RuntheDamnBall Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I won't rehash what others are already saying about Kyle Moore's effectiveness, Merriman's energy, and the overall better play of the OL. And I'm happy about a win. But I will say that on several occasions last night, I just thought to myself, "Tom Brady would not have missed that play. He'd be carving this same D up right now." I'm specifically thinking of the play across the middle in the 3rd quarter, where Barnett is again dropped back in coverage against a bigger Miami WR, and Tannehill just threw it yards short. Barnett was chasing his man from about 4 yards behind, sucking wind. As we know on the other side of it, usually, those small failures add up and sink a team. Against NE, that same play is probably a strike, in stride, going to Gronkowski, quite possibly for a TD. Morals of the story are that this defense still needs linebackers, we are lucky that Miami is so bad, and we are lucky that they play a rookie QB. True, good DL play can cause a QB to make poor decisions, but I'll have to see that kind of play week in, week out against better teams to believe the Bills can overcome their deficiencies at LB. Another little play that was huge - saw this mentioned in another thread - was that Eric Wood fumble recovery to maintain possession in the 4th. How many times have we seen the Bills cough up that same ball? Glad to see Wood going hard for it, and that that particular bounce went our way.
HeHateMe Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) In before the "But they won can't you be happy" crowd I agree they got lucky on 2 fumbles, also Tannehill has no weapons. Edited November 16, 2012 by kobe808lak
RuntheDamnBall Posted November 16, 2012 Author Posted November 16, 2012 That's why I said "I'm happy about a win." RE: Tannehill has no weapons - sort of. Bush was neutralized and under-utilized. Ben Hartline did look unfortunately good once the D started sitting back in the later stretches of the game. Slightly disconcerting.
Big C Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 New England is simply a better team. Our pressure and coverage was good last night partly because Miami isn't really a great team. Still, I think it was pretty clear we played with heart - more so than in games past. Everybody looked fierce out there. We need to play with that intensity for the rest of the stretch.
Dr. Fong Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 You mean to tell me that New England is a better team than Miami? That's shocking insight.
RuntheDamnBall Posted November 16, 2012 Author Posted November 16, 2012 Dr. Missing the Forest for the Trees: the insight is that the Bills didn't play a ton better than they did against NE.
jjmac Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I had to listen to the game on the radio, and I heard the announcers say that the d-linemen were moving around more than usual. Did anybody watch the game, and what were they doing?
paupmvp1995 Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Dr. Missing the Forest for the Trees: the insight is that the Bills didn't play a ton better than they did against NE. I thought offensively we played a lot worse than against NE. Spiller ran hard, but the passing game especially in the second half was dreadful. No attempts to go down the field whatsoever. And where are the 15-20 yard intermediate passes? All we were throwing were the 3 yard slants over the middle, which every defense can stop. We scored ZERO points in the second half last nite. And for the year we have scored a pathetic 35 points in the 4th qtr.. The reason is that every defense we play against figures us out in the second half. We make no adjustments, and equally as problematic is that our receivers have a real hard time getting open. We definitely need a big speed receiver. What were we thinking taking TJ Graham in the third round. Seriously, has he caught a pass that has traveled in the air more than 10 yards downfield all season? Our lack of downfield passing game is as crippling to us as our lack of any athletic LB's. Combine that with unbelievable horrible coaching by Gailey (the two 3rd and 1 calls inside the 20 in the first half were dreadful) and you have a team that is severely handicapped. Lets here it for Byrd Scott and McKelvin for making the three plays that won the game for us. And of course CJ making the Miami D sweat every time he touched the ball.
Maybe Someday Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I had to listen to the game on the radio, and I heard the announcers say that the d-linemen were moving around more than usual. Did anybody watch the game, and what were they doing? Were you listening to the NFL Network guys? If so, it might have just been them being unfamiliar with what the Bills do. At one point Mayock made a comment that we moved Mario to the left side to go against the rookie instead of Long but Mario’s played the left side all season. I really didn’t notice the d line doing anything different than normal…except for actually playing well. I thought offensively we played a lot worse than against NE. Spiller ran hard, but the passing game especially in the second half was dreadful. No attempts to go down the field whatsoever. And where are the 15-20 yard intermediate passes? All we were throwing were the 3 yard slants over the middle, which every defense can stop. We scored ZERO points in the second half last nite. And for the year we have scored a pathetic 35 points in the 4th qtr.. The reason is that every defense we play against figures us out in the second half. We make no adjustments, and equally as problematic is that our receivers have a real hard time getting open. We definitely need a big speed receiver. What were we thinking taking TJ Graham in the third round. Seriously, has he caught a pass that has traveled in the air more than 10 yards downfield all season? Our lack of downfield passing game is as crippling to us as our lack of any athletic LB's. Combine that with unbelievable horrible coaching by Gailey (the two 3rd and 1 calls inside the 20 in the first half were dreadful) and you have a team that is severely handicapped. Lets here it for Byrd Scott and McKelvin for making the three plays that won the game for us. And of course CJ making the Miami D sweat every time he touched the ball. How is the bolded any different than what we’ve done all season?? I can’t remember the last time Fitz completed a 15-20 yard intermediate route. Other than that, I agree with what you’re saying.
jjmac Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Were you listening to the NFL Network guys? If so, it might have just been them being unfamiliar with what the Bills do. At one point Mayock made a comment that we moved Mario to the left side to go against the rookie instead of Long but Mario’s played the left side all season. I really didn’t notice the d line doing anything different than normal…except for actually playing well. How is the bolded any different than what we’ve done all season?? I can’t remember the last time Fitz completed a 15-20 yard intermediate route. Other than that, I agree with what you’re saying. No, I was listening to WGR.
mountainwampus Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 McKelvin deserves some credit. He is a true veteran and shows off how experience makes a difference at CB. Was very sound with his coverage and that punt return made all the difference Were you listening to the NFL Network guys? If so, it might have just been them being unfamiliar with what the Bills do. At one point Mayock made a comment that we moved Mario to the left side to go against the rookie instead of Long but Mario’s played the left side all season. I really didn’t notice the d line doing anything different than normal…except for actually playing well. Technically Mayock was right, because Mario was on the right side last week. I had to listen to the game on the radio, and I heard the announcers say that the d-linemen were moving around more than usual. Did anybody watch the game, and what were they doing? Yes, they were moving quite a bit. The front 4 starters were all playing like a well-oiled machine. The pressure was definitely getting to Tannenhill's head. He was rushing throws and feeling the heat.
Dr. K Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) Miami is much better on defense than the Pats and much worse on offense. So against them the Bills looked much worse on offense and much better on defense. All this obsession on how the Bills should have run better in short yardage against the fifth ranked running defense in the league is pretty amusing. I think the offense could have played better, but the Miami pass rush was much better than the Pats', and they were in the Buffalo backfield a lot more. Fitz had enough time, but not a great amount. I questioned some of the play calls, and the clock management at the end of the first half, but overall I think the critics on the board here are a little hysterical about this particular game (some of the other games warrant hysteria, however). Edited November 16, 2012 by Dr. K
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