Weekend Observations (13 Viewers)

[Ministry of Pain]

Jonathan Taylor is avg 6 yd per clip and ran thru the Falcons for almost 250 yds and 3 Touchdowns, he looked like Earl Campbell out there
He's currently on pace for almost 30 Touchdowns on the season, one man wrecking crew at times and a delight to watch him play while sitting on my couch eating brunch at 10:30am on Sunday

The Ravens were ahead 27-13 for much of the 2nd Half on Sunday and we have the bar set so high for them
Even when they win somewhat convincingly on the road and we sill question if the Ravens are good
Much like Buffalo, what they do in late Dec and thru January will ultimately decide their success. Otherwise it's the same old song and dance again

Speaking of Buffalo, what was that yesterday? McDaniel just secured his job the rest of the season and he might even come back in '26 since Tua has to be paid by Miami anyways. You might see Miami extend the current interim GM and forget the entire hiring process until Mike McDaniel and Tua are actually gone, just the way the tea leaves in Miami are playing out
Back to Buffalo, what the holy bleep was that yesterday?

-Did anyone actually watch the Browns vs the Jets? Yeah, me neither as I was watching the Bucs game, Ravens and Jags-Texans a lot in the 1:00 window.

Woody Marks showed a lot of heart by staying in the football game, his injury initially looked bad and I didn't think we would see him much the rest of the afternoon, instead he scores a TD and helps lead the Texans to victory with no starting QB and yet they somehow beat a Jags team with everything to play for and once again cannot close the door on the road, they blew the game against Cinci where Burrow was injured and the back up shredded them. Coen questionable coaching decisions down the stretch yesterday, thought he was out coached at the end, huge win for Houston to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

-The Patriots played very well yesterday, tip my Bucs cap to the fan base on the boards here
I doubted them big time entering that game and thought the Bucs were set up for an easy win, that was way off.
How far can the Patriots go this season? Buffalo sinks to 6-3. Patriots with a 2 game lead, 7 games to go
Home Playoff games in Massachusetts, Pats tend to do well in those games with the elements working to their favor. How about a New England-Indy Semi-Final Playoff game in the AFC?

44-22, 44-22, 42-26, the 4:00 window of games in general was uneventful although...I better leave it alone

Did anyone watch the entire run from 9:30'6:30am thru Sunday night Football? I didn't watch a single snap of the Pitt-LAC game, out for the count
14 hours of football from 9:30am thru 11:30 pm? Overtime in Europe meant very little down time prior to the 1:00 window.
What observations do you have from yesterday's games?

How could I forget? Head Coach Liam Coen, buddy you gotta stop throwing a temper tantrum on the last play of the game as if you were so close to winning that football game as you throw your rainbow colored laminated pokemon play card into the turf as if you were personally violated by Trevor Lawrence when the actual game was lost well prior to that offensive implosion you decided to pitch a fit on the sidelines before trotting off to the locker room. They might as well have handed you a bowl of water so you could dip your hands in it and proclaim to wash your hands of this situation when in fact you yourself are to blame. I watched Mike Tomlin do something similar a couple weeks back when DK Metcalf got a personal foul call and the Steelers were already well on their way to losing and Tomlin pulls the same shocked and violated look when in fact they should look inside themselves.

Cheers!

 

[doeseatplace]

How could I forget? Head Coach Liam Coen, buddy you gotta stop throwing a temper tantrum on the last play of the game as if you were so close to winning that football game as you throw your rainbow colored laminated pokemon play card into the turf as if you were personally violated by Trevor Lawrence when the actual game was lost well prior to that offensive implosion you decided to pitch a fit on the sidelines before trotting off to the locker room. They might as well have handed you a bowl of water so you could dip your hands in it and proclaim to wash your hands of this situation when in fact you yourself are to blame

A great philosopher once said, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

 

[jobarules]

Bills are 6-3

 

[FarFromHome]

Good post. I rarely watch a snap of football anymore, so I love weekend recaps. I'm an internet research and box score surfer. Ha ha. Thanks for posting.

 

[Smack Tripper]

I couldn't believe Woody's day, I thought he ruptured his achilles

 

[zamboni]

I couldn't believe Woody's day, I thought he ruptured his achilles

If Woody had gone to the locker room, this never would have happened.

