My reasons for the loss.

[NewEra]

6 minutes ago, Bermuda Triangle said:

I'd rather watch teams play a clean game, and let talent prevail.  it's pretty clear that KC's game plan was to hold the WRs and bump them >5 yards past the LOS.  Kudos to them - it worked, and all it cost them was 1 defensive holding penalty and a stern talking to by the refs to Spagnuolo.  

 

Pushing guys over piles after the whistle was a beyotch move too.  But that seems to be who KC wants to be now. 

That’s what they did to us in the first matchup. 
 

I’d much rather see a game with 3-4 penalties per team rather than 10-12.  I just want them to be as consistent as possible.  
 

the punch was ridiculous though. A Chris Jones ejection would’ve changed the game for sure

[Mango]

8 minutes ago, Bermuda Triangle said:

I'd rather watch teams play a clean game, and let talent prevail.  it's pretty clear that KC's game plan was to hold the WRs and bump them >5 yards past the LOS.  Kudos to them - it worked, and all it cost them was 1 defensive holding penalty and a stern talking to by the refs to Spagnuolo.  

 

Pushing guys over piles after the whistle was a beyotch move too.  But that seems to be who KC wants to be now. 

I thought the game was called “OK”. They let the guys play. I was most upset with the no call in grabbing JA face mask and the punch thrown. Those two calls are just thinks you can’t “let them play” through. 
 

To a certain extent some of that is on the staff. If we’re getting mugged out there, why continue to play such soft coverage? After a series or two it looks like they’re going to let you get chippy so make the adjustments. I would actually prefer the inverse. Come out and dare the refs to throw the flags and see what they’re going to call, and dial it back if needed. 

[goldenboy81]

Bills really need to upgrade the dline. They could use a 10+ sack guy because zone don't work if qb has all day..

 

Josh Allen needs to work on getting rid of the damn ball. Easily could have lost to the Colts because of this.

 

Tre white is a great player in the regular season but he needs another level in playoffs.

[mannc]

1 hour ago, Wacka said:

If all the critics today were such great football minds, they'd be head coaches. 

 

Exactly.  No one should be allowed to post in a football message board other than people who are NFL head coaches, and maybe general managers.  Maybe coordinators, too.

[NewEra]

1 minute ago, ScottLaw said:

I don’t think the inability to run the ball was why they lost yesterday. 
 

It would’ve helped obviously, but Dabolls late adjustments to what the Chiefs were doing defensively is what cost them the game, and Josh looked extremely nervous to start the game. McD kicking FGs was the most infuriating part of the game. 

There are many reasons why they lost.  Our inability to run the ball, or have a threat of running the ball allowed the chiefs to employ that style of defense against us.  They were pinning their ears back and coming hard.  Just like they did in the first game.  They disguised their blitz’s well and we had no answer

 

to your point. Daboll failed. No question.  Josh was nervous, no doubt.  The FGs drove me nuts.  I agree on all accounts.  
 

I just feel that our inability to run allows the opposing DCs to more effectively limit our passing game.  Having Chris Jones helps too, but overall, I feel that a one dimensional offense has little chance to run the table in the playoffs.  It has to change if we want a title

[DQW87]

My reason for this loss.     KC is better than us and better than every other team in the NFL.

[Buffalo Ballin]

Kansas City Chiefs, as Super Bowl Champion status, is not going anywhere. They are the Champs of the AFC.

 

I'm very sure Beane and McDermott know exactly what to fix in the Summer.

[Nextmanup]

27 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I don’t think the inability to run the ball was why they lost yesterday. 
 

It would’ve helped obviously, but Dabolls late adjustments to what the Chiefs were doing defensively is what cost them the game, and Josh looked extremely nervous to start the game. McD kicking FGs was the most infuriating part of the game.....and the Chiefs have the best QB, WR, and TE in the league and it isn’t really close. Not sure how the Bills close the gap the next couple years. 

We had no passing game all night long!  That is what got us to the game and what made us really struggle in ALL THREE of our playoff games.

 

Look no further than our inability to throw the ball if you want to know why we lost.

 

When it worked all year long, we beat and beat up on teams.  When it didn't work, we struggled or lost.

 

I would pump all major resources into improving the passing game, along with an edge rusher and another solid cover CB.

 

Brown needs to be upgraded; we need a TE who is a more reliable and consistent threat than Knox.

 

The OL could be improved all up and down it.

