Maybe it was just a bad day

[TheFunPolice]

Can't stand Nick Wright but just listened to him on Cowherd and he makes (cringe) a great point about McDermott's defenses and how the Bills seasons ended the past 3 years:

 

2020: 38 points given up to KC in AFC Title Game (38-24 loss) 

2021: 13 seconds and 42 points given up (42-36 loss)

2022: Bengals bullied that defense all day. 27 points but if they needed more they could easily have done it. 

 

McDermott's defense didn't have " a bad day" they have had 3 very bad days in the playoffs. another way to say it is that they barely slowed the opposition down when the games mattered most. 

[colin]

1 hour ago, FrenchConnection said:

All of these things are true:

• The Bills played their worst game of the season
• The Bills have problems in their lineup that were exposed (which all teams have in the salary cap era)
• The Bengals are a bad matchup.

There is also another thing. The Bengals wound themselves into a frenzy over a perceived slight due to ticket sales while the Bills cancelled practice on Saturday to have "Family Day." I think that explains a lot.

 

 

facts

 

this team has been having family day (coaches players and FO) since Jan 2nd.  maybe it was inevitable that the season ended the moment the CPR was administered to damar, but it became a huge distraction that sucked the life out of the building.

 

3 home games in a row after that day, 3 sub par performances.  outright admitting to being tired and taking time off of practice, even in these extreme circumstances, is a black mark on the coaching and leadership.

 

it was 13 seconds last year, now it was this.  we need to be more methodical, more ruthless, and less emotional as an organization.  Diggs and Milano channeled all of this into motivation, sadly they might have been the only ones.

[2003Contenders]

2 hours ago, FrenchConnection said:

All of these things are true:

• The Bills played their worst game of the season
• The Bills have problems in their lineup that were exposed (which all teams have in the salary cap era)
• The Bengals are a bad matchup.

There is also another thing. The Bengals wound themselves into a frenzy over a perceived slight due to ticket sales while the Bills cancelled practice on Saturday to have "Family Day." I think that explains a lot.

 

I agree with all of this.

 

I do also believe that the emotional highs/low of the season -- and the aftermath of Hamlin's injury in particular -- played a significant role. In the two games after the Monday night game, the Bills were able to build off the momentum of highly exciting starts -- the kickoff return against the Pats and jumping out to a big 14-0 lead over Miami. Against the Bengals on Sunday, once they got down early -- especially after the 3-and-out start on offense -- you could just sense that the wind was completely taken from their sails. And it wasn't just a few players that seemed drained -- it was virtually the entire team.

[Boatdrinks]

4 hours ago, Airseven said:

Cincy is better than the Bills at every position. The change of heart around here feels sudden, in part, because the winning streak was smoke and mirrors against middling teams. The moment the Bills played a quality team, they got smoked. That’s jarring.

Nah, the Bills peaked too soon and had key injuries up and down the roster. The Bengals win streak wasn’t much different from Buffalo’s, right down to a close win vs the Chiefs. The NFC north will likely be tougher next season as well. Pretty much a cakewalk this year and CIN still had losses to BAL and PIT. Timing is everything in the tournament. 

[Malazan]

18 hours ago, Success said:

  Cincy was better that day - more prepared, more motivated, more fresh mentally.

 

Why? Cincy played the same number of games as the Bills did.. had the same amount of time to prepare. Had just as many injuries..

Edited January 25, 2023 by Malazan

[Nextmanup]

Now come the rationalization threads.

 

The fact is we are falling behind in the AFC horsepower sweepstakes, and we need to get more weapons on the field.

 

No doubt we will be looking to address this in the off-season.  But we have a very defensive-minded administration.

 

I just hope they realize we need to pump up the offense, and in all honesty, Dorsey should be replaced.

[DrBob806]

With the exception of the early season beat down of Pittsburgh, sadly the Bills don't match up to the AFC North style of football. 

