billsfan89

I like Davis to have an impact but I think the receivers and Knox eat the Titans lunch on check downs. I think getting Beasley and Knox specifically involved in making those 5-12 yard check down completions is going to be critical.

Dawson Knox, I don't think his stat line will be eye popping but he will have a nice line of 7 catches 75 yards and possibly a TD. I think they will be using Knox to wear out the Titans defense which will likely be playing a soft two deep zone like they did in the 2020 matchup. I think the Bills not only turn to a ground game a bit more but also throw designed short throws to Beasley and Knox. Beasley will have a good 6+ catches too but I think Knox being more physical will make it harder to "wear out" the receiving corps. I think that Knox being a complement to the offense as a tight end allows the team to allow him to get beat up a bit since they are less reliant on his talent throughout the game unlike KC who needs Kelce all game and can't go 4 wide consistently.

I hate to echo the "Ralph is cheap" sentiments because without Ralph the NFL would not be the same and the Bills would not be a team. Ralph was a pioneer for the AFL and held the team in Buffalo the rest of his life and helped oversee a lot of success in the late 80's through the late 90's. He deserves respect but by the mid 2000's I think the modern NFL had passed him by. He came from the old school 50's and 60's owners who ran teams like a business where dollars in and dollars out were the drivers of the organization. By the 1980's sports teams started to become wealthy people's vanity projects whose main return on investments came not from year to year profits but from selling the team. By the 2000's it really caught up to Ralph as he wasn't willing to invest in high 6 figure and 7 figure salaries for coaches, management and staff, invest in the practice facilities or pay out heavy bonuses to players to make the most out of the cap. Even OJ (whose word I take with a massive grain of salt) had said Ralph told him he wasn't going to spend big money on the team's talent. From 2005-2014 the salary cap was not an issue in Buffalo. I never recalled a year when the team ever was really up against the cap. Even in years where they got within 20 million of the cap (which is hardly up against it) they had plenty of fat and ways to add more space. But they would never shift over bonuses or spend the remaining space. So that puts the team at a competitive disadvantage. Then you have the disadvantage of low paid staffs and bad facilities (relative to the rest of the league) and bad general decision making by hiring guys like Marv and Jauron to run the team. Any organization facing all of those issues is going to struggle. The Bills needed modern NFL ownership to compete in the modern NFL. The Pegula's to their credit have provided that since they took over. As bad as some of the larger decisions in the Rex era were they still spent big on coaches, to the cap and were beginning to invest in the infrastructure of the team.

The Leap 2.0 was really important to closing out the game. It was only a 2 possession lead and there would have been about 9 minutes left in the game. By getting that first down it kept the close out drive alive instead of punting away with about 9 minutes left. Even if they didn't score on that drive and the leap just helped them chew up some more clock it was a big play.

As much credit as McBeane should get I also think Pegula as an owner for the Bills has facilitated the complete turnaround of not only the on field product but the organization. Pegula has not been afraid to spend to the cap and shell out the bonus money needed to get the most out of the teams cap space even in the Rex era they had a huge 2015 spending spree. The organization also looked to have not gone cheap on coaching staffs and off field infrastructure such as training staffs. They currently have an 18 million dollar practice facility that opened in 2019. Pegula also bought into McD an unproven coach and handed him and his chosen GM the keys to a longer term 3 year rebuilding plan. Ownership has been a huge component of the teams overall turnaround.

Watt has played in all 5 games but not registered a sack. But he has graded out well in advanced metrics so without watching him it is hard to say how much of an impact he is having outside of the stats. The Bills weren’t going to over pay for Watt and I am glad they didn’t.

NFL Slime Time is pretty clever…

When the NHL lost a season due to a lockout in 04/05 a lot of the veteran players who didn’t play overseas said the year of rest and taking care of their bodies helped to extend their careers and improve their performance in the years that followed.

Good and very detailed write up appreciate the effort. I am interested to see how the defense handles the physical receiving corps of Jones (who returned to practice this week) and AJ Brown while also managing to handle Henry on the ground. I am also interested to see if the Titans operate how they did last season defensively and how Josh and Daboll attack that. The Titans played a lot of two deep zone and it seemed to fluster Josh a lot. Hopefully they have a plan to attack that.

The offense in my opinion is benefitting from having Sanders in there as a true WR2. John Brown was great in 2019 but in 2020 he was just so banged up consistently. In the games where Brown was healthy last season the offense really rolled. Brown made big plays, Diggs was all over the place, Beasley carved people up down low and Mac and Davis played their roles. But when Brown was out better defenses had more success against the Bills. Knox's emergence, Spencer Brown on the o-line and kicking D.Williams inside and Zack Moss improvement have all made a positive impact and are all key too but I think Sanders on the field and off has added so much to the offense.

The only trades I can see happening are if there is an injury and the team wants to replace a key player. That's nice insurance to have in the coming few weeks. But I just don't see the Bills unloading talent when they have a roster that is a well oiled machine and runs on depth. I also don't see them going over the top to add talent (when there isn't an injury need) given that they are strapped for cap space and don't really have that one glaring need. The only trade I could maybe see that isn't injury related is if they want some depth at corner. But they seem to like Jackson and Neal so I am not sure if they feel they need to upgrade there. As I have said if there is an injury and they want some depth they might make a small end trade. But they just don't have any glaring need or one key piece missing or even a need for depth at the moment. First time as a fan I can say that, feels good.

