WideNine

Truth. They would have a boring as hell offense, but would drag most teams down to the wire where a field goal or broken play would win it. A "W" is a "W" whether you win by 3 or by 40 points. So a team can win with a strong defense and a boring offense that takes care of the ball. Can be like watching paint dry unless you really like watching defensive games with hockey-like scores.

The Jets are the worst match up for us. They can pressure and stop the run with their front 4 and have DBs that can play man or zone if they want to bring an extra rusher. They force offenses to be very patient, and that has been our Achilles heel. I don't expect any offense to hang a lot of points on them so that is just how you have to play them. They have invested so heavily on defense that the kind of offense they can run is limited. They nailed a very good running back and if he had stayed healthy their ball control offense would have been a nasty compliment to their stingy defense. Weak sauce on that flag on Sauce last night, but DBs are getting away with a lot of contact this year. Refs can throw the hanky on just about any play and Gardner had a hook on the receiver at his break so got the call. They could throw it anytime and chose that key drive.

I would not be shocked it they have FO folks that scan these sites... free product feedback. Josh said he deleted his Social Media accounts. I am sure players peek now and then, but probably not the healthiest habit to read your own press. Would make the highs too high and the lows too low. Best to ignore the noise.

Not just timing their rush with motion, but we have big tall defensive linemen especially our DEs. There was a concerted effort to keep in Tua's throwing lanes and get the hands up. After a few batted throws and a few that sailed off the mark because he was trying to throw over outstretched hands I think they got in Tua's head a bit. Instead of him releasing the ball on schedule or at the top of his drop he was hesitating and was pulling it down and trying to get to his 2nd read or scramble. That is when Tua and Miami's passing offense comes down to Earth and is susceptible to negative plays like every other offense.

Felt like Knox today was channeling his inner Beast-Mode. He had a few catches where he just ran over Miami defenders trying to keep him from getting to the sticks. Dude strapped them up and came to play.

Some folks here calling Miami a trash team. That is a bit much, but I know folks are feeling good... and we squished the fish. I don't think they're a trash team. They have plenty of talent and should win their share of games and took us down to the wire at home last year in the playoff game. The Bills are better this year I think offensively and defensively. We have a vastly improved OL and RBs, and I think we have a better defense. Where we got stops today they could not stop our offense and we started to pull away. Their offense has not faced a defense that could slow them down or even force a punt. They pressed as most teams do when falling behind and turned the ball over. It snowballed from there. Heck, we had two easy INTs we dropped and a forced fumble they recovered. Could have been even more lopsided. We have the better D and an efficient scoring offense. They are going to have a hard time beating us this year, but they will likely beat up on plenty of other teams.

I felt like Shakir did not need to climb the ladder on that pass. If he kept running I think it was right there... his jump made it a bit more awkward than it needed to be IMO and he had a step on the DB. Shakir has made some highlight reel catches and Allen has thrown jump balls his way before, so not judging him too harshly. Would have been replayed all week if he had put some stick'em on his helmet.

He called a good game and the light has come on for Allen who is looking more short to deep when he sees those two safeties bail and play that 2-high shell. Two check downs today stood out to me. One to Murray on the sideline where he picked up a good chunk of yards, and the lob to Cook where he picked up a bunch. The shots Allen took were more reasonable and surgical. He was not pressing, and he did not take the bait throwing to well-covered receivers. They also stayed committed to the run and play action. I think we could have leaned into more plays to our TEs, but that is just picking nits.

So is the OP saying he found a hold on a Buffalo interior O-Lineman? Gasp.... That is soooo weak and desparate.

They do have so much speed that any broken play can go the distance. Was glad to see we did not let up in the 3rd and early 4th till it was time for the fat lady to start warming up to sing. I think that is a team you just have to keep your foot on the gas, but you clearly saw them deflate when Allen trotted into the EZ untouched.

Hard not to see Marvin Allen's influence - was the Bills National Scout, before that he was director of college scouting for KC, and you can almost see the immediate turnaround with Miami finding very good players in the draft and in free agency when he joined Grier as assistant GM in 2019. Success for a team does make that organization a target for a lot of talent poaching.

Be tough to get back in the game and not have that wing hanging and a lot less range than he seemed to have when he got back. Banged up Bills will have a full plate this week after this game.

He needed to show something... Just saying. He has been a non-factor with the amount of plays that have gone his way on schedule. It was good to see that he still has a little fire in his belly, and he did pick that ball off the turf and found the sticks... I felt like so many players found ways to stack individual wins that they kept the chains moving for the most part and Miami's offense on the sideline.

I was thinking he dislocated his shoulder on that play as he went for the arm tackle and his arm got yanked hard in a bad angle. So to the blue tent, pop it back in, and take something for any pain and swelling. Just a guess.

