Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep. 71 - The Bills Lose To The Rams & The Police Put Out An AMBER Alert For The Sabres
22 Plays5 months ago
Join the pals with your favorite beverage of choice and buckle up, Buffalo sports is rearing its ugly head. We break down the Bills loss to the Rams, contemplate how the Lions game will go, and drink our sorrows away about the Sabres. Lots to dig into, thanks for joining us.
Ep. 71 - Dec 10, 2024
3 buds. 2 teams. 1 city - The "Let's Go Buffalo" Podcast. Your new favorite podcast for all things Sabres and Bills. Our mission is to be your guide through the ups and the downs of being a Buffalo Sports fan. We are not members of the media nor are we experts - we’re just 3 friends who love our hometown teams and want to bring you along for the ride. This podcast will be for both veteran and newly ordained fans. We’ll have in depth conversation and debate with a few “newbie” questions sprinkled in to keep everyone afloat.
Follow us on:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/048vArjFOc8j6vznx77xRV?si=8bb273a317ac4239
YouTube - https://youtube.com/@LetsGoBuffPod?si=MhCpkbMaUrj8D8Pk
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsgobuffpod/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:24
Speaker
what's going on everybody you're listening to the let's go buffalo podcast your favorite podcast for all things bills and sabers with the pals nigel tom and jake we got episode 71 coming at you You know, the drill peeps, quick reminder, follow the social medias.
Social Media and Podcast Handles
00:00:44
Speaker
We're on all of them. Instagram X, YouTube, TikTok on all those. You can find this with the handle at let's go buff pod. Tom, our wonderful producer. How many F's are there in the handle? It's fine.
00:00:58
Speaker
Two. who Yes. Yes. I always forget you like the language. or I'll keep learning new ones for you. That would be, that would be a fun little stick. I like that actually. Yes. Let's go buff pod with two F's in there. If you're watching on YouTube or if you're watching in a later time on YouTube, please give us a like drop a comment. You can make fun of my mustache helps us out with the algorithm. Please, please, please thank you so much. Let's say hello to the fellows. Tom, how we doing pal?
00:01:24
Speaker
What up? I'm good, dude. that's So good to see you guys spent a little bit of a week.
Tom's Week and Podcast Excitement
00:01:29
Speaker
I'm a middle school teacher between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So everybody sent your condolences for my sanity, but, uh, I'm good and I'm excited to hang out with you guys, even if we're talking about, you know, the demise of Buffalo sports. Yeah. Which is a little bit kind of the vibes a little like recently, uh, Jake by guy, what's going on?
00:01:49
Speaker
Certainly for one team more than the other but I'm good. I'm good. I'm excited to Fully dissect I think we'll get into quite a few of that quite a bit of that tonight. So I'm good. Otherwise man just I'm sipping on my Tom drink this evening. well egon Oh Well, that's a great segue there. Shall we Tom? Are you are you nogging again? Or do you have something to open? Nope. Caught me down buddy. Nice. All right, buddy I'm right there with you. Here we go. Ready? Three two, oh
00:02:19
Speaker
Cheers. I a little delayed there. Sorry. Cheers boys. Good to see anybody out there drinking with us. Cheers. Yes. Cheers to all y'all as well. I needed a, we needed a voodoo reset um up here in Buffalo. So I'm going with a straight up Lebat blue, bringing it back home. Oh, reliable, baby. A little bit of a reset and you know, come back together and then go back out and fight another day. So hell yeah.
00:02:42
Speaker
Jake, talk to me, brother. do you have but now did you or Do you have the Evan Williams that we talked about last spot? Or did you go to Tom Smith route and DIY your eggnog? I didn't make it at all, actually. So we had a soft launch party for our house over the weekend. And one of our lovely friends, Julia, made up her own homemade batch of eggnog and brought it over. So it is ah seasoned, seasoned, spiked. Spiked with rum.
00:03:11
Speaker
Oh, Julia is freaking amazing. So cheers. She knows what she's doing. That's for sure. I also have this little hazy wonder from Lagunitas that was also left in my fridge from that evening and it is exactly fine.
00:03:28
Speaker
Nothing more, nothing less. Yeah. Yeah. but Big endorsement. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I am sticking with, um, the bearded Iris, uh, brewery again, like I was talking about last week, I got that IPA pack getting into a double here, boys. This one is called the attention, please. Yes, Tom. Yeah, that's a fun one there. So, uh, yeah, nice little 8.2% Citra IPA here. So we'll see where I'm at and a good chunk of time here.
00:03:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah. So this means you're going to have a little buzz when we eventually get to the sabers. and you Yeah. Yeah. eron into Yeah. and yeah but Well, we'll just. yeah like I've never but never been one in the past. too but I might be angry drunk. So we'll see.
00:04:09
Speaker
The soapbox rant is is loading folks. Yeah, inevitable. Yeah. Yeah. It's coming. But first we're going to talk about the bills. Uh, still not, not awesome in, in, uh, bills bill here, but, uh, like Jake said, or a little bit i ago, definitely better than it's going for the savers. Um,
00:04:27
Speaker
We lost and that happens even to the really good teams.
Josh Allen's MVP Performance
00:04:30
Speaker
Um, it was, uh, it was a doozy of a game, but yeah, Bill's lost to the Rams this past Sunday, 44 to 42 in LA. Um, there was a lot of good and there was a whole goddamn lot of bad, uh, Tom, let's see, we'll go around the horn here. And I guess, do you want, let's, let's each do two goods and two bads maybe, or one good and one bad. What do you guys think?
00:04:51
Speaker
start with the goods and we'll go back around. We'll come back to the bads. Let's start with the goods. Organize yourselves here. So love it tom i it starts and ends with Josh Allen. I think I could start every Bill's conversation this season with it starts and ends with Joshua Patrick Allen, like the guy.
00:05:08
Speaker
cemented his MVP case this week. apps like There's there is no other answer other than Josh Allen for MVP. 22 of 37 passing, 342 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 10 rush attempts for 82 yards, three rushing touchdowns, no turnovers. The first player in the Super Bowl era to score three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns.
00:05:31
Speaker
He's an absolute cheat code. The guy, you you can't go wrong. he He shows up every week this season and just puts the Superman cape on. And just, it's freaking believable. It's so much fun. And we have Josh Allen and you don't. Yeah.
