HappyDays

I still believe we will beat the Steelers obviously. It goes without saying that if we lose, the day and time change will have nothing to do with it. The 2 days of extra rest for the Chiefs (presumably) is a real disadvantage though. It's the combination of the two that really irks me. But oh well it is what it is. It's nobody's fault.

Yeah and I recognize I'm in the minority opinion on this one. But recently the only reason the Steelers offense has done anything is because they could launch the ball downfield to Pickens. People have already forgotten that the Steelers were arguably the worst offense in football until that element became part of their game. In windy snowy conditions I thought we would easily shut them down, meanwhile our own passing offense would be handicapped somewhat but not completely shut down. I thought all in all it gave us a big advantage, contrary to popular opinion. So from my perspective we've now lost an advantage over our wildcard opponent and gained a disadvantage over our divisional opponent.

I didn't say I disagreed with the decision. Don't put words in my mouth. I'm just annoyed that now the presumed outcome is we get the Chiefs on 8 days of rest and preparation while we get 6 days. That would of course happen the one time we finally get them in our stadium. Chiefs luck never runs out, just sick of it is all.

Disagree with this. I think the Steelers have a better chance of winning if they can launch the ball deep to Pickens. I was totally fine with a bad weather game because they would have barely had a passing offense whereas ours could have scraped by. Now both teams are on equal playing field AND our divisional round opponent gets 8 days of rest versus 6 days of rest. It is a horrible outcome all around.

This is actually a really big advantage for our opponent... I hate everything about this.

The Bengals divisional loss had nothing to do with weather. The entire team was completely unprepared to play on any field in any conditions. The Patriots wind game we had a massive advantage in that our QB could actually throw the ball, it just took our coaches way too long to figure that out. Don't make the same mistake again. I don't think we'll have any trouble shutting down the Steelers run game if we barely have to worry about their downfield passing game. We held the Dolphins to 8 rushing yards in the 2nd half just by bringing a safety into the box. The Dolphins have the best rushing offense in the league. So I have zero concerns about the Steelers run game. I am one that believes the Bills should embrace their climate and build a team that can win in those conditions. It's a homefield advantage unlike any other if we use it properly. Having Josh Allen alone gives us that advantage. I sincerely hope the storm is as bad or worse than what the worst forecasts are saying. Win the game 14-0 for all I care. If the Steelers can't pass the ball at all it's practically an automatic win.

I hope there's a snowstorm. The best thing the Pittsburgh offense has done in recent weeks is launch the ball deep to Pickens. Snowy windy weather removes that factor. Allen can still throw the ball, Rudolph really can't. I don't understand why so many Bills fans are more anxious about the game. For my money this gives us a bigger advantage.

Bills 24 Steelers 7 Not expecting anything pretty on either side. What I don't understand is people saying "ooh the Steelers are a tough grind it out team, this weather favors them!" when that has not been the case at all this year. Their offense has totally stunk for most of the season, then their 3rd string QB gets on a common backup hot steak and suddenly they're the offensive version of the Steel Curtain? Nah. We're gonna stop their offense dead in its tracks. I predict two turnovers for our defense and that's a conservative guess. Out offense I don't expect explosiveness but without TJ Watt on the field we have matchup advantages all over the field. Avoid Minkah Fitzpatrick's zone, play ball control, let persistence and the clock win the game for your. I trust our offense to make just enough plays to get into the endzone a few times especially with what I think will be a couple short fields. Basically I think this will resemble the home Patriots game but without the Steelers offense making a game of it in the 2nd half.

I get it. I just think they have a rare opportunity to accumulate a ton of young talent. Only one QB taken #1 or #2 overall in the last decade has definitively proven to be worth it (although CJ Stroud is likely going to be the second). For my money the top 4 QBs this year - Allen, Mahomes, Jackson, Prescott - were drafted later than that. So do you throw away the opportunity to get an almost for sure game changing #1 WR plus a boatload of picks, for a QB that is statistically unlikely to be worth it? If you hit on the QB it's of course worth it in the end. But it's a gamble. And it's not like they're trotting EJ Manuel out there next year. Fields could be as good as Hurts IMO.

Five years ago I would have said take a QB no matter what. But I've changed my tune on this. I think QBs like Hurts and Tua and Purdy have shown that having a good QB plus elite weapons is maybe the best path to a Super Bowl. Especially if the QB is mobile which naturally increases the margin for error. You need a great defense too, and the Bears are close. They could trade down for a boatload of picks, draft MHJ (giving them arguably two #1 WRs with DJ Moore already there), build up the OL and defense, and head into 2024 ready to make waves in a relatively average division. I sincerely think they could compete for a Super Bowl next year if they have a great draft, and they'll likely still have several high picks in the 2025 draft from the trade down. Not an easy decision but I'd ride with Fields and try to build the most elite possible team around him.

