***Official Buffalo Bills Thread 2020 Version***

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

2 minutes ago, IvanKaramazov said:

Brown to IR.  Sure, it's only three games and not season-ending, but we really need this guy back, bad. 

Or the offensive coaching staff needs to make some adjustments...

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

Losing Brown for the next 3 games is going to be pretty tough, especially in situations where they’d like to go 4 wide.

Gotta think with Cody Ford being done for the season, Quinton Spain is laughing. There is going to be a hole at LG for the rest of the season now. And for all of McDermott’s smoke about possibly not playing Morse, that’s not even a possibility now IMO.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

And next week’s game against the Niners just got really interesting. Santa Clara is shutting down all high school, college, and pro sports that involve any contact for 3 weeks. So now the Niners need to find a place to practice and a place to play next Monday Night’s game. 

[Steve Tasker 8,131]

Bills caught a bit of a break today - Chargers were not at their best.  Coaching aside, Herbert missed a lot of throws.

It's nice to win a game when you're not at your best.  Allen wasn't inefficient (another 75% comp % game) but got clobbered by Bosa repeatedly and that INT was dreadful.

Still, Bills ran the ball pretty well and the defense showed up when it mattered.  Big INT from White, a big 4th down stop, they did enough.  Keep pace with Miami and New England.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

27 minutes ago, Steve Tasker said:

Bills caught a bit of a break today - Chargers were not at their best.  Coaching aside, Herbert missed a lot of throws.

It's nice to win a game when you're not at your best.  Allen wasn't inefficient (another 75% comp % game) but got clobbered by Bosa repeatedly and that INT was dreadful.

Still, Bills ran the ball pretty well and the defense showed up when it mattered.  Big INT from White, a big 4th down stop, they did enough.  Keep pace with Miami and New England.

It’s kind of nice that the Bills are good enough to play pretty terribly and still win. Totally different starting place each game for them.

The O-like seriously needs to get figured out though as far as pass blocking goes. They have not been good lately at all and it is showing. They are struggling to get time to throw the ball down the field. 

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

Sounds like there’s a good chance the Bills get Tyrell Dodson back this week at linebacker. That would be a good thing. Oh, and Matt Milano too 

[IvanKaramazov 21,181]

Josh Allen: The Musical

[IvanKaramazov 21,181]

Klein is AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

I'm sure we can all probably come up with other examples of players who went from "wow, this guy is a serious liability" to "wow, this guy is playing lights out," but this is really a breathtaking 180 for Klein.  Good for him.  If you told me six weeks ago that we were going to find ourselves with an embarrassment of riches at the LB position, I'd have laughed at you.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

6 hours ago, IvanKaramazov said:

Klein is AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

I'm sure we can all probably come up with other examples of players who went from "wow, this guy is a serious liability" to "wow, this guy is playing lights out," but this is really a breathtaking 180 for Klein.  Good for him.  If you told me six weeks ago that we were going to find ourselves with an embarrassment of riches at the LB position, I'd have laughed at you.

The only thing that’s crazy to me, is that if you watched that game and came away thinking that Klein deserved that award this week more than Bosa, well, then I’m not sure what you were watching.

The Bills have done a great job adjusting their scheme and using Klein in ways that play to his strengths and limiting his exposure on his weaknesses. It’s been good to see both him and Edmunds playing a lot more aggressively and better

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

24 minutes ago, GroveDiesel said:

The only thing that’s crazy to me, is that if you watched that game and came away thinking that Klein deserved that award this week more than Bosa, well, then I’m not sure what you were watching.

That's a good point.

[Twenty-Four Eighty-Four 673]

Does Klein go back to the bench when Milano is activated? Asking for my IDP league. Both are available but I'd only be able to grab one. Do they both split time? Is Milano stepping right back into his normal role?

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

1 hour ago, Twenty-Four Eighty-Four said:

Does Klein go back to the bench when Milano is activated? Asking for my IDP league. Both are available but I'd only be able to grab one. Do they both split time? Is Milano stepping right back into his normal role?

Milano will be the guy, assuming he’s 100% healthy. Klein may end up getting more reps than he was at the beginning of the season, but Milano is a really really good linebacker (almost certainly their best).

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

Pretty impressive, the only guy that has any injury designation is Fromm. Otherwise they are totally healthy (other than the guys on IR).

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:28 PM, GroveDiesel said:

Pretty impressive, the only guy that has any injury designation is Fromm. Otherwise they are totally healthy (other than the guys on IR).

Jinx?

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

Shout!

Great win!

 

I must say, though... I'm not excited about the Steelers losing tonight. They are going to come out motivated and focused next week...

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

2 minutes ago, Grigs Allmoon said:

Shout!

Great win!

 

I must say, though... I'm not excited about the Steelers losing tonight. They are going to come out motivated and focused next week...

Getting pressure on Big Ben will be hugely important. They’re going to throw the ball a ton and Ben isn’t as mobile as he used to be and he can be pressured into making bad passes.

