#1 Defense, #8 Offense, 7-6

[Paup 1995MVP]

32 minutes ago, Ross Murdock said:

Because of garbage times, many NFL stats are useless. The Bills had big leads over really bad teams early in games, and the teams gave up running the ball early, which made the Bills appear better than they are against the run. Also the Bills played against a lot of 2nd and 3rd string QB's early on. The easy schedule hid the issues with the weak O-Line and D-Lines. Were paying for it now. Imagine if Epenesa, Rousseau, Oliver, Basham, and Ford were actually difference maker 1st and 2nd round studs like Micah Parsons, instead of mediocrities. Beane nailed Allen (Not a huge triumph as Allen was the overall consensus 2nd or 3rd best QB in the 2018 draft by EVERYONE). Beane has just not been very good. Were paying for it now! I actually worry about the Panthers game, as they have a decent defense, plus I think it's 50%/50% that Josh plays.. A loss on Sunday and it's over. 

The Bills O line is trash.  One of the worst in the NFL.  That has been the biggest problem.  We don't have a guard on the roster who should be starting in the NFL.  And our tackles have not been much better.  With a bad O line, the offense can not get any consistency.  Josh has to make up for it with his outrageous athletic ability.  He is as good if not better then anyone playing QB in the NFL right now.  But with no time to set and scan the field, his game inevitably goes down.  The defense has been nothing special against good teams.  But does have its moments.  The secondary even without Tre is pretty frickin solid.  Dane Jackson can play in the NFL.  The d line needs to find some pass rushers.  Edmonds is the weak link on the defense.  Anyone who says otherwise is just not watching the games.  He should not be on the roster next season.   And McDermott's conservative decision  making is not helping things.  The punt on 4th and 3 from our 45 in the 3rd quarter was horrible.  

 

As for the rest of this season, a good showing against the Panthers on Sunday gets us in the right direction.  And we all know what follows next.  Time to put a beat down on the Pats.  That will be the season right there.  If this team is any good, we should go 4-0 to finish the season.  If we get in the playoffs, we will be a tough out.  Josh can win a lot of games for us, if he gets any help from his O line and the defense.  But that run D will really have to tighten up.  Beane has constructed an extremely mediocre roster around Josh Allen.  Gonna be interesting.  

[Irish Dave]

1 hour ago, BuffaloRebound said:

What are we ranked in red zone offense and defense?  

Exactly.  Red zone has been key.   We had a chance to win in the last minute down near the goal line at least 3 times (Titans, NE, Tampa) and couldn't score TDs.  That was the difference. 

[78thealltimegreat]

1 hour ago, st pete gogolak said:

After 13 games, the Bills are the #1 defense (yards) #3 defense (points), #8 offense (yards), #6 (points).  And yet, they are an absolutely mediocre 7 - 6.  Anomalies like this happen from time to time.  Several years ago, the Chargers finished the year #1 in both offense and defense and missed the playoffs.  If I recall correctly, they were horrific on special teams.  Conversely, one of the Dick Jauron coached teams was near rock bottom in both offense and defense yet finished 7 - 9 thanks to playing ultra-conservative football to beat bad teams and great special teams play under Bobby April.  They got their brains beat in by good teams.  

 

Here, special teams play hasn't been horrible (granted blocked punt against Pittsburgh and McKenzie fumble against Colts didn't help).  It isn't turnovers either.  Bills are in top ten in turnover differential.

 

Of course, the answer is the team blows out inferior opponents and loses close games to both good and bad teams.  The only outlier is the blow out loss to the Colts.  Is this an anomaly?  I can't think of another team that really fits this description.  

 

We know the defense isn't the '85 Bears or the '00 Ravens.  It's a good but not great defense that can be exploited by the run and doesn't generate enough sacks.  The offense has been very inconsistent.  The inconsistency, however, seems for the most part to depend on who's starting on the offensive line.  

 

Bottom-line, maybe this is one of the few times you're not what your record says you are.  I think that if the Bills make the playoffs, they will be the proverbial team that no one wants to face.

We have flaws which we debate here all the time but this is easily an 11-12 win team my goodness have we had the late game weird stuff happen… from Josh’s trip…to the Steelers blocked punt.. to the Jaguars 9-6 debacle alone..much less the Pats wind game or what happened with the Bucs 

[All_Pro_Bills]

Reasons they're 7-6

 

Negatives

Settling for FG's instead of TD's in the red zone. 

Too many drive and field position killing penalties on offense.

Poor run defense.

Predictable play calls on offense.

No running game on offense.

 

Positives

Josh Allen super-human one man show.

Turnovers.

Kick off and punt coverage.

