Are the bills playing conservative intentionally? (hot take kinda)

[Steptide]

So, I know what I'm about to write sounds absurd, and I can't even bring myself to fully comprehend it, but hear me out a little. 

 

So obviously the bills offense hasent been to our standards through these first 2 games. It's hard to wrap our heads around after seeing how good they were last season. I was thinking about this a bit while at work today. All through camp all I heard from local media and sports guys on Twitter is how good the bills offense was. Passes from Allen rarely hit the ground in camp and the team was on par to take another leap this season. Then we watch them in pre season and for the most part, see the same thing we've been hearing about all throughout camp (even with trubisky playing). Fast forward to the regular season and all of a sudden our offense is anemic. I'm not saying in anyway that Josh is over and under throwing passes intentionally, or missing wide open guys by design. That would be ridiculous. However, I do wonder if to some degree the bills are intentionally being a bit conservative knowing that they have kc, Tampa and other opponents they have to beat if they wanna be super bowl contenders. I'm in no way saying the bills lost to the steelers intentionally or anything crazy like that. I just think this team is way better than what we've seen these last 2 weeks and it's hard for me to believe it's just a regression 

[jkeerie]

2 minutes ago, Steptide said:

So, I know what I'm about to write sounds absurd, and I can't even bring myself to fully comprehend it, but hear me out a little. 

 

So obviously the bills offense hasent been to our standards through these first 2 games. It's hard to wrap our heads around after seeing how good they were last season. I was thinking about this a bit while at work today. All through camp all I heard from local media and sports guys on Twitter is how good the bills offense was. Passes from Allen rarely hit the ground in camp and the team was on par to take another leap this season. Then we watch them in pre season and for the most part, see the same thing we've been hearing about all throughout camp (even with trubisky playing). Fast forward to the regular season and all of a sudden our offense is anemic. I'm not saying in anyway that Josh is over and under throwing passes intentionally, or missing wide open guys by design. That would be ridiculous. However, I do wonder if to some degree the bills are intentionally being a bit conservative knowing that they have kc, Tampa and other opponents they have to beat if they wanna be super bowl contenders. I'm in no way saying the bills lost to the steelers intentionally or anything crazy like that. I just think this team is way better than what we've seen these last 2 weeks and it's hard for me to believe it's just a regression 

I think they are just trying to be more balanced and it's taking time for the offense to get in rhythm and for the o line to get in sync.

[buffalo2218]

I'm not sure if what you're saying applies to what were seeing. To me, your theory seems counterproductive for the long haul. I mentioned in another thread that I couldn't understand how our passing offense became so stagnant after hearing about all the hype surrounding training camp and the 3rd preseason game. I even went as far to say "did releasing Brown throw Josh off"? There are some chalking it up to the Bills playing good defenses the first 2 weeks, but good QBs can still light up good defenses. In Allen's case, compared to last year, he didn't even play. I understand the sub par stats against the Steelers last year, but he absolutely shredded the Dolphins both times.

[LabattBlue]

Yes.  Definitely hiding things even if it means losing the season opener. 

[Don Otreply]

It could be a lack of preseason playing time. They have come out looking rusty and out of sync, tell tales of not enough live game speed and hits, they will get past it, but it is the price to pay for not playing your first team guys in the preseason.  That and the Steelers appear to use what KC did, game plan wise in there effort to beat us, could be other things as well, but this seems to be the most straight forward reasoning to me…,

 

Go Bills!!!

[Doc Brown]

It's wishful thinking as it was more gameplan specific.

 

They played pretty aggressively against the Steelers with a lot of 10 personnel because they thought they could find a matchup to exploit with their WR depth.  What they didn't count on is Josh to be off and our o-line to look like Bobby Hart x5.

 

Against the Fins, they were more balanced given the strength of their secondary and how anemic the Fins offense was.

[Big Blitz]

I think there is something to having to adjust to teams adjusting to us - it's not just Allen but Diggs isn't sneaking up on anyone anymore either.  

 

And we could be trying to work on some things while obviously trying to win.  

 

 

 

Everyone keeps saying 2019 Josh which is ridiculous.  2019 Josh was essentially still a rookie (no longer raw).  There was reason for concern most of that season whether or not the O would be good enough.  Because Josh was still early in his development.

 

Looking forward to this more experienced Josh in 2021 make adjustments to the adjustments and continuing to grow because that's how he's programmed.   

