billsfan89

Disagree with you on Ed Oliver, I think most definitely they are picking up his fifth year option. There is a reason why on a deep D-line they are playing him the most snaps by albeit a small margin. He was solid his rookie year and then out of position but still respectable his second year. Now that he is back to his most natural position he is really becoming a highly disruptive player. Fair points that the jury is still out on AJ although he is looking better and Boogie is still the jury is out. However the D-line as a unit is performing well. The overall play of the unit being one of the best in the league is justifying the high price tag.

Looking at the 11 Bills defensive linemen on the roster and you can clearly see that the team since 2018 has massively invested cap and draft capital into it. In 2021 these investments seem to be paying off huge. Breaking down how much has been invested makes you really see how much has been put into the unit. Rousseau and Oliver - 1st round picks AJ and Boogie - 2nd round picks Henry Phillips- 3rd round pick Addison, Butler and Star - all significant free agent signings with fairly large contracts Jerry Hughes - Resigned to a large contract The only two players not fitting into the mold of being a high draft pick or large contract are Obada and Zimmer. I know last season I was beginning to question if the Dline investment was going to pay off, but this off season they invested even more and it now looks to be all coming together. I can’t think of a time in recent Bills memory where this much draft and cap capital was invested into a single unit.

The Chiefs also were able to run on the Dline which in my opinion made the difference. The Bills front four was able to hold the running game in check. Whereas in 2020 KC was just getting huge chunks on the ground and stuck with it.

I could see them going Frazier but then again I am not sure if they will not want to go with an up and coming coach. Either way I seriously doubt Daboll and Frazier will be on the coaching staff in 2022.

The 2018 Eagles who won a Super Bowl had a similar approach. McD came up through the Eagles organization under legend Jim Johnson and they always had a fairly deep defensive line approach. So I don't think they are necessarily innovating an approach here. But they have put in the draft and free agency dollars onto the D-line and it is paying off. They signed Hughes to a fairly big extension, signed Butler, Star and Addison to fairly large deals, invested two first and two second round picks in the span of three seasons and a third round pick. The massive investment of draft and cap capital is paying off. I think the only players that aren't significant free agents or picked in the first three rounds on the D-line are Zimmer and Obada. Loving the heavy investment in the lines.

Titans, Saints and Bucs remain the tough games on the schedule. I would say there is a loss in one of those three games plus a fluky upset loss that happens. That would put the team at 14-3 which is pretty solid and puts the team in a good spot for a bye. The Chargers and Ravens are in tougher divisions and if the Bills take care of the Titans they bury them 3 games behind the Bills thanks to the tie breaker.

Donate my body to medical science do something useful with it.

Klein is playing well so I don't see the need to push Milano out there. I think Klein being a better run defender makes him well suited for the matchup. Cudos for the Bills for recognizing the need for LB depth last season and signing Klein. I thought he was going to be a bust but after he filled in for Milano last season and struggled. But after that Seahawks game last year Klein really showed what role he can play. I think in 2020 the organization recognized the need for a reliable Milano replacement and they found one in Klein.

I am not writing off Phillips he has looked a lot better this season. He isn’t looking like he did early in 2019 but he is always solid whenever I see him out there. I think he will easily turn in a productive season, he has graded out well from PFF and Football Outsiders in 2021 for what that’s worth. I don’t know if he will stay with the team but he will at worst have been a contributing player who might possibly net this team a comp pick not the worst draft pick even if I would have liked a bit more from him. Sadly I think his 2019 injury really set him back.

I loved acquiring a guy with a Super Bowl ring and who has 13 post season games under his belt (including 8 starts). I am not aware of anyone else on the roster with a ring and anywhere near that level of playoff experience outside of Hyde who has 5 games with the Bills and 8 with the Packers. Sanders has added an edge and veteran hand to the offense in addition to what he brings on field.

I think the Bills will have at least one or two more losses. Teams have flat games it happens. The Bucs and Saints (on a Thursday) are games I can see giving the Bills issues. The goal should be 14-3 which hopefully should be good enough for a bye.

The Bills drafting has been special and their work in free agency has been good too. Mongo has started two seasons at a least a league average level and was a complete bargain his first two years. Beasley is one of the best slot receivers in the league. Sanders has replaced Browns production while adding a dynamic that was needed. Hyde and Poyer are arguably the best signings in the teams history. D Williams was also a steal last year and has helped the Oline. The team paid retail for Mitch and Star but both have played valuable roles and are restructured to be more reflective of their value. Even Addison is catching on better this season after they restructured him. Even past signings like John Brown and Haush had value and weren’t cap burdens. Feels great to be such a well run team.

