Reasons for the loss

[bisonbrigade]

Denver did nothing to win the game, refs gave it to them on mysterious penalties.

[34-78-83]

If he didn't he should have ordered him back in. One penalty. After the terrible call. We never saw. It doesn't matter what it was. If it were so egregious he would have been tossed from the game.

 

Overall not sure why were making a big deal of this anyway...

I would have benched him for a while yet another play to keep the opponents O on the field in what the last 5 games in a row?

The fact that DM said he didn't means that someone else did (Schwartz) or it was a package thing or fatigue or a combo of a short benching, some package adjustments and some fatigue/ getting a hold of his emotions time. Why is it such a big deal who made the call? This is petty

 

That yawn really sold me on your point. You must be right

Na no disrespect intended- the yawn was from hearing the same old stuff and I can tell you really believe it so it is more of a surrender on my part in this discussion. Not gonna be worth the effort and not gonna change your mind.

[Kelly the Dog]

 

 

Overall not sure why were making a big deal of this anyway...

I would have benched him for a while yet another play to keep the opponents O on the field in what the last 5 games in a row?

The fact that DM said he didn't means that someone else did (Schwartz) or it was a package thing or fatigue or a combo of a short benching, some package adjustments and some fatigue/ getting a hold of his emotions time. Why is it such a big deal who made the call? This is petty

It isn't. It seems like except for a couple plays it was half the game.

[Big Gun]

Denver did nothing to win the game, refs gave it to them on mysterious penalties.

 

This, and that is why I feel good about the rest of the games. Yeah they lost today, which I believe was a referee aided loss but their defense is for real and will keep them in every game. This defense hits hard, that WR who took all those shots is gonna be a hurting unit tomorrow. If the refs can call an even game I believe they can beat GB, Oak, NE.

[34-78-83]

It isn't. It seems like except for a couple plays it was half the game.

It isn't in your mind.I disagree.

Nothing wrong with that.

Parcells and Bill Walsh also had two completely different approaches with their players and both succeeded.

[FluffHead]

 

Na no disrespect intended- the yawn was from hearing the same old stuff and I can tell you really believe it so it is more of a surrender on my part in this discussion. Not gonna be worth the effort and not gonna change your mind.

 

Thanks for clearing up, I just hope marrone would take responsibility for the move, as the players know where it came from and if he's lying about it it's a quick way to lose them

[Kelly the Dog]

 

It isn't in your mind.I disagree.

Nothing wrong with that.

Parcells and Bill Walsh also had two completely different approaches with their players and both succeeded.

Did you listen to what Marrone actually said? That's what I have a problem with. He said he just wanted him to sit down and calm down a little bit. That other coaches would not be able to sit him down without him knowing. That he wasn't being benched. That's bull **** IMO.

[34-78-83]

Did you listen to what Marrone actually said? That's what I have a problem with. He said he just wanted him to sit down and calm down a little bit. That other coaches would not be able to sit him down without him knowing. That he wasn't being benched. That's bull **** IMO.

 

I think thats just wording that Marrone had an issue with.

He doesnt see it as a benching, he saw it as an opportunity to settle a player and allowed his defensive staff to deal with it.

But right now we don't know...

 

What we DO know is the Bills would have won this game with better QB play overall.

[Kelly the Dog]

 

 

I think thats just wording that Marrone had an issue with.

He doesnt see it as a benching, he saw it as an opportunity to settle a player and allowed his defensive staff to deal with it.

But right now we don't know...

 

What we DO know is the Bills would have won this game with better QB play overall.

Maybe. To me maybe we would be way better if we let our playmakers make plays. Even games we would score, the vast majority of the plays were with three wide and not the 2-3 TE and bunch formations. There are exceptions. A few of our best plays were in that way. But the vast majority were when we let our playmakers make plays. We threw the ball downfield. Even in the first game against Chicago in the last series we put Mike Williams in, EJ threw the ball up in the air, and Williams made a great catch leaping up. The reason we brought him here. It was a HUGE play. So we abandoned that. We spent half the game not targeting Sammy and the entire game not targeting Woods. We ran the screen pass to Fred three times on a fake end around that we have run over and over and over. Our playmakers are our wideouts except for Spiller and Fred.

 

This has been THE BIGGEST problem all year for me and a lot of other fans. It makes little theoretical sense. It hasn't worked. Orton is who he is. But so is Lee Smith and Gragg and Gray and Chandler and Hogan.

[K-9]

Any semblance of major league QBing wins us the game today. What a waste of a great defensive effort. It's not easy to make Manning look pedestrian but our defense managed to do just that. I don't have to look any further than the sub-standard play we got out of Orton to explain this loss.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[FluffHead]

@PrescottRossi: Doug Marrone rolls his eyes at @joebuscaglia after being asked about punting on 4th & 2 in the 4th quarter down 14. https://t.co/nAWEAB71pM

[Deranged Rhino]

@PrescottRossi: Doug Marrone rolls his eyes at @joebuscaglia after being asked about punting on 4th & 2 in the 4th quarter down 14. https://t.co/nAWEAB71pM

 

Maybe he was imitating what every single Bills fan watching did at that moment in time?

