Ravens v. Bungles TNF Gamethread ( Please leave your Bills' observations at the door ; -)

[Low Positive]

I live in Cincinnati. Bagel tears feed me more than anything. They're done. They went all out to win this one and lost. That's it.

[Awwufelloff]

23 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Your comments have zero to do with the Cinci-induced PTSD from the 2022 Divisional Round Game.

 

When we lost to them in the playoffs, they ran the ball down our throats with Joe Mixon.

 

That team doesn't exist anymore.

 

Furthermore their defense isn't half as good as it was then (when their DC was being mentioned for Head Coaching positions).

 

Finally we do really well against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle... I'm not afraid that Cinci's gonna light us up through the air. In 2 career games against us, Chase hasn't done anything.

 

I'd much rather face Cinci in the playoffs than the Ravens and that's what the discussion was about.

 

 

People keep saying Cinci's a bad matchup for us... I fail to see that argument.

 

Brown is better than Mixon

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

Neither of these teams appear to have a defense this year. Ravens have the worst pass defense in the league and that’s not getting any better after this week. 
 

Bills just got to play much better on offense if they see the Ravens in the postseason. 
 

This Bengals defense is also the worst D they have had in the Burrow era it seems.

[uninja]

The Bengals look like the prime era Drew Brees Saints. Could put up a million miles on offense but couldn’t stop a light breeze. 

[Behindenemylines]

1 hour ago, Big Blitz said:

Do the Steelers have 4 wins on their schedule?   
 

Man I don’t think so….

 

 

Steelers 6-2

 

At Washington 

Vs Baltimore

At Browns

At Bengals 

Vs Browns 

At Eagles

At Ravens 

Vs Chiefs 

Vs Bengals 

 

 

Two to three more wins at best. Could be  a losing season for their Coach possibly.  

[SoonerBillsFan]

Unfortunately, Jackson is a shoe in for MVP.  

[GunnerBill]

Friday morning reflections:

 

- Is it just me or does this feel like the reality of the NFL this year when two above average to good teams play? Offenses start slow, defenses seem to be on top and then as the games goes on offenses work things out and it becomes a track meet. This felt similar to Bills - Dolphins last weekend in that regard and a number of other games I have seen this year. 

 

- This game was a real example to those people who luicrously hold on to the narrative that Lamar Jackson has never improved as a passer. He didn't have a perfect night and of course he still ultimately did it with his legs for one of the biggest plays in the game to get the Ravens down to the 1 for their second TD but ther were two throws in particular that Lamar threw with anticipation 2nd half that even the year he won his first MVP he just never makes. One to Andrews and one to Batemen. People can think whatever they like about the legitimacy of his MVP year last year, but he is definitely legitimately a leading contender in 2024. 

 

- I know he had a bad penalty on the Bengals final drive but other Marlon Humphrey had himself a game. This has been a week that has made think back to that 2017 corner class again. My top 3 corners that year were Lattimore, Humphrey and White. They have all had periods of elite play in the league but Humphrey in the long run may have sustained it the best. His punch out for the fumble was a critical moment in this game.

 

- For Cincy I think we are seeing Chase Brown develop into a bit of a star. He had to wait his turn behind Joe Mixon and then, laughably, Zack Moss but the last two weeks he has broken out and both in run and pass game is an important peice for them. 

 

- Which is needed especially because what we see at the moment is a vision of the future. Burrow and Chase are great but with Higgins out currently and gone after the season they need a legit second option to step up. Iosivas has shown flashes at times but he struggled in this game, they haven't got what I'd have expected from Gesicki (who I thought would be a good fit there) and while Tanner Hudson picked up some slack in this game he is a 29 year old journeyman blocking tight end who in 6 years in the league only went over 600 receiving yards in this game. I imagine the Bengals will draft a receiver early in April. 

 

- Does it leave the Bengals out of it? No, not quite, but the next two weeks vs wildcard rivals the Chargers and the division leading Pittsburgh Steelers are vital. They will need to win both games vs Pittsburgh to have a shot IMO.

[ganesh]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

Do the Steelers have 4 wins on their schedule?   
 

Man I don’t think so….

 

 

Steelers 6-2

 

At Washington 

Vs Baltimore

At Browns

At Bengals 

Vs Browns 

At Eagles

At Ravens 

Vs Chiefs 

Vs Bengals 

 

 

They could easily beat the Chiefs as they have a great pass rush

[Jon in Pasadena]

3 hours ago, kkim0904 said:

In 17 game schedule, 9-8 will not earn Wild card.  Only hope is winning division with 9-8 record.

 

Other conference, I know, but last season the Packers were a WC at 9-8 

[Ray Stonada]

Better that one of these teams doesn’t make the playoffs. Bengals are tough to deal with… 

 

Jackson is in the top tier with Mahomes and Allen this year. Burrow looks to be there too, without the supporting cast. Great top four QBs in the league. 

[mannc]

2 hours ago, Behindenemylines said:

Two to three more wins at best. Could be  a losing season for their Coach possibly.  

The Steelers have a brutal schedule the rest of the way, but it would be idiotic to count them out, especially since Tomlin appears to have breathed life into the corpse of Russell Wilson.  At a minimum you can count on them winning at least one game each against the Bengals and Ravens.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, mannc said:

The Steelers have a brutal schedule the rest of the way, but it would be idiotic to count them out, especially since Tomlin appears to have breathed life into the corpse of Russell Wilson.  At a minimum you can count on them winning at least one game each against the Bengals and Ravens.

