mjt328

The biggest problem with all these injuries, is that our schedule is very top-heavy. We get Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Kansas City... then finally our bye and Green Bay. By the time we finally get a break and a chance to get healthy, it's very possible that we will be .500, a couple games behind Miami in the AFC East, and behind on tiebreakers with the Ravens and Chiefs. I have no doubts that we can still win 11-12 games. But it may be too late to get homefield at that point.

I've been watching this sport for almost 30 years, and they say this about EVERY SINGLE running quarterback at some point. If Tom Brady throws the ball 50 times, and then hands it off 10 times...nobody talks about him accounting for OVER 80 PERCENT OF THE OFFENSE!!! OH NO!!!! But if Josh Allen throws the ball 40 times, hands off 10 times and runs 10 times, then he's overused.

The problem is, we only have the cap space for maybe ONE significant move. Right now, we are getting extremely thin at WR, OL, DT, CB and S. Which position do you want to address, here in the first month of the season? What if you go after a DB... and then Stefon Diggs goes down for the rest of the year. You are going to wish you had saved the money for Odell Beckham. Most of our injuries fortunately seem short-term, so hopefully we will be back to somewhat full strength in a month or so.

Just stop. They put more resources into the defense, because we have a Top 3 quarterback who raises the level of everyone around him. However, the Bills have invested big contacts in Stefon Diggs, Dion Dawkins, Mitch Morse and now Dawson Knox. Our offense has been Top 3-5 each of the last two seasons, and started the same this season. One punt in the first two games. They had another nearly 500 yards yesterday. The big problem was finishing drives with touchdowns. If the third-string center doesn't cause a bad snap before halftime, that's three more points. If Gabriel Davis doesn't drop the touchdown... followed by the blocked field goal, that's another three or seven points. If Josh Allen doesn't double-clutch and throw the ball into the ground, that's another touchdown to McKenzie in the 4th Quarter. This offense was absolutely devastated by injuries, and gassed by 100 degree temps. Yet they EASILY could have put up 30-35 points with just a couple bounces going their way.

I'm not blaming anybody. I've never seen an NFL team as ravaged by injuries as I witnessed yesterday. There was a point we had about 20 guys down, and it was absolutely shocking that we kept the game that close. Losing Mitch Morse prompted multiple bad snaps, costing us at least 3 points. It also forced us into shotgun later in the game, which limited us in the Red Zone. Then we lost Spencer Brown to heat stroke. Then our backup center Greg Van Roten. Then Ryan Bates. One more injury and we would have been playing a Tight End or Fullback at one of the Guard/Tackle spots. And that's just the O-Line. It was clear Gabriel Davis wasn't anywhere near ready to play, and probably should have sat. On the first drive, we lost his backup Jake Kumerow to an ankle injury. That pretty much destroyed our ability to stretch the field. Then Dawson Knox got hurt. As the game wore on, Stefon Diggs and Isaiah McKenzie were constantly going down. On much of the final drive, Josh had nobody to throw to but Quinton Morris and the running backs.

Each stadium offers its own level of homefield advantage. For some teams (such as Buffalo), that edge comes from weather. Our hometown players get used to the snow and wind, while the visiting domed/warm-weather teams often struggle to get acclimated. They say that Seattle was built to amplify sound, making it incredibly difficult for visiting offenses to communicate. Denver's stadium is at a higher altitude, which results in lower oxygen levels and causes visiting teams to get gassed more easily. At the Meadowlands, stadium officials were known to open the tunnel doors when visiting teams were kicking and close them for the Jets/Giants. Normally these types of things don't bother me. But what I saw yesterday was definitely on a different level. There were dozens of players going down with heat stroke, heat related illness, etc. I've never witnessed that in a football game before. Coaches and players have often talked about the heat-advantage at the Dolphins stadium, but this seemed remarkably unsafe. Not sure if there is a solution though, other than make Miami play in the later time slot during the early part of the season.

