a few thoughts about the Chiefs game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

This is the first week I'm going to list these thoughts in a particular order.  I'm going to start with the good and then get to the bad.  Win or lose, there's always some positives, so let's do that...

 

1 - Bojo - Kid had some great punts today in both positioning and power.  He really flipped the field today and did everything he could to give the Chiefs bad field position.  He's taken some grief for his laces out hold last week, but he's definitely come a long way since last season to be a reliable part of the team.  I'm not going to talk about the Bass miss before halftime, even though it wasn't even close, as those misses are going to happen with a rookie kicker in these conditions, and that's what McD signed up for.  And that's the end of the positive list...

 

2 - Allen - I'm not going to talk about his stats, his missed throw to Diggs in the end zone, or his overall inaccuracy at times.  I'm just going to talk about the key things that makes Allen who he is, and that's his swagger.  For the past two weeks, Allen hasn't had that look in his eyes, that kid-like excitement, and that overall confidence that made you believe he could score from anywhere on the field.  I don't know if he just doesn't know what to do against these defenses, but I don't believe he's seen anything dramatically new these past few weeks.  Whatever it is, Allen has taken a step back these two weeks and hopefully it's not a sign of things to come.  This is the most concerning thought to me as this is something I didn't think would ever go away.  Right now, the MVP talk has to stop and figure out if this is the first 2 games is a sign of things to come, and hope we see Josh of old next week against the Jets.

 

3 - Daboll - Players have to execute, and I'll get to that in a minute.  Against the Rams and the Chiefs, we've seen first hand what misdirection runs can do for an offense.  Daboll seemed to finally understand this in the 2nd quarter as we ran quite a few misdirection/zone runs and found success.  It created decent length runs and kept our defense off the field.  Once halftime came though, we just abandoned it again and went back to runs up the middle to little or no gain.  I hate being a couch coach saying what's obvious to me, but this has been an issue all season to which we are not adjusting.

 

4 - Look into any eyes you find by you, you can see clear to another day,

Maybe been seen before, through other eyes on other days while going home.

What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?

It's all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago.

 

5 - Frazier - Regardless of total yards, you have to give the defense the credit for keeping it a 3 point game at halftime.  Yards mean nothing if they don't translate to points.  If the defense makes a single 3rd down stop on the last drive, the Bills offense gets the ball back with a chance to win it.  However, against a team like the Chiefs where you know you have to get the off the field eventually, you can't afford so many 3rd down broken coverages.  I also understand wanting to keep 3 deep coverage against this offense, but you also need to have more than 4 defensive lineman in the box, a lesson never learned.  Tre White deserves a big F to me in this game as he blew coverage on the Kelce TD and the backbreaking 3rd down play in the 4th that put the Chiefs in FG range.  The absolute disregard for containing Mahomes on scrambles is also inexcusable.  Sometimes he had the right plays called, but then you had.....

 

6 - Tackling - Say what you want about field conditions, but the Chiefs didn't seem to have anywhere near the issues tackling that we did.  There were multiple missed tackles that led to first downs, plays we had stopped in the backfield, sacks, and even a touchdown that all could have been executed to a halt if the tackling was there.  This has been a growing theme for us and it a major concern.  Tackling is going to be a huge issue for us against teams like the Patriots and Broncos who run hard.  And not only aren't we tackling, we aren't stopping guys momentum.  How often do you see our defensive players riding the back of the opposing team as they get extra yards?

 

7 - Defensive Line - I get McD wanting to send a message by benching Murphy and Phillips.  Unfortunately, plan B wasn't much better.  I can't remember ever seeing a defensive line get so manhandled as I saw tonight.  The Chiefs pick who they were going to double each rush, but left the other 3 guys in single coverage.  I watched Oliver in particular on multiple plays to watch him get absolutely manhandled in single blocks, or be behind the play.  The most egregious error, which I hope to be proven wrong by the All-22, but Oliver looked to give up on pursuing Mahomes on one of his scrambles.  Either way, in a game where Frazier relied on his guys to win the 1 on 1, that didn't happen and he made zero adjustments from it.

 

8 - Offensive Line - Our offensive line reminds me of the Madden game.  We have high pass block ratings and non-existent run block ratings.  While Daboll isn't helping them with his bland run scheme, these guys are consistently unable to get any push and win their 1 on 1 match ups.  To see the Chiefs do it on the offense just made our offense so much worse.  Again, this is a combined effort between Daboll and the line, but neither get a pass by blaming the other.

 

9 - Soft Middle Zone Coverage - Like a certain player I said I wouldn't mention again this season, I think I'm done talking about the Bills complete inability to cover 5-15 yards up the middle of the field with their zone.  Of all people to not cover, Kelce was left alone a few times with guys short yards away.  It just makes no sense to me and I don't know why opposing offenses don't just work their way down field with those short passes and zone runs.  We've show zero ability to stop either. 

 

10 - McD - Two teams walked onto the field with what appeared to be similar game plans for tonight.  I'd argue that both teams match up well with rosters, but one team just punched the other in the mouth in the trenches.  Allen didn't have it for the 2nd week in a row.  Multiple personal fouls after the play was over.  Two nationalized televised games where we ***** the bed.  Like last week, both teams had to deal with adjusted scheduled, weather, or whatever circumstance you want to use as an excuse, and both weeks we came out flat. The only thing we learned this week was that the Titans game wasn't a fluke and we have a serious problem.  This schedule doesn't get much easier besides the Jets and our offense is taking a step back.  McD was being talked about for Coach of the Year and now he has to earn it.  4-2 isn't a bad start to the season and 5-2 is a very real probability.  But we've also been there before with a 5-2 start that falls apart.  This season could easily turn into one of those scenarios of McD doesn't figure things out with his Quarterback, player execution, and schemes

 

Go Bills!

