finn

He was brilliant. I don't think any defense in the league would have held up against Stafford and Nakua yesterday. You could count their offense's mistakes on one hand. The Bills defense is built to capitalize on their opponents' mistakes: penalties, bad routes, dropped balls, etc. Without them, they were (and are) easy pickings. The good news is that it will be hard for other teams to replicate that level of execution. And you may be referring to past versions of Mahomes, not this year's. I would pick Stafford any day at this point. Didn't see him over- and underthrowing receivers every other play. Stafford may be a statue, but, at least yesterday, he played as Mahomes ever has. One last thought: As brilliant as Stafford was Sunday, Allen was even better. What a display of fine quarterbacking we saw yesterday! I don't recall better offhand. Even the famous Kelly-Young dual wasn't as high level. In the downer of the loss, it's easy to not take in how lucky we were to witness that game as it unfolded. Reminds me of the 13-second game in both respects: rare brilliance tarnished by inept coaching.

A play action throw to Alec Anderson would have brilliant there.

One interpretation is that an anomalous game like this happens from time to time. When it does, it's up to the units not affected--in this case, the offense, special teams, and coaching--to step up. The offense did, but special teams and coaching didn't. In fact, they didn't even carry their weight. And that was the difference.

Well, as we saw tonight, more than they have. That is, if your special teams and head coach aren't pulling their weight.

It could be that the Rams exposed what good coaching has covered up all year: that the the Bills defensive personnel just isn't very good. Rapp, Rousseau, Bernard, and Benford are excellent, but the others are average or mediocre (Milano could improve dramatically). In other words, Babich might not be the culprit; in fact, he might be the only thing holding the defense together. I'm not defending McDermott, though. When the team needs him most, he lets them down. If they win it all, it will be despite his game management, not because of it.

You can time him with a hourglass. So painful to watch him plod toward his destination, then running into a block not intended for him.

Do you mean on the field or in the presser?

The whole world wanted him to get the ball back with even seconds on the clock. Maybe even the Rams, in their heart of hearts.

If Brady knew the situation, McDermott certainly should have. The bottom line is that he just doesn't seem to think quickly, at least not in crunch situations. He needs to recognize that and hand off crunch-time decisions to someone else. I give him an A+ for developing players and team culture, but he's shown again and again that he freezes in the clutch.

Babich and McDermott got some 'splaining to do. Reminds me of the 13-second game. "Sorry, Josh! Our bad!"

The blitzes aren't getting home.

Have the Rams been flagged at all on offense?

All he has to do is stick to Nacua.

Need a turnover for some juice.

The Rams are playing as well as any team I've seen this year. Every last play is good on their part. How often do you see that? Allen has to make super-human plays to keep the Bills in the game. McVay = respect.

Gives you a sense of what an athlete he is. I'd be more concerned about the 300 pound man riding me to the ground.

They can't come back, by definition, given that they can't stop the Rams and Offside kicks aren't allowed before the end of the game. Even if Allen scores every possession, they still lose with this defense. Forget Detroit; I'm worried about New England now.

Stafford is embarrassing McDermott and Babich's defense on national TV. They usually adjust at halftime, but I don't see any adjustments yet.

Since nothing is working on defense, maybe it's time to bring in different players. Sit Milano, Hamlin, Oliver, Epenesa, Miller. Bring in the subs. They almost literally could not do worse.

I wonder what would happen if they put all eleven guys on Nakua? Defensive lineman, linebackers, the whole team. Do you think he would still catch the ball for a first down? Me, too.

I wish we had one of those.

This Rams team could beat the Chiefs, too.

No urgency on offense, utterly helpless on defense. It's like they didn't prepare for a game that they didn't care about.

It's going to come down to that one punt by the Bills.

Is Stafford at 100% completion rate? It's like the Bills are fielding a JV team against him.