Beck Water

How I see it. I don't think McDermott was a fan of his first punt reception either. He called it off and let it bounce, which was better than going for it and having a turnover, but the result of being pinned on the goal line was not pretty. But he's earned the opportunity to be active on gameday and to get his snaps. What he does with them will determine his share of the playing time.

Actually, one of the changes this season is that Diggs DOES come off the field, regularly, and before the starters come out. Part of it is that (I think) Dorsey is running more (2,1) (1,2) and even (2,2) personnel packages. More of it is that they seem to be systematically giving Diggs some breathers to keep himself fresh. The Ravens game was an outlier so far. Davis has had a higher snap count than Diggs because he blocks.

It's likely to be both, splitting snaps, the way Crowder and McKenzie did. The exact split will shift from game to game and depend upon the savvy Shakir demonstrates at filling Crowder's "find the gaps in the zone" role.

Er....did you miss that Jamison Crowder just went on IR with a broken foot? So it's a damned sure bet that Shakir will see more time than Jamison Crowder going forward. Shakir is ahead of Hodgins on the depth chart and will get snaps going forward. I think he did well, and likely earned himself at least a split in time with McKenzie. He seems to be picking up the blocking, which is a huge step. McKenzie is a willing blocker but you can't coach F = ma or height/reach and McKenzie is lacking in the m component there as well as the height/reach. The drop, and 3 receptions on 5 targets against backup DBs don't anoint Shakir as the starter. Put against that he looked a bit lost vs. Tennessee and got blanked. McKenzie may be in McDermott's Doghouse though, for his show where he said all the stuff about being unable to move and etc. which I'm sure led to him being ruled out this week. I swear that guy is his own worst enemy.

Dang. No, that should not be "roughing the passer". Brady still had the ball, and the technique was perfect. It's like Hamlin's hit on a sliding Pickett, Hamlin launched himself just as Pickett started to slide and turned in the air to hit him with his back and land alongside of him, not to land on him or hit his head. Pickett in college embraced the "fake slide". Yet Tomlin and Pickett are clearly hot that personal foul was not called. And it could have been. On the other hand, a sliding Josh Allen got kneed in the helmet by multiple Ravens last week as he slid, no call. And Harbaugh was hot that Allen got a call for a hit after he threw, from a guy approaching him in a way that let him see the ball leave Allen's hand, and who could have veered to the side instead of wrapping Allen up and throwing him down, because he falsely said in a presser "did you see a hit to the head or neck because it has to be a hit to the head or neck to be roughing" (C'mon John you know better) What bothers me about the NFL isn't so much the calls per se but the inconsistency.

OK, that's not what I see, but it's a common view. But where have you had the opportunity to compare Bernard's instincts to diagnose a play and say that they're better? People continually skate past the importance of continuity when they start clamoring to blow things up and bring in a "better" coach than McDermott. One of the reasons that the Steelers have been competitive forever has been Big Ben. The other has been continuity of head coach and scheme. I will never ever again believe a guy like Wrecks Ryan who claims he'll come in and adapt his scheme to the players we have when he's known for a very different philosophy. I will say "his lips move, he's lying".

? Bernard 6'1", 220. Didn't run the 40 at the combine, but said to run 4.56 40. 30 1/4" arms. 123" broad jump. Dodson 6'0", 235. Ran a 4.6 40 at the combine. 31 3/4" arms. 118" broad jump. What is it about Bernard's body type that says "closer to 6'5" 250 lb 34 1/2" wingspan than Dodson, to you? (117" broad jump) Milano for comparison: 6'0" 223, 4.67 40, 32" arms, 126" broad jump. IMHO Bernard is physically closer to Milano, who had to hone his speed and anticipation to avoid trying to make tackles out of position and getting hurt. Zierlein gave Milano and Bernard pretty much identical grades, FWIW: 5.9x, "average backup or special teamer". Dodson graded lower as "candidate for bottom of roster or practice squad". They must view Bernard has having potential or they wouldn't have drafted him in the 3rd round, but I do know the pick left some here scratching their heads. Hopefully it comes down to that immeasurable "size of the fight in the dog" thing.

Have we really had any opportunity at all to compare their abilities to diagnose things in a meaningful way? Could you explain what you've seen?

Do you really see Bernard as a potential Edmunds replacement? Edmunds is 6'5" 250. Bernard seems as though he's built more like a strong safety. You're the second person to say that, but do you really see Bernard as that fast? He didn't run the 40 at the combine. He seems like a "tweener" to me, and while Milano has built himself into a Beast from a tweener, that seems as though it might be harder at the MLB position. One thing I noticed with Damar and Jaquan manning the safety positions is that they seemed to be in the right place with good technique, but while Poyer or Hyde would hit someone and flatten them, Hamlin and Johnson seemed to consistently get dragged to the line to gain and past it.

I think Simon made a comment to that regard in the post-game thread - that he thought Milano and Dodson could be next year's starting LB. I dunno how I feel about that. On the other hand, as well as I could tell from the televised film, Dodson played a sound, physical game. On the other hand, Pickett is hardly the Master at manipulating defenders with his lyin' eyes that Mahomes is. I was not a Dodson fan, but he may have converted me. We'll get a better read next week if Edmunds still can't go. With all respect, it would be helpful if you could stop fluffing this troll, who got hurt in his feelings when SDS closed his thread and is trying his best to derail a thread I put some research and time and effort into starting. What did you think of Dodson's play yesterday?