IYKYK

 

[travdogg]

Some takes from watching mostly RedZone.

I don't want to take anything away from Taylor, who is having a good year, but man, that Colts OL is amazing. They're the best OL in the NFL, and the Vikings basically helped them by taking their overpaid starters in FA, allowing them to get younger and better in the process. On the other hand for Indy, I feel like Daniel Jones looks like the exact same QB he did in NY, just with more time and better weapons, I don't really think he himself has improved, and these last 2 games, he's almost singlehandedly lost both games. I get the feeling this could go in a very Lawrence/Tua direction if they give him a big extension. For the Falcons, I had Penix as the 6th best QB in last year's class, I thought he was a day 2 caliber prospect. I liked what he did the last 3 weeks of last season, but that wasn't enough to change my stance on him. This year, he's been awful. Mooney becoming a drop machine hasn't helped, nor has iffy playcalling, but I think Penix is coming along a lot slower than hoped for a guy who is 25 already.

Fun stat, Trevor Lawrence is now 1-3 against Davis Mills in his career. QBs aren't everything obviously, but Lawrence has very much proven in his career that he's not a talent elevator. He's basically Daniel Jones, with a worse supporting cast...so NY Daniel Jones. Despite their record, and how this game went, I think Houston is a much better team than the Jags.

Felt a little bad for the Browns D. They basically played a perfect game other than one play, and the Jets scored 27 points. 2 ST TDs, and horrible field position can do that, but I still think Cleveland is the best defense in the NFL, they are just also the worst offense. Shedeur calls are gonna get louder. Garrett Wilson aggravating his knee injury sucks. He's 1 of 2 reasons to actually watch the Jets. Breece was motivated at least. When the Jets made those deadline deals, my Jets fan friend said to me, "watch them win like 3-4 games after this and end up picking 7th again anyway" and yeah, can totally see that happening.

I don't think this was an outlier for the Bills. I think beating KC was the outlier. The Bills offense is 2 guys, and the defense bad at everything except pass rushing, and arguably the NFL's worst defense at Safety. This has been a problem for them all year, and I'm not at all surprised Achane/Waddle (2 excellent players, who teams should have offered more for, especially Achane) took advantage. The Dolphins OL played well. Paul is showing signs of maybe being good, and I think Brewer is maybe the NFL's most underrated Center, he's just small. Just need more pieces. I think Achane is as good a RB as there is in the NFL when he actually gets blocking.

Solid win for the Ravens, that looked iffy in the 1st half. Vikings DL dominated the LoS, and Lamar doesn't look confident running, but they made it work. McCarthy looked good in the 1st quarter, but struggled as the game went on, still I think he wasn't as bad as his numbers (think he's better than Wentz) I liked his aggressiveness on both INTs. You trust Jefferson to usually win those matchups. TJ Hockenson is now apparently behind Nailor in the pecking order. Doesn't seem like a 1-off either, Hockenson looks like he lost 2 steps from even last season.

I'm not celebrating an injury at all, but I always thought it was weird how people were so confident Skattebo would get hurt, but not as confident about Dart. Dart to me, was the far more reckless player with his body. Dart's been fun, but this was a concern I had with him as a prospect, that he was really kinda raw and college-y, and needed a HC who wouldn't throw him to the wolves right away, because of how reckless he was, both with rushing and decision making. Hopefully he isn't hurt too bad, but also, I hope they don't rush him back out of some faint playoff hopes. Possible hot take as a Bears fan: I think the offense is at its best when the vets are somewhat phased out. Less DJ/OZ/Kmet, and more Odunze/Burden/Loveland. Its been Bengals/Giants, but Caleb has shown a lot of poise these last 2 weeks in comebacks wins.

Didn't see much of NO/Car, just saw Bryce Young looking completely lost. This game didn't even seem as close as the 17-7 final. Seemed like NO dominated after the 1 Panthers scoring drive.

NE/TB was the best game of the week in my opinion. A couple breakdowns on TBs D, made this one seem more decisive than it was, but I think this is a matchup where if they played 10 times, each team would win 5. I'd love to see Kyle Williams getting more than 2 targets after showing off his wheels. He was one of my favorite non-1st round players in the draft. When I watched him, I couldn't help but think young Calvin Ridley. I think he could unlock even more big plays for this already big play passing game. Not that White/Tucker are bad, but man, getting Bucky back would really elevate this offense. They just need that big play from the RB upside.

