SCBills

The way Diggs addresses the Maddy Glab hot mic comments makes me think he’s legit hurt by it. I don’t know if she’s speaking out of pocket for clout amongst the reporters or if some things that have been said were taken out of context, but I didn’t expect Diggs to react this way and that’s probably due to my preconceived notions of him .. which is clearly what he’s sick of fighting upstream against.

Yea.. Aikman went in on Gabe for that route, and justifiably so. He's just not sudden enough to win quick, and if teams are flooding the intermediate to deep zones, I'm not exactly sure what Gabe gives us out there besides another good blocking WR.

Starting to think quite a few teams may be inquiring about Mike Evans... and I have to think we should be one of them. If Gabe doesn't become who we need him to be, I'd absolutely be open to sending Davis to Tampa with a pick for Evans. Both in the last year of their deals and we have a bandaid at WR2 until we can address it in the offseason/draft next year.

Not really. Mahomes/Reid Burrow/Taylor Lawrence/Pederson Hurts/Sirianni Tua/McDaniel And on down the line... Allen is a rarity to be an elite QB paired with a Defensive HC. Even Rodgers brought Hackett with him to go play for a Defensive minded HC in Salah.

Yea, he didn't exactly wow out there, but he's a competent/professional receiver... with the problem being, he seems to be a WR4 type, on a team that has no WR2.

We can win a Super Bowl with this Defense, even with an inexperienced/undersized MLB and a Secondary in which (perhaps) our CB1 and both Safeties have legitimately lost a step. The rest of the Defense is that good. I fear a lot of people, myself included, may have underestimated the need for WR2 and RT upgrades. Maybe Gabe steps up.. Maybe Brown steps up.. but the data sample is starting to become large enough that those hopes are fading a bit. I thought we did enough by upgrading the IOL and drafting Kincaid, but I really need to see Gabe/Brown step up moving forward. I'll give them a pass, only one game, against an elite defense, but as others pointed out.. if we want to win a Super Bowl, chances are, we're going to need to beat an elite defense or two in the Playoffs.

Agree. The Kincaid/Knox roles will take some time, and I'm ok with that, but we were told all summer how great Gabe looked and how strong the connection between Allen and Sherfield was. Live bullets begin to fly and, yes - only one game in, Gabe looks like the same guy from last year and Sherfield is a blocking WR.. just like he's always been. I liked how they used Harty in space early, but either we went away from it or the Jets took it away.

I won't judge Gabe based off one week where our QB was a mess and we were up against an elite defense.. However, we desperately need that legitimate #2 option to Diggs. Maybe Kincaid turns into that, but just like so many other things on Monday Night.. Gabe Davis was reminiscent of a lot of the worries we had last year.

I wouldn’t rule this out. I know we’re all looking for excuses, but this seems to be a potentially valid one.

Has this been discussed here? Allen “potential” concussion during the game.. I definitely didn’t think anything of this - can’t even remember when it happened.

Not being able to run against light boxes, combined with Allen refusing to do anything that resembles an extension of the run game via short/quick passes, is how you’ll never be able to push the ball down the field against top defenses.

Maybe he just needs a haircut?

Buy: Bills Pass Rush. Looked dangerous, and that was without Von. Sell: Hyde/Poyer being a strength. Hoping they can be solid, but worried we kept them both a year too long. Hold: Tre White & Gabe Davis. Tre was solid in coverage but brutal in run fits and we desperately need Gabe Davis to not become the boom or bust disappearing man again this year.

Nobody views Cousins in the same sense as the other guys. Burrow was catching heavy criticism, but also has a pattern of missing time before the season starts.. starting off poorly.. and then getting it together. Allen has been a hot mess since the middle of last year, when viewed through the lens of elite QB play. And we thought we could explain that away due to his very real injury that, to his credit, he played through. But what's the excuse to come out looking even worse to start this season? He's deserving of much of the criticism he's receiving.

It's Week One, and Week One is typically not directly indicative of anything relating to the full season. That said, we're 0-1 in a tough division, with a divisional loss out the gate, and our '23 season has begun the same way our '22 season ended. On Offense, all the same issues we saw for much of the last half of the year, culminating in a disaster performance in the Divisional Round, presented themselves again on Monday Night. This is more than a "one-off". I don't believe we can just pretend it's the Week One anomaly. It's not. It's a pattern. Is it correctable? Yes. But it's going to take some heavy lifting from our QB and OC. And that's concerning, because Josh Allen is the reason we're a Super Bowl contender. Currently, he's been playing like the guy that's holding us back. I do believe the roster around him is Super Bowl caliber. Especially when Von Miller comes back. WR2 and RT are concerns, but every team, including the Chiefs, Bengals and Dolphins has a weakness or two. I don't believe WR2 is fatal. RT is a worry.

Great post. For us, it’s a hobby. For the team and staff, it’s their life. Josh Allen is set with generational wealth. The lower guys on the roster aren’t. The coordinators and staffers are trying to build careers. He gets paid a quarter billion dollars because he’s a leader of this business. Games like this, at this point in his career, should not be happening. It’s not just the fans he lets down.

Diggs had a comment last week about how he’s seen a different level of preparation from Allen. He goes on to say we all know he gives everything he has on the field, but implies he’s seeing a different side off the field. Nobody should ever question Allen’s desire to win … on the field. Thats only 3-4 hours of the week though. And I don’t know if he’s putting in the work needed for greatness … maybe he is. But people will question that when you keep making the same mistakes over and over.

But this is a recurring theme.. We know he’s aware of what he needs to work on. He tells us all the time. It keeps happening.

I don’t put much stock into anything a Stephen A Smith or Skip Bayless say… but people like Orlovsky I listen to. He’s not really getting hot take flamed … he’s getting lectured by people that were disappointed in him last night.

Very fair point. That guy out there last night looked completely lost. Everyone responds to different coaching. Some need to be criticized and some need to be lifted up. I don’t know how he is, but whatever we’ve been doing post-Daboll isn’t working. However, as you point out, the staff needs to factor in that Josh wasn’t just criticized today … he’s being challenged to grow up from every corner of football media. Thats very specific and unique criticism for someone who’s ascended to where he is.

He is getting ROCKED in the media today. And it’s not criticism of his ability .. it’s questioning his focus and desire. Everyone acknowledges he’s as talented, maybe more talented, than anyone in the league … but the overwhelming commentary today is an annoyed refrain of “he doesn’t get it” and that’s a really wild narrative to see everywhere about a consensus elite QB. …it’s also accurate.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so much, almost universal, annoyance/frustration at a player before. It’s as if the entire football world knows how great Josh Allen can be and are completely disgusted that he won’t grow up and stop with the bs.

Gabe Davis and a pick for Mike Evans? Sean McDermott didn't sound thrilled with our WR2 today.

What would Veach/Reid do after this season, given our cap situation, regardless of how it ends? I'd guess that they would cut Morse, Tre and Poyer, while letting Hyde and Davis walk. Sign a RT and then draft a WR2 early and go young on Defense. What will we do?