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

[Kwai San]

39 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

It was Kumerow with the ST tackle on the kickoff.

 

It was definitely him on the KO after HIS TD catch......not so sure on the Motor TD.  Just watched it....#33 - S. Neal.....

 

I too was a bit miffed at the muff.  NOT what was needed or desired.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Kwai San

[NickelCity]

49 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

It was Kumerow with the ST tackle on the kickoff.

 

Thank you! I thought so but couldn't be sure. Been wondering, like @Virgil.

[Mark Vader]

28 minutes ago, Virgil said:

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 

Are we really going to keep a Fullback on the roster?

 

Great write-up as always, Virgil.

 

I see your point about Epenesa, but I think he's coming along fine.

 

Meanwhile, watching Groot, I cannot believe what I am seeing. I was thrilled we drafted him. Told people had he not opted out, he would have been a top 15 pick. The series where he got the sack on Dalton was great, but if you watched him on the next two plays, look at the patience, discipline and not giving up.

I don't want to get too excited, since it's only preseason, but man, the potential is there.

 

I think you're being a bit rough on Basham. He had a much better game than the week before.

 

Haack had an unimpressive day, but I agree, he's not going anywhere, and I'm not that concerned. I still find it odd that the Bills never signed another Punter and/or Kicker as camp bodies.

 

Oddly enough I find myself very anxious to see who ends up being our back-up Linebackers. Smith, Matakevich, Dodson & Adams have all played very good this preseason.

 

How about some love for Spencer Brown? Played a good amount and did not look like a liability. Just like Groot, the potential is there.

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

Great observations and thanks for taking the time to share with us.  Clearly better information than we are ever going to get from some national media hack.

[Ralonzo]

2 hours ago, syhuang said:

 

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

I mean, it’s the Bears. That’s 4 series for Dalton.

 

regarding point 10, without going to DVR I recall I think Neal making a big stick on a kickoff cover.

[ganesh]

2 hours 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 !!!

It has always been said that Basham will be more game ready than Rosseau but will have a limited high ceiling.   He is proving it in the Preseason.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, Virgil said:

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.

 

2 hours ago, jkeerie said:

It was Kumerow with the ST tackle on the kickoff.

 

2 hours ago, Logic said:

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

 

According to NFL.com's play by play, you're both wrong:

it was Siran Neal.  If the question is "who is our best backup boundry corner?" I don't think he's the answer, but he's a helluva ST guy.

 

[Rochesterfan]

 

Your right that AJ is going to be a spot of disagreement.  He played a limited 12 snaps and although Groot only played 9 - he came back out in a later series after AJ had already been pulled.

 

AJ’s sack was against their starting tackle and he planted on his butt.

 

I think it says a lot more that Vernon Butler was out there in the 4th quarter and logged many more snaps.  I think they are very happy with AJ, but expect him to log limited game time as Jerry will be manning that spot come the regular season.

 

I think Basham had himself an impressive game.  He made tackles in the run game, got a sack, blocked a kick and in general made some really nice plays.  There was a ton to like in that game.

 

I think Sal said it best today - think of him like AJ last year.  His body is not in NFL shape and he is going to struggle to get to the correct playing weight and learn how to be an NFL pass rusher.  He was strong enough in college, but needs to get in proper shape and learn before he will be a true player.

 

Expect him to be inactive early in the season and come on late when they need a fresh body.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Rochesterfan

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, jkeerie said:

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.

 

Kumerow ran a great route and caught a pass for a TD.

 

THEN he nailed the returner on the ensuing kickoff.  But, it was after a 24 yd return to the CHI 30, so not as impressive as it could have been.

 

Our ST coverage on kickoffs (and there were a lot) was not as stingy as I would have liked to see, but it may have been because the usual core ST guys were starting on offense or defense and more tired, and/or they were trying out more depth players to see how they'd do.

 

[Cash]

Great write up as always, Virgil!

 

My meaningless opinions:

 

Announcers: I actually thought they did a great job. Keep in mind, NFL Network only uses the local (home) announcers in the preseason. Despite that, I thought this crew:

1. Sounded professional 

2. Paid attention to the game on the field

3. Gave a very reasonable amount of attention to the “other” team

4. Seemed decently prepped on the roster of the “other” team

 

Contrast all 4 of those with the Lions’ crew last week, and it’s not even close. I’d argue that they’d probably outscore Catalon/Tasker on about 3 of the above 4 as well. 
 

