I guess it’s tough to complain with a win on the road but come on!! How can you expect this inconsistent team to win against playoff teams with good to great quarterbacks when they can barely beat Shadeur Sanders?
Right off the bat the Bills came out flat. The Browns running backs, via run and screen passes, moved down the field in 8 plays and 69 yards. The Browns faced one third down (3rd and 1) in the whole drive. Just another game where Bills defense gives up pints on opponents opening drive. In each of their last three games the Bills opponents have come out of the gate and scored touchdowns on thei opening drives putting the Bills offense in a hole. Yesterday was no different.
Eventually the Bills figured out Sanders and his inability to throw downfield. Greg Rousseau came up with his best game as a Bill with 2 1/2 sacks and overall good play. The defense, as a whole, played well enough to win. That said the Browns had a third string rookie QB and lost their #1 running back. This game shouldn’t have been close. The Bills were also the beneficiaries of two turnovers. Not sure how you beat a good team when you performed so poorly against one of the worst teams in the NFL. It’s clear by now that the Bills play down to their opponents. It’s also clear that the Bills come out flat game after game yet seem to make adjustments at halftime. Yesterday was different, however. Up 20-10 at halftime they proceeded to only score three second half points. Yes Knox dropped an easy TD which should have made it a 10 point win but allowing these bad teams to stay in the game is what cost the Bills games earlier this season.
In order to win in the Post-season Brady needs to figure out how to get his wide receivers into the game. I don’t buy the “they can’t get open” routine. I really think the schemes and play designs are terribly inept at this point in the season. We had 6 passes completed to WRs yesterday and four of them were to Shakir. 57 receiving yards for your WR group is brutally insufficient. Cooks dropping another pass makes me wonder why he is in the lineup. One target and one drop this week combined with no catches on three targets and a huge drop last week makes me think Gabe Davis or Coleman are much better options going forward.
In addition, Josh has to be better than he was yesterday. Time and time again he missed open receivers. Time and time again he threw 2 yard completions on third and 4-8 yards to go. Again I question the play calling on third and fourth and short. Get the first down. On fourth and one late in the game the Bills were in shotgun and Knox drops the pass. I would have rather had them sneak Josh for the first and get a new set of downs to score. This is exactly what happened in the Bills loss to the Texans. Earlier yesterday the Bills were faced with a 3rd and four at the Browns 33. Instead of just getting the first down they threw the ball twice and gave up the ball on downs. I like the fact that McDermott went for it on fourth down rather than kicking a FG but the play calling leaves me wanting more out of Brady, especially with Josh at QB.
Not much more to say in this week’s rant. 11-4 with the Eagles coming to town Sunday in what was once being billed as a Super-Bowl preview. Need more consistency if we are going anywhere in the playoffs.
Go Bills and Merry Christmas to all.