Rochesterfan

And what if instead of this stupid thought process that the “fans” have - we look at the fact that Josh seems to really like playing for McD and Beane. Maybe he has spoken to ownership and stated his preference to play for these guys. Maybe - he realizes that the last several years he has had the ball at the end of the game with a shot to tie or win and the lack of plays has been on him and the offense. He is always hardest on himself and that is part of the frustration - the game has been in his hands and they have not come away with the win. I think he realizes how much of a say he has - he gets input on players that stay and go and draft picks - he stated Coleman was his guy - he thought he would be a great fit and that is the guy they made work. If he wanted new coaching - he could talk to Terry and would before a change is made, but I believe the exact opposite - I think Josh likes McD and the freedom he gives the team and that helps ground him here. I also think you are more likely to see Josh leave if we make a change to a coach that doesn’t foster his attitude - someone like Bill Beli and his attitude.

Everyone complains that McD failure in the playoffs is based upon the defense and then you argue that the bills only have a good roster not a great roster and no “game changers” on defense. That means that McD must be coaching his butt off to get the second best win % in all of sports over the last 5 years and a top offense and top end defense with only a good roster and no “game changers”. The fact that year after year the Bills have few to no Pro-Bowl players or all pros and yet McD dominates the division and wins a minimum of 1 playoff game with multiple trips to championship round and the last 2 years has the team in a 3 point game with the ball and a shot to win - tells me what I need to know. This is completely false. Most coaches that take over teams become failures. It is exceedingly rare for a coach to take over a team and suddenly take them over the top. Especially as they tend to change out coaching staffs and styles - so you begin to see a lot of turnover and people out of position. it is not unheard of, but the new coach pushing them over the top is a very limited sample size and the failure coaches are numerous- so actually getting better is probably closer to 5-10% chance with a 90-95% chance of the team getting worse. That should not stop the change, but that mixed with the fact that the team and Allen love coach McD and the team is successful and has done more with a weaker talent base should also be part of the equation.

Do you ever think maybe - just maybe - there is a reason they go left. Like maybe the way Josh takes the snap. It is significantly easier for Josh as a right handed QB to begin to move left as it keeps his primary hand in place to receive the snap. I think they recognize that trying to go right takes a step longer giving more time for the defense to close the gap. Left or Right to me isn’t the issue. The issue is where are the plays off from it. Where is the fake block and Knox in the endzone for a pass? I think going right may work sometimes, but my guess is the success rate would be significantly worse than going left for our team. I think the biggest difference overall is the few extra microseconds it takes on the road for the offensive line to move. They were a quarter of a step late all night and I think that was the difference in the game. The crowd doesn’t necessarily mean only false starts as an impact - it also leads to just a minor change in timing and for 2 very evenly matched teams - sometimes that is the difference.

The sticks are there this year mostly for decoration. The NFL said prior to the year you would see less measurements because they were using the eagle eye spotting and that is what you got. Someone above made the spot and deemed it short.

How do we feel about this now? KC got stronger playing against it especially when it was obvious. You don’t think that there was an equally good chance the same thing happens fron 2+ yards out against Baltimore.

Nope - several times they rush to the line to run the play - preventing the other team from bringing in extra DL. Additionally, when the other team is not on the goal line - they still have to think about defending the entire field - so they keep LBs and safeties on the field giving the OL a huge advantage. Down at the goal line after waiting to get the spot - Baltimore had already brought in extra DL. It was a totally different situation than even earlier when they hustled at the goal line and caught Baltimore with a standard defense and scored. This is the second time that this happened - the first was Detroit - and neither time where the defense could substitute and get fully ready at the goal line did the Bills run the play. I think they recognized when it works and when they will have issues and they go to alternate plays.

Disagree - it works because the Bills get them in a front where Josh has a gap. That is why the move him over - he doesn’t just go forward like Philly did. The Bills recognize that at some times a team doesn’t have to defend most of the field - they can instead fill gaps - in those cases you do something else. The bills tried to let them rush to create a gap - it worked, but an extra blitz filled that opening and he got Josh down.

