sven233

I know it drastically goes against everything we do on defense, but this is the game to force the issue. Tre's back. Elam's back. Rhodes is finally part of the 53. Mac Jones crumbles under pressure and they have no dominant WRs. Time to get up in their grills, lock them down on the outside playing press man, and just blitz the crap out of this team and force Jones to make mistakes and cry.

Unfortunately, this is all true. Early in the season it didn't matter as much because there was no film on Dorsey's offense. Nobody knew what to expect from him. But as the games have moved along, it has become very apparent that he runs a basic offense with little to no creativity. There is no scheming guys open like there was with Daboll. Daboll would constantly use motions, misdirection, and other eye candy to scheme certain guys open on a specific play. There would be so much eye candy at times, it would cause defenses to take a couple extra beats to figure out what was going on, but that would be plenty to get guys open. While it didn't always work, you could just see the creativity. He would also build man beaters and zone beaters into just about every play so once he used his motions and got Allen to diagnose the overages pre-snap, he knew exactly where to go with the ball. Dorsey is doing the opposite. He's not running a ton of motion. He's not helping Allen be able to see what the defense is in pre-snap. He's lining guys up, hoping they win their match-ups, and letting Allen try and find the open guy as the play develops. Too many times it's been easy for me to tell what play is being run just by the alignments before the snap. Perfect example was the QB sneak at the end of the Vikings game. They had been using the same motion with the same player and the same pacing for weeks prior to that play. Everyone watching knew what was coming and the Vikings were able to guess right and blow it up. If there was ever a time to try something different, that was it and he didn't have anything. That's not how things should be done in today's NFL. Too many times Allen is waiting for the play to be run, not seeing anyone get open within the structure of the actual call and then going into scramble drills where he needs his WRs to win outside of the structure of the play call. While Allen hasn't been his best at times this year, it's mainly because he's not getting any help. In fact, he's still hiding a lot of the deficiencies this team actually has and that's scary. Dorsey isn't doing Allen any favors right now and it is frustrating to watch.

I'm sorry, but I don't trust him at all..... I was really high on him coming into the season and seeing how much he worked this off season, but somewhere along the way, his hands turned to stone and he fights every ball that comes his way, even if they are perfectly thrown. I thought this team was set at #2 WR coming into the season and now I am not sure we have a 2 or a 3. I think we have a great #1 and a bunch of 4s and 5s right now. This team is in desperate need of a real #2, and unfortunately, we probably won't be able to even look for one until the Draft. OBJ is out there, and would fit in nicely, but there are other teams that can just flat out offer a lot more than we can financially right now and that probably will make the difference in the end.

Dane Jackson was atrocious today and has been much of this season. Benford absolutely benefited from Jackson being on the field with him because having Jackson be so bad that he was targeted on just about every throw, Benford wasn't picked on as much. But from what I saw during the game, he actually wasn't much better. He was getting beat consistently as well and would have been lit up himself several times had Jackson not been absolute trash on the other side of the field. Tre and Elam are the best CB options on this team and it isn't even close. Once healthy, those guys should be playing every snap. Rhodes is actually better than both Benford and Jackson but can't see the field because they don't want to waive either of the other guys to make room for him on the roster. It's a tough situation because Rhodes should be playing until White and Elam are healthy and can handle a full workload. Just can't get him up on the roster. Anyway, if we can get White and Elam back to 100%, get Edmunds back on the field ASAP (he has been sorely missed much to the dismay of many on this board), get Groot back, and pray that Miller is able to return soon, this defense will improve. These aren't bit players we're missing. They are impact starters and will improve this defense immediately when they get back on the field at 100%. This isn't even including Hyde who's out for the year (most likely). Injuries have been an absolute killer this year on both sides of the ball. Never seen anything like it. Guys just dropping like flies.

A lot of people out there frustrated about Tre still not playing. While I am definitely among them, I can kind of understand it from his perspective. Tre has been a star basically since he came into the league as a rookie. He has been a premier player and one of the best in the world at his position. I firmly believe he has no intention of coming back until he is 100% sure he will be the same player, if not better, than he was when he left. By all accounts there has not had any physical setbacks and he has been playing scout team defense at practice. Obviously we don't know how the matchups with Diggs and Davis are going, but if he's been getting cooked by those guys once in a while, he may not think he's ready yet even though physically he might be. He's a competitor and doesn't want to take a backseat to anyone. Obviously those guys can beat even the best corners in the league so it shouldn't matter that much if that is happening, but if it is, it probably matters more to Tre than everyone else. And if this is the case, i do understand it from a certain point of view. My opinion is that this is all mental at this point. Somehow he needs to get over it though. The team needs him and when you see guys like Allen and Poyer gutting out major injuries just to get on the field, it makes it tougher for fans to be patient. I just hope his teammates aren't getting as frustrated as many others are. For a while now, when he didn't come back after the bye, I actually thought he may wait until after the Thanksgiving game to have that extra long week to get mentally there. While that could still very well happen, I'm starting to wonder if even that will be the case. Whatever the issue is though I hope it's resolved quickly and he's back on the field sooner than later.

