A Few Thoughts about the Cardinals Game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

4 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

So did Gilliam

 

Thank you for mentioning him.  I meant to mention that I did not like how transparent we were on some of our run plays.  Gilly needs to be used on more passing plays, if only to create some misdirection

[Success]

3 minutes ago, zow2 said:

Cowherd just said the Bills are too Josh Allen-centric again.  He knows Allen is great but asks where's his help?  I guess he doesn't watch Cook, Knox, Shakir, Keon, Hollins, Kincaid, Samuel, etc...

 

I heard that from a few others yesterday too.

 

It's half accurate.  We have as good a running game as we've had in the JA era, and a lot of guys were involved in the offense yesterday.  But when a big play needed to be made, it was generally Josh being superman.  

 

 

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, mannc said:

The Cardinals were selling out to stop the run the last two possessions of the fourth quarter...a play action call or two would have absolutely killed them.

 

Agreed.  But it was also nice when we still got decent gains.  I think this line is going to be a solid contributor this season again

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, Desert Bills Fan said:

Thanks for the write up once again. I always enjoy hearing what other intelligent fans saw/felt about the game!

 

Von Miller: I was not impressed again. For the $$ invested his performance is now elevated to JAG. I was hoping to see less of him as the game went on.

too many times he was pushed upfield beyond the QB or RB and the Cards just ran right where he was supposed to be.

 

Kincaid: I agree too quiet of a day from him.

 

the Oline: too many penalties! but I thought performance wise they looked good - albeit against a bad defense. 

Defense: Groot is the new star on D. Overall mediocre. Second half they prevented scoring but felt typical bend don’t break because our players are mostly mediocre… this may be good enough if the offense ramps up.

 

Whoa, don't go throwing that word at me!

[Logic]

Thanks for the writeup.

Regarding Von and Groot, because I found the back-to-back dichotomy of "we're paying Von too much for too little" and "Needing to pay Groot gives me anxiety" to be a funny one-two punch:

First, I thought Von absolutely DID impact the game yesterday. He played -- and impacted the game -- sparingly in the first half, but showed up in a big way in the second half. If he's a rotational pass rusher that gets 1 sack a game, that's a 17 sack season. Now of course I don't think he'll actually have 17 sacks this season, I'm just pointing out that edge rushers generally get stonewalled more often than they win (at least from a sack production standpoint), and that if you can get one sack a game and affect the offense in a big way late in games once or twice per game, you're a valuable piece.

Obviously, money-wise, Von is making a ton. In order for it to be sustainable for the Bills to pay Groot -- and I think he's gonna have a monster season and force their hand, and I DO think they'll re-sign him -- they'll need to get out from under the Von contract somehow, at some point. 

For now, I'm not gonna worry about the financials at all. It's not my job as a fan to spend too much time thinking about it. It's not my money. I'm just glad we have a kid who looks to be making the leap to "elite" status in Groot and a vet that seems to be returning to "game impacting" status in Von. If Javon Soloman and AJ Epenesa can offer anything rotationally, the Bills appear to be in good shape in terms of edge rusher depth chart.

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Just now, mannc said:

The Cardinals were selling out to stop the run the last two possessions of the fourth quarter...a play action call or two would have absolutely killed them.

I agree. 

But if you remember Cook had gain of 9 yards on one first down carry and had a 12 yard run called back with a hold. 

Modern NFL you have to be able to dial up a high percentage play that keeps the clock running.  And you have to trust Allen.

 

All that said they burned the clock down to the 2 minute warning and still got points. 

[amprov56]

5 minutes ago, zow2 said:

Cowherd just said the Bills are too Josh Allen-centric again.  He knows Allen is great but asks where's his help?  I guess he doesn't watch Cook, Knox, Shakir, Keon, Hollins, Kincaid, Samuel, etc...

Taking talking points from TBD? 

[CircleTheWagons99]

Number 8: Not in the least bit. 

[RoyBatty is alive]

7 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

So did Gilliam

Agreed, three bills at least missed easy tackles, I think the third was #47 Benford .

[mannc]

Just now, Virgil said:

 

Agreed.  But it was also nice when we still got decent gains.  I think this line is going to be a solid contributor this season again

One other thing that bothers me about Brady:  Every time we have second and short, he calls a running play to try to pick up the first down instead of dialing up play action or some other throw down the field, as if he's terrified of facing a third and one.  It makes zero sense, especially when you have Josh Allen, who can covert third and short (or fourth and short, for that matter) in his sleep.    