Regardless of the injuries, I do think the Bills win this game. Our offense has been unstoppable since this end of last year (including the playoffs). And even before that, there is nobody they have beaten-down as bad as the Dolphins. That includes a game where pretty much ALL of our players were backups, and Miami needed a win to get into the playoffs. With that said, if the defense manages to hold them under 20 points... it may be their most impressive game yet. I've stated the Dolphins/Tua are getting more praise than deserved. But I'm not sure I've ever seen a game where the entire starting secondary and most of the interior defensive line are out the same week.

My understanding is that PUP players must be moved to the active roster after 21 days (3 weeks), or they cannot play for the rest of the season. Everything we've heard is that Tre White's recovery is going well, with no known setbacks. He is now also 10 months removed from the ACL surgery, on an injury that usually takes 9-12 months to come back from. So even if he's trending towards a longer recovery, he should absolutely be back before season's end. Bottom line, you can be certain that White will be activated from the PUP list to the roster after the Dolphins game. When he actually comes back to game action is another story. Once his rehab is 100% complete, it's probably going to take him some time to get back into NFL game shape. He could potentially be back for the Ravens game. But the Bills may want to be extra careful, and either hold him out for a few more weeks or gradually ease him back in. If I'm the coaching staff, I probably don't want to rush him out there to chase around Lamar Jackson after just one week of practice. The Steelers game may be a good starting point to get him a few snaps. Then he can be ready to roll against the Chiefs. Another realistic scenario is them just waiting until after the bye week, and bringing him back against the Packers.

I can only think of two reasons a player would want a second opinion from a doctor: 1. The doctor gave him really bad news (season or career ending), and he wants to see if another specialist can fix the injury with less missed time on the field. 2. The doctor said everything was good to go, but he still feels like something isn't right physically and wants to double-check. It's hard for me to imagine a player getting a good report from the doctor, feeling great physically and still saying... "I need to miss practice this week and go get another opinion." Hopefully I'm wrong. But the vague way Sean McDermott apparently shut-down media questions about Hyde's absence yesterday also seemed really odd. My first thought was that something more serious was going on, and coach didn't want to talk about it. And that was before news broke about Hyde getting a second opinion. Of course this is all speculation, and maybe I'm just fearing the worst news. I'm getting post-Thanksgiving vibes, just like I did after we destroyed the Saints...but couldn't completely enjoy it, because of the coming bad news about Tre White's knee.

Just hope we aren't in the same boat as the Ravens come kickoff. No Tre White. Probably no Dane Jackson. Possibly no Micah Hyde.

The Bills just want a running game that can keep defenses honest. Where we ran into trouble last season, was when teams dropped 7-8 defenders... but we still couldn't generate more than 2-3 yards per carry.

My only concern about this game are the injuries in the secondary. It's almost a certainty that we have two rookie cornerbacks against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. And it wasn't a promising start of the week with Micah Hyde not practicing either.

Even the best quarterbacks in NFL history have the occasional bad game. And even the best offenses have days where they have trouble getting in sync. That's pretty much what you need to hope for, because I'm not sure a scheme alone is enough to stop them for an entire game. At this point, Josh Allen has shown success against every kind of defense. Man, Zone, Cover 0-1-2-3. He can beat you with the short game. He can beat you over the top. Even when you do everything right, he can beat you with his legs. And with more experience, he is becoming tougher and tougher to fool with exotic looks and trickery. Like any great QB at his peak, the best way to beat Allen is to beat the guys around him. Specifically the O-Line. Find ways to get pressure with only 4 guys, leaving 7 in the secondary, and that's always a recipe for success. If you go back to last year, the common theme in our bad offensive games (Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, New England) was a breakdown in the offensive line. Each of those games saw terrible pass blocking, and an inability to generate any push in the run game.

