Buffalo Bills 2021 Thread

[NineOneSeven]

Don’t lose to Jacksonville and NE. if that Game is in Buffalo different outcome

Well yeah but the team clearly got it together.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Rough night of “sleep” for me… just so heartbroken about that. Can’t stop thinking about the entire last sequence. Won’t go away.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Don’t lose to Jacksonville and NE. if that Game is in Buffalo different outcome

Wouldn't have mattered, home or away 13 seconds would have played out the same.

 

[SgtCuse]

Lots of "what if's" this morning and still pretty devastated. When Tre White went down I thought he was the 1 player, minus JA, that we couldn't afford to lose. I just couldnt see a path to beat KC with Wallace and Jackson as our starting CB's.

Im a damn 53 year old man and a stupid football game has broken my heart.

 

[GoSU96]

Well yeah but the team clearly got it together.

Absolutely, they were great down the stretch and they were excellent yesterday. KC is a beast.

they are a top end edge rusher away from being unbeatable. They fixed the run d, they found a credible running attack. They got beat by the king of school yard plays. They destroy every other team in the league playing like they have the last two weeks.

 

[OburgOrange]

Deciding the best game of the last decade on a coin flip is a joke. Change the OT rules

 

[longislandcuse]

The morning after is always the worst. Waking up to “that really happened…”

A game shouldn’t affect me this much, but I can’t stop replaying the end in my head. Josh Allen, so hype on the sidelines after being the best QB through 2 games in the history of the playoffs, only to never see the ball again and have his season end due to this front running, overhyped defense.

Not a surprise we were 0-6 in close games with Frazier and these “now, deservedly disrespected” Bills defenders.

Now the Bills, and Josh Allen, have to deal with this new monkey on our back, when IT WAS ***ING OVER

 

[Toga]

I can't stop saying Oh my God. I've said it hundreds of times. I can't stop.

 

[BuffOrange]

Well this one may have done it for me. I don't know about you guys but I didn't even celebrate the original go-ahead TD on 4th&13. Is there a point to sports if that doesn't get me to jump for joy? I did cheer the 2pt conversion because I knew we'd need that at the very least (great catch by Diggs btw).

The 2nd "game winner" drive - what can you say. It's a moment every other fanbase gets to enjoy. I was Charlie Brown I guess until Nantz started rambling about us finally coming thru, wait this is the Bills there's a way they can lose. Someone on twitter posted other iconic td's, Dwight Clark, John Taylor. They were, who cares but a lot more than :13. Even if you adjust for era..
So robbed. I've never felt bad for a player before. 17 deserved better.

Not the day to argue about blame but I put the heat squarely on McDermott for this more than Frazier. He's a defensive coach who gets off on defensive time outs. What value does he provide if he's not managing those :13, putting the right coverage on the field (again with time outs he's taking) - does he just get paid to clap and hold up 1 finger after his qb leaves his guts on the field? A monkey can do that. Did he know the Chiefs had time outs (which would be worse - if he did or didn't know? I think slightly worse if he did know because that makes him totally incompetent but either way..)

I don't know if I can do the whole offseason thing of "we need x and y" when it probably won't matter in the end.

 

[pattycuse]

The morning after is always the worst. Waking up to “that really happened…”

A game shouldn’t affect me this much, but I can’t stop replaying the end in my head. Josh Allen, so hype on the sidelines after being the best QB through 2 games in the history of the playoffs, only to never see the ball again and have his season end due to this front running, overhyped defense.

Not a surprise we were 0-6 in close games with Frazier and these “now, deservedly disrespected” Bills defenders.

Now the Bills, and Josh Allen, have to deal with this new monkey on our back, when IT WAS ***ING OVER

I keep thinking variations of this to myself. I'm blessed to be a father and husband, good job, great family, health, food on the table etc...and yet a stupid football game kept me up all night.

What I fear is this- all of the chips fell into place this year. Buffalo would have been the best team left amongst the other three. Allen was playing at an unheard of level. Really healthy given the circumstances. This was our shot- and there is ZERO guarantee that the Bills get another crack at it. Remember that Marino made the Super bowl in 1984 (?) and never got back.

Hopefully having one of the three best QBs in the league sets us up for a decade of opportunity- but its going to be a real challenge to the front office and coaching staff.

Thirteen seconds...

