BearNorth

Cinci - We win the toss, defer, they go 75 yards in 6 plays like a hot knife through butter, against our defense, playing at home with the crowd amped up. We go three and out on the ensuing series, Cinci goes 10 plays 72 yards. 0-14 at home in the playoffs. Bills should have come out on fire to open the game, and just didn't get er done. McD is supposedly a defensive guru and we have spent a ton on our defensive front seven in terms of draft capital and actual $, and then we don't show up in the most meaningful game of the year. Cinci line had three backups and a mediocre second year player, and we got no pressure on Burrow.

We kept Kumerow for ST's then he got hurt, but we had Hodgins on the PS and didn't call him up. This love of McDermott for special teams is a bit of the tail wagging the dog. Our #2 & #3 WR's were in the bottom half of the league. Hodgins was in the top 25 with the Giants. Josh would have loved having that BIG target.

I thought that the first 9 minutes of the game in Cinci were a preview of exactly what happened Sunday. Cinci's offense ran like a hot knife through butter through the Bills D before Hamlin went down. Dawkins is the only OL starter that's considered a quality NFL player. Josh has one reliable WR, and his decent RB is probably too expensive to keep.

Based on the 2022 season the following Bills starters are graded in the bottom half of the league at their respective positions: I've included Player age RG Bates (26) WR2 Davis (24) SS Poyer (32) Slot McKenzie (28) C Morse (31) CB1 White (Injury in 2021) (28) CB2 Jackson (26) RT Brown (25) LG Saffold (35) 9/22 starters graded in bottom half of the league...

Revis had an ACL tear in 2012 at Age 27, He had a so-so season in 2013, in 2014 he played for the Pats and was a first team all-pro, In 2015 had a decent season with 5 ints, but fell off rapidly after that. Not finding a lot of other CB's that have returned to top form after ACL surgery. Not sure Tre is big enough or a good enough tackler to move to FS.

Oliver is the sixth ranked DT from his draft class. People forget that Quinnen was considered a "bust" until Saleh started coaching him up. That being said, $10MM per year or up is a lot of dinero for the second best DT on your team, pay Oliver that and Jones, who was sorely missed vs. Cinci will probably saying Me Too.

This, and look very hard at any vet who is strictly a special teams or depth guy. We are cap strapped but paid Matakevich nearly $4MM for 20 snaps a game on ST for 6 tackles on over 300 snaps. Surely there is a specimen rookie or UDFA who is faster and more athletic.

Our expensive defensive line was controlled by an O-line with 3 subs, including a third stringer, and the best player on the Cinci line [Karras] was playing hurt.

SPOTRAC says Edmunds should be getting around $11MM AAV for a four year deal. They say he is the most valuable 2023 FA available at ILB. Pretty thin group for sure.

We got beat badly yesterday by a patchwork O-Line, with their best lineman playing dinged up. Their offensive system puts constant pressure on the D and they have 3 receivers who would be 1 or 2 on any team in the league. Burrow doesn't extend plays, he is so bloody efficient DC's heads are spinning. We need better WR's than Davis as #2, and Diggs is < Chase IMHO, and has a shorter shelf life.

we've had 45 draft picks since McDermott was hired, first year was Whaley, Beane after that. Of the 45 - 27 are still with the team, all but 3 are still in the league. Although many will not agree; the following are graded above JAG level Josh Groot Tremaine Cook Motor Milano Dawkins Bass-o-matic 6 starters out of 22, plus our kicker. Four others in the top half of the league at their positions Oliver Boogie Taron Johnson Knox Is that a good enough job by the scouting department and front office? White has been hurt, I get that, but the 2022 White was not the pre November 2021 White. Food for thought.

Not sure about Phillips after today, he was a big nothing out there, they gashed us with the running game and we scarcely got pressure on Burrow.

We have 21 UFA's in 2023. After this performance, you have to wonder how many will be back. Our UFA's with supposed value are Poyer [aging], Saffold [let some one else have him], Edmunds [maybe but he got abused today], and Motor [do we want to spend $5MM on a RB?]. The other 17 are basically JAG's. Josh's cap starts escalating next season. Some of our aging vets may lose a roster spot to younger faster athletes [Matakevich, Formosa, Marlowe, Klein]. Shaq probably played well enough to be brought back as depth. Looks like we will be drafting 26th or 27th.

Cinci had 4 guys on the O-line who were essentially of Bates, Brown, Saffold quality, their one decent O-lineman Karras, played hurt most of the game. Our highly drafted/highly paid D-line couldn't stop the run, or get to Burrow.

Daquan missing is HUGE

And not fumble a snap in the end zone after forcing a turnover on downs.

Marlowe played against Cinci earlier this year when he was with Atlanta. PFF grade of 64.7 on 15 snaps. Rest of the Falcon's secondary that day was trashed by Burrow for 60, 32, & 41 yard TD's.

I had a cyst in my knee burst a few years ago, massive calf swelling and hurt like the dickens. Toradol didn't touch the pain. Ice and elevation helped more. Of course I didn't have to think about playing a meaningful football game in 8 days.

My take on Today: Allen, Diggs, Davis, Knox vs. Bengals DB's including 2 replacement corners. Great Josh needs to materialize Bills OL vs. Bengals mostly solid DL, Hendrickson is a special talent. Bills [expensive in terms of $ & draft choices] Pass Rush [w/o Von] against Bengals mostly replacement O-line Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Boyd, Hurst, vs. Bills secondary. Can Elam play at a high level two weeks in a row. Is Poyer Healthy? Can Hines add a special play on PR KR If the weather is bad, is Bass-o-matic an advantage McDermott, Dorsey, & Frazier need to have great games. Go Bills

Bills and Bengals have played 12 common opponents. Bills are 10-2, Bengals are 9-3 in these games Bills have averaged 28 on Off - 18 on Def In those games Bengals have averaged 24 on Off - 19 on Def. Of those 12 games, 6 home, 6 road. Bills won at KC, Bengals beat Chiefs in Cinci This should be a classic Go Bills

GMFB was saying today that look for Shakir to have a breakout game.

Interestingly Spotrac has Saffold, despite what most Bills fans consider to be having a mediocre or worse year, as having a predicted 2023 contract value of 5.4MM. My head was spinning when I read that.

If I recall, Thurman Thomas tore an ACL at Oklahoma State and his backup was a guy named Barry Sanders. Thurman claims to have played his entire 13 year career with a torn ACL, ~2900 carries and ~500 receptions, 16,500 yards from scrimmage.

Delay of game is IN the Field Judge's job description. Do your Job. Did I understand that the Wild Card zebra crews will not get any more games this year?

Just saw this re: #24. Rookie Difference Makers in Wild Card. CB Kaiir Elam, Buffalo Bills Round: 1 PFF overall grade in 2022: 56.7 Wild-card game grade: 88.1