A Few Thoughts About the Lions Game, in no particular order

[Aaronthebaron]

I rewatched the game but focused in on Spencer Brown, he consistently got to the second level on run plays and he pancaked lineman 3-4 times. It was really impressive watching him blow a guy up at the line and then hit someone at the second level.
He was solid for the most part in pass pro, but had a tough time with Okwara’s speed. 
 

I think Spencer Brown is going to be a keeper.

[Virgil]

13 minutes ago, Aaronthebaron said:

I rewatched the game but focused in on Spencer Brown, he consistently got to the second level on run plays and he pancaked lineman 3-4 times. It was really impressive watching him blow a guy up at the line and then hit someone at the second level.
He was solid for the most part in pass pro, but had a tough time with Okwara’s speed. 
 

I think Spencer Brown is going to be a keeper.

He’s the one player I wish I paid more attention to.  Thank you for this. 

[CSBill]

Thanks, Virgil. It's good to be reading these again.

16 hours ago, Kwai San said:

#4??  Stones always the Stones.

 Well, Kwai: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime you find, You get what you need."

 

Keep trying.

[Kwai San]

5 minutes ago, CSBill said:

Thanks, Virgil. It's good to be reading these again.

 Well, Kwai: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime you find, You get what you need."

 

Keep trying.

 

Again - another vote for the Stones.....we all need "Mother's Little Helper" from time to time and it is "a drag getting old".

 

Doctor, please, some more of these
Outside the door, she took four more

[BarleyNY]

17 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

I could always try Sarah Mac....😋

That would seriously be hilarious 

[mjpbills]

Queen-We are the champions every week for positive thinking.

[buffalonian]

#4.  Limericks.  I think it would be cool if you included original limericks. 

“There once was a man from Dunkirk…” 

[corta765]

18 hours ago, Virgil said:

4 - This is typically where I post lyrics from a song by one band for the entire season.  One year, I did movie quotes, but that was harder.  In the past, I've used the Grateful Dead (Always for you Bill), Dave Matthews, and Barenaked Ladies.  This year, I haven't decided what I'm going to do.  If you read this and have ideas, let me know.  I'll post this same message in all three game recaps and see if there's a consensus. 

 

Few ideas for what you can use:

-Quotes from Bills drought coaches after random nothing losses for us to decode which it was

-Hurricane names from the past, again we decode the year you just need to describe it

-There are 17 games so each week pick a player in correspondence to the # with the fun fact. Doesn't need to be limited to this year

-Use a dog breed week to week to describe good or bad.

-Drinks! You could say this game was like an IPA, trash at the start followed by horrendous puking later on (that describes the drought in a nutshell)

 

I will see my way out now haha

[Don Otreply]

18 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Rousseau's nickname is Groot.  

R O U S 

Rodents  Of Unusual Size

yes it’s inconceivable…., 

[IgotBILLStopay]

19 hours ago, Virgil said:

As it's the preseason for the refs, camera crews, networks, alongside the players; it's also the preseason for me in terms of getting myself back in that writing rhythm and mindset.  Typically, I would write these late Sunday night or Monday at work, thinking I was meeting a solid 24 hour turn around.  These Friday games just mess me up heading into the weekend because I can never find the time.  Also, I've been very in my own head around what more I can do with these recaps.  I want to change things up a bit, but also don't want to lose the core of how they read.  I'm still TBD (no pun intended) on that.  With that, these thoughts aren't going to be just around players, but where the team seems to be at while in preparation for this upcoming season.  Excuse the cobwebs and scattered nature, I'm just trying to warm up.

 

Also, I'm not going to waste much time on players who have no shot of making this team.  That goes for the horrific performance of the offensive line in the second half.  It's just not worth my or your time.

 

1 - Preseason Context - Preseason games are not real games.  I see so many fans who live and die by what they see in the preseason and it's never made much sense to me.  I'm not going to waste my time googling this, but I know there's a stat out there that shows how poorly 4-0 preseason teams perform in the regular season and to the contrary, how well 0-4 teams will do.  The Preseason is about individual match-ups in the most basic of settings.  There aren't any trick plays, stunts, disguises, audibles, pulls, or anything else.  The preseason comes down to a very simple message to all players:  Execute the fundamentals and beat the person in front of you.  That's it.  Case and point, if anyone thinks we are going to run as much as we did in the Lions game in the regular season, you are seriously crazy.  So please, take these games for what they are, practice against other teams with fans and a clock.

