Utah John
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Dorsey did a good job last year. Over the offseason the Bills decided to keep Josh in the pocket to avoid injury (although almost all his injuries happened in the pocket). He turned into a zombie QB, drifting onto the field and drifting back off three plays later. Brady gets credit, justifiably, for turning Josh loose, but I think the Bills made a collective decision to say the heck with that pocket business, and we'll let Josh Josh. Dorsey couldn't seem to be the guy to let that happen, either that or McDermott just wanted a head to roll to get everyone's attention. Whatever. If the offense Dorsey built for this year had the capability to turn Josh loose, maybe he'd still be here.
At the end of the year, now we see what an effective Bills offense looks like, and we can adjust the schemes and perhaps the personnel to make it work even better.
As for Dorsey in Cleveland, sure, why not, he's a better OC than a lot of the guys out there.
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11 hours ago, folz said:
I hear you...
-though there is no way the Jax game can be called a home game for the Bills (no matter what the NFL called it). The Bills were not at home, they had to travel/deal with time change; while the Jags play in London every year, had already been there for two weeks (no time change issue/no travel, days before the game), and had just played a game in that stadium the week before. Even though the Jags weren't home either, they definitely had a home field advantage, as it were.
And ok, down the stretch:
The Bills have played six games since the start of December and are 6-0, with 101 points scored against (16.8/game), and a +53 point differential
KC has played seven games since the start of December and are 4-3, with 120 points scored against (17.1/game), and a +21 point differential
The teams had two common opponents over that stretch (The Dolphins and the Pats)
Bills were 2-0 with a +13 point differential
Chiefs were 2-0 with a +29 point differential
Current Injuries to starters or role players (and I'm not counting players like Tre and Matt Milano because their injuries were too long ago to be discussed as far as who the teams are now or who they have been down the stretch):
[snap counts in parentheses]
Bills: Benford (76.87%), Davis (82.99%), Rapp (39.27%) [OUT]; Bernard (93.19%), Douglas (46.92%), Johnson (89.29%) [QUESTIONABLE]
Chiefs: Wanya Morris (30.01%), Derrick Nnadi (45.77%), Skyy Moore (43.81%) [OUT]; Justin Ross (12.04%), Kadarius Toney (20.35%) [QUESTIONABLE]
No question, we are missing more KEY guys (more snaps) than the Chiefs. But, if Bernard, Douglas, and Johnson can go (and aren't hampered too much), then I think we are in pretty good shape. I think Dane and Kaair can fill in fine for Benford against Kansas City's wide receiver corps (which is also a little banged up), and we can get by without Davis and Rapp, as the team has already proven to be able to do (though it would be nice to have them---Davis in the run game (not just as a receiver), and Rapp to help with Kelce and to lay some lumber).
But, if we are also missing any or all of the other three, it will be a tougher go, no doubt. I think we are the better overall team (and have been down the stretch of the season), but we are dealing with more significant injuries than the Chiefs are.
Make of that what you will.
Thanks for the updated version. It will be a great game.
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2 minutes ago, folz said:
The Chiefs played 9 games at home and 8 games on the road this season.
At home, they allowed 148 points to teams with a combined record of 82-71 (9 games). An average of 16.44 points per game.
On the road, they have allowed 149 points to teams with a combined record of 57-79 (8 games). An average of 18.63 points per game.
So, there is a small difference between home and road for the Chiefs, but considering the teams they played at home were better than the teams they faced on the road, that does increase the gap a bit (as far as them being better at home than on the road).
Quaterbacks the Chiefs faced this year (KC's outcome in parens): Jared Goff (loss), Trevor Lawrence (win), Justin Fields (win), Zach Wilson (win), Kirk Cousins (win), Russell Wilson twice (win & loss), Justin Herbert (win), Tua T (win), Jalen Hurts (loss), Aidan O'Connell twice (win & loss), Jordan Love (loss), Josh Allen (loss), Bailey Zappe (win), Jake Browning (win), Blaine Gabbert (win).
For comparison, the Bills played 8 games at home and 9 games on the road this year.
At home, the Bills allowed 118 points to teams with a combined record of 65-71. An average of 14.75 points per game.
On the road, the Bills allowed 193 points to teams with a combined record of 71-82. An average of 21.44 points per game.
So, the Bills' defense definitely seems to be better at home, though their home opponents did have 6 less wins than their away opponents.
Quarterbacks the Bills faced this year (Bills outcome in parens): Zach Wilson (loss), Jimmy Garapollo (win), Sam Howell (win), Tua T twice (two wins), Trevor Lawrence (loss), Tyrod Taylor (win), Mac Jones (loss), Baker Mayfield (win), Joe Burrow (loss), Russell Wilson (loss), Zach Wilson/Tim Boyle (win), Jalen Hurts (loss), Patrick Mahomes (win), Dak Prescott (win), Easton Stick (win), Bailey Zappe (win).
