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The Bills lost last night, 20-13 to the Pats, but for the majority of it, I was blissfully unaware, sleeping in my bed. 14 games out of the season, I might be a ball of nerves during the game, but after I’m pretty affable and ready to chop it up. However, the Patriot games are where I cannot bring you, right after the game a reasoned response. So I took a different route. I got up this morning at 3am and watched the game, alone in my living room – figuring that would be a bit of a departure from the assumed “basement” rejoinders. When I finished, I turned off my laptop and went to bed and knowing that this would be the first thing I did when I woke up.
Buckle up, cuz the taeks they are a-coming:
- Refereeing in General … – I know the easy response is to pull the macho card of “the officials don’t determine the game”. But I am gonna scream a loud “NOPE” for this game. From the start until the finish Gene Steratore and his crew continued to play the Benny Hill theme as they botched ruling after ruling for both teams. When you’re a team that is in the middle of the pack vs a team like the Pats that are the top of the heap, missing a 12th man (or the right to substitute) on a TD play is a big deal. Not understanding where the ball is, is a big deal. Letting the other team’s quarterback get drilled without consequence are big deals. And for the love of Mike Pereira, when a receiver either catches a ball or catches a ball and gets out of bounds, not realizing those are big deals. Waking up to see that last drive was like being dropped in the middle of A Nightmare on Elm Street scene – I was just waiting for Gene to turn around and reveal himself to be Freddy. Maybe next time.
- Tyrod – Talking to a few folks in the moments after the game, one of the biggest thoughts became the “failure” of Tyrod to “franchise” his way to victory. After seeing the missed throws I’m not going to argue that Taylor couldn’t have played better. However, we are moving the goalposts. The fans and media were told over and over that the run game and a complimentary defense and special teams and now, 8 starts in, declarations about him being the “franchise” or not have emerged. As I mentioned in my article last week, Tyrod is on a good path in nearly every statistic and being better than every quarterback they’ve had in the last 10 years should be a good feeling. However, the Buffalo Sports Ennui machine has kicked in and he is becoming the “yeah but” QB. Look, no person that follows this team wants them to miss the playoffs. But to expect a 1st year starter, even with 3.5 years on the bench to read the field like Brady is lunacy. Should they target Watkins more? Sure – but not at the expense of staring him down. With Tyrod’s frame the bigger issue should be how much can he hold up being used as a 4th running back, as well as officials not giving him the protections a pocket QB would. But that’s the conversation that’s lost – instead of nuance, we’re yelling about how no one wants to pay him Fitz money?! C’mon. Be better.
- Sweet Baby J Leo / Special Teams – I am a big Leodis McKelvin fan. However, fumbling that ball and giving the Pats 3 points was another opportunity for the offense to get things on track. Missing a kick after a great rake of the ball in the endzone, followed by a 33 second TD drive by Pats gives you the 10 points that cost the Bills the game. Think about that; for all of the complaints on Tyrod missing guys deep (which are valid) the Special Teams helped give Pats I’ll call it 4 of the 10 points. The six is still on the defense, but having your Specials in negatives at all is a detriment. That random cut of Thigpen really showed him who’s boss right?
- Injuries for Both Teams – Unless Brady goes off on a stretcher the Pats will have a chance; but now losing Lewis, Amendola, Dobson and Edelman puts the onus of the offense squarely on Blount and Gronk. A better team than the Bills *should* take advantage of that. We’ll see how that goes. On the Bills front, Dareus and Mario being hurt were not ideal. Miller going down was not either, but Urbik acquitted himself well. But the injury that is most concerning is Tyrod and his shoulder/collarbone. If he can’t go vs Kansas City and/or Houston that’s it. I have zero faith EJ can do it, z-e-r-o. Additionally, I have zero faith in Henderson being adequate at right tackle. If he’s going to be out there, just assume the rusher is going to get to Taylor. That will speed up any QB’s clock as well – this stuff isn’t in a vacuum.
- Going Forward – Let’s not go with the referendums on x business. The Bills have to show up on a shorter week against a Chiefs team that is getting hot at the right time despite their QB throwing around 5 yards per attempt and their best player on IR. Go on the road, make a play and make December meaningful for a change!
The Patriots games every year are the games the show me as the fanatic more than a fan. My wife knows that those games I am not a rational person; I’ll be a little moody after and that’s never fun. Heck, I had to seclude myself from the Steeler Super Bowls after the Seahawks debacle because I can’t let things go. I was at a party with co-workers and I could not get over the general conversations of “grit” etc. while refs were screwing up plays left and right – remember, I’m probably the only Matt Hasselbeck fan east of Indy – and I can’t stop overthinking. Heck, writing these articles are great, because I’m getting out concepts and discussing things I’m probably boring people to tears with on the twitter or my friends offline. I only have a few tweetbag questions, but I have a few tweets I want to weave into my catharsis.
to recap as per @MikeCareyRef94 crew went 0-3: wrong on Sammy out of bounds, the spot on inadvertent whistle and quick snap on white TD
— Howard WGR (@hsimon62) November 24, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsYup. But the NFL will put out an OPs presentation that shows essentially nothing to see here. What galls me most about this stuff is encapsulated perfectly by Bengals analyst and all-around nice guy Joe Goodberry:
I just want to watch great athletes, football strategy and amazing plays. Is that too much to ask for?
— Joe Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) November 24, 2015
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You’re my boy blue. You’re my boy.
@RDotDeuce what’s your favorite part of pro football, the penalties or the injuries?
— Luke Wachob (@LukeWachob) November 24, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsMy fellow lover of the art of wrestling has a great question here. Luke – I would say of the two this is the Roman Reigns/Sheamus Sophie’s Choice I was not prepared for. I would say the penalties, because I don’t like seeing players hurt. Though, some of the penalties not called can do that too…
@RDotDeuce @BuffaloWins please explain that inadvertent whistle….. #ballwasintheair
— Mike McKenzie (@mack10zie) November 24, 2015
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I can’t explain that one. Because there’s no explanation for a referee, who’s job is to govern the game, to just “lose” the ball. That’s gnaw-your-rawhide level frustration. And no, that’s not prison lingo.
Thanks for letting me write my way through that one. Onward to Kansas City – where if that defense shows up like they did vs New England, hopefully there will be a different outcome.
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