Mikie2times

Awhile back I remember a thread about the Patriots run basically clouding peoples judgement. Almost as if that run forever skewed the reality of what you expect from a team and coach. Which in large part I agree with. Andy Reid won the Super Bowl 1 time in 17 playoff appearances Pete Carrol won the Super Bowl 1 time in 10 playoff appearances John Harbaugh won the Super Bowl 1 time in 8 playoff appearances Mike McCarthy won the Super Bowl 1 time in 10 playoff appearances Sean Payton won the Super Bowl 1 time in 9 playoff appearances Mike Tomlin won the Super Bowl 1 time in 10 playoff appearances Sean McVay, Doug Pederson, Bruce Arians, and Bill Belichick have much different stories ranging from too soon to tell, to lightning in a bottle, and perhaps the best of all time. None really are good for context outside of maybe McVay. Those are your recent SB winning coaches. As much as I hate to see the data, it is overwhelming in how common it is to be a bridesmaid in this thing. Most SB winning coaches will experience 10 playoff losses for every one title. It's the SB lottery and you only increase your chances of hitting it by getting to the playoffs. Very logical, but not something I want to accept because OP, I feel you as far as often thinking McDermott can't take us the distance but most of them couldn't, until they did. It's just the way this thing tends to go.

He was an elite college coach at Baylor. It would be a huge upgrade for Nebraska. As for Rhule, not a bad program to go to. The Big Ten is more fun when Nebraska is good. If true I hope he can help turn things around. I never thought Frost would turn out as bad as he did after what he did with UCF.

I don't disagree with this. As for schematics, that's not what this thread is about. More game day coaching. I still think our schemes leaves a good deal to be desired. Although we ARE seeing pressure dialed up and the traditional running game, two missing pieces, we aren't seeing creativity on offense. How much we could install the last few weeks with our circumstances is likely low, but the playbook progression on offense is a question mark no doubt.

I'm more critical of McDermott than most. Plenty are critical of Frazier. Dorsey has been under the radar, but I think fans would give him a neutral mark on the season. In the game against Detroit, I really think this was one of the better coached games we have seen from the entire staff. On offense, we ran the ball in the traditional running game with frequency and success. This was now two weeks in a row we did not abandon the run and used it as a stabilizing factor. We were also aggressive late in the game. If you look at the throw to Diggs, you could make an argument to play conservative. We had 23 seconds to go 35 yards, any mistake and you likely lose. Josh had done almost nothing in the deep passing game the last two weeks and made some critical errors. We trusted our guys to go get it done. I think this is a play that will help Josh get back on track from a mental perspective. On defense, we have seen the level of aggressiveness increase as our DB play has declined which I'm thankful for. The death by a thousand cuts was getting torturous. In perhaps the most pivotal play of the game on the Lions last drive, 3rd down and 1, in a spot we always seem to be conservative, we went all in. We sent everybody and forced the Lions to execute. Far too often we seem to be in reactionary mode in that spot. The Lions had an open guy but failed to execute against our pressure. We forced a FG which allowed us to set up the eventual game winning FG. So while we love to torch our coaches, yesterday they beat the Lions coaches in time management and were not afraid to be aggressive. The did almost everything we complain about well. We even landed an elusive within 7 point victory. I think the coaches are learning and they played a big role in the W yesterday. Hopefully we see this trend continue.

I don't disagree, much in the way we have seen Diggs used this year. That is what I would also prefer vs going after a pure slot WR. In this layout, we go back to a place where Davis and even McKenzie have much more value. We just can't afford to waste the arm talent. Getting a high end compliment to Diggs would make this offense lethal.

I don't know how WR is not looked at pretty high in the upcoming draft. Perhaps with our #1. The lack of a pure slot WR has shown to really hurt. Davis made his money on go routes, skinny posts, deep shots, then toe tapping on Allen scramble drills. He does not have elite quickness or route running. He's not high end on 50/50 balls. Can he create on his own? The answer is no. We need at least one option outside of Diggs where that is a resounding yes.

Josh is a gunslinger and he knows his body is limiting him. You can see it on the zip with his throws. He nailed Diggs on that deep pass late, but he had to really muscle a lot of passes you usually see him flick with minimal effort. Then how many deep shots did we take today? Zero. It's something he can play with it seems perhaps only impacting some of his throws. He needs some rest to get better. At this point I have no doubts it's impacting him.

Allen was almost due for some negative regression. It felt for a couple years now, perhaps based on his arm strength, the defense just couldn't come up with many that seemed like they should have. Not so lucky this year. Seems like every tipped ball is landing in the wrong spot. Reminds me of Mahomes at the start of last season.

