13 Seconds Is Prologue

I’ll confess my surprise. I did not see this coming. I didn’t see a blow out. I didn’t see this level of dominance. I saw a tight game, weather be damn, decided on a game ending field goal, and I saw the Bills losing against the Chiefs at a neutral site.

This was never close. Not only did the Bengals dominate start to finish, they also exposed areas of the weakness that 13 wins covered up for most of the year.

Yes, I know Von Miller is injured, but it goes beyond a single pass rusher. The Bills defense, in spite of what statistics and analytics might say, isn’t really that good. You would have thought :13 seconds would have provided the epiphany, but it didn’t. Again, 13 wins is an impressive total and nothing to be scoffed at, but it does cover up glaring holes.

They do not have a run defense. They really do not have a secondary. I don’t know if it is personnel or schemes, but this defense cannot stop third an long. There were too many times this season I saw 2nd & 20 become 3rd & 2. Too much yardage given up. I saw 3rd & 15’s regularly converted against this defense. You would have thought the defensive schemes would have been adjusted from a year ago’s :13 seconds, but the same problems remain.

The Bills also came out flat. That might have been an overwhelming tsunami of emotion from what has happened to Hamlin, but I still content it goes beyond that. I’ve seen the Jets run game gash them. I saw the Dolphins blow through the line. The Packers as well – a close game for the most part that never should have been so.

It will be interesting if Leslie Frazier will be a casualty this go around. He was able to escape after the :13 seconds calamity last season, but he may become a coverage sack this year. In spite what mathematicians might say the Bills are not a good defense.

This is where I expect the focus of the off-season will be. Now it’s onto hockey.