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah, do I mean, you said it all. we've We've been saying it every week. It's it's it's just a privilege. It's a privilege to watch. It's a privilege to be a fan and of of the bills right now, because I mean, the outrageous shit that we're seeing Josh Allen do is I mean, and and even a myth to season where it's been the most efficient a season of his career in terms of just, you know, taking the checkdowns and stuff like that. But you add into the mix like the way that he's scoring touchdowns right now. I mean, some of these rushes, dude,
00:06:17
Speaker
are just absolutely melting my brain what he's doing when he's running with the ball and and i said it before and i'll say it again i feel like when i'm watching josh run the ball he doesn't look insanely athletic he looks a little bit like a little bit giraffey kind of a big old moose yeah yeah like a like a little bit lumbering in a way but dude then like i'm watching him throw these head fakes and i'm watching these these these top tier athletes just absolutely get shook so it's it's gotta be deceptive looking but yeah bro and then i mean you throw in his ability to throw the ball i mean just off the top of my head that throw to a marker cooper that was right over the shoulder along the left sideline there and then the touchdown pass to mac allens like i just just absolute seeds dude cheat code throws like you said
00:07:06
Speaker
Yeah, it's so cool. I um I just want to read a quick tweet here. It's not quick because it's long and it's from ah at Uber Hansen. He's a great um tweet person in the bill space, so please go follow him on Twitter at Uber Hansen. He has a list of all of the records and milestones that Josh Allen either achieved on Sunday or improved on his already record first in Super bar error super Bowl era with three passing and three rushing touchdowns. Most games with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown at 23.
00:07:35
Speaker
ah Most games with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Five. Tied for most games with three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Nine. Tied for most games with three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Two. The list goes on. The list goes on. It's like, it's every week. we we We've been saying it. And I think this is now the third week in a row. We've said the guy breaks records every week. He's rewriting the record books in front of our eyes. And it's unbelievable.
00:08:02
Speaker
Um, he's now 51st in career touchdowns in the in NFL history with 52 rushing touchdowns, passing OJ Simpson, Bill's player from the seventies, Herschel Walker, Terrell Davis, and Alvin Kamara. Like so cool. I don't know. yeah The guy, my biggest kind of con for this game coming out of it after I've calmed down is that man, I wish Josh could have gotten a win just for him in this performance. I wish that Josh had a win with this, that stat line.
00:08:31
Speaker
Yeah, he deserved it. And it's a bummer. and we We have a little bit of of that going on with the Sabres right now, too, after that game last night. It should have been about one guy in particular in his Unreal game that um that we'll talk about when
Bills' Game Analysis and Defense Concerns
00:08:44
Speaker
we get there. But instead, we're just kind of focusing and talking about the loss. But yeah, dude, it's it's a bummer that it's a bummer that you can't assign all that all that positivity to the ultimate positive, which would be a win. But that's the way she goes, right?
00:09:02
Speaker
Yep, that is. So that's ridiculous. Um, sorry, I'm getting texts from my wife about how much I'm going off about Josh Allen here in here. Sorry, honey. Just being my man crush. Jake, give me some, uh, some good vibes and positives for this game. How about Mr. Mr. Shoeless, uh, Mack Collins hauling in another Great touchdown, right? I mean, he's continued doing press. He's a reliable little outlet for for Josh in big moments. Yeah, it's so good. Yeah, it's so good. And just the vibes. Have you seen him? Like, do you guys notice him on the one of the um one of Josh's three rushing touchdowns? He's in the back before Josh is even like the touchdown has been called. He's in the back. Just fist pumping. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you kidding me?
00:09:47
Speaker
Are you kidding me? This guy is just all energy and it's it's awesome. buy for my buy for my If it kind to came up to me, lifetime contract. As many years as he wants to come back and retire a bill, sign them to one-year deals, boom, boom, boom, boom, until he can walk off and barefoot off the stage and you know have a great the rest of his life. like I'm in.
00:10:09
Speaker
Yeah. Agreed. Yeah. Did you have any more thoughts on that? Jake and on Mac or do you kind of say what you need to say? No, I said, right. I needed to just love, love app love having him on the team. He's done. He really is dude. Like that. He's an unreal utility player. I mean, the the way that he blocks is second to none dude. His, his run blocking is outstanding. You're never going to get a lack of effort. Those, um, those routes to, to use a term by our good buddy, Joe Marino,
00:10:37
Speaker
um the the love of the game routes dude like those those routes the word that are just clear out routes to open up like underneath mesh concepts and stuff like that he runs those routes like he is helping on getting that fucking ball and it's I mean it's important to do man like you know and some guys like the ego guys ah You don't get that like you don't run clear out routes with the stuff on digs because he's gonna bitch about it But Matt Collins recognizes the value there. I don't know man Yeah, an invaluable guy like great for the vibes and and not for nothing pretty goddamn talented. Yeah, he's probably the best downfield target for Josh right now
00:11:11
Speaker
like the most reliable downfield, like 20 plus. You know, I think Shakir and Mari Cooper, and there's a couple other players who are doing really well within the 10 and 20s, but between 10 and 20 yards, excuse me. But I think 20, 25 plus, I think Matt Collins is the most reliable down the field. Yeah. Yeah. I would i would agree with that. Go ahead, Jake. Mari Cooper and Josh did connect on a couple of big plays. they Yeah. Yeah. So starting to come alive. There was some miscommunication still, but there There were flashes of it. You can see the impact that he has on the field. The guy had like 12 targets, right? Like a lot. This was, this was, it was no longer, Hey, we're going to mix Mamar Cooper in a little bit. Josh was actively going after him. It was only about six receptions. So it was not, you know, incredibly prolific, but it's there. And I think that's going to continue to blossom through the end of the season and into the postseason.
00:12:01
Speaker
Yeah. Amongst, amongst some other things that, you know, we can talk about probably not today, but at a different point, that connection is, is one of my, one of my Nigel keys to the bill's playoff success. Um, is that connection between Josh Allen and Amari Cooper solidifying and becoming just a little bit stronger. Um, I think that could be a big, a big deal. I mean, probably not as big as like a Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid returning, but, um, I just think that a really established connection between Coop and 17 could be massive.
00:12:29
Speaker
Yeah, so totally. I think we got to talk about clear Shakir guys. I'm right. Five for 106 yards in a tuddy. The guys it's on. It's unbelievable watching him play. He's he's ah yeah every week he's putting on these highlight reel plays where his acceleration in short space is awesome. He's players are just peeling off the guy. It's incredible of how reliable his hands are and how tough he fights after the after the catch. It's it's invaluable to the team.
00:12:58
Speaker
Yeah. Shakir is, I mean, dude, I'm telling you, man, like I don't know that he's ever going to have the, the, like the elite strength that St. Brown has dude. But like, I mean, I think he could be every bit as good as I'm in my St. Brown. ah He really, really, really is built very similarly, a little bit smaller, but he's so thick. He's so strong. You see it. Like you said, guys are bouncing off him. We got a bunch of people calling him pinball Shakir dude. Shout out. Um,
00:13:28
Speaker
Uh, Bruce, uh, but, uh, yeah, dude, pinball Shakir is, and it's the truth, man. Like his, his yards after the catch is crazy. His effort, um, just, you know, in terms of taking on contact, you know, he's never going down without a fight. And yeah, he showed yesterday or or Sunday, excuse me. Um, an elite ability to be able to pull away from athletes, dude. I mean, he split the safeties and they could not catch him, dude. He was absolutely gone. So yeah, Khalil Shakir just.
