Magox

I disagree with Simon’s view on Bernard, we all know of the huge play he made on Andrews but that’s not the only consequential play he made. This is one of my favorite defensive plays of the game, no one probably noticed it and it won’t show up anywhere in the stat sheets but it was huge. Watch the video below, watch Rickard and watch Bernard. This was the very first play right after the Bateman play that led to a first down from the 2. This set the tone for what probably everyone thought was going to be 7 points for this drive. Bernard takes Rickard on one on one and Bernard torpedos Rickard’s thighs and stops him in his tracks and causes Rickard to fold over and essentially become like a big 300 pound boulder blocking the path 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage and doesn’t allow for Henry to have any momentum and speed to hit the hole. He did his 1/11th and it was huge and consequential that changed up the Ravens hopes of rushing it in to forcing the Ravens to pass on 2nd and 3rd down and they eventually only get 3 points .

Turns out that it was a genius move by Beane. Great value signings with Oliver and now Beane, these kind of signings make a difference in building a competing roster.

I don't believe so, I don't think bringing in a high end WR #1 is the best use of resources. I mentioned this in another thread, what happened to Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs production when Brady took over last year? It took a massive drop. Look at the WR utilization this year, there are games when both the wideouts may touch the ball 1 to 2 times in a game. I don't buy this notion that it's solely because the WR's can't separate, Diggs was able to separate decently and had good production and then he didn't. I think it's partially due to separation but I also believe its due to play design and probably a lack of confidence from Allen to his wideouts and would rather make different passes that he's more comfortable with. I think the Bills should look to go after a veteran guy like maybe a Cooper Kupp who very well may end up being cut who can win 1 on 1 matchups, that is a good run blocker which is important to how this offense operates that has a great feel for zones and shows up in big games. I would like to see lots of draft resources for DE's, DT's (Which I think is the most pressing need), CB's and another safety. There is work to be done on the defensive side of the ball and the offense is plenty good enough to get the job done, the defense is the biggest question mark.

I tend to agree with you and I am definitely very pleased with the Bills overperforming expectations, but you don't get too many opportunities to go to the SuperBowl and the team is just one game away against a team that we all know that the Bills can win. Losing will sting and the narrative will carry on that the Bills and Allen can't beat Mahomes and the Chiefs and it will be almost unbearable to hear but they definitely would be able to recover from it, this team and Allen's DNA is to continue to compete and I think there is a good chance that the roster will be stronger than it was this year. The big advantage the Bills have this year is that they still have Brady which is big and they are healthy and being this healthy is probably something we won't see next year or the year after.

I agree, if you look at the on-the-surface yardage stats of the Ravens getting over 400 yards you could make an assumption that the Bills didn't play well. Obviously that isn't the reality. The team stuffed Henry early and often and got the Ravens out of what they wanted to do which led to more drop back passes. Those drop backs led to two forced turnovers that led to either a 10 or 14 point swing. The Bills also played well situationally at times, after the big pass play they had a 1st down at the 2 yard line and against their vaunted seven 300 pound players with 6 OL 1 TE and 2 RB's that we've been hearing about all week the Bills stuffed Henry for a 1 yard loss which then led them to try to pass the ball. And on one of those pass attempts, the Ravens deployed 6 OL again and the guy they brought in initially blocked Epenesa and then he ran out to the flat thinking that he'd be open for an easy TD, but Epenesa didn't take the bait, which led to indecision on Lamar's drop back which then Rousseau came up big with the sack. Forcing turnovers and protecting the ball is what the Bills did best this year, better than anything else they did was protecting the ball and forcing turnovers and so far in the playoffs that hasn't changed. With a +27 TO advantage which is by far the best in the league and it is because of this ongoing dynamic that the Bills won the game. Hats off to the coaches for preparing the players and for the players playing their hearts out against a team that matches up well against the Bills.

The Bills should let Amari walk after the season and go after this veteran who can make the big catches. Good size, great route runner, makes contested catches and blocks very well. He’s been and won in the big games and would be within price range to obtain.

