1/19/25 Division Round Playoff Post Game Thread Bills vs. Ravens

[Steptide]

 

[Doc Brown]

8 minutes ago, reddogblitz said:

 

It was the Eagles kicker I think I was thinking about.  It was a long day of football. It was late. I was a coupla bong hits in.  Forgive me please for my football misrepresentation of facts not in evidence.

 

The better team does not find themselves down by 2 after a 3rd Q TD, panic, and go for 2 and not get it.

I don't know if they're more of a talented team but we knew this was a terrible matchup for our defense.  I think the Bills accepted this going in and designed our offense with the intent of keeping their offense off the field.  They forced the Ravens to play clean and execute in order to win.  They didn't do either.

[Herc11]

11 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

 

There was a time when Knox was an angry runs favorite. Lest we forget lol

You typically don't throw screens to slower, lumbering guys. Sure he can run people over, but he needs to get going first. In a quick screen like that, you need someone that can accelerate quickly

[Sojourner]

12 hours ago, Warcodered said:

It's nice to know games are decided by single 2pt conversion attempts and nothing else, we could really make these games much shorter.

 

Let's just discount how the Ravens ended up in that situation, or that even if they'd converted it that we still had more than enough time and timeouts to get into position to kick a game winning FG.

Like I know what he's probably trying to say especially since he's saying it in an interview to the media. But MVP voting ended weeks ago and this comes off way too much like Lamar has actually done something when despite the MVPs the lack of post season success should really if nothing else make him maybe contemplate that as much as his teams' fans care about him winning MVP they don't care about it more than him winning today.

Probably is, teams been through some ***** since they went to the AFCCG in 2021.

Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice. Maybe that can be the new rule for

kickoffs? The team with the furthest return wins. Would you defer?

 

Anyway, Baltimore made plenty of errors that cost them the game. It was their own doing. I cant and wouldn’t disputed that, even have given the nod to how our defense played several times even though they moved the ball well in the second half.

 

The 2pt conversion in itself was a gift of a drop. Lamar rolls right, 3 defenders get lost in the wash and Andrews beats them there. Wide open. Failed chance to tie the game. 
 

Just like so many KC games this year where they’ve not been the better team, made mistake free football and walked away with the win cause the other team essentially screwed themselves over. 

 

It’s weird to me that we can’t have that said about us or that people are unwilling to hear it. 
 

Again, Baltimore deserved to lose is my simple point as their errors of drops and turnovers decided their fate. Nothing wrong with being on the lucky end. We do not know what would have happened and thankfully we weren’t in a position to find out. Does that imply doubt or disbelief in Josh and the team? No. That they wouldn’t have been good enough? No. Simply an observation that we got lucky and need to capitalize on the opportunity of an AFCC thanks to another teams error/s. 

 

[Johnny Bravo]

2 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

oddly, the most Bills thing possible did NOT happen.  That being Andrews drops the 2pt conversion, Ravens then kick onside, recover, and kick a winning FG.  

I was worried about this before the two pt attempt.  BBBFS for the Dallas Monday night game in ‘07.

[WideNine]

23 hours ago, PBF81 said:

 

I just hope that we can play much better than that next week and didn't blow our load tonight.  

 

Relying on TOs to win big games is a double-sided coin.  

 

As to winning, yes, it's great.  But who cares if we lose next week.  It's ridiculous, weak, and pathetic to claim that anyone here would "whine" after a Super Bowl win.  Stop being so emotional adolescent.  

 

As I said elsewhere, I don't care if we get so lucky that the sun shines up our arse making our heads look like lamps, if that's how we win, that's how we win.  But getting outplayed in every facet of the game and winning on TOs, for anyone to not be concerned about that in that light, is not looking at things objectively.  

 

And yeah, all of us fans that don't assume that we're going to automatically glide into a Super Bowl win, not as if there's any reasons for that or anything.  

 

Come on now.  

 

 

 

It's ok to critique and it is ok to thank luck and turnovers...

 

KC has had a horseshoe up their butt all season with how many times teams they have played have managed to ***** defeat out of the jaws of sure victory by committing unfathomable gaffes at the end of so many games.

 

This was a tough matchup and I was impressed by some of the aspects of the game plan and execution. Great job by our defensive staff and by McD.

