notpolian

I watch a lot of the NBA. Coaches get changed out there pretty often, even for teams close to the top. Cleveland is a great example this year. Milwaukee last year and there are many others. Even Boston.

He makes good veteran acquisitions (Von Miller is a big exception) but is lousy at drafting outside of Allen. He's gotten some good late round picks (Milano, Benford, Shakir) but his first 3 rounds have been bottom quarter of the league. (This is not a knee jerk reaction, this is exactly what I've felt for a couple years BTW.)

I get your frustration. But we played a lot of man to man yesterday. Which is what we needed to do against KC. Problem is we don't have the players with sufficient talent to play man to man. Ol Prime was quite the man coverage dude. I was amused when I heard him say recently "Prime don't play no zone".

I was wondering if they would try Ingram yesterday at some point. I'm glad Benford has several months off. He didn't look good.

It wasn't Allen's best game. But if we had a decent defense, it's a different story. He just has such a small margin for error because we cannot get key stops in the playoffs against the best teams.

I thought Cook played great. I noticed Oliver make a few plays. But Miller did bupkus and he was joined by a long list of others. We need a talent (and size) infusion, and it really needs to be via the draft with our cap situation. But I don't have much confidence in it happening.

Simple. Don't put yourself in a position to be vulnerable to a call / spot or two. Shouldn't matter. This team is not good enough and not well coached enough to win against KC if KC brings their A game. Easy example is we were almost unstoppable this year on the QB sneak and KC basically kicked our butts. Inexcusable from an execution and imagination standpoint IMO.

I usually sleep poorly or hardly at all after a game like this. But I knew what would happen as soon as it started with the way the defense looked. Hang in there young folks, maybe it'll happen someday. I doubt I'll ever see it. Oh well.

The talent on this team is just not good enough to overcome KC and we have one difference maker on the roster. You need year one starters from your first and second round picks, and you need at least a couple difference makers on the roster. Outside of Allen, it hasn't happened. My main tenet is there is something fundamentally wrong with Beane's drafting/ talent evaluation for early round picks. Is it the scouting? Beane himself? McDermott wanting small quick guys? I don't know, but the defense just does not have what it takes to get us there. It took a couple miraculous plays by the offense to even get us close today. It's been the same story for several years now. We need some talent margin at multiple places across the field, especially to overcome superior coaching.

I might throw in a late round swing at a bigger bodied LB, but otherwise that list is good. How about starting by getting actual starters and maybe one difference maker in the first two rounds...outside of Allen, it's been one misfire after another for Beane. There is something fundamentally wrong with their talent evaluation on early high value picks.

Bingo. How fitting.

Man that was incredibly stupid on someone's part to run a different sneak.

Really poor game so far. Allen is off and playing nervous. But to me the main issue is lack of talent on the defense. They've only slowed them down once and haven't stopped them yet.

Oh Elam is active. Ok

That is correct. So with Q Jefferson inactive (a good thing) who is active that wasn't last week or they dressing less DTs?

This is really pretty simple IMO. Kincaid is a good TE but not exceptional in any way. He is not a crazy fast or twitchy athlete. He is not all that elusive. He is not an overpowering / difficult to tackle guy. He's not an absolutely guaranteed to catch the ball catch radius guy. Not is he an anti-zone savant. And most significantly, he's not much of a blocker. The Bills want to be able to run the ball, and when he is in the game he's a net disadvantage compared to Knox. So he doesn't get that many opportunities. He's fine for what he is, but until he either becomes a better blocker or we change offensive philosophy, I don't see his current production changing much. His rookie salary means I'm not too concerned. I am disappointed this is all we are getting from a first round draft pick.

I just re-watched basically the entire KC / Buffalo game from earlier this year. We really struggled to run the ball a lot of the game. We had some really nice gains against the blitz, that has got to continue. Samuel was wide open a lot. I hope Allen keeps his eyes scanning the field and doesn't lock onto a receiver too much like he sometimes does. We did ok against their run for the most part. Had some big stops. Got some breaks on penalties and turnovers. Played a lot of man to man, which kinda makes sense given they really only have one speed guy, and he is a rookie. You just have to shut down Kelce as much as possible, and that ain't happening with a zone. Sure wish Wanya was still playing OT for them.

Pretty much all of the time, which is unhealthy.

Rapp being out hurts but it's not as bad as a few years ago with Tyreek Hill. I'm hopeful Benford will play. Johnson will probably play but any given tackle could hurt him a lot. Last night I thought back to my first shoulder sublux almost 40 years ago. I did it skiing. I couldn't raise my hands above my shoulders for a few days but I didn't miss any skiing and was still able to drink beer. I haven't read back too far, any word on Milano?

Raiders, Cowboys and Saints

Bills 28 Chiefs 27

I am personally surprised and happy with how well the team has done this year. I've been a fan of this team for over 50 years. You absolutely have to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. Especially with the expanded playoffs and the QB talent in the AFC, it's hard to get to where we are now. And it can all be gone in the blink of an eye. To even have an opportunity to win it all you have to win this next game. Do it. Just once is all I'm asking.

I just re-watched the game. Bottom line is the defense got it done. I think the plan was good and the aggressiveness was spot on. The first interception was a gift but the next two turnovers were forced. That's winning playoff football. Random thoughts: - During the game I didn't realize how much we were in base defense. - DQ and Oliver definitely played well at times. Gonna need that more and more. - Philips got some penetration early. He can be disruptive. I just don't think you can get too many snaps out of Phillips. - Milano looked good. I think they played a lot of dime on the last drive. He wasn't in there then. I really think we'd be better off with him in on every snap, but he ain't got the green dot. - Bernard got tossed around a good bit and was out of position more than once. We need better MLB play, but that's a future thing. -Hamlin made some plays but also got in the way a few times. - After many years of prime Poyer and Hyde, it's a shock to see receivers past our safeties, or CBs not getting help they expect. - When we blitz, we just struggle to stay with guys in man to man coverage. Johnson really had issues with that. I doubt we'll blitz much against KC, but we've got to get pressure. - On the final Baltimore TD, our DL was Salomon, Jefferson, and Epenesa! Epenesa was either spying or playing zone. Seemed like Jefferson was the only guy making any headway, so Jackson had all day to throw. I would strive not to repeat this situation against Mahomes! We should match up better with KC if we are close to healthy. To me, the two biggest keys are getting pressure without blitzing and somehow limiting Playoff Kelce, who eats zones for lunch. The DEs have got to get there with their OTs.

I have no problem with the kick on 4th down in that circumstance. I do have a problem with the 3rd down play call. If you are going to run it with no pass option, just do the sneak. You probably gain some distance, might score, worst case you just kick on 4th down as you did. Run from the gun gives too much opportunity/time for penetration.

Simple answer is yes. More information than solicited: Optimism: 7/10 Confidence: 3/10** Anxiety: 2/10, it's early in the week **I acknowledge I am emotionally scarred. I haven't been confident about the Bills since the early 90s, so it's ok. I also love and admire the 11/10 confidence and optimism crowd. We need you!