Good Night / Bad Night - Pre-Season Game 1

[Meatloaf63]

8 hours ago, AllenLongBall said:

 

He underthrew brown, and overthrew the TE.  The Zay pass into the dirt and Zay drop are a wash.

You were harping in that last night, overthrowing a player that was held and we get s first down because of it is not the Qb’s fault no matter how many times you say it.$

[Element115]

I wonder if every game we will be arguing about whether a dropped ball was the QB or the WR's fault?  I suppose not if they win a lot of games.

[Ralonzo]

7 hours ago, AllenLongBall said:

 

He did not lead Zay into the endzone, Zay had to rotate his torso 90 deg.  That is NOT a "perfect" pass like some here want to claim.  It should have been caught, but c'mon with the perfect pass stuff.

Unless you want Allen to turn 180 degrees and launch the ball such that it orbits the Earth and comes to Zay from the front, how else would he manage to catch the ball while running up the seam away from the QB?

[Meatloaf63]

8 hours ago, CuddyDark said:

That 2 yard line pass to Zay was behind him. If it's out in front it's a touchdown.

If it’s in front he gets clobbered twice as bad as he did, it was anything but behind , it was perfect for where the defense was...

Edited August 9, 2019 by Meatloaf63

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, Ralonzo said:

Unless you want Allen to turn 180 degrees and launch the ball such that it orbits the Earth and comes to Zay from the front, how else would he manage to catch the ball while running up the seam away from the QB?

He does have a rocket arm. Just sayin.'

[Warcodered]

45 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

Unless you want Allen to turn 180 degrees and launch the ball such that it orbits the Earth and comes to Zay from the front, how else would he manage to catch the ball while running up the seam away from the QB?

Yeah but that would be cra...no there no way he coul...just a sec I need to go see my math guy.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Warcodered

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Week 1 of pre-season is in the books and so here, back by absolutely no popular demand, is my annual Good Night / Bad Night series.....

 

Good Night for...

 

The Bills QB situation - So let's start with this.... Josh Allen wasn't perfect last night and it looked like a bit of a "knock the rust off" type performance with a couple of communication breakdowns with receivers leading to incompletions. But there were a couple of plays on which he showed nice poise and good patience in the pocket. Promising start. Matt Barkley came in an had himself a nice night - 9/14 for 126 and a score and looks rock solid as the Bills backup Quarterback. How many years is it since the Bills went into camp with an incumbent starter and solid backup at the most important position that they felt good about and then had neither of them crap the bed during camp and pre-season? Encouraging.

 

Ed Oliver - Too small to play defensive tackle in the NFL? Not strong enough against the run at the point of attack? Won't be able to move massive NFL linemen? Yea, right. That was rookie phenomen and all pro guard (and he will be a perennial all pro for a long time) Quenton Nelson that had his hands full with Oliver last night. First game as a pro and Oliver was bringing it to one of the best in the business. Be excited Bills fans. This guy is going to be elite. While I am at it on the starting defensive line.... Shaq Lawson outplayed Trent Murphy for what it is worth. On early downs I want Shaq on the field.

 

Isaiah McKenzie - One of the most intruging roster battles is the one between McKenzie and Ray Ray McCloud for a job as the backup slot receiver, backup returner and primary gadget play guy. McCloud was out there plenty but only hauled in one catch from four targets whereas McKenzie was the Bills leading receiver on the night reeling in both his targets for 62 yards. Both players also had an audition as punt returners. McKenzie showed nice pop on one run in particular, McCloud had one return for -2 yards. If pre-season performances is a factor in this decision then McKenzie may have nosed ahead. I still maintain your 6th receiver is the winner of this contest. Book it.

 

Darryl Johnson - His college programme sounds like it has been made up by a video game publisher who didn't have the rights to use the names of real colleges.... but this kid is long, has a fast twitch and plays at 100 miles per hour. While his sack was against linemen who will likely be bagging groceries come September it was a timely reminder that he is in the mix for those last couple of roster spots.

 

Christian Wade - MY GUY! Okay so he almost didn't handle the hand off and the Colts defense parted like the red sea. But Wade demonstrated the agility, acceleration and top end speed that made him an international level rugby player. He still has a long road to make it as an NFL player, obviously, but that was such a cool moment and the Bills sideline reaction says a lot about who Wade is as a guy and the togetherness McDermott is able to foster. I was bouncing around my apartment with excitement. The neighbours already know the NFL is back!

 

 

Bad Night for...

 

Zay Jones - Five of Josh Allen's 11 throws were to Zay Jones. They resulted in 2 completions for 31 yards. That sounds familiar. Wasn't all on Zay but the pass down the seam at the 2 yard line was 100% on him. I would have a little more sympathy with Zay if he had caught the pass and it was knocked loose by the forearm to the throat that he took from the defender. But watch carefully. He had dropped it before the defender made contact. It was more of the same... fighting the football on what should be routine catches. Is his roster spot vulnerable? Probably not, but Cam Phillips brings a similar skill set and he is not going away.

