Buffalo Bills 2023 Thread

[That Aud Smell]

I've never had a sports fan experience like I'm having with the Dolphins. Like any self-respecting Gen X Bills fan, I grew up hating the Dolphins. I've never hated the Patriots like I do the Dolphins. I was an adult when the Patriots became the Patriots. There are corollaries to this in the hockey world (e.g., why I hate the Flyers much more than I can ever hate, say, the Leafs (whom I cannot even truly hate)).

Anyhoo. I keep finding myself fascinated and entertained by McDaniel and his Dolphins team. It's so disorienting.

I think the Bills will need more than 30 points to win on Sunday.

[Hank]

17 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I've never had a sports fan experience like I'm having with the Dolphins. Like any self-respecting Gen X Bills fan, I grew up hating the Dolphins. I've never hated the Patriots like I do the Dolphins. I was an adult when the Patriots became the Patriots. There are corollaries to this in the hockey world (e.g., why I hate the Flyers much more than I can ever hate, say, the Leafs (whom I cannot even truly hate)).

Anyhoo. I keep finding myself fascinated and entertained by McDaniel and his Dolphins team. It's so disorienting.

I think the Bills will need more than 30 points to win on Sunday.

Oh for the 70s....

[TheAud]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I've never had a sports fan experience like I'm having with the Dolphins. Like any self-respecting Gen X Bills fan, I grew up hating the Dolphins. I've never hated the Patriots like I do the Dolphins. I was an adult when the Patriots became the Patriots. There are corollaries to this in the hockey world (e.g., why I hate the Flyers much more than I can ever hate, say, the Leafs (whom I cannot even truly hate)).

Anyhoo. I keep finding myself fascinated and entertained by McDaniel and his Dolphins team. It's so disorienting.

I think the Bills will need more than 30 points to win on Sunday.

I think the formula for Sunday is hold Miami to 34, Bills score 35.

[That Aud Smell]

2 minutes ago, TheAud said:

I think the formula for Sunday is hold Miami to 34, Bills score 35.

If I were a wagering fella (I'm not), I'd hit the over for sure.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

Oh for the 70s....

That 0-20 in the 70's weighs on us Boomers.  We can never beat them enough in my opinion, but we ruined the fun for the Shula/Marino era Dolphins who thought they had a dynasty started until Jim Kelly came to Buffalo.  We had a far better team in every aspect of the game.  

[Night Train]

D has been far better these 1st 3 games under McDermott. This upcoming game will speak for itself, pro or con. 

O and ST's are playing well. Go Bills !  

[That Aud Smell]

15 minutes ago, Night Train said:

D has been far better these 1st 3 games under McDermott. This upcoming game will speak for itself, pro or con. 

Miami's going to get its yards. And they will probably score a bunch of points. The key will be the D's (and ST's) ability to make a few big plays in key moments - big third/fourth down stops, a turnover or 2.

And then our offense needs to TCB.

[...]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

Miami's going to get its yards. And they will probably score a bunch of points. The key will be the D's (and ST's) ability to make a few big plays in key moments - big third/fourth down stops, a turnover or 2.

And then our offense needs to TCB.

The game will hinge on Buffalo's ability to hit Tua. Miami will do whatever they can to prevent sacks and will have to sacrifice other parts of their game if Buffalo can figure out a way to breach the offensive line. Sacks would be ideal, but clean hits would work, too.

[Stoner]

4 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

If I were a wagering fella (I'm not), I'd hit the over for sure.

 

[K-9]

11 minutes ago, ... said:

The game will hinge on Buffalo's ability to hit Tua. Miami will do whatever they can to prevent sacks and will have to sacrifice other parts of their game if Buffalo can figure out a way to breach the offensive line. Sacks would be ideal, but clean hits would work, too.

That’s gonna be tough as he gets rid of the ball in under 2.5 seconds on most plays. That said, if we can get them to play behind the sticks on occasion and force them to need longer developing routes to convert third downs, we should have opportunities to knock him on his ass. 

[...]

43 minutes ago, K-9 said:

That’s gonna be tough as he gets rid of the ball in under 2.5 seconds on most plays. That said, if we can get them to play behind the sticks on occasion and force them to need longer developing routes to convert third downs, we should have opportunities to knock him on his ass. 

That's the "take away Tua's first choice" discussion. If they can do that and force him to think while the pocket collapses he becomes a crash test dummy.

[Broken Ankles]

5 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

If I were a wagering fella (I'm not), I'd hit the over for sure.

Currently the Bills are -3 and the over is 53.5.  So they are predicting a 29-26 game.

I like the Bills D is far better than the Chargers, Denver or New England.  if Buffalo scores 4 TD’s I like their chances. 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

That’s gonna be tough as he gets rid of the ball in under 2.5 seconds on most plays. That said, if we can get them to play behind the sticks on occasion and force them to need longer developing routes to convert third downs, we should have opportunities to knock him on his ass. 

The D will need to bring their A game, but if they can keep Hill and the rest from getting away clean at the line, it will force Tua to hold the ball longer.  And if the D-line can do against Miami's O-line what it did the 1st 3 games (even though they had few sacks the 1st 2 games, they had plenty of pressure) well then we might be able to see if the Jujitsu training has actually worked for Tua or if he'll suffer another "ankle" injury.

