Survive And Keep Hope Alive

[H2o]

The Bills get another W, but all too close for comfort. We can agree on that I'm sure. Even still, our guys balled out and came up clutch again. 

 

The first half we're going up and down the field like it's nothing, scoring at will. Josh is spreading the ball around to everyone. Morris, Hines, Cook, Knox, Davis, Beasley, Diggs, Singletary, McKenzie, Josh was doing whatever he wanted. That final play of the first half epitomizes our season to date. Josh gets loose, extends the play running towards the sidelines, flings the ball back across his body past numerous defenders, all of us collectively holding our breath, and Cook comes up with the ball in the endzone with :00 on the clock. 21-13, receiving in the 2nd half, and about to put our foot on the gas. Or so we thought. 

 

The second half we come out flat again. I believe Dorsey deserves some blame, our guys got sloppy with penalties, and then we lose Morse. At that point it's a jailbreak every time Allen takes a snap. The Dolphins are still going up and down the field as well, scoring two TD's and getting a field goal to go up 29-21. For all intents and purposes, Tua was solid. He only had a 56% completion rate, but his guys dropped 4 or 5 passes as well. He had them in position to win. That's when it happened. 

 

The chips were down. Morse was in the locker room. We'd been stagnant the entire 2nd half. The snow started to fall. Josh says, "Pardon me for a second," and then steps into a phone booth. The guy who came out was Captain Clutch, that dude with the killer instinct we've grown accustomed to seeing. The one who wills his team to victory. He proceeds to take off running like a 6'5", 250lb gazelle scampering for 50 yards on the drive. One of them, a 44 yard run where he weaved his way through defenders while leaving them dejected and grasping at the air. He hits Knox for the TD on 3rd down with a beautifully executed play call to pull within 2. Then, just as everyone expected, Josh takes matters into his own hands on the two point conversion. The snap goes back, Josh takes off, he leaps through the air without regard for life or limb, and gives himself in attempt to get those 2 points needed to tie the game. They send us to commercial break thinking the try had failed, but we come back to a replay of a SUCCESSFUL two point conversion. At that point, the stadium is rocking. The snow is coming down heavy and you can feel the shift in the momentum. 

 

The Phins get the ball back and Tua gets a quick completion to a sliding Tyreke Hill. Is the defense going to break? The nerves were starting to build. Rousseau makes a nice stop on a run play. Then, on 2nd and 9, Elam makes what could be his biggest play all season. He sees Hill drifting out into the flat and immediately attacks the play, making a HUGE stop for a 3 yard loss. Third down brings an incomplete pass to Waddle and the Bills get the ball back with 5:56 to play at their own 7 yard line. As JA walked out onto the field, I knew this was going to be the last drive of the game. It was shades of Baltimore all over again. A cool, calm, and collected Josh then proceeds to lead a 15 play, 86 yard drive to put Bass into position for the games winner. No matter the down or distance, Josh made the right read, hit the right man, or set the Dolphins defenders up for failure by recognizing the mismatch. This was especially seen on the PI drawn by McKenzie. The guys cleaned off a spot for Bass, and Bass reserved our seat at the table. 2023 Playoffs, here come the Bills. 

 

It wasn't a complete game. It wasn't our best game. But Josh did Josh type things and vaulted himself back into the MVP convo. Another CLUTCH performance under the bright lights and on the big stage. Survive and keep hope alive for the #1 seed. We are one step closer. Three more to go. GO BILLS!!!

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by H2o

[HOUSE]

The Chiefs have another tough one today , could lose to the Texans

[Dopey]

5 game winning streak!! 
#1 seed in the afc as of now. 
Trying not to complain about anything with this team. 
We’re 11-3. Hopefully this board is enjoying this season, this team and this win. Sadly, there will be the same negative people posting the same negative 💩. You know who you are. 
Go Bills!!!

[RiotAct]

7 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

The Chiefs have another tough one today , could lose to the Texans

that game on paper is so hilariously lopsided that it might actually be close!

[SoCal Deek]

FYI: “intents and purposes”

 

That one always confused me too. 

[SirAndrew]

I’d be quite happy with the two seed at this point, but would love the first seed. KC’s road is just unfairly easy. I’ll never forgive the AFC West teams for their coaching hires. 

[Captain Hindsight]

16 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

The Chiefs have another tough one today , could lose to the Texans

I’d rather play a contender late in the year vs a bad team with nothing to lose. The Texans took the Cowboys to the brink last week. Every team is good and if you let your guard down, they will take advantage 

[H2o]

4 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

I’d be quite happy with the two seed at this point, but would love the first seed. KC’s road is just unfairly easy. I’ll never forgive the AFC West teams for their coaching hires. 

Still hoping the Raiders can pull one out of their bum week 18 and seal their fate.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Bills are the first AFC team to lock up a playoff berth, according to PlayoffStatus.com.

*
'Survive and Keep Hope Alive' is for an 'in the hunt' team.

[H2o]

1 minute ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Bills are the first AFC team to lock up a playoff berth, according to PlayoffStatus.com.

*
'Survive and Keep Hope Alive' is for an 'in the hunt' team.

Is talking about the #1 seed

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

1 minute ago, H2o said:

Is talking about the #1 seed

Understood, but I often think this team coming off a week off is not their strongest.  Perhaps with the injuries this year, it could be beneficial.

[Dopey]

[Beck Water]

41 minutes ago, H2o said:

The Bills get another W, but all too close for comfort. We can agree on that I'm sure. Even still, our guys balled out and came up clutch again. 

 

The first half we're going up and down the field like it's nothing, scoring at will. Josh is spreading the ball around to everyone. Morris, Hines, Cook, Knox, Davis, Beasley, Diggs, Singletary, McKenzie, Josh was doing whatever he wanted. That final play of the first half epitomizes our season to date. Josh gets loose, extends the play running towards the sidelines, flings the ball back across his body past numerous defenders, all of us collectively holding our breath, and Cook comes up with the ball in the endzone with :00 on the clock. 21-13, receiving in the 2nd half, and about to put our foot on the gas. Or so we thought. 

 

The second half we come out flat again. I believe Dorsey deserves some blame, our guys got sloppy with penalties, and then we lose Morse. At that point it's a jailbreak every time Allen takes a snap.

 

You know, the Other Team Gets Paid too.  Maybe they made adjustments at half, and we had to adjust to their adjustments on offense.

 

Do you need it pointed out that losing Morse, having a jailbreak every snap, and holding penalties are all related?  It's not "our guys get sloppy with penalties" like they were thinking about what they'd eat after the game or sleepy from the half time chicken soup and orange slices.  They were struggling badly without Morse and with Van Roten at center and Quessenberry at RG.

 

I agree with the others that "survive and keep hope alive" seems appropriate for a team in the hunt for a WC spot, not the #1 AFC seed (at the moment) who just clinched a playoff spot with 3 games to go.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Beck Water

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

5 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

...or sleepy from the half time chicken soup...

Soup often gives me the runs...😳

Maybe they need something better?  Mulled cider?  (Everyone drinks that in Hallmark Christmas movies.)  Heated Red Bull? 🤔😁

[KHAN]

The future of Morse is going to be huge for the rest of this year. I saw it posted here that this was his 6th concussion. Mixed feelings of I don't want him to ruin the rest of his life, and how much we need him.

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, HOUSE said:

The Chiefs have another tough one today , could lose to the Texans