This game shows that a fully healthy D would have beaten KC in last year's playoffs

[Matt_In_NH]

The injury excuse again?   This game has a lot of different players than last year for both teams, there is no irrefutable evidence they would have won last year. 

[Kelly to Allen]

6 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

The injury excuse again?   This game has a lot of different players than last year for both teams, there is no irrefutable evidence they would have won last year. 

 

 

Do you think KC wouldve won if

 

Chris Jones was coming off a torn ACL in his first year back

Karlafiltis returned from a torn pec but not 100%

No nick Bolton

No chenal

Willie gay does play but with a bad shoulder separation

No McDuffie 

Sneed plays limping with a sprained knee. 

 

And no MVS 

 

 

It's okay to admit KC has gotten lucky with attrition and buffalo simply hasn't

 

It doesn't invalidate KC being champions. It just gives context to the journey 

Edited Monday at 10:13 AM by Kelly to Allen

[Kelly to Allen]

5 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

I didn't realize that was the only game we played against them in the playoffs. You do realize Mahomes has 28 TD and 2 INT's in the Divisional and Championship rounds. Did you think we got his best today or that Bernard is going to turn him into a pumpkin come playoff time? It was a great win. Lets pump the breaks on rewriting history. 

 

Allen and Mahomes have almost identical playoff numbers in their first ten playoff games....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 10:18 AM by Kelly to Allen

[ProcessTruster]

6 hours ago, zow2 said:

Kelce was better, he’s looking older now even one season removed.  KC also had Rashee Rice, Pacheco and MVS making plays.  Their offense is not as good right now as it was in that game.

As I've said forever, injuries matter.   "Next man up" is largely a myth.   There are reasons backups are backups. 

 

 Win the Division and be healthy when the playoffs start.  that's all I want 

[GunnerBill]

Irrefutable proof? No. Does it lend credence to that theory? Definitely. Bernard and Benford are big for this defense because they are match up pieces. The Bills have three guys of that ilk on this current defense - Taron Johnson being the third. And in that game in January the first two were injured and Taron was playing hurt. 

 

We need to get to the playoffs with those three, Ed and Groot healthy and firing. If they do there is enough there on this D while our O keep scoring 30. 

[PromoTheRobot]

7 hours ago, dollars 2 donuts said:

 

i can’t even wrap my mind around the fact the Bills likely get Coleman, Kincaid, Carter, Brown and Milano back for their next game.

five guys…one game.

 

 

 

There's going to be a ramp-up period for each player. Hopefully they'll all be at 💯% come playoff time. 

[Neo]

47 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

The injury excuse again?   This game has a lot of different players than last year for both teams, there is no irrefutable evidence they would have won last year. 

 

Why must we call every analysis and opinion an excuse?  If you’re going to require irrefutable evidence a prerequisite to having views or drawing conclusions, you can shut down message boards.

 

By the way, there’s no irrefutable evidence we would not have won last year.   Your standard applied to your post.

[JerseyBills]

7 hours ago, Sojourner said:

Definitely. We were in with a chance having just Bernard out.
 

The minute Benford went down during the start it was as an even more uphill battle, one probably most of us knew would be a struggle. 
 

Those 2 players alone were at least a 3 to 6 point swing in our favor. 

Plus a Von that was a shell of himself, he's back too..

Forgot about Benford,  he should be in all pro talks, QBs rarely even target him. He is phenomenal 

[GaryPinC]

7 hours ago, Special K said:

The Bills would have won last years playoff game if their Defense was at full health.

 

Mahomes did not look like his usual self, Kelce was basically invisible, and it was due to players that were out or playing hurt in that playoff game.

 

Not so easy for Kelce to get whatever he wants when AJ Klein isn't guarding him!!

 

Lets hope the D stays healthy for the rematch in this years playoffs!!

 

Go Bills!!!!!!!

You're going too far with the irrefutable, but not having Bernard, losing Benford, and Von being limited goes beyond their injuries.   All three are playmakers, excelling when the moments are the largest with game changing plays.  Next man up, yes, but you can't replace losing that big-time factor.

[Billsatlastin2018]

7 hours ago, zow2 said:

Kelce was better, he’s looking older now even one season removed.  KC also had Rashee Rice, Pacheco and MVS making plays.  Their offense is not as good right now as it was in that game.

Kelce IS old now! It shows.

 

I remember an anecdote from the Bills Glory SB Years. ALL those players from that 4 year Playoff window played the equivalent of an extra SEASON! 
 

Close to what Kelce has experienced! A lot of extra football on the body.

[Matt_In_NH]

1 hour ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

 

Do you think KC wouldve won if

 

Chris Jones was coming off a torn ACL in his first year back

Karlafiltis returned from a torn pec but not 100%

No nick Bolton

No chenal

Willie gay does play but with a bad shoulder separation

No McDuffie 

Sneed plays limping with a sprained knee. 