Right now we just have a disconnect from what we actually are at this moment and what we, the fans, expect we should be. I wrote this below in the Lions thread earlier this week which outlined using advanced stats, how we appeared to be more like a 5 point favorite on a neutral field, so a 2 point favorite on the road. Which ended up playing out. The Lions are actually pretty damn good. I keep saying at this moment, currently, right now, etc. We are taking every teams best and we are exhausted. Injuries, travel, all of it. In time we can be closer to what I think all of us expected, but we need a break desperately and we need to get healthy. At some point it starts to become silly to think we could meet expectations with the majority of our elite players hurt. At some point that does impact even the best. To the Bills credit they have ripped off two ugly wins in Detroit against teams that could beat us. We won games while being at a fraction of what we are capable of. We need a break to get right. We need some breaks with health. It's exhausting to take everybody's best effort every week while fighting against the breaks. Huge credit to Diggs today. After arguably his worst performance as a Bill, he seemed to be our QB on those last drives rallying the troops. Unlike most WR 1's he didn't sulk, he willed the team. Super impressed with how he was able to respond. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This will not be a roll over game, not with the way the Lions have been playing on offense. The Lions were a 3 point underdog to the Giants on the road. So Vegas see's them as even, DVOA has the Lions 6 spots ahead of the Giants. To give you an idea, 4 spots ahead of the Lions, is Tennessee, 3 spots ahead are the Jets, 2 spots ahead are the Packers, 1 spot ahead are the Browns. We have played all 4 teams. I would not use the Titans game for reference, we were so much healthier and crisp at that time. Against the Packers, Browns, and Jets we went 2-1 with an average score of 25-20. The Lions are ranked much higher in DVOA in the weighted version. I used the non weighted version. Just as we are ranked lower in the weighted version (#1 non weighted). We should win, yes, but this is not the same old Lions. They can threaten us. We will have to play well. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Lions are in the playoff discussion at years end.

This has been Steph's worst game in a Bills uniform and he's hanging his head. Needs to be a leader on this drive.

I think this was the last time I remember Bills fans being very positive about Sammy.

I think we will retain him. I just don't see a market for him out there that the Bills would not be competitive in.

This will not be a roll over game, not with the way the Lions have been playing on offense. The Lions were a 3 point underdog to the Giants on the road. So Vegas see's them as even, DVOA has the Lions 6 spots ahead of the Giants. To give you an idea, 4 spots ahead of the Lions, is Tennessee, 3 spots ahead are the Jets, 2 spots ahead are the Packers, 1 spot ahead are the Browns. We have played all 4 teams. I would not use the Titans game for reference, we were so much healthier and crisp at that time. Against the Packers, Browns, and Jets we went 2-1 with an average score of 25-20. The Lions are ranked much higher in DVOA in the weighted version. I used the non weighted version. Just as we are ranked lower in the weighted version (#1 non weighted). We should win, yes, but this is not the same old Lions. They can threaten us. We will have to play well. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Lions are in the playoff discussion at years end.

I grew up in the Detroit burbs. Detroit Pizza is my favorite. That said, Cincinnati has great chili dogs and Cinci is my favorite city in either Michigan or Ohio. Awesome place to be downtown.

What his skeptics are critical about is schemes and game day decisions. Not his ability to connect with players. Clearly he does a great job In that area.

Oh god, the Will Levis #1 talk, I have seen Levis play half a dozen times, multiples years. Decent player. Maybe they like his skill set? Just never could see him as even a top 10. Anthony Richardson? How are either of these…… Anyway Caleb looks MUCH bigger than he actually is. This thread is actual garbage now that I see his size. Ok, just one Josh still.

I have not watched him all year, just his bowl game last year, which he looked very unpolished but talented. UCLA’s defense is garbage but his performance in this game, it was the closest thing I have seen to Josh so far. Absolute rocket arm, power runner, fast, excellent throws on the run. I imagine we will hear a ton of Allen comparisons. Which is weird because I never thought we would get an Allen comp.

The Edmunds comment was a joke. I just tossed it in because it's funny to me that he always gets tossed into the "this is why we suck". The rest of it was not a joke. I have never posted anything positive or negative about Edmunds on these boards. Sure I want the splash plays like we all do, but I always thought his role on this team and how fans perceive him is just too misunderstood by the average fan for us to fairly evaluate.