Correct me if I'm wrong - isn't a sight adjustment different from an option? There are times where Diggs clearly changes his route because of a blitz, CB leverage, etc., and he trusts that Allen will make the same sight adjustment on the throw. When we had the Diggs/Brown/Beasley trio it was known that the WRs would occasionally freestyle based on what the defense showed. So I don't think Davis was running an option route there but I would think (especially according to the principles of the EP offense that we run) that his route can/should change to a stop route if he sees an all out blitz. Because my understanding is that under the EP offense, the benefit is that it beats literally any potential defensive play as long as the QB and intended pass catcher are on the same page, but the risk is a negative play if they are not on the same page. Again, correct me if I'm wrong. There's another thread on a Kurt Warner video that touches on this. Allen's WRs aren't making sight adjustments to become hot even when he's clearly expecting them to. In this case it led to an INT, in other cases from this game it led to a sack or throwaway.

Yeah I was gonna post that screenshot too. Baker is out of the frame at that point. It's crazy that it somehow wasn't a TD. A tougher RB stretches over the goalline, but I can't really blame Ty, it was just a great play by Baker. If Allen isn't supposed to throw this pass, then they might as well have just kicked the FG on 3rd down. That's as open as it gets in this situation. The correct answer is that Cook needed to make a simple catch in the endzone on the previous play. You don't often get multiple chances to score TDs at this area of the field. Cook blew it, no one else.

I didn't watch the Kurt Warner video yet but from my own viewing the WRs need to do better with sight adjustments. In the all-22 there's a play at 10:43 in the 3rd quarter, 3rd and 5. Miami sends an all out blitz and Allen is ultimately sacked for an 8 yard loss. Pre-snap you see Allen make eye contact with Shakir. I think Allen knows the blitz is coming and is trying to signal to Shakir to be ready. Post-snap the middle of the field is left completely wide open because of the blitz. Shakir could either stop and turn around, or run a quick slant to the middle, and it would be an easy pitch and catch. Allen looks at Shakir clearly anticipating this. Instead Shakir continues running his full route downfield and never turns his head around, and Allen has to eat the sack because there's no other hot route. If Shakir had made a sight adjustment to the blitz it's an easy 1st down, instead we punt. Little things like this are why I'm still not fully convinced Brady is the answer. Too frequently the players are not prepared or on the same page and it's leading to too many negative plays.

How many teams can say they replaced their #1 CB, their WLB, and their LT all in the same game and the replacements barely missed a beat. Beane's strength has always been the depth. I would put our 2nd team against any other 2nd team in the league.

Fair question. No it is not. That info was actually given to me by two other people separately which I thought was enough evidence to consider it valid. That was my mistake and it's why I haven't posted inside info lately on here, I don't want to post bad info. I later found out Ionnaidis and Suh were looked into, and Ionnaidis at least was given a physical, but a few people made a leap to assume that meant a signing was imminent. But the injury info I posted earlier in this thread is from my usual source, and I'll no longer be posting info I hear from anyone else.

Last year with TJ Watt the Steelers went 8-2 and ranked 6th in pass defense. Without him they went 1-6 and ranked 30th in pass defense. He's arguably just as important to their defense as a franchise QB is to an offense. Him being out is a massive advantage in a game where we already have several advantages.

This particular source has never given me bad info. They were regularly giving me injury updates earlier in the season all of which turned out to be true.

Same injury Jordan Phillips had last year FWIW. After a week or two of rest you can play with a sling/brace, and of course a pre-game visit from Dr. Needle. Yeah the leg whip causes what's called a valgus force on the outside of the knee which puts pressure on the MCL and leads to the strain.

It's been a while since I got info like this, but here's what I was just told about injuries: Douglas - Moderate MCL knee sprain. Will almost certainly miss this week and possibly the divisional round too... Dodson - Tore his left labrum and partially tore his rotator cuff (ouch). Same injury timeline as Douglas. Rapp - Calf & achilles strain. Not a huge concern. Almost certainly going to missing Douglas, Dodson, and Davis against the Steelers... Let's hope they can be back the following week.

Oh God this statement is a Mad Libs of meaningless corporate buzzwords. I would feel rudderless if I was a Titans fan.

Yeah he toed the company line. But they showed him in the draft room when the trade went down and he clearly was not happy. You know better than this.

Sounds like the Titans have a big ownership problem too.

Vrabel is immediately the hottest name in the head coaching market. I am now hoping Belichick sticks around for one more season. My dark horse guess for Vrabel would be the Cowboys, I think Mike McCarthy's job is very much in doubt if they have a disappointing early playoff exit.