Bleeding Bills Blue

That was just... such a game killer. Any momentum from a stop is lost. 3 score game. Everyones pressing on both sides of the ball now.

We were down 17-7 having had the ball twice... with 2 minutes in the half. It was a 2 score game, and we got the ball at half. That fumble made it a 3 score game, and then we took our time getting down there and settled for the long FG.

Lamar jackson won an MVP in 2019 and 20 of his 36 TD passes came in 5 games against NYJ, Hou, Miami, cleveland, and cincy. Coordinators and players need to adjust to how they're defended, it takes time. But at the end of the day the awards and "top 5" status are just based on stats and record, not on the numbers you put up in specific games.

They stopped turning it over. They always ran the ball pretty well, they're just doing it a ton now. Getting into plus down and distance. They also have one of the best defenses in the league. Solid rush defense, and they rush the passer well and create turnovers. Takeaways = field position = points.

The big thing to me - turnovers. 5 turnovers in the first 7 games. 9 in the last 3. Yes 1 is mckenzie on a flukey play where he tripped - but there was a 6 point flip in the jags game. One pick in FG territory where we lost points, and one pick in our territory where we gave them points. Then in this game one pick put them in good position at the 43 in the first half, the mckenzie debacle, and the icing was that deflected mess play that made it a laugher. The 2 first half turnovers made this the blowout that it was though - everything they gameplanned for this team was thrown out the window and they went back into spread offense because of it. I'm not sure they would've been able to stop taylor anyway, but by spotting them field position at the 43 and 2 yardline, they needed 59 yards to get 14 points. That's unacceptable.

They came out running - then got off schedule, threw a pick. Scored the next drive to make it 14-7. Then it was 24-7 before they touched the ball again. Mckenzies mishap changed what they were really able to do in the 2nd half. That and their inability to figure out how to stop taylor.

I agree that 2 DE's that early was a bit strange. Isn't humphrey a center though? Wouldn't it be morse who would have to have been moved?

I'd bring someone in during camp, but bass is making the call on holding at the end of the day.

The only one where they had a solid oline/run game. Thats basically rookie QB 101 - be able to effectively run the ball and keep your QB standing. Limits turnovers, keeps you in plus down and distance. They used all their prior year cap space to get some weapons too, not sure it was the greatest use of money but its a considerable improvement over what they had.

That's why its always a challenge to make a pro bowl as a kicker/punter in buffalo.

See I thought that as well, but I'm willing to eat a few yards of field position on average if it means our kicker is more accurate. Haack has had a bad year so far, but we also have to be near the bottom of the league in total punts attempted. Aside from the blocked punt, he's also had some issues with touchbacks (which could be a coverage issue). However even with 4 touchbacks in like 25 punts his net average is still only a couple of yards off the league lead. 5 yards in 25 punts is 125 total yards of field position. Meanwhile Mason Crosby is having the worst season of his career with Bojorquez holding for him. And Jason Sanders has already missed 4 kicks this year, after missing 3 total in 2020 with Haack. I'll take the guy who makes my kicker confident as I'm more inclined to want the guy who helps put the maximum number of points on the board.

Yeah, its just the part i'm not into. There's so much fantasy content out there just make the show about football.

My only issue with kay is that she oversimplifies things and takes things to fantasy land too much. I know fantasy football is part of it, but how many targets etc. is often just game flow not a concerted effort to throw to a specific player. Like whoa, that worked, lets just hammer them with it until they bite then hit them with the fake or something like that.

He's only turned it over twice during the winning streak. He played really well against cleveland, not so much against carolina and LA. 6 games over 70% completion, but he's got a pretty short average depth of target, but the numbers been trending up. I think he's playing well in their structure.

I think NE is playing good football, and they're built for a playoff run. Just need to avoid any serious injuries and they'll be dangerous. Honestly i don't think there's a team in the AFC that wants to play either of them in the first round. Good defenses that don't let you establish a rushing attack , and take the ball away. One offense that pounds the rock/exploits the boundaries, and the other has a top 5 QB with weapons. I think both teams stats are propped up a bit from weaker opponents - but that doesn't change the remainder of the AFC's perception of them. At the end of the day, fans posturing (not saying you are doing this, its a bills board so its probably bills fans) and media coverage is meaningless and this will be settled on the field at least twice this year - possibly 3 times.

Would be fun for kickers too! Or they could do it like Horse. Put the ball wherever they want and the other guy has to try and kick from there. Get some weird rugby angle kicks

Oh good call - 11-6 then. Which, if buffalo can (worst case) tie and split with them they'd take the division based on the tiebreaker.

Agreed. They should just do a shootout after 10 minutes. But its FGs at the same goalpost. Start at 50, then move backwards. No increased chance of injury or anything.

I didn't watch the game - interested to see how it got so out of hand. 7-9 on 3rd downs, 1 punt, 1 FG, and no turnovers. Defense absolutely dominated on 3rd downs, and had a pick that set them up for points at the 5. Really good red zone efficiancy. Offense was mostly clean on penalties. Any team that plays this efficiently is a problem, but those 3rd down splits are extremely uncommon. I had them at 10-7 before the season, but i could see even 12-5 if they split with buffalo and drop 1 of tenn/indy. People ask if I'm worried about NE, and I say no. Because Buffalo will most likely be in the playoffs pending some sort of major injuries. Would it be nice to win the division? Sure - but its doubtful either team is getting a bye in the first round and they'll probably split the home games anyway.

I don't see it having much blowout potential. This is a tough matchup for NE. It is a home game which helps but, they're playing a team that doesn't turn it over much - and one of the better defenses in the NFL. Both things NE thrives on - takeaways and bad defenses.

Eh - it can. Especially when you run 80% of the time under center. They are almost expecting you to run when you PA.

Yep - traditionally that means you run out of shotgun, and you run toward the boundaries and cut up field. The big problem in buffalo is the backside blocking is brutal, so the cutback lanes that are created get swallowed up by backside players. I think you could try some jet action to create an additional conflict (or pin block). You could also run speed option instead of read option - get to the boundary faster and pitch to the back or create RPOs with sprint out plays. The team doesn't run well under center. And those splits are terrible. If he takes the snap under center its almost always a run, and they don't run heavy play action much from it either. A lot of the pass plays are RPO screens where the ball is almost immediately thrown.

Yeah. Julio worked out... fairly well? But i don't think I'm trading multiple firsts for a non-QB. I know LA and Seattle did it for like, established all-pro players coming off rookie deals. But still, you're giving up a ton of value to then pay someone a ton.

Gonna go with Hughes. I feel a nice blindside FF coming.

He just had this wonky running style and catching style that I didn't notice until he was with Buffalo. Hindsight is... if you sit there - beckham? Or ya know... aaron donald, taylor lewan, zach martin.