The Turning Point In the Monday Night game For Me

[corta765]

I had a similar thought that the drive wasn't good, but the sack was a killer and the amount of pressure Josh had I think he did the best there with what he had. At the time I didn't like the deep throw but in retrospect I get given the situation trying to do it. Third down their coverage was great and he almost got the pass in a super narrow window. 

 

So I agree that drive was the chance to put the game away, but I really wish the defense could've made a stop at the same point. The offense put 31 pts up despite heavy pressure on Josh and the defense had allowed 5 straight scoring drives. A stop with no points on even one of those 6 and we win. The game as a whole had just too many what if's for Buffalo.

[Motorin']

That drive and poor RedZone offense in the first half are why the Bills didn't run away with the game.

 

The Bills should have run away with the game, but didn't.

 

But the turning point was the last play of the game. It really all came down to that. 

[Realist]

59 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

That drive and poor RedZone offense in the first half are why the Bills didn't run away with the game.

 

The Bills should have run away with the game, but didn't.

 

But the turning point was the last play of the game. It really all came down to that. 

Definitely agree with this. When we came away with filed goals, that's when I knew it was going to be a tough game. But I never doubted they weren't going to pull this game off...until they didn't.

 

I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but somehow I just felt they were going to win. I sat there stunned for a minute or two when we didn't get the first down or TD on that last play.

[Scott7975]

I said in the GDT before the drive that it was the drive of the game and they needed that long methodical drive to kill clock and put up 7.  Then Allen threw 3 deep balls.  I don't know if it was the play calls or Allen or both but they need better situational awareness there.  If they had done that it would have been game over right then and there.

[GunnerBill]

20 hours ago, falgobofu said:

This game took me back to the AFC Championships, we could not convert in the red zone. FG after FG does not win games against good teams. This IS and will continue to be the problem until Dabol shows he can improve on the play calling. Just like the first KC TD in the championships I felt the nagging feeling that this game might be lost. Yes the defense needs to get a stop in the 2nd half but our offense needs to score in the redone. The sky has not fallen, we will be motivated and have an elite QB. Super Bowl is the goal not a week 6 win.

 

It wasn't all on playcalling. Daboll called a touchdown play called back for a needless hold. He called touchdown play where Josh threw a bad ball at a wide open Diggs. I didn't love the playcalling on the first redzone series that led to a FG, but the second one was on the players not the playcalling IMO. 

[Pete]

The Bills will be fine.  What boggles my mind is that our WR in 2nd half weren’t able to get separation against titans 2nd and 3rd string CBS.  And we couldn’t generate pass rush against most sacked QB in nfl.  Going into the game, the Titans had backups center-left tackle.  Then Tyler went down at RT.  
Those two issues are alarming to me.  I’m certain McDermott and Beane will address 

[SoCal Deek]

I’m going to agree with the OP here. Yes, you can point to all sorts of things that happened in a split second like the Henry run, or the slip at the goal line, but that particular drive wasn’t rushed. It was a mental breakdown and a top to bottom lack of situational awareness. Josh and the coaching staff have to do better in moments like that. Scoring fast wasn’t the goal at that point in the game. Keep the ball, keep your defense off the field, eat clock, break the other team’s spirit. Go up by two scores and go home with a win. 

[colin]

this game and the pittz game reminds me of the manning lead colts.  when they got a lead, their simple and fast game plan on d and finesse O would just murder people.  when they didn't they looked predictable and could get out muscled.  the titans went all in on a game plan on both sides of the ball to outphysical us and we had no answer.

 

i know hind sight is 20/20, but if we kept wyatt teller, i think we are 6-0 this season.

