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

[Virgil]

Let's just get right to it....

 

1 - The Miracle - If I told you we were up by 4 in a game with less than a minute left and that a throw was going to be heaved into the endzone with 3 of our best defenders in coverage, would you take those odds?  Yes, any normal person would.  Hopkins made an amazing catch that doesn't happen 9 times out of 10.  Is it okay to be pissed off, dumbfounded, worried about that feeling of dread watching highlights for the next two weeks...yes.  Football happens.  Big plays happen.  Fluke plays happen.  It sucks, yes.  But we are still 7-3 going into the bye and Josh walked off the field a winner.  Have some perspective before you call for the heads of coaches and players.

 

2 - Allen - It's not about how you hard you get knocked down, it's about how you get back up.  Josh didn't have a great game today and really struggled again the mid-blitz, which he's had previous success against.  The Cardinals were ready for the Bills screen and completely shut down the rushing attack.  Allen made two really bad throws that resulted in interceptions.  But when the game was on the line, Allen threw an amazing pass to Diggs who made an equally amazing catch.  Like most of the team, it was a tale of two halves, where Josh looked really good in the first half but lost in the second half.  Like I said before, at the end of the day, Allen walked off the field in a situation where he should have won 99% of the time.  We know Allen can go off in games, so it's good to see him be able to shake off some bad throws and finish when he had to.

 

3 - Misc - For those watching at home, this was just a weird game in regards to penalties, camera work, even the down marker graphics.  There were countless plays where the camera missed the snap, the down to go screen was off on both yardage and down, and we even had some Cards fans celebrating wearing their masks like chin straps.  The penalties stole the show on quite a few drives and really seemed to go against the Bills.  The PF on Singletary was weak to me as well as some of the holds.  It was all part of a 3rd quarter that helped shift the momentum to the Cards.

 

4 - Well blow your whistle freight train carry me far on down the track

Well I'm going away, I'm leaving today

I'm goin', but I ain't comin' back.

 

5 - Rushing Attack - If I remember correctly, the Cards came into this game with only four healthy defensive lineman and then one went out early in the second half.  If that is true, our inability to run the ball today was embarrassing, especially once you can tell the passing game was not in sync.  Yes, the Cards were stacking the box to blitz, and the LB's first step was almost always towards the line, but that's where Daboll has to change it up and take advantage.  This wasn't a world beater rushing defense and we need to be better here.

 

6 - Defensive Backs - As hard as it is to ignore the final play, I'm going to do my best.  Until Jackson went down in the 3rd, I was very impressed with how well our defense held down the Arizona passing attack of Kirk, Hopkins, and Fitz.  Hyde had an amazing play on 3rd down towards the end of the game to contain Murray behind the line.  Poyer's interception was huge and he also had quite a few stops behind the line.  Jackson held his own on his side of the field to the point where I don't know if he hasn't earned a move up the depth chart.  This is the #1 offense in the league and they didn't take the league until Allen got interception happy and Bojo botched a punt.  This defense did an overall good job today.  We knew after the Seattle game that we were going to pick our moments, so I like to see the continued aggressive playcalling.

 

7 - Bass - As this point, you have to say Bass has found his groove.  While his first kick earned a few too many style points for my liking, he followed that with two longer kicks soon after.  His last kick, from 58 I think, was halfway up the posts and he did that from the painted logo.  Just huge leg and really deserves some kudos for how far he's come.  I don't hold my breath as much when he comes out on the field beyond 40.

 

8 - Beasley - I've said this before, but Beasley has the quietest 100 yard games of all receivers.  He doesn't do much to start, but finds ways to come up big when it matters.  He brought in a terrible high throw, got his feet down, and found the first down marker.  He put some moves on guys that left them without cleats.  At the beginning of the season, I was worried that Beasley was going to be the odd man out, but he's really stepped up in absence a hurting Brown and really becoming the security blanket for Josh.  I really can't say enough about the importance of his role in this offense. 