Really sucks for Tre, but the depth on this team is good. Remember Dane, Elam, and Christian were in a 3-way tie in camp that went down to the wire with Benford winning the role. If Tre ends up out for the season on IR, then I will look for Beane to pickup another depth DB. After last season this front office should be well-versed in doing just this as we were the walking wounded.

I would say we are rated pretty accurately right now and expect a tough divisional game. Last year I felt like the hype got out of hand with our fast start, but this year it has been tempered by that stumble out of the gate and by our shift to more balanced offense, focus on limiting turnovers, and solid defense. Those things are usually not the stuff of splashy NFL headlines, but they win games.

Cook is doing well and some of that I think is a better OL than we have had in a while. Better guards, more 12 personnel, and Kromer having more time to put his stamp on the unit. However plenty of Cook's yards are coming after 1st contact so you have to give him props for individual effort and skill. He has great balance and is slippery as he rarely stops to cut or change direction (the dancing behind the LOS that usually ends badly) he usually falls forward for positive yards even if there is nothing there. He has smooth direction changes and quickly finds the next gear. I like where they have him now with the number of touches and would not expect Pollard or McCaffrey numbers. Not when we can keep him fresh and have Murray and Harris to run over folks when he needs to be spelled or in short yardage, and we have that QB Allen who is able to sling the rock now and then. His pass pro has gotten better and that was a concern going into the season too.

Tua is up there with the quickest right now at a 2.2 average. Josh is sitting at a respectable 2.3. Our guys have to get in those throwing lanes and get their hands up, we should see some batted balls this game. Howell was not that bad his average this season is 2.7 but he was quickly throwing INTs, one hoppers, or getting sacked in his game with us. Hard to catch Kyle Allen's 0.0. Although he has spelled Josh he has not thrown a regular season pass for us yet and I am very OK with that trend.

I have given him some grief on this board for not setting the edge when he is on an island out there taking an inside rush, but you can tell he has been working hard on his craft. Teams used to do the same with Hughes run or roll outside when he would take himself out of the play with that inside move and get pinned in the scrum. With Hughes it also helped that offensive linemen could literally headlock him without drawing holding calls. His beef with the zebras had consequences.

They do lean into those quicker timing routes so he can throw to spots and avoid hits. The Bills are doing more of that themselves. I think Tua does a good job with ball placement hitting guys on the run on those screens and those motions to swing/wheel passes.

Aaron Donald aside drug testing was not up to today's standards back in the day - it got harder for players to skirt the rules (aka the whizzinator), but some of those guys that predated that crack down played crazy for a reason. Bruce who comes off as soft-spoken these days was much different when he was terrorizing QBs. I cannot find the quote, but I swear he was the guy who described a good hit on a QB being one where "the snot flies out of his nose and when that man holds up 2 fingers he says 3..." or something to that effect. Terrifying is about right.

Very high draft pick with "adequate" results. I think OBD would have stuck with it as long as it took to justify that pick, but sometimes change is good. A lot of folks were high on Edmunds coming out of the draft and his physical skills presented a lot of potential upside and he was a decent player for us that filled a need so no shame. His performance at MLB was a popular debate when he was here (lack of impact plays) and no surprise that it goes on when we have someone else in the same role now for comparison. I don't believe we are playing a different defensive scheme although I am sure Sean has his own wrinkles and tendencies, but we probably do have the best defensive line we have ever had under McDermott... remember overpaying and being stuck with the Star contract. That DL (especially our tackles) help keep our LBs clean so that really is a factor in how well they play. Is it enough of a factor to justify the drought of impact plays for Edmunds over that many games... folks can come up with their own conclusions.

That is probably an element to this. I can get behind the club going after a TE in the draft who runs good routes, can get open, and has great hands, then expect they will need to coach up the blocking piece. I do have faith in Kromer and Boras to get er' done. I hope to see a noticeable trend towards more balanced snaps for him between run and pass. Always felt you have to learn by doing, but we will see how they handle that spit with his offensive snaps this weekend.

Valid point - it could have been something Dorsey and the offensive staff saw they could exploit specifically with Washington. If it is a lack of confidence having Kincaid as a blocker on running plays... then that is something they will need to address to keep defenses guessing.

Was watching another breakdown of our game against the Commanders and the analyst made a great point about a personnel grouping that the Bills have that could easily tip our hand and make it easier for teams to defend plays unless Dorsey makes some course-corrections. He noted that Dalton Kincaid was in on 35 snaps and the Bills only ran out of those on 6 plays. If I am a DC I would have my units heavily leaning into playing pass whenever I see 86 in the game. So that is a tendency they need to correct before taking on Miami or the Bills lose a lot of what makes 12 personnel so versatile, keeping defenses off balance, and able to keep pass rushers in check.