The Bills aren't built like the Browns or Titans, who need the running game to carry them for 4 Quarters. If you are looking for a 20-25 carry, 100 yard game from an RB on this roster, you are probably going to be disappointed all season. That's just not us. All we need from the running game is the ability to gain 4-5 yards when the defense shows light boxes and plays heavy coverage. Doesn't matter if that comes from Devin Singletary, Zack Moss, James Cook or from Josh Allen. So far, I would say that Singletary has been very effective in doing exactly that. 6.0 YPC against the Rams. 5.4 YPC against the Titans. The Rams came out with plans to stop the deep passing game. So we picked down the field underneath, and broke off some nice runs with Singletary/Allen. The Titans seemed geared to stop Allen from breaking the pocket, so we hit them downfield.

I was thinking the same thing. What worked for Tua in the 4th Quarter against the Ravens, will almost certainly be a recipe for doom against us. He really needs to play the opposite way this week... patient and efficient, instead of looking for the big play. If he spends the day lobbing deep balls down the field, he may end up with 6 interceptions this week instead of 6 touchdowns.

Mentioned some of this in a different thread. I watched most of Miami's first two games. The Dolphins offense only scored 13 points in Week 1, against a less than impressive Patriot defense. They had only 7 points at halftime on Sunday, and only 14 points after 3 quarters. If you watch the Mike Gesicki touchdown, there were three Ravens around the ball that didn't even bother to put their hands up or jump to stop the pass. The deep Tyreek Hill touchdown was one of the worst miscommunication/blown coverages I have ever seen, where nobody was within 30 yards of him. Don't get me wrong. It was an awesome comeback, and Tua had the game of his life. But let's not pretend the Dolphins are suddenly some offensive juggernaut, after literally ONE quarter of great play, against a defense that had clearly packed it in. They have some really dangerous weapons on the outside. But it's not like they are the first team in NFL history to field two fast receivers at the same time. There is a strategy to stop that kind of attack, and we just happen to be VERY good at running it. The Bills defense specializes in stopping the big pass play, and forcing offenses to gradually work down the field with runs and underneath throws. After watching film from the Ravens game, this will be an even bigger focus than normal for Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier. Maybe our injuries play a factor, but I just don't see us allowing the same deep passes that killed the Ravens. Based on our recent play and the last several times playing the Dolphins, I would be surprised if our offense scores less than 30-35 points. Can the Dolphins operate efficiently enough to move the ball methodically, converting third downs, keep our offense off the field, and stay pace with us on the scoreboard? From what I've seen in 2022 so far, I don't think so.

Very interested to see the injury report this week. The Titans game was not the week to be short on the D-Line, but our depth came through with flying colors. The Dolphins game is not one I want to be short in the secondary (White, Jackson, Hyde). But who knows?

Mitch Morse returned to the game last night. He will probably get some lighter work this week, but I would expect him to be good going forward. Tim Settle practiced Saturday, so I imagine he is close. Everyone else is a total mystery.

There were many times last season, where the Bills clearly tried to coast against inferior opponents. They often struggled against teams that were very physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage (such as Tennessee). I want to see this team laser-focused on a weekly basis. This game will be a big test.

