Cray51

When the defense we laid out wasnt working, we shifted to a more aggressive man coverage approach. That was at halftime. And we saw the Chiefs target Hill more and easily put the game away. The Bucs beat the chiefs by only blitzing FIVE times during the game. They used their LBs to man cover Kelce, and doubled up Hill. They forced Mahomes to throw to WRs who are not the cream of the crop, and you saw drops and batted balls all night. The Bills lost by not getting pressure on Mahomes, and not putting TDs on the board in the redzone. If they force Mahomes to circle back like he did so much in the Super Bowl, our Safeties can cover more effectively and our LBs can attack the ball more. Mahomes was getting the ball out of his hand early against the Bills, but struggled doing so against the Bucs. If you blitz KC, you lose. Simple as that. If you get pressure with 4, you are forcing Mahomes to throw into double coverage and that's not the best plan. If Mahomes beat the Bucs, Bowles (the most aggressive DC in the league) would have been the one who was call the scared rabbit. The difference was talent at the line (I also want to call out the depleted offensive line for the Chiefs, which also played a huge role in their loss)

I dont necessarily agree with the thought that the defensive gameplan was all wrong. I just dont think the players were good enough to execute the gameplan at the level needed to beat the Chiefs. We pulled the safeties back, played a 4 rush technique, and soft zone in the middle. The only difference between us and the Bucs plan was the LB coverage. We didn't play man on Kelce and press the line as much. We needed the line to get more pressure on Mahomes. Flat out - the line put the rest of the defense in a bad place. When we adjusted to a riskier approach in the second half - the game was over. KC was able to take our over aggressive nature and capitalize.

I'd say the RB's were 4th or 5th in the grand scheme of things: 1) Buc's Dline pressure all game (and a depleted o-line for the Chiefs) 2) Mahomes lack of accuracy at the beginning of the game (potentially due to injury) 3) Double high safeties by the bucs on 82% of plays to limit Hill and shrink the field 4) Gronk being the go-to on 3rd and short and the redzone killer 5) RB play to drain the clock towards the end of the game 6) Ref's calling the Chiefs physical style by the book 7) Buc's home game vibe There are 10-12 factors that played into this game - and I dont really believe the RB play was a factor until the second half (it was 21-6 at half)

When Brady was screaming at his OC to keep five wide on the field at the end of the first half and proceeded to score because he knew exactly what he wanted to run and how he would capitalize against the Chiefs D.... It was the time where I sat back and just had to appreciate seeing greatness. His OC wanted to change personnel, but Brady has full reign and showed he is the best to ever do it. And then cements that he was in Mathieu's head by jawing at him. The game was over.

The Bucs just ran a similar concept to the Bills in their approach against the Chiefs. High safeties to take away the deep ball and keep Mahomes from breaking the game in one play. The difference was at the D line and Linebacker positions. Lavonte David played great coverage on Kelce in the first half. White brought physicality and swarmed anything on the perimeter. He was able to track guys like Hill and hardmen. At the D line, their front 4 was able to push the pocket back. You saw how often Mahomes broke the pocket, and by the third quarter he was LOOKING to do so. Mahomes was actually rattled this game. The first time in his career he was rattled. He looked like a rookie Josh allen in there. They played soft zone more in the second half, but kept everything in front of them and their dline was able to bring pressure.

It took KC SIX years to lose in the conference championship. If Reid is sitting in Sean's spot after year 4, he is talking about how their team is struggling to get passed the divisional round, not "we just took a team to 13 wins and the AFC championship game". It is completely justifiable for Mcd to at least mention that these things take time, and it is hard to win in this league. I'd love to see what this board would have been like if we were KC in 2016. Some people just can't be happy...

People need to breath. We didnt lose to an 8-8 wild card team. Kansas City is likely going to be the best team in the 2020's, and the next super dynasty. The Bills laid out a plan that did not work effectively. It happens. White was average last night. Didnt make amazing plays, wasn't schooled to death either. You could tell they were hoping the line would get pressure on Mahomes, and we would be able to feast on contested throws downfield. Unfortunately our line couldnt get pressure, and Travis Kelce sat down in the zone PERFECTLY in the first half. Mahomes had easy throws because Kelce is the best TE in football. I thought our secondary played admirably, our LBs let us down, and our d-line failed us. You could see KC was successful dinking and dunking to start, and when we had to adjust to try and get more pressure, they were able to attack the intermediate routes and their stars took the game over. White was probably the 3rd or 4th best defender last night.

My thoughts Resign/Tender: Roberts - Extremely valuable to our Special Teams Milano - My second most important FA resign Williams - My most important FA resign Wallace - I believe is an RFA McKenzie - Use him in motion, jet sweeps, could be our return guy in a year or two depending on Roberts T. Jones - Special Teams Ace Marlowe - Underrated on this board. Steps in admirably when Hyde/Poyer go down and knows the system Dont resign: Kroft - not enough impact and was scratched often Murphy - Not worth the money/invest in drafted DE Norman - Not worth the money/bring up Dane Jackson Nsekhe - Isnt needed Feliciano - Ford can replace him at RG for cheap - would sign him as a backup but I doubt he would take that little to retain Winters - Again, COULD be backup at a low value but I doubt we would get him for a price I would be ok with Barkley - Let Fromm backup and invest the money elsewhere Yeldon - I dont mind him, but this is a loaded FA class, see who sits and can be scooped up late Andre Smith (although if he could be had at the min. I would do it)