 

Russell Bodine - Talking of going away..... Please for the love of God - Bodine be gone! With Morse's status questionable Bodine had a squeak of sticking on this roster as a specialist center insurance in case Feliciano and/or Long struggled. Then we started playing games again. And we all remembered that Russell Bodine sucks at football.

 

Devin Singletary - This one will be controversial. I don't really mean a bad night for Singletary... I mean a bad night for those fans (and there have been a lot of them) who think he is about to immediately usurp two future HoF backs and assume the starter job. When I evaluated Singletary pre-draft I saw a change of pace running back - a guy who could come in and move the chains on 3rd downs and would be able to make people miss in space. A sort of Gio Bernard type. What I didn't see was a guy who was ready to be an NFL lead back. And that was what I saw last night too. He lacks that explosive acceleration to beat NFL defenders to the edge, which we saw a couple of times last night, and lacks the size and power to make the play when a defender squares him up inside. Great vision, good in space with a decent change of direction and a shiftiness to find a crease on 3rd down. But 9 carries. 3 yards per pop. As an every down workhorse... he isn't there yet.

 

Tyree Jackson - So I think Jackson has always been a long shot to make this roster. But I thought he had a shot at a practice squad spot either here or elsewhere. Last night was not good tape to be putting out there for GMs to evaluate though. Inaccurate, messy feet, wasn't entirely convinced he knew all the plays.... seemed receivers were not running the routes he was throwing for.... ugly. Luckily for him he will get some more live bullets in the rest of what is to come to redeem himself. 

 

The bottom of the roster receivers - To me the receiver depth chart still looks like this: Brown, Beasley, Foster and Jones in some order and the McKenzie, McCloud and Phillips in the mix. The rest are not in this competion based on time with the 1st and 2nd units during the spring, during camp and then during last night's game. It was harder for Duke and Sills to make an impact given the fact that they were being thrown to by a poor Quarterback but they combined for zero catches from 3 targets and I didn't even notice Easley out there (though it was very late into the wee hours UK time by that stage). Those guys are all, to my mind, fighting for a shot at a spot on the pactice squad at this stage. 

 

There we are, my reflections on pre-season game 1... I'll be back next week. Let's hear your thoughts!

Excellent write up. However, I thought your assessment of Singletary was a little off the mark. I doubt that he is going to be a workhorse back. In fact, no back on this team is going to be a workhorse back. The era of excessive back usage is a thing of the past. In today's NFL the carries are going to be shared, and the ability to catch passes out of the backfield is going to be essential. I didn't see the game because of a blackout out but from the clips that I saw he exhibited superb vision and an ability to find the a lane. I agree with you that he lacks explosiveness but he compensates by being such an instinctive runner. For a not so big back he did show toughness in fighting for additional yards. I see him as a rookie being a contributor on offense. 

[GG]

2 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I disagree on your Singletary assessment, though.  His numbers weren't great, but I thought it was pretty clear the kid has fantastic vision (I think Tasker mentioned Beane, in scouting him in college, said he had "elite vision") that resulted in extra yards where none should have come.

 

Yeah, when you look at our RBs, it's Wade's numbers that pop out after game 1, but Singletary was the RB who impressed me most.

 

Side note about Wade.  There was nothing great in his TD run, though he showed he has speed, but I want to watch Wade get more carries in the upcoming preseason games to see how he runs in traffic.

 

 

I think there are two plays that highlight what @GunnerBill was referencing about the two players, because the set up was nearly identical.

 

For Singletary, it was a 2nd & 4 play in 2Q where he had wide open space on the left but couldn't run fast enough to escape a shoestring tackle.  It was opposite for Wade, who had a couple of defenders closing in on him once he got into the open space at the line of scrimmage, yet turned up his acceleration one more notch to outrun the pursuit.

 

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Excellent write up. However, I thought your assessment of Singletary was a little off the mark. I doubt that he is going to be a workhorse back. In fact, no back on this team is going to be a workhorse back. The era of excessive back usage is a thing of the past. In today's NFL the carries are going to be shared, and the ability to catch passes out of the backfield is going to be essential. I didn't see the game because of a blackout out but from the clips that I saw he exhibited superb vision and an ability to find the a lane. I agree with you that he lacks explosiveness but he compensates by being such an instinctive runner. For a not so big back he did show toughness in fighting for additional yards. I see him as a rookie being a contributor on offense. 

 

I think he can be a contributor. I don't think he can be a true 3 down back (at least not yet).  If I were OC I'd lean heavily on McCoy and Gore in early downs. I'd have Singletary out there a lot on 3rd down and in some 4 wide formations. 

3 minutes ago, GG said:

 

I think there are two plays that highlight what @GunnerBill was referencing about the two players, because the set up was nearly identical.

 

For Singletary, it was a 2nd & 4 play in 2Q where he had wide open space on the left but couldn't run fast enough to escape a shoestring tackle.  It was opposite for Wade, who had a couple of defenders closing in on him once he got into the open space at the line of scrimmage, yet turned up his acceleration one more notch to outrun the pursuit.

