12/22/24 GAMEDAY Week 15 Bills vs Patriots* Post GameThread

[The Helmet of]

Interesting discussion. Obviously the one seed is the priority. But if it’s out of reach, give the starters two bye weeks and go into the wild card fresh.

 

As far as being rusty, that’s a risk you’ve gotta run. But it seems unlikely. McDermott is undefeated coming off a BYE.

[billsfan89]

Division games are more likely to be closer even at home. The game was also not as close as the final score indicated. The Bills were up 10 with less than 2 minutes left in the game. I get that the Bills did get socked in the mouth early on to be down 14-0. But the Bills got the lead cut back down to 7 fairly quickly and reset themselves to start the second half with the ball and the game was tied by the time the first drive of the second half was completed. The Bills took a lead with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The Bills took a two possession lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Let's not pretend it was some sort of escape act either. 

 

Yes was it a bit sloppy and a more talented team likely could/would have come up with a win. But every team comes out flat once in awhile and credit the Pats they played hard esp on defense and made it a game for awhile. Also credit the Bills defense for making plays too. 

[Boatdrinks]

8 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I hope you are right, but I am worried.

That game is in Cincy, and burrow is playing great. The way the bengals look, I can’t even see the broncos getting within 2 TDs. 

I don’t think it’s as simple as that- the Bengals need more to happen than just winning out and Denver losing to the Chiefs. They need a very specific set of outcomes and that’s why they’re 10th in the AFC with around an 8% chance to get in. 

[Doc Brown]

Didn't realize how much Curtis Samuel meant to this passing game.

[ColoradoBills]

4 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

I don’t think it’s as simple as that- the Bengals need more to happen than just winning out and Denver losing to the Chiefs. They need a very specific set of outcomes and that’s why they’re 10th in the AFC with around an 8% chance to get in. 

 

I don't get this irrational fear about the Bengals and how fans think they are a shoo-in for the 7th seed.

The Bengals can beat the Broncos next week and still have only a 4% chance if the Colts and Dolphins also win.

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

27 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I hope you are right, but I am worried.

That game is in Cincy, and burrow is playing great. The way the bengals look, I can’t even see the broncos getting within 2 TDs. 

I think everyone is forgetting about Indy. It’s more likely that Indy get in if Denver drops both and Indy wins out (can be tied record wise with cinci as well)

 

Indy is at Giants and home to Jax .. pretty favourable if your playoffs chances depended on it. 

 

 

[zow2]

21 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

I don’t think it’s as simple as that- the Bengals need more to happen than just winning out and Denver losing to the Chiefs. They need a very specific set of outcomes and that’s why they’re 10th in the AFC with around an 8% chance to get in. 

 

Yes, Miami and Indy could also both win out against lesser teams.  The fins will have to show they can win in cold weather twice in order to do it 

[vincec]

44 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

I don't get this irrational fear about the Bengals and how fans think they are a shoo-in for the 7th seed.

The Bengals can beat the Broncos next week and still have only a 4% chance if the Colts and Dolphins also win.

Probably comes from them whipping the Bills butts the last few times they played.

Edited 6 hours ago by vincec

[ColoradoBills]

Just now, vincec said:

Probably comes from them whipping the Bills butts the last few times they played.

 

I understand that.  I prefer not to play them in the Wildcard round too.

I'm hoping for the Broncos/Colts myself.

My point is that it's a very slim chance playing the Bengals and if it happens to be I still think the Bills would win.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

5 hours ago, Process said:

Really rough day for the receivers, zero separation all game it seemed (I'm sure thats on Brady too). I'm going to give the entire offense a pass. Let's not forget they have been on an absolute heater. Due for a letdown. 

 

Only thing I'll be critical of is we need more Cooper. I'm Mack's biggest fan, but multiple third and longs where he was on the field and Coop was on the sidelines. Why?

 

As far as the defense, missing four starters, but they still need to be better. I'm good with never seeing Spector on the field again. Play 6 DBs if you have too.

