Week 9 thread - We’re on to Cincinnati

[ALG1130]

I honestly feel no pressure/stress regarding this game. I don't see us winning it. I feel like we either get curb stomped, again, by this team, or we lose a very close one and we get some stupid penalty after a huge play that either gives The Bengals life, or guarantees their victory. Our healthier D last season could not stop them, so I cannot imagine our ailing D, the same one that made Mac Jones look like Tom Brady, stopping this team.

 

Our best bet is to hope to be on the winning end of a shootout. 

 

Sorry for being so negative, but The Bengals gave us fits last year and I did not think we did anything in the off season to counteract them. Obviously, we have some things out of our control, like the horrible injuries. I don't feel good or hopeful about this one, but I am just hoping we look somewhat competitive and make a game of it.

[Beck Water]

20 minutes ago, Caesar said:

I think any player, especially QB, gets a pass playing hurt.  I defended Allen and Herbert last season.  I may be alone in this thought but in order to play QB well any injury is going to impact every aspect of their game.

 

That's consistent of you, but many in the media do not give the QB a pass - which is why Burrows isn't getting one.

 

20 minutes ago, Caesar said:

Eli Apple is not a Bengals fan nor is he on the team, and many Bengals fans chastised him many times.  We dont miss the guy.  Im not harping on the Bills because McKenzie made some strange comment about playing in the snow.

 

You might not be, but several Bengals players very notably are.  Ja'mar Chase and Tee Higgins I believe?  They seem determined to use the out of context words of a minor player no longer on the team to rev themselves up.

 

20 minutes ago, Caesar said:

You would know much better than me, the redzone turnovers last season were just so bad, I havent seen him have any of those.  I did watch the Jets game and his play cost you guys.   But from an outsides point of view he seems more under control this season thus far.

 

I think after the Jets game, Josh had a come-to-Jesus meeting with the coaching staff (and probably with himself, since he comes across as self-aware).

 

There was an interception in the Jax game on the 7 yd line that cost us.  Strange decision to throw that.  It wasn't in the red zone, and it was on 3rd and 15 from the Buf 41, so one philosophy there is "why not take a shot?" but within the structure of the offense, he might have had a short throw that would gain 7-8 yds on 2nd down and another that could convert.  It's not just turnovers, or redzone turnovers.  It's decisions to roll out and operate outside the structure of the offense, when there are easy plays to be made for easy 1st downs within the structure of the offense.  Those plays aren't always there, but sometimes they are and Josh overlooks them.

[HappyDays]

 

[Caesar]

2 minutes ago, Dr.Sack said:

Rewatching the playoff game last night and saw a lot of Joe Burrow climbing the pocket. Our edge rushers simply over pursued upfield leaving huge gaps for Burrow to climb the pocket and deliver accurate 2nd window throws to Chase, Hurst, Higgins.
 

My guess is McDermott will have a plan in place to rush tighter or collapse the interior pocket, either through running stunts, or sending delayed pressure from Bernard, Johnson, or Poyer. 
 

 

 

 

 

Am I wrong in stating that Leslie practically made zero changes to the Bills defense?  It seemed to be a basic zone the entire game.  There is a lot of talk around the Bengals that film from that game is going to be no help as McDermott will be dialing up a wide variety of looks.  I can say that we do not do very well when a ton of guys are in the box and tight man coverage.  Our oline is doing better communicating but stunts & delayed pressure has been an issue.  Of course there is a risk in playing that way too much but it has been a problem at times.

