AFC Championship Game Week Thread - Bills at Chiefs

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, Magox said:

This is an awesome stat line.   The Ravens and Broncos were two of the top three defenses against the run and against the Bills they gave up more rushing yards than at any time of the year.   HOOOOBOY!    This offensive line is playing their asses off and they are playing their best football both against the pass and run going into this championship game.    I have no doubt that the Bills will try to run it against the Chiefs and that the Chiefs will game plan to stop the run.

 

 

 

Bills O-Line are kicking opposing D-Lines out the club...just dominating up front.

[Allen2Moulds]

8 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

I hope he learned from that last TD pass. Giving Lamar 10.3 seconds to throw the ball is no bueno. Nobody can cover that long. That pass rush was the most pathetic thing I ever seen.

If I'm not mistaken, there were 4 backups in at the dline at once. I hope never to see that either. It's not the preseason.

[stlbills13]

Spags is gonna mix it up. He'll throw different looks at Allen. We have to be able to run the ball effectively and it's time to wake up Cooper and the tight ends

[Bill from NYC]

Bills 34

Swifties 24

[zow2]

4 minutes ago, stlbills13 said:

Spags is gonna mix it up. He'll throw different looks at Allen. We have to be able to run the ball effectively and it's time to wake up Cooper and the tight ends

 

Yep. KC rushed the hell out of Stroud and sacked him a bunch including the game clinching 4th and 10 by Karlaftis.   The Bills Oline will definitely have to control things in the run game.  Too many obvious passing situations like in the 2nd half vs Baltimore won't be good.  I know Josh is more capable than Stroud but good teams like the Chiefs can find a way to hem him in.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

9 minutes ago, Allen2Moulds said:

If I'm not mistaken, there were 4 backups in at the dline at once. I hope never to see that either. It's not the preseason.

They all got pancaked instantly too haha I don’t think any of them were even really standing when Lamar got that pass off 😂 

[Logic]

31st and 32nd!!!

If there was ever a week for Kincaid and Knox to be featured in the passing game, this is it...
 

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 minutes ago, Logic said:

31st and 32nd!!!

If there was ever a week for Kincaid and Knox to be featured in the passing game, this is it...
 

 

Matchup wise this game feels like a slam dunk which instantly makes me nervous cuz any time I feel like I know what’s gonna happen the opposite happens 😂

[Big Turk]

15 minutes ago, stlbills13 said:

Spags is gonna mix it up. He'll throw different looks at Allen. We have to be able to run the ball effectively and it's time to wake up Cooper and the tight ends

 

He always does...mostly hasn't worked since the AFC Championship game tho.

[fergie's ire]

23 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

 

I hope he learned from that last TD pass. Giving Lamar 10.3 seconds to throw the ball is no bueno. Nobody can cover that long. That pass rush was the most pathetic thing I ever seen.

I agree about that particular play...and at least one lineman seemed to give up chasing him.  However, in general, has anyone been talking about the Bills D being held?  Ed Oliver, in particular, looked like he was egregiously held all day.  He would split blockers and both would grab on to him.  Was I the only one seeing what looked like really bad holds on every play?  And Dawkins is the one called on a perfectly executed block?  I am not usually a "blame the ref" kind of guy, and wondering if I'm seeing things because it looked really bad and obvious to me.

[Big Turk]

5 minutes ago, Logic said:

31st and 32nd!!!

If there was ever a week for Kincaid and Knox to be featured in the passing game, this is it...
 

 

 

 

I would love to see Kincaid on a corner route in double coverage on a perfectly thrown ball and he gets up and gives them the double point and then the first down signal like he did against the Lions...as long as he doesn't get a flag for it 😂

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Same.

 

 

[LLCoolCy]

Referee analysis (know you want it)

#BUFvsKC officiating crew cheat sheet 
Clete Blakeman the head ref w' two officials from the Shawn Hochuli crew + 1 addition from Shawn Smith/Tra Blake/ Hussey/Vinovich crews

HOME teams an #NFL  worst 5-11 w' Clete Blakeman in 2024

Since 2016, HOME TEAMS 46.5% ATS w' Blakeman 

A league leading 53.5% of Blakeman's penalties were assessed on HOME teams in 2024, co-ranking him No.1 (w'Tra Blake) in this category 

HOME teams are 7-5 SU & 3-9 ATS in Blakeman's playoff career as head ref. Those home teams favored by an avg of -5pts in those contests 

The #Bills are 6-2 SU & 4-4 ATS w' Blakeman in the Josh Allen era, favored by an avg of -7.5 pts in those contests 

The #Chiefs are 5-6 SU & 4-6-1 w' Blakeman since 2018. One game (Week 17, 2020) had Chad Henne at QB (LAC 38-KC 21)

It's clear @NFLOfficiating is looking to push back against  the #rigged narrative & the assignment of Blakeman at least quietens that in the leadup to the #AFCChampionship 

The crew itself. You've got Blakeman/2 × Hochuli officials & a Shawn Smith crew member that will be monitoring the trenches /line of scrimmage 

