JohnNord

This was a very good breakdown from Chris Simms. He said if Buffalo runs their regular defense they are going to be killed but thinks they need to take more chances, play more man coverage, and stay aggressive. He mentioned that the Bills changed their coverage in the 2nd half of Week 4 and it was more successful. His argument is that their regular “bend by don’t break” defense will get gashed anyway so why not try? Offensively he thinks Buffalo can run on the Ravens defense and if they can get Baltimore to move to man they can get favorable matchups on Tre and Brandon Stephens. He is leaning on predicting the Ravens but thinks the Bills can win. The thing is they can be conservative on either side

I’m not sure how any of this surprising. The Ravens offense is a beast and I don’t anticipate Buffalo stopping them. If the Bills win, they’ll need to have a strong performance on offense. While Baltimore has been improved defensively, I’d argue they have yet to see a top tier offense who can put points on the board since the Week 13 loss to Philly. Their opponents have been: NYG PIT CLE HOU CLE PIT Of course, I’m not saying a win will be easy. But you can argue Buffalo is the toughest offense Baltimore has faced in months as well.

I know someone who bets something like $20 against the Bills every game he thinks they will lose. His rationale is if they win, he doesn’t care about the $20. If they lose, it sucks but at least he makes a little money. So it’s a win-win. I have thought about doing that but never went through with it. I’d rather avoid betting on Bills games all together.

I’m not harping on anything - just wondering why aren’t holding Lamar’s limited success against Buffalo, the same way you are with Josh. The fact is that neither has played their best football against each other’s team in the past, and I don’t think it will have any effect on Sunday. Shutting down the run completely is probably not likely. I do think they can do a much better containing their run game.

It’s easy to be efficient when you pass for 140 yards. 2019 - 16/25 for 145 3TD 1 INT - 11/40 2020 - 14/24 for 164 0 TD 1 INT - 9/34 2022 - 20/29 for 144 1 TD 2 INT - 11/73 2024- 13/18 for 156 2 TD 0 INT - 6/54 Like I said, Josh hasn’t played his best versus Baltimore and Lamar hasn’t played his best versus Buffalo. Not sure how you can argue otherwise I don’t know if history will matter much though. Both rosters are different and Lamar and Josh have grown considerably as passers

Does it give you hope because Lamar has yet to have a great game versus Buffalo? Traditionally, Lamar has also had bad games against Buffalo. In Week 4 he didn’t have to do very much since Henry destroyed the defense. He was 13-18 for 156 yards and 2 TD and 50 yards rushing. Those are Tannehill numbers. So you can say Josh never had a great game against the Buffalo defense…but you can also say the game thing about Lamar vs. Buffalo. Not sure either will matter on Sunday.

Styles make fights as they say. I’d agree with many who called this game a “coin flip.” I’m hoping it comes down to the team with the better QB because I truly believe it’s Josh. I was thinking about the switch from Morse to McGovern. I feel that it was a definite upgrade. McGovern is probably as good of a pass blocker and a better run blocker. I’d argue Edwards has been better than McGovern at LG too. So it won’t be easy… but at least the Bills have a chance at going toe-to-toe with a DL like Baltimore. The performance against Denver’s tough interior gives me hope

Sounds like many of use were heavily influenced by draft analysts and the media. As a casual college football fan following the draft, you were conditioned to think Josh Allen was going to be the Kyle Boller or Jake Locker. Even after a much improved season in 2019, fools like Ringer’s Steve Ruiz predicted he’d have a Trubisky regression. It’s amazing how hard Josh has worked and what he’s had to overcome to get where he is. Hoping he can finish the story this season

That Week 17 victory was our Super Bowl which was absolutely as pathetic as it sounds. Unfortunately it would be the closest Fitz would get to reaching the postseason.

I’m not afraid to admit it… I liked this hire. After years of mediocre coaching, I was excited that Ryan was hired. After 14 or so years, we needed a bombastic “name” coach who was going to project hope and confidence after two years of Doug Marrone. I remember Adam Schein (a Syracuse grad) on SiriusXM who said what an awful hire this was for Buffalo and that Rex’s “clown show” would be a downgrade from Marrone. He was spot on. I will say that his tenure was so bad it’s funny looking back now. My favorite moment was signing IK Enemkpali for no other reason than because he knocked out Geno Smith. Then he actually tried playing him and the joke was him 🤣

Good stuff. The Bills and McDermott have been preparing for the postseason for a year or so. I hope it pays off starting tomorrow. about the class clown stuff - the only funny thing I remember McDermott saying was a comment to John Wawrow during a Zoom call. He kind of laughed when his camera turned on and asked Wawrow if he was wearing a bathrobe. Wawrow said he was wearing his outdoor coat because his wife kept the temperature low in the house. I’m guessing it was a trench coat because McDermott responded “you look a little like Sherlock Holmes” 🤣🤣🤣

What you described has been Wilson in every Steeler game I’ve watched this season.

They are better…pretty solid against the run and they rush the passer better. I still do think teams can thrown on them. What you can’t do is follow the Mike Tomlin blueprint and punt on 4th and short. That killed Pittsburgh in the first half - especially since they couldn’t get Baltimore off the field without a TD

Pittsburgh did fairly well on the first drive on 1st and 2nd down. Their 3rd down defense was terrible in the first half (sound familiar?). Baltimore was like 6/7 and most weren’t short yardage. The TD to Bateman was on 3rd and 13. The result was some super long drives ending in 7, that limited chances to score (not like Russ would have done anything) To beat Baltimore you have to make some important stops on 3rd down - especially in the red zone.

That’s why I said they need to take a big swing and trade up.

I thought the same thing!

They won’t do anything unless they find a better QB. Missing on Pickett was pretty huge. If I’m Pittsburgh I take a big swing and trade up in the draft for a QB to start in 2026. Instead they’ll probably sign Aaron Rodgers

On offense their running game is scary. You can definitely throw on their secondary.

“If they Ravens can rush for 289 yards against Pittsburgh, they rush for 700 against Buffalo”

TBH neither quarterback was a great option. Russ is ok but it seemed like the only time the offense could do anything was when he threw it deep to Pickens. He doesn’t handle pressure well and can’t create much with legs anymore. He’s just not very good. Much like McDermott in Buffalo, Tomlin has a ton of support in Pittsburgh and isn’t going anywhere

You could be right and let’s not forget who his OC is… My problem is that everyone makes so many excuses for Herbert…at what point do the excuses stop?

Oh they are going to get smoked

I don’t think that was the expectation. It seems to me like Hyde was going to be more of a “player coach.” When he first what signed, reporters asked McDermott what he expects from Micah and he candidly said “not much.” If they were going to activate Hyde it would have been done in week 18

Teams have unlimited elevations for PS players. Considering no one on defense is questionable, I’m guessing Jackson’s elevation was a “thank you” of sorts so he can get a game check. I’m guessing Virgil is insurance if Codrington can’t go. Not sure if he returns kicks, but he can at least give them some reps at WR in the event that Shakir takes returner duties. IMO I don’t think either of them play. It is funny that both were broncos last season

Kyle Williams has the wit, charisma and delivery of a southern preacher with that famous speech. Amazing. Imagine if he fires up the crowd with this speech!