PostGame Thread Bills @ Bears

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

I've been reading the Bears forum. It's pure schadenfreude

[ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin]

1 minute ago, gordong said:

Daboll didn’t even want to interview with them this past off season, doubt he goes there. 

I hope it is the NFC.

 

I lived in Philly for 10 years. Season ticked holders/ corporate sponsors/ fans are not happy with J Laurie and the Eagles.

 

Laurie is smart enough, and has deep pockets to make an offer that can not be refused. Even Howie Roseman is not that dumb.

 

The NFC East isn't exactly a murderer's row of teams.

 

I'll stand by my 1 yr away prognostication.

 

Until then, The Bills to win it all this year!

[Westside Madness]

16 minutes ago, billsherd said:

Did Obada play today?

I heard his name called on an early run stop, same as last week. I also beloeve he had a pressure that drove Dalton into the arms of the other DE for a sack. So, yes, he played today.

[ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin]

21 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Yep. The free rusher is always the QB's responsibility. Fields learned a lesson today. Glad he was ok. 

 

Didn't think the hit was illegal. Welcome to the league rookie. Ask Jeff George

[Rocky Landing]

My take aways:

 

Offense:

1. Mitch Trubisky can run this offense.
2. Webb is better than Fromm, although neither looked very good. 
3. Motor and Moss look better than last season, I'll say by a lot.
4. It's hard to assess Breida, as he was operating behind an exceptionally weak O-line. But, he doesn't look much better than T J Yeldin did last season.
5. Hollister had a good game.
6. Reggie Gilliam balled out!!!
7. To my admittedly biased eyes, Spencer Brown, in his limited reps, looked much better than he did last week.
8. They had Cody Ford out there A LOT. Played much of the third quarter, I believe. And he looked good, especially in the run, and third and short, and at the goal line.
9. Our number 4, 5, and Kumerow (6?) WRs look as good, or better than many starting WRs in the league. In fact, I'll say they look better than both the Jets, and Patriots* starting corps.

Defense:

1. Greg Rousseau is spectacular.
2. AJ Epenesa absolutely flattened  E. Wilkinson, their starting LT, on his way to a sack on Andy Dalton.
3. Vernon Butler looked sloooooooowwwww. On some plays, it was an embarrassing lack of effort.
4. On that note, thank God it was only Zimmer's funny-bone.
5. Horrible Harry looked solid up until his knee injury. Man, I hope that isn't serious.
6. Not sure how I feel about Boogie Basham.
7. Bam Johnson is making this team. It's not merely a matter of his ST value anymore.
8. Is it me, or does Hamlin, and Wildgoose both look like they are progressing compared to last week?
9. Siran Neal has struggled with fundamentals in both preseason games.

Special Teams:

1. McKenzie's muff was horrible. But, I have to say, he looked pretty good after that.
2. Stevenson'e punt return for a TD looked too easy. Is he that good, or was that just the Bears playing scrubs on their ST?
3. Haack's first punt sucked, sure, but he was pressured, and that's on his protection. His punt when he was pinned to the back of the end zone was pretty good. Either way, hopefully we don't use him too often in the regular season.

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Rocky Landing

[Figster]

Dabolls ability to get the best out of a QB really on full display today.

 

Even Josh Allen had to be impressed with the command Trubisky showed of the Daboll O. (With backups) 

 

 

[Chandler#81]

5 minutes ago, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

I've been reading the Bears forum. It's pure schadenfreude

Link, please.

[Bob in STL]

22 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Turnovers is the number one factor in NFL losses.   You turn it over, you lose.  Muff a punt, that's a 40-yard play for the opponent, and you put the defense back on the field.   Simply can't afford it.  It's one of the reasons Roberts is so good.   He's really sure-handed.  McKenzie never has been.   

 

McKenzie apparently spent the off-season catching punts.  Looks like it didn't help.  

