A Few Thoughts about the Steelers Game, in no particular order

[Teddy KGB]

Food options in stadium were trash.    Ditto on the woman ref 20 yards behind on the play throwing the flag (Wth was that).    
 

That was the difference between the win and the loss (the white one too.   Wooof) 

[BobbyC81]

1 hour ago, bmur66 said:

Looks like a Chuck and Duck offense when Allen has a bad game. I really wish they had a running game for games like this.

 

 

And why was Moss a healthy scratch?   Are their styles too much alike and they wanted Breida’s speed as a change of pace?  He was not very good.

[Sundancer]

1 hour ago, Teddy KGB said:

Food options in stadium were trash.    Ditto on the woman ref 20 yards behind on the play throwing the flag (Wth was that).    
 

That was the difference between the win and the loss (the white one too.   Wooof) 

Pizza, Duffs, sausage all open near me. 

[CSBill]

Thanks, as always Virgil.

 

I totally agree with your take on trying to force-feed Sanders. I feel like I saw the same thing. And in doing so, it seemed like Josh was missing the easier throws.

 

Also, I'm still mystified on the Bills running game strategy. Eleven carries for Singletary (which were quite productive). If a team is only going to play 4 D-lineman, and six D-backs, take what they're giving you, the 5-8 yard runs all day. It seems we didn't even try to exploit that until it was too late ???

 

Ugh, just a colossal letdown. On to Miami . . .

[BillMafia716ix]

 again Daboll refusal to develop any kind of run game is once again going to be our Achilles heel. We are too finesse on offense. Allen isn’t going to be great every single game. When Allen has an off today…we need to find other alternatives to win games. Steelers were just rushing 4 and T’ing off on Allen. No draw plays, no screens, no anything. Very predictable on offense. 

[zow2]

my thoughts similar to others:

 

- still no real threat of a running game

- Pitt was super physical with our WRs

- o-line is not any better than last year 

- Josh holding the ball half second too long

- play calling was bad. too cute and pass happy.  Some weird non 4th down run calls for Josh for little gain and placing him in harms way.

- defensive line played more stout than last year 

- penalties already an issue like several games last year 

-KC is still better and the AFC team to beat. i’d rank Cleveland ahead of the Bills too. They can run the ball and throw. 

[mannc]

1 minute ago, zow2 said:

my thoughts similar to others:

 

- still no real threat of a running game

- Pitt was super physical with our WRs

- o-line is not any better than last year 

- Josh holding the ball half second too long

- play calling was bad. too cute and pass happy.  Some weird non 4th down run calls for Josh for little gain and placing him in harms way.

- defensive line played more stout than last year 

- penalties already an issue like several games last year 

-KC is still better and the AFC team to beat. i’d rank Cleveland ahead of the Bills too. They can run the ball and throw. 

Agree with all this.  This is the third game in a row, stretching back to the last two playoff games, that the offense was pretty much shut down.  I’m kinda done with pass-only, empty backfield football; it doesn’t seem to be sustainable, especially against teams that can generate a pass rush with their front four. And I know it’s only one game, but the gap with KC seems to have widened.

[billsfan_34]

5 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

Good stuff Virgil

 

Perhaps not playing the starters enough in preseason hurt their performance for the opener...who knows.

 

Just like against KC in last years championship game...the Buffalo offensive line simply wasn't good enough in the game to protect Allen. Think back to the 2020 season and when Allen had time in the pocket he did whatever he wanted game after game and the results were great things in the passing game. 

 

Singletary 11 carries for 72 yards, a 6.5 average. Yes, one 25 yard run.

Josh Allen, 30 of 51 for 270 yards. Allen 9 rushes for 44 yards. 51 pass attempts...

 

 

That 2020 Pittsburgh defense was #3 overall and they showed up big this season again against the pass. They were #3 in passing attempts and passing yards allowed all that year. #12th in rush attempts and 11th in rush yards allowed. 

 

My biggest fear going into this game was that Steelers RB Najee Harris (6'1 232 lbs) was going to run all over Buffalo for big yards, he didn't!   16 carries for 45 yards, 2.8 YPC avg. 

 

The Buffalo defense showed up today. Special teams had a huge breakdown. 

No argument from me here. Where was Jake Kumerow? 

 

Someone still on vacation after that 2020 Miami game? 

 

 

On another note, As good as that Green Bay Packers offense was supposed to be this season. Aaron Rodgers was shown the bench in  a 38-3 loss in NO. The Bills play that Saints team week 12. 

