SCBills

Would be absolutely shocked if Benford can’t go. Hed be limited today if he practiced. His missing practice is a personal reason, not seemingly related to the concussion. Hes on “postseason” schedule to clear by Sunday. Rapp is a loss, but what a story it will be if we look back and realize the reason Micah Hyde was brought in was for moments like this on a Super Bowl run.. not to be out there, but to be the mentor to a Cole Bishop when he needs to step out into the coliseum as a rookie and play the game of his season.

Lots of people picking the Bills and the ones picking the Chiefs seem to be doing so just because you can’t pick against them until someone provides a reason (valid) What I’m seeing a lot is the premise that the Bills are a better overall team.. Seems to be coming from the exposure our OL is getting amongst talking heads, the realization that Allen is now the better QB and our Defense finally being healthy (Rapp aside).

Cam very clearly dislikes Josh Allen. The same Joe Burrow that got to the Super Bowl on the backs of his defense and kicker? That guy? Cam is quickly becoming one of the most pathetic commentators on that network.. which is saying ALOT.

Fitz/Whitworth parodying the Wiley/RC beef over Whitworth’s non-hair dyed beard is hilarious..

Well, it’s more of a “we shall see” on the refs. Not to be that guy, but when it comes to KC, it’s a thing. Their mediocre OL’s never get beat, never hold, never false start in the playoffs. It’s amazing. They just lock in and play perfect football in the big moments. The corners never hold. Other teams are the only ones who late hit and play undisciplined football. Amazing. My hope for this game is that it was so blatant last week, that the spotlight will be on them the first time Taylor chokeholds someone to no flag or Dion gets called for a phantom hold.

CFB needs to figure something out. A lot going on Monday, but pretty meh numbers for two big name schools. IMO, they need to either expand the playoff and play the Championship Game on the weekend between the NFL Championship Games & Super Bowl.. or push it out to this coming Saturday. There needs to be some kind of lead up to the game. Immediately after 4 games of NFL Divisional Round, a CFP Natty just doesn’t hit.

I just need to see our DL do it against them. They've been the main issue every year we’ve been bounced. Their play thus far against the Broncos and Ravens certainly lends to some confidence heading into this game. Our OL is probably one of the top units in the league, but we know Jones and co., will bring it, along with pressure packages from Spags. Chiefs OL has a few really good players but also some major weaknesses, as you point out. Can Ed, Von, Rousseau and co., take advantage? If they can, we likely run away with this game. If not, it’s a toss up.

I think we’re a better overall team and I think Josh Allen is now the better QB. My worry comes down to overcoming the Chiefs playoff mysticism, our DL coming up small in a big game and our coaches vs their coaches. Not so concerned about Arrowhead, as we perform well there. But if our DL gives up easy rush yards to Pacheco & Hunt, and then doesn’t come close to pressuring Mahomes, it doesn’t really matter where else we’re slightly better than them on the player personnel side. It will, once again, be all on Josh Allen to be Superman.. and even then, our coaches have shown that may not be enough in these moments. McDermott does seem different this go around, but if we lost that Ravens game, the turtle up/conservative second half would have been litigated to death this off-season. But, we won.. and hopefully McDermott realizes you have to kill the Chiefs. They aren’t the Ravens and postseason Mahomes isn’t playoff Lamar. He won’t give us the game. We have to go take it. Im more confident than not that we do.

This question should be reframed as “How do you stop the Chiefs in the Playoffs?” Because we stop Mahomes just fine in the regular season. His playoff numbers against us though, have been absurd.

It's hilarious... every year with them since the Tampa Bay Super Bowl loss. Everyone else loses people and they either lose one rotational guy or just get healthier. Added Brown and Watson for the postseason.

Bills rushed Lamar differently than they'd rush anyone else. Mahomes can scramble, but he's not Lamar and the Chiefs OL isn't the Ravens OL, despite how good their interior is. That said.. as you point out, we don't exactly have a monster DL, unless Rousseau, Von and Oliver all decide to ball out together.

Ryan Clark is literally melting down on X because Marcellus Wiley called him out over his JA/Lamar coverage. Wild to see...

Rapp comes across as a toss up, leaning towards not playing. Benford limited today is what we needed to see. He'll play. Milano limited with hamstring soreness should be good to go. Worry of him re-aggravating it during the game, but let's hope not.

Actually surprised at the legitimate Bills/Chiefs discussion on First Take today. SAS & Saturday saying the pressure is on Allen, but acknowledging that he's always stepped up against Mahomes. Mad Dog (correctly) pointing out how this game is pressure packed for McDermott, because it's been our Defense & Coaching that has let us down against this team in the past. All in all, a decent conversation, especially for ESPN. Probably because Mad Dog and Jeff Saturday are actually intelligent football analysts and not biased cheerleaders like RC and Cam.

I honestly don't know if Lamar will. I obviously hope Josh will get at least one. Josh just needs the team/coaching around him to step up with him, specifically against the team we will see Sunday night. Lamar has been part of the reason the Ravens have lost in the Playoffs every year. Until he's not, it doesn't matter what's around him.. they've been the best team in the league for two years in a row and no Super Bowl appearances.

They focused HEAVY on Josh Allen breaking contain and launching it downfield, only for us to run a million times and throw underhand passes around the LOS.

Same concern for me.. Worthy and Brown. Douglas on either one of them is a tricky proposition and we're currently having to hope Rapp and/or Benford can go. Baltimore was always the bigger challenge for our Defense, but Pacheco, Hopkins, Brown, Worthy, Gray and Playoff Kelce is a legit group of weapons for Mahomes when we know his OL is going to be able to hold & false start all game.

Were they though?.. in conventional fashion? The only big time downfield throw they connected on in structure (that I can remember) was the pass to Bateman over Hamlin. Bills had one to Shakir first drive of the game. Ravens had some bigger plays down the field when Lamar scrambled or bought time, whereas Allen was pretty much hemmed in the pocket and we seemed ultra-focused on keeping things safe.

It's a fair criticism. We called an extremely conservative game up 11 out of half and put it all on our Defense to save the day because of it. Then we got lucky with the Andrews drop. The result was Allen constantly being put in tough passing downs. Also, upon seeing some film reviews, our TE's basically killed that 3rd Q. Kincaid lost his footing and couldn't make the catch which led to a 3 and out and then Knox turned upfield like he lacks any peripheral vision ending another drive.

It did seem like we came out of half.. 1) Thinking what we did in the 1st half would just keep working and 2) Thinking we could just grind the game out up 11 Very frustrating half that was saved by an elite defensive play by Bernard and Andrews drop, but I will give credit to Baltimore.. Their Defense showed why they were the best in the league for the last half of the season and Henry/Lamar got rolling.

Backing track wouldn’t play, so after a minute of awkward silence, she just went a cappella and absolutely killed it

That Carrie Underwood moment was incredible

I honestly don't think so, despite some tongue and cheek remarks by our favorite podcasters. I do think you need to be able to force "some" actual stops. We saw them do it against Denver and I think they can do it against KC. Baltimore is a different beast.. matchup nightmare for us, and one where creating chaos in hopes of forcing mistakes in bad weather was our best chance.. and to their credit, they executed. We hunt turnovers. The Bernard play is the best example. That was simply an elite defensive play and one you can only make if you practice that, which we clearly do. KC however, is not Baltimore. Not as talented. Not a mismatch. But.. they are clutch and don't lose games by making a bunch of mistakes. Our Defense needs to show up again, and it needs to show up by forcing some FG's and punts.

I honestly think this is a low key big deal. The outrage publicly to the officiating in that Chiefs/Texans game was unlike anything i've seen before in the modern NFL.