 

The good news is we have a solid foundation to build on, and it's not hard to figure out what needs improving.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Nextmanup

[Straight Hucklebuck]

On the John Brown point, he’s had two Playoff runs/seasons and he’s largely been invisible. This season with all the injuries, basically Beane can’t stop looking to add to that group. 

 

I think the Bills don’t have a physical mismatch type WR with either size or speed. And that was evident last night. Cole is great at what he does, but he’s a career 11 ypc kind of WR, so he can’t be leading your group in yards and receptions.

 

Defensively, it was the Colts game again, gave up 472 yards in that game and had no pass rush. Last night, zero pass rush.

 

Hill looked like he had cartoon level speed last night. Sub 4.3 speed is rare, and even more rare are guys who have the football instincts to use that speed. A lot of those guys turn into John Ross players who only run go routes. Whereas Hill runs every route you want. And the short area burst is incredible. White couldn’t keep up with him, you almost would have to treat him as a gunner on special teams and have two corners line up in press to slow him down.

 

As for Kelce to be unchecked at the line and able to run 10-yards down the field with no one around him I had no idea what they were trying to accomplish. He had 10-receptions at Halftime. For McDermott to say no sweeping changes at Halftime, I don’t know.

 

Agree on Edmunds. Kuechley was that combination of speed and instincts, Patrick Willis as well, Edmunds only has one part of that equation. 
 

In the end the Bills were a lot like the Steelers, one dimensional with a better QB.

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Straight Hucklebuck

[billieve420]

The whole d-line needs to be re-made. I would start by cutting both Murphy and Addison who bring nothing to the team. Hughes is getting up there in age we should be drafting his replacement as well. Lot of guys playing out of position. Star is only a stop gap and they need to find someone to play next to Oliver moving forward as well.

Edited January 25, 2021 by billieve420

[kevnallen]

2 hours ago, Cray51 said:

Our RG was torn open all game long, which then put pressure on our RT and the Chiefs blitzed from that side knowing Feliciano was a weak link.  You saw them get to Allen OFTEN

 

3 of our WRs are hurt (4 if you include Diggs, we dont know where he is at with his injury) and couldnt match the Chiefs physicality.

 

You saw the separation from Chiefs playmakers all night, the Bills didnt have that.  Allen was throwing into tight windows consistently.

 

Redzone scoring was an issues - Chiefs go 4 for 4 while we go 1 for 4 (I think).

 

I thought Hill was actually covered well until we had to start taking more chances with our D.  That's when the middle of the field opened up for Hill to sit and create.

 

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - WE NEED TO GET PRESSURE FROM OUR LINE.  To me that was the most impactful issue.  We were dominated in the trenches on both sides.  

Our receivers definitely weren’t getting open as much as in previous games. I hope that the injuries, not their talent, was the reason why. 

1 hour ago, goldenboy81 said:

Bills really need to upgrade the dline. They could use a 10+ sack guy because zone don't work if qb has all day..

 

Josh Allen needs to work on getting rid of the damn ball. Easily could have lost to the Colts because of this.

 

Tre white is a great player in the regular season but he needs another level in playoffs.

I agree that Josh Allen needs to continue to improve on knowing when to throw the ball away versus when to extend the play by scrambling. However, his scrambling is also a big asset when it works 

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

We’ll see if Daboll changes.  I think McD will enforce a change in philosophy.  I fully expect us to be a predominantly passing offense, but some changes in personnel and philosophy will help our run game help our offense become more balanced. 
 

we beat the ravens because all we had to do was take away one aspect of their O to stop them entirely. Many of our wins this year were against teams that were 1 dimensional.  The teams that gave our D fits, were the teams that were multiple on O. 
 

based on the evolution of our team as a whole since McD took over,  I expect us to have a change in mindset and slight change in philosophy on O

You could be right.  You could be full of it. I won’t know either way until it hits the media. I won’t speculate on it, but just go by what I know.  That he’s not a HC

 

 

i agree, our OL can’t run block and our RBs are dime a dozen talents.  The mindset of a successful running game is built in training camp. Hopefully we can improve on the run game dramatically next year

 

 

I don't see McD as the one who will force an Offensive change.

[NewEra]

31 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

I don't see McD as the one who will force an Offensive change.

Why is that?  After year one, he fired his OC.  It’s clear to almost everyone in the business that a completely one dimensional offense can be stifled with the correct game plan on D.  Why would the head coach be ok with being one dimensional?  

