Preseason Predictions - What were you right about and wrong about ?

[Locomark]

Things I was right about… 
- Dane Jackson was not going to mount a heavy challenge at CB2

- Dawson Knox will continue to have the dropsies no matter what off-season drills he did

 

Things I was totally wrong about…

- Rousseau wouldn’t be ready to make an impact until later in the season

- Moss would clearly set himself apart from Singletary as the starter

- AJ Epenesa could be a bust 

 

What are yours?

[Freddie's Dead]

I was wrong about CWade.  Bills just bubble wrapped him into IGP for the third straight year.

[scuba guy]

Josh is still really good and the pass to Beasley back against the grain running away was spot on the money.

 

And then he backs it up with a dart to Davis.

 

Sorry 2 throws not any other qb  make

Edited August 29, 2021 by scuba guy
Typo

[hondo in seattle]

Roussea...  I watched some of his college game tape.  I was impressed by how athletic he was and and how he used his length to his advantage.  But I also thought he looked both raw and weak.  Especially after taking 2020 off, I didn't think he'd be remotely ready for the NFL.  

 

I'm reconsidering that opinion.  

[That's No Moon]

The defense is still concerning and the interior line is still weak.

[Locomark]

41 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Roussea...  I watched some of his college game tape.  I was impressed by how athletic he was and and how he used his length to his advantage.  But I also thought he looked both raw and weak.  Especially after taking 2020 off, I didn't think he'd be remotely ready for the NFL.  

 

I'm reconsidering that opinion.  

Agreed. I thought Basham would be more ready and Rousseau would need half a season to show us something if at all this year. Now I think Rousseau could be a high impact player and Basham might be the project. 

37 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

The defense is still concerning and the interior line is still weak.

Totally agree with this. We still can’t stop the run. Curious to see if we flip some cap space in the next week and try to pick up a DL. 

[Brennan Huff]

The run D sucked with Star 2 years ago and it sucks with him now

[BuffaloRebound]

Hard to draw any conclusions from preseason.  
Looks like we’ve improved the pass rush.  Our non-Josh run game looks like it’s been emphasized.  Jury still out on improvement.  
I think we can be stouter against the run when we want to be with return of Star and some bigger DE’s.  
Tight End still seems like a weakness.  

[Max Fischer]

Glad to see Mitch Morse looks better than last year. 
 

Trubisky’s improved play makes me feel much better about Allen missing time. 
 

Singletary has really stepped up. 
 

Still concerned about interior DL, consistent guard play and CB2 (and punter). 
 

Edmunds looks healthy. 
 

Brieda’s role still seems undefined. But will wait until regular season. 
 

Gage Davis looks like the true WR2.  

[LeGOATski]

I thought we would see more splash plays from Brieda.

 

Otherwise, this preseason is everything I thought it would be.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1) right about AJ Taking a big leap.

 

2) wrong about… oh, where to start!!  I actually thought Antonio Williams would really shine. 

[That's No Moon]

Just now, LeGOATski said:

I thought we would see more splash plays from Brieda.

 

Otherwise, this preseason is everything I thought it would be.

I think they are saving that for some special occasions. No need to show off all the new toys yet.

[JohnNord]

Jury is still out on this one, but I don’t think Star Loutuleili suddenly makes Tremaine Edmunds a top notch LB.  I see the Bills defensive line continue to give up yardage in the middle of the line 

[Bad Things]

Well, it was only preseason, so I'm assuming and hoping that we were just running a vanilla defense, but... I was thinking that our run defense was going to be a lot more stout with Star coming back.  So far, not so much.

[That's No Moon]

1 minute ago, Bad Things said:

Well, it was only preseason, so I'm assuming and hoping that we were just running a vanilla defense, but... I was thinking that our run defense was going to be a lot more stout with Star coming back.  So far, not so much.

Though it is going to give me heartburn I think the solution to our defense issue is just going to have to be to score more points against the better teams.  Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England and Tennessee at a minimum are going to want to run the ball on us. A lot. Need to hold them to the occasional field goal and get 35+ on the board. Win the game 35-31. We aren't going to be holding many people below 24 I don't think.

[GoBills808]

2 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

Though it is going to give me heartburn I think the solution to our defense issue is just going to have to be to score more points against the better teams.  Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England and Tennessee at a minimum are going to want to run the ball on us. A lot. Need to hold them to the occasional field goal and get 35+ on the board. Win the game 35-31. We aren't going to be holding many people below 24 I don't think.

I think McDermott invites teams to run the ball at us a certain % of the time, his thinking being you aren't going to outscore this offense running the ball a ton.

[Brand J]

I didn’t think the return of Cody Ford would move the needle much on the interior. We still need upgrades.
 

I didn’t think Star’s return would lead to Edmunds becoming more instinctual and an overall better linebacker. 
 

I didn’t think Star’s return would translate to a much improved run stopping defense (I remember how it was with him 2 years ago).

 

I thought Rousseau was strictly a measureables pick and had a lot of bust potential. Happy he’s looking like the real deal.

 

I didn’t like the double dipping of DEs because I knew both those players were safe and it would force the Bills to make a tough decision if Obada panned out. 
 

Didn’t like the double dipping of OTs because I felt we needed to take a swing at upgrading the interior. We’ll see how this one shakes out.

 

Didnt think Dane Jackson had the consistency to overtake Levi Wallace for CB2.

 

I worried Josh Allen’s season set the bar so high, it would be hard for him to replicate that success this year, thus leading us all to believe he took a step back. None of us can judge heart and the will/want to get better and that dude has it in spades. Feels great to hit big on a QB and I’m glad my thoughts of him being a bust were emphatically disproved. 
 