 

[longislandcuse]

Well this one may have done it for me. I don't know about you guys but I didn't even celebrate the original go-ahead TD on 4th&13. Is there a point to sports if that doesn't get me to jump for joy? I did cheer the 2pt conversion because I knew we'd need that at the very least (great catch by Diggs btw).

The 2nd "game winner" drive - what can you say. It's a moment every other fanbase gets to enjoy. I was Charlie Brown I guess until Nantz started rambling about us finally coming thru, wait this is the Bills there's a way they can lose. Someone on twitter posted other iconic td's, Dwight Clark, John Taylor. They were, who cares but a lot more than :13. Even if you adjust for era..
So robbed. I've never felt bad for a player before. 17 deserved better.

Not the day to argue about blame but I put the heat squarely on McDermott for this more than Frazier. He's a defensive coach who gets off on defensive time outs. What value does he provide if he's not managing those :13, putting the right coverage on the field (again with time outs he's taking) - does he just get paid to clap and hold up 1 finger after his qb leaves his guts on the field? A monkey can do that. Did he know the Chiefs had time outs (which would be worse - if he did or didn't know? I think slightly worse if he did know because that makes him totally incompetent but either way..)

I don't know if I can do the whole offseason thing of "we need x and y" when it probably won't matter in the end.

One could argue McD’s last timeout lost us the game.

Kelce looked at our coverage, and rightfully so, said uhhh, are you kidding me?

We call TO and he tells Mahomes if we come out in the same coverage, he’s cutting it back inside.

They come out, see the same inexplicable coverage and Mahomes audibles “Do it Kels, Do it Kels”…. Game.

 

[Toga]

Just freaking mug/tackle every receiver for 2 or 3 plays and all they have left is a Hail Mary. No, we leave the middle wide open when they have their time outs. Jesus.

 

[BuffOrange]

I keep thinking variations of this to myself. I'm blessed to be a father and husband, good job, great family, health, food on the table etc...and yet a stupid football game kept me up all night.

What I fear is this- all of the chips fell into place this year. Buffalo would have been the best team left amongst the other three. Allen was playing at an unheard of level. Really healthy given the circumstances. This was our shot- and there is ZERO guarantee that the Bills get another crack at it. Remember that Marino made the Super bowl in 1984 (?) and never got back.

Hopefully having one of the three best QBs in the league sets us up for a decade of opportunity- but its going to be a real challenge to the front office and coaching staff.

Thirteen seconds...

Very much agree w/ the underlined. Another layer adding to how much this sucks.
Some fans act like it's a given we're just going 4-0 vs the Jets/Dolphins every year. Who the knows. Odds are we won't.

 

[GoSU96]

The morning after is always the worst. Waking up to “that really happened…”

A game shouldn’t affect me this much, but I can’t stop replaying the end in my head. Josh Allen, so hype on the sidelines after being the best QB through 2 games in the history of the playoffs, only to never see the ball again and have his season end due to this front running, overhyped defense.

Not a surprise we were 0-6 in close games with Frazier and these “now, deservedly disrespected” Bills defenders.

Now the Bills, and Josh Allen, have to deal with this new monkey on our back, when IT WAS ***ING OVER

what are your expectations? The 85 bears defense with the Peyton/Harrison/James offense?

you have a team that is top 5, maybe better, on both sides of the ball, rock solid on specials in a sport that with salary cap makes it incredibly hard to do. You have one of the two best at the most important position in sports locked up.

the team has gone from the worst front office and management in the sport to one of the best.

 

[Chip]

Norwood, the 4 straight SBs, the Music City miracle, the 16 point lead, the 13 seconds.

Not to mention all the mismanagement in between and essentially running through double the amount of head coaches the Pittsburgh Steelers have had in my lifetime.

All curses come to an end, it's that much more fun when they do. But man, it's some journey being a fan of this team. Truly might be America's team when they do win it.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The morning after is always the worst. Waking up to “that really happened…”

A game shouldn’t affect me this much, but I can’t stop replaying the end in my head. Josh Allen, so hype on the sidelines after being the best QB through 2 games in the history of the playoffs, only to never see the ball again and have his season end due to this front running, overhyped defense.

Not a surprise we were 0-6 in close games with Frazier and these “now, deservedly disrespected” Bills defenders.

Now the Bills, and Josh Allen, have to deal with this new monkey on our back, when IT WAS ***ING OVER

Yup, D struggled all year to make a big play late in big gams all year and it was the same yesterday. Hard to know what was worse, the Hill 68 yard TD or the 13 second drive where we made every dumb decision you could make (rush 4, guarding the boundary when cheifs have 3 timeouts, Kelce wide open etc etc).