 

 

Exactly that. 

Edited August 9, 2019 by GunnerBill

[John from Riverside]

7 hours ago, AllenLongBall said:

 

Consistent accuracy is a component of completion percentage.  Of course so are many other things like play calling and dropped balls.  However, to say Allen is an accurate passer is not being truthful. It's more like wishful thinking...

I think what we are going to see this year is more short throws to guys like Beasley....the type of stuff that helps other qbs beef up their percentages.

 

The longer the pass....the percentage of completion rate goes down for ALL quarterbacks.....

 

 

[Teddy KGB]

9 hours ago, CuddyDark said:

That 2 yard line pass to Zay was behind him. If it's out in front it's a touchdown.

 

COT lives forever 

[Teddy KGB]

8 hours ago, AllenLongBall said:

 

No agenda, just was not a perfect pass like some here want to claim.

 

You know, hoping Allen is great won't make him great

 

I want him to be great, but in order for that to happen I need to see more consistent accuracy.

 

In their first starts, Daniel Jones & Kyler Murray showed better accuracy. This is disconcerting for Allen IMO.

 

Troll Alert ? 

 

woooo wooooo ???

[WideNine]

49 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

Unless you want Allen to turn 180 degrees and launch the ball such that it orbits the Earth and comes to Zay from the front, how else would he manage to catch the ball while running up the seam away from the QB?

 

I could not help but visualize that as a meme where the ball knocks Zay over from the other direction - too funny.

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, VW82 said:

I haven't watched the game yet (taping later tonight on NFLN) but I think we can safely say Josh Allen didn't have a great night.

 

It was a tough field, but I think I found the worst take in the thread.

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, MDH said:

So the guy dropped a pass because he heard footsteps. It happens.

 

He's been hearing footsteps his whole career.

[Element115]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

He's been hearing footsteps his whole career.

 

I think it's more like hearing voices with that kid.

[Fixxxer]

10 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

 

To me it has been and always will be Yeldon vs Singletary on who makes the roster. 

 

Same with Perry and Murphy.

 

the thing about it is I enjoyed the game because Perry does look like he can offer contributions at actual RB as well instead of just being a ST player. I always liked Murphy’s running style. But he is buried 

 

They both looked good last night. Murphy had a couple of nice runs where he cut and went downhill quickly hittting the hole or the first down marker. Perry had a very difficult catch where he showed good balance, he could make it on special teams, but it's a long shot having Roberts as the ST veteran.

 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Kelly the Dog said:

It was actually better than that. He is just learning the game, but at some point the coaches told him to read the defense pre-snap and if a play is called to one side and they seem to be overplaying it you may want to cut it back to the opposite side of the call. He read it that way and said after the game that he knew he was going to take it right before the snap. He did, made a guy miss and then showed the speed. Pretty good for your first carry. 

You're  correct.  He read it the way a good running back is supposed to read it.  

 

The speed was first-team NFL speed against third-team NFL defensive speed.  It was eye-popping.

 

As for Singletary, who doesn't have that speed, I thought it was a good outing.  Frankly, his first few carries he looked like he didn't belong.  (He also had one where he had NO hole.)  But then he seemed to catch on, and he showed exactly what made him a third-round pick.   He has the vision, quickness and change of direction that allows him to get the most out of small seams in the defense.   He looks like he will have days where he will eat defenses alive with 5 to 15 yard runs.   He's not going to outrun defenses like the truly elite backs, but he looks like he can do damage in a ball-possession offense.

[CSBill]

9 hours ago, AllenLongBall said:

 

He did not lead Zay into the endzone, Zay had to rotate his torso 90 deg.  That is NOT a "perfect" pass like some here want to claim.  It should have been caught, but c'mon with the perfect pass stuff.

 

I agree, It hit him in a bad spot, HIS HANDS! ?

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, GG said:

 

I think there are two plays that highlight what @GunnerBill was referencing about the two players, because the set up was nearly identical.

 

For Singletary, it was a 2nd & 4 play in 2Q where he had wide open space on the left but couldn't run fast enough to escape a shoestring tackle.  It was opposite for Wade, who had a couple of defenders closing in on him once he got into the open space at the line of scrimmage, yet turned up his acceleration one more notch to outrun the pursuit.

 

I agree with your assessment, but not your conclusion.   It's nice to have the speed to outrun the defense, and Wade showed it.   What is needed is the quickness to run between the tackles for five yards.   The vision and change of direction.   

 

The recent Bills comparison is Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller.   Spiller had the speed, but Jackson was by far the better back.   McCoy doesn't have elite speed, but he's great in the hole.   That's what Singletary showed, and that's reason to be excited about him.  If Wade has the ability to do that, well, then he's a real find.  We didn't get a chance to see that last night.   What we saw was a good read, a decisive cut, and a great burst.  Let's see him run between the tackles.