Bengals @ Bills - Post Game Thread - January 22, 2023 - NFL Divisional Round Playoffs

[Big Turk]

Just now, Punch said:

This was an utterly exhausting season for the Bills even if you only factor in the constant decimating injuries. All the snow plus Damar and the Tops shooting—— it had to be emotionally draining. 
 

I don’t want to make excuses but no other team has had anywhere near as many issues.

 

I'd go so far as to say likely no other team in history has 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

2 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

Give me Miller, the Tre White we drafted, and Hyde back and I'd love to see this game run back.  The teams that were on the field today I'd give it to the Bengals 9 out of 10 times.

The Tre white we drafted is not coming back. The guy lost a step and a half and none of these guys are getting any younger. I’d be good with running it back with Hyde and Poyer for 2 more but it seems like Poyer is all but gone. We need an influx of youthful talent and an aggressive mindset change on defense. 

[boater]

57 minutes ago, Punch said:

This is a huge disappointment and the sting is worse than it’ll be for most of the other 31 teams that don’t win. I don’t know how anyone can look at this any differently.

I can empathize with why you feel that way, and I guess unwarranted sky high preseason expectations only amplify your pain.

 

For me, it's different. The pain tonight is not much different from the pain I felt when the Bills ended the season 8-8 and just missed the playoffs by one more victory (story of the drought). Dashed dreams when you were so close just suck.

 

I suspect the pain felt by Jacksonville and Giants fans is about the same we're experiencing.

 

I imagine Jets and Pats are in just as much pain for just missing the playoffs by an iota.

 

And I know Dolphins fans are mourning their loss to the Bills.

 

Losing is like "wind chill forecasts"  ..it doesn't matter the magnitude, it just sucks no matter which way you experience it.

 

My thesis anyway.

 

 

[starrymessenger]

2 minutes ago, FrenchConnection said:

We gotta drop the culture BS. We need some bad dudes to play a team like the Bengals. They have actual criminals and we have milk drinkers.

Well you saw what the Ravens D did to the Bengals. But for no QB and a fluke play with a 14 point spread they basically beat them. 

[thenorthremembers]

11 minutes ago, Steptide said:

I was thinking about the Tampa game last year where the bills were getting absolutely annihilated the first half. They came back to tie and go to overtime(down 27 points I think) . I never felt the bills were gonna come back after they went down 14-0 today. They were just so lack luster and no fire 

I felt the same.   It highlights a big problem around the way the Bills are built, they cant overwhelm anyone physically.  Neither line can control the line of scrimmage.  The momentum has to come solely from 17 and that was off the table today.    They have a lot of work to do going forward.  

[Low Positive]

Just now, starrymessenger said:

Well you saw what the Ravens D did to the Bengals. But for no QB and a fluke play with a 14 point spread they basically beat them. 

The Ravens play with an edge that we don't. You have to play with violence to win in this game. Joe Mixon is an actual violent criminal, and he brought that violence to a football game today and ran all over our nice guys. You can have a team of good guys or you can win. I want to win.

[UKBillFan]

1 minute ago, SoMAn said:

That’s what it looked like- Like they were mentally spent. I don’t doubt that all the physical and emotional  obstacles they’ve endured throughout the season finally caught up with them. It didn’t help that the play calling was pedestrian. 
I think they were simply due for a ‘let-down’ game and this was it. 
in some way, I’d rather it happen now than in the Super Bowl. They would have been saddled with that Bills losing super bowls stigma going forward, making it harder to get there again. 

Under McDermott, the Bills seem to be blown out at least once a year. There were a few in 2017 (Saints, Chargers, Pats x2); I’m actually not going to bother listing the number in 2018; in 2019 it was a 31-19 loss to the Eagles; in 2020 a 42-16 loss to the Titans and, in 2021, a 41-15 defeat to the Colts. 
 

For some reason, under McDermott, there is at least a game day each year where the Bills simply do not show up. Unfortunately, for this year, today was it.

[Georgia Bill]

After the 13 seconds debacle I think the feeling was we were a Von Miller away from getting where we needed to be against the teams with the best QB's (Mahomes, Burrow).   I don't know if we can definitively say that wasn't true.  We won't know because we lost him, then all the other series of unfortunate events to deal with happened.  Put Von Miller back, erase all the misfortune and maybe, just maybe things turn out differently - including capturing the bye.  We won't ever know.  But it creates a serious quandry into considering where to go from here.  Maybe we really aren't as far away as most are thinking based upon this one lackluster performance.

