Beck Water

WTF with these announcers “the Titans are better off with the drop there” no they aren’t Bad miss on a FG there

We all sure about that?

OK, fair enough, you have a reasonable, thought-out answer. And yet, Cook has 369 yds/scrimmage (4th on the team of players not named Allen) and 6.7 yds/touch; that's better than Hines managed in his 2 best years 2018 and 2020. Cook has better yds/rush than Singletary at 5.6 vs 4.5 (which may reflect when and how he's used), and again, better than Hynes with Indy this year (4.9) or in Hines best years. I think Hines, to fans, is the "new shiny" "greener grass" who just has to be better than what we've got - doesn't he? Well, maybe. Or maybe not. Personally, I think Beane traded for Hines for exactly the role he's filling: 1) take over at KR/PR, improving the return game and freeing Shakir to focus on becoming the best receiver he can be this season. 2) learn the offense and be ready to fill in at RB or in the slot/as the gadget guy if (avert) injuries strike. The Bills currently have the #2 offense in the league by most parameters - PPG, Y/G, plays/g, 1D/g - and the difference is slight - 2 PPG, 5 y/g, 3 pl/g. #3 in y/pl and again difference is slight, 0.2/y per pl Where the Bills stink most markedly is in turnovers per game - where we are tied for 30th in the league at 1.73/game. This suggests to me that where the Bills need to raise their game is in the turnover arena, and largely in INT. "Only Josh Allen can Beat the Bills". Now maybe part of that is more creative play design that schemes guys open more. And maybe that involves Hines, or maybe it involves better use of the guys who've been here all along, grinding.

Oh, Geesh. Some kind of bug running through the locker room. Yikes.

Disagreement is fine, you're being factual about it and putting out some good stuff for a discussion. Fact: Nyheim Hynes ran a 4.39 at the NFL Combine. McKenzie ran a 4.42. Shakir ran 4.43. Stevenson ran 4.37. James Cook ran 4.42. Does 0.03, 0.04 seconds in pajamas years ago make a practical difference to how much speed a guy has in cleats, pads, and a helmet? Just based on 40 time, the Bills have plenty of speed suiting up and more waiting in the wings to either be activated or season-ending IR'd (Stevenson). I would say it's not how fast a guy ran in PJ's years ago, it's how fast he's playing today. Hines is fast, but so are McKenzie, Shakir, and Cook. Stevenson has yet to prove his superior speed in tights transfers on to the field successfully. The Bills have averaged about 60 snaps per game to date. We get 5 players per snap in addition to QB and OL. Davis is on the field for almost all snaps, 93%, due to his blocking chops and deep threat. Currently top-10 in the league for Y/R. Knox gets the second percentage, 79% or ~55/game, used a lot as a blocker (may chip and release to routes) Diggs gets 77% of the snaps, about 53/game, currently top-10 in the league for several receiving categories (receptions, receiving yds, TD, 1D etc) Singletary just behind him, 72% or 49/game, used a lot in pass pro and as an outlet McKenzie has been averaging 55% snaps of the snaps per game. Catches 67% of his targets, 3.7 Tch/G, 9.7 Y/Tch, 5 TD, 21 1D. Shakir, 16 snaps per game, about 25% - loud and persistent clamoring to see more of him Cook is the caboose, averaging about 17% or 10 snaps per game - again, loud and persistent clamoring to see more of him. Hines, in his 4 games here, has actually averaged 6 snaps per game. He's gotten 3 touches, and 1.3 Y/Tch. So which of these guys do you want to take off the field to give Hines more snaps?

McKenzie's snap count has varied greatly from game to game, according to what personnel sets the Bills are using that game. vs the Browns, it hit a season low of 40%, 26 snaps; Detroit was a season high of 73% (56 snaps), but overall he's been rocking a fairly steady 37 snaps per game (55%). Shakir's has too, of course, leading to his season-high of 34 snaps with the 3 guys ahead of him all playing vs. Detroit, but overall, he's been playing a relatively steady average of 16 snaps per game. Maybe if Shakir is able to do something with the 16 snaps per game he's getting, he'll get more.

You ought to feel a special sense of kinship with them both, then.

Question: what exactly does "squandering the trade" mean to you? Again: the trade was an RB who the Bills weren't using much and a 6th round pick, for a pass catching RB with KR/PR chops who the Colts weren't using much. All 3 of our starting WR, our TE, and our starting RB had higher production per game than Hines at the time of the trade. Only James Cook and Khalil Shakir on the active roster have fewer receiving yards, and most fans are clamoring for more use of Shakir and of Cook. Hines has immediately made a contribution, taking over KR/PR duties and appearing solid at both. What do you think was the Bills intent in making the trade and acquiring Hines? Who do you want to see less of, so we can see more Hines? Who should get fewer practice reps, so Hines can get more?

Good article by TBN new add Ryan O'Halloran https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/ryan-ohalloran-a-potential-von-miller-timetable-and-other-bills-musings/article_1a469f96-6d2b-11ed-b734-2fc221fe5601.html O'Halloran interviews Carlos Uquillas, a team physician for the Los Angeles Angels and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai’s Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles Basically, we all want answers soonest, but the question is, is this a tear Miller can play through and how much additional damage is there? No shortcuts, Time will Tell.