 

2 - Rousseau - It's incredibly natural for most fans to see what our first round pick can do during the preseason game and my eyes were locked in on the lumberjack every play he was on the field.  However, I believe there is a large amount of context to be found in what he was asked to do and the offense he was up against.  The Lions gained most of their yardage on quick curl routes and 3rd downs.  They struggled to move down the field with ease and got the ball off quickly.  Rousseau (I need a nickname for this kid quickly) was matched up against arguable the 3rd best prospect, and best overall OT in the draft, in Penei Sewell.  With no support, Rousseau was able to push Sewell back on multiple plays, one even resulting in an arm sack (which shows the strength of this kid).  While this is from just one quarter, it's easy to see the potential this kid has and I'd give him an A+ for his very first on field performance.  (Side note:  Honorable mention to Oliver who was playing out of position, got double teamed frequently, and still got some decent push up the middle)

 

3 - Running backs - We saw success early in the game with draw plays up the middle and Motor had two nice plays where he showed burst and the strength to break some arm tackles.  He also had a nice touchdown catch in the second quarter, which was overshadowed to me by the fact that he was out on the field in the first place.  Outside of that, there wasn't much to be excited about from the run game.  It didn't help that we made it obvious early that we had zero intention of passing the ball nor had any starters at pass catcher besides Knox and Gabe out there.  I was not very impressed with Breida as he didn't show that outside speed we are looking for.  Antonio Williams, who many wanted to see move up the depth chart, had a very lackluster day, but it's hard to evaluate him behind the putrid offensive line that was blocking for him.

 

4 - This is typically where I post lyrics from a song by one band for the entire season.  One year, I did movie quotes, but that was harder.  In the past, I've used the Grateful Dead (Always for you Bill), Dave Matthews, and Barenaked Ladies.  This year, I haven't decided what I'm going to do.  If you read this and have ideas, let me know.  I'll post this same message in all three game recaps and see if there's a consensus. 

 

5 - Bass - In full transparency, I've always enjoyed the jokes about kickers in the NFL.  While I understand the mental pressure of having the game on the line, I still never put much thought into kickers.  If they made the kick, they did their job.  If they missed, cut em!  Bass has slowly changed the way I pay attention to kickers.  Early last season, you could clearly see the power of his leg as he would just boom the ball off his foot.  But also, you could see the ball had a strange trajectory when he kicked it as if the ball had a mind of it's own.  There were definitely moments early one where many wondered if we kept the wrong kicker and we saw him improve as the season went on until we got to the point where you expected him to hit everything.  So far, through training camp and in this game, he truly is Bass-omatic.  His swagger and confidence each time he walks onto the field is evident and his kicks are going right down the middle with the same level of power.  It's been interesting to watch his development and hope he keeps it going.

 

6 - Haack - Of all the offseason moves I didn't understand, not resigning Bojo is one of them.  Beane made some cryptic comments that led me to believe Bojo wanted to get paid, but then he took a competition role with the Rams.  While we didn't punt a lot last season, I figured Bojo was a no-brainer to be resigned and wouldn't cost a lot (which he didn't for the Rams).  However, after just one game watching Haack, I'm good.  This guy has an absolute leg and is a pure assassin with it.  I don't understand why the Dolphins let him go.  He pinned two punts inside the 20 from the opposite side of the field and really had a good showing.  This, like so many other thing, is just proof of why I'm a fan and Beane is a Wizard.

 

7 - Refs - After one full weekend of preseason games, I'm officially on notice of the refs.  There were WAY too many flags in this game and the theme was leading with the helmet.  Like holding, I can't deny that this happens a lot in every game, but many of these looked like calls that normally don't get flagged.  I'm hoping this was an exhibition for the refs and they are leaning towards guilty until proven innocent while they practice, but if not; we are going to be in for a long season. 

 

8 - Fromm - Typically when I write these, I don't have the time to read other people's comments about the game.  However, with my aforementioned delay, I see a lot of Fromm bashing going on.  A lot of context needs to be considered here.  He was a 3rd string quarterback last season who hardly gets any reps.  There was no preseason last year and practices were limited.  This year, he's still a 3rd string QB (maybe) and this game was his very first live action against another team.  Take that, put him behind an abysmal offensive line and rookie receivers, and he still found a way to lead a game winning drive.  All I'm saying is, there's nothing to really evaluate him on from this game.  I have wondered if Mitch would became a trade candidate if other QB's keep going down around the league, but I still don't know that Fromm is our number 2 quarterback.  Webb looked very comfortable and made some good throws.  (Side note:  Allen and Webb are seen around each other a lot and I think Allen helps him out more than anyone else)

 

9 - Boogie - From the time he was drafted, all the analysts say that Boogie was the most pro ready of any of our draft picks.  With that, I was very surprised to see him still on the field well into the second half.  He was lining up more on the right side, but also lined up at DT a few times.  I can't say I saw a lot in him to give me optimism and he seemed held in check in one on one match-ups.  There's not much to say here, but I did watch him and Epenesa a bunch and don't see any threat to Addison or Hughes.  The playing time of Boogie, Epenesa, and Obada was definitely interesting.

