Straight Hucklebuck

He says all the right things at the podium, but come Sunday I expect Gabe Davis to be playing 99% of snaps again, not getting open, Spencer Brown being put on ice skates, and if he's trying to go to anyone but Diggs, Knox or Kincaid, it's eventually going to be a turnover. When you look at the who the Bills are paying skill wise: Diggs should be getting 20 targets a game, then Knox and Kincaid combine for 15, and everyone else should split 8 targets. That's your 40-45 attempts per game, but targeting guys this team has actually invested in. 12 attempts to Cook, 5 for Josh, 3 to Harris, 3 to Murray. There is your 60 plays a game. Will Josh accept a shorter more disciplined passing game? The answer so far has been no and the rest of the NFL is not scared come Playoff time of Diggs, and a bunch of short area WRs. 2019 Josh showed he can do it but they also had better line play back then as well.

The Bills need to start cutting down on Gabe Davis snaps. There is no reason he needs to be on the field for 99% of snaps. I know this coaching staff hates Khalil Shakir, but I still not sure why he's only getting 7 snaps a game. How many more 2-32 yard games does this staff need to see from Gabe Davis? In the meantime, I don't blame Josh for over targeting Diggs, and moving Knox/Kincaid to #2 and #3 in targets, and avoiding Gabe Davis and probably Deonte Harty.

It's the same story as last year. Fans and WGR blame Ken Dorsey for not enough easy button throws. Then the All-22 comes out and wait a minute there are tons of easy throws built in, heck the Bills played 12 personnel all night. But Allen said it last year: the dink and dunk is nice, but eventually I want to make plays. He's not patient, he's not deliberate, he's not methodical, he's not disciplined. And with this WR group with zero vertical speed, it's a bad combination.

We select a rocket armed QB and the entire WR room are guys that can't win vertically. Allen has a balanced Diggs, a black hole of nothingness as a #2, two Tight Ends, a 5'6" gadget guy and a couple of running backs to throw to. Also, the Bills haven't fixed RT for over 3 years now and Allen moves instinctively because Brown stinks yet again. He's a reckless QB chained in a possession offense because of personnel. To me, it's 1/2 Josh and 1/2 the FO build of this roster.

I'm losing faith that Josh will be patient with this roster construction. We don't have the horses to play the way he wants to play. A complete mismatch in styles. Brady would love this team - a plethora of running backs, two capable Tight Ends, a dominant route-running #1 WR. Allen wants what the Dolphins have (what QB wouldn't) - but speed demon WRs that get open deep. He wants to uncork - but to who? Harty is 5'6" - he's going to high point and out jump guys down the field?

100% agree. It's a joke that veteran defensive Coach like McDermott is really trying to sell him as a viable starting NFL MLB. Despite what Joe Marino said about him, watch the large running plays or play calls that ask Bernard to attack the LOS as a blitzer. He is engulfed. Conklin took him one on one and rode him out of plays completely. Maybe the name of the game now is passing and he is a better coverage linebacker, but his athleticism is overstated.

1. Dewand Jones is 6'8" 375 pounds and played at Ohio State. We passed on him in the 3rd and instead took a 223 pound linebacker from Tulane. He went early in the 4th Round. And Jack Conklin lasted one series before tearing his ACL and MCL and Jones is now starting on one of the best lines in the league and completely neutralized Trey Hendrickson. 2. MLB, yeah I just saw a converted Safety getting engulfed when they foolishly tried to blitz him. Kirksey needs to be starting this week. 3. Cook has some juice, but the Bills have abandoned the run like several teams in the league. And this team struggles to get more than one back involved going back to Fred and Spiller. 4. Gabe Davis is awful. The 49ers start Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. We have Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Just like Ed Oliver, there is NO need to re-sign him. Let him walk and steal money from some other franchise.

Can Allen read a defense? That's on the table for me. Because no way he is understanding what he's seeing. He's erratic. For every miracle flip to Murray to salvage 3rd-9, he then tries to run up the middle and takes a huge shot to the ribs.

This is LeBron in Cleveland all over again the first time around, and really, most of the second time around. They got him Diggs and the rest of the offense are rusted Camaro's and junkyard cars parked on the front lawn. Harty is 5'6" without the Tyreek Hill speed. UNDRAFTED. Shakir is a borderline healthy scratch every week. 5th Rounder. Gabe Davis is a black hole. He's awful. In 2023 its about small margins of efficiency and he is a complete sink hole of player. Not enough speed, no route running, no bend. He gives you a 0 over 50% of his games. 4th Rounder. Sherfield's best trait is blocking. Undrafted. Knox and Kincaid, I said it before the season and got snapped at, but do you trust this OC to get them the ball consistently? We saw this with Hines, they don't know what to do. And you didn't see any speed from Kincaid, he's a 4.70 athlete. It's just not a good group of players.

