Wild Card Playoff Bills The Aftermath

[IDBillzFan]

Glad to see the Bills dude who was shown crying after the game embrace the meme life.

 

 

[Nanker]

53 minutes ago, RochesterRob said:

  Burt (an Orchard Park native) would have been better than Wright but it seemed like he did not have much left in the gas tank when he got done with the Giants.  Having obtained Childress would have made our DL top notch for at least our first three SB's.  If true that we were looking into Childress I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in Polian's office to know just what we were thinking.  If I remember correctly Ralph more or less vetoed the Keith Jackson trade with the Eagles around the same time.  

Burt was signed by the 49ers and then they got Smerlas. Smerlas never saw much playing time there as Burt outplayed him. Then, the Nose went back to Boston to play/rootn for the *Patriots and burned a lot of Buffalo bridges. 

[RochesterRob]

2 minutes ago, Nanker said:

Burt was signed by the 49ers and then they got Smerlas. Smerlas never saw much playing time there as Burt outplayed him. Then, the Nose went back to Boston to play/rootn for the **Patriots and burned a lot of Buffalo bridges. 

  Burt signed with SF while Smerlas was still under contract to Buffalo so the timing was not there.  Again, I would say that going by anything I remember Burt was clearly on the decline when he got done with the Giants.  Had Smerlas shown just a little restraint he could have been on the 1990 team and got his ring with us as he would have been better than Wright by a sizable measure.  In any event 11 years back then was a LONG time for a DT to play in the NFL and be productive.  

[Nanker]

I thought at the time that Fred was the better player, and I was very surprised that they played Burt over Fred. Fred lasted just one year there then went home to Bahstin. 

[Ann]

https://twitter.com/SalSports/status/1348602998994436096

 

[Ann]

For those who were wondering...

https://twitter.com/SalSports/status/1348743785887506442

[mead107]

Fans got into it 

 

 

https://wyrk.com/video-even-with-less-than-10-fights-break-out-during-bills-playoff-game/

[Ann]

I did not know they called off the bet:
 

 

[IDBillzFan]

4 hours ago, Ann said:

For those who were wondering...

https://twitter.com/SalSports/status/1348743785887506442

 

That may have been by design, but I'm pretty sure the full design was NOT for Josh to shot-put the pass while getting taken out at the knees.

 

My anxiety level watching that play was probably the highest it's been in a while, in part because as the play developed on TV, you couldn't see Knox by himself. It looked like a desperation play (like the lateral vs. Houston last year), so to hear them call the TD was of tremendous relief to me.

[Uncle Joe]

1 hour ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

That may have been by design, but I'm pretty sure the full design was NOT for Josh to shot-put the pass while getting taken out at the knees.

 

My anxiety level watching that play was probably the highest it's been in a while, in part because as the play developed on TV, you couldn't see Knox by himself. It looked like a desperation play (like the lateral vs. Houston last year), so to hear them call the TD was of tremendous relief to me.

That play reminded me of Hughes fumble recovery for a TD.

No, what the...Yes!

[KD in CA]

I just noticed something while rewatching the final minute.

 

McD calls TO after 4th down conversion to get fumble reviewed at :28.  Post review, refs wind clock

Rivers throws a quick, short pass where the receiver gets OOB;  clock stops at :19

Clock starts running before the snap;  Rivers completes the pass but play is blown dead b/c McD called TO. 

Refs reset clock to :14.  Three more incompletions ends the game.

 

Did we get a (well deserved considering the replay error) five second break on the clock winding after that 1st down play?  Shouldn't the clock stay stopped until the snap on OOB plays in the last 5 minutes of the game?

Edited January 12, 2021 by KD in CA

[Chandemonium]

8 hours ago, KD in CA said:

I just noticed something while rewatching the final minute.

 

McD calls TO after 4th down conversion to get fumble reviewed at :28.  Post review, refs wind clock

Rivers throws a quick, short pass where the receiver gets OOB;  clock stops at :19

Clock starts running before the snap;  Rivers completes the pass but play is blown dead b/c McD called TO. 

Refs reset clock to :14.  Three more incompletions ends the game.

 

Did we get a (well deserved considering the replay error) five second break on the clock winding after that 1st down play?  Shouldn't the clock stay stopped until the snap on OOB plays in the last 5 minutes of the game?

It wasn’t clear on the broadcast, but the receiver fumbled backwards out of bounds, hence the running clock once the ball was marked ready for play. 

[Nanker]

 I think McDermott’s clock management has improved greatly this year. He’s getting sharper with those TOs and challenges. 

[Boyst]

On 1/10/2021 at 3:01 PM, IDBillzFan said:

 

And those two sonofabitches did it twice on that drive. Probably THE drive of the game. 96 yards in like 90 seconds to get the 6 before the half.

 

We're going to need more of it because I'm watching Baltimore and Tennessee and I'm not sure we're build to stop all that running.

Go watch Baltimore vs NE*. That's the team that shows up against us. 

[Nanker]

1 hour ago, Boyst said:

Go watch Baltimore vs NE*. That's the team that shows up against us. 

I certainly hope so. I will love seeing Lamar sitting on the sidelines with the game out of reach and totally dispirited. 

[Boyst]

7 minutes ago, Nanker said:

I certainly hope so. I will love seeing Lamar sitting on the sidelines with the game out of reach and totally dispirited. 