 

 

I remember sitting in the stadium thinkin- our punter isn’t deep enough and then watching him step up too far into his punts. Well, the Steelers saw it too and….

[fergie's ire]

The lack of targets for Davis was infuriating.  He looked like the best receiver out there.

[Niagara Dude]

6 hours ago, Process said:

The Sanders signing made 0 sense from the beginning. But you are correct, McBeane is very stubborn and it is a huge flaw of theirs. 

 

This offense needed to add another playmaker. Not a poor man's version of what we already have. 

I could not agree with you more,  we needed another big time play maker and we added a receiver at the end of his career. Despite Singletary having some nice runs,  I still believe that was the position that need upgrading.  For this offence to be able to beat good teams with very good defences we needed a more explosive RB who can make plays both running and catching the ball out of the backfield. 

[BUFFALOTONE]

The call on Tre when he made the pick is one of the worst penalties I have seen in a long time. Great coverage and Ben got the ref to throw the flag plain and simple. Our OL was bad in pass pro but not to the tune of 6 holding penalties. The one on Morse that negated a nice play was horrific as well. 
 

Singletary can be a great change of pace back but we need a horse and his ball security is still an issue. We will get right in Miami. See everyone there!

[machine gun kelly]

3 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

The only major point of disagreement I'd have Virgil is I do think it was PI on Wallace. He got there before the ball, didn't get his head around and impeded the receiver. I was surprised when the closest official did not throw a flag and was about to say we got away with one when the late flag came in. We got away with a lot more offensive holds that weren't called but I agree on the Tre White flag. I though that was very, very soft.

 

Just a point on the run game working... I mean it wasn't really. Singletary ended with 11 for 72 yards but he had 2 for 40 yards on that drive once we went down 10 inside 10 remaining at which point the Steelers were definitely playing softer because long runs don't hurt you at that point.

GB, agreed in the first half, but my point to expand is they were dropping back 7 and as McD said in his post game presser, 8 at times.  In those circumstances we should’ve ran more.  We became incredibly predictable.  When they are dropping that much, we should use Gilliam as a blocker and punch forward.  4.5 yards per carry would’ve been great and we just kept throwing when Josh was having a bad day.

[bmur66]

29 minutes ago, billsfan_34 said:

I remember sitting in the stadium thinkin- our punter isn’t deep enough and then watching him step up too far into his punts. Well, the Steelers saw it too and….

I saw the same thing and I don't know nuthin

[SectionC3]

What hurts about this loss is that it’s probably the first time with McDermott that we lost a game we were expected to win.  I felt like we were out coached yesterday.  Josh was off and we simply had no answers.  I still don’t understand the offensive game plan, and we simply got too cute at times.  
 

But behind all of that, I frankly feel like the offense was rusty and I suspect McDermott is not happy with some of the preparations.  In hindsight, skipping the Thursday practice was not a good plan.  And from what I heard, they had players arriving late to the stadium because of traffic (which was a nightmare even in the back roads).  All of that adds up to not ready to play. 

[RichRiderBills]

Did anyone take a look at that Pitt punt from their own endzone? Heard the punter clearly stepped on the line. 

 

-lots of Blame to go around, but in the end Bills did not "out tough" a tough opponent in a trench war. At least on offense, where Daboll just did not let the guys play in the mud.

 

It was a close defensive struggle and a few plays here and there make the difference.

 

The moments that stand out to me:

 

Allen missing that early deep ball. 

 

The obvious 4th quarter punt block. 

 

Terrible 4th and short throwback play.

 

Daboll too cute. Too few runs. Too much empty. 

 

Tremaine had hands on a pick.

 

Penalties. Not going to say this or that was not a foul, but I thought the refs were too one sided and heavy handed w the Bills. Most of the stuff was ticky tack. 

 

I agree inconsistant with short yardage calls. The 4th and 8 ( i think) was poorly planned sequence. If you are going for it on 4th you should know about on 3rd down.

 

We should have won this game. I do feel Buff is a better team...and I was really dissapointed with losing the way we did. 

Edited September 13, 2021 by RichRiderBills

[Sharky7337]

6 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

3. Tremaine still doesn't play thru the whistle.........he let up on a play where the ball was tipped and the delayed reaction cost him a much better chance of intercepting the ball.    He always seems caught off guard when opportunity knocks.  The big plays are what they need to start getting from him.

One of the announcers even called it. They said if he wants to take the next step, he needs to make impact plays if he wants to go from pro bowl to all pro.