[RyanC883]

We should probably have one thread like this each week. Just a weekly top five or top ten list of what posters think the hierarchy of reasons we won or lost.

 

To me... It's hard to put them in order... But... The reasons we lost were...

 

1. Orton was off. And a wimp. And took too many dump offs. And didn't throw the ball downfield to his playmakers.

1a. Very close to 1: The Marrone Hackett offense that is not designed around our playmakers like Watkins, Woods, Goodwin, Williams.

3. Aaron Williams, who I like a lot, made two huge errors. The first was the first bomb to Welker where he was in position and just blew the angle allowing a 38 yard play. The second was he totally blew the tackle and angle on the 47 run from scrimmage by the second string RB.

4. The calls by the refs. I hate to put it this high but there were about five huge calls that were significant in the game.

5. Chandler, who had a good game for the most part, dropped the fourth down pass. Tough catch but in his hands.

6. Marrone benching Hughes. He can't do that. Hughes is an emotional player. He benefits from it more than it hurts us.

7 Kyle Williams and whomever made the bad block on the Int returns. We didn't see them so perhaps they were bad calls. But those lost 75 or so yards and cost at least 3 and maybe up to 14 points. It's stupid.

 

The refs. First and foremost. The refs basically handed the Broncos 8 points. That's the game. You could argue our D should have stopped Anderson, but he's arguably the best goalline back in the NFL now. Apart from the refs, the inept play-calling on offense.

 

@PrescottRossi: Doug Marrone rolls his eyes at @joebuscaglia after being asked about punting on 4th & 2 in the 4th quarter down 14. https://t.co/nAWEAB71pM

 

St. Doug is not to be questioned! Total hack. Can't wait till we hire an actual NFL coach.

[Fixxxer]

@PrescottRossi: Doug Marrone rolls his eyes at @joebuscaglia after being asked about punting on 4th & 2 in the 4th quarter down 14. https://t.co/nAWEAB71pM

 

he rolled eyes and head, you got it Joe, LOL

[thewildrabbit]

The Bills actually played better then I expected. For those blaming it all on Orton, yea he did suck at times, but he out played Manning. 38 of 57 355 yards one TD, 2 INT's (18 first downs passing), 9 of 16 3rd down conversions)

 

No sacks by the defense, big plays allowed by the defense. The Denver defense was ranked higher then Buffalo and it showed.

 

The Bills found it impossible to beat Denver at Denver, and beat the refs at the same time. The freaking zebras with their knuckle bumping, with some of those mysterious invisible bad calls on the returns. 11 penalties for 98 yards

[Maury Ballstein]

I don't get why people were so down on Orton.

 

Orton is who he is; that was a very Orton like game today. He was stellar at times (like 90% on3rd down), okay at times, and made 2-3 critical errors.

 

24-3. Oh Ortons awake now.

 

The Bills actually played better then I expected. For those blaming it all on Orton, yea he did suck at times, but he out played Manning.

 

 

Hahahahahaha. That's a good one. Might want to watch the non garbagetime part of the game.

[Boolay]

We would like wins and I for one would like to see the playoffs again. You prefer we laud him for sliding 3 yards shy of a first down and ducking at imagined pressure?

 

You think we win with EJ out there or is it 24-3 with EJ throwing for 150 yds with a 70% completition rating and coverting zero third downs.

[GunnerBill]

No sacks by the defense, big plays allowed by the defense. The Denver defense was ranked higher then Buffalo and it showed.

 

The Broncos had schemed to avoid the sacks, Manning was taking 3 step drops all day (when he wasn't just handing off to CJ Anderson that is) and to be fair to Denver that O-line is much improved. They missed Clady hugely last year he is one of the most underrated players in the league in my opinion.

 

The D did give up 3 big plays. One was a coverage mistake - the Welker one. The second was just a good throw by an eite Quarterback - to Sanders. The third was a run where Williams did make an error but there was a huge hold on the left side of the Denver line. How that was not called I have no idea.

 

Ou defense still played well enough to win this game. It was a very good defensive performance - the reason we lost was the offense simply did not execute and could not avoid the big mistake. Think about it like this - if Orton's endzone INT goes to a receiver that last drive is potentially to tie the game up.

[dave mcbride]

By my count, the refs directly cost the bills 11 points with terrible, terible calls - the totally bs illegal contact call on Robey on third down turned a fg attempt into a td, and the equally terrible PI call on Gilmore turned a punt situation into a td drive. I don't like to complain about the refs, but they were terrible today and seemed inclined to give the Broncos all the benefit of the doubt. Again, that's 11 points. This is not to excuse the play of rhe offense, btw.

Edited December 8, 2014 by dave mcbride

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

We would like wins and I for one would like to see the playoffs again. You prefer we laud him for sliding 3 yards shy of a first down and ducking at imagined pressure?

I am not saying he played well. But he played at the level I expect him to play at. We aren't going to suddenly turn Orton into tom Brady. I hate this saying, but it applies: "he is who he is."