I am worried about the little things...

[warrior9]

9 hours ago, NCDAWG said:

I am worried about the new center, snapping specifically. As well as kicking. Also the running game. I know what Cook did last year and I like him, but he has shown the propensity to fumble and drop passes.  Am I wrong here?

He had an 81% catch rate and was 8th in RB Receiving yards. He had 5 dropped passes. I think because some of them were "notable" so people have this thing out there that he has a drop problem.

[26TrapDraw]

9 hours ago, NCDAWG said:

I am worried about the new center, snapping specifically. As well as kicking. Also the running game. I know what Cook did last year and I like him, but he has shown the propensity to fumble and drop passes.  Am I wrong here?

I usually have tons of optimism this time of year. This year feels different. Injury to Milano who I think was heart and soul of this D is irreplaceable. The offense will find its groove and score but this D is in deep CaCa. So what I’m getting at is

we’re phucked
Just watch for the love of your team but don’t expect much. Not sure this squad can even sniff the playoffs.

would love to eat my words here.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

[Ga boy]

1 hour ago, finn said:

Plenty to be worried about, which is saying something since August is usually the time for sunny optimism. My sense is that the line will be ok in pass protection (Allen has seen far worse) but will struggle with run blocking, throwing Brady's whole strategy into disarray. On defense, the middle of the field looks like a disaster. Mahomes and Burrow will feast against Williams, Rapp, and Hamlin. And the kicking game...oy vey. 

 

Yet the corners, including Taron and Hardy, look terrific, the D-line looks solid, and Bernard is a very nice player in the middle. I'm excited to see what Babich and Brady can do. And of course, we have a Hulk.

 

The Bills will make the playoffs, Milano will return, the line will gel, Babich and McD will have figured out how to compensate for the weakness at safety, and all will be well in the garden. 

Please add that Bass will be bass-o-matic again with 4-5 game winners!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

here's what I worry about. gross cap mismanagement:

 

 

[HOUSE]

4 hours ago, gjv said:

This year I don't have us making the playoffs. Sorry!

Cardinals  W

Dolphins    L

Jaguars     W

Ravens      L

Texans      L

Jets           L

Titans        W

Seahawks W

Dolphins    W

Colts          W

Chiefs        L

49ers         L

Rams         L

Lions          L

Patriots      W

Jets           L

Patriots      W

It's already started, preseason mind you, amazing , 2 losses to the Jets ..

WOW, THE JETS MUST BE REALLY GOOD HUH??

 

 

Edited August 16 by HOUSE

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

here's what I worry about. gross cap mismanagement:

 

 

 

Why? We knew this was a year to take our medicine. We got some bad injury breaks and a malcontent. And yet we will still be competitive. Will you come back and tell us how great our cap management is next year when we have a bunch of room? 

[Ga boy]

16 minutes ago, mjt328 said:

Try hard enough, and you can convince yourself we will be in good shape, despite all the warning signs.  

Objectively, it's really difficult to see this team going anywhere this season.

 

Twelve months ago, if you would have asked what superstars the Bills have outside of Josh Allen, most people would have answered (in no particular order) Stefon Diggs, Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Matt Milano and Von Miller.  The only remaining player on that list is Miller, who looked completely done last year.  The replacements we are heavily counting on are (rookie) Keon Coleman, Rasul Douglas, Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin and Dorian Williams.  Even if we can get close to the same on-field production, we will still greatly miss the leadership aspect.  The team is also counting heavily on breakout seasons from Dalton Kincaid, Khalil Shakir, Greg Rousseau, Terrell Bernard, etc.  Not just to be good, but to become the next group of superstars on the Buffalo Bills.  

 

Looking at the schedule, the Bills are starting off with a 2-3 game disadvantage against the Jets/Dolphins due to opponent difficulty.  They barely scraped by the Dolphins last year, and seem to have trouble with the Jets in head-to-head even without Aaron Rodgers back.  Not a lot of room for error if you want to win the division.  We will be breaking in lots of new starters, adjusting to a shuffled O-Line, hoping new talent steps into leadership roles, etc.  If things start slow, we could be fighting out of a hole by Halloween.

 

So yeah, I get where you are coming from with the "little" things.  But the Bills have too many other "big" problems to overcome first.

 

Some big question marks for sure;  however, the young Turks are more athletic and could be the solution to KC and Cincy.  After all, we didn’t win nutin with those other guys.

10 hours ago, NCDAWG said:

I am worried about the new center, snapping specifically. As well as kicking. Also the running game. I know what Cook did last year and I like him, but he has shown the propensity to fumble and drop passes.  Am I wrong here?

Dawg:  If those are little things, I’m afraid to ask what are the beeg things.  Never mind.

[Gregg]

Last year the Bengals finished in last place when Burrow got hurt. Now Burrow is back, and they get the benefit of a last place schedule this year. I don't think the Bills will finish last as the Pats probably have that spot locked up. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Bills finish 3rd. That is possible. A lot of young players are going to be expected to step up and contribute in a big way. Will they? Who knows.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

26 minutes ago, gjv said:

This year I don't have us making the playoffs. Sorry!

