billsfan89

Meant Valdez-Scantling

Good Second half offense - They only had 3 possessions on offense in the second half they scored TD's on two of them and missed a field goal on the other. What impressed me is that they ran completely down the throats of the strongest part of the Giants defense. Yes the Giants are banged up massively but their DT combo is one of the best in the league and their MLB is very good. As bad as the first half offense was they got it going in the second half. Dorian Williams and Bernard - Bernard looked the part early this season but his first full game without Milano and he still looked good. Dorian has some growing pains but he was all over the field. Defense comes up clutch - The Bills defense bailed out the offense with clutch play after clutch play. Trap game bottled up quickly - The Giants noticed the over-eager defense and called two very smart trap plays that got off 20+ yards. But the Bills snuffed it out very quickly the next few times it was called. Bad Elam still having growing pains - Elam still let up a few big plays against a bad passing attack. Wasn't a complete liability out there but still a long way to go. Lack of Non-Diggs WR production - A frequent critique is that WR's not named Diggs and TE's are not producing. First-half playcalling - Dorsey took forever to switch to a power-running game. Basically tanked the first-half offense by not adjusting by Q2. Josh Allen Pick - The only reason this does not get into the ugly category is because this was a very good defensive play. This turnover cost the Bills a chance to attempt to get points at the end of the half. Ugly Bass missing two kicks - They weren't chip shots but the misses hurt. The first miss hurt the Bills chance to "stop the bleeding" and come away with something. The second miss avoided nearly icing the game (still a one-possession game but would have put the Bills in a very solid position). Sloppy Gabe Davis fumble - This fumble really killed the offense's chance at establishing some rhythm and led to the Giants' first field goal. By far one of those plays that really set the tone for the game in a bad way for the Bills. A sloppy somewhat unforced error. Seeing another Bills player get carted off in an ambulance - Glad to hear this may be more of a Dane Jackson situation with Harris but its always very scary to see this. Overall a really ugly win. Maybe the "ugliest" win in NFL history but they don't grade them they count them.

Bills are at least better equipped to win a ground and pound game this season.

I think KC was hoping that Lazard would be a bit more consistent and 2 out of the 3 WR's between Tooney, Moore and Rice would catch on. They have been seeing signs of life from Rice but Lazard has not been great and Tooney and Moore have not been doing all that much. They needed to attempt to add something at WR and given Hardman's past experience in that system and KC's cap limitations it makes sense they go with adding Hardman. Was hoping the Bills could add Hardman, he isn't a huge needle mover but he is a solid player who adds speed to an offense. Looking at the WR market it is very dry Patterson from the Falcons may be a decent player to take a look at.

Call me crazy but I think the NFL has the money to retrofit 8 domes with grass.

I don't see an issue with banning this German Suplex-style tackle from the NFL. It's not really adding much to the game to have it in there. There is always a risk of injury but if you can lower the injury risk with a reasonable rule change then why not do it? Same goes with switching to grass fields full time. But if everyone is playing on grass full time then the speed is relative and is not impacted that much? I don't get this argument as you will get a lot less incentive bonuses if players get hurt.

Yeah, I am not willing to give up on a good coach over an arbitrary goal without factoring in context just yet. I think if they lay another playoff egg the pressure does mount but I would give McD at least 1-2 more seasons beyond this year to get things right.

I don't know too much other than it was an ankle injury. Hopefully, it's a manageable injury that can get better with rest during a bye week and lesser practice.

Bills are banged up for sure. Dane and Knox will likely be managing those injuries all season. Could really use a bye week sooner rather than later but hopefully the Bills can just manage things for now and maybe add a piece or two at the trade deadline

Dane is already banged up and will be managing that injury all season. I don’t have an issue baptizing Elam by fire so to speak these next few weeks but the Bills could really use at least a capable depth option at corner in case Elam doesn’t turn the corner and or there is another injury

Much better to attempt to work out the kinks with the offense in October and November than to rush your QB to gain wins and not address bigger issues. Will Dorsey get it together? I don’t know but it’s better they find out now than late in the season or playoffs

Knox is a decent TE, if he is your 4th or 5th option in the passing game you are golden. He is a good blocker and plays with good physicality but as many mentioned his hands are inconsistent at best. The issue isn’t that he is the TE as he is a starting caliber TE but the issue is that his cap numbers for 2024 to 2026 is going to place him among the highest paid TE’s in the league even if you restructure his deal in 2024 and 2025 you still have him as a top 6-7 TE salary most likely. Just a bad use of resources

I don’t know why you think the Bills are thinking that? The Bills may be scouring the WR market but their limited cap space and what’s out on the market being limited may not be moving the needle just yet

Wouldn’t hate the idea of tossing a 6th round pick to kick the tires but not much of a needle mover

I was responding to the idea that the Bills offensive line is getting burnt by stunts and it is a weakness for the offensive line. I think the more the new guards play with Mitch and the tackles the more they will improve at communicating and picking up stunts. I will agree that Brown is the weak link of the line. And while he is better than the total liability he was last season he still needs help in pass protection which is a limitation the offense needs to work around. I will say that Brown is playing well in run blocking which is helping the Bills establish a conventional ground game more consistently.

