Circling The Wagons Wasn’t Enough

Well I was dead wrong. I totally admit that. I really saw the AFC Championship game as a very close; very hard fought carnage of a game.

It wasn’t close. The Bills losing 38-24 is deceiving. That 14 point differential doesn’t tell the entire story. The game was never that close. The Bills were never in it, and what hurts #BillsMafia most is the realization they didn’t belong on the same field as the Chiefs. Mohomes showed why he’s a superstar. I don’t think Allen played as poorly as some would think – he just was pressured on so many occasions that the offense could barely mount any kind of sustained attack. The offensive-line did not have a good game, but there are some other key take-a-ways that should be made note of.

1. The notion that good defense will dominate good offense still holds true. It happened to the Bills in Super Bowl XXV, and it was last night. Just as in baseball good pitching will silence good hitting – the same is true in football. Defense wins. It might be cliché, but it is often true, and it was true again Sunday.

2. Your quarterback cannot be your leading rusher. Allen lead the way with 88 yards. A lot of that had to do with the poor play of the line in front of him, but make no mistake. Being able to run the ball efficiently opens up the passing game, and vice versa. The Bills rely on their passing game over the final weeks of the season and posted some spectacular numbers. That’s my fault. I should have caught that when I was evaluating pre-game. The Coryell Offense generally is first in the league in passing yards, and last in championships. This was very apparent on Sunday evening.

3. Lastly, and working in conjunction with point #2, some offensive adjustments will need to be made in 2021 to determine if the Bills are a one and done AFC Championship contender, or if they have the ability to move beyond that game and be a viable pick to win the Super Bowl. Obviously they are in a lot better shape than the Bears, where any offensive gain is a struggle, and usually acquired by accident rather than design, but that doesn’t mean they can stand pat. The Bills offense needs to become more balanced from air to ground. The defensive scheme needs some work too. A good offensive coordinator can pick out the holes in soft coverage, and more often than not the Bills secondary was not as firm as it could have been. That could have been because of personnel, but it could have also been part scheme philosophy. Both, however, are fixable in order to tighten things up in 2021.

Overall, the off-season should be very interesting.