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

[Governor]

10 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

 

Yes. I don't know why they abandoned the run game so quickly. In Josh's defence, watching back without the emotion of the moment, he wasn't as bad as the passing game as it first appeared. Shakir and Cooper really dropped balls they should have had caught. But then, were throws and catches off due to the cold weather making it hard to handle the ball? And, if so, why wouldn't the run game be utilised? Brady has called so well over the past couple of games but yesterday was baffling. Though, as I say, if Shakir and Cooper had caught those balls would we be saying that?

They were trying to get stats for Josh or Josh was ditching the underneath stuff and trying to get stats going deep.

[The Helmet of]

4 minutes ago, BRH said:

 

I rewatched the condensed game afterward and realized that each of the Pats’ three TD drives was aided by one or more critical penalties, with the third drive being the most egregious example.  And each featured at least one play where the flag came in way late, after the play’s result was known.

 

This had all the feel of a Little League game where the ump shrinks the strike zone on the best pitchers and expands it for the best hitters.

I just rewatched the entire game. Wanted to have a dispassionate sense of exactly what happened since it’s hard when the emotions are flowing.

 

Lots of overreactions are happening.

 

Pats O came out on script. Maye made a couple of GREAT throws early. He had a really nice third down conversion with his legs. As @BRH said, D had bad penalties. The Elam PI was brutal. Cam Lewis had a brutal PI— he was definitely being targeted by AVP.  Baylon Spector—really rough stuff. Woof.

 

Josh didn’t have his regular fastball. Too many penalties. O Seemed to get to the line tardy as the game went on. Just sluggish. Always flirting with zero on the play clock. If I had to guess, Josh had a cold or something.

 

Overall, this one reminded me of the preseason game against the Bears. Meaningless. Remember that loss, 33-6? Sky was falling. McD was pissed after that one too 🤣

 

 

 

 

[Orlando Buffalo]

8 hours ago, BRH said:

 

Including just last year, twice, to the Pats and the Jets.

Why would you bring that back up? The trauma had finally subsided. 😁

[BRH]

4 minutes ago, The Helmet of said:

I just rewatched the entire game. Wanted to have a dispassionate sense of exactly what happened since it’s hard when the emotions are flowing.

 

Lots of overreactions are happening.

 

Pats O came out on script. Maye made a couple of GREAT throws early. He had a really nice third down conversion with his legs. As @BRH said, D had bad penalties. The Elam PI was brutal. Cam Lewis had a brutal PI— he was definitely being targeted by AVP.  Baylon Spector—really rough stuff. Woof.

 

Josh didn’t have his regular fastball. Too many penalties. O Seemed to get to the line tardy as the game went on. Just sluggish. Always flirting with zero on the play clock. If I had to guess, Josh had a cold or something.

 

Overall, this one reminded me of the preseason game against the Bears. Meaningless. Remember that loss, 33-6? Sky was falling. McD was pissed after that one too 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair, the whole game probably would have gone differently if (1) the ST hadn’t given up a long return on the opening kickoff and (2) the D got off the field on 3rd and 10 rather than giving up an easy 1D to Henry.  

[Johnny Bravo]

9 hours ago, OldNMBillsFan said:

The Bills offence only scored 17 points against the New England Patriots Defense, that has giving up 24 points a game on average. Without the D touchdown, the interception and the other fumble recovery, this would have been a loss because the offence could not score against a very weak NE Defense.

Take away the two TDs by Cook and we would have been shut out.  Fire everybody!

[BRH]

4 minutes ago, Orlando Buffalo said:

Why would you bring that back up? The trauma had finally subsided. 😁

 

Sorry!  But those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.

 

We did use to lose these games on a regular basis, and not that long ago, either.

24 minutes ago, Governor said:

They were trying to get stats for Josh or Josh was ditching the underneath stuff and trying to get stats going deep.

 

Nobody, least of all Josh, is “trying to get stats for Josh.”  

[Gregg]

As others have said, divisional rivalry games are never easy. Even the Pats during their dynasty years had trouble winning in Miami. The Eagles who many consider the best team in the NFC lost at Washington yesterday. Take the win and move on and get ready for another tough rivalry game with the Jets. 12-3 with the #1 seed still in play. Nobody can complain about that.

