Bills Fans Are Really Overanalyzing The Loss To The Patriots

[Boatdrinks]

3 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

They're never "the same Patriots" but somehow they manage to win games, especially playoff games.  Against a more complete team with more play makers, especially on offense, than the Bills have, they probably aren't "the same Patriots" but the Bills still have a ways to go to compete with the AFC's elite.

The Bills definitely have a ways to go to accomplish that. The other top teams in the AFC have closed the gap already, and the Pats sans Gronkowski et al are not the same at all. 

[mannc]

4 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

Can’t disagree, but we already knew this. The Bills roster overhaul is not yet complete. While most of last seasons putrid offense has been replaced, they are still missing a couple of key pieces. They’re better on that side of the ball, but not good enough to carry the team deep into the playoffs. Still, they have a good chance at a WC round win even with a suspect offense. 

The Patriots have major issues, and one game hardly means they’ve gotten into gear. They hung on to win at home Vs a questionable Bills offense. These are clearly not the same Patriots. 

I thought they looked like the same old Patriots last night.  They dominated on both sides of the ball.  I have no idea how we had a chance to tie it at the end.  That being said, I’d probably rather go to Foxborough in the second round than to Baltimore.

[Chris66]

6th seed would have to beat KC for a bills pats division round rematch

[Happy]

19 hours ago, cDAVIS said:

Since when is losing by 1 score and almost getting it at the end of the game IN NEW ENGLAND mean that the players and coaches weren't treating it like a playoff game. Honestly, are you ***** nuts? 

They have the best D in the league and are getting a bye in the playoffs. Several other years they have done worse. Check your *****

 

Great, another dumb s**t newbie.  Just what we need around here.  Piss off.

[3rdand12]

21 hours ago, Success said:

I dunno.  I'm at a point of psychosis - I'm seriously worried about my mental health. That team has dominated us in a way that  is one-sided to the extreme. I'm really grappling w/ it right now - trying to figure out different rationalizations, or things outside of my "sports fan" life that might make me feel better. 

 

I don't think any fan should have to go through this, though. I don't care how whiny it sounds.  I just want to beat that team.

 

Lets hope we see them again in the playoffs and make this right.
I feel ya

[Happy]

11 hours ago, CSBill said:

 

REALLY, you know that for sure?

 

To the thread title, we're fans, that's what we do = OVERREACT. And I submit this post as exhibit "A," your Honor.

 

Do you know they didn't for sure?  No you don't.

 

It didn't appear that the coaches schemed for the Pats at all, and it may have been by design thinking about it, at least on defense.  Very vanilla defense and McD made a comment about fundamental issues. 

[Motorin']

21 hours ago, row_33 said:

sure it will

 

you think they pranced around the dressing room and said who cares?

 

 

Did you play sports?  Did you laugh after a hard loss in football?

 

 

I'm pretty sure they started fighting about whose fault the loss was and who needs to be fired... 

[stevewin]

22 hours ago, Success said:

I dunno.  I'm at a point of psychosis - I'm seriously worried about my mental health. That team has dominated us in a way that  is one-sided to the extreme. I'm really grappling w/ it right now - trying to figure out different rationalizations, or things outside of my "sports fan" life that might make me feel better. 

 

I don't think any fan should have to go through this, though. I don't care how whiny it sounds.  I just want to beat that team.

 

This morning as I sighed my frustration my wife took a moment and looked me in the eye and said "Look around you" - quoting the stupid Kay Jewelers commercial ?  - she thought she was funny

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by stevewin

[3rdand12]

4 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

The Bills definitely have a ways to go to accomplish that. The other top teams in the AFC have closed the gap already, and the Pats sans Gronkowski et al are not the same at all. 

nice wordplay
agreed about Bills still have plenty work to do. thats okay.

 But the game sure as heck meant something to Bills et al Fans and then Patriots.

 Biggest game of the year in my opinion for Bills.

No excuses.

lets get em next go around 

 Go Blls

[LB48]

23 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

I wanted to the Bills to best the Patriots more than anyone, but after reading Twitter and some of the comments in here, I can’t help but feel that fans are overvaluing this loss to New England.  
 

It would have been fun to beat New England but in the grand scheme, the Patriots were never losing to Miami next week.  The Bills would be a 5 seed either way.  I think that some fans don’t understand that this wasn’t for the AFC East Championship

 

In two weeks when we play Houston or KC, what effect would a win versus NE really have?  Would a Bills victory over NE mean anything in the Wildcard round?  Absolutely not.   
 

Does the loss mean that they are any less likely not to pull off an upset?  Probably not
 

Most fans won’t even think about this game in two weeks and just like the players they’ll be “onto Houston” or wherever else.

