Some of the play calling hasn’t been great, untimely penalties, Pat refusing to throw I tight windows , a bit of everything hard to explain going from most efficient redzone O 2 years ago to this version . I was hoping Dhop was the answer but he isn’t even in there most times .

That's my point.

When you have to execute 13 times to go 90 yards, that's a hell of a lot harder than needing to do it 8 times to go 50.

When you come up 30 yards short of the end zone, it stands to reason that needing to drive 55 yards instead of 75 yards might've made a substantial difference.

We're not as good at 'long drives' as we've spent all season convincing ourselves of. We're okay at starting with a long field and getting into scoring range - but that's not the same as saying we have some secret sauce for long drives.

If we start every drive with a 75 yard field in front of us, we're going to struggle to break 30. Because those drives tend to stall out on us due to a penalty or a run stuff or a missed ball or bad block. It's exactly what 'bend but don't break' is designed to do. And that's all this fairly average Buffalo defense CAN do.

What would let this game get away from Buffalo is giving us short fields. If they just pin us deep the whole game, it'll be an absolute dogfight.

I mean there is something to be said for complacency when you play in a bunch of SBs.

Not to beat a dead horse but....the first possession encapsulates the issues IMO.

They struggle to run the ball down there and Pat just seems to.....cautious?

The Hollywood throw is one he's made in his sleep. Yet he just overthrows it.

The more and more I watch this stuff the more I'm just a staunch "training camp and time together and actually playing" matters guy.

For what it's worth, and I had never heard this before until he said so, but Simms said starting a game in the red zone is a curse for an offense. He explained further but generally I think it's just so unexpected, doesn't line up with a script, etc. There's no rhythm. You just start in this tight area and have to execute near perfectly to score.

Or just....hit the guy open for a TD?

Why do we do this? What's wrong with saying "damn he missed a throw he shoulda made" or "why did he run into the back of the G and not in the massive hole there"

They don't play with urgency unless the situation calls for it. That's unfortunate and it's why all their games are close but that's their mentality.

When they were up 10 last week, I knew the defense would relax and let Houston get back in it. When Houston made it 13-12, I knew the offense would march down the field and respond with a TD.

We have few explosive plays. It's harder to sustain long drives. We don't get much YAC with Rice injured and Kelce being older and slower. The RBs are the slowest we've had since 1998 when Bam Morris shared the backfield with Donnell Bennett.

How many big plays has this offense generated this year from long runs or passes? Not many. Long drives require better execution, no sacks, penalties, drops, turnovers, etc. That's why the scoring is down.

Our fastest WR is Worthy and he and Mahomes have failed to connect on many of the biggest plays that were available. Lots of points taken off the board on those missed chances.

That's the point though. Maybe he doesn't miss the throw if it's not his first of the day.

This game will likely put to rest, one way or another, if the whole "holding things back" narrative holds water. There's no reason to hold back in the most challenging and important game of the year.

And DT missed the last sack (as sure a sack as you will ever see) that ended with Krieg throwing the game winning TD. :banghead:

Shrugs.

Mulligans for everyone.

Hey the theory came from one of the analysts I respect most. I wouldn't have ever thought of it.

If it were a "well shit no one got open, that didn't work" thing....maybe.

But they dialed up something that worked fine. Make the throw.

I've never understood that theory.

Don't opposing coaches also "hold things back" until the playoffs? Reid has many disciples coaching in the NFL, including McDermott and Harbaugh. It's hard to believe they wouldn't be doing the same things Andy taught them.

I don't think it's a conscious holding things back with this team.

I think it's subconscious, in that 80-90% of the roster is trying to win their third straight Super Bowl and that's literally all that has mattered this year. Until this weekend, that hasn't felt at stake.