mjt328

Seems to me Daboll is using our tight ends in a hybrid/H-Back role. We have also been going heavily on 4-WR sets during our first three games. So while I'm seeing calls for the Bills to grab one of the NFL's top pass catching TEs (like Zach Ertz), you need to consider our current scheme and the way the Bills are using that position. I'm not sure every pass catching TE is capable of filling the H-Back role. And you need to question dishing out $8-10 million per year on a position that will likely be 4th-5th in the receiving pecking order. You simply can't have Pro-Bowl talents at every position, and stay under the salary cap. The Bills now have plenty of mismatches in the passing game, and I would rather save our cap space to keep someone like Matt Milano.

EDITED FOR NON-FOOTBALL CONTENT The chances that players were going to get this was always very high. Hopefully with the daily testing, they were able to catch and quarantine them quick enough to keep it from reaching too many teammates.

This was my big concern with the NFL. Unlike baseball, you can't just push missed games into a double-header. Even a single cancelled game could have disastrous consequences on the entire season.

It's premature to count out Lamar Jackson. We are talking about ONE GAME against the defending Super Bowl champions. At the same time, I can understand the skepticism from his critics. Jackson is a very unique talent, far unlike anyone else in the NFL. To help him out, Baltimore has built a brilliant offensive scheme that perfectly matches Jackson's skills, and looks different than any other system in the league. To this point, it's been extremely successful. Most of the time it's been unstoppable. Now... 100 years of NFL history tells us that coaches will eventually adapt to what Baltimore is doing. Coordinators will study what Tennessee did in the playoffs last year, and what Kansas City did last night. Teams in the NFC North will draft defensive talents to counter the Ravens lineup. It may take another season or two, but at some point the NFL will absolutely find a solution to this attack. What happens after that will depend on Jackson's continued development. When teams figure out how to keep him inside the pocket, can he still make the necessary throws? Now I don't think he needs to become a pure "pocket passer" to be successful. There are lots of QBs who use their athleticism to extend plays outside the pocket. Josh Allen is a perfect example. But while Allen is proving he can succeed when defenses take away the run, we haven't quite seen that kind of response from Jackson yet.

Going back through the course of the game, I think our linebackers (Edmunds and Milano) were gassed by the 3rd/4th quarter. Once you start getting fatigued and tired, it becomes more difficult to maintain your lanes, get off blocks and make tackles. The Rams require the LBs to be EXTREMELY disciplined, so they are not getting caught with all the motion and misdirection. Part of me wonders if they were not in proper game condition after missing Week 2, and then going half-speed in practice all week. I'm also starting to think the Bills are missing Star Lotulelei more than anyone anticipated. The only 1-tech on our roster is Harrison Phillips, and he doesn't seem to be the same guy as before the ACL tear. Our struggles on the D-Line at the point of attack are allowing blockers to reach our second level, which allows for big runs. That in turn, opens up play action for the passing game. If the same problems persist, I wouldn't be surprised if we bring in some 1-Tech DTs off the street.

Go back and watch last season, and you will understand Sean McDermott's philosophy. It's not about getting lots of sacks. It's not about getting lots of turnovers and causing chaos. It's about avoiding big plays. Letting things happen in front of the defense. And then being disciplined enough to stop offenses before they can get first downs and move into scoring position. Lots of Bills fans seem to struggle with the concept that not every Defensive scheme in the NFL is the same. They want Tremaine Edmunds to be a between-the-tackles thumper at MLB. They want Star Lotulelei to be a penetrating DT who racks up impact plays. Apparently now we want Micah Hyde to be playing man-to-man coverage. But these are not their roles in McDermott's scheme. There is NO DOUBT that our defense is not doing it's job so far in 2020, and McDermott needs to figure out why. Maybe too many guys are playing injured. Maybe the loss of Lotulelei is way bigger than we anticipated. But I don't believe it comes down to his scheme, or players like Hyde and Edmunds playing out of position. We have seen enough over the last few seasons to know this team CAN play great defense, and do it against good QBs.