3 of his mottos-

“find a way”

”control what we can control”

”adapt and adjust”

 

Not just that, but why wouldn’t Daboll want to improve on the run game?  I believe that Daboll wants to become the best offensive play caller he can be and build the best offense he can build. I don’t believe he thinks he can do that with a run game that our opponents refuse to defend.  I believe he has an ego, but I don’t believe he’s ignorant to the fact that the Chiefs completely took our pass game away two games in a row.  And Josh wasn’t wearing a shoulder harness this game 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GaryPinC]

good post, OP.  A couple of observations/gripes:

 

3rd down RPOs to the right where Josh elected for the short throw instead of the handoff to Yeldon:  the Yeldon run was there both times I noticed, especially the second one as the RG and RT sealed beautifully and it would have been a long gainer.  Probably on Josh but also Daboll for not using that more.

 

KC D was very grabby to slow receivers down in their patterns.  Refs allowed it.  They also jammed receivers intermittently at the LOSR.  We did almost nothing.  Why the hell can't you have our DE's clock Kelce every time he's over them?  Why not intermittently jam their receivers?  Throw off their play timing.  I noticed the one time where Kelce got jammed and Mahomes struggled on the play

 

Why did our DBs not get grabby with KC since refs were allowing it?

 

How do we watch so much film but not scheme to stop that shovel pass near the goal line?  Romo did a great job of highlighting how KC likes to run a lot of noise in terms of personnel but very much get the ball to the same places on the field in given situations.  Just can't understand how this wasn't coached for at the Pro level.

 

Our offense got mostly shut down all playoffs.  AFC championship, even the entire playoffs, you need next level coaching to pull out all stops and try unique things against your opponent.  Especially on defense.

 

Josh needs to grow some more.  We need more talent on D, especially our front line.  Our coaches need to grow up also, but Frasier may be incapable.  I feel like he likes to sit in a base defense just too much with little adjustment to the opponent.  

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

Why is that?  After year one, he fired his OC.  It’s clear to almost everyone in the business that a completely one dimensional offense can be stifled with the correct game plan on D.  Why would the head coach be ok with being one dimensional?  

3 of his mottos-

“find a way”

”control what we can control”

”adapt and adjust”

 

Not just that, but why wouldn’t Daboll want to improve on the run game?  I believe that Daboll wants to become the best offensive play caller he can be and build the best offense he can build. I don’t believe he thinks he can do that with a run game that our opponents refuse to defend.  I believe he has an ego, but I don’t believe he’s ignorant to the fact that the Chiefs completely took our pass game away two games in a row.  And Josh wasn’t wearing a shoulder harness this game 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wakeup call for both of them was the Texans game.  Nothing changed however.  They  put another rookie 3rd rounder in with last year's.    That was their plan for the run game for the season.

 

It's more likely this is as good a playcaller as Daboll can be.  He's a product of Josh Allen's smarts and athletic gifts.  When those aren't enough (and his O-line is laying right down on the carpet), Daboll had nothing. 

[NewEra]

1 minute ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

The wakeup call for both of them was the Texans game.  Nothing changed however.  They  put another rookie 3rd rounder in with last year's.    That was their plan for the run game for the season.

 

It's more likely this is as good a playcaller as Daboll can be.  He's a product of Josh Allen's smarts and athletic gifts.  When those aren't enough (and his O-line is laying right down on the carpet), Daboll had nothing. 

 

 

You think their wake up call last year was based on the run game???  Are you serious!  The wake up call was that we could barely score over 19 points last year. Singletary averaged 5.1 ypc.  They dumped gore for Moss, which they though was a nice upgrade.  It was an upgrade. 

 

We needed better WRs to be a more explosive offense They got Diggs and Davis.  Our offense was instantly better.  It made us a contender, but not good enough.  Now that the pass game is fixed, it’s time to concentrate on fixing the run game.  

[Mr. WEO]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

 

 

You think their wake up call last year was based on the run game???  Are you serious!  The wake up call was that we could barely score over 19 points last year. Singletary averaged 5.1 ypc.  They dumped gore for Moss, which they though was a nice upgrade.  It was an upgrade. 

 

We needed better WRs to be a more explosive offense They got Diggs and Davis.  Our offense was instantly better.  It made us a contender, but not good enough.  Now that the pass game is fixed, it’s time to concentrate on fixing the run game.  

 

 

No it was based on the fact that Daboll couldn't figure out how to sit on a mid-3rd Q double digit lead by running the ball.