 

Gladly eating my crow today about our chances of limiting the Ravens rushing attack.

 

We did leave some meat in the bone with our Offense which is the area of the team I was least concerned about.

 

Brady can take that play they ran from the 2 yard line where they did a shotgun snap and had Allen run it up the gut into the arms of Baltimore's big nose tackles and just burn that page.

 

That was a long 2 for the snowplow, but you have to have something better there.

 

We punted twice coming out of the half where if we scored the game script would have forced the Ravens to give up on the run more than they did. That was a missed opportunity to maybe ice the game.

 

I will take the win regardless, but there are always things that coaches should be able to take away from even our wins that they can work on to help them prepare for the other opponent and improve the team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by WideNine

[zow2]

4 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

A very underrated play in the outcome of the game. Tucker executed it to perfection and Douglas had to have seen his life flashing before his eyes as the ball was coming toward him. 

 

It's a crazy scheme when you watch it over again.  The Bills front line guys, 88, 47 and 43 all completely ignore the ball and allow it to scoot right through to Rasul Douglas.  Benford wanted no part of fielding that ball.  I suppose if it was kicked slower he would've had to make a play.  The whole thing came down to one man fielding a rock solid ball cleanly in the snow and ice. 

[PBF81]

2 minutes ago, WideNine said:

It's ok to critique and it is ok to thank luck and turnovers...

 

KC has had a horseshoe up their butt all season with how many times teams they have played have managed to ***** defeat out of the jaws of sure victory by committing unfathomable gaffes at the end of so many games.

 

This was a tough matchup and I was impressed by some of the aspects of the game plan and execution. Great job by our defensive staff and by McD.

 

Gladly eating my crow today about our chances of limiting the Ravens rushing attack.

 

We did leave some meat in the bone with our Offense which is the area of the team I was least concerned about.

 

Brady can take that play they ran from the 2 yard line using a shotgun snap and Allen run up the gut into the arms of Baltimore's big nose tackles and just burn that page.

 

That was a long 2 for the snowplow, but you have to have something better there.

 

We punted twice coming out of the half where if we scored the game script would have forced the Ravens to give up on the run more than they did. That was a missed opportunity to maybe ice the game.

 

I will take the win regardless, but there are always things to improve upon coaches should be able to take away from even our wins that help them prepare for the other opponent and improve the team.

 

Thanks!

 

Completely agree with you on that bolded part.  In fact, I just posted this in an another thread ... 

 

Agreed, and maybe not even that much, but why not score as often as possible to polish up for the SB.  

 

The Chiefs have only played four teams ranked among the top-10 in scoring D.  

 

The Chargers (1st)

Denver (3rd) 

Pittsburgh (8th) 

and Baltimore (9th)  

 

Against Pittsburgh they had a short-field three times due to two great returns (P & KO) (42 TD and 54 FG) and otherwise one fumble. (34 TD)  

 

In their Ravens game they had a Balt 4th-and-3 choke give them the ball at their own 49 (FG) and Jackson fumbling to give them ball at Balt's 14 (FG).   21 otherwise.  

 

Against the Chargers and Denver they put up 16, 17, and 19.  

 

In our first matchup, Allen set them up at our own 40 (INT) for a TD.  Apart from that they had two drives for 70 & 88 for TDs.  After that they were pathetic, 40 total yards on 6 drives with a max of 31 that ended in a punt.  

 

Meanwhile, we posted TD drives of 65, 70, 70, and 83, and a FG drive of 62.  The game wasn't even as close as that score, and if Allen doesn't throw that pick, we may have won that game 37-14.  

 

If we don't turn the ball over, and don't allow any huge returns, and make sure that Kelce doesn't have a season best, we should be fine.  The Chief's D is good but not great despite their 4th overall ranking based upon a slate of weak offensive teams.  

 

GO BILLS!!!  

 

 

[PBF81]

8 minutes ago, WideNine said:

We did leave some meat in the bone with our Offense which is the area of the team I was least concerned about.

 

Brady can take that play they ran from the 2 yard line using a shotgun snap and Allen run up the gut into the arms of Baltimore's big nose tackles and just burn that page.