 

10 - Progress - As we went through the drought, preseason was always a telling sign to me regarding where our team was regarding evaluations.  It wasn't about the Bills so much as the other teams.  Teams that knew their starting lineup and scheme would trot their starters out for a series, go 6-6 and score points on the first drive.  It was truly a practice for them while we are trying to figure out who will be 7 of our 11 starters.  In this game, it really felt like we were the other team.  We didn't have the majority of our starters out there and I feel comfortable saying our talent dominated theirs.  It was nice to watch the Lions rotate guys in and evaluate, with job battles on the line, while we just showed up because we have to.  This game was a prime example of why some teams don't want preseason games and others need it.  It's nice to be on the other side.

 

My grudge - I'm wrong a lot.  Like, a lot.  Guys I target in the draft typically perform to the opposite of my expectations and Beane is proven Wizard.  However, with the drafting of two DE's in this draft and Epenesa still not looking like someone ready to earn that starting spot, I'm still annoyed that we passed on Dobbins, who was taken one pick later by the Raven.  When I look at this team and see Hughes, Addison, Roussseu, Boogie, and Obada and realize we would have Dobbins in this offense, I feel like Beane missed there.

That is a wonderful write up. Even the throwaway line where you say what you are not going to write about is so informative. You have a gift.
 

My only quibble (sorry I agree with 10 things you have written and disagree with one - but instead of talking about everything I agree with - I will write about the disagreement);
 

Clearly we all think Beane is a wizard. But if you want to nitpick, nitpick on the Boogie pick (though it is early), not the Epenesa pick.

 

To defend Beane on Epenesa - he knew that pass rush was going to be our one weakness on defense on the 2020 roster and picked the top DE available at 54. The fact that Epenesa didn’t develop as he should have because of no TC etc. is not a knock on him. Watch him this year and we will revisit Dobbins vs. Epenesa  later on this year.
 

Remember that the fall off on DEs was too steep after Epenesa but RBs were still available after Dobbins. Edge rushers are always a more premium position group to draft from - Worst comes to worst, can always throw 7 million a year to get excellent RBs, but to find Edges, we have to offer three times the amount. 
 

And Beane did not really whiff on RBs in the 2020 draft since we got Moss. How Moss / Motor do  vs. Dobbins is also a function of the OL (that is SpencerBrown’s role). But I am optimistic on Moss since he complements Motor better than Dobbins (in 2020 offseason we were all way higher on Motor than we are now).

 

with Epenesa and Rousseau in the fold, maybe Boogie was a luxury. But to defend Beane, he didn’t get to see how Epenesa and Rousseau would fare while making the Boogie pick. But still if we are revisiting Beane picks with the benefit of hindsight, this pick is more questionable than the Epenesa pick.

Edited August 17, 2021 by IgotBILLStopay

[Ga boy]

Let’s go cerebral with the quotes.  Maybe Churchill, Twain, Lincoln, Homer or Virgil.  Did you see what I did there?

[JohnBonhamRocks]

I vote Zeppelin or Hip quotes.

 

Or Trailer Park Boys quotes.

[since79]

19 hours ago, Virgil said:

- This is typically where I post lyrics from a song by one band for the entire season.  One year, I did movie quotes, but that was harder.  In the past, I've used the Grateful Dead (Always for you Bill), Dave Matthews, and Barenaked Ladies.  This year, I haven't decided what I'm going to do.  If you read this and have ideas, let me know.  I'll post this same message in all three game recaps and see if there's a consensus. 

 For the Pre Season

 

Buffalo Springfield

 

There's something happening here.

What it is

Ain't exactly clear.

[without a drought]

9 hours ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

"All I wanted was a Pepsi. Just one Pepsi! And she wouldn't give it to me!"

