The expectations of too many fans are out of whack

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, I am the egg man said:

Bills were clearly exposed on both sides of the ball today.

 

That hasn't happened much this year. With mediocre competition that can win games.

 

But convincing wins by them are few also. It is a process.

 

 

 

 

Exposed by being ten yards away from a tie on the road?

[row_33]

Just now, I am the egg man said:

Bills were clearly exposed on both sides of the ball today.

 

That hasn't happened much this year. With mediocre competition that can win games.

 

But convincing wins by them are few also. It is a process.

 

 

 

 

good thing the Steeelers were reduced to their 3rd string QB or it would have been 3 losses in a row

 

imagine the Bills our there with their 3rd strong QB.... is it Losman ?

 

[Max Fischer]

4 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

LOL.  You are also engaging in rationalization or bargaining.

 

This is the 3rd stage of grief.  I just made the same comment in a different thread.

 

This is hilarious.

 

 

 

Looks like someone is set firmly in denial. 

[Nihilarian]

There was thread after thread of some homers here talking crap before the season about if McD is going to be back next year if the Bills don't do well. 

 

All they did was complain about this GM & HC and talking about all the mistakes they have made...about getting rid of top talent like Sammy Watkins.

 

Yet,10-5 and IN the playoffs. You know what? Those fans are still not happy. 

 

Yes, this was their first season out of cap hell, and that cap hell was without paying an elite QB. This regime didn't go crazy and sign one of those over priced cancer players. The bills have all their picks for next year to find that elite #1 WR, beef up the pass rush and O line. 

 

Be happy, they could still go all the way! 

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, John from Riverside said:

Two things

 

I bet if fans were told they would have 10 wins at this point in the year at the beginning of the season....they totally would have taken

 

This team is STILL not a finished product.....this is year 1 after a massive rebiuld.....the fact that we are doing this well with the offense playing so poorly is great

Just one little problem. By the time we get all the offensive pieces in place will our defense still be in tact? Windows in the NFL don't stay open long. Unless you're the Patriots. 

[US Egg]

10 minutes ago, row_33 said:

good thing the Steelers were reduced to their 3rd string QB or it would have been 3 losses in a row

 

imagine the Bills out there with their 3rd string QB.... is it Losman ?

 

I was thinking Marlin Briscoe.

[John from Riverside]

2 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Just one little problem. By the time we get all the offensive pieces in place will our defense still be in tact? Windows in the NFL don't stay open long. Unless you're the Patriots. 

Our D is still pretty young and I am hopeful that Beane is hard court pressing on playmakers on offense this offseason.

[Perk71]

1 hour ago, MDH said:

Yeah, I’m excited about the playoff birth but I think that Brady has one regular season game left with the Pats. I wanted to beat that team in their place before he left. 
 

Maybe I’m wrong and he stays and we get another shot but I have my doubts.

 

And yeah, I realize it sounds weird that I’m hoping Brady plays another year but I want to beat him not just wait until he goes away.

That's my thought process too. I wanted them to beat the Patriots with Brady before he leaves. Don't want to hear the naysayers after he's gone and the Bills are beating them regularly.  I hope they get another shot at them in the playoffs this year. 32 years of fandom and still going strong...haha

Go Bills!!

[mannc]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

Im Mostly disappointed because every team in the NFL gets their “signature” win against the Pats.  This year the Ravens, Chiefs and Texans all got em. But Buffalo can never beat Brady and Belichek’s defenses have owned Buffalo since Super Bowl 25.  Just tired of it.

This really sums it up.  
 

When we settled for a FG after the fumble recovery and the Pats shredded our defense on a long TD drive, I knew it was going to be just another loss to this team that’s owned Buffalo like no other team has ever owned another team.  It literally makes me ill because I think this is Brady’s last season and we’ll never get to watch him walk off the field, vanquished by the Buffalo Bills.  It’s just never going to happen.

36 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Our D is still pretty young and I am hopeful that Beane is hard court pressing on playmakers on offense this offseason.

And a new OC

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, mannc said:

This really sums it up.  
 

When we settled for a FG after the fumble recovery and the Pats shredded our defense on a long TD drive, I knew it was going to be just another loss to this team that’s owned Buffalo like no other team has ever owned another team.  It literally makes me ill because I think this is Brady’s last season and we’ll never get to watch him walk off the field, vanquished by the Buffalo Bills.  It’s just never going to happen.

Even though we went right down the field and had a first down at the 15 or so? There was no chance to win?

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Kelly the Dog said:

My problem was the two major changes for this team that made them inarguably better in the last 5-6 games they abandoned. They did not hurry up, or spread the defense like they did when the offense was rolling more. They did not crowd the box and Blitz like clearly helped in the last several games of getting more pressure and sacks. They went back to their less aggressive team strategy for this game, and it cost them imo. 

