What I did and didn't like vs Steelers

[Mark Vader]

Liked.

Defense. Run was very good today. Pass was alright. Can't pin this loss on the defense.

Poyer & Hyde are fantastic.

Taron Johnson got picked on a bit, but did not give up any big plays and made tackles.

Matt Milano started slowly, but had a solid game.

Sacks were not a factor, but there was a good amount of pressure today.

Devin Singletary.

Cole Beasley.

Dawson Knox.

 

Disliked.

Brian Daboll. Bizarre play calling. All of those 1 yard screen passes never worked. We all know about the 4th & 1 play in the second half, so I won't beat that to death.

Why were there so many designed run plays for Josh Allen?

Matt Breida was sparsely used, and when he was in there, they would have him run up the middle most of the time. Why?

Offensive Line was terrible today. It wasn't just one player.

Josh Allen was so-so today. That touchdown drive, he looked in command. Other times he looked uncomfortable. Yes, he was under pressure a lot. Again those 1 yard screens looked out of place.

Disappointing Special Teams, except for Bass.

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

22 minutes ago, MWK said:

Feliciano is garbage. Been saying it forever. Supposed “toughness” doesnt get you anywhere when you can’t actually block.

He’s horrible.  having cool tats and a nickname like Mongo don’t make you a good OG. 

[JohnNord]

22 minutes ago, MWK said:

Feliciano is garbage. Been saying it forever. Supposed “toughness” doesnt get you anywhere when you can’t actually block.

The most odd thing is he reported to camp 20 pounds underweight.  This was something he did on his own.  You don’t exactly want to be surprised when your lineman shows up 20 pounds lighter

[sherpa]

I am over Singletary.

Constant drops, whether at the end of carries or pass receiving.

The guy had a couple fumbles today saved by a whistle or a sideline.

[FilthyBeast]

34 minutes ago, GreggTX said:

What I liked:

1. Run defense

2. Secondary play in 1st half

3. McKenzie's return work.

4. Devin Singletary

 

What I didn't like:

1. Levi Wallace. Need I say more?

2. The OL. I know Pittsburgh's front 7 is among the best, but our guys were getting beat too often. Ford continues to be a real liability.

3. Josh. No, I'm not saying he's garbage, but his accuracy and decision making were off today. Hopefully he'll bounce back quickly. Also, I blame the coaches as well as Josh for all the fumbles. He simply refuses to protect the ball even in heavy traffic. He looks so nonchalant about it. He can do much better there, but there's no reason I can think of that the coaches shouldn't be drilling this into his head. It's entirely mental. He's perfectly capable of squeezing the ball to his body and covering it up. He just doesn't do it.

4. Pass rush: It wasn't terrible, but the young DE's need to start contributing.

 

It's not time to panic by a long shot, but that was ugly. What's your list of good and bad?

 

Pretty much agree, would also add to the don't like:

 

1) Coaching, not McDermott or Dabolls best day

2) ST - when you invest so much in 'ST only players' you can't let a blocked punt happen in a crucial moment like it did. Thats would essentially ended the game IMO.

 

Regarding Wallace - I just don't see what this front office and coaching staff sees compared to us 'armchair GMs' who know this guy is trash and nothing more than a depth type of guy. Teams are going to continue to go at him all year and not much will change but it's probably too late to address unless we make an in season trade.

 

Regarding oline - I'm assuming this is the worst they'll look all year given the defense we played today. But it's crystal clear that both guard spots are an issue and I'll say Feliciano is still one of the most overrated Bills players of all time. He was probably the worst guy out there today hands down and I'm still trying to understand why an undersized guy thought losing 30 pounds was somehow going to make him better??

[sven233]

1 minute ago, JohnNord said:

Guard play was atrocious and outside of the Williams move or making a trade, I’m not too sure there is much we can do.  The Bills rotated Ford, Feliciano, and Boettger today and they were all equally ineffective.

 

Yup.  It's a talent issue for sure.  They aren't good enough there so it's about finding an answer.  Since there isn't a good idea out there on the streets, and a trade most likely difficult and unlikely right now, the Williams move may be the only card we will have to play because the players we have aren't talented enough at that position.

[BananaB]

Didn’t like listening to Charlie Davis’s drool fest of 18 year ver Ben Roethliberger. 

[TC in St. Louis]

Reid Ferguson whiffed on his block.  The guy ran in and could have caught the punt.  

[JerseyBills]

35 minutes ago, 716er said:

Very concerned the pass rush couldn’t beat up that revamped Steelers oline. One of the worst o-lines we could face all year 

I thought the pass rush was fine? 

Our O was terrible imo.  We held em to 55 yards in a half! 

7 minutes ago, sven233 said:

 

Yup.  It's a talent issue for sure.  They aren't good enough there so it's about finding an answer.  Since there isn't a good idea out there on the streets, and a trade most likely difficult and unlikely right now, the Williams move may be the only card we will have to play because the players we have aren't talented enough at that position.

I miss Wyatt Teller..

7 minutes ago, sven233 said:

 

Yup.  It's a talent issue for sure.  They aren't good enough there so it's about finding an answer.  Since there isn't a good idea out there on the streets, and a trade most likely difficult and unlikely right now, the Williams move may be the only card we will have to play because the players we have aren't talented enough at that position.

I miss Wyatt Teller..