"Hey Mike: You know we've been noticing you've been having a lot of problems lately"

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 8/16/2021 at 1:54 PM, Virgil said:

As it's the preseason for the refs, camera crews, networks, alongside the players; it's also the preseason for me in terms of getting myself back in that writing rhythm and mindset.  Typically, I would write these late Sunday night or Monday at work, thinking I was meeting a solid 24 hour turn around.  These Friday games just mess me up heading into the weekend because I can never find the time.  Also, I've been very in my own head around what more I can do with these recaps.  I want to change things up a bit, but also don't want to lose the core of how they read.  I'm still TBD (no pun intended) on that.  With that, these thoughts aren't going to be just around players, but where the team seems to be at while in preparation for this upcoming season.  Excuse the cobwebs and scattered nature, I'm just trying to warm up.

 

Also, I'm not going to waste much time on players who have no shot of making this team.  That goes for the horrific performance of the offensive line in the second half.  It's just not worth my or your time.

 

1 - Preseason Context - Preseason games are not real games.  I see so many fans who live and die by what they see in the preseason and it's never made much sense to me.  I'm not going to waste my time googling this, but I know there's a stat out there that shows how poorly 4-0 preseason teams perform in the regular season and to the contrary, how well 0-4 teams will do.  The Preseason is about individual match-ups in the most basic of settings.  There aren't any trick plays, stunts, disguises, audibles, pulls, or anything else.  The preseason comes down to a very simple message to all players:  Execute the fundamentals and beat the person in front of you.  That's it.  Case and point, if anyone thinks we are going to run as much as we did in the Lions game in the regular season, you are seriously crazy.  So please, take these games for what they are, practice against other teams with fans and a clock.

 

2 - Rousseau - It's incredibly natural for most fans to see what our first round pick can do during the preseason game and my eyes were locked in on the lumberjack every play he was on the field.  However, I believe there is a large amount of context to be found in what he was asked to do and the offense he was up against.  The Lions gained most of their yardage on quick curl routes and 3rd downs.  They struggled to move down the field with ease and got the ball off quickly.  Rousseau (I need a nickname for this kid quickly) was matched up against arguable the 3rd best prospect, and best overall OT in the draft, in Penei Sewell.  With no support, Rousseau was able to push Sewell back on multiple plays, one even resulting in an arm sack (which shows the strength of this kid).  While this is from just one quarter, it's easy to see the potential this kid has and I'd give him an A+ for his very first on field performance.  (Side note:  Honorable mention to Oliver who was playing out of position, got double teamed frequently, and still got some decent push up the middle)

 

3 - Running backs - We saw success early in the game with draw plays up the middle and Motor had two nice plays where he showed burst and the strength to break some arm tackles.  He also had a nice touchdown catch in the second quarter, which was overshadowed to me by the fact that he was out on the field in the first place.  Outside of that, there wasn't much to be excited about from the run game.  It didn't help that we made it obvious early that we had zero intention of passing the ball nor had any starters at pass catcher besides Knox and Gabe out there.  I was not very impressed with Breida as he didn't show that outside speed we are looking for.  Antonio Williams, who many wanted to see move up the depth chart, had a very lackluster day, but it's hard to evaluate him behind the putrid offensive line that was blocking for him.

 

4 - This is typically where I post lyrics from a song by one band for the entire season.  One year, I did movie quotes, but that was harder.  In the past, I've used the Grateful Dead (Always for you Bill), Dave Matthews, and Barenaked Ladies.  This year, I haven't decided what I'm going to do.  If you read this and have ideas, let me know.  I'll post this same message in all three game recaps and see if there's a consensus. 

 

5 - Bass - In full transparency, I've always enjoyed the jokes about kickers in the NFL.  While I understand the mental pressure of having the game on the line, I still never put much thought into kickers.  If they made the kick, they did their job.  If they missed, cut em!  Bass has slowly changed the way I pay attention to kickers.  Early last season, you could clearly see the power of his leg as he would just boom the ball off his foot.  But also, you could see the ball had a strange trajectory when he kicked it as if the ball had a mind of it's own.  There were definitely moments early one where many wondered if we kept the wrong kicker and we saw him improve as the season went on until we got to the point where you expected him to hit everything.  So far, through training camp and in this game, he truly is Bass-omatic.  His swagger and confidence each time he walks onto the field is evident and his kicks are going right down the middle with the same level of power.  It's been interesting to watch his development and hope he keeps it going.