 

9 - Tackling - Talk about Pro's vs Con's.  Arizona had some of the best open field tackling I've seen from an opposing team in quite some time.  You always here that the goal of an offense is to get your guy open and let him make a play, but the Cards shut that down time and time again.  Many plays were shut down by one armed tackles and the Bills struggled to return the favor.  While our tackling got better in the 4th quarter, there were still plenty of missed tackles early that cost us first downs.  This is a theme week over week that I'm hoping get cleaned up.

 

10 - Bye week - If ever there were a season that we needed a bye week.  With Milano, Brown, and Morse slated to come back, and after 10 games into the season, the Bills need a rest.  Yes, we all wanted that 8-2 and a single great play took that away.  It happens.  This team has played very well this season and we are still in the drivers seat.  For those worried about the Dolphins, we still play them again and they get two easier games than us this season.  We are still in the drivers seat and that's all you can ask.  No one owes us anything.  If you don't want the Dolphins to win the division, beat them next time we play.  Handle it on the field.  I get the BBFS on this forum as I have it to most weeks.  I'm pissed about the loss, but I'm not pissed at the Bills. 

 

 

*Side note - I almost wasn't going to write this review this week.  There were a few things that happened this week on the forum that rubbed me the wrong way.  It wasn't anything regarding some of the negative comments from last week's thoughts, so don't read into that.  But when the game ended, and I thought about all the positive responses I've received after games, I knew that this is more than just my thoughts and opinions about certain members on the board.  So thank you for that.  I won't say anything more about it.

 

Go Bills!

[wvbillsfan]

That Singletary penalty was terrible. I get calling the crack back. No argument there. But to say it was dead ball which makes it 3rd and a mile. I don’t get that. 
At least if it was second down we can pick up a chunk and maybe have a shot. 
Terrible call

 

 

Overall tho penalties killed anything we had going in that third quarter. 

[Coach Tuesday]

Really good takes here.  The difference in penalties and tackling between the two teams was stark.  I gotta give McD and Frazier credit for getting the backups ready to play but the missed tackles has been a problem all season, and the penalties reflect a disturbing lack of attention to detail.  And totally agree that the production crew and the refs seemed off, kind of like Allen seemed off, something about this game was just bizarro.  Weird spots, incorrect down and distance calls, etc. Just one of those shoes where the dealer keeps hitting miraculous 21s after flashing a 5, sometimes you just gotta cash in what’s left of your chips and call it a night.

[Big Turk]

I really though some toss plays to the outside would have gashed them pretty good when they kept coming up the middle...

 

Feliciano didn't seem to help the run game much today.

[Virgil]

Just now, matter2003 said:

I really though some toss plays to the outside would have gashed them pretty good when they kept coming up the middle...

 

Feliciano didn't seem to help the run game much today.

 

I thought the same thing.  If they are stacking the box and guarding the screen, something has to be open, right?

[BillsFan130]

Still a big concern to me is the 3rd quarters.

 

Once again we got out scored 17-7, and that’s even getting a turnover on defence and starting off with the ball in the 2nd half.

 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by BillsFan130

[thebandit27]

I’ll disagree with 2 bad INTs. Some might disagree with me, but Davis ran a brutal route on that 2nd pick. He got loose and sloppy and let Kirkpatrick beat him to the inside.

 

Other than that, great stuff as per usual.

[Virgil]

6 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

I’ll disagree with 2 bad INTs. Some might disagree with me, but Davis ran a brutal route on that 2nd pick. He got loose and sloppy and let Kirkpatrick beat him to the inside.

 

Other than that, great stuff as per usual.

 

The first one was meant to lead Knox over his left shoulder.  Allen threw it low and behind him.  That's on Allen.

 

The second one, I agree a good play was made, but Allen's arm usually doesn't let that happen

Edited November 16, 2020 by Virgil

[BillsFan130]

1 minute ago, thebandit27 said:

I’ll disagree with 2 bad INTs. Some might disagree with me, but Davis ran a brutal route on that 2nd pick. He got loose and sloppy and let Kirkpatrick beat him to the inside.