Even with problems can still finish at 11-6 (or 10-7) and make the playoffs.

 

 

 

 

 

[Success]

Big plays have killed us.  Blocked punt against Pitt, late INT against the Jags, 1 big run by the Pats.  

 

I can't remember a season that was so lopsided for close games, even during the drought.

 

The hope is that it "evens out" over the last month.  I hate to use the cliche - but we're the team no one wants to play in January.  Just get in.

 

[SoCal Deek]

The single reason why the Bills are 7-6:

 

The Bills have had the ball inside the opponent's TEN YARD LINE on the final possession of the game against the Titans, Patriots and Buccaneers. They've failed to score a touchdown all three times. If they put the ball in the end zone and they're 10-3 with the best record in the league and homefield advantage all the way to the Super Bowl.

 

Done....end thread!

[auburnbillsbacker]

When only 1 out of 82 Josh Allen passes results in pass interference or a defensive hold this is what happens.  Rodgers gets a flag once every 27 throws.  

Just now, SoCal Deek said:

The single reason why the Bills are 7-6:

 

The Bills have had the ball inside the opponent's TEN YARD LINE on the final possession of the game against the Titans, Patriots and Buccaneers. They've failed to score a touchdown all three times. If they put the ball in the end zone and they're 10-3 with the best record in the league and homefield advantage all the way to the Super Bowl.

 

Done....end thread!

You fail to mention that those teams were allowed to hold and interfere with our WRs without getting flagged.  Thread resumed.  

[FilthyBeast]

3 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

The single reason why the Bills are 7-6:

 

The Bills have had the ball inside the opponent's TEN YARD LINE on the final possession of the game against the Titans, Patriots and Buccaneers. They've failed to score a touchdown all three times. If they put the ball in the end zone and they're 10-3 with the best record in the league and homefield advantage all the way to the Super Bowl.

 

Done....end thread!

 

And they didn't get the ball in the endzone because they aren't a good team.

 

Most were willing to write off the Titans game as a fluke and bad luck but in hindsight it foreshadowed exactly who this team is and it's not a coincidence this team is 3-5 since winning their SB against the Chiefs.

[SoCal Deek]

7 minutes ago, auburnbillsbacker said:

When only 1 out of 82 Josh Allen passes results in pass interference or a defensive hold this is what happens.  Rodgers gets a flag once every 27 throws.  

You fail to mention that those teams were allowed to hold and interfere with our WRs without getting flagged.  Thread resumed.  

Not sure why you'all want to go round and round on this. Nobody held a receiver in either the Titans or Patriots game.  You can what about, or what if, all day long, but in the end my comment is STILL what it all came down to. It doesn't make them a good team or a bad team....but it is what it's all come down to.

[zow2]

We about to waste a really solid team...  

[auburnbillsbacker]

1 minute ago, SoCal Deek said:

Not sure why you'all want to go round and round on this. Nobody held a receiver in either the Titans or Patriots game.  You can what about, or what if, all day long, but in the end my comment is STILL what it all came down to. It doesn't make them a good team or a bad team....but it is what it's all come down to.

Wrong sir.  Watch the end of those games again.  Especially the 3rd down play where Knox got mugged by the Patrios. 

[SoCal Deek]

Just now, zow2 said:

We about to waste a really solid team...  

Or...they could just figure out how to score when they're deep in the red zone with the game on the line.  It has been a mess! 

[Nextmanup]

If anything, the data should tell you, OP, that your emotionally-driven, subjective "take" on the team is wrong, not the data!

 

And yet you don't seem to get that.

 

The largest and perhaps ONLY group of people around the football world who are convinced the Bills sucks are BILLS FANS RIGHT NOW.

 

That should tell you something.

 

Fans with a reason to remain objective and rational still think we have a shot at the SB.

 

That's because we do.

 

We DO have to get it going here a bit, but we can totally do that.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Nextmanup

[Governor]

It’s the other way round. It’s a bad team with a good QB and very misleading stats. This team also can’t finish.

[letsgoteam]

Win against the Panthers, see what happens in the other games this week. Rinse & repeat. As others said, just make playoffs. Even it's one and done. Even a #1 seed can go one and done, so just get in!

Edited December 15, 2021 by letsgoteam

[bobobonators]

2 hours ago, st pete gogolak said:

After 13 games, the Bills are the #1 defense (yards) #3 defense (points), #8 offense (yards), #6 (points).  And yet, they are an absolutely mediocre 7 - 6.  Anomalies like this happen from time to time.  Several years ago, the Chargers finished the year #1 in both offense and defense and missed the playoffs.  If I recall correctly, they were horrific on special teams.  Conversely, one of the Dick Jauron coached teams was near rock bottom in both offense and defense yet finished 7 - 9 thanks to playing ultra-conservative football to beat bad teams and great special teams play under Bobby April.  They got their brains beat in by good teams.  