Stats are a horrible way to judge individual defensive players, regardless of position. The last few years, teams have generally respected our secondary. Which means they don't test us deep. Which means not so many interceptions and passes defensed for our safeties. Those stats don't mean anything.

An ELITE defense can sometimes struggle against really strong offenses, and even have bad games sometimes. It happened to us last year as well. This unit has struggled BADLY two weeks in a row. Worse than at any point in 2019. Despite the score in the first half, the Rams were moving the ball well the entire game. In the second half, they were getting almost no resistance. If the coaching staff had left more than 25-30 seconds left on the clock, I would have been extremely nervous this defense could stop them from getting into field goal range. Maybe it's a combination of things. Injuries. No help from the crowd noise. The retirement of Lorenzo Alexander. The free agent losses of Shaq Lawson and Jordan Phillips. Star Lotulelei opting out. Better competition. I don't know for sure. But it's hard to believe we went from a Top 5 unit last year, to a team incapable of stopping anyone or anything. Hopefully we get it straightened out soon.

Keyshawn's argument.... "Russell Wilson came into the season as the MVP favorite..." Uh ok... Not a slam against Wilson (who is also playing fantastic), but what does that have to do with anything? Also, you could tell that Orlovsky actually has been watching the Bills play. And Keyshawn clearly has been watching his twitter feed.

I'm willing to concede that our weak schedule in 2019 played some factor. But not to the level we are seeing so far this season. Great offenses make plays, regardless of how good a Defense is. But we had no answers for them yesterday. We couldn't stop the run. We couldn't stop the pass. We couldn't get pressure. We couldn't tackle. We were leaving guys wide open all over the field. Something isn't right, and McDermott needs to figure it out.

9 times out of 10, the offensive PI against Kroft is not called either. That play could have easily been called a completion to Kroft with no penalty, and nobody would have batted an eye. Not only does it kill the momentum the Rams were building up. But it also gives us a 1st down at midfield, with an 18 point lead. Very possible that without that play, the comeback never even happens.

The refs made massive game-changing calls in both directions. Both teams would have had plenty of reason to be upset. Since the Bills ended up winning, the Rams are going to have the most reason to complain. In my opinion, the Defensive Pass Interference call at the end of the game was iffy. Sometimes the refs call those. Sometimes they don't. No, it wasn't flagrant PI. But it also wasn't a totally phantom call. There absolutely was contact by the CB after 5 yards, with the ball in the air. On the flip-side, the 3rd quarter interception WAS a terrible call. And the offensive PI they called along with it was just as ticky-tack as the Defensive PI call at the end of the game. Another referee crew probably would have kept the flag in their pants AND called it a catch by Tyler Kroft. That play was a HUGE momentum changer, when the Bills still had an 18 point lead. And after 20+ years of watching Tom Brady scream and cuss at the refs, I will never be OK with any Quarterback getting an "unsportsmanlike conduct" flag for complaining about a bad call. I don't care what Josh Allen said. Nobody should get favoritism from the officials. That was another big one they should have let go.

I wanted to give the Defense another week before sounding the alarm bells, and see if they could find a way to right the ship. Yesterday was a HUGE disappointment to me. Their inability to stop anything (run or pass) was pathetic, and almost led to the most epic Bills collapse in the last 20 years. Which is really saying something. As excited as I should be about the win, I'm actually pretty depressed with how this unit is performing. There seem to be multiple reasons people believe they are struggling. Injuries. Personnel changes. Lack of crowds. Honestly, I don't care what the excuse is. The coaching staff needs to get this fixed. ASAP. We were one-dimensional last year. It forced us to scrape out every victory by the seat of our pants, and ultimately led to an early exit from the playoffs. We started 3-0 last year too. If we want better results in 2020, then we need to be playing well on both sides of the ball.