Cardinals  W

Dolphins    L

Jaguars     W

Ravens      L

Texans      L

Jets           L

Titans        W

Seahawks W

Dolphins    W

Colts          W

Chiefs        L

49ers         L

Rams         L

Lions          L

Patriots      W

Jets           L

Patriots      W

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

10 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Why? We knew this was a year to take our medicine. We got some bad injury breaks and a malcontent. And yet we will still be competitive. Will you come back and tell us how great our cap management is next year when we have a bunch of room? 

 

This team isn't competing for anything.

 

A quick perusal of the schedule nets 7-9 wins. In fact, I think this is probably the year the fish finally overtake us.

 

Sad, but true, and if the Jets are any kind of good, could see us 2-4 in division.

 

 

 

 

[Warriorspikes51]

This feels like a 10-7 team at the moment, but who knows 

[Paup 1995MVP]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

If we go 0.500 or less, then that is an indictment on those in charge. 

 

Not making the playoffs with a top three quarterback is a major problem. The Chiefs have never let it happen to Mahomes. It only happened once to Brady (in 20 years), and it was only his second season starting.

 

In my opinion, cutting Morse was a mistake. it would be one thing if they had signed or drafted a viable center to replace him. But instead of doing that, they relied on disrupting the unity of the left side of the line, by moving McGovern over. 

They drafted Van Road Grader who will be starting soon enough.  
 

a lot of people on this board overthink everything!!  Did you read the reports on the joint practice yesterday?  We manhandled the Steelers on both sides of the ball.  Shakir is on fire as was the rest of the offense.  Our top 4 corners are as good as any in the league.  And Hardy sounds like a player also.  
 

We have plenty of good players.  Josh Allen isn’t going to all of a sudden suck.  I see 11-12 wins minimum.  Excited about this team. 
 

You mention Morse.  I liked him.  But people always complained that he wasn’t stout enough in the middle.  
 

Because we haven’t won a Super Bowl half the people on here hate McDermott and the organization.  It’s too much.  Go root for the Commanders or the Giants then.  

[Augie]

I vote we play the season before giving up. I know, call me crazy! 

[Gregg]

1 minute ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

They drafted Van Road Grader who will be starting soon enough.  
 

a lot of people on this board overthink everything!!  Did you read the reports on the joint practice yesterday?  We manhandled the Steelers on both sides of the ball.  Shakir is on fire as was the rest of the offense.  Our top 4 corners are as good as any in the league.  And Hardy sounds like a player also.  
 

We have plenty of good players.  Josh Allen isn’t going to all of a sudden suck.  I see 11-12 wins minimum.  Excited about this team. 
 

You mention Morse.  I liked him.  But people always complained that he wasn’t stout enough in the middle.  
 

Because we haven’t won a Super Bowl half the people on here hate McDermott and the organization.  It’s too much.  Go root for the Commanders or the Giants then.  

 

McDermott is a good coach. A very good regular season coach. He definitely deserves credit for changing the culture of the organization from a loser to a winning one that is competitive. But at the same time, he deserves his share of criticism for some ugly playoff losses.

[US Egg]

End the worrying now:

 

[SCBills]

Well this thread is a depressing read.

 

Main point:  With a Top 2 QB, if you don’t make the playoffs, it’s a massive problem.. let’s just make that known.  There are no excuses for that. 
 

Reasons for worry, and there are some legitimate ones:

 

-Really tough schedule 

 

-Tyler Bass zero confidence

 

-LB Room now relying on a 2nd year player, again.  Depth is probably fine with the vets we brought in, but the starters obviously took a hit with Milano going down

 

-S Room looks like a disaster right now.  In no world should Damar Hamlin be starting for us, and only McDermott seems to think Cam Lewis does anything out there.  We knew it might be a downgrade with Rapp/Edwards until Bishop gets up to speed, but it’s probably one of the worst Safety rooms in the league to start the season as we stand. 
 

Reasons for optimism:

 

-Kincaid Year 2

 

-Ray Davis upgrade at RB2

 

-WR’s with more potential as a group 1-4 than last year.  We all want to romanticize Diggs, but outside Shakir, our WR’s were awful last half of the season.  One of the worst groups in the league. 
 

Wait and See:

 

The lines..  
 

Kromer is one of the best in the league and there is talent on this OL.  We all freaked out last preseason and ended up having the best OL of Allen’s career. 

 

Defensive Line seems to never make big plays in big moments and we’ll see if that changes, but Austin Johnson is a better DT3 than we’ve had in recent years, Carter provides potential we haven’t had at DT4 and the DE room should be better than last years (if) Von can give us ‘23 Floyd. 
 

 

Edited August 16 by SCBills

[finn]

58 minutes ago, Ga boy said:

Please add that Bass will be bass-o-matic again with 4-5 game winners!

Oh, and Bass will be bass-o-matic again with 4-5 game winners! 😃

[Jerome007]

9 hours ago, Success said:

It's August.  I have no worries in August. Just pure excitement and anticipation.

I agree with that... until the Milano injury.

 

Besides his obvious talent and contribution, he is FUN to watch. Sure, I want the Bills to win the SB, like NOW, this year. But who would care if the game was boring. Players like JA and Milano make it thrilling to watch. 

[nedboy7]

I have us going 0-17.  First draft pick baby!!!!

It does really feel weird this offseason. 
Let's not panic till 1st Q though. 

 

Edited August 16 by nedboy7