Simms breakdown of the game

[Comebackkid]

I think our problem on D is when we face teams that can pass and run well.   We can't defend elite runners without bringing up the corners and safeties to help.   Then we get burned by the pass... Defend the pass and linebackers get burned by the RB.   

 

One Darius play... (smarter, less lazy) would stop inside runs allowing linebackers to contain the edges and safeties to maintain their depth.   Mean while De would have a better chance to get pressure 

[Seasons1992]

54 minutes ago, Like A Mofo said:

 

I get what you mean about wanting another Bruce Smith but I think a lot of us throw that name around too casually.

 

Did you also respond to the many threads saying "We need another Thurman" as well?

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 hour ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

Ed Oliver was supposed to be that d-lineman. Instead, he's a role player. This is extremely frustrating.

 

I don't mind him in a rotation, but he needs to bring a lot more juice to his pass rush.  Chris jones was wrecking pockets all game long on the interior, and thats what he was drafted to do.  

[Billl]

1 hour ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Couldn't agree more.  What a horrible roster Beane and McDermott put together this year.

 

They only made it to the AFC Championship game.  

 

Amateurs....

I guess if your goal for 2021 and beyond is to have made the AFCCG in the 2020 season, you’ve got a point.

[SCBills]

54 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

I would argue that outside of Allen, and a couple other players who "might" develop into that, that is basically what we got out of Beane's drafts as well. These are picks from rounds 1-4 by Beane. Not bad, don't get me wrong. But not really any huge impact players in that bunch. 

Epenesa
Moss
Davis
Oliver
Ford
Singletary

Knox

Edmunds

Phillips

Taron Johnson

 

 

Like another poster said, the draft picks mirror a lot of our FA signings...  Lots of "good not great" players.  

 

I do think they believed we could win with a roster of good players/strong depth if we provided our stud QB with a #1 WR.  For the most part... they were correct.  Take KC out of the equation and this team is probably playing in the Super Bowl.  

 

Of course, you can't take KC out of the equation, and I think that changes the calculus on how they construct this team.  

[finn]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

You're exactly correct IMO.

I don't quite agree (about Edwards and Oliver being just average). Edwards is overrated, by pretty much everyone. Yes, he's fast and can cover, but he misses tackles and can't shed blocks. His instincts have improved, but they're still not elite. He's still above average, but that's not saying much. On the other hand, I think Oliver is terrific. He doesn't show up in the stat line much, but if you read the all-22 analyses, such as the Athletic's, it's clear he's very, very good. He's a major piece of the puzzle, as is Milano. Addison has been no more than adequate, which is fine, but he's pretty expensive. Not sure if it makes money sense for the Bills to cut him, but if they do, Epenesa might be ready to step in. 

[Nextmanup]

Improve our passing attack and stop opponents' ability to pass.

 

That's it!
 

Brown must be upgraded; we need a dangerous TE running/catching threat; an elite edge rusher, another solid cover corner.

 

I think some of our OL can be upgraded on the cheap too.

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

38 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

Three guys on the D line will probably get released once the 2021 off-season starts after SB55.  None of them played up to their 2020 contracts and carrying them under their 2021 cap number isn't a good allocation of cap money.    

 

Mario Addison 2021 cap hit 10.163M, dead cap hit $4M

Quinton Jefferson 2021 cap hit 8M, dead cap hit $1M

Vernon Butler 2021 cap hit 7.8M, dead cap hit $1M

 

Plus

John Brown 2021 cap hit 9.53m, dead cap hit $1.6M

 

Other possibilities

Tyler Matakevich 2021 cap hit 3.7M, dead cap hit 350K

A J Klein 2021 cap hit 6.4M, dead cap hit 4M

 

Moving those players off the roster would free up around $45M for signing Allen to an extension, a couple impact free agents and mid-tier players, and some raises for others on the roster.

 

 

 

Did you listen to Beane's end of season presser?

 

If you didn't, listen.

