54 to 3

[Dr. K]

It just occurred to me last night, has an NFL team ever had a more extreme collapse in scoring from one game to the next? With the 54 coming on the road and the 3 at home? I find it hard to believe.

 

And of the 54 the Bills scored in the Chiefs game, 47 was put up by the offense--in other words, it was not one of those games where special teams or the defense scored three or four TDs. So the difference between 54 and 3 basically falls to the offense.

 

Which leads me to wonder, how bad or good is this team, really? Such a schizophrenic performance on successive weeks suggests that neither performance is an accurate reflection of the team. It reinforces the fact that the team went 5-1 in its first six games and 1-5 in its next six. I keep feeling the team is only a phase shift from being very good (or, I suppose, very bad).

 

It's no wonder so many of us are tearing our hair out. How do you get a fix on such a team and season?

[bizell]

we went from playing very well against a very very bad team, to playing bad against a bad team.

[Dr. K]

we went from playing very well against a very very bad team, to playing bad against a bad team.

 

Right. So how do you explain that? It makes little sense that the difference would be so drastic, on successive weeks.

[Poeticlaw]

It just occurred to me last night, has an NFL team ever had a more extreme collapse in scoring from one game to the next? With the 54 coming on the road and the 3 at home? I find it hard to believe.

 

And of the 54 the Bills scored in the Chiefs game, 47 was put up by the offense--in other words, it was not one of those games where special teams or the defense scored three or four TDs. So the difference between 54 and 3 basically falls to the offense.

 

Which leads me to wonder, how bad or good is this team, really? Such a schizophrenic performance on successive weeks suggests that neither performance is an accurate reflection of the team. It reinforces the fact that the team went 5-1 in its first six games and 1-5 in its next six. I keep feeling the team is only a phase shift from being very good (or, I suppose, very bad).

 

It's no wonder so many of us are tearing our hair out. How do you get a fix on such a team and season?

 

I could be mistaking but didnt we score something like 50+ points against oakland in the playoffs and the next Game agaisnt denver only scored 7?

[WVUFootball29]

We should quit wasting points in meaningless games

[Endzone Animal]

The weather in Buffalo was a lot worse than it was in KC, and the Bills are not built for cold, wintery weather. Lots of California dudes, and a coach who prefers Ivy league classrooms to braving harsh climates. Put this team in LA and they would be a whole lot better. Wait a minute....

[Cookiemonster]

I could be mistaking but didnt we score something like 50+ points against oakland in the playoffs and the next Game agaisnt denver only scored 7?

Not positive, but I think that this was our first SB year, and we beat the Raiders 51 to like 3 or something , then went on to beat Denver in the AFC Championship game 10-7, then lost, on the, heaven forbid, wide right thing. I could be wrong, strictly from my Alzhiemer memory bank.

[Lori]

I could be mistaking but didnt we score something like 50+ points against oakland in the playoffs and the next Game agaisnt denver only scored 7?

 

 

Not positive, but I think that this was our first SB year, and we beat the Raiders 51 to like 3 or something , then went on to beat Denver in the AFC Championship game 10-7, then lost, on the, heaven forbid, wide right thing. I could be wrong, strictly from my Alzhiemer memory bank.

Oakland and Denver were both AFC Championship games, in two different seasons. The 51-3 game preceded Super Bowl XXV.

[Ramius]

There's nothing wrong with the offense. We've averaged 28 points per game in the last 3 games.

 

[/dick and turk]

[DaGimp]

Because Dick is the essence of mediocre. He does enough to keep his job for a couple years but is a miserable failure. Actually, mediocre is too good for him. I guess he is the essence of sub-mediocre?

[Lori]

As to the original question, Doc K, funny you should ask -- our man Graham did the math over on his ESPN blog yesterday: What's the opposite of momentum?

 

(Well, he had the good folks at Elias Sports Bureau help him ...)

 

Anyway, he/they discovered this was the fifth-largest dropoff since the merger in 1970. Not just bad, historically bad.

[2003Contenders]

Actually there are quite a few explanations...

 

1. Questionable coaching decisions down in the red zone. The team got down there 4 times. If they score a TD each time, that is 28 points. If they score 2 TDs and 2 FGs that is 20 points. Heck, even 4 FGs is 12 points. It is almost unimaginable to come away with a total of 3 points in those 4 situations. They probably couldn't do that again if they tried!