00:13:55
Speaker
ah man, I know I know we're I'm probably gonna sound like a broken record at this point, man, but ah yeah yeah I just having having Keon Coleman and Dalton K back with the way the offense has looked in these last couple of games, dude, like I just think yeah I want to see what it looks like, dude. I know it's coming. It's coming. how Stop what you want. That's okay. We have three other answers for you.
00:14:19
Speaker
I saw a stack up by, um, Josh Allen has 10 players with 150 or more yards on this team, 10 receivers for the 150 more yards. Like he's found answers. He has the command of this offense and he's the general out there and he's making it happen with whoever's out there and ready for him. But I'm super excited to see he on adult and come back and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, absolutely agree. Um, I think it was scenario, what we talked about in the preseason.
00:14:46
Speaker
no set amount of targets to anybody, just let him fire the ball to who he sees. And that's, that's what's materializing. And look at how fucking well it's working. Yeah. Yeah. It's coming to life right here. And it's paying off, right? This is, this is what weve we've seen Josh do and be as efficient as, as he can be. Um, really cool. Um, I have a segue to our next section, unless you guys have more good that you want to focus on here.
00:15:08
Speaker
Yeah. Are you heading into some negatives? I'm getting there. Yep. Okay. All right. What do you got? So I want to, as a segue here, I have one last good and it's going to help us talk about the bad and the ugly. The Buffalo Bills lost a game 44 to 42. And the only way it happened was for the Los angelers Angeles Rams to play the game of their lives.
00:15:31
Speaker
Matt Stafford put up 44 points played. He had the seventh best quarterback performance based on EPA per play since 2000 in 24 years, the seventh best performance. He had Puka Nakua making plays left and right. Cooper cup making plays left and right. Kyron Williams just kind of gashing us by volume on the, um, in the run game. And we needed a, um, a blocked punt to go for a touchdown in order to lose by two points.
00:16:01
Speaker
i think I think I'm okay with this loss. I'm kind of starting to digest it. I'm coming back down. Man, that was it was a fluke performance. Hats off to the Rams. They played their butts off. McVay schemed and planned and prepped his butt off.
00:16:16
Speaker
But that's what was required to beat Josh Allen in the Buffalo Bills. So as we get into the bad and the ugly, that's my perspective. Jake and Nigel might have some different thoughts here, but that's, that's my perspective. So let's get into the bad and the ugly, because this is the important part. This is the stuff. This is eat your vegetables, right? This is getting ready for the playoffs. What can, what, this is how the bills can be had in the future. So this is what we are hoping and praying that McDermott and Babbage are in.
00:16:41
Speaker
and Joe Brady are getting the team ready to to deal with going in the future. Cause now a little bit of the book is out on how you play the Buffalo bills. Yeah. Yeah, dude. And I mean, and I, I mean, should I jump right into it? Like, yeah, yeah I do.
00:16:55
Speaker
dude Okay. I, Tom, I agree with everything that you just said and you are
Criticism of Bills' Strategy
00:17:00
Speaker
objectively 110% correct. It took, it took a near perfect game for the Rams offensively to beat the bills by two points. And it wasn't if, even if the Rams offense, excuse me, burp from the double IPA did everything that they did. And that pump block for, a type for a TD didn't happen.
00:17:20
Speaker
We're in a different we're talking it's a different conversation right and and everyone's exclusively talking about 17 six touchdowns and yada yada yada Here is where I get concerned and okay, and and and and I was hoping I know I'm stuttering because I'm I'm like upset that I feel this way, but it's true I was hoping that like that like with you know some an extra day going by because we were talking about Podcasting last night Monday night that I would change my tune on this But I just haven't. and And I'm just going to say it. I am astonishingly concerned about the defensive line. And I know that so far this season, it really hasn't been that big of an issue. But I think the reason it hasn't been that big of an issue, and when when I talk about it, I specifically mean run defense, but I'm also kind of getting to to just pressure in the quarterback too. Hasn't been too much of an issue because like half our games this season, we're winning by double digits.
00:18:18
Speaker
Right. We're putting teams in situations where they have to throw the ball. And so the running game very quickly in these games against the Bills is becoming not something that opposing teams have to do. And therefore, you know, the games where we've been exposed, it's because it's been early in games or games where we've been losing, but it hasn't been exposed as consistent as consistently as maybe it deserves to, because we're always crushing everybody.
00:18:42
Speaker
Which is great but man like i after watching that yesterday or sun sunday and seeing. No like no pressure no pressure no sax the factually no sax and very very very very little pressure.
00:18:57
Speaker
I just like, um I already feel like I just have to mentally gear up for a repeat divisional loss in the second round to, I mean, pick Josh Allen, or excuse me, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, I mean, maybe the Bengals pull off a miracle and it's Joe Burrow, like, I'm just, I'm just preparing for a divisional round exit because the opposing quarterback was able to run wild. And I can't get myself away from that because you know we gave it Oliver a significant contract and we saw Daquan Jones play really well and where the fuck are those guys and and you know Greg Russo wants this big contract but where the hell was he you know Sunday Sunday afternoon and Von Miller dude like was objectively I think the best defensive lineman that game
00:19:39
Speaker
yeah But even this 1,000 year veteran is still fucking cutting on the inside and allowing an elite passing quarterback like Matt Stafford to be able to bounce out to the right and have free reign. And I'm just fucking nervous. There's no two ways about it, dude. And I don't know what I can see from Josh Allen that's going to alleviate that concern for me because it's never going to be on Josh Allen.
00:20:03
Speaker
i'm I'm mentally preparing for another elite Josh Allen playoff performance that correlates to a bills laws because the opposing quarterback was also able to run wild. Man, I don't think I think everything you said is true. I think that's absolutely a concern, absolutely a picture that can be painted um because we've seen it. hey We've seen it just like you just said, I want to kind of piggyback. I think it's a matter of we were playing from behind.
00:20:29
Speaker
And we didn't get any splash plays on defense. There was no takeaways. There was no big. We did not stop them multiple times. there was right That's really what this defense is predicated on, which is honestly a fine design, especially when you have Josh Allen on the offense of, hey,
00:20:45
Speaker
let's We're going to get a lead on offense. We're going to be able to pin our ears back, play our way, and force the game into our game script. And nine, eight times out of 10, you could do that. But the times when it's not, we've seen this team crumble against the Ravens. We've seen this team really struggle playing from behind against the um the Rams this weekend. That's the issue for me. It's playing from behind and not getting the kind of big marquee splash plays on defense that that sets us up to all of a sudden help us win this game. And without that, this defense really struggled. Absolutely struggled. Yeah. It felt automatic at times. said but They let the Rams go 11 for 15 on third downs and just couldn't get a stop when it mattered. Even on some some long ones, too, that we're not talking third and one for 15 times. There were some third and nine, third and 10. Yeah. And they're like, leak away.
00:21:35
Speaker
You know who I hated seeing on the other team? I'm sorry, Nigel. I got to take this just to kind of pick you up to go off of Jake's thought here on third downs. You know who was freaking annoying on third down? Puka stinking Nakua. Oh my Lord. That guy is so good. Yeah. He's in the top five wide receivers for me. After watching him completely dissect and make plays, he could personally, personally of those, what do you say, Jake, 11 or 15 third downs.