 

6 - Haack - Of all the offseason moves I didn't understand, not resigning Bojo is one of them.  Beane made some cryptic comments that led me to believe Bojo wanted to get paid, but then he took a competition role with the Rams.  While we didn't punt a lot last season, I figured Bojo was a no-brainer to be resigned and wouldn't cost a lot (which he didn't for the Rams).  However, after just one game watching Haack, I'm good.  This guy has an absolute leg and is a pure assassin with it.  I don't understand why the Dolphins let him go.  He pinned two punts inside the 20 from the opposite side of the field and really had a good showing.  This, like so many other thing, is just proof of why I'm a fan and Beane is a Wizard.

 

7 - Refs - After one full weekend of preseason games, I'm officially on notice of the refs.  There were WAY too many flags in this game and the theme was leading with the helmet.  Like holding, I can't deny that this happens a lot in every game, but many of these looked like calls that normally don't get flagged.  I'm hoping this was an exhibition for the refs and they are leaning towards guilty until proven innocent while they practice, but if not; we are going to be in for a long season. 

 

8 - Fromm - Typically when I write these, I don't have the time to read other people's comments about the game.  However, with my aforementioned delay, I see a lot of Fromm bashing going on.  A lot of context needs to be considered here.  He was a 3rd string quarterback last season who hardly gets any reps.  There was no preseason last year and practices were limited.  This year, he's still a 3rd string QB (maybe) and this game was his very first live action against another team.  Take that, put him behind an abysmal offensive line and rookie receivers, and he still found a way to lead a game winning drive.  All I'm saying is, there's nothing to really evaluate him on from this game.  I have wondered if Mitch would became a trade candidate if other QB's keep going down around the league, but I still don't know that Fromm is our number 2 quarterback.  Webb looked very comfortable and made some good throws.  (Side note:  Allen and Webb are seen around each other a lot and I think Allen helps him out more than anyone else)

 

9 - Boogie - From the time he was drafted, all the analysts say that Boogie was the most pro ready of any of our draft picks.  With that, I was very surprised to see him still on the field well into the second half.  He was lining up more on the right side, but also lined up at DT a few times.  I can't say I saw a lot in him to give me optimism and he seemed held in check in one on one match-ups.  There's not much to say here, but I did watch him and Epenesa a bunch and don't see any threat to Addison or Hughes.  The playing time of Boogie, Epenesa, and Obada was definitely interesting.

 

10 - Progress - As we went through the drought, preseason was always a telling sign to me regarding where our team was regarding evaluations.  It wasn't about the Bills so much as the other teams.  Teams that knew their starting lineup and scheme would trot their starters out for a series, go 6-6 and score points on the first drive.  It was truly a practice for them while we are trying to figure out who will be 7 of our 11 starters.  In this game, it really felt like we were the other team.  We didn't have the majority of our starters out there and I feel comfortable saying our talent dominated theirs.  It was nice to watch the Lions rotate guys in and evaluate, with job battles on the line, while we just showed up because we have to.  This game was a prime example of why some teams don't want preseason games and others need it.  It's nice to be on the other side.

 

My grudge - I'm wrong a lot.  Like, a lot.  Guys I target in the draft typically perform to the opposite of my expectations and Beane is proven Wizard.  However, with the drafting of two DE's in this draft and Epenesa still not looking like someone ready to earn that starting spot, I'm still annoyed that we passed on Dobbins, who was taken one pick later by the Raven.  When I look at this team and see Hughes, Addison, Roussseu, Boogie, and Obada and realize we would have Dobbins in this offense, I feel like Beane missed there.

 

How about some good ol Cannibal Corpse lyrics. They're even Buffalo natives. 👍

[AuntieEm]

On 8/17/2021 at 7:39 AM, mjpbills said:

Queen-We are the champions every week for positive thinking.

I agree Buffalo is the Queen City after all so thats a good fit too.

 

However Queen's catalog is 20 years worth of quality music performed by arguably the greatest stadium showman in music history.  I'm biased here but Josh Allen is arguably the greatest  stadium showman in Bills NFL history.  See the pattern? 

 

I'd actually think you could do a weekly game highlights video using a different Queen song as the music and it likely be easy to find 20 songs that would fit every week without repetition. Could save We Are the Champions following a SB win.

 

In deference to the process I'd choose something like One Vision for the week 1 highlights. I would however try to edit the ending of the song from gimme fried chicken to gimme chicken wings to make it more Buffalo.

 

 Queen was a group of 4 highly talented musicians that together made a fantastic musical  team.  The Bills have  4 talented units - offense, defense, special teams, and coaching staff.

 

Those are just some of the reasons I'd go with Queen.  Of course I'm a big Queen fan so I would likely recognize the lyric reference each week easily.