billsfan89

It's a division game, elements were freezing, and after the team came out flat they mostly took control of the game. The Bills tied the game with 11 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and took a lead with about 7 minutes left in the 3rd quarters, and finally the Bills took a two possession lead with 10+ minutes left in the game. The Pats scored with 80ish seconds left on the clock and the Bills grinded out the game with a first down and even if they hadn't gotten the first down the Pats would have had like 9 seconds left no timeouts. Sometimes a team comes out flat but overcomes that because they are more talented. Credit the Pats their defense also played hard and well. The Bills defense deserves credit for making big plays too including scoring a TD!

The Bills at least have a very good track at sealing up the two seed. A win in either remaining game or a Baltimore and Steelers loss puts the Bills in the two seed. There's still an outside shot at the one seed. Bills have to win out which shouldn't be an issue although back to back division games is never an easy task. Then of course KC has to lose out and while KC plays a very good Steelers team and a Broncos team that's decent and possibly playing to play in the playoffs the Chiefs most likely will at least split those games. Still the win against the Pats keeps the 1 seed a possibility while also putting the Bills in a very strong position to be the two seed which is very important.

Division games are more likely to be closer even at home. The game was also not as close as the final score indicated. The Bills were up 10 with less than 2 minutes left in the game. I get that the Bills did get socked in the mouth early on to be down 14-0. But the Bills got the lead cut back down to 7 fairly quickly and reset themselves to start the second half with the ball and the game was tied by the time the first drive of the second half was completed. The Bills took a lead with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The Bills took a two possession lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Let's not pretend it was some sort of escape act either. Yes was it a bit sloppy and a more talented team likely could/would have come up with a win. But every team comes out flat once in awhile and credit the Pats they played hard esp on defense and made it a game for awhile. Also credit the Bills defense for making plays too.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Yes the Bills got punched in the mouth to start the game down 14-0 but after the Bills cut the lead to 14-7 at the half (with the ball to start the second half) it never felt like the Bills weren't gonna come away with the game. Bills were up two possessions until the final minutes of the game and all they needed to do was recover an onsides kick and get a first down to end the game both of which they did and neither was a tall task.

Division games are always hard to win even at home. The Bills gutted out a win after they came out flat and that's a positive thing. It wasn't pretty but the Bills took the punch down 14-0 and then settled down the game cutting the lead down to 7 with the ball to start the half. The Bills then took the fight to the Pats in the second half scoring 10 points on back to back drives before the defense scored that TD to give the Bills the two possession lead which the Bills were able to nurse. The Bills were simply the more talented team and won but the Bills also can't consistently win with flat efforts even against lesser teams. But the Bills got away with one so take it and move onto the Jets.

Team chemistry has always been strong in the McD era (or at least that's how it seems) got a little shaky in 2023 with Diggs but even then it still looked like the team had good chemistry despite the elephant in the room maybe making is less good. I think even in 2017 prior to Josh McD really installed a good culture so it isn't all Josh although Josh is the center point now.

Bills gotta hope KC loses against the Texans and that the Bills can hold serve and win out. If KC sits Mahomes against the Texans and they drop that game and the Bills hold serve and beat the Pats that's gonna put the Bills just 1 game back with the tie breaker and the Chiefs have the Steelers and Broncos.

I think the turf toe injury really got him off to a slow start and then with the addition of Cooper and the emergence of Coleman on the outside and Shakir in the slot Samuel is now WR4 despite now being a lot healthier. And as you saw in the KC game when they do need him he's now healthy and has produced a lot better. You can play through turf toe but in order to be 100% you need several weeks worth of true rest in most cases. I think Samuel getting a week off in week 7 plus a bye week has led to him finally getting a lot closer to 100%. He had a really nice game against KC when Kincaid/Coleman were out and Cooper was hurt. He's a good luxury and depth player to have as a WR4. He can be a true supped up gadget player which is pretty big.

D-line played well through about 3 quarters in the Lions game. Oliver was dominating the game with a lot of pressures, Groot was active and getting pressure as well, and the run defense held up which I think meant that the DT group played well. I also noticed some good play from Smoot off the edge particularly against the run. Overall I think the D-line was not a major issue against the Lions until the last 20 minutes of the game, in fact the unit played really well for a majority of the game.

I wouldn't mind seeing these guys "take their lumps" if any of the starters are injured. But if everyone is healthy who is ever playing the best plays.

Bills are not in a bad spot at all. Of course the division is secured ensuring a top 4 seed and a home game. The Bills have a 2 game lead on the Texans but no tie breaker, the Bills have a 1 game lead on the Steelers not sure about the tie breaker scenario, and the Bills have a 2 game lead on the Ravens. Bills simply need to win 2 out of 3 to secure the 2 seed. That's a pretty comfortable margin of error. One win most likely secures the 3 seed. As far as the 1 seed the Bills will only have a shot at it if they win out. Certainly plausible to win out three division games against lackluster opponents two at home but division games are always tricky. KC needs to lose 2 out of 3 which under most circumstances would not be likely. But with a tough schedule Texans, Steelers, and Broncos and Mahomes with an ankle injury that may have him missing a game that's a possibility maybe 40%. TLDR: Win out secure the 2 seed and give yourself a shot at the 1 seed.

The defense was abysmal against the Rams. I think the defense while not good against the Lions was actually not that bad against the Lions. The Bills gave up 42 points but 7 of those points came on a TD when there was 12 seconds left. The Bills also started both halves with back to back stops including a turnover on the second possession of the second half. The Bills were also constantly nursing 2-3 possession leads late in the game and the defense was down 3 starters in the secondary. They gave up a lot of points late in the game and it made the game closer than it needed to be but it was able to make enough stops early in the game to give the Bills a 3 possession lead. I still think the Bills have a top 10 defense in the league (on the lower end of the top 10 to be fair) when reasonably healthy.

Bills in good position to get the two seed, I think all the Bills need to do is win 2 out of 3? With the bad divisional opponents 2 out of 3 is a good margin for error.

Honestly the Bills have so many different weapons they don't always need Cooper to have big games. Cooper's presence on the outside makes teams less willing to constantly do coverages geared to constantly having 1 on 1 WR matchups. There's a reason why the offense has played so much better when he's been in there even when he doesn't put up a big number.

Johnson is one of the best play callers in the NFL but there was a pundit (I forgot which one) that mentioned that calling great plays doesn't make you a great head coach. There's so much more to coaching than having great play calls on offense and developing players on offense. The Lions have built a good system under Johnson and have gotten him great personnel to do so. On the Bills side of things I was pleased to see the defensive line play well. The defense made enough plays to start the game and the second half to allow the Bills to build a huge lead and the defensive line was a big reason why the Lions were not able to run the ball and forced into a lot of 3rd and 4th and long situations.