billsfan1959

They are not going to undergo a "wholesale change in defensive philosophy," nor should they.

I wouldn't say fans take it harder. My guess is both fans and players take it hard, some more than others on both sides. I do think that fans, hands down, are the most irrational in their responses to a loss.

My thinking as well. You can't enact every measure possible to give offenses immense advantages over the defenses and then only allow one team to have those advantages in OT by not giving both offenses a chance. Again, I have believed this for a while now. This is not a knee jerk reaction to last night

The rules are the rules and I am not upset about it. With that said, I have long believed the overtime rules have needed to be changed for the playoffs. I am not sure what the format should be; however, I think any format providing a fair apportunity for both teams would be an improvement. The 1st two options in the article you linked seem goofy to me. The last option of giving each team the ball (I would add until one team is ahead on an equal number of possessions) seems a good direction to me.

Unless this is a self reflection, you fall into the exact category you described....

Pure idiocy

I might be wrong, but there doesn't appear to be a lot of critical thinking skills on display this forum at the moment....

I am afraid the flood gates have opened and tsunami of idiocy will wash over this board for awhile....

I'm sure whoever played Mahomes or Kelce on the scout team weren't adequate either....

Agree on all points. For me, the greatest take aways from last night's game are (1) that Allen truly is every bit as good as Mahomes, that they are the two best QBs in the game, and (2) that if anything, they need to surround Allen with more speed, more playmakers, and more talent along the offensive line. That is today's NFL. If surrounded by really good offensive talent, and playing to his abilities, Allen is going to win far more than he loses. And Allen and Mahomes are just at a different level than any other QBs. When playing their best, like they did in the 4th quarter last night, I think the only time either loses is if they happen to be playing each other.

As to the bolded in your 1st paragraph, I think Frazier as much as admitted they were worried about pressing too hard and getting beat in some way. I think it exemplified what I was saying that the level at which both QBs were playing dictated the "pick your poison to die by" defensive decisions. After watching those offensive performances last night, I don't think there is a person that doesn't believe, if the roles were reversed in those last 13 seconds, that Allen would have found a way to get his team in position for a game tying FG as well. Both QBs were unstoppable at that point. There is a reason Allen and Mahomes are the top rated QBs in fourth quarter metrics. Once they have seen everything opposing defenses throw at them during a game, they will find a way to beat them. As to the bolded in your 2nd paragraph, I agree 100%. For me, it is Daboll's insistence, at key moments in games when they absolutely needed a first down, to take the ball out of the hands of his top playmakers. The Bills had two 3 and out series last night in which Allen passed on 1st down and then they ran Singletary or McKenzie on 2nd and 3rd downs. To me, the most egregious was their 1st drive of the second half after the defense held KC to a field goal and a 17-14 KC lead. Allen completed a 1st down pass for 7 yards. On 2nd and 3 they run Singletary for 1 yard. On 3rd and 2, they run McKenzie for 1 yard. That, to me, might have been the most important first down that team needed all night. In a playoff game, in that situation, you put the ball in the hands of your best playmaker. Period. At that point, Allen literally had 3 incompletions passing and 50 yards rushing. He is the one the team should live and die by in that situation. I have never seen two QBs play better in the fourth quarter of a playoff game and, in the end, whichever team was going to win this game came down to winning a coin toss.

Always appreciate your posts. IMHO, the fourth quarter last night was an exhibition of the two greatest talents in the game putting everything of which they are capable on full display. Each of them was in an absolute zone and each defense was faced with the same problems in that last quarter (and the same opportunities to close the door). I have watched alot of football over the years and I don't recall seeing the absolute clinic I watched over the last 10 minutes or so of that game by both QBs. Play press coverage and they find the one mismatch, play off the receivers and they find them underneath or in the gaps, play perfect coverage and they somehow still complete the pass, blitz or bring any kind of pressure and they kill you with their abilities to make plays off script with their arms and their legs...etc., etc. If Allen got the ball 1st in OT, I think the Chiefs are asking the exact same questions today. Again, IMHO, what we saw defensively from both sides in that last quarter was as much a result of (1) the problems Allen and Mahomes uniquely present and (2) the level at which they were actually playing, as it was poor defensive execution. Honestly, I'm not sure anything either team tried defensively was going to work at te end of that game.

This playoff season, Allen showed he is at least at the same level of Mahomes - and every other QB is at least a tier below. That's a 148.99 passer rating I fully believe Allen will win a Super Bowl. He is a phenominal talent who elevated his game this playoff season and firmly placed himself as one of only two QBs in the game right now that can play at the level he did over the last two games. Unfortunately, he lost to the other one. I am certainly disappointed over the outcome of the game. It is not the first time in the 50+ years I have been a die hard fan of this team, nor is it the last, I'm sure. But I am truly excited to see what Allen can accomplish over the remainder of his career. A player of his abilities and potential is a rare thing. He'll bring a SB win to the fans of this team at some point. When it comes to football, I don't think anything can stop Josh Allen from eventually achieving what he wants to achieve, and, if his history is any indication at all, it will not be accomplished without some adversity along the way. It is one of the things that makes him special.

Time to take a break from the board tonight. The clowns are coming out....

There is a bright future ahead. He is an amazing talent.

Not sure there is any data to support that decision. But I could be wrong Seems like a head scratcher

Another reason to cheer for them to lose....

Allen is a 25 year old, elite, QB, who is literally in his second playoff season where he has a supporting team around him capable of reaching the Super Bowl. He is on the road facing another elite QB who is in his fourth year of having a SB caliber team around him, and has already won a SB. I think it is, at best, a bit hyperbolic, and, at worst, idiotic to label Allen as a QB "who just can't win the biggest games" if he loses this game.