[Punch]

2 minutes ago, boater said:

I can empathize with why you feel that way, and I guess unwarranted sky high preseason expectations only amplify your pain.

 

For me, it's different. The pain tonight is not much different from the pain I felt when the Bills ended the season 8-8 and just missed the playoffs by one more victory (story of the drought). Dashed dreams when you were so close just suck.

 

I suspect the pain felt by Jacksonville and Giants fans is about the same we're experiencing.

 

I imagine Jets and Pats are in just as much pain for just missing the playoffs by an iota.

 

And I know Dolphins fans are mourning their loss to the Bills.

 

Losing is like "wind chill forecasts"  ..it doesn't matter the magnitude, it just sucks no matter which way you experience it.

 

My thesis anyway.

 

 

I shouldn’t say “I don’t know how anyone can feel differently” because I understand exactly what you’re saying. Ultimately, it’s true. This just feels particularly brutal.

[Locomark]

I am always cautious of the mad emotional extremism that occurs at the end of the last game which we are all guilty of. One conclusion I do think I will stick with is the Bills looked exhausted. I feel this year the ending was partially due to being too emotionally and physically drained from the events of the year and it was just their time to bow out today. It mattered as much as talent. 

[thenorthremembers]

1 minute ago, Georgia Bill said:

After the 13 seconds debacle I think the feeling was we were a Von Miller away from getting where we needed to be against the teams with the best QB's (Mahomes, Burrow).   I don't know if we can definitively say that wasn't true.  We won't know because we lost him, then all the other series of unfortunate events to deal with happened.  Put Von Miller back, erase all the misfortune and maybe, just maybe things turn out differently - including capturing the bye.  We won't ever know.  But it creates a serious quandry into considering where to go from here.  Maybe we really aren't as far away as most are thinking based upon this one lackluster performance.

They are more than just a Von Miller away on the defensive line alone.    They cant get pressure up the middle, and they cant get pressure off the edge without him.  

[Punch]

7 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I'd go so far as to say likely no other team in history has 

To be perfectly honest, I’m emotionally drained from this season as a fan. A Bills season has never felt more like a slog and I remember Hank Bullough.

[Simon]

9 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

Give me Miller, the Tre White we drafted, and Hyde back and I'd love to see this game run back.  The teams that were on the field today I'd give it to the Bengals 9 out of 10 times.

 

Not to mention DaQuan Jones, a Poyer who's in one piece and a healthy Jordan Phillips

[starrymessenger]

1 minute ago, Simon said:

 

Not to mention DaQuan Jones, a Poyer who's in one piece and a healthy Jordan Phillips

Cincinnati had to replace 3 starters on the O-line and a fourth was hobbled. 

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, Punch said:

To be perfectly honest, I’m emotionally drained from this season as a fan. A Bills season has never felt more like a slog and I remember Hank Bullough.

 

It's funny because I just said that exact same thing in a text to one of my buddies...

 

And if I feel like this I can't imagine what they must have felt like with the weight of all of WNY on them on top of it.

 

 

[CSBill]

11 rushing attempts today 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

The lack of physicality on the oline and dline just jumped off the screen. They got their asses whipped. And didn’t seem all that upset about it. 

[Marcus Aurelius]

2 minutes ago, Punch said:

To be perfectly honest, I’m emotionally drained from this season as a fan. A Bills season has never felt more like a slog and I remember Hank Bullough.

I agree totally.

I think another word fits here also, the BILLS were a disjointed mess going down the stretch.

[Georgia Bill]

2 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

They are more than just a Von Miller away on the defensive line alone.    They cant get pressure up the middle, and they cant get pressure off the edge without him.  

I know we are more than a Von Miller away, but some are acting like we need to fire all the coaches and blow the team up.  With all our players healthy and Von and Hyde playing, this might have been a lot closer, maybe a win.   I just don't think we need to blow up the team.  More bruising power in the middle of the line, that can collapse the pocket?  Yes - we need that too.  

[78thealltimegreat]

15 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Much harder. Allen contract. Jac and Lac only getting better. 

Nah Allen is only 43 mill which when you see what Herbert, Burrow, and Jackson will be a bargain