Virgil

Another meaningless December home game in Buffalo where most of us are in evaluation mode as we plan for the next season. An injured Matt Stafford and much improved defense who's playing the math game every week to stay alive. Let's see who shows up.... 1 - Rushing Attack - I'm sure I'll get proven wrong here by google, but it feels like we try to run the ball more without McCoy. With him and Ivory out, we seemed to trust these young guys to run more and it paid off on many plays. I saw more broken tackles and players burst out the pile than I have most of the season. The rushing game wasn't dominant or a huge factor, but it existed and contributed to 2nd and 4/6 quite a bit in the beginning. My question is, why? When we are down to our 3rd and 4th RB, why are we featuring our rushing game more than when our top two guys are healthy? Is it a testament to the decline of Shady? I'm not sure. But I know that we saw better production today in bursts and it's something I hope to see them replicate. 2 - Decker - I don't call out a player on opposing teams very often and again, PFF or someone will probably prove me wrong with a grade, but this guy mauled us today. There were a few plays where I thought he was holding Hughes (the norm), but overall I saw him putting guys on his back more than a few times. They lined him up as eligible on a toss play and he took out 3 Bills by himself. He also did a good job of misdirecting pass rushers to create rushing lanes to the inside. Again, not normal for me to talk about the opposing team, let alone a LT, but credit where credit is due. 3 - Pass Rush - I understand that each team creates a game plan each week based upon the opponent. But how we decided to stack the box and rush Stafford this week after not touching Darnold once last week is something I will never understand. Now, credit to Stafford for getting rid of the ball multiple times while getting his and negating the pass rush. Seriously, the guy deserves and Iron Man award for some of the plays he pulled off. Our defense got there more often than not, but he beat them by a fraction of a second. Either way, it was good to see the defense show those and create a couple of interception opportunities, I just don't know where it was last week. 4 - You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I don't know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place. 5 - Lions Defense against Allen - I was wondering how long it would take for opposing defenses to run some plays to negate Allen's rushing attack. The answer came today as the Lions ran a few schemes. For starters, the defensive line pinched the middle of the field when we ran the spread formation, not allowing Allen to break up the middle for a gain. On most pass plays, the Lions kept a spy on Allen, usually LB Jarrad Davis who helped prevent Allen from taking off. Credit to Allen for breaking the spy on his TD run, but he was overall forced to pass the ball, which he seemed fine doing as well. 6 - Daboll play calling - Like our pass rush this week vs last week, I found myself frustrated with our offensive play calling this week. Not the plays we ran so much as when we ran them. There a few plays on 3rd and 5+ where we were in the middle 20 yards of the field where we took deep shots. I'm happy for the deep shots, but you're a first down or two from being in field goal range. You have the soft zone catches that have worked the past few weeks, keep at them at that part of the field. Keep the offense on the field. And don't get me wrong, some of them were close to paying off. I was very against Daboll getting hired and wanted him gone by week 8. I've change my tune on that and think he's done a great job since then. I haven't changed my mind on that. But the rushing attack and play selection timing on deep shots was frustrating at times. Also, maybe they were going to motion him back to block. But DiMarco was out wide a few times. Kudos for the 4th and short to seal the game, although I'm sure McDermott gets some credit there. 7 - Tre White - When is a player having a bad game and when is the opposing player just making a great play? Regardless of where you stand on it, opposing teams have picked on Tre the past few weeks and gotten away with it. Guys aren't wide open, but they are finding a way to make a play over him each week. What stands out to me is that he's playing the receiver, not the ball. I know that's what you are taught to do, but his head never seems to be turned back to see what he's playing for. Today wasn't any different and he resorted to PI on some plays. He's still a great defender and one of the best on our team, but it's strange to see this production against him. 8 - Foster - Do we have our #2 receiver yet? 100 yard receivers are rare for us and he's put back to back to back games together. Not only that, but his ability to track the ball in the air, find the first down marker on 3rd against the zone, and pure speed with hands. I don't care about his college stats or preseason anymore, the kid is getting it done. He may not win any jump balls, but the kid has done more than enough for me the past few weeks and I'm good with him as a starter next season. 9 - Poyer - Talk about a guy who single-handedly shut down an opposing teams drive. The Lions second to last drive was a highlight reel for Poyer as he blew up a run play in the backfield and then had a great open field tackle on 3rd down. Guy is an unsung hero most weeks and finds ways to make plays. He doesn't have the interceptions that got him attention like last year, but he still puts a solid effort out there each week and was a contributor today. I could easily call out Lorax here as well, but Poyer gets the nod for that drive. 10 - Allen - I'm going to say that this might have been one of Allen's better games this season. The rushing stats weren't there and he still made his weekly rookie mistake, but I liked how he adapted, his accuracy, and how overall he looked like a pocket quarterback this week. For the ugly, he still struggles to throw the ball away when scrambling out of the pocket and almost threw two interceptions. Someone needs to sit in a room and make him watch tape of those throws on repeat for a few days until he gets it. In the first half, he took a sack that knocked them out of field goal range because he broke outside of the pocket vs stepping up into it. It's worked in previous weeks, but not today. Now, for the positive. I really think this was his most accurate week. He had a few throws that required some extra effort by the receivers, but nothing that was un-catchable. I think Thompson will tell you he should have got his deep ball as would a few other guys. The Lions weren't going to let Allen break any big plays and it didn't really slow Allen down at all. Like every other week, he didn't look frazzled and just went with it. His deep ball to Foster was beautiful and he did what he needed to do to win the game. His hard count to get an off-sides on the last drive was well played as well. Overall, just a really good day for him. Bonus Thoughts Nice to have a game end in under 3 hours. Penalties also down from previous weeks. Coincidence? Special Teams were a non-factor and the Lions missed a FG. Even the announcers made a comment before getting cut off that the Bills had special teams play go in their favor for once. For a meaningless game in December, props to the fans who did show up. It sounded loud at times Another week, another game where Clay does absolutely nothing. Croom showed him up on that last catch too. Screw the better draft pick, I want these guys to show what they can win and build the young guys up going into next season. Go Bills!