Blakeman ranked No.1 for UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS in 2024 & Shawn Smith's crew ranked No.1 in 2023

The two Hochuli members cover the ROUGHING THE PASSER penalty category. That crew has ranked No.3 , No.1 & No.2 overall calling this penalty the last 3 seasons

So these guys are conditioned to calling these penalties more than most

@BuffaloBills No.1 penalized team for FALSE STARTS.  They caught a major break w' Cheffers last week. His crew ranked last calling false starts . Conversely, KC is one of the least penalized for false starts 

The Smith/Hochuli combo rank No.1 & 2 respectively calling FALSE STARTS in 2024

@Chiefs primary issue is OFFENSIVE HOLDING. But the Bills also rank No.7 in offensive holding penalties per game on the road

The combo of FALSE START/OFFENSIVE HOLDING, & who navigates it's the best, will be key on Sunday 

The Blake/Hussey/Vinovich trio patrol the back end. Collectively, an ABOVE avg 16.5% of their overall penalties were assessed via DEFENSIVE HOLDING/D.P.I (league avg 13.6%)

D.P.I is way down in #NFLPlayoffs vs regular season, although defensive holding has remained steady

In the 3 playoff games between these two, KC avgs 2 penalties for 19 yards & Buffalo 4 for 27 yards.

I think they look to "let em play" on Sunday.  

We'll know early on what the tolerance level is from this crew, or what they've been instructed to do.

The team's themselves, evenly matched

As much as anything, it's psychological for Buffalo at this point.  Yeah, they win in regular season but come up empty in the playoffs . That 13 sec game still haunts them IMO

What the NFL wants ? I think they wanted this match-up in the worst possible way for the AFC title game

Two weeks buildup of @PatrickMahomes
@taylorswift13 & even @CaitlinClark22 prior to the Super Bowl is probably the ideal scenario for Goodell & co

The game is at Arrowhead, in the "Show Me State" of Missouri.  The #KansasCityChiefs have shown time & again the ability to win these games.

The #BuffaloBills have yet to do it in this spot. It's time for them to prove to themselves they can. Until I see it happen, I have to side with the reigning champs
Gonna be a classic game, no doubt. 

Prediction #Chiefs 26 - #Bills 23
#ChiefsKingdom  #BillsMafia 

[DapperCam]

40 minutes ago, Allen2Moulds said:

If I'm not mistaken, there were 4 backups in at the dline at once. I hope never to see that either. It's not the preseason.

It was Epenesa, Jefferson and Solomon in a dime. Epenesa and Solomon didn’t really rush the QB. I think they were instructed to contain him. Jefferson rushed and just looked silly.

 

In hindsight it obviously would lead to him having 10 seconds to stand there.

[Orlando Buffalo]

29 minutes ago, fergie's ire said:

I agree about that particular play...and at least one lineman seemed to give up chasing him.  However, in general, has anyone been talking about the Bills D being held?  Ed Oliver, in particular, looked like he was egregiously held all day.  He would split blockers and both would grab on to him.  Was I the only one seeing what looked like really bad holds on every play?  And Dawkins is the one called on a perfectly executed block?  I am not usually a "blame the ref" kind of guy, and wondering if I'm seeing things because it looked really bad and obvious to me.

My theory is the officials heard quickly from the league office that they were not to call any more holds unless it was egregious, and all the other holds didn't reach that level. Officials did do us a solid on the PI call, which should have been a no call. 

[Big Turk]

Gronk with a reference to his Tre White elbow in here 😧

 

 

 

[VaMilBill]

28 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Same.

 

 

I do worry that the Bills aren’t going to come out fired up this week. The Ravens were the big bad team that we beat and now it’s coasting all the way to the SB from here. 
 

This comment by Spencer and Cooper talking about tasting the SB. I really hope McD has them focused that we have a HUGE dragon to slay in the Chiefs who have ended our season 3 out of the last 4 years. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

35 minutes ago, fergie's ire said:

I agree about that particular play...and at least one lineman seemed to give up chasing him.  However, in general, has anyone been talking about the Bills D being held?  Ed Oliver, in particular, looked like he was egregiously held all day.  He would split blockers and both would grab on to him.  Was I the only one seeing what looked like really bad holds on every play?  And Dawkins is the one called on a perfectly executed block?  I am not usually a "blame the ref" kind of guy, and wondering if I'm seeing things because it looked really bad and obvious to me.

More often than not that’s what playoff football has felt like to me,  DBs holding their a** off, olinemen holding their ** off, and refs just lettin all these guys fistfight eachother basically lol 

[Scott7975]

 

[Jauronimo]

48 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

Yep. KC rushed the hell out of Stroud and sacked him a bunch including the game clinching 4th and 10 by Karlaftis.   The Bills Oline will definitely have to control things in the run game.  Too many obvious passing situations like in the 2nd half vs Baltimore won't be good.  I know Josh is more capable than Stroud but good teams like the Chiefs can find a way to hem him in.

Stroud also holds the ball forever.  Without Diggs and Tank Dell in the lineup he hasn't had anyone open, in his defense.