 

 

[Mango]

7 hours ago, Virgil said:

For months, fans, radio announcers, and players have all talked about the Bills home opener as being the place to be.  Being at the game today, the fans did not disappoint.  The lots filled up early, traffic was heavy, and the music was loud.  In all my years attending games, that was easily the most electric of a tail gate experience as I can remember seeing.  The weather held off, the Bills are Super Bowl favorites, and they were favored by almost a touchdown.  All that was left was to take care of business...

 

1 - Stadium Experience - I've attended Bills games since the early 90's, attended multiple playoff games, and witnessed huge comebacks.  I write that to give context when I saw that this was the loudest Bills game I've ever been to.  I literally couldn't hear the announcers or the people talking beside me when it was at it's loudest.  At kick-off, there wasn't a single fan trying to find their seats as the stadium was 100% full and rockin.  All of the pre-game hype and ticket prices for this game lived up to the billing.  The rain never came, the wind was rarely a factor, but the food was terrible.  I can only speak for the visitors side on the lower deck, but the only food options were pizza and hot dogs.  This is the first Bills game I've ever attended where I couldn't get an italian sausage inside the stadium. 

 

2 - Defensive Line - Of everything going on in the game, I watched the defensive line rotation as closely as possible.  The rotation of the defensive ends appeared to go by series.  Groot was out there for the first two, rotated on the other side by Hughes and Addison.  Groot and Addison appeared to be the most effective.  Oliver played a hell of a game, disrupting the inside and getting pressure quite a few times.  Addison showed good speed on the strip sack and Groot didn't hit home, but got good pressure against a quick pass release and chased a few runs down from behind.  Granted, against a weak offensive line, I expected a bit more production, but the loss of this game cannot be put on the core guys up front.  Harris didn't get anything going on the ground and Frazier did start sending some more guys in the second half.  I'm still not a fan of having so many active lineman, especially when it means keeping Groot off the field.  I can't say I noticed Obada on the field at all.

 

3 - Edmunds - As a player I'm usually pretty hard on, I thought Edmunds had a great game.  He was quick, decisive, and in the backfield on quite a few runs.  His coverage over the middle was strong too.  On the one somewhat deep pass down the middle, the TE slipped and appeared down, only to get up and then sneak down the seem for a catch.  Overall, for those looking for a positive sign that Edmunds might turn it on this year, today was a good first step.

 

4 - I take a walk outside, I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear
Mm, and twisted thoughts that spin 'round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning, how quick the sun can drop away

 

5 - Allen - When you get paid the second most of NFL quarterbacks, the expectations go through the roof.  Call it sugar high Allen or whatever you want, but Allen was not on his game today and you could see it in his body language.  The pressure was there from Watt and Gordon sometimes, but that was not an excuse for some of the missed throws and poor decisions.  He missed Sanders on a wide open deep ball, but also made some questionable throws downfield to guys double/triple covered.  While playing man in the first half, the Steelers relaxed into zone in the second.  On a few drives, there were receivers being covered on one side of the field by a linebacker in zone, but Allen never looked their way for the easy first downs, as he seemed locked in on his guy.  While not trying to take away from the Steelers defense, the opportunity was there for Allen to deliver and he just wasn't the player we saw most of last year.

 

6 - Wide Receivers - When I think of a stubborn coach, I always think of Mike Martz and his compulsion to prove what he could and couldn't do.  I say that because I feel like Sanders is being force fed down our throats as an offensive weapon.  While he worked downfield on a few plays, he overall acted in the same role as Beasley.  In the red zone, we had Diggs, Beasley, and Sanders out there and I couldn't figure it out.  In the first half, I only counted a few plays where Davis was even out on the field.  The fact that he was on the bench, Kumerow didn't see the field in the red zone, led me to believe that we ran a very stubborn game plan.  The Steelers secondary is one of their biggest weaknesses, and we never really pushed the ball downfield.  It was either a deep shot or something underneath.  The deeper crossing routes were nowhere to be seen and the usage of our 2020 TD receiving leader was abysmal. 