I think most of the Buffalo fanbase suffers from PTSD, from all these years of suffering and heartbreak. Can we not feel secure about our team's season, unless every other franchise in the NFL looks like complete trash? Half of this board went into a total panic mid-afternoon Sunday, under the sudden realization that one of our division rivals might win double-digit games this year. Hey everyone... It's OK if the Dolphins have a good team. It's OK if the Chiefs are still really good too. We can still win a Super Bowl if the AFC East and #1 seed isn't in the bag by Thanksgiving. Let's all try to relax and breathe. The Bills are heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl because OUR TEAM is exceptional. Not because everyone else is expected to suck. If we stay healthy, stay focused and handle our business, the Bills should still win the AFC East. Miami had 9 wins last season, and 10 wins the season before. Anyone who expected them to be a total pushover this season was in denial. They already had a strong defense. And having two weapons on the outside like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle was going to cause problems for quite a few defenses. With that said, I have watched a good chunk of both Dolphins games this year. Their offense managed 13 points in Week 1. They had 7 points at halftime yesterday and 14 points at the end of the 3rd Quarter. The Ravens defense started playing very soft when the score was 28-7, and their defensive backs barely made an effort to stop the touchdown throw to Mike Gesicki. They totally blew the coverage on the tying touchdown to Hill and he was open by about 30 yards in every direction. It was a great comeback. But let's not pretend their offense is totally unstoppable. Since Josh Allen became our QB, the Bills are 7-1 against the Dolphins. The only loss was the infamous Charles Clay endzone drop. In those wins, our offense has put up 42, 31, 37, 56, 31, 26 and 35 points. Our defensive scheme is built to stop the big play. Although it certainly won't be a given with (possibly) two rookie corners on the outside, there is no reason to be scared. They have shown zero ability to slow us down on the other side. Based on history, the Dolphins will need about 4-5 plays like that to keep up with our offense.

Taking off my homer glasses...Patrick Mahomes probably gets the edge over Josh Allen because: He has been elite for 4 full seasons. Allen took a few years to develop, and has been elite for the last 2 seasons. His team has a 4-1 edge in head-to-head matchups, including twice in the playoffs. He has a Super Bowl trophy and an MVP, while Allen is still chasing both. Herbert is well below both guys. He makes some great throws, and is clearly a QB on the rise. But there are times that Allen/Mahomes simply cannot be defended. I've never seen him hit that level. Not to mention, he still hasn't even led his team to the playoffs.

Thanks for this information. It's very important to note the difference between QB scrambles and the various kinds of designed QB runs. Telling Josh Allen that he shouldn't scramble with the ball would be a mistake. It's one of the aspects of his game that makes him special, and almost impossible to defend. Take that away, and yes he's still a good passer. But I don't think he's elite as a pocket-only guy. You can see the same evolution with Russell Wilson over the last 2-3 seasons. Once he decided to stop running as often, the level of his game went down a notch. He's still very accurate and smart. But defenses don't fear him like they used to. I think our offense would also miss the read-option plays if we cut them out completely. They have been a key piece to this offense (with both Daboll and Dorsey). If Allen starts handing the ball off 90% of the time, the defense will quickly figure that out. And then those plays become ineffective. I think the answer here would be to "limit" the read-option looks, and only use them in the more important games/situations. The pre-designed runs are the easiest to scrap, and don't seem to gain much anyway. Those are the plays that eventually ran Cam Newton into the ground. Hopefully our staff learned some from his quick decline, and takes notes for Allen's career.

The Rams game was a test for our upgraded pass rush, and they far exceeded expectations. The Titans game will be a big test for our upgraded interior D-Line. DaQuan Jones. Tim Settle. Jordan Phillips. I'll also throw in Shaq Lawson setting the edge. The key to their offense is obviously Derrick Henry... and then the play-action that results from teams selling-out to stop him. If our D-Line can stop the running game without much help from the linebackers and secondary, we should be in pretty good shape. Without AJ Brown, there shouldn't be any receiving threats we can't handle.

It's a long season. By the end, I would expect James Cook to be a major contributor to the offense. Right now, he's clearly not ready. He's not ready as a blocker. He fumbled his first/only carry of the game. He apparently ran the wrong route on another. Not to mention, Devin Singletary looked better than ever. The Bills can afford to wait on Cook and ease him into games.

I watched a good chunk of the Dolphins-Patriots game on Sunday. Not really sure what they are so excited about... or why they are suddenly so confident against us. They beat an average team by 13 points. We beat the same team (before they lost Josh McDaniels, JC Jackson, etc.) in the playoffs by 30, and scored a touchdown every time we touched the ball. Tua completed a bunch of underneath passes (which plays right into our defensive strengths), and their offense managed a whopping 13 points the entire game. Meanwhile, we played the Super Bowl champions and didn't punt.