Actually feel better about the Pats game after a so so Carolina game

[Yawning Frog]

I don't have much faith in this team they are way to inconsistent for my liking. It just seems to me the Bills crumble in big games. They will have to prove to me that they are the team that was advertised to be.    

[Olliemets]

I want a good start this Sunday. Slow starts killing us too. 

[Billsfan1972]

8 minutes ago, thurst44 said:

Fine. Look, I get it about LAMPs (and had a reaction to SN but nothing specific and think I may have even mixed it up with him/her at one point in time--more aren't you usually negative?) and am not one to start threads (it's like tattoos, if i saw something worth it, maybe), but this one seemed benign and easy to ignore. But then, I could have ignored your comment too, so it is what it is, I guess.

Again I've started less then 1 per week this year (and yes I groaned about the weather forecast for Foxborough, because bad weather seems to follow the Bills).....  Yes I come here to share some views and talk Bills.  You're right, ignore them if you think I have nothing to add.

[teef]

this is nice.

[Billsfan1972]

Just now, Olliemets said:

I want a good start this Sunday. Slow starts killing us too. 

The starts this year have been brutal for the most part.  As said in other threads (much maligned by some here) the Offense is just off a smidge.

Just now, teef said:

this is nice.

Missed you!!!!!😜

 

Merry Xmas btw.....

[teef]

2 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

 

Missed you!!!!!😜

 

Merry Xmas btw.....

how do you know i'm not jewish, or celebrate kwanzaa?

[thurst44]

41 minutes ago, Ramza86 said:

I dont feel good. 

 

Im a negative person...but still

 

Pats have the blueprint to beat us. Run the ball, play action pass. Solid defense. 

 

The Titans and Colts had no issues moving the ball against us.

The Titans had almost 300 yards without Derrick Henry against the Patriots. 

 

I'm not entirely optimistic, but our run D has not been bad all season. Up until the Pats game, the only RBs to have more than 50 yards against us were the two RBs who were on pace for two of the greatest rushing seasons in history (edit: ok, I looked it up and forgot Carlos Hyde's whopping 67 yards). Also, the last two weeks, we were able to stop the run after the D had been on the field for a LONG time. That's the hallmark of a good defense.

 

The Bills have talent, but something does seem off. If you asked me to pick this game, I'd probably pick the Patriots as it's in NE, they've been on a better run. However (1) the Bills still have a great team that can explode at the right time and have by stats the #1 defense which impressed me beyond stats the last two weeks by what they were able to conjure up after taking a punch and without their best player. (2) We have no idea what teams are going to be out there. All of NE's WRs could be out. Whatever your opinion on the pandemic and/or rules, both exist and players have been being crossed off eligibility left and right. 

 

I have faith in this team, while noticing some fundamental things that have gone wrong and while most could be temporary, it is hard to see the o-line coming together any time soon (Dawkins could improve as health improves, Brown is more-than-likely a star in the making, and not sure where the DWil of '17 and '20 went, but something just seems rotten in the line). I'm not convinced that the Patriots are such a dominant team as they were being hyped. The book is still out on Mac (but it's a good start), Judon is a beast who has our number, and JC Jackson is weirdly underrated, Hunter Henry has moments of Gronk-like unstoppability and Belichick has earned his legendary status, but they still strike me as more of a hodge-podge of aging-out Pats lifers and meh mercenaries than the fearsome team they were in the Brady years. I'm not saying that I don't see the potential for disaster and there's not a part of me that can feel the 4pm gloom already--but I don't think it's preordained, nor do I think the Bills are not one of the better teams in the NFL even if they have not played like it over the last nine games. 

 

Also, this is a very weird season.

Edited December 21, 2021 by thurst44

[Billsfan1972]

11 minutes ago, teef said:

how do you know i'm not jewish, or celebrate kwanzaa?

Sometimes you just know!!!!

 

But Happy Holidays.....  I'll extend an olive branch yet again.....

Edited December 21, 2021 by Billsfan1972

[Greg S]

13 minutes ago, Olliemets said:

I want a good start this Sunday. Slow starts killing us too. 

 

They did have a good start this past week. Granted it took them to the 2nd quarter but they did jump out to a 14-0 lead. Hopefully we get that this week but just start it in the 1st quarter.

[thurst44]

26 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Deciding to hand the ball off to a RB exactly zero times in an entire half of football in which you spot the best team in the NFL a three-score lead is embarrassing.

 

I don't care if they almost came back.  Spotting them that lead was inexcusable and TOTALLY avoidable.  And the play-calling in OT made the Bills look a high school JV team.

 

That final score was not a clear representation of the entire game.

 

The Patriots spotted a 22-9 lead to the Texans late in the 3rd quarter earlier in this year during their run and barely won, and that's the Texans. 

 

Nobody had beat TB in TB in over a year until a team that we beat handily just did. TB owned the Bills in the first half. The Bills made them look foolish in the second and again should have won if not for terrible ref'ing (and that's not my fan bias talking, it's most of the media). But, yes, ref'ing happens and you have to overcome it. However to call it embarrassing to almost pull off a historic victory against the defending Super Bowl champions against the GOAT QB who is not slowing down... well, I just don't get that. 