The narrative among many is that the Baltimore outplayed the Bills and the turnovers were the only saving grace for them. This is revisionist history, the Bills scored 3 TD’s in 3 red zone visits in the first half. 3 out of their 4 drives led to TD’s. They were up 21-10 at the half. With getting the ball to begin the third quarter. Relatively speaking they were in a dominant position at that point and were playing extremely well. When the Ravens had a 1st down at the 2 yard line and the very first run for Henry he was stuffed for a one yard loss that was huge and then proceeded to stop them in the next two plays and forced a FG. Henry wasn’t getting anything going for most of the first half and this is what led to them throwing more consequently leading to two Lamar turnovers and the Bills punished them for doing so. The Bills did become stagnant in the third quarter and they’ll learn from it but the Bills played better and advanced analytics tells you that. If you look at the on the surface stats such as yards then you aren’t getting the story of how things played out.

I think that would be worth a try for any team wanting to work with him and for White to have any shot at becoming a starting player. I don't foresee him being a starting DB any longer but he could possibly become a Nickle DB or safety.

I tend to agree, I've seen him play some and he has been playing pretty good man coverage. He just can't be trusted to cover a burner as that has been his liability since his injuries.

He makes plays and is tasked to do a lot but he does get beat at times in man to man coverage. With that said, I love the guy and he's a leader and the Bills will need him at his best next week against Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs.

I mentioned this in another thread that the popular theory that the Bills aren't throwing it to their wideouts is because they can't separate. There is some truth to that but this offense and it's offensive structure is not a wide receiver friendly sort of offense. Gabe Davis and Diggs production took a noticeable dip after Brady took over and this year we've seen many games where the wideouts aren't targeted that much at all. Honestly, I think its a combination of some separation issues, play designs and Josh not having the trust to throw it to them. It's been working so its hard to argue the results but there has to be more play designs to beat these tight man coverages. Josh trusted Amari in two hugely critical third down passes against the Chiefs earlier in the year and in order to beat them again, they will need to do the same.

I know that the popular theory that the Bills aren't throwing it to their wideouts is because they can't separate. There is some truth to that but this offense and it's offensive structure is not a wide receiver friendly sort of offense. Gabe Davis and Diggs production took a noticeable dip after Brady took over and this year we've seen many games where the wideouts aren't targeted that much at all. Honestly, I think its a combination of some separation issues, play designs and Josh not having the trust to throw it to them. It's been working so its hard to argue the results but there has to be more play designs to beat these tight man coverages. Josh trusted Amari in two hugely critical third down passes against the Chiefs earlier in the year and in order to beat them again, they will need to do the same.

I totally forgot about Bass. He deserves a game ball big time. He was huge for the Bills

In a game where there hardly no explosive plays on offense there were players that made key plays for the Bills to win. A big reason why the Bills didn't have a lot of yards is because they had the game under control for much of the game and Allen wasn't asked to do much. With that said: - Coach Babich and McD in installing a defensive game plan against the rush in the 1st half. This is what led the Ravens to drop back and throw the ball more which led to costly turnovers. - Ed Oliver was wreaking havoc against the rush and got some pass pressure - Epenesa played excellent against the run and wasn't fooled when the Ravens went with 6 OL and the play call was for the OL to block and then go out to the flat for a pass and Epenesa wasn't fooled and that play ended in a sack by Rousseau which led to a FG attempt - Milano beat his man on a blitz which led to Lamar throwing it earlier than he wanted to and led to a pick and then the great play where he tipped the two point conversion which ended up being huge - Bernard was making tackles and got the big forced fumble and he recovered it. - The offensive line did a good job in helping the team get 150 yards rushing against the #1 Rush defense in the league - Damar Hamlin with the huge play on Lamar that led to the fumble. - Josh Allen didn't make hardly any spectacular plays but he was efficient and didn't have any turnovers and did enough to be on the winning side (Oh and if Mark Andrews had caught that 2 point conversion he absolutely would have led the Bills to a victory)

The way the defense was playing with the turnovers, Josh wasn't asked to do much aside from be a game manager. The game was in hand until it wasn't at the end. My only quibble is the offensive game plan in the third quarter, they should have known that the Ravens were going to adjust to stop the run and they should have looked for some passes down the field to try to knock them out early on. I think Joe will learn from that and McD and him will review that game plan together to not repeat that again. With that said, there is so much talk as if that 2 point conversion drop would have led to an OT. I think there is a greater than 50% chance that Allen would have turned it on and led the team to a FG attempt to win the game. And Kudos to Tyler Bass, his 51 yard FG was huge and all his kicks were all solidly in without any of them in doubt.