Allen tends to play his best against these guys.  The O-line dominated one of the most heralded front 4's this past Sunday and Spencer Brown handled Crosby the week before (one week after looking like a turnstile).  Miami's D is nowhere near as formidible as their O is.  The Bills can keep up in a shootout if it comes to that.

Am really looking forward to Sunday's game.  (And should the Bills win, and they should ;) , then the entire AFC East a mere 4 weeks in will have daisy chained each other to a 1-1 divisional record.)

[Dr. Who]

24 minutes ago, Taro T said:

The D will need to bring their A game, but if they can keep Hill and the rest from getting away clean at the line, it will force Tua to hold the ball longer.  And if the D-line can do against Miami's O-line what it did the 1st 3 games (even though they had few sacks the 1st 2 games, they had plenty of pressure) well then we might be able to see if the Jujitsu training has actually worked for Tua or if he'll suffer another "ankle" injury.

Allen tends to play his best against these guys.  The O-line dominated one of the most heralded front 4's this past Sunday and Spencer Brown handled Crosby the week before (one week after looking like a turnstile).  Miami's D is nowhere near as formidible as their O is.  The Bills can keep up in a shootout if it comes to that.

Am really looking forward to Sunday's game.  (And should the Bills win, and they should ;) , then the entire AFC East a mere 4 weeks in will have daisy chained each other to a 1-1 divisional record.)

I hope Elam has gotten enough confidence back to play man coverage, because they need his speed to cover Hill. He's their best press cb, so unless Elam is a total lost cause, I expect he will not be a healthy scratch on Sunday. Miami's oline is not great, but Tua is getting rid of the ball so quickly. The scheme is helping them. Have to find a way to make him hesitate just a bit. I think if that happens, the Dline will cause him problems.

Still not confident about how Dorsey is calling a game. I am glad that he is genuinely incorporating the rbs, though. Cook, Murray, and Harris each bring something to the table. I think Cook could be a star, actually, but I am a biased UGA fan. I hope Kincaid gets more play than last week. We need those yards out of the slot position. 

Overall, I am cautiously optimistic. Folks are going to hype Miami after 70. The Broncos are bad and they gave up. It should be a different story against a D that is starting to hit on all cylinders. 

[Taro T]

Why do the Bungles dress up like Zebras every so often?  Do they really espect the refs to think they're all in it together if they dress that way?

[K-9]

4 hours ago, ... said:

That's the "take away Tua's first choice" discussion. If they can do that and force him to think while the pocket collapses he becomes a crash test dummy.

That’s another way of putting it for sure.

Edited September 26, 2023 by K-9

[shrader]

38 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Why do the Bungles dress up like Zebras every so often?  Do they really espect the refs to think they're all in it together if they dress that way?

If it wasn’t for the green field I would have thought I was watching on a black and white tv. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Not looking past the Fins (DASTARDLY !!), but in 2 weeks the Bills are *home* to the Jags in London.  Playing at the new White Hart Lane, or Lily White as some called it (I prefer the old name) - home of Tottenham Hotspur FC.

[Night Train]

34 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Not looking past the Fins (DASTARDLY !!), but in 2 weeks the Bills are *home* to the Jags in London.  Playing at the new White Hart Lane, or Lily White as some called it (I prefer the old name) - home of Tottenham Hotspur FC.

 Yep. My American Legion will be opening the bar for the 0930 EST kickoff.. 

 Nothing like eggs with Jameson.

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Night Train

[JustOneParade]

This game should be fun. The proverbial irresistible force vs. immoveable object matchup based on this past weekend. The Phins put up 70 and the Bills D dominated the WFT. In fact, since the advent of fantasy football (or at least since its been shoved in our faces with regularity) I have never seen a QB play an entire game and have ZERO fantasy points. Howell surely has PTSD after Sunday.

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, JustOneParade said:

since the advent of fantasy football (or at least since its been shoved in our faces with regularity) I have never seen a QB play an entire game and have ZERO fantasy points. 

Sam Darnold definitely went negative in his infamous "seeing ghosts" game in 2019.

[inkman]

2 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Sam Darnold definitely went negative in his infamous "seeing ghosts" game in 2019.

Yeah I started Ryan Leaf his rookie year, I think he got me minus .6 points or something.  

[Taro T]

10 minutes ago, inkman said:

Yeah I started Ryan Leaf his rookie year, I think he got me minus .6 points or something.  

And that was probably in his win vs Buffalo that year.  😉

[JustOneParade]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Sam Darnold definitely went negative in his infamous "seeing ghosts" game in 2019.

Had no recollection so I looked it up. Great call @Taro T. Holy sh*t that was awful. 11/32 for 86 yards, 0TD/4INT, passer rating of 3.6. If he wasn't negative that day then something's broken.

[JustOneParade]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Yeah I started Ryan Leaf his rookie year, I think he got me minus .6 points or something.  

Had to be this one v. KC: 1/15, 4 yards, 0/1 TD/INT, passer rating Blutarski (0.0). Truly awful.