 

Last season Robert’s fumbled 3 times -  1 kickoff and 2 punts, losing the ball twice.  He fumbled only 1 punt the season prior. 
 

Robert’s has 415 career returns, with 21 fumbles, losing 8 of them.  He fumbles about 5 times out of 100 attempts, which is probably good percentage wise but not infallible.   Data I have seen shows this is close to the NFL average off 3% for kickoffs and 1% for punts.   

 

[wjag]

17 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Also I remember Fin Fans last week making excuses for TUA talking about how good the bears defense is. Mitch and BU WRs shredded that defense. They really should start worrying about Tua. 

IMO Miami’s Oline is the bigger issue. Last year and so far this year.  Fitz covered up a lot of those deficiencies.  

[Motorin']

40 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Someone said he fell in the draft because of a bad day at the combine.   And I guess people weren't willing to take a chance on him because he only had one season in college.   And it was hard to bet on him, because he doesn't have the raw speed of a great edge rusher or the strength of a power guy.  

 

I remember when the Bills drafted him, I kept looking at his highlights, and you could see how unusual he was.  It was primarily his ability to use his arms to keep the blocker off him while he read the play, couple with the athleticism to make a move while engaged that way.   The more I watched, the more intrigued I became, because he just looked like a playmaker.  And lo and behold, that's what he is.  He's a problem on almost every play.   

 

Once again, Beane's done his homework.   Character, size, talent.   

 

His athleticism is up there with pretty much every player to lead the NFL in sacks over the last 10 years. I don't know if people were expecting him to run a 4.4... But I'm very happy that he slid to us.  

40 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by Motorin'

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

2 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

Link, please.

 here is the GameDay thread, starting at the first three and out

 

 this is the "was it Nagy or Trubisky"

 

My favorite line was when a fan popped in saying he had forgotten the game was today and someone responded "It's ok, Nagy and Dalton forgot too" 

 

 

 

 

[Steptide]

Just got done watching the game today. Dang we look good. Had to work so I couldn't watch live. This is why we shouldn't trade trubisky, we need a solid backup that can help us win if Allen gets hurt. 

[RobbRiddick]

 

 

I so, so, so hope Groot continues this in the regular season. AJ too. Imagine this pair causing havoc all season, allowing us to get teams off the field in those 3rd and long situations, or causing more turnovers and letting the offense have some short fields to work with. 

 

The offense was deadly last year but if the defense can really step up they could just blow other teams out of the water on a regular basis

Edited August 21, 2021 by RobbRiddick

[Buffalo_Stampede]

9 minutes ago, ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin said:

 

Didn't think the hit was illegal. Welcome to the league rookie. Ask Jeff George

Legal or illegal they're calling that every time. Its old school football though. 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Before the game, I highlighted a few items for which I was excited to watch. Here are some follow-up thoughts in bold.

 

Davis Webb- can he string together another solid performance this week? I don’t think he is destined for the 53, but he showed the poise and capabilities to compete for a PS job again, or maybe even another team’s 53. Could he edge out Mitch, and send him packing to be QB2? Idk…NOPE. Mitch looked to lock down the part of QB2. Davis was erratic. 

 

Dion Dawkins- Return to action for the Schnowman. How does he look, physically? I know it won’t be overnight but it’ll be nice to see a glimpse of his conditioning and stature. Glad he is back! Seemed to move well. No obvious issues. Was a part of the first few series of scoring drives. Good sign, IMO. 

 

Spencer Brown- Can this raw kid show enough to be OT3? Last week many people thought the Bill’s depth at T was exposed. Do the Bills need veteran help elsewhere or can they get enough from this mauler to be the emergency guy? It’s unfortunate because I though I saw some decent play from Brown, up until his injury. I specifically remember seeing him and the RG miss on one TE stunt where he follow the end inside, but the ball was already out. Hope he is okay.