Good Grief. Beane traded a RB who was getting 22% of the snaps, ~23 y/Sc/g (and who most fans seemed to feel, should get less) and a conditional 6th for Hines - a guy who was getting 30% of the snaps and 30 y/Sc/g (mostly receiving) on a team that is currently 4-6-1 therefore presumably didn't have as many good players. Hines is making a strong contribution. He has taken over the KR/PR duties and is doing a very solid job with both. Yet you're carrying on like the Bills traded for CMC or Tee Higgins and put him in the barn. Take a Chill Pill, Jill. Period. If there's an indictment of Dorsey, it's that perhaps he could be doing a better scheming open the players we've got, who already know his system, not that he isn't immediately taking the guy who had the 5th most receiving y/g on a "meh" team and turning him into an instant strong contributor on offense, leapfrogging all the guys who've been here grinding while we made it to 8-3.

Um, with Von and Groot healthy, AJE and Basham have been playing ~37% of the snaps

Are you sure you're not confusing Bernard and Dodson? Because like I said, against Cleveland Bernard's "multiple snaps" totaled....5 snaps all game. Bernard's chance to look ghastly occurred earlier in the season, filling in for Milano against the Jets. I can't say he looked like he was stuck in mud to me, but he got beaten at times and when he got to the right place at the right time, he got trucked sometimes. Now Dodson, and maybe this is what you mean by "stuck in mud", doesn't seem able to read his keys and react fast enough. He's either making the wrong choice, or he's delaying his choice. Part of this is an effect of minimal actual playing time. It's different watching film vs. actually seeing it in real time. But whether his processing time would speed up with more game time, or whether he'd stay slow, can't tell you. I'm sure the zero starting reps before going into the Vikes game, and the abnormal week with only one actual practice before the Browns game, didn't help, because I did think Dodson looked better earlier this season when he got the start against the Steelers. Dodson played every snap for Edmunds, but Bernard came in for 5 snaps in "base" I hadn't thought about the similar first names

👍 I can agree with that. A big drop-off, not as big on the R as on the L, but generally servicable. Jackson and Wallace are both good zone corners. I don't think off-ball corners are ever hailed as NFL stars. I wonder if Romo was given a "talking point", or if there was some mix-up between Dane Jackson and Damar Hamlin (who I think does have potential to become a star in a DB-friendly system like the Bills)? When you hear an announcer saying some really weird stuff that doesn't match your eyeballs, it may be because they're given an agenda of talking points to follow. I agree with this too. I've never bought into the "Edmunds hate" Regarding more man, Greg Cosell said that the Bills played their highest % of man coverage on the season against Detroit. Now whether that's in part because 2 practices in 2 weeks made it easier than shifting responsibilities around in zone, or whether it was dictated by the need for more pressure up front, I don't know. We'll see what happens. In 2020 when Milano was on IR with a torn pec then worked his way back on a snap count, Frazier pretty much said that Johnson-Edmunds-Milano work together in a pretty interchangeable way, and that with Milano out, they had to re-work the roles and responsibilities. I think the problem with Edmunds out but two rookies at DB behind him and an inexperienced safety, there are limits to how much re-working can be done especially on a short week or one with only one practice.

I think it's one drafting pattern for Beane to take players in the 2nd round they perceive as having a high ceiling, but who will take time and development to reach it. Epenesa is one of those, although I think the Bills didn't expect it to take as long as it did. Covid precluding OTAs his rookie off-season hurt Epenesa; the Bills asked him to lose weight and re-make his body, but they weren't able to offer him the hands-on off season support to do what they asked. Maybe I'm missing something you've discussed earlier, but there's more to being a running back than running between the tackles. There's being fast enough to get to the outside, which it seemed demonstrated pretty conclusively last year Singletary just isn't. Cook can, and then he can make people miss in the open field Comparing with Stevenson - c'mon man. He has yet to demonstrate (to me anyway) that he can follow his blockers in the open field, or that he can block like a WR downfield much less like an RB in pass protection. Basically I think you're selling (what we've seen from Cook) short.

Good write-up, Shaw, enjoyed reading. You nailed it about the Bills showing a pattern of a mid-season slump. In 2020, I thought it was driven by Josh Allen's week 4 arm injury. It seemed inexplicable last season, and lo and behold, here it is again. Re: 3. I think you have it a bit backwards on cause and effect. I saw it as the Bills being unable to bring disruptive pressure with 4 (and I don't think as many of their sacks were coverage sacks as you see, but they were definitely making the QB uncomfortable with 4 earlier in the season), the Bills started bringing 5 man pressures. With that, for whatever reason, the Bills D apparently played their highest percentage of Man all season (Cosell goes into some of this stuff on One Bills Live here about 11 minutes in) The problem with Man IMHO is that Dane Jackson, like Levi Wallace, is a reasonable quality off-ball corner. He is not fast enough to stay with his guy long enough in Man, unless there's enough of a disruptive pass rush to help protect the backfield. That's how and why the Lions were picking on him. That's why the Bills used a 1st round pick on Kaiir Elam - to improve their man coverage - but Elam is playing on an injured ankle, and he's "just learning". Not sure I entirely agree with you about the solidity of Quessenberry at LT. I thought he had an up-and-down game, some decent, some whiffs. I thought Josh was feeling the pressure a bit after Dawkins went out and missed some plays where if he just gave it another tick or two he would have had a play.

