Straight Hucklebuck

Tone on WGR 550 this morning is scared. Scared of the Bills offense not looking good, scared of what Belichick has up his sleeve, feeling pressure to win a division game. I don't have fear of the Patriots. They're not a good offense. They have a Top 10 defense. We have Josh Allen. I think we can get to the mid-20's in points and win the game. On a lesser extent, can this offense get back into the mid-30's scoring, I do have some desire to see that gear again. But more so, I want to see Allen play a cleaner game, mix in designed runs, and want to see Gabe Davis contribute more than 30-yards.

According to WGR, Josh should always be expected to open more. So I expect the same thing. Him running around, taking hits, toe-tap catches to the sidelines, nothing overt the middle, abandoning the run game in the 2nd half.

Yeah this jives with what you feel/see on the TV. 1. With the Bills everything feels like it lives on the sidelines. Gabe Davis, when he catches the ball, seems like it's always the same comeback route outside the numbers. 2. You don't see anything over the middle for Knox, Hines, Shakir. The Bills offense has no #2 TE. Knox, again, it seems like he is always diving out of bounds on his catches. Nothing in stride. 3. Maybe that is what Crowder was supposed to be, but there is no possession WR on the Bills team. 4. McKenzie occasionally with a crossing route, but those kind of throws are under utilized. 5. When running backs are used in the pass game its sporadic, Singletary with 9 catches in one game, and 4 combined the next 3 games. 6. The Bills have Diggs. We are the 2018-2021 Packers. One dominant WR.

Wonder if this staff utilizes a shorter passing game this week, not because of Allen's "compromised" elbow, but because our OT situation is even more horrific than normal.

I don't think the Bills had much a pass rush even with Miller. To your point, the only time I noticed pressure was Oliver, or Miller on chase-downs. But the Bills haven't consistently collapsed the pocket this season past Week 1 against the Rams. At least I haven't felt that.

But good thing Schopp is doing research for the show by investigating scenarios in the New York Times Playoff Machine. And Bulldog is scrolling Twitter in his attic.

The Bills waste so much time with RPOs that nobody bites on. By the time we waste time pretending it's going to be a handoff, the Defensive Line is in Josh's lap. Nobody is buying it, yet that sequence feels like the staple concept of Dorsey.

I'm not sure what the Bills are trying to establish with the running back rotation in terms of carries or screens other than they have tried to find competition for Singletary and nobody seems up to the task. I think they're running out of time before the Playoffs with only 6-games left to think that Hines is suddenly going to start getting a meaningful snap count and screens. Cook as shown above is still a liability running routes, so he is back to breather back status. Beane had to have these guys, but Cook and Hines have no defined role.

This is 100% correct. You saw the same thing I did, simple motion across the formation, running start, and simple toss to the far pylon for easy touchdowns. Those kind of throws have replaced the corner-fade/jumpball style TDs.

Watch the Chargers from 5-yards in, goal to go, and then watch us.

Yeah yeah WGR whined all morning about his “compromised” elbow and then he was a full participant today in practice. Owusu-Koramowa directly chops his elbow 2-weeks ago and Allen doesn’t rub it or come out of the game, or wince. I was at the game so I didn’t hear the broadcast, but apparently Romo droned on and on about it after every incompletion. But then Josh goes 90-yards for the go-ahead TD and suddenly the elbow isn’t a problem. I guess when you use every incompletion as evidence then your narrative looks pretty good.

So I guess it’s a coverup. On the elbow things fit the narrative until he fires a 36-yard rope, or converts a 3rd-15 and 3rd-16 on the same drive. On the concussion, he was dizzy for 2-3 weeks and just never told anyone, and no one on the Bills staff seemed to care about the franchise QB to get him into protocol.

He was asked point blank after the Vikings if he was limited at all in the game, he immediately responded “no” without hesitation. Did you see any finesse on that ripper throw to Davis in the endzone that hit him in the hands that he dropped? I think fans make things up in their head to fit a narrative.

So here we are 5-weeks after that game and he’s what Pine? Still dizzy, having headaches, woozy, and nobody on the staff noticed? Josh secretly never told anyone? The Bills were in on it and withheld from the league? 🙄🙄🙄 Any evidence that he is favoring the elbow?

Well, let's pull out the depth chart: 1. Diggs 2. Davis 3. McKenzie 4. Shakir - Not at practice 5. Stevenson - IR 6. Kumerow - IR 7. Crowder - IR Leaving ... John Brown and Tanner Gentry.....

According to WGR he is still injured and the ball is wobbly on that last throw. Give me a break.

Well Shakir wasn't seen at practice. Kumerow is out. Crowder is out. Gentry was already called up for the Browns game. So it's down to the bottom of the barrel after McKenzie.

As unbelievable as it sounds to me, John Brown might have to play this week. Half of the starting WR room is now missing. Tanner Gentry is now the 4th WR. 🤮

The illness must be running rampant right now.

He's been a great directional punter.

I think for the same reason the Bengals gave Dalton the 2nd contract. They know there are limitations, but there is never a free agent QB on the market that can compete. I agree with his childish removing all Cardinals references on his Instagram, and maybe the better move would have been to Franchise Tag. Kirk Cousins has played this perfectly throughout his career. Can you start a season with Nick Mullens as your starter? Trade a bunch for Jordan Love?

This is my thought as well. Dane was a 7th Round pick from Pittsburgh. Benford is a 6th Round pick from Villanova. They've done what they can to help the team weather the injuries. But the Bills have 3x 1st-Round pick corners coming in to replace them, and that changes the athletic profile of the team.

I'm sure the Bills have reviewed the Browns and Lions tape and are making plans to play White, Elam and Rhodes more. This should put Jackson and Benford (after his IR stint) back to the bench.

According to Jeremy White, there will be panic if the Bills can't score more than 23 points. I've felt all year that as long as the offense is intact, I feel good about the game. It looks like Morse is trending the right way, and we'll have to see if Dawkins can get there as well. Offensively, I expect Spencer Brown to be beaten several times, he's not that good. And Quesenberry is not Walter Jones. So if the Bills win 23-20, who cares. I still think the Bills need to get to about 20-carries a game combined for Singletary/Cook. Defensively, New England shouldn't be able to light the Bills up through the air with more White, Elam and Rhodes, especially if Tremaine Edmunds is back.

I listened to WGR (Howard and Jeremy, Joe on Extra Point Show) on 11/25 on my drive back home tonight. It was the standard checklist: 1. Don’t run the ball with running backs 2. If you have to, run with Allen 3. And the one I couldn’t stand was this constant pushing that Allen is hurt, he’s missing throws he normally makes, but they have no explanation for the 90-yard drive in the 4th or the 36-yarder to Diggs. They’ll say things like “I’m not looking at the All-22” when they literally do this for a living. They could take a 40-hour work week and actually watch guys like Kurt Warner, Josh McCown and others break all of this down so they could credit and have better explanations for their listeners. Instead, it’s golf analogies and constant Twitter references.