Edited September 22, 2021 by Big Blitz

[Rc2catch]

Ball placement. 33% from 10-25 yards these two games. 
For context he was at 62% last year in the 10-25 yard range. 
Defenses are learning his tendencies and favorite areas of the field to target and playing better coverage in those areas. Even still we are seeing him miss throws he was making with ease last year. I’m sure they are watching the film and making adjustments. 

[machine gun kelly]

No step, they aren’t holding back stuff, if anything they tried some dumb ars plays in game 1 when they didn’t have the fleeflicker down in practice, and the toss back on 4th and 1.  We had a bad game, a more balanced game in week 2, and it’s just a matter they have to get in a rhythm.  That can easily happen these next two weeks, and be ready for KC.  
 

It’s kind of like some over analysis so if you go to that stats sheet, we have the 2nd best defense in yards and pts.  Are they the 2nd best defense?  I don’t know, maybe they’ll be in the top 6 or so as there are some good defenses out there.  And are we the 23 rd best offense when we scored 35 pts Sunday?  I don’t think so.  It’s just a little too much analysis by paralysis.  I’m waiting a few weeks before I make any  significant opinions.  Allen just isn’t in a groove yet.  The sky isn’t falling.  I wouldn’t doubt you’ll see more of either or Gilliam or (not both at the same time) Knox out there in 11 personnel, as Moss/Motor can chip and be an outlet, and Knox can do the same.  The Tackles may just need a chip to give Allen just another half second and still be out 6 yards downfield.

[zow2]

I’m not a big fan of Aaron Rodgers or anything but he did have a good comment last night. Responding to all the criticism of their blowout loss in week 1.  

He said from his experience in NFL football nothing carries over from year to year.  The team literally has to learn how to win at the beginning of each season, as if they’ve never done it before. 

That probably holds true for Allen and the Bills right now. They are learning how to win again. They have the talent, a lot of the same players and they will ramp up pretty quickly i think.  They already figured something out after the Steelers 2nd half.  Look at that Miami 2nd half, Outstanding. 

[BillsFan619]

43 minutes ago, Steptide said:

So, I know what I'm about to write sounds absurd, and I can't even bring myself to fully comprehend it, but hear me out a little. 

 

So obviously the bills offense hasent been to our standards through these first 2 games. It's hard to wrap our heads around after seeing how good they were last season. I was thinking about this a bit while at work today. All through camp all I heard from local media and sports guys on Twitter is how good the bills offense was. Passes from Allen rarely hit the ground in camp and the team was on par to take another leap this season. Then we watch them in pre season and for the most part, see the same thing we've been hearing about all throughout camp (even with trubisky playing). Fast forward to the regular season and all of a sudden our offense is anemic. I'm not saying in anyway that Josh is over and under throwing passes intentionally, or missing wide open guys by design. That would be ridiculous. However, I do wonder if to some degree the bills are intentionally being a bit conservative knowing that they have kc, Tampa and other opponents they have to beat if they wanna be super bowl contenders. I'm in no way saying the bills lost to the steelers intentionally or anything crazy like that. I just think this team is way better than what we've seen these last 2 weeks and it's hard for me to believe it's just a regression 

Are you sure you weren’t thinking about it A LOT at work? 😜🤣

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

49 minutes ago, Steptide said:

So, I know what I'm about to write sounds absurd, and I can't even bring myself to fully comprehend it, but hear me out a little. 

 

So obviously the bills offense hasent been to our standards through these first 2 games. It's hard to wrap our heads around after seeing how good they were last season. I was thinking about this a bit while at work today. All through camp all I heard from local media and sports guys on Twitter is how good the bills offense was. Passes from Allen rarely hit the ground in camp and the team was on par to take another leap this season. Then we watch them in pre season and for the most part, see the same thing we've been hearing about all throughout camp (even with trubisky playing). Fast forward to the regular season and all of a sudden our offense is anemic. I'm not saying in anyway that Josh is over and under throwing passes intentionally, or missing wide open guys by design. That would be ridiculous. However, I do wonder if to some degree the bills are intentionally being a bit conservative knowing that they have kc, Tampa and other opponents they have to beat if they wanna be super bowl contenders. I'm in no way saying the bills lost to the steelers intentionally or anything crazy like that. I just think this team is way better than what we've seen these last 2 weeks and it's hard for me to believe it's just a regression 

i felt like against Miami they were definitely holding back on offense. Maybe less holding back, but more like setting them up a little for the next time we play them (which is only in a few more weeks).  For example, I noticed they ran a lot of motion and sort of jet sweep action, but we never did anything with it. I wonder if that’s part of the set-up to roll out some wrinkles the next time we play them. 