Allen did it in 2019 with Beasley and Brown. Shortened the average depth of target and worked the middle of the field. The are small spurts of "creativity" (such a low-bar for this team) motioning Shakir behind the LOS presnap for instance, flare routes to Harty, pitch sweeps to Cook, like you said Diggs on a slant, a little Daboll 4-wide in the beginning of the game. But that stuff just evaporates as the game goes along. We go into a static Pro-Set with no motion, 2 wide receivers, tighter bunches. This offense doesn't utilize crossing routes or drags. There is no rhythm. It just breaks down to ill-timed runs and Josh running and chucking. No Khalil Shakir because this coaching staff hates him, but we have Latavius Murray operating in the slot?

Yeah, I'm there as well. If we have these same problems all season questioning the play calling, the mid-season swoon, the poor offensive design, Diggs' lid about to pop off, he would be innovative mind and he is great at the mic.

Well if McDermott wanted to run the ball he could get on the mic and override the play call. Cook seemed to find some success running the ball, but the box score is 12 carries for 46 yards. Knowing Allen would commit 4 turnovers, honestly running 3x and punting would have been better than what the Bills did.

For every little wrinkle that Dorsey drew up (Shakir motioning at the snap, Harty end around, 4 wide-spread) most of the game was the same old static formations, Diggs out wide, Davis playing 99% of snaps, and one of Knox or Kincaid in the slot. No Shakir.

I think Diggs and Allen need 20 targets a game. Honestly, because the rest of the Bills pass catchers are absolute garbage.

Do yourself a favor and watch Bernard on that play.

Great trade, I'm sure the Colts would do that right now considering they wanted Jaylen Waddle and picks back for him 2 weeks ago.

Spotrac has the Bills at $527K to spend and they are already $24M over the cap in 2024. How do they fit Taylor at $12M in a year into that budget?

I 100% agree. Daboll took the same flak for jet sweeps that would come and go, abandoning the run, sticking in 4-wide/5-wide all game (always in Shotgun) of course. Now I would agree Dorsey is worse in terms of play-flow, for instance after the first first down in the game, he runs Cook twice and puts the team in 3rd down, after the first two plays (slant to Diggs and pass to Harty) working easily. I just don't buy any of this. "Held accountable" - give me a break.

This is just ridiculous with Allen at this point. He's in his 6th year. This feels like Trent Edwards again where we're constantly concerned about his mindset.

Davis absolutely stinks. Complete black hole in your offense.

Okay. Well the defense gave up 16 points last night. Not sure how Tre White is even coming up. What are we going to do? Bench him and start Elam? Start Dane Jackson over him? Tre White isn't great anymore, but he's not the biggest problem on this defense. We have a 6'0" 223 pound MLB right now.

All that talk by the National Media for months on end.

Why are we depending on corners to make tackles at the LOS and not our MLB?

I think the problem is more low-end talent of the Bills pass catchers, and it's a mismatch in roster construction to how Allen wants to play (vertical) + gunslinger. The Bills pass catchers are all underneath route runners, and Allen has no discipline to stick with shorter gains. Harty is miniature without the Tyreek Hill speed, Kincaid looks like he runs a 4.72, Sherfield is a JAG, the Coaches can't stand Shakir. But the biggest problem is Gabe Davis. He's absolutely useless. Diggs can't cover up the talent gap. But the Bills are getting what they pay for. When your WR room is undrafted and low rounders, that's what they play like.

Top 3 problems: 1. Josh Allen has no discipline. He refuses to take the 7 yards consistently. 2. There is a mismatch in the way Allen wants to play (vertical) and the actual Wide Receivers of this roster. The Bills pass catchers lack speed and talent, and therefore, win underneath. The Bills are getting the play they pay for - Harty is 5'6" undrafted, Sherfield was talked up all offseason by Sal C, he's an undrafted JAG, Kincaid, Knox and Cook are dump-off options, and Diggs just can't cover all the holes. Which brings me to the biggest issue with the roster construction... 3. Gabe Davis is black hole/sink hole of the offense. He is a useless WR who only runs one route. McDermott won't do anything about it, but Shakir needs to be mixed in on the outside more often, there is no reason Gabe needs to be playing 99% snaps.