[Billl]

2 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Never have I seen our receivers down field completely blanketed like that for much of the game.  Yes, Hill and Kelce killed us, but they kill most teams.  We knew that going in.  What no one really expected was the elite play of the secondary and stiff Redzone defense, at least not at the levels they played on Sunday.  

 

If we play that game 10 times, no way that secondary and Redzone defense holds up that well in all those games.  It is what it is, hats off to the Chiefs, their defense came up huge for them Sunday.  

I am convinced that Spagnuolo figured something out on film.  The Chiefs defense was constantly in alignments that caused Josh to audible.  As soon as he did, Anthony Hitchens was telling the defense exactly how to respond.  Yes the coverage was excellent, but when the defense has the perfect coverage called on 75% of the plays, the offense is pushing a rock up a hill all game.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Billl

[Ray Stonada]

"We need another Thurman" is pretty far-fetched.

 

However, maybe it's not too much to ask for a running back who is 1) instinctively able to hit the actual hole, instead of running into his blockers or into the gap that is filled and 2) reliable in catching the ball on swings and screens.

 

New England has had 1-2 of this type of back on their roster for the last 20 years. If we get one, it will be a huge upgrade.

[BillMafia716ix]

I agree with Simms. Bills need another playmaker on Offense. Can Gabe Davis be that star as a #2? I think he can be, but he’s still young. We need a dynamic player at Tight End. I like Knox, but he’s not really a mismatch nightmare that teams are gonna fear...

 

I think they really want Zack Moss to be the guy at RB. I don’t think they’re gonna invest a 1st RD pick on a RB..so the upgrade at RB will have to come in FA. 
 

Defense I think we have a lot of holes that needs to be addressed. Jerry Hughes isn’t getting any younger. They have to find his eventual replacement. They drafted AJ Epenesa last year, I think he played pretty decent as a rookie.  Hopefully with a good off-season he can come back stronger and be that guy opposite Jerry next year. Still have to draft Jerry’s replacement.

 
We desperately need a game wrecker inside. We haven’t really had one since Kyle Williams retired. I still think Ed Oliver can be that guy, Ed hasn’t been bad but he hasn’t played up to his draft status. Ed isn’t that guy you want to take on double teams. You want him freed up one on one so he can take advantage of his short area quickness. 
I don’t think Star is that guy anymore either. If the Bills could find a nasty big DT to play next to ED. It would do wonders. 
 

The Bills need two LB’s. I think they are going to let Matt Milano walk. Just gonna be too expensive to keep him. Some team is gonna pay him close to 17M. That’s just too pricy for an outside LB given our cap situation. I like Tyrell Dodson. But they need  a Hybrid/S outside LB with speed. 
 

Corner #2 is a need as well. I think Dane Jackson played well when given the chance and I could see him filling that spot.

[Inigo Montoya]

1 hour ago, Billl said:

I guess if your goal for 2021 and beyond is to have made the AFCCG in the 2020 season, you’ve got a point.

 

Yep that's my goal!  You got me on that one!!!!

 

Read my post at the end of page two of this thread.

[Buffalo Junction]

A lot of things stuck out about personnel mismatches against the Chiefs. I agree that this team needs another playmaker on offense, a top edge rusher, and some speed in the secondary. What I haven’t seen mentioned much in comparison is how badly this team needs an interior player that can win 1:1 matchups against probowl caliber DTs. Chris Jones put every single one of our interior blockers on skates, and for good measure he beat Mongo like a red headed step child. They couldn’t even double team him reliably. Having Ford back might help. For as inconsistent as he was playing three different positions he did manage to handle Donald well enough for shift Donald over Winters. If I’m looking at spending some big money in FA I’m looking at interior linemen along with edge and CB. 

[dave mcbride]

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Yes.... which is why I’ve said his drafts have been pretty average outside of the HR with Allen. 

I know that technically Beane wasn't with the Bills for the 2017 draft, but at the time word came out that they Panthers loved Zay Jones and Dion Dawkins, and the Bills traded up one slot ahead of Carolina to get Dawkins and a couple of slots ahead of Carolina to get Jones. I have to think that the conversations occurred between McDermott and Beane beforehand. 

