TheBrownBear

Not impressed by either team today.

Yes. And this goes all the way back to the pass interference call on the hail Mary vs the Pats in 1998. That feels like the definitive start of the "flag watching" phenomenon for me.

I come here for the mostly informed takes on Bills' football, and for the sense of community.

No, but the rumor is that many unsigned vets have been camping in the Panthers parking lot in the hopes that Beane will come calling.

I loved Thomas Smith. Hell of a coverage corner. We could use a Thomas Smith about now.

I agree and that gives me hope for Sunday. But I need to see it on the field. Let's go!

We're nine pages deep, so I'm certain it's already been said, but our "overhyping" of the Bengals is based on them absolutely owning us in the 5+ quarters we played against them last year. I'm not inclined to downplay the Bengals until we prove we can hang with them.

I'd rather Beane just hold on to the picks. Then we can draft a backup CB in the first round and a new starting CB in the 6th round.

I thought Settle and Ford were supposed to be good. The board was all excited for both of those guys. Under the radar signings or something. Instead, they've turned out to be next to worthless so far. So, while I'd sort of hate to waste even more resources at the position, DT does seem to be our biggest area of need at this point. Not sure who is available, but if they go this route, I'd like to see us go all in and flip a high pick or two to grab a stud that can anchor the line for a few years next to Ed. I'd also feel more comfortable about our chances if we could also bring in a competent zone corner. I've always been a Dane Jackson fan, but his deficiencies just seem more apparent to me this year. But maybe that's just a function of the D being depleted on the whole.

He can prance around the field in a tutu, so long as he nets 5 ypc.

My source says Fournette had relocated to Charlotte in the past 10 days in the hope that this call would come.

It's pretty amazing the amount of sh*t we give to the #1 QB in the NFL. I understand creating space for legit criticism, but reading the board at times you'd think we were still trotting guys like Bledsoe, Fitz, Taylor, Manuel, etc. out there. This isn't a holier than thou post, I'm guilty of it sometimes as well.

That's what I'm referring to. They had the drive with the ill timed sack, another drive where they moved the ball 30 yards and then had to punt after the deflected pass to Davis and Kincaid's 8 yard catch left us in 4th and 2, and then the TB timeout killing drive that started at 2:30 and ended with us punting with under :30 left on the clock. The only possession of the 2nd half (arguably the entire game) that they played conservative was the final one where they had to burn TB's timeouts. They did this by successfully picking up a first down on three straight runs. If it seems like we did nothing in the fourth quarter it's because TB's scoring drive took something like 8+ minutes off the clock. I guess you could argue we "turtled" by punting in those 4th and 4 (first drive of 4th) and 4th and 2 (next drive) situations from Tampa's 45, but we were up 14, the field position game had been working well for us, Martin was consistently pinning them deep, and the defense was in shutdown mode going back to the end of the second quarter. The one thing you didn't want to do in those situations is to give Tampa the momentum of a 4th down stop and a short field. I guarantee you that Andy Reid and Bill Belichick and just about every other coach not named Brandon Staley punts in those situations. Edit: we were also playing Tampa Bay, not the Chiefs, Niners, Dolphins, Eagles or some other explosive offense. The only time they had scored all game was when Josh gave them a short field from our 25.

And if you're impressed with all that, just wait until you see the crawlspace under his house! JK

I just rewatched the entire game. The Bills did not go into "turtle mode" in the third quarter. This is a false narrative. We had two drives stall around the Bucs 45 yard line due to execution issues. We continued to throw the ball and attempted to push it down field. And we probably score on that drive to end the third quarter/start of 4th if not for being too aggressive with that quick snap that led to the 10 yard sack.

Are they looking to move him or something? He's barely had a chance to see the field yet. No way the Lions move him.

I missed those quotes from McD. Thanks for sharing. Seems like relatively good news given all the potential outcomes.

I thought we were much better, bordering on elite, until we got to 24 and seemed to get a little sloppy. Also, just me, or did it seem that Josh was trying to force feed Diggs over the last 1.5 quarters and that sort of hindered our momentum?

You're an honest dishonest man. Lol.

Thought we were behind the sticks due to penalties on the last two 24-10 drives. Thought it sloppiness as much as conservative playcalling.

Getting a Billsy kind of feeling right now.

Agree. These guys are dumb.

Super smart gamesmanship from McD there. Have to tip the cap on that one.

Hoping for the best, but I'm fearing tonight is when the house implodes.

I agree that the offense is an entirely different problem, but it's undeniable that the defense is no longer in any position to "pick them up" on an off day. Also, its tough to overcome the losses of multiple "essential" defensive players in back-to-back years. The loss of a Milano or a White or a Daquan Jones should be survivable on their own, but combine them, and you have a situation that isn't simply overcome by "next man up" or team defense principles. At the end of the day, the teams with the most talent tend to win out.