Week 1 Loss Thoughts 24 Hrs Later

[Locomark]

I like your 24 hour rule. I do the same. Reactions can be based on emotion and not objective review. I remember Jim Kelly often being told to get out of town for years during any loss week during our 4 SB years so I ignore the Josh doomsayers. Anytime a QB has an average game they will be branded a flop in Buffalo because we are conditioned to believe our QB sucks. The reality is this team may go 3-2 or even 2-3 to start the year and still go 8-2 or 7-3 for the first 10. It’s a long season. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Locomark

[Solomon Grundy]

Didn’t most of the “Super Bowl contenders” lose their week 1 matchup?

[Governor]

4 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

If I remember correctly,  the Steelers were a matchup nightmare during the super bowl years also. I seem to remember them beating the Kelly era bills like a drum on a couple of occasions …. On to Miami 

There was that 1 preseason game where they knocked out like 4 of our starters. Maybe 96? I already didn’t like them but I HATED them ever since that game. They were headhunting.

 

Then there were those years they went after everyone’s knees.

 

Ive never liked playing them.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Governor

[Governor]

51 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Didn’t most of the “Super Bowl contenders” lose their week 1 matchup?

Chiefs, Bucs, Rams won.

[GoBills808]

4 hours ago, NewEra said:

Tre’s was questionable imo.

 

Wallaces’ was a PI imo.  I don’t think it’s debatable.  Maybe too ticky tack for some a taste, which I get.  It would’ve been nice if we received one or two of those, but I do think it was a penalty after rewatching it.

Yup Wallace will get flagged every time until he turns to find the ball. That is literally 100% always PI- any contact at all when you don’t turn your head.

[GunnerBill]

7 hours ago, NewEra said:

Tre’s was questionable imo.

 

Wallaces’ was a PI imo.  I don’t think it’s debatable.  Maybe too ticky tack for some a taste, which I get.  It would’ve been nice if we received one or two of those, but I do think it was a penalty after rewatching it.

 

Agree. The Tre one was an incredibly soft call. There was a tiny little tug at the top of the route but the sort of thing that happens every play. Bad call. 

 

The Levi Wallace DPI was DPI. It was pretty much textbook DPI. I was amazed the closest ref missed it.

[ALF]

The OL mainly is Dawkins 100%. The punter too close to los and taking 4 steps instead of 2 caused a block and td.

[Igotbills]

My issue.. what is the Steelers biggest strength, defensive line, maybe top 3. So why are we running empty sets that let their pass rushers know it’s gonna be a pass. 
 

I also don’t recall a single screen pass. Isn’t that like football 101 when your o-line is getting beat up to run a screen pass to keep the pass rushers honest. 
 

Where was they play action? I know we didn’t establish any sort of run game but Allen was money last year running play action. Another way to keep the pass rushers on their toes. 
 

I just don’t get how you go into this game with this plan that plays right into the Steelers strengths. 

[SoCal Deek]

59 minutes ago, Igotbills said:

My issue.. what is the Steelers biggest strength, defensive line, maybe top 3. So why are we running empty sets that let their pass rushers know it’s gonna be a pass. 
 

I also don’t recall a single screen pass. Isn’t that like football 101 when your o-line is getting beat up to run a screen pass to keep the pass rushers honest. 
 

Where was they play action? I know we didn’t establish any sort of run game but Allen was money last year running play action. Another way to keep the pass rushers on their toes. 
 

I just don’t get how you go into this game with this plan that plays right into the Steelers strengths. 

Answer: Daboll is a terrible OC

[bmur66]

As seen before, when Allen has a game like this there is no plan to settle him down. Plan B is hero ball. Bad to worse.

[SoCal Deek]

2 minutes ago, bmur66 said:

As seen before, when Allen has a game like this there is no plan to settle him down. Plan B is hero ball. Bad to worse.

Well put. I hadn’t thought of it until you said it but yes it seems like we’ve watched this movie before. Allen’s lack of accuracy was shocking. I caught just a second of a recap show while at the gym yesterday and the teaser question going to a commercial break was ‘who was the only Week One QB with more incompletions than Josh Allen. I didn’t stay near the TV to find out the answer but the question itself tells you all you need to know about the Steelers game.

[corta765]

9 hours ago, Locomark said:

I like your 24 hour rule. I do the same. Reactions can be based on emotion and not objective review. I remember Jim Kelly often being told to get out of town for years during any loss week during our 4 SB years so I ignore the Josh doomsayers. Anytime a QB has an average game they will be branded a flop in Buffalo because we are conditioned to believe our QB sucks. The reality is this team may go 3-2 or even 2-3 to start the year and still go 8-2 or 7-3 for the first 10. It’s a long season. 

No position in sports sees opinions change faster then QB. Brady was supposivily done years ago when the Chiefs throttled them. The big picture does matter and realistically every guy has good

and bad years. I think Josh will have another good year but if he is not MVP caliber 24/7 it will def annoy some people.

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

47 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Well put. I hadn’t thought of it until you said it but yes it seems like we’ve watched this movie before. Allen’s lack of accuracy was shocking. I caught just a second of a recap show while at the gym yesterday and the teaser question going to a commercial break was ‘who was the only Week One QB with more incompletions than Josh Allen. I didn’t stay near the TV to find out the answer but the question itself tells you all you need to know about the Steelers game.