It's a little bit early to get down on our defense. The Jets were completely shut-down, with the exception of a single busted play (Tremaine Edmunds makes that tackle, and they punt) and what I would consider "garbage time" points at the end of the game with the clock ticking down. If you really think about it, their offense wasn't able to mount even one strong drive the entire game. Against the Dolphins, both Fitzpatrick and the receivers played absolutely fantastic. The pass rush was strong, and quickly in the QB's face. The coverage wasn't bad, considering we were down both of our starting linebackers. Sometimes there just isn't anything you can do, and the opponent just makes plays. This was a perfect storm that worked against us. This defense has been among the NFL's best for 2-3 years running, and has a lot of pride in that fact. Don't be surprised if (assuming we are healthy again at LB) this unit has a bounce-back game on Sunday. At this point, I would be surprised if Matt Milano and Taron Johnson don't play. Tremaine Edmunds hasn't hit anyone all week, and is a MLB nursing a shoulder injury. I'm not so sure about him...

What stands out to me? Almost all the young QBs are athletic and can make plays outside the pocket. Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray. I've been watching the NFL for 30 years, and this is the first time I've seen the "pure pocket passers" fade into the background. The traditional mold definitely seems to be breaking.

My goal for this season is 10-11 wins, the AFC East title and one playoff win. But by next year, I fully expect us to be in serious Super Bowl contention.

The pre-draft analysis on Josh Allen was not wrong. Coming out of Wyoming, he absolutely was a high-risk prospect. His mechanics, footwork and overall accuracy were a mess. He couldn't read a defense, and his decision-making was very often questionable. His production was also less than impressive, even against poor competition. Honestly, there shouldn't be any shame from those who expected Allen to be a bust. At the time of the draft, he needed a complete overhaul of his game. And past history shows those kinds of QBs fail way more often than they succeed. Where Allen's critics failed, was with their post-draft analysis. The majority of people in Buffalo have seen this coming. It's not really a huge surprise. They have watched every single snap of Allen's career.... from his sloppy preseason debut backing up Nathan Peterman, to his hurdle of Anthony Barr, to the playoff breakdown in Houston, and finally to his MVP-like performance last Sunday. They have witnessed the gradual improvement in literally every aspect of his game, the detailed refinement of his throwing mechanics, his leadership and his relentless drive to get better. Even if his growth wasn't always showing in the stat sheet, most of us could see it with our eyes each week. These were things we never witnessed with JP Losman, or Trent Edwards, or EJ Manuel, or any other young guy we've drafted in the past 20 years. Bills fans have been laughed at and mocked for believing in Allen - mostly by online analytics sites, draft experts refusing to break from their original assessment of him, and fans who have only seen him play 2-3 times. We kept saying that if the Bills surrounded him with some talent on offense, it was just a matter of time before things took off. It feels good for the rest of the NFL world to finally see it too.

Great post, and explanation of how all the pieces of a defense work together. Levi Wallace may be our weakest starting defender. But is still usually a solid corner when compared to other DBs around the league. Sunday's game was a combination of factors, which allowed Miami to go after him.

Following the trend around the NFL, most QBs seem to be signing their extensions prior to their 4th season. Which means sometime next spring, assuming Allen continues playing like our franchise guy. The most notable exception is Dak Prescott, who is currently playing on the tag and causing all kinds of headaches for the Cowboys front office.

In my opinion, this game really comes down to coaching and how well our defense bounces back. The Rams offense really goes through Sean McVay, and his ability to confuse the defense with misdirection. If a defense can stay disciplined and get some pressure on Jared Goff, they have a really good shot of shutting down what is usually a high-scoring unit. Since McDermott became our coach, discipline has been a big strength for the Bills defense. But since Matt Milano/Tremaine Edmunds went out late in the Jets game, our defense hasn't looked anywhere close to the same. If we can't get back Edmunds (at least), they could really pick us apart. On the other side, the Rams were a solid (Top 10-15) defensive unit in 2019. They seem to be about the same this year. Aaron Donald is possibly the NFL's best player, and Jalen Ramsey is one of the league's best cornerbacks. Their pass rushers aren't really scary. Their linebackers are inexperienced. And outside of Ramsey, they are vulnerable on the back end. I truly think Josh Allen has raised his game (we kept hearing about this kind of progress in training camp), and this offense is for real. If we can limit the turnovers and stupid mistakes that seem to plague us frequently, the Rams are going to have a really difficult time slowing us down.