 

2. The diagnosis of Trent's groin injury is consistent with his less than spectacular play in the first half. Remember against the Chiefs that Trent made some plays with his legs, including scoring two TDs. The groin injury prevented him from doing the same against the Niners.

 

3. JP was clearly less than properly prepared to come in off the bench in the 2nd half. That used to be a strong suit of his (the Jets game last year and the KC game in 2005), but he has failed when called upon both times this year.

 

4. The weather conditions certainly played a factor.

 

5. The Bills are 6-1 against 4-3 defenses this year and 0-5 against 3-4 defenses. The Chiefs ran a 4-3; the 49ers ran a 3-4.

 

6. There were plenty of near misses as well. Both of Lindell's missed FGs hit the upright. For all of the criticism about passing the ball on 2nd and 2, Trent had Fine wide open in the end zone. It was just a nice job by the defender to tip the ball at the line of scrimmage.

 

7. Special teams were a contributing factor. The team had excellent field position all day against the Chiefs. Against the 49ers, Morman lost the punting duel badly -- and Roscoe made an incredibly bone-headed decision to field a punt at the 1.

 

8. One play that I haven't seen anyone talk about is the Lee Evans sideline reception. When he caught that ball there wasn't a defender anywhere near him. But he completely STOPPED because he thought he had stepped out of bounds. I wonder if he may have been able to score on that play if he had just started running with the ball?

 

9. Penalties. I don't recall many flags being thrown in the KC game. In the SF game, there were plenty thrown at the most inopportune times, many of them quite questionable. I wonder how different that early stalled drive would have been if Hardy hadn't been flagged with the holding penalty on Jackson's 20+ yard run?

[marauderswr80]

3 points against a 3-8 football team from the west coast at home......remember before that game every west coast team to travel east LOST the combined record 0-17.......well its now 1-17 thanks to the Buffalo Bills.

[Dr. K]

Actually there are quite a few explanations...

 

1. Questionable coaching decisions down in the red zone. The team got down there 4 times. If they score a TD each time, that is 28 points. If they score 2 TDs and 2 FGs that is 20 points. Heck, even 4 FGs is 12 points. It is almost unimaginable to come away with a total of 3 points in those 4 situations. They probably couldn't do that again if they tried!

 

2. The diagnosis of Trent's groin injury is consistent with his less than spectacular play in the first half. Remember against the Chiefs that Trent made some plays with his legs, including scoring two TDs. The groin injury prevented him from doing the same against the Niners.

 

3. JP was clearly less than properly prepared to come in off the bench in the 2nd half. That used to be a strong suit of his (the Jets game last year and the KC game in 2005), but he has failed when called upon both times this year.

 

4. The weather conditions certainly played a factor.

 

5. The Bills are 6-1 against 4-3 defenses this year and 0-5 against 3-4 defenses. The Chiefs ran a 4-3; the 49ers ran a 3-4.

 

6. There were plenty of near misses as well. Both of Lindell's missed FGs hit the upright. For all of the criticism about passing the ball on 2nd and 2, Trent had Fine wide open in the end zone. It was just a nice job by the defender to tip the ball at the line of scrimmage.

 

7. Special teams were a contributing factor. The team had excellent field position all day against the Chiefs. Against the 49ers, Morman lost the punting duel badly -- and Roscoe made an incredibly bone-headed decision to field a punt at the 1.

 

8. One play that I haven't seen anyone talk about is the Lee Evans sideline reception. When he caught that ball there wasn't a defender anywhere near him. But he completely STOPPED because he thought he had stepped out of bounds. I wonder if he may have been able to score on that play if he had just started running with the ball?

 

9. Penalties. I don't recall many flags being thrown in the KC game. In the SF game, there were plenty thrown at the most inopportune times, many of them quite questionable. I wonder how different that early stalled drive would have been if Hardy hadn't been flagged with the holding penalty on Jackson's 20+ yard run?

 

 

Thanks for the analysis. This makes it more understandable, but still remarkable. if I weren't such a pessimist, maybe we shouldn't be as down as we are, since this piling on of improbabilities is not likely to come again.

[SwampD]

Thanks for the analysis. This makes it more understandable, but still remarkable. if I weren't such a pessimist, maybe we shouldn't be as down as we are, since this piling on of improbabilities is not likely to come again.

You know we root for the Bills, right?

[GG]

Uhm, because the SF QB decided not to give the game away in the 2nd quarter?

 

Other than that, the D played better vs SF.