Unsurprisingly, the Jacoby Brissett train derailed against Seattle. Seattle/LA next week might be a battle of the 2 best teams in the NFL. Hopefully JSN is ok for it.

Rams/49ers was about as dominant as you can be in beating a good team. Stafford is playing the best football, of his career (yes better than the Super Bowl year) and the OL is pushing defenses around and keeping him clean. If they had that 3rd target in the pass game, this would be an unstoppable offense. Alas, its still the NFL's best. Kinda feel bad for SF. If they were healthy, we'd be talking about the NFC West as maybe the toughest division of all-time. Even then they are 6-4 with mostly backups. They'll bounce back against Arizona next week, hopefully Purdy will finally be back.

Lions are just better than Washington. They are still the Lions and honestly are probably a better team than they were last season, at least down the stretch. This is still their division in my eyes, and honestly, I think they (along with LA and Seattle) are the elite teams in the NFL. The NFC is so much better than the AFC in my opinion.

Was in and out of the night game. Rodgers has been worse than his numbers all season in my eyes, just was waiting for a game where the numbers would match what I was seeing. This was that game. Hopefully Gadsden isn't hurt too badly. He was already looking like a top-10 (at least) NFL TE.

 

[Rockchild]

For the Falcons, I had Penix as the 6th best QB in last year's class, I thought he was a day 2 caliber prospect. I liked what he did the last 3 weeks of last season, but that wasn't enough to change my stance on him. This year, he's been awful. Mooney becoming a drop machine hasn't helped, nor has iffy playcalling, but I think Penix is coming along a lot slower than hoped for a guy who is 25 already.

It always seems like he's throwing a heavy, wet football.

 

[Gally]

Unsurprisingly, the Jacoby Brissett train derailed against Seattle. Seattle/LA next week might be a battle of the 2 best teams in the NFL. Hopefully JSN is ok for it.

The offensive line derailed Brissett. He actually played ok but the Seahawks D-line took over at times. Still better than Kyler but that's not saying much

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Jonathan Taylor is avg 6 yd per clip and ran thru the Falcons for almost 250 yds and 3 Touchdowns, he looked like Earl Campbell out there
He's currently on pace for almost 30 Touchdowns on the season, one man wrecking crew at times and a delight to watch him play while sitting on my couch eating brunch at 10:30am on Sunday

The Ravens were ahead 27-13 for much of the 2nd Half on Sunday and we have the bar set so high for them
Even when they win somewhat convincingly on the road and we sill question if the Ravens are good
Much like Buffalo, what they do in late Dec and thru January will ultimately decide their success. Otherwise it's the same old song and dance again

Speaking of Buffalo, what was that yesterday? McDaniel just secured his job the rest of the season and he might even come back in '26 since Tua has to be paid by Miami anyways. You might see Miami extend the current interim GM and forget the entire hiring process until Mike McDaniel and Tua are actually gone, just the way the tea leaves in Miami are playing out
Back to Buffalo, what the holy bleep was that yesterday?

-Did anyone actually watch the Browns vs the Jets? Yeah, me neither as I was watching the Bucs game, Ravens and Jags-Texans a lot in the 1:00 window.

Woody Marks showed a lot of heart by staying in the football game, his injury initially looked bad and I didn't think we would see him much the rest of the afternoon, instead he scores a TD and helps lead the Texans to victory with no starting QB and yet they somehow beat a Jags team with everything to play for and once again cannot close the door on the road, they blew the game against Cinci where Burrow was injured and the back up shredded them. Coen questionable coaching decisions down the stretch yesterday, thought he was out coached at the end, huge win for Houston to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

-The Patriots played very well yesterday, tip my Bucs cap to the fan base on the boards here
I doubted them big time entering that game and thought the Bucs were set up for an easy win, that was way off.
How far can the Patriots go this season? Buffalo sinks to 6-3. Patriots with a 2 game lead, 7 games to go
Home Playoff games in Massachusetts, Pats tend to do well in those games with the elements working to their favor. How about a New England-Indy Semi-Final Playoff game in the AFC?

