The main reason we are a 7-5 team and not a 10-2 one at this time.

[TheBrownBear]

46 minutes ago, Gordio said:

You make a lot of good points.  I will state this though, the NFL is so competitive now.  Most games are decided by a bounce or two.  Even this NE game, yeah I get they rushed for 200 + yards but if any of 4 or 5 things go the other way we win that game.  

 

- the good 2 point conversion

- diggs dropping the td pass

- bass missing that 30 yard fg.  

- not getting the holding call on knox in the endzone at the end of the game

 

 

Last year it seemed like we won all the close games.  1st NE game, seatle, rams, even the colts and Baltimore playoff game.  This year it seems like we are losing all the close games - Titans, Jags, NE,.

 

 

It truly is a game of inches and the biggest reason our record isnt the same as last year is we are not winning the one possession games this year

Bingo!  I'd like to add that it's almost all self-inflicted wounds.  In the games we are losing we are almost always losing the turnover battle and/or making other negative plays (blocked punt TD, penalties/dumb sacks taking us out of FG range, slipping on QB sneaks, missed FGs, multiple redzone 0fers, etc.).  We outgained Pittsburgh by 120 yards, TN by 70 yards, Jax by 80 yards, etc.  That's a big difference between this year and last.  We are clearly better than a lot of these teams we are losing to, but our inability to play 60 minutes of disciplined, focused football is killing us.  

Edited December 8, 2021 by TheBrownBear

[Italian Bills]

10 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

I guarantee you would never call any Bills player or coach soft or tell them they lack balls to their face. 

Yes, you know me. 

[Billl]

1 hour ago, Italian Bills said:

Bad rush defense, bad OL, very bad backs and running game, Daboll, Frazier… and some of you said McDermott too. 

I think you’re missing the elephant in the room.  The team is getting next to nothing out of the past 2 draft classes.  If some of these guys don’t start performing then next year could get really ugly.  Beane did a great job drafting Allen, trading for Diggs, and signing a few team friendly extensions.  He’s really struggled finding value in the draft since the Allen pick, though.  

[JoPoy88]

1 minute ago, Italian Bills said:

Yes, you know me. 

I know your type chief. And I’m not wrong

[Italian Bills]

2 minutes ago, Billl said:

I think you’re missing the elephant in the room.  The team is getting next to nothing out of the past 2 draft classes.  If some of these guys don’t start performing then next year could get really ugly.  Beane did a great job drafting Allen, trading for Diggs, and signing a few team friendly extensions.  He’s really struggled finding value in the draft since the Allen pick, though.  

Agree. 

[TC in St. Louis]

37 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

The big reason we lost to JAX and TEN was not winning to take 3 points when we had the chance. For sure the Jags game.

 

We handed Jacksonville the game when we declined the holding call.  We let them kick the field goal instead of pushing them out of field goal position and making a stop.  I was disgusted with that, and shared my thoughts with the St. Louis Bills Backers when they declined the penalty.  "We just gave them the lead," is what I said.  And that's what happened.  

[Billzgobowlin]

22 minutes ago, Billl said:

I think you’re missing the elephant in the room.  The team is getting next to nothing out of the past 2 draft classes.  If some of these guys don’t start performing then next year could get really ugly.  Beane did a great job drafting Allen, trading for Diggs, and signing a few team friendly extensions.  He’s really struggled finding value in the draft since the Allen pick, though.  

We gave up our first rounder last year for Diggs so I would say that's value.  I like Rousseau in the bottom of the first and spencer Brown in the third this year.  Dane Jackson I believe was last year too.  I don't think drafting is the issue as we have a long list of very solid players from the draft including Knox, Dawkins, Gabe, Allen, Taron, Tre White, etc.

[Nihilarian]

32 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Softness, Schmoftness.

 

IMO what's soft and squishy is this analysis.

 

We're not losing because we're "soft". 

 

We're losing because we shoot ourselves in the foot with stupid drive killing penalties and errors of execution - dropped passes and fumbles and sacks are the most visible errors of execution, but there are less-visible, similar errors of technique on defense.

All teams make mistakes in football at times. It's because they are playing with an oblong spheroid that sometimes bounces funny.