 

Do you think this was intentional and they treated this game as a preseason type of game? Preseason isn't really the right word, but I mean they didn't throw in any of their usual wrinkles. It was a pretty simple game plan across the board. Like they wanted to beat the Patriots but they didn't particularly care if it turned into a loss. The players didn't seem all that dejected in their post-game interviews, the way that they did after the Baltimore loss. McDermott kept talking about "fundamentals" in his press conference but didn't mention anything about game strategy. The whole thing feels a little weird.

[mannc]

10 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Even though we went right down the field and had a first down at the 15 or so? There was no chance to win?

 But we didn’t.  And we never do against New England.

[london_bills]

4 minutes ago, mannc said:

 But we didn’t.  And we never do against New England.

You win or you dont. 

 

General stuff I've heard is that the Pats are in decline, brady's not the same. Beat them then. 

Edited December 22, 2019 by london_bills

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2 hours ago, Azucho98 said:

Defense was on the field wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too long they were toast by the 4th quarter.

 

And they have no one to blame but themselves.

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

Do you think this was intentional and they treated this game as a preseason type of game? Preseason isn't really the right word, but I mean they didn't throw in any of their usual wrinkles. It was a pretty simple game plan across the board. Like they wanted to beat the Patriots but they didn't particularly care if it turned into a loss. The players didn't seem all that dejected in their post-game interviews, the way that they did after the Baltimore loss. McDermott kept talking about "fundamentals" in his press conference but didn't mention anything about game strategy. The whole thing feels a little weird.

The players love him. And rightfully so. I don't want them questioning his strategy. And especially not in interviews. 

 

I also think that players and especially fans ALWAYS want to be more aggressive and blitz more and they are often very wrong. Everyone knows it's risk reward. That said, OUR defense is made for more blitzing. We have a great secondary that misses some tackles but is very sound for the most part. We have two extremely fast linebackers in Edmunds and Milano who are both good blitzers. In the last 4-5 games we have blitzed more and it was an enormous difference in sacks and pressure. A lot of it came from the safeties and corners, all of which are good blitzers. 

 

And then we just abandoned it today. The only way to beat Brady is pressure him. We weren't getting it from four. Edelman was the only guy really hurting us in pass game and I was screaming to put Tre on him, KJ and Wallace on Harry and Sanu and pressure Brady. They rarely if ever did and he killed them dinking and dunking like he has forever. I think it was a huge mistake. 

6 minutes ago, mannc said:

 But we didn’t.  And we never do against New England.

I was responding to your point that the game was over before that drive, or you thought they had zero chance first down at the 15. Not that they did or didn't score. 

[GoBills808]

Vanilla on offense and defense and in retrospect I think it was for a reason. Played some of the best in the conference tough now three weeks running. 
 

Get everyone healthy for a playoff run. I’m not reading too much into this one. 

[HappyDays]

3 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

And then we just abandoned it today.

 

Right but I'm wondering if this was calculated. As in, McDermott looked at the playoff picture and realized this game was entirely meaningless unless Miami goes into New England and wins, which is so beyond the realm of possibility it is not even worth considering. So he decided to play a simple game with a vanilla scheme and save the wrinkles for the playoffs. Maybe if Cincinnati won last week our game plan would have been completely different.

 

This is all conjecture on my part. But I noticed the same thing you did, that we didn't play the same type of scheme on offense or defense that we've been playing over the past few weeks. And I can't help but think there is a reason for that. In Dallas we sold out to get the win. Last week we sold out to get the win. This week we didn't put anything new on tape. We just played basic football.

[Kelly the Dog]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Right but I'm wondering if this was calculated. As in, McDermott looked at the playoff picture and realized this game was entirely meaningless unless Miami goes into New England and wins, which is so beyond the realm of possibility it is not even worth considering. So he decided to play a simple game with a vanilla scheme and save the wrinkles for the playoffs. Maybe if Cincinnati won last week our game plan would have been completely different.

 

This is all conjecture on my part. But I noticed the same thing you did, that we didn't play the same type of scheme on offense or defense that we've been playing over the past few weeks. And I can't help but think there is a reason for that. In Dallas we sold out to get the win. Last week we sold out to get the win. This week we didn't put anything new on tape. We just played basic football.

Hard to say. I thought it was a huge mistake to go away from the hurry up and 11 against Pitt. They won but it was rewarding bad behavior. The vast majority of good plays were out of the 11 and vast majority of bad plays out of the DiMarco Lee Smith offense with one exception (the bomb to Brown). I think there were several bad tactical errors this game. I also think beating them, regardless of whether they would have won the division would have been huge. I don't at all for the playing possum idea. 

[mannc]

16 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

I was responding to your point that the game was over before that drive, or you thought they had zero chance first down at the 15. Not that they did or didn't score. 

I never said zero chance.  I said I knew it was going to end like all Bills games against NE do.  And it did.

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, mannc said:

I never said zero chance.  I said I knew it was going to end like all Bills games against NE do.  And it did.

That's zero chance. Who were your math teachers?