 

Oh, and that bubble-screen play, .... SMFH.  I think it was to Knox but I can't remember.  As soon as I saw it setting up I said to myself WTF.  

 

Hopefully no more of that nonsense either.  

 

 

[Big Turk]

 

When the NFL rolls out its red-carpet event and hands Jackson his third MVP award, highlights from his 4,172-yard, 41-TD season will play. He is the most exhilarating player to watch in today’s game. Yet, the event will ring hollow again because it’s also true that in the most important game of the season, the opposition dared Jackson to beat them. The opposition actively chose for Lamar Jackson to decide the outcome. Which is not normal. Usually, a defense would want to schematically entice anybody but the MVP of the league to make plays on the field.

 

Inside the winners’ locker room — their ticket to the AFC Championship Game punched — Bills players were frank: They wanted to put the ball in Lamar’s hands.

 

Head coach Sean McDermott instructed the defense to sell out on Derrick Henry and the Ravens rushing attack to win first down and make Baltimore one-dimensional.

 

“When he starts throwing it, obviously he’s capable of doing it,” defensive end A.J. Epenesa said. “He can extend plays, do all that good stuff. But that’s the mode we really wanted to get him in. Make him win the game by himself. Throw it to his targets. And I think our guys on the back end, they make it hard, too.”

 

https://www.golongtd.com/p/on-to-arrowhead-buffalo-bills-prove

 

 

[Success]

Shout out to Ray Davis.  He had some great runs last night.  It was so cool to see that after the injury last week.

 

[Warriorspikes51]

1 minute ago, Success said:

Shout out to Ray Davis.  He had some great runs last night.  It was so cool to see that after the injury last week.

 

 

Our RB room has grown from  middling to elite over the course of this season.

 

I really hope Ty Johnson is signed.  Love that guy 

[DrDawkinstein]

58 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

 

 

 

 

Just came in to post that tweet. Love it. My guess is it was Jordan Phillips. 🤣

[Buffalo Ballin]

No disrespect to Baltimore Ravens and Ravens Flock, but Buffalo Bills supposed to blow them out.

 

4 things happened, in favor of Ravens, to keep this game close:

 - Phantom hold call on a crucial 3rd and long where Buffalo converted to 1st down. This killed momentum on that drive. Josh Allen was building rhythm and this phantom hold killed his rhythm.

- Joe Brady getting cute to go shotgun on goal line. That was stupid and bizarre. That should have been a touchdown for us. Do the "Tush Push." How difficult was that?

- Kincaid's (or maybe Knox) drop. That's supposed to be a catch to keep the drive going.

- That doink and dink to Knox, or Kincaid, on 3rd and long. Again, what kind of play calling was that??? That killed the drive.

 

If 3 out of the 4 did not occur, Buffalo is blowing the Ravens out of the building.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Buffalo Ballin

[billsfan89]

16 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Question: if Ty didn’t rip off that first down on the last drive, I assume the ravens might have gotten the ball back if they held us? Did anyone do the math on the clock? 

 

The Bills just needed a play to run a 5 or so seconds as if the Bills took a bunch of knees it would have left 2-3 seconds left on the clock on 4th down. The could have had Josh sit back and take a sack or something so they ran for a play to just chew up a few extra seconds. They didn't need a first down. 

[billsfan89]

27 minutes ago, Buffalo Ballin said:

No disrespect to Baltimore Ravens and Ravens Flock, but Buffalo Bills supposed to blow them out.

 

4 things happened, in favor of Ravens, to keep this game close:

 - Phantom hold call on a crucial 3rd and long where Buffalo converted to 1st down. This killed momentum on that drive. Josh Allen was building rhythm and this phantom hold killed his rhythm.

- Joe Brady getting cute to go shotgun on goal line. That was stupid and bizarre. That should have been a touchdown for us. Do the "Tush Push." How difficult was that?

- Kincaid's (or maybe Knox) drop. That's supposed to be a catch to keep the drive going.

- That doink and dink to Knox, or Kincaid, on 3rd and long. Again, what kind of play calling was that??? That killed the drive.

 

If 3 out of the 4 did not occur, Buffalo is blowing the Ravens out of the building.