-Only 11 points separate the two defenses (Bills/Chiefs) over 17 games. So, the Chiefs allowed 0.64 points less per game than the Bills.
-As far as opponent win percentage, the Chiefs opponents were a combined 139-150, while the Bills' opponents were a combined 136-153...so only 3 games different.
-The level of QB play that each team faced is about equal (no clear advantage to either team, imo).
-The Bills and Chiefs shared nine common opponents this season, with their records against those teams as follows:
Chiefs 8-3 Bills 6-6
-Both, overall, ended the season at 11-6
-The Bills did score 80 more points on offense than the Chiefs did this season, leading to a better Net Point differential (Bills 140/Chiefs 77).
Everything stacks up pretty evenly. The Chiefs have a bit of an advantage in common opponent record and the Bills have an advantage in net points.
So, yes, it may just come down to home field advantage and Bills Mafia, as the Chiefs are slightly worse on the road and the Bills are a bit better at home.
Considering all the injuries, looking at statistics from the regular season is not really definitive. (You listed the London game against the Jags as an away game but the NFL considered it a home game for the Bills. Probably the best way to handle that game is to not include it in the stats.) I think the last month of the regular season is a better indicator than what happened in September and October, but even that is suspect because the teams' makeup is so different now. What matters is what the players and coaches involved tomorrow bring to the field.
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It's going to come down to which specific players and positions are affected. The Chiefs built an O line with a strong G-C-G interior, but their tackles are injured or terrible. (Their right tackle shouldn't be in the NFL. He is worse than the lousy tackles the Bills had prior to Spencer Brown becoming good.) The strength of our D line is the interior, so that's just going to be a battle. Our edge rushers are just average compared to the rest of the league's, but they're the ones who should be affecting the play the most.
Our O line has been solid all year but even with the new guards it can get out-muscled on the interior. Dawkins has been very good usually but lately he's been steamrolled too on occasion.
If we had all oiur D players healthy I think McDermott would send pressures a lot, but with the LBs and CBs we have I don't know if he'll take the chance. The really key players who might or might not play are Taron Johnson and Bernard. If they both play I think the Bills win and KC doesn't even get 20 points.
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8 minutes ago, SCBills said:
Diggs foot injury looks super serious.
For all I know, wearing your shirt backwards is another inexplicable football player meme, like putting eye black under only one eye.
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13 minutes ago, SaulGoodman said:
Allen obviously killed him when it comes to rushing TDs, but Mahomes' underwhelming passing numbers are mostly due to the performance of the receivers. His receivers led the league in drops by a mile. Even Kelce hasn't been sure-handed this year. He'd have a lot more TDs and at least two fewer INTs if his receivers had been able to catch balls that hit them squarely in their hands.
OK, receivers sometimes drop passes. Sometimes receivers make incredible catches of passes that weren't thrown very well. It balances out in the long run.
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With some of the injured Bills getting back, I'm feeling better about the defensive personnel we have on the field. The Chief's offense this year has not been all that great, and the players we have available should do OK.
What concerns me most of all is the extra two days of rest and preparation the Chiefs got. And Reid He's simply brilliant, and McDermott struggles to catch up with what Reid throws out there. I am more concerned about what Reid can do than what Mahomes can do.
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Some day I hope to see the Bills wearing the standing bison helmets again. I still think they're classic, in a way the charging buffalo isn't.
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What? You're talking about new DCs? The Bills' DC is Leslie Frazier, who just took a year off from coaching but will return next year.
HAHAHAHAHA
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If Martin is cleared to play and there's no risk of re-injuring his hamstring, will he or Haack be our punter?
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I think Fournette was told he might be called back to the practice squad if our personnel situation stabilizes. He was released only because we have no injuries to RBs and we have so many to other positions. He might be sticking around Buffalo, or be staying in touch, in case the Bills call him back. He wants a ring, and being part of the Bills team if they win it all will be worth the wait on his part.
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The refs initially said the ball was OOB based on where Spector was when he recovered the ball. It turned out that Spector was actually in bounds. But the refs review all aspects of a challenged play, and lo and behold it looked like the ball might have hit the Steelers player's helmet. Since the refs are required to need "clear and comelling" evidence that the call on the field should be overturned, and since there was a decent chance that the ball hit the helmet, the call on the field stood.
I think the rule about the ball being OOB if a player who's OOB touches it, is silly. It makes sense for kickoff returns, barely, but not for fumb.es. But as the rules stand, the refs got this right. I don't blame McDermott for challenging the call because he only knew about where Spector was. Bad luck on the challenge.
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The hit on Josh's slide was borderline, and in those cases it usually gets called.
Note that on Josh's TD run, it looked like he might slide at one point, and a defender pulled back, and then Josh kept on going. I think the fake Josh threw was just a regular fake, not an intention to fake a slide, but the defender played it safe.
