Matt Milano - rusty or washed?

[GunnerBill]

43 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

If you aren't sure, I think a better way of phrasing on my part would be that at least Williams has at least entered the conversation for who should be starting. Which is a far cry from where he was this time last year.

 

 

Yes I think that's fair. If the Bills were a 3 or 4 win team I'd be all for just letting the younger guy play, he has improved, but he still needs to read the game better and be more consistent. 

Edited December 9 by GunnerBill

[UKBillFan]

I think they're giving Milano these games to try and regain game fitness. If he's still showing signs of struggling in week 18 they'll switch back to Williams for the play offs.

 

If they were looking to win out then Williams would be, at the very least, sharing more snaps with him.

[Livinginthepast]

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

I'm not sure yet,  but if the Bills are going to start him,  there needs to be some improvement soon.  At this stage,  I think they'd probably be better off with Dorian Williams out there.  

The basically gave Milano his old job back right away which would be reasonable after a minor injury of 3-4 weeks. But doing so after 2 potentially career ending injuries and 1 year of no playing? I think that was idiotic. They should be bringing him back slowly and Williams should be playing most of the downs. 

Edited December 9 by Livinginthepast

[Ray Stonada]

15 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

I think they're giving Milano these games to try and regain game fitness. If he's still showing signs of struggling in week 18 they'll switch back to Williams for the play offs.

 

If they were looking to win out then Williams would be, at the very least, sharing more snaps with him.

I hope you are right. The Bills tend to play older, less athletically capable guys over younger less proven guys. I feel like Dorian Williams should have played the playoff game with the Chiefs last year rather than Klein. Maybe Williams would have a breakdown or two, but he might have made a play or two, which would have been more than Klein was able to do. 

[Nuncha]

Our D line is awful, GOD awful but it appears Milano is a shadow of himself. Rust or washed is still a question at this point and we will find out the last 4 games.  

[JerseyBills]

I'm at the point where I'd prefer Williams on the field,  if Milano he doesn't improve in next couple weeks

[MrEpsYtown]

It's probably a bit of both. But this has been a really long recovery for him. He looks like he is playing very slow, but I think that will get better with time. He played in the snow and then a team with a pretty good run game. The DL did a pretty awful job on gap integrity all game and that is part of the reason Milano and Bernard struggled IMO. 

[GASabresIUFan]

1 hour ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

I dont think Williams makes any difference in this game. I would love to know what you think he improves?
 

 

The eye test showed me that Williams is simply faster to the ball.  

[djp14150]

11 hours ago, FireChans said:

Matt didn’t look good last week but conditions were iffy so I waited to discuss this until I saw him in the Rams game.

 

He looks very slow and hesitant out there. Now of course, the rest of the defense wasn’t much better so maybe it’s still too early to tell. 

 

It’s certainly possible he is just getting back to trusting his leg/knee in game-speed. I hope so, because this defense really needs another high level performer that plays closer to the LOS. 
 

What are your thoughts?

he had not taken a snap in over a year.  It’s rust 

[djp14150]

1 hour ago, Don Otreply said:

The blocked punt for a TD is likely the play that did us in, that and our defense’s inability to have a plan “B”

I look at blocked punt just as if you had a quick TD drive.

 

If Buffalo was able to stop them from scoring a TD and holding them to a FG on one of those drives they would have won 42-40/41

1 hour ago, Back2Buff said:

Milano will never be what he once was.  This isn't just about rust.  They need to go back to Dorian and use Milano on blitz packages.

Disagree….

[colin]

McClap honestly has his guys, and his guys get burn over people who are not his guys.  we saw this with aj klien over williams vs kc in the playoffs, and we saw this last week and this week w Milano playing.  Milano doesn't look ready to my eyes.  

[goldenboy81]

So he missed almost 2 yrs then he played in a snow storm then made the west trip. Maybe let the guy get his feet wet first

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 hours ago, Beast said:

Milano was exposed multiple times yesterday? I recall one where he over pursued.

 

The defensive line was exposed yesterday.

 

Taron Johnson had his worst game that I can recall.

 

Milano will be fine and was fine yesterday. I don’t remember him getting picked on at all.

 

Taron johnson had multiple man coverage snaps against Puka and got worked.  It's tough... The guy is really good, and he played really really well.  

48 minutes ago, djp14150 said:

I look at blocked punt just as if you had a quick TD drive.

 

If Buffalo was able to stop them from scoring a TD and holding them to a FG on one of those drives they would have won 42-40/41

Disagree….

 

The only problems the offense had were before and after the half.  Those were the drives that can change the entire complexion of the game, and we punted on both.  

2 hours ago, Back2Buff said:

Milano will never be what he once was.  This isn't just about rust.  They need to go back to Dorian and use Milano on blitz packages.

 

Dorian typically struggles more with misdirection and motion than bernard and milano.  I think he would have had a really rough game in this one tbh.  