[Coach Tuesday]

Patience for the check down is Allen’s final summit.  Unclear if he’ll ever get there - throws like the one to Knox in the Chiefs game (not the TD, the other long one off his back foot from like the 16 yard line over a defender’s head) will only embolden him that he can throw it anywhere on the field any time.  And maybe he’s right?  I wouldn’t want him to sacrifice greatness for dump-offs.  But situational awareness is something he has just not yet mastered and may never.  Tom Brady would’ve taken those 8-15 yard dump-offs all day and would’ve won the game by doing so.  Josh is the millennial version or whatever - he just gets bored throwing short.  It didn’t cost them the game but it would’ve won them the game, if that makes sense.

[HappyDays]

16 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Patience for the check down is Allen’s final summit.  Unclear if he’ll ever get there

 

I thought he showed patience in the Titans game until that drive. He did check it down to Moss or Knox a few times. That is the perplexing part about that drive, of all the drives that game that one was begging for methodical passes all the way down the field. Part of the problem is those long methodical drives don't often turn into TDs for us because of our red zone issues so I understand why he is trying to score from further out. That just wasn't the drive to do it.

 

To be fair though that first play was definitely a shot play. Allen could have and should have moved off the deep read earlier... but why was that the first read to begin with? I have criticized Daboll for failing to understand the flow of the game when calling plays, that is an example of what I means. You know the Titans offense is scoring at will and that the best chance of winning the game is a drive that takes 5 minutes off the clock and puts points on the board. You know you have a QB that has never seen a deep pass he doesn't like. You know the Titans are playing deep zones and that we don't have a true deep threat at receiver. So why call a shot play in that scenario?

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

The Bills will be fine.  What boggles my mind is that our WR in 2nd half weren’t able to get separation against titans 2nd and 3rd string CBS.  And we couldn’t generate pass rush against most sacked QB in nfl.  Going into the game, the Titans had backups center-left tackle.  Then Tyler went down at RT.  
Those two issues are alarming to me.  I’m certain McDermott and Beane will address 

 

I mean this is just inaccurate. Taylor Lewan is their starting left tackle, Roger Saffold is their starting left guard and Ben Jones is their starting center. Their starting line in this game was their starting line. The only starter that missed the game for Tennessee was Kristian Fulton at corner. The lack of pass rush after the first couple of drives was largely, to my mind, our inability to get them to 3rd down. Our Dline needed to play better but the Titans for the second year in a row did a good job of freezing the Bills on play action and then exposing the zones behind the linebackers.

 

Which plays did our receivers not get separation on? They separated pretty darn well. 

[Not at the table Karlos]

On 10/19/2021 at 10:25 PM, BuffaloBillies said:

Sweeney WAS wide open on that play. We were screaming at the TV live. I hope he just didn't see him cuz that was the obvious play to make. That sequence reminded me of dumb malarkey "going for the jugular" instead of working the clock and methodically going down the field to hopefully score (but at the very least burning clock and their timeouts maybe). Just cuz they had injuries doesn't mean you HAD TO throw so deep. 5-10 yard passes would have been more prudent there. 

Sanders was wiiiiiiide open as well just standing there like wtf look this way. 

[The Jokeman]

20 hours ago, Motorin' said:

That drive and poor RedZone offense in the first half are why the Bills didn't run away with the game.

 

The Bills should have run away with the game, but didn't.

 

But the turning point was the last play of the game. It really all came down to that. 

You could argue that the play before the 4th down was more vital. As had Josh maybe stayed in the pocket a second or too he might have seen Beasley in the endzone and got the TD pass. Yet all things considered the game was lost by the team as the defense failed, the offense failed and the ST failed (see Smiths holding call on the TD return). 

[No_Matter_What]

I agree with OP to a certain point. That drive was important and we blew it. It looks like it was a combination of Josh's decisions and playcalling.

 

But I think when people (in general) blame Josh for trying to go deep and missing easy checkdowns it is not completely fair. I'd say that there is a decent chance that almost everytime when Josh (or any QB) hits something deep he also has the opportunity to checkdown. But we never criticize that when deep ball is connected - actually we never notice or care. We are just happy with a play. How many missed checkdowns went unnoticed when Josh connected something deeper?

