Our Beloved Bills and the State of the AFC - Week Four

[LeGOATski]

The BIlls suffered their first loss of the season, but remain 1 game ahead of the rest of the conference. Let’s take a look at the conference as a whole.

 

AFC Standings

 

 

Which 2-2 teams are going to separate themselves from the pack? 

 

Playoff Contenders:

The top 6 teams. The cream of the crop.

 

Chiefs

Pats

Ravens

Titans

Bills

Chargers

 

Both the Chiefs and Pats found themselves in trouble on Sunday, but were able to eek out wins. Against the Chiefs the Lions came out swinging (literally throwing punches to cause numerous fumbles), but just weren’t able to match the talent of the Chiefs, who showcase some awesome offensive play design at times. Mahomes is on pace for 6,040 yards and 40 TDs. In that offense anyone can make a play at any time. At one point third string TE Deon Yelder caught two consecutive passes for 50+ yards combined. Very Pats-like. In the 4th quarter, Kelce caught a pass while getting tackled and flipped the ball to McCoy, who gained another 15ish yards. Very rarely do you see an impromptu lateral like that. 

 

The Pats got lucky in Orchard Park. A number of crucial calls went their way, like the Gilmore PI that would’ve given the Bills 1st and goal. Instead, the refs waved off the flag without any explanation and the Bills were faced with 3rd and long.

 

 

?It was a catchable ball. There’s just no reason to overturn that. The ref saw the clear facemask and threw the flag. McDermott was visibly upset at the ref and you could lip-read him yelling "you threw the flag!!" Then he clapped 3 times and returned his attention to the field.

 

Anyways...I think the Pats’ defense showed that they’re susceptible to the run. Gore was the only Bills runner besides Josh Allen and he averaged 6.4 ypc. Expect the Pats to clean that up by the time the Bills meet them again.

 

Don’t look now, but the Ravens have lost 2 in a row, while the Browns and Steelers registered wins on Sunday. Their hold on the AFC North is in jeopardy. The Ravens defense was gashed by Chubb and the offense turned it over too many times. Despite the INTs, Lamar Jackson still looked pretty good. The Ravens don’t need to panic, but they need to refocus with games against the Steelers, Bengals, and Seahawks coming up before the bye week.

 

The Titans looked good in their win over the Falcons. They simply brought an intensity that the Falcons couldn’t match. Has Dan Quinn lost the team? You’d think the Falcons would show more fire when playing at home in the beautiful Mercedes Benz Stadium. Derrick Henry and AJ Brown embody their team’s namesake. Absolute beasts. That said, they can be shut down. Marcus Mariota ain’t anything special. They’ve faced some decent defenses so far, but nothing like the Bills. Buffalo’s defense can likely contain Henry and limit big plays from Brown. They’ll force the supporting cast to make plays and that doesn’t bode well for Tennessee. The Bills’ offense just needs to limit mistakes and they’ll likely do enough to win the game. The Titans defense is no push-over. However, they’ve given up a disappointing 4.6 yards per rush to go with 7 yards per pass. They’ve only allowed 16 points per game, but I think 16 points will be enough for the Bills to win this week.

 

I’ve watched the Bills game 3 times and each viewing was equally frustrating. Most of the frustration comes from Allen’s poor performance and the missed calls/non-calls. The silver lining is that the Bills could’ve easily won this game. They weren’t outclassed by the Pats to any degree. Belichick did not out-coach McDermott. McDermott’s contempt for the officiating crew was displayed on multiple occasions and he was justifiably angry in the post game presser. There’s no time to dwell on it, though. They have to just learn from it.

 

The Bills’ offense was the first to score a TD against the Pats this year. I’m so happy for Frank Gore getting to 15,000 yards. He’s everything you want in a RB and professional football player. It’s gonna be a sad day when he hangs up the helmet, but his career will be celebrated forever. 

 

Let’s continue the conversation on Dawson Knox, shall we? He is 2nd in receiving yards among rookie TEs (after being the 8th drafted), 22 yards behind Hockenson, but with only 8 receptions. That catch over Chung was amazing. Maybe they’ll start featuring him in the offense more.

