10 observations on the 3-0 start

[Inigo Montoya]

1.  You could tell that this offense missed Singletary today as the second half spark plug to get things going.  I think we need Singletary next week to have a realistic shot at winning.  Yeldon needs to work on ball security.  He has only had 8 touches this year and has put the ball on the ground. 

 

2.  This is only Josh's 15th NFL game, not even a full season yet.  I think we all need to remember that.  He is going to try to do too much and suffer from bad decisions as he learns his craft.  He threw another bad interception today, but he did rally the team and bring the Bills back on another 4th quarter,  game winning drive.  On the whole, I think he is playing solid football so far.  He is accurate (yeah, I said it) and he doesn't get down on himself and let his mind beat him when things go sideways.   He is clutch when it matters and when he got the ball in the 4th quarter today I expected him to score a touchdown.  I haven't felt that way about a Bills QB in a long time.

 

3.  Dawson Knox today.  One bad drop.  One touchdown.  One bulldozer, beast mode, Rambo run.  One helluva future.

 

4.  The defense continues to carry this team just like we all thought it would.  I read many times on this board over the off season that if the offense could just score a few points, with our defense being so dominant, that we would win some games, and that is exactly what has happened so far.  Our offense has averaged just 22 points a game through the first three games of the season and we are sitting at 3-0.  That is clearly a testament to how hard our defense is playing.

 

5.  I'm not worried about our kicking game anymore.  I don't know what happened between the pre-season and the regular season, but HouseMoney and Bojo are spot on so far.

 

6.  Our offense still hasn't put together four solid quarters of football yet.  I'm all about a 4th quarter comeback, but it would be nice to just get a lead and hold a lead.  I'm not sure what the issue is.  Hopefully McDermott and Daboll can figure it out and get it fixed because there are a lot of teams in this league that we are not going to be able to beat with just 2 or 3 quarters of good play.  Next week we are going to need all four quarters to beat the Pats.

 

7.  The AFC is not fairing well in inter-conference play.  It should help us down the road if we need to win a Wild Card to get into the playoffs.

 

8.  The Bills have not been shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties negating big plays or extending the other team's drives.  I think this is incredibly important and it is a marked departure from the pulling your hair out play of past undisciplined Bill's squads.

 

9.  I keep waiting for Oliver to finally get his hands on the QB.  It would be great to see Oliver bury Brady into the Bills logo next week for his first sack.

 

10.  The Bills D-line are all playing like they are ten feet tall.  We had another couple batted down passes at the line today.  We've only gotten one interception off them so far, but I suspect that will change if they keep it up.  Even if they don't translate to turnovers, they are still passes defended and they also effect a QB's accuracy when they start altering their throwing motion to get the ball around all those arms up in the throwing lanes.  

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Inigo Montoya

[LeGOATski]

5 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

2.  He is clutch when it matters and when he got the ball in the 4th quarter today I expected him to score a touchdown.  I haven't felt that way about a Bills QB in a long time.

 

8.  The Bills have not been shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties negating big plays or extending the other team's drives.  I think this is incredibly important and it is a marked departure from the pulling your hair out play of past undisciplined Bill's squads.  

These have been a big deal to me.

 

3rd down doesn't seem like a long shot anymore. Like today's 3rd and 17 completion to Brown. I just feel confident that the offense will make a play in those situations.

[Bangarang]

Not sure where 9 games came from but Allen has played in 15 games and started 14. I still like where his game is heading.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Bangarang

[BillsFanM.D.]

12 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

 

9.  I keep waiting for Oliver to get that first sack.  It would be great to see Oliver bury Brady in the Bills logo next week    Endzone for his first sack/safety.

 

Fixed.  

 

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by BillsFanM.D.

[Inigo Montoya]

3 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Not sure where 9 games came from but Allen has played in 15 games and started 14.

 

 

That's what happens when I try to do math with my socks on.  Thanks for the heads up.   I'll change it.  Point being, it's still less than a season worth of football.

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Inigo Montoya

[Best Player Available]

#3 Knox, At the moment I cannot remember a TE make a play like he did in years...

Just powering over helpless Bengals. IMO Best play of the day. Since the game

seemed to be heading South for the Bills. 

[Nihilarian]

The Bills have played three bad teams so far this year! Jets 0-3, Bengals 0-3, Giants 1-2.  Yet squeaking by, almost lost to NY, almost lost to Cincy.  

 

The Patriots have been DESTROYING bad teams, Pitt 33-3, Miami 43-0, Jets 30-14.  their point differential  is 106-17 ! 

 

The Bills have made many, many mistakes so far this season and even if they play a perfect game I gotta wonder if they have enough offense to compete?

 

 

 

NOW, having said that, I also wonder...should the Bills beat the Patriots...will the goal posts be untouched at the end of the game?