Yep. Subjective is the key word. For instance... if a quarterback they like and respect happens to throw a completed ball into traffic, they will give that QB a positive grade for "trusting his playmakers" and "threading the needle" between defenders. If a QB they don't like (such as Josh Allen) does the same thing, he will get docked for making a "turnover worthy" throw. Their writers also make biased articles/statements in order to gain clicks and attention. Buffalo fans are notorious for defending their players, so PFF likes to give them low grades and rile them up. One of their writers admitted as much last season, when he claimed that Duck Hodges was better than Allen. Bottom line. Allen threw for over 400 yards, 4 touchdowns, 70% completion percentage, 0 turnovers, had a 4th quarter comeback to win the game, etc. They had him ranked outside the Top 10 for Sunday's games. Nothing else needs to be said. Their grades are worthless.

The pass rush was very good on Sunday. As was our coverage on the back-end. As Bills fans, I know it makes us upset. But Ryan Fitzpatrick was fantastic yesterday, and there really wasn't much we could do about it. The pressure was there most of the game. Fitz was just getting his throws off anyway, and they were extremely accurate. Miami's receivers were making contested catches, regardless of how well our defenders had them blanketed. And when we brought pressure, Fitz quickly found the soft spot left in the zone coverage. The loss of Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano is going to get most of the blame this week. And I have a feeling Levi Wallace will also face plenty of criticism. Don't be surprised if people start saying our defense has taken a step back. But we should know better than anyone. Sometimes this just happens when you play against Fitz. There will be games when he looks absolutely unstoppable. A week later, he will go back to being a turnover machine. We ran into Fitz on the wrong day (for us). Fortunately, our offense was up to the task.

There will be a drop-off in LB play, but I think we should be OK. AJ Klein started over 40 games for the Saints over the past three seasons. He is a solid veteran. Not some scrub off the street. Tyrel Dodson is more of a concern since he lacks experience. But observers were impressed with him during training camp, and he played well to close out the Jets game. Not to mention, we have an excellent defensive coaching staff who will find ways to hide our weakness at linebacker. Miami isn't exactly an offensive powerhouse, and may be without their best WR on Sunday (Devante Parker).

I recall the NFL world drooling over Mayfield after his first few starts as well. Since then, it's been a pretty up-and-down journey. Defenses eventually adjust. Coordinators will discover Burrow's weaknesses, and then start taking away what he does best. Then it will be on Burrow to improve his game and continue developing. It's not about being successful as a rookie. It's about being successful over the long haul. Just look at Josh Allen. In his first season, he was an absolute All-Pro running the ball. But he struggled pretty badly as a passer. As a sophomore, coordinators switched things up and those running lanes weren't so wide open. Allen was forced to do more with his arm, because teams weren't just going to let him run wild every game. The times he struggled the most were against defenses who played heavy Cover 0 looks and crowded the box, and when opponents dared him to make plays downfield. One of best moments from Sunday was on Allen's touchdown pass to John Brown. He quickly recognized the Jets in Cover 0, audibled to a new play at the line, and then proceeded to make the scoring play. Allen wouldn't have made that play early in his career.

When your team has depth, talented players end up not playing. Sometimes they are even inactive. Our top two RBs are Devin Singletary and Zack Moss. So barring injuries to those guys, there would be absolutely no reason to put TJ Yeldon on the field for an offensive play. Meanwhile, Taiwan Jones is very good at special teams, so he will actually be needed each and every Sunday.