Tag: What We Learned

What we learned from the Bills’ win over the Patriots

After Sunday’s 27-21 win over the New England Patriots, here’s what Bills Wire’s learned from the contest.

The Buffalo Bills (10-6) continued their attempt to run the table for the end of this season in the hopes of securing a playoff spot after a disappointing start. After falling to 6-6 following a 37-34 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 26, the Bills have won four straight games, including a 27-21 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

With Buffalo’s AFC playoff hopes on the line, the start against New England could not have been worse as the Bills allowed Patriots wide receiver Jalen Reagor return the opening kickoff 98 yards to the house to give New England a 7-0 lead at the 14:48 mark of the first quarter.

After that, Buffalo got back into the game thanks to some great defense, headlined by cornerback Rasul Douglas and his two interceptions, including one that he returned 40 yards for a touchdown. With no further ado, here are three things we learned from Sunday’s win over the Patriots:

Biggest things we learned from Packers in Week 1

As the Packers prep for Week 2, here are the biggest and most important things we learned in Week 1.

The Green Bay Packers are well into prep for the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 after taking down the rival Chicago Bears by a 38-20 final in the season opener on Sunday.

While wary of over-reacting to anything in Week 1, the first game of the Jordan Love era in Green Bay did reveal several fascinating and important things about Matt LaFleur’s team to start 2023.

Here are a few things we learned (or even re-learned) about the Packers in Week 1:

What we learned about Cowboys in 40-0 rout of Giants

The Dallas Cowboys dominated in all three phases in their Week 1 win over the New York Giants, here’s what else we learned in the victory. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys gave the New York Giants a beatdown of epic proportions in their 40-0 Week 1 win. Even the most ardent Cowboys homer couldn’t have seen this dominating performance coming, not after the starters didn’t play in the preseason, with the offense ushering in a pseudo-new system, and with Mike McCarthy now calling plays.

Yet here the Cowboys are, sitting at 1-0 with perhaps the best Week 1 performance in the NFL. Only one team scored 40 points to open the 2023 campaign, only one team scored in all three phases, only one defense had seven sacks, and only one team had a shutout on Sunday. The Cowboys were them.

Here’s what we learned about Dallas in the Week 1 blowout victory.

What we learned from Alabama’s 2023 A-Day Game

Spring football is now complete. Let’s take a look at what we learned from Alabama’s A-Day game!

With the conclusion of spring football, we have now entered the dog days of summer where there is a significant gap between now and the first action of football in the fall.

Now that A-Day is officially in the review mirror and we have had a day or two to let the dust settle and the emotions subside, it’s time to take a look at some of the things that we learned from this past Saturday’s scrimmage.

Without question, fans are still enamored with the quarterback competition between Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson, we not only will we discuss that, but we will also look at what we learned about some of the other spots on the team.

Let’s roll!

Here’s what we learned in Cowboys’ blowout win over Vikings

Besides being a resilient team, here’s what else we learned about the Dallas Cowboys in their 40-3 blowout win over the Vikings in Week 11. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys took care of business and buried the Minnesota Vikings, 40-3, in the Week 11. After stewing over a loss in Green Bay, the Cowboys responded by thrashing a Vikings squad that entered the game tied for the best record in football. Winners of seven straight, the Vikings were coming off an impressive win over the AFC-darling Buffalo Bills. Confidence was high for Minnesota, but they were no match for the Cowboys, who dominated both sides of the ball.

The Cowboys were ready to play from the first series of the game and didn’t let up until the game was essentially over midway through the third quarter. Dallas scored on its first seven possessions, putting on an offensive display the Vikings couldn’t slow down. After allowing back-to-back 200-plus rushing yard games, the defense for the Cowboys settled down and held the Vikings to just 73 yards on the ground. Here’s what we learned about the Cowboys in their most impressive win of the season.

What was learned about Cowboys in 31-28 OT loss to Packers

We learned these are the same old Dallas Cowboys after blowing a 14-point lead in their 31-28 overtime loss to the Packers. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys were poised to beat the Green Bay Packers and make Mike McCarthy’s return to his former home a triumphant one. Instead the Cowboys chose to go in another direction, blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and losing to the Packers, 31-28, in an overtime thriller.

This was a game the Cowboys needed to win. It was against a reeling team who had lost five straight, and Dallas could’ve erased years of struggle playing Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Cowboys had to know how much this game meant to Rodgers and that they would get the best out of the Packers.

If they knew, the Cowboys failed to complete the task. It’s difficult to fathom how the Cowboys lost the game while playing with double-digit lead late with the defense they have, but old habits are hard to break. Dallas proved once again, they aren’t yet good enough to compete for championships.