[NewEra]

No.  Other teams have adapted to what the bills were doing on offense and now we have to figure out how best to attack the new looks we are facing.  Have to mention Josh feeling too much pressure playing in front of crowds. 😃

[SCBills]

This isn’t college where we open with Mercer and SE Louisiana Tech so we can play vanilla for our upcoming game against Bama…

 

That Steelers loss could be the difference between a 1 seed and 2 seed.   
 

Zero chance they’re holding back, but they are absolutely working through things … I highly doubt the offense we’ve seen Weeks 1 & 2 will be what we see Weeks 11 & 12 etc. 

[Thurman#1]

No. One win counts as much as another. They in no way took that Pittsburgh game for granted enough to do anything deliberately that might have hurt their chances.

 

Just matchups, tactics, play-calling and how they performed on the day.

[billybrew1]

1 hour ago, Steptide said:

So, I know what I'm about to write sounds absurd, and I can't even bring myself to fully comprehend it, but hear me out a little. 

 

So obviously the bills offense hasent been to our standards through these first 2 games. It's hard to wrap our heads around after seeing how good they were last season. I was thinking about this a bit while at work today. All through camp all I heard from local media and sports guys on Twitter is how good the bills offense was. Passes from Allen rarely hit the ground in camp and the team was on par to take another leap this season. Then we watch them in pre season and for the most part, see the same thing we've been hearing about all throughout camp (even with trubisky playing). Fast forward to the regular season and all of a sudden our offense is anemic. I'm not saying in anyway that Josh is over and under throwing passes intentionally, or missing wide open guys by design. That would be ridiculous. However, I do wonder if to some degree the bills are intentionally being a bit conservative knowing that they have kc, Tampa and other opponents they have to beat if they wanna be super bowl contenders. I'm in no way saying the bills lost to the steelers intentionally or anything crazy like that. I just think this team is way better than what we've seen these last 2 weeks and it's hard for me to believe it's just a regression 

I don't think so but you did bring up a different point sort of.... For the last four season's McD and Leslie came out with a super nonaggressive defense. All the DL would just walk the OL back into the QB. Rarely trying to get around them. Fast forward to this year and we are playing our playoffs defense already. That is a huge change and I was wondering about that. Where does the defense go from here?

Josh is just playing poorly as evident in the Kurt Warner video and you can tell just by watching Josh play the last two weeks. No MVP there. I think the contract got to him a bit. I think the Stealers physicality got to him a bit. Miami's secondary is maybe the best in the league as well. Josh has a ways to go to match his play from last season. Daboll's O has been aggressive like always.... Maybe it's good that Josh is struggling now as opposed to later I guess. Hopefully Josh will be stronger because of this slump?

 

Go Bills!

[Solomon Grundy]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

No.  Other teams have adapted to what the bills were doing on offense and now we have to figure out how best to attack the new looks we are facing.  Have to mention Josh feeling too much pressure playing in front of crowds. 😃

Why can’t the coaches figure this out during the game? Josh has been staying in pocket more this year, feeling the pressure and not really maintaining mechanics. Think he will begin moving around more to find that time and making plays like last season. The Diggs TD is evidence

[NewEra]

17 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Why can’t the coaches figure this out during the game? Josh has been staying in pocket more this year, feeling the pressure and not really maintaining mechanics. Think he will begin moving around more to find that time and making plays like last season. The Diggs TD is evidence

Can’t figure it out.  What’s different this year?  A huge contract and stadiums have fans.  The precision that we saw last year has yet to be seen after two games.  Hopefully that changes sunday 

[Big Blitz]

Everyone go back and see what Miami did to Mahomes last year and check back in on this thread. 

 

Yes Mahomes threw for almost 400 yards - but threw 3 INTs, lost a fumble, and took a 30 yard sack.  Travis Kelce, as usual, was the X Factor with 140 yards not getting covered by Howard or Jones.   Hill ran a long one for a TD and the Chiefs returned a punt for a TD - which really ended the game bc Miami couldn't overcome Tua.  

 

While you're at it, check out the Steelers in weeks 1-6 and what they did to QBs.  

 

 

Everyone wants to compare him to Mahomes well there you go I just did.  Lol.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, BTB said:

Yes.  Definitely hiding things even if it means losing the season opener. 

 

That's....Sarcasm, Right?