A Few Thoughts about the *Patriots Game, in no particular order

[Sundancer]

14 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

Love your takes but this is a bit whiny ... we got punished on the ground and Allen missed more than he hit. We’re definitely not ready  ... yet 

 

This is true. The defense got pushed around most of the game, Brady could have knit sweaters back there, and the O, especially the line, was awful. 

 

The better team won. But the encouraging news is that the better team was only 7 points better and the Bills belonged on the field. 

[RaoulDuke79]

15 hours ago, zow2 said:

As much as it pains me, I was impressed that NE controlled the trenches today for the most part.  They don’t have the scary offense they used to have but their O and D linemen play strong.

Their O-line has been "strong" for years because they get away with an inordinate amount of holding calls.

[Ga boy]

13 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Maybe. Imo we did it to ourselves. To me there was no reason not to put Tre on Edelman and let Wallace and Kevin Johnson cover Harry and Sanue, which they could. We got away from blitzing, which was what completely transformed our defense the last month. We let them do what they do best. And we didn't stop them. And our one bugaboo, which is poor tackling, killed us. But that is the norm not the aberration. On offense, when we gambled we did best.

 

Same with the Steelers game. Much was made with bringing back DiMarco and Lee Smith and slowing down the offense but it was a disaster. The best plays except for the bomb to Brown in the Steelers game, were all from what we had been doing. The worst plays were back to the bunching up offense. It didn't work at all. Josh is clearly better when he is unbridled. 

Exactly.  We did it to ourselves, but BB did it to us more.  Always does.  He stacked to take away run and then made Josh hit accurate throws, which he did a couple times.  Not enough.  Bill knows what we all know:  JA is streaky and mostly off target.  Our O line got busted,  just the way Bill planned.  Basically, when the ball was snapped, it was JA vs BB.  Bill wins that chess match every time.  He did against Kelly in our first SB, and Kelly had more players.  Why would we think this team could beat the master mind?  I don’t want to play Bill in playoffs.  He will rope-a-dope us again.  Josh isn’t good enough right now, not to mention O line and receivers.  We could play them 10 times and maybe win one.  We have a better chance against every other team.  Go Bills!!

 

[Virgil]

Has anyone seen a replay of when Brady went downfield to block?  In real time, i thought he went after Tre's knees, even though he wasn't part of the play.

[Kelly the Dog]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

This game came down to time of possession and the Bills' inability to sustain any kind of offense. At the point the Pats scored to go ahead the time of possession in this game was 38 minutes to 16. It ended up 39 to 21 because the Bills last drive when the Pats are playing prevent because they know as long as they don't give up the touchdown they win was by a distance the longest drive (in terms of time) we had all day. About double our next longest. 

 

The D did not help itself in that sense in that it couldn't get off the field on 3rd down but there was a period there in the middle of that game where after Brady had started 9 of 9 he was 12 of 21. So we had a run either side of half time where he completed 3 attemtps out of 12. The problem was the D wore down. The number of missed tackles in the 4th Quarter was way up on the rest of the game. Did the Bills suddenly forget how to tackle? I think that unlikely. The mind was still willing but the body was no longer able. 

 

The Bills had 3 scoring drives. A short field (after the D created a turnover), a 32 second TD drive at the end of the first half and then a five play quick strike drive that took just 2:29 off the clock and put us up 17-13. After which we didn't manage a single first down until we were down by a touchdown. 

 

You don't win many NFL games when you lose time of possession 2:1. You certainly won't beat the Pats playing that way. Yes, compared to the exceptionally high standards they have set this year the defense was below par. But not by that much and the drives at the end were just pure exhaustion. We lost this game because we could not stay on the field on offense. I think on either of the two 3 and outs after the Brown TD drive if we had managed to generate just a couple of first downs and give our guys on D a little bit of a break they'd have made the plays down the stretch to win us the game. They were worn down. They are humans. It happens. 

 

As much as I loved the deep balls, two amazing throws, you cannot win in this league if you can't sustain some offense. And we couldn't all night. That is not me putting this game on Josh Allen either before anyone misinterprets it. There is plenty of blame to go around. But you cannot win when your defense is out there for 2/3s of a football game. 

The Pats had two drives in the first half of 7+ and 8+ minutes. That is where the TOP was, at least as much as the offensive woes. 

[Sandhill Mike]

5 hours ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

 

What’s most annoying is having to listen to Pats fans think their offense is back.

 

 

It will be all the sweeter when they get knocked out of the playoffs and start talking about moving on from Brady.  They're going to turn on their "goat" like a rabid dog.  Can't wait!

[WideRightRevenge]

18 hours ago, Virgil said:

why I hate the Pats, but then I watch a game and see all the things they do to win and it just reminds me how terrible I believe they are for the league and can't wait until they are done

 

Did anyone else see the cheap shot by Chase Winovich on the kickoff .. going after Haush?

[JM57]

8 hours ago, Pokebball said:

These are the things we don't know and the coaches do

I'm going to disagree to a point. There's really not a route on the tree or a concept that would call for the route Knox ran there. A deep out would have been a much harder cut to the outside, a corner post would have required any type of move toward the inside which didn't happen. There's just no route that looks like what Knox ran that directs you to the front pylon. 

 

I'm not Allen's biggest supporter around here, but he put that ball where the receiver needed to be/was expected to be. 

 

 

[BobbyC81]

18 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

I thought Hyde showed a lot of class not hitting Brady in the head while Oliver was tackling him on that run.

 

 

 

 

Class doesn’t win you football games.  I’d rather see him take advantage of the opportunity to knock the opposing QB out of the game.

