CincyBillsFan

One play doesn't prove a point. It was a great run by Motor on a poorly blocked play. On our 2nd series today we ran the ball twice in a row and guess what? We had a 3rd & 7 which we didn't convert. Then on the first drive of the 3rd quarter we have a first & goal at the 8 and we run the ball and lose 3 yards. So then it was 2nd & goal from the 11. That is the reality of our running game more often then not. If it doesn't end now we are looking at a rapid fall off in the Bills fortunes starting next year. You have identified the problem with this organization and I have to hope that McD and Bean are aware of it. If they aren't and continue to load up the D at the expense of the O then our window is past.

I was a charter member of the rah rah crowd and you and the rest of the pessimists were right. I refused to see that the only thing winning us games was Allen & Diggs play. I will no longer be deluded when rooting for this team. It was like a curtain was lifted from over my eyes today.

Another issue is dropped passes and receivers that all to often are not making tough contested catches. That 50 yard pass to Davis should have been caught. It went right threw his hands.

What is this based on? The offense was pretty effective at times during that winning streak at the end of the season because Allen is nothing like Tyrod. He was making big time throws and the Bills were scoring a lot of points by fits and starts. It wasn't pretty but it was effective until we ran up against a team in the playoffs that had a lot more weapons then we had and a QB that was as elite as our QB and a defense that actually was coached to compliment their offense.

I disagree. I've seen nothing from our O line and RB's that makes me confident we could run the ball effectively in the absence of Allen's lethal passing and running ability. When we've run the ball well it's been because teams are selling out to stop Allen & Diggs. And I agree with you that we need more balance. But we don't have the offensive talent to achieve that balance. So we get pass happy and rely on our elite QB and WR to make plays. And for the most part they do and we win 14 games and a playoff game. But in the end what we're doing on offense is not sustainable against elite teams because outside of Allen & Diggs we have average to below average talent on the offense.

This is not true. The Bills don't run screens because their talent can't execute them. Almost EVERY screen I've seen this year ends with Allen grounding the ball at the feet of a RB surrounded by defenders. As for all the so called "easier shorter throws" Allen isn't taking I call BS. Allen made a number of short throws today and how many times, on a slippery field, did our WR's/RB's make the defender miss? I counted once by McKenzie. The Bills don't have the O line or RB talent to "commit to the grind". Allen doesn't hold on to the ball to long. He is running for his life on half his pass attempts. And it's those big time throws that help us win most of the games we're in. With the talent we have on offense if Allen played the way you want we would not have had a winning record let along claimed a division title and made it to the divisional payoffs.

He has NO choice but to do "crazy things". It's the only chance our offense has. And agonizingly a lot of the crazy stuff he does works. Sure it's chaotic but it's the reason the Bills won 14 games. But in the end the lack of complimentary talent on the offense dooms the Bills against the best teams. And every team that played well this weekend didn't have a defense that let up two long TD drives ion their opponents first two drives of the game.

At that point the game was over. Our only hope was to hit passes like that. In fact this is how Allen drove us to 14 wins this season. He hit on a much higher percentage of those kind of plays then would be expected.

We did bring Beasley & Brown back. And today Beasley might have been our 2nd best WR out there. And that is a huge problem that Bean must see - right?

Maybe it has. But that pass was on target and went right through the hands of Gabe Davis. And that was on a snow covered field that seemed to be keeping our pass rush away from Burrow.

Allen didn't regress. The only reason we won 13games and advanced beyond the first playoff game was because of Allen with an assist from Diggs. What you call regression is the expected outcome of an organization that has failed to surround Allen with even competent talent. You look at other teams with elite QB's and they've moved heaven & earth to surround their generational signal callers with the best O-lines and skill players available. I am more convinced then ever that if you gave Allen the weapons and coaching that Mahomes & Burrow have he would be a perennial SB QB. And that isn't taking anything away from Mahomes & Burro who are both elite QB's. But IMO neither Mahomes or Burrow could do as well with Buffalo's offensive talent & coaching as Allen has.

I like the way KC plays defense. Sure they get beat on big plays and at times teams go up and down the field on them but their theory seems to be that we're going to play aggressive and take chances which will create a TO and a couple of 3 and outs that our offense will feast on. And if we do get into a shoot out we have the best shoot out offense in the NFL.

Bingo. The Bengals went out and signed one big time defender the last 2 years while they threw all sorts of money and draft capital at offensive linemen and skill players. As fans we are deluding ourselves if we think anything less then a 180 degree turn around won't stem the decline that will see us barely win half our games next season. The answer is simple: fire Frazier and replace him with a DC that understands that defense is 2nd to the offense and throw all available money and draft capital at the offense.