44-22, 44-22, 42-26, the 4:00 window of games in general was uneventful although...I better leave it alone

Did anyone watch the entire run from 9:30'6:30am thru Sunday night Football? I didn't watch a single snap of the Pitt-LAC game, out for the count
14 hours of football from 9:30am thru 11:30 pm? Overtime in Europe meant very little down time prior to the 1:00 window.
What observations do you have from yesterday's games?

How could I forget? Head Coach Liam Coen, buddy you gotta stop throwing a temper tantrum on the last play of the game as if you were so close to winning that football game as you throw your rainbow colored laminated pokemon play card into the turf as if you were personally violated by Trevor Lawrence when the actual game was lost well prior to that offensive implosion you decided to pitch a fit on the sidelines before trotting off to the locker room. They might as well have handed you a bowl of water so you could dip your hands in it and proclaim to wash your hands of this situation when in fact you yourself are to blame. I watched Mike Tomlin do something similar a couple weeks back when DK Metcalf got a personal foul call and the Steelers were already well on their way to losing and Tomlin pulls the same shocked and violated look when in fact they should look inside themselves.

Cheers!

Good stuff.

As Pitt demonstrated, Indy has a fatal flaw. As soon as they run into a strong run defense in the playoffs they're done.

NE's problem is the run game. Excluding two explosions, Henderson was 12 for 24. 2ypc aint gonna beat my grandma's team. And they have zero depth across the roster...any significant injuries and they are toast.

I'm not sure but I think Buffalo might need to blow things up. New gm, new coach. It is true they are built to beat the chiefs...but they can only do it in the regular season. And I don't have confidence in either their passing game or their running game against a stout defense. Too much is put on Allen's shoulders.

Houston and Cincy both REFUSE to have proper offensive lines to protect their QBs. Its moronic really.

I expect a boring post-season with all the usual suspects including Ravens, Chiefs, Eagles, Rams, blah blah blah....but a Seahawks Patriots rematch would be pretty epic imo.

 

[rockaction]

I don't think this was an outlier for the Bills. I think beating KC was the outlier. The Bills offense is 2 guys, and the defense bad at everything except pass rushing, and arguably the NFL's worst defense at Safety. This has been a problem for them all year, and I'm not at all surprised Achane/Waddle (2 excellent players, who teams should have offered more for, especially Achane) took advantage. The Dolphins OL played well. Paul is showing signs of maybe being good, and I think Brewer is maybe the NFL's most underrated Center, he's just small. Just need more pieces. I think Achane is as good a RB as there is in the NFL when he actually gets blocking.

What if it wasn’t an outlier for Buffalo but instead evidence that the Chiefs stink?

 

[rockaction]

Some takes from watching mostly RedZone.

I don't want to take anything away from Taylor, who is having a good year, but man, that Colts OL is amazing. They're the best OL in the NFL, and the Vikings basically helped them by taking their overpaid starters in FA, allowing them to get younger and better in the process. On the other hand for Indy, I feel like Daniel Jones looks like the exact same QB he did in NY, just with more time and better weapons, I don't really think he himself has improved, and these last 2 games, he's almost singlehandedly lost both games. I get the feeling this could go in a very Lawrence/Tua direction if they give him a big extension. For the Falcons, I had Penix as the 6th best QB in last year's class, I thought he was a day 2 caliber prospect. I liked what he did the last 3 weeks of last season, but that wasn't enough to change my stance on him. This year, he's been awful. Mooney becoming a drop machine hasn't helped, nor has iffy playcalling, but I think Penix is coming along a lot slower than hoped for a guy who is 25 already.

Fun stat, Trevor Lawrence is now 1-3 against Davis Mills in his career. QBs aren't everything obviously, but Lawrence has very much proven in his career that he's not a talent elevator. He's basically Daniel Jones, with a worse supporting cast...so NY Daniel Jones. Despite their record, and how this game went, I think Houston is a much better team than the Jags.