 

I also don’t seem this loss as having any effect on players.  As great as the Bills fan base is, they are super reactionary, and many online are saying “this shows the Bills won’t ever win a playoff game.  One and done.”  WTF
 

Overall point here is either way, we would have been the 5th seed.  This loss means nothing other than showing that the Bills might be a few players away from challenging for a Super Bowl, but overall they are trending upward

THANK YOU for telling all the posters on this board what to think!

[Phil The Thrill]

Just now, LB48 said:

THANK YOU for telling all the posters on this board what to think!

Because the dramatic takes on here are so realistic.  How dare I!?!?!?!?

[3rdand12]

21 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

Because the dramatic takes on here are so realistic.  How dare I!?!?!?!?

I appreciate you.

[Dopey]

23 hours ago, stevewin said:

This morning as I sighed my frustration my wife took a moment and looked me in the eye and said "Look around you" - quoting the stupid Kay Jewelers commercial ?  - she thought she was funny

 

 

You sound like a lucky man.?

[Apocalypse Nuts]

On 12/21/2019 at 9:11 PM, Happy Gilmore said:

Winning or losing doesn't change anything for the Bills.  However, this game needed to be treated like a playoff game.  It wasn't by the players or coaches.

 

Why did it need to be treated like a playoff game?  Why did they have to do everything they could to win a game that, realistically, had zero impact on the playoffs for the Bills?  Please explain. 

 

For some reason, many of you got way over invested emotionally in this one particular game and now your feelings are hurt.  So now you're appalled by the lack of effort or creativity or whatever.  Our coaches are not dummies.  They're very slick.  They were absolutely not going to give away anything at all that might give the slightest hint of what they would do to the Pats in a potential playoff game. 

 

Playoff games need to be treated like playoff games.  Not interesting but pretty much meaningless. except for ego, regular season games.  We all saw very vanilla play calling on both sides of the ball, for the most part.  I think the offense was playing down intentionally especially in the run game.  Look, the Bills damn near pulled off an upset win with exactly this basic and unimaginative game plan anyway.  How great is that?  It almost feels like, because of the playoff situation and the fact that even a win over the Pats would still need a Pats loss to the friggin' Dolphins to take the division away, the all said "hey let's not give anything away.  Let's save it for a very possible playoff game meeting that will actually mean something real.  And if we can beat them anyway just on simple play calling but great execution and fundamentals, then even better."  Something like that.

 

I mean it's really easy to tell which of you on here were looking at this game and this game only on Saturday without keeping an eye on the big picture.  The Bills actually have the problem of being able to do just that, finally, because they are already in the playoff with a few weeks to go.  That's a great problem to have.  If you've made it now to your 2nd playoff round in 19 years, would you not take it a little more seriously and do some major planning ahead for your potential opponents?  With this Bills squad as young as they are, you'd better.

 

And you all are getting way to over invested emotionally in how good this Bills team really is and how far they've come along in their development as this version of the team right now.  This is practically year 1 for the offense.  The D is different but they're playing like they've been together for a while now.  Kudos to them.  But the offense is still a work in progress.  Some of you all are expecting near perfection each and every game and you go back and second guess and pick apart everything.  You're expecting each player and each facet and each play to be absolutely perfect, or darn near and you're expecting them to somehow to be scoring 30+ points each game or be failures.  Look at the way some of you all over analyze the crap out of each game with your little rundowns every week. 

 

This is not a playoff offense right now by any stretch.  Frazier and McD are coaching the hell out of this defense and they're playing in serious playoff level and that's why they made the post season again.  As dynamic as Daboll will have this offense going in a year or two, with all the new pieces and very young players right now, that's not going to happen overnight.  When it does...watch out. They O is still finding it's identity.  They'll get there and in the meantime you just gotta really appreciate the success they've actually had this season in spite of all the challenges.  Oh, and they've played some really, really good D's the last few games.  Hanging tough with those big dogs says a lot too  win or lose.  And don't give me any junk about 'moral victories.'  That's not what I'm talking about.

 

 

[Apocalypse Nuts]

On 12/22/2019 at 8:05 PM, LB48 said:

THANK YOU for telling all the posters on this board what to think!

 

See you're just keeping it going.  Some of us actually see the big picture and we get a little tired of all the whining all the time about this didn't happen.  Or the coaches didn't do this.  Or why didn't they run this defense?  ...etc  Some of you just act like you know literally everything and anyone else is just stupid for not seeing the obvious like you do.  One of my favs is when someone says "When are they going to let Tre White actually cover the other teams best receiver and stick to him all day long?"  They are and he does.  If you see something different that's because the coaches had something different in mind they thought was a good idea to run based on their, wait for it, decades of actual football coaching experience.  Believe it or not, they actually know a thing or two about the game that you do not.  Shocking I know. 