 

The Bills are soft...mentality soft that is... and that is on the coaching IMO. 

 

Why on earth does the team stay in a Nickle defense when they are being gashed so badly on the ground. Oh, but if we stack the box we should be able to stop the run the DC says...how'd that work out against the Colts, Titans, Patriots?

I say horse hockey! Change the scheme and put some bigger bodies up front to stop the run and force them to pass. The Bills still have one of the best secondary's in the NFL.

 

On offense, this OC can't figure out how to defeat a cover 2 shell by the second half of a game...much less after half the season? How in the world does this explosive offense with one of the best receiver corps in the NFL only score 6 points against the 30th ranked defense of the 1-6 Jaguars? Oh but the QB is under constant duress because of the pass rush.

 

We don't know how to stop that pass rush from happening...mostly because the team can't run...even though we tried to run at least six times with the main RB. Nothing we can do but keep calling for passes and hope that young QB can pull us out of this...

 

McD should have benched Daboll after that Jags game. The guys is just living up to his lousy past history of coaching bad offenses. He stunk in Cleveland as OC, he stunk in Miami as OC, he stunk in KC as OC. This is the guy who thought Nathan Peterman should start ahead of Allen in 2018. Oh, Peterman was ready...

 

Daboll might have the Patriots playbook but he sure doesn't know how to utilize it like they do. All he knows is pass, pass, pass and when that doesn't work...keep passing. 

 

So far the Bills beat Miami 2x, Washington, Houston, NY Jets, NO Saints...all those teams were playing with backup QBs. The ONLY team the Bills beat that was half way decent were the KC Chiefs in week 5, and they were reeling at that time with a 2-3 record. Mahomes was in disarray while attempting to pull off a Josh Allen by trying much too hard to carry his team.

 

McD should put these assistant coaches on notice. JMO. 

 

 

[GoBills808]

There is no such thing as ‘soft’ in the NFL. It’s a talking point created by fans and sports media.

[JerseyBills]

I agree with everything . I think not having a Lorax or Kyle type leader on D doesn't help either. 

 

Vegas still thinks were a SB contender.  We're 6th ,3rd in the AFC, on odds to win the SB.

Bill's vs Bucs is 4th highest SB matchup .

Vegas usually gets these things right.

We'll see.  

We're a few plays away from 10-2 regardless and can absolutely string off 5 straight gms based on talent alone.  

 

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by JerseyBills

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

23 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

All teams make mistakes in football at times. It's because they are playing with an oblong spheroid that sometimes bounces funny.

 

The Bills are soft...mentality soft that is... and that is on the coaching IMO. 

 

Why on earth does the team stay in a Nickle defense when they are being gashed so badly on the ground. Oh, but if we stack the box we should be able to stop the run the DC says...how'd that work out against the Colts, Titans, Patriots?

I say horse hockey! Change the scheme and put some bigger bodies up front to stop the run and force them to pass. The Bills still have one of the best secondary's in the NFL.

 

On offense, this OC can't figure out how to defeat a cover 2 shell by the second half of a game...much less after half the season? How in the world does this explosive offense with one of the best receiver corps in the NFL only score 6 points against the 30th ranked defense of the 1-6 Jaguars? Oh but the QB is under constant duress because of the pass rush.

 

We don't know how to stop that pass rush from happening...mostly because the team can't run...even though we tried to run at least six times with the main RB. Nothing we can do but keep calling for passes and hope that young QB can pull us out of this...

 

McD should have benched Daboll after that Jags game. The guys is just living up to his lousy past history of coaching bad offenses. He stunk in Cleveland as OC, he stunk in Miami as OC, he stunk in KC as OC. This is the guy who thought Nathan Peterman should start ahead of Allen in 2018. Oh, Peterman was ready...

 

Daboll might have the Patriots playbook but he sure doesn't know how to utilize it like they do. All he knows is pass, pass, pass and when that doesn't work...keep passing. 

 

So far the Bills beat Miami 2x, Washington, Houston, NY Jets, NO Saints...all those teams were playing with backup QBs. The ONLY team the Bills beat that was half way decent were the KC Chiefs in week 5, and they were reeling at that time with a 2-3 record. Mahomes was in disarray while attempting to pull off a Josh Allen by trying much too hard to carry his team.