00:21:59
Speaker
Seventy-three percent. sir Personally, he converted a third and nine, a third and one, a third and 10, a third and six, and a third and five. You wonder why this team couldn't get off the field? It's because the off the the Rams offense was executing. Matt Stafford was in his bag. Sean McVeigh was in his bag. And Pukanakua was in his bag. And at some point, the other team, you know, they get paid to play this game too. And Wowsers did they? Because they just played so, so well.
00:22:28
Speaker
and that was that was something i did want to mention i some of those plays from puka dude i mean you can't even get mad at the bills for it now that being said i do i i was absolutely blown away by the lack of attention to Puka Nakua, particularly in the second half, because I mean, it it felt like this dude was single handedly beating the bills. Puka Nakua and Matt Stafford. You could have eat like a Cooper Cup was still great, but it was about Puka and Matt Stafford. And I just I was blown away by the lack of ah attention paid to Puka Nakua. It was super frustrating. But on the other side of that, dude, there were just plays that nobody stopping.
00:23:10
Speaker
That one third down completion, I believe was a third down completion where he toe tapped. Like I've never seen anybody in my life, dude. I mean, there's no way you're stopping that. Like it's just, it's just two great athletes being great at the exact same time. And there's just nothing you can do. And you live with those, right? But it was the consistency in which Matt Stafford was able to find Puga in huge moments.
00:23:35
Speaker
It was the absolute inability of the Bill's front seven to do anything about the Pukunukkua jet sweeps, save for one, maybe two. There's one definitely in my head where somebody made a killer. Somebody sniffed it out. I think it was I think it was Eponessa. But like, dude, it was just I mean, Pukunukkua was just bigger, faster and stronger than everybody that came in contact with him yesterday.
00:24:01
Speaker
it was yeah It was unfair. yeah It was it was felt unfair. It felt like they were cheating. using yeah yeah They had the perfect scheme. They knew how the bills were going to attack them and they had the counter attack. right They knew what to do to bait the bills into how they think they can stop us and they we just couldn't we couldn't do anything.
Defensive Tackle Issues and Suggestions
00:24:20
Speaker
yeah Um, I you Nigel you and I had a little bit of a text conversation about the run game and I kind of came at saying hey well what it wasn't super efficient they just it's really and I kind of and you you kind of put put push back and said hey but it was when and how and why they were able to get.
00:24:34
Speaker
um ah some rushing production and I kind of after rewatching and going back to the tape and checking some things out. I agree with you. I think it was more about the Rams rushing attack killed us with volume as opposed to huge gashing runs, but um they could get consistent profits, keep ah stay on the field and help them to to maintain that time of possession where our defense just got wiped.
00:24:58
Speaker
That was, I think it was like 30, I'm having to miss 38 minutes so for of time of possession for the Rams. Oh, it was obscene. Yeah. It was like, well, I mean, at some point our defense also probably just got tired. This is exactly what the bills has done to so many teams all year. Right. We keep them on the field and they continue to try and stop us, but guess what? They continue to to get more and more tired and we continue to to get a bigger and bigger advantage. The Rams had that in their, in their advantage for this game.
00:25:26
Speaker
Yeah, and and you're gonna you're gonna kind of leave me to another thing that's a little bit at concerning for me as well Well, it's a lot of bit concerning but it kind of ties directly into what I already said about the defensive line But the Rams were able to exploit the bills with the run game with a very very very simple recipe and they did it pretty much all game and I'm gonna kind of go through it a little bit with y'all with with what the Rams did. So their formula for their rushing success was very simple. They did a lot with motion, right which the Bills also do, but they did a lot with their motion in order to pull the second level. right So the second level being the linebackers particularly, and then either Tarrant Johnson or Damar Hamlin with whichever safety was playing down. um But they motioned the snap to pull that second level of defense out of the where the play side was going to go.
00:26:17
Speaker
right so they're motioning somebody to bring and and when that motion happens that's typically a key for your secondary defenseman and when I say a key I mean somebody that indicates what the play is supposed to do Right. So they're keying on that guy that is being deceptive there. It's getting them out of the play side fit. Okay. And then as far as the defensive lineman, they were able to, the three texts yesterday were terrible, outright awful. At Oliver to Wayne Carter were simply dreadful yesterday. The only thing they did was they consistently, and they have big guards in LA, but they consistently were able to just turn out those defensive tackles. They were able to double team the one technique, right? Which was usually Daquan Jones.
00:26:58
Speaker
and Then from that recipe there with the secondary defense being pulled out of the position and our D tackles being absolutely manhandled The running alleys were big enough to drive an SUV through and it was just I mean like you're right Tom It wasn't always giant gashing runs, but um there was just enough where like I don't know dude like you said it earlier Tom the book is out and like Dude, Matt Milano was rough yesterday. And I don't know, man, like it was just, it was way too simple of a scheme for it to look that bad for me to be like, Oh my God, dude, like, what the hell are we going to do? And yeah, so like, it was just, it was a very simple scheme that made us look very silly.
00:27:40
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, no, I agree. and And I think the issue is that these D tackles got just bullied, right? Dwayne Carter, Daquan Jones, Add Oliver just got bullied. And and I think and then then that that.
00:27:53
Speaker
It's more and more stress on the edge defenders. So Greg Russo can't play the way that he needs to. Von Miller can't play the way he needs to. It start for me, it's because it's coming down to that D tackle room. It starts and ends with them, right? We always talk so much about this podcast about how the D tackles, if they can absorb and just all the, all the, what's happening at the line of scrimmage, it frees up the, the linebackers, it frees up the edge defenders. It's just so pivotal. It's a, it's a such a keystone to this defense of how they want to play. It allows the bills to play with a smaller personnel because it, these smaller personnel, um, linebackers or Taryn Johnson don't get absorbed. You know, all of a sudden they're not trying to play against a, a, a.
00:28:35
Speaker
hundred and tackle pound Yeah. Yeah. Right. They're not some a bigger player who's just going to out body you. If you have, if somebody has 80 pounds on you, there's nothing you can do against it, right? Like it doesn't matter how strong you are. If they're just bigger than you, you can't do it. You're gonna get bullied. So yes, I completely agree. Um, I'm ready to see Eli Anku get, um, called up. I was just going to say it, Tom. I was just going to say it. Yeah, dude. So like,
00:29:04
Speaker
I'm ready for it. That's because the solutions aren't here. Right. What's on what's it's not working. So go find out. Go find out if Eli Anko can bring some spark to this room. He's great at run defense. Right. I couldn't agree with you. Couldn't agree with you more. He's a big bodied guy. No. Hey, pal. I like it. they Look at us. um Like it's a big bodied guy who's good against the run defense. Good against the run. Excuse me. Like I think it's worth doing. Just see what happens.
