WideNine

I came away with the same thoughts watching AFC East teams - no cake-walks. Chargers had no answers for Hill and that was that... Belicheat can still coach and drag just about any team down to the wire... Allen has had NE's number for the past few years, but the rest of the league will learn you have to keep your foot on the throat of a Belichick team till the final whistle - they are like the living dead. I expect the Jets will be tough too. And the darlings of the AFC - the Chiefs and Bengals both crapped the bed. You just never know till the games are played, but just because teams start the season strong does not mean they wont finish with a whimper.

I have been thinking the past few years that Dion had lost a step and that was because of added weight. He is still a very good LT, but was struggling to get to where he needed to be and getting beat by speed rushes able to bend around him at the top of their rush. I am glad he is trying to take steps to maintain a better playing weight. The team and Allen needs him to be that dominant LT he is very capable of being.

There is some value to looking at the entire season, but last year I felt the Bills' play was just less dominant down the stretch. I am not alone I think in that feeling that the stretch run for the Bills felt exhausting. The defense could not get off the field and the Offense seemed to do pretty well in their first scripted drive, but would struggle padding leads in the first half. If you look at our 2022 defense 3rd down efficiency 38% made, and 4th down 58% made. It was quite an uptick from the prior year and supports the observations of our defense allowing more extended drives by opposing teams. Teams were patient and content to work their way slowly down the field eat clock and keep Allen and the offense cooling their heels on the sidelines. The Bengals started nearly an entire patchwork OL of backups and they manhandled our defensive front. The lack of dominant play down the stretch led to a lot more nail-biters and late game heroics. There were plenty of other factors including our turnover differential that went from +6 in 2020, +8 in 2021, to 0 in 2022. Admittedly KC was sitting at -3 and that did not tank their season and one really bad game can skew the metric. But for the Bills there was a combination of less opportunistic defense forcing turnovers and our offense turning the ball over more frequently. Allen's elbow made shorter timing throws harder and the fact that Saffold was a turn stile and Brown excelled at getting burnt on the edge made any on schedule passing plays difficult. Daboll found a lot of creatuve ways to punch the ball over the line, but Dorsey and the offense seemed to be stymied in the red zone with a rash of uncharacteristic Allen turnovers in the front half of the season. Teams seemed to have found better ways of defending the RZ against our offensive personnel packages and alignment tendencies particularly after our game with Green Bay. It is always a chess match and a copycat league. Hoping that we have the right defensive personnel to get better at getting off the field and closing the door on teams when we are nursing a lead. Hoping we have better luck on the injury front and Dorsey takes a big step forward game planning and leading the offense.

I thought the concensus last season was that Frazier just was not getting it done. Coming up with solid post-season game plans and making the adjustments needed more quickly during a game. We will see this season what kind of juice McD has as a game-day coach, particularly down the stretch. I am really curious how that change manifests over the season.

As long as we are healthy and the team is peaking and playing their best ball down the stretch...

PFF for what its worth did not even have Oliver ranked in the top 25 in 2022 which did include our current Daquan and departed Horrible Harry who seemed to have a good year with the Vikequeens. Head-scratcher, but he is pretty effective getting into the backfield when paired with the right 1-tech, not sure you pay top-tier dollar for that... Time will tell I guess.

He has played 1-tech and a lot of (2-gap) over the center in Seattle's schemes. They did not have much of a rotation and started moving him around a lot even playing some edge, but Carrol said in an interview that interior DL was his most natural spot. His body type is perfect for anchoring in the middle, and in our rotation schemes he will stay more fresh. Earlier in the year this was mentioned. "Pete Carroll says Seahawks overused Poona Ford on the defensive line. He likes Ford over the center at nose tackle. They played him more outside as 3-technique and even 5-tech. "I think we wore him down." Expect Ford back over the nose, among other changes to DL/run D in 2023"

We needed this. A run-stopping, blocker eating, 1-tech that can spell Jones and perhaps keep him fresh and healthy down the stretch. Having that deal in the works helps me understand why Beane did not make any moves to shore that position via the draft. Hopefully he pans out better than Settle did at filling that role.