Here’s what we learned as the Cowboys blew a game to the Packers in Week 10.

What we learned about Cowboys in Week 4 win over Washington

The defense, including cornerback Trevon Diggs, led the way for the Dallas Cowboys in their Week 4 win over the Washington Commanders. | From @BenGrimaldi

The Dallas Cowboys are now riding a three-game winning streak after beating the Washington Commanders, 25-10, in the Week 4. The Cowboys stayed in second place in the NFC East and are now 2-0 within the division.

It was another week where backup quarterback Cooper Rush did enough to lead the offense, throwing for 223 yards and two scores. Rush wasn’t as sharp as he was in the last two weeks, but he didn’t make many mistakes leading the team to another win. The running game was held in check, rushing for only 62 yards, yet the offense managed to move the ball.

The defense for Dallas was the story once again. Dan Quinn’s unit only sacked Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz two times, but they pressured him relentlessly, never allowing him to establish a rhythm. The Commanders had 297 total yards, some of which was done with the Cowboys surrendering yards late with the game in hand.

Here’s what we learned about the Cowboys in their Week 4 win over the rival Commanders.

What we learned from college football’s Week Zero

The long wait for the 2022 college football season finally ended on Saturday.

The long wait for the 2022 college football season finally ended on Saturday. Fans were treated to a small slew of games to kick off the new year.

Nebraska and Northwestern traveled to Dublin, Ireland to play a rare international conference game. Despite playing the game in a different country, similar struggles continued for Scott Frost and the Cornhuskers.

The new-look Nebraska squad squandered a double-digit second-half lead to drop the game 31-28. The loss makes 12 straight single-digit losses for Nebraska dating back to last season.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Illinois began its season with a comfortable 38-6 victory over a solid Wyoming squad. Bret Bielema hopes to see improvement in his second year with the program.

Vanderbilt took a long trip across the country to take on Hawaii on the road. The Commodores were all business on their island trip, taking down Hawaii in a 63-10 blowout.

Here are three things we learned from college football’s week zero action.

What We Learned: Parsons’ proper place, Cowboys playmakers, run game sour

Perhaps people are thinking too small when it comes to Micah Parsons. Perhaps the run game is acting too small. Lessons learned. | From @CDPiglet

The Dallas Cowboys had the most uncomfortable, comfortable win of the season in New Orleans against the Saints. With two and a half minutes left in the game, the Cowboys were up 17 points, but the game was closer than what the score board might have shown.

Dallas needed three interceptions in the last eight minutes of the game, one being a pick six, to finally pull away. Dallas had 14 drives on offense and only put up 20 points. They were absolutely atrocious on third down, only converting two out of 13 attempts, with six drives that went three-and-out. The Saints had more total plays and more rushing, passing, and total yards than the Cowboys. They topped Dallas in time of possession, also, 31:54 to 28:06.

Neither team was coming in whole, New Orleans might be the most injured team in football, having both offensive tackles, their two best weapons on offense, and a young stud edge rusher out. The Cowboys not only had big name players out, but the coaching staff was compromised by numerous members being in COVID-19 protocols.

Winning ugly allows a team to review a game like it was a loss, while still getting a win in the record column. Teams have to learn from winning ugly, and here are some things that were learned from the Saints game.

What We Learned: Injuries caught up to Cowboys, troubling Thanksgiving trend

The Dallas Cowboys learned they need to get healthy, and that the special teams are playing better than the offense or defense currently. | From @CDPiglet

The Dallas Cowboys lost for the third time in four games and everything has gone wrong for them at the wrong time. Quarterback Dak Prescott hasn’t been the same since missing time with a calf injury. The offensive line gets a new starting five weekly it seems, and the defensive line is out so many players their best edge rusher is actually LB Micah Parsons. The Cowboys are now in a race with the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East, and it’s time for them to turn it around.

Unfortunately this has been a trend for Dallas under Prescott. Dallas has never made the playoffs when they had a losing record during the three-games-in-11-days stretch culminating in the Thanksgiving holiday.

In 2016, and 2018 Dallas swept all 3 games in that time period and won the division twice. In 2017 they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles and the then San Diego Chargers by a combined score of 65-15. In 2019 the Cowboys were swept by the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills, and the Chicago Bears. In 2020, an Andy Dalton lead Dallas team beat the Minnesota Vikings before losing to the Washington Football team by 25, and the Baltimore Ravens by 17. They were home watching the playoffs all three of those seasons.

If the Cowboys can’t fix this trend, they will be watching the playoffs from home yet again, and it will have been 26 years since the Cowboys had made an NFC Championship Game, let alone the Super Bowl.

A team can learn a lot from their first losing streak of the year, and here are some examples of what we learned about this team.