jwhit34

I was surprised when I looked up Hester's return numbers. Excellent for sure, punt returns were better than kickoff returns, but not so far better compared to the other leaders: https://www.footballdb.com/leaders/career-puntreturns-yards https://www.footballdb.com/leaders/career-kickreturns-yards Cordarrelle Patterson is a better kickoff returner in an era when it's tougher to return kickoffs. His punt return average is similar to a lot of others, the 14 punt return TDs does stand out. Hester definitely passes the eye test but the stats don't really stack up. I am on the fence on Tasker, I think it's a close call. He had 7 blocked punts, but no special teams TDs.

I liked it because it made Mac Jones' stat line look worse 14-32 with 2 ints. vs. 14-32 with 1. And I agree on all the other points made, game was won, tough to bat down a gimme int. in the moment, etc.

Gabriel Davis is the team's true #2 now and I dare say he will prove to be the best #2 they've had since Peerless Price (the first time, with Moulds). Dawson Knox becomes more important and the slot receiver, presumably McKenzie, is now the 4th option. I could see Knox getting 8-10 targets. Between the injuries, the mantra "the best ability is availability", and being only a $1.5 million cap hit if cut, I think odds are that 2021 is Beasley's last season as a Bill.

I am surprised that there aren't more kicking specialists who learn to do both. I am thinking that if you can both punt and kick proficiently, you are almost guaranteed a 15+ year career as long as your skills hold up. Coaches love position flexibility, what if they only had to carry 1 kicking specialist? I kind of remember Brian Moorman being pressed into action to kick at one point and he was pretty good. There have been punters over the years who doubled as kickoff specialists, so if they can do that it would just be a matter of working on the precision of FGs and PATs.

I am thinking there are a lot of similarities (and some differences) between the 1988-89 Bills and the 2020-21 Bills. The similarities: Both the '88 and '20 Bills had big breakthrough seasons that most did not see coming. Both '88 and '20 teams were 2 seeds that lost in the AFC Championship game (on the road) to the Super Bowl losers (Cincy and KC) Kelly and Allen were both in their 3rd year with the team and essentially "arrived" as players/franchise players in '88 and '20, respectively There seemed to be an acknowledgement in both eras that the BIlls had done a good job acquiring talent Both made big trades to get a major piece that seemed to put them over the top: Cornelius Bennett in '87 and Diggs in '20 Both defenses started out better than the offenses, it took until the '90 team and the no-huddle (more on that) for the offense to move ahead of the defense. The emergence of Allen in '20 moved the offense ahead of the defense (though maybe a little setback this year) The '89 and '21 teams had expectations through the roof, both hit some potholes along the way Both eras as they emerged from '89 and probably '21 still had young cores of good players at key positions Both were lauded for good coaching and good GM work, both coach/GM combos seemed to be in sync with each other The differences The '21 Bills are not the bickering Bills of '89. The "Bickering Bills" tag did seem to bring that team together though. the '88-89 Bills had more stars (Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Bruce, and then a lot of really good players like Bennett, Conlan, Wolford, Ballard Ritcher) The final chapter of the '21 team obviously has not been written This may be a step back year for the team (not for Allen in my opinion), maybe they emerge and don't go to 4 straight Super Bowls, but it seems to me that the path or trajectory of both seem pretty similar. One of the main things that happened in '88-89 was the Cleveland playoff game where the no-huddle becomes the offensive system (and Ronnie Harmon is jettisoned). Maybe the current crew has something similar happen in the last segment of the season and playoffs. We're all hoping the team rallies (circles the wagons?) and gets hot for the playoffs but maybe this ends up being part of the process.