 

My point it that missing open guys for couple of yards is inevitable when you try for anything else, so its not necessarily a bad thing. It just looks like a bad thing when longer play fails.

 

EDIT: No sure what you mean Coach... we blew IT? Not sure why I wrote it that way. Not a native speaker though (if you mean anything else).

Edited October 21, 2021 by No_Matter_What

[Coach Tuesday]

3 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

I agree with OP to a certain point. That drive was important and we blew him. It looks like it was a combination of Josh's decisions and playcalling.

 

But I think when people (in general) blame Josh for trying to go deep and missing easy checkdowns it is not completely fair. I'd say that there is a decent chance that almost everytime when Josh (or any QB) hits something deep he also has the opportunity to checkdown. But we never criticize that when deep ball is connected - actually we never notice or care. We are just happy with a play. How many missed checkdowns went unnoticed when Josh connected something deeper?

 

My point it that missing open guys for couple of yards is inevitable when you try for anything else, so its not necessarily a bad thing. It just looks like a bad thing when longer play fails.

 

ummmmmm..... phrasing!

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by Coach Tuesday

[Motorin']

2 hours ago, No_Matter_What said:

I agree with OP to a certain point. That drive was important and we blew it. It looks like it was a combination of Josh's decisions and playcalling.

 

But I think when people (in general) blame Josh for trying to go deep and missing easy checkdowns it is not completely fair. I'd say that there is a decent chance that almost everytime when Josh (or any QB) hits something deep he also has the opportunity to checkdown. But we never criticize that when deep ball is connected - actually we never notice or care. We are just happy with a play. How many missed checkdowns went unnoticed when Josh connected something deeper?

 

My point it that missing open guys for couple of yards is inevitable when you try for anything else, so its not necessarily a bad thing. It just looks like a bad thing when longer play fails.

 

EDIT: No sure what you mean Coach... we blew IT? Not sure why I wrote it that way. Not a native speaker though (if you mean anything else).

 

Without the All 22, it's hard to know if Bease came open just bc Josh took off. 

 

By the time Bease was open, Josh was over the line of scrimmage...

 

In any case, the game was not lost until the 4th and 1 failed. 

 

Nothing that happened until that point prevented the Bills from winning. The W was 10 feet away. 

 

Like I said before, the game should have been out of reach with a 2 score Bills victory. 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by Motorin'

[TheBrownBear]

Definitely agree with the OP.  When we punted that ball away I turned to my wife and said, "well, we are going to lose this game."  We had been moving the ball well all night, I was certain we'd go down and make it an 11 point lead to ice the game.  It was just an unfocused, almost mentally lazy, series from Josh.  Don't get me wrong, he is an AMAZING young quarterback, but he is still YOUNG and prone to the occasional mistake.  I have no doubt he'll learn from this experience and up his mental game the next time he's in a similar situation, just like he has every other time he's hit a speedbump in his career.

[Ralonzo]

On 10/19/2021 at 9:32 PM, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Do also feel not getting TD's on those first two drives was big too.  Without the penalty on Sanders a TD by Knox

Considering exactly the same hold on Poyer uncalled during Henry’s house call, that’s a 10 point swing.

[zow2]

The game just shows once again that when you play a decent/good opponent, the difference between winning and losing is razor thin.  A play here and there...

- an inaccurate throw to an open receiver

- an edge rushing defender getting a hand on a Josh throw

- a very costly special teams penalty

- a first and goal overturned

- a failed 4th down conversion

 

We had a bunch of plays in the Bills favor too, but just one too many going Tennessee's way.

[Nextmanup]

This game reminds me a ton of Super Bowl XXV against the Giants in 1991.

 

It never felt like we really got into a groove and were able to do our thing.  We also ended up losing, despite being the better team.

 

It's weird how similar the 2 games felt.