BADOLBILZ

As I responded to Happless...........they can solve it by using a RB in the backfield and/or extra blockers. Josh Allen likes to hold the football............3 pass rushers will get to him in an empty backfield set from time to time if he holds the football the way he does when he has 11 or 12 personnel on the field on the field. You wanna' move the football in 5 wide you gotta' be willing and able to dink and dunk............holding the ball for 4 seconds before throwing isn't congruent with that style.

They ran more 11 than anything and were very productive at it but if I recall correctly they were most explosive in the pass game out of 12 personnel. Time (to throw) and space(to get open). The concept works the same way with the running game............when you overload the line of scrimmage with blockers you really don't make yourself more effective running the football........there is a tipping point where you over-congest the LOS, give your RB nowhere to run and make it so unlikely that you will pass that it allows the defense to sell out for the run. Empty backfield is that point in the passing game.

@Chandler#81 @CSBill @Sammy Watkins' Rib Y'all still disagree about the empty backfield/5 wide approach turning your offense into dink-and-dunk? @GunnerBill said he disagreed to an extent because in theory the Bills would have a matchup advantage against the extra DB's.........but as evidenced today the reality is that the lack of time to throw and the congestion of the field consistently negates the perceived "on paper" individual matchup edge.

Despite being paved with explosive intentions........the 5 wide, empty-backfield course is by nature a dink and dunk approach to offensive football. Allen took some deep shots........but they were mostly covered and he was harried.........because deep plays take time to develop and in empty backfield the DL can pin their ears back and just attack the QB. Even if he took more check downs..........that's more opportunities to get receivers blasted and have the ball dislodged or tipped into heavy traffic by a squatting back 7...........and, as we found out today, more opportunities for officials to re-discover the holding penalties they had shelved last season. Not the best way to put a lot of points on the board.

What they can do is run the ball enough or at least keep a back in to play action fake and/or block to both take the starch out of the pass rush and provide help when they spring a leak. Empty sets all day make it more challenging to pass block.........days like this........against a team that's put up 50+ sacks 4 straight years.......the OL needs some assistance from their coordinator.

The empty backfield 5-wide dink and dunk ***** just has to go. Daboll made it very easy on Keith Butler. The threat of the run and the extra pass blocker are worth a lot more to a guy who likes to hold the ball like Josh Allen than running Devin Singletary out to the X receiver where he is not a pass receiving option that has to be taken seriously. 50 passes for 5 yards per attempt........sheesh........might as well just run the ball up the middle all day like Marrone year 1..........that's punchless offensive football.

A pay cut in exchange for guaranteeing his salary wasn't a win for Lotulelei.........he was coerced into taking less money(most likely with the threat being release). Guaranteeing his salary was basically a good faith assurance that they would not then still release him at a later date........because it wouldn't benefit the team to do so. By opting out he took his ball and went home on the age 31 season the Bills were willing to accept at a discount.........and instead gave them the option of taking his age 32 season........which they clearly were not planning to have.

Great start to the football weekend! Now Go Bills!

Yeah, it makes no sense if you buy his reason for opting out. But it makes a lot of sense if you are talking about someone who was embittered by being coerced into a pay cut and decided he could take or leave ever suiting up for that team again and was only concerned about getting every penny he can without having to earn it.

Important to note he didn't bail Beane out........he took a modest pay cut to stay with the team in exchange for guaranteeing salary...........which blew up in Beane's face when the league decided months later to let players opt out and have their 2020 contract terms extended to the 2021 season and 2021 into 2022 etc.. In pushing him into a pay cut it was made pretty clear that he was not in the plans for 2021.........but here we are with $12M in cap hit still unamortized. He didn't report to any activities this offseason because he had already been paid for that part of his contract in 2020..........including workout bonuses that he didn't actually earn but the league and NLFPA agreed to pay. That total was about $900K. Then he got $350K in found money for opting out. He milked the system for all he possibly could.......showed bad faith this past offseason staying away until attendance was mandatory.......and has done the bare minimum to get all of his remaining money.

And in the early 90's, yes.

I remember hearing stories about the workers at Foxboro dreading the arrival of Bills fans and comparing it to an invasion of Huns. The fanbase was totally obnoxious to opposing fans at that point. The worst part of the Patriots fanbase is that they were heavy bandwagonners............very few real Pats fans existed prior to them winning MULTIPLE SB's.