 

The funny thing is after the game, I was feeling down and was surprised that my usually much more negative friends were raving and excited about it. However, I never felt embarrassed after the game (at halftime, sure). I was proud of their resilience. 

 

The Jaguars loss was embarrassing. The Colts game, maybe, but I saw that one coming in... Taylor hot, Edmunds and Star out, Milano hurt, Bills playing lacklusterly coming in, Colts playing with passion and seeking revenge for playoff game. The Patriots--well, it was a weird game, but I'd entertain the thought. However, the TB game--no!

[Steptide]

They have to get the offensive line in order. Imo it's 80% of the reason for the offensive struggles. You can't have a different offensive line every week. If we have all the guys back this week, I think they can rip on offense 

[Olliemets]

30 minutes ago, Greg S said:

 

They did have a good start this past week. Granted it took them to the 2nd quarter but they did jump out to a 14-0 lead. Hopefully we get that this week but just start it in the 1st quarter.

Let's try this in 1Q then. Last Sundays 1Q qualifies as a bad start in my book.  I'd love to get the ball first and score.

[Billsfan1972]

16 minutes ago, Olliemets said:

Let's try this in 1Q then. Last Sundays 1Q qualifies as a bad start in my book.  I'd love to get the ball first and score.

A good start is scoring on the first couple of possessions imo.  The Bills have done that only a few times this year.

 

Last year it seemed that the Bills were driving 75 yards the first possession in 66.7% of their games.

[teef]

3 hours ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Sometimes you just know!!!!

 

But Happy Holidays.....  I'll extend an olive branch yet again.....

Merry Christmas buddy.  I’m going to make you my Tiny Tim. 

[Utah John]

Like every other team, the Bills have ups and downs.  Like every other team, they have strengths and weaknesses.  We all want last year's offensive juggernaut to re-emerge but it ain't happening.  Why?  Mostly because other teams figured us out, and we haven't come up with new ways to attack.  Or maybe Daboll is a crafty genius like we thought he was last year, and he's got a dozen new receiver route trees and blocking schemes all ready to go against NE, and he's been holding out on us so Belichick doesn't have a chance to work out countermeasures.  Or maybe the Bills are just one of a lot of good teams and we're going to roll the dice to see where we end up.

[TheBrownBear]

I don't think "being up for the game" (or not) has had my impact on what we are seeing on the field from week to week.  Outside of Jax, we've blown the doors off all of the teams where we presumably wouldn't be "up" to play them (i.e., "trap games").  We don't look "up for" the games where the other team had the personnel to bully us along the LOS.  Those are personnel and execution issues, not motivation issues.

[Success]

4 hours ago, Ramza86 said:

I dont feel good. 

 

Im a negative person...but still

 

Pats have the blueprint to beat us. Run the ball, play action pass. Solid defense. 

 

The Titans and Colts had no issues moving the ball against us.

 

The Pats blueprint against the Bills only works if the Bills don't succeed in the blueprint against the Pats.

 

Get an early lead, force the Patriots to come from behind & pass the ball. Win.

 

[FilthyBeast]

4 hours ago, Billsfan1972 said:

If the Bills rolled the Panthers after the second half they had vs. TB, I'd be again concerned that the Bills think they have figured it out.

 

I said the same (and was lambasted here) after the Miami & NYJ games, where I thought the results were what I'd call false positives and the NO game where all were pretty up about the offense and defense.

 

A little struggle vs. Carolina at home should be another wake-up call to the Bills that there is work to be done.

 

Now let them get redemption vs. NE!!!!!   

 

How many more wake calls do they need? Seems like we have more than reached the quota for that excuse by now.

 

Panthers have a decent defense but against a team not starting a washed up QB and without any semblance of a threat at WR/RB/TE etc the Bills lose and likely lose big.

 

Just seems some fans never learn and are gluttons for punishment especially going up against a superior team and coach that is going to run circles around this team again on Sunday.

[Stank_Nasty]

1 minute ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

How many more wake calls do they need? Seems like we have more than reached the quota for that excuse by now.

 

Panthers have a decent defense but against a team not starting a washed up QB and without any semblance of a threat at WR/RB/TE etc the Bills lose and likely lose big.

 

Just seems some fans never learn and are gluttons for punishment especially going up against a superior team and coach that is going to run circles around this team again on Sunday.

you mean like how they lost big the prior 2 weeks? oh wait......

 

 

go crawl back under your bridge.

[FilthyBeast]

1 minute ago, Stank_Nasty said:

you mean like how they lost big the prior 2 weeks? oh wait......

 

 

go crawl back under your bridge.

 

A loss is a loss and don't really matter and smart fans aren't going to be deceived by the final margin of victory especially the failed comeback against the Bucs which is fools gold and perhaps the Bucs aren't that good to begin with based on what happened to then against the Saints. The Bills once again showed their true colors against another poor Panthers team that was still in the game late in the 4th quarter despite how inept their QB and offense was.

 

Anyone can choose to believe what they like but if you think this team is going into Foxboro and beating belichik after McDermott's comments coupled with coming off a bad loss to the Colts good luck with that.