[VaMilBill]

I gotta say, when we drafted James cook this is exactly what we hoped he’d be. A guy who can split defenders and beat angles. At least 5 of his touchdowns this year, including one from yesterday, would have been stopped if we still employed devin singletary. Having that extra gear is huge. And he’s been a boon to why the offense has been so good this year

[Gregg]

Just now, VaMilBill said:

I gotta say, when we drafted James cook this is exactly what we hoped he’d be. A guy who can split defenders and beat angles. At least 5 of his touchdowns this year, including one from yesterday, would have been stopped if we still employed devin singletary. Having that extra gear is huge. And he’s been a boon to why the offense has been so good this year

 

With the exception of Allen Cook is the best player we have on offense. AINEC.

 

182 carries 928 yards 14 TDs rushing with a 5.1 average per carry.

[UKBillFan]

4 minutes ago, Gregg said:

As others have said, divisional rivalry games are never easy. Even the Pats during their dynasty years had trouble winning in Miami. The Eagles who many consider the best team in the NFC lost at Washington yesterday. Take the win and move on and get ready for another tough rivalry game with the Jets. 12-3 with the #1 seed still in play. Nobody can complain about that.

 

The Eagles lost Hurts to concussion. If he had stayed in the game they would have probably won yesterday.

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

I was thinking the same thing. Instead of having a bye in the playoffs, let most of the starters sit that last game.

 

Yeah the Chiefs had that advantage last year, they knew they were locked into the 3 seed so they rested all their starters in week 18. The Bills conversely had to go all out to win the division in that final week and entered the playoffs extremely worn out after a brutal run of must-win nailbiters. We can take the next couple weeks to rest everyone that needs it, hopefully avoid any more big hits on Allen, and keep a lot of the playbook in the bag. Short of having a chance at the #1 seed it's the best case scenario entering week 17.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

6 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Were you alive 23 months ago?  Seriously though, they're the only team at least in the AFC that has an elite QB and two elite WR's in the NFL.  Their defense, as poor as its been this year, traditionally rises up in the playoffs.  If I had an order of preferred teams still in it from first to last it would be Colts, Broncos, Steelers, Dolphins, Chargers, Bengals, Ravens.

I am thinking of starting a WC opponent thread/poll. I want to see the preference of the fan base for opponent, vs. who fans think the Bills themselves would want to play with rationale for both. I am not sure the answers would be the same. 
 

If I find the time…

[zow2]

1 hour ago, The Helmet of said:

Josh didn’t have his regular fastball. Too many penalties. O Seemed to get to the line tardy as the game went on. Just sluggish. Always flirting with zero on the play clock. If I had to guess, Josh had a cold or something.

 

Yeah, I've thought that too.  McDermott sounded awful in his presser Friday and still sounded sick after the game.  I would not be surprised if Allen had something as well.  He had that glazed look in his eyes standing on the field and sitting on the bench. The arm or thumb was bothering him.  Some noticed even before the game he was clenching his right hand on the pre-game walk into the stadium.  I feel like something is going on there more than a funny bone.  He didn't take off and scramble much, he didn't look quick yesterday.   Whatever was bothering him physically lets hope it's a one week thing.

[vanhalen26]

7 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

 

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. 

I was at the game and throughout the game, even before the last drive, the calls felt very unbalanced and one sided.  But I didn’t have the benefit of TV replay so I’m not entirely sure.

 

I’ll watch the broadcast this week to get a better sense of whether most calls were legit or the officials had a bad game.  

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Coffeesforclosers said:

 

Yeeaaahhhh...Joe Brady made some interesting decisions in this game. 

 

So "interesting" that it makes me wonder how... real the offensive gameplan was, if that makes sense. Felt like we were trying things or putting things on tape that haven't been typical of our offense. The 13 straight passes is a good example. Throwing downfield to Shakir several times when we have barely gotten him involved downfield. Allen was barely running.

 

I come away from this game mostly unconcerned about the offense. I don't think this game uncovered any fundamental problems. A little bit of sloppy play, a little bit of sleepwalking in a somewhat meaningless game, a little bit of an intentionally atypical game plan. The path back to dominance is pretty easy to see. The defense on the other hand I come away concerned about because the issues in this game were more fundamental issues that have shown up over and over again in recent weeks, and I don't see any path to substantial improvement unless the coaching staff completely changes their philosophies overnight.

[Nephilim17]

Didn't realize Cook is approaching a Bills record this season:
 

Cook’s 14 rushing touchdowns have measured 1, 49, 6, 5, 11, 2, 7, 2, 3, 6, 65, 41, 6 and 46 yards. His four touchdowns of at least 40 yards are a new Bills record, breaking a tie with O.J. Simpson, who had three in three different seasons.

 

Cook is entering the statistical stratosphere of Simpson in Bills history. The Juice rushed for 16 touchdowns during his 14-game season in 1975; Cook now has 14 with two games remaining. He trails Allen (15 in 2023) and Simpson.

