THE GAME CHANGER

[Fr. Jerk]

[T master]

It seemed as though last season some of the losses the Bills had were very close like they say just 1 or 2 plays from a victory & i believe that Diggs will be those 1 or 2 plays per game to make the difference !

 

In the play off game sure there was the missed tackles on the Texans QB but if Knox or Duke either of which would have caught that ball in the end zone different outcome. 

 

If Diggs can do more than just 1 or 2 then the Bills will be dominant over the teams they play can't wait to see how it unfolds !! GO BILLS !!!!  

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

I only question the O-Line, I think we are 1 or 2 injuries away from having the worst O-Line in the NFL. If Dawkins or Morse go down we are in big big trouble.

[Bangarang]

55 minutes ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I only question the O-Line, I think we are 1 or 2 injuries away from having the worst O-Line in the NFL. If Dawkins or Morse go down we are in big big trouble.

I’d imagine Feliciano could fill in for Morse with limited drop off.

[ColoradoBills]

On 4/27/2020 at 9:44 AM, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I like Diggs and all, but aren’t we inflating his abilities a bit? 
 

He’s been in the league 5 years now and has two 1,000 yard seasons. 
 

He is among the several #1 type WR’s in the league, but is not a Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones HOF presence.

 

I doubt NFL Defensive Coordinators are dumb-founded with things that they can try to slow down Allen, Diggs, Brown and Beasley. 
 

It’s more of a reflection of how far the Bills have come since trotting out Benjamin, Kerley and Jordan Matthews a few years ago. 

 

I don't think most posters are over inflating Diggs's abilities here.  He's not a sure fire HOF'er but he is one of the best in the league.

His 2 1,000 yard seasons have been his last 2 with a 18 yards per reception last year.

His other 2 non rookie years he had Sam Bradford and Case Keenum throwing the ball.

 

I'm sure a lot of the top QBs in the league would love to have Diggs/Brown/Beasley as their top 3 targets.

What kind of"stats" Diggs puts up in the next 2 years has more to do with Allen/Daboll than any lack of ability on Diggs part.

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Bangarang said:

I’d imagine Feliciano could fill in for Morse with limited drop off.

Swapping out RG for our C.  We then need our backup RG to have limited drop off. Possible, sure. Then again, Allen was still the 3rd most pressured QB in the league.  The OL isn’t really that good to begin with.  
 

I’ll continue to pound the table that the OL is our weakest unit and should be upgraded to fully give JA his best chance at success.  His running ability makes our OL look better than it is imo.  While it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the 2018 OL, that’s not saying much, as that OL is one of the worst units in the history of sports.  It improved dramatically in 2019. Let’s hope we see similar improvement again this year

[billsfan89]

2 hours ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I only question the O-Line, I think we are 1 or 2 injuries away from having the worst O-Line in the NFL. If Dawkins or Morse go down we are in big big trouble.

 

The O-line has 3-4 starting caliber players on the bench. If Dawkins goes out they have a respectable LT option in Ty. If Morse goes out they can shift Feliciano to Center and bring in Spencer Long to play guard. They also have D.Williams and a versatile player in Bates off the bench. Very few teams have more than 1 or 2 decent backup O-linemen the Bills have 3-4. 

[Chicken Boo]

So no excuses then?

[Bangarang]

25 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Swapping out RG for our C.  We then need our backup RG to have limited drop off. Possible, sure. Then again, Allen was still the 3rd most pressured QB in the league.  The OL isn’t really that good to begin with.  
 

I’ll continue to pound the table that the OL is our weakest unit and should be upgraded to fully give JA his best chance at success.  His running ability makes our OL look better than it is imo.  While it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the 2018 OL, that’s not saying much, as that OL is one of the worst units in the history of sports.  It improved dramatically in 2019. Let’s hope we see similar improvement again this year

Most teams would be in trouble if their starting LT or C went down. It’s not a Bills problem, it’s a league wide talent problem. 
 

One could argue that our line depth is better now than it has been in several years.

[billsfan89]

20 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Swapping out RG for our C.  We then need our backup RG to have limited drop off. Possible, sure. Then again, Allen was still the 3rd most pressured QB in the league.  The OL isn’t really that good to begin with.  
 