 

Marquez Stevenson- As with Davis Webb, I don’t see the 53 for the rook, but he did show a little burst in game one, and I’m interested to see if he can  run a full route tree. It’s possible he does enough to warrant a serious look into the 53 now with the Sweeney injury. Do they risk waivers? Is he KR2 going into the season? We shall see! Well…injury aside, that was an electric return, and I think he could be what McKenzie is now. He has a limited ability as a WR currently, but that is fine given the state of our roster. I hope he is okay, especially since I think he is making a strong case for the 53 and could potentially contribute as a return man ESPECIALLY if McKenzie continues with the yips.

 

Jacob Hollister-One of the free agent signings that I was really excited about has essentially flown under the radar all camp. Again, with Sweeney down, Hollister’s role on this team will be even more cemented as TE2. I’d like to see him run with the 1’s today. FINALLY! I think he had 3 catches on the day, and looked to add a bit of speed to the position. I like his versatility, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him push Knox for serious snaps as the season progresses. 

 

 

Obada, GROOT, Boogie, AJE, Bam-There is no question that these players are getting a lot of buzz at the DE position. Who will step up and make plays today? It will be cool to see these guys against Fields, and I hope to see a little more pop from Boogie on the pass rush, and an expanded tool set from GROOT (felt like he relied too heavily on his length and speed last week…fine for now, but all great rushers need a counter). Can Obada turn his reportedly successful camp into a good national showing WITHOUT the penalties? Will AJE have another respectable game with some more pressures? Does Johnson’s ST presence give him any edge toward the 53? Boy, did these guys show up….GROOT looks great. But as I stated earlier, he is beating people with his physicality alone. That’s great for now, and I think he’ll only develop. AJE had a fantastic power rush and was in the backfield all day. Johnson and Obada are less flashy rushers. Similar to Greg, they rely a bit on natural ability and I don’t see anything earth shattering from either of them from a technical standpoint. That being said, they too, we’re making plays, penetrating rush lanes and causing issues. To me, Boogie was the least successful at the traditional DE role. He continues to look a step slow, larger than he should be and lacks the explosiveness of some of these other rushers. I hope a year of NFL training under his belt will help him retool his body to be more molded to a prototypical weight/built as we saw with AJE. I really don’t know what they do at DE. But to me, a good player is hitting the bricks.

 

Joe Giles-Harris, Andre Smith-These are two LBs that I thought made some noticeable plays for the Bills last week. Again, a deep position will likely see neither of these guys make the roster, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Smith had the obvious hit in fields, and JGH had some notable tackles also. However, I thought they were both outshined by T. Adams today. I didn’t see anything from either of these guys that I think Bob Babich is going to fall in love with.

 

Damar Hamlin,Josh Thomas-Safety is a position (like corner and OT, but not as crucial) that gets skinny real quick behind our starters. Who will fill out the backup two spots? With the departure of Dean Marlowe, Jaquan Johnson likely has an inside track at #3. Again, I thought both Hamlin and Thomas showed promise last week and I look forward to seeing them continue to make plays for this defense. With Poyer/Hyde likely facing limited (if any) playing time, we should see a lot of these guys today. Hamlin had a great day. Aside from the early fumble recovery, he was in the backfield for a TFL and made numerous tackles. He has a knack for being around the ball. He might just have played his way onto the roster. On the other hand, I didn’t see anything spectacular from Thomas. He continues to battle up hill.

Specials: 

 

Punt Coverage - How do the gunners look? Can someone step up and make Taiwan Jones expendable? I know, it’s unlikely given what McD has said, and how they value guys like him…but still, it isn’t out of the question. I believe if they think enough of Johnson and Kumerow, Jones could get the axe. The punt coverage was ehh, but does Taiwan Jones make it that much better? 
 

Haack - speaking of which, a great punter can do wonders for your coverage team. I’d like to see more from Matt like we did last week. Holy shank, man they got to reel those in…I guess it doesn’t matter WHO the gunner is if they punt it out of bounds every time (I.e. the beautiful Bass KOs).