 

Other than that, great stuff as per usual.

I think it was 50/50, or maybe even 60 percent on Josh.  I agree that Davis could have ran a better route.

 

But Josh was also half a second late and threw it a bit behind him 

[nedboy7]

Thanks for the sensible and even keeled take.  The game day thread was horrific again today.  You would think this team is 0-10.

[ILBillsfan]

3 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

I’ll disagree with 2 bad INTs. Some might disagree with me, but Davis ran a brutal route on that 2nd pick. He got loose and sloppy and let Kirkpatrick beat him to the inside.

 

Other than that, great stuff as per usual.

I agree the WR has to come back to the ball that you see the more experienced WR's do.  You can put this in context when in basketball certain plays on passes you have to move towards the ball and not wait for it to get to you.  I've heard WR coaches stating attack the ball and on this play it just was not there.

 

 

[thebandit27]

3 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

The first one was meant to lead Knox over his left shoulder.  Allen through it low and behind him.  That's on Allen.

 

The second one, I agree a good play was made, but Allen's arm usually doesn't let that happen

Yeah that first one was bad, no doubt. 

[Wyobills89]

Davis has got to learn to help his QB out on those kinda of balls. Need to play defense if position was lost and the ball was late.

[fan_in_tx]

11 minutes ago, wvbillsfan said:

That Singletary penalty was terrible. I get calling the crack back. No argument there. But to say it was dead ball which makes it 3rd and a mile. I don’t get that. 
At least if it was second down we can pick up a chunk and maybe have a shot. 
Terrible call

 

 

Overall tho penalties killed anything we had going in that third quarter. 

I thought John Brown should have picked up a PI as he got smacked good in the back of his head right when the ball got there but what do I know..

 

[ILBillsfan]

Couple of additional thoughts on the game and this is form all of the years watching the Pats.  There was a few times that Arizona was caught lazy and the offense not just going with the play by quick snapping.  Think it was the punt was shanked, maybe not but prior Arizona didn't even have a guy back to field it that should of been punted ASAP

 

The singeltary drop on that screen was a huge play as I think that could of went for a TD.  He had three guys out in front of him.

 

For the most part the outside edges for Murray were contained but on some critical plays the DE crashed way to hard on the run play and is maddening to watch as the QB is the DE's responsibility amazing how many times this happens in the NFL that guys abandon their assignment.  thats the 1/11th coach preaches 

[Ga boy]

I totally agree that stuff happens in football.  I was more impressed with Allen to Diggs as far as skill goes than that Hail Mary.  We can beat anybody as long as our D remains aggressive.  I think we have found how we want to play.  Get ready for a fun ride.  We will get 11 wins.  Can you digg that!  Go Bills!

[sherpa]

How about a really simple concept.

There are two ways that a ball carrier or escaping quarterback can go.

One is called "inside," and the other is called "outside."

 

This Bills' defense gives up the outside nearly every single play.

Every inside move is bit on.

Countless plays today, including the hail mary were made by the Cardinals getting outside.

 

We are simply incapable on setting the edge or in any way defending the outside, and the inside isn't that great either.

[Kwai San]

As always Virg- thats a wrap!  Good job as always....

 

Nice overview.....personally I think the whole loss boils down to one incident.  It happened before the game started.  Josh Norman.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

14 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

I’ll disagree with 2 bad INTs. Some might disagree with me, but Davis ran a brutal route on that 2nd pick. He got loose and sloppy and let Kirkpatrick beat him to the inside.

 

Other than that, great stuff as per usual.

i only saw the broadcast view, but that all could have been 5 yards farther ahead of Davis. Maybe it was a bad route, but it definitely wasn’t a good ball. 

[BuffaloBillies]

Great write up. I'm still in shock, but have resigned to the fact that great players will sometimes make great plays. Sucks so bad,  but Hopkins and Murray are very special/magical players. That seemed like a 1% at best type chance, but they made it. I could call it a "bad beat"... but they made the play. Wasn't all luck. Go bills.