 

As for this year, there was nothing preventing McD and Daboll from also developing/improving their run game.  It took another playoff loss to re-learn this lesson?

[Logic]

5 hours ago, NewEra said:

1-  Coaching:  Reid dominated Frazier.  Again.  Chiefs best play makers running wide open all game.  Spags dominated Daboll.  Again. Spags disguises his coverages flawlessly. Our WRs we blanketed all game.  They have better play callers on both sides of the ball.  Mcdermott made some bad decisions.  He trusted his defense more than he trusted his offense.  That was his biggest mistake. His choice to go for two on our last TD was beyond confusing. Down 16 was the way to go at that point in the game.  Made no sense to go for it then. I can’t recall a play where we lined up 6-7 guys on the LOS and made Mahomes decipher who’s rushing.  Spags did it every 2-3 plays.  Mahomes is great vs the blitz.  So is Josh.  That didn’t stop the chiefs from bringing the heat all game.  It certainly stopped us.  Probably because we can’t run the ball worth a dam. 
 

2-  Cbris Jones-  he’s a complete game wrecker and the 2nd best defensive player in the league imo.  Frank Clark is a beast as well.  The afc will be going through KC for the foreseeable future.  We have to find a way to limited Jones’ effectiveness vs us going forward.  Meanwhile.....our DL was stifled by 2 7th rd picks and 2 undrafted free agents on their OL.  Mahomes was a magician in the pocket. As always.  Going almost untouched behind his OL made up of nobodies.  Spags > Josh yesterday.  
 

3-  Our inability to run the ball efficiently.  I said months ago that it would be our downfall in the playoffs if we couldn’t find a way to balance our offense a bit more.  It was.  I like the person, but I hope that was Singletarys last game as a Bill.  His drop was monumental.  A game changjng play. 
That can’t happen.  WIDE OPEN.  Again.  
We need to make the proper adjustments along the OL, scheme and in personnel this offseason.  Retooling our run game is paramount.  If that means that our pass protection takes slight  hit, so be it. We’re too one dimensional.  Period. 
 

4-  Edmunds-  Spags picked on him in coverage all game.  Every team should.  For all the physical talent he possesses, he doesn’t process fast enough.  It’s been 3 years.  How many more years will it take him to catch on. He’s always a step behind. He shouldn’t be playing MLB if we want to win the Super Bowl.  We can hide his deficiencies over the course of the season, but when we play the elite of the elite, I don’t feel as if he can survive being picked on. We thought we had two of the best coverage LBers in the league.  We have maybe the best safety duo in the league..... yet Kelce was WIDE OPEN all game.      Edmunds is only good in coverage because of his height and length.  He lacks instincts vs the run and the pass.  I don’t expect us to move on from him.  I hear we should shift him to the outside.....how will that help him in coverage?  Idk.  He’s a good player but the only goal at this point is winning the super bowl.  Winning the SB, we’re going to have to beat KC....and Kelce.  Kelce is Edmunds daddy.  
 

This offseason-  

 

-i doubt it happens now, but I’d love for Frazier to become the HC in Houston.  Great guy and he’d be a loss, but 2 3rd round draft picks and the opportunity to add a new way of thinking to our D room would be refreshing imo.  

 

-I hope we look deeper into this matchup vs KC and find a way to defend and attack them better.  Their weakness in D is stopping the run.  They want to play nickel and dime and we don’t have the ability to force them out of it.  They defended our pass without regard to our run game.  Our run game crippled our best asset, our pass game.  Wether we like it or not, KC is our daddy.  We have to find a way to matchup better in terms of talent, scheme and mindset. Chris Jones will continue to dominate Feliciano.  I love Jon.  I just don’t think he’s physically able to do the job vs Jones.  
 

-John Brown will be cut, and that’s fine.  Maybe we’ll come back at a reduced salary? Idk, but 8 mill is too rich imo.

 

- D. Williams or Milano.  I doubt we keep both unless they take less than market value to stay.  Whichever one leaves, finding their replacement will be paramount.  Two very important positions, especially Milano considering the defense that we employ. 

- Levi/ Norman-  maybe this was the game where we realized that we need another really quality corner to beat the chiefs?  Tyreek was wide open on ever play.  Again.... WIDE OPEN.  We rarely had a defender close to him.  Is that the scheme? Partly. Wallace and Norman aren’t fast enough to even pretend they can cover a talent like hill....and he’s not going anywhere. We’ll see him in en route to the Super Bowl every year.  Along with Kelce right next to him.  We need better matchups vs those two. 
 