 

But I'll be fair.  If you're going to whine all the time, and that's your right to do so of course.  But then don't get so uptight when we tell you what we think.  This response above is a perfect example of how personally you take these losses.  You all kind of act like you have been following a team other than the Buffalo Bills the last twenty years you expect such perfection.  Let's all step back and take a deep breath now and close our eyes.  Open them...what do we see here?  Oh my!  The Bills have 10 wins (!) already????  They have solidified the 5th seed?????  That's pretty impressive when you actually look at the big picture. 

 

Speaking for myself, I must be a glutton for punishment coming back here and reading threads I know I won't like from the same members over and over.  It's like I'm subconsciously thinking they're going to actually say something different.  And I, personally, definitely get confrontational.  It's who I am.  It's the first reason why I don't go to bars anymore to watch any games.  I can't sit there and hold my tongue anymore when someone is spewing total nonsense.  (the second reason is I don't drink anymore so bars are kind of awkward places for me now, but I digress).  Most days I can just hold my tongue (keyboard fingers?) no matter what nonsense I read but then I get a little mojo going and just gotta say something.  I don't know.  I'm rambling now.  I guess we all can do a better job of saying our pieces without coming across like we're telling anyone else what to think.  And vice versa. 

 

I'll step down from my soap box now.  Thank you for your time. 

 

What?

 

I don't know.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Distorted One

[Happy]

12 minutes ago, Distorted One said:

Why did it need to be treated like a playoff game?  Why did they have to do everything they could to win a game that, realistically, had zero impact on the playoffs for the Bills?  Please explain.

 

It would have been good to gain more momentum going into the playoffs, but McD probably didn't see it this way.  Thinking about it some more, he probably didn't consider this an important game for a couple of reasons such as injuries, factors outside of Buffalo's control to win the AFCE (Miami beating NE this week), and game planning for the playoffs.  You pointed out that McD wasn't going to divulge anything he might possibly do in the playoffs, you're probably right about that.  With the vanilla game plan, in general, I think McD is stressing fundamentals to the team (though they fell short in executing).  They'll do something similar vs NYJ this Sunday, which I think will be better executed due to practicing fundamentals this week.

 

 Well reasoned post, though lengthy.  There is a thread started by one of the mods, Simon, discussing the coach's intent for the Pats game; you might want to check that out.

[Apocalypse Nuts]

18 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

It would have been good to gain more momentum going into the playoffs, but McD probably didn't see it this way.  Thinking about it some more, he probably didn't consider this an important game for a couple of reasons such as injuries, factors outside of Buffalo's control to win the AFCE (Miami beating NE this week), and game planning for the playoffs.  You pointed out that McD wasn't going to divulge anything he might possibly do in the playoffs, you're probably right about that.  With the vanilla game plan, in general, I think McD is stressing fundamentals to the team (though they fell short in executing).  They'll do something similar vs NYJ this Sunday, which I think will be better executed due to practicing fundamentals this week.

 

 Well reasoned post, though lengthy.  There is a thread started by one of the mods, Simon, discussing the coach's intent for the Pats game; you might want to check that out.

 

Thank you.  I'll check that out.

I'm really liking the McD hire these days.  I had no idea he would turn out so well.  He's very intelligent and he surrounds himself with great coaching minds.  He's got this really great football mind but he's also all about building a ream "Team" and doing it the right way so guys are proud to be Bills and fight hard for each other .   You can already feel it from guys like Hyde and Beasley, even Jordan Phillips.  We've all been super loyal to the Bills when 99% of other teams' fans would have bailed a long time ago.  I think our loyalty and patience is about to be rewarded.  I mean, it's starting to be cool to be a Bills fan in this modern era.  People want to see what this young gritty team and their young, very respectable QB can do. 

[SNICE]

On 12/21/2019 at 9:12 PM, Success said:

I dunno.  I'm at a point of psychosis - I'm seriously worried about my mental health. That team has dominated us in a way that  is one-sided to the extreme. I'm really grappling w/ it right now - trying to figure out different rationalizations, or things outside of my "sports fan" life that might make me feel better. 

 

I don't think any fan should have to go through this, though. I don't care how whiny it sounds.  I just want to beat that team.

 

You’re not alone, if that helps at all.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Phil, I agree the loss won't have any effect on the players or the outcome of the game in Houston.  Perhaps in a weird way the coaches will realize a vanilla non-attacking defensive scheme won;t work and they will be more aggressive.  

[Another Fan]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Phil, I agree the loss won't have any effect on the players or the outcome of the game in Houston.  Perhaps in a weird way the coaches will realize a vanilla non-attacking defensive scheme won;t work and they will be more aggressive.  

Yeah the most upsetting part of that game to me is the Chiefs most likely won’t get the 2 seed.

 

I hope the Bills use that as a chip on their shoulder going into the playoffs versus a we got this attitude and lay an egg against Houston