Some reactions to the game

[TigerJ]

First the bad news. Buffalo lost and there's no excuse for it. Buffalo killed themselves with stupid mistakes. McKelvin made some huge errors in returning (or not catching) punts. Way too many penalties by players who should know better; Arthur Moats in kick coverage. Scott Chandler (2), Cordy Glenn, and others. There were a few critical drops by receivers. Steve Johnson had a couple that would have allowed drives to continue. The Bills were not good enough in run defense. Shane Vereen averaged a hair over 7 yards per carry on 14 carries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But it's not all bad. When some prognosticators figured Belichick and Brady were going to hang 50 points on a hapless Buffalo team, Buffalo made it close and even led in the fourth quarter. The defense did some things pretty well. Buffalo's DBs played well at times preventing some completions on decent passes by Brady. They got some pressure on Brady. If I counted right, there were two sacks of Brady (Searcy on a blitz, Kyle Williams). Plus they held him under a 60% completion percentage. The biggest positive was that EJ Manuel looks like he belongs on the field in the NFL. He wasn't perfect. He threw a near interception on the first deep pass he attempted, but his completion percentage ended up being just a hair under 67% with two touchdowns. He showed the ability to elude pressure. He never looked rattled. In short, he looked more like Andrew Luck than Blaine Gabbert in their rookie seasons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The bottom line is that Buffalo needs to fix some things if they want to show they're for real and win some games, but for much of this game, they did not look like they were overmatched to me, and if they fix some little things, they probably can win some games, and not be in the suck for Clowney derby.

[jamze132]

First the bad news. Buffalo lost and there's no excuse for it. Buffalo killed themselves with stupid mistakes. McKelvin made some huge errors in returning (or not catching) punts. Way too many penalties by players who should know better; Arthur Moats in kick coverage. Scott Chandler (2), Cordy Glenn, and others. There were a few critical drops by receivers. Steve Johnson had a couple that would have allowed drives to continue. The Bills were not good enough in run defense. Shane Vereen averaged a hair over 7 yards per carry on 14 carries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But it's not all bad. When some prognosticators figured Belichick and Brady were going to hang 50 points on a hapless Buffalo team, Buffalo made it close and even led in the fourth quarter. The defense did some things pretty well. Buffalo's DBs played well at times preventing some completions on decent passes by Brady. They got some pressure on Brady. If I counted right, there were two sacks of Brady (Searcy on a blitz, Kyle Williams). Plus they held him under a 60% completion percentage. The biggest positive was that EJ Manuel looks like he belongs on the field in the NFL. He wasn't perfect. He threw a near interception on the first deep pass he attempted, but his completion percentage ended up being just a hair under 67% with one touchdown. He showed the ability to elude pressure. He never looked rattled. In short, he looked more like Andrew Luck than Blaine Gabbert in their rookie seasons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The bottom line is that Buffalo needs to fix some things if they want to show they're for real and win some games, but for much of this game, they did not look like they were overmatched to me, and if they fix some little things, they probably can win some games, and not be in the suck for Clowney derby.

You made no mention of Marrone allowing the no-huddle to continue late in the game... when we had the LEAD. Inexcusable.

[MikeInRoch]

That's because he didn't think it was important. Because it wasn't.

[alohabillsfan]

Lmao we had a 1 point lead whoopie. Rofl

[Thunderkyss]

I think this game should give a Bills fan reason to be optimistic. A little better game management, a few less mistakes & you could have beat the best team in the AFC. With that in mind, the rest of the schedule shouldn't look as daunting, you should have a chance to win any of them... play your cards right, play smart, 9 -10 wins is a possibility.

[TigerJ]

You made no mention of Marrone allowing the no-huddle to continue late in the game... when we had the LEAD. Inexcusable.I agree that conventional wisdom (huddling and trying to run clock) probably is the smarter tactic in that situation, but sustaining the drive is even more important. I wonder if Marrone is reasoning that continuing to do what Manuel's been working on as long as he's been a Bill (the no huddle) gives him a better chance of making plays. Of course, any time a strategy doesn't work, it's going to be questioned. I do think that once Manuel really settles in, Marrone will show a little more flexibility in like situations.

[Night Train]

Actually Tiger, there is an excuse or 2.

Rookie head coach
Far too many penalties
Inferior talent with another off-season needed
Refs turned away from 3,4 blatant Pats holding calls

And the #1 rated team still had to make a FG with 5 seconds left to win. This was supposed to be a blowout.

Hurts but we'll have more of these. Coach and roster need to grow & improve. Still see some good things. Work in progress.

[jamze132]

You made no mention of Marrone allowing the no-huddle to continue late in the game... when we had the LEAD. Inexcusable.


