GunnerBill

But it was never an equal fight at any point. Literally the only time all night that it became even was the final Bills drive when Buechele went it and at that point the Bears did give the very bottom of their defensive roster a drive. All night they were playing a team up. That isn't to excuse the Bills - that was lousy - but it was never even 2s v 2s or 3s v 3s. By the time the Bears went to the 2s the Bills 3s were in and by the time the Bears went to their 3s the Bills were down to as many future shelf stackers as they could find.

First of all nobody should freak out. McDermott did say before the joint practice he would decide after it how to treat this game. By all accounts the Bills showed well in practice and as such they sat a ton of guys here. The Bears were playing a team, or a team and a half above the Bills all night.... but there were some things that could be taken from it..... even if my first reaction was "Wow... gotta find five "good nights" out of that!" Anyway, glad I only stayed up for the first quarter before going to sleep. Have watched the rest of the game this morning so here goes: Good Night for... Brad Robbins - Yes, it was that kinda night.... the first place by head goes is the punter played well! But just generally through the two pre-season games so far I have been impressed with Robbins. It is worth reminding yourself that he was actually drafted in 2023 by the Bengals but lost the job after one year. I wonder if he has benefitted from the year off because his leg looks plenty strong right now and there were two well judged shorter punts downed inside the 20 too. I'll add to it the coverage units have been pretty decent through two pre-season games when traditionally it is tougher to get that right with guys cycling through. Laviska Shenault - Three solid returns averaging 28 yards and he did look decisive on them. I don't think he is separating himself from Codrington yet (he had two for 27.5 average) and the competition still rages but the fact that Curtis Samuel can't get on the field and Elijah Moore can't catch a dump off means there is a potential gap there for a shifty, gimmick style receiver - something they might think Shenault can offer in addition to his returning. Not ready to say he is making the roster right now, but I have been pretty sniffy about his chances since he signed and my position is softening somewhat. Tyrell Shavers - The reason Shenault needs one of Samuel or Moore to fall by the wayside is Shavers. He just continues to perform, is out there as a gunner on special teams, made a nice catch on a back shoulder throw from Mike White and looks like a guy who can run routes outside (as has been much discussed the Bills are overloaded with guys who prefer to play the slot). He is getting closer and closer to the 53. We have had guys like this feel like they have made it before under this regime only to end up on the cutting room floor but I think Shavers is trending towards making it. Frank Gore Jnr - Okay he had the fumble on a catch in the redzone that ended the Bills best drive in the 3rd quarter. But on a night where so many guys sucked and played at half speed Frank Gore went out there second half and played like it was the Superbowl. Ran hard, made himself available in the pass game and put his body on the line as a blocker. He ended with 81 of the Bills 180 offensive yards. He is kind of the perfect practice squad back in that he doesn't have special traits that are likely to get him poached but he is an absolute pro. If the Bills had a running back go down in year and had to call Gore up to the roster he would not let them down. Challenges - McDermott won a challenge! Hey, I was running out of positives..... Bad Night for... Cole Bishop - Can't start anywhere else. He was the one likely starter that suited up for the Bills on defense, he played one drive and ended it giving up a touchdown after being lost and late in coverage again. Yes - he ended up on a slot receiver, tough matchup. But this wasn't a guy just out doing him athletically. He was in the wrong position, slow to read it and slow to react before the athleticism even became a factor. And this was not some super complex defensive call either, it looked like pretty vanilla single high with Bishop as the box safety (which is the role he is generally more comfortable in and played more in college). I'm really worried about his coverage struggles. It looks too much for him mentally to me. Joe Andreessen - Possibly the first time since the train left the station last summer that someone has pumped the breaks but that was a rough half of football for Buffalo Joe. Again getting the start as the 2nd string MLB he struggled with Ben Johnson's play action calls - was not getting his depths right, was attacked in zone coverage and then made a mental mistake in man coverage too and dropped his guy. The suspicion has been there throughout that he is a bit more of an AJ Klein type who is a lot happier moving forwards than backwards but the Bears might be the first team to have really exposed it. Mike White - I am not here to tell you Mitch Trubisky is good, but he is better than this. White's accuracy is a total lottery ticket. I will give him his props, I like how he stands in there and is willing to take a hit to get the ball off but he just misses too many throws. He didn't get a ton of help, I admit, but 4/11 for 54 yards with the 2nd string receivers and the best collection of offensive linemen the Bills had active was not a great statement in the backup QB battle. Ryan Van Demark - It's been a good pre-season for Vandy to this point, he started camp splitting time with Tylan Grable at right tackle in Spencer Brown's absence and then has switched over to the left with Dion missing a couple of practices and he played well in pre-season game one. However, this was a poor outting. Two false starts on the first drive set the tone and it seemed to affect him because I thought he was chasing his blocks a bit after that and it affected his balance and technique. Zach Davidson - This guy is toast. The drops last week, two bad penalties that wiped out chunk plays this week. It's over. Pick the bones out of that if you dare folks.... one more to go!

