WideNine

Wilkins has some issues going back to his Clemson days....?

I have to disagree. The weather has come up because it was such a huge factor. Was listening to an interview with a camera man after the game and he said the temp on the field was 124 degrees and no meaningful shade for the Bills on the sideline. We had guys getting multiple IV's during the game. I have never seen heat impact a game that much in my many years watching the sport - blizzards, wind storms, torrential rains and sub-zero cold yes, but not this. Just like the wind storm that created a weird run-only game with NE last year, they are talked about because how much those kind of games are anomalies. Those games are not good predictors of how future contests between those same teams will play out under more normal conditions. The heat is no joke though, and the NFL could do better for player safety by scheduling those games for later in the evening or have Miami play in Buffalo, NE, NJ early in the season and get home field for the second half of the year. Just my opinion.

Folks also seem to miss that was the throw he made after his hand was dinged up from hitting a helmet. Thought I saw the trainers trying to work the kinks out on the sideline... could have been cramping up too. Will never know for sure. Allen made enough plays with his legs converting 3rd downs or checking to his backs, he also hit enough throws to win this game if guys had been able to hang on to more of them. Odd to single out his play as the crux of this loss, not sure how much I take away from this game with the amount of backups playing and guys dropping like flys in the 120 degree heat. Certainly could have done better work in the red zone, but normally we have been money in red zone scoring so not sure if it was anything specific the Dolphins were doing on defense, or just a product of all the other negative factors.

That back spasm business is weak... he was clearly disoriented and it was not much of a hit when he did hit the ground. Have to wonder what his prior concussion history is like if that knocked him silly.

We play them again. In our house. In December. Winter is coming, along with some payback.

Could be onto something. Or it could be correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Not dismissing it. Losing close games where you are behind is a different animal than losing close games where you are ahead. Both do require excellent clock management to pull out a win. Not sure how we go for the jugular on this one with both Diggs and Davis hobbled, but I do feel there is a play it safe mentality that sets in when we have an edge that often backfires. I try to balance that out with how many times McD now goes for it on 4th down. The early McD would never have done that. Too many injuries and injured players playing for me to assess this game. The only coaching decision I hated was the 3rd and 22 call that sent 3 after our d-line was dominating the LOS. Allowed Tua all day to look for Hill or Waddle. The analytics show when Tua has time he becomes pretty darn accurate. Bad way to play the odds.

Yep. Regarding Dorsey... I like the fire and the players alluded to his fiery temperament in the offseason. This team has plenty of calm leaders and it helps having someone that has that kind of passion to win and it has not hurt the offensive chemistry. Plus, he kept it under wraps till the final tick. Its all good.

I think they did pretty good job on the backend too with tall task. Been concerned with how this team transitions from 2 standout safeties when age and contracts have to be factored. The youth waiting in the wings seem to be on the right track... and could not help the image with those jersey numbers.

So many positives to pull out of this. You just cannot gloss over the fact that most all our Offensive line with the exception of Dawkins was backups and we racked up how many yards? The plan was to go with Kumerow opposite Diggs and he gets injured forcing Davis (who is still not 100%) back into the line-up and it showed. Playing with a secondary that was rookies and backups that held up pretty well against Hill and Waddle. Diggs was clearly dinged up too. Phillips and Oliver out and Settle not 100% and our defensive line played tough. Groot continues to improve, and Von is Von. Moss had a good game, Singletary was solid, and Cook is getting over his rookie "yips". Gilliam is starting to shine in Dorsey's offense and Morris even got involved. I did not like the officiating this game, but qualify that with how they were calling PI's. Benford had an early one that kept a Miami drive alive that was weak as hell, but Miami linebackers and secondary were draped all over our recevers early on several plays. Miami had some great coverage plays sprinkled in there that I don't dismiss - just like to see consistency. We had 2 or 3 normally sure TD's and a chip shot FG miss and it still came down to the wire and within a second of having a kick to win it (Miami players did seem to interfere with getting that ball set, but meh) - the heat, new players, confusion... all factor into those execution misses. This team will heal up, and all those new guys got valuable experience, and we will come out stronger for it.

