With all of the injuries piling up over the last few weeks, it was not difficult to see that the Bills would have a tough time in Miami. The problem lies in HOW they lost to the Fins. Not for one second will I pin this loss on the offense as they absolutely did enough to win this game. Severely short handed at WR and RB, the Bills held an 11 point lead nearing to the end of the 3rd quarter. As I have stated before, this team is not built to be successful without a dominant defense and run game. Yesterday, both those areas of the team failed miserably. We all know that Tyrod Taylor is not the QB to bring a team from behind, especially when the opponent is manhandling the offensive line the way Miami did yesterday. Tyrod has a very limited role in this offense and when all of the pieces around him fall apart, you get a loss.
Tyrod has a very limited role in this offense and when all of the pieces around him fall apart, you get a loss.
This game was so big for so many reasons but mainly because of the Bills next two opponents. With a healthy Patriots team coming to town and then a trip to Seattle, you have to think the Bills need to pull off an upset in one of those two games. What would have been a fun week of talking about the Patriots game as a “what if they pull this off” has suddenly turned into a “must have”. Buffalo is 1-3 vs the AFC right now and if they fall to the Patriots, well, you do the math. You can probably say goodbye to any tiebreaker scenarios which means they need a better record than the wild card teams.
How in the world do you allow a 53 yard run from the 1 yard line when everybody knew what was coming?
The Dolphins tried so many times to give this game to the Bills and Buffalo just had no interest at all. Every strength on this team had their worst game of the year, as Miami did whatever they wanted on both lines. How in the world do you allow a 53 yard run from the 1 yard line when everybody knew what was coming? You know what would have made the difference there, Marcel Dareus. When (if) he returns to the Bills this year, I sincerely hope he hears a chorus of boos coming from the stands as he comes out of the tunnel. I honestly believe that his selfishness and being out of shape has cost this team a playoff berth this year. Nobody can predict what the injury report will look like over the next few days but if the Bills have any chance of pulling off an upset against Brady, a few of the players have got to return. This team tuned it around when their backs were against the wall the first time, can they pull it off again? Go beat either the Pats or the Hawks and save your season. If not, it’s going to be another meaningless December.
Grading the Team:
Defensive Line – F (200 yards plus rushing against)
Offensive Line – F (no time for Tyrod or space for RB)
Special Teams – A (blocked punt and field position)
QB – B- (did enough to win)
Coaching – C- (punting twice from the Miami 40, ugh)