not sure all of that was scheme though. The Bills have to tackle better. It has been the single strongest theme through our entire season - defensively our tackling has sucked.

[Rochesterfan]

13 hours ago, No_Matter_What said:

Virgil's OPs have become too negative for me, but we've already discussed that so no point in doing it again.

 

I'd just like to add one thought. I already said in post game thread that McDermott gets a lot of heat for being too conservative, but he was as aggressive as needed in this game (apart from kicking the first FG, which was a good decision imo). After that, we went for each 4th down.

 

He especially deserves credit for going for it on 4&goal with 3.09 min to go up 32-28 from 3 yard line. It required some Allen magic (with help from OL and Hawes), but it was bold and good decision anyway.

 

100% - the entire post!

 

 

The fact that after this long and the number of 4th downs and other aggressive calls the Bills make - how people consider him a conservative coach - I just do not get.

 

The fact that year over year he seems to be one of the top coaches in aggressive index and typically at the top of the analytics charts for going for it at the correct time and when to go for TD versus FG versus punt.  
 

People just go back and think he coaches like he did with Tyrod, but he hasn’t in 7-8 years. 

[BobbyC81]

Shout out to Joe Brady for calling a play action pass on the Bills first offensive play.

 

I guess the intern that frequents these fan boards made a convincing argument for it.

[RichStadiumGuy]

3 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

Shout out to Joe Brady for calling a play action pass on the Bills first offensive play.

 

I guess the intern that frequents these fan boards made a convincing argument for it.

I doubt Brady would need anybody on the inside to suggest doing something other than trying to run through that brick wall in the middle of the field on every first down might be a pleasant switch... especially since every single defensive coordinator in the league takes that play for granted! The Bills are pretty much guaranteed to be facing second and at least eight on practically every series!

 

Another pet peeve here... how about snapping the freaking ball at different times on a regular basis instead of letting the defense know it ain't ever gonna get snapped with more than 3 seconds left on the clock! Try snapping it at around 10 seconds once in a while... besides scaring the hell out of the defense it may even be rewarded by a few offside penalties here and there if the opponent doesn't know exactly when we're gonna be snapping the ball.

[BRH]

21 hours ago, Virgil said:

9 - Gesicki - I'm sorry, but ***** him.  I can understand players getting hyped after a good play, but he seemed to be really relishing in his success out there.  Maybe it's from his Dolphins tenure, but I felt like he was taunting us all game.  His catch on the Bengals last drive was a killer on Cam and he had an overall good game. But again, ***** him.

 

The GIF of Gesicki's TD celebration needs to go up next to Zay Flowers' Queen wave on the permanent bulletin board.

 

Both reminded me of Haywood Jeffires twerking for the camera before the planets shifted in the Comeback, and Bryan Smolinski's smirk after scoring a late goal in that crazy 7-6 Ottawa-Buffalo playoff game (yes, Virginia, the Sabres used to play in those once upon a time).

 

Karma is an absolute b1tch and I love her for that.