[Warriorspikes51]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

have you heard any more about Suh possibly coming here in the next few weeks? Would still love to add him

[DuckyBoys]

3 minutes ago, Caesar said:

 

 

Am I wrong in stating that Leslie practically made zero changes to the Bills defense?  It seemed to be a basic zone the entire game.  There is a lot of talk around the Bengals that film from that game is going to be no help as McDermott will be dialing up a wide variety of looks.  I can say that we do not do very well when a ton of guys are in the box and tight man coverage.  Our oline is doing better communicating but stunts & delayed pressure has been an issue.  Of course there is a risk in playing that way too much but it has been a problem at times.

correct,  Frazier ran same thing whether is was vs Joe Burrow or vs Skylar Thompson  Yet to see see for sure if McDermott is any better

[Dr.Sack]

3 minutes ago, Caesar said:

 

 

Am I wrong in stating that Leslie practically made zero changes to the Bills defense?  It seemed to be a basic zone the entire game.  There is a lot of talk around the Bengals that film from that game is going to be no help as McDermott will be dialing up a wide variety of looks.  I can say that we do not do very well when a ton of guys are in the box and tight man coverage.  Our oline is doing better communicating but stunts & delayed pressure has been an issue.  Of course there is a risk in playing that way too much but it has been a problem at times.

It will be a different game. I suspect similar to the Fins game McD will have his best plan. 
 

For starters the rush game. I think MCDermott wants to not give up 172 yards on the ground. I expect Mixon will get roughed up. He came into the week with a chest injury I expect the Bills will be extremely violent along the line of scrimmage similar to how they played Tennessee last year. 
 

After making the Bengals one dimensional McDermott will go into his Rolodex of pressures from everywhere. Burrow is tough, but he isn’t elusive as an Mahomes, as evidenced by his career 7.3% sack rate on drop backs. 
 

Taking away Burrows primary read (Chase) look at the stats Chase has nearly 1/2 the targets / receiving yards, will be the Bengals downfall.

[Herc11]

5 hours ago, Caesar said:

Ok, which one of you guys is this gentleman?   Even as a Bengals fan I had to watch the entire song, he is really good.
 

 

I actually find his schtick kind of annoying. I think he tries way to hard, but hey he's having fun doing what he does

 

[Caesar]

16 minutes ago, Dr.Sack said:

It will be a different game. I suspect similar to the Fins game McD will have his best plan. 
 

For starters the rush game. I think MCDermott wants to not give up 172 yards on the ground. I expect Mixon will get roughed up. He came into the week with a chest injury I expect the Bills will be extremely violent along the line of scrimmage similar to how they played Tennessee last year. 
 

After making the Bengals one dimensional McDermott will go into his Rolodex of pressures from everywhere. Burrow is tough, but he isn’t elusive as an Mahomes, as evidenced by his career 7.3% sack rate on drop backs. 
 

Taking away Burrows primary read (Chase) look at the stats Chase has nearly 1/2 the targets / receiving yards, will be the Bengals downfall.

Interesting, I appreciate the takes.

We are already one dimensional.  We throw the ball.
I do not think a major plan to stop the run is the best idea.  We pass, pass, and pass to set up the run.  If we have a lead Zac will become too conservative and run it too much in the 2nd half.  

Burrow has his own theory regarding sacks.  3rd down and not in FG range he will hold it forever in order to try and make a play.  He has no problem taking a sack, but he is more elusive than many think despite all the obviously ignored highlight worthy escapes he has had. 

Higgins has had a rib injury the last few weeks, he was apparently close to 100% the 49ers game.  He is a good WR, not a great one.  He is better than Gabe but Tee doesnt have the quicks.  He needs to do a better job of not disappearing and he hasnt been good on 50-50 balls which used to be 80-20.  Boyd may be starting to lose a step, but he still has excellent hands.  We have had zero production from the TE room.  All of this added to the immense trust Joe has in Chase is reason for his high production.

That said, taking away Chase is about as easy as taking away Diggs, easier said than done.

I have no doubt that the Bills will have a much better game plan this time for the Benglas.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Caesar

[uninja]

8 hours ago, Billsfan1972 said:

How many easy throws do we see week after week from other teams, with receivers wide open.  Swear it is way more then Buffalo.  

 

AJ Brown weekly makes highlight reel catches.  I can't think one from a Bills receiver this year. 