 

I'm convinced they would have handled the Chargers, if the Chargers didn't gag vs Jax. May have even handled the Chiefs in the AFC title game (if KC would have beaten Cincy). 

 

So to me Cincy is/was a bad matchup. Philly or the 49ers would have done another 27-10 ish thing to the Bills in the Super Bowl. 

 

The Bills aren't a physical team. It is what it is.

[Boatdrinks]

2 hours ago, FrenchConnection said:

All of these things are true:

• The Bills played their worst game of the season
• The Bills have problems in their lineup that were exposed (which all teams have in the salary cap era)
• The Bengals are a bad matchup.

There is also another thing. The Bengals wound themselves into a frenzy over a perceived slight due to ticket sales while the Bills cancelled practice on Saturday to have "Family Day." I think that explains a lot.

The only thing the last paragraph shows is that the Bengals are comprised of mental midgets. All playoff teams sell tickets to games on a “ if necessary “ basis. Bengals fans have shown their supreme lack of intelligence re: this on twitter as well.  A walkthrough practice is not even worth mentioning. 

[Nextmanup]

4 hours ago, Real McNasty said:

I've been thinking about this for awhile now and truly think we needed a beat down from them week17 to wake the F up. 

 

I felt like it was coming the entire game, even if it ended fairly close on the scoreboard.

 

There were a LOT of comments around here that night, after the game, saying things like "that was going to be a Bills beatdown anyway, probably better that the game never finished."

 

It may have brought about some changes that helped us in the playoffs.  I don't know.

 

 

[harmonkillebrew]

We got screwed by that unfinished game in so many ways.  Not to say our inept coaching staff would have learned anything and been better prepared anyways.

[Nextmanup]

16 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Just curious, what does the bolded mean to you? If 'they aren't allowed' what's the consequence?  Will you stop watching? Hold your breath until your blue in the face? Or is it less personal and 'they' will all be shown the door or face imprisonment or a firing squad? If 'they aren't allowed' there must be some inherent consequence in your mind. What is it?

 

We're all upset with how the season ended - it effen sucked! - but some of the hyperbole here is a cross between comical and childish.

 

I think he means that a "bad day" is not going to result in them accomplishing their goals.  In that sense, it's not allowed. 

 

No margin for error, basically.

 

Which is correct.

 

 

[Boatdrinks]

1 hour ago, Airseven said:

Also, the Bengals are better than the Bills in every way - coaching, personnel, execution. That truth should also factor in.

They were better THAT DAY. This is all that matters in a single elimination tournament really. Plenty of teams have hoisted Lombardi’s due to this. 

[TheWeatherMan]

17 hours ago, Best Williams Available said:

This team peaked the first 6 weeks of the season. After they beat the Chiefs, it was like they thought their jobs were finished.

 

Then after the bye, they were unmotivated and unprepared every game thereafter (despite winning a lot toward the end). They were in cruise control with no identity. It would have been exposed had Damar not gone down that night. That a** whooping maybe would have lit a fire. But instead, their laze festered, until the inevitable happened Sunday.

Completely agree, been saying this for weeks!

[harmonkillebrew]

6 minutes ago, DrBob806 said:

With the exception of the early season beat down of Pittsburgh, sadly the Bills don't match up to the AFC North style of football. 

 

I'm convinced they would have handled the Chargers, if the Chargers didn't gag vs Jax. May have even handled the Chiefs in the AFC title game (if KC would have beaten Cincy). 

 

So to me Cincy is/was a bad matchup. Philly or the 49ers would have done another 27-10 ish thing to the Bills in the Super Bowl. 

 

The Bills aren't a physical team. It is what it is.

True and not being physical is even more glaring when you're playing on slush. 

Put the Bills and Cincy in a dome and maybe we can hang.

[Boatdrinks]

3 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I felt like it was coming the entire game, even if it ended fairly close on the scoreboard.

 

There were a LOT of comments around here that night, after the game, saying things like "that was going to be a Bills beatdown anyway, probably better that the game never finished."

