HappyDays

I think there are plenty of factors that could lead to a better offense this year: 1) Allen takes his game to yet another level. 2) Singletary gets back to his rookie self. 3) Sanders upgrades Brown. 4) Davis progresses in his 2nd year. And based on the offseason so far all of these seem fairly likely at this point. I don't see a spot where the offense got worse. As good as we were last year there is always room for improvement. Defensively I agree I don't see us being too much better than last year. I was hoping to see players like Edmunds and Oliver take a big step but I haven't seen evidence of that so far this offseason. Hopefully Rousseau has a big impact this year but I'm not going to rely on a rookie to take our defense to an elite level. Last year our defense was average to bad for most of the year and our offense still carried us to the AFC Championship where they happened to have their worst game of the season. If our already elite offense does manage to take a step forward, even if our defense is mediocre that is still a winning formula for the Super Bowl as Kansas City has proved.

Speaking of players that were getting snaps late in the game, Oliver was still getting snaps at the start of the 2nd half when other defensive starters were off the field. That has actually been a theme throughout the whole preseason. What are we to make of that? It makes me wonder if the staff is somewhat down on him and trying to motivate him to take his game to the next level.

I'm not 100% confident in my prediction that Brieda will be inactive on gamedays. But right now he is just a gadget player. He contributes nothing as a conventional RB and not enough on special teams to be worth an active roster spot every week. Yesterday he looked good in the McKenzie role but obviously he isn't taking McKenzie's job any time soon as long as he's healthy. So I struggle to see what his role will be on gamedays. If Daboll envisions Breida in a separate but just as necessary gadget role then yes he will be active more often than not. You're focusing too much on what Jones and Kumerow contribute outside of special teams. In a vacuum I would probably agree that Kumerow does more on offense than Jones. But the staff doesn't care. Since neither player will actually have a role on offense (except in case of injury) they are going to default to the player that gives them more on special teams. Maybe they find a way to keep both. It's funny we are having this debate when just 48 hours from now we will have our answer.

I think when McKenzie is healthy they will make Brieda inactive on gamedays. He is on the roster as an emergency RB in case Singletary or Moss get injured, and as an emergency gadget player in case McKenzie gets injured. All the plays he was involved with yesterday are plays where McKenzie would normally get the ball. When the staff continually calls Jones an "elite gunner" and treats him like a starter in preseason you can't ignore those signs. Kumerow is just the latest training camp star that doesn't actually produce in games. He was the same guy in Green Bay. Outside of one nice toe tap catch against the Bears he has been a non-factor in preseason games going against 2nd and 3rd stringers. Assuming Bam Johnson and Neal and Jones all make the team I don't see the need for another special teams gunner in Kumerow. Based on everything this staff has said they feel that Jones is the best gunner on the team. So between Jones and Kumerow, neither of which are likely to see any snaps on offense, they are going to use their special teams value as the deciding factor.

To take on #1 CBs in this league you need to be either an elite route runner (Stefon Diggs) or an elite physical specimen (DK Metcalf). I don't know that Davis has the profile to ever become that guy. But he has definitely improved this offseason. The play he made from out of our endzone is one he doesn't make last year. He sold a vertical route to create separation, put the brakes on after catching the ball and exploded upfield, then physically bullied the DB to gain additional YAC. Granted it was against a 2nd string secondary but it certainly made me question my assumption that Sanders would be our #2 WR this year. Allen and Davis already have chemistry built.

The fact that Taiwan Jones didn't even dress last week, in a game when all locked in starters didn't dress, means he is a roster lock. He is a special teams starter as much as Tre White is a defensive starter, that's how this coaching staff sees him. With this roster I would switch out Kumerow with Jones and cross my fingers Kumerow clears waivers. After Beane's comments during the game yesterday it does seem quite likely that one of our DEs will be traded, and I agree that it is likely Addison or Obada. I would probably prefer we keep Obada but he has been pretty meh in preseason so I'm not going to lose sleep over it either way.

It's too bad Lamp couldnt stay healthy. I thought he would have been an upgrade as a pass protector at one of the guard spots. Ford and Feliciano are both better run blockers, and in this offense that skill set just doesn't fit. Also I would add Edmunds to the bad night. I rewatched the game last night and he was personally responsible for a lot of big plays. There was that one play where Love found an absolutely wide open receiver in the middle of the field. The Packers ran a misdirection run fake that Edmunds bit on hard. While pursuing the fake ball carrier, he got pushed to the ground by an O-lineman and slowly got up just in time to see a huge pass completion in the area of the field he had vacated. I can't say for sure if the open man would have been his responsibility, but it was a bad look for him.

I have a feeling this will all amount to nothing, at least for this season. Maybe if Watson gets through his legal troubles without facing criminal prosecution the Dolphins will try to land him next offseason. For right now the timing makes no sense.

Josh Allen

Yes it is possible a vaccinated Bills player will test positive and have to miss time. No one is going to blame that person. But unvaccinated players have more risks irrespective of how effective the vaccine is at preventing infection. If two players are deemed a close contract with a positive case only the unvaccinated player has to miss 5 days. It has nothing to do with preventing yourself from getting sick, it's just that NFL protocol makes it more likely an unvaccinated player will miss time. There are a lot of NFL protocols I have disagreed with. I think players should be free to use marijuana for pain management. But if a player tested positive for marijuana use I would still blame the player. Rules are rules.

If a person wearing a selt belt gets injured in a car accident, do we pretend seatbelts don't work? The bigger issue here is that unvaccinated players are at risk to be sent home for days at a time. What happened this week could happen during the season right before a game. It's not up for debate, if you don't get the vaccine you are risking your availability for a game.

It's personal right up until the moment it affects the team negatively. We got a firsthand taste of that this week.

Props to Fromm on that drive. He still doesn't have an NFL arm but some team could be fooled into trading for him if we're lucky.

Friendly reminder that both TD drives were with Diggs off the field.

Allen looks even better than last year. Obviously the crowd being there is making him better, just as everyone predicted.

Rousseau isn't on the stat sheet yet but he is making a big impact on a lot of plays.

Oh great, sugar high Jordan is back

You can bet Belichick is going to run right up the middle all game long until we prove we can stop it. It's been a persistent issue for years now.

I half posted that as a joke, but I'm kind of serious. Draft and sign pass protection o-linemen only. Draft RBs for their pass blocking. Forget the run game for the next 15 years.

Hear me out - what if we don't call a single run play this year? I would probably skip screens too. We have zero need for them. Any play that doesn't involve Allen making it happen is a waste.

Davis is looking like a different player this year. His route running looks smoother.

Offensive and defensive MVP are both in midseason form.

Do you guys think we paid Allen too early?

McDermott told them to hold the flag. 3rd and 20 is this offense's bread and butter.

Aaaaaand we're back!