 

Basham: I’m kind of in the middle on this one. I think all these can be true:

1. He’s nowhere close to helping this team in the regular season. I saw the stats, but they were mostly against 3rd stringers. To help us this year, he needs to be able to beat 1st stringers. No one platoons their O-line. 
2. He didn’t have that great of a game. IMO he was responsible for 2 big Fields scrambles on their TO on downs drive. Both times he went inside and lost contain. Technically goes in the books as a pressure, but Fields will run right around Basham for a first every time. Those kinds of plays would kill us against Mahomes or Lamar. 
3. I’m not at all worried about him. I don’t care if he was supposed to be more NFL-ready than Rousseau. It’s hard enough to predict who’ll be good vs bad. It’s basically impossible to consistently predict who’ll be good AND WHEN. There’s no reason he can’t get better over the course of the year, or by next year, or etc. Who knows? Maybe he switches to DT full time next year and winds up being great there? Rookies are not finished products in August of their first preseason. 
4. Even if he winds up a bust, it wasn’t really a bad pick. Okay, obviously it wouldn’t be a GREAT pick either. I just mean him busting doesn’t mean the Bills we’re dumb to draft him. See above re: drafting is hard. So if the Bills realize drafting is hard, they also realize they won’t be right 100% of the time. So with pass rush as a huge need, drafting 2 strong prospects gives us a better chance of landing at least 1 good pass rusher. It’s one of the hardest positions to find, so it’s worth spending the extra resources on. Even though it makes you less likely to be fully optimized, it might very well be worth it. Hard to say for sure. I’ll concede that there’s probably a CB or OG who we could’ve had that would help us more. But the Bills didn’t know how good Rousseau would look when they were drafting in the 2nd round. And they didn’t feel they could take the risk of Rousseau being unable to help this year. 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Cash

[JOSH HUFF]

3 hours 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 

Basham, Zimmer, Phillips were beast too.  This D line is incredibly talented!   Epenesa played great!  I will take QB hurries all day, making the QB uncomfortable in the pocket=mistakes!!

[Virgil]

29 minutes ago, RunJoshRun said:

"I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fully coherent in the second half" - - - 

 

When a poster says something like this I have to question their ability to make sound judgements about the entire game.  I guess they were just warming up in the 1st half to get partially incoherent in the 2nd half?   

I was sick this weekend and on meds.   I was struggling to stay awake. 

[Thurman#1]

3 hours 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.  

 

 

Unfortunately, I got the away guys the last two weeks.

 

The Bears guys were far better than the miserable Lions group, but I had to shake my head when at one point the Bears guy said, on a one-on-one play in the middle of the field in easy view, "and Edwards makes a nice play, getting a solid tackle on ... the Bills pass catcher."
 

Come on.

[Thurman#1]

59 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

 

Your right that AJ is going to be a spot of disagreement.  He played a limited 12 snaps and although Groot only played 9 - he came back out in a later series after AJ had already been pulled.

 

AJ’s sack was against their starting tackle and he planted on his butt.

 

I think it says a lot more that Vernon Butler was out there in the 4th quarter and logged many more snaps.  I think they are very happy with AJ, but expect him to log limited game time as Jerry will be manning that spot come the regular season.

 

I think Basham had himself an impressive game.  He made tackles in the run game, got a sack, blocked a kick and in general made some really nice plays.  There was a ton to like in that game.

 

I think Sal said it best today - think of him like AJ last year.  His body is not in NFL shape and he is going to struggle to get to the correct playing weight and learn how to be an NFL pass rusher.  He was strong enough in college, but needs to get in proper shape and learn before he will be a true player.

 

Expect him to be inactive early in the season and come on late when they need a fresh body.

 

 

I agree with you totally on Epenesa. Not worried about him at all, and it's not reasonable to say he played a lot.

 

Hope you and Sal are right on Basham. He had a few plays I liked but also a bunch where I didn't see much. But yeah, it's really early, particularly on this roster, where we've got a lot of guys ahead of him on the depth chart at this point.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

I watched every one of Spencer Brown’s snaps again.  He was very, very good against Khalil Mack.  Dominated him, really.  He also impressed me on one play “looking for work” at the second level on run/screen plays.  Pancaked a LB nicely.

[Thurman#1]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

 

 

According to NFL.com's play by play, you're both wrong:

it was Siran Neal.  If the question is "who is our best backup boundry corner?" I don't think he's the answer, but he's a helluva ST guy.

 

 

 

Just went and watched it on NFL Game Pass, it was Neal.

[Utah John]

Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, the dog that didn't bark:

 

Ed Oliver.  Why are we not hearing his name called?  We're talking about other guys making plays, but Oliver again seems invisible.  Is he still stuck playing 1-technique?

[Thurman#1]

Greg Tompsett:  "My final thoughts were I'm super-glad we saw another dominating game from the young defensive line all the way through, but most especially AJ Epenesa. I thought he had his consistently best game. I was glad to see another game from Rousseau. Ed Oliver collapsed the pocket on one of the early sacks...."

 

 

 

It's at around 24:00.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Thurman#1

[BaaadThingsMan]

The trenches are coming along nicely. 

 

Hollister should be #1. He will make a killing down the seams this season. Could be the motivation Knox needs to reach his potential. 

 

Mitch had some nice moments.

 

 

 

 

[Chandler#81]

5 hours 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. 

Then don’t pretend you watched the game. I miss Bill in NYC..😢

2 hours ago, RunJoshRun said:

"I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fully coherent in the second half" - - - 

 

When a poster says something like this I have to question their ability to make sound judgements about the entire game.  I guess they were just warming up in the 1st half to get partially incoherent in the 2nd half?   

This.