I’ll continue to pound the table that the OL is our weakest unit and should be upgraded to fully give JA his best chance at success.  His running ability makes our OL look better than it is imo.  While it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the 2018 OL, that’s not saying much, as that OL is one of the worst units in the history of sports.  It improved dramatically in 2019. Let’s hope we see similar improvement again this year

 

I think the O-line until will be a top 10 unit in the league next season. Continuity and chemistry are big factors in offensive line play. Prior to 2019 none of the Bills O-line players had played together let alone played for the same team in the same system. Despite that and starting a rookie at RT the Bills O-line was still decent in 2019. I think with a full year having played together (and all 5 players are under 30) and some improvement/development from Ford (he did play better late last season) the O-line should be a lot better. 

 

Dawkins is a top half of the league LT, Spain an above average guard, Mitch is top 5 at his position, Feliciano is an average to above average guard, and I expect Ford to play at least solid in 2020 with a year in the pros under his belt. The unit also has 3-4 good depth players behind that starting unit. I think that while the O-line might not be elite it certainly will be a good unit. Long term I think they will have to evaluate the right side in 2020 to see if Ford and Feliciano will be the long term answers but the unit should be good enough to allow Josh to handle his business. 

6 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Most teams would be in trouble if their starting LT or C went down. It’s not a Bills problem, it’s a league wide talent problem. 
 

One could argue that our line depth is better now than it has been in several years.

 

The Bills have a quality swing tackle in Ty, a starting caliber guard who can pinch into center in Long, Bates can play all 5 O-line positions and showed good play when called upon, and they added D.Williams a former All pro tackle reclamation project. I don't know how much deeper an O-line can get? 

[NewEra]

6 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Most teams would be in trouble if their starting LT or C went down. It’s not a Bills problem, it’s a league wide talent problem. 
 

One could argue that our line depth is better now than it has been in several years.

Agreed.  Our OL depth is fine.  Among the best in the league. I just feel that our starters are below average and taking one or two out could be the killing blow to our SB aspirations.  
 

All of my thoughts are focused on one thing.  The Lombardi trophy.

6 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

I think the O-line until will be a top 10 unit in the league next season. Continuity and chemistry are big factors in offensive line play. Prior to 2019 none of the Bills O-line players had played together let alone played for the same team in the same system. Despite that and starting a rookie at RT the Bills O-line was still decent in 2019. I think with a full year having played together (and all 5 players are under 30) and some improvement/development from Ford (he did play better late last season) the O-line should be a lot better. 

 

Dawkins is a top half of the league LT, Spain an above average guard, Mitch is top 5 at his position, Feliciano is an average to above average guard, and I expect Ford to play at least solid in 2020 with a year in the pros under his belt. The unit also has 3-4 good depth players behind that starting unit. I think that while the O-line might not be elite it certainly will be a good unit. Long term I think they will have to evaluate the right side in 2020 to see if Ford and Feliciano will be the long term answers but the unit should be good enough to allow Josh to handle his business. 

 

The Bills have a quality swing tackle in Ty, a starting caliber guard who can pinch into center in Long, Bates can play all 5 O-line positions and showed good play when called upon, and they added D.Williams a former All pro tackle reclamation project. I don't know how much deeper an O-line can get? 

Good post.  I still think it’s our weakest unit and with Josh Allen as our QB, we should focus on improving that next.  

[billsfan89]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

Agreed.  Our OL depth is fine.  Among the best in the league. I just feel that our starters are below average and taking one or two out could be the killing blow to our SB aspirations.  
 

All of my thoughts are focused on one thing.  The Lombardi trophy.

 

Any O-line losing 2 starters is going to hurt any team's Super Bowl aspirations significantly. The Bills have the depth to field a mid-level or slightly below average O-line if they sustain 2-3 injuries in my opinion which is all you can ask for depth wise. The starting unit IF Ford can maintain the higher level of play he ended last season on features no bad players and a unit that will have better chemistry. I see 3 firmly above average players (Dawkins, Mitch, and Spain) and 2 players who I think will be average at worst and good at best (Feliciano and Ford.) Add in the chemistry improvement and I see a top 10 unit. 

[ColoradoBills]

30 minutes ago, Chicken Boo said:

So no excuses then?

