NFL Week # 16 - Bills at Bears - post game thread

[JerseyBills]

13 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

So Bobby Hart got more snaps than Q'berry

Gabe gets more snaps than DIggs

Phillips got 15 snaps before injury, but none of our DL played more than 43 snaps.

I thought Jonathan had some nice moments.

 

I think we'll be OK.

 

Shakir outsnapped McKenzie 👀

[newcam2012]

48 minutes ago, finn said:

It may be time to acknowledge that Davis is just not an very good WR. Patrick Peterson claims he runs just three routes, and, watching him, I think that's right. He also has a very high drop rate, mediocre speed, and doesn't seem to try very hard, like when he didn't try for the TD throw with the CB in front of him; if he had, he might have drawn a PI call. With his size and ability to make sideline catches and the occasional fly route, he's valuable as a third WR, but he's nothing better than that, leaving the Bills with only one WR that scares opponents. Not a good situation heading into the playoffs, especially with Mackenzie falling short as a slot receiver. 

Sadly the Bills WR core is pretty weak. Lately, I've noticed the lack of separation from the WRs. When you make picks ups of the likes of Beasley and Brown that really tells us all we need to know. 

 

Several playoff teams or likely playoff teams have more  dangerous weapons. Chargers, Miami, and Cinci are clear cut above the Bills.

 

Mahomes has Kelce and a mediocre defense yet they still win. Bills have Allen and Diggs and a good defense. 

12 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

I thought the 1st pick was just awful - double coverage, guess he didn't see underneath defender..

 

Looking back at the 2nd, I think he was trying to hit Cook underneath and the ball just sailed on him. I can live with those type ints

I think both INTs were bad. Both are on Allen and those turnovers have to stop. The Bills will likely not win playoff games if Allen makes those kinds of mistakes. The margin or error and winning is very thin amount the teams in the AFC. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

16 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

I thought the 1st pick was just awful - double coverage, guess he didn't see underneath defender..

 

Looking back at the 2nd, I think he was trying to hit Cook underneath and the ball just sailed on him. I can live with those type ints

totally agree. I am fine with a pick on a bad throw or good play by the defender.
 

The bad decision picks though are painful to live with.

[JerseyBills]

8 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

Sadly the Bills WR core is pretty weak. Lately, I've noticed the lack of separation from the WRs. When you make picks ups of the likes of Beasley and Brown that really tells us all we need to know. 

 

Several playoff teams or likely playoff teams have more  dangerous weapons. Chargers, Miami, and Cinci are clear cut above the Bills.

 

Mahomes has Kelce and a mediocre defense yet they still win. Bills have Allen and Diggs and a good defense. 

I think both INTs were bad. Both are on Allen and those turnovers have to stop. The Bills will likely not win playoff games if Allen makes those kinds of mistakes. The margin or error and winning is very thin amount the teams in the AFC. 

Ya I didn't like the 2nd one either but can at least live with it. 

And ya it really comes down to what our opponent does with the turnovers but in any game you want to win the t.o battle

[nucci]

23 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

I didn't  see the game, but followed it and saw red zone.

 

I guess the question is that with the elements and the competition,  can anything really be taken away?

 

Obviously a great job of containing Fields.

 

yes, defense played great after 1st Qtr and shut down Fields. Allen made some bonehead plays but also closed the game out. Not an overall great game and still won 35-13

[Billsfan1972]

12 minutes ago, nucci said:

yes, defense played great after 1st Qtr and shut down Fields. Allen made some bonehead plays but also closed the game out. Not an overall great game and still won 35-13

That's what I took from it.  Hard to believe 12-3 & unfortunately Cincy game so crucial.

  

Edited December 25, 2022 by Billsfan1972

[dave mcbride]

23 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

Sadly the Bills WR core is pretty weak. Lately, I've noticed the lack of separation from the WRs. When you make picks ups of the likes of Beasley and Brown that really tells us all we need to know. 

 

Several playoff teams or likely playoff teams have more  dangerous weapons. Chargers, Miami, and Cinci are clear cut above the Bills.

 

Mahomes has Kelce and a mediocre defense yet they still win. Bills have Allen and Diggs and a good defense. 

