10 observations Bills v. Panthers

[Mark Vader]

1 hour ago, Happy Gilmore said:

Is Haushka really struggling?  This is the first I heard of this and am a bit surprised. 

Hauschka has missed 2 field goals in 2 games, it's an eye opener, but I would not say he is struggling.

[klos63]

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

1.  Allen looked good on the short to mid range throws that have been his bugaboo.  Nice to see some improvement there.  He went 9-11 with his two incompletes a throw away and a drop. Don't know if he could have given a better performance tonight.  

 

2.  Cole Beasley is going to be my late round Fantasy Football league steal at wide receiver.  He is going undrafted in most leagues.  Expect to see a lot of the Josh and Cole Show this season and a completion rate for Allen north of 60% as a result.  Having a real slot receiving threat adds an element to our offense that was completely missing last season.  Daboll is going to have fun playing with his new toy.

 

3.  This defense is for real.  I don't want to hear about it's just preseason or Cam didn't play or Luck didn't play.  This unit is going to ball all year and take a lot of pressure off the offense.  Isn't that what they call "complimentary football"?  The Bills D just shut down the Panthers tonight.  

 

4.  I don't know who the hell McBeane cuts.  Do we keep an extra O-lineman or a WR or a LB or a DE.  What a fantastic problem to have.  This roster from top to bottom is a competitive NFL quality roster.  We are going to cut more than a few good players to get to 53.  Kudos to Beane, its the kind of problem that good franchises have.

 

5.  Glad to see the Duke getting his hands on the ball.  This one is an extension of #4 above.  Without an injury, does he have a path onto the final 53?  No one else is high pointing balls in the end zone.  Which WR do you cut to make room for him?  Can he do enough in the next two preseason games to really make a run at the roster?  It's going to be fun to watch.  McKenzie has really come on too.  All around solid performance from the wide receiver room tonight.

 

6.  Christian Wade.  There is no reason I should get so excited about this guy, but I can't help it.  When he gets the ball he runs like there is a velociraptor chasing him.  The guy is a beast.  What do you do with him?  Don't know how this International Program works.  I hope we can stash him on the practice squad.   

 

7.  Our kicking game looks like trash and it is something that will cost this team games unless we can get it figured out.  Fast.  How many games last year did the Chargers lose off the foot of their field goal kicker?  We have a double whammy when you look at our punters.  Right now it looks like our kicking game is the biggest weakness on our team and it may end up being a huge liability.

 

8.  Our pass rush looked better tonight.  Nice to see Murphy get in the box score.  It will be fun that first game they put Hughes, Murphy, and Oliver on the field at the same time and turn them lose.  

 

9.  Mitch Morse still riding the pine.  Not a good situation for the Bills O-Line to have our starting center out of the lineup.  We need to get him back into the saddle asap.  Feliciano can fill in but he doesn't bring what Morse does.  At this point I doubt he sees a single preseason snap.  I think the best we can hope for now is a Week 1 return.

 

10.  Most importantly, we survived another pre season game without a significant injury.  Prayers out to Cam Lewis for a speedy recovery.  Hopefully we can stay lucky on the injury front.  To win in this league you need a little bit of skill and a little bit of luck.  Let's hope the luck continues to hold.

 

 

Who will we blame now that Crossman is gone? The players?

[Taro T]

16 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

That's a good point. They should make Barkley the holder.

 

They can't really do that since the CBA started limiting practice time.  Almost nobody has a Frank Reich holding for kicks anymore because the 2nd QB needs to spend his practice time actually QBing.

 

And, unless they bring somebody else in, they will only have 2 QB's on the roster w/ the 3rd on their practice squad.  So they can't make QB3 the holder either.   So, Cor(e)y it is for holder.

[ganesh]

We actually may have a pass rush this year !!

[Richard Noggin]

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

9.  Mitch Morse still riding the pine.  Not a good situation for the Bills O-Line to have our starting center out of the lineup.  We need to get him back into the saddle asap.  Feliciano can fill in but he doesn't bring what Morse does.  At this point I doubt he sees a single preseason snap.  I think the best we can hope for now is a Week 1 return.