[fansince88]

7 hours ago, Virgil said:

Has anyone seen a replay of when Brady went downfield to block?  In real time, i thought he went after Tre's knees, even though he wasn't part of the play.

I did not since the game but my thoughts at the time.

[row_33]

7 hours ago, Virgil said:

Has anyone seen a replay of when Brady went downfield to block?  In real time, i thought he went after Tre's knees, even though he wasn't part of the play.

Important block, added another 12 yards on the play 

 

 

[Livinginthepast]

7 hours ago, Virgil said:

Has anyone seen a replay of when Brady went downfield to block?  In real time, i thought he went after Tre's knees, even though he wasn't part of the play.

To be fair to Brady he made a pretty good block on Trey and took him out. He was also facing Trey  and went for the legs to upend him so it didn't look dirty. I think Trey was probably shocked when he saw Brady downfield and attempting to block him. Had it not been so weird and had someone else on the D had been closer to the ball carrier, I would have loved Trey to demolish Brady on that play and teach him to never let his old fragile self leave the safety of the pocket again!

[Buffalo Junction]

On 12/21/2019 at 8:32 PM, Virgil said:

 

Playing them again would mean both the wildcard teams need to win in the first round.  Or, we have to beat the Ravens on the road

Certainly possible, especially if Allen is going to hit deep shots and Brown is going to spin around top corners. ?‍♂️

[BuffaloHokie13]

On 12/21/2019 at 8:18 PM, Virgil said:

Sometimes I forget the reasons beyond Marsha, Hoodie, and cheap-shot Edelman as to why I hate the Pats, but then I watch a game and see all the things they do to win and it just reminds me how terrible I believe they are for the league and can't wait until they are done.

 

 

[Easterner]

Virgil, don't know why you or anyone thought we could beat the Pats.

Reality is we are just a so so team, not good or bad. The playoffs were

made by a soft soft schedule.There was not one good team we beat

all year. I believe the only team we beat with a winning record was

Pittsburgh (8-7)who probably won't make the playoffs with poor QB

play and could't beat the bad Jets yesterday.

Substitute the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams in place of the Cowboys,

Giants and Redskins and we wind up  8-8 or 7-9 

Just to upset more people, Allen's passing numbers don't match

Tyrod Taylor's but maybe we get lucky in the playoffs. Better to be 

lucky than good. 

[Rocbillsfan1]

1 hour ago, BuffaloHokie13 said:

 

Lol at people blaming the defense as the number 1 problem. You are playing the goat in his home where he is 42-1 with Edelman in the starting lineup. Have some freaking balls and bring your a game. McDermott played scared and gave the patriots 3 points by not challenging the 4th and 1 play in the first half. Just a dumb reason to not lose one of three timeouts they still had. Also not having the balls to go for it on 4th and 1 in the second half when the offense kept going 3 and out and not trying to sling the ball around more. Terrible gameplan, and terrible offensive philosophy all around. They need to let Allen lose and stop trying to protect him so much. Daboll has some terrible play calls at bad timing inside of the red zone in the first quarter and at the end of the game. It would have been nice to blitz Brady more but what killed the bills was not being able to sustain any sort of offense when they had the lead. Everyone knows the best defense at times is a good offense and the offense took the their foot off the gas and left the defense out to dry. Anyone notice the time differential? The defense was gassed by the end of that game. You want to win in NE then you need to put your big boy pants on and score more than 17 points. End of story. We aren’t trying to squeak out wins against Pitts and a third string qb. Come on people. 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Rocbillsfan1

[yungmack]

Serious question for those who might know (not just guessing): Who makes the D decisions, McD or Fraser?

[Pokebball]

On 12/22/2019 at 10:34 AM, Ga boy said:

Exactly.  We did it to ourselves, but BB did it to us more.  Always does.  He stacked to take away run and then made Josh hit accurate throws, which he did a couple times.  Not enough.  Bill knows what we all know:  JA is streaky and mostly off target.  Our O line got busted,  just the way Bill planned.  Basically, when the ball was snapped, it was JA vs BB.  Bill wins that chess match every time.  He did against Kelly in our first SB, and Kelly had more players.  Why would we think this team could beat the master mind?  I don’t want to play Bill in playoffs.  He will rope-a-dope us again.  Josh isn’t good enough right now, not to mention O line and receivers.  We could play them 10 times and maybe win one.  We have a better chance against every other team.  Go Bills!!

 

BB kicked our defenses ass.  BB kicked our RBs ass.  BB kicked our defensive lines ass.  BB kicked our offensive lines ass.  And BB kicked our QBs ass.

 

BB did show that our QB was still developing, I agree with you.  BB also showed that our defense wasn't as good as we thought.  BB also showed that our running game wasn't as good as we thought.  BB also showed that our defensive and offensive lines weren't as good as we thought.  BB showing us what we all already knew wasn't the surprise.  BB showing us what we all didn't know was the surprise to me and is what cost us the game.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Pokebball

[bills and clippers fan]

I didn't "study" this game.  I just watched it.  So I don't have any real insight.  Like I normally do.  At least in my opinion.

 

The only thing I did kinda notice.   And I guess, correct me if I'm wrong,

 

BUT WHY WASNT EDELMAN DOUBLE TEAMED THE ENTIRE GAME.  Taking a page out of Bellichicks playbook.  Stop their best weapon.  It seemed like he converted crucial first downs.  Oh well.  I got nothing else to say.

[CorkScrewHill]

Awesome twitter exchange between Tom Brady and Tre’Davious White .... and a nice visual of the “non-grounding”.  https://billswire.usatoday.com/2019/12/23/buffalo-bills-tre-davious-white-tom-brady-chill/amp/

 

Tre is a baller even with Brady

Edited December 24, 2019 by CorkScrewHill