[CSBill]

What I don't like? .... You know all the talk about keeping ST players over others because its so important? .... You know what, despite all the other things that went wrong, if we just execute a punt this game is still tied. And ever worse, that block came up the middle and it looked like two black and yellow guys could have got it. .... That is the most frustrating thing for me from this game. Just execute simple punt blocking and we probably don't lose this game.

8 minutes ago, TC in St. Louis said:

Reid Ferguson whiffed on his block.  The guy ran in and could have caught the punt.  

 

And, J Johnson, he was the one who should have slid over to get the guy looping around--he touched no one on the play.

[John from Riverside]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

Josh needs to get the ball out fast like that.  His receivers are much better

We also need to take a look at the playcalling to make sure there was actually an outlet to get the ball out fast was it there in this playcalling I’m not so sure

 

[Buffarukus]

GOOD

 

run d looks vastly improved.

 

oliver seems to be ready to break out this season. a really good game from him. 

 

defense as a whole stepped up. a penalty and blocked punt were the game changers. pass rush was no where where id like to see it with the philosophy we are using of heavy rotation and huge stable but it is very young and the first game. i saw alot of uncalled holds that were far more apparent then a few we were called on. ill give them a pass.

 

mckenzie seems like a solid returner and glad he actually will contribute on O not just a spot for return alone. bass is continuously reliable will be a great for years to come and i really see the advantage of haak accuracy over bojos power now.

 

bad

 

its looking like the fans concerns about the coaches failing to address any upgrades to the interior lines for run blocking or backs are valid.

 

once again we are choosing to be one dimensional pass all day offense do to the runs ineffectiveness. the entire O will rest in joshes hands to the point we will ask he also be our power back. if so COVER THE BALL WHILE RUSHING! if he has a bad game throwing there is no alternative to pick up yardage, control clock which will put alot of pressure on the D. defenses will play pass only. pin their ears back all game, which may make the line look worse then it is..not sure. not even sure why josh uses play action on alot of plays. it scares noone. with the entire D playing pass we still relied on josh for all our yardage. the book is out on this from last year so hopefully they rethink it will be as successful and gadget plays will not change our lack of running ability. the fact moss was a healthy scratch is strange to say the least.

 

more to say but those are the main points i saw.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Buffarukus

[The Frankish Reich]

2 hours ago, MWK said:

Feliciano is garbage. Been saying it forever. Supposed “toughness” doesnt get you anywhere when you can’t actually block.

Not garbage. But ... ideally you'd be able to use him as a backup flex G/C. He's pretty marginal as a starter in my opinion. I am well aware that you can't upgrade every position while keeping your newly expensive starters like Milano, but the fact is the weak spots last year are still the weak spots this year.

[Solomon Grundy]

2 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

 

People put a lot of pressure on Allen to be the next Mahomes and rightfully so w/ that hefty contract. He definitely did not play upto it, but Daboll and Sanders did him no favors.

 

I feel like the defense did fine barring Wallace. The field position is what did them in. Wallace is for sure the weakest starter out of the unit. I'll admit I defended him against the people who said so during the off-season, but I'm beginning to think we should look at other options either on or off the roster If it continues. 

Sanders was wide open twice for TDs. 

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Dion is not back to full health IMO. He is still light and it is really hard to regain weight in season.

Wonder how much his conditioning played a factor? 

[Solomon Grundy]

2 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

Dawkins looked really bad today. I thought he was hurt. Franchise LTs don't allow that type of pressure.

Been saying for 2 years now Wallace is a big liability. He's not a starting caliber CB and opposing teams know this. Spending money on Sanders instead of a quality CB is gonna hurt us.

Daboll didn't do him any justice. Slow the rush with screens/passes to RBs

[Not at the table Karlos]

2 hours ago, sven233 said:

Our G play was atrocious today.  While I am not ready to pull the trigger in this yet, if the awful play continues, I am slipping Williams inside to G and I'm letting Brown work at RT.  I think he is one of our best 5 lineman and should be on the field, but he's too tall to play inside.  I think Williams could do real well at RG and I would be banking on Brown's natural ability and athleticism to pick up the NFL speed sooner than later.

 

Again, I am not ready to do it yet, but if our guards continue to get manhandled up front, I will be ready to try this.

Panthers tried Williams at guard and he was pretty bad. 

[Solomon Grundy]

2 hours ago, IronMaidenBills said:

Allen is 1 more weapon from being unstoppable. If this team had Davonta Smith or JaMarr Chase I’m willing to bet we win despite playing as bad as we did. 

Has a weapon in Gabe. I kept questioning his absence from offense early in the game

[Starr Almighty]

2 hours ago, 716er said:

Very concerned the pass rush couldn’t beat up that revamped Steelers oline. One of the worst o-lines we could face all year 

I would agree if they weren't being held 90% of the time

[Solomon Grundy]

2 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

I did not like singletary at all. Most of his yardage came on two runs where the clock was becoming a factor and Pittsburgh wasn’t defending it. We needed effective running long before that point. 

11 carries!! 

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, JohnNord said:

Guard play was atrocious and outside of the Williams move or making a trade, I’m not too sure there is much we can do.  The Bills rotated Ford, Feliciano, and Boettger today and they were all equally ineffective.

 

 

What they can do is run the ball enough or at least keep a back in to play action fake and/or block to both take the starch out of the pass rush and provide help when they spring a leak.

 

Empty sets all day make it more challenging to pass block.........days like this........against a team that's put up 50+ sacks 4 straight years.......the OL needs some assistance from their coordinator.