HappyDays

Their OL in that game was as bad an OL performance as I've ever seen. Their RT Joe Noteboom made me long for Bobby Hart. Stafford has never been mobile, he needs decent pass protection to make plays.

What's different is that we have a WR that can win matchups 1v1 outside, and catch passes downfield. We didn't have that last year after Diggs fell off a cliff. Make no mistake - we lose the Chiefs game on Sunday without those two big catches from Cooper (both drives ended in TDs). He is a massive difference maker as long as he stays healthy entering the playoffs.

2021 Mahomes hit a rough patch and we got him during a stretch in the regular season where he was playing like crap. We blew them out but their team clearly was more talented than ours. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce both in their prime... It's even more insane with hindsight. We were outmatched big time against that roster. 2022 is not a good year of comparison because our whole season fell apart after the Chiefs game, first with Von's ACL and then Hamlin (and Allen's untimely, uh, personal issues which are an open secret at this point). We didn't even face KC in the playoffs because the whole team was emotionally done by the end. So who knows if that regular season win against them was predictive. Obviously a regular season win doesn't mean we are coasting past them this year, but after yesterday it sure looks to me like we genuinely outmatch them right now. And this will be the first time I'm going to enter the playoffs feeling that way.

This one felt different IMO. Last year it felt like the Chiefs screwed up the game more than we earned it, with the Toney offside penalty and Mahomes losing his cool about it so bad he forgot there was still a game to play. This time it felt like we went and really took the win on our own. No flukes, we just flat out made more plays than them. I've never felt better than I do right now that we have the pieces to get past them in January.

Yes and that's my biggest problem with Knox - he has very poor understanding of spacing, leverage, reading coverages, and making himself available for his QB. On that play he runs into the CB and just stops... What could he possibly have been thinking there? He effectively capped his own route and took himself out of the play, and the CB finished the route for him and made the catch that Knox was supposed to make. His physical skills pop when he's asked to perform a basic assignment and not think, but introduce any level of complexity and he just can't be trusted at all.

Defensive coaching I thought was outstanding. The whole DL knew how to contain Mahomes and was 100% disciplined in excecuting that plan. Back 7 players were keeping an eye on Kelce leaking out of the backfield - a player like Cam Lewis clicking and closing from depth to bring down a HoF player on 3rd down is a testament to coaching. We were willing to play man instead of doing the safe thing and give up cheap yards out of fear. Very impressed by McDermott and Babich in this one. The Chiefs last TD drive is the only one where I thought the coaching let us down by playing it too safe but I'm not gonna give them too much grief over it. Sign me up right now to hold the Chiefs to 21 points in every game until the end of Mahomes' career. The offensive coaching however I feel a little more up and down about. 30 points against a great defense is the headline, but man we were in a ton of 3rd and longs and it was really just miraculous Josh Allen plays keeping a lot of those drives alive. That's a QB win, not a coaching win. Run game never got going and we were seemingly always getting 0-2 yards at most on our 1st down runs - I know Chiefs run defense is great but the OC's job is find some success there and give his offense some manageable 2nd/3rd downs. The final series 3rd and 2 inside zone right towards Chris Jones was an inexcusable mistake that again was saved by a Josh Allen hero play. On the plus side for Brady I really liked our blitz pickups and willingness to be aggressive when KC brought pressure. That'll scare any DC out of blitzes real quick. Having Cooper 1v1 outside is a real advantage in that respect and Brady to his credit clearly understands that.

I can't be sure but looks to me like Benford was supposed to get depth and carry him downfield. Benford and Dorian Williams both give their attention to the RB out of the flat which probably should not happen. Rapp is the safety on that side of the field but he is spinning to the middle with his back to that sideline so clearly he is not responsible for that side of the field at all. Benford is the only one who looks to me like he has no obvious responsibility on that play, he kind of just hangs out with eyes on the flat even though Williams is watching it too, which makes me think he blew the call. Like I said I can't say for sure though.

What possesses an OT to actively try and break tackles instead of just going down and securing the ball

There is just something off with Stroud this year. Throws are a tick late, or ball placement is a tick off. I wonder if that horrific pass protection has gotten in his head.

Hahaha only the Cowboys could make a 64 yard FG and somehow come away with 0 points.

They should have declined the penalty on the 64 yard FG. Rush is more likely to give the ball away than score 7 points.

Addition by subtraction is a cliche but in this case it's true. The passing offense becamse much more efficient and less mistake-prone ever since Brady mostly phased Davis out of the target share last year, and it's gotten even better this year with him out of the lineup. I was beyond sick of the goofy mistakes and constant miscommunications leading to a bunch interceptable passes. Based on his performance in Jacksonville this year it turns out Davis is even worse than I thought.

Nah that's a catch an NFL receiver has to make every time. The nature of the route is that the throw will lead him towards the sideline. Mahomes put the ball right where it needed to be, Worthy just has to do the simple thing and drag his other foot.

That's fair but him getting open on that play really wasn't because of him. It was a coverage bust where we left that side of the field completely wide open. And ultimately Worthy just screwed it up all on his own. So far he is basically a plus version of Mecole Hardman in that offense. He doesn't look like a total bust but he also doesn't look like someone that will ever live up to the draft capital they spent on him.

I thought about that game too but Mahomes was going through a real rough patch at that point in that season. I remember him missing a lot of throws more than I remember us making a lot of legit stops. I know he hasn't played his best this year but we legitimately made stops yesterday. We took away his favorite target, we shut down the run, and their new shiny toy Deandre Hopkins couldn't get anything going. It felt like a new defensive plan that intentionally didn't just let them get easy yards up and down the field like in the divisional round. It helps of course that the QB of our defense was on the field this time around.

Orlovsky is doing it better than any analyst out there.

He wins with his brain more than his body. Thank you Dave Aranda for giving your buddy Sean McDermott the inside scoop on this player. I'll be shocked if he isn't a long term fixture of this defense.

This was the best the Bills have defended the Chiefs in the Mahomes era IMO. I was impressed with how aggressive we played them. They are going to get theirs and you live with that, but the goal is to keep them below 24 points and create some negative plays and we succeeded on both counts. Mahomes looked confused for much of the game and our pass rush plan worked better than I've ever seen it against the Chiefs.

Bernard is critical to this defense in ways that aren't apparent on the live broadcast.

O'Cyrus Torrence vs Chris Jones: Baldy says later in that thread Torrence only gave up 1 pressure to Chris Jones the whole game. In these clips he isn't even getting help, just winning 1v1s against a future hall of famer. Torrence is still our biggest weak link on the line but he's come into his own over the course of the season.

Burrow had multiple chances at game winning drives and couldn't get it done.

He's a good player but I think he entered the NFL already very close to his ceiling.

Neither QB wants to win this

There is always a Chargers player that makes a game altering mistake. Been the same story for 20 years now.

Herbert's problem has always been that he doesn't make clutch plays. The best QBs raise their play in critical moments. He if anything performs worse in those moments.