A Few Thoughts About the Ravens Game, in no particular order

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Earlier in the week I also had my doubts about the Bills winning this game, but as the week went on started to feel better as so many seemed to be picking the Ravens so felt the Bills could feed off that.  The other thing  was while the Ravens were likely as hot as the Bills, they beat some pretty weak teams, Cowboys, Giants, Jax, Cleveland, & Bengals total of 28 wins.  In that same span the Bills beat teams that had won 33 games.  The overall schedule for the AFC North was pretty weak, think the same reasons the Steelers went from 11-0 to 1-5

 

On the Interception was kind of weird as took Al Michaels awhile to call the Int.  Watching on TV thought I saw a Bills player catch it, but wasn't sure, waiting to hear it on TV.  Seems players rarely will take knee on Int's in the end zone

 

 WRT Wind Thought on the last FG miss by Bass, he played it outside and was counting on the wind to push it back, but the ball seemed to just go straight.  Was thinking if I were kicking, think I'd just aim to kick everything down the center as who knows what the wind will and won't do.

 

Tough song to figure out this week!

[Heathcliff]

1 hour ago, Solomon Grundy said:

The block on Lamar was from Birthday Tre, not Poyer

I concur but that was not my point. Read again 😉

[Bray Wyatt]

I don’t mind the flops from Allen, I think seeing how successful he is with drawing the call will make defenders think a little bit before hitting him.

 

Edmunds really played well after that first series from Baltimore.

 

I though our offensive line had a fantastic game, especially Dawkins 

 

Also want to give @YoloinOhioprops for calling out before the game Dobbins propensity for drops

 

great write up @Virgil 👍

Edited January 17, 2021 by Bray Wyatt

[Special K]

3 hours ago, ganesh said:

 

 

Also, kudos should go to the OL for their phenomenal blocking.

 

Did anyone else notice that when they were showing the PFF rankings of the Offensive Line, all five of them were ranked in the top twenty at their positions, and at least two of them were ranked in the top ten.

 

Their pass blocking is one of the main reasons for the offensive dominance this year!!

[BaaadThingsMan]

1 hour ago, BaaadThingsMan said:

Tremaine Edmunds was amazing in this game. On rewatch he is flashing all over the field. This may be close to what the team has been expecting from him. 

He has been mostly a non factor in the second half 🤦‍♂️

[HappyDays]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

Allen kept his focus on the game, took what was given to him, and walked off the field a winner.  Allen didn't have a flashy game, but he also didn't make any mistakes.  He made adjustments and worked through his progressions.  Just an overall solid game

 

Thank you for mentioning this. I was surprised last night to see a lot of people saying Allen had a bad game or wasn't sharp. I thought in windy conditions against a really tough defense with no run game to support him he had the exact game we needed. This was a game where he needed to let the defense carry him and not give the ball away. Jackson needed to do the same thing but failed. One mistake from him versus zero mistakes from Allen ended up being the difference in the game.

[Coach Tuesday]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

Thank you for mentioning this. I was surprised last night to see a lot of people saying Allen had a bad game or wasn't sharp. I thought in windy conditions against a really tough defense with no run game to support him he had the exact game we needed. This was a game where he needed to let the defense carry him and not give the ball away. Jackson needed to do the same thing but failed. One mistake from him versus zero mistakes from Allen ended up being the difference in the game.

Wasn’t crazy about some of his decisions.  On a couple of the wasted throws downfield he had guys wide open underneath and there was no need to push it.  They could’ve controlled the game more than they did.  I suspect that was a big point of emphasis at half time.

[Malazan]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

It affected both teams, so that advantage was neutralized, but it did make me think about one thing.  If this is going to be the Bills offense for the next 15 years, do I dare say we want a stadium that isn't going to slow us down?  We aren't a Thurman led team that can rely on our rushing attack in these conditions.  If it truly were the wind, wouldn't you rather have a dome and have Allen hit Diggs early on that touchdown bomb?

 

The hope that you might get some sort of advantage in a couple games due to the weather is not worth the consistency that a dome brings. The NFL is about consistency. 

[HappyDays]

8 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Wasn’t crazy about some of his decisions.  On a couple of the wasted throws downfield he had guys wide open underneath and there was no need to push it.  They could’ve controlled the game more than they did.  I suspect that was a big point of emphasis at half time.

 

No question it wasn't Allen's best game but if this is the worst we'll see from him that's a solid floor. He hasn't had an outright bad game since the Chiefs IMO. I think his mindset is if he sees Diggs in single man coverage he's going to throw it deep to him every time. He needs to learn in crazy wind conditions and a tight defensive game taking the easy yards is a better decision.