[Virgil]

Just now, RoyBatty is alive said:

Agreed, three bills at least missed easy tackles, I think the third was #47 Benford .

 

Which begs the question, why the hell is Benford even out there on ST as a starter?  

[Coach Tuesday]

I assume Oliver was instructed not to rush upfield too much - he was probably told to contain yesterday.  Suspect you’ll see a different style of play on Thursday night.

[Sweats]

Keep posting these, Virgil.......i love reading it every week.

[RoyBatty is alive]

Just now, mannc said:

One other thing that bothers me about Brady:  Every time we have second and short, he calls a running play to try to pick up the first down instead of dialing up play action or some other throw down the field, as if he's terrified of facing a third and one.  It makes zero sense, especially when you have Josh Allen, who can covert third and short (or fourth and short, for that matter) in his sleep.    

I will have to watch that is in fact he does do that it is losing predictable football at its worst.

[SoonerBillsFan]

26 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Hey everyone, it's been a minute.  I honestly didn't know if I was going to write one of these this year, as they started to feel a bit stale to me over time.  But after seeing our final depth chart and watching the game yesterday, I found myself with a lot of things to say.  Now, I didn't take notes like I have in the past, nor did I look anything up to confirm what I think I saw out there, so I may be horribly wrong on some things.  As for the writing style and commitment to writing these every week, I can't comment on either right now.  So for those who weren't a fan in the past, feel free to move along now.

 

1 - Under 200 yards - This really isn't so much about the Bills game, as it is a reminder that it's only week 1.  I was really surprised at how few quarterbacks did not throw for more than 200 yards yesterday.  I was honestly surprised to see that Murray didn't break that mark either.  I bring it up because, we know that type of performance isn't going to hold up over time and many teams are working out the kinks.  Additionally, we have no idea how good the Cardinals will be this season.  We could have beaten a decent playoff team for all we know.  Basically, it's week 1 and there's still a lot to learn.  I mean hell, Baker Mayfield scored the most fantasy points in some leagues.  

 

2 - The damn rotation - Let's get my first potential fact check gone wrong out of the way now.  Is it me, or on the first two Cardinal touchdowns occur when we had 3 out of 4 backups playing on the defensive line?  I understand that the Cards had long drives and our guys were getting tired, but c'mon McD/Babich, we can't commit to the rotation THAT much.  One of my biggest concerns about our team going into this year is the lack of depth at key defensive positions and I felt like that showed up in moments today.  However, when the game was on the line, it looks like our main guys were in and you could see a difference.  

 

3 - Clenched for no reason - If there's one thing I don't miss about the NFL season, it's that feeling of inevitable doom.  Maybe it's the BBFS still alive in me, but I could feel my cheeks clench every time Cook carried the ball, Bass lined up for a field goal, Hamlin dropped deep in coverage, and Cam Lewis was on the field.  I kept waiting for one of them to make a huge mistake, and was pleasantly surprised when it never happened.  I think Cam took some bad angles a few times, but nothing that really overall hurt us.

 

4 - Most of the time change is a good thing and I think that’s what it’s all about–embracing change, being brave, doing whatever you have to so everyone in your life can move forward with theirs, and maybe it’s the only way you can truly make her be happy.

 

5 - Von Miller - While I have to give credit where it is due, as he did push the lineman into Murray at the end of the game that led to him tripping for a sack, I was concerned about his lack of impact and playing time in this game.  I don't know if Von is still being conditioned back into playing shape or if it's all part of the rotation, but AJ seemed to be taking more snaps by a bit.  I know it's not my money, but I just see millions of dollars going to waste with him on the bench.  But if this is his output level, then oh well.

 

6 - Groot - I can't help but feel pessimistic when I write this, but I just watched this monster earn 20+ a year this game.  Groot was a game wrecker in so many ways today and, while I loved it, couldn't help but think about yet another cap hit coming up.  But seriously, he impacted so many plays and was easily the defensive MVP out there.