 

Defense, defense, defense. They looked like the best in the league this week as they stifled the Pats’ entire offense. It was really nice to see Tremaine Edmunds up his intensity in this game. Anyone complaining about his run defense had to be happy with what they saw on Sunday. He was decisive and explosive. Towards the end he almost grabbed Brady’s pass for a pick 6. I would’ve lost my mind if that had happened.

 

Silver lining continued: the Bills still have one of the easiest schedules over the next two months. Titans, Dolphins, Eagles, Redskins, Browns, Dolphins, and Broncos. They need to win at least 5 of those. That will make this Pats loss as meaningless as possible. The Bills might be the top AFC wildcard contender at this point and they need to keep it that way. They just can’t lose focus. Do your 1/11th and take care of business.

 

2nd place in the AFC West is wide open and the Chargers drew the league’s most favorable matchup this week (Miami Dolphins). Miami’s stadium was half empty. Pathetic. Rosen made some solid throws, so maybe there’s still hope there. Miami looked strong in the first half and the Chargers looked like the Chargers: the league’s most talented underperformers. However, the Chargers took care of business in the second half. The Broncos already look finished and the Raiders suffered a big loss with the Burfict suspension (in terms of on-field performance, at least). The Chargers may have a clear road to 2nd place in their division, but I’m not sure that they’re strong Wildcard contenders yet.

 

The Texans, Jaguars, Colts, Raiders, and Browns all look like good Wildcard contenders after this week. Now we even have to keep an eye on the Steelers, considering their solid performance against the Bengals (granted, it’s the Bungles). Let’s see how they look against the Ravens and Chargers the next two weeks. Who’s going to separate themselves from the pack? My money is on the Colts right now. They have the Chiefs before the bye week, but then some decent matchups against the Texans, Broncos, Steelers, and Dolphins. That’s probably the easiest run of games among this muddied group of AFC hopefuls.

 

That’s all. Thanks for reading.

[Halloween Land]

Great write up! They got to beat the Titans this week to get back on track. If the Bills lose this week then it's the same old Bills. Let's see how they respond coming off their first lost of the year. 

[LeGOATski]

3 minutes ago, Zaso Art Designs said:

Great write up! They got to beat the Titans this week to get back on track. If the Bills lose this week then it's the same old Bills. Let's see how they respond coming off their first lost of the year. 

If Allen and Singletary play, I'm very confident they will. I have confidence in Barkley, but he's a backup in every sense of the word. 

 

I've watched every Titans game and they don't impress me overall. There are plenty of weaknesses for the Bills to exploit. 

[Jobot]

2 hours ago, Zaso Art Designs said:

Great write up! They got to beat the Titans this week to get back on track. If the Bills lose this week then it's the same old Bills. Let's see how they respond coming off their first lost of the year. 

 

I don't think we know what Tennessee is at this point (good team/bad team/okay team).  So a loss AT Tennessee on it's own definitely doesn't write the team off as same old Bills.  Plus Allen may not even play.

Edited October 1, 2019 by Jobot

[Freddie's Dead]

3 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

The BIlls suffered their first loss of the season, but remain 1 game ahead of the rest of the conference. Let’s take a look at the conference as a whole.

 

AFC Standings

 

 

Which 2-2 teams are going to separate themselves from the pack? 

 

Playoff Contenders:

The top 6 teams. The cream of the crop.

 

Chiefs

Pats

Ravens

Titans

Bills

Chargers

 

Both the Chiefs and Pats found themselves in trouble on Sunday, but were able to eek out wins. Against the Chiefs the Lions came out swinging (literally throwing punches to cause numerous fumbles), but just weren’t able to match the talent of the Chiefs, who showcase some awesome offensive play design at times. Mahomes is on pace for 6,040 yards and 40 TDs. In that offense anyone can make a play at any time. At one point third string TE Deon Yelder caught two consecutive passes for 50+ yards combined. Very Pats-like. In the 4th quarter, Kelce caught a pass while getting tackled and flipped the ball to McCoy, who gained another 15ish yards. Very rarely do you see an impromptu lateral like that. 

 

The Pats got lucky in Orchard Park. A number of crucial calls went their way, like the Gilmore PI that would’ve given the Bills 1st and goal. Instead, the refs waved off the flag without any explanation and the Bills were faced with 3rd and long.