- as mentioned earlier-  fix the run game.  Don’t ask me how.  Just fix it. We can’t continue to be this one dimensional if we want to beat this team, let alone win a super bowl. 
 

-  side note- sucks that Spags will probably be the Chiefs DC for the next 5+ years.  He’s really good at his job. Meanwhile....teams are contemplating Leslie Frazier as their HC, while Spags dominated in KC, winning Super Bowls.  The irony.

 

great season guys and gals.  I’m proud of our boys.  I’m proud of our season.  I’m proud of our fans.  I’m proud of the fight our men showed.  While it looked like we melted down emotionally in the end, I love the fire and the passion.  It was immature and I understand why others would look down on the personal fouls, I’m not a fan of the Okafor cheap shot prior and Josh let him know by throwing the ball in his face.  His protectors then protected their leader.  As they should.  I love the fight that showed.  This rivalry is real.  It’s intense. It’s not going to change. If we want the results to change, we need to change.  Not a whole lot, we’re really good.  We could’ve won with proper coaching decisions and some executed plays.  We didn’t.....but we will.  I Billieve!! 
 

 

 

Excellent stuff. 
 

I agree with pretty much all of it.

 

Next year is huge for Edmunds and Oliver. Both likely suffered from the Star opt out. Whether Star returns or the Bills go a different direction at 1T, we NEED to see these two guys step up. Oliver and Edmunds having breakout seasons next year would completely change our defense.

 

I, too, wouldn’t mind seeing Frazier move on. A new voice and some new ideas in the defensive coaching room would be a boon.

 

For what it’s worth. I felt the KC game came down to your first paragraph almost entirely: Reid utterly out coached Frazier, Spags outcoached Daboll and outfoxed Allen. 

On defense, Literally ANY OTHER game plan we employed would’ve been better. How could it have been worse? 

 

On offense, Daboll didn’t have many answers, and when he did, Josh often didn’t execute. The triumvirate of lackluster offensive gameplan, WRs failing to separate, and Allen failing to take what the defense gave him combined to doom the Bills offense.

 

Out-coached, out-played, out-quarterbacked, our-everything’d.

 

All is not lost. Bills are ascending. Time for Beane, McDermott, and Allen to go to work.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Logic

[BearNorth]

4 sacks for 53 yards.  Josh at times needs to learn when to tuck it and avoid getting clobbered. 

[NewEra]

31 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

No it was based on the fact that Daboll couldn't figure out how to sit on a mid-3rd Q double digit lead by running the ball.

 

As for this year, there was nothing preventing McD and Daboll from also developing/improving their run game.  It took another playoff loss to re-learn this lesson?

No...it was because we couldn’t score enough.  If we would’ve beaten the Texans, we would’ve gotten crushed by someone else......because we couldn’t score!  That WAS the narrative behind last years team.  We couldn’t score. Our lack of a running game was not the problem.  It may have been a problem, but not nearly as much as fixing our pass offense.....which couldn’t consistently move the chains and out TDs on the board.  That’s a fact

32 minutes ago, Logic said:

Excellent stuff. 
 

I agree with pretty much all of it.

 

Next year is huge for Edmunds and Oliver. Both likely suffered from the Star opt out. Whether Star returns or the Bills go a different direction at 1T, we NEED to see these two guys step up. Oliver and Edmunds having breakout seasons next year would completely change our defense.

 

I, too, wouldn’t mind seeing Frazier move on. A new voice and some new ideas in the defensive coaching room would be a boon.

 

For what it’s worth. I felt the KC game came down to your first paragraph almost entirely: Reid utterly out coached Frazier, Spags outcoached Daboll and outfoxed Allen. 

On defense, Literally ANY OTHER game plan we employed would’ve been better. How could it have been worse? 

 

On offense, Daboll didn’t have many answers, and when he did, Josh often didn’t execute. The triumvirate of lackluster offensive gameplan, WRs failing to separate, and Allen failing to take what the defense gave him combined to doom the Bills offense.

 

Out-coached, out-played, out-quarterbacked, our-everything’d.

 

All is not lost. Bills are ascending. Time for Beane, McDermott, and Allen to go to work.

Thanks.  Great post too. I agree with everything.  We are ascending and I can’t wait to see what the FO has under their sleeves this offseason 👍🏻