A Few Thoughts about the PRESEASON Game, In no particular order

[klos63]

1 hour ago, Mc1320 said:

They were horrible last night. Throw by Allen is inexcusable - that is a throw a high school quarterback makes.

So many NFL QB's make that throw, every single season.

[Ga boy]

If this is your pre-season form, can't wait to when the games count.

[klos63]

1 hour ago, Reks Ryan said:

Virgil, excellent work.  I saw the same things as you did on most of your points.   Edmunds has made huge strides since the first half of last year.  He should be a big impact player this year.  Oliver - he’s not getting penetration and looks tentative.   Seems like it will be a developmental year for him.  And yes as bad as STs were last night, Hauschka hit the ball w authority and did appear more confident. 

 

On point 2 I disagree.  The overall offensive performance was concerning, especially O-line.  It looked a lot like last year.  With all the FA signings the only one that looks competent is Feliciano.  Teller and Bates also had poor performances.   Ford did look good though.  The Bills s/b making a lot of cuts on O-line and looking at the waiver wire from the teams w/ good Depth at O-line

Although the team brought in many new faces on the line, besides Morse, they didn't feel any of them worthy of any type of financial or time commitment. That should tell you something about their expectations with those players. A lot of good, maybe unexpected,  things needs to happen with that line for it to be effective.

[HappyDays]

I'll do next weekend's post for you:

 

A few thoughts on the 4th preseason game

 

1. Tyree Jackson was bad.

 

2. Tyree Jackson does not belong on an NFL offense.

 

3. We need to find a practice squad QB.

[Kwai San]

Many Thanks Virgil.  I agree with just about all you saw.  I kinda disagree on the RB's.  Gonna be a tough day in the coaches room during cuts.  But thats a good thing!

 

Edmunds Edmunds Edmunds.  Wow o wow!!! 

[BuffaloRebound]

Edmunds is dare I say a Bruce-like talent at his position.  He’s a 6’5” 250 Cornerback.  It looks like he put on the required muscle/strength in the offseason to play middle LB.  He has yellow jacket potential if he stays healthy.  

[SCBills]

9 minutes ago, klos63 said:

Although the team brought in many new faces on the line, besides Morse, they didn't feel any of them worthy of any type of financial or time commitment. That should tell you something about their expectations with those players. A lot of good, maybe unexpected,  things needs to happen with that line for it to be effective.

 

Usually teams dress 7 on the OL. 

 

I feel pretty comfortable with:

 

Dawkins - Spain - Morse - Long - Ford

 

Feliciano - Nsehke

 

id rather start Feliciano over Long or Spain, but with Morse being so fragile, I don’t know if they’d risk the backup C, being a starting G? 

 

The main worry I have would be with Spain.  He hasn’t looked great and might miss some time.  How does that effect the 7 we dress Week 1?  

 

Of course, Nsehke could/maybe should start, then Ford kicks inside and what do we do for swing tackle?

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by SCBills

[CaptnCoke11]

8 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

Usually teams dress 7 on the OL. 

 

I feel pretty comfortable with:

 

Dawkins - Spain - Morse - Long - Ford

 

Feliciano - Nsehke

 

id rather start Feliciano over Long or Spain, but with Morse being so fragile, I don’t know if they’d risk the backup C, being a starting G? 

 

The main worry I have would be with Spain.  He hasn’t looked great and might miss some time.  How does that effect the 7 we dress Week 1?  

 

Of course, Nsehke could/maybe should start, then Ford kicks inside and what do we do for swing tackle?

 

I think the best OL combo is 

 

Dawkins, Felliciano, Morse, Ford, Nsehke 

 

imo those are the 5 best OL on this roster.  

[SCBills]

1 minute ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

I think the best OL combo is 

 

Dawkins, Felliciano, Morse, Ford, Nsehke 

 

imo those are the 5 best OL on this roster.  

 

Agreed - ...And that looks like a pretty dang talented OL. 

 

I just don’t know if they’d roll with a line that starts Ford and Feliciano at G, when they are probably the backup at T and C, respectively, if we have to shuffle the line due to injury.  

 

Who do we dress for depth?  

 

[Virgil]

To clarify on my RB position.  It’s not that I think they played poorly. I just don’t think they did anything exceptional or that any other RB would have done in the same spot. 

 

If we are going to pay someone, it needs to be because they play at a higher level than the next guy.  

 

In my opinion, from that one game, Singletary could’ve done the same thing with their snaps. 

