Still think Bills are a Solid Team

[Mahdi]

That loss yesterday was almost predictable and not because it was a trap game or a look ahead game.

This game was lost because our depth was simply tested a little too much.

McCoy, Woods, Watkins, Dareus, Henderson, Aaron Williams out is just a bit too much to cope without.

Kyle Williams has been dominant in the middle but at the midway point he's probably a bit worn out. Dareus would be providing much needed support.

Missing McCoy speaks for itself. Both Watkins and Woods out pretty much removes any hope or threat of a passing game. That's way too one dimensional.

I still think that although Mills has been steady he is a weak link and he was beat badly yesterday too many times.

With all that the Bills were still in that game minus an under thrown ball from Tannehill that Stills came back for. In years past any Bills team with all those players missing would have gotten beat badly. We were in it at least.

IMO this is a playoff team that just needs to get healthy and practice together. Even guys who did play yesterday were either out or limited most of the week. That doesn't help going into a road game against a division rival.

Side notes:

Tyrod was forced to throw yesterday and I think that was a good experience for him. He made some throws he doesn't usually even attempt. That could open up the playbook moving forward.

Lawson looked real good. Seems like he'll be able to provide another pass rush threat from the outside or even inside. Could be calling this guy Sack Lawson soon enough...

Lorenzo Alexander - still don't get it - how is he this good? He literally looks like Von Miller out there

Re-Sign Brown ASAP. Having him Preston and Ragland would be impressive.

Gillislee should have been given the workload yesterday rather than risking McCoy and using him as a decoy.

[swiper]

[WagonCircler]

Sure they're solid. They're 7-9 solid.

Too good to draft in the top 5, too bad to make the playoffs.

Same as it ever was.

Same as it ever was.

[justasportsfan]

solidly mediocre

[Victor7]

Oh Mahdi ! Always an optimist.

I don't think we are as good as you think just as I don't think we are as bad as we looked.

For sure the injuries were big yesterday. But such is life in this league and I honestly don't see us beating NE or Seattle (even Cincy to be honest) in the next weeks even with a full slate of players. So we are pretty much screwed anyway.

I'm still trying to figure out how they ran all over us when we knew that's all they had. I mean they weren't going to rely on Tanny for ****s sake. How come we weren't able to stop what we knew?

Also befuddled to the stubbornness of playing McCoy. He never should've been out there in the 1st place. But ok, fine play him. It was painfully obvious after a couple of runs it just wasn't going to work out. Why not try Gillisie or Bush ? That stubborness kept the offense one dimensional and completely stoppable.

[Novacane]

Oh Mahdi ! Always an optimist.

I don't think we are as good as you think just as I don't think we are as bad as we looked.

For sure the injuries were big yesterday. But such is life in this league and I honestly don't see us beating NE or Seattle (even Cincy to be honest) in the next weeks even with a full slate of players. So we are pretty much screwed anyway.

I'm still trying to figure out how they ran all over us when we knew that's all they had. I mean they weren't going to rely on Tanny for ****s sake. How come we weren't able to stop what we knew?

Also befuddled to the stubbornness of playing McCoy. He never should've been out there in the 1st place. But ok, fine play him. It was painfully obvious after a couple of runs it just wasn't going to work out. Why not try Gillisie or Bush ? That stubborness kept the offense one dimensional and completely stoppable.

Ryan brothers

[YardRat]

I agree with a lot of what's been said, but this is not a playoff team.

The biggest mistake was dressing Shady. No reason for the dumbasses to carry four RB's if you're still going to try to run your starter into the ground when he only has one good wheel.

[Victor7]

I agree with a lot of what's been said, but this is not a playoff team.

The biggest mistake was dressing Shady. No reason for the dumbasses to carry four RB's if you're still going to try to run your starter into the ground when he only has one good wheel.

Truly ridicoluous. I mean if you wanna give him a go I can understand that. He's a game changer. But give him a few plays and that's it. It was painfully obvious from the word go he wasn't good enough. Why keep pressing ? After a couple of drives that should've been it. Ride Bush and Gillislie the rest of the day.

3 fold blame IMO

Trainers/Doctors for clearing a guy when he was not good enough to go
Rex for not recognizing this and pulling the plug on the failed experiment early on and switching to Gillislie/Bush
Shady for not being able to say ... "You know what I'm not on my best today coach. Give someone else a shot"

[YardRat]

I can't throw too much blame at Shady for wanting to give it a go, but the medical/coaching staff needs to over ride that and make the call.

[Night Train]

While Shady is an issue, the D getting run over is the concern.

[Mahdi]

While Shady is an issue, the D getting run over is the concern.

A concern yes, alarm bells not yet.

I think having Dareus back would be massive even if he doesn't come back in Pro Bowl form. Just adding another player that is better than Bryant as a NT that will just improve the rotation will be a boost.

I like the scheme and I think poor tackling and angles was the main problem yesterday. Browns weren't as good as usual yesterday. We are definitely missing a wood-laying safety on the back end also.

[YardRat]

While Shady is an issue, the D getting run over is the concern.

Might just be an anomaly...like the pass D against the Jets earlier in the season.

[Mr. Pink]

They're a decent team with no QB which means they ain't worth a damn in todays NFL.

[Historian]

I look at it a little differently.

The win streak was primarily due to two things:

1. McCoy's running, which controlled the ball, and the clock.

2. The play of a lot of backups on defense. Good linebacking.

Say what you want about the Ryan twins, (believe me, I was skeptical when he hired his brother) but those backups were prepared.

To me, that's coaching.

(go ahead, flame away)

[ghz in pittsburgh]

In AFC, when the Bills have to play team X, which X you don't even need to think twice and say the Bills will lose?

I can only come up with one such X. The team they will face Next Sunday.

The Bills are like a lot of AFC teams that when playing at home, they are solid enough to beat anyone except X; on the road, they could lose to a team just like themselves (Miami is one of them). The true stinker so far this season is the Jets game where the Jets receivers seemingly won every jump ball Fitz threw. The Bills need to get lucky in one of the Bengels and Raiders road game to make that up.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

I agree with a lot of what's been said, but this is not a playoff team.

The biggest mistake was dressing Shady. No reason for the dumbasses to carry four RB's if you're still going to try to run your starter into the ground when he only has one good wheel.

I think Gillislee is a great change of pace back, but he is not a starter quality guy yet. McCoy is what makes the offense work. If he was gimpy before the 49ers game I could maybe see sitting him and taking the chance, but you can't just tank divisional games. As it stands right now we have a "soft" 4-3 because it's been mostly won against NFC clubs. We are looking to be on the outside of a lot of the tiebreakers.

[streetkings01]

I think Brady was like 2-4 without both Gronk and Edelman in the lineup. You take away weapons and your team will struggle...........guys are 3rd and 4th on the depth chart for a reason.

[Victor7]

I think Gillislee is a great change of pace back, but he is not a starter quality guy yet. McCoy is what makes the offense work. If he was gimpy before the 49ers game I could maybe see sitting him and taking the chance, but you can't just tank divisional games. As it stands right now we have a "soft" 4-3 because it's been mostly won against NFC clubs. We are looking to be on the outside of a lot of the tiebreakers.

It wouldn't be tanking. You are selling Gillislie short man. You saw what McCoy brought to the table. It was next to nothing. I know he's the workhorse and what makes the team move. But on Sunday he had nothing and we should've tried something else with MG and/or Bush. Going pass heavy on a depleted WR core was definitely not the best idea.