 

And no MVS 

 

 

It's okay to admit KC has gotten lucky with attrition and buffalo simply hasn't

 

It doesn't invalidate KC being champions. It just gives context to the journey 

Yes they could have

[NewEra]

Von too.  He didn’t light it up all game but that spin move sack was pretty.  Von Miller sacking the QB on 3rd down.  Mahomes nonetheless.  The real Von Miller was missed last season- he’s back to be a play maker for this D

[Sierra Foothills]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

Bernard and Benford are big for this defense because they are match up pieces. The Bills have three guys of that ilk on this current defense - Taron Johnson being the third. And in that game in January the first two were injured and Taron was playing hurt. 

 

We need to get to the playoffs with those three, Ed and Groot healthy and firing. If they do there is enough there on this D while our O keep scoring 30. 

 

To your point, Terrell Bernard and Taron Johnson didn't play in the week 4 debacle at Baltimore. Also Cole Bishop played most of that game after Taylor Rapp was injured.

 

There's a lot of people here who don't understand how the loss of "smaller" players could hurt a run defense but all 3 of these players are assignment sound which is the first job of fitting runs... and secondly all are good at using instincts and angles (instead of anchoring) to defeat blocks.

 

Many here just assume that Detroit and Baltimore will run all over this defense.

 

If the Bills are healthy I don't think that happens.

 

[ganesh]

8 hours ago, zow2 said:

Kelce was better, he’s looking older now even one season removed.  KC also had Rashee Rice, Pacheco and MVS making plays.  Their offense is not as good right now as it was in that game.

Hunt is playing at the same level as Pacheco.

Xavier is playing at the same level as MVS if not better.

They are essentially missing Rice's contribution which was huge.

[Sierra Foothills]

9 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Von didn’t light it up all game but that spin move sack was pretty.  Von Miller sacking the QB on 3rd down.  Mahomes nonetheless.  The real Von Miller was missed last season- he’s back to be a play maker for this D

 

And Von was disciplined in his rushes. Only a couple of times did he try to go wide for the sack. Mostly be played a contain/push game.

 

Also Von's very good at lurking and disengaging. This makes him a better run defender than most fans appreciate and this ability to lurk and disengage also makes him good at picking up cleanup sacks... which didn't happen in this game as Mahomes was getting it out pretty quickly.

 

[Matt_In_NH]

1 hour ago, Neo said:

 

Why must we call every analysis and opinion an excuse?  If you’re going to require irrefutable evidence a prerequisite to having views or drawing conclusions, you can shut down message boards.

 

By the way, there’s no irrefutable evidence we would not have won last year.   Your standard applied to your post.

 

Because shoe horning the outcome yesterday as analysis that they would have won last year is an ridiculous.   Using injuries as an excuse is sad, teams have injuries all the time.   I am not disputing the Bills were at a large disadvantage at LB and CB, they were but they could have won that game and also, they could have lost yesterday.  When these teams play it is close.  You call winning a game against a team you lost to last year in a certain manner "irrefutable" evidence they would have won last year as some kind of analysis?   Some players are different, some coaches are different, the injury situations are different.  The premise of this thread is outrageous, nothing that happened yesterday shows what might have been different last year.  Every game in the NFL is a unique entity.

 

To the bolded, can you show where I said there was no irrefutable evidence we would not have won?  My point is it has no relevance.

Edited Monday at 12:47 PM by Matt_In_NH

[Spiderweb]

8 hours ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

Not even full health but getting knocked down the depth chart so far that aj klein has to cancel a family vacation is wild and was hugely consequential lol 

I mean if aj klein was getting victimized at mlb in this one the chiefs offense would’ve looked like it did in the playoffs last year.  I don’t think people really understand what a crazy situation that was.  Everyone complains about Hamlin not being starter caliber but Klein is probably 10 times further from being an nfl starter 😂. Its honestly kind of embarrassing on the chiefs part that that game was even close 

Klein was an old style thumper. Good against the run and had some blitz capability, but we all saw that while he was here, covering anyone in the pass game was not in his wheel house. 

[BearNorth]

Takeaway on the second play of the game due to pressure, then taking that and scoring, sets a tone, and I think KC was a bit back on their heels after that even with the 1 pt advantage due to the missed XP.

[NewEra]

37 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

And Von was disciplined in his rushes. Only a couple of times did he try to go wide for the sack. Mostly be played a contain/push game.

 

Also Von's very good at lurking and disengaging. This makes him a better run defender than most fans appreciate and this ability to lurk and disengage also makes him good at picking up cleanup sacks... which didn't happen in this game as Mahomes was getting it out pretty quickly.

 

Great point.  Containment was much better today and a key component in holding the chiefs to 21.  He only made 1-2 plays out of the pocket

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

 

Do you think KC wouldve won if

 

Chris Jones was coming off a torn ACL in his first year back

Karlafiltis returned from a torn pec but not 100%

No nick Bolton

No chenal

Willie gay does play but with a bad shoulder separation

No McDuffie 

Sneed plays limping with a sprained knee. 

 

And no MVS 

 

 

It's okay to admit KC has gotten lucky with attrition and buffalo simply hasn't

 

It doesn't invalidate KC being champions. It just gives context to the journey 

KC was missing a lot of guys yesterday lol