Knox won't play on his 2026 number. That's almost certain. There is either an extension and re-working of that deal or he will be released.

I think the Bengals are the most likely to crash the party - as I said in a following post - but they are not in the same camp as the Bills and Ravens IMO. They haven't made the post season the past two years and they have not been that consistent number 1 contender type team. The Bills and Ravens have been banging at the door. This year if it is not the Chiefs it has to be one of those two.... or else.

White gets the start. Looks like: Vandy - LT Lundt - LG Feeney - C Green - RG Gouraige - RT Lundt getting a look at guard. Interesting. He is increasingly hard to see off the team.

Sure. But it is what we saw whenever he was on the field last season too. Doesn't read it quickly enough and always late reacting.

He is looking better than the other safety. That is why Hamlin keeps starting. The other guys are worse.

Bishop is disgusting in coverage.

They do. One. Bishop. He just gave up a TD.

Bishop out there

Looks like backups all the way for the Bills

Im gonna try and make it through to half time. I hate prime time pre season games. Awful for international fans.

Nah they weren't. They have been updated buddy. You are not going mad! There is an option bonus. That explains about $7.5m. But you are right a lot of it guarantees "as you go".

Yes. Dallas police had cleared him before the NFL imposed their discipline.

Sal C loved him some Rod Streeter..... he was one of his annual "this guy can actually play guys..." 😂

I am sort of here except for Grable being in protocol. He has been in it over a week now. If there is any nervousness over him there is no way they let Vandy out of the building IMO. Grable getting hurts has confused this and made it more complicated in multiple ways. Him not being out there at second team LT last week allowed Lundt to put a lot of really good stuff on film that seriously reduces the chance of him sneaking through to the PS if they wanted to.

The league always waits for the outcome of the legal process first. That only concluded in July and then they have been trying to find a date their selected High Court judge was available. I dunno if its the same in 'merica but in the UK your chances of finding a high court judge working in August is close to nil. It is frustrating it has dragged so long (and not only this case other cases too) but I don't see the NFL changing its position on legal process first league discipline second any time soon.

Lundt isn't making it either. I actually think VPG is the most likely of the 3 to make it to the PS but they will likely now just slow play it with him at this stage and leave him on PUP.

I think he will play two drives unless drive one is a 7/8/9 play type TD drive.

Yea Taylor needs a good year.

Of the outsiders I think probably Cincy is still the most dangerous if the change of Defensive Coordinator works for them. Maybe if Houston can get its oline sorted they could still push? I think the Chargers have a tougher road now. They just lost their best player for the year in Rashawn Slater. Denver to me is a team that is going to win double digit regular season games this year but then still look a class below come playoff time.

I am not sold yet on Shavers making it. I will say this... the chances Shavers and Shenault both make it is less than 5% IMO.

I am not closed to this. I am just not persuaded yet.

Agree. That one was overturnable IMO.

He's not bendy or quick twitch but has a decent first step, can convert his length advantage into power when he bull rushes and has good aggressive hands (especially good rip move). The two concerns for me on the Arkansas tape were his consistency..... there are games where he looks dominant and games where he looks like a big guy who isn't really a football player and his stiffness - especially when trying to change direction. I don't have my board in front of my but I think I had an early 3rd on him - so right about where the Bills took him. I still like the pick there value wise and think there is some ceiling but right now he feels more like a guy who might make an impact in years 2,3,4 than as a rookie.