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So, a week after the Bills offense came to Minnesota and had its way with the Vikings defense, and the Bills defense had its way with the Vikings offense, the Bills went to Green Bay riding high, looking for another stunning road upset against a flawed and seemingly overrated opponent.

The results of said game:

Bills - 145 total yards of offense (87 yards passing on 16 of 33, 58 yards rushing on 16 attempts)
Packers - 423 total yards of offense (282 yard passing on 22 of 40, 141 yards rushing on 32 attempts)

Both the Bills and the Packers had 12 drives each. Bills possessed the ball for 25:23 in the game.

For contrast and a painful reminder of where the Vikings currently stand relative to what is objectively one of the worst teams in the NFL right now, these are the same stats from the loss to the Bills:

Bills - 292 total yards of offense (164 yards passing on 15 of 22, 128 yards rushing on 38 attempts)
Mighty, Mighty Vikings - 292 total yards of offense (many in a vain garbage time attempt to avoid the first home shutout since 1962) (278 yards passing on 40 of 55, 14 yards rushing on 6 attempts)

Bills had 11 drives to the 12 the Vikings had, but in those 11, possessed the ball for 35:45 of the game.

Now, I know the Bills were unlikely to continue playing as well as they did against the Vikings, but these stats and the differences between them are kind of eye-watering. To allow a team as inept and bad as the 2018 Bills to walk into Minnesota and completely dominate the Vikings was unbelievable at the time. By the end of this season, I think most will see it as completely negligent. Yes, I know the Bills had short fields to work with and such, but the contrast between the two games is just shocking.

No, the Bills are not starting to figure things out and get better, and I highly doubt they will anytime soon. The Vikings were just that bad and unprepared for that game. Bad on offense. Bad on defense. Bad on special teams. Bad coaching. Bad. That they looked marginally better against the Rams is little consolation. The team continued to play from behind most of the game, continued to make critical errors on both offense and defense, and to be honest, apart from some guts shown on offense, continued to look relatively passive and content overall.

Now they have to go on the road after a long week and face another very good team that barely lost today. If we see another stinker from this defense, more guys running wide open or seeing terrible coverage mismatches, little pass rush pressure, and god awful first down run defense, Zimmer is going to have to go full stop with his defense and have a come-to-Jesus meeting with them. I like the fight of the offense, but I have zero confidence they are good or consistent enough to win a game by themselves. I have every hope, of course, that they will continue to improve over time, but its just not a dominant group and won't be due to the questions along the offensive line, an inability to run the ball consistently, and very conservative playcalling.

I continue to be amazed at how things can change over the course of a single offseason. The Vikings looked objectively better heading into this season, and yet the results are worse, at least so far.

Those are great notes. Watching that game you would think we were the worse team in the NFL. Im still amazed the Bills got spanked by the Packers that badly after double spanking us.

FullWood wrote: ↑Fri Oct 05, 2018 7:20 am Those are great notes. Watching that game you would think we were the worse team in the NFL. Im still amazed the Bills got spanked by the Packers that badly after double spanking us.

We currently are one of the worst teams in the NFL

Just ahead of the Bills...Behind the Browns.

Our defense is abysmal, our OL needs to be reshuffled (why are compton and hill starting?), and I believe something is rotten in Denmark. There's something behind the scenes, probably related to Griffen's issues, that has this team totally off kilter. I wouldn't be shocked if the drug rumors are true, and some of the other guys from LA are involved, and everybody is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

fiestavike wrote: ↑Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:00 am Our defense is abysmal, our OL needs to be reshuffled (why are compton and hill starting?), and I believe something is rotten in Denmark. There's something behind the scenes, probably related to Griffen's issues, that has this team totally off kilter. I wouldn't be shocked if the drug rumors are true, and some of the other guys from LA are involved, and everybody is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I probably sound like a broken record but I think this is absolutely the issue. The incident at the hotel happened the night before the Bills game which I'm sure had an impact. Then after that beating they get a long trip and a short week (all teams put in a similar position are 0-11). Last but not least, Griffen is a vital part of the defense as a player and a captain. The line has issues getting pressure without him. Both because of his talent but also because of his leadership. To the tune of half as many pressures and sacks since he has gone out. That lack of pressure has a ripple effect across the entire defense.

We don't have anybody else that can take Griffen's place talent wise but someone needs to take on the leadership role for the line while he's out. Really miss Robison right now, I think.

Is there a reason they aren't signing Robison at all?

I don't really have anything to add other than that I'm very sad. Whenever we have a system that looks promising it all falls apart. After 45+ years of this I'll just let out a sigh finish out the season and hope next year we go undefeated. This year we still have a chance but I'm in "sigh" mode for it.

Keep believing.

PurpleMustReign wrote: ↑Fri Oct 05, 2018 2:16 pm Is there a reason they aren't signing Robison at all?

Aren’t we virtually out of cap space?

^ Maybe?

I don't think Minnesota is in dire need of Robison either. And if they do have cap space, they may be holding out in case something more serious comes along. Say, perhaps, another serious blow to the offensive line. I also tend to feel like they are optimistic that they get Griffen back at some point.