 

Here, special teams play hasn't been horrible (granted blocked punt against Pittsburgh and McKenzie fumble against Colts didn't help).  It isn't turnovers either.  Bills are in top ten in turnover differential.

 

Of course, the answer is the team blows out inferior opponents and loses close games to both good and bad teams.  The only outlier is the blow out loss to the Colts.  Is this an anomaly?  I can't think of another team that really fits this description.  

 

We know the defense isn't the '85 Bears or the '00 Ravens.  It's a good but not great defense that can be exploited by the run and doesn't generate enough sacks.  The offense has been very inconsistent.  The inconsistency, however, seems for the most part to depend on who's starting on the offensive line.  

 

Bottom-line, maybe this is one of the few times you're not what your record says you are.  I think that if the Bills make the playoffs, they will be the proverbial team that no one wants to face.

the season thus far has literally come down to a handful of plays we failed to execute. At least 3 wins from just a handful of plays. Sad, but thats the reality. 

[Big Turk]

19 minutes ago, letsgoteam said:

Win against the Panthers, see what happens in the other games this week. Rinse & repeat. As others said, just make playoffs. Even it's one and done. Even a #1 seed can go one and done, so just get in!

 

The best thing is we control what happens.  We don't need help to get in.  Win out and we are in.  3 bottom feeders and the Pats who I think we will have something for in the next meeting.

[Mat68]

2 hours ago, No Place To Hyde said:

Love the positive outlook here. However the Bills are exactly what their record says this year. And for the reason you listed. Inconsistant play. They are constantly inconsistent so to speak. 

 

And while facing Josh Allen in the playoffs isn't an easy task...I can't figure anyone is trembling in their boots to play this years version of the Bills that is 0-5 in close games, 3-5 over the last 8 games and has a swiss cheese offensive line. Especially physical teams that can have success running the ball (Tenn with DH back, Colts, Pats, Browns, and even the much improved lately Chiefs all spring to mind).

 

Other than POSSIBLY Tennessee with a rested up Brown and Henry coming back and the Chiefs that are really looking like last years version, there really aren't any teams that would stand out as a team "no one wants to face in the postseason".

 Buffalo wins out or goes 3-1 down the stretch thats a pretty good stretch.  They will have a top 10 offense and defense.  In all but 1 matchup the best Qb in the game will be Allen.  They will be extremely dangerous.  

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, FilthyBeast said:

For the fans that have watched every game in intimate detail, do you really believe this is the best defense in the NFL after watching them get run over multiple times and getting lit up by QB's?

 

The overall numbers are padded because of the games against poor QB's, specifically earlier in the season.

 

As for the offense, that's pretty in line with where this team is but also misleading because of how one dimensional they are and Allen accounting for a big chunk of the rushing yards this year.

 

We got run on hard in TWO games.  

 

Titans, with a RB who runs over all defenses and also we were missing Star and Edmunds, and Star is especially important to our run D.  More importantly, we got run on so much because we would hold them on 3rd down and then give them free first downs with penalties shooting ourselves in the foot and allowing Henry to keep wearing the D down.

 

Colts, with a RB who runs over most defenses too, again missing Star who is key to our run defense.  And once again, we contributed to Taylors production by giving them free first downs on third down holds and also gave Taylor even a free TD thanks to McKenzie fumble.  Not to mention, the bone head offensive penalties that would quickly kill drives and give them the ball right back.  

 

Im sure you will FALSELY bring up the Pats game like so many others mistakenly do.  Pats game yardage total looks bad because they ran the ball almost FIFTY times...any team is going to compile a lot of TOTAL yards on 50 runs.  We had one really bad play where our safety Poyer left one side of the field wide open and they broke off a 48 yard TD run.  However, for the most part we kept them in check...allowed just 50 total yards in the 2nd half, and held them to 240 total yards on the day.  We forced 6 punts in 9 drives and only had 2 drives we gave up over 5 plays long.  

 

We struggled in the first half against the Bucs but then shut them down in the 2nd half as well after McD got on Frazier toward the end of the first half and we made adjustments.  Again, missing Star.  

 

Sorry, but some of you...and you are one of the notorious ones...grossly over exaggerate our run defense struggles.  And you people also LOVE to overlook that in the games we struggled, we were both missing Star and also hurting ourselves on 3rd stops by giving them free first downs to extend drives that shouldn't have happened.  

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Just for clarification, does anyone on this board think the Bills have the best defense in the league?