00:29:31
Speaker
I agree completely. There's there's one guy who I'm always noticing when he plays in this elianco. Every game he plays, I see it. I see him make an impact.
00:29:42
Speaker
Maybe let Dwayne Carter have another week of, okay, buddy, I think you need to, you know, let's get you a little bit more recovered and see what Elon code does against their lions. And, and then it's fantastic run game, probably the best in the league, right? best to So yeah we need something different. What we're, if we're going to go in and roll out the same thing we did last week, Oh boy, it's going to be a long day. Bill's mafia. Yes, it is.
Coaching Decisions Debate
00:30:04
Speaker
Yes, it is. So, um, I think we can't get out of here without talking about the coaching decisions.
00:30:10
Speaker
Good, bad, ugly, wherever we're at. I don't think we can, we think we have to do justice in here. I know we have lots to talk about in Savers Land 2, so we're not going to carry on too much. And we still have to even get to the the Detroit game. So holy cow.
00:30:21
Speaker
um We have two big ones that I want to talk about. The first is on that drive when we finally got to stop and there was a holding call. We could have held if Sean McDermott declined the call, it would have put the Rams at fourth and seven. Instead, he accepted the call and he gave them third and 17. What are your thoughts? Was that the correct decision or was that the incorrect decision?
00:30:47
Speaker
So I, full disclosure, at the time, I was very confident that it was the incorrect decision. Now, a couple of plays later, the Rams showed you that they were ready and willing to go for it on a fourth and intermediate. So after I saw that, it kind of like made me think that, okay, maybe Sean was right because they probably would have gone for it on that fourth down anyway. ah My thought was,
00:31:14
Speaker
At the time, my thought was accept or decline the penalty, make it fourth down and make them kick the field goal because one of two things happens. Either they make the field goal and they're only winning by six or they miss it and we have unreal field position and it was not a gimme field goal. It was 55 yards.
00:31:32
Speaker
if If memory serves, so it was long. Yeah. So that was my thought process at the time. So I was like, you have to decline this. Now. I don't think that if we, if we had declined it, I don't think they were kicking the field goal. I think they were going for it. So with knowing that it was the correct call to make the distance way longer and you have to fucking find a way to keep them from completing 11 yards, two plays in a row. Yeah.
00:31:59
Speaker
Yeah, I always wonder if that's like a miscommunication between Babbage and McDermott of Hey, I'm gonna bet McDermott say I'm accepting this and I need you to not do prevent defense and I need you to go get a play. Go get a stop. Right. That's why you didn't get a blitz cover. You needed a blitz call to get in the Stafford's face, get them tat sacked, back them up even more. Something needed to happen there.
00:32:18
Speaker
But I agree with you. And I think we have to say that um hindsight is undefeated, right? We're now playing you know Tuesday night quarterback here where um we now know the results. And I agree that I think they would have gone for it. So you have more thoughts, but I'm sorry to interrupt. No, that's okay. I um i just, I need to come to Sean McDermott's aid here for a moment because he's getting absolutely crucified everywhere. i Look, he's getting blown up.
00:32:41
Speaker
And I am not going to sit here and allow that because, or at least not on this podcast, because two weeks ago, Tom and I, you were, I mean, we were absolutely slinging the Sean McDermott praises everywhere.
00:32:57
Speaker
And he's done. He's done enough good and shown enough growth in areas of concern this year where I am not going to sit here and dog him on a play that I really do feel like a couple plays later by the Rams going for it. on I think it was fourth and four or fourth and five. It was long. Yeah, it was not short. It wasn't short. I think I think in that moment he should have been vindicated.
00:33:19
Speaker
And and i I just absolutely don't accept the folks that are looking to crush McDermott on that play. Again, at the in the time, at the moment, I was begging us to decline the penalty because I wanted to put us in a situation where a touchdown wins us the game. Yeah.
00:33:33
Speaker
you know i Yeah, there's too much of Bill's Mafia is too much of a fair weather McDermott fans of hey, it's he's awesome when when he when things are going great and then all of a sudden you have to start to put somebody up on the cross to crucify. um He doesn't deserve it. I completely agree agree with you. I feel the same way two weeks ago. I will say the same exact things tonight. As I said two weeks ago. um There was there were 5050 decisions and unfortunately it feels like a lot of the 5050 decisions did not go our way last night or to Sunday night and and they also sometimes don't go at our way in that those big games.
00:34:04
Speaker
They're 50-50 decisions. They're going to come back around. they're gonna something needs to yeah There will be something else coming our way. I'm OK with that one. So Jake, do you ah have any any thoughts here, or do you want to hear about the next one?
00:34:16
Speaker
No, I want to hear about the next one. So the next controversial call is the bills finally get it down where um we have ah the couple, uh, finally get some flags in our favor. Don't get me started about the rest on Sunday night. It's not a play, not a time and place. We don't have the time for that, but holy cow. We finally had some calls our way, gets us to the one. Um, and we do a quarterback sneak.
00:34:40
Speaker
don't get it. Sean McDermott calls a timeout, or maybe Josh Allen calls a timeout. One of them calls a timeout. Burns, our one of our three timeouts leaves us only with two, which is not enough to then stop the clock later on in the game. And we get it on the second attempt. I'm going to kind of go first here, Nige. I think I'm OK with the play call. Shorten one.
00:35:04
Speaker
Josh Allen QB sneak is the absolute cheat code of a play. It's the best play that we have for that caetss that that spot in the field and that um that timing. I don't mind the play. I mind the burning of the timeouts. If you knew that that's what was going to happen, hey, we're going to go for a quarterback sneak. And if we don't get it, we're either caught we have to call a timeout. Wait a second. Just reset. Run it again. right Don't burn the timeout. Do something.
00:35:31
Speaker
um So I don't think, I don't mind the play. I i hate both of them ah both of them. I hate the play and I hate the um the burning of the timeout.
00:35:45
Speaker
and My reasoning behind that, dude, you can't you allow the clock to run in that situation, right? And and you're absolutely right, Tom. If that is all they're going to call, is that QB sneak, you just simply line up and you do it again immediately and you don't burn the time out. In my opinion there, given the game situation, given what you need to go right and given how much time is left, you call you have three passing plays called.
00:36:15
Speaker
ready to go and you only throw the ball there. You find something that works because you can't allow that that running of the clock there. So even though Josh Allen is a cheat code and here is the honestly dude, if you if you remember leading up to that initial QB sneak, I don't know what the fuck we were doing with all the cutesy shit.
00:36:36
Speaker
There were there was like the motion like normally we line up and it's the right guy is right behind Josh and we just hit it and go. And we're starting to like set up in a formation where we might do something different. And then one guy motions in the second guy motions. And it's like, what the hell are we doing? Josh Audible, he called he he called it on the line. Oh, did he change the play? Yes, it was. It was changed. He even set talked about it in the press conference. Oh, I missed the look, which I'm pretty sure they were probably baiting him into that look. Right.