Edited September 23, 2019 by Nihilarian
another thought

[ganesh]

5 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

The Bills have played three bad teams so far this year! Jets 0-3, Bengals 0-3, Giants 1-2.  Yet squeaking by, almost lost to NY, almost lost to Cincy.  

 

The Patriots have been DESTROYING bad teams, Pitt 33-3, Miami 43-0, Jets 30-14.  their point differential  is 106-17 ! 

 

The Bills have made many, many mistakes so far this season and even if they play a perfect game I gotta wonder if they have enough offense to compete?

Good teams with Great QBs will put away bad opposition

Good teams with young QBs will keep the other team hanging around. 

 

The Bengals are not a bad team  They went on the road to Seattle and Buffalo, two most difficult places for opponents, and came within a whisker of winning both games.  They could easily be 2-1 today.    The Giants did win their first game.  In the NFL, there is no such thing as a bad team.. On any given Sunday !!!

[BobbyC81]

1 hour ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

6.  Our offense still hasn't put together four solid quarters of football yet.  I'm all about a 4th quarter comeback, but it would be nice to just get a lead and hold a lead.  I'm not sure what the issue is.  Hopefully McDermott and Daboll can figure it our and get it fixed because there are a lot of teams in this league that we are not going to be able to beat with just 2 or 3 quarters of good play.  Next week we are going to need all four quarters to beat the Pats.

 

 

Some of it is play calling.  There was one 2nd half drive where they were getting chunks running the ball to about midfield and then they decide to throw it deep.  This put them in unsuccessful 2nd and 10, and 3rd and 10 pass plays.  What’s wrong with running until they stop it.

 

Then, there was the 3rd and one, where they ran the jet sweep again and the Bengals were waiting for it and they lost yardage.

[mykidsdad]

1 hour ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

2.  This is only Josh's 15th NFL game, not even a full season yet.  I think we all need to remember that.  He is going to try to do too much and suffer from bad decisions as he learns his craft. 

Really great point. Plus, he has so little good college experience, too. He is such a fb baby. This helps me keep perspective. It really does.

[dollars 2 donuts]

1 hour ago, Inigo Montoya said:

1.  You could tell that this offense missed Singletary today as the second half spark plug to get things going.  I think we need Singletary next week to have a realistic shot at winning.  Yeldon needs to work on ball security.  He has only had 8 touches this year and has put the ball on the ground. 

 

2.  This is only Josh's 15th NFL game, not even a full season yet.  I think we all need to remember that.  He is going to try to do too much and suffer from bad decisions as he learns his craft.  He threw another bad interception today, but he did rally the team and bring the Bills back on another 4th quarter,  game winning drive.  On the whole, I think he is playing solid football so far.  He is accurate (yeah, I said it) and he doesn't get down on himself and let his mind beat him when things go sideways.   He is clutch when it matters and when he got the ball in the 4th quarter today I expected him to score a touchdown.  I haven't felt that way about a Bills QB in a long time.

 

3.  Dawson Knox today.  One bad drop.  One touchdown.  One bulldozer, beast mode, Rambo run.  One helluva future.

 

4.  The defense continues to carry this team just like we all thought it would.  I read many times on this board over the off season that if the offense could just score a few points, with our defense being so dominant, that we would win some games, and that is exactly what has happened so far.  Our offense has averaged just 22 points a game through the first three games of the season and we are sitting at 3-0.  That is clearly a testament to how hard our defense is playing.

 

5.  I'm not worried about our kicking game anymore.  I don't know what happened between the pre-season and the regular season, but HouseMoney and Bojo are spot on so far.

 

6.  Our offense still hasn't put together four solid quarters of football yet.  I'm all about a 4th quarter comeback, but it would be nice to just get a lead and hold a lead.  I'm not sure what the issue is.  Hopefully McDermott and Daboll can figure it out and get it fixed because there are a lot of teams in this league that we are not going to be able to beat with just 2 or 3 quarters of good play.  Next week we are going to need all four quarters to beat the Pats.

 

7.  The AFC is not fairing well in inter-conference play.  It should help us down the road if we need to win a Wild Card to get into the playoffs.

 

8.  The Bills have not been shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties negating big plays or extending the other team's drives.  I think this is incredibly important and it is a marked departure from the pulling your hair out play of past undisciplined Bill's squads.

 

9.  I keep waiting for Oliver to get that first sack.  It would be great to see Oliver bury Brady into the Bills logo next week for his first sack.

 

10.  The Bills D-line are all playing like they are ten feet tall.  We had another couple batted down passes at the line today.  We've only gotten one interception off them so far, but I suspect that will change if they keep it up.  Even if they don't translate to turnovers, they are still passes defended and they also effect a QB's accuracy when they start altering their throwing motion to get the ball around all those arms up in the throwing lanes.  