The two biggest problems I have with this team right now is the defensive philosophy on 3rd and 4th and long and the lack of creativity on offense from Dorsey. It never fails that on 3rd and 10+ (really 3rd or 4th and 15+), this team either gives up the whole thing or always gives up enough to allow the other team to make the decision to go for it. They play this style where they back off, let the catch happen, and then rally to the ball. They do it just about every time. And in a lot of cases, they either get the whole thing because of poor tackling or they come up a yard short and then get it on 4th down because they can easily make the decision to go for it. There are other things that really bug me about the defense they play, but I could write a book on those. As for my Dorsey point.....I'm not going to get on him too much. First time calling plays and I think he's done a pretty good job overall. But the problem is that he isn't adjusting right now. The first few weeks he was rolling and putting up points, but as soon as there was some game tape out there, teams are catching on to what he is doing. There is very limited creativity and he is not playing to his guy's strengths. No sweeps, jet action, no scheming certain guys open, etc. While Dabol had his flaws, creativity wasn't one of them. He created layups for players to get open. He used Dirty in the way he can actually help the team instead of hurt us. It wasn't perfect, but he got more out of the lesser players on offense. Right now, Dorsey is throwing guys out there and just hope they win their match ups. Unfortunately the only one that can do that consistently is Diggs. It's time he starts manufacturing plays for certain guys and get them in space. Guys like Cook and Hines are great with the ball in space. So find ways to manufacture those plays. There are issues on this team for sure. But my panic level is like a 3. There is a lot of talent on this team and I still believe Allen is the best in the league when he's on. They'll get right. But they need to start winning some of these games because of coaching, and not in spite of it.

They should try Xavier Rhodes at safety. He can't be any worse than the guys we have had filling in this season. Our safety position has been a major weakness in the last few weeks. I'm only semi-kidding here. As for Duke getting the call-up, it could be for a number of reasons. Sickness, new injury, etc. And who knows if he will actually be activated. Regardless, the only thing I would be upset about this is if it takes a healthy James Cook off the field. Not only has he been improving over the last few weeks, but you know he's been dying to play in this game since draft night. If he is sat down in this game for the first time all season, the coaching staff is seriously tone deaf and I don't see it playing well in the locker room. But if he is activated for any other reason, fine.

Anderson's is good. Grover's is another level. The Cattleman Chicken Sandwich (or burger if you prefer the beef)........you're welcome.

Big fan of Grover's on Transit. Best burgers and chicken sandwiches going. And if I'm being honest, I'm not sure I have had a better wing in the area either. There are a lot of great wing places, and you can't go wrong for sure, but I'd put their wings up against any of them and be truly happy.

The man gets his elbow banged up and 2 plays later throws a ball 70 yards in the air and hits his WR perfectly with it which would have been caught by a better WR. Pretty crazy stuff. Hopefully he's OK and doesn't miss time. If he does, we're in big trouble.

Not sure what has happened to Gabe's hands this year. Still getting open as he's done in the past, but he's dropping a ton of balls. Had high hopes for him this year because of what he's done and how hard he works, but his hands have let us down.

Here's the thing. I like Hines. He's a good player. He is basically what they want Cook to be, but without the rookie mistakes. He's a consistent back that will be able to line up in the slot and catch the ball out of the backfield. He'll be able to help Cook along the way and hopefully allow Cook to be ready to be the player they hope he turns into next season. But this is a move for now. They've been chasing a "type" and not a specific player since the offseason and they finally got one. All that said, they certainly focused their attention on a position I don't think is nearly our biggest need. Here's hoping they know something about OBJ coming here when he's ready that we don't know. But hey.....it's a new toy and in this type of offense, I think he will make some plays for us.

Here's the thing. I like Hines. He's a good player. He is basically what they want Cook to be, but without the rookie mistakes. He's a consistent back that will be able to line up in the slot and catch the ball out of the backfield. He'll be able to help Cook along the way and hopefully allow Cook to be ready to be the player they hope he turns into next season. But this is a move for now. They've been chasing a "type" and not a specific player since the offseason and they finally got one. All that said, they certainly focused their attention on a position I don't think is nearly our biggest need. Here's hoping they know something about OBJ coming here when he's ready that we don't know. But hey.....it's a new toy and in this type of offense, I think he will make some plays for us.

