WhitewalkerInPhilly

I was trying to do a weekly writeup but life happened. What few notes I got had JAVON SOLOMON in all caps. One of the side benefits of these blowouts is getting the rookie defenders live reps. We (rightfully) give Beane credit for late round picks finds but McDermott and his staff have done good work developing them. I was worried about Bernard stepping in last year and Hamlin this year but it seems like they've hit the ground running once they saw the field

I mean I was optimistic and curious about the new scheme but I'm not going to pretend that I thought it would be "highest offensive PPG in the league by 3 points" good. I don't think ANYONE here expected that much . I still think someone will find a counter, but we know Josh can turn it on when he needs to.

Fixed it for you 🤪 Interesting wrinkle for game prep. Going into Week 4 the Ravens somehow have both the best Rushing defense in the league (50 YPG) and the worst passing defense (292 YPG)

Let's goooo!

I wore the new Cover One T-shirt Which besides for superstition is just plain nice https://images.teeworksusa.com/2024/09/Buffalo-Cover-1-sweater.jpg

I've heard it in post game coverage too. I was worried Spencer Brown would regress after getting paid but if anything he's playing better. And we're doing it with three draft picks too with SVP looking like a solid project player. It takes time to build a line. Often sliding in a big name free agent has limited benefit. It's been a slow steady churn and we are seeing the harvest from that.

Yep a lot is going to be lost in how completely unprepared the Jags looked rather than how unstoppable Allen was. I know one fed into the other but the talking heads have been looking for ways to discount the Bills each week so far

And the points left on the board Week 1 with the fumble and the TOP imbalance to start. Someone is going to have a counterpunch. But I see what Brady was saying about positionless football. How many receiver combinations have we seen tonight?

I mean before I was curious but I'm pretty sure the team was already top in the league in points per game and they are just piling on. The scary thing is I don't think they are at full power yet. This is just high level execution against an opponent that was not at all prepared.

Using FanDuel and some of its modifiers. Got in another Coleman TD at 15:1

I've watched a lot of football these last three weeks. Josh is dialed in. I don't know if even Mahomes looks better at the moment

Thank you 3x payout on a Keon Coleman TD!

It's a little funky to me but I'm now an old man with a newborn so I appreciate it being over by 11

Predictions for the night: The breakout games we've been waiting for on Coleman and/or Samuel. A weaker and depleted secondary paired with a stronger front 7 will have Brady use motion to get matchups he likes and exploit them. Etienne gashes the Bills but the team plays disguised zone coverage to force Lawrence to deal short accurate passes. Josh takes a big run due to the man coverage. Jags hang a bit but the Bills wear them down and pull away

I agree that it's early but it's the reasons that @Logic mentioned that had me not go too crazy when Worthy had a splashy Week 1. Now he's hell of a gadget player but so far the size and technique issues look like hurdles he still has to overcome. For what it's worth I think Coleman goes off tonight. A weaker secondary that relies on man coverage, a strong front 7 and the Bills with plenty of motion men (I think) should give Coleman one on ones.

Idk Josh Allen is kinda a thing But as a value pick? I agree Benford is incredible. High level starting CB from a day 3 pick doesn't happen often but Beane does it regularly

I mean I think that's good news mostly. Not just with Josh runs but motion is extra effective against man coverage. This is the kind of thing Samuel is incredible against.

That's the thing: as far as I know Tua didn't take any massive shots up until that point. If that level of hits is causing that level of concussion it's only getting worse from here.

As a reminder , the Bills EPA went DOWN when Brady took over last year. But yes this is a heartening start