Maybe not a tub of goo, but I would take a Jeffrey Simmons or Quinnen Williams, and Vita Vea may not be a chiseled piece of marble, but I guarantee we would love him manning the middle of our DL. There is a place for those guys that can anchor and force double-teams. I was so excited when we picked up Dareus as he had all the tools coming out of school and had all the upside to be that guy the Bills could build their D-line around... the dude set this franchise back a ways.

Totally agree with this as accuracy gets muddled by dink and dunk QBs with high completion rates, and QBs that have the luxury of elite pass catchers. Those elite receivers share a common trait of getting open, winning on contested throws, and having a great catch radius and hands. Throwing on the money is always a good thing, but having receivers that can adjust their routes, speed, timing, positioning and leverage to be in best position to catch a pass cannot be undervalued. Cousins has always been a pretty accurate passer when given time, but the addition of Jefferson who is an elite receiver made his stats go through the roof. We saw first hand how Jefferson could correct normally poor throwing decisions in traffic with circus catches over defenders. Not sure about the SEC statement. If we are honest, Allen did have really bad mechanics coming out of college, but folks should balance that with his multi-sport focus in HS and the fact that he never really had the luxury of QB schools and coaching that could have helped correct those mechanics. Perhaps in a SEC school he would have gotten those things and great receivers to boot. Either way, OBD knew he was raw with a lot of upside when they took him in the draft. For me the biggest head-scratcher with Allen is the tendencies to misfire behind or near the LOS with screens, bubbles, wheel routes, and dumps. Those seem to be the hardest throws for him where those are usually the bread & butter of QBs that pad their QBR with easy to make high-completion passes. He is like a guy who can nail all the 3 pointers, but makes layups seem hard. That being said, Allen is the type of player who will keep working and tweaking his game. Since he thrives on extending plays, he does not really rely as much as other QBs on those kind of intended dink & dunk plays - for now. He will need to learn to lean on those outlet options more to protect his body and his NFL longevity as his game matures. Last year I noticed he was experimenting a lot more with his release angles and putting some arc on his throws as defenders at the LOS were having more success getting their hands up to knock down passes. His elbow injury may have contributed to some changes in throwing motion too. One thing for sure with Allen is that it always feels like you need to strap in because you are likely in for a wild ride.

I was hoping for a 1-tech DT prospect - maybe Baylor's Ika, but he went right after we picked Williams in the 3rd. Pinned my hopes on taking a flyer on Coburn, but KC picked him up in the 6th. Oh well... I can hope teams don't run on us, and Jones stays healthy. We can beat most teams with good secondary play and our offensive weapons, just gets a lot harder down the stretch when we play potent offenses that can run the ball to move the chains. Hard for me to forget the Bengals running the ball down our throats that last game.

Why I loved our Kincaid pick - the dude is a ball magnet if you just get it near him.

Looks like he excels and tackling when he can get there cleanly. More the reason to beef up our interior D-Line trenches to keep our backers clean. I love that we still have Jones, but there is quite a drop after him and this "D" clicks when they have that effective big body in the lineup. I like Phillips and Ankou in spot duty on passing downs, but they have been turnstiles on running plays. Also Phillips has a endearing, but reckless way of playing where he often ends up injured.

Awesome ceiling, but like most here I too wonder if he will get enough looks from Allen in this offense. If Allen and Dorsey can make that purposeful shift targeting our TEs then this pick may look genius. The top guy on Beane's board at that spot with Campbell going so early. Hoping for a decent Mike and a solid 1-tech... then wherever the chips fall.

Somehow managed to post this under the Cheatriots dynasty thread... was multi-tasking - poorly. The Bills do need to get a bit bigger and stronger especially at the 1-tech position to have an effective rotation and depth. There are more than a few 1-techs in the draft that can at least anchor if not get push or even better if a prospect can force some double-teams. There should be some prospects available in the later rounds without reaching and probably will have more promise than what we saw from Settle... Would be a good investment as the light, quick, DTs we have in abundance get blown off the ball if we don't have that other guy. Those speedy DTs work fine and can be disruptive when teams are forced to play catch-up and they can tee off on their pass rush. However, when the opposing team is leading or hanging with us and committed to mixing in runs, they can be a liability getting pushed around and allowing blockers to get to the 2nd level. As we saw when Jones went down during the Bengals game it had a domino effect on our D once we lost in the trenches. I would not mind if Beane went LB or OL early. I will pretty much be fine with most picks as long as they don't draft a tiny DT or DE with years needed to be good enough to make a limited rotational role. I do feel Groot is on his way to becoming a very good DE, so not entirely dumping on our talent evaluators.