 

They definitely get to 9 IMO. If they can get to 10 they are in. Much prefer to play them in the wildcard again than Cincy.

[Chicken Boo]

4 hours ago, Awwufelloff said:

Brown is better than Mixon

 

No he's not and there's no metric to support that claim.  

 

He could grow to be.  

2 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Unfortunately, Jackson is a shoe in for MVP.  

 

Not gonna lie, so far he's having one of the greatest individual seasons for a QB that I've ever seen.  

[GunnerBill]

26 minutes ago, Chicken Boo said:

 

No he's not and there's no metric to support that claim.  

 

He could grow to be.  

 

 

Put it this way I wouldn't trade him straight up for Mixon today. Really like what I see from him both as a runner and a pass catcher. To have a better career than Mixon he has a fair ways to go. 

[kkim0904]

6 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Your comments have zero to do with the Cinci-induced PTSD from the 2022 Divisional Round Game.

 

When we lost to them in the playoffs, they ran the ball down our throats with Joe Mixon.

 

That team doesn't exist anymore.

 

Furthermore their defense isn't half as good as it was then (when their DC was being mentioned for Head Coaching positions).

 

Finally we do really well against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle... I'm not afraid that Cinci's gonna light us up through the air. In 2 career games against us, Chase hasn't done anything.

 

I'd much rather face Cinci in the playoffs than the Ravens and that's what the discussion was about.

 

 

People keep saying Cinci's a bad matchup for us... I fail to see that argument.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do agree that Cinci is better match than Baltimore.  I just don't want Bills to face both Cincinnati and Baltimore in the playoffs. 

[boyst]

9 hours ago, MikePJ76 said:

What?

 

The Ravens aren't trying that hard?  

I'm the first half they were sleep walking on defense. 

 

We do a football pool at work and I said I want to pick Cincinnati. They're highly capable of winning. They are more capable of winning this game than Baltimore. Baltimore doesn't take the win (except for us) as much as they outscore their opponents. Cincinnati has the technique, the skill, the quality beneath all of their shortcomings this year with a highly capable Burrough. 

 

Ultimately when it came down to it they were surprised I picked Baltimore at work. I chose Baltimore because Baltimore wins football games. Cincinnati does not. Baltimore was going to pull this win out no matter what. They just play too much rope a dope and let themselves be caught sleeping. It is forging them tighter and more grit to get these right games.

 

Pittsburgh beats them next week in a complete game. 

8 hours ago, Simon said:

 

They've seen enough guys trying to hammer him and ending up looking stupid tackling air.

He's still got more jump than most guys do with that kind of mileage so I'd be breaking down and wrapping up too if I was them.

Otherwise you end up looking like a flailing toddler on national TV.

Every year Jackson gets better at quarterback. Every year he gets more mileage. 

 

Deep down I hope in 3 years he's become a much more capable quarterback and less a runner. It will be for the detriment of his game and our viewing but it will complete him to a great career to finish as a shifty QB in the pocket who is throwing thousands of yards a year. 

[Spiderweb]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Put it this way I wouldn't trade him straight up for Mixon today. Really like what I see from him both as a runner and a pass catcher. To have a better career than Mixon he has a fair ways to go. 

Yeah, he hasn't even beat up a woman yet. A slug is better than Joe Nixon in every way.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

34 minutes ago, boyst said:

I'm the first half they were sleep walking on defense. 

 

We do a football pool at work and I said I want to pick Cincinnati. They're highly capable of winning. They are more capable of winning this game than Baltimore. Baltimore doesn't take the win (except for us) as much as they outscore their opponents. Cincinnati has the technique, the skill, the quality beneath all of their shortcomings this year with a highly capable Burrough. 

 

Ultimately when it came down to it they were surprised I picked Baltimore at work. I chose Baltimore because Baltimore wins football games. Cincinnati does not. Baltimore was going to pull this win out no matter what. They just play too much rope a dope and let themselves be caught sleeping. It is forging them tighter and more grit to get these right games.

 

Pittsburgh beats them next week in a complete game. 

Every year Jackson gets better at quarterback. Every year he gets more mileage. 

 

Deep down I hope in 3 years he's become a much more capable quarterback and less a runner. It will be for the detriment of his game and our viewing but it will complete him to a great career to finish as a shifty QB in the pocket who is throwing thousands of yards a year. 

24 TDs and 2 INT. How much more capable can he be? 

[boyst]

21 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

24 TDs and 2 INT. How much more capable can he be? 

I don't think it's something that I can state. Being the word Smith that I am I will try.  But the pocket poise, the vision, the overall effective game manager situational quarterback play where he has to throw the ball instead of run the ball. The moments where we see a quarterback just take the short stuff, play the conservative game and walk it down field with their arm. He's an elite football player, there is no doubt. But there's just something about it in the eye test that needs to happen for him to be among the best when talking about quarterbacks in this era. 

[Rigotz]

5 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Unfortunately, Jackson is a shoe in for MVP.  

Lamar is +200 odds to win MVP

Josh is +300 to win

 

If Bills have a better record and they continue at this pace, voters will be looking to give Josh his 1st rather than Lamar his 3rd.