Einstein's Dog

I don't get what you are trying to say. The "NEVER" part is really confusing because they just did it. And if someone felt they were saving it for a special moment, then they have to think our coaches are geniuses because it worked! Trying to get their first playoff win in 25 years is kind of the best case scenario for when to have that play work.

I'm hoping you're right and that in retrospect it looks like a wake up call. But I don't know if I'll buy it. I think the Colts game was a fluke based on incredibly bad field position and a couple of stops for the first half. Maybe it can settle down Josh for the end games of these playoffs but that's about it - this potent offense is still there, it was just unable to be unleashed early on. The hope is the Ravens don't pin us back so far and the Bills unleash this offense right from the start. If we put up 40+ points and see if they can keep up. I don't think they can.

Smoke had a poor game and needs to do better this time around. If the Ravens are going man to man they will eventually try to flex towards Diggs (because he will be burning them). And when they do, Smoke needs to make the most of his limited targets and make the Ravens pay. On the positive side G Davis played above expectations. He may have earned himself some more targets. I was a little down on him before but he redeemed himself in a big way.

Didn't you see the earlier twitter feed - $41 million bones buys a lot of cheeseburgers.

One thing going in his favor on that one is they said during the broadcast you could see the pebbles popping up, a sure sign of the toe drag.

It was a terrible display out of him. And it wasn't just the runouts on KOs. He didn't fair catch the punt and they downed it at the 3. He did the KO runout got nowhere and had the penalty to boot. He didn't expect and misjudged the one KO and had to just dive on it instead of seeing it was a short one picking it up and getting some additional yards. Trying too hard or something - hopefully back to pro bowl form next game.

And by not losing McD has now exonerated that no playoff win concern (thank god- it would have taken a whole year for another shot). Now, there is undeniable year over year improvement. Improved record, improved/dangerous offense, and playoff victory. The future is bright.

On offense I go with Dawson Knox. The Colts will be considering him the 4th option (Diggs/JB/Beas) and he will torch some poor scrub DB. On D I go with J Norman. He'll take his shot on a quick out and make them pay- like the Miami game.

I agree with most JA was already on an excellent improvement trajectory. The combination of factors lack of crowd/officiating helped all QBs/Offenses. I think the person who most benefited was Bass. It seemed like a great way to develop a rookie K. Bass' troubles were early and seemed a little pressure related. Now he has the hang of things and will slowly integrate crowd pressure into the mix.

Yes, the Bills should beat the Colts, substantial favorites. The nervousness is because if the Bills lose as prohibitive favorites to the Colts it mars, in a significant way, the overall view of the season. This one loss has the most potential negative affect on Bills off-season. The label of choker and underachiever will not be easy to erase.

Who? The Dolphins. Get serious. They were in the running for worst 10-6 team ever. What a fluke. And they're keeping their subpar QB after shattering any kind of confidence or development, and also bringing in another new OC. This team looks mediocre at best for the next several years.

I don't think it is so much the "rookie wall" as it is he is just a somewhat raw rookie who hasn't developed yet. He's a good future WR but right now we are knee deep in the present and it is no longer developmental time. G Davis seems to not have the finer points yet, like you mention not coming back and at least breaking up the pass - and in an earlier game he didn't finesse the long ball. i think we can roll with G Davis as the 5th option (behind Knox who I trust a little more). But if J Brown goes down, I think they need to have Stills ready to go.

I like the signing. I (and Ii hope the FO) view it as Smoke Brown insurance. I don't think Davis adequately filled Smoke's role when he was out. G Davis is a learning rookie and IMO has been making mistakes that are no longer allowed. G Davis had not made a sufficient effort to stay inbounds and pick up a PI in the NE game. In the Miami game he didn't come back for the ball. Small things like that. G Davis has a future with the Bills but the playoff games are not the time for his development. There is now a superbowl opportunity ahead of the Bills. If J Brown goes down, I want Stills to be able to go in.

Yes, it is semantics and accepted usage. When the NCAA basketball talks of reseeding the brackets they mean instead of adhering to the original matrix they would adjust the matchups to be highest seed vs lowest seed in each region and then even for the final four - they call that reseeding. The NCAA doesn't do that now but the NFL does.

Virgil - great post and thanks for doing these. My thoughts: 1. Great to see the Knox plays. I think Knox will be good and they needed to get him back on track for this year. 2. I agree with most others on here and have no problem with the deep pass. Miami was calling time outs and even if not, this is not some pop warner game. The bills had things needed - get Barkley some respect, work on Davis he's getting better. Now if Barkley has to come in for a play or two in the playoffs, it will give all the other teams something to think about. 3. I think you neglected the coaches again (I reprimanded you in the last segment). You can't do better than what they did for this game. There is no Monday morning coaching even in this hard to please crowd. All kinds of records, swept the East, second seed, played the backups, and kept momentum. Incredibly well done by the staff. Maybe nothing specific you can point to, but when everything aligns so beautifully it seems credit should be given. In retrospect there are no regrets. 4. A lot of the post game talk is on the Dolphins and the decisions of their staff. They have question marks. But I always thought they were pretenders and actually overachievers. I also don't fear them for next year, we are significantly better and they do not have a QB. Appreciate the write-ups and subsequent discussions.