 

https://www.panthers.com/video/scouts-buzzing-about-zay-jones-18679168

https://www.espn.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/25378/demarcus-walker-zay-jones-could-be-solid-second-day-targets-for-panthers

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2017/4/30/15492096/buffalo-bills-carolina-panthers-2017-nfl-draft-picks-dion-dawkins-sean-mcdermott-zay-jones/comment/426627249

 

Also, this guy was clearly plugged in.  Check out picks 2 and 3 for Carolina! https://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2017/4/25/15396000/2017-nfl-mock-draft-carolina-panthers-zay-jones

Edited January 27, 2021 by dave mcbride

[BillsVet]

4 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks for McDermott (and Frazier, if he doesn't hire with the Texans).

 

They've built the defense around McDermott's philosophy, which I think someone analogized to playing against a boa constrictor: it just tries to wrap around you and hold you, then when you're in its grasp it opens its mouth and bites.  It's built around having a lot of good players who do their 1/11 vs say, 8 JAG and 3 stars.  And it obviously worked adequately to well against 15 or so teams.

 

The complete meltdown vs. KC has to have him questioning whether that philosophy needs substantive revision.  At least, it should have him questioning it.

 

McD's approach to defense is quickly becoming antiquated, especially against top offenses.  I'm not placing all the blame for this loss on him, but how he schemes a defense hasn't adapted to better passing offenses.

 

The 2019 and 2020 playoff losses underscore this.  Allowing Houston to eliminate a 16 point lead in 22 minutes or now the AFCCG where KC rang up 21 points in 18 minutes.  For all the cap dollars and picks I'm not seeing how this scheme and these players McD needs works anymore.  

 

I would hope he does more than question his scheme...it should begin adapting to meet and defeat KC.  Not gonna be easy, but unlikely if the same system is in place.  The AFC is going to run through KC as long as Mahomes and crew are healthy.

[colin]

i think our D scheme needs to be retooled, and our O scheme needs to be adjusted.  i say that knowing they prolly get themselves in a bind due to who they did and did not have.  zero pass rush from any DL was a bust.  i think they went out and bot packs of baseball cards hoping one of them would have a star rookie, instead they got nothing but JAGS.  i do think our LBs got hurt by bad line play, but i am still thinking edmunds needs to be an outside guy, and i didn't think that until this year.

 

on O, all our little WRs got banged up at the wrong time, and with moss out the cupboard was bare.  diggs is insane, top 2 or 3, and beez is the best slot guy, but beyond that a never healthy brown and banged up rookie davis left us with just no people at skill position, which is why our O looked like it did last year on sunday.  we absolutely must find balance and better interior blocking.  im not talking 92 cowboys, but some kind of solid push in the gut.

 

TE, RB, pass rush, and we are there.

[Saxum]

I would not call it a breakdown based on what he has done in past.  It was a rehash.

[Bob in STL]

I can’t argue with Simms.   Acquiring the stud DL will be the hardest part.  A better #2CB can be drafted this year.   So can a better OG.  Improving WR can also be addressed this year.  
 

Let’s all remember that Andy Reid has been with KC 8 years.
 

Beane has had 3 drafts so far.  

Edited January 30, 2021 by Bob in STL

[whorlnut]

9 hours ago, Seasons1992 said:

A lot of people are wanting another Thurman. While that would be DOPE, how about another Bruce Smith, or Daryl Talley? 

It’s 2021. No defense is stopping KC’s offense. You have to be able to keep up with them. Give me an offensive weapon any day. You can get by with an above average defense.  

[Georgia Bill]

30 minutes ago, whorlnut said:

It’s 2021. No defense is stopping KC’s offense. You have to be able to keep up with them. Give me an offensive weapon any day. You can get by with an above average defense.  

I'm very interested in seeing if Tampa Bay can slow them down or not.  They did a good job on the Packers.   If a defense can slow them, it may make the "no one can stop them" argument lose a little merit.  We shall soon see - there might be more than one way to skin the cat.