[thebandit27]

I’m not worried about Allen. When he got the ball in the 4th quarter, the dog came out as usual. 5/5 and a score—just need a stop and he’d have his chance.

 

Alas, they didn’t get it.

 

I’m not saying he had his best game—he started slow for sure...but if and when he becomes our biggest problem, we’ll be a Super Bowl contender.

 

[LewPort71]

Point # 6.    agree 100%

[Roundybout]

1 minute ago, thebandit27 said:

I’m not worried about Allen. When he got the ball in the 4th quarter, the dog came out as usual. 5/5 and a score—just need a stop and he’d have his chance.

 

Alas, they didn’t get it.

 

I’m not saying he had his best game—he started slow for sure...but if and when he becomes our biggest problem, we’ll be a Super Bowl contender.

 

 

Seriously, I was so thrilled for that fumble because that was the Bills win right there. 

[Nextmanup]

Less swagger and more consistency is what I want from Allen.

 

He has looked terrible 2 games in a row now, after 4 of him looking the MVP.

So which player is he?  Has he progressed?  Regressed?  Who is he?

 

Will he ever reach a reliable, consistent level of performance?  When?

 

 

 

 

[RiotAct]

Could you expand on point #4 a bit? 

[thebandit27]

2 minutes ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

 

Seriously, I was so thrilled for that fumble because that was the Bills win right there. 

Same

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

1 minute ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

 

Seriously, I was so thrilled for that fumble because that was the Bills win right there. 

 

I mean, let's say they score there and make it 24-23.  What are the chances the Chiefs don't drive for the winning FG thereafter?

[Stroke 17]

I see the same thing with Josh. seems like he lost that" football is fun " attitude. Last 2 games I have commented about he looks like he is going to work at a job he really doesn't like.                                                                 As for the missed kick at the end of the half, why not call time out' get everybody set instead of rushing him on and attempting the long kick in those conditions.

 

[Virgil]

6 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

I’m not worried about Allen. When he got the ball in the 4th quarter, the dog came out as usual. 5/5 and a score—just need a stop and he’d have his chance.

 

Alas, they didn’t get it.

 

I’m not saying he had his best game—he started slow for sure...but if and when he becomes our biggest problem, we’ll be a Super Bowl contender.

 

 

I'm worried because it's two weeks in a row where you could tell from the first time, he was mentally just off.  The result carried through the entire game.  Something is missing

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

I agree with you Virgil the last two weeks I haven’t seen the fire in Allen’s eyes. 

[ILBillsfan]

The Diggs pass was there even Aikman made note that Diggs normally catches that...

 

Allen was just not accurate enough as he left lots of nice gains on the field so I'm not faulting the playcalling on Daboll

 

I can't even say had bad this D is playing and it starts with the D line.....said it a few times the biggest off season mistake was not sigining a big body person to rep Star once he opted out

[Virgil]

2 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

 

I mean, let's say they score there and make it 24-23.  What are the chances the Chiefs don't drive for the winning FG thereafter?

 

That's why I didn't really talk about it.  I'm not playing the "What if" game as I tend to get yelled at for that

[Coach Tuesday]

The left shoulder is preventing Josh from driving through his throws.  That’s my theory.

[Virgil]

Just now, ILBillsfan said:

The Diggs pass was there even Aikman made note that Diggs normally catches that...

 

Allen was just not accurate enough as he left lots of nice gains on the field so I'm not faulting the playcalling on Daboll

 

I can't even say had bad this D is playing and it starts with the D line.....said it a few times the biggest off season mistake was not sigining a big body person to rep Star once he opted out

 

Not the pass to the back of the endzone.  I don't blame Diggs as the defender was pulling on his left arm.  There was another endzone pass to Diggs where he was coming across the field with a few steps on the defender and Josh just plain missed him

1 minute ago, Coach Tuesday said:

The left shoulder is preventing Josh from driving through his throws.  That’s my theory.

 

Interesting theory if true

4 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

Same

 

7 minutes ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

 

Seriously, I was so thrilled for that fumble because that was the Bills win right there. 

 

Also shows what another week of not generating a turnover can do for the team

[Trogdor]

8 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

I’m not worried about Allen. When he got the ball in the 4th quarter, the dog came out as usual. 5/5 and a score—just need a stop and he’d have his chance.

 

Alas, they didn’t get it.

 

I’m not saying he had his best game—he started slow for sure...but if and when he becomes our biggest problem, we’ll be a Super Bowl contender.

 

so we just ignore the last drive with the interception? 

[ILBillsfan]

1 minute ago, Virgil said:

 

Not the pass to the back of the endzone.  I don't blame Diggs as the defender was pulling on his left arm.  There was another endzone pass to Diggs where he was coming across the field with a few steps on the defender and Josh just plain missed him

 

Yeah i agree with that was just a bad pass he was open ....just all night josh was bad on his passes

[stevestojan]

Is there any coincidence that we went 4-0 against garbage teams and then lost to two good ones? No? 

[Icandiggit]

I am missing the defensive swagger from last year. We saw a little late with butler making some plays, but overall we just feel flat to me on defense. 

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, stevestojan said:

Is there any coincidence that we went 4-0 against garbage teams and then lost to two good ones? No? 

 

Rams and Raiders are garbage?