[todd]

I chalk it up to being rusty. He hasn’t played at real game speed in over a year. I think they are probably playing him now to be ready for the playoffs.

 

that said, I didn’t watch him specifically the whole game but he does seem a touch late on his read and recognition, but there were a few time I thought I saw the old Milano there. You don’t give up quickly on a talent like that. The film doesn’t lie, and I hope they get that corrected soon. 
 

the entire defense at every level was sub-par yesterday. Hard to single out one player when everyone was bad. Especially the d-line. It was bad.

[Dubie54]

Our defense is not as good with him on the field. He’s out of shape and rusty. Williams is much quicker and game ready - Milano is not, at this point. Coaches are responsible for putting  the best players on the field that give a team the best chance of winning. Can you honestly say that in Milano’s condition he’s a better option than Williams? 

[boyst]

12 hours ago, thenorthremembers said:

I said it in the Dorian Williams post and got flamed.  To expect a 30 year old lb coming off two major injuries to come back and be good was silly.  I was told it was only an arm injury so he would be the same player.

 

The likelihood he is washed is extremely high.   

Williams ceiling is milanos floor. 

[T master]

12 hours ago, FireChans said:

Matt didn’t look good last week but conditions were iffy so I waited to discuss this until I saw him in the Rams game.

 

He looks very slow and hesitant out there. Now of course, the rest of the defense wasn’t much better so maybe it’s still too early to tell. 

 

It’s certainly possible he is just getting back to trusting his leg/knee in game-speed. I hope so, because this defense really needs another high level performer that plays closer to the LOS. 
 

What are your thoughts?

 

I thought they were going to bring Millano in on a pitch count and keep Williams in on the majority of the plays to give him time to get back up to speed but it has seemed as if he is back in as the starter which we can tell he's not the same yet as he was prior to having 1 - 1/2 year not playing .

 

I think like Von he is going to need time to get back to his old self fully healthy mind, body, and soul . Even the D line up when getting ready for a play looks different now that he is back but i may not have paid full attention before he came back .

[Straight Hucklebuck]

12 hours ago, FireChans said:

Matt didn’t look good last week but conditions were iffy so I waited to discuss this until I saw him in the Rams game.

 

He looks very slow and hesitant out there. Now of course, the rest of the defense wasn’t much better so maybe it’s still too early to tell. 

 

It’s certainly possible he is just getting back to trusting his leg/knee in game-speed. I hope so, because this defense really needs another high level performer that plays closer to the LOS. 
 

What are your thoughts?

I have no problems being excited about his comeback. 

 

But I did not anticipate that right away he'd be playing 100% of non-Dime snaps. 

 

This is the coaching staff that had Jordan Phillips out there a couple of seasons ago with a torn rotator cuff where there are All-22 cutups going around where he is pass rushing with his arm in a full L. 

 

We saw this again with Tre White off the ACL, he was slow and the Bills left him out there getting cooked. 

 

Milano looks like he can't use his left arm at more than 50%. He holds it in an L and has to play with a motion restricting brace. 

 

He is a weak point for an opposing offense to exploit, and I thought there would be some ramp up here where Dorian would play. 

 

 

The other thought it is - say Detroit, or the Ravens in the Playoffs start running all over the Bills again, if McDermott would ever choose to play base again, does Dorian get on the field? Because he is now Milano's backup, so who do they play at SLB? Is it that a given? 

 

Edited December 9 by Straight Hucklebuck

[Buffalo_Stampede]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFan said:

The eye test showed me that Williams is simply faster to the ball.  

He gets lost. He was not helping vs the Rams.

I did think he would play more than Milano at this point while we ramp up Milano’s snaps. I also thought he would have a role as a blitzer.

 

The Rams actually only had 3.3 yards per carry. Kyren Williams only 3 yards per carry. 
 

Im not sure how anyone thinks Williams improves our chances of winning this game? He’s not good in coverage.

 

[RyanC883]

looks timid, afraid of injury, or more likely, unable to diagnose game play speed with 14 months off.  

 

I'd have Williams out there 1/2 the game.  We can't have Milano playing like this in the playoffs.  If Milano can't get it back by then, we should roll with Williams.  

27 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

He gets lost. He was not helping vs the Rams.

I did think he would play more than Milano at this point while we ramp up Milano’s snaps. I also thought he would have a role as a blitzer.

 

The Rams actually only had 3.3 yards per carry. Kyren Williams only 3 yards per carry. 
 

Im not sure how anyone thinks Williams improves our chances of winning this game? He’s not good in coverage.

 

 

agree that peak Williams v. mid-range Milano is in Milano's favor.  However, Milano was not great in coverage or run yesterday.  Williams likely shuts down more of the run plays than Milano at this point.  Milano is getting shacked out of his boots by RBs, etc.  Again, it's a game speed issue for him, which he hopefully gets back in time for the playoffs.