Haplo848

Anyone else see that very obvious holding/hands to the face that wasn't called on that long pass play?

Just joined the thread, so don't know if anyone else posted this, but has anyone else noticed that when the Bills have the ball, the refs consistently spot the ball A FULL YARD SHORT of where it should be spotted!? On a Josh scramble, he slid with the ball in his right hand right at the 40, running horizontally to the left, they mark it at the 39. On the 3rd down before we turned it over on downs, we get talked 2 yards short of the first, they mark it 3 yards short. It's not just bad spotting, it's absolutely horrendous. I haven't noticed it happen to the Chiefs, yet.

Watching that first drive of the Bills game, and remembering past games, like against Dak and the Cowboys, I can't help but feel like when the opposing QB scrambles, he's got three choices. Go down early, making it clear he's sliding, go out of bounds, or he should be absolutely lit up every single time. Make him pay for running. Now, you might say, "We can't do that, we'll get flagged." My response is "How is that any different from what happens already?" We always get flagged because the opposing QB always slides way too late, after the defender has always launched. A lot of QBs will try to squeeze out every single yard they can, then draw a 15 yard penalty on top of it. Sometimes, the QB isn't even down yet before they're hit. Even when the defender does what the NFL wants, and goes over the top of them, like today, we're still flagged. So if we're going to be flagged no matter what, make sure the hits count. Make sure the opposing QB feels it. Make the QB learn that you better get down early, or you're going to get blown up. The NFL has gone so far in trying to protect the QB, that's its literally become the better option for defenders to hit QBs as hard as they can, because they will get flagged anyways.

I see Andreessen making it, due to injuries at LB and how well he's played. He'll be depth and ST. Zach Davidson I don't see making it, just due to numbers, and the fact that he isn't much of a blocker at all. I see them trying to stuff him on the practice squad, help him learn some blocking, and eventually elevate him. Ja'marcus Ingram has been playing well, but it will be difficult for him to make the team. I hope we keep him on the PS, but I don't see him making it as depth, simply because we have Rasul Douglas, Elam, Benford, Taron Johnson, and Hardy making the team. He'd have to make it as the 6th CB. Javon Solomon has been good, and I don't see them believing they can try and hide him on the PS. Epenesa, Rousseau, Miller, and likely Smoot will be the top 4 DE's, but Miller is on a pitch count, so there will be a 5th, and the other DE's haven't outplayed him IMO, AND he's a draft pick. He'll be depth on the line. Tylan Grable won't make it. There's just to much ahead of him. He's another hopeful PS. They'll likely carry the top 5 OL, a swing tackle, and an inside OL sub. There's an outside chance he makes it as a swing tackle, but I kinda doubt it. I'm going to combine MVS, Tyrell Shavers, and K.J. Hamler here. I'm going to guess that the latter two get pushed by MVS, I'd honestly prefer either of them over MVS. Tyrell Shavers, in my opinion, is a better big target than MVS is. MVS just drops the ball too much. K.J. Hamler showed how versatile he was today, returning kicks, running screens, lining up in the backfield, etc. He doesn't do anything GREAT, but he can do a LOT at a decent to good playstyle. Gable Stevenson likely won't make it. Just too many people competing for too few spots, and he's likely too raw. I see the Bills trying to stash him on PS if possible.

I'm rather amused at all the people who think Keon Coleman is slow. Dude plays at speed. He had the fastest speed of anyone during the gauntlet drill in the past 2 years at the combine, which reflects actual play speed much more than the 40 does. He was even faster than Puka Nacua last year. Did anyone actually go and watch his 40? Dude's simply not a track star. He started slow because coming out of his stance, he popped up instead of bursting forward. If he had spent more time on the track with someone who knew what they were doing, and could help him with a better start out of his stance, spending time fixing an issue that in no way actually relates to football, he likely would have shaved AT LEAST 0.1 seconds off, likely more. And no one would be talking about him being slow. But they look at that number, decide he's slow, and ignore everything else, especially his play speed. He LOOKS slow when he's running because his legs don't seem to be moving as fast as you're used to, but when he's trying to outrun people, his stride lengthens, and with his long legs, every one of his strides eats up distance, and he covers ground at a surprising rate.

This. This is it exactly. Besides that, did anyone actually go and watch his 40? Dude's simply not a track star. He started slow because coming out of his stance, he popped up instead of bursting forward. If he had spent more time on the track with someone who knew what they were doing, and could help him with a better start out of his stance, he likely would have shaved AT LEAST 0.1 seconds off, likely more. And no one would be talking about him being slow. But they look at that number, decide he's slow, and ignore everything else, especially his play speed. He LOOKS slow when he's running because his legs don't seem to be moving as fast as you're used to, but when he's trying to outrun people, his stride lengthens, and with his long legs, every one of his strides eats up distance, and he covers ground at a surprising rate.

The refs aren't even making a show of looking for penalties on the Eagles. There was a BLATANT block in the back in the middle of the field on that point return. Was it called? Hell no.

Refs need to put away the black and put on their green uniforms

And yet another obvious penalty ignored on the Eagles with the horse collar, and a completely blown intentional grounding call because Gabe Davis WAS in the area. These refs are a joke

I am absolutely sick of the biased reffing in the NFL. The last two offensive plays were incredibly obvious penalties against the Eagles, a hit to the helmet against a defenseless receiver and pass interference. Neither got called. Any time the Bills get a lead, the refs have to rubber band the opposition, try and get them back in the game. If it was the Chiefs, both would have absolutely been called.