Favorite Teams: 1 - Bills 2 - Anyone playing the Patriots

My favorite spot is my unmarked van across the street from his house. Usually between 2-4am when he does his naked bathroom run. There’s one window that gives me the best vantage point.

Lock this thread please

I live in Baltimore and it’s intereating to hear the talk radio shows. They remind me of the Bills after the 90’s where they just assume change will be for the better. The fans even acknowledge that he can’t throw from the pocket. If they move on from Flacco and Harbaugh, which I think they will, I don’t think they realize what they could be in for.

There’s more attractive destinations for FA’s that also have more money. We will have to overpay and I see some disappointment with not getting our guys.

What the hell is going on here?

1 - Special Teams 2 - Offensive Line, rushing attack 3 - Defensive pressure last quarter

I honestly believe Milano will be our OLB for years to come and I’m good with that. All he does is make plays and always seems to be around the ball. I think he’s made more of an impact than Edmunds at this point. I agree with Zay in the slot, but Foster is changing minds for me. He broke 100 yards today without a single deep pass. He broke down the defensive zones like a pro, had great awareness of the sticks, and made solid catches. I’m not getting crazy after just three games, but I think he’s earned the right to fight for a top 3 starting job through the end of this season and offseason. If we got a legit number 1, Foster and Zay would round out a good enough receiving Corp to me as of this very moment. My only real fear, besides it being a flash in the pan, is his size and how injuries could become a thing. If Teller pans out, those a solid acquisitions after round 3 that have shored up starting positions, which I think is vital to the success of any rebuilding team. I also think clutch play by Allen in the 4th has been a strength for him. Today’s final turnover was something he will do at any point in the game because he doesn’t like to throw the ball away, not because he’s trying to be a hero. He’s already orchestrated two game winning drives this year, and had the defense held up, today would have been 3. I’m actually more concerned about the defense preventing game winning drives than I am about Allen right now. Sorry to hear you missed the game as I look forward to your write-ups

You just made my day! Amazing reference and the perfect tie-in to screen name. Have you seen the YouTube video where they show all the times they mentioned the theory of it being lupus? Also, it’s never lupus.

That’s the one thing I forgot to add. This seemed like the first game in a while where we made zero halftime adjustments. Very unlike us

Where was the pressure? At all

We had injuries going into this game that limited our depth. Darnold threw a pass that I don't think most DB's in the NFL could stop. Even with all that being said, most QB's will find open WR's if you give them all day to throw. Even with that, he only threw for 170 yards. Not sure that I can put that on the DB's