Overreaction Monday is back in full force today.... 1) Mcd will grow from this loss. You saw the jump he took from year 3-4 and I expect another in year 5. He will solve one or two problems they dealt with today. 2) Feliciano should walk, and they should have Ford take his spot. Resign Williams and keep the line intact. Feliciano was the weak link yesterday. 3) Try to keep Milano, and (I cant believe I am saying this) try to get Richard Sherman. If he is available, he could be a great cover corner opposite White. 4) Take some chances in the draft. Epenesa was a value pick, I think he has starter potential. But go for the home run and see what it gets you. We need to find that Kelce/Hill gamebreaker in the draft and I think we have the scouts to do it. 5) Look at RB's in free agency. Just see what is out there unless you believe Moss can take the #1 role. Start from there and see what it brings you

Fournette has been AWFUL in Tampa. He had one good run where he initially was stopped for a 3 yard gain but Green Bay couldnt tackle. Bell would have been a better pickup but he chose the Chiefs.

Our RG was torn open all game long, which then put pressure on our RT and the Chiefs blitzed from that side knowing Feliciano was a weak link. You saw them get to Allen OFTEN 3 of our WRs are hurt (4 if you include Diggs, we dont know where he is at with his injury) and couldnt match the Chiefs physicality. You saw the separation from Chiefs playmakers all night, the Bills didnt have that. Allen was throwing into tight windows consistently. Redzone scoring was an issues - Chiefs go 4 for 4 while we go 1 for 4 (I think). I thought Hill was actually covered well until we had to start taking more chances with our D. That's when the middle of the field opened up for Hill to sit and create. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - WE NEED TO GET PRESSURE FROM OUR LINE. To me that was the most impactful issue. We were dominated in the trenches on both sides.

It looked like KC knew they could maul our smaller WRs at the line and on their breaks without getting called. I mean the holding on Beasley was a damn mugging with how much contact there was, thank goodness it was called! You saw Mahomes could throw into windows that were much larger than what allen was working with. You don't win every game - this was tough to swallow, but the Bills have most of the pieces in place to be effective for a long long time. They just need to be smart and efficient with draft capital and cap space

The best adjustment I saw from the Bills in the second half was bringing Yeldon in and using the flats more to counter the blitz. I'd like to see them use them to counter the blitz more often.

I can see the argument against the second field goal on 4th and short. But I am more frustrated at Daboll for his play call to force the short pass

You beat them by converting red zone opportunities which we did not. We left I believe 13 points not including the interception right outside the red zone. But going for it on 4th and 3 isn't the winner. It's converting on 3rd and getting the ball in the endzone

If you don't convert and go into the half 21-9 after being killed in the second quarter you are done FOR SURE. A field goal takes a little energy out of the crowd and gives some moral strength to the team. Did it matter in the end? No - but to me it was the responsible call.

WGR ripping Mcd about the field goals... I thought they were all the right moves. You go into the half down 9 and put it on your defense to make a stop. Better than a demoralized team that just got blown out in the second quarter 21-0. We had chances, didn't convert, and it cost us. Proud of the year this team had and will leave with lots of hope for next year

I thought Feliciano was MUCH worse than Williams. He let guys get past him at least 4 times today. This team has the potential to go all the way. Great management, franchise QB, great coach. They need to refine and improve year over year. I trust them to do that

I loved that Feliciano had no issue backing up his QB, but the sack doesn't happen if he blocks at all. He missed his block or was beat at least 4 times today

Rewatching the Week 6 game... Slippery conditions certainly played into the missed tackles on CEH. I dont expect the running game to be as effective against our defense if it doesnt rain. We put contact on CEH throughout, but he bounced off and we couldnt wrap up. Mahomes was able to extend plays very well. His mobility was crucial to pick up first downs and extend drives. If his toe limits that, its a huge win for the Bills. Josh had to be better against the zone concepts KC ran. He looked timid and confused at times, and his line did not protect as well as they normally have. Look to him to show some more swagger this week which I think will help. Leverage the run game to set up play action and screens to Knox. Will help (we had some good screen plays in week 6) move the ball against the D. Limit EITHER Hill or Kelce. I dont think you can limit both. Pick one and shut them down. Its going to be a good game, I am really interested to see how Allen does against a D he struggled with the first time around.

From what I can see - Hill had a pretty pedestrian day (4 for 65). I dont know if you will see much of a change from week 6's game plan. Keep Mahomes from the deep ball, take care of Hill (White did an amazing job on him - 3 for 20), and hope Allen and the offense can scores points. Remember, the game was 23-17 when Zimmer almost forced the ball out on CEH. That was with an injured Allen and our offense wasnt nearly as good against the zone as we are now. If the game is 24-21 in the 4th with a chance to win, I'm proud of our defense.

To me, offensive MVP is Allen Defensive MVP is Tre - people don't understand what it means to have him locking down his side at the level he does. It allows Hyde and Poyer to take their play to the next level. Milano is great - and a player I want on this team long term. But he is 3rd or 4th on the MVP list just for the defense

Hope he is ok. For the people wishing he is seriously hurt and wish for "scrambled brains". C'mon... "Losers focus on winners - winners focus on winning"

I'm hearing a lot about the Baltimore rush offense and how that will be impactful. Wouldnt the more important stat be TOTAL yards? If Baltimore rushes for 250 yards but Lamar throws for 90, does that make their offense spectacular? Would Josh Allen passing for 340 and rushing for 30 not be technically better? This game will come down to field position, turnovers, and redzone defense. Allen has to protect the ball, convert TDs in the redzone, and take advantage of opportunities given.

I agree - they certainly can (and we saw their containment during the Houston game last year with Watson).