 

It may have brought about some changes that helped us in the playoffs.  I don't know.

 

 

You felt that way The ENTIRE 9 minutes that was actually played? Oh wow! 

[Success]

10 minutes ago, Malazan said:

 

Why? Cincy played the same number of games as the Bills did.. had the same amount of time to prepare. Had just as many injuries..

 

With motivation, I don't think there was any doubt that they took the league's "neutral field" thing, and pre-sales for tickets, to heart, and used that.  And I do think the Bills were emotionally tired from everything that happened.

 

Fans will probably debate that last part for years, and some will say that these guys are pros and need to move past certain things.  But it's been a crazy month, and they're human. I wish they could have not let it affect them, but it clearly did.

 

[B-Large]

4 hours ago, harmonkillebrew said:

10 points on Offense is the real outlier here. We have never been that bad, including against much better Defenses.  The Bengals also have not been that great of a D this year and only held a team to 10 points or less once this season (the Browns). Even Huntley and the Ravens scored 17 on them the prior week.

 

That makes me think something else was going on beyond the Bengals and their great DC.  I think the Bills came out flat. I think the wet snow and footing affected Allen and the Offenses execution (we have smaller, quicker WR and rely on deep passes). And I think the Bengals are a tough matchup for us, especially in the snow, where our quickness is neutralized and lack of size (both on D and O) is exposed.  Play this game in better conditions and I think it plays to our strength and it's closer.

 

That said, playoffs are in January and we play in Buffalo, outside, for god's sake. We need to be built to pound the rock with a mauling Oline and bigger RBs. We need better Offensive schemes and WRs/TEs that can make contested catches. We need to build an O that is not so damn reliant on Allen to make plays time and time again. We need a stout Dline that can't be moved, even in the snow, not just quick, undersized DTs/DEs.

 

The irony makes me laugh- a Franchise known for playing in snow December/ January (its Buffalo for god sake), historically, was unprepared/ outmtched for inclement weather.  

 

Even more so, we will probably build a open stadium.

 

Its so stupid its funny.

[DrBob806]

1 minute ago, harmonkillebrew said:

True and not being physical is even more glaring when you're playing on slush. 

Put the Bills and Cincy in a dome and maybe we can hang.

Maybe. The Bills faced Cle in a dome, and fortunately the Browns aren't well coached- they controlled the entire 1st half until a fumble by their QB. Cle outgained us that day as well behind Jacoby Brissett. 

 

Another AFC North team, the Ratbirds coughed up the game vs the Bills with 2 Lamar INTs. 

 

 I don't think the Bills are that far off, as 4 straight playoff appearances show that. They just lose the trenches vs physical type teams.

 

 

 

 

[Goin Breakdown]

Maybe it's a bad team. We have josh and Diggs (if he's not doubled). That's kinda it. We had Von but will he be Von anymore?
Von made the D look better. No Von no good. Just like if there was no josh. The offense would be bottom of the league. It has nothing at all to do with coaches. Josh and Von willed this team in the first quarter of the season. 

[harmonkillebrew]

2 minutes ago, DrBob806 said:

Maybe. The Bills faced Cle in a dome, and fortunately the Browns aren't well coached- they controlled the entire 1st half until a fumble by their QB. Cle outgained us that day as well behind Jacoby Brissett. 

 

Another AFC North team, the Ratbirds coughed up the game vs the Bills with 2 Lamar INTs. 

 

 I don't think the Bills are that far off, as 4 straight playoff appearances show that. They just lose the trenches vs physical type teams.

 

 

 

 

Definitely think the Bills need to make changes to get more physical in the trenches.

But the slush and snow exacerbated it, turned it into a major flaw and contributed to the blowout. 

I don't think Allen and Co are limited to 10points in better conditions, but hell, you can't bank on Mother Nature to be so kind to you in January. Stupid planning and team construction.  Hopefully Beane gets it right this offseason.