For comparison, here's an actual fake slide by none other than the Steelers' QB, Pickett, while in college:
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bb0n4pNwBw
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14 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:
Josh is going to have to play every position.
He probably COULD play linebacker.
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10 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:
Yeah, he'll be fine for next week.
That was me doing physical therapy after my hip replacement.
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Does anyone know the last time both the Bills and Sabres won games on the same day?
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1 hour ago, philholbroo said:
bojorquez?
He's Cleveland's punter and is under contract. Not worth a draft pick in a trade. If he was potentially our punter next year that would be a different story, but we had him and didn't want to keep him.
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There were so many Bills injured a spreadsheet to track their conditions is probably in order. I'm particularly interested in Taron Johnson, who often bedevils Mahomes. Any idea how it looks for him?
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4 hours ago, zow2 said:
This damn lake, lol. Whose gonna want to play football in the future here ?!?
At least the South is getting in on the snow action. I saw several inches are in store for Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, etc
I have about 3 inches on the ground here in Memphis. And there is NO WAY I'm driving out there with all those southern amateur drivers.
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The Bills D is much better than the Dolphins D, particularly with all the injuries the Dolphins have had. And Miami shut down the Chiefs in the red zone and made life generally difficult for the Chiefs. You'll recall the Bills beat the Chiefs in KC a few weeks ago. Now maybe the extra days Reid has to scheme up Bills beating strategies will be important, but the Bills coaches are no dummies either.
So far this is shaping up just fine. The Texans will go to Baltimore and have a decent chance of winning. I'd rather face Houston in Buffalo, than the Ravens in Baltimore.
7 minutes ago, Conlan58 said:I'm amazed at how many of you are seemingly just looking past the steelers like this team didn't struggle mightily in the regular season.
Sure, if we dominated every team in that last 5 game stretch, I could see some "looking ahead". But they didn't... they had arguably 1 solid game out of the 5. They tend to let lesser teams hang around too long
With that being said... SHOULD the Bills advance... man it would be sweet to send the swifties home crying for once.
They had 1 solid game? They won all 5! They did not play to their potential most of the time, that's true, but a W is a W no matter how close the score is.
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The Dolphins have it figured out. As soon as global warming means no more cold-weather games they'll be unbeatable. Of course by then Miami will be several feet under water....ah that's just a detail to worry about later.
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17 hours ago, BarleyNY said:
I won my FF league in due in part to Kyren Williams. As such I paid attention to him. He was a freaking beast. Some notable injuries to other top RBs like Nick Chubb paved the way. He had similar totals to Henry, but a better average. I think that’s what got him the nod for second behind McCaffery. A good case could’ve been made for a few others too.
Thanks. I'll watch for him in the game against the Lions.
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Another head scratcher. The second team RB is Kyren Williams of the Rams. Maybe I don't watch enough NFC action, but I honestly had never heard of him before this. Christian McCaffrey of course made first team, and he deserves it, but does Williams deserve it over, say, Derrick Henry, who had more rushing yards behind a weak O line in Tennessee?
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57 minutes ago, zow2 said:
Good Job for Taron!
For Allen that's no All-Pro and to a lesser extent, no Pro Bowl. The most productive unicorn QB the league has seen and this guy has no major honors to put on his resume after retirement. Let's hope for a Lombardi of course. Meanwhile Lamar with MVP's and All-Pro status is being fitted for a gold jacket today.
This is why I'm concerned that Josh won't make the HOF. Of course he deserves it, and people watching today see how good he is. But five years after retirement, I don't think people will remember so clearly, and they'll see the lack of those postseason honors and figure, nah, maybe the Hall of Very Good, but not the HOF. The only solution is to get a Lombardi or two or three.
Look at the rosters. Very few AFC players made it. The entire second team defense and special teams are from the NFC. I don't know how that happens, not with the AFC having such good teams.
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Key notes from players on locker room cleaning day (here is what you need to know)
in The Stadium Wall
Posted
People around the league will remember how dominant Jones was early in the season, until his injury in London. I don't think he was 100% when he came back but I appreciate the effort. Unfortunately no matter who was in the middle of our D line last night, the interior of the Chiefs' O line dominated them. Way too many holes for Pacheco to exploit. Anyway, getting back to contracts, I expect Jones to get a lot of interest.
That play will stick in my mind all offseason. I was screaming at the TV, Diggs is open! Diggs is wide open! A simple throw and catch and the Bills have the first down and can burn clock and KC's TOs. Maybe the Bills get the TD they need for a four point lead, forcing Mahomes to drive the entire field. Maybe they stall and kick a shorter FG. Either way, Josh made a terrible decision on that play. Regardless, that play should not detract from appreciating the incredible game Josh had otherwise.