 

 

Mistakes happen on both sides of the game, no team plays a "mistake free" game. But the Bills mistakes were less costly as they did not result in turnovers or big plays. The Bills also are not getting credit for making big plays. That peanut punch by Bernard was fantastic. 

17 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

I feel like every game we've played was against the best defense in the league or so we're  told

 

In the playoffs you run into a lot of the top defenses in the league. KC is a another great defense. I would wager that if you ranked the top 10 defenses in the NFL I think 7-9 of them would be in the playoffs. 

[Big Turk]

38 minutes ago, Buffalo Ballin said:

No disrespect to Baltimore Ravens and Ravens Flock, but Buffalo Bills supposed to blow them out.

 

4 things happened, in favor of Ravens, to keep this game close:

 - Phantom hold call on a crucial 3rd and long where Buffalo converted to 1st down. This killed momentum on that drive. Josh Allen was building rhythm and this phantom hold killed his rhythm.

- Joe Brady getting cute to go shotgun on goal line. That was stupid and bizarre. That should have been a touchdown for us. Do the "Tush Push." How difficult was that?

- Kincaid's (or maybe Knox) drop. That's supposed to be a catch to keep the drive going.

- That doink and dink to Knox, or Kincaid, on 3rd and long. Again, what kind of play calling was that??? That killed the drive.

 

If 3 out of the 4 did not occur, Buffalo is blowing the Ravens out of the building.

 

 

The hold happened on 2nd down and it went from 3rd and 3 to 2nd and 22 which then turned into 2nf and 17 due to a neutral zone infraction on Baltimore.

[Draconator]

RGIII with a Mea Culpa

 

 

[Magox]

The narrative among many is that the Baltimore outplayed the Bills and the turnovers were the only saving grace for them.

 

This is revisionist history, the Bills scored 3 TD’s in 3 red zone visits in the first half.  3 out of their 4 drives led to TD’s.

 

They were up 21-10 at the half.  With getting the ball to begin the third quarter.  Relatively speaking they were in a dominant position at that point and were playing extremely well.

 

When the Ravens had a 1st down at the 2 yard line and the very first run for Henry he was stuffed for a one yard loss that was huge and then proceeded to stop them in the next two plays and forced a FG. 
 

Henry wasn’t getting anything going for most of the first half and this is what led to them throwing more consequently leading to two Lamar turnovers and the Bills punished them for doing so.

 

The Bills did become stagnant in the third quarter and they’ll learn from it but the Bills played better and advanced analytics tells you that.  If you look at the on the surface stats such as yards then you aren’t getting the story of how things played out.

 

 

[stevewin]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

When the NFL rolls out its red-carpet event and hands Jackson his third MVP award, highlights from his 4,172-yard, 41-TD season will play. He is the most exhilarating player to watch in today’s game. Yet, the event will ring hollow again because it’s also true that in the most important game of the season, the opposition dared Jackson to beat them. The opposition actively chose for Lamar Jackson to decide the outcome. Which is not normal. Usually, a defense would want to schematically entice anybody but the MVP of the league to make plays on the field.

 

Inside the winners’ locker room — their ticket to the AFC Championship Game punched — Bills players were frank: They wanted to put the ball in Lamar’s hands.

 

Head coach Sean McDermott instructed the defense to sell out on Derrick Henry and the Ravens rushing attack to win first down and make Baltimore one-dimensional.

 

“When he starts throwing it, obviously he’s capable of doing it,” defensive end A.J. Epenesa said. “He can extend plays, do all that good stuff. But that’s the mode we really wanted to get him in. Make him win the game by himself. Throw it to his targets. And I think our guys on the back end, they make it hard, too.”

 

https://www.golongtd.com/p/on-to-arrowhead-buffalo-bills-prove

 

 

Thanks for posting the Dunne article.  This one was good

Quote

This edition looks as comfortable playing football in the cold for three hours as its fans do drinking in it for 15. McDermott’s visions for this unit all along came to life.

I had mentioned up thread this is something I think has gotten lost in the McD conversation - how he adamantly built a team (physically and mentally) that would compete and win in bad weather playoff weather. 

 

I remember so many years where "bad weather home field advantage" for the Bills was actually just a myth - many Bills teams over the years seemed bothered as much by the elements (or even more so) than opponents for home games