I think both INTs were bad. Both are on Allen and those turnovers have to stop. The Bills will likely not win playoff games if Allen makes those kinds of mistakes. The margin or error and winning is very thin amount the teams in the AFC. 

The weather conditions were worse than a lot of people think and it really affected play.

 

From Allen regarding the second interception (the Bears players all said that the weather was impossible too because of really strong and constantly shifting winds; see below):

 

“It's not so much the cold as it was the wind,” he said. “It just gusts you don't know really where it's coming from. Sometimes the flags are blowing one way and the next year they're blowing the opposite way. So again, just trying to find actually some of the shorter completions and being able to drive it obviously down the field, deep you're not going to have much success.

“Just got to be better again, decision wise, obviously that first interception wasn't a great decision. The second one, the wind just kind of was right in the face and I didn't get the nose of the ball down, it just kind of sailed on our back there. I can live with the second one, the first one just a bad decision. I’ve got to find a way to get it to a check down there and move on and live to fight another day.”

 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/observations-bills-overcome-some-sloppy-play-to-clinch-third-straight-afc-east-title/article_14638368-83cf-11ed-831e-63bd16655ad6.html

 

From the Bears:

 

“Freezing,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “That was the coldest game I’ve ever played in.”

The 26-mph winds with gusts up to 35 mph made everything a little more difficult too.

“It was crazy,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “It really impacted the whole game. From snaps to even tosses. … (Those) were flying everywhere. The snaps were going everywhere. It definitely impacts the passing game and figuring out which way you want to throw the ball.”

Added receiver Dante Pettis: “Man, it was cold. And extremely windy. Even on the short routes, that ball would be moving and become a little difficult to track at times because of some of the bigger gusts. It was moving like a knuckleball at times.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-chicago-bears-buffalo-bills-josh-allen-justin-fields-20221224-izkhrz3pr5cvnaulyqcamqfe7m-story.html

 

From the Bills kickers in that same Buffalo News piece linked to above:

 

“Some of the worst conditions I’ve played in in my 10 years,” Martin said. “Obviously, the temperature is already awful and then we were sitting at constant winds of 25 miles per hour and gusts up to 40. It was tough out there. It was a strange wind. You would feel it constantly in one direction and then all of a sudden, there would be a gust from the opposite direction. It was a real-time type of adjustment. Whatever I felt when I got ready to punt, that’s what I was going with. The gusts are what made it difficult because you didn’t know when they were coming and they were blowing on the drops, blowing on the snaps. It was one of the tougher games I’ve been a part of.”

Martin got off a beauty of a 62-yard punt in the fourth quarter.

“It was a hard left-to-right (wind) and when it comes to punting, it’s not the wind when the ball actually gets up there, it’s the drop to kick,” he said. “When it’s a strong crosswind, your drop is moving. Even in warm-up, there were a couple that I dropped and it ended up on the left side of my body and I hit 10 yards to the 10th row. You really have to hold on to the ball longer and really hope those gusts don’t come along right when you drop the ball.”

Bass said the wind simply carried his missed extra point wide right.

“I hit it good and hit it to my point, but once it got up into the wind, it just took it and pushed it right,” he said. “Kickoffs were pretty good. The wind was pretty hard in my face on a couple of them but once I got the ball up and through the wind, it would carry a little bit. It was really about getting good contact.”

 

 

[SUNTANBILLS FAN]

59 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

I agree about the ankle, and doubting that it’s still plaguing him.  Some of his stats are pretty much on-par with prior season (yards/catch, catch rate), except that he has more targets this year.  Maybe being on the field more and higher expectations are just better exposing weaknesses that have been there along?

Ask KC how good Gabe is. 4 TDs hell he still is scoring in them. 

[Beck Water]

1 hour ago, finn said:

It may be time to acknowledge that Davis is just not an very good WR. Patrick Peterson claims he runs just three routes, and, watching him, I think that's right. He also has a very high drop rate, mediocre speed, and doesn't seem to try very hard, like when he didn't try for the TD throw with the CB in front of him; if he had, he might have drawn a PI call. With his size and ability to make sideline catches and the occasional fly route, he's valuable as a third WR, but he's nothing better than that, leaving the Bills with only one WR that scares opponents. Not a good situation heading into the playoffs, especially with Mackenzie falling short as a slot receiver. 

