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The Forty, the Fumble, and the Fucking Déjà Vu

Michael M. said:
So basically the offense has to play flawlessly because the defense can't hold a lead.
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I mean you could easily blame the offense here. We have the ball back too quickly to the defense, even when we scored, in the second half. That was due to various reasons, a combo of play calling (coaches), special teams mistakes, a fumble, etc.

On the bright side I thought there were some real positives from this game. That stadium was intense and they managed to almost win. We should have won, but we didn’t. I thought Teddy played very well, and I liked what I saw from Mike Green, Starks was also good!

I also thought Loop was good except that PAT, which was very disappointing
 
When I say this, I'm not proposing some radical defensive change by any means...

While I understand the benefits of zone, especially in our philosophy of disguise, it feels like it's continually beating us. The soft spots always exist and feel like they're always exploited.

Meanwhile, we have a bunch of guys that have proven they can play man coverage, either in the league or back in college. I don't know... just feels like maybe there's an opportunity to let these guys go out there and win battles commensurate with their pay vs. the constant dink and dunk across the field in open zones.
 
Simba said:
When I say this, I'm not proposing some radical defensive change by any means...

While I understand the benefits of zone, especially in our philosophy of disguise, it feels like it's continually beating us. The soft spots always exist and feel like they're always exploited.

Meanwhile, we have a bunch of guys that have proven they can play man coverage, either in the league or back in college. I don't know... just feels like maybe there's an opportunity to let these guys go out there and win battles commensurate with their pay vs. the constant dink and dunk across the field in open zones.
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Plus no pass rush
 
Michael M. said:
Plus no pass rush
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I'm willing to even excuse the pass rush to some extent. It's not like they weren't getting there. Allen is just an extreme parallel to Lamar in his ability to feel pressure, get outside of the pocket, and extend plays. It's part of the drill when you play them. Once they got out of their quick hitter mindset, the Bills started thrashing us. The realized the best way to win the game was to let Josh Allen be Josh Allen.
 
Michael M. said:
So basically the offense has to play flawlessly because the defense can't hold a lead.
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Defense had many fails for sure. And I don't think anyone would expect a "flawless" performance on either side of the ball. But I think our last 3 possessions were a fumble a two 3 and outs. That's not acceptable when trying to close out a game.
 
Simba said:
I can say with almost certainty that the comment made was largely related to Mark Andrews, Odafe Oweh, and Travis Jones. Not saying Linderbaum will absolutely get done, although it should. But those are the guys they’re prepared to lose right now. They tried to get Jones done early but he and his camp wanted to wait and they know what that means.
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I had figured those three were a foregone conclusion to be gone, so in my mind, I had thought they must be struggling with Linderbaum. That's good to hear they're (hopefully aggressively) trying to make that one work.
 
29BmoreBird22 said:
I had figured those three were a foregone conclusion to be gone, so in my mind, I had thought they must be struggling with Linderbaum. That's good to hear they're (hopefully aggressively) trying to make that one work.
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It’s definitely not close but he is absolutely in their priority list with Lamar, Likely, and Flowers (along with some lesser names) over the next couple of years. Those are the keys they’ve identified though, and if something isn’t gaining traction, maybe that’s when they pivot back to other guys.
 
As the reigning "optimist" in the group, while it's obviously disappointing to blow the lead, I watched a ton of other teams play yesterday, and I have zero concerns.
For starters, Buffalo could easily be the best team we play all year. Last nights game looked easily like the two best teams in the AFC right now, and between a combo of our own mistakes and elite QB play on the other side, we lost a tight game that we largely dominated for most of it. The fact that there's no doubt that we are at least at their level, if not higher, is a very positive outlook.
Most importantly, I saw a lot of shit the last 72 hours. Especially from some of our "competitors". KC didn't look good at all. Cincinnati looked like an extremely one dimensional college offense that's easily exploitable. The Jets/Steelers looked good on paper, except when you watched the game, you realized neither of them could play defense worth a shit. Denver looked horrible in a win, Houston can barely move the ball against good defenses, and while I think the Colts are going to surprise some people, it's Daniel Jones after all.
The only team that actually impressed me in the AFC, outside of our game, was the Chargers.

Long term, I have no concerns about where this team is headed. It's, like usual, going to come down to the same concept. Will we get out of our own way in January, or not?
 
rmcjacket23 said:
As the reigning "optimist" in the group, while it's obviously disappointing to blow the lead, I watched a ton of other teams play yesterday, and I have zero concerns.
For starters, Buffalo could easily be the best team we play all year. Last nights game looked easily like the two best teams in the AFC right now, and between a combo of our own mistakes and elite QB play on the other side, we lost a tight game that we largely dominated for most of it. The fact that there's no doubt that we are at least at their level, if not higher, is a very positive outlook.
Most importantly, I saw a lot of shit the last 72 hours. Especially from some of our "competitors". KC didn't look good at all. Cincinnati looked like an extremely one dimensional college offense that's easily exploitable. The Jets/Steelers looked good on paper, except when you watched the game, you realized neither of them could play defense worth a shit. Denver looked horrible in a win, Houston can barely move the ball against good defenses, and while I think the Colts are going to surprise some people, it's Daniel Jones after all.
The only team that actually impressed me in the AFC, outside of our game, was the Chargers.

Long term, I have no concerns about where this team is headed. It's, like usual, going to come down to the same concept. Will we get out of our own way in January, or not?
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Agreed. I obviously don’t want to see us lose any games ever, but it happens. I still feel extremely confident right now that we’re going to get in the dance and have a shot at it. This is still a damn good team and should be among the best as the season settles in.

As you alluded to though, my biggest concern is last night is the exact way we’ve lost games when it matters most. Need to get over that hump.
 
Well the copium is rookies on D first start, Bills had way more luck than we did, dropped INTs and 4th down tipped passes for TDs, and a Henry implosion and a missed PAT.

When do we get lucky wins ?
 
ravenslord said:
In that instance you have to punt without Lamar's legs.
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Unless Derrick had cramps too, the most bare minimum thing Lamar had to do was hand it off to Henry and let Henry ice the game. If the cramps were bad enough that he couldn't simply hand the ball off to Henry, get Cooper out there to hand the ball to Henry.
 
Harbaugh lost the killer instinct a long time ago. 2019 in Seattle, Harbaugh asked Lamar if he wanted to go for it on 4th down. Lamar ends up with a rushing Touchdown. In 2021, 4th & 1 against the Chiefs at home. Lamar takes it himself and ices the game.

We no longer do those things anymore.... I wonder why.
 
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