That's because he didn't think it was important. Because it wasn't.

How can you say it had no bearing?

It's inexcusable to leave seconds on the clock regardless of how effective (or infective) your offense is, when you have the lead late in the game.

[Novacane]

If we were up by 8 you'd have a valid point J. We were up by 1. They would of scored anyway.

[TigerJ]

Actually Tiger, there is an excuse or 2.

Rookie head coach
Far too many penalties
Inferior talent with another off-season needed
Refs turned away from 3,4 blatant Pats holding calls

And the #1 rated team still had to make a FG with 5 seconds left to win. This was supposed to be a blowout.

Hurts but we'll have more of these. Coach and roster need to grow & improve. Still see some good things. Work in progress. I agree, someone could use having a rookie head coach as an excuse. I just don't think that justifies a loss. Too many penalties is a reason, but not an excuse in my book. Inferior talent? Some might think so, but I don't think that's as big an issue as in the past. The absence of Gilmore and Byrd didn't help matters either, but I don't think that's the reason Buffalo lost. Holding penalties ignored by the officials? Say it isn't so! Yeah, maybe, but I'm not going to get too bent out of shape with those. I saw an instance where Leodis McKelvin had a fistful of the NE receiver's jersey and got away without a pass interference call too. I agree that a lot of people thought this was going to be an easy win for the Patriots, and they came away with a 2 point win. The Bills are better than a lot of people thought and maybe the Patriots aren't quite as good.

[cookie G]

good post, I saw a lot of the same things... a few more.

Either the DB coverage was very good or the NE receivers are just that bad..Searcy still can't cover. McLovin actually had a pretty good game at DB depsite getting away with an obvious holding penalty;

-Jerry Hughes, offsides penalties notwithstanding, looked better as an edge rusher than Mario; On one play, he initially took Solder to the outside, cut back in and nearly knocked him on his ass. He rocked him, got close to Brady and caused an early throw.

-Not much pressure without having to blitz.

-Freddy was finding holes that Spiller couldn't. The reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated. He is Butch from Pulp Fiction.

-Mayo had been jawing with Spiller earlier in the game. When Freddy got in, and has his first 8 or 9 yard gain, he went up and said something to Mayo. You could tell it pissed Mayo off. Most likely something like "Big brother's in the game now" Probably why Mayo took the cheap shot in the 2nd half.

-Unless i missed it, I don't know why they didn't try to get Spiller to the outside more..on a screen or something. running up the middle wasn't working.

-Until the 4th quarter, the D looked like it was pursuing a hell of a lot better on running plays. Your chances of making a stop increase dramatically when you have 4 or 5 people around the ball carrier...ask Nick Saban. It might have been scheme, it might have been that guys were just getting off their blocks, or it might have been reading and reacting quicker.

-On a screen play in the 1st half, Carrington actually plugged the cutback lane. That's something you saw little of last year.

-He's older..not as fast and wasn't perfect, but Leonard looked to be running the DB's on the field. And he did a very good job considering.

-Woods is just a plain good all around receiver. He's going to pay dividends.

-Manuel has control of the offense, and not in the Trent Edwards sense. When the mid and long throws are called more, he'll hit most of them. I thought he looked very good for someone in his first game.

Maybe I should be mad that they lost...but I still saw some good things. At the least, the defense didn't just lay down like they did twice last year. I can't be too upset.

[psubills62]

I didn't get to watch the whole game, and I'm really pissed about losing, but there's some good and bad things to take away.

1. Even if you don't want to claim moral victories, the Bills certainly exceeded expectations without our two best (by far) DB's on the field. Brady only had a 56% completion and at many points during the game was under 50% (probably until the last drive).

2. Run defense? Where was it? We had a number of seemingly good plays, but there were so many times when Vereen or Ridley or whatever schmuck they had running the ball wasn't even touched until 10 yards downfield. Inexcusable.

3. Buffalo's offense seemed to run the zone read a lot, but I never saw Manuel keep it. I do think he ran a few times when I wasn't watching, but how on earth can it possibly be effective if the QB isn't actually a threat to run it?

4. Amendola played out of his mind. Can't believe he made some of those catches (ones Stevie and co. certainly would have dropped). I'm pissed as anything he was able to do as well as he did, and Buffalo certainly could have defended him better, but he killed us.

5. When I first started watching (after NE was up 10-0), the DL played really well. Then late in the game they seemed pretty ineffective. Would have liked to see some better blitzes called - seemed like Brady didn't do as well against our blitzes overall.

6. I think Manuel played well. Could have played better, but had some very good touch passes (e.g. the 2 TD's, passes to Chandler).

