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

[Virgil]

If ever there were a game to remind yourself "it's only preseason," this was probably it.  Call it the Trubisky revenge tour or whatever you want, but this was a preseason game that felt like anything but.  To the contrast of our previous run happy game, Daboll came out firing and drastic difference between where the Bills and Bears are as programs was ever apparent.  With that being said...

 

1 - Mitch - Trubisky had a really good game and showed well enough to give comfort to a lot of fans in case Allen should get hurt.  However, as I watched him play, it made me appreciate just how great a talent Josh Allen is.  Overall, Mitch played well.  However, that's not to say there weren't opportunities in how he played.  There were a few passes where the receiver had to adjust to the ball, which cost them a step and extra yards.  Mitch got happy feet a few time and found ways to take unnecessary steps as he escaped the pocket.  There was one play in particular where I wish Josh were on the field as I have zero doubt Allen would have delivered the throw on the run to a dot for the touchdown.  Mitch did show off a strong arm and made quite a few passes in the flat to the sideline.  Preseason or not, 200+ yards at the half is something to be proud of.  Especially in the stadium of the team that didn't want you back.

 

2 - Motor - In another "it's only preseason" thought, it's hard for me to not think the starting running back job is Motor's to lose.  While I understand that Moss is still hurt, Motor is making the most of every carry and is showing a burst to the outside that hasn't really been seen since he got here.  He's decisive, breaking arm tackles, and looks overall like a starting back.  Also, kudos to Daboll for running a lot of misdirection plays that delayed the linebackers just a step slow enough to give Motor a head start.

 

3 - Groot - Okay, I'm officially excited to see this kid play in the regular season.  While I assume it's because he's now locked in as a started, Rousseau played less snaps in this game than he did in the previous.  Even so, Groot was an absolute monster pushing through the right tackle for the Bears and notched another sack.  So far, technique has meant nothing to this kid because he's so powerful that he just runs over people and can sack quarterbacks with just his hands.  For my first painfully wrong prediction of the season, I see Groot getting 10 sacks minimum this year.

 

4 - If you haven't seen the movie "Return to Paradise", I recommend looking it up.  The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix, Vince Vaughn, and Anne Heche.  I don't remember if it was an independent film, but it didn't get a lot of attention.  The plot, acting, and ending are top notch and guaranteed to hit you in the feels as well as telling your friends about it.  It's older, so you may have troubles finding it.  If you do, I strongly recommend it.

 

5 - Epenesa - This is where many of us are about to disagree.  Epenesa logged a lot of snaps in both preseason games so far and I believe it's because the coaches still want to see more from him.  Yes, he had a monster of a sack where he bull-rushed over the 3rd string left tackle and delivered a monster hit.  However, I'm not see Epenesa get the same push against the starters or back-ups.  He gets very close to the quarterback almost every time but he just can't quite finish.  If the coaches were sold on him, I don't believe he'd be out there as much and into the second half.  Same goes for my opinion of Obada, who had a very quite game.

 

6 - McKenzie - I only wanted to see one thing from McKenzie this preseason and that was solid hands in the punt return game.  Unfortunately, he muffed a punt this game and now I'm just waiting to see how long it takes to cost us in a real game.  As a receiver, he was a main target for Mitch and made the most of his catches.  However, as we know, there aren't going to be a lot of snaps for him at receiver and he needs to looks punts into his hands before taking off. 

 

7 - Haack - Speaking of Haack, he didn't get a lot of opportunities in this game, but did boot one off the side of his foot.  His other punt was a beauty and pinned the Bears inside the 20, but I can already see the threads about bringing in some competition for him.  Haack isn't going anywhere and while I didn't like to see the miss, his track record in Miami indicates that's more of a fluke than anything else. 

 

8 - Defensive Playcalling - The Bills ran a lot of single safety with extra coverage in the box.  The Linebackers did a great job of staying close enough to the line to reach to the rushing attack, but jumped back in coverage quickly.  It was the most aggressive defense I've seen Frazier call in recent games and hope it's a sign of things to come.  I'm not sure if this was because Hyde and Poyer sat out or if they wanted to see how the DB's handled man coverage, but it led to many 3 and outs.  Additionally, we didn't play contain when Fields was out there, which gave him a few free scrambles, but I don't believe we cared honestly.