I think the making of M Garrett the Captain may have been a bad troll move out of the Browns. Trying to intimidate the Steelers may just provide the motivation for the QB and his supporting cast to try a little harder. I can see the backups for the Steelers giving it their all.

What are you talking about? You have this all wrong. If the Bills lose they are not playing Miami, Miami would be the 5 seed. Secondly, if the Bills win they are not playing the Ravens. The Ravens are sitting at #6 behind Miami and would move ahead of Miami and probably be #5. One of the big benefits of winning the 2 seed is the Bills won't see the Ravens.

I want to win this game. It does the following: Locks the 2 seed. No help from anyone needed. Keeps the momentum going. This team is hot and getting great press/hype - I like it and would like it right into the playoffs. It makes for a better record, 13-3 reflects a very good season. Last years 10-6 would have been much better at 11-5 - and as years go by the explanation of the loss to the Jets is not mentioned - people don't go into that much detail. The Bills are starting an era here and I would like 13-3 to be part of that. Get some of the team records. Helps show what a great regular season it has been. Josh/Diggs. Beat Miami. It is always good to beat Miami. Get and keep the psychological edge. They should remain behind us. Beat Miami with our starters going just the first half. That would be great. Would be nice to see Barkley outplay Tua in the second half.

I think coaching deserved it's own bullet point. It has improved and is now top level. The aggressive 4th down calls. The transition to the exuding confidence, that the team is dictating terms and making the opponent play to keep up. For instance, what a joy it was to see NE have to concede to milking the clock at the end of the first half, coming to the decision that it was too risky to try and pass the ball vs the possibility of giving the ball back to us with some time on the clock. And this was knowing we got the ball to start the second half. Yeah, everyone knew who had the more potent offense- the announcers had to kind of mumble their way through it. If our earlier 4th down decisions had not worked, I believe they would of handled this end of half differently. Excellent early decisions leading to putting the game away early in the 3rd quarter. Hope this top notch level coaching can continue. It's harder to do when the stakes are higher but we've seen the top level coaching for several games now. What a difference between the two NE games! One holding on for dear life and the other wondering when the reserves will come in.

Seems like you're contradicting the rule you are citing. Because if the ball passes over the post with some of it outside the post, it is no good.

Yes, the difference seems pretty pronounced to me. Smoke has played plenty and the offense looks better. We'll see on his return. Secondly, Gabe is not a replacement for Smoke. You're not just losing speed. Like the long pass where Gabe went out of bounds, Collinsworth mentioned how he should have slowed up and let the defender bowl into him for a pass interference. Even if you think Gabe might improve and take a spot you would still need another. I hope they don't feel that is the way to go. I want the continuity on offense. Lots of other places to cut - L Smith, Murphy, Norman, maybe Milano, Butler.

Smoke Brown's value to the team is not captured by looking merely at just his stats. He opens the field for everyone else. I can tell the difference in how teams have to play the Bills when Smoke is out there. The lanes and room for Diggs and Beasley to operate is vastly different. I would like to keep most of the offense intact. That includes Smoke, Mongo, and Williams. It's Beane's job to get this done, didn't say it would be easy.

Cut Brown? Smoke Brown? No way. He elevates this offense. And the continuity would be nice. Cut Norman, Morse, Murphy (technically I guess it is not re-signing him). Keep Addison, maybe jettison Butler. And yes, Dane Jackson has looked good but don't forget Gaines is due back and I thought he would be the starter (while he was healthy of course). Sign: Mongo, Williams, then Milano. It's possible. Draft another D lineman, another O lineman, and maybe a TE or CB for the pipeline. Keep this team rolling.

I agree with you. Knox is improving and it is showing in a longer view. On a side note, it is really advantageous from a long range perspective to develop and play your draft picks. It's how you can sustain good/great teams over a period of time. Also having continuity increases the odds of continued success. You don't go out and try and trade/buy an Ertz over keeping Smoke and Knox.

The ball was placed where he caught the ball. Wallace had contact with the Pitt guy when he intercepted and then went down, so he was down by contact. Josh was down when he starts to slide, so he kind of mistimed it - unless you want to say it was going to be easy for them to pick up the first and the clock would just be continuing to roll the whole time.