 

7 - Refs - Each official has a specific assignment on the field.  The head ref watches the quarterback, the line judge watches the line of scrimmage.  On deep plays, the deep side judge watches the receivers and plays downfield.  On the pass interference call, please help me understand why the female ref threw the flag from 20 yards behind the play when there was another ref right next to the play and didn't throw a flag?  In watching the replay on the big screen, I did not see pass interference, so I definitely don't know how she saw it from where she was standing.  That was a game changing play (so was the blocked punt), and McD was furious about it.  Even after the Steelers scored a touchdown, McD was in her ear about it until the white hat came over.  The officiating wasn't terrible overall, but it did feel like some of those holds were one sided.  I also argue the hold against Tre.  While contact was made, it felt like hand fighting and didn't affect the play.  Ben through a bad pass and Tre broke on it.  Another call that hurt us badly.

 

8 - Dawkins - For all the focus on Watt, and rightfully so, Dawkins got abused by Gordon on the other side.  Two of his holds were survival holds and he wasn't able to get any push ass they tried to power run to his side.  I don't know if he's not fully recovered and in shape from his bout from COVID, but that was not a good look for him and we will need better protection from him on Allen's blindside.

 

9 - Special Teams - One play shouldn't define a unit, but when it leads to a touchdown, it's hard to not give this unit a failing grade.  McKenzie had a great opening kick off that we squandered into a field goal and Bass is just money.  Haak booted his first punt into the end zone and settled down after that.  On the blocked punt however, our line just crumbled to the Steelers.  I don't know what the miss was, but it seemed like we just got dominated and the game was over from there.  Be prepared for that highlight every time we punt for a few weeks.

 

10 - Coaching - Can someone please get a hold of 2020 McD and tell him we need him back as a coach, because 2019 McD is going to get us in trouble.  If you are going to be cautious, then at least be consistent with it.  The decision to punt on our out 40 in the first half, but then go for it in the second half from further out made zero sense to me.  Allen even tried to keep the offense on the field and was overturned.  The trick play on 4th and one was a travesty and should never be ran again.  Overall, this team was not ready for this game and McD was out-coached by Tomlin.  Daboll had some terrible play calls and didn't seem to know how to use his guys out there.  He was getting great runs out of Motor from the shotgun, and then proceeded to try again later in power formations.  Yes, Allen didn't execute well and that blocked punt was a killer, but I put this loss on our McD and Daboll as much as anyone else.  It was embarrassing and the fans deserved better. 

 

 

One week down and it's not what everyone wanted to see, but it is only one week.  If Allen needs to have a bounceback game, what better team to face than the Dolphins next.  It's frustrating to kill the hype train at our first regular season home game in over 18 months and when the fans showed up like they did, but it's a long 17 game season and there were a lot of positive take aways from today.  I look forward to a new week and a strong season from this team.  We will find out rhythm and get this party started, it's just going to be a little later than we thought.

 

Go Bills!

 

The only thing I disagree with you on is the DPI call. Wallace made contact with the WR who was trying to come back/track the ball. But Wallace never turned his head around to track it. Is it a bit of a ticky tacky call? Sure. But it wasn’t a flagrantly bad call. 
 

My biggest issue with it is, if that’s the way you’re going to call the game, call the entire game that way.

1 hour ago, BobbyC81 said:

And why was Moss a healthy scratch?   Are their styles too much alike and they wanted Breida’s speed as a change of pace?  He was not very good.

The answer is actually Taiwan Jones and ST. 

[billsfan_34]

21 minutes ago, bmur66 said:

I saw the same thing and I don't know nuthin

Undisciplined play and poor execution will bite ya…well it did.

[buffalo2218]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

my thoughts similar to others:

 

- still no real threat of a running game

- Pitt was super physical with our WRs

- o-line is not any better than last year 

- Josh holding the ball half second too long

- play calling was bad. too cute and pass happy.  Some weird non 4th down run calls for Josh for little gain and placing him in harms way.

- defensive line played more stout than last year 

- penalties already an issue like several games last year 

-KC is still better and the AFC team to beat. i’d rank Cleveland ahead of the Bills too. They can run the ball and throw. 

Kinda hard to believe this when Daboll all but abandoned the running game entirely. Singletary had some good runs when given a chance

[TAinLack.]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

my thoughts similar to others:

 

- still no real threat of a running game

- Pitt was super physical with our WRs

- o-line is not any better than last year 

- Josh holding the ball half second too long

- play calling was bad. too cute and pass happy.  Some weird non 4th down run calls for Josh for little gain and placing him in harms way.

- defensive line played more stout than last year 

- penalties already an issue like several games last year 

-KC is still better and the AFC team to beat. i’d rank Cleveland ahead of the Bills too. They can run the ball and throw. 

and Josh running with one hand on the ball, mind boggling.