SCBills

I think people will be pleasantly surprised by this defense on Sunday. Jaquan Johnson is a guy who it seems everyone in the building has said is ready to start. Elam is a RD1 pick for a reason. Benford looks like a legitimate late round stud. Being down our DT’s isn’t ideal, but Miami isn’t a heavy run team and we likely see plenty of 3 DE pass rush looks on passing downs. The top end talent that is still out there.. Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, Matt Milano, Tremaine Edmunds and Taron Johnson. I’ll put that five up against Xavien Howard, Jevon Holland, Christian Wilkins, Emmanuel Ogbah and Jaelen Phillips.

I’d definitely go with a lot of Rousseau or Basham at DT on passing downs, as well as sending Edmunds on a blitz or replace. This game is going to be all about hitting Tua.

So what are we looking at on this comically injured defense?.. EDGE: Von, Rousseau, AJ, Boogie, Shaq DT: Jones, Settle, Bryant, Brewer LB: Edmunds, Milano Slot: Johnson CB: Elam, Benford S: Johnson, Hamlin (because why would anyone assume Poyer plays at this point) Going to need Von and company to be a wrecking crew.

Nah, they’d use Morris and Gilliam most likely.

Haha, okkk…. Having to face Hill and Waddle with our entire starting secondary out is a bit hilarious, but I’m here for it. Front 7 going to have to take IV’s of pre-workout and snort lines off the bench in between series.

If we can limit the guys ruled out to those three, I feel pretty good about Sunday. Not as worried about Davis if he’s held out again, but we need Oliver and Settle back.

My hope is that Dane is able to come back for Week 5, we get through Miami and Baltimore with the rookies and the coaching staff has the luxury of ramping up Tre to come back after the bye week.

He has a bit of Gabe Davis in him, where he seems to get a step on DB’s, despite not being a burner… but he’s definitely not the deep threat Gabe is. His game at UGA was heavy deep shot/intermediate/contested catch stuff.

I don’t know that it matters either way. That restructure of his contract this year seems like a “we appreciate you, let’s win this thing and then go get paid elsewhere” type of gesture. Id put the odds pretty high that we re-sign Jaquan Johnson in the off-season and - fingers crossed Hyde is ok - our Safety tandem next year is Johnson and Hyde. If Johnson falls on his face, unlikely but could happen, replace him with a Day 1 / Day 2 draft pick.

Most of the calculation is pain management vs risk of further damage. If Gabe risks further injuring his ankle and/or heightened risk of injury elsewhere due to a weakened ankle, I think you’ve got to rest him if he’s still looking hobbled on some of those routes. If it’s just about pain, they’ll shoot up the ankle and let him do his thing.

It’s going to be all about the Defensive Line. If the backend of the defense ends up being Elam-Benford-Johnson-Johnson-Poyer, there’s only so much you can do to protect an outside rookie corner on each side. Furthermore, there’s only so much you can do against Hill, Waddle and Gesicki. While Jaquan Johnson isn’t Micah Hyde, he’s a very cerebral, smart player who’s been in the system for years now. Everyone who knows anything about him has said he’s ready.. and not just “ready”, but “been ready”. I expect the secondary to impress. Some of that will be due to the fact that, while young/inexperienced, these guys are talented.. but a lot of that will be due to the fact that this Defensive Line is an absolute game wrecker. Let’s just hope we get a 2 for 1 swap of Oliver/Settle for Phillips, because interior pressure is what takes this group to another level when opposing lines have to be focused on Von and the trio of young pass rushers off the edge.

Best friend of mine is a Gator fan and gushed over his maturity and humbleness at Florida. He knows the Buffalo Bills culture pretty well now and told me from the day we drafted him that Kaiir is a perfect fit for this team. Elam is so easy to root for. Excited to see what he can bring to the table in a game where he and Benford will be asked to grow up real quick.

Mid-80’s sounds good to me. It’s been low 90’s in GA/SC for the past week.. finally breaks this weekend.

No way… they’re punting? Is there an extra quarter im unaware of?

I don’t think Mitch is starting caliber, but to blame the 3 and out on him where he dropped a dime that DJ dropped is a bit harsh.

Diontae drop could legitimately end Trubisky’s starting career. Entire game changed on that and I have to imagine there’s going to be quite a bit of pressure to turn to Pickett at 1-2.

Diontae Johnson and Amari Cooper are determined to make sure their QB’s can’t be viewed as anything more than backups. Trash #1 WR’s. *ok, maybe just Diontae Johnson

Some of our fans… 20 years of “why won’t anyone talk about the Bills” (NFL world talks about the Bills) Whoa… let’s take it down a notch, ok?

Njoku earning that contract tonight.

Who is this old white guy listening to Kendrick Lamar give obvious financial advice to Pharrell?

I don’t. Give me Elam and Benford. Both have a much, much higher ceiling than Levi.

Point me to the apparent plethora of teams potentially without something equivalent to: #2 WR #1 CB #2 CB #1 DT #3 DT #4 DT #1 S My guess is we are “only” without Tre, Dane, Hyde and Phillips. Contrast to the Dolphins who are likely only without Byron Jones. I would say the Titans are on par without Landry, Dupree and Fulton. But most would say they’ve been hit hard so far on Defense. That’s not normal (unless you’re the Ravens). The abnormality of our injuries are the cluster effect of them. Multiple in the same levels of the defense. Three DT’s and three Secondary players.

Just listened to the Sal/Bove podcast at the gym … Bove is straight up shook ones about the Dolphins, my goodness.. Im just figuring we’re without Phillips, Hyde and Jackson .. but if we get back Oliver and Settle, let’s go. I have confidence in the young guys and for as good as our DL has been, nobody has seen them with Von, Oliver & Rousseau out there for any meaningful time together.

People keep saying stuff like this... Hyde is the QB of the defense, Poyer is heart of the defense, Edmunds is another QB of the defense.. ok, cool.. All good players that were all on the field when we got ran over by power teams and thrown on by Mahomes. This Defense is, and will be, defined by the Defensive Line. There's a reason why Beane has been obsessive in addressing it. It hides a whole bunch of flaws and is what matters in the Playoffs. Fwiw, this is not normal