 

McD should put these assistant coaches on notice. JMO. 

 

 

Right McDermott  should put them on notice.

[No_Matter_What]

57 minutes ago, Billl said:

I think you’re missing the elephant in the room.  The team is getting next to nothing out of the past 2 draft classes.  If some of these guys don’t start performing then next year could get really ugly.  Beane did a great job drafting Allen, trading for Diggs, and signing a few team friendly extensions.  He’s really struggled finding value in the draft since the Allen pick, though.  

Next to nothing you mean like Bass, Davis, Rousseau or Brown? Well ok.

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, Italian Bills said:

Every aspect you bros have mentioned is correct. Bad rush defense, bad OL, very bad backs and running game, Daboll, Frazier… and some of you said McDermott too. 
We had great expectations at the beginning of the season.. media thought we were one of the SB favorite .. great offense with a MVP caliber QB, great receivers, great defense over all. 
Ok, we knew we were lacking at backs position.. but maybe not that bad.. and anyway we had Josh Allen, our MVP caliber QB. I always thought that in order to become a SB contender, everything start with the QB position and honestly i still think we have one of the top 5. Maybe top 3. 
 

But, but, but … to me, the main problem to this team is the lack of BALLS and GRITTY ATTITUDE. And i didn’t start thinking like that right after the MNF loss, i always had this feeling about this team. 
We could compete against every team… we have the talent to be a 10-2 team at this moment, a 9-3 at worst, but we are 7-5 because we lost some game because our softness.

 

And this is not something you can fix… or you have it, or you don’t, i mean the mental strength to play every game and every snap like if it was the last one, a snap that can win or lose a game. 
The best teams in every sports have always few players, leaders by example, that drag the rest of the team.. and this beside the talent. 
 

Of course many of you won’t agree with me, i totally respect that, but this is my personal point. 

I love Beane and McDermott but it seems to me like they overvalued and overestimated their roster.  They placed lot of faith in players on last season’s roster to shore up some of the weakness of the last season.  In most cases these players are less effective than last season.  

 

OL: Dion Dawkins, Cody Ford, John Feliciano, Daryl Williams

DL: Star Lotulelei, AJ Epinesa, Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, Harrison Phillips

RB: everyone but Taiwan Jones

 

The only area of concern in the off-season who has met expectations fairly well is Levi Wallace at CB2.  He has not been great but he actually has gotten better.   

 

 

[Ramza86]

For me there have been two major factors in our losses this year.

 

1. Offensive line - Cant get push and cant protect....bummer.

 

2. Making a mistake at key moments. How many times did we ruin a drive in opposing territory on a 3rd down with a false start...a hold, missing a block or a drop? I dont know the answer...but its more than it should be. Same goes to the defense...3rd and long, we get a dumb penalty and keep their drive going.

 

Sloppy play at the wrong time has hurt this team dearly.

[Mynamemike]

2 hours ago, goldenboy81 said:

I can't remember a Bills team that was mentally and physically tough.

Everytime they play a team like that,they get pushed around like chumps.

Back when we had takeo Spikes and London fletcher at linebacker we had a toigh as nails defense but the offense was soft and not very talented

[Billl]

17 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

Next to nothing you mean like Bass, Davis, Rousseau or Brown? Well ok.

Yes.  I mean exactly that.  2 years of drafts and you’re highlighting a Kicker, a WR with 19 catches this season, and two guys who look good.  These are all nice pieces, but the only player on the list who has even played half the snaps on either side of the ball is Rousseau at 51%.  
 

I like Groot and Brown a lot, but you can’t keep getting nothing out of high picks like Ford, Epenesa and Basham.  You don’t need stars with every day 2 pick, but if you aren’t getting serviceable starters or at the very least heavy rotational pieces then you wind up with serious roster issues.  You’re seeing signs of it now, and I think next year is going to be eye opening if some of these guys don’t start figuring it out quickly.

[ngbills]

McD has trust issues. We have seen it enough and it is hurting the team. I will only sign this guy bc I know him. Oh I know him from CAR. I think McD has lost trust in Daboll so now its you need to establish the line, you need to be balanced, you need to do this. I think Daboll sucks too. But at some point last year he realized he had to just let Allen play. Now we are back to this very controlled environment to contain Allen. 

