ShakAttack

Crowder has always been a good player when healthy. The problem is, he gets hurt a lot. I actually thought he was out for the year until about 2 minutes ago reading through this thread, so I'm taking this as some much needed good news today.

We can't replace Von. There is no sugar coating it. That said, we are still a pretty good defense without Von, when healthy. What we need is one of our young guys to turn into the guy that makes big plays in big moments. I'm not counting on it, but that's what we need for the playoffs, because that situation will most likely come up. The reason I don't count on it happening is because that is what separates the elite defenders from the rest, and most teams do NOT have a Von Miller / Aaron Donald / Micah Parsons / Myles Garrett. That said, I remember a few years ago, I believe 2019, there were a few games in which I recall our secondary closing out games with 4th quarter interceptions. We might not find the "big moment" pass rusher on our roster anymore, but Jordan Poyer and Tre White could make the big play in the secondary...... We did not have White OR Miller last year in the playoffs obviously. At least we will have one of them now.... I think. Anyway, a couple wins against the Jets and Dolphins will certainly have us feeling like this defense can get it done against playoff caliber teams without Von Miller, and I really want to be convinced of that as a Bills fan, so.. while I may not be expecting the blowout against the Jets that Vegas is putting out there, if we can be the first defense this season to slow down Mike White and the resurgent Jets offense, that should go a long way towards our confidence in this "new" defense.

you’re not wrong, but it does kinda suck knowing that Miller forced the game winning Int against KC in the regular season. He was doing what we brought him here to do. Someone else is going to need to fill that void. Who is going to be that playmaker when the defense needs a stop in the playoffs?

When we had all these injuries on defense this year I would constantly think to myself “Von is the guy we can always depend on to stay healthy. He’s a true pro and knows how to take care of his body”. And then, With one mis-step, he is done. Just like that. I hate ACL injuries. And what makes this even worse is knowing Von had been making the game changing plays we brought him here to make. This would be a LOT easier to digest if he was underperforming

It was a failed attempt at a joke. I love Big Phil and what he brings to the defense and he is one of those guys that I will check up on for an injury update 10-20 times a day, which is what prompted me to make a thread in the first place. The whole "just barely" (important enough) thing only crossed my mind because it was the morning after the game and it seemed like hardly anyone on the board was talking about it, which was a bit of a surprise, to me. Then I realized, the guys that got their own injury thread so far this season were..... Micah Hyde.... Jordan Poyer.... Josh Allen.... I think you understand where I'm at. But again, just to clarify.... HUGE fan of Big Phil here and I would really hate to lose him against the Jets. I think if we can put the same defense on the field against the Jets as we did vs the Pats, the Jets offense WILL struggle. Hopefully the Bills having a few extra days will also help.

Josh Allen is the only one that said he was “fine” and ended up not missing any time…. but he’s also The Man.

I don’t think this has its own thread yet, and I think Phillips is important enough to deserve his own thread (but just barely). Anyway, is there any information about this Shoulder injury? all I know is it apparently happened on his whiffed dive attempt to sack Mac Jones at the 2 minute warning…. and that he was in a sling after the game… Is there any other info at this time?? The fact it was bad enough to be in a sling makes me think he could be missing time And on a side note, seriously tired of all these injuries that occur on the final drive of the game (whether offense or defense’s last drive)

I hate that you make some great points here. But if so many doctors agree that the video seems to indicate ACL tear, I just want to know where and how the heck Rappaport and others in media got their reports so quickly that it was a “sprain” most likely.

Saw all this stuff too. So we basically have: 1. The "online doctors" claiming it's likely ACL based on watching videos. 2. Rappaport saying it's most likely a sprain (based on his sources that had to come from someone close to the Bills team as opposed to someone watching a video) So I guess I'll be cautiously optimistic too.

did Tre? Cant remember

Where? I could use some relief too. EDIT- I see some reports now as well, but they also did not rule out a more serious injury. So it's still "Who knows"

Yeah I don't know. When that's all there is to go off of right now (besides the video itself) it's easy to potentially overthink the situation, but it definitely left a bad impression, and I know it wasn't just me picking up on that, so I guess we will see. Hoping it's a sprain & fingers crossed.

Since nothing definitive has been reported, the only thing I've seen so far is Miller's demeanor after the injury and on the cart. I get the sense that Miller is an athlete that probably understands his body very well, and for a guy that claims to "find the positives in everything" he looked REALLY glum. Almost as if... it was something he couldn't put a positive spin on. Again, that's really all I can possibly go off of from what we've seen, but it wasn't a good look

Wondering if there is even a best case scenario with this injury. Smh

So let me get this straight: last week Tre was ruled out by McDermott the Friday before the game this week, day before game, he has not been ruled out So there’s a chance…..??? nah not getting my hopes up (….but there is, right? from what we know)

