WhitewalkerInPhilly

Eeeek, that was a nasty shot. I hope he's ok.

I'm surprisingly worried. No Davis, Settle or Oliver before a game that we should have easy in hand after a long break... I've got nerves. The Bills need to go out and show why they have Championship aspirations

I think it's impossible to have too many quality CBs over the course of a season, especially one where you have Super Bowl aspirations. The amount of wear and tear is tremendous and if you're telling me that we don't have to rush people back from injury, that is a tremendous boon.

I'm actually a fan of the 715 game start. I'm up early for work and I was so hyped last Thursday I couldn't sleep. If we repeat I have a few hours to get it out of my system.

They just lost to the Giants. I'm not saying that it's impossible to lose to them (last year's game should be seared into our memory) but I have zero doubts that we are more talented.

For the record, I think that the Rams are going to be a good team. There's a number of things that made Week 1 a rough start for them: Van Jefferson was out, meaning they had no strong second punch other than Kupp. They didn't play starters in preseason, so their tackling was poor. I think they pull themselves together a bit going forward. I still think they win their division. But if I am being completely honest, I remember watching the Super Bowl and thinking that both the Bills and Chiefs were better teams.

I am shamelessly stealing this format, because I am pumped for the day and see no current thread up. I have to give it to Dorsey. Yes, the offense has miscues, but for the most part the issues were in execution, not design. Considering that the starters had relatively little playing time in preseason, sloppy play (while not excusable) is an inevitable byproduct of trying to keep starters fresh for the season. I might quibble about exactly how best to handle our rushing attack, but it worked against a pretty good defense and one of the best D-linemen in the game. On that note, I want to spend a moment praising how the Bills handled Aaron Donald in particular. Yes, we had the benefit of being able to prioritize against him, but whenever he was one on one he showed why he is so dang good. So the Bills addressed the personnel mismatch with scheme. They ran shifts to take him out of a clear path. Donald was still a force, but the Bills didn't allow him to take over the game, and that is really the best you can ask for when dealing with such an elite player. The Rams invited the Bills to dink and dunk on them early. This was not a surprise to me. What did surprise me was how fast and accurate Josh was getting the ball off. I know he gets the reputation of being an improviser who can make magic out of broken plays, and that reputation is well earned. But this is the guy who everyone (including myself at draft night, hello eating crow) screamed was inaccurate, and he had a single pass hit the ground all night. If Allen can do this against a solid secondary, and this balance continues they are going to be a nightmare to scheme against. Feed Motor. I don't hate Moss, but at this point there is a clear pecking order. I don't hate keeping Moss as a backup, but I will not shed any tears for him being placed on the inactive list. The usefulness of a fullback in the modern NFL is a hill I will die on. Gilliam showed why with some of those blocks on an all-Pro linebacker. I said it elsewhere already, but I saw why the Bills paid Von Miller all that money. It isn't just that he had some nice sacks, it's that his presence opened up room for the others. We've been waiting for Rousseau, Basham and Espenesa to break out, and all notched sacks as well. If their growth continues, this D-line can be scary. I am not calling for a red alert over Elam not starting, even as Benford got torched. Considering they had the task of guarding last years triple crown winner, the fact that he was contained as he was while starting 7th and 6th round picks as your starting outside CBs is stunning. I think Elam slowly works his way to a starting role and overall I think the CB situation in general is good enough that we have the luxury of letting Tre White come back healthy. Overall, there are miscues but the first game of the season is always wonky. I am licking my chops at the idea of playing a Titans team with a busted secondary and lesser WR and QB talent.

Obviously you always keep tweaking. Like many here, I am ready for Zack Moss to be a game day inactive/backup and just feed Motor. Josh doesn't need to run that late in the game up three scores. But other than that, what isn't to like? The run game got going just enough to have some balance, and the pitches worked well. You had 7 players who had receptions. Diggs showed why he was All Pro in 2020. Davis looked the part of the perfect #2. The turnovers were not the result of play calling. Aaron Donald was extremely limited. For a first time OC outing what isn't to like?

That play was insane to me. I remember panicking on a deep pass on third and short and my jaw dropped as it connected. And that was audibled ? WHo does that? Josh Allen that's who

I remember hearing talk that we overpaid for Von Miller. I think we saw why we paid for him. It wasn't just the sacks, though two sacks were nice. It was that we went from being so close on sacks to finally getting home. I know Stafford isn't the quickest draw, but a big missing piece is now present.

Sweet lord, if we can be at 80% of this all year I don't think there's anyone we couldn't beat.

In spite of a looooot of self inflicted wounds it's an even game. Let's go.

He has control, is on his knees and the ball is pulled away

How is he not down by contact?

Damn he made that look easy.

Lets gooooo!

I'm going to go out on a limb here: I think he's going to be better than Daboll. I like Daboll. I think he did well bringing Josh along and I wish him well in NJ. But now that Allen is on his game, and can play loose I think that Dorsey can add wrinkles in. Plus, our run game has been pretty vanilla outside of RPO and Josh runs. I'm hoping that Kromer has a few things lined up.

I do enjoy watching the Jets be this decade's 2010s Bills

Thanks Yolo. If Doyle and Morris are looking like our only (non-Tre White) injuries I am very happy

Bills 38 Rams 34 I think it's going to be an airshow with two untested secondaries and some of the most talented receiving groups in the league mixed with big arm QBs. There will be splash plays

I'd like to think that McDermott has things dialed in this year. Until the Arazia situation and preseason week 3 all signs looked like we were about to hit the ground running. Last year, when the Bills were hot they could almost anyone at their best. The glaring exception to this was the Chiefs. The problem was the games when not everything clicked. Believe me, all signs we saw from Jackson, Elam and Benford were very positive. If anything, I feel like the offense was even more explosive when we saw the starters. I fully expect us to roll the Titans in Week 2, it's just that we are coming into a road game against a legitimately good opponent that makes it chaotic.

I'm going to be honest, while I will look forward to breakdowns, this is the first time in a while where I honestly have no idea which way it will go. Bluntly, if January 2022 Bills and Rams show up, I am picking the Bills. On paper, the Bills look to be the better team to me. When Allen ran the offense, and even when the second team was in, they looked amazing. The defense backups shut down Matt Ryan. But there's just so much untested: how does the new DL look with all the parts together? How does the banged up secondary hold up? How does Dorsey look in his first time running the show? I believe this team is a Super Bowl contender, and I expect them to have things dialed in by the playoffs, but I remember how they looked against the Steelers last year.

I mean, that was likely going to happen even if Tre was good to go Week 1. This is the NFL, and a passing first league. Cooper Kupp single handedly willed that team to a Super Bowl Championship. We were never going to take him away completely. The hope is that Poyer and Hyde keep it managable.

"Wut?" Is right. Welcome to the modern NFL. You *need* DBs in spades. Benford is a late round pick, does anyone think that he's going to have an issue being in a starting rotation on a team with SB aspirations?

I mean, I know they are not protected but it looks like most of the players we thought were bubble we kept.