Poyer and Hyde are incredible safeties but playing them 40 yards off the ball the last two plays was useless, why even have them on the field. Not sure how the Bills fix this defensively. Tre is coming off an ACL, you can't possibly spend more draft capital on the DL at this point, and Edmunds clearly isnt the answer at MLB. Poyer and Hyde aren't exactly getting younger either so at some point you gotta get a young safety in there to. I assume they go CB early in the draft but DE looks like a majory issue again next year albeit with Hughes and Addison off the books but Cap space is still minimal at around 9-10mill.

 

[longislandcuse]

what are your expectations? The 85 bears defense with the Peyton/Harrison/James offense?

you have a team that is top 5, maybe better, on both sides of the ball, rock solid on specials in a sport that with salary cap makes it incredibly hard to do. You have one of the two best at the most important position in sports locked up.

the team has gone from the worst front office and management in the sport to one of the best.

My expectation is to make changes to the defense and start shifting resources to offense.

Every Bills fan knew, deep down, this was a paper tiger defense. Inflated by playing bad QB’s and bad weather games.

We have no difference maker. Maybe Tre White, but obviously he was hurt and is more of a lockdown cover corner anyway.

We have one of the most invested in DL’s in the league, and our only sack came off a DB pushing Mahomes out of bounds behind the LOS.

If a trade for a guy like Mack is out there. They need to do it. Otherwise, only spend high pick on pass rushers and Offense.

Guys like Hughes and Addison have to go. After last night, probably shouldn’t offer new contracts to Harry or Levi either. If they can’t cover speed or get the QB down, they don’t matter in modern football.

Edmunds is another one who we probably should’ve declined his 5th year but are now stuck with him. He’s a liability against power run teams and didnt make any difference last night.. which is apparently the game he’s drafted for.

I’m fine using bullets on guys like Epenesa, Oliver, Rousseau and Basham. But being 9 deep on the DL with all these slightly above average vets is not a luxury we can afford, nor does it help us against Mahomes.

This Off-season needs to be about cutting the fat on Defense, getting a speed corner in the secondary and focus everything else on Offense.

If someone like Jameson Williams falls due to the ACL, take him. We don’t need him immediately.

We need more difference makers and less 1-53 solid roster. Give me depth at OL and WR, but if our secondary is a bunch of Dane Jackson’s, so be it… all that matters is scoring points and hitting the QB.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Norwood, the 4 straight SBs, the Music City miracle, the 16 point lead, the 13 seconds.

Not to mention all the mismanagement in between and essentially running through double the amount of head coaches the Pittsburgh Steelers have had in my lifetime.

All curses come to an end, it's that much more fun when they do. But man, it's some journey being a fan of this team. Truly might be America's team when they do win it.

Agreed but you wonder if this was the chance and we blew it. With Mahomes, Herbert, and Burrow plus god knows who else potentially the AFC will be extremely difficult, the path was wide open and once again the Bills couldn't' get out of there own way. McDermott's stock in my mind has plummeted after last night, how in the world could you not squib it and then be defending the boundaries, what????

 

[Chip]

Agreed but you wonder if this was the chance and we blew it. With Mahomes, Herbert, and Burrow plus god knows who else potentially the AFC will be extremely difficult, the path was wide open and once again the Bills couldn't' get out of there own way. McDermott's stock in my mind has plummeted after last night, how in the world could you not squib it and then be defending the boundaries, what????

So after sleeping on it, I can sorta understand not squibbing. That has to be done right, or else some up back falls on it at the 40 or 50 and maybe a second or two comes off the clock for him touching it. You'd think if they had to go 45 yards in 12 seconds, you can stop it.

The Kelce play from the end zone view was just horrific to watch. If the Chiefs didn't have any timeouts, ok, it makes sense. They never have time to spike the ball. But with a timeout, you just handed them the FG.

 

[JeremyCuse]

So after sleeping on it, I can sorta understand not squibbing. That has to be done right, or else some up back falls on it at the 40 or 50 and maybe a second or two comes off the clock for him touching it. You'd think if they had to go 45 yards in 12 seconds, you can stop it.

The Kelce play from the end zone view was just horrific to watch. If the Chiefs didn't have any timeouts, ok, it makes sense. They never have time to spike the ball. But with a timeout, you just handed them the FG.