You should also doubt his impact on the defense. But the rest of your post illustrates the laundry list of issues with Star. Last year people were chastised for questioning why he opted out.........getting covid could easily kill a man with such underlying conditions!.......even though the proof of such was one seemingly false test he had in the draft process that showed something irregular with his heart that subsequent tests did not. OK sure, you might have an underlying condition......okay what are you gonna' say? Then he blows off all non-mandatory OTA's......displeasing the organization that supported him and welcomed him back..........well, ya' know can't risk getting Covid right? Finally shows up.......unvaccinated..........making the fears for his life or that of family members seem like a load of BS. As the list goes on his defenders keep backpedaling to defend each lack of availability..........they are running out of real estate at this point.

Like I said........if he goes on IR that will be $40M down the tubes on Star Lotulelei for two unproductive seasons of 45% snaps from the 1 tech position. Larry Triplett cost the Bills like $11M in bonus and salary over 2 seasons before he was cut so do your homework or stay out of the comp business........that's an embarrassing effort. Dockery is literally the only competition..........but he was cut because of salary and was immediately signed for good money elsewhere. As @Coach Tuesday said...........Star Lotulelei is an albatross..........a burden.........if he were cut he's out of the league. People expecting this guy to elevate the games of 2 former first rounders? It's utter nonsense. A fairy tale. A half interested Damon Harrison is far better than whatever Star has been for Buffalo...........and Snacks is a free agent and was on practice squads last year.

He has been paid $27M for the 2 seasons he's actually played in Buffalo. That's why his cap hit if cut after this season is $12M. So if you are going to play that game..........he's making $12M this season because he will not be on the roster next season.......obviously.

Yeah it was either a terrible free agent signing or the worst free agent signing in Bills history. If he ends up on IR the latter will be cemented. Lotulelei wouldn't be on an NFL roster now had the Bills cut him at any time this offseason or this summer.

Here we go with the outrageous Strawman argument above. It's like when the Bills were challenging league records for offensive futility in 2018 and McDermott would address questions about it with "Would we like to score 50 points per game? Sure.". Edmunds blitzed 72 times last season and yet did not generate a single quarterback pressure.............big difference between that level of futility and not getting 10 sacks, no? He has real deficiencies in his game.........it's not just a matter of him being unappreciated.

That is unfortunately an understatement.

Yeah.......the ketchup thing was even back in the Lot 1 days........that's a one-off kinda funny-when-drunk thing that turned into a spectacle for the sake of spectacling and I've felt bad for Kenny basically being obligated to repeat that every week. Like a lot of things wrt Covid.......it is the perfect excuse to kill a tired tradition and just enjoy the gathering. In other news........Kim stopped by our tailgate last week and she says Hammer has banished her from his lot.

I heard this same story at the preseason game. There needs to be a greater effort on the part of the team to make sure people actually choose whether they want a card, tickets or mobile. Defaulting to mobile ticketing because they didn't get a response to an electronic message is the opposite of logical. And this is from somebody who went to both playoff games last year and used the mobile wallet etc........it's fine if there isn't a rush........but THERE IS A RUSH getting into games and mobile ticketing unnecessarily complicates a simple ***** action.

He picks the Bills to beat the Patriots in the AFCCG and the Buccaneers in the SB...........that would have to be the perfect season.

I'm not sure if Bulldog is just constantly caught totally off-guard about every possible topic and can't formulate a thought in real-time or if he just learned somewhere that stammering added weight to his takes.........or both. He makes Schopp look like a first team All Pro broadcaster by comparison. They should definitely shake it up in drive time and postgame.......those two have ran their course together, IMO.

You are absolutely correct that ugly jealousy knows no cultural boundaries. But hopefully nobody is dumb enough to do something as inflammatory to the Bills fanbase as seriously threaten a Bills star player. It's not really about the angry mob, it only takes one fan half-off his meds. People here surely remember that retired soldier that was documenting his flight to Baltimore to beat down the radio personality that had dissed Buffalo. That was just over some harmless insults. Lil Baby is tryna keep her on a rookie contract.......men get that........but jealousy is never a good look and threatening a Bills star isn't worth the squeeze Lil Baby.

Duke Williams 1.0