So, 8 games in, here’s what I think…

[eball]

• We currently have an average (at best) OL, but Dawkins is a good player, Morse is a good player, and Brown shows promise.  Williams looks passable at RG.  Cody Ford should never see the field again.  I’d like to see Bates get in there.  The problem seems to be a lack of identity and an inability to transition from pass blocking to run blocking; I am not savvy enough to understand if this is an issue of talent or coaching, but I’m leaning towards the latter.
• We have RBs who do not strike fear into any defense, mostly because they can’t get more than a 1/2 yard past the LOS before encountering contact.
• We have a top 5 QB who tries to (and usually can) do everything to will his team to victory.
• We have a top 5 WR corps.
• We have a top 5 defense.
• We have a top 5 placekicker.

 

With the above combination the Bills are most certainly still a legitimate Super Bowl contender, but they have flaws on offense the coaching staff must scheme around.  Daboll needs to look at what the OL can and can’t do, understand the way defenses are playing us, and devise a plan early in games to get the defense into the looks we want to see.  He also needs to adjust during the game.  He did this against Miami; I have no explanation for why he did not against Jacksonville.

 

I knew this place would be a wreck after Sunday’s game.  It was disgusting to watch.  I’m not buying the “they didn’t care enough” b.s. (I mean, look at how the defense played) but someone needs to light a fire under the OL and get them to show some pride in what they are doing.  How can they look at Josh taking a beating, and the way he addressed the media after the game, and not take it personally?

 

I look forward to seeing what Bills team comes out on Sunday against a team we should most certainly handle.  It will say a great deal about the rest of the season.

 

Cheers.

[Pete]

I agree with everything, except the RBs.  I think if they didn't get hit until 3 yards, it wouldn't matter,  our RBs don't scare anyone.

Bills need a RB with speed, who can run a wheel route, and that opposing defenses need to game plan on.  When a play breaks down(lots lately)- having a RB who can make a play would help out Josh and Bills offense incredibly imo

[GunnerBill]

I think we have a bad Oline. When it plays at its best it is sort of average. On its bad days like Sunday it is a total liability.

 

EDIT: I should also say while I agree Dion is a good player he hasn't looked right all year to me. We had a centre half at Arsenal last year get a bad bout of Covid at xmas and after 2 months out he came back and was not nearly the same player. Took him the summer break and the new season to get back to his level. I have to believe we are not going to see Dion at his true level in 2021. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by GunnerBill

[BuffaloRebound]

I suspect if we lose to the Jets, we’ll find out how the offense feels about the coaching.  Zero balance and no commitment to the run… my guess is the O-Line feels like they’re not put in a position to succeed.  They’re certainly playing that way.  

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

7 minutes ago, eball said:

 

• We currently have an average (at best) OL, but Dawkins is a good player, Morse is a good player, and Brown shows promise.  Williams looks passable at RG.  Cody Ford should never see the field again.  I’d like to see Bates get in there.  The problem seems to be a lack of identity and an inability to transition from pass blocking to run blocking; I am not savvy enough to understand if this is an issue of talent or coaching, but I’m leaning towards the latter.
• We have RBs who do not strike fear into any defense, mostly because they can’t get more than a 1/2 yard past the LOS before encountering contact.
• We have a top 5 QB who tries to (and usually can) do everything to will his team to victory.
• We have a top 5 WR corps.
• We have a top 5 defense.
• We have a top 5 placekicker

 

Hard to argue that 

 

[eball]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I think we have a bad Oline. When it plays at its best it is sort of average. On its bad days like Sunday it is a total liability.

 

But is it talent or coaching?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

9 minutes ago, eball said:

 

But is it talent or coaching?

Coaching.  Clearly the coaches need to convey to the Bills team captains that at the coin flip they need to request the '5 Mississippi' option.

[billsfan1959]

7 minutes ago, eball said:

With the above combination the Bills are most certainly still a legitimate Super Bowl contender, but they have flaws on offense the coaching staff must scheme around.  Daboll needs to look at what the OL can and can’t do, understand the way defenses are playing us, and devise a plan early in games to get the defense into the looks we want to see.  He also needs to adjust during the game.  He did this against Miami; I have no explanation for why he did not against Jacksonville.

 

The offense clearly didn't play well and the oline was as bad as I've seen in a while. I'm not sure it was really a lack of adjustments. I went back and watched it again. The Bills crossed into Jax territory on 6 of 9 possessions (had Beasley not dropped an easy catch it would have been 7 of 9 possessions). To me, it was a perfect storm of offensive issues: Penalties, drops, missed assignments, turnovers, etc. - and every offensive miscue seemed to be at a critical moment.

 

In addition, the absence of Brown has really caused issues the last two weeks along the Oline. If their starters are healthy, consistently in the same positions, and playing up to their potential, they are not great, but they they are serviceable with a QB like Josh. Like most teams, they have no quality depth on the oline. You remove Brown and shuffle others around and you see the results. You compound that with all of the other mistakes you saw on Sunday and it is a recipe for disaster.