Felt a little bad for the Browns D. They basically played a perfect game other than one play, and the Jets scored 27 points. 2 ST TDs, and horrible field position can do that, but I still think Cleveland is the best defense in the NFL, they are just also the worst offense. Shedeur calls are gonna get louder. Garrett Wilson aggravating his knee injury sucks. He's 1 of 2 reasons to actually watch the Jets. Breece was motivated at least. When the Jets made those deadline deals, my Jets fan friend said to me, "watch them win like 3-4 games after this and end up picking 7th again anyway" and yeah, can totally see that happening.

I don't think this was an outlier for the Bills. I think beating KC was the outlier. The Bills offense is 2 guys, and the defense bad at everything except pass rushing, and arguably the NFL's worst defense at Safety. This has been a problem for them all year, and I'm not at all surprised Achane/Waddle (2 excellent players, who teams should have offered more for, especially Achane) took advantage. The Dolphins OL played well. Paul is showing signs of maybe being good, and I think Brewer is maybe the NFL's most underrated Center, he's just small. Just need more pieces. I think Achane is as good a RB as there is in the NFL when he actually gets blocking.

Solid win for the Ravens, that looked iffy in the 1st half. Vikings DL dominated the LoS, and Lamar doesn't look confident running, but they made it work. McCarthy looked good in the 1st quarter, but struggled as the game went on, still I think he wasn't as bad as his numbers (think he's better than Wentz) I liked his aggressiveness on both INTs. You trust Jefferson to usually win those matchups. TJ Hockenson is now apparently behind Nailor in the pecking order. Doesn't seem like a 1-off either, Hockenson looks like he lost 2 steps from even last season.

I'm not celebrating an injury at all, but I always thought it was weird how people were so confident Skattebo would get hurt, but not as confident about Dart. Dart to me, was the far more reckless player with his body. Dart's been fun, but this was a concern I had with him as a prospect, that he was really kinda raw and college-y, and needed a HC who wouldn't throw him to the wolves right away, because of how reckless he was, both with rushing and decision making. Hopefully he isn't hurt too bad, but also, I hope they don't rush him back out of some faint playoff hopes. Possible hot take as a Bears fan: I think the offense is at its best when the vets are somewhat phased out. Less DJ/OZ/Kmet, and more Odunze/Burden/Loveland. Its been Bengals/Giants, but Caleb has shown a lot of poise these last 2 weeks in comebacks wins.

Didn't see much of NO/Car, just saw Bryce Young looking completely lost. This game didn't even seem as close as the 17-7 final. Seemed like NO dominated after the 1 Panthers scoring drive.

NE/TB was the best game of the week in my opinion. A couple breakdowns on TBs D, made this one seem more decisive than it was, but I think this is a matchup where if they played 10 times, each team would win 5. I'd love to see Kyle Williams getting more than 2 targets after showing off his wheels. He was one of my favorite non-1st round players in the draft. When I watched him, I couldn't help but think young Calvin Ridley. I think he could unlock even more big plays for this already big play passing game. Not that White/Tucker are bad, but man, getting Bucky back would really elevate this offense. They just need that big play from the RB upside.

Unsurprisingly, the Jacoby Brissett train derailed against Seattle. Seattle/LA next week might be a battle of the 2 best teams in the NFL. Hopefully JSN is ok for it.

Rams/49ers was about as dominant as you can be in beating a good team. Stafford is playing the best football, of his career (yes better than the Super Bowl year) and the OL is pushing defenses around and keeping him clean. If they had that 3rd target in the pass game, this would be an unstoppable offense. Alas, its still the NFL's best. Kinda feel bad for SF. If they were healthy, we'd be talking about the NFC West as maybe the toughest division of all-time. Even then they are 6-4 with mostly backups. They'll bounce back against Arizona next week, hopefully Purdy will finally be back.

Lions are just better than Washington. They are still the Lions and honestly are probably a better team than they were last season, at least down the stretch. This is still their division in my eyes, and honestly, I think they (along with LA and Seattle) are the elite teams in the NFL. The NFC is so much better than the AFC in my opinion.

Was in and out of the night game. Rodgers has been worse than his numbers all season in my eyes, just was waiting for a game where the numbers would match what I was seeing. This was that game. Hopefully Gadsden isn't hurt too badly. He was already looking like a top-10 (at least) NFL TE.

Nice takes. Solid.