 

Who are you talking about?  Beane, McDermott, the players?  Posters on a fan board?

 

The organization seems ready to compete for the #1 off season goal...........win your division and get to the playoffs.

[Don Otreply]

Lots of potential that’s for sure, ?but, the next step is yet to happen.

 

1st the O line needs to raise its game, (won and lost in the trenches...) 1a Josh has to raise his game, (he had a sh-t ton of fumbles etc) 1a again,  the receivers group needs to first and foremost catch the damn ball, (two years running we have not been good as a group on this basic requirement). These three things have to happen at the same time, starting with the first snap of the first game of the season. 
 

Now all that said, we have all the pieces to win the east division and get to the AFC championship, Dare I say more?  yup, it’s gonna be hard, no doubt, especially pushing Baltimore and Kansas City out of the way. 

[Ga boy]

On 4/27/2020 at 7:59 AM, scribo said:

Such boring people replying to this OP. As of right now, I don't think there is any arguing against the claim that Beane built a championship-caliber roster. There shouldn't be any arguing on here against the claim McD is a good coach. Yeah, yeah, that gotta play the game. Who the hell doesn't know that? Stating the obvious is boring.

We MUST avoid key injuries.  Just wanted to add to obvious list.  Go Bills!!

[TigerJ]

It does make it more of a guessing game for the defensive coordinator to decide who you're going to try and double cover, or which way you're going to roll the safeties in zone.  The more talented and reliable options the offense has, the more the defense has to rely on players making plays one on one against those talented offensive skill position guys.  It may also mean defensive coordinators will be less inclined to stack the box, which in turn may open up the running game more.  Yet as has been said, they have to prove they can do it on the field.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

59 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

The O-line has 3-4 starting caliber players on the bench. If Dawkins goes out they have a respectable LT option in Ty. If Morse goes out they can shift Feliciano to Center and bring in Spencer Long to play guard. They also have D.Williams and a versatile player in Bates off the bench. Very few teams have more than 1 or 2 decent backup O-linemen the Bills have 3-4. 

It honestly feels like center and LT are the only above average players on the O-Line. We need some elite top 10 talent on the O-Line.  I would love to start building a O-Line like the Cowboy in the next few years.

[billsfan89]

28 minutes ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

It honestly feels like center and LT are the only above average players on the O-Line. We need some elite top 10 talent on the O-Line.  I would love to start building a O-Line like the Cowboy in the next few years.

 

I think Spain is an above average player in addition to Dawkins and Mitch. Spain gave up no sacks last year and was a good player in the rush attack. I think he is highly underrated after watching some more film on him. I think that as tempting as it is to think that the O-line lacking "Elite" players makes it a less than stellar unit that thinking ignores the realties of O-line play that is much more determined by playing as a unit and avoiding having a weak link. 

 

The Cowboys line is one way to build a line of just stacking as many elite players as possible. However I think the other (more easy to sustain) offensive line to model is the Giants O-line from 2005 to 2012 when they were a unit that featured 2-3 "Good players and 2-3 average to above average players BUT they played together for years on end in the same system and were one of the top 5 units in the NFL despite not having more than 1-2 Pro-Bowl caliber players at a time (Chris Snee, Sean O'Hara and David Diehl being the only O-line players to make a Pro-Bowl during that time and Diehl only made 1.) 

 

That O-line was more than the sum of its parts and allowed the team to spend bigger on other areas of the team being less reliant on stacking elite players. I think that is the model that McBeane is going for. Keeping a group of players who aren't elite on paper but are good and have a ton of chemistry and depth. 

Edited May 5, 2020 by billsfan89

[Paul Costa]

In my opinion our Offensive Line has a lot of depth. Just about every guy can play multiple positions too. With another year of playing together I look for growth from that unit. Both lines are a strength of the team.

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, TigerJ said:

It does make it more of a guessing game for the defensive coordinator to decide who you're going to try and double cover, or which way you're going to roll the safeties in zone.  The more talented and reliable options the offense has, the more the defense has to rely on players making plays one on one against those talented offensive skill position guys.  It may also mean defensive coordinators will be less inclined to stack the box, which in turn may open up the running game more.  Yet as has been said, they have to prove they can do it on the field.

 

They could see how teams played the Vikings...