 

But, as always, happy to be wrong 

[Mr Info]

58 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Because you lose a timeout.  That is pretty severe inb a regular season game.   Like the announcers were saying last night, coaches are challenging right now because they don't care a whole lot about time outs in pre-season.  It's why you see a team scores a late TD, behind by one, they go for two for the win instead of the tie.  Happens in pre-season, but not during the regular season. 

 

Wouldn't worry about it, not having during the regular season unless much more obvious.

Thx, that should deter the PI challenge.

 

The refs could call a penalty in every play & that seemed to happen quite a bit last night. This makes the game unwatchable and I hope they apply some discretion in the regular season.

[Mc1320]

1 hour ago, klos63 said:

So many NFL QB's make that throw, every single season.

You clearly have gotten used to the horrible quarterback play for this team since Kelly retired.  That throw last night was reminiscent of the awful throw he made in GB last year - not a sign of progress 

[keepthefaith]

The Bills should consider extending Barkley.  He's only got this year and next on his deal and finding a backup that seems as competent as he does ain't easy.  Give him a raise and add a year or 2.  He's only making about $1.5m/year which is well below market for a decent backup QB. 

[klos63]

7 minutes ago, keepthefaith said:

The Bills should consider extending Barkley.  He's only got this year and next on his deal and finding a backup that seems as competent as he does ain't easy.  Give him a raise and add a year or 2.  He's only making about $1.5m/year which is well below market for a decent backup QB. 

That might be a good idea, but also keep in mind, he's a 7 year veteran playing against a bunch of players that might not even be in the NFL come next week, he should look good.

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

Thanks for the post Virgil.  I agree with the vast majority of your observations.  It became clear to me early on that winning the game was very important to Detroit.  Their coaching staff under delivered last season and are probably feeling the heat from poor showings in this preseason. They ran a lot of line stunts, blitzes, and combination zone coverage on defense.  On offense, it appeared that they had a game plan expecting a lot of simple zone coverage from Buffalo.  As I watched the Bills, it was equally apparent that they were doing a lot to focus on talent evaluation.  

[keepthefaith]

9 minutes ago, klos63 said:

That might be a good idea, but also keep in mind, he's a 7 year veteran playing against a bunch of players that might not even be in the NFL come next week, he should look good.

 

True and he was pretty darned good against the Jets last year in his first start.  Yeah only one game but the guy hasn't done anything in Buffalo that would suggest doubt that he's not one of the better backups in the league. 

[Drunken Pygmy Goat]

3 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Loved watching Tremaine Edmunds last night.  Focused on every single one of his snaps twice.  He was awesome!

 

CJ Anderson is a big dude, and Edmunds stonewalled him like it was no big deal.

3 hours ago, Mr Info said:

 

Thx for the nice review.

 

The league needs to change the PI call now. The penalty for an incorrect PI challenge needs to be more severe or there will be more  of these delays. Why not challenge is the perspective of coaches.

 

I think that coaches are taking advantage of the fact that it's preseason. They need to figure out how those types of plays will be ruled by the officials after challenges. Once the regular season starts, those challenges will likely decrease in frequency, and will only be used in more obvious situations. There's no risk right now in losing a challenge and time out when the wins and losses are meaningless.

[Drunken Pygmy Goat]

2 hours ago, qwksilver said:

 

Virgil nice work.

I thought the RBs looked good. Yeldon has played his way back on this roster. Agree on Edmunds as well.

Daboll's play calling reminded me of the Jauron era. Putrid!

It was a nationally televised game. They did nothing to change all the haters minds. Allen Included.

 

Calling plays like Jauron in the preseason is probably a good thing. Who cares that it was nationally televised? Its preseason. Would you rather the Bills dive deep into the playbook and win 48-10 in a meaningless game?

[Virgil]

27 minutes ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

Thanks for the post Virgil.  I agree with the vast majority of your observations.  It became clear to me early on that winning the game was very important to Detroit.  Their coaching staff under delivered last season and are probably feeling the heat from poor showings in this preseason. They ran a lot of line stunts, blitzes, and combination zone coverage on defense.  On offense, it appeared that they had a game plan expecting a lot of simple zone coverage from Buffalo.  As I watched the Bills, it was equally apparent that they were doing a lot to focus on talent evaluation.  

 

Exactly 

[qwksilver]

19 minutes ago, Drunken Pygmy Goat said:

 

Calling plays like Jauron in the preseason is probably a good thing. Who cares that it was nationally televised? Its preseason. Would you rather the Bills dive deep into the playbook and win 48-10 in a meaningless game?

I don't want them to go deep in the play either book but Run Run pass is just a waste of time for everyone. How is JA supposed to get into any rhythm? If they didn't care about getting the young QB good reps why was he in the game at all?