Unfortunately with Mahomes and our D, I had zero faith in us not allowing them to get into FG range, literally zero. You either have to squib that or hit it deep but before the goal line and force a fair catch from the 5 which even with 13 seconds we probably don't screw it up. That last sequence is why after a few seconds of celebrating the last Bills TD I checked the clock and told my wife game will be tied and were headed to OT. Most predictable Bills thing ever.

 

[longislandcuse]

It was all about the 1st play. I told my dad and brother, this is it… if they hold them to an incompletion or less than 10 yard gain on 1st down, we’ve got this.

They went prevent and literally handed Mahomes 19 yard. 25 —> 44. Now they only needed 10 more yards to give Butker a chance at a miracle FG. Somehow we didn’t learn and decided to defend against the sideline and a Hail Mary, to give Butker a completely normal FG.

Just insane. But it was doomed from the jump when we just conceded yardage on 1st down. Even if we then tackled Kelce for a 10 yard gain…. Who’s waiting for Butker to bang a 60-something yarder? I know I am.

They literally played that 13 seconds like the Chiefs needed a TD and/or had no Timeouts. And all we get is McD talking about execution. Bro… you must’ve told them to do that, no way our defense just decides on their own to play prevent, guard the sideline and end zone while leaving the middle wide open.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Not exactly a reassuring Press Conference

That poor guy looked destroyed mentally during that presser.

Maybe I'm reading too much into his vague "we've got to execute better and it starts with me" line but he repeated it enough to make me wonder if someone didn't do as instructed (defense or special teams).

I originally thought kicking out of the end zone wasn't the worst idea (assuming Hill was back deep for a potential pitch or handoff). But looking at the replay they had one deep returner (Pringle) and no Hill on the field. Kicker should've known enough to pitch it high to the 10 to force either a fair catch in crap field position or kill 3-5 seconds trying a run back.

As you said in another post - having their safeties 30 yards off the LOS killed them. They kept one of their safeties 15-20 yards off the LOS all night in that crappy weather loss to NE. It's a mind-numbingly stupid strategy.

 

[JeremyCuse]

That poor guy looked destroyed mentally during that presser.

Maybe I'm reading too much into his vague "we've got to execute better and it starts with me" line but he repeated it enough to make me wonder if someone didn't do as instructed (defense or special teams).

I originally thought kicking out of the end zone wasn't the worst idea (assuming Hill was back deep for a potential pitch or handoff). But looking at the replay they had one deep returner (Pringle) and no Hill on the field. Kicker should've known enough to pitch it high to the 10 to force either a fair catch in crap field position or kill 3-5 seconds trying a run back.

As you said in another post - having their safeties 30 yards off the LOS killed them. They kept one of their safeties 15-20 yards off the LOS all night in that crappy weather loss to NE. It's a mind-numbingly stupid strategy.

100%

 

[JeremyCuse]

It was all about the 1st play. I told my dad and brother, this is it… if they hold them to an incompletion or less than 10 yard gain on 1st down, we’ve got this.

They went prevent and literally handed Mahomes 19 yard. 25 —> 44. Now they only needed 10 more yards to give Butker a chance at a miracle FG. Somehow we didn’t learn and decided to defend against the sideline and a Hail Mary, to give Butker a completely normal FG.

Just insane. But it was doomed from the jump when we just conceded yardage on 1st down. Even if we then tackled Kelce for a 10 yard gain…. Who’s waiting for Butker to bang a 60-something yarder? I know I am.

They literally played that 13 seconds like the Chiefs needed a TD and/or had no Timeouts. And all we get is McD talking about execution. Bro… you must’ve told them to do that, no way our defense just decides on their own to play prevent, guard the sideline and end zone while leaving the middle wide open.

Your last paragraph really sums it up and makes me wonder if McDermott is the guy to get this team to a SB. Even after the kickoff and 1st play lets assume someone screwed up on both goign against what was called (I doubt it but for the sake of argument). How in the world are you after a TO going to run nearly the exact same D on that second play and again guard the boundaries and leave Kelce wide open knowing they only need a FG. Absolute malpractice.

 

[chugg21]

Old enough now that after sleeping on it and then processing through it some more this morning that I'm able to take away some positives and the main one is that there is absolutely 0 doubt now that we have one of THOSE dudes. We will be in contention every year for the next 7-8 years because he is capable of winning playoff games on the road without much help needed. Had the stones to make 2 late 4Q drives to take the lead on the road in extreme pressure playoff games.

If you have that dude, you have a chance every game, every season.