A game I expected to win. A game that gave me the typical Bills confidence in the first quarter. Then a game that lulled me to sleep and ended with us having a worse record than the Browns. With that negative, I'm going to focus on the opportunities from the game first before closing it out on some positives for the remaining few weeks 1 - Crossman - Let's just get this out of the way now. If you are going to own the entire special teams performance, then he gets credit for the fumble recovery on the kickoff. That's where the positives end. Week in and week out, his team finds a way to negatively contribute to the overall game and it needs to end. It's very well possible that the talent on special teams is part of the issue as depth is an overall issue on the team, but this is just too often a topic of discussion each game. The field position given to the Jets is the main reason they were even in this game. 2 - Offensive Line - This was probably one of the worst weeks for the offensive line in a while. There was absolutely zero room for the running backs. Allen was under pressure a lot, even though it was from the spy blitz not allowing Allen to execute a full play-action pass. But overall, it's tough for any quarterback to look downfield when under almost constant pressure. I thought the line was doing a lot better recently and I know we had some injuries, but we were getting schooled well before that. Mills in particular whiffed on defenders quite a bit. 3 - Frazier - When up against a rookie qb who's prone to throwing interceptions, how do you not constantly pressure him in to making poor throws? While holding them to 13 points through 3 quarters was a strong effort, and would have been less if not for special teams, the exotic blitzes we've seen the past few weeks went away. Also, how many short yardages runs did we give up on obvious rushing situations? Didn't we spend a ton of money on guys to prevent that from happening? I'm sure there was a gameplan for the Jets and you can argue it's success, minus some last minute heroics, but the lack of pressure today was a problem. 4 - You can trouble me for a warm glass of shut-the-hell-up. Now, you will go to sleep or I will put you to sleep. Check out the name tag. You're in my world now, grandma. 5 - Penalties - This is going to be the last time I talk about this for the season. There needs to be a serious offseason discussion in the NFL and in the Bills front office. The process team is leading the league in penalties and we are not a strong enough team to overcome this. Yes, there are some bad calls out there, including the no-call on the late hit on Hyde during one of his punt returns, but the overall quality and pace of the game is being affected every week. There needs to be some level of judgement exercised about what's dangerous and preventative. I'm curious to know the amount of 1st and +10 yard drives there has been this season. 6 - Allen - Allen continues his head scratching inconsistency. He's still unphased by defenders in his face. He doesn't care if it's 3rd and 1 or 3rd and 20, he's going to delivery solid strikes down the field. He does a great job of knowing when to take off with his feet, but only after keeping his eyes downfield first. His two INT's were terrible throws. One, he should have known to just throw the ball away. The other was a really tight read with a bad throw to seal the game. These are the kind of mistakes that he should grow from, but it's the misses to wide open guys by more than a few yards that have me worried. However, for those comparing Darnold to Allen this game, mainly because of a beautiful deep throw by Darnold (Allen has already made quite a few of these btw), don't forget that Darnold had all day to throw and that makes a ton of difference. I'm not saying one is better than the other based off this game, and the fact that's it's open to debate is a big win for the Bills since it wasn't even supposed to be close. 7 - Daboll - For the most part, I'm liking Daboll more and more each week; and I was big on the "fire Daboll" train. He called some good plays to create some form of respect for our rushing attack. He got guys open past the sticks and gave Allen some targets. Overall, execution was the real killer in today's game as well as lack of offensive line support. The biggest difference between this Jets game and the previous was the lack of deep threat. It's hard when watching on TV to know what's available downfield, but the lack of downfield attack coupled with lack of rushing attack made it a lot easier for the Jets defense to focus on the middle of the field. Also, not sure if the trick play with Zay and Allen on 3rd and 3 was the right time for that call. 8 - Lorax - To me, the play of the game was the goal line stop on 2nd down by Lorax. He showed patience, watched the line create the hole. and attacked it at the same time as the back. Lorax attacked the whole and stopped the back for a loss. Lorax keeps playing beyond his contract and age. They may need to draft his replacement this offseason, but absolutely should be extended. At this point, pay him until his performance falls off, not because typical players of his age don't contribute. 9 - Foster - If there's one player I want to see continue to develop over the last 3 games beyond Allen, it's Foster. The fact that he put up a 100+ yard receiving game today and built on his momentum from the past few weeks is amazing considering his preseason performance and journey to the active roster. Not only did he put up good yardage, but he also does a great job of finding holes in the opposing defenses zone and making big 3rd down catches. In a season where wide receiver production has been a major point of contention, the emergence of a guy like Foster would be a huge win in not having another hole to fill this offseason. 10 - Around the league - As I'm watching the game to me, the entire NFL season got summed up by one stat. The 4-7-1 Packers played the 4-8 Falcons this year. Two the best NFL QB's are 3 games below .500 with only 3 games left. The Browns have a better record than us. The Dolphins beat the Pats in a shootout and last minute play. Overall, this has been a crazy year with a lot of teams playing different games each Sunday. We should have beaten the Dolphins last week, who beat the Pats. We definitely should have beaten the playoff bound Texans who just had their win streak come to an end. Overall, in a season where we always knew we'd be evaluating our team and getting to next season's draft and FA, I'll take the progress we've made on defense, the progress of Allen, and the emergence of Foster, Zay, and Milano. Go Bills!

He’s sent pressure the previous games. They are still a top ranked defense. He just didn’t today. But yes, fire him ??

It wasn’t that he threw interceptions, it’s the decision to make those terrible throws in the first place

Bounce back to what?

Conley is an enigma to me. Has the size and speed, but can never put it together on the field

Daboll must have a lot of inappropriate pics saved in his phone of owners wives. I just don’t get it

***** him

I think you can’t dismiss it like that because so many elite QB’s find a way to do it. Yes, Brady is a mirage of short passes, but not all do that. That argument could go both ways to me

I want to see the play on the first drive where he shrugs off multiple defenders as he rolls to his right. He was a straight up badass on that play. Also, the missed TD to Zay. I’m curious about some things there. That is, if you are taking requests ?

I still miss Kiko. Love that dude

By that logic, doesn’t it almost have to be complete muscle memory? I feel like reps and nerves get you there

Like hitting a moving target with wind conditions 40 yards down field? It’s really crazy when you think about it