 

I don't buy the "They didn't care," "They weren't prepared," "They have no heart," and other ridiculous assertions. It was atrocious, and they have issues, no doubt. But it is in no way a defining moment for this team. All teams have issues and all teams stumble at some point.

 

I find it interesting that so many people want to use this game as the lens through which they want to view this team as opposed to the overwhelming majority of games over the last year and a half in which they demonstrated that they are one of the best teams in the NFL.

[bmur66]

Reportedly the Bills were looking at Adrian Peterson which tells me they know their RB's are not good enough.

[SCBills]

When you break down the OL player by player, it looks better than what we’ve seen as a whole.  
 

The issue is that Morse is solid in pass pro, but struggles in run blocking and with big/physical DT’s.  That’s only enhanced by the struggles of our guards. 
 

Another issue is that Dion, as multiple years have shown, is a good LT.  Problem is, he hasn’t been the same since covid.  Will it click for him at some point this year?

 

Brown shows a ton of promise at RT, but is a rookie, and will have rookie moments. 
 

When healthy, with Williams and Feliciano at Guard, this OL has potential to be good - especially if they could ever develop some continuity.  
 

Our OL depth is an absolute disaster though.  In a perfect world, Feliciano would be a backup, but he’s currently the weak link at starter when healthy.  Anything after Feliciano is barely playable at the moment. 

TE is an extension of the OL.  Knox is fantastic, but again, the depth is brutal.  Sweeney is an entire struggle bus out there. 

In summary, if we can stay healthy, there’s reason for optimism.  If only the NFL wasn’t a war of attrition.. 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by SCBills

[SoCal Deek]

It’s hasn’t been mentioned much but I have this theory that Bills do not do well on real grass. Those games are obviously road games so my theory may be a bit biased but how many grass games are left? Tampa?

[RiotAct]

O-Line… average as compared to an NCAA team?

[Royale with Cheese]

I do not think our offensive line is average.  I think its bottom 3 in the league.  Pass pro is inconsistent and running game is non existent.

 

I am pretty sure we will have at least two new starters on the interior line next year.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Royale with Cheese

[billsfan1959]

5 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

O-Line… average as compared to an NCAA team?

 

Average enough to help this team score 26+ pts per game in 6 of their 8 games this year (average 35 pts per game)....

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, eball said:

 

But is it talent or coaching?

 

Talent.

 

Of course it is always both but I think primarily talent.

Edited November 9, 2021 by GunnerBill

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

13 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

O-Line… average as compared to an NCAA team?

You just drag those thoughts over to the college football subforum, citizen! 🤨

[BuffaloNuts]

I saw at least 4 plays where Singletary was getting wrapped up as he was getting the ball. They literally have to make guys miss before they get the damn ball. The run blocking has been atrocious. It became really apparent when I watched the last few Browns games and saw D'ernest Johnson looking like a hall of famer running through gaping holes. Had at least 4-5 yards of open space on every carry. no way in hell he'd rush for 130 on our team. 

 

It was seriously comical how bad our oline is run blocking. 

 

[Buffalo Boy]

   Agree on Ford…. Abysmal 👿

   Seemed like a couple times,in the Jags game, Motor had a beautiful hole and cut it back into a defender. Seems to be a “vision” issue. He also runs square into defenders. He never seems to work angles at point of contact.

    My receiver/offensive scheme problem is this: We don’t get YAC. 
Diggs will go down instead of accepting contact. Sometimes I think this is prudent but other times there is a potential seam between defenders and he doesn’t try to exploit it.

    Beasely runs in a circle and falls… always. 
   Sanders has blocking issues( last game at least)

     Daboll needs to scheme more shallow crossers and slants and we need to take the shorter stuff by design sometimes.

[corta765]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

I think we have a bad Oline. When it plays at its best it is sort of average. On its bad days like Sunday it is a total liability.

 

EDIT: I should also say while I agree Dion is a good player he hasn't looked right all year to me. We had a centre half at Arsenal last year get a bad bout of Covid at xmas and after 2 months out he came back and was not nearly the same player. Took him the summer break and the new season to get back to his level. I have to believe we are not going to see Dion at his true level in 2021. 

 

I would tend to agree that the o line is not very good this year, but Josh's ability to move and create so many plays mutes at times how rough it really is. I will say the O-Line in 19 and 20 was good, but age and identity/communication REALLY seem to be hitting it hard this year.

1 minute ago, Buffalo Boy said:

My receiver/offensive scheme problem is this: We don’t get YAC. 
Diggs will go down instead of accepting contact. Sometimes I think this is prudent but other times there is a potential seam between defenders and he doesn’t try to exploit it.

 

Diggs the last few games has def been avoiding contact I think his knee got tweaked against TEN but they are not saying anything because he did go to the sidelines with a trainer that game.

[Bleedbuffaloblue]

I definitely agree with most everything said here. IMO the RB’s could be more than serviceable with better run blocking, or should I say any real type of run blocking. When the RB is met by multiple defenders before even reaching the LOS I’m not sure Derrick Henry could be effective behind this OL. The run blocking is just brutal. It’s almost like they are just stepping aside and letting the defender run right by.