Ford will either get traded for a late round pick in camp next season or be kept on as a back up before they let him walk. I was high on Ford in the draft and was hoping he could catch on at guard but his atrocious play this year leads me to think he is a bust. I don’t hate keeping him as a backup for one more season maybe coaching can work with him in practice this season and in camp to help him out and it makes him better?

Brown has looked great at RT and D Williams at RG has looked good the past two weeks (and although the Texans are generally bad the players Williams had to block is a good DT). I thought Mongo at LG was solid against KC although hard to tell with Jones hurt. I think we will get a full assessment of the Oline against a solid Titans defense. But I do think the configuration that they have now is working and will work long term.

The Bills subtly found a way to get more physical on both sides of the ball. Sanders brought a physicality and mentality to the WR corps and Spencer Brown brought a lot to the Oline as he is a physical monster. They are also using Moss more who runs in a physical manner. Defensively they got back Star up the middle which has helped but also drafted two DE’s with high end physical profiles. This team is better built for playoff football with these subtle moves.

I thought it was more important to keep Johnson but if they can find a way to keep Wallace I am fine with it. In the end the Bills will eventually have let players walk but let’s see how this season plays out before worrying about who to keep. Who also knows how Levi finishes the season or if he gets hurt. Love to keep him but there are just so many variables with 12 regular season games to go.

The Titans did it last year against Josh to some success, the Bills aren’t the only team with good secondary players. I agree that the defense talent wise won’t be matched often but the Bills will need Beasley to carve up soft zones and just in general to generate cheap first downs.

Teams have adjusted to him and are playing a soft two deep look and banging up Kelce. Without a good WR2 the Chiefs now have a defensive gameplan that will challenge them. The soft two deep look takes away Hills deep plays esp if you have good safety play. So then you look to Kelce who teams are banging up down low and willing to take holding calls and penalties against. KC then can run the ball which will work against lesser defenses but against a good Dline that isn’t going to work. Mahomes and KC will still put up huge numbers against mid level or lower defenses they just can’t be constrained easily but if you have a good defense they can be flustered. I would not be shocked to see KC try and trade for a WR by the trade deadline. They need some other way to hurt better defenses. Mahomes had time, the Bills pressured him but not anything insane. What happened in my eyes was that the Bills made KC play a style that is very patient and the Chiefs made little errors that were forced by effective disciplined play by the Bills. Mahomes wasn’t on the run every play like in the Super Bowl even if there was some effective pressure it wasn’t anything crazy.

This game meant a lot to the Bills. They had to slay their dragon and establish themselves as the top dogs. However the Bills were impressive on both sides of the ball. Offensively outside of the third quarter they dominated the game moving the ball at will. Defensively they had an effective game plan and executed it perfectly and the special teams were solid. The Bills are playing like a well oiled machine and it came out in the score winning by not two but three possessions. What impressed me more was coming back after a hour half time delay. That type of delay can cause a shift in momentum and the Bills just crushed it afterwards. KC didn’t have Jones and were banged up slightly but the Bills outright dominated and showcased they are for real. Another measuring stick game with big AFC implications on the road against the Titans. Hoping to see another instance of dominance and revenge.

Collinsworth while not as intolerable as a guy like Joe Buck is pretty bad in my opinion. He tends to have his favorites and his bias shows. His football knowledge isn’t bad which is why I can’t say he isn’t the worst. I do enjoy Al Michael’s and the rest of the SNF presentation.

I will be interested to see how the Bills attack the Titans defense. The Titans did a two deep “soft” approach and it was effective. I suspect they do something similar again. My primary interest is to see how they dink and dunk up the field and if the offense can run on a solid front 7. By far the best defense this offense will face since week one when the Steelers were healthy.

That Titans Covid game really pissed me off last season. A weird Tuesday game because the Titans were cheating Covid protocol and shock they got Covid. The Titans also to their credit came out with a good plan against the Bills defensively. I think this is another good litmus test for the Bills who will have to see if they can break the Titans defense that worked last season and if the Bills can hunker down against Henry.

I hope this is just he don’t want the distraction of social media. I hope that the Bills find a way to get him involved in the offense. I can easily see teams mimicking the two deep safe defense that worked against KC. If that’s the case they will need Beasley to help the dinking and dunking up the field.

Never thought Knox couldn’t develop Into a starting caliber TE. But he has completely taken over Gabe Davis and even Beasley at this point as the teams third receiving option which I never thought would happen.

Difference was the Dline was able to generate enough pressure and hold against the ground game. Last year against KC in the regular season they were gaining 7-8 yards a clip on the ground and it was making it far too easy to just grind the game out. This time they weren’t able to get that so they had to dink and dunk against the secondary and it caused issues.