So all the personnel decisions have to do with backups except the punter, who at 25 punts in 9 games plays less than 3 plays a game (plus his holding duties which by all accounts he's really good at): 1. Moss/Breida - RB2 vs. RB3 2. Klein is a backup, Edmunds is a better player but they are very different 3. We all like Davis a lot but on this team he is WR4 and it's hard to take snaps away from top 3. 4. Obada - One nice play yesterday tipping a pass but he is DE5 behind Hughes, Rousseau, Addison and Epenesa, and maybe behind Basham. Who gets fewer snaps? If they have 8 DL active on game days, the first 4 are in and when healthy it's Oliver, Star and Phillips. It was Zimmer, so now maybe Obada is active more, will come down to him or Butler. It's one thing to criticize the construction of the roster if the team is left with some holes amongst the starters. 2 of the 5 (Breida and Obada) are clearly bottom 10 (44-53) roster guys. They are at best just as good as the players ahead of them on the depth chart. How about giving credit for such a deep team instead of saying these are poor roster decisions. Put another way, if Breida and/or Obada are active for the Tenn. or Jax game, or Davis gets more snaps do they win either of those games? If no Edmunds and just Klein, are they better than 6-3? I think not.

Tyler Bass is the Bills' Justin Tucker. I really think Tucker and Bass are the best two in the league.

Agreed but it makes him very difficult to trade.

Per Spotrac Fletcher Cox would have a dead cap of $36 million if traded. Even splitting that in '21 and '22 is onerous and it's not like Bills have the room to take on any of it. He would make a big difference, it would be great to have a rotation of Cox, Oliver and Star with a little Zimmer or an edge guy mixed in but I don't see that happening.

Here are the receiver numbers through 6 games and extrapolated out to 16 or 17 games: Player Thru 6 Yds/Game 16 games 17 games Diggs 463 77.2 1,235 1,312 Sanders 413 68.8 1,101 1,170 Beasley 303 50.5 808 859 Knox 286 47.7 763 810 This would be the greatest season ever by a Bills WR group and a big reason for it is Sanders. To say he's a problem with that kind of production is pretty crazy.

That's what McDermott means when he talks about complementary football. A great win, with the side benefit that after tonight we will never see another Zach Ertz thread. Welcome to the national stage Dawson Knox and Greg Rousseau. Fabulous game plans on both sides of the ball.

If Bills/Beane end up with 2 viable edge rushers and a starting RT in the first 3 rounds drafting 30th each round that will be an impressive haul. Drafting like that is how you sustain success when you have the franchise QB and have to start paying market rate.

Two pages of replies about a transaction involving the Bills and Eagles and no mention of Zach Ertz. I'm shocked. Surprised no one suggested Beane pull some sort of trade like Ertz and a 7th rounder for Sweeney and Taiwan Jones, then the Bills elevate Anderson from the practice squad and trade Anderson for Jones, making it Ertz and a 7th for Sweeney and Anderson.

WHich is better - Matt Millen commentator or Matt Millen GM?

Is feliciano this years quinton Spain?