 

[travdogg]

I don't think this was an outlier for the Bills. I think beating KC was the outlier. The Bills offense is 2 guys, and the defense bad at everything except pass rushing, and arguably the NFL's worst defense at Safety. This has been a problem for them all year, and I'm not at all surprised Achane/Waddle (2 excellent players, who teams should have offered more for, especially Achane) took advantage. The Dolphins OL played well. Paul is showing signs of maybe being good, and I think Brewer is maybe the NFL's most underrated Center, he's just small. Just need more pieces. I think Achane is as good a RB as there is in the NFL when he actually gets blocking.

What if it wasn’t an outlier for Buffalo but instead evidence that the Chiefs stink?

I mean, I guess one could interpret it that way. Personally, I think KC is better than Buffalo. Buffalo seems to have their number head-to-head (in the regular season) but I think pretty much every team would rather face Buffalo than KC, due to Buffalo's defense (and HC difference) Buffalo, I think, has more bad games than good games over the last 5 weeks, and got basically dominated by the likes of the Falcons and Dolphins.

In general, I think the Bills are a great offense, they have maybe the NFL's best player at QB, a great OL, a big time RB, but only decent pass catchers, headlined by Kincaid who they inexplicably use as a part time player, and now he's hurt. On defense, I see a bad defense, that gives up tons of big plays, can't stop the run, are mediocre at best in coverage, and have a very good pass rush. So the formula I'm seeing, is Buffalo is extremely dependent on getting ahead early. If they fall behind early, they can't get opposing offenses off the field, and their own offense can't (or won't) utilize the run game as much and they don't have the weapons to be truly pass heavy (week 1 against the Ravens was also an outlier to me, but for the pass game) but if they get a lead early, they are good at keeping it.

Bills are a team I don't feel are a serious contender, in much the same way I don't think the Steelers are either. Just too much weakness on 1 side of the ball.

 

[rockaction]

I don't think this was an outlier for the Bills. I think beating KC was the outlier. The Bills offense is 2 guys, and the defense bad at everything except pass rushing, and arguably the NFL's worst defense at Safety. This has been a problem for them all year, and I'm not at all surprised Achane/Waddle (2 excellent players, who teams should have offered more for, especially Achane) took advantage. The Dolphins OL played well. Paul is showing signs of maybe being good, and I think Brewer is maybe the NFL's most underrated Center, he's just small. Just need more pieces. I think Achane is as good a RB as there is in the NFL when he actually gets blocking.

What if it wasn’t an outlier for Buffalo but instead evidence that the Chiefs stink?

I mean, I guess one could interpret it that way. Personally, I think KC is better than Buffalo. Buffalo seems to have their number head-to-head (in the regular season) but I think pretty much every team would rather face Buffalo than KC, due to Buffalo's defense (and HC difference) Buffalo, I think, has more bad games than good games over the last 5 weeks, and got basically dominated by the likes of the Falcons and Dolphins.

In general, I think the Bills are a great offense, they have maybe the NFL's best player at QB, a great OL, a big time RB, but only decent pass catchers, headlined by Kincaid who they inexplicably use as a part time player, and now he's hurt. On defense, I see a bad defense, that gives up tons of big plays, can't stop the run, are mediocre at best in coverage, and have a very good pass rush. So the formula I'm seeing, is Buffalo is extremely dependent on getting ahead early. If they fall behind early, they can't get opposing offenses off the field, and their own offense can't (or won't) utilize the run game as much and they don't have the weapons to be truly pass heavy (week 1 against the Ravens was also an outlier to me, but for the pass game) but if they get a lead early, they are good at keeping it.

Bills are a team I don't feel are a serious contender, in much the same way I don't think the Steelers are either. Just too much weakness on 1 side of the ball.

I agree with you, which is unlike last year. I don't think they can run it. Miami just lined up and wouldn't let them. Beane trying to save his job by leaking that he wanted Waddle tells me all I need to know about that aspect of their offense; and he didn't need to because I roster Allen and have eyes. Ain't nobody getting open and the OC is a dink and dunk master and their best guys aren't topping a 75% route share.

It's poorly run.

I also think if the left tackle isn't there that KC just stinks and them not ponying up a third for Hall (mixed feelings here as a Jet/Hall fan) is insane. Just, as Ben Gretch (good fantasy writer) said, "If KC isn't going to take their running back situation seriously, I'm not going to either."