 

When was the last time you saw a Bills receiver win a 50/50 ball or catch one with a defender draped all over him.

 

Oh and let's not forget Dorsey's inability to set up a decent screen or YAC.

It’s really not fair to compare AJ to a lot of other receivers. That man is a freak of nature like DK Metcalf. AJ was doing that ***** against teams on the Titans too. Guy is one of few. Why they traded him instead of paying him I will never know.

[Chandler#81]

30 minutes ago, Caesar said:

Interesting, I appreciate the takes.

We are already one dimensional.  We throw the ball.
I do not think a major plan to stop the run is the best idea.  We pass, pass, and pass to set up the run.  If we have a lead Zac will become too conservative and run it too much in the 2nd half.  

Burrow has his own theory regarding sacks.  3rd down and not in FG range he will hold it forever in order to try and make a play.  He has no problem taking a sack, but he is more elusive than many think despite all the obviously ignored highlight worthy escapes he has had. 

Higgins has had a rib injury the last few weeks, he was apparently close to 100% the 49ers game.  He is a good WR, not a great one.  He is better than Gabe but Tee doesnt have the quicks.  He needs to do a better job of not disappearing and he hasnt been good on 50-50 balls which used to be 80-20.  Boyd may be starting to lose a step, but he still has excellent hands.  We have had zero production from the TE room.  All of this added to the immense trust Joe has in Chase is reason for his high production.

That said, taking away Chase is about as easy as taking away Diggs, easier said than done.

I have no doubt that the Bills will have a much better game plan this time for the Benglas.

You’re a refreshing change from the normal opponents Fans. Thank you. Good luck AFTER tomorrow night!

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, Dr.Sack said:

Rewatching the playoff game last night and saw a lot of Joe Burrow climbing the pocket. Our edge rushers simply over pursued upfield leaving huge gaps for Burrow to climb the pocket and deliver accurate 2nd window throws to Chase, Hurst, Higgins.
 

My guess is McDermott will have a plan in place to rush tighter or collapse the interior pocket, either through running stunts, or sending delayed pressure from Bernard, Johnson, or Poyer.

 

McDermott had a plan to collapse the interior pocket last year.  It was called Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones.  Jones was out for the playoff game, and Oliver was playing in a LB brace.  Jordan Phillips was playing hampered and saw minimal snaps.  So McDermott, perforce, started the game trying to collapse the pocket with Tim Settle and Eli Ankou, and also tried injured Ed Oliver and Boogie Basham, who got swapped to the Giants for a case of frozen pizza dough.

 

Also to take into account, we started the game with injured Jordan Poyer and Dean Marlowe at safety, then turned to Jaquan Johnson and Cam Lewis.  Our starting CBs were Tre White and Kaiir Elam (you know, the guy who's been a healthy scratch this season?).  And Tre White was not playing well at the end of last season.

 

 

2 hours ago, Aimee75 said:

I honestly feel no pressure/stress regarding this game. I don't see us winning it. I feel like we either get curb stomped, again, by this team, or we lose a very close one and we get some stupid penalty after a huge play that either gives The Bengals life, or guarantees their victory. Our healthier D last season could not stop them, so I cannot imagine our ailing D, the same one that made Mac Jones look like Tom Brady, stopping this team.

 

 

Were you watching the same game I was?  The Fuq?

Edited November 4, 2023 by Beck Water

[Beck Water]

On 11/3/2023 at 3:43 PM, hondo in seattle said:

 

This is how a lot of Bills fans feel about our OC (Dorsey).   Some folks complain about Allen running around instead of getting the ball out quickly.  It would be easier if Dorsey's schemes and play-calls gave Allen someone to throw to.  

 

Except that several "film room guys" and a coach have broken down play after play and shown that Allen in fact has alternatives on many (not all) plays

[Success]

Any word on Benford? Norman being active is a little concerning.

 

Though, I think he can do a decent enough job.  On defense, I think this game comes down more to the line being able to get to Burrow and be disruptive..

