GunnerBill

I don't think the scheme needs a major overhaul. I am interested to look at how the Bills approach 3rd down. The Frazier defense was a very good 3rd down defense and for this scheme - that does not mind giving up yards in return for keeping control of points and making teams go the distance - you have to be good at both getting takeaways AND winning 3rd down and since Frazier left we have gradually got worse on 3rd down. In fairness that also coincided with the drop off in health and reliability of Hyde and Poyer and no less than Bill Belichick used to say were the absolute best in the league at disguising coverages when those two played together. That is big on 3rd down because the QB takes the snap thinking you are in one defense and then by the time the ball hits his hands you are in something else. I think it is the combination of the coordinator changes and the weakness of our safety play that is the heart of the problem more than the fundamentals of the scheme. They HAVE to be better this year.

This.

Wilkerson has won a PS job I think. He will be their next Shavers esque project.

It's not true. I haven't heard McDs presser, so not sure if he said it but if he did he might well have meant our 2s "on the night". But even our starting lineup had guys like Gouriage, Feeney and Codrington out there who are not even in our twos. They are threes. And they started the game for us.

I really don't. I know what Damar Hamlin is. But someone has to beat him out. That is what has not happened. Bishop is still making major game breaking mistakes when he is out there. I am like everyone else I WANTED Bishop to have a great spring and summer, take that job and never look back. But he still looks worse than Hamlin out there. That is the reality. I think they are going to start Bishop because they know if he can't beat out Hamlin by year 2 he is veering towards bust territory..... but he is going to be on a short leash. If the mental mistakes continue he will be off the field within 4 or 5 weeks and he will basically be done as a Bill. Hancock is a slightly different case. There have been some flashes from him through two games. But they haven't been really committing to him learning the safety spot for most of the summer. I think they might now switch his focus that way... but probably not in time to start him week 1.

Shenault is a terrible receiver though.

That isn't relevant to the point I was making, but sure.

Yea, I think that is what it is. That isn't toughness, but it is a more cerebral way of playing defense than old timers remember.

I understand that but in order to get the time he has to stop making big back breaking coverage errors. I can live with dialling down what we are asking him to do.... but at the moment I just don't trust him at all not to give up a touchdown play a game in coverage. If I was the coach he wouldn't be out there until I at least didn't think that. I think they are going to start him but he won't have a 9 to 10 week leash. I think it is more like week 5. If he is still making these errors then he will be benched and I think he can have zero complaints.

Yea I don't know where the "not tough" stuff comes from.

He had an awful mistake in the first half of the AFCCG that gave up a chunk play (think to JuJu) and there was one in one of those last 4 or 5 games as well..... maybe it was New England and didn't matter. Can't recall off top of my head.

But there is one of these major mental breakdowns in coverage every time he is on the field it seems. And yes, Hamlin is a very slow professional athlete.

No I think he was. My bad. Regardless he didn't lose on the play because he just got out "athleticismed" he got beat mentally before he got beat physically.

No I think you are right it was man. I take it back. In my defense it was 1.30am here 😅

He wasn't in man. The receiver was his guy within the zone but he got beat because he got his spacing wrong to start with, read the play late and reacted late. Sure the WR then ran away from him because that's a hard match up.... but if he gets his fundamentals right he is in position make the tackle there for a 4-6 yard gain. EDIT: correction, he was in man. But he still made the mental errors before the athleticism even became a factor.

He was strong safety last night. Damar was playing the free. He still sucked. He had one excellent play in Houston and people presume that indicative of his overall performance. It wasn't.

No. He challenged a Bears "catch" and won the challenge it was incomplete

At a team level I totally agree. The individual evaluations do matter though.

Lundt was okay. Not as good as last week, had a couple of shaky pass pro reps when inside at LG - one of which led to sack of Mike White (but after he held the ball for freaking ever). Interesting that they looked at Lundt at guard. He was there with the "starting" unit then stayed out there and played RT with the second line through. Hancock had a couple of nice reps and a couple of really poor ones. Which is sorta par for the course right now for a 5th round rook.

I only do five of each.... there was lots of competition for bad last night.

Exactly how I feel. Word for word. Hamlin is a back of a 53 player. But he is our second best safety. I feel like others want to run with the unknown in the hope they are more than a back of a 53 player.... and I get that... but when they look so awful on the field and are making as you say - the fatal mistake - it gets hard to support that.

The kicker they signed... think he is also name Davis but not Ray.... Still no Bass.

This is absolutely right IMO. He is the 2nd best safety on the roster and yet we all know he isn't good enough.

It was the one positive of the focus on DL in this draft. Hopefully it stops Beano throwing all our spare FA dollars there on mid range FAs year after year.

Codrington is definitely a returner only.... but I'm not persuaded Shenault is more than that. I think I saw him get literally 2 snaps on offense. That's the interesting thing about that battle.