Ex-Raiders showed out against their old team today. No Jordan Poyer, no EJ Gaines, no Marcel Dareus. But four takeaways for the defense and no turnovers for the offense make for a good ending.
First NFL team with a +12 or greater turnover ration after seven games in almost 15 years.
Zay makes some plays.
Deonte Thompson – signed this week, I thought maybe he can get on the field as a downfield blocker. Four receptions for 107 yards!?!? Nice.
The defense continues to regress, sort of. I wasn’t pleased with the tackling today, but that’s clearly because they’re sacrificing some tackles for an opportunity to strip the ball.
And our future Defensive Rookie of Year did his by now typical rookie mistake followed by All-Pro heroics.
At the end of the day – it was a win!
Ugh. The good news is this is the first time in nine years that the Bills are in first place in the AFC East for two consecutive weeks. Who would’ve thought that the Jets would be on a three game winning streak to be tied for first place with the Pats. And the Bills. (Well – not the Bills really since we have the head-to-head, but still.)
Have I mentioned that I hate Vontaze Burfict?
Thank goodness for the bye week. Hopefully the Bills #1 receiver will be back (and by #1 receiver I mean TE Charles Clay) when they next play against Tampa Bay. Oh – and the Indians lost to the Yankees too. Which for many Bills fans is a good thing, but I’m a Tribe fan, so it’s just one of those nights.
Watching the Bills take their show on the road as eight point dogs and come away winners is a rare sight. And I’ll enjoy it all week.
(Honestly watching the Pats lose and their fans blame Gilmore is a the icing and sweet filling to the cake. Schadenfreude.)
Zay Jones take three. That dropped pass when he hit the ground…I thought that was it. I was very happy to see him pull in a similar pass later in the game and cradle it like his baby when he hit the ground again. His joining Jordan Matthews in the post-TD celebration was good to see as well.
Okay – so the Bills defense is legit. And the offense this week was…acceptable? Is that the correct definition? Maybe “good enough” is good enough.
Zay Jones take two. I really like the kid, but that bobble in the end zone could have been a catastrophe. When you’ve been saved by Andre Holmes hands, there is a valid concern.
Question moving forward: Are both team’s defenses that good, or are both team’s offenses that inept?
Zay Jones – I don’t blame him for the last play. That was a tough catch and only looked possible because of the effort he made to reach back for it. I do blame him for a couple others (i.e. about 3:30 left in the 3rd quarter on a 3rd down play. That would have moved the Bills into field goal range with a first down.)
The Bills have only played the Panthers six times, and so far it’s been almost all Buffalo. The Bills are 5-1 against the Panthers in previous games, including the first win of EJ Manuel’s illustrious career. The Panthers only win was in 2005 when Jake Delhomme beat another Bills Wall of Fame quarterback by the name of J.P. Losman.
Game on CBS.
NFL.com preview video for Buffalo Bills at Carolina Panthers |
Madden highlights of sim game |
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Video below:
Ha!
Pathetic.
As a 40+ year Buffalo Bills’ fan, I’m not unfamiliar with having the season be effectively over by December. I’m also numb to losing playoff chances to the Steelers late in the season (damn you Willie Parker.) But this…this was both different and unfortunately too much the same.
It’s one thing to lose because your favorite team is just worse, but trying. It’s another entirely to see that team clearly playing in a fog, like they just can’t or won’t try to win. That’s how it looked on Sunday. The only time I enjoyed myself was listening to the obscenely loud “BONNNNGGG” as Carpenter’s extra point caromed off the left goal post in a perfect example of the Bills’ 2016 season. It was a perverse enjoyable moment, because I gave up on this game about 90 seconds later than the Bills team already had, and I just had to laugh. Or poke my eyes out, and I still had to go to work the next day. And actually perform.
I usually mark my posts with the category/categories they fall under. Normally for these posts that means NFL and Buffalo Bills. It definitely was a Bills game, but I’m not sure both teams on Sunday deserved to be labeled as NFL.
Suffice to say I’m not uploading this video, unless someone absolutely begs me to. And they’re not a Steelers’ fan.