On November 14, 2021 the Bills beat the Jets to go to 6-3 on the year The week prior Josh played one of his worst games of the season, throwing 2 INT's in a 3 point loss to the Jaguars. Hard to get a read on these Bills. One week they look like world beaters then the next week they seem to fall apart. Consistency is fleeting and they tend to struggle in close games having gone 0-3 in games decided by 7 points or less. What ever happened to Gabe Davis? Are we going to ever consider what an actual running game can do for us? When Singletary runs, he seems to do well. Daboll sucks, what an overrated POS. Well, at least we beat KC, that gives me some hope. Edmunds also sucks, I have to say that. On Novembers 13th, 2022 the Bills lost to the Vikings to go 6-3 on the year The week prior Josh played one of his worst games of the season, throwing 2 INT's in a 3 point loss to the Jets. Hard to get a read on these Bills. One week they look like world beaters then the next week they seem to fall apart. Consistency is fleeting and they tend to struggle in close games having gone 2-3 in games decided by 7 points or less. What ever happened to Gabe Davis? Are we going to ever consider what an actual running game can do for us? When Singletary runs, he seems to do well. McDermott sucks, what an overrated POS. Well, at least we beat KC, that gives me some hope. Edmunds also sucks, I have to say that. Our expectations were built around a healthy Bills team and linear growth in Allen. As of this moment, neither seem to have played out as expected. This year we have Von Miller, who really is looking like the steal of free agency. At this time last year, we had Hyde, Poyer, White, and Levi Wallace as our starting secondary (Tauron Johnson as well if we call it perma Nickle). All 4 of members of our starting secondary are gone including our two captains/ Top 100 NFL Safeties, one of which will return. I want to argue that we are better positioned to defend the run this year but we have been gashed three straight weeks. Question mark offensive players like Gabe, Knox, and McKenzie, collectively, have not stepped up. Perhaps it's by design as Steph is all over the field, but I would rather spread the ball. We are struggling to establish a traditional ground game and when we do we don't stick with it. It seems like our defense is always in bend but not break mode, maybe even more so at the most critical moments. So should we be better? Because it really seems like we have already watched this movie play out before and at this moment, arguably it's with less talent. It's a long season and a lot can still change. I feel comfortable saying this team has the ability to become much better than last years team. Our pass rush being one of the biggest reasons why. Health is going to probably play the biggest role in all of this which really stinks given how healthy we seem to have been over the years. Outside of all this, I'm leaving my expectations at the door. I never liked getting crowned early. We have a lot of work to do.

As far as I'm aware the Miracle in the Meadowlands is the only other time in NFL history a team was in position to run out the clock then preceded to fumble with the other team scoring a TD to take the lead. While I have several situations I don't care for the direction of our coaching, I don't think we should be attacking the logic on this play. 41 seconds were left, enough time for us to drive the field and tie the game. Which means enough time for Minnesota to have done the same had we taken the safety. Imagine how bad the coaching decision would have looked if we took the intentional safety, then Minnesota drove the field and kicked a game winner? One other time in NFL history this has occurred. It was the correct decision to run the sneak. Perhaps the coaching tip you hope would occur is just telling Josh not to rush. Clean handoff is priority #1, if it results in a Safety it's not the worst thing but any QB in the NFL should be expected to take a handoff and not lose yardage. It's unlikely any of us will witness something like this again.

I was thinking about this as well. On one hand, I wondered how Josh would age. Clearly his current form isn't sustainable over the very long term. I also think Josh is a very intelligent player and will eventually turn into an Elway like QB late in his career, still able to run, but savvy enough that rarely has to. But even outside Josh, Beane is a witch. This is a playoff team without Josh nearly all hand picked. He is the best GM in football. So even taking Josh out of it, Beane should have us relevant as long as he is here. He's only 46 and seems to be very well adjusted. Maybe it's the last name, but I always envision him in real life like Brad Pitt in Moneyball in that scene he trades for a closing pitcher with Jonah Hill.

I’m not rioting over this one but I do think teams have a bit of roadmap against us. Josh tends to press more when you keep him off the field. The defense will allow offenses to be methodical, which in turn can lead to keeping the offense off the field. Within this you also need to execute at a very high level. That said, am I bit concerned that KC gets smart and runs 30 times at us or other more traditional passing teams? Who on earth dare trying to beat us by air or matching our score?

So one thing I think I am qualified to some extent to speak about the national side. In the early 90's, if you didn't have an AFC team in your market, NBC saturated you with Buffalo games. So that was one big way the league gave us exposure. Thurman Thomas winning the MVP in 1991 along with the excitement of the no huddle. The league liked to showcase us at that time. I see that aspect as similar to this year. A tangible shift happened after the AFC Championship. We not only became the universal favorite, but it's almost as if the NFL said, ok, we like Josh Allen as being the face of our league. We like Buffalo being the image of the league. I don't recall the early 90's being that way. We had great exposure, but I don't remember this many people, including the league itself, wanting us to do well. Perhaps they did back then, if so, it was overshadowed by so many not wanting us to do well in our 3rd and 4th Super Bowls. Appreciate the replies. Some really awesome perspective for those not in the area.

Curious how the vibe toward this team is locally compared the the 1990 and 1991 teams. I'm picking those years because they were the pinnacle years during the 90's run. Which isn't very debatable being the best run we had outside the AFL teams. I'm 40 years old, not from the area, so I barely understood what the national exposure was really like until the drought hit and the coverage stopped. So as far as the Buffalo and surrounding area in WNY, is the impact of this Bills team more noticeable, less noticeable? More widely covered by media, less? (I understand media is different) More national exposure, less national exposure? Do we have more love from the national media? Any other comparisons would be welcome. In sum, I know this is a special time, I have 30 years in to tell me that much, but for those that really can see the full view of this, I really wanted your opinion of that vs the things you saw in our previous peak seasons.