 

Returns - I was admittedly someone who did not worry when Andre Roberts left this offseason. Despite his obvious abilities, I thought he also presented some liability in returns. Pair that with the current state of the NFL kicking game/rules, and what we saw from McKenzie week 17 last year, I figured the return teams would be well enough set. Despite that notion, I found myself entirely underwhelmed by McKenzie and company last week. Can we get more from these teams? Who is KRPR2? After the McKenzie muff and the MS TD, I’m more stumped than ever. I suppose between McK and MS, they can handle duties, with Micah Hyde serving as your “safe” return option. Only problem is, find me a roster spot for him. 

[ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin]

26 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

...and to some of you don't give up on Boogie. He'll probably have a similar year that AJE had last season.

 

I'm putting it here now, in writing.

 

Buffalo should have taken Creed Humphrey with that pick. Get JA a starter at C for the next decade. KC seems happy with him a few picks later. Morse off the bench or as a partial starter until the rookie is ready is ideal. Bates and Feliciano are solid plan B, but Humphrey could have been the future. OBD just seems to minimize the value of the IOL. In a Super Bowl it counts. Many superior teams have lost a Super Bowl due to IOL.

 

That said I hope Boogie becomes a difference maker. He flashed today, and looked bad at times today.

 

It tells me Buffalo was not 100% in on Rosseau, and they still discounted the Interior OL, which many fans were calling for.

 

Rousseau looks amazing. I was wrong. Rosseau in the 1st and Humphrey in the 2nd would have been draft theft at 30.

[Warcodered]

2 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Before the game, I highlighted a few items for which I was excited to watch. Here are some follow-up thoughts in bold.

 

Davis Webb- can he string together another solid performance this week? I don’t think he is destined for the 53, but he showed the poise and capabilities to compete for a PS job again, or maybe even another team’s 53. Could he edge out Mitch, and send him packing to be QB2? Idk…NOPE. Mitch looked to lock down the part of QB2. Davis was erratic. 

 

Dion Dawkins- Return to action for the Schnowman. How does he look, physically? I know it won’t be overnight but it’ll be nice to see a glimpse of his conditioning and stature. Glad he is back! Seemed to move well. No obvious issues. Was a part of the first few series of scoring drives. Good sign, IMO. 

 

Spencer Brown- Can this raw kid show enough to be OT3? Last week many people thought the Bill’s depth at T was exposed. Do the Bills need veteran help elsewhere or can they get enough from this mauler to be the emergency guy? It’s unfortunate because I though I saw some decent play from Brown, up until his injury. I specifically remember seeing him and the RG miss on one TE stunt where he follow the end inside, but the ball was already out. Hope he is okay.

 

Marquez Stevenson- As with Davis Webb, I don’t see the 53 for the rook, but he did show a little burst in game one, and I’m interested to see if he can  run a full route tree. It’s possible he does enough to warrant a serious look into the 53 now with the Sweeney injury. Do they risk waivers? Is he KR2 going into the season? We shall see! Well…injury aside, that was an electric return, and I think he could be what McKenzie is now. He has a limited ability as a WR currently, but that is fine given the state of our roster. I hope he is okay, especially since I think he is making a strong case for the 53 and could potentially contribute as a return man ESPECIALLY if McKenzie continues with the yips.

 

Jacob Hollister-One of the free agent signings that I was really excited about has essentially flown under the radar all camp. Again, with Sweeney down, Hollister’s role on this team will be even more cemented as TE2. I’d like to see him run with the 1’s today. FINALLY! I think he had 3 catches on the day, and looked to add a bit of speed to the position. I like his versatility, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him push Knox for serious snaps as the season progresses. 