Top tier OL coach that could get the most out of middling OL talent - since retired. Which kept an efficient GOAT Brady upright with enough time to find a few above average targets, Gronk, Welker, Edelman, Brown... Solid drafting on defense with a pretty good defensive mind in Belichick. And...cheating 😁

We needed a back that can run between the tackles now and then and bang out some short yards. As folks here have mentioned, if his health holds up, he is a fit for that change of pace back we are missing. I don't see the Bills ever being that team that consistently runs the ball, rather just running enough to keep defenses honest. And all our backs need to be very good in pass pro as Allen should be throwing out of those 11 and 12 sets and using play action more.

I have mixed feelings with Kroft, when they actually threw to him he caught the balls, but TEs are notoriously underutilized in our offensive game plans as downfield targets. Even Knox we should be trying to use a lot more to move the chains, but Allen's focus tends to lean towards his WRs.

I know right. Poyer still has more in the tank and was one of the few reliable pieces to a decimated secondary last season. Even played through his injury. Glad to have him back.

Well said. Many here wanted to see a guy who could quickly diagnose a play, hit the right gap, shed blocks, and be a thumper. Nope. Tremaine was more of a lanky safety that could cover a lot of ground, get in the way of passes, and prevent 5 yard plays from turning into 15-20 yard plays. He was very good at reading and reacting to a QBs eyes, but guys like Mahomes could use their eyes to work him like a joystick to free up space in the secondary. Good QBs we run into down the stretch can do that well. This defense missed him when he was not on the field, but not enough that it would justify taking on a crippling salary. We did not see the TFLs, the INTs, the FFs one would hope to see, but some of that was scheme, some just the way Tremaine played. I felt he had improved each year, but the problem with drafting a player high for their upside, and investing years to realize that potential, is that the player simply cashes out once they turn the corner. Not blaming him, it was the obvious move for Edmunds.

I have seen decades of teams with deep pockets that make big splashes in free agency. Athough headline grabbing, it does not equate to a well run org going to the big show. We will see how this plays out.

Could be exactly what it looks like. Frazier just needs time away from the game to let the batteries recharge. We can all agree that last season was just a very tough season. It was tough logistically, AFC East was more competitive, lofty expectations, and emotional roller coaster with injuries on that side of the ball and then the fallout from the flat outing against the Bengals. Other coaches take sabbaticals to sit in broadcast booths and be guest analysts, I would not be surprised if Frazier really just needs some time away from the game. On the flip side, it would not go well if Frazier had been retained for another season and he did not have the juice for what the team was going to need.

Both sides laid an egg in that Bengals game, so arguing about who gets the "sucks most award" is a bit fruitless. BUT, on offense you had Allen whose elbow was still an issue; If not directly affecting throws, it impacted his ability to get the reps he needed in practice. And you had a first year coordinator in Dorsey who had his moments and challenges. So I can buy that we did not see the offenses best stuff, not sure I can say the same about our D with the years of Frazier continuity as well as the draft and FA investments. Granted, we had a slew of injuries and that cannot be factored out. So we need some better karma this next season for sure. I am just looking forward to some fresh perspective and energy that someone else may be able to bring to that side of the ball. Not hating on Frazier, just ready for a change.

We have fielded some very competitive defenses, particularly when Frazier had everyone healthy. I do feel like there are times you need to shake things up particularly when our defenses have come up so small in so many playoff games against top-tier offenses. I won't paint all of Frazier's contributions to the Bills with just that one negative brush - he has been good for us, BUT we have to figure out how our defense can be more competitive in those playoff games to be able to get past the Bengals and the Chiefs. At the end of the day, that has got to be the focus of OBD leadership.