Virgil

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

This isn’t about Allen specially nor am I mentioning him.

In the NBA, you hear about the ridiculous practice routines some of the greats have. I think Kobe wouldn’t start warm-ups until he hit like 500 free throws. In any case, the muscle memory or whatever is a pledged method for success in the NBA. In the NFL, I usually here about coaches working on players footwork or release point to affect accuracy. My question is this, what players have been know to increase their accuracy over the years and what did they do? For some of the greats that I remember early in their career like Brady and Ben, they started them in a more controlled offense where they’d throw to one read while averaging around 150 yards per game. Simple throws, low turnovers, basic. Then, over time, things expanded and it almost felt like confidence is how they grew them. It’s just an interest concept to me, teaching accuracy. So many of these guys have been throwing the football since they were 5 years old and now we want them to take a step forward in their early 20’s. It’s happened, I’m just curious for stories that made it happen.

Was this really said verbatim? If so, holy *****. That guy should be taken off the air. I live in Baltimore and am exposed to the team a lot. I’m not a fan of Allen’s accuracy, but he smokes Jackson

They both sucked. Shady goes down on first contact and Ivory was running to the outside, not up the middle where he’s effective.

I think that may be them being supportive. You could see Allen upset after the plan and apologizing to Zay. Even if it’s a miscommunication, he was wide open and Allen could see where he was headed. I’m also okay being wrong

I don't know how you lump today's game in with any of those other situations. It sucked, but we were 4-7 and not making the playoffs.