 

 

Obada, GROOT, Boogie, AJE, Bam-There is no question that these players are getting a lot of buzz at the DE position. Who will step up and make plays today? It will be cool to see these guys against Fields, and I hope to see a little more pop from Boogie on the pass rush, and an expanded tool set from GROOT (felt like he relied too heavily on his length and speed last week…fine for now, but all great rushers need a counter). Can Obada turn his reportedly successful camp into a good national showing WITHOUT the penalties? Will AJE have another respectable game with some more pressures? Does Johnson’s ST presence give him any edge toward the 53? Boy, did these guys show up….GROOT looks great. But as I stated earlier, he is beating people with his physicality alone. That’s great for now, and I think he’ll only develop. AJE had a fantastic power rush and was in the backfield all day. Johnson and Obada are less flashy rushers. Similar to Greg, they rely a bit on natural ability and I don’t see anything earth shattering from either of them from a technical standpoint. That being said, they too, we’re making plays, penetrating rush lanes and causing issues. To me, Boogie was the least successful at the traditional DE role. He continues to look a step slow, larger than he should be and lacks the explosiveness of some of these other rushers. I hope a year of NFL training under his belt will help him retool his body to be more molded to a prototypical weight/built as we saw with AJE. I really don’t know what they do at DE. But to me, a good player is hitting the bricks.

 

Joe Giles-Harris, Andre Smith-These are two LBs that I thought made some noticeable plays for the Bills last week. Again, a deep position will likely see neither of these guys make the roster, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Smith had the obvious hit in fields, and JGH had some notable tackles also. However, I thought they were both outshined by T. Adams today. I didn’t see anything from either of these guys that I think Bob Babich is going to fall in love with.

 

Damar Hamlin,Josh Thomas-Safety is a position (like corner and OT, but not as crucial) that gets skinny real quick behind our starters. Who will fill out the backup two spots? With the departure of Dean Marlowe, Jaquan Johnson likely has an inside track at #3. Again, I thought both Hamlin and Thomas showed promise last week and I look forward to seeing them continue to make plays for this defense. With Poyer/Hyde likely facing limited (if any) playing time, we should see a lot of these guys today. Hamlin had a great day. Aside from the early fumble recovery, he was in the backfield for a TFL and made numerous tackles. He has a knack for being around the ball. He might just have played his way onto the roster. On the other hand, I didn’t see anything spectacular from Thomas. He continues to battle up hill.

Specials: 

 

Punt Coverage - How do the gunners look? Can someone step up and make Taiwan Jones expendable? I know, it’s unlikely given what McD has said, and how they value guys like him…but still, it isn’t out of the question. I believe if they think enough of Johnson and Kumerow, Jones could get the axe. The punt coverage was ehh, but does Taiwan Jones make it that much better? 
 

Haack - speaking of which, a great punter can do wonders for your coverage team. I’d like to see more from Matt like we did last week. Holy shank, man they got to reel those in…I guess it doesn’t matter WHO the gunner is if they punt it out of bounds every time (I.e. the beautiful Bass KOs).

 

Returns - I was admittedly someone who did not worry when Andre Roberts left this offseason. Despite his obvious abilities, I thought he also presented some liability in returns. Pair that with the current state of the NFL kicking game/rules, and what we saw from McKenzie week 17 last year, I figured the return teams would be well enough set. Despite that notion, I found myself entirely underwhelmed by McKenzie and company last week. Can we get more from these teams? Who is KRPR2? After the McKenzie muff and the MS TD, I’m more stumped than ever. I suppose between McK and MS, they can handle duties, with Micah Hyde serving as your “safe” return option. Only problem is, find me a roster spot for him. 

Something happened to Spencer Brown?

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

9 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

Link, please.

Unrelated, when I go to other teams forums I am reminded that TBD is way above average quality.

[NickelCity]

Boogie almost looks like he'd make a more immediate impact at 3 tech DT.

1 minute ago, Warcodered said:

Something happened to Spencer Brown?

 

Knee injury I believe.

[Warcodered]

Just now, NickelCity said:

Boogie almost looks like he'd make a more immediate impact at 3 tech DT.

 

Knee injury I believe.

You mean Harrison Phillips?