Richard Noggin

Where can I hear/read this stuff? What they're looking to do with Epenesa is fascinating to me: take a productive college DT/DE tweener with elite length and strength but below average (or worse) athleticism (natural fit for 3-4 DE/5-technique), and completely tear him down and rebuild him in the mold of a long 4-3 DE. Hope it works.

At some point today on WGR (OBL, I'm pretty sure), the Colts radio guy mentioned the Colts using Moore (CB) as their shutdown/shadow cover guy in crunch time recently. Like as an adjustment they had Moore follow some primary receiver on every play for an important 4th quarter drive, and it worked. Wish I could call up more specific details about this point. Anyone else hear it? Did you see it, OP, in your game reviews?

I'm replying to a post from page 3 without reading ahead, so if this has been addressed already, je m'excuse. It makes plenty of sense that defenses were behind offenses early on because, while in the offseason offensive players (anywhere from just the QB and one receiver, to an entire 11-man unit) can get together on their own and practice plays against air, defenses can't meaningfully do the same. Practicing defense requires an offense to defend. Alignments, checks, gap fits, pursuit, tackling, route recognition, combination coverages, passing off routes in zone, etc., can only be refined against NFL-caliber players and plays. The defense is dependent upon an opponent to get real work in. Much more so than the offense. Makes sense, right? I think the numbers, and I KNOW the player interviews (look at some Bills guys on D coming out of the bye) back this up.

Allen would have been 2 years old during Young's last full season in the NFL (1998). Young started three more games the next year, and that was it.

Young was mostly before JA was BORN.

I haven't heard that. Weird that he'd have a QB role model who he was too young to watch play.

Much more arm talent than Young. Not quite as pinpoint accurate (although he's getting there). Much larger and faster, but probably not quite as shifty. Not the best comparison, really.

L'il Dirty as Rocket Raccoon is priceless.

Cheesecake Factory.

I agree insofar as the defense needs to keep up with what they've been doing early in games, which is to hold the opponent's scoring down while the Bills offense sorts things out; then, in the second half, they need to tee off and get that ball. So, basically, what they've been up to the last month or so.

Hope the players use it as motivation.

NFL success involves too many variables to make sweeping judgments on just about anyone, especially coaches, with only 32 games to evaluate (15-17). I generally agree that CEO-type college taskmasters (is that an oxymoron?) don't necessarily translate well to the pros, but 2 years with one middling franchise fielding meh at the QB position isn't a definitive data set.

You're zooming in on one little data point in a more qualitative discussion.

I mostly agree with you. I was trying to summarize fan perception, and what my own stubborn BBFS whispers into my ears in moments of weakness. If an opponent can bottle up Buffalo's offense (good luck) AND sustain a productive ground game...that seems to be the recipe to beat the Bills. And the Ravens are built for that kind of game, theoretically.

But it is reductive and dismissive.

It's probably the very different ways the Bills and the Ravens defeat their opponents that has fans apprehensive. Bills are a finesse team (which I don't use as a pejorative, necessarily) and the Ravens are a physical team (which I don't use as a superlative, necessarily). The way the Bills defense opened against NE suggests they can still be gashed on the ground at times. Of course, the Bills offense has become the remedy for that ailment, scoring points in bunches and making their opponents one-dimensional.

Come on, MAN. I read "Got 2 seats" and immediately my brain told me they were for sale. Choose your phrasing wisely. Or not, and get idiots like me all frothed up...

Just going to leave this here: I am a very loud and useful fan. Excellent clapping skills. Responsible for countless opponents' false starts over the years. I can do the cheering of a hundred men. PICK ME!

Look at this KLUTZ. j/k, of course. I've probably had several somewhat serious injuries over the years that went undiagnosed due to lack of health insurance. Just had to eat the pain and stop doing certain activities for months at a time. Human bodies, amiright? And you post in an alternate reality.

Sure, that's possible, but there really isn't much to support this projection, IMHO. Brown is an outside guy, more so than any other WR on the Bills roster: https://www.rotowire.com/football/player.php?id=9684 (snap counts by alignment are down near the bottom of the page). This year's numbers could be skewed by sample size, but the evidence points to both Diggs and Davis being more likely options for increased snaps in the slot.

Turns out you're correct. Still would love to see more support for that claim (I'm always fascinated by people who come off as arrogant know-it-alls AND by people who insecurely perceive others to be know-it-alls). I don't have any insight beyond some tweets shared on this forum (which I've always appreciated, even though by definition they're conjecture, at least in a mathematical sense). Podcasts are a dramatically different medium than social media snippets, so maybe the content creator in question doesn't translate well beyond the written word. Maybe I'll have the opportunity to catch his podcast. Which one is it, specifically? WHO is it? I watch some Cover-1 content.

I'd love to see an example. I'm not super familiar with his work, although I know I've seen his observations before.

You read that injury speculation as know-it-all? Reads like a smart, reasonable take to me.

Kelly Holcomb, off the top of my head. Before his time in Buffalo.

Interesting point. I remember watching pre-draft highlights of Milano at BC...and coming away underwhelmed. Especially with respect to "instincts." In contrast to his play in Buffalo, he seemed not to be around the ball much, or with effective aggression. So maybe Milano needed more time and NFL coaching to round into form, which I think was kinda your point? (This is like a three year-old take, mind you. So be gentle if I'm wrong. Or call me names. Either way.) I'm especially intrigued by this analysis.