The 15 point swing that turned a blowout into a nailbiter

[Billsfan1972]

Yes we know Huntley on the 4th and goal vs. The Bengals, but the play seldom discussed as the game changer was Shakir bobbling the perfect pass from Allen at the 2 minute mark in the second quarter.

 

Catch that and first and 10 at the 15, clock running up 17-6.  A td there, doubt Miami scores and minimum 20-6 or 24-6 at half.

 

Sliding doors moment, where next thing you know it was 17-17 (and since the Bills did kick a FG was 20-17 at half, and as opposed to an 18 point lead at half it was 3 and thus 15 points).

 

Boy it would be nice of our receivers brought a few more catches in.  Yes Knox and Davis had nice catches, but as I keep saying that's the exception not the norm.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Billsfan1972

[GolfandBills]

That drop was the main reason that game was close.  He cat he that it’s a totally different game 

[Doc Brown]

Yeah.  Whatever.  Allen should've thrown for 400 yards and 4 TD's if Knox and Shakir don't drop the ball.  Would've been a comfortable win.  Maybe all this criticism this week is a good thing going into the Divisional.

[SinceThe70s]

11 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Yes we know Huntley on the 4th and goal vs. The Bengals, but the play seldom discussed as the game changer was Shakir bobbling the perfect pass from Allen at the 2 minute mark in the second quarter.

 

Catch that and first and 10 at the 15, clock running up 17-6.  A td there, doubt Miami scores and minimum 20-6 or 24-6 at half.

 

Sliding doors moment, where next thing you know it was 17-17.

 

Boy it would be nice of our receivers brought a few more catches in.  Yes Knox and Davis had nice catches, but as I keep saying that's the exception not the norm.

 

Did you happen to notice all the catches the Dolphins didn't make? They could probably point to a few that would have been game changers in their favor.

[Billsfan1972]

9 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Yeah.  Whatever.  Allen should've thrown for 400 yards and 4 TD's if Knox and Shakir don't drop the ball.  Would've been a comfortable win.  Maybe all this criticism this week is a good thing going into the Divisional.

Yep hope there's a chip on their shoulders.

Just now, Billsfan1972 said:

Yep hope there's a chip on their shoulders.

One big one by Waddell early (the other was broken up).  Others were short throws.  This was a 54 yard completion to the 15.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

8 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Yeah.  Whatever.  Allen should've thrown for 400 yards and 4 TD's if Knox and Shakir don't drop the ball.  Would've been a comfortable win.  Maybe all this criticism this week is a good thing going into the Divisional.

 

 And Brown needs, at the very least, to knock down Josh's first int. Anyone know why he broke towards the sideline when Josh threw it? Then he ran past the defender when he caught it and failed to tackle him. That allowed a 50 yard return.

 

 

 

[Big Turk]

6 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Did you happen to notice all the catches the Dolphins didn't make? They could probably point to a few that would have been game changers in their favor.

 

A few were good pass breakups by the Bills DBs that most are calling drops.

[ExiledInIllinois]

3 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Did you happen to notice all the catches the Dolphins didn't make? They could probably point to a few that would have been game changers in their favor.

Hey! This is a one-way street you're playing in! 😉 

 

[st pete gogolak]

This game reminded me a lot of the Minnesota game.  There were legitimately a dozen plays you could point to in both games where if the Bills made the play offensively or defensively, you could mark in your notebook "game over" (nod to Greg Easterbrook).  Minnesota game was much worse but this was similar - the Knox almost touchdown, the Shakir almost catch, etc. etc.  It was maddening.  

[Dopey]

Drops aside, if we don’t turn the ball over, we win comfortably. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

That drop, Knox's drop and Allen's fumble are minimum a 14 point swing. But those things happen in a football game. Heck, Miami probably dropped 10-14 points worth of passes. 

[BillsfaninSB]

9 minutes ago, LOVEMESOMEBILLS said:

 

 And Brown needs, at the very least, to knock down Josh's first int. Anyone know why he broke towards the sideline when Josh threw it? Then he ran past the defender when he caught it and failed to tackle him. That allowed a 50 yard return.

 

 

 

Josh never should have thrown it.   Brown was covered.  There were two check down guys, one was Singletary, forget the other, who were wide open for 5 to 10 yard gain.   Was 1st and 10 mid-field.  6 minutes left in the half.  17 - 3. 
 

I love JA but get frustrated with his thinking that the Bills need a big play when they don’t.  Could have just pass ed it underneath and keep moving or even give it to Cook again.   So weird. 

 

 

[Billsfan1972]

1 minute ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

That drop, Knox's drop and Allen's fumble are minimum a 14 point swing. But those things happen in a football game. Heck, Miami probably dropped 10-14 points worth of passes. 

Please explain?  We've acknowledged the Waddell drop.  What other ones? A couple of 6-8 yarders?

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

1 minute ago, BillsfaninSB said:

Josh never should have thrown it.   Brown was covered.  There were two check down guys, one was Singletary, forget the other, who were wide open for 5 to 10 yard gain.   Was 1st and 10 mid-field.  6 minutes left in the half.  17 - 3. 
 

I love JA but get frustrated with his thinking that the Bills need a big play when they don’t.  Could have just pass ed it underneath and keep moving or even give it to Cook again.   So weird. 

 

 

 

 He stated just this year that if they are up a couple scores that he will take more chances. I have no problem with him giving Brown a chance to win a 1 on 1, trusting he will at least knock it down if he can't catch it. He's done it with Diggs a bunch of times and is credited for giving his guy a chance, it can't be both ways. Brown was running a go route, then for no reason at all, took 2-3 steps towards the sideline just as Josh was throwing or right after he released it. It all went to **** after that.

 

 

[Ta111]

30 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Yep hope there's a chip on their shoulders.

One big one by Waddell early (the other was broken up).  Others were short throws.  This was a 54 yard completion to the 15.

Not to mention the TD drop by Knox ( which I still believe was a TD).

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

The defense had a hand full of plays that went their way.

 

The offense had a handful that went against them.

 

The special teams play was a big disappointment.

 

On another day, everything is different. That's why you win and survive, the rest is noise.

[Gugny]

44 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Boy it would be nice of our receivers brought a few more catches in.  

 

I'm sure Dolphins fans are saying the same thing.

 

Drops happen.

 

The biggest, most avoidable, eff up was Josh's fumble that was returned for a TD.

 

But we won ... so I don't give a rat's ass.

[Low Positive]

2 minutes ago, Ta111 said:

Not to mention the TD drop by Knox ( which I still believe was a TD).

And then the KO out of bounds on the kick after the ensuing FG. That was the swing in my mind because that gave the Dolphins points and hope. Up to that point, they had almost zero yards on offense.

[JoshAllin]

Making those plays Shakir dropped early is the difference of a Pats vs Bills playoff game from last year vs the one yesterday.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

17 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Drops aside, if we don’t turn the ball over, we win comfortably. 

 

 You could argue that if just the fumble returned for a TD doesn't happen, it's pretty comfortable. We would've been up 10-17 points the whole 4th quarter.