Here is an article from Football Outsiders that contains some information on the Chiefs' defensive turnaround (as well as good overall info on both Bills and Chiefs: Bills, Chiefs Prepping for a Shootout https://www.footballoutsiders.com/game-previews/2022/bills-chiefs-prepping-shootout "With a 30.8% blitz rate in Week 5, the Chiefs joined the losing side of recent Bills blitz history. But that aggressiveness may say more about defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's confidence in his personnel than his preferred matchup strategy. The Chiefs cut their blitz rate from 32.7% in Weeks 1-7 to 26.2% in Weeks 8-18. That corresponds roughly to the team's injection of Melvin Ingram, Frank Clark, Willie Gay, and Juan Thornhill into their lineup by way of a trade, returns from injury, and a depth-chart decision. And it coincides with the team's transformation from a bottom-three defense against both the run and the pass to 15th against the run and eighth against the pass in the second half of the season." "Ingram had a modest total of 11 pressures for his new team, but he created balance on their defensive line by allowing Chris Jones to return to his natural position of defensive tackle. With strong 9.4% and 5.9% broken tackle rates per Pro Football Reference, Gay and Thornhill eliminated many of the explosive plays opponents found after the catch in the early season. Thornhill replaced veteran safety Daniel Sorensen in the starting lineup, and Sorensen was the coverage victim of Allen's two biggest pass plays of 61 and 53 yards in early October." "At full strength, the Chiefs are a better defense than the one the Bills scorched in Week 5. But Allen has too many answers for too many questions for any defense to consistently disrupt him. The Chiefs will have to hope the bad Bills show up this Sunday. Or hope Patrick Mahomes can match Allen point for point."

Pretty good article from Football Outsiders: Bills, Chiefs Prepping for a Shootout https://www.footballoutsiders.com/game-previews/2022/bills-chiefs-prepping-shootout "And with Allen making plays that quarterbacks with lesser physical tools couldn't make, and with a defense rebutting its relative weakness against the run (11th in DVOA versus first against the pass) by limiting Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson to 57 yards and 3.4 yards per attempt, the Bills made a compelling case that their best football is the best in football. The Chiefs won't need to review Saturday's film to reach that understanding. They lived it in a 38-20 Bills dismantling in Week 5 in Kansas City. But while recency and matchup connectivity make it easy to expect the team to play to the standard of those two best offensive performances of their season by DVOA (108.1% and 86.5%), the Bills were the least consistent team in football." "Singletary has always excelled by some measures of rushing efficiency. His 4.7 yards per attempt and 8.3% avoided tackle rate since the start of 2019 are eighth- and 18th-best of the 45 backs with 300 or more carries and reflect his elusiveness. But Singletary committed to an offseason training program, and his reportedly increased top-end speed may explain his jump from 2.1 yards before contact per attempt from the start of his career to 2.5 yards since he became the Bills featured back in Week 14. That improvement has spurred a similar jump from a 49.1% to a 52.1% rushing success rate" "On Saturday, Allen drew attention with his play-action fakes, throwing all five of his touchdowns on play-action passes. And that is a major concern for a Chiefs defense that allowed 2.4 more yards per play-action versus traditional pass attempts, the third-biggest differential in football this season." "At full strength, the Chiefs are a better defense than the one the Bills scorched in Week 5. But Allen has too many answers for too many questions for any defense to consistently disrupt him. The Chiefs will have to hope the bad Bills show up this Sunday. Or hope Patrick Mahomes can match Allen point for point."

Statistically, they did improve defensively over the last half of the season; however they were no powerhouse and they did struggle with Herbert and Burrow.. They gave up an average of 417 YPG and 31 PPG to Herbert (352 yds and 30 pts in 1st game, 424 yds and 28 pts in 2nd game) and Burrow (475 yds and 34 pts), and lost 2 of the 3 games (Winning the other one in OT after the Chargers blew a 4th qtr lead). In addition, while Buffalo did struggle against the run in a few games, the Chiefs were even worse, particularly down the stretch, giving up over 5 yards per carry. The Chiefs' defense is better now than it was when they played the BIlls, but it is not close to the defenses of the Pats***, Bucs, or Saints against which the Bills scored an average of 35 PPG down the stretch. The only thing that stops the Bills from scoring points against the Chiefs will be the Bills. If they continue to play like they have since the 2nd half of the Bucs game, they will be fine.

They were historically bad the first 7 games of the season. They were, statistically a lot better over the last 10 games. During the last 10 weeks, they gave up an average of 16.9 PPG. They ranked 32 in defensive DVOA after 7 weeks and finished at 24, but actually had a weighted ranking of 14 (to reflect the games toward the end of the season). They didn’t have Jones or Ingram in the lineup when they played the Bills earlier. I don’t think they are as good defensively as the Bills are. They got some good breaks, facing GB without Rodgers, Dallas with key offensive players missing due to Covid and injuries, and the Raiders during a stretch in which they were really struggling (losing 5 of 6). But they had trouble with both Herbert and Burrow down the stretch. They are susceptible to speed. I know I have given you s*** about Breida 😉, but this is one game I would like as much speed on the field as possible. I feel very good about our chances in this game

I don’t recall anyone saying those games shouldn’t be included. Not sure what your point is…

Actually, there has been a lot of talk about how the Chiefs’ defense has been very good the last 10 weeks or so

Just about every substantive evaluation I have read or watched regarding the Bills defense has talked about struggles they have had at times vs the run…