I always allow myself to do this once a year with the Bills. I think any fan, especially those with a cynical mindset like myself, can do this. I picked the Bills to beat the Bengals in a classic homer pick. I really didn't think they'd win, but I just went all in on a "Fuck it, what do I have to lose?" mindset. They almost made me look like a genius. With Stevie out, Stephon Gilmore playing with a “Cowboy Bob Orton” arm cast and a practice squad QB starting, it was pretty hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. Yet, they were in it until the end and as much as the loss sucks because all losses suck, they kept it close enough to keep the future looking bright.
Look, I get the narrative that moral victories are overplayed.
I agree in certain cases… like if the Bills lose a close one to the Pats and it is during the 3rd year of a rebuilding plan (see: last year's road game at NE), but when you are playing a good team during a rebuilding year and you have all the issues they had going into this one and you still can keep it close… you take it. Are there things they have to correct? Yes… and I'll get to errors soon enough.
But put things in perspective when it comes to where the Bills are as a franchise. They aren't going anywhere this year… we all know that, but if you take away that pick 6 against Cleveland, all of their games have been decided by a touchdown or fewer. It is called progress. Also, they are making this a lot of fun to watch. Hopefully, one day, I won't have to do anymore homer picks because they'll be good enough for us to pick them without any sort of biased opinion.
—The Bills have found their backup QB. Yes, it is only one game, but you couldn't ask for more against a pretty stout defense. And since backup QBs normally suck, you take whatever you can get. If you swapped jerseys, I wouldn't be able to tell if that was EJ or Thad back there. Thad finished 19 of 32 for 216 yards and 3TDs (2 passing and 1 running). He showed a lot of poise on his last 2 TD drives, throwing for a 140 yards and completing a crucial 4th down TD pass to Scott Chandler and a beautiful deep throw to Marquise Goodwin. He did all this without Stevie and with having CJ Spiller on 1 leg. He did exactly what you want for a backup and made some key plays when needed. Were there things he can do better? Yes… protecting the ball and adjusting to the pass rush would suffice for starters. However, you'd take those numbers any day of the week from a backup. Hell, you'd take it for EJ Manuel at this point.
–CJ Spiller is not 100%. He seems to be limping every other rushing attempt and while you can admire his toughness for playing hurt, I kind of wish they'd let him sit out a game so he can get back to 100%. When he's limping as much as he is, it just seems like the Bills aren't as committed to the run. Yes, 31 carries seems like a lot for them as a team, but if you take away the runs by Lewis, Jackson/Spiller had just 20 carries. On top of that, I kind of felt they weren't doing a great job when it came to the timing of their running plays (their 2nd last drive in regulation consisted of 3 straight incomplete passes). Also, they need to work on their screen game.
–I diss Scott Chandler a lot because I want a top caliber TE like Jimmy Graham. However, I just wish the Bills would use him more. Just seems like they forget about him and then boom! Oh, he exists. Chandler has only been targeted 31 times this year, which is 15 fewer targets than Robert Woods has. Yet, he's caught 69% of his passes thrown his way, which is best percentage for anyone on the team who isn't a running back. He should be the focal point of the passing game if #13 isn't playing.
—Speaking of Stevie, there has been a lot of bullshit narrative recently about how Robert Woods is becoming the #1 guy (See: Jerry Sullivan and every white guy in their 50s who hates Stevie Johnson).
How long before Robert Woods is considered the Bills' No. 1 wideout? And isn't that what fans should be hoping for?
— Jerry Sullivan (@TBNSully) October 1, 2013
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This is crap. This is all about people being fixated on crapping on Stevie because it pisses fans off and the trolls can't get enough. Everyone who understands football at the junior high level knows that a guy like Robert Woods will play much better when coverage is rolled towards Stevie. On top of that, the days of "#1 WR" option is so old and cliché. With the way the spread is these days, you tend to distribute the ball around. On top of that, legit NFL passing teams over the years have at least 2 receiving options (Saints, Giants, Broncos, Pats, Falcons, Packers and Cowboys).
Do you think anyone in Atlanta is trying to start shit about Julio Jones vs. Roddy White? Of course not.
Only in Buffalo -with our lame stream media press corp. trying to enable the whiner line to call in- can you find a controversy about the WR position. Shut the hell up! No one picks a side when it comes to #1 WR debates you fucken hacks! Anyways, Woods is a nice player, but he can't do it all by himself. Today, he caught 2 passes for 9 yards. If Stevie is in there, his numbers go up because he's the guy defenses are gearing up to stop in the passing game. Simple as that.
—The defense… Um, get your shit together for a full 4 quarters. This is the 4th time this year the Bills have allowed 17 points or more in the 1st half. They gave up almost 300 yards in the first half and were unable to stop the Bengals' short passing game or misdirection plays. The Bengals owned the WR or RB screen game. The Bills needed to have their secondary play press coverage at that point, or try and disguise their blitzes. The best way to beat a furious pass rush is by running effective screens and if you are blitzing, you need to disguise those blitzes better to make offenses guess on whether they should run a screen or not. This is on Pettine as he needs to call better defensive plays. Now, give the Bills' defense credit, they played better after the last Cincinnati TD drive as they gave up just 145 yards on their final 6 drives. Still… you have to be more consistent.
—According to PFF, Andy Dalton completed 9 of 10 passes for 151 yards on throws that were completed behind the line of scrimmage. #screens
—Kiko Alonso had 22 tackles…Yes, 22 tackles!!
—Brian Moorman is better than Shawn Powell, but our punt coverage still sucks.Bills have allowed 14.3 yards per punt return this year, ranked 27th. Actually, they are better this year than last yr (14.8 yards per punt return-ranked last). They have given up 3 punt returns for TDs since the start of last year..which is the most in the NFL.
—Whether it is missing Andy Levitre, young QBs learning the game, passing designs, or whatever… The Bills have allowed 19 sacks in their last 4 games. They allowed 23 sacks in all of 2011. #Woof
—This was the 2nd game in a row that neither Fred Jackson nor CJ Spiller had over 100 yards in total offense. You'd have to go all the way back to the start of the 2010 season to find the duo not go over the century mark in back-to-back games… and that was when Marshawn Lynch was there.
—Mario Williams may not have gotten a full sack, but I thought he played a decent game and was in on a few QB pressures. Quite frankly, I thought he was the most consistent defensive player today.
—Zero issue with the type of play, or with the Bills going for it on 4th down from the goal line. First off, if the Bills got a field goal, the game wouldn't have ended 27-24 with Buffalo winning in regulation. The Bengals were very complacent when holding onto the lead and I think they would have been more aggressive if it were a one score game throughout the 3rd and 4th quarter. Also, a play action roll out is what I would have called (Yes, that's a reason to probably NOT do it if I made the call). It is a perfect play for a guy like Thad because it gives him the option to throw or run. Do I wish they had run it earlier? Sure. The Bills just ran the ball three straight times, so you have to assume a pass is coming. Still, a roll out normally works. It just didn't this time. Frankly, they should have just run a QB sneak 3 straight times.
—The refs suck. I hate them all because they don't know what taunting or pass interference is this day and age.
—There is not a QB controversy. Don't listen to the whiner line, or hosts who try to invite people to call in so they can punk them off. Also, anyone who says, "Some or most people want Thad to start, but let me tell you why he shouldn't!!!" are just straw man arguers.
Final word: They may be the best 2-4 team in Bills history at this point. They just have to learn how to finish these games and become more consistent on the defensive side of the ball. I'm having fun and I think they have a nice shot at beating Miami next week. Get to 3-4 and we may be talking 8-8! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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