TSW goes from "Thank goodness Daboll stayed" to "Daboll's the problem" in 60 minutes of regular season football Surprising? No. The two easiest things to blame for a loss when the offense had a bad day are (1) play calling and (2) the lack of adjustments. Now almost 24 after the game ended, let's look at both of these by looking at each drive: 1st drive, 3 passes, 0 runs. First down is a completion for 7 at PIT 17, then -2 to Diggs and tipped pass incomplete. FG My take: A spectacular KO return, let's strike fast. First play is good, 2nd one didn't work out have to pass on 3rd. Play calling okay. Drive 2: 10 plays, first play run, total of 3 runs, 7 passes plus 2 passes called on the penalties. Punt. My take: This is the drive where Allen misses the deep ball to Sanders, right play, he's open, poor execution, no issue with play calls. Overcame 2 holding penalties too. Drive 3: 3 and out. Pass, Allen run, pass on flea flicker. Punt My take: Only issue here is on 3rd and 1 at own 46 if you're going to run a trick play be willing to go for it on 4th and 1, but that's on McDermott, not Daboll. Drive 4: Run on first, made 2 first downs, passes on other 2 first downs, total 2 runs and 5 passes, punt. My take: They got two first downs, then gained 7 on first and 10, got it to PIT 43, 2 incompletes and decide not to go for it on 4th. Could have run it but short passing game was clicking on the drive (completed first 3 passes on the drive). I would have liked to have them go for it on 4th but again that's a McDermott call. Drive 5: Lost fumble, nothing to say here. Drive 6: Scored TD, all good. 2nd half possessions: Drive 1: 12 plays, 8 passes, 4 runs, passed on 1st down 4 times. got to PIT 35, turn over on downs. My take: 53 yard FG on 4th & 8 is probably right on line for Bass into the wind so no problem going for it. Got 3 first downs on drive so no issue with play calls there, they got first downs. Did they adjust? Last set of downs was pass, run, pass, pass. In the moment, was anyone disturbed by the 4 plays called? Maybe going deep to Davis on 4th but I don't know if he was the primary target. Drive 2: 8 plays, 5 pass, 3 run, passes on first down all 3 times, got to PIT 41, turn over on downs My take: So the "adjustments" up until the 4th and 1 and back pass to Breida seem to work. They pick up 2 first downs and it looks like Breida is going to get the first on 3rd & 3 and Minkah makes a good play. We all hate the 4th down play. Drive 3: Now behind by 3, 3 and out. Not a good series, then the blocked punt. Not much to say here. Allen got sacked, so that's poor execution. Drive 4: Down 10, in pass mode but mix in the long Singletary runs. 3 passes, 5 runs, FG. My take: PIT is playing 100% for pass so runs are available, disappointing that they get to 10 and don't get 7. They gained 67 yards on drive. Drive 5: All 9 plays passes down 10. Kick FG. Decided to kick FG on 1st down, they moved ball in garbage time. No issue with play calling. So they ran 69 plays, 51 passes, 3 sacks, 25 runs. Looking at the above there may be 5 plays you can question the play calling, and I would say in the grand scheme of things probably less than that. No one calls a perfect game. Did they "adjust"? After 3 of first 5 series going 3 and out, only had one 3 and out in 2nd half. They also had 4 of 5 drives in the 2nd half where they got into PIT territory. Throw in the last drive of 1st half where they scored a TD and it's 5 of 6 and they scored on 3 of them. If you objectively look at every possession I don't think there's a lot there in terms of play calling. Execution is more of the issue. And even if there was, it's only 1 game.

The TBD consensus, and much of the media, was that several players released would be claimed by other teams. While there will undoubtedly be players signed after they clear waivers, it is interesting that the only player released that was claimed was McCloud. I think there are two reasons: 1. A large percentage of a team's fans will overvalue their own players. See the comments/following of people on TBD over the years about players like Duke WIlliams, Da'Rick Rogers, a bunch of WR and RBs, etc. 2. With so many players in the market teams tend to know/value/trust their own which results in many/most that get cut ending back on the practice squad of the team that released them.

I don't think this is a big concern. Remember a couple things about the calculation: If they have an injury in week 9 and goes on IR and they add someone for weeks 10-18 (17 games plus bye week), their annual salary counts 50% against the cap (% of season left) Any player added during the season is most likely making the league minimum I did think it was kind of interesting that per Spotrac the Bills have 42 players that count against the dead cap and totals $7.4 million. 7 players comprise $6.1 million of the cap hit. One of the realities of bringing in many of the low level vets is that they got some level of bonus. Example: Hollister got $135k. It's not a lot of dead money but it is an interesting list, all the way down to a couple thousand bucks.

While some may lament over Johnson being traded, reality is that Rousseau, Epenesa and Basham are all young and better than him. That's 3 of the 4 in a DE rotation that is active on game day. They may have 5 on the active 48 which means with Hughes definitely playing either Addison or Obada do not dress for games if all are healthy. Will Addison be this year's Trent Murphy?