? Epenesa has been playing ahead of Basham, Shaq Lawson, and Mike Love because he's earned playing time ahead of them. He has been playing 30-40% of the snaps and I thought he'd come on pretty well this season - getting sacks, getting TFL, getting QB hits. He's been making some plays His run D has improved but is still not great I think people call him a "bust" because they were expecting instant impact, but that's sort of been the problem with Beane's draft strategy - he drafts guys in the 2nd and 3rd round who they feel have high ceilings, but who require development. Then we get maybe a good year, year and a half out of them before FA.

FWIW I agree with you about Cook's runs. I see runs where I say "Motor doesn't have the speed to hit that" and I do see some elusiveness.

? Bernard only played 5 defensive snaps vs. Cleveland and didn't stand out to me - I assume he was in on run plays in 4-3. What did you see and dislike?

My understanding: normally, players come in, get injuries examined and further tests/get treatment for bumps and bruises. Then they watch film cutups of the game they just played and "do their corrections" by walking through broken plays in shells and getting coaching on how it should have been played. On "Victory Days", they don't watch film or do corrections as a group. Being professionals, most of the players watch film on their own anyway and ask "what should I have seen/how should I have played that?" questions of peers or coaches as needed, but it's more couth to view your mistakes in private and not have to face them in a group or walk through them when you're hurting. The players still come in for examination and treatment of injuries and for their normal post-game routine be it cryo, ice tub, ultrasound, whatever. Again, my understanding. It seems like a small difference, but evidently it's a treat for players.

Benford came out of the game with an oblique injury and is week to week, so you get your wish on Benford I guess Since Elam is still healing up from his ankle and struggled when he went in for Benford the last third of the game, I'm not sure the results be what you imagine there Tre played 1/5 of the snaps (15). He's going to ramp up, not suddenly replace a player, and when he does, it may be Elam/Benford he replaces, not Jackson. Our secondary was playing much better when our DL wasn't down to 3rd string DE

FWIW BangedupBills takes a more hopeful view from video

Q (Quessenberry). I think that means we're one Spencer Brown hit away from seeing Bobby Hart at tackle vs. New England.

I thought the whole point of hiring former Saints and LSU passing game coordinator/Panthers OC Joe Brady as QB coach, and hiring former Rams run game coordinator and OL coach as OL coach, was to give Dorsey that very assistance you say we don't have anyone in the building to provide?

Maybe they need to stop playing on slit film turf We seemed to have a lot of injuries the last 2 games

I repeat my question: is your concern about the negative effect of fan criticism unique to Davis, or does it extend to other players who have become fan "whipping boys" after a few notable gaffs? Isaiah McKenzie is the current favorite "whipping boy" on this board, for example. Myself, I tend to think players have to be way way tougher than that. If they can't "tune out the noise" of fans and ask their friends and family to muzzle it and "leave them out" of the social media loop during the season, I don't think they can succeed in professional sports. I mean, how likely is it anyway that 350,000 different people all think they suck and should get cut or benched for a dropped ball or a route running mistake? Most don't care. Most who do care would be all love "Oh, I'm your biggest fan!" in person and it can't take long for the players to realize that. Social media in no way represents a reasonable cross section of representative fan opinion. It's more like maybe a couple hundred (at most) loudmouths hiding behind anonymity to talk crap especially when they're drunk, a couple thousand who are like "you made a mistake, Be Better" which the player and coach would say to themselves, and a bunch more who can barely remember the details of what happened or don't care. Same goes for this board. One can't even assume that unique usernames necessarily represent different unique individuals each stating their individual honestly held opinion. And social media is an even wilder and less moderated scene. Regarding "13 seconds" FWIW, Lorenzo Alexander said "the players for sure know, the players will sort it out". It seems somewhat notable who moved on or was not brought back, even at modest and affordable (to the Bills) rates. Anyway, I don't care at all for the "whipping boy" phenomenon - I think it usually makes the person "flogging it" look like they either don't have a very balanced and knowledgeable perspective, or have an agenda of trolling for attention - but I don't think fans should second guess themselves for expressing honest critique of things that factually happened for fear of "Russian Roulette" with a players psyche. And football is definitely a "what have you done for me lately?" "one game at a time" game. Playing damned near perfect football during 2 playoff games does not excuse Josh Allen (for example) from throwing stupid interceptions in the 4Q of 2022 games. Gabe Davis making great clutch receptions for >170 yds in the Steelers game does not excuse dropped balls that end drives or (perhaps) the badly run route or 3 in other games. In my opinion of course.