Low Positive

I have watched at least parts of every Bengals game this year, and the first quarter on 1/2 and that last game was BY FAR the best that they have played. It might just be a bad matchup, but I also think that they were extra motivated to play the Bills for a number of reasons.

I wouldn't think that Tasker and Brown would be briefed on those types of decisions. Here in Cincinnati, Dave Lapham defended Marvin Lewis right up until his firing.

Remember, Steve Tasker and Chris Brown are both employed by the Buffalo Bills not the radio station.

Before suggesting trades, you have to go check out the dead cap. For instance, trading Tre before 6/1 would only create around $350,000 of cap space. After 6/1. it would create a little under 10 million in 2023 but it would create a huge dead cap hit in 2024. There is a reason that NFL teams usually trade guys in the final years of their contracts.

I actually think that the loss that would have helped was the KC game. The Bengals got stomped by the Browns going into their bye and they used the week off to make major adjustments. We went into the bye and hit the beach.

The Bills lone TD drive was really long.

Bengals and Eagles have QBs on rookie deals, and the Bengals have their three best offensive players as well as their starting LT on rookie deals. That really helps.

BTW, the only two candidates to actually get a second interview on Carolina are Reich and Wilks. I am not even seeing reports of Dorsey actually interviewing for that job.

As far as I can tell, he did. But it's all a moot point because reports are out there that he'll get the AZ HC job.

All correct, except Zach Taylor was the QB coach for Goff in LA. He was never the OC there. He also didn't call the plays in Philadelphia.

All of these things are true: The Bills played their worst game of the season The Bills have problems in their lineup that were exposed (which all teams have in the salary cap era) The Bengals are a bad matchup. There is also another thing. The Bengals wound themselves into a frenzy over a perceived slight due to ticket sales while the Bills cancelled practice on Saturday to have "Family Day." I think that explains a lot.

Exactly. From what I understand (which is not much), the Bills D requires really high level play from the safeties in both the pass and run game. When Hyde went out, our D took a serious hit. Then when Hamlin went out and we had to play Marlowe it was too much to overcome. Also, in general our team lacks a level of nastiness that the Eagles have in spades. No one fears playing the Bills.

Zoom exists..

People never consider that. VIc Fangio runs a 3-4 defense. We'd need a bunch of LBs and a NT.

Everything was hard. That's what's so frustrating looking at the Bengals play us on Sunday. Everything for them was an easy pitch and catch and they got YAC. There wasn't one play that made your jaw drop, but they moved the chains and scored TDs. I want the Bills to play like that.

Nope. Last year most of their offense was deep passes to Chase or Higgins on the sidelines. Every play was a 50/50 ball that those guys went up and got. But Burrow took a lot of sacks. This year, they tried to enhance the OL to fix this, but it didn't really work. Burrow was taking sacks left and right in the early portion of the season waiting for plays to develop down field. He even complained about having to play against two high looks after the 19-17 loss to the Ravens in week 5. So, they made an adjustment this year around the bye week, moving to much shorter passes to get the ball out quicker. He also stopped trying to force the ball to Chase and started using all of the offensive weapons that he has. Chase, to his credit, never complained. That's what you saw on Sunday. If we had played the Bengals in week three this year, their offense would have been much different.

They tried blitzing. Joe Burrow hits the hot route before the blitz gets there.

The problem may be that one of Josh's best friends in the building is the OC who's supposed to coach him.

Kill all memory of this game, at least for a while.

That's the adjustment that the Bengals made midseason to mitigate their own poor OL play. The Bills kept taking 7 step drops.

Or he need to make this adjustment himself. He's a veteran in the league now, so he can go to the coaching staff himself. I love Josh Allen, but at some point you have to hold the only player on offense who touches the ball on every play accountable.

I really don't want to die on the "Josh Allen Sucks" hill, because I love the guy and how he plays. But he does have trouble hitting receivers in stride on short routes. I just watched Joe Burrow Tom Brady us to death with 5 yard passes with YAC and I was left wondering if Josh is willing or able to play like that. I wonder that because it's what wins in the biggest games. Mahomes plays the same way, but he's flashier doing it. To put a finer point on it, I can't think of an offense that won the SB that was as dependent on the deep passing game as the Bills are.

What if's he calling that because that's what he's good at. How many times have we seen josh miss open guys on short passes?

I'm actually going to dispute this. He could stop taking 7-step drops behind an OL that can't pass block. Josh Allen could also stop trying to throw bombs in the snow and take the short passes. I should probably put this in its own thread, but I'm not a thread starter. I think that the way Josh Allen plays is not conducive to winning big games in the playoffs. He doesn't seem capable of throwing short passes. He can throw a 60 yard bomb and his a receiver in the hands, but for some reason he can't throw a screen or hit a receiver in stride on a crossing route. When the weather gets bad and the defenses start to take away the deep threats, you have to be able to respond. I know everyone wants to blame Dorsey, but Josh's accuracy on short timing routes is not good. I think that's why those plays are not called. I want to think that it's something that he can work on, but he's 26 and I'm afraid that he is who he is at this point. This is just a depressing thought that I had driving in wet heavy snow this morning here in Cincinnati, imagining the Bills having to play in the playoffs in Cincinnati next year.

The OP's idea is not good, but this is what should be done. No team should get that bye. It's too big of an advantage.