JohnBonhamRocks

It’s an uncomfortable truth: Buffalo should replace its entire interior OL. Do I expect it to happen? No. I think best we get is 2 new OGs w/ Morse for another year after a pay cut. Even more likely I think is they add one new OG and try to roll w/ Feliciano and Morse as starters again. Agree w/ Solomon G that it is wiser to draft OL as opposed to spending big FA $, and I don’t want a repeat of bargain OL. To me, even a 1st round pick is worth it if it figures to net Buffalo a starting C/OG for 5-10 years. It all starts up front.

Agreed it starts up front and both our lines are subpar. I think it’s not limited to run and stop the run. Allen gets pressured consistently and it seems to me opposing QBs don’t. I think we can get away with starting Edmunds if we bring in a DT who is better than Oliver to pair with him. But yeah, maybe all 3 interior OL positions… yikes!

Are we able to part w/ his contract yet? Or do we still have to pay an inordinate amount to cut ties?

^ McDermott after he’s asked why his team’s lines consistently get outmuscled

I kind of enjoy having a coach who has done so well 7-5 seems disappointing

For O-line-knowledgeable people - any chance Doyle could challenge for an OG spot?

FWIW I believe NE* were +4 minutes in TOP.

Buffalo’s offensive line is clearly a liability in run blocking and frequently allows Allen to be pressured. Dawkins and Brown are the only offensive linemen with long term starting upside on the team at this point. Maybe Doyle, but his upside is likely swing OT. We need 2 new starting OGs and a starting C. Feliciano, Williams, Boettger, and/or Bates are good depth if they can be had at decent $. Buffalo’s defensive line cannot stop the run well enough and is inconsistent in pressuring the opposing QB. The future of the defensive line is Oliver for sure, seemingly Rousseau, Epenesa, and Phillips, and hopefully Obada and Basham. We need a starting DT and possibly a starting DE, especially if Hughes, Addison, and Lotulelei are jettisoned. I’d really like a DT above Oliver’s caliber to pair with him.

Silver lining I’m hoping is McBeane really see where we are weak and address the lines adequately. If 2021 was the OT/DE off-season then I hope 2022 is the OG/DT off-season. If Diggs or Knox makes their big catch and we win, we might chug merrily along thinking we’re better than we are.

Thanks as usual! Agree: unnecessary roughness call was correct & I can’t wait for chips in balls Disagree: we sucked at run defense & Diggs drop should not be in quotes (he and Knox gotta come down with those balls in the end zone as supposed WR1 & TE1) Part of what makes this game so frustrating is that Allen gave us a huge advantage of being able to throw as opposed to NE* with Jones, but we failed to use that advantage both with poor play calling and execution. Another part is that we regularly get outmuscled on both lines.

Agree with OP but especially as to our lines - give me an off-season full of big uglies!

Until I have evidence to the contrary I think we get outmatched on the lines again.

That fool-proof super team lost 5 games and didn’t win its division. Edit: I can say with certainty Tom Brady has nothing to do with Buffalo’s struggles on run defense to date.

Belichick is the GOAT HC. Brady is the GOAT QB. We have one season with the two on different teams. It resulted in NE* out of the playoffs and Brady winning it all.

Ok because that super team won the Super Bowl the year prior without him? Or did they go 7-9? I hope if Allen wins the Super Bowl with a good supporting cast you and others don’t apply this “logic”.

I hate Tom Brady with the passion of a thousand suns. But c’mon man, he’s obviously the GOAT.

That System QB won last year’s Super Bowl outside the System.

I point back to my other post in the thread detailing 13-15 plays that I think were objectively bad by the defense. Belichick sucked how? His team out-played ours primarily by out-muscling ours. Our D struggled with their running game and their D largely shut down our O, which also shut itself down with poor blocking, drops, and coaching. I think NE* won the game by being the superior team and Buffalo shot itself in its collective foot.

Agreed it’s more on the offense and D did enough to win. Just think given the nature of the game with no passing threat they could have done better. It’s tough to argue our defense had a good game against the run and that’s all NE* did.

Yes, which is why my other post started by saying most of my gripes are with the offense. Just don’t think the defense had a great game either. Solid point total for a normal game. But not for a game where NE* almost exclusively ran and showed no sign of a passing threat.

Thing is it’s not just whether or not they score. More time of possession for them. Better field position for them. Less opportunities for Allen & Co. Again, even less excusable given the obvious nature of NE*’s offensive game-plan.

The Bills paid professionals should have caught onto the only-run offense and been able to stop it. Look at my other recent post. At least 13-15 bad plays on defense.

NE*’s first FG drive started by a 10-yard run up the middle, followed by a 12-yard pass, and also included 6-yard and 16-yard runs up the middle. NE*’s final 1st half drive started with a 17-yard run up the middle. NE*’s 2nd play of the 2nd half was a 7-yard run up the middle. NE*’s 2nd FG drive started with runs of 22, 11, and 6 yards, and included another 3-play stretch of runs of 10, 5, and 5 yards. Thats 13 bad plays. 15 if you also count the 5-yards on 2 consecutive QB sneaks on that second FG drive.

Most of my gripes come with the offense, but the defense is also complicit. You can’t not count the Harris TD run just like you can’t not count the Henry TD run. Or any other play that happens in a game. In those two tight important conference matchups, part of the reason we lost was giving up a huge rushing play. Last night it was a huge rushing play in addition to regularly getting pushed back. The inability of Buffalo’s defense to stop the run also made it tougher on their offense. Pats* led the Bills by 4 minutes in time of possession. Can’t score without the ball. The most inexcusable part is that Buffalo’s defense had to know the run was coming most of the game and still could not adjust to stop a one-dimensional offense. Seems Frazier tweaked his play-calling way too late in the game and regardless our defensive line just got physically outmatched and controlled. I would like a game breaking/controlling DT to put alongside Oliver.

I feel the offensive struggles have more to do with personnel on the line. I feel more confident betting on Daboll at OC than Williams/Feliciano/Boettger/Ford at OG. When is the last time you remember thinking “Wow that RB had a huge hole to run through” or “Gee whiz Allen sure does have all day back there”? The running backs are not great and the WR/TEs have not helped with drops, but for me it starts up front. The play caller and skill players will look better with better blocking. Similarly, on defense I see a recurring theme of getting manhandled up front. Against well-coached / top offenses we get run all over and struggle to generate enough pressure. How do you not stop the run when you know that is what is coming all game? Inexcusable. It seems to me that OG and DT especially need an off-season overhaul. If the draft falls right I would not mind double dipping twice on linemen like last year. This is not saying I want to be a run and stop the run team. I want to to have a top pass-heavy offense and a complete defense, with both sides of the ball dominating the line of scrimmage and a coaching staff that is c-o-n-s-i-s-t-e-n-t-l-y aggressive. Is that too much to ask?