I preface this by stating that this is only preseason, and I don't put much stock in things that happen in preseason games. Think of the endless string of RBs or WRs who have become TBD favorites over the years that never make it in the league. That said, here are 4 things that I saw from Josh Allen in the game today that indicate to me that he has a good chance of being even better this year: 1. Taking what he's given: Allen showed great patience and took what was given to him in all the drives. 2. Understanding the situation: I thought he showed great maturity in grasping that this is a preseason game, he has to get his work in but he wasn't going to take unnecessary chances that would have been an injury risk. A big assist from Brian Daboll for the play calling that got the work in for the starters but put Allen at minimal injury risk. 3. Decision making and competitiveness: This is almost a merging of 1 and 2 as shown by the run on 4th down. It was only preseason, but the competitive juices kicked in and he runs for a first down. However, smart move getting out of bounds after picking it up. 4. The Gabe Davis TD... showed that Allen cranks it up and delivers when they need a big play. 3rd and 20 and he's going for it and throws an absolute dart 35 yards downfield. And just overall his poise, command and control when he's on the field. It's so great to watch. I think this was the public display akin to what all the beat writers have been talking about what they see at practice. Let the real games begin...

I think Allen is getting Diggs ready to be the next non-QB to throw a TD pass. Daboll conspicuously absent from the video...

My breakdown keeping in mind the different eras and how the game is played: QB - Kelly for longevity, Allen just had the best single season in franchise history, and I don't think Kelly ever finished that high in MVP voting RB - Thurman Thomas HOFer, end of story WR - Current team, Diggs/Reed could be a push, but current team's depth is far superior. Lofton gave them 1-2 good years but then you have Beebe, Edwards, Brooks, etc. Brown/Sanders, Beasley, Davis, McKenzie are much better collectively OL - Both competent groups, but as another post points out, Hull and Ritcher are on Bills' Wall of Fame, Wolford may have been the best of bunch but he left as a FA, Ballard also very good. I would take John Davis over Feliciano. TE - 90s pair of Metzelaars and McKellar romp over present group. I'd take Butch Rolle over any current TE3 D front 7 is a little tougher because 90s played 3-4 and current team is 4-3. DL - Bruce Smith is arguably the best player ever for the team, 90s are better. LB - Bennett/Talley/Conlan are a more accomplished group. I'll take Bennett over Edmunds and Talley over Milano. Very good units from both DB - Today's team is better. Safeties are better, Tre White is better than Odomes, the other CB is a push. K, P, LS - I'll take the current crew. ST non-kickers/coverage units - Tasker and Mark Pike made the 90s team elite they get the nod. Depth - Current team Coaching - To be determined...people will downplay Marv, but McDermott has to get to Super Bowls first. Marchibroda and Daboll is an interesting debate, McDermott/Frazier is better than Walt Corey on D. Bruce DeHaven is one of the best ST coaches ever, Farwell is off to a nice start. If the current team fulfills their promise/potential I think this ends up being an interesting topic in about 5 years. Right now I'll take the 90s Bills.

My prediction is that Duke does not end up on practice squad. My guess he is at best the 9th best WR on the team. The Duke Williams era draws to a close. I like the title of this one... It will be interesting to see if he makes anyone's 53.

While Daboll is the OC, it's not his offense it is the Bills' offense. The playbook doesn't leave with Daboll. The play calling does. However, with analytics as sophisticated as they are today, you can analyze that stuff. They can keep the same playbook. And of course presuming Allen continues to be one of the top QBs there's no reason to change it. The continuity with potentially Dorsey and maybe even at some point Tierney is important. They can still run the same offense and probably have a good feel for what works best. There are lots of examples of really good coordinators hitting their ceiling as OC or DC and not being good head coaches. We know McDermott is a very good HC, we have no idea if Daboll will be or not. He deserves the chance but you still don't know. McDermott all the way.

After listening to Dawkins presser I hope he's a Bill for life. I give him tons of credit for being so open and forthcoming about his Covid experience. He will make a difference in people getting the vax. It's easy to see why his teammates and the organization love him. I'm not in the "athletes as role models" but he's a pretty darn good one. Oh and he can play too...