 

 

?It was a catchable ball. There’s just no reason to overturn that. The ref saw the clear facemask and threw the flag. McDermott was visibly upset at the ref and you could lip-read him yelling "you threw the flag!!" Then he clapped 3 times and returned his attention to the field.

 

 

 

This non-call by the refs was huge.  They only pick up that flag for the Cheats.

[Rocket94]

3 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

The BIlls suffered their first loss of the season, but remain 1 game ahead of the rest of the conference. Let’s take a look at the conference as a whole.

 

AFC Standings

 

 

Which 2-2 teams are going to separate themselves from the pack? 

 

Playoff Contenders:

The top 6 teams. The cream of the crop.

 

Chiefs

Pats

Ravens

Titans

Bills

Chargers

 

Both the Chiefs and Pats found themselves in trouble on Sunday, but were able to eek out wins. Against the Chiefs the Lions came out swinging (literally throwing punches to cause numerous fumbles), but just weren’t able to match the talent of the Chiefs, who showcase some awesome offensive play design at times. Mahomes is on pace for 6,040 yards and 40 TDs. In that offense anyone can make a play at any time. At one point third string TE Deon Yelder caught two consecutive passes for 50+ yards combined. Very Pats-like. In the 4th quarter, Kelce caught a pass while getting tackled and flipped the ball to McCoy, who gained another 15ish yards. Very rarely do you see an impromptu lateral like that. 

 

The Pats got lucky in Orchard Park. A number of crucial calls went their way, like the Gilmore PI that would’ve given the Bills 1st and goal. Instead, the refs waved off the flag without any explanation and the Bills were faced with 3rd and long.

 

 

?It was a catchable ball. There’s just no reason to overturn that. The ref saw the clear facemask and threw the flag. McDermott was visibly upset at the ref and you could lip-read him yelling "you threw the flag!!" Then he clapped 3 times and returned his attention to the field.

 

Anyways...I think the Pats’ defense showed that they’re susceptible to the run. Gore was the only Bills runner besides Josh Allen and he averaged 6.4 ypc. Expect the Pats to clean that up by the time the Bills meet them again.

 

Don’t look now, but the Ravens have lost 2 in a row, while the Browns and Steelers registered wins on Sunday. Their hold on the AFC North is in jeopardy. The Ravens defense was gashed by Chubb and the offense turned it over too many times. Despite the INTs, Lamar Jackson still looked pretty good. The Ravens don’t need to panic, but they need to refocus with games against the Steelers, Bengals, and Seahawks coming up before the bye week.

 

The Titans looked good in their win over the Falcons. They simply brought an intensity that the Falcons couldn’t match. Has Dan Quinn lost the team? You’d think the Falcons would show more fire when playing at home in the beautiful Mercedes Benz Stadium. Derrick Henry and AJ Brown embody their team’s namesake. Absolute beasts. That said, they can be shut down. Marcus Mariota ain’t anything special. They’ve faced some decent defenses so far, but nothing like the Bills. Buffalo’s defense can likely contain Henry and limit big plays from Brown. They’ll force the supporting cast to make plays and that doesn’t bode well for Tennessee. The Bills’ offense just needs to limit mistakes and they’ll likely do enough to win the game. The Titans defense is no push-over. However, they’ve given up a disappointing 4.6 yards per rush to go with 7 yards per pass. They’ve only allowed 16 points per game, but I think 16 points will be enough for the Bills to win this week.

 

I’ve watched the Bills game 3 times and each viewing was equally frustrating. Most of the frustration comes from Allen’s poor performance and the missed calls/non-calls. The silver lining is that the Bills could’ve easily won this game. They weren’t outclassed by the Pats to any degree. Belichick did not out-coach McDermott. McDermott’s contempt for the officiating crew was displayed on multiple occasions and he was justifiably angry in the post game presser. There’s no time to dwell on it, though. They have to just learn from it.

 

The Bills’ offense was the first to score a TD against the Pats this year. I’m so happy for Frank Gore getting to 15,000 yards. He’s everything you want in a RB and professional football player. It’s gonna be a sad day when he hangs up the helmet, but his career will be celebrated forever. 

 

Let’s continue the conversation on Dawson Knox, shall we? He is 2nd in receiving yards among rookie TEs (after being the 8th drafted), 22 yards behind Hockenson, but with only 8 receptions. That catch over Chung was amazing. Maybe they’ll start featuring him in the offense more.