[BillMafia716ix]

2 hours ago, ALLEN1QB said:

I agree 100% BTW why does Jerry Hughes not get any blame? Guy is making a ton of cash I never hear his name called for doing anything during the game.

Hughes is nothing more than a situational pass rusher at this point in his career. 

[Never NEVER Give-up]

I think the softness argument is overstated.  The defense is not soft - they were gashed for 1 run.  If that hadn't happened, we win 10-6!  Pats ran 46 times for 222 yds or 4.8/carry; take away the TD and it was 3.5 yds/carry.  Incidentally, the same goes for Titan's Henry and his long run.  The defense allowed 14 pts, 1 TD.  If we had said that would happen before the game - everyone of us would have taken that in a heartbeat.

The problem is the sputtering offense:

• a finesse O-Line
• Avg running backs (at best)
• An over-insistence to run the ball.  25 19 rushes (6 were by Josh)
• The coaches (by insisting to run) made it look like we were playing not to lose.

-The Bills need to use short passes as their run game.  RB, TE & WR screens; RPO's for Josh; funnel screens.

-If they want to run, let the pass set it up.  Trying to establish the run-game when you really don't have one will not work on team with stout D-Lines.

-I felt like every time we ran the ball, we were giving the Pats a play off.

-Josh played well.  If he had 9-10 more passes - what would have happened?

-This was a close game and we lost.  We need to be more effective in the red zone.  Had Bass hit his 33 yarder, he would have had an attempt to win it on our last possession.

 

We were not trounced.  I wouldn't be surprised if we blow the Pats out on the 26th.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am plenty frustrated, but mostly because we are not playing as we have been designed to play.  We are a high-octane offense whose coaches feel the need to play like our 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust opponents.  Had the Bills come out fast and scored 2-3 TD's, the game would have been over - but, alas, we tried to establish the run and it was not effective. (And that's an understatement.

By the way, Brady threw 51 times last week and around only 10 were for longer that 10 yds.  We'll see this week how to use a controlled passing game as a component of the run game.

 

[Italian Bills]

19 minutes ago, Never NEVER Give-up said:

I think the softness argument is overstated.  The defense is not soft - they were gashed for 1 run.  If that hadn't happened, we win 10-6!  Pats ran 46 times for 222 yds or 4.8/carry; take away the TD and it was 3.5 yds/carry.  Incidentally, the same goes for Titan's Henry and his long run.  The defense allowed 14 pts, 1 TD.  If we had said that would happen before the game - everyone of us would have taken that in a heartbeat.

The problem is the sputtering offense:

• a finesse O-Line
• Avg running backs (at best)
• An over-insistence to run the ball.  25 19 rushes (6 were by Josh)
• The coaches (by insisting to run) made it look like we were playing not to lose.

-The Bills need to use short passes as their run game.  RB, TE & WR screens; RPO's for Josh; funnel screens.

-If they want to run, let the pass set it up.  Trying to establish the run-game when you really don't have one will not work on team with stout D-Lines.

-I felt like every time we ran the ball, we were giving the Pats a play off.

-Josh played well.  If he had 9-10 more passes - what would have happened?

-This was a close game and we lost.  We need to be more effective in the red zone.  Had Bass hit his 33 yarder, he would have had an attempt to win it on our last possession.

 

We were not trounced.  I wouldn't be surprised if we blow the Pats out on the 26th.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am plenty frustrated, but mostly because we are not playing as we have been designed to play.  We are a high-octane offense whose coaches feel the need to play like our 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust opponents.  Had the Bills come out fast and scored 2-3 TD's, the game would have been over - but, alas, we tried to establish the run and it was not effective. (And that's an understatement.

By the way, Brady threw 51 times last week and around only 10 were for longer that 10 yds.  We'll see this week how to use a controlled passing game as a component of the run game.

 

Unfortunately, my friend, softness is a part of this Bills team squad. Not the only problem, but alongside stupid mistakes and poor red zone scoring, is the main one. 
Besides those, everything you wrote is correct and in agreement with the quick pass scheme for Allen too. Hit Bees and Knox and wrs on slant and play action and see if we score just 10 points a game.