I believe it is a couple of reasons. The Allen QB sneak works best when they rush up and catch the opponent in a lighter box and have gaps for Allen to hit. It also works best with less than 1 yard to go. Down at the goal line because of the time to get the ball spotted - there was time for the defense to bring in extra linemen and with little area to defend - they can bring in a lot of extra beef making it not only harder, but more dangerous for Allen. Think of the stop by Tennessee at the goal line. Defending the end zone and defending 1 yard at midfield is very different. I think the Bills recognize that and respect the difference. Earlier in the year at the goal line you saw a play like that and Josh went basically outside the tackle to get a gap. If after the 2nd down run they could have rushed up and tried it - they have more success, but the ball was spotted outside the 2 causing a delay - which changed everything up and stopped momentum.

Yikes - except the Bills had only 1 TO since the KC game - Josh’s 1 Int against NE in the endzone. So neither team makes mistakes. It is going to be a long, close, nerve racking game all around.

Agreed and 99% of the time even if it looks to be slightly farther - they don’t change the spot. The Bills have a former Ref making the calls from above - so I doubt it was much of anything. I would love to see some replays because I thought he was a bit closer, but man - the Refs really do a pretty good job catching it live when we think he is still up.

The reason I believe for not running it - is what @BillsFanForever19 says for the most part. The QB sneak works best when the Bills immediately run up to the line and can run it without the other team putting their big package in. The Bills did that in the Ravens game and got the yardage. It is less effective when the opponent can bring in extra guys to fill all of the gaps. 2nd I think they had decided that the FG was more important than going for a 4th down and risking losing the game with no chance - so they had 1 play from the 2 yard line with Baltimore able to bring in all of their d-line. Everything changes if the Bills were up by 8 or less than 4 - then I think McD says we have 2 plays for the TD, but up by 5, 6, or even 7 - the FG to ensure you get another chance on offense was the right call - so you need over 2 yards on 1 play. I don’t know that is the play I want, but it was not the QB sneak from that spot against that Defense.

He chased points all game failing on multiple 2 pt conversions. He allowed the Ravens in critical situations to go away from Henry and try to score via the pass - see the 2pt plays and the FG drive. It is not totally on Harbaugh - just as it is rarely on McD, but the buck stops with the coach and he didn’t do enough to put them in position to win and the players couldn’t pull it through. It was 2 very evenly matched teams and one forced the other into several mistakes and that is without people acknowledging the 3rd fumble caused by Cam Lewis on the last drive that lucky for Baltimore happened to fall into the WR hands on the ground or the Bills force a 4th TO. The Bills were obviously coached up this week especially with the weather to attack the ball and it worked.

Not only that - Cam Lewis forced a fumble on the final drive also - the Ravens just got lucky the fumble landed back in the receivers hands on the ground. The Bills knew that they were not bigger, but they are superbly coached and very disciplined and that lead to the victory. The Bills have been playing like that all year - we are going to march down the field and get points and make few mistakes - their opponents can’t do the same - they make a mistake and that gets magnified in the playoffs. Great job to the staff they outcoached and outplayed the opposing team once again. Yes that is why they had to run the ball instead of kneeling down. They could of used approximately 85 of the 93 seconds on offense without the first down.

It could be the Chargers and Broncos become factors, but I really see them more like Miami and NE from a couple of years ago. The Chargers and Dolphins seem nearly a match with the ability to look great, but man do they find ways to lose big games. It has been multiple coaches and rosters, but I just think Herbert does not have enough to lead his team to big wins. The Broncos remind me of Mac Jones rookie NE team - where everyone thought he was going to become elite and then teams got a handle on him and it was gone. I think perhaps Bo has a chance to continue, but I would not be the least bit surprised to see them move back a few steps. I could be wrong, but I still feel they have a long way to go have significant impact.

I don’t disagree with he was sore on the play - saw it and agree. I don’t think the Bills are actively flaunting the rules and risking getting fined or losing draft picks by not putting him in protocol with a head injury. Since he had a back injury designation last week - I could see that, but I highly doubt they call it a personal matter as that would be highly suspicious if the NFL finds out they are hiding an injury.