00:37:06
Speaker
I don't know. maybe maybe Maybe that's maybe that's too, maybe that's too, uh, you know, tin foil hat of me, but, um, yeah, he, he, um, he audible into that play. Yeah. I, we, we have to get to the Sabre stuff here. I hate both of them. I think in that situation, you have to have to have to have only passing plays called there. You can't, you can't miss the time. Yeah. Yep.
00:37:28
Speaker
Anyway, folks, holy cow, we could keep going. um But I think the big kind of takeaway here, it needed an incredible superhuman performance from the Rams to beat the Bills. Everything is still in front of us. We have we are still number one seed in the and the division. Sorry, I'm sorry, first in the division, not number one seed. I'm so sorry. Man, my Freudian slip. But there's still a lot that can happen. We're going to be okay.
00:37:52
Speaker
um Also, in the past few years, the Bills have had a pretty bad and you know tragic NFC loss and then won out the rest of the year. So maybe that's going to happen. I don't know. We'll find out. Where Bills get to go play the Lions. So this will be fun. The game of the year, probably um on Sunday, December 15th at 425 on a good old CBS. um And it's going to be a big one. I don't think we're going to go into it too much detail here. We'll see you guys for the after the fact. But yeah they are.
Preview of Bills vs. Lions Game
00:38:20
Speaker
very much probably the the the best team in the league right now. They're executing on all cylinders. um The defense is a little beat up, but that offense can do literally whatever they want. This is going to be a shootout.
00:38:33
Speaker
This is going to be a track me. This is going to be points on points on points. Um, I'm taking 42 38 lions. I'm not sure that we're going to be able to come out of this. Um, but I, the way that the defense looked, I need to see it from that before me to have, uh, have some um confidence in them again. So I'm taking 42 38 lions.
00:38:51
Speaker
Yeah, dude, I am absolutely terrified of the Lions running game versus the Bills defense. I think, I think they're going to run for all the yards. I don't think there's going to be any yards left for anybody all season. I think Detroit is going to run for all of them.
00:39:08
Speaker
um I like, I truly think that I don't think we have anybody that's going to be able to stop the run. And I'm in Ross saying Brown terrifies me. Um, yeah, I also have the bills losing 35 31 lions is my prediction. Um, I want to go on record that as of, um, this is the, this has been my super bowl prediction for the last five weeks or or so is this, is this matchup, the lions and the bills. So I think we have a potential.
00:39:36
Speaker
Superbowl preview this, this weekend. So it's going to be a good one. It's kind of nice that it's hard to beat a ah team twice. So if we lose here, maybe we'll be able to, you know, beat him in the future. I like where your head's at. Jake. I got a weird one dialed up. I'm going 39 38 and I'm taking the bills.
Sabres' Losing Streak Recap
00:39:53
Speaker
39 39. What's the math work on that one? I'll tell you Tom, it's five touchdowns.
00:40:02
Speaker
Four of them with the field goal, one of them with the two point immersion, and then a few, and then a few more. Oh, cool. Does Josh Allen score all of those points? Does he do every single one of those? Involved in every one. Yes. yeah obviously All right. Is it time? Yeah. Good night, boys. Have a Oh my God. Nice. Yeah, go ahead, Jake. Let's let's get into it. i think I think we should structure this. We go through the last couple of games, but we kind of blast through them because I think there's some bigger picture things that
00:40:36
Speaker
agreed all right so let's all start with the abs you want to alternate games yeah sounds good sick all right uh so yeah we have now dropped seven straight uh the the sabers have dropped seven games straight four since the last pod last podcast excuse me uh played the colorado avalanche in what ended up being what for my money it was the worst lost uh in the last or at least the top five lost in the last 13 years we started out going up four to nothing, all goals in the first period. They have scored one in the second, and then they scored the rest. Um, they scored another four unanswered in the third period to win the game five to four. It was humiliating. Shit got real loud for Kevin Adams and Terry Pagula after this game. Jake. As it should, it was the first time since the eighties that the Buffalo Zavers blew a four goal lead.
00:41:26
Speaker
inexcusable if you go up four goals, you leave a lot of time on the table for McKinnon, Mccarr and crew to bury you. And that's just what happened. They just collapsed on themselves. To follow that up, say say they held on to that lead and beat the abs, then they move on to the Jets and they lost three to two at overtime. If they hung on and beat the avalanche, we'd be sitting there saying like,
00:41:50
Speaker
Jets are one of, if not the best team in the league as of of this recording. I'm okay with an overtime loss, but that is not what happened. It was there, at that point, their loss in a row.
00:42:03
Speaker
Winnipeg's an incredibly good team with an incredible goalie. um Getting a point of them is a positive, but it is the silver-est of silver linings. On to you, Tom Nudge.
00:42:14
Speaker
Yes, Utah was also exceptionally humiliating. We just got absolutely fucking outworked, out hustled ah by an expansion franchise. This is their first full season in the league. And they looked like ah just as a significantly better team. They looked faster. The puck control was way better. I felt like our passing in that game was absolutely horrendous. um Yeah, we just I mean, it was terrible. I think they had four goals in the second period or three goals in the second period.
00:42:43
Speaker
Uh, them being Utah, it was, it was terrible. We lost five to two. And then the doozy of yesterday, Jake. Yep. Uh, savers were up five to three going into the third period against the red wings, a divisional matchup, ended up losing six, five in a shootout, similar to the avalanche game. Same vibes entering the third period. I was nervous. And then as soon as they made it five, four, I said to myself, they'll lose in this game. There's no way they hang on.
00:43:10
Speaker
They ended up not being able to score a single other goal in that game a couple of notes from that one You know a couple of lineup changes Greenway was back and he was a bright spot. It was nice Ryan Johnson grew in
Sabres' Gameplay and Strategy Critique
00:43:24
Speaker
played. Okay Rimer was complete ass throughout most of the game and especially in the shootout and I don't know how much more you expect from him. um you know Contextually, if this game happens amidst other winning games, you could say, ah, well, it's a Rimer game. UPL is going to win that one. Sucks, but we at least got a point. That is not what happened. This was the seventh game in a row. Just some other comically bad stats that I wanted to say. This is the first time in NHL history that a goalie came into the game in relief and then won his debut in a shootout.
00:44:00
Speaker
It's a weird stat. There's a lot of words in there, but still it's funny that it happened, especially because it's fun. It happened to the savers. It seems like every other week they're giving up. They're the first NHL goal to a guy or the first NHL win to a guy. It's just shut these rookies down anyways. Um, Zucker, I think was another huge bright spot from that game. He's been, he's been incredible. He's been.
00:44:24
Speaker
I'd say one of the better free agent signings ah around the league, not not just for Buffalo. He's been incredible, so good plays to get the puck into good areas, but we can't really talk about him because we have so much other bullshit to unpack. Team defense, atrocious. It's been horrible for the past number of games in Colorado. Last night against Detroit, against ah Vancouver right after Thanksgiving, i'm trying to think back and spend so long that they've been on this losing streak. um They let Detroit walk all over us, puck movement by Detroit in the offensive zone. They look they looked like they were the late 80s oilers or late 80s Islanders like passing it around, zipping it around, and just couldn't keep up with the Detroit players. Buffalo in the third period defending a two goal lead. How many shots do you eat do we think they mustered?