He's a generic of Cam Newton. He never had the arm Cam did, and a watered down athleticism. 

 

He's just faster. 

[IDBillzFan]

11 hours ago, Boyst said:

Go watch Baltimore vs NE*. That's the team that shows up against us. 

 

I watched the NFL recap of the game after I read your post, and a few things I noticed was

 

1. Lamar had a decent day throwing: 24 of 34 for 249 yards and 2 TDs and 1 INT.
2. NE managed to sack Lamar twice, which is not an easy thing to do
3. The weather was bad, but it was a downpour in the latter part of the 4th quarter. Ravens had the ball with about a minute left, and the last Raven play was a really easy fourth down throw outside the numbers, and the receiver just flat out dropped the pass with no one around him. My sense was the downpour was partially to blame.

 

In the end, my issues are one-part PTBD and two parts watching the Ravens run all over the Titans, knowing the Bills weakness against the run.

 

The optimist in me believes the Bills should have no problem scoring. We're not like the Titans, where if you stop the run you force us to throw without play action. We're the total opposite, so the homer in me believes it'll be tight for a quarter, and then open up.

[Boyst]

11 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

I watched the NFL recap of the game after I read your post, and a few things I noticed was

 

1. Lamar had a decent day throwing: 24 of 34 for 249 yards and 2 TDs and 1 INT.
2. NE managed to sack Lamar twice, which is not an easy thing to do
3. The weather was bad, but it was a downpour in the latter part of the 4th quarter. Ravens had the ball with about a minute left, and the last Raven play was a really easy fourth down throw outside the numbers, and the receiver just flat out dropped the pass with no one around him. My sense was the downpour was partially to blame.

 

In the end, my issues are one-part PTBD and two parts watching the Ravens run all over the Titans, knowing the Bills weakness against the run.

 

The optimist in me believes the Bills should have no problem scoring. We're not like the Titans, where if you stop the run you force us to throw without play action. We're the total opposite, so the homer in me believes it'll be tight for a quarter, and then open up.

I'm really excited to watch the second half, because just looking at stat lines and memory of the game it seems like it was night and day for the two teams. The first half was uninspiring. That was my first real exposure to the Ravens, so I had no impression beforehand.

 

That first half their defense looked hollow. All the right schemes, all the right play calls, just poorly executed. Not as bad as it was for Miami against us and the second game, but not far off. Cam Newton is no Josh Allen, but Miami's past defense and overall defense is supposed to be better than Baltimore's, too.

 

Pittsburgh game and the Titans game that I'm going to get to on Friday and Saturday afternoon will give me a lot of information. I'm going to be counting schemes, tracking coverage, and all I watch for in the first game was the general theme

 

Once I put some stats and trends in place I think this will go entirely different way with my respect for them. 

 

 

on offense though, I'm sure you noticed many of Jackson's passes were very short. If you go back and watch again he missed a lot of downfield reads, didn't go through the proper checks, and didn't anticipate his receivers breaking open which they did several times down field. Brown in the first half seem more like a decoy. 

[IDBillzFan]

14 hours ago, Boyst said:

on offense though, I'm sure you noticed many of Jackson's passes were very short. If you go back and watch again he missed a lot of downfield reads, didn't go through the proper checks, and didn't anticipate his receivers breaking open which they did several times down field. Brown in the first half seem more like a decoy. 

 

Most of this throws seem to be underneath stuff, and even his deeper stuff vs. Titans was not great, including an early pick. Now, I don't know if that pick was a bad throw or miscommunication, but generally speaking I think the best way for me to describe Jackson's passing game is streaky.  Some good, some bad, but no consistency.

 

There's no way I walked into this season expecting the Bills to have a legit shot at the SB, but in the end...and for the foreseeable future, the path to the SB will consistently include having to beat KC and the Ravens. We have the offense team to do it; it's just a question of which defense shows up and if that defense will get the added benefit of playing in a shootout. The Bills have holes, but I believe a shootout vs. Ravens is to their benefit.

Edited January 14, 2021 by IDBillzFan

[Boyst]

@IDBillzFan I am watching the Titans / Crows game tonight.

 

In the red zone jackson takes chances. He tries to find the narrow windows and can succeed. Outside of the redzone it is like Kryptonite. He can't or won't complete those passes. He's mind boggling.

 

He missed 3 chances on 1 drive to put the pass long to wide open targets on the outside or on down the middle. He checked to 4 or 5 yard games every time. I imagine the mindset is simple on offense remembering it is Greg Roman.  Control the clock, don't take unnecessary chances, pick up 3 to 4 yards each play, and don't turn the ball over.

 

The series ended with a 20 yard pass to a wode receiver that was times perfectly in a narrow window.

 

That series was just a few after completing a bonehead long ball to a wide receiver running the sideline, under throwing it, having it picked off.

 

If our defense plays like it did against the colts it could be a long day. If our defense can keep them away from the red zone I have no doubt we win. Any trip inside of the red zone is at least 3 points for them. With 10-12 possessions a game expect 3 or 4 to sniff the end zone and as many as half a dozen in the redzone or 30 yard line. 

 

Final score I will predict after finishing the Titans game... But my first thought is Bills +4, o/u 39, final score bills 24, Ravens 20. ...justin Tucker is a 3pt swing so 24-23 final.  Bills take victory formation.

 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Boyst