HappyDays

Here's what I've heard: On Jones - No surprise but right now the team is assuming a torn pec. MRI still to come but that's the initial prognosis. This means likely done for the season but a small chance he could return very late in the season if he has surgery. On Milano - The bad news is surgery is expected which means he's done for the year no matter what. He apparently has a broken tibia which is a 5-6 month recovery. One possible sliver of good news on Milano is that his knee appears to be intact. The MCL appears to be just strained/sprained which would be good news in the realm of possible outcomes. However Milano is still in London - he couldn't fly back with the team - and he will get a 2nd look at the knee when he's back in the US. So as with a lot of initial injury news this prognosis could change after further evaluation (like Von Miller last year). If the initial prognosis of no structural knee or ACL damage is correct, his road to recovery for 2024 is pretty cut and dry. Tibia fracture recovery doesn't typically have a lot of complications because blood supply is good in that area. And in general broken bones don't have major re-injury risks or production drop offs after returning, like torn ACLs sometimes do.

I can't imagine that when Beane used a 1st + a 4th on a player, he envisioned him as nothing more than a 3 yard outlet. It just doesn't feel like Dorsey ever does anything creative to take advantage of his players' skill sets. It's very much a "line up and beat your man" offense, and NFL defenses have gotten way too advanced for that to be the only club in your bag.

Dawson Knox in 2021 - 39.1 YPG, 9 TDs This year - 14.5 YPG 🤮 on pace for maybe 3 TDs Nyheim Hines in 2021 - 16.2 rushing YPG, 18.2 receiving YPG Hines with us last year - -.3 rushing YPG (yes that is a negative sign 🤮), 5.9 receiving YPG Trent Sherfield in 2022 - 24.5 YPG Sherfield this year - 9.0 YPG 🤮 Zack Moss in 2022 with us - 18.2 rushing YPG 🤮 Moss with Colts in 2022 - 45.6 YPG Moss with Colts this year - 93.3 YPG❗️ What evidence is there that Dorsey is maximizing ANY of our players' skill sets? Allen and Diggs would be superstars with any OC. What is he doing to raise the level of the players around them?

He is though! But when every catch is no more than 5 yards past the LOS, none of his skill set is going to shine through. He has made a few rookie mistakes but that doesn't mean he should be an afterthought in every game plan. At Utah he was running seam routes, verticals along the sideline, crossing routes. Where is all that stuff in his route tree here? It's not like we have a plethora of superstars stealing his targets. It's Diggs and a bunch of nobodies. He can't run the route that Knox did on his 3rd down dropped pass today? I just don't understand his usage at all.

Cook is a hard player to figure out. I think what it comes down to is that if he has space to work with he is excellent and will maximize that space. That's where people get excited about him. But he is a little slow to accelerate and if he is met with direct contact he isn't going to break away from it. So when that space isn't created for him it looks as bad as it did today.

Eventually you have to go all in. Von won't be a long-term answer for us. Tre White might never play again. It won't be that long before Diggs is over the hill and Allen is getting into his 30s. The mantra "keep building for the future" doesn't work when the future is now. Most of the other Super Bowl contenders in recent years made a mid-season trade to fill a hole. We now have several holes - WR2, CB, DT, WLB. From left to right those are positions where I would like to see us make a move. Just one is fine. If we stand pat how can we realistically compete with a team like the 49ers?

Why did we have a designed play to the last player on our depth chart on a 2 point conversion?

You don't think Kincaid can make a simple downfield play like this? I have no idea why we've relegated him to 5 yards or less check downs. Here's a crazy (awful) stat: Does Dorsey actually know how to use 12 personnel? Or is he just using it because he feels obligated? We paid one TE $13 million a year and used a 1st + 4th rounder on another. Why can't Dorsey get them more involved?

Do you think this is on coaching, or the players themselves? It feels like too many times Allen is waiting for someone to separate downfield and it never happens, so he just has to check it down or escape the pocket.

At the last second they instead traded him to SF for some kind of late round swap.

Those are all marginal players with situational skill sets. Jeudy is a legit top 2 WR that can run all the routes. Not only does he immediately slot in as our primary WR2, but everyone else gets bumped down the depth chart - which helps a limited player like Davis look better in a reduced role facing lesser DBs.

I won't really believe the Broncos would trade Surtain until they do it, but I would easily give up our 1st if they were willing. More realistically I think Jeudy is an obvious move. Through 4 games he is catching 70.8% of his targets. Unlike Davis he can run every route. He isn't a superstar but he would be an upgrade for sure. What would they want for him? A 2nd?

I'm good with the Broncos continuing to lose and hopefully starting a fire sale. Surtain or Jeudy please...

In his postgame presser, Allen said the intercercepted pass was tipped as it left his hands. It still went 40+ yards in the air and hit the intended receiver in the hands.

Reminds me of a certain "underthrown" pass from earlier today. Why do teams like the Chiefs seemingly always have a plethora of players that step up and make great plays when their number is called, while Allen's weapons fail him time and time again?

Milano's missed tackle rate is actually very high, he's consistently one of the worst on the team in that area. Obviously we are going to miss him in pass coverage, I just don't think it is as big a deal as people make it out to be. Get the front 4 healthy, keep Elam off the field, we'll be okay.

My very unpopular opinion is that we will be okay without Milano. I know he has been arguably our best player on defense this year. But WLB is not a premium position, in fact it is arguably the least important position on defense. You can get by with replacement level talent at the position. I'm more concerned about Jones and Rousseau. Our front 4 has been excellent this year and they have been the best players in that group. No chance I am going to say losing a WLB will be the thing that sinks our season like I see some other people saying. The other front 7 players need to keep making plays like they have been, and the offense needs to be a lot better than it was today.

Coming into the season I already assumed the defense would take a step back and the offense would have to make up for it. Now that is almost certainly the case. We need to trade for a true WR2 so the offense can carry the load. That's how I felt two months ago and I feel even more strongly about it now.

I've seen Diggs make that exact catch several times. Two that I can remember off the top of my head were against Oakland and Miami in 2020. Allen was giving his WR1 a chance against a 5'9 CB with pressure all around him. Diggs knows he should have had that one... But I won't get too mad at him, he was the only offensive player other than Allen to show up consistently before the game was out of hand.

QBs are coached to make sure the ball gets there first and foremost when the WR is that wide open. You don't lead them and risk an incompletion. Also I know we have been spoiled by Josh's arm for five years now but keep the pass distances in perspective. It's almost impossible to aim the throw when you launch it that far, you're just getting it in the vicinity of the pass catcher. Diggs simply misplayed the 2nd one, and he would tell you the same thing.

Unfortunately Diggs getting the ball ripped out of his hands by a 5'9 CB was the most impactful of them all. I would say bare minimum all of the drops together took at the very least 10 points off the board, and forced a banged up defense to keep coming back on the field. Make no mistake - the Bills skill position players lost this game.