1) If your goal is to have meaningful football in December, you got your wish with the Bills right now. This is only the 3rd time during the drought they have been 6-5. So, it is kind of foreign territory, but we are all trained to know that nothing is for certain with the Bills and our emotions. We are a week away from a NE beat down that will allow us drive our Bills bandwagon into Lake Erie.
I felt they were going to lose this game as KC seemed to be due for an offensive explosion and the Bills’ defense have been helping teams recently with lighting the offensive fuse. However, the Bills’ defense came to play today. Allowing just one 1st down and 57 yards in total offense in the first half is a hell of an accomplishment. The Bills allowed just 236 yards in total offense which was the 4th fewest the Chiefs have had since 2014. What it boiled down to was the Bills secondary making plays on WRs and the defensive line being able to get pressure on Smith. They were also tackling much better. This was the defense we saw at 5-2. Also, the offense deserves credit for the first half because they kept KC off the field (19 minutes TOP). Of course, the offense was flat in the 2nd half (more on that below).
2) I threw some shade against Lorenzo Alexander during this game because I’ve felt the Bills have been misusing him by having him drop back into coverage way too much this season. That’s not what made him a pro bowler. The Bills seemed to have him rushing the QB more today than they have all season and that’s what they should be doing. The Bills have had issues getting after the QB this season and he’s your 2nd best pass rusher on this team. Put him in a situation to succeed is all I ask. Additionally, I feel getting Matt Milano on the field as much as possible should be a goal of this staff.
3) The Bills rushing attack has been inconsistent and that’s putting it nicely. They can’t run on the outside or up the middle and their running designs have been trash this year. Again, the rushing system that Dennison has brought here has failed. McCoy has 7 games this season where he’s averaged less than 4 yards per carry. If the Bills running game doesn’t succeed, then the offense is going to have tons of trouble.
4) I thought Tyrod was uneven today. I felt he was efficient in the first half, passing for 121 yards on 15/24 throws with a TD. His TD throw to Zay Jones was everything his haters have always complained about which is that he looked through his progressions and found Zay in the corner of the end zone. 2nd half though? Eh. While being 4 of 5 for 62 yards will help you in the completion percentage or YPA department, you have to be better. Again, it isn’t all on Tyrod which happens to be something I’ve brought up 500 times that the Anti-Tyrod people fail to comprehend, but the passing offense has to be better than this. Give me more of the 1st half.
5) I guess I should give McDermott some credit for admitting he was an idiot last week for going to Peterman. Hey, some of these coaches will let ego drive them down the highway to hell because they are hell bent on wanting to be right. He may not want to admit it was a bad idea because coaches are constantly lying in public, but he has to know it was a terrible idea to do this and that’s why he made the switch. Some in the local media are still trying to justify the move because they want to punk off the national media, or show off their hatred towards Tyrod cause he doesn’t give a shit about their quote book, or suck off McDermott. Still, I can forgive, but I’m not going to forget how fucking stupid the move was, especially since there’s a chance that if they miss the playoffs at 9-7, I will probably go back how Peterman was a junkyard fire in the San Diego game.
6) The Bills were lined out of shotgun 32 times today and ran McCoy 4 times out of it for 4.0 YPC. Again, rush McCoy more out of shotgun. You are tipping defenses off that Tyrod will only throw when in shotgun and that they will only rush McCoy when Tyrod is under center. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this in the box scores and if I can notice it, so can New England.
7) Zay Jones was targeted 10 times today. The Next Bills receiver was targeted just 4 times. Overall, I felt Zay has been so much better than what he was in the beginning part of the season. It was also nice to see Charles Clay go back to being one of Tyrod’s favorite targets (4 catches for 60 yards).
8) The Bills 2nd half drives: 5 plays, 3 plays, 3 plays, 7 plays, 3 plays, end of game. That 2nd half really was brutal for the offense.
9) The Bills got their first INT since the Oakland game.
10) McCoy had 15 rushes that gained two yards or fewer. Of the 15 rushing plays, 4 gained zero yards and 6 other plays gained minus rushing yards. That is quite shitty. Thanks, Dennison!
11) The Chiefs had just 55 yards rushing which was the 4th fewest they’ve had since 2013.
12) For the cold take record: I think Tyrod Taylor is an average to good QB who would benefit more in an offense built around his skill set and had a top tier WR at his disposal. I just want to get that out since I get a lot of “You think Tyrod is elite” tweets. No, I don’t. I think how people have gone about trying to find ways to shit on him is what I have a problem with and how they ignore the fallacies of this team (See: Jeremy White tweeting we should ignore the defense after giving up 47 points).
It is like the O’Leary completion in the 4th quarter. Sure, it should have been a better throw to lead O’Leary in stride, but the other plays he does well like compensating for the Bills shitty OL, gets ignored. Just be even with your criticism and accolades with Tyrod. That’s all I ask here. When you tell me total yards shouldn’t matter for a QB or let’s not talk about any other factor outside of the QB, I can smell your agenda.
13) Cadet > Tolbert. I never want to see Mike Tolbert dress again. Let him lead the charge for the next 3 home games.
14) That better be one hell of a 4th round pick we are getting from KC for Ragland. The man was all over the place today. My take: Maybe you should have tried him at OLB or MLB in a 4-3 before you decided to demote him in August and leak out how much he wasn’t a fit to the local reporters. It isn’t a stretch to ask a LB like him to make the switch in a 4-3 defense and maybe give him like September to figure it out. Like there’s no way you can tell me how Fucking Ramon Humber was better in September than Ragland.
Final word: The AFC needs to continue its decline. That’s basically the only way the Bills have a shot at the playoffs. There’s hope, especially if it only takes 9 wins to end the drought. Even on my most cynical day, I think the Bills can beat the Colts and sweep the Dolphins. Do that and it gets you to 9 wins. As for the NE games? Pray to god they clinch everything by week 16 and they give us Hoyer.
I’m not going to sit here and say “I trust the process!! and yipppie!” The Bills have put us through a lot this season. Going back to August, I can’t remember this many highs, lows, and ‘WTF are they doing?’ moments during that specific time frame. If anything, I’m intrigued to see what happens next. Preside with caution, but expect the worst is my advice.
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