Around long enough it is a pattern. The other pattern I have noticed is how Allen plays after a loss like this.... focused, fired-up, and like a machine. 😈

ESPECIALLY when you are fielding basically an entirely green secondary against Gesicki, Waddle, Hill, etc.. That was just a dumb call and reminded me of the passive/soft zone fear that allowed our team to crap the bed with 13 seconds left against the Chiefs.

Will have to check out the long blog that is sure to be on Banged up Bills, but to my untrained eye it looked like his hand had cramped up as they were hydrating him and massaging his hand... You never know with Allen as he take a lot of hits and Miami was giving him the business on the ground, but I don't think it was an injury

Don't think I am going there yet... This is a great team playing without most of their starters, and the others playing at half-speed dinged up. I am not going to overreact to this loss. The only point I would concede is that it was new for the Bills to play from behind - that does test things you may have only done in practice. Even the way they were going for it before the half - our 2nd string center mishandles the exchange.... This is exactly the kind of game you don't over analyze.

Probably more dangerous odds-wise than a lightening strike when they delay games. Need better protocols to allow team breaks to let players rehydrated and cool those body temps down...... would throw TV schedules off, but what is more important.

McKenzie needs a whole lot less dancing on that. We destroy these guys next time when we are not playing in a sauna, we have our starters back, and we don't miss on 2 sure TDs, miss a FG layup. Just file this game away - it is early and that was just plain wierd.

The butt block of 2022

Still can't get over Wilkins grabbing Allen's nuts under the pile. He also went head-hunting for Knox... he better watch his knees.

This is not even close the the Bills team we will have later in the season if we can get our starters back healthy. Take heart that it is this close with our 3rd stringers in there.

Jaquan has to shake that off and keep playing tough... With more seasons under his belt he will learn to time those better... they are calling those tight with the little shove from Milano getting the call too.

That was so Frazier not to sense blood in the water and to flood the zones just sending a few....

Banged-Up Bills indicated Settle strained his calf in preseason and those injuries linger for a while. That is why he has been often seen wearing the compression sleeve. https://bangedupbills.com/2022/09/11/buffalo-bills-vs-la-rams-week-1-injury-recap/ Not sure how much rest they will need to heal or how easily they could get reinjured during another contest - especially with Titans and Henry on the docket. Looks like the Bills made room to add Emili to the PS as insurance. Titans are never a great matchup for us. They tend to slow games down, keep them close, and grind your defense down with a steady dose of Henry. Still rely on a lot of timing routes with Tanny so curious if we will play more press to disrupt those, but they counter with more bunch formations. Found it curious that they were throwing to Henry as much as they did. Henry does not exactly have soft mitts and it gets him going East and West. I would take 15 attempted swing passes to Henry over 15 runs between the tackles.

PFF actually raved about Greg's measurables and talked about Boogie's inconsistency - not a PFF fan, but not going to make up reasons not to like their staff writers and analysts. It was Chris Simms who was not that much a fan: https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2021/07/2-bills-among-chris-simms-potential-busts-from-2021-draft-class.html

This. There are plenty of times the pressure gets to Allen's lap around the same time as the ball...thinking of the TD to Davis where he had to yank his head out of a defenders grip.. In those cases he is often forced to move off his spot and reset which would inflate some stats. ....and Sweeney was getting ragdolled early trying to block the extra guys which I thought was more his forte. Either way Allen taking those higher percentage underneath options helps hide the warts, limits how long they have to maintain blocks, and keeps the sticks moving. We will see if this OL finds better continuity when Brown gets back and Williams shifts to RG again.

This is exactly where I am at. Our line was porous early, and the juggled roles were not adapting well to what Miami was doing to bring pressure, BUT Allen getting rid of the ball more quickly to his hot reads or outlet/dump receiving options underneath can better mask those issues. After that long scramble in the first half I saw the same thing on that next play - Moss open near the sticks, but Allen was determined to force it to Sanders. Instead of taking the open options underneath we ended up having to have Bass bail us out with a long FG. Allen just needs to know where his outlets are, trust them, and train his brain to look short-to-deep when there is a 2-high safety look. The fact that he has done it more, and started feeding Beas and Moss in the 2nd half tells me that he will get there eventually.