 

9 - Press Coverage - The Bears played a lot of press coverage and I was happy to see the Bills receivers not be phased by it.  Each receiver got off the line fast, ran slants or shallow crosses that didn't allow the defenders to initiate hard contact with them.  Our speed was on display as there was YAC yards multiple times.  Again, it's nice to see the coordinators try new things and be effective.  I personally believe this team is going to be that much more effective with halftime adjustments as we are becoming so much more versatile in our schemes.

 

10 - Hollister - This is hard for me to say, but I believe Hollister should be given the starting job at TE.  Knox had both a drop and a missed block in his limited action while Hollister continues to be effective blocking, catching, and with surprising speed.  He looks like a receiver in the open field and a match-up nightmare for some linebackers and cornerbacks.  I'm sure Knox will continue to get the start and we haven't see what Josh's rapport is with him (should be strong since they played together before), but I think Knox is on a short leash this year.

 

Bonus Question - The Play - After the first Motor touchdown, someone on the Bills made a monster tackle on the Bears kick returner the next play.  Any idea who that was?  There weren't any replays from the homer Bears broadcast.

[No_Matter_What]

Epenesa - I thought his sack was against their starting LT. But I might be wrong.

 

Otherwise there is nothing what we couldn't agree on.

[TroutDog]

3 minutes ago, Virgil said:

5 - Epenesa - This is where many of us are about to disagree.  Epenesa logged a lot of snaps in both preseason games so far and I believe it's because the coaches still want to see more from him.  Yes, he had a monster of a sack where he bull-rushed over the 3rd string left tackle and delivered a monster hit.  However, I'm not see Epenesa get the same push against the starters or back-ups.  He gets very close to the quarterback almost every time but he just can't quite finish.  If the coaches were sold on him, I don't believe he'd be out there as much and into the second half.  Same goes for my opinion of Obada, who had a very quite game.

 

Great write up, as always!

 

I do disagree on the above, however. I believe Epenesa was rock solid…even against the first stringers. He did well setting the edge (unlike Basham) and he certainly seems to be much more comfortable in his ‘new’ body. 
 

Always appreciate your thoughts!

[PonyBoy]

One Thought About The Bears Game In No Particular Order..... The Bills are going to be good! 🙂

[Virgil]

2 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

Great write up, as always!

 

I do disagree on the above, however. I believe Epenesa was rock solid…even against the first stringers. He did well setting the edge (unlike Basham) and he certainly seems to be much more comfortable in his ‘new’ body. 
 

Always appreciate your thoughts!

Basham is a concern for me above everyone else.  I’m not really seeing anything from him and he was considered to be the most pro ready.   
 

I’m going to focus on him more in the next game to see what rotation he’s in

6 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

Epenesa - I thought his sack was against their starting LT. But I might be wrong.

 

Otherwise there is nothing what we couldn't agree on.

I could be wrong, but I remembered the announcers saying they just pulled their starters on the play before.  

3 minutes ago, PonyBoy said:

One Thought About The Bears Game In No Particular Order..... The Bills are going to be good! 🙂

Yes, it’s a little scary honestly 

[PonyBoy]

3 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Basham is a concern for me above everyone else.  I’m not really seeing anything from him and he was considered to be the most pro ready.   
 

I’m going to focus on him more in the next game to see what rotation he’s in

I could be wrong, but I remembered the announcers saying they just pulled their starters on the play before.  

Yes, it’s a little scary honestly 

It's a long season, not drinking all the Kool Aid... but dang..! Never been so worried as to who is going to pick up our cuts or not make our practice squad! Especially if they are in our division. Is this what it felt like being a Patriot fan for so many years?

[syhuang]

18 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

5 - Epenesa - This is where many of us are about to disagree.  Epenesa logged a lot of snaps in both preseason games so far and I believe it's because the coaches still want to see more from him.  Yes, he had a monster of a sack where he bull-rushed over the 3rd string left tackle and delivered a monster hit.  However, I'm not see Epenesa get the same push against the starters or back-ups.  He gets very close to the quarterback almost every time but he just can't quite finish.  If the coaches were sold on him, I don't believe he'd be out there as much and into the second half.  Same goes for my opinion of Obada, who had a very quite game.

 

 

 

Epenesa played 12 snaps on Saturday, does it quantify as "a lot"?

