Buffalo Bills Week 18: Buffalo (13-3) at New England (3-13), 1/5/25, 1 PM, CBS

[NotABadPeriod]

That's been the story of the Bills defense all season long, and really as McDermott-tenure long. They give up yards and first downs and all of that, but they make enough big plays to win. It's also why they've struggled in the playoffs against good offenses who don't make the kinds of mistakes this defense pounces on.

The formula for this team is always going to be: get just enough stops on defense for Josh to win on offense. They're never going to just shut a team down.

 

[Husko]

They let them move the ball twice. And ended both those drives on great defensive plays. They also had a safety on a different drive.

I mean, come on.

Come on what? I don’t know why you have to act so aghast at even the slightest negative observation.

The Jets moved the ball at will, but the bills came away without relinquishing any points. It doesn’t really mean anything.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Given up zero points.

Scored two points.

Given up 112 total yards.


And most of the posts here are about the defense….they are allowed to let the other team move the ball a bit guys

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Anderson the only injury so far (who did return) per Sal. C

 

[Dirty Dog]

Come on what? I don’t know why you have to act so aghast at even the slightest negative observation.

The Jets moved the ball at will, but the bills came away without relinquishing any points. It doesn’t really mean anything.

112 total yards in the half isn’t moving the ball at will. If they haven’t given up many points OR YARDS, what have they given up?

 

[Kevbeau]

They have given up a whopping 112 yards. At what point is the other narrative a bit overblown?

It’s more how they’re doing it. They’re coming up big when needed but I wouldn’t want to count on timely big plays. I get it’s all a part of “defense” but if those plays don’t manifest then what?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Anderson the only injury so far (who did return) per Sal. C

Most important thing for us to care about! No injuries!

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Given up zero points.

Scored two points.

Given up 112 total yards.


And most of the posts here are about the defense….they are allowed to let the other team move the ball a bit guys

It's a 4-11 team there playing, with a banged up off line.
They are in vanilla-preseason mode here and just doing what they have to.
This place is tame and hits the mark most of the time compared to the other crazy place you could go.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Come on what? I don’t know why you have to act so aghast at even the slightest negative observation.

The Jets moved the ball at will, but the bills came away without relinquishing any points. It doesn’t really mean anything.

I agree about the defense today. I think they're going to be a big issue come playoff time against offenses that aren't the Jets. That being said, this is a retool year, and I was always more worried about the defense than the offense. Mostly because we have Allen at QB. So I'm at peace with the defense having its flaws. There are just a few too many 'bodies' and not enough impact players yet.

Glad to be up 12-0, atleast!

 

[SwordsgoneWild]

It's a 4-11 team there playing, with a banged up off line.
They are in preseason mode here and just doing what they have to.
This place is tame and hits the mark most of the time compared to the other crazy place you could go.

*Cough twobillsdrive/the stadium wall cough

 

[Dirty Dog]

It's a 4-11 team there playing, with a banged up off line.
They are in preseason mode here and just doing what they have to.

And we are pitching the best defensive performance of any game so far this year. Points, yards, whatever metric.

This place is tame and hits the mark most of the time compared to the other crazy place you could go.

This place is great! Won’t hear me say otherwise

 

[Husko]

112 total yards in the half isn’t moving the ball at will. If they haven’t given up many points OR YARDS, what have they given up?

The jets only had the ball 3 times. Twice they drove into the red zone with little resistance. The third obviously ended after just 2 plays.

The defense came up with 3 big plays to end each drive! That doesn’t negate that the jets moved the ball at will!

End of the day I’m not gleaning anything from any of this on either side of the ball. They’re clearly playing vanilla schemes and not putting anything on tape. It is what it is.

Not everything is a narrative or an agenda, folks.

 

[TheStorm]

Hope Allen balls out in the second half so I don't feel like a it's a given Lamar wins the award by the end of the regular season. guess in reality MVP doesn't mean all that much but it would be a nice thing for Allen. A win would be a win and that's all matters.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Given up zero points.

Scored two points.

Given up 112 total yards.


And most of the posts here are about the defense….they are allowed to let the other team move the ball a bit guys

Yards per play tell a different story. Ultimately, the volume is down because both teams had long possessions, not because of anything the defense did.

 

[SwordsgoneWild]

Speaking of that other place, let me go take a pee--- ya enough of that. I thought I was negative about our coach but I'm an amateur compared to that lot.

 

[Dirty Dog]

The jets only had the ball 3 times. Twice they drove into the red zone with little resistance. The third obviously ended after just 2 plays.

The defense came up with 3 big plays to end each drive! That doesn’t negate that the jets moved the ball at will!

End of the day I’m not gleaning anything from any of this on either side of the ball. They’re clearly playing vanilla schemes and not putting anything on tape. It is what it is.

Not everything is a narrative or an agenda, folks.

I’ll just respectfully disagree that giving up drives of 50 yards and 60 yards is moving the ball at will. And it wasn’t just one play that ended one of those drives, it was four downs of stopping them.

we’ll see how they play in the second half!

Speaking of that other place, let me go take a pee--- ya enough of that. I thought I was negative about our coach but I'm a amateur compared to that lot.

Those are the pros!

 

[Husko]

They have given up a whopping 112 yards. At what point is the other narrative a bit overblown?

Final thought on this, because I really don’t think any of this matters, but giving up over 100 yards on two drives, which is what they did before the safety, is actually a lot.

 

[TheStorm]

I love automatic first down penalties. Just the best.

 

[SwordsgoneWild]

Hope Allen balls out in the second half so I don't feel like a it's a given Lamar wins the award by the end of the regular season. guess in reality MVP doesn't mean all that much but it would be a nice thing for Allen. A win would be a win and that's all matters.

We've been a 2nd half team for the most part so I'm confident that they will add a few more TD.

 

[Zman5778]

Dammit, Von. Get your hands up there. At least make it a little difficult for Rodgers.

 

[OkimLom]

Given up zero points.

Scored two points.

Given up 112 total yards.


And most of the posts here are about the defense….they are allowed to let the other team move the ball a bit guys

A lot of the issues with the defense continue to show up week to week. You would love for them to improve especially when it comes to playoff time. Seeing them having issues against a mid team and offense will further be exploited by better teams. They really need to learn to get off the field more consistently vs teams.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

LOL Jets, that's why they're a 4 win team. 4th and 5 and take a delay of game, either they are incompetent or too scared to actually run a play there.

 

[Zman5778]

Nice stop by the D there. Great punt, unfortunately.

 

[SabresFan26]

A lot of the issues with the defense continue to show up week to week. You would love for them to improve especially when it comes to playoff time. Seeing them having issues against a mid team and offense will further be exploited by better teams. They really need to learn to get off the field more consistently vs teams.

Especially teams like the Jets who make it look easy. It’s ok to be critical. I assure you Sean will be tomorrow in film. There’s been a few weeks and we lost a game where our QB had 6 touchdowns. I think some criticism is warranted.

Nice stop by the D there. Great punt, unfortunately.

Literally perfect punt. Bills got some tough field ahead.

 

[misterchainsaw]

Our defense has now outscored opposing offenses 9-7 since after the 2nd drive of the NE game

And point of order, the Jets first drive did not reach the red zone