Virgil

I'm not really sure if this is worthwhile to anyone here, as most of you know me and the weekly thoughts review, but I'm trying new things this year and figured it couldn't hurt. MODs, if this needs to be moved, I understand. In deciding to put “Thoughts” out there on more social media platforms, I began to think about the endless amounts of content that is out there between fan and professional writers. To be very clear, I am a fan writer and have zero affiliation with the team or any other news outlet. I did receive my English degree and debating sports journalism for a short while, but then decided being able to eat and place a roof over my head was more important. With that being said, if you’re a first time reader of “A Few Thoughts about the Game” or a long time reader, I decided to write this introduction about myself and why you may want to keep reading. With that, here are a few thoughts, in no particular order… 1 – First Bills Memory – Bills football didn’t become an obsession to me until I was around 12 years old, but I remember wide right. My father and sister were watching the game and incredibly into it. I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of the moment nor would the chain of events that missed kick set off. By the time we accomplished the biggest comeback of all time, I was fully invested in the team and cried my first sporting tears after the following Super Bowl because I just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t win just one. Since then, I have never (and I mean NEVER) missed a game. 2 Dedication – When I took a commission sales job at Circuit City, I told my manager that I could not work on Sundays during football season. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow that for an availability, so I had to let them know my next rule: If I work when the Bills playing, I will be in the projection TV section with the DirecTV remote. If a customer needs help with projection TV’s, then I will answer them. But, if they want to shop for anything else, I would hand them off to other associates. Now, other associates learned to appreciate this because I also promised to give away any commissions from large TV’s that I happened to sell. I did this for two reasons: One, projection TV’s were the highest commission items in the store and I knew they wouldn’t like me camping out there. 2 – The register was too far away from the TV’s to be able to see the game. I was at work during the Music City Miracle and had to leave early that day. 3 – I’m Wrong….A Lot – Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way now. I was beyond pissed off when we drafted Josh Allen. It’s nothing personal against Allen, but when have you ever seen a college player fail at the collegiate level and have poor accuracy, but then magically figure it out at the NFL level? My QB ranking was Mayfield, Darnold, Rosen, Allen, and lastly Lamar. I never believed Darnold would be in play for us and figured the Browns or Jets would take him. Mayfield was such a wildcard who showed me just enough accuracy and swagger in college to believe he would fit perfectly in Buffalo. Now, to be clear, once 48 hours passed and I calmed down, I accepted Josh as our quarterback because at the end of the day, I support the Bills above all else and he was immediately my quarterback. 4 – Bill from NYC – Every week, this spot is reserved for lyrics from a band. In the beginning, these thoughts were actually written by someone I now consider a friend, Bill. He wrote these recaps every single week after a Bills game and it became a staple in my post-game review process. Some years back, Bill stopped writing his reviews and I really wanted to see that tradition continue. Bill and I spoke, and I’ve since carried on this tradition with his blessing. The title and format are all originally Bill’s and I’m incredibly thankful to him for helping me start on this writing journey. It’s just too bad that he’s an Alabama fan. 5 – The Grind – Writing a weekly review of the games was an undertaking that I didn’t realize would be as daunting as it is. You never want to write the same things week over week, but if you forget to mention Josh Allen once, people will lose their minds. For me, I make a point to mention key plays or players that had the biggest impact on the game. If a player is trending in a positive or negative direction, I will write about it maybe two or three times before I stop mentioning them at all because it simply gets old. This season, I’m really going to be paying attention to players in their third year, defensive evolution, the rushing attack, and how we fair against tougher competition. This is not to say that I’m restricting my topics, but more so the more pressing concerns I believe this team needs to figure out if they want to be Super Bowl Champions. 6 – Rules – What? Rules for a fan review? Having done this for a few years and reading feedback from fellow fans, I learned very quickly that you can’t please everyone and stats can be very misleading. With that being said, I have three rules that I do my best to adhere to with each weeks Thoughts. First rule is, I don’t google or reference any stats online when writing Thoughts. If I can’t take it as a note or pay attention to it while the game is happening, then it’s not going to be mentioned or it’ll be done as more of a reference. The second rule is, if you respond to my posts by singling out one sentence and ignoring the context of the thought, then do not expect a response. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll mention one bad play by a player in one sentence out of a paragraph praising him, and then read how I’m a hater. The final rule is, and this is more from me, never write angry. Like anyone else, I am very capable of having a temper tantrum following a tough loss. In those cases, I might not write my Thoughts until the next day because coming in level headed is incredibly important and vital to the success of these posts. 7 – Favorite Players – I’ve always been an underdog kind of guy. Frank Reich and Kenneth Davis were my early 90’s favorite players. While there were so many hall of famers on that team, I still don’t believe Thurman Thomas gets enough credit for what he brought to the game. He was Marshall Faulk before there was a Faulk. I wanted JP and EJ to succeed as they seemed like good kids, and quite honestly, felt desperate at that point. Taking current players out of the mix, it was impossible to not love Fitzpatrick and Stevie Johnson. I still hope Fitz signs a one day contract and retires as a Bill. He’s the one guy I still can’t root against. 8 – Most Disliked Players – While I have nothing against the name Chris, Kelsay and Watson were two of the most head scratching players I can remember watching during the drought. They stole every penny of their contracts here and the only two players I can ever remember rooting to against. Kelsay was the king of standing next to a pile up, but never in it. Watson was so consistently out of position and burned by opposing receivers that you had to wonder if it was intentional. 9 – Favorite Memories – While still trying to keep this in the drought and not wanting to reference other teams, my favorite memory was when Fitz beats the ***Patriots on the last second field goal after a 21 point comeback. Fitz, Fred Jackson, and really the whole team fought back in the most amazing way that game and I wish I was at the stadium because it seemed like the most electric atmosphere of the entire drought. It’s easy to want to mention the Bengals win over the Ravens, but we weren’t part of that game. However, I can say that I’ve watched the locker room reaction video more times than most. 10 – Thank you - I will be the first to say that I’m not an expert on the Bills more so than any other fan. I genuinely enjoy watching them, rooting for them, slowly making my daughter into a fan, and learning more about the game through footage reviews and other analysts. I’m so incredibly thankful to those that have been reading my Thoughts over the years and pushing me to put myself out there more for others to read. I don’t know where this will lead to, but I’m happy to find out.

mmmm, dat ass

He’s the one player I wish I paid more attention to. Thank you for this.

You sonofa….. I only read the thread title and came in here to post that video. I tip my cap to you

I don’t disagree that Epenesa has potential, but I view him as one of 6 guys. With the question marks at runningback, I think Dobbins has the performance in college and current NFL that he’d be our unquestioned starter. That’s where most of my logic stops and starts.

I didn’t think so. They honestly looked like us during the 3-13 year….lost. There’s almost zero continuity there. I mean, how much can you write about Jennifer Aniston and Natalie Portman? I took it as more, let’s get this game over with, early in the first quarter 😜

I would get super banned. My humor does not fit within the terms of service 🙄

I could always try Sarah Mac....😋

Excellent point and something I completely forgot about. Thank you That would be a lot of Google searches for me 😀. I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Goo Goo dolls yet

Zeppelin is a solid recommