GunnerBill

For sure, but a lot of the other top teams are rarely down that big either. We know, for instance, the Bills have lost once by more than a score over like 3 seasons now so most of their losses are close going into the 4th. My guess is if you crunched the numbers of Philly and Baltimore that would be similar.

Agree on the receivers. I actually think with Samuel hurt again (and I sensed some real frustration in the way McDermott spoke about him yesterday) there are only three sure things - Shakir, Palmer, Coleman. I'd then price Samuel up as 4th fav and likely to make it but if he can't get back on the field before pre-season game 3 not an absolute slam dunk. Then Moore still I think just ahead of Shavers but that job is more open than I believed going into camp. On SVPG it really depends what is up with him. They described it as a "calf" initially but for him to still be on PUP after 3 weeks of camp with a calf does strike me as a little bit odd. The rules on PUP are if you end up on the reserve/PUP list at cutdowns you are out for the first 4 games. But then you have a five week window (so until week 9) to begin practicing and then after he starts practicing a 3 week window (until week 12) to be added to the active roster. If a player either doesn't hit the 5 week window or the 3 week window they are then done for the year. I don't believe you can be moved directly from PUP to IR. I think you would have to come off PUP to an active roster designation and then be IR'd. And obviously you need the roster spot to do that moving about with.

That was simply not how he played for most of last season. He had 3 or 4 great games and a lot of meh. He has been great. I used to argue how underrated he was. But he isn't the 5th best QB in football right now. No way. Except it shows why Pat is still the number 1 despite not being quite as sharp the past two years. His ability to meet the moment is greater than anyone else.

He was incredible last year. The last time a QB played anything like that well and missed the playoffs because of the ineptitude around him was 2015 Drew Brees.

Comparing the Athletic Survey's tiers to mine posted earlier this offseason: Tier 1 Gunner: Mahomes; Allen; Burrow; Jackson Athletic Survey: Mahomes; Burrow; Allen; Jackson; Stafford Tier 2 Gunner: Hurts; Herbert; Prescott; Daniels; Goff; Love; Mayfield; Stafford; Stroud Athletic Survey: Daniels; Herbert; Goff; Stroud; Hurts; Mayfield; Prescott; Love; Purdy Tier 3 Gunner: Tagovailoa; Purdy; Nix; Smith; Lawrence; Murray Athletic Survey: Murray; Rodgers; Tagovailoa; Lawrence; Smith; Nix; Darnold; Maye; Williams; Young; Cousins; I've cut it off after that as the way they categorise is different.... indeed the last five of their tier 3 guys are the four guys who were in my tier 4 (with Rodgers) plus Cousins who I didn't rank as I ranked Penix as the Falcons likely starter. But basically the big differences they have are Stafford and Rodgers who they have a tier higher than I did (as I said above, classic NFL GMs who are typically late to spot the decline on these things) and Purdy who they have bottom of tier 2 and I have top of tier 3 - I am a little harsher on him given how he looked when his pieces were out last year.

Who is voting Matthew Stafford into Tier 1? It's not a lifetime achievement award ffs. It's a problem these things always have. NFL GMs are slow to move guys down. Seen it in previous editions with Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers to mention but two. Matt Stafford was underrated in his prime partly because he spent so long on bad Lions teams. And now it has flipped the other way. He is not a tier 1 Quarterback at this stage of his career. Not even close.

I knew I'd forgotten someone on the DL!!! Yes. Take Shavers out. 5 receivers. EDITED my post. And just on Forrest... it comes down to special teams. I don't think they have six rosterable linebackers right now; none of the five receivers we presume will make the roster can offer you special teams snaps; Strong and Hancock both have some experience on coverage teams in college but different rules in the NFL etc and there are no vet corners playing teams on this roster. If I had to put together a special teams core right now (you generally need 8 or 9 guys who can play on most coverage and return teams) from guys I'm sure will be on the roster it is: Hawes, Gilliam, Soloman, Andreessen, Lewis, Strong, Hancock.... That feels at least one light. I think Forrest was brought here to play teams rather than safety. It does leave the overall roster defense heavy.... but on the flip side the offense feels a lot more settled. Both starters and backups. The reason I think they might keep more on defense is because they don't have as clear of a pecking order at DL and DB in particular.

I have avoided a roster prediction thus far.... but let's have a got at a 53.... now that we have seen a pre-season game: QB: Allen; Trubisky (2) FB: Gilliam (1) RB: Cook; Davis; Johnson (3) TE: Kincaid; Knox; Hawes (3) WR: Shakir; Coleman; Palmer; Samuel; Moore (5) OL: Dawkins; Edwards; McGovern; Torrence; Brown; Grable; Van Demark; Anderson; Lundt (9) DE: Rousseau; Epenesa; Bosa; Solomon; Jackson (5) DT: Oliver; Jones; Sanders; Carter; Walker (5) LB: Milano; Bernard; Andreessen; Williams; Thompson (5) CB: Benford; Hairston; White; Johnson; Strong; Hancock; Codrington (7) SAF: Rapp; Bishop; Hamlin; Lewis; Forrest (5) ST: Ferguson; Bass; Robbins (3) PUP: Van Pran-Granger (1) SUS: Hoecht; Ogonjobi (2)

I don't think he can go on PUP now. You have to be on PUP to start camp to stay on PUP. Once they are into camp if you are hurt you go on IR (point stands though that puts him out 4 weeks and I can't see them doing that).

I mean his best year Von barely played....

I hope not. Yep. That was the same last year. Not saying the pass rush was great but the secondary was the bigger issue.

No I don't suggest they are opposites. There is an extent to which synchronisation is dependent on the call. But my point was more in a vanilla cover 2 call that has to be right. And there were times last night it was off.

White threw 3 or 4 god awful passes. That's why. He rebounded well on his last two drives but he looked considerably less in control than Trubisky to me.

I don't think they are synonyms. In every defensive call you want the rush and the coverage to compliment each other. Its as much getting timing down as anything.

Fair, but also fair that it is my single biggest concern going into 2025 about the entire team. It was woeful last year. I would imagine it has been a point of emphasis the entire off season. And yet they were really disappointing yesterday. It isn't just scheme either. It is basics. Tackling, spacing, synchronisation of rush and coverage. Those things don't need creative scheming and when you get more creative scheme wise you better have those fundamentals down pat.

Not for the first time this week I disagree with Joe. He lost rush discipline multiple times. I do good night / bad night after every pre season game win or lose and have done for multiple years. These games are about what you learn and I try and hone in on what the Bills will have learned and how much it all matters.

Really encouraging on Chase. Just because of how I was watching yesterday I didn't get the chance to really focus in on the OL. That needs my 100% concentration, but I have heard a few folks say he played well. I really struggle to imagine the Bills cutting him loose.

Yea agree with all that. The coverage units were my last cut from the Good Night section... but overall they were solid. I wanted to mention Milano and Bosa but great as it was to see them play active in that first quarter they are established guys. If they can both recapture their best form though... then watch out. Davis was my las cut for bad night. Man he misses so many gaps. The difference between Cook's vision at the line and his is very significant indeed. Ty Johnson came in and immediately was peeling off 10 yard runs for fun. The gaps were they for Ray he just wasn't seeing them in time. Agree Shenault looked the better of the two but not decisively so. That battle rumbles on to week two.

It's pre-season football which means by no popular acclaim whatsoever it's time for the annual tradition like no other..... it's Gunner's Good Night / Bad Night as the New York Football Giants left Orchard Park victorious. By the way... did you know a new stadium is being built? Yea, right across the street apparently. Oh and there was some football happening too. Here is how it went down! Good Night for... Joe Andreessen - This time last year Buffalo Joe just felt like a nice story. Even coming into the spring I thought there was a chance it was a one year deal and he would be off the roster in 2025. But far from that he got the start here alongside Matt Milano in the absence of Terrel Bernard who has been nursing a hamstring injury through camp. Andreessen was typically active including a nice tackle for loss in the second quarter and was calling the defense. He looks pretty settled in as the backup MLB at this stage and the fairy tale looks like continuing into a second year. Mitch Trubisky - Their stat lines ended up being similar as Mike White rebounded to lead touchdown drives the last two times he took to the field. However, the eye test told you pretty clearly who looked more comfortable running the offense and who threw the more accurate balls. Add to that Trubsiky's mobility allows you to create more ways of generating offense in the worst case scenario where your backup has to play meaningful football. His grip on the backup job just tightened. Deone Walker - The 4th round rookie was not my favourite pick of the past draft and this was not a perfect debut. My concerns over his pad level and ability to bend remain and I think he gave up leverage a couple of times trying to play the run. But flashed in pass defense, getting a hand on one ball and being a constant disruptive force in the middle of the defensive line. I am not sure he is going to be a high snap count guy as a rookie but I can absolutely see him being used as an impactful situational player because he flashes those traits that are hard to buy at that size. Tyrell Shavers - Ultimately I still think Shavers' route to a spot on the 53 is narrow. But he has separated throughout camp into a category almost of his own where he is behind the top five guys but clearly ahead of the other receivers. His chances might depend on who wins the returner job, because if Laviska Shenault wins it then there is no chance they keep Shavers as a WR7. But if Shenault does not then them keeping a 6th receiver would appear to tilt towards Shavers making it after two years on the practice squad. I still suspect he is cut (and they try to sneak him onto the PS again) but this might be the toughest cut to make. Te'Cory Couch - Couch was a player that flashed last pre-season too but this was a really impressive display with two pass breakups, a big tackle in the run game when the Giants were backed up and another excellent coverage rep. I don't see a route to the 53 here for him but if he keeps making plays when he gets his opportunity then the chances of him earning a spot on an active roster elsewhere increases significantly. Bad Night for... 3rd down defense - The Giants were 9 for 19 on third down for 43% - which is exactly where the Bills were in 2024 percentage wise and that was good for 29th in the NFL. At times in the first half it felt even worse than that number suggests. This is a sustained issue now under Bobby Babich's coordinating and he better be feeling the heat to get it fixed. The Bills do not seem able to dictate in any way to the offense on 3rd down. Even when it is 3rd and long. Zach Davidson - Okay Jackson Hawes, Davidson's competition for TE3, had a bad drop as well but he has ways to make this team without being a big time receiving threat. Davidson doesn't and he had two brutal drops today. You could see his frustration on the field. That felt like a man who knew he was letting his chance pass him by. Landon Jackson - Let me start with this - Landon Jackson is never going to be a big time quick twitch, bendy edge rusher. That is not how he is going to win. But he looked very stiff and upright today and really struggled when his blockers got the first punch in within a rep. You'd want to see a little more fluidity through the hips and a little better use of the hands. The story at Arkansas was his inconsistency... the Bills have time to bring him along slowly... but it was an inauspicious beginning. Michael Hoecht - Ugh that was rough. Hoecht will miss the first six weeks of the regular season through a doping ban so you would have wanted to see him go full gas in pre-season. And to an extent he did, but in a really reckless way. He ran himself out of multiple plays, struggled to generate pressure on the Quarterback and left wide open escape lanes for dump offs, screens and QB run plays. The Bills are committed for three years so as soon as he is healthy he will be back in the fold, but he has some work to do. Guys who lose gap discipline and freelance in their rush plan don't tend to end up in Coach McDermott's good books. Dane Jackson - I think he probably faced an uphill battle to make the roster in any event but Jackson was outplayed by the likes of Dorian Strong and the aforementioned Te'Cory Couch let alone the starter. Wasn't just that he was beat for the long touchdown but he didn't quite seem the same fundamentally sound guy we remember from his first spell in Buffalo. I doubt this is the final good bye as I imagine sneaking him to one of the six practice squad spots saved for vets will be relatively achievable but he did not help his cause today. Flame away folks, there will be another of these next week!

Alec Anderson was our backup center last year. He will be that again. SVPG never made it past 3rd string the entire pre-season last year. Anderson ran as the center with the 2s. He played in week 18 (Anderson played guard) and he was bad. If McGovern went down it would be Alec Anderson who played.

Of all the people that was on Leslie is way down the list.

Yea I don't think Lundt is knocking Vandy off the roster. I disagree with you on SVPG. I think he is possibly not gonna make it back off PUP thi year and even if he does his roster spot is not secure IMO. 10 OL... hard to see... maybe? But they have done it before.

It was. That is fair. But early in the year was rough.

Ha. Fair. I don't like the McD calling the defense option though. When he did it before he was doing two jobs at a mediocre level rather than one at a good level.

I do wonder if Ryan Neilsen being here suggests even internally they recognise they need a backup plan.