 

Even if he ties OJ, a 17 vs 14-game season is a huge asterisk but if he ties Josh's record in the same number of games that's something and the best in the last half century. 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/professional/nfl/bills/buffalo-bills-james-cook-new-england-patriots-nfl-ryan-ohalloran/article_23f5787a-bff7-11ef-b475-17d699477240.html

[vanhalen26]

3 minutes ago, Nephilim17 said:

Didn't realize Cook is approaching a Bills record this season:
 

Cook’s 14 rushing touchdowns have measured 1, 49, 6, 5, 11, 2, 7, 2, 3, 6, 65, 41, 6 and 46 yards. His four touchdowns of at least 40 yards are a new Bills record, breaking a tie with O.J. Simpson, who had three in three different seasons.

 

Cook is entering the statistical stratosphere of Simpson in Bills history. The Juice rushed for 16 touchdowns during his 14-game season in 1975; Cook now has 14 with two games remaining. He trails Allen (15 in 2023) and Simpson.

 

Even if he ties OJ, a 17 vs 14-game season is a huge asterisk but if he ties Josh's record in the same number of games that's something and the best in the last half century. 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/professional/nfl/bills/buffalo-bills-james-cook-new-england-patriots-nfl-ryan-ohalloran/article_23f5787a-bff7-11ef-b475-17d699477240.html

Hope the juice gets cooked.

[Sierra Foothills]

13 hours ago, RiotAct said:

Embarrassing.

 

What's embarrasing is the lack of perspective of so many fans after a divisional win coming on the heels of 4 straight nationally televised games.

 

The appropriate reaction is thankfulness and relief that we won a game that was inevitably gonna be a clunker.

 

13 hours ago, NyQuil said:

Did Tauron ever comes back out after going to the tent?

 

Hmmmm.... Jauron is apparently a motivational speaker now and Sauron's physical form was permanently destroyed, and his spirit dissolved into nothingness when Frodo threw the Ring into the fires of Mount Doom.

 

Does that answer your question?

 

13 hours ago, HurlyBurly51 said:

13-78 on penalties reared its ugly head again.  Pats get 7 1st downs by penalty.

 

The officiating was piss poor and I was a bit surprised as I have a generally favorable view of Brad Allen and his crew.

 

11 hours ago, CincyBillsFan said:

I watched the game and the Jets D is struggling.  After going up 6 - 0 on their 1st drive of the day the Rams outscored the Jets 19 - 3 the rest of the way.  I suspect that the Bills will be a bit more up for this game as it will either be played with them still having a shot at the #1 seed or if KC wins a chance to lock up the #2 seed.  Today's game was sort of in no mans land with respect to it's meaning. It also came after a tough, high profile 4 game obstacle course.

 

 

 

The Bills were due for a letdown for sure. They aren't robots.

 

5 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

How many times did the announcers mention Alex Van Pelt without saying he was Buffalo's starting QB for 11 games

 

Many people here remember AVP's shortened nicname, "The Pill," derived from his nickname "The Pillsbury Doughboy" given to him by Jim Kelly if I'm not mistaken.

 

Never has that nickname been more appropriate.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Sierra Foothills

[GolfandBills]

A couple more games like that Allen will be out of the MVP race 

[Coffeesforclosers]

8 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

So "interesting" that it makes me wonder how... real the offensive gameplan was, if that makes sense. Felt like we were trying things or putting things on tape that haven't been typical of our offense. The 13 straight passes is a good example. Throwing downfield to Shakir several times when we have barely gotten him involved downfield. Allen was barely running.

 

I come away from this game mostly unconcerned about the offense. I don't think this game uncovered any fundamental problems. A little bit of sloppy play, a little bit of sleepwalking in a somewhat meaningless game, a little bit of an intentionally atypical game plan. The path back to dominance is pretty easy to see. The defense on the other hand I come away concerned about because the issues in this game were more fundamental issues that have shown up over and over again in recent weeks, and I don't see any path to substantial improvement unless the coaching staff completely changes their philosophies overnight.

 

Yeah. I'm also more concerned for the D than I am the O.  

 

Offensively, I thought we were very vanilla. That's fine, we shouldn't need our best stuff or new ideas to beat the Pats.  That would also explain why the Pats had such a strong outting. They didn't see anything that we hadn't put on film a bunch of times.

 

The D has been getting away with weak first halves followed by very strong second halves for most of the season. That I don't know how to explain, except that Babich is a first class defensive mind who doesn't like to be proactive?