On the other side of the ball, the Bills need to keep Watt off of Allen as much as possible. Chip him with a TE or RB and go at him with screens. The Steelers are really hurting at linebacker so I could see another big game for Beasley dominating over the middle of the field.

Should be another fun prime time game.

[Steve Tasker 8,131]

I feel like every year, there's this assumption that the AFC East sucks, and every year the division proves people wrong.  The Jets aside, all 3 of the Bills, Dolphins, and Patriots are hot right now.  Gonna be an interesting last 4 weeks, with those teams all playing each other down the stretch.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

46 minutes ago, Steve Tasker said:

I feel like every year, there's this assumption that the AFC East sucks, and every year the division proves people wrong.  The Jets aside, all 3 of the Bills, Dolphins, and Patriots are hot right now.  Gonna be an interesting last 4 weeks, with those teams all playing each other down the stretch.

Kinda crazy how easy Miami’s schedule has been: Link

Out of all the playoff contenders, they’ve had by far the easiest schedule (and yeah, I know, the Bills had an awfully easy schedule last year).

Steelers and Browns with next easiest schedules. Awfully nice year to play the NFC East.

 

[Steve Tasker 8,131]

18 minutes ago, GroveDiesel said:

Kinda crazy how easy Miami’s schedule has been: Link

Out of all the playoff contenders, they’ve had by far the easiest schedule (and yeah, I know, the Bills had an awfully easy schedule last year).

Steelers and Browns with next easiest schedules. Awfully nice year to play the NFC East.

 

Kinda odd to see such a disparity between Miami and the Bills in the SOS discussion.  12 of their games are against the exact same opponents and 2 of the games are against each other.  But the Bills got Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and Miami got Cincinnati and Jacksonville based on last year's results.  That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

[Steve Tasker 8,131]

Just now, Steve Tasker said:

Kinda odd to see such a disparity between Miami and the Bills in the SOS discussion.  12 of their games are against the exact same opponents and 2 of the games are against each other.  But the Bills got Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and Miami got Cincinnati and Jacksonville based on last year's results.  That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Sorta related, I did see a stat floating around on Twitter that says the Bills have the most wins in the NFL over teams above .500.  I don't know if that's true, though.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

33 minutes ago, Steve Tasker said:

Sorta related, I did see a stat floating around on Twitter that says the Bills have the most wins in the NFL over teams above .500.  I don't know if that's true, though.

From a quick look, it seems as if they may be tied with KC and Pittsburgh with 4 wins over teams that are above .500. It’s possible I missed an outlier team as I didn’t check everyone, but teams like Browns, Dolphins, Titans, Colts, Packers, Saints and Bucs all have less than that. 

 

[IvanKaramazov 21,181]

2 hours ago, Steve Tasker said:

Kinda odd to see such a disparity between Miami and the Bills in the SOS discussion.  12 of their games are against the exact same opponents and 2 of the games are against each other.  But the Bills got Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and Miami got Cincinnati and Jacksonville based on last year's results.  That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Think of how weird it's going to be next year when we play a first place schedule and New England is getting the Jacksonvilles of the world.

[IvanKaramazov 21,181]

Over the past 24 hours, the Bills have gone from 2.5 point dogs to 2.5 point favorites over the Steelers.  Second week in a row with a wild swing in the betting line.

(I think the original line was about right, and the betting public is overreacting to last night's games, FWIW).

Edited December 9, 2020 by IvanKaramazov

[IvanKaramazov 21,181]

I'm starting to get confused.  This is Year 4 of our current regime, and I thought the rule was that this was when our front office was supposed to leave and we start over from scratch.  Instead we're extending everybody.  Is that even a thing you're legally allowed to do in the NFL?

[Mr. Peterson 193]

I know.  It’s so different for us.  I think I kind of like it though.  

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

You all understand that both the Browns and Bills are good this year, right? And that the Patriots are bad? And that it is 2020? So there’s about a 90% chance a meteor strikes the earth and kills us all, right?

[Ostro 27]

22 minutes ago, GroveDiesel said:

You all understand that both the Browns and Bills are good this year, right? And that the Patriots are bad? And that it is 2020? So there’s about a 90% chance a meteor strikes the earth and kills us all, right?

Yup, and it'll probably happen at Halftime in the Super Bowl when the Bills are up 34-3 against the Saints.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

15 minutes ago, Ostro said:

Yup, and it'll probably happen at Halftime in the Super Bowl when the Bills are up 34-3 against the Saints.

Now that’s just silly. Everyone knows it will be just as Bass’s 47 yard game winning field goal is about to go through the uprights to defeat the Giants.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

Remember a year ago, before the Bills and Steelers played, when PFF insisted that the Steelers would beat the Bills because Duck Hodges is a better QB than Josh Allen?

A year later Hodges is a 4th string QB and on the practice squad and Josh Allen is in the MVP conversation.