7. Spiller sucked. Frankly, I didn't think the OL did a very good job, but whatever the issue is, they need to find ways to get him to break a few runs.

8. The no huddle can be really effective...but only when you're moving the ball. I'm not really a fan of doing it all the time. If the defense knows to expect it, there's not really as much advantage, especially when you don't have guys who create mismatches in both the run and the pass (i.e. TE's).

9. Leodis showed pretty well. Brady may have had communication errors, but even if they didn't, McKelvin was draped on Thompkins a number of times.

10. Freaking penalties. Frankly, I'm OK with seeing penalties called, as long as they're being called both ways. There were multiple holds on the Pats that were not called. On one running play, the RB was trying to get to the edge, but two Bills DL had blown through their blocks and were going for him. They both "shockingly" fell down after reaching for the RB with only one arm. Instead of being caught behind the LOS, he backed out and lunged forward for ~4 yards. Sorry, but how many defenders try go for a guy with 1 arm like that when they aren't being held?

Obviously the Bills need to clean crap up, but there was plenty of non-calls on the Pats today.

[Syderick]

The defense looks better then it did was last year. Looks like we are going to run the ball more to help Manuel. For a rookie Manuel did well. The Bills are should be able to go 8-8 this year.

[psubills62]

Completely forgot to mention the 4th and 1 on the Pats ~42 yard line. I cannot believe Marrone didn't go for it. I was out of my mind when he punted. Two 3 and outs later, NE was starting on their own 45 anyway. That really, really pissed me off. That and the TO shortly before the half were golden opportunities for at least 3 points and they really blew it.

[DesertFox24]

The OL did fantastic is pass protection I think manual was hurried two times maybe three. They did not do well running the ball. To be fair though the pats are built to stop the run not the pass I guess we decided to run because of a rookie qb, but I expect manual to pass the ball alot more the final game of the season

[Turf]

We had them beat. We didn't take advantage of two possessions where we could have at least mounted a small drive for a FG, or more. Really bad penalties and play calling offensively. They have to learn to take advantage. SJ drop/slightly bad pass was the killer for me. That drive should have kept going. Too many third and shorts we didn't convert on.

[CoolBreeze]

Lmao we had a 1 point lead whoopie. Rofl

HAHA 1 point... I bet my life you'd take that point in a playoff game, or the superbowl you dope. 1 point or 50 points, it doesn't matter a win's a win, and a leads a lead.

[CoolBreeze]

And just to clarify my post above, we only lost by 2 points Whoopie. Must not have been a real loss, cause it was only two points

[Dr. Lecter]

How can you say it had no bearing?

It's inexcusable to leave seconds on the clock regardless of how effective (or infective) your offense is, when you have the lead late in the game.


Because New England still had 3 timeouts. It was not that late in the game when the drive started

[justasportsfan]

You made no mention of Marrone allowing the no-huddle to continue late in the game... when we had the LEAD. Inexcusable.

It was a risk but a risk I was happy to see.

Marrone: "we need to score to beat them"
Jauron : " kick the ball to them and dare them to beat us"

I'll take the killer instinct mentality over the play not to lose.

[trapezeus]

if the bills offense looked at all competent in the early 4th quarter or there were some unique calls that weren't from the same 4 plays we kept calling, then yes, run your no huddle attack. when you've been dormant almost the entire game except 2 drives and one that started at the 45yd line, you can't exactly be brazen with 5 minutes to go. Had they just gone three and out but used the clock, they would have punted the ball back to the patriots with 3 and change on the clock. now the patriots would have been in a different frame of mind. desperately needing to get yardage quickly. the defense would have been put at advantage. but they got it back with 4 minuets and change.


marrone looked like jauron in that fourth quarter. he looked confused and stressed out and then just figured he'd do what he wanted to do regardless of the changing circumstance around him.

[GingerP]

Because New England still had 3 timeouts. It was not that late in the game when the drive started

Still, they could let the clock run down more before snapping the ball. I have no problem not huddling, since that is their offense and they wanted to stay aggressive, but why snap the ball with 15-20 seconds still on the clock when playing with the lead? That is a game-management issue.

I though the Bills pressure came from inside. Their outside rush was a disappointment, but they were pushing the pocket up the middle and it was effective. They tired late in the game, but that is because NE held the ball forever.

I love the effort on D, but they have a long way to go. I think I'd grade them high because they were on the field so much and they are playing a new scheme, so there is a curve. That said, they still allowed 421 yards of offense and allowed 11-of-20 on 3rd downs. That isn't good.

EJ did a good job, but they are going to need more from him as he develops. He was late on some throws down-field, but one has to think that will improve with playing time. Overall, he was encouraging.