I am 75% Iranian and I was old enough to witness Iran vs. USA in the 1998 World Cup. USA is my "second" team, since it is where I was born and raised, after all, but I became obsessed with the Iranian national team in 1998 for many of the same reasons I became a Buffalo Bills fan as a kid growing up: They were the ultimate underdog. And since the Buffalo Bills have never won a Super Bowl, and since they lost "13 seconds" and every other miraculous playoff game we have played in involves us losing in the end (besides "The Comeback" which I vaguely remember but was just a bit too young to fully appreciate, Iran's win over the U.S. in 1998 would probably have to rank as my favorite moment as a sports fan. I say "probably" because the moment we ended the playoff drought on Andy Dalton's 4th down TD to Tyler Boyd just might actually have it beat. And if we were on the winning end of "13 seconds" it would have been no contest at all... That would have been my greatest sports moment of all-time... In fact, it is kind of sad because after Allen tossed the go-ahead TD with 13 seconds left, I ran around the house yelling something along the lines of "THIS IS THE BEST MOMENT IN MY LIFETIME AS A BILLS FAN!!!!!!!!" Anyway... Where am I going with all of this... All of this is to say... MAN... the Saudi Arabia upset over Argentina today was just miraculous. In 2014, Iran lost to Argentina 1-0 and it was celebrated by the country as if they won; the most impressive match they had ever played. It really feels like Saudi Arabia accomplished what Iran was unable to pull off that day. It's just not supposed to happen! I mean, 100% of the Saudi roster plays for Saudi club teams, while Argentina is essentially an international all-star team. Every now and then the question comes up "Can a really good college FB team beat the worst NFL team?" And almost always the answer is a resounding "NO" But I think what happened today in the World Cup was the the soccer equivalent of a college FB team beating a pro team... And that is just incredible. Indeed, Argentina blew it, but once the Saudis had the lead, I could not believe some of the saves made by the goal-keeper to hang on, especially the save in the 100th minute... WOW.... It's kinda funny, I'm a more casual soccer fan and I do not follow the sport year-round, but every 4 years when the World Cup returns, I am quickly reminded why it is my 2nd favorite sport to watch. There are some remarkable moments in this sport.

You know with Bills fans, the moment he is active to play on Game Day, he is our beloved All-Pro / Pro Bowl Corner again and all is forgiven. The only way there is love lost is if Tre ends up not playing a single game for us this season, or if he indeed stinks it up when he finally does play. But you gotta love Bills fans, most of these guys hating on him will be his #1 fan the day he is finally active.

when practice was cancelled yesterday the first thing I thought was “well at least we won’t risk any injuries in practice”. Knowing the way this year has gone injury-wise, wouldn’t surprise me if we lost (another) starter ourselves. I don’t wish injuries on anyone, but have to admit, with all the damn injuries our defense is dealing with - especially in the secondary - it was a little comforting to see The Browns have one of their own now.

he does. it just has to be the first half or outside of the red zone is all. i say he kicks hero ball up a notch and starts throwing for the end zone outside of the opponent’s 20 every time. there might actually be something to this. Think about it. We do WAY better on 3rd and 15+ than 3rd and 2 or less. Allen needs SPACE

yes the Jets game sack and the sack to force 4th and 18 in Vikings game are precisely the “plays we didn’t capitalize on” that I was referring to. it’s a shame , Von made the impact play needed at the perfect time In both instances, but it amounted to nothing. We didn’t knock the ball down on 4th and 18… and we still blew it against the Jets. So we didn’t capitalize. True, but there’s a risk with each alternative option as well. hand it off to RB, we risk getting tackled in the end zone for a safety (and we have had several hand offs blown up for losses this season for the same issue you are referring to re: interior oline) or you toss it laterally / roll out and try a quick dump off to one of the backs which also has risks of its own. In fact, this is what Tua tried to do late in the Miami game from his own end zone and it was Von Miller - ironically- in pursuit and knocked the pass down, forcing Miami to Punt out of their own end zone and nearly choke away the game. one thing I will say is when we made that stop on defense and had to start from our own half yard line I kept thinking “No… This isn’t over yet…” But of all the possible bad scenarios I certainly didn’t imagine a botched exchange.

Yeah this is the stuff I was trying to stop thinking about when I decided to go in another direction 🤣 But as far as this one goes, we can second guess the play call all we want, but I feel like the strategy would’ve worked if we got the snap right, which, you know, is something you SHOULD be able to reasonably expect to happen…. You had Davis lined up behind Allen prepared to push him forward and ensure some kind of advancement of the ball. Each time we have pushed Allen this season, the ball has advanced and not gone backwards, so no reason to think it wouldn’t happen here. Man, I hate this. 🤮

fair enough. My point on his pressers doesn’t even qualify as a “concern” for me, as we have a laundry list of those and MAYBE I was trying to get my mind off of them for just a moment, but yes, it while it may not be a concern, it does bother me to some extent. Wouldn’t say it’s only my opinion though. While it may not be a popular one, others have certainty acknowledged it here and come up with better examples than I had to support my point as well. (Ie the talking up of Mcveigh and “missing” the LA Rams at times). I just feel like, you’re here now, embrace it.

maybe you should have kept going: “look he is a great player and he has come through in some big moments for us. Unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalize on his last couple timely sacks, though. But, it seems like when he is in press conferences, there is a little too much of “you guys” instead of “us”. No loss seems to bother him (was he like that in Denver too? Not sure) And I’ve never seen a Bills player openly express how much of a FAN he is of the opponent after getting beat, and select players on the opponent’s team.” I specifically gave Von Miller credit for doing his job with timely sacks (that we were unable to capitalize on) the entire thread was about getting sour on Miller’s approach to press conferences. say what you want about that, but at no point did I blame the GAME on him. That would be ridiculous and make no sense at all. the closest thing to that is when i implied he might be an even better player if he was a bit more team oriented, but even then, I took a step back and said hey maybe that is who he has always been, in which case, keep doing you Von. so Yes, you definitely misinterpreted OP

well, you misread it then. Simple as that. Wasn’t at all blaming the loss on Von Miller. Not even close.

Considering doing the same thing this week, but it won’t be the first time in a while. last year, after the bye week, we went through this same thing. Except that time the team was healthy so it was even more inexplicable. anyway, I took a week off at one point and thankfully, something changed at halftime against the Bucs, precisely when we couldn’t afford to keep stumbling anymore. I guess this team really has to hit rock bottom to go on a run. I know a lot of us feel like we might be at rock bottom right now, but we are indeed still 6-3, with a much tougher schedule than last year, and it also got worse last year before it got better (weren’t we 7-5 or 7-6?)