oldmanfan

If the O line gets blown up by a team with big DTs and that in turn does not allow our offense to operate in a playoff game they will be the reason why we lost. We have lost two games thus far this year, and struggled yesterday. In each of those the interior line struggled aganist bigger DTs. The guys in the middle are simply not strong enough to consistently withstand big interior D linemen.

Ok, I normally try to be polite. But just shut up.

Getting the TD was the right call. That put us up 26-11 so 15 points. Then going for 2 was smart because if by some miracle the Fish had scored two TDs (let's say a kickoff runback, then recover an onside with a Hail Mary) , the 2 point conversion would not have allowed them to tie.

They will be a tough out because Belicheat is the best at what he does.

I keep saying football comes down to physically beating the guy in front of you. Our O line cannot do that against the better DTs. They just are not strong enough.

Norelli?

They let Josh be Josh in the second half and the O line played better. We still need stronger guys in the O line. Thank God for the D.

Hughes with his weekly Offside

We can’t handle big DTs.

We may have to trade for an interior lineman or two.

Can’t get any worse, right?

Let Josh be Josh now. We can’t run so quit trying.

Oliver is huge today

I would not mind our changing our entire O line. They get whipped physically in the run game time and time again.

We need to bump Parker coming off the line

Ok boys, let’s matriculate the ball down the field!

I just don’t think he’s good. Frazier and McD know how to make him look bad.

My one daughter is a musical theater performer based in Orlando and my other is a music therapy major that does shows as well. I’ll ask them about shows, but for sure Wicked is great! Also Tina if you like Tina Turner; one of my older daughter’s classmates is in the cast.

Taking the family to NYC over Thanksgiving to do a couple bucket list items for my wife: Macy’s Parade and Rockettes Christmas show. But I need recommendations for a good Bills Backer’s bar for the Thanksgiving night game. What are my choices and where do you recommend?

I just don't see this as anywhere close. Bills 38-10.

I suspect they know pretty quickly if a guy has to work habits necessary to succeed.

Historically we have two guards in the HOF, Joe D and Billy Shaw. Not too bad a history. But I digress; let me address today’s question: 1. In the bye week it is common for teams to scout themselves. I suspect we’ve noticed our interior can get pushed around a bit. So either some scheme changes or perhaps moving Ike in may be in the offing. 2. There is not a crystal ball bright enough or clear enough to have foreseen what Teller would become. We missed that one. It won’t be the last time because all teams do. Like Ford, I think they’re trying to light a fire under him by sitting him but his time may be limited. 3. Bates is the backup because he can legitimately fill in at C, G, or T if need be. Better to keep him in reserve for now. His time might come if or when Morse leaves (perhaps as a cap casualty). 4. Spain was a part of culture establishment. McD and Beane want their culture, Spain I suspect did not buy in the way they wanted. So bye-bye. And it’s not like we haven’t done well without him (see also Eichel, Jack). 5. Our run blocking could stand improvement. The usual excuse, an excuse with merit, is that guys don’t learn to run block anymore in college. But given most of our guys are vets, and that Brown might be our best run blocker, that excuse holds little if any water. Our guys up front simply have to be more physical. 6. Dawkins is to me showing effects of his Covid infection. He may not get back to his preCovid level this season, if ever.

People keep blasting the goalies but they've been pretty solid so far. Especially Tokarski. I am hoping the Pegulas are repeating what they found with the Bills, a GM and a HC who agree that you have to establish a culture to win consistently, and that you get players that buy in and get rid of players that don't. Adams may not have been a popular hire but he was the kind of player who stayed in the league for a long time because he knew what you had to do day in and day out, knew what effort you had to put forth. Granato is similar, he's been around a long time and knows what it takes to make it as an NHLer. I'm going to be watching to see how these younger kids do and to watch the culture evolve. as much as Eichel might be a gifted hockey player, he did not have any business being a captain and his attitude detracts from the culture KA and DC are trying to establish.

Good points here, as always from you. I think one could make a case for our O line being the main determinant in the two losses. They've addressed it once by putting Brown in the lineup and moving Williams inside (although Brown had a pretty bad outing Monday night). I wonder if during this bye week they are not doing their grading and will consider putting Ike back in at LG or other permutations.

While we agree on 99% of things, and I always look forward to your weekly posts, we must disagree here. I will say again that football is about beating the guy in front of you. Whether it's a WR lined up against a CB, or a DT against an OT, that is the fundamental aspect of football. And our O line did not do so on that play. I think we all at times add too much complexity to things when the answer is pretty simple. And that's what happened. Our O line didn't get it done on the play that was called. We can criticize the play call (and I would have liked to see them call something to get Josh outside with more options), we can try and make excuses, etc, etc, etc. But the O line had to make enough room for Allen to make about 4 inches and it didn't get done. And I do not, unlike some around here, see this as a crisis. We took the shot we should have taken, we didn't get the first down, and we lost. So we're 4-2, firmly in control of the division, with 3 eminently winnable games ahead of us. We will win the division, and hopefully get the first seed. There really aren't too many more games left where we won't be strong favorites, and McD is a master at using losses as a motivating factor. We'll be fine, but I do also suspect they are looking very closely at the O line during the bye week to see if changes need to be made, since in the two games we lost the O line got outperformed by the opposing D line