Expectations are the true killer of an NFL fan. The Bills have done a great job of lowering my expectations each season and allowing me to chalk up certain losses to rebuilding or talent. But this game was different. This game, I felt we should have won and when the final whistle blew, I still felt that way. This is easily the angriest I've been following a game in a few years because I was actually let down by the team. I usually try to take some time to let the game set in, but what's wrong with the occasional emotions? With that.... 1 - Allen - I'm going to start here and save others the time of reading all of this because it may turn you off. My overall statement about Allen is that he did enough to win the game. That's the best I can put it. He did his typical rookie thing and showed some flashes, both to the negative and the positive. He had a really poor interception. He missed a wide open Foster and Zay Jones for TD's. But, because the game is 60 minutes, he also made the throw at the end that should have won the game. I believe that you have to look at the entire body of work and not just certain plays. I could equally make a low-light reel for him as I can a highlight reel. Here's the my biggest positive take away from Allen. This kid shows zero fear and doesn't take setbacks. He can be 3rd and 20 and 20 after two penalties and he will still stare the defense down. He will take hits, he will have guys running at him, and he will just get it done. When we started the final drive and they were showing stats, all I could think about was Tyrod. How this was a Tyrod stat and game where you just knew he wouldn't get it done. I can say that and I paid praise at the Church of Tyrod. But this is where Allen is just plain different. He's not phased by any of it. He marched us right down field and made the passes he needed to. He got hosed on a bad call and wasn't supported in the endzone. Yes, it was wobbly and a few yards behind Clay, but it was a catch an NFL player should make. Bottom line, if Allen can get his accuracy under control. I'm talking maybe 10% better, he's really on the right path. If he did that today, we wouldn't have needed the final drive to try to win, but he's a rookie and hopefully getting there. 2 - Running Game - What made Allen's performance more impressive today, as well as show's why defenses have to respect his legs, is that he got almost zero support from the rushing attack. For some reason, Daboll was calling stretch plays for Ivory, which isn't his strength. Shady was getting taken down by arm tackles again and the overall rushing attack was weak at best against a defense high susceptible to the run. In fairness, it didn't look like there were a lot of holes up the middle, but it didn't seem like we tried much there either. Overall, really disappointed to see the result in this phase of the game that could have helped sustain drives. 3 - Zay - Now there's a guy who absolutely supported Allen. Zay had 2 touchdowns today and honestly could have had 4. One was a terrible throw by Allen. Another was a non-throw, but the replay showed him wide open deep down the center of the field. His almost catch at the end of the game, while getting mugged, was almost beautiful. His toe-tapping catch from our own 2 yard line was fantastic. Overall, it was great to see this kind of game from Zay against a good secondary and even better to see the rapport build between him and Allen. 4 - Goodbye my old friend. You could have lived a little longer, I could be closer to my dream. You were so loved, Don Tommasino. Why was I so feared, and you so loved? What was it? I was no less honorable. I wanted to do good. What betrayed me? My mind? My heart? Why do I condemn myself so? I swear, on the lives of my children: Give me a chance to redeem myself, and I will sin, no more. 5 - McDermott - I'm going to get to the Refs in a second and I usually wait until the end to talk about McDermott, but I'm overall very disappointed in him for this game. Beyond some of the bad calls was overall sloppy play. For a guy who preaches process, the penalties are getting out of hand. Phillips should have been yanked from that game after his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. I get that penalties are up in the league and I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means. McDermott needs to get this cleaned up as it's one of the key areas that cost us this game. 6 - Refs - This is now the second Bills game that has taken 3+ hours and penalties are a large part of it. I get the old adage that holding can be called on any given play. I get that it's a high speed, contact game. But there's just something not right with how these games are getting called. First off, Hughes should pay a friend to film every play he takes a snap on. This guy gets held more than any player I've ever seen. It's ridiculous. The non PI on Zay at the end was terrible. I still believe that should have been a safety on Tannehill. I don't really have an answer for this problem, but officiating is a problem and it's greatly affecting these games. 7 - Crossman - At what point are coaches accountable for player performance. We gave up 11 points on special teams today in a game we lost by 4. We had a couple of good punts, but one almost blocked as well and one muffed. The pooch kickoff almost went out of bounds and we had to missed FG's (I'm counting the extra point). Crossman's unit is a point of discussion almost weekly and special teams need to be seen and not heard. I'm ready for McDermott to move on from him this offseason. 8 - Defense - I hate to lump the defense into one thought but here we are. They gave up two long drives today and hurt themselves with some penalties. Outside of that, they were fantastic. They have multiple drives where they gave up negative yards. Tannehill got knocked around a lot and they were ball hawks. On the 3rd and short wildcat play at the end, I loved how they just abandoned the WR's and went after them. That play stood no chance. The defense did their job today and I'm glad to see Milano and Edmunds continue to develop. If Hughes could stop getting held so much, it would be even better. 9 - Clay/Benjamin - How soon can these guys be cut? I don't know what happened to Clay and I've never seen it from Benjamin on this team. Clay's drop wasn't easy, but it also was very catchable and should have been for the 7+ mil a year he's getting. If you can't focus and make that play, you shouldn't be in the NFL. These guys are both salary that needs to go elsewhere. 10 - 8 Losses - I know we weren't going to beat the Pats in New England, but the 8 loss mark was something I was dreading. It was fun to have hope and watch the Jags beat the Colts. I know we aren't mathematically eliminated yet, but we know an 8-8 team isn't going to make it. I think that's what made this game so frustrating. We should have won this game and I honestly felt like we were the better team today. It's a tough pill to swallow, especially against the Fins. I'll do what I did all season and look for the positives in our "rebuilding" year. Go Bills!

He’s their 3rd string tight end. I liked him, but there are worse things to lament over

I’ll chime in. People capable of that kind of behavior isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s something they will realistically continue to do as the situation presents itself. To change, it takes the desire to change, a deep understanding of why it’s wrong, empathy, and the genuine punishment as a reminder. There’s no reason to believe any of those things occurred. If anything, a team putting claim on him is almost a reward. So no, I think he needs to be stripped down to reality to truly understand the gravity of what he’s done.

TD was better. Hit the guy in stride and threw him open. Deeper makes the accuracy harder.

I'm surprised at the spot here. I haven't really paid much attention to the Dolphins, but I expect our defense to play well again and if our offence can keep it going, find this a winnable game. Kiko has apparently been playing well

No matter what, if Crossman is paying attention, I don’t think this happens. He has so few plays on the field he’s responsible for....