 

The only QB with more incompletions was Trevor Lawrence. 4 QBs (including Big Ben) had a worse completion % 

 

Allen did not have a good game, but in his defense I will say there were a few bad drops by WRs and a handful of throws where the WR could have made a great catch but did not. He also had a number of throws where he was hit as he was throwing it or a defender deflected it. 

 

 

[jletha]

I think its good to remember the Steelers defense gave us problems last year too. If you only look at the raw numbers, Josh arguably had a better game on Sunday then he did against them last year, at the least it was very similar (more yards, better comp%, no int).

 

The difference in that game was the pick 6 and we did establish a rhythm for a few drives. On sunday they got the defensive TD and we had more holding calls.

 

Onward and upward I say, I think we rebound.

[oldmanfan]

Here's the thing.  Sometimes the other team plays better than you.  That is what happened Sunday.  We all had visions of the game against the Steelers last year, but they were beat up at the LB position and their D wasn't their normal D.

 

Bottom line Sunday is their D was better than our O, at all levels.  Their front dominated our O line, and their DBs blanketed our WRs.  Our D shut down their run game, and for the most part shut down Big Ben except for a couple truly incredible catches by their WRs (and a couple questionable calls).  The game was a D dominated game, and they were more dominant.

 

And for the play that won them the game, their punt return team dominated our punt team up front, got a block and a TD, and there you go.  On Sirius NFL radio yesterday Gannon said that teams with a blocked punt win 90% of those games.  

 

The Bills will look at cleaning things up a bit, Josh will take shorter throws if teams play him deep, Daboll will make adjustments.  But sometimes the other guy simply plays better, and that's what happened Sunday.  We didn't lose it, they won it.

[HeHateMe]

We don't have the O-line to stay 5 wides and throw 60 times..  Amazing that the coaches don't know this.  Dabol has to help Allen with some scripted throws when he is off and feeling pressure.  He did him no favors with the play calling.  Get him on the move rolling out a few times too.  Allen is great with those plays.

[SoCal Deek]

1 minute ago, HeHateMe said:

We don't have the O-line to stay 5 wides and throw 60 times..  Amazing that the coaches don't know this.  Dabol has to help Allen with some scripted throws when he is off and feeling pressure.  He did him no favors with the play calling.  Get him on the move rolling out a few times too.  Allen is great with those plays.

This!

[Olliemets]

15 hours ago, corta765 said:

 

 

4. Allen, this was one of his not great days the problem is nothing else on offense was working either. Probably my greatest frustration was in the 4th the return of hero ball. Whether too much hype or frustration later he forced too much rather then taking what was given to him. In the 3rd quarter Beasley started getting open underneath and he kept looking high. That said he still had some insane passes especially given the pressure and I liked his runs. Like the KC game the pressure def got to him and he is going to need to learn to keep his emotions in check. He will be fine but I don’t need MVP Josh as much as smart Josh because the rest will take care of itself.

 

 

 

This !!!  Josh should go to school on Big Ben in the 4th Quarter.  The old guy played within himself, stayed calm, made smart decisions and managed a game that was there for the taking. 

[Paup 1995MVP]

7 minutes ago, HeHateMe said:

We don't have the O-line to stay 5 wides and throw 60 times..  Amazing that the coaches don't know this.  Dabol has to help Allen with some scripted throws when he is off and feeling pressure.  He did him no favors with the play calling.  Get him on the move rolling out a few times too.  Allen is great with those plays.

Great point about the O line.  The O line played lousy from tackle to tackle.  Very surprised that we went 14-3 with such a marginal O line.  There are no studs on the line.  Dawkins is not a stud.  When he is on he is above average but never dominates.  The rest of the guys are pretty much average to poor.  Watching the game against the Steelers and last years playoffs, our roster is not nearly as strong as we would like to believe it is.  I think management rested on its laurels a bit too much in the offseason and did little to upgrade the roster.  We should have better then Feliciano, Ford and Boettger at Guard.  CB2 is a liability.  Levi Wallace is not a starting NFL CB.  Has little athleticism for the position.  The O line is average AT BEST.  And we really do not have a dominant RB on the roster.  Singletary has some wiggle, but no burst.  The front 7 looked a lot better on Sunday.  But at this point there are no dominant players in the Front 7.  (Although a shout out to Matt Milano and Ed Oliver for playing real well on Sunday)   I also think the coaching on the whole, game planning and in game adjustments, and decision making needs a whole lot of improvement.  McDermott has certainly not shown he is ready to dominate in big games.  (I have no idea why we did not kick the FG up 10-3 on 4th and 8 from the 35 with one of the best kickers in the league.  We go up 13-3 and its a whole different game.  And the 4th down backward pass was disgusting.)

 

Allen is a stud.  But he needs a much better game plan to get the most out of his talents.  And stop the QB designed runs.  NFL QB's can not run between the tackles.  The defensive players are too good to allow for big gaps that are needed for big gains.  Big QB runs come off of broken plays/scrambles in the NFL)

 

This is a very big game this week.  (Even for week 2)  The psyche of a team is very important.  We looked flat ill prepared and almost disinterested at times on Sunday.  Coaches need to get the tempo and the intensity of the team to another level this week.  This season is going to be a dogfight.  We had better be ready to bring our A game every week.  Otherwise we will be a very disappointed team and fan base come January.

[Beast]

And another thing.....ditch those damned white tops at home! The Bills should be in blue over white ALWAYS while playing at home!!!!!

Edited September 14, 2021 by Beast