Who else thinks Feliciano is a beast who can be a starter at this level? 

 

For some reason I'm not as worried as I should be about Morse. First of all, he'll be back on the field any day now. Second of all, the Bills have contingency plans in case their starting center can't play. Feliciano is big and mean. Long can back up in the pivot. But the way Feliciano rallied to support whichever WR got hit out of bounds in the first quarter, getting right up in the defender's face...it showed a lot. He's part of the team's plans moving forward.

 

Of course let's hope Morse is able to play this season without complications from yet another concussion. But other NFL players have persevered through such histories; Luke Keuchly, for example, is a guy who has garnered mucho attention for head injuries in the past, but is not currently viewed as a high risk guy (by Bills fans, at least). 

[vincec]

2 hours ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Punting is not good.  Maybe start looking at the possible cuts and get ready to snag one for the PS if needed and keep him working.

It sucks using a PS spot but you really can't trust the 2 we got right now.

 

Not as worried about Hausch.

 

 

Actually, Hauschka is the guy I'm worried about. Bad punting sucks but it is far better than bad kicking. A bad kicker will cost a team games. I would feel a lot better if he had a preseason game where he just made all his kicks.

[ColoradoBills]

3 minutes ago, vincec said:

Actually, Hauschka is the guy I'm worried about. Bad punting sucks but it is far better than bad kicking. A bad kicker will cost a team games. I would feel a lot better if he had a preseason game where he just made all his kicks.

 

So would I.

Hoping as a veteran he can get it all together before the real games start.

[LSHMEAB]

3 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

I'm a pretty harsh Allen critic, but he looked as good as I've ever seen him tonight.

 

If he can keep this up, things are going to be looking up.

 

 

Maybe it's the surprise factor, but I feel like the skeptics were more impressed by what they saw tonight than the true believers. It's the little things; timing, delivery in stride, making the right reads, well placed balls. I'm really not swayed by the crazy runs or the occasional bomb. I'm swayed by the details. Agreed that this was the best we've seen from him. We'll see what happens, but that was encouraging.

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, JaCrispy said:

Right on, with regards to Jackson...I hated that the Bills signed him...I just never thought he was an NFL talent and I think they are wasting their time, when they could be grooming a real QB to take over for Barkley some day.

The only reason to have a competent 3rd qb is to have someone throw to your borderline wrs. How is McD supposed to evaluate them if Jackson is sailing balls everywhere. 

[purple haze]

3 hours ago, DuckyBoys said:

I think its got to be a possibility  Maybe they can trade Zay and McCoy for picks

Listening to some folks on the board Zay is the worst WR ever.  So why would any other team trade for him?

[rayray808]

1. I love Josh Allen

2. I love Josh Allen

3.  I love Josh Allen

4.  I love Josh Allen

5.  I love Josh Allen

6.  I love Josh Allen

7.  I love Josh Allen

8.  I love Josh Allen

9.  I love Josh Allen

10.  I love Josh Allen

[Jay_Fixit]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

I am, admittedly, a homer-esque Josh Allen supporter.

 

I think the early incompletion to McCoy was a bad pass; not a drop.  I also think the completion to Beasley shortly before that was also a bad pass, but Beasley went down and got it.

 

Otherwise, I was very impressed with Allen's pocket awareness.  When he took the sack, he knew someone was on him, but couldn't get far enough away to avoid the sack.

 

The other time he took off running for a short gain also showed that he felt the presence and reacted accordingly.

 

I liked how they established very early that Beasley was the obvious target on 3rd and short plays.  Eventually, it opened up a nice pass to Sweeney for a nice gain and a first down.

 

Allen was decisive and didn't force the ball downfield ... both excellent signs of significant growth.

 

All in all, I really liked what the offense showed; especially Josh Allen.  The two underthrows early in the first quarter could have been jitters; who knows?  But he became more comfortable as the time passed and I was really impressed with his overall performance.

 

GO BILLS!

Why don’t you marry him then?