Gotta remember that 2 out of 5 offensive line players are new additions and one is a rookie. They also played two good defensive lines in recent weeks. The Giants DT combo is a better one in the league Thibodeaux is talented off the edge and the Jags have a good D-line and they had the whole London advantage fiasco. I think that the offensive line is still playing well all things considered. I can say that I do not feel that the offensive struggles in the past two weeks are that much on the offensive line esp in the Giants game. I think I felt like the offensive line dominated the ground game against the Giants (running right at their strength at DT and MLB none less) and gave Josh enough protection to be successful it was just the missed field goal and the two turnovers that sputtered the offense to score nothing (the Gabe fumble being the really egregious error as the Josh pick was the result of a very strong defensive play). I will say that the offensive line did share a good share of the blame against the Jags as I do think the Jags were able to generate pressure with their front four at a far too consistent rate. But once that whole game was just not a great example of the team's talents due to various factors. I feel like with more experience Mitch and the new guards will only get better at communication which will only help them at picking up stunts. Better to work out the kinks in October and November. TLDR: The offensive line is still 40% new players including a rookie and they still did a solid job against the Giants as the Giants were gashed completely in the ground game and had to stunt constantly to get pressure. The line will improve their communication with more time together and film study.

Julio Jones was the last great "freak" WR to be among the league's top 3-4 WR's. A real throwback to Randy Moss, TO and Calvin Johnson-type players. Jones is 6 foot 3 220 pounds and came into the league with 4.39 speed and a 38.5-inch verticle and played even faster and freakier than that. He dominated the league from 2014 to 2019 and is a surefire HOF player. I feel like the more dominant WR's in the league the past 7ish years have been smaller burners or route-running technicians. Guys like Diggs, Hill, Antonio Brown, Hopkins and Justin Jefferson are just not the same "freak" athletes that the top WR's used to be for various reasons. He was last a "good" player in 2020 when in 9 games he had 51 catches and 771 yards. That season he battled a hamstring injury at age 31 and missed 7 games. He got traded to the Titans in 2021 and was not the same player in either 2021 or 2022. But as I said he has not had a "dominant" season since 2019 and was last a good player in 2020. He has had back-to-back dud seasons with the Titans and Bucs. He may still have something left but it is not going to move the needle all that much. If the Bills were going to sign a street free agent or make a trade I would rather they kick the tires on Patterson from the Falcons or Hardman from the Jets. Not that either of those WR's would make a huge difference but they add some speed and pop to the offense that can make a difference.

I really hope they get Shakir more involved in the offense. He only has 4 receptions on the year but they all were key receptions that either were a TD or kept a drive going. I think they should open him up to 3-4 targets a game for the next 3 weeks and see how he handles it. I think he may be the best hope in getting more production from WR’s there aren’t Diggs. Finding a way to get Shakir and Kincaid more consistently involved is the best way the Bills can support Diggs in the passing game.

I think its better to let Williams work out the kinks. KC and the Pats back in their dynasty would play young players in September to mid-November and let them take their lumps so that by late November they worked out the kinks in their games and they were rolling a lot better headed into the final 4-5 regular season games and playoffs. I think Williams will only get better as he gets a feel for the game. He looked to be flying all over the place in both games. He just needs to play a bit calmer which I think will happen the more snaps he gets. Klein may be a more "steady" hand but Klein is a vet who is what he is. Williams could and I think will get better with more snaps. I would rather take 6-7 more weeks of a young player making a few mistakes but gives them the chance to grow into a much better player come the playoffs than a vet who at best is around average.

Funky 50/50 knuckleball games happen all the time in the NFL. The Bills got into a dog fight and won "ugly" take the win and move off. If Josh and Harris are OK then the team got out without any major injuries too (and Dane Jackson and Kincaid got a weeks rest too both returns should help both sides of the ball).

Given that Poona Ford didn't look all that great I have to think that the Bills will likely use Settle as the 1T with Ed splitting time there along with Ford taking rotational snaps and Phillips taking 3 tech rotational snaps. I think the biggest acquisitions the Bills will make at the trade deadline will be for a 1T DT and possibly corner depth. I say corner because Dane's injury is not one that goes away with a few weeks rest. So getting a respectable corner to add to the depth chart is doable and fills a need to get someone reliable behind Dane as he manages that injury all year.

Got to think he is trying to get the Pats to waste some time preparing for Kyle Allen when in reality he knows Josh is going to play. That's my optimistic take.

As far as the Giants game Dorsey did adjust to leaning on the power run game in the second half. They had three drives in the second half and they scored TD's and missed a field goal on those drives. They basically ran the ball down the Giants' throats in two long-game eating drives. The issue was the first half. And my issue with Dorsey was that by the time the Bills got the ball early in Q2 they didn't try to lean back into the run. The offense had produced two punts and a fumble why not adjust the offensive game plan then? Dorsey adjusts but he adjusts way too late. Q1 should be your testing out and feeling out of the game. You should start to make adjustments to your gameplan after your first 2-3 drives. Drosey often waits until 5-7 drives in to really change up the gameplan if it isn't working.

I don't really see a play-caller change making that much of a difference mid-season. Is Joe Brady going to call that much better of a game given that the offense cannot be changed all that much mid-season? They can't overhaul the playbook and terminology mid-season. Joe Brady running the Daboll/Dorsey offense (many players said last season the offense hasn't changed that much from the offense Daboll built) isn't going to result in that much difference. I am not a Dorsey apologist but I think you have to be realistic about what you going to do offensively. The Bills aren't likely to bring in major talent pieces via trade and they aren't going to install a new offense. The best thing fans can do is hope Dorsey works out the kinks in October and November.

Davis is a solid WR but is he more of a WR2 or WR3 is a moot point. The Bills could live with Davis inconsistency if Davis lowered his drop rate a bit and the Bills had a reliable slot WR or TE to take in some over-the-middle completions. The Bills are going to have to hope Kincaid develops into that and maybe they open up Shakir's role more.