I tend to agree with you but I would also argue that the Titans came out with a good defensive game plan last season and it flustered Josh. Hoping to see how the Bills counter that offensively. The Bills are the bar now which feels fantastic but sports can often be about matchups and the Titans present an interesting matchup for the Bills that I am interested to see how it plays out.

Let’s see how this team handles a ground and pound Titans team that has physical receivers. The Titans were a bad matchup last season hoping the defense is up to the task.

I honestly am so scarred from the drought era that I still am surprised when the Bills win games. Intellectually most times I know they should beat the Jets and a lot of other teams the past few years. But in my gut I still have this feeling of this team is going to blow the game. It’s slowly going away but still there. Honestly I think Tampa is equally as good. They have the dynamic offense a very good defense and solid special teams. I look at the Bucs as being as good as the Bills.

In terms of longevity you can’t argue against Hyde/Poyer for most other signings. A lot of the common responses in my opinion aren’t as good as Hyde and Poyer but one is as good and one is better. Spikes - Had two great seasons in 2003-2004. But he was hurt in 2005 and not as effective in 2006. Then he was traded. Bryce Paup- Had a fantastic DPOY in his first year but then was hurt in 1996 and turned in a solid but not fantastic 1997 before he left. Certainly a greater peak but not a lot of longevity. Ted Washington- This is one that has both the longevity and production to rival Hyde/Poyer. Washington was in Buffalo for 6 seasons and made 3 Pro Bowls and was a rock solid starter all 6 years. I think Hyde and Poyer will need to put in 2 more seasons of high end production to edge out Ted. London Fletcher- He was in Buffalo for 5 seasons and was healthy and productive all 5 seasons. Although Fletcher never got even a Pro Bowl in his years here that is a travesty as he was a really good player. This one you could argue is currently as good as Hyde/Poyer but if Hyde/Poyer give you one more season you give them the edge. James Lofton- Was in Buffalo for 4 seasons but was hurt most of his first year. Three productive seasons followed but I would put the Hyde/Poyer combo over them.

Trying to think of who he reminds of. Simeon Rice from back in the day kind of. Not really sure what type of more modern player he is similar too. Either way he is playing really well and having a much needed impact.

He must still be lucking into all those sacks...

KC will still be a factor in the AFC. In their own division the Broncos and Raider while not bad teams aren't the powerhouses their 3-0 starts indicate. The Chargers are trouble but they already ate one loss to them. KC in my opinion will adjust their game plan to the soft zone no blitz bang up Kelce contain Hill defense. For one I think their O-line is going to feast on less D-lines and provide them with a ground game and a play action passing attack that will add more to their offense. I also wouldn't be shocked if they try to pull of a trade for a WR2 if they can make it work cap wise. But KC's defense is going to be an issue one that even an acquisition will not fix. But if KC can get Clark and Jones going at the same time on the D-line and maybe find someone to help their secondary just a bit they might claw their way back to being a less bad defense. In the end KC is going to be able to make the playoffs due to the fact that they should be able to beat up on bad and mid-level teams with their offense and win some games against better teams in shoot outs. I see 6 more wins on their schedule against the WFT, NYG, PIT and 3 out of 4 wins against their division games against the Broncos and Raiders. That gets them to 8 wins and I think they should be able to win 2-3 shootouts against their tougher remaining opponents (The Titans, Packers, Cowboys, Chargers and possibly Bengals). That is going to get them to about 10-11 wins which I think should be good enough for one of three wildcard spots (and the Colts and Fins slow starts are making the AFC less deep this year.) But in the playoffs without a bye or home field they just won't be able to consistently win close shootouts on the road. They may win a game in the playoffs but they aren't winning multiple games on the road in shoot outs.

If Schefter was a journalist in a more serious realm of journalism this would be a huge issue for me personally. But this is sports not really all that serious that you are cozy with sources. In fact there is very little difference to give a source editorial control of a specific article than if they just feed you the information they want out there. Schefter will take some heat for this but if this is the extent of what he said he will be fine.

It was never that great in the first place. Big markets and stars were always favored not to mention East Coast bias. On top of that sports journalism always included a lot of sensationalism. Is it worse now? I would say clickbait has become an issue but there are also more outlets online where you can find better opinions and more detailed analysis.

I am not sure where the Bills need to go if there are no significant injuries. Maybe corner for depth?

I didn’t factor in the mobility of the QB’s the Bills have faced thus far. But I suspect that the Bills sack leader whomever it may be this season will likely have 8 or less sacks but as long as the team sacks are high it doesn’t matter.

Kind of shocked at that. The O-line has been great the past two weeks but wasn't that great the first three weeks. Guess Josh is just able to navigate pressure so well.

Is the "star power" not there because the stats aren't there because of the heavy rotation this team plays? Ed Oliver in my opinion is breaking out and Rousseau is having a hell of a rookie year. AJ and Boogie are flashing and Star, Hughes, and Addision are performing well too. Last year I would have agreed that the team's D-line was underperforming relative to the investment the team put into it. But this year they are as a whole unit far greater than the individual parts. Stats can be deflated due to lower snaps counts for individual players. The Bills are tied with the Rams for 5th in the NFL in sacks per game at 2.8 sacks per game (last year they had 2.3 sack per game which would rank 13th this season and ranked 15th last year) and have a ton of high rated team defense aspects to them like a stout yards per game and rushing/passing defense stats.

I think the rotation being a lot higher than other teams will deflate the stats of the D-line. As a whole the D-line is just fantastic and deep. They pass the eye test and even the advanced metrics which are flawed but not fully useless (I think PFF and football outsiders is most useful for line play) back up that the D-line is performing well as a whole and as individual pieces for the most part.