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 53s And another! Colts are trading Nyheim Hines to the Buffalo Bills, sources tell ESPN.

Now that's how you play the odds with 12 minutes left before the deadline. My sources say the same thing by the way.......

Ugh......this type of stuff is why it is so frustrating to be a fan sometimes. We aren't privy to the conversations that are going on and we don't know what is being discussed. I'm sure there are some deals that have been talked about that we would be all for making if we knew the actual details that GMs won't make for whatever their reasoning is. There are probably players and deals being discussed by us and every other team that we would think there would be no way that teams would move the player, but we could make a move on but don't. I think we all see how good this team is and one or two big time players could put us over the top. Personally, I would be all in at this point Nothing would be off limits to get talent in here no matter what picks we are talking about. We have a lot of core guys under contract already and while picks are valuable, if you use them on the right pieces to pick up, you won't miss one draft and it won't kill this team long term. It's time to be aggressive and take our swing. If it works out, nobody will care what we gave up. If it doesn't, one year of losing out on draft picks isn't going to mortgage our future either. That said, it is going to be frustrating to watch other teams around us working to get better and close the gap on us while we stand pat. We haven't won anything yet, but we are the hunted right now. I want to make the gap larger, not watch teams close in. Now's the time to make the moves to give us a chance to put us over the top. I just don't think Beane and company are going to be willing to give up the picks necessary to do it.

Ugly as per usual off the bye, but a win is a win. On to the next.

We win games off of Bye weeks, but they are never pretty. For whatever reason, we are just sloppy with things. Talented enough to overcome it, but it's always tougher than it should be. If we are looking for anything at the trade deadline, it should be a safety. These young guys make plays, but they get beat way too often.

Josh is a little too amped tonight. In the end, I don't think it will matter, but it will definitely motivate him for next week to be better. All that said, James Cook needs more touches.

Kill shot coming......

Man I love the fire in this team. They compete on every play and they want it bad. They're not afraid to let you know about it either. Love the passion, but we just have to be careful not to draw the flags. Love his teammates ushering him away. His point was made, though. GO BILLS!!

GO BILLS!

If we come out focused and ready to go Sunday night, it could get ugly quick. The Packers have not been playing well. Their WRs are banged up. Their offensive line has been struggling at times to protect Rodgers. On top of that, Rodgers has been holding the ball longer this year than he ever has before. He is taking sacks and hits. If our defense comes out on fire, Rodgers could be in for a very long (or short) night. The good news is that even if the Packers play well by their standard on offense, I don't think they will be able to keep up with us on offense. Even if we start slow, I fully expect us to make some big plays like we we do every week and get into the upper 20s or 30s. I don't expect our defense to give up that many points to this team. So, while it could be ugly and more of a struggle than we would like, I still see us winning by 2 scores in the end. That said, if we come out of the gate hot and the defense starts flying around, we could boat-race them by the 3rd quarter as we've done to a couple other teams this season.

That price is insane. What are the Niners thinking? It's not like he's going to be the piece to put them over the top. So glad our GM is smarter than this. Could we use some reinforcements? Yes. But parting with that much for any RB is insane.

Just goes to show you how important the big guys up front are when it comes to LB play. Both Maine and Milano are playing fast and free because the guys up front are keeping them clean and allowing them to work. I can't tell you enough how much of an upgrade Jones has been in place of Star. He's done more for this team in 4 games than Star did his entire tenure with the Bills. Add in the fact that Groot has been an absolute monster with both Boogie and AJ taking big steps forward (not to mention we have some guy named Miller screaming off the edge as well) and they are just creating so much chaos up front that it isn't allowing offensive lines to immediately get to the second level and block our backers. The exciting part about all of this is that I think we're only going to see us get better as the season goes along as we get some guys back from injury. Maine and Milano are already balling out, and they haven't had our best DT on the field in Oliver pretty much all season, his primary backup in Phillips (who is playing like a starter) for the last couple games as well, and that's not even mentioning a top 3-4 CB in the entire league on top of all that. It's just night and day to see what these LBs can do when they don't have to worry about shedding blocks every single play. They are playing free and fast and it is really noticeable. The only thing that is going to stop this defense, and this team really, is injuries. If we can find a way to get and stay healthy, we have a chance to do something truly special.