Let’s see what the All-22 reveals

[Dan Darragh]

5 hours ago, TFBillsfan said:

They say an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. That’s about all you can say about this game. 
 

 

They say a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at the office.

[Pasaluki]

I think their LBs aren't too healthy. They made quite a few mistakes on defense overall. I do not think the Bills pushed as hard as they could have and NE gave everything they had. 

 

This game was very similar to what KC has been doing all this season. They kind of just muddled through and waited for NE to make the critical mistakes they ended up making.

 

Someone made a great point in that this is what the Brady Patriots did to the Bills. The Bills would play better than the Pats but would still lose. Now the roles are reversed where a C effort against them is enough to defeat them.

[Richard Noggin]

2 hours ago, Bruffalo said:

I don't know how you can watch the end of that game and think anything other than "The refs are trying to keep this game close". It was egregious.

I'm not an NFL conspiracy theorist but I mean come on. Who had money on that game and badly needed the Pats TD? lol.

 

The calls felt incredibly one-sided towards the end there. We did some vigorous booing. I still need to watch a replay to get a 2nd opinion from myself. 

[Dan Darragh]

I'm guessing the Bills didn't want to open the playbook too much given that we need to play these guys again in two weeks in the Trubisky Bowl.

[That's No Moon]

2 hours ago, The Helmet of said:

Interesting discussion. Obviously the one seed is the priority. But if it’s out of reach, give the starters two bye weeks and go into the wild card fresh.

 

As far as being rusty, that’s a risk you’ve gotta run. But it seems unlikely. McDermott is undefeated coming off a BYE.

Exactly. If KC and Houston both win Wednesday health has to become the priority.  Everybody wants the 1 seed to get the bye, well if they get the 2 seed and can give themselves 2 weeks off I don't see the issue.  Two weeks of 17 not getting hit or having to jump over or run through anyone is huge.

2 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

I'm guessing the Bills didn't want to open the playbook too much given that we need to play these guys again in two weeks in the Trubisky Bowl.

Only new thing I saw today was Anderson coming in motion before kicking out the DE.  They did it a couple times and I'm guessing they showed that because they have something else they want to run off of it.  If I had to guess it would be a PA pass to Anderson, after showing that motion, inside the 5 yard line for a cheap TD.

[Dan Darragh]

2 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

Only new thing I saw today was Anderson coming in motion before kicking out the DE.  They did it a couple times and I'm guessing they showed that because they have something else they want to run off of it.  If I had to guess it would be a PA pass to Anderson, after showing that motion, inside the 5 yard line for a cheap TD.

Am I wrong to think that this is the first time we've seen the Bills run pistol?

[Buffalo Ballin]

Be happy for the win. We're relieved.

 

- Elam...man I don't know man. Keep playing him. He's all we have.

- Patriots played the pass. They didn't bother stopping the run.

- We STILL should have blown out the Pats today. Seriously. There were a times where Josh Allen could have ran in to set up goal line situations. He had open lanes and he didn't take them.

- Our defense showed up in the 2nd half. We need THAT particular defense for the entire playoffs to have a chance at the Super Bowl.

- Josh Allen has a broken hand and his throwing hand is hurt. We're still winning. We're 12-3 in a rebuild year. Yeah, he locked up NFL League MVP.

- James Cook earned his way to another Pro Bowl spot.

 

[That's No Moon]

10 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

Am I wrong to think that this is the first time we've seen the Bills run pistol?

Nah, they do that sometimes.

 

The wildcat snap to Cook(?) with handoff option to Josh has a little play tree that goes with it too I'm sure.  They showed that just enough to make people worry about it

[Dan Darragh]

5 hours ago, Dan said:

Why do so many QBs play the game of their career against us?    Or at least it feels that way 

For years it was trash 3rd string RBs who would look like Adrian Peterson when they played us. 

[Dan Darragh]

5 hours ago, Aesop said:

I get we as fans can nit pick all day long. But anyone complaining about a win needs a reality check. This was a division game, its the NFL. The parody is beautiful. Any given Sunday. 

The parody is indeed beautiful.  And so are the satire and the irony.