00:45:18
Speaker
Four! You only need one hand for that one. just just It's just an embarrassment of what happened. And just a complete collapse amidst the other six collapses before that.
00:45:29
Speaker
Nice. Any other thoughts on that game or should we get on to some of the bigger picture? I'll just say real quick, man, it's it's the way that we're losing. Right. Particularly when we're giving up significant leads and not even just significant leads, but significant leads late in games.
Ownership and Management Criticism
00:45:48
Speaker
Like it's it's it's not it's not even just the fact that we're losing. Hockey is a big eye test game, dude. It's a fluid game.
00:45:56
Speaker
right It's a fluid game that that rarely stops. and you the i the I think the eye test counts in hockey more than any other sport. right but The eye test is shitty. The record is shitty. All the advanced metrics are shitty. It's just a fucking shitty hockey team once again, dude. And it's the fucking way that we're losing. Like if we looked like we had any amount of sack and any amount of will and heart and desire to be great and and these games were close and competitive and guys were battling for one another, I would feel so much better.
00:46:32
Speaker
right I'd be able to say like it's you're gonna break through. like even if the Even if the record was the exact same and the and the just the eye test was different, you'd say you're fine. This is a team that's gonna make the playoffs because eventually this product is gonna break through. But holy.
00:46:48
Speaker
Yeah, go ahead. You're going to say give it they're given nothing. There's no underlying stat that you can really point to where it's like, man, they're they're they're controlling play five on five and pummeling the opponent with chances. They're just not putting them through. But eventually those are going to click. They're not. They're they're playing terribly at five on five. Their power play is fucking putrid. They're penalty kill, I guess you could say, is a bright spot. But even so, it's middling in the league at best. Goal tending is average at best. UPL has stood on his head a couple of times, but you can't rely on that for the 50, 60 games that he's gonna play.
00:47:20
Speaker
It's not going to happen every night. So I agree. that There's no, there's no silver lining behind these losses. They look motivated. They look uninterested and they look just outclassed by teams that they should not be matching up that way against. Yeah. Yeah. There's nothing to hang your hat on. Yeah. du Let's get in some of these big, bigger picture things. Um, I, okay, Jake, I'll ask you a question of the Sabers playoff drought. What is the one common denominator?
00:47:50
Speaker
It is ownership. Yes. And I think, and I am, I am not a typically a person that in this situation in particular is even more difficult because what's the fucking football team like the football team that the guy owns is unbelievable. Yeah. Right. Talking about, yeah. Being one of the top three, four teams in the league, all-star quarterback. Yeah. I mean, incredible. and and what make sure Right. So, i think and and and I think you have to, I think the only assumption you can make is that Terry Pagula just stumbled ass backwards into Brandon Bean, Sean McDermott, and by extension, Josh Allen. Yes. Right. the Those all help. But I also think that he is pouring more resources, time, and effort into the bills. And I get why he's doing that. I mean, it's
00:48:45
Speaker
ludicrously more profitable to be in the NFL than the NHL. And so he, I mean, he's clearly milking that cash cow. And I think negligent as far as the savers goes, he's, he he talks about how he watches every game and how he, how he's there, his favorite team from when he was younger. I don't know how he can sit there and watch this team play and not just feel shame and embarrassment over what he's put. He, he is the owner, what he is putting out onto the ice every night.
00:49:13
Speaker
Yeah, it is. And, and like, okay, dude, so are we at that point? Like, are you at that point? And I, like, I feel like, I don't know, like you, and you and I are the same age. We've we've experienced the same things with the sabers, right? Like neither of us has, you know, any other era to hang our hats on. Like where are you at with this? Are you team? Terry sell the team or are you team? Like it's probably going to work itself out.
00:49:38
Speaker
<unk>ve I have long been an apologist for the Sabres and the things that they do, but no, I'm at the point of of sell the fucking team. If you're if you're not gonna create a serious organization to put into the National Hockey League, then sell the fucking team and get out. it's I was willing to believe in Kevin Adams and the vision that he was painting, but words are fucking cheap and action is much harder to achieve. Kevin said all the right things. He's been saying all the right things.
00:50:07
Speaker
kind of repeated them from two years ago on the press conference on Friday. But at least what he's saying is is what he should be saying, but there there hasn't been any follow through. There hasn't been the accountability that he's talking about. There hasn't been the doing it the right way and and drafting and bringing up our young players. He went out and signed a full bottom six, which has worked out, but it's the opposite of the mantra that he's been preaching for such a long time. It's just things like that, where it feels it feels to me like The criticism of Kevin Adams when he was brought in has been the reality the whole time, whereas where maybe I was trying to see it through rose-colored glasses. I think Kevin Adams was the bargain bin option for GM. Internal promotion where Terry didn't have to to open his wallet to pay a legitimate NHL GM. I think the staffing around Kevin Adams is neutered because of Terry DeGula not wanting to put money into the organization. They talk about how they wanted to put in a new fucking scoreboard and a new roof. and that'
00:51:06
Speaker
going to be proof to the fans that we want to win. That is not the same thing. Nobody wants to see that. Things like that. the I mean, it goes on and on. You're telling me that there's not an internal cap for the Sabres on the players that they can spend on? Bullshit. Otherwise, there would be a player in a Sabres uniform right now that we would be spending to the cap to get out of this fucking rut. So yeah, no.
00:51:30
Speaker
All that to say, yeah, I don't think that he is putting in the care, money, time, effort that other successful organizations do. And until
Sabres' Power Play Frustrations
00:51:40
Speaker
he is gone or has some epiphany, we will be a clown show embarrassment to the NHL. And that is a hard pill to swallow, but that is how I'm feeling.
00:51:51
Speaker
I agree 150% with everything that you just said. And here is where I get really pissed at Terry Pagula. And I get pissed at Terry Pagula with the inability to even give him credit for Sean McDermott and Brandon Bean, because he sat there at that press conference when he first bought the Sabres, looked at everybody, told them that their sole reason for existing was to win a Stanley Cup, started to cry when Jill Barrow Pearl was in the audience and told the guy that he was his hero.
00:52:20
Speaker
And I'll tell you what, dude, when Terry Bagoulas sat there and looked Gilbert Burrell in the fucking face and had tears coming down his face, I bought it hook, line and sinker. I was like, this is the guy that's going to fucking change it for everybody. And dude, i I feel duped. I feel pissed. I feel mad. And now I'm looking back to like when it was it was COVID times and I get shit was tight.