Is running from gun a bad thing still talked about this year? I understand it in the previous years, because our run game was pretty bad, but especially out of the gun in previous years, but this year, I've been incredibly frustrated by the lack of run plays called. Before the Jets game, while we were in our 6(?) week slump, it seemed like we'd go nowhere when hyper focused on just passing the ball, but when we'd have drives where we were balanced and ran the ball, good things would happen. The only problem was, Dorsey kept refusing to call run plays. It seemed like we'd drop back and pass it three times, but they'd be waiting for it all three times, and we'd go three and out. However, when we sprinkled in the run, they wouldn't be expecting it as much, and so we got some good yards on the ground. So they'd be forced to respect the run, at which point the coverage would loosen up and we'd do better in the passing game as well. Only by the time Dorsey realized "hey, running the ball is actually a thing, I should try doing every once in a while," we'd already be losing. We'd have good, long, dominant drives where they couldn't stop us, but that would be to just get back into the game, and it would be a toss up whether we'd get enough points to win it or just make it close by the end of the game. This year, I've got not problem running out of shotgun, mainly because our run blocking as a whole has gotten better, so the formation we run out doesn't matter as much. The only time I have issues with run plays are when we try to do those wide, stretch or toss plays out of shotgun. They only seem to go horizontally, and as the RB is starting about 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, that ends up being a big loss. They're fairly boom or bust plays, with bust being MUCH more likely. If you HAVE to run it wide out of shotgun, I'd MUCH prefer a jet sweep than a HB toss or whatnot.

Forgive my French, but I'm pissed. Holy ***** this is maddening. Forget how the NFL basically made the Bills and Jags basically play on concrete, resulting in multiple season ending injuries to our best players. Forget disrupting schedules and flying across a ridiculous number of time zones, making such injuries much more likely. Forget making the Bills give up a home game for that farce. Even forget the atrocious job the refs did, destroying any semblance of a fair and unbiased game by calling penalties on the Bills every single time something maybe, possibly, LOOKED like it could potentially be called a penalty, while practically waiting until a Jaguars player murdered someone on the field before calling one on them, all in the name of giving the Jags a "signature win" to expand their fanbase overseas in preparation for their inevitable move to London. Roger Goodell just straight up admitted that having the Jags play in London the previous week, then having them stay in London all week, while having the Bills fly in and play jetlagged was a way for the NFL to test just how much of an advantage that would be. They came right out and said, to paraphrase "we are knowingly ***** over the Bills this week, and in doing so, ending their season by injuring their best players so badly that they will be out for the rest of the season." This is rage-inducing. Link Below: https://x.com/haremherd/status/1711390018109923498?s=20

The NFL is DEFINITELY determined to help the Jags get fans in Europe before they move to London. This sh*t is unwatchable for anyone other than the biggest Jags homer

Up until now, we've mainly been running 3WR sets with Josh as a QB, throughout his career. However, after Beasely left, and McKenzie couldn't cut it, we don't really have a really good slot personnel, and this draft isn't that great for WRs. With the Kincaid pick, it seems like we're going to be lining up in a lot more 2 TE sets, even if one or both ends up getting split out wide. But with the suddenness and burst Kincaid has shown on tape, it seems like he could almost take over that slot receiver role as a TE, getting the high frequency, low yardage, high percentage catches that would more traditionally go to a slot receiver. And if that's the case, our offense starts looking a LOT more dangerous than last year. You've basically replaced McKenzie with someone with much better hands and a much better blocker, and who might actually get MORE targets. They'll likely be shallower targets, but Kincaid will still likely play a much larger role than McKenzie ever could have. And that's basically just talking about his direct effect. Less directly, playing in a two TE set with Kincaid out there, he'd basically make defenses pull a DB off the field in exchange for a LB, giving Davis and Diggs more room to work with. If they don't pull that DB, it becomes a lot easier to run on teams, which will also open up play action passing more. There are a lot of "experts" out there saying that we needed to draft other positions more, so they hated this pick, but drafting for need had always been how you end up drafting mediocre players that don't actually fill a hole and extend your losing ways. Always pick the best players available, and then scheme around them. There were no WRs or MLBs worth drafting at that point, we've shown we can't develop DLine talent, so pick the best player available, one of the best players in the entire draft, and start running some 2 TE sets with Knox and Kincaid.

Now, if I were a more optimistic person, I'd say this is the part of the movie where the promising team with high hopes and aspirations have dealt with all the struggles and injuries and setbacks and blizzards and whatnot, you get to the point where you start to feel things are getting back on track, only to have the Damar Hamlin injury happen, and suddenly everything feels bleak, and you start to wonder if that was the one thing that finally broke them. But then Damar makes a miraculous recovery, enough to be on the sidelines for the first playoff game, everyone rallies around him, and with that added drive and motivation, they make it through the playoffs, reaching the Super Bowl, where the team is surprised to see Damar suit up, healthy and cleared to play, and he ends up making the game sealing interception to win the Super Bowl. It would be a story worthy of Hollywood. And considering the last two Super Bowl winners seemed to have a flare for the dramatic with Brady being traded then winning the SB, then Stafford being traded then winning the SB, it feels like reality should see the drama inherent to the above storyline and follow the script. But unfortunately this is the real world. And we're just stuck hoping Damar will live, let alone be okay. And all the hopes and dreams we've been carrying for months (years, decades) now, they seem less bright and shiny now, and a lot more meaningless when put in comparison. And my goal for the season has become a lot different: I just want to see everyone get through it alive and okay.