I don't disagree but IMO the biggest issue with the defense is the coaching and scheme while the biggest issue with the offense are the lack of above average players complementing Diggs & Allen.

I saw our O line beaten off the ball on almost half of Allen's drop backs. Remember the big Bengal DT that had a free rush right up the gut? The O line also had two holding calls on it. And I didn't think we ran the ball well today. My guess is that during the season our big runs were due more to teams focusing on Allen & Diggs then our innate ability to run the ball.

I was blinded by the brilliance of Allen & Diggs. They are the two best payers on this team. Going forward we must surround them with the best possible complementary talent.

I disagree. Our RB's are to small. Our O line has only one above average player. The rest are below average. For crying out loud on a snow covered field the Bengal managed to get hurries on Allen on almost half his drop backs! And our offensive skill players? We have one great WR the rest are below average. Over the course of this season I had blinders on because we were winning. I didn't want to recognize the fundamental issues that my eyes were seeing. We won 13 games primarily because of the elite play of our QB and WR#1. I comforted myself in our defensive rankings. We couldn't be bad because we were a top 5 unit by almost every measure. Yet in to many games the D seemed to melt away at critical moments giving up game changing plays and drives. Think about today. After coming out flat and letting the Bengal's jump out to a 14 - 0 lead we cut their lead to 14 - 7 and how does the D respond? They allow an 8 minute drive that only ends in a FG and not a TD because of a great play by Millano on the ball. Then after we use up half the 3rd quarter to again cut the Cincy lead to one score our D gives up a long TD drive that uses up most of the rest of the 3rd quarter to go up 24 - 10.

Yes they did because we have not focused on the O line and skill players. I live in Cincinnati and they have pushed more resources to their offense then they have their defense. The game was lost today in the 1st quarter when the Bengals OFFENSE had two 75 yard plus TD drives to go up 14 - 0. The rest of the game was window dressing.

I disagree. Defenses can keep you from winning championships. Offenses win you championships. The Bills focus on their D and their pushing resources to the defense at the expense of the offense has caught up with them. We will continue to slide relative to the rest of the AFC if we don't change our approach and throw resources at the offense.

And if we don't change our focus from a defensive minded to an offensive minded organization well continue to waste the talents of our elite QB and fall behind Jacksonville.

And Jacksonville will move heaven & earth to surround Lawrence with an improved O line and play makers. Meanwhile our defensive minded coaching staff and front office will double down on trying to fix the defense. If we don't PIVOT on a dime and throw everything into surrounding our elite generational QB with offensive talent this team will continue it's decline in the AFC relative to the other top teams.

I'm normally an optimist but today I saw a very ominous future for the Bills: For the 3rd straight season a terrible performance by the Defense led to our exit from the playoffs. It has become painfully obvious that we are falling behind the elite teams of the AFC and the reason is simple - the Bills organization is run by a defensively minded coach & GM. The Bengals & Chiefs are better organizations because they both embrace an offensive mindset. They plow the majority of their resources into surrounding their elite QB's with the best O line and skill players possible. And as early as next season KC & Cincy will be joined by Jacksonville whose offensive minded coach will move heaven & earth to surround Lawrence with the best possible O-line and play makers. No one will convince me that this isn't the Bills fundamental problem. And I see only one way to fix it without risking a compete meltdown of the team that removing Bean & McD could lead to: Frazier must go and Bean/McD must commit to a major upgrade on the offensive side of the Ball. If they double down on trying to add more talent to the D without making the painful choice of removing Frazier the Bills will be lucky to have a winning season next year.

Or they can win by holding Cincinnati to no more then 17 points. IMO and given the resources pushed to the Defense by this organization and the fact that the Bengal's are missing 3 starters on the O line AND that the weather conditions won't be great this is the path to victory. I hope the Offense plays great and boat races the Bengals. But the Bills decided back in 2020 to follow the Carolina Panthers model - use an elite QB to elevate the offensive talent and plow the majority of the organizations resources into the defense. Now it's time for that defense to shut down the Bengals and generate TO's. IMO this game is on them.

I want to start by saying I respect McD and believe he is the reason the Bills have gone from the trash heap of the NFL to being among the elite teams. BUT, today is going to be an assessment of just how far a defensive minded organization can take a team in the modern NFL. On paper the Bills should win this game. Our investment in the D, particularly the D line, should pay huge dividends against an offense missing 3 starters on the O line. The Bills have chosen to copy the Carolina Panther approach of relying on an elite QB to lift the offense while pushing the majority of resources to the defense. It kind of worked for the Panthers with a SB appearance but that was in an older NFL. Can this work today? I'm not sure. I hope it can but it remains to be seen.

Jags need to throw a pass more then 10 yards downfield!