Dodson has been in the league 4 years. He was an UDFA out of Texas A&M. His first year, 2019, he was suspended then cut when he came off suspension and signed to the PS. His 2nd year, 2020, he got 2 starts. Against MIA, both Milano and Edmunds were out. I *think* they had Dodson as the MLB and Klein trying to fill Milano's role, and it wasn't pretty. Against TEN, Edmunds played (but with an injured wing) and Dodson played for Milano, and it was worse. For stat watchers, Dodson had a decent day vs Mia (2 PD, 1 TFL, 8 tackles). 7 tackles vs. Tenn. But it was clear he couldn't cover the ground they can cover, or do whatever it is the Bills expect them to do (people have commented that the Bills move responsibilities around to where Johnson plays more of a LB role and Milano or even Edmunds more of a NCB role at times). Dodson just didn't seem up to the details. Example: last year in the NE weather game, there was a play one of the film commentators broke down which shed a little light on the details of communication that make the defense go. Dodson was engaged with a blocker, Hyde (I think) took the wrong hole, and NE broke a big run. The commentator said Dodson lied to Hyde and explained what he meant was, Dodson is supposed to look opposite to the direction he's moving his guy. Hyde reads that key and takes that hole, expecting that's where the RB will be. Dodson looked L and moved his guy L, so the runner cut R and Hyde (responding to his key) was out of position for the tackle resulting in a big gain. Anyway, I was not a Dodson fan, and I know many here were expecting to see Terrel Bernard as Edmunds' backup. I always need to watch all-22 to know what's going on, but it seems to me that our D was pretty mistake free in the details yesterday. I didn't see people out of position, so if Dodson was calling the D he did a sound job in the 4/5 of the game he played. 11 tackles, 1 TFL. They took him off ST which may have helped. If they depend on Dodson for their "keys", didn't seem as though Hamlin or Johnson were ever out of position so he must have given them "good body language". I had that feeling about the whole game, that the backups knew they had big shoes to fill but had been focused and detailed in their preparation with the guys who wouldn't play working with them to help them get it right, and they were gonna "make them proud" - this is based on Jaquan Johnson's pregame speech about how Hyde and Poyer and White are with us. I thought they did well. Anyone else?

With the score out of hand, the play was IMO getting a bit out of hand from Pittsburgh. The spearing of Dawkins Simon referenced, AJE was hauled down to the ground by his facemask (no call), etc. And the refs did NOT bring that in hand (because they didn't want to dump a bunch of penalties on a team that was getting smashed, perhaps?). If the Bills are smart they send a pretty long tape to the league asking for clarification about why these things aren't penalties, to set the understanding for why Lawson was still going hard after Pickett on the last play. Pittsburgh has always had a rep with us as a hard-playing but clean team, they couldn't match us so they were getting dirty. Hamlin I don't think would have blown things up. It's pretty clear to me on film that Hamlin pulls up so that he just contacts Pickett's back, and Pickett is known for the "fake slide". Also, Pickett and Hamlin played together and are friends, the Steelers and Pitt share facilities. The team knows Hamlin, Tomlin said "I don't have a problem with DHam, he's a good kid" after the game. I don't think with Epenesa, the ref was "making a stand". I think he was instigating, then reacting.

If your worried mind is affecting the Bills, you better figure out how to Ease your Worried Mind and fast.

I finished watching the Rams beat-down and realized I had not eaten or drank (!!!!!) anything during the game. I kept this up for the Titans game until the starters were pulled. During the Dolphins game we were on vacay and I neither watched the game, nor followed this horrid protocol Just to be safe, it was back "on" for the Ravens and the Steelers.

Yeah. He hurt his back (again), Dak came in and was playing well, and that was that.

Doesn't hurt if you can out-aggressive the safety for the contested ball

It's not just a question of penalties called on Hughes. I agree he cleaned up his act. It was a question of penalties called FOR Hughes. Hughes could have two offensive players with a chokehold on him making a horsecollar and the Zebras would be "I See Nothing"

Ouch. They were feeling themselves a bit. Especially with the Terrible Towel trolling as well

And then if Dorsey kept the starters out there and Diggs or Davis or Morse etc got hurt, would you be at the front of the line bitching about how they had no business still being out there when we’re up 38-3? Especially when we’re already down 3 WR who were routine gameday actives? We saw Keenum play with the 1’s in pre-season. The only time I want to see that again in a game is if (avert!) it’s needed

More like “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”

I personally have some faith that the Bills will take the situation up with the league and point out “hey, our guy was trying to defuse the situation and take his buddy away, he had no reason to believe the guy shoving him was a ref, he had no intention to throw an elbow at a ref” with pics. Hopefully they have some cred, and Epenesa will make some amends somehow and not make a habit of this. I share your concern but I think Hughes had a years-long pattern with multiple refs that earned him ref purgatory, not just that one B word-out moment. Jerry had a pattern to transition into a scary guy Kyle Williams called “Gary” when his fuse got lit

He is outside the pocket, he is a runner. It was perhaps unnecessary given the score and the time of the game, but it was a legal hit. He has a teammate who came out publicly and said about Allen “if he looks for contact, we look for contact” Pickett needs to learn something.

Then Epenesa needs to learn to STFU and be nice to the officials. Send Eric Wood to talk to him.

Please keep going. Doubt Yourself.

I hoped he might be a serviceable backup. He looked good with Allen in Wyo - >1000 yds