I’m still not sure we closed the gap with KC, since many of last year’s issues have carried over to this year, but… any given Sunday.

[billybrew1]

2 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

I didn’t think the return of Cody Ford would move the needle much on the interior. We still need upgrades.
 

I didn’t think Star’s return would lead to Edmunds becoming more instinctual and an overall better linebacker. 
 

I didn’t think Star’s return would translate to a much improved run stopping defense (I remember how it was with him 2 years ago).

 

I thought Rousseau was strictly a measureables pick and had a lot of bust potential. Happy he’s looking like the real deal.

 

I didn’t like the double dipping of DEs because I knew both those players were safe and it would force the Bills to make a tough decision if Obada panned out. 
 

Didn’t like the double dipping of OTs because I felt we needed to take a swing at upgrading the interior. We’ll see how this one shakes out.

 

Didnt think Dane Jackson had the consistency to overtake Levi Wallace for CB2.

 

I worried Josh Allen’s season set the bar so high, it would be hard for him to replicate that success this year, thus leading us all to believe he took a step back. None of us can judge heart and the will/want to get better and that dude has it in spades. Feels great to hit big on a QB and I’m glad my thoughts of him being a bust were emphatically disproved. 
 

I’m still not sure we closed the gap with KC, since many of last year’s issues have carried over to this year, but… any given Sunday.

I think the draft was strong at both OT and end. We want to build a dominant defense with lots of ends (though I understand seven is too many, they are looking at the big picture.) to move inside on passing downs.

Our defense was statistically much better when Star played. It was 2nd, 3rd, then fell to ~ 14 last year.l

I can't really say why watching Star, but the numbers changed a lot.

We have Two backup OTs (the rookies) and two back up interior players (Boetger And Bates). It worked out just fine..

Dane Jackson hardly played last year so nobody knew including the coaches.

Josh also has talent in spades to go along with everything else. He is full of spades.

I don't think we caught KC either but I Billieve were a lot better including Josh. I think we have a good chance.

Im worried about the defense. Last January, Allen really didn't have his weapons with him. He ought to be fully loaded come week five (or at least I hope he has them.)

But Allen's better. His weapons are better. His OL is better. His DL is better. Maybe Tremaine ....steps up this year. You can't judge by preseason. I predicted 14-3 and another loss in AFC Championship but I can also see us catching them. I see both possibilities. I think the Bills are the 3rd best team in the NFL right now.

 

Im hoping Beane makes a move during cutdown maybe an End for a CB or DT?

Still haven't ruled out Ertz by the trade deadline. Or maybe a different TE?

 

Daryl Johnson has got a lot of pretty decent film out there of him playing DE this summer....

On top of that he is a Special Teams demon and a freak athlete. 

Does he have value on the trade market?

Im not sure?

 

Go Bills!

 

 

[That's No Moon]

6 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

I think McDermott invites teams to run the ball at us a certain % of the time, his thinking being you aren't going to outscore this offense running the ball a ton.

Which is fine except Kansas City ran all over them and beat them handily, twice. Tennessee ran all over them and beat them handily. New England ran on them the first game and was a very unfortunate play away from beating them. Indianapolis ran all over them in the second half and nearly came back on them. The Baltimore he was two very unusual missed field goals and a historic interception away from being a different game as the offense only had 220 yards in the whole game.

 

It's a really dangerous way to live, particularly when you play against competent defensive teams that ARE capable of slowing your offense down. They don't even need to shut you down, just slowing you down can be enough.

 

They didn't fix it, and I don't think they can fix it this year which is why I said the solution is better offense. However, I'm not sure they did that either and their offensive flaws look to be the same. Maybe I'm wrong and the line is better and they will be able to run and protect a little better. Maybe the addition of Sanders will make a difference. Maybe I'm wrong about the defense and they won't be Charmin soft this year.

[Dopey]

4 hours ago, billybrew1 said:

I think the draft was strong at both OT and end. We want to build a dominant defense with lots of ends (though I understand seven is too many, they are looking at the big picture.) to move inside on passing downs.

Our defense was statistically much better when Star played. It was 2nd, 3rd, then fell to ~ 14 last year.l

I can't really say why watching Star, but the numbers changed a lot.

We have Two backup OTs (the rookies) and two back up interior players (Boetger And Bates). It worked out just fine..

Dane Jackson hardly played last year so nobody knew including the coaches.

Josh also has talent in spades to go along with everything else. He is full of spades.

I don't think we caught KC either but I Billieve were a lot better including Josh. I think we have a good chance.

Im worried about the defense. Last January, Allen really didn't have his weapons with him. He ought to be fully loaded come week five (or at least I hope he has them.)

But Allen's better. His weapons are better. His OL is better. His DL is better. Maybe Tremaine ....steps up this year. You can't judge by preseason. I predicted 14-3 and another loss in AFC Championship but I can also see us catching them. I see both possibilities. I think the Bills are the 3rd best team in the NFL right now.

 

Im hoping Beane makes a move during cutdown maybe an End for a CB or DT?

Still haven't ruled out Ertz by the trade deadline. Or maybe a different TE?

 

Daryl Johnson has got a lot of pretty decent film out there of him playing DE this summer....

On top of that he is a Special Teams demon and a freak athlete. 

Does he have value on the trade market?

Im not sure?

 

Go Bills!

 

 

Seems a lot of folks here still don't get it with Star. I thought he played well in the GB game. Was there a run or two while he was in, sure. But they are way better with him in there. Just as an example, we stopped them at the goal line in the first qt. He was a big part of that stance. Also, on the play where Kline knifes through for a tackle behind the LOS, you can see Star throw his opponent to his left like a rag doll. Star was missed last year, big time.