BarleyNY

This is a lot better - and needed - of a thread than I would have thought. Thanks for starting it. It’s probably cathartic to vent honestly. I knew the Steelers were a possible loss. I put our win probability at about 60% going in. A game we should win at home, but definitley not a gimmie. Now we travel to Miami to play a team I think we beat 2 out of 3 times there. But my worry is that 1 time out of 3. That’s compounded by the necessity of winning so we don’t go 0-2. Even with wins against the WFT and the Texicans, a 2-2 record with KC and the Oiltans on the horizon is not great. The schedule is not a tough one after that. Bucs aside it’s actually pretty easy overall. But I am looking for more than gliding into the playoffs on wins against bad to mediocre teams. I really need to see some of what I saw last season. I guess my fear is that not only did we not take a step forward, but maybe we took a small one back. That would be disappointing. Looking back to form and soundly stomping the Phins would start to easy my concerns. (/vent)

One more aspect that I didn’t address is that I don’t think we had the horses for it to be effective against Pittsburgh. Moss was inactive so it was up to Singletary, who is decent but not a difference maker. The OL talent is definitely geared toward pass blocking over run blocking. What the Bills did could’ve won them the game if they had executed better. They just didn’t. I have reasons to think that more runs and play action passes would not have helped much - running not our forte, longer time to throw, taking Josh’s eyes off the defense after the snap - but again, changing things up might’ve been worth a try. It certainly is a good option to have if we can run they kind of offense effectively. Also it leads me to some other questions, like: How effective can Allen be in a more run heavy, play action offense? Why wasn’t the running game invested in more?

I tend to avoid it right after games whether we win or lose. Overreacting seems to happen either way and I am not interested in those takes.

Red hot take

Yes. And it looks like I pulled the wrong scale. You are correct. Here is the proper one for the NFL: The Player Grading Scale: 100-90 Elite 89-85 Pro Bowler 84-70 Starter 69-60 Backup 59-0 Replaceable Oliver graded out at 72.1 overall which puts him 24th of 122. 78.8 run def, 54.6 pass rush. Yes, it’s early. Small sample size.

Edit: Found the right grading scale. It’s below. He graded at the top of “replacement level” in the game. Again this is in 30 snaps.

Graded out at 57.7 overall. 57.1 pass rush, 57.5 run def and 60.0 coverage on 30 total snaps.

In theory, sure. I haven’t rewatched the game yet (barf) so I might get a better feel after that, but I don’t think it would’ve been enough even if it did work. And it here is no guarantee that it would have. One of the disadvantages of play action is that it takes longer to get a pass off. That could’ve just as easily backfired since Allen already didn’t have much time. The main issues were that the Steelers were handily winning the LOS battle and Allen wasn’t consistently hitting his passes. Oh, and there was definitely some questionable coaching. Don’t get me wrong, in retrospect it wouldn’t have hurt for them to have tried your suggestions. After all, what they did didn’t work, but it would be way down the list of why they lost IMO.

Week 1: Rams Week 2: Browns

Not that I am against running the ball more, but it is doubtful that it would have changed the outcome of the game. The ypc was high because Pittsburgh was not focusing on stopping it. They would’ve adjusted if we had run more.

I’m so sorry for your loss. My mom passed this year too. Completely unexpectedly. It sucks.

Thank you for posting that. Fantastic article.

The Steelers are great at creating narratives like this. Their fans and the media will lap it up.

This smacks of assuming a win. It’s a mentality I doubt the players have. This is a game the Bills absolutely should win, but the Steelers aren’t pushovers. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. My main worry is if the refs allow a lot of holding by the OLs - or more specifically the Steelers OL. That would even up what should be our most significant advantage. The other big open question is Rapistberger’s arm. If he’s not back to form, then this shouldn’t be a game anyway.

I flipped it on when I was driving today and heard Tasker name several prominent Bills players, including “Mitch Morris”. He enunciated it very clearly. SMH

I agree on cutting Sabres time. I flipped 550 on during the afternoon on day one of the NFL draft. It happened to be during Sabres talk time. I was floored. The Bills are lined up to be in the SB hunt and the draft is finally here, but let’s spend hours talking about the worst team in hockey. FFS

I have been in another yearly LMS league for a long time and they require each person to show their previous picks with their new ones. It helps me keep track too since I just have to find my last post in the last thread. I’ll do that here too

Week 1: Rams Thanks for running this, @Doc

I like Prescott’s Provisions in North Tonawanda quite a bit.

A very, very enjoyable and entertaining season

Didn’t you just start another thread where you said that you barely watch any games besides the Bills? Not that you were around to see any of them play in their prime.

This is the correct answer - and it’s not even close. CB probably is second in football.

There is the original Bar Bill in East Aurora and a new one on Main in Williamsville/Clarence. The old one is much smaller but the food is much better. The new one is decent but not close to the original IMO as well as the opinion of several of my friends.

Absolutely correct. I’m dealing with it while I have kids in the school district. Strongly considering moving to a smaller place Ian’s/or different part of Buffalo with lower taxes after they are out in a couple years. There’s a public parking lot behind the library

Hollister seemed like a player who was the slightest step above a JAG. That said, it seems like he’d have a rapport with Allen and he could be depended on to stay healthy. I thought we’d keep both him and Sweeney due to injury issues with Sweeney and need for numbers at the position. It’s not much of a loss from a talent standpoint though as Sweeney has the higher ceiling, relatively speaking.