 

Defense, defense, defense. They looked like the best in the league this week as they stifled the Pats’ entire offense. It was really nice to see Tremaine Edmunds up his intensity in this game. Anyone complaining about his run defense had to be happy with what they saw on Sunday. He was decisive and explosive. Towards the end he almost grabbed Brady’s pass for a pick 6. I would’ve lost my mind if that had happened.

 

Silver lining continued: the Bills still have one of the easiest schedules over the next two months. Titans, Dolphins, Eagles, Redskins, Browns, Dolphins, and Broncos. They need to win at least 5 of those. That will make this Pats loss as meaningless as possible. The Bills might be the top AFC wildcard contender at this point and they need to keep it that way. They just can’t lose focus. Do your 1/11th and take care of business.

 

2nd place in the AFC West is wide open and the Chargers drew the league’s most favorable matchup this week (Miami Dolphins). Miami’s stadium was half empty. Pathetic. Rosen made some solid throws, so maybe there’s still hope there. Miami looked strong in the first half and the Chargers looked like the Chargers: the league’s most talented underperformers. However, the Chargers took care of business in the second half. The Broncos already look finished and the Raiders suffered a big loss with the Burfict suspension (in terms of on-field performance, at least). The Chargers may have a clear road to 2nd place in their division, but I’m not sure that they’re strong Wildcard contenders yet.

 

The Texans, Jaguars, Colts, Raiders, and Browns all look like good Wildcard contenders after this week. Now we even have to keep an eye on the Steelers, considering their solid performance against the Bengals (granted, it’s the Bungles). Let’s see how they look against the Ravens and Chargers the next two weeks. Who’s going to separate themselves from the pack? My money is on the Colts right now. They have the Chiefs before the bye week, but then some decent matchups against the Texans, Broncos, Steelers, and Dolphins. That’s probably the easiest run of games among this muddied group of AFC hopefuls.

 

That’s all. Thanks for reading.

Good and comprehensive summary of the Bills and Pats game. This one is for the books, so let us try to move on to Tennessee.

[The Jokeman]

1 minute ago, Rocket94 said:

Good and comprehensive summary of the Bills and Pats game. This one is for the books, so let us try to move on to Tennessee.

Exactly, not worth dwelling on it, as nothing going to change it. We're still in the driver seat for a wild card spot, we just need to win this weekend to keep it. 

[Rocket94]

1 minute ago, The Jokeman said:

Exactly, not worth dwelling on it, as nothing going to change it. We're still in the driver seat for a wild card spot, we just need to win this weekend to keep it. 

These are the toughest losses, but the Bills proved that they could play with the Pats. I just have to view it as a positive. Time to clear their heads and focus on the next opponent.

[BuffaloBaumer]

The Patriots will get to 7-0 barely breaking a sweat. I can't even believe how easy their first half of the schedule is....unreal

Edited October 1, 2019 by BuffaloBaumer

[LeGOATski]

3 hours ago, Jobot said:

 

I don't think we know what Tennessee is at this point (good team/bad team/okay team).  So a loss AT Tennessee on it's own definitely doesn't write the team off as same old Bills.  Plus Allen may not even play.

If Allen and Singletary are out, okay.

 

If they're in and still lose to the Titans, I'd lean towards the "same ol' Bills" notion. After 4 games, the Titans look like an okay team. It's one of the games the Bills should win.

1 hour ago, BuffaloBaumer said:

The Patriots will get to 7-0 barely breaking a sweat. I can't even believe how easy their first half of the schedule is....unreal

The Bills' schedule is just as easy, but I get what you're saying. They're the Champs. It's kinda like Alabama getting a bunch of easy matchups every year.

[LeGOATski]

3 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

This non-call by the refs was huge.  They only pick up that flag for the Cheats.

I just don't get it. I'm not sure if any of the press asked McDermott about it after, but I'd love to hear what the refs' reasoning was. It makes no sense to me.

 

If they had missed it, then so be it. But, they saw it and threw the flag. It's an easy call.

 

It's so frustrating.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

6 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

The BIlls suffered their first loss of the season, but remain 1 game ahead of the rest of the conference. Let’s take a look at the conference as a whole.