 

 

 

I joked with with a friend that Allen would have 180 yards at halftime and 193 for the game.

 

Truth is this is not a good trend...meaning this trend of getting 70+ percent or so of your passing yards in the first half (not accurate percentage and I didn’t check it, it just seems that way).

 

If the bills are up by a lot and trying to clock manage I would get it, but I wouldn’t like it.  However, being up by a lot has not been the case.  Yes, McD, it is hard to win in this League, I get it.  However, I still don’t like the way you guys handle yourselves offensively when you have an opportunity to put a team away.

 

Winning is winning.  Winning ugly is 9-7, with three field goals.  This team for me today was winning sour...they dominated the Bengals at times, but couldn’t get any real distance on them and then went to sleep as well as were too cute by half in some instances and it almost cost them.

 

It’s slightly a question of passing, but more so whether you’re trying to attack a team and go for the jugular.

 

I don’t care what McD says, because this team DOES take its foot off the gas and it is going to get them in trouble in games where we end up going, “damn they should have had that one.”  It’s those games that cost you the playoffs, not the games where you count on them to beat the Patriots.  We were 0-2 against the Pats in the 2017 playoff year, but we had to sweat it out after the Miami finale because we couldn’t beat a very beatable bengals team in week 5, because...damn, they should have had that one.

 

No matter what, though, I’ll take the 3-0 and I will especially take a 1 and 2 WR tandem that has 35 receptions through 3 games...that’s one of my takeaways.

 

Go Bills!

[Magox]

Here is another observation:

 

The delusional expectations of fans to believe that a team that is beginning to come into its own after only making the playoffs once in the past 20 years is expected to be nearly as dominant through 4 quarters of football consistently as a team such as the Patriots.  The Bills aren't the Patriots,  they have a 2nd year QB who was raw coming in, essentially a brand new offensive line, WR's, TE's and RB's and are doing enough to win games in the NFL.  Yet, some fans expect the Bills to be dominant from the get go.   They aren't there yet but the makings of a great team can be seen and with a few additional pieces, more cohesiveness and efficiency in all aspects they will get there.

 

Just enjoy the win and the fact that the Bills will get an opportunity to play against the Patriots heading into it with a 3-0 record.

 

Savor the moment.

[WideNine]

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

1.  You could tell that this offense missed Singletary today as the second half spark plug to get things going.  I think we need Singletary next week to have a realistic shot at winning.  Yeldon needs to work on ball security.  He has only had 8 touches this year and has put the ball on the ground. 

 

2.  This is only Josh's 15th NFL game, not even a full season yet.  I think we all need to remember that.  He is going to try to do too much and suffer from bad decisions as he learns his craft.  He threw another bad interception today, but he did rally the team and bring the Bills back on another 4th quarter,  game winning drive.  On the whole, I think he is playing solid football so far.  He is accurate (yeah, I said it) and he doesn't get down on himself and let his mind beat him when things go sideways.   He is clutch when it matters and when he got the ball in the 4th quarter today I expected him to score a touchdown.  I haven't felt that way about a Bills QB in a long time.

 

3.  Dawson Knox today.  One bad drop.  One touchdown.  One bulldozer, beast mode, Rambo run.  One helluva future.

 

4.  The defense continues to carry this team just like we all thought it would.  I read many times on this board over the off season that if the offense could just score a few points, with our defense being so dominant, that we would win some games, and that is exactly what has happened so far.  Our offense has averaged just 22 points a game through the first three games of the season and we are sitting at 3-0.  That is clearly a testament to how hard our defense is playing.

 

5.  I'm not worried about our kicking game anymore.  I don't know what happened between the pre-season and the regular season, but HouseMoney and Bojo are spot on so far.

 

6.  Our offense still hasn't put together four solid quarters of football yet.  I'm all about a 4th quarter comeback, but it would be nice to just get a lead and hold a lead.  I'm not sure what the issue is.  Hopefully McDermott and Daboll can figure it out and get it fixed because there are a lot of teams in this league that we are not going to be able to beat with just 2 or 3 quarters of good play.  Next week we are going to need all four quarters to beat the Pats.

 

7.  The AFC is not fairing well in inter-conference play.  It should help us down the road if we need to win a Wild Card to get into the playoffs.

 

8.  The Bills have not been shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties negating big plays or extending the other team's drives.  I think this is incredibly important and it is a marked departure from the pulling your hair out play of past undisciplined Bill's squads.

 

9.  I keep waiting for Oliver to finally get his hands on the QB.  It would be great to see Oliver bury Brady into the Bills logo next week for his first sack.

 

10.  The Bills D-line are all playing like they are ten feet tall.  We had another couple batted down passes at the line today.  We've only gotten one interception off them so far, but I suspect that will change if they keep it up.  Even if they don't translate to turnovers, they are still passes defended and they also effect a QB's accuracy when they start altering their throwing motion to get the ball around all those arms up in the throwing lanes.  