 

Boogie Basham: 31

Justin Zimmer: 28

Darryl Johnson: 27

Efe Obada: 23

Vernon Butler: 21

Brandin Bryant: 13

A.J. Epenesa: 12

Gregory Rousseau: 9

Ed Oliver: 6

Harrison Phillips: 6

[Not at the table Karlos]

8 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

I could be wrong, but I remembered the announcers saying they just pulled their starters on the play before.  

It was against #70(Wilkinson) who is listed as their starting LT as of now. I think peters will take that spot once up to speed. 

 

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/bears-announce-first-unofficial-depth-chart-2021-season

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, syhuang said:

 

Epenesa played 12 snaps on Saturday, does it quantify as "a lot"?

 

Boogie Basham: 31

Justin Zimmer: 28

Darryl Johnson: 27

Efe Obada: 23

Vernon Butler: 21

Brandin Bryant: 13

A.J. Epenesa: 12

Gregory Rousseau: 9

Ed Oliver: 6

Harrison Phillips: 6

Fair enough.   I felt like I saw him out there a lot more, but they may have spread them out 

[Don Otreply]

Iirc, Basham had a sack, a blocked kick, and applied pressure well during the Chicago game, this comes from what I read in threads hear on TSW, so he may not be GR, but he is showing some game, 

 

Go Bills !!!

[DrW]

22 minutes ago, Virgil said:

There weren't any replays from the homer Bears broadcast.

 

Excellent write-up, as always. Just a comment regarding the Bears' commentators. After listening to a number of other broadcasts with home team commentators, I enjoyed listening to the Bears' team. They were pretty balanced, and well-informed and very complimentary about the Bills.  

[Virgil]

3 minutes ago, DrW said:

 

Excellent write-up, as always. Just a comment regarding the Bears' commentators. After listening to a number of other broadcasts with home team commentators, I enjoyed listening to the Bears' team. They were pretty balanced, and well-informed and very complimentary about the Bills.  

Agree to disagree.  Take the one deep pass out of the mix and Dalton was dreadful.  I know they to support their team and keep it interesting, but it felt like they were watching a different game.  
 

However, I watched on NFL network and maybe we had different announcers. 

11 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Iirc, Basham had a sack, a blocked kick, and applied pressure well during the Chicago game, this comes from what I read in threads hear on TSW, so he may not be GR, but he is showing some game, 

 

Go Bills !!!

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fully coherent in the second half and may have missed that.  I didn’t remember his jersey standing out to me. 

[jkeerie]

It was Kumerow with the ST tackle on the kickoff.

[Don Otreply]

10 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Agree to disagree.  Take the one deep pass out of the mix and Dalton was dreadful.  I know they to support their team and keep it interesting, but it felt like they were watching a different game.  
 

However, I watched on NFL network and maybe we had different announcers. 

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fully coherent in the second half and may have missed that.  I didn’t remember his jersey standing out to me. 

That’s cool, I’m just going by what I have been reading, Baldy had good things to say as well, so I’m thinking Basham is solid and going thru a bit of a transition to the NFL type of thing,

 

[Malazan]

Trubisky throwing a deep ball made me realize miss Allen, but he definitely showed he can fill in for a game or two. 

[gdabillsfan]

Nice, I appreciate your thoughts.

The bull rush by Epeneza was against their starting LT #70

Too bad you got the Chicago announcers, you missed a gem from tasker describing tackling Gilliam, he said "tackling him is like trying to catch a fire hydrant, being thrown out of a moving pick up truck" I told this to an out of town friend and he spit out his coffee lol.

[Logic]

21 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

It was Kumerow with the ST tackle on the kickoff.

Hmm...I could have sworn it was linebacker Joe Giles-Harris. 

[jkeerie]

Maybe I'm thinking of a different KO (there were so many 😁) but I do know Kumerow had a really good hit on a KO.

[DCbillsfan]

Nice writeup Virgil.  Motor is looking good and I'm excited about Groot as well.  Epenesa is actually looking pretty good to me.  I think he could have a breakout year.  Haack had a bad game but I agree he should be alright.

[Virgil]

7 minutes ago, gdabillsfan said:

Nice, I appreciate your thoughts.

The bull rush by Epeneza was against their starting LT #70

Too bad you got the Chicago announcers, you missed a gem from tasker describing tackling Gilliam, he said "tackling him is like trying to catch a fire hydrant, being thrown out of a moving pick up truck" I told this to an out of town friend and he spit out his coffee lol.

Gilliam is another player I wanted to talk about.  I think he could be a real threat in situations this year.  I’m curious to see him next week.  Good call out