 

AFC Standings

 

 

Which 2-2 teams are going to separate themselves from the pack? 

 

That’s all. Thanks for reading.

 

TLDR    

 

Now that's how it should read.  Best record to worse and SOS 

 

 

[ctk232]

7 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

I’ve watched the Bills game 3 times and each viewing was equally frustrating. Most of the frustration comes from Allen’s poor performance and the missed calls/non-calls. The silver lining is that the Bills could’ve easily won this game. They weren’t outclassed by the Pats to any degree. Belichick did not out-coach McDermott. McDermott’s contempt for the officiating crew was displayed on multiple occasions and he was justifiably angry in the post game presser. There’s no time to dwell on it, though. They have to just learn from it.

 

The Bills’ offense was the first to score a TD against the Pats this year. I’m so happy for Frank Gore getting to 15,000 yards. He’s everything you want in a RB and professional football player. It’s gonna be a sad day when he hangs up the helmet, but his career will be celebrated forever. 

 

Let’s continue the conversation on Dawson Knox, shall we? He is 2nd in receiving yards among rookie TEs (after being the 8th drafted), 22 yards behind Hockenson, but with only 8 receptions. That catch over Chung was amazing. Maybe they’ll start featuring him in the offense more.

 

Defense, defense, defense. They looked like the best in the league this week as they stifled the Pats’ entire offense. It was really nice to see Tremaine Edmunds up his intensity in this game. Anyone complaining about his run defense had to be happy with what they saw on Sunday. He was decisive and explosive. Towards the end he almost grabbed Brady’s pass for a pick 6. I would’ve lost my mind if that had happened.

 

Silver lining continued: the Bills still have one of the easiest schedules over the next two months. Titans, Dolphins, Eagles, Redskins, Browns, Dolphins, and Broncos. They need to win at least 5 of those. That will make this Pats loss as meaningless as possible. The Bills might be the top AFC wildcard contender at this point and they need to keep it that way. They just can’t lose focus. Do your 1/11th and take care of business.

 

That’s all. Thanks for reading.

^can we say this a bit louder for the chicken little crowd? It's fine to be critical of Josh's play, it's fine to want better play and results from him and others on Sunday - but it's not logical in the least to take this all out of context and declare anything as being over...simple fact is this may be one of the two teams in this year's SB that we played on Sunday - and to have kept the "godly" Pats to 16 points, all while gifting four INTs, a fumble, and blocked punt, and put up 10 points (with likely even more without stupid errors and non-calls) is nothing to lose heads over...the Pats got very lucky they didn't lose that game, by any NFL standard with that toxic differential they should've won that game at least 42-10. If anything, they should be concerned.

Edited October 1, 2019 by ctk232

[LeGOATski]

42 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

 

TLDR    

 

Now that's how it should read.  Best record to worse and SOS 

 

 

Whatever. You read the entire thing and you're better off for it.

 

I think the Chargers and Titans are fool's gold right now. We'll see.

[LeGOATski]

7 minutes ago, ctk232 said:

^can we say this a bit louder for the chicken little crowd? It's fine to be critical of Josh's play, it's fine to want better play and results from him and others on Sunday - but it's not logical in the least to take this all out of context and declare anything as being over...simple fact is this may be one of the two teams in this year's SB that we played on Sunday - and to have kept the "godly" Pats to 16 points, all while gifting four INTs, a fumble, and blocked punt, and put up 10 points (with likely even more without stupid errors and non-calls) is nothing to lose heads over...the Pats got very lucky they didn't lose that game, by any NFL standard with that toxic differential they should've won that game at least 42-10. If anything, they should be concerned.

It certainly looked like the game was headed towards a Pats' blowout early on.

 

The Bills held the momentum more often than the Pats, but it was like they were stuck in quicksand. They just couldn't quite break free. Instead of figuratively kicking and screaming, Josh Allen just needs to calm down and let his team pull him out of the muck.

[ctk232]

1 minute ago, LeGOATski said:

It certainly looked like the game was headed towards a Pats' blowout early on.

 

The Bills held the momentum more often than the Pats, but it was like they were stuck in quicksand. They just couldn't quite break free. Instead of figuratively kicking and screaming, Josh Allen just needs to calm down and let his team pull him out of the muck.