00:52:43
Speaker
But he like you use the perfect word neuter the entire scouting department Left left kevin adams to be the gm for the first time when his only other job Was like a fucking oh hlgm or some stupid middling shit like that Not even that you give them too much credit. He was uh, like an assistant of player personnel or something like that and their development or something like that Overnight, he's the fucking general manager for an NHL hockey team. Like, dude, miss me with it. And and in Kevin Adams defense, I don't think that this is his fault. No, this is the role that he's been thrust into and the how you. Address like it's it's it's part of the job description, right? You have to be the spokesperson for Terry. You have limited funds to deal with and you have players that just do not want to come to Buffalo and I don't blame them.
00:53:39
Speaker
So I don't, I don't think it's necessarily Kevin Adams fault. I don't think so either. What's he supposed to do? Reject the job offer. Like and he's not going to do that. I'll tell you guys right now, if Terry Pagula calls me on my phone tonight and offers me the job, I'm going to take it.
00:53:55
Speaker
Right. I'm not going to be like, ah, Terry Ashley, man. Like, I don't think I have the experience to give this fan base what it needs. So I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to decline. No, I'm going to take that six figure salary and I'm going to fucking try my best. So yes, I totally agree. So I don't blame Kevin Adams for taking it or for being the person that was appointed. But I also think there's there are some sins there that he's committed while occupying the role that we're talking about. I think he's been complacent in in some areas. And he talks, about his the quote that everyone has seen now, we have taxes, but not palm trees in Buffalo. Some people don't want to come here. It's a ludicrous quote that got cherry picked, but there's some there's some, you're hiding behind things. That's not the reason players don't want to come here. Winnipeg is cold as shit and has higher taxes than New York state.
00:54:46
Speaker
Players want to go there right now because they are a winning team and that is the bottom line. If you're not a winning team, you're not getting free agents to come to your team. And so he's just, he hasn't, I feel like he hasn't, the there I feel like there has been trades out there that he could have made, but got cold feet. Didn't want to jeopardize the future, but the irony is that his future is fucked. He's going to get canned.
00:55:10
Speaker
The Sabres future is fucked. They're gonna rebuild again. we're gonna We might beat the Bills 17 year playoff crowd at this point. That's how- Oh, we are 100% beating the Bills. straight Yeah. No, dude, that that's going to happen because you're right, Jake. It is gonna be another rebuild because what's gonna happen before Terry Pegula sells the team or somebody else is the owner, we're gonna do this again.
00:55:36
Speaker
or we fire Kevin Adams, hire a new GM, they've got like three years, right? And then it just rinse and repeat. Lisa asks an unbelievably good question because this was the case with the bills for a long, long, long, long time. What changed?
00:55:53
Speaker
they got a great head coach that changed the culture they got an unbelievable gm that was able to bring in players to lean into that culture and it turned into a winning organization and i'll tell you what when a team is winning nobody cares about taxes nobody cares about the weather these guys are professional athletes that have been the best of what they do for their entire lives and all they care about is a championship or making a ton of money, right? But for a lot of these guys, they will take that opportunity for a championship. And right now in Buffalo, New York, if you're a football player, it's a great place to potentially win a championship. Couldn't be the more opposite for hockey. They're there' one point away from being the but the basement of the Eastern Conference. Yeah, agreed. Nobody wants to come here.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yeah, this was time well spent. We are, we are approaching our 60 minute here. Should we rip through some other big notes, Jake? Yeah, I'd love to to hit on one. The savers do lead the NHL in a category. And I think that's significant. and We should talk about it. That category is blown leads.
00:57:03
Speaker
Of their 28 games in this young season, they have blown a lead 11 times. 40% of their games, they have taken the lead and been unable to sustain it. That leads the league by a large margin. And for some context, if you remember all the way back when we were tanking for McDavid or Eichel in 2015, that team,
00:57:32
Speaker
was, ah sorry, that team, when they scored first, they were winning 50% of those games. Not good at all. This team, when they score first, 43% of the games that they win. So, I don't know where to go from there. yeah Any comment or should I just move on to the next one? Just move on for the love of God. I have been absolutely banging this drum.
00:58:02
Speaker
for what feels like decades, the power play. You can not be a successful team in the NHL if you will not operate effectively on the power play. There was a stress there. I remember talking about in this podcast, there was a stretch where it was looking up from, so this is a tweet from, from Lance Zinkowski, a savers beat reporter.
00:58:24
Speaker
Early in the year, October 4th to the 22nd, they were over 22 on the power play. And we were talking about how putrid it was. Lindy Ruff was saying, we're going to get one eventually. And you know what they did from October 26th to November 20th, about a month stretch, the power play was looking nice. They were 11 for 37, which is a 30% efficiency rating. They scored in seven straight games. We were saying, okay, the power play is here. They're starting to win some games. We're good.
00:58:53
Speaker
Since that time, from November 22nd until today, they are 1 for 25 on the power play at 4% efficiency and they're still 30th in the NHL.
Conclusion and Social Media Encouragement
00:59:04
Speaker
For context, last year, one team that had a bottom 10 power play made the playoffs and it was the Jets and they got dummy by the avalanche. You cannot win if you don't have a good power play and to further that,
00:59:18
Speaker
The only thing that they did to change their power play from last year was bring up the AHL coach from Rochester to stick him behind the bench because Terry Pagula wants him to be the next head coach because he is cheap. Exactly. It's not good. You can't win like this. it you're you're You're just sputtering away. The fact that they didn't, the fact that they didn't bring in somebody else to manage the power play and to let Lindy bring in coaches that he maybe wanted to and has worked with before is is just a ah mass failure on part of the organization. So I will continue hammering that fact, but you're just not a serious team. If you can't muster more than one power play goal on 25 opportunities in the last seven, eight games. That needs to be your tag under your name, Jake. Problems with the PP and then you'll be. Oh gosh.
01:00:16
Speaker
All right, quick, Jake, I'm going to tear through a couple of bullet points and all I want you to do is give me the word agree or disagree. You ready? I'm here. Dylan Cousins needs to sit a few games. Agree. I also agree. Paterka's play the last several games is becoming increasingly concerning. ah More than a several games, but agree for the past month or so. I've had some issues with what he's been doing. Agree. OK, Krebs is a top six player on this team.
01:00:45
Speaker
disagree. i I disagree with your disagree. I agree with that statement. We should get in at some point. um i The tandem of Yoki Haryu and Owen Power needs to be split up right now. Agreed. Also agreed. um Let's see, I think, um let's see, Tyson Kozak being sent back down to the AHL. Good or bad? Or sorry, is that good? That is good.
01:01:14
Speaker
You got my head in pretzels. Tyson, Tyson Kozak being sent back down to Rochester is bad. Agree. I also agree with that. Yeah. I've loved him. That's it. Tom, get us out of here.
01:01:31
Speaker
Folks, you're welcome for your therapy session. We have Venmos and cash apps, so you can find them in our um our bio down below. Have a good night. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for spending some time with us. Please give us a like and a follow on Instagram, X, TikTok, and our YouTube channel at Let's Go Buff Pod. These are my pals, Jake and Nigel. My name is Tom, and you're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast. We're sending you love wherever you are. Go Bills. Go Savers. Let's Go Buffalo.