 

What 3 routes does Peterson claim he runs?  Sounds like junk talk from an opponent to me.

[JerseyBills]

17 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Dominant front 7 performance today. The greatest escape artist in the NFL didn't break off a single big run.

That's an amazing stat. #1 rush team in the NFL and Bills dominated them at their own game 

 

The defensive gameplan and execution was near flawless

[CaliBills]

2 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

That's an amazing stat. #1 rush team in the NFL and Bills dominated them at their own game 

 

The defensive gameplan and execution was near flawless

 

but but they scored on the first drive... so our defense is trash, frazier is trash, McDermott is trash, cant tackle, cant cover, worse game planners....

 

(sarcasm) but that is quite a few overreactive people on here... that schtick gets old.

[JerseyBills]

Just now, CaliBills said:

 

but but they scored on the first drive... so our defense is trash, frazier is trash, McDermott is trash, cant tackle, cant cover, worse game planners....

 

(sarcasm) but that is quite a few overreactive people on here... that schtick gets old.

I know. I went to a bar w friends so I wasn't in the GD thread like usual and made it much more relaxing lol but I'll def be on there next Mon. I'm usually optimistic and level headed 

[Shemp]

I think all the mistakes and flubs from yesterday could be somewhat attributed to the wind and cold but I think it's more likely that the Bills were toying with the Bears.

[Boatdrinks]

33 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

That's what I took from it.  Hard to believe 12-3 & unfortunately Cincy game so crucial.

  

The AFC is strong at the top. This is the Bills best record in 31 years. 

[newcam2012]

4 minutes ago, Blah Blah said:

I think all the mistakes and flubs from yesterday could be somewhat attributed to the wind and cold but I think it's more likely that the Bills were toying with the Bears.

No way on earth were the Bills toying with the Bears. 

3 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

The AFC is strong at the top. This is the Bills best record in 31 years. 

I'd include teams like Balt, SD, and Miami as being very tough outs too. If any of these teams are in their "A" game they can be dangerous. 

[NewEra]

58 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

Ya I didn't like the 2nd one either but can at least live with it. 

And ya it really comes down to what our opponent does with the turnovers but in any game you want to win the t.o battle

I truly hope that you can live with both picks. 

[BearNorth]

I know they signed Beasley & Brown and are barely using them. 

 

Think they are both down to 1 PS callup before playoffs.

 

Is Shakir good enough in the slot, or do we consider using Cook or Hines there in situations.

 

Hope this vaunted Bills defense comes to play on Monday in Cinci, we will need their best game

 

Apparently when Cinci lost at the Browns, they were without Chase and Browns tee'd off on Burrow.

 

Come on Bills, you can do this!

[UKBillFan]

19 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

No way on earth were the Bills toying with the Bears. 

I'd include teams like Balt, SD, and Miami as being very tough outs too. If any of these teams are in their "A" game they can be dangerous. 

 

The only teams who can match us across the board if both us and them are on our A Game are the Chiefs and the 49ers, IMO, with the likes of the Bengals, Eagles and Cowboys good enough to pick up on any weakness or mistake from us and exploit it. For all other teams, we need to give them a helping hand to beat us - indeed, see our three defeats this year.

 

[Nitro]

11 hours ago, Logic said:

If they played as awful as you describe, then it sure is amazing they managed to win by 22.
 

Bears quit.  Their fans were upset that they did not try to throw.  I was sitting among a group of passionate but reasonable Bears supporters.  They were baffled down by 8 and they basically stopped trying to win. Their words.  Not mine.

12 hours ago, HereComesTheReignAgain said:

You mean the team that recently squeaked out wins against the Texans and broncos will make them pay dearly? Or the team that just barely beat the patriots?  

Laugh but those offenses are formidable.  Be honest.  The Bills are playing some sloppy and at times reckless football.

12 hours ago, BananaB said:

How was the wind from field level?

Odd that it was not bad but only a dozen rows up you could feel it.  

[BearNorth]

Bills flight DL 8859 left gate in Chicago at 10:23 EST and is scheduled to land in Rochester at 11:53 EST.