Agreed - it's typical when the momentum is generated by the Defense, especially with a performance as consistent as we've ever seen on Sunday. That kind of momentum get's the engine going if you will, but the offense is what needs to get the wheels moving - poor analogy aside, it was a very different Allen we saw early in the game and was certainly more panicked in his play. The opening drive of the second half was almost a complete 180 and return to more of his form we saw in the last three weeks.

 

We all know he had issues with his pre-snap reads and in-play reads, but I'm curious to see in the all-22 what the extent of that was. Were the anticipation throws into open windows really not there most of the game? Was he just not seeing the openings and hitting them? Either way forcing him to hold the ball longer than he should. The other thing I'm curious to hear about, if we ever will, is what caused the attitude change for this game. He was clearly playing with a different mindset from the get go, and very much in conflict and out of character for how he composed himself through the first three games, including a rather sloppy first game against the Jets he at least kept composure for the majority of that game and especially in the 4th quarter.

 

I really wish we could've seen him at least finish the game, win or lose, to make his personal statement on that last drive or two - but there's a marked difference in his confidence between the first half on Sunday, and the opening drive of the second half, regardless of Yeldon being utilized as a passing back option and the hurry up.

[LeGOATski]

9 minutes ago, ctk232 said:

Agreed - it's typical when the momentum is generated by the Defense, especially with a performance as consistent as we've ever seen on Sunday. That kind of momentum get's the engine going if you will, but the offense is what needs to get the wheels moving - poor analogy aside, it was a very different Allen we saw early in the game and was certainly more panicked in his play. The opening drive of the second half was almost a complete 180 and return to more of his form we saw in the last three weeks.

 

We all know he had issues with his pre-snap reads and in-play reads, but I'm curious to see in the all-22 what the extent of that was. Were the anticipation throws into open windows really not there most of the game? Was he just not seeing the openings and hitting them? Either way forcing him to hold the ball longer than he should. The other thing I'm curious to hear about, if we ever will, is what caused the attitude change for this game. He was clearly playing with a different mindset from the get go, and very much in conflict and out of character for how he composed himself through the first three games, including a rather sloppy first game against the Jets he at least kept composure for the majority of that game and especially in the 4th quarter.

 

I really wish we could've seen him at least finish the game, win or lose, to make his personal statement on that last drive or two - but there's a marked difference in his confidence between the first half on Sunday, and the opening drive of the second half, regardless of Yeldon being utilized as a passing back option and the hurry up.

Yeah, it was frustrating. The Jets, Giants, Bengals all got pressure on Allen, but he was able to stand in the pocket and deliver. As soon as the Pats got pressure, Allen was scrambling backwards and throwing off his back foot. As another thread pointed out, his footwork was terrible from the get-go. 

 

He may have just been too amped up. Playing the champions adds an extra bit of intensity that's harder to control, especially for younger players.

Edited October 1, 2019 by LeGOATski

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

43 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

Whatever. You read the entire thing and you're better off for it.

 

I think the Chargers and Titans are fool's gold right now. We'll see.

 

  means I was joking ......  

 

Chargers and Titans are an interesting pair.   the prior has talent (yet diminished for a few reasons) , trailed to Miami in Miami before getting the W.

Tenny  rides on how well Mariota plays 

 

I thought the Falcons would still be competitive this year .....  how wrong I was 

[LeGOATski]

4 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

 

  means I was joking ......  

 

Chargers and Titans are an interesting pair.   the prior has talent (yet diminished for a few reasons) , trailed to Miami in Miami before getting the W.

Tenny  rides on how well Mariota plays 

 

I thought the Falcons would still be competitive this year .....  how wrong I was 

I know, I should've added my own winky face

 

The Chargers always seem to underperform. The constant has been Rivers. I really think they should move on from him. I know it won't happen, but they should trade him for a bunch of picks and use them to get their QB of the future. They should do it sooner rather than later.

[dous21]

We still have no idea how good some of these teams are, including us. Record doesn't mean anything right now. 

 

The Jets, Giants and Bengals are 3 of the worst teams in the league. Lets see how we play vs playoff contending teams. Browns just smacked the Ravens and the Jags have looked impressive.