 

7 - Hello? - While I loved the ball distribution on offense, anyone else surprised at the lack of catches/targets to Kincaid?  I say targets more so because Josh did not miss much, so I'm surprised we didn't utilize him more.  And speaking of players I'm surprised I didn't hear their name more, Ed Oliver anyone?  And last on my, "what was that?" parade; I really hope O'Cyrus isn't taking a step back.  I think he had a rough game today.

 

8 - Billsy - Be honest, was anyone surprised that we were the first team to allow a kick-off return for a touchdown in this new format.

 

9 - TJ - Has anyone heard an injury update on Taron yet?  This might be the biggest dark cloud from this victory to me.  TJ is a absolute anchor in our ability to run a nickel defense and I think his absence would absolutely force some adjustments to our scheme.  The idea of Hill and motion next week seems a lot scarier without him.

 

10 - MVP - The Josh Allen MVP conversation started yesterday and I'd say he overall lived up to the billing.  Not just because of his play, but by his comments after the game as well.  Josh acknowledged that he had Coleman open on his first TD run, but made the decision to keep it for himself.  Beyond that, he did hold onto the ball too long on the fumble, just missed the deep shot to MVS, and then had one bad throw at the feet of someone on a third down play.  Other than that, Josh was an absolute monster.  We only had 3 points going into the last 2 minutes of the first half and still hung up 30 points.  That's incredible if you think about it.  If the defense could have gotten off the field at all in the first half (thanks refs O'Cyrus), I think this game is out of hand much quicker.  

 

Side note - Did anyone else feel like we got the C squad to support this game?  The refs, announcers, and even the camera crew all seemed shaky to me.

 

Moving on - I'm still very worried about our defense, depth, and size.  I think Miami will be a very interesting test for us, but as long as the offense is humming like it did, we will be in every game.  However, like last year, I believe McD will improve the defense as we go alone and the team will gel.  It was fantastic to see the offense gel well so early on.

 

Go Bills!!!!

Good stuff as usual V.  The D had me concered, Kincaid's lack of receptions doesn't.  The offense showed it's going to go to the open man vs who defenses feel we are going to. This is different than previous years.

[mannc]

Just now, RoyBatty is alive said:

I will have to watch that is in fact he does do that it is losing predictable football at its worst.

He did it all last year, too.  It's essentially a free play for Josh Allen and we never take advantage of it. 

[Bruffalo]

26 minutes ago, Virgil said:

5 - Von Miller - While I have to give credit where it is due, as he did push the lineman into Murray at the end of the game that led to him tripping for a sack, I was concerned about his lack of impact and playing time in this game.  I don't know if Von is still being conditioned back into playing shape or if it's all part of the rotation, but AJ seemed to be taking more snaps by a bit.  I know it's not my money, but I just see millions of dollars going to waste with him on the bench.  But if this is his output level, then oh well.

 

I saw somewhere that he had one of the highest pass rush win rates in the NFL on Sunday, albeit at a lower snap count then a lot of other individuals. That's got to be encouraging right? I thought he looked decent all day, Murray is just slippery and tough to get your hands on. I expect him to do well against Tua Thursday.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

You always tell us these thoughts are in no particular order...and then you number them which places them in a VERY particular order. 

 

Madness. 

 

But great job as usual. A few things tho...

 

I believe we should have an update on TJ in a few hours after McD speaks to media. 

 

The DL rotation was pretty unrealized yesterday. Look at the snap counts for Oliver, Groot ect and you'll see our starting DL played a rather high percentage. They have really moved away from the rotation over the last couple years. 

 

Kincaid was likely the #1 focus of the Cards defense yesterday. With no target monster (Diggs) it allows defenders to focus on him. Shakir and Coleman benefit. In a few weeks when teams say "hey we need to stop these WRs", Kincaid will eat plenty.

[Virgil]

Just now, Bruffalo said:

 

I saw somewhere that he had one of the highest pass rush win rates in the NFL on Sunday, albeit at a lower snap count then a lot of other individuals. That's got to be encouraging right? I thought he looked decent all day, Murray is just slippery and tough to get your hands on. I expect him to do well against Tua Thursday.  

 

Source?  Not that I don't believe you, just that I would like to read more about that

[zow2]

8 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Completely lazy take by him.  The run/pass balance was strong and we don't utilize a number one.  I think Shakir, Cook, and Coleman all had solid moments

 

He's addicted to that take.  We have some dudes on offense.