Well it certainly is a different experience sitting and watching things unfold elsewhere. But there’s a lot to unpack First off: I have to address a few things about the Bills game on Thursday night. I feel bad for Tua. He’s undergone traumatic and potentially life altering injury for reasons that are not entirely his own fault. I feel bad for Damar Hamlin. He knows better than anyone what it’s like to have a routine play turn into something more, and like his own injury, it was a hit where nothing dirty happened. I feel a bit bad for the Bills team who turned in an incredible performance that was swallowed up by the splashy news of the Tua’s injury. (Though it probably will be to their benefit) I do NOT feel bad for the Dolphins organization. Back in 2022, at the start of all of this, they saw their QB break down with tremors and chose to roll him out there. To compound the issue, they then saw fit to continue him out on a short week where he took an even more savage hit. At that moment I thought Tua might actually retire. It certainly would have been reasonable to IR him when he was lying on the ground, fingers fencing. The Dolphins rolled him out again, where he took ANOTHER concussion. At that point, the Dolphins HAD to know they were playing with fire. Maybe after 23 they thought they had dodged the bullet, but here we are. I don’t even want to call what Hamlin did a “hit”. He tensed and took the blow as Tua speared him and hit with his head more than shoulder. These are the hits people are worried about Josh taking, and Josh is far more durably built. As of today, I am hearing that Tua wants to come back and I am legitimately concerned that he might die on the field. I know it has to be hard for him to make that choice, but this is a compounding issue. If a downright gentle tackle is sending him out, what’s going to happen when a free runner DL hits him? He’s got his money. Someone should be the adult in the room and I am terrified that no one will. _______________ If someone told me that Tua secretly had an undiagnosed concussion that night I’d believe it. The Dolphins just didn’t come to play against their division rival. The Bills method of defending the Dolphins isn’t a secret but I saw nothing new from McDaniel. I’d say that they just didn’t show up but that is selling this defense short. I am watching the Cardinals vs Rams game and, um, guys…the Cardinals might be good. I remember being warned that they were better than they were given credit but now I am watching them just steamroll the Rams. Murray looks like an All Pro and MHJ like a rookie of the year. The Rams are not a bad team and the Cardinals are smacking them AND THE BILLS STOPPED THEM. This secondary held Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddlen and Marvin Harrison Jr. to less than 100 COMBINED yards while rolling out their 4th string LB. That’s not luck. Babich and McDermott have been dialed in for the last 6 quarters of play. _______________ One minor observation: I wonder if Babich tends to go to Man coverage more than McDermott. I remember the radio broadcast announcing it in Week1 as an adjustment after halftime and then in the Amazon coverage that the Bills we staying with a Cover 2 shell but were mixing in man coverage to disrupt Hill’s routes. Maybe it’s be noticing for the first time, but it seems that maybe we are getting more wrinkles in the defense. Or I’m crazy. _______________ I really don’t know how Beane finds incredible back of the draft secondary players but goddamn it looks like he struck gold with Ingram. I know a lot of the success is scheme, but the Bills cornerbacks and secondary has mostly held up rolling out: -A journeyman the Bills paid a 3rd round pick for -6th round CB -Undrafted slot corner backup who was seen as a special teamer -A S that no one threw money at in open free agency -6th round safety -Undrafted free agent dime DB Which makes the Elam whiff all the more inexplicable. _______________ Man, Von Miller is going to get his check on the way out the door. What I’ve seen isn’t a resurgence to Pro Bowl form, but he at least looks a shadow of himself. I still think that the Bills move on in the offseason but at least we are getting something. But as an overall trend, the D-line is looking at or ahead of expectations _______________ If there is a single thing that is keeping me up at night, it’s the linebacker room and not for talent. It seems that the Bills got lucky with Bernard and that it might only be a 4-6 week absence and in theory Milano can come back, but hooo boy are things looking light. I won’t be shocked if Beane takes a rental because that is awful light. I half joked but so far the Thick Dime (one LB, 3 safeties (Rapp, Hamlin, Ingrham), NCB and 2 boundary CB) has worked. I think we see it a long until Bernard is back. The team is going to have to find something from Morrow, Spector and Joe A) Long term, this might be a good thing. As I mentioned last week, the direction of league offenses appears to be more running plays and the Bills need LBs who can cover as well as hit. If we can find a third LB who is more of a run stuffer but isn’t a liability in coverage I think that package will see more rotation.. _______________ It’s kinda weird to talk about the offense second in a game where the team put up 31 points, but it’s kind of hard to make forecasts when the Dolphins kept turning the ball over on short fields and the Bills went into trying to choke them out by the third quarter. But let’s enjoy the James Cook show. I was roasted a bit last year for saying that he was a poor man’s CMC and now I am hearing things like “younger Alvin Kamara”. The Bills have him under rookie contract for one more year. Let’s make use of it. I think James might wind up as the Cook brother people remember. _______________ If there is a player to sum up “everyone eats” it’s Josh Allen. If you’d told me that Josh had less than 150 yards passing I’d ask how poorly the game had gone. Some players (cough) seem to care more about running up personal stats than winning. Not Josh. While maybe not great for my betting prospects, Josh was grinning on the sideline as the team coasted and took what the Dolphins gave him. I remember grumbling about the Bills running too much. Now I think that’s silly at the best of times after a victory, but in this game? First off, leaving Hill and Waddle off the field is half the battle in the defensive game plan. Two, one of the fundamental rules of basic situational football is “if the defense can’t stop a play(er) you spam it until they do”. I think the Bills weren’t planning for Cook to rip a 50 yard touchdown one play into the drive, but you take it. There will be weeks when the Bills need Josh to throw 40 times and take over a game but we’ve heard nothing but grumbling about how he can’t do that forever. Well, so far this year he hasn’t had to. We’ll see what happens when they play teams with better run D (the Ravens for one) but it’s only a good thing that they can win multiple ways. _______________ Tying back a few points: As important as Beane’s ability to find good secondary play seems to be knowing when to move on. Tre White got COOKED by MHJ. The still of Poyer face down as he failed to make it to the edge to stop Cook brought a smile to my face. Those losses hurt, but we are seeing in real time why the choice was made. _______________ Now with Week 2 in the books I look around the league and...if I was worried about how the Bills look watching most other teams around the league made me feel better. I was worried with all the new pieces and the limited preseason time to gel but right now the Bills are looking their old selves. Are there things to clean up? Yes. But when I was looking at the schedule I made peace with the idea of a 3-3 start as not the end of the world. Now, the Bills are 2-0 and while the upcoming road slog looks nasty, the Jags and Ravens are 0-2 and have looked very much mortal in those games. Let’s go!

I'm not going to lie I kept waiting for this to trail off to the lyrics Pinball Wizard and now it's stuck in my head. But I agree with the central premise. Brady operates with a simple principle I approve of: if something is consistently working, spam it until the defense adjusts to try to stop it. If James Cook is leaving their new free agent safety with his face in the first and you are up two scores why in heaven would you stop that? But so many teams will do just that. They have players worried about their numbers or outthink themselves. He's got going to force feed a guy 8 balls a game if a defense is devoted to shutting you down. He will maybe do it once just to keep teams honest. I'm not just dumping on Diggs but an example of this was Shakir's tunnel screen. How many times did we watch Diggs take that play for 3-4 yards while Shakir busts something?

I mean there's no way I can match Tua's generosity. I mean just last night he gave the Bills 3 turnovers and 17 points!

If they do, whoever takes him will need the space for the guaranteed money. They just restructured his deal

That's about as good as we could have hoped for

Miami police were informed of two murders and look, Tyreek Hill was at the scene