fergie's ire

And one week earlier, the Bills took control of the game by running Ray Davis with Cook on the sideline. I have a lot of problems with the game Brady called but just saying you need your best back on the field is a little bit simplistic and shaped by hindsight.

Agreed. And it's not even really a rebuild year. It's really a tear down year and NEXT year they can start to rebuild.

What year is it out there?

Yes, it is an advantage that New England had all these years that I hadn't thought. When your division is crap and you can count on winning it, you can afford to take guys out. In years past, I'd hear people say "I would rest X because we know we can beat Y without him." I didn't trust that approach because the margins are so slim in the NFL, but when you know that even if you DO lose to Y you still control the vision you can sit guys. If you lose to a bad opponent then oh well...now we'll have to be more careful in the future...but until you do lose one or two of those games you can sit guys.

I agree about that particular play...and at least one lineman seemed to give up chasing him. However, in general, has anyone been talking about the Bills D being held? Ed Oliver, in particular, looked like he was egregiously held all day. He would split blockers and both would grab on to him. Was I the only one seeing what looked like really bad holds on every play? And Dawkins is the one called on a perfectly executed block? I am not usually a "blame the ref" kind of guy, and wondering if I'm seeing things because it looked really bad and obvious to me.

That's what I was trying to get at. To take an extreme example, suppose the ball had started 2nd and goal at the 7 and it looked like Josh ran to the 4 but they mark it back at the 6. Can McDermott challenge that it should've been a touchdown even if he (and everyone in the stadium) knows it wasn't but make that challenge just to get the 2 yards? It seems odd, but I don't see how he could be stopped from making the challenge.

I've seen a lot of people saying McDermott should've challenged the spot of the ball. My understanding is that is not challengeable as it's considered a judgment call. He could've challenged that it should've been a touchdown (which is challengeable) even though it clearly wasn't. I did see a case recently (don't remember where) that a coach challenged whether a player made the first down. Replay showed that while the player went down short of the marker, he was closer than the previous spot. The coach lost the challenge, but the spot was corrected. Could McDermott have done this when it was obvious he would lose the challenge (and a timeout) just to get an improved spot? I'm not sure.

Correction. They only had one penalty called on them. They didn't commit any.

I don't think you can say they "became conservative." They threw the ball more than twice as much in the second half than the first half. I would say that most of those throws came in the fourth quarter and my complaint would be that the coaching staff was slow to counter Baltimore's adjustments. I get it since they had the lead and their plan had been working, but would be good to recognize Baltimore's adjustment sooner.

My point is that they had to pass for 500 yards because they couldn't run. Look at all the discussion (on this board and in the media). Detroit was a bad matchup because they were going to kill them with the run. Bills took it away early and they got behind. My concern with the Ravens is that the same thing will happen but without the falling behind part.

It does make it tough that both Henry and Lamar run the ball so well. It can make it hard to scheme against them. However, I am less worried about the Ravens running attack than almost everyone seems to be. Whenever the Bills are going up against a great running attack there is much wringing of hands and saying "Oh no, we can't stop the run" and then more often than not, our defense does IF that is what they are keying on. Yes, Henry ran a lot against us in the first matchup but I am not sure if the Bills came in keying on him as much as they should have. Yes, he ran for 150 the week before but most thought that had more to do with Dallas (who couldn't stop ANYONE) than Henry who had 84 and 46 against the Raiders and Chiefs at that point. I think of the Seattle game ("OH NO!! THEY'RE GOING TO RUN ALL OVER US!!) and the Detroit game (OH NO!! THEY'RE GOING TO RUN ALL OVER US!!) and many games in years past and it just didn't materialize. That said, with Baltimore, I do worry if the Bills scheme for the run that they will kill us in the passing game, particularly to the tight ends.

Agreed. Then, even if you manage to get a two touchdown lead they get the ball to start the half and if they drive down and score they are right back in it. Just need one stop. I think the best approach is the way it went in Detroit. Give them the ball and be aggressive on defense early. If the Bills get burned for a big play, so be it, but hopefully they get a stop or two, get up on them and because they get the ball first in the second half make it hard to come back. If you take the ball first and get the lead, it's not a real lead. It's like holding serve in tennis.

Yeah, I'm not a big believer in bulletin board material because I don't think players need more to get up for a playoff game. However, I wouldn't go after Josh Allen. What was it, 6 years ago that Jalen Ramsey talked smack about him and Josh is STILL going after that guy and making his life miserable.

Bruisers having the advantage in snow is always something I hear...the conventional wisdom. However, I don't agree. You want speed and you want to cut (you know where you are going but the defender does not so has to cut more suddenly). You just have to soften or round your cuts and then use speed. Look at what Davis did against SF. Shady McCoy was famous for being GREAT in the snow. If someone is a bruiser just stand in front of them (they don't have the traction to get push) or just fall down and have them trip over you.

If you can...the problem is that it's hard to hit him. I saw a Steelers player on the edge breaking down into defensive position when he had Lamar in the backfield. He played it safe rather than going for the hit so he could make sure to be ready for a juke and not miss him. Lamar juked and he totally missed him.