Bleeding Bills Blue

Clearly we are fairly evenly matched with KC, the games literally all come down to the wire. Doesn't mean how we match up with SF, or a healthy burrow-led cincy squad, or whomever. Football is matchups, its game calling, its the players making a play at a given moment, etc. I don't fear KC, and I think we will knock them off in the next year or two, but it doesn't matter if you can't win the ones after that.

I know Greenlaw was nursing some tightness in his Achilles, but he literally tore it running onto the field (which honestly potentially cost them the game). There is definitely some degree of luck involved.

They never seem to have any injuries either. People miss time during the season, and they were missing Thuney there at the end. But Buffalo was missing CB1 - Tre CB2 - Benford LB1 - Milano LB2 - Bernard LB4 - Spector WR2 - Davis DT3 - Phillips S3 - Rapp (used a decent amount in that dime package on 3rd and long - where we probably needed him more than ever with LBs out) Hell, even the punter was hurt! CB3 played with a knee LB3 played with a shoulder injury KC had pretty much the entire defense there at the end. Thuney played against buffalo, but he would be the big loss in the super bowl. And it was a challenge for them as pass pro was a bit of an issue in the first half.

Since 2020 they have drafted - Gay, Sneed, Danna, Bolton, Mcduffie, Karlaftis, Chenal, and Anudike-uzomah. So 2 first round pass rushers in the last 2 years, 3 LBs, 2 corners. Their defense is nasty and unfortunately, quite young in a lot of places.

After Brady took over it was Kincaid, Cook, and Diggs who had the most drops that i remember. Kincaids were more forgetable since they tended to occur on first downs.

Part of the dunne article - but apparently he was pissed at hall for accepting a truck from the WRs at christmas.

Sort of a reverse mcdermott chad hall situation... Not that McDermott is a drop and give me 20 type of guy, but he wants boundaries between coaches and players.

I don't see why they can't keep higgins around - i don't think he'll play on a tag though so that will be an issue. They have cap space, but there are a few priority free agents. Reader, Higgins, Boyd, Williams. They can make more cap space though - cut mixon, extend hilton, extend hill etc.

Only so many spots (plus you have picks from 2023 and new picks in 2024)- same thing happened last year with floyd at DE (and to a lesser extent ford at DT).

I don't hate the kickoff - but i do hate that we gave them a ton of space with timeouts. Don't rush the passer, hold the pass catchers. Don't tackle them but hold them out of their breaks. Mahomes will probably throw (and make that whiney mahomes face) and you give up 5 yards and like 5 seconds. Now there's 8 seconds. Now you can play 4 deep zones 5 underneath zones, rush 2. They're going to want to run 2 plays here so the linemen are really just there to spy and follow anyone out of the backfield. The longer he holds the ball the less likely they are to get 2 plays. You have 9 to cover 5, and if they don't get down you have numbers in a fumblerooski.

Again - i just hate backs in the first. Usage doesn't dictate success. I think the only way to think about it is - is this the guy that gets me over the top in a single game? When CMC was rumored to buffalo that was my thought process. The extra .3 YPC over a season is negligible in yards. But against SF can he get me the big play to get us the W? That's the only way to look at it. Didn't work out year 1 but they get him for 4 more so that has to be the future thought process. And when 1 of 3 equally-ish ranked LBs goes in the first and the other 2 go in the 3rd, it does feel a bit like a reach. You try to avoid reaches by trading down to accumulate additional picks. Going forward they likely get 1 pick in the first 50, and it'll be later than 18. Its tougher to find a WR (less of a priority if williams works out), a DE/DT, a CB, etc. when you're picking later in the draft.

Or is it Kincaid?

Well Running backs are good when the line in front of them is good in most cases. They have a good to great offensive line. Is it worth spending those resources within the first round on a running back? It's only really worth it if he's an all-pro. And if you planned to time-share the guy then it makes even less sense. Campbell starting for the lions not very good defense isn't an accolade to me necessarily. It just means he started. Bernard didn't play his rookie year, did that make him a bad player? I'll reiterate that i think they will both be fine pros, i just disagree with using 2 first round picks on a RB and off-ball linebacker.

Had a shot at linderbaum, but he probably sits year 1 because we restructured morse and he doesn't have size for guard. At the same time, we'd be set at Center for the forseeable future with a pro-bowler. Definitely a need pick with elam, and if not for benford that would look even worse. Hopefully a lesson was learned there.

When you consistently pick in the late 20s and you have a chance to get a potential star, i feel like that should be the pick.

I wouldn't hate it at all. If he fell to our pick we'd be getting a starting corner or safety with potential to be a great player.

I mean... i don't really know what playcalling you can call when your defensive players play poorly. What defense do i call when oliver is getting handled 1x1 by thuney all game? How do you scheme around a 1 armed linebacker and another whos 5 years past his prime?

Its too early to say one way or another. Gibbs will probably be a fine player. But will he be that much better than an achane or spears? Considering dollars and draft investment - they'd better hope so. Campbell felt like a reach to me, especially considering the players he was most compared to in Sanders and Simpson went in the 3rd round. Wonder if they were hoping for Gonzalez there. Murphy or Kancey were some pass rushing players on the board that could've fit. I still tend to want to find off ball linebackers later in the draft - its a play fast not be fast position. I think Campbell will end up being a fine pro, just again not the best use of extra draft capital.

Eh - thats probably a stretch. Kittle and Kelce definitely above. Andrews missed time but I'd be hard pressed to put laporta ahead of him. Probably firmly in the next tier with hockenson, Engram, Njoku. I expect Kincaid to join them next year 🙂 Impressive dude though, lots of YAC too. Hate a back in the first. I get wanting a pass catching back to work in there, but I'd always look at corners and d-linemen before id do a running back. Campbell also felt like a reach.

Helps having 4 picks in the first 50... Buffalo is lucky to have 2 picks in the first 50 (last one was 2019).

He only played 15 snaps, but we only faced 50 plays and 5 3rd downs.

Between Milano, Tre, and Von you had a lot of money tied up on the defense in players who were out or invisible. And we lost by 3.

1yr $2,785,412 Still a bit rich for a cap strapped team. Bunch of bad teams out there need backup QBs though, and he at least has played some snaps.

I mean Buffalo limited them to 50 plays on offense... 2 field goal stops. A Takeaway in the red zone. What we failed to do was create more 3rd downs - they were 1/5. I'd assume Von came in some of those situations. 23 pass plays at almost 10 Y/A. 17 RB carries for 128. They were moving in chunks all night - just a couple of plays here and there makes all the difference.

I find it hard to judge the 2024 games simply because i think we all knew missing these guys was a lot to overcome. Milano Bernard Spector White Benford Phillips With banged up players also playing Dodson Douglas T. Johnson DQ Jones Starting a 3rd string LB, and a backup LB in a sling - neither of which can handle a player like Kelce on their best day. A CB with a knee injury, another coming off a concussion. Not to mention... the regular dings players pick up over the course of a long season. Just too much, KC caught us at the right time and their offensive line was able to pretty much dominate the LOS. As much as we need a WR, we need a lot of help on the defensive line - and likely a pair of safeties. Von was a swing and a miss - and they can't really swing again til he's gone after next year most likely. 3T was oliver and no one. 1T was DQ and Joseph (both free agents). Their offensive line is very very good. Even with Taylor being a penalty magnet, he's still a pretty talented player. Thuney's a monster. Humphrey's a monster. Defensively - they put a lot of emphasis on LB's. They cover, they tackle, and they blitz. Spagnuolo's disguising helps with lots of this, but they have a great set of linebackers that make plays all over the field.