[stevestojan]

4 hours ago, Steve O said:

2 thoughts about the pick six, in a particular order:

1) I agree with Virgil, was hoping TJ would just take a knee to give us the ball at the 20 instead of taking a chance on being backed up against the goal line.

2) Am I the only one that thinks the return was at least 102 yards, which would have given TJ the record outright instead sharing it?

It happened so fast in a blur of players (plus a LOT of beer) that I didn’t have time to think about him taking a knee. 
 

And I’ve watched it an unhealthy amount of times. I think 101 is the right call. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by stevestojan

[Mark Vader]

2 hours ago, Virgil said:

Diggs was Diggs.  While I feel crazy for leaving our an 8 catch, 100+ yard, touchdown performance; that’s par for the course for him.  
 

I honestly almost left Allen out, but knew I’d get roasted. 

You should have mentioned Diggs just for his post game comments with Josh Allen. 

[Chandler#81]

5 hours ago, stevestojan said:

After the pick six, I sat speechless for a solid 5 minutes. 

You should have been mic’d up!😉

4 hours ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

 

I have a soon-to-be 21 year-old daughter who drops the F-bomb quite often.  I always point out that it makes her sound unintelligent since there are many other words that can be used to express an emotion.  After TJ got to the end zone and I saw that there were no flags thrown on the return I screamed "F#*K YEAH!"  I then looked at her and said "that is an appropriate time to drop the F-bomb."

Good luck with that parenting philosophy, Dad.🤦‍♂️

 

@Virgil Thank you! Your best effort yet!👍

[Saxum]

5 hours ago, BuffaloBillies said:

Nice write up. Same here about thinking for a split second to get down. Even though he had a bit of a convoy I thought Lamar would trip him up before scoring (with his speed), but he really gave a half ass effort trying to get him, probably sulking in his mind that he just threw the pick. He gave up on the play. It was more than just a 14 point swing, it broke Baltimore's spirit. That will go down as a top-5 all time Bills play. I'll never forget it. 

 

I am glad Lemur does not have the cajones of Jim Kelly who would have tracked him down, tackled him and broken his leg(s).

 

 

[Ya Digg?]

Alright someone had to explain to me what else Lamar could’ve done o. The interception return...I’m seeing way too many people on here and on social media in general saying he could’ve or should’ve stopped him and Hill could’ve/should’ve stopped him. Johnson had a lead blocker, they tracked Lamar’s speed, he went as fast as Johnson did, as soon as he took on Tre’s block he was out of the play. And don’t give me the he was making a “business decision” bs either, because we all know who those comments are directed at 

[Steve O]

3 hours ago, stevestojan said:

It happened so fast in a blur of players (plus a LOT of beer) that I didn’t have time to think about him taking a knee. 
 

And I’ve watched it an unhealthy amount of times. I think 101 is the right call. 

Yeah I've watched it enough to be concerned as well. Looking frame by frame at both 4 and 39 seconds of the youtube video below, what I see is that TJ is off his feet when he catches it at or in front of the goal line with backwards momentum. His right foot lands first right on the red line of the L in Bills, the ball looks to be perfectly perpendicular to the red line. Can't tell if the left foot comes down on the red line or if he hops back with his right foot before the left lands behind the red line. If the former the question becomes how far behind the goal line is the red line in the L, and if it's 1-1/2 yards or more should should it be rounded up. If the latter then it is clearly minimum 102 yards. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feCeGAHPcXw

 

The 39 second view is the network replay and is shot from a different angle than the 4 second view.

 

[Haslett_Stomp]

 

2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Good luck with that parenting philosophy, Dad.🤦‍♂️

 

It has worked quite well, thank you.  She is a Junior at Cuse with a double-major and 3.8+ GPA.

[Virgil]

45 minutes ago, Haslett_Stomp said:

 

 

It has worked quite well, thank you.  She is a Junior at Cuse with a double-major and 3.8+ GPA.

Not a 3.9?

 

I hope she likes pumping gas 😋

[Dukestreetking]

As always, thanks @Virgil. I always like your insight re the "lesser-noticed", in this case Horrible and EO.

 

One thing--and I trust I didn't miss it in your review--is that Tre is an under-appreciated tackler, imv.

 

Also, wish I could give double like for Bobby McGee ref. Great song to play on guitar, capo or no capo.

 

Finally, what is your "process" on the weekly #4s? What spirit moves to drop a particular verse?

[Orlando Buffalo]

The most amazing stat to me is that in the past two games against playoff teams we have allowed 5 drives of 7:30+ minutes. Those 5 drives have netted 3 total points for the opposition and 7 for Buffalo. I don't know how that is possible but it is true.

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Alright someone had to explain to me what else Lamar could’ve done o. The interception return

 

He could have not thrown the interception