 

[uninja]

10 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Except that several "film room guys" and a coach have broken down play after play and shown that Allen in fact has alternatives on many (not all) plays

If you do this for any team you’ll see a lot of the same. You’d be shocked at how hard it is to find an open guy on a broken play in the churn of the pocket with guys barreling towards you. So hard in fact, that they pay people upwards of $40+ million a year for people who are even decently competent at it. 

[Billsfan1972]

34 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

You’re a refreshing change from the normal opponents Fans. Thank you. Good luck AFTER tomorrow night!

No idea why people got upset as hes just a Cincinnati fan who is giving his semi bias opinion as I do about the Bills.

 

They may have been a little bit biased. But what else would you expect?

[ALG1130]

40 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

McDermott had a plan to collapse the interior pocket last year.  It was called Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones.  Jones was out for the playoff game, and Oliver was playing in a LB brace.  Jordan Phillips was playing hampered and saw minimal snaps.  So McDermott, perforce, started the game trying to collapse the pocket with Tim Settle and Eli Ankou, and also tried injured Ed Oliver and Boogie Basham.

 

Also to take into account, we started the game with injured Jordan Poyer and Dean Marlowe at safety, then turned to Jaquan Johnson and Cam Lewis.  Our starting CBs were Tre White and Kaiir Elam (you know, the guy who's been a healthy scratch this season?).  And Tre White was not playing well at the end of last season.

 

 

 

Were you watching the same game I was?  The Fuq?

Well then, at the very least I would call it even. We still had a healthy Milano. We had Tre'. We did not have Hyde and Miller, but again, some of the players we have back THIS season are in place of some of the ones we had LAST season, so it might be a wash and does not give me a ton of confidence going against that offense. Would much prefer to have Jones, Milano and White with us going against them.

 

We could not stop Mac Jones, so how are we supposed to stop a loaded offense with Burrow hitting his stride?

[Einstein]

20 minutes ago, Success said:

Any word on Benford? Norman being active is a little concerning.

 

Benford has no injury designation. 

[BADOLBILZ]

32 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Benford has no injury designation. 

 

 

He doesn't have an injury designation but the word was that he sat out that practice with a sore hamstring.

[Beck Water]

55 minutes ago, Caesar said:

 

 

Am I wrong in stating that Leslie practically made zero changes to the Bills defense?  It seemed to be a basic zone the entire game.  There is a lot of talk around the Bengals that film from that game is going to be no help as McDermott will be dialing up a wide variety of looks.  I can say that we do not do very well when a ton of guys are in the box and tight man coverage.  Our oline is doing better communicating but stunts & delayed pressure has been an issue.  Of course there is a risk in playing that way too much but it has been a problem at times.

 

The problem the Bills faced, is that they started with a hampered Jordan Poyer and then their 3rd string safety, Jaquan Johnson who was mostly a ST guy and a step below Damar Hamlin.   Then Poyer went out, and they played about 1/5 of the game with Johnson and Cam Lewis, who was primarily a DB at that point, at Safety.  There's a limit to how many disguises you can pull off when you're playing with 3rd string players who aren't used to either playing with each other, or to actual game snaps on defense.  Sure, "next man up", but rinse and repeat too many times and you wind up with weak soup.

 

Similar issue on the DL, where we went into the game with both our rotational 3TDT injured and our primary 1TDT out.  Limit to how much stunting you can effectively pull off effectively with 3rd stringers and guys playing out of position.

 

Yes, McDermott will likely be more aggressive.  They changed safety coaches in the off-season in part to be able to disguise coverage better - teams were reading our nickel last year.  In addition, Frazier openly said in pressers that he didn't like to make too many changes because he thought the players would lose faith in the coaches and the game prep if he changed the game plan.  McDermott is more 'well that didn't work, let's try this'

2 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

have you heard any more about Suh possibly coming here in the next few weeks? Would still love to add him

 

I think we're only adding 1 DT, basically to fill in for DaQuan Jones.