 

[travdogg]

Unsurprisingly, the Jacoby Brissett train derailed against Seattle. Seattle/LA next week might be a battle of the 2 best teams in the NFL. Hopefully JSN is ok for it.

The offensive line derailed Brissett. He actually played ok but the Seahawks D-line took over at times. Still better than Kyler but that's not saying much

I'd disagree. I think Brissett has been overrated and actually has been worse than Kyler overall, he's better at targeting Harrison, but he's also been less accurate and more turnover prone, while not offering as much as a runner.

ETA: I think Brissett's stats are misleading.

 

[jobarules]

I think there's a lot of bad teams in the NFL. Even the good teams have serious flaws.

 

[jobarules]

Unsurprisingly, the Jacoby Brissett train derailed against Seattle. Seattle/LA next week might be a battle of the 2 best teams in the NFL. Hopefully JSN is ok for it.

The offensive line derailed Brissett. He actually played ok but the Seahawks D-line took over at times. Still better than Kyler but that's not saying much

I'd disagree. I think Brissett has been overrated and actually has been worse than Kyler overall, he's better at targeting Harrison, but he's also been less accurate and more turnover prone, while not offering as much as a runner.

ETA: I think Brissett's stats are misleading.

This is a wild take. Murray stinks dude.

 

[themeistersinger]

I don't think this was an outlier for the Bills. I think beating KC was the outlier. The Bills offense is 2 guys, and the defense bad at everything except pass rushing, and arguably the NFL's worst defense at Safety. This has been a problem for them all year, and I'm not at all surprised Achane/Waddle (2 excellent players, who teams should have offered more for, especially Achane) took advantage. The Dolphins OL played well. Paul is showing signs of maybe being good, and I think Brewer is maybe the NFL's most underrated Center, he's just small. Just need more pieces. I think Achane is as good a RB as there is in the NFL when he actually gets blocking.

What if it wasn’t an outlier for Buffalo but instead evidence that the Chiefs stink?

I mean, I guess one could interpret it that way. Personally, I think KC is better than Buffalo. Buffalo seems to have their number head-to-head (in the regular season) but I think pretty much every team would rather face Buffalo than KC, due to Buffalo's defense (and HC difference) Buffalo, I think, has more bad games than good games over the last 5 weeks, and got basically dominated by the likes of the Falcons and Dolphins.

In general, I think the Bills are a great offense, they have maybe the NFL's best player at QB, a great OL, a big time RB, but only decent pass catchers, headlined by Kincaid who they inexplicably use as a part time player, and now he's hurt. On defense, I see a bad defense, that gives up tons of big plays, can't stop the run, are mediocre at best in coverage, and have a very good pass rush. So the formula I'm seeing, is Buffalo is extremely dependent on getting ahead early. If they fall behind early, they can't get opposing offenses off the field, and their own offense can't (or won't) utilize the run game as much and they don't have the weapons to be truly pass heavy (week 1 against the Ravens was also an outlier to me, but for the pass game) but if they get a lead early, they are good at keeping it.

Bills are a team I don't feel are a serious contender, in much the same way I don't think the Steelers are either. Just too much weakness on 1 side of the ball.

The Bills defense has been bad for a while, but they have had a string of injuries on that side of the ball, and do have some guys coming back soon, so that should change for the better. The offense really doesn't have the injury excuse - Palmer was the only one out at the beginning of the game. Yes Kincaid left too, but the Bills were already getting smacked around long before that. They absolutely cannot play catchup with that receiving corps.

I really do think Brady as an OC took the Dolphins lightly. They came out with 3-wide sets, which is nuts for a team that does not have 3 good WR. They played with their food early and accomplished nothing, except to keep sending their defense back out after running no plays. I don't get too mad about the turnovers - both fumbles were caused by too much effort by Cook and Allen, and I will never complain about too much effort. That's not the same thing as hero ball - it's the kind of thing that makes great players great. Even the interception was on a play where the Bills HAD TO score a TD - third down and goal, and a field goal attempt would basically be waving the white flag. So sometimes you've got to take a shot and hope for the best.

It was shocking how poor the run game was for the Bills to me, against a bad run defense. If that doesn't turn around fast, the Bills won't make the playoffs.