[Rocky Landing]

Looking at how well our O-line did, along with keeping Allen upright, and safe in the pocket (did he have to break from the pocket more than once?), they ran some absolutely textbook-perfect screens. And, not just the starters. The second string O-line ran a couple beauties, as well. Great to see them coming together, and working as a unit.

2 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

The harder question is McKenzie. If they keep six, it's Cole, Brown, Foster, Zay, Roberts and one of McKenzie, Ray Ray and Duke. I think McKenzie has passed Ray Ray. But I want Duke to make it, too.

I do too. That PI was heartbreaking!

[from_dunkirk]

4 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

There is no such thing really as the first set of cuts. They go from 90 to 53 all in one day now. Sometimes teams will release guys a couple days before the deadline but for the most part, there used to be a first set but now there is only one.

 

In the 80's, it went to 70 players after the first game, 60 players after the second game, 50 players after the third game, and finally, 45 players after the fourth game. Things were more exciting back then. There was no practice squad and no 53-man roster. Training camp began in early July. The first week of the season was on Labor Day weekend. The Super Bowl was always in January. Players were tougher and less injury prone. The teams have it too good nowadays.

Edited August 17, 2019 by from_dunkirk

[dollars 2 donuts]

If Beasley and Allen stay healthy Eric Moulds’ Bills single season reception record of 100 is going to fall.

[Warcodered]

4 hours ago, Ralonzo said:

McKenzie has to make it in case Beasley doesn't last.

 

Stanford, Neal helped themselves. Denzel Rice helped himself. Yeldon and Wade helped themselves. Shaq Lawson was noticeable in a good way, despite the BS penalty. All the punt returners helped themselves. There was so much more good than bad I'm reticent to point out one and forget the other.

That could be a thing if they ride Beasley like they did when Allen was in he might be pretty damn tired come the 4th Quarter.

 

2 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

Who else thinks Feliciano is a beast who can be a starter at this level? 

 

For some reason I'm not as worried as I should be about Morse. First of all, he'll be back on the field any day now. Second of all, the Bills have contingency plans in case their starting center can't play. Feliciano is big and mean. Long can back up in the pivot. But the way Feliciano rallied to support whichever WR got hit out of bounds in the first quarter, getting right up in the defender's face...it showed a lot. He's part of the team's plans moving forward.

 

Of course let's hope Morse is able to play this season without complications from yet another concussion. But other NFL players have persevered through such histories; Luke Keuchly, for example, is a guy who has garnered mucho attention for head injuries in the past, but is not currently viewed as a high risk guy (by Bills fans, at least). 

It's definitely a relief to have a backup with less of a drop off than Bodine has.

 

4 hours ago, JaCrispy said:

Right on, with regards to Jackson...I hated that the Bills signed him...I just never thought he was an NFL talent and I think they are wasting their time, when they could be grooming a real QB to take over for Barkley some day.

He seemed like a nice cheap shot in the dark for a project since his play style could be so similar to Allen's but he's played like hot garbage.

 

4 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

The harder question is McKenzie. If they keep six, it's Cole, Brown, Foster, Zay, Roberts and one of McKenzie, Ray Ray and Duke. I think McKenzie has passed Ray Ray. But I want Duke to make it, too.

That is harder though right now I'd say I like what McKenzie has done more than what Duke has(though hopefully he'll get more reps after today) but I like what Duke could potentially be with a unique skillset in the WR group.

[Mountain Man]

In a standard league I don't see value is Beasley as the yardage won't be there. Full PPR maybe

[North Buffalo]

Cole, Brown, Foster, Roberts McKenzie, Duke are your six wide receivers... Zay is either cut or traded... too many drops.

[thenorthremembers]

8 hours ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

Wow.  And to think we just hired a new SpT coordinator.  

I dont think its the scheme.  Hausch Money looks to have lost power in his kicking leg. 

 

Dont feel confident in the guy at all right now.

[Solomon Grundy]

8 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Just give the ball to Suede Wade

In the next preseason game, I wanna see him return a kickoff