 

 

 

Nice call out on the Bills cleaning up much of the penalties. Missed that positive.

[cage]

2 hours ago, dollars 2 donuts said:

 

 

I joked with with a friend that Allen would have 180 yards at halftime and 193 for the game.

 

Truth is this is not a good trend...meaning this trend of getting 70+ percent or so of your passing yards in the first half (not accurate percentage and I didn’t check it, it just seems that way).

 

 

Great observation(s).  I think this is an area that they'll examine closely and will improve during the year.  3rd quarter has been rough so far, but then he finds his groove in the 4th.  

 

[CSBill]

3 hours ago, ColeB said:

 

Some of it is play calling.  There was one 2nd half drive where they were getting chunks running the ball to about midfield and then they decide to throw it deep.  This put them in unsuccessful 2nd and 10, and 3rd and 10 pass plays.  What’s wrong with running until they stop it.

 

Then, there was the 3rd and one, where they ran the jet sweep again and the Bengals were waiting for it and they lost yardage.

 

yes, both those were bad. The jet sweep in that situation also came after a time-out, they were running it down the Bengals throats and they dial up the gimmick play (which has been successful), that was the time to go straight ahead with your 240 pound QB.

2 hours ago, Magox said:

Here is another observation:

 

The delusional expectations of fans to believe that a team that is beginning to come into its own after only making the playoffs once in the past 20 years is expected to be nearly as dominant through 4 quarters of football consistently as a team such as the Patriots.  The Bills aren't the Patriots,  they have a 2nd year QB who was raw coming in, essentially a brand new offensive line, WR's, TE's and RB's and are doing enough to win games in the NFL.  Yet, some fans expect the Bills to be dominant from the get go.   They aren't there yet but the makings of a great team can be seen and with a few additional pieces, more cohesiveness and efficiency in all aspects they will get there.

 

Just enjoy the win and the fact that the Bills will get an opportunity to play against the Patriots heading into it with a 3-0 record.

 

Savor the moment.

 

"Can I get a witness? Give me an "Amen"!

[TPS]

Nice job @Inigo Montoya, your father would be proud....

 

Fickle Fans need to calm down. With the exception of the Dolphins, there is relative parity in the NFL, and on any given day...

 

just because a team is 0-3, does not make them bad. I recall a Bills team that started 0-3 and made the playoffs, and almost every year a team that starts slow finishes strong and makes it. The Bengals will beat some good teams. The Giants will beat some good teams, and the jets will when Darnold returns. 

 

The Bills have shown a resiliency that we haven't seen in a long time. I'm going to enjoy the ride...

[ganesh]

3 minutes ago, TPS said:

Nice job @Inigo Montoya, your father would be proud....

 

Fickle Fans need to calm down. With the exception of the Dolphins, there is relative parity in the NFL, and on any given day...

 

just because a team is 0-3, does not make them bad. I recall a Bills team that started 0-3 and made the playoffs, and almost every year a team that starts slow finishes strong and makes it. The Bengals will beat some good teams. The Giants will beat some good teams, and the jets will when Darnold returns. 

 

The Bills have shown a resiliency that we haven't seen in a long time. I'm going to enjoy the ride...

Agreed...Also, the schedule plays a lot into the W/L pattern.  The Bills play 5 games at home in the first half of the season, especially with a 3 straight home games after the game against the Titans. Then they play 5 road games in Nov/December...So the Bills need to stack as many wins in the 1st half as possible...A 7-1 record allows them to just win the remaining 3 games at home in the 2nd half for a 10-6 record with a possible playoff chance.   

[MJS]

The Bengals are not as bad as everyone believes. They've got some guys. They played Seattle tough. They usually play us tough. They will get some wins this year.

 

People are acting like we played the Dolphins 3 times. The Jets were not a bad team when we faced them. They fell apart AFTER they played us. Darnold and Mosely will come back and they will help the team win some games as well.

 

And the Giants, the weakest of the 3, just upset their opponent and got a win themselves.

 

Why would anyone have expected the Bills to be a dominant team that blows opponents out? We have a brand new offense with a 2nd year, raw QB. The defense is the strength of the team.

[billsfan_34]

Last week Bojo was booming them. This week eh, but the wind probably played a factor. 

[cd1]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

Good teams with Great QBs will put away bad opposition

Good teams with young QBs will keep the other team hanging around. 

 

The Bengals are not a bad team  They went on the road to Seattle and Buffalo, two most difficult places for opponents, and came within a whisker of winning both games.  They could easily be 2-1 today.    The Giants did win their first game.  In the NFL, there is no such thing as a bad team.. On any given Sunday !!!

 

Ha Ha - Tell that to Cleveland fans with their "Perfect Season" - ?

Edited September 23, 2019 by cd1