Shaw66

This means you don't understand the passer rating. It is a measure of success pass by pass, not game by game. A good passer rating means you're better at pass defense than a bad passer rating. Period

I don't. I think the Bills always saw in Shavers what some people are seeing in him now. They also saw that he had a lot to learn. Finally, they saw a guy who was willing to put in the time, work, and learn. He kept getting better every season. And he kept getting closer to making the roster. I think what we're seeing is McDermott's patience with the guy paying off. What I really like is that Shavers, Palmer, and Davis present big targets to Josh, and I think Josh is comfortable throwing at those targets. He looked different yesterday. The touchdown to Shavers looked very much like several touchdowns. We saw Josh throw to Davis in earlier seasons.

I think we will see some different things as we get deeper into the season. I said earlier in the year, and I'll say it again, that I think later in the season we're going to see more man-to-man. It will be sprinkled in, but there will be more of it. I think. Think Benford, White and Hairston all can play it. I also think we will begin to see more blitzing paired with the man-to-man. There's been very little blitzing so far this year, and I think that will change. On top of that, I think we will see the zone defenses tightening down a bit. One reason all of those passes get completed underneath the corners is because they're playing deep enough to prevent the deep ball from being in play at all. I think it's been McDermott's plan all along to tighten up the zone coverages as the season goes on and as his young defenders learn the schemes. But I don't think the pass defense is the problem. It's the run defense that has to be much more consistent. McDermott has been clear for years that he's willing to give up running yardage in order to stop the passing game, and the stance. This season is similar to other seasons. We're at the top of the league in past defense and in the middle of the league and run defense., this season we're at the bottom of the league and run defense.

I liked how he played the ball on the touchdown catch. It wasn't a perfect throw but he had his eyes on the ball all the way and got his hands in a really good catching position. It was nicely done. It's the kind of play of professional pass catcher makes. That was encouraging. Last week someone said his his blocking is always good. It was interesting that on Johnson's touchdown catch, he followed the play all the way down the field and got in the way of the last possible tackler. That was just solid at football, doing your job.

Yeah. Right!

I agree. All Beane did was get Bosa, Sanders, Walker, Hoecht, Ogunjobi, and Lawson. I'm surprised Beane still has a job.

What defensive weak spots? The Bills have the 6th best defensive passer rating in the league. They're 31st in the league in yards per game rushing. Pass defense is not a weakness.

I really have my doubts about passes for analysis around here. Everyone is on the Bishop bandwagon, and so am I. He's been improving since late last season, and he's making plays all over the place. Everyone also seems to think Poyer has nothing left and is a weakness. I'd suggest watching the games. Yesterday he made a lot of tackles in the running game, and he made some really nice plays on the ball in pass defense. Nearly had an interception in the end zone. Check the stats, folks - he had 15 tackles yesterday. 15! Hancock looked solid earlier in the season and is now getting worked into more playing time. I think the Bills are solid and safety and will be better in a month.

SRO at the harp in Boston! Love it!

Yes and yes.

Huh? He played high school ball in South Carolina. He was an Army brat. When was he in Buffalo?

When I saw the title of this thread, I assumed he must be a basketball prospect. It didn't even occur to me that a blue chip football player was coming out of Buffalo. Really cool. Good for him.

I'm still not sure there's no place like it, but I've been to a lot of places that AREN'T like Buffalo. I went to the Jets and to the Panthers games this season, and both places were downright embarrassing to their franchises and fan bases. I hadn't seen the Kelce quote. Amazing to have someone like him make that comment. It verifies that what we feel in the stadium is real. The Chiefs game Sunday was one of the best at Highmark, but there have been so many, it's impossible to name them all. Chiefs last season was amazing, too. Ferguson and Kelly standing in the end zone, both wearing their blue number 12 jerseys, leading the pre-kickoff cheer, was an unexpected emotional moment for me. Those two guys that we cheered for during all of those games, all of the great moments they brought us, both of them then surviving cancer, seeing them out there was just so great. Too bad Kemp couldn't have been out there, too. Jack and Joe and Jim and Josh. I've been promoting my book by talking to Bills fans. I was at the Saturday night party at the Tavern by the Tracks in Charlotte, introducing myself and chatting with folks about them and me and my book. I was at the tail gate parties at Highmark for the Chiefs game. I chatted with folks at my hotel. At first, I felt awkward, introducing myself and talking about myself, but pretty quickly I realized that these were all Bills fans, and Bills fans are just great. Practically everyone was interested in talking to me, and very quickly we were sharing stories about where we grew up, what games we'd been to, how great it is to be able to go to these games and share them with each other. I doubt we'll lose it when everything moves across the street to the new place, but maybe we will. Either way, we should be sure to appreciate what we've had together as fans for all these years. GO BILLS!!!

That is, whether we like it or not, exactly what McDermott intends. As for 20+ yard plays correlating with touchdown drives, I'd guess that's true for every team.

Thanks for this. Good stuff. I don't completely agree that coordinators are not worried about the Bills going deep. In the piece by Kubiak in the news that someone discussed, Kubiak said that teams are playing two deep a lot against the Bills. Right after I read I happened to see a replay from the Chiefs all-22, also in a thread, where Allen threw to Shakir, I think, in the right flat for a nice gain. It was just what Kubiak said - two deep safeties. And the play worked in part because those guys were so deep. Once Shakir beat the first defenders, he had a lot of running room, precisely because the safeties were still 15 yards away. Whatever. I really the last sentence. The Bills didn't make that choice this week. They made if eight weeks ago, if not four months ago. This is the way they want to play. It doesn't make sense to you. To me, I sort of get it, but it sure seems odd to choose that style. And the big problem that we've often mentioned is that what they've actually is a good style for piling up wins in the regular season, but it puts the team at a disadvantage in the playoffs, where the talent and intensity goes up. It's in those games where a true deep threat can be valuable, if only to stretch the defense.