Rocky Landing

Prediction: We'll never see Deshaun Watson do a Lambeau leap into the crowd.

All of a sudden, Watson looks pretty good...

Watson took a shot...

Watson looks awful. But, what the hell is Burrow doing out there??? He looks worse!

In week 8, the Dolphins' defense spent the first half of the game utterly frustrating the Bills' offense. After the half, the Bills adjusted, and the Dolphins dropped their scheme that had payed such dividends, and the Bills came back and dominated them. That was the 26-11 game. Later in the week, Urban Meyer, the Jags HC, was asked about the first half of the Bills v. Fish game, and if he had seen a weakness in the Bills offense. He answered in remarkably detailed terms, and basically spelled out what he had seen, and why the Dolphins had been successful with it (albeit, only in the first half). Essentially, cover zero sub six. And the following weekend, that is exactly what the Jags did to beat the Bills. I remember being stunned that Meyer would show his hand so freely, and in such detail-- that's why I remembered the Dolphins game. Be that as it may, I stand by my remarks to ScottLaw.

Well, there's balanced, and there's balanced. When Daboll was running a pure spread offense, with no run game in '21, teams like the Dolphins, and Jags did figure out how to exploit it. I think they feel Cook is a key element because he only needs to be average as a running back, but with legit receiving skills. If we can trust Allen to read a defense, and execute an RPO, (we certainly can), then the balanced attack becomes a nightmare for opposing defenses. Which I know doesn't negate, or contradict your point. An RPO is "in Allen's hands," so to speak.

In my opinion, Bucky Brooks has zero original ideas, or opinions. I think he mostly reads what other people say, and regurgitates it onto his column. At this time of year, that means he’s spitting back up all sorts of clickbait hot-takes. And as the season progresses, it transitions into restating the obvious. Lazy journalism.

I would certainly agree. I think all the O-lines in the AFCE are fairly mediocre. The Jets probably have a slightly better D-line, and the Bills a slightly better O-line. The Bills are well set up for a lot of two TE formations, and I believe they ran these even with Morris and Joel Wilson in the preseason. I also think the Jets' TE Uzomah will be backing their O-line all day. It's going to be a tough battle, to be sure. I agree with @juno999 above that the team that protects their QB the best wins. But, I will add that if that battle is a wash, Josh Allen has the edge.

He is

If there are issues with the field, I'd feel better about our O-line playing on it than I would feel about the Jets O-line, with Mekhi Becton having left preseason game one after four snaps because his knee wasn't digging the turf.

I believe that in this game, it's really going to boil down to who dominates in the trenches.

At least to some degree, The Det at KC game dispels your equation.

Aaron Rodgers, meet Greg Rousseau.

Well I do now. Thanks a lot…

I always loved how color commentators would refer to him as "blocking tight end Lee Smith," and then he'd go ahead and catch a TD pass. As slow as he was, he actually ran routes a few times per game, and if the defense didn't notice him, he'd make a play. He was a better athlete than people gave him credit for. I saw him in an interview once where he bragged that he could play anywhere on the O-line, in a pinch. But, his real use was in the jumbo packages. That was where the much-maligned Bobby Hart was actually useful. I think it's a wrinkle that this current roster lacks.

There are soooo many media pundits who are going to lose their minds regardless of how this game goes. Whichever team wins, especially if they dominate the game, will be crowned the AFCE champs after week one. But I don’t think this game is as important as all that. The AFCE is the toughest division in the league, IMO. With arms race that has occurred this off-season, I believe it’s going to come down to a war of attrition— especially in the trenches, and the Bills have the advantage in that regard. While all the O-lines in the East are pretty even really, albeit mediocre, the Bills could lose any one of the O-line, and possibly two, without a huge drop off. Neither the Jets, nor Phins can say that. And while the Bills don’t have the best D-line in the division, it is the deepest.

The optimist in me thinks this could be a a great game for Elam, on Garret Wilson, man coverage all day. It is what he excels at.

Could he be our new Lee Smith?

I've considered Boogie to be one of the underrated players on the team, who didn't get as many opportunities as he would on a different team. He had a lot of shade thrown at him his rookie season because he spent so many games as a healthy scratch. But, he was the second DE drafted that year (after Groot, of course), and there were 11 D-linesmen on the team. Of course he was a game-day inactive. His play reminded me a bit of Trent Murphy, who would seem fairly invisible for much of the game, but then would always make a few good plays. But, Boogie never got anywhere near the playing time. We'll see how well Kingsley Jonathan does this season in comparison, and if Boogie excels in another system, I will consider that a validation of Beane's drafting acumen.

They probably forgot he's there.

Wait a minute... you're saying I didn't have my facts straight???

More than once I saw Poyer tap Edmunds on the shoulder and point to something he was missing.

Ah, I miss the good old days when EJ Manuel was firing lasers at the media pop-up tent, causing Kevin Kolb to break his spleen on a rubber mat, while Rex Ryan massaged Maddy Glab’s feet. We really won the off-season back in those days. Good times…

In all honesty, how many red zone targets would you expect Shorter to get? I don’t think he’s reliable enough. Siran Neal is not going anywhere.

Well... I guess the thing that bothers me about this roster is that there really aren't any big surprises. Kingsley over Boogie is the biggest surprise. I was hoping for some surprising development in the WR room. I wonder if Shorter has enough value on ST to have him on this roster. I don't see a spot for him on offense. And I'm a bit disappointed with the RB room. I'm not sold on Harris. I thought Evans showed promise as a K/PR.