Quick Takes Edition 8
Buffalo Bills (5-4)
There is a serious problem in Orchard Park. They haven’t adapted. Last night the Bills lost 24-18 to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football, and while I might get some blow back from the people of Ohio it was a game the Bills, the former Bills, could have easily won.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow didn’t do anything spectacular. Yes, he was 31/44 for 348 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but his receivers were open. Perhaps not on every play, but they were open far more than they were not. For the Bills its quite the reverse, and it has been the reverse going back to last season. This is no longer a trend – it’s what the Bills are. I’ve been stating on more than one occasion now that the New Jersey York Jets’ defense provided the league with the blueprint on stopping the Bills offensively. The Jets have a far better defense than they do an offense, and other teams don’t necessarily have the same personnel in order to match up and execute specific defensive packages, but a blueprint is still a blueprint, and in each game it’s becoming more apparent that the Bills cannot adapt to the changing defenses in front of them. Combine this failure to adapt with their own self-imposed restrictions on protecting the ball, protecting the franchise quarterback from injuries and sore shoulders, the end result is what they’ve become. A mid-five-hundred team that may, or may not, make the playoffs. My guess is not because the schedule is not on their side. Jets, Eagles, Chargers, Chiefs, Cowboys. The Bills do not, and have not, displayed a consistent offensive performance for more than a year now. Remember last year’s Packers’ game at home against Rodgers? Remember last year’s playoff game against Cincinnati? Teams don’t just flip a switch and become something they’re not. Buffalo struggled against Washington in the first half for the most part. They lost games to Jacksonville, and the Patriots, and they probably should have lost to the Giants all things considered.
It’s probably very hard for #BillsMafia to hear this, but Buffalo is not good, and it has a lot to do with the imbalance of the offense, and it’s probably going to cost Dorsey his job. I’m not saying it should – I’m saying it might. By mid-December there is going to be a reckoning for the 2024 season at some point when they’re out of the playoffs, and unfortunately in pro-sports when that happens someone falls on the sword. It won’t be McDermott of course – the team is no where near that level of extreme, but the Bills already do not have a defensive coordinator already; so the precedent is already set. Do I see a new defensive and offensive coordinator for 2024? Yes I do. Do I see playoffs for 2023? No. I do not.
Notre Dame #22 (7-3)
The Fighting Irish have, and have had for many years now, a problem taking the next step. Notre Dame lost 31-23 to a woeful Clemson team on Saturday afternoon, and I saw woeful because this isn’t the Tigers of the past several seasons. They’ve had their own inconsistent issues and were (4-4) going into Saturday’s game. That 31-23 score wasn’t that close, and there was no scoring by either side in the final quarter. Which brings me back to the Irish. If ever they were to defeat Clemson – something they’ve struggled to do in the past particularly in the CFB Playoff Game – it would have been this season when they’ve had their own struggles. They didn’t. A fumbled punt. A couple interceptions. A third loss. Which brings me back to the point if we were to grade the Irish over the last decade and not just this season, you have to give them a B. They are a talented team particularly at running back and wide receiver, but for whatever reason they cannot get to an A status. Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia – all these slide up and down the grading scale. Sometimes they’re A’s, sometimes they’re B’s, C’s, D’s, and F’s. Not every season is a spectacular season. The SEC particularly is a lot like that. Not every team in the SEC is spectacular, but they all take turns sliding up and down the grading scale. Auburn (5-4) right now is un-ranked in the Top 25. I haven’t seen any of their games but the record alone probably gives them a C. Notre Dame, however, doesn’t do that. They never slide up and down the scale really. They are cemented in that 3.0 GPA. That GPA won’t drop, but it also won’t ever drift into 4.0 territory either. It is part of the frustration of being a fan of the Fighting Irish I suppose. Tantilizingly good and you can see good things that never materialize.
The Irish will finish their home season against Wake Forest and then the season at Stanford. I don’t know which team will actually show up for either. Nor what bowl game and opponent, but as they move towards the off-season one of the things Marcus Freeman will need to address is how to get this program moving into 4.0 GPA territory.
Buffalo Sabres (6-6)
The Sabres are the proverbial Hold my beer team. For every strong performance in Philadelphia and Toronto, there are games like abysmal 5-1 loss at home on Friday night to the Flyers. I guess that’s improvement? One has to be reminded how bad this organization was actually run for the better part of a decade. Last place finishes common, a poison locker room, so when evaluating (6-6) is a remarkable improvement. One thing that is the same is the team continually loses at home and wins on the road. I don’t know what to make about that. It goes against the prevailing trends in sports and does not energize the fan base who’ve overpaid for their tickets and parking. Where is the incentive?
Another thing I’m uncertain of is what has exactly changed? Yes, they’re (6-6), but one cannot remove the metallic taste of bad hockey from the last decade. So with every game you’re not surprised when they fall behind 4-0 by the second period, and are shocked when they bounce back with three in the third period to win. It’s only the start of November with a dozen games played and the standings haven’t been separated very much. That will happen between now and New Year’s. We’ll have to see if they remain hovering around five-hundred.