This is an excellent reminder that PFF’s analysis of Josh Allen wasn’t just terrible, their analysis on Hodges was garbage as well. So their contention that Allen is a unicorn outlier and that their analysis overall is good takes a bit of a hit when you see what they thought of Hodges as well.

 

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

2 hours ago, GroveDiesel said:

Remember a year ago, before the Bills and Steelers played, when PFF insisted that the Steelers would beat the Bills because Duck Hodges is a better QB than Josh Allen?

No

 

 

  

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

Things have broken just right for the Bills so far today. If Buffalo beats the Steelers tonight and the Browns can manage to beat the Ravens tomorrow night, the Bills will actually clinch a playoff spot.

[IvanKaramazov 21,181]

Every year, there is a team that gets red hot heading into the playoffs.  We've got three more weeks to go, and lots can go wrong in the meantime, but right now we are that team.

[The Duff Man 1,120]

8 minutes ago, IvanKaramazov said:

Every year, there is a team that gets red hot heading into the playoffs.  We've got three more weeks to go, and lots can go wrong in the meantime, but right now we are that team.

Imagine getting Brown back?  The Bills are legit Super Bowl contenders. 

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

15 minutes ago, The Duff Man said:

Imagine getting Brown back?  The Bills are legit Super Bowl contenders. 

Swoon.

And Milano should be back up to 100% soon.

I’d feel even better about the offense if the Bills hadn’t ticked off and then got rid of Spain. I’d feel a lot better about the O-line if Spain was at LG instead of Boettger. The Bills and their desire to force the Cody Ford issue screwed that up. Of course, Spain should have handled it better too and I bet he regrets missing out on playing for something special instead of playing for the garbage heap that is the 2020 Burrows-less Bengals.

[Steve Tasker 8,131]

So, do you guys think they're gonna pick up Josh Allen's 5th year option?

[shadrap 1,765]

man, Buffalo has a really good team.  congrats!!

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

1 hour ago, shadrap said:

man, Buffalo has a really good team.  congrats!!

Thanks, I worked really hard on it!

It really is such a crazy/interesting year. The one thing that sucks is that the Bills seem to be legit good for the first time in forever and of course fans aren’t able to be at the games. That stadium would have been nuts last night.

[Gottabesweet 960]

6 hours ago, GroveDiesel said:

Thanks, I worked really hard on it!

It really is such a crazy/interesting year. The one thing that sucks is that the Bills seem to be legit good for the first time in forever and of course fans aren’t able to be at the games. That stadium would have been nuts last night.

It’s extremely depressing. It sucks watching Kansas City successful have 20k fans since September with no issues.  

[sushinsky4tsar 23]

Singletary/Moss owner desperate for anything resembling RB2 production.   Anyone have any theories for the better back to start @ Denver?   Feel like this could be a game where there's a prayer of 24+ combined RB carries.    

[Wrigley 3,430]

2020 when both Buffalo and Cleveland are good

[Steve Tasker 8,131]

45 minutes ago, Wrigley said:

2020 when both Buffalo and Cleveland are good

As if the rest of 2020 wasn't enough of a sign of the apocalypse.

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

1 hour ago, sushinsky4tsar said:

Singletary/Moss owner desperate for anything resembling RB2 production.   Anyone have any theories for the better back to start @ Denver?   Feel like this could be a game where there's a prayer of 24+ combined RB carries.    

Good luck on that!

I'd go with Singletary as I think he's a bit more talented, and has received a slight edge in the passing game.

[Grigs Allmoon 1,044]

1 hour ago, Wrigley said:

2020 when both Buffalo and Cleveland are good

The Browns are good? 

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

53 minutes ago, Grigs Allmoon said:

The Browns are good? 

They show flashes. Their first half stomping against a pretty good Titans team was pretty impressive.  But I think it’s pretty clear that the AFC North has benefitted greatly by their schedule. The AFC North has had a ridiculously easy slate of games this year. 

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

Guys, the Bills may very well clinch the AFC East today. 

[Willie Neslon 4,487]

Any Bills homer know who Tre'Davious is going to cover today? The touts don't seem to know or care.

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

11 minutes ago, Willie Neslon said:

Any Bills homer know who Tre'Davious is going to cover today? The touts don't seem to know or care.

The Bills play more zone than they do man to man. They do have him shadow guys some at times, but not a lot. When they do it’s usually somewhat bigger receivers that their other DBs tend to struggle with.

[The Duff Man 1,120]

Would love to see Allen pick apart a depleted Den secondary and more fully join the MVP race as a dark horse winner. 

[GroveDiesel 9,069]

AFC Champs baby! 

Hilariously, Beasley said he didn’t even realize that the Bills would clinch the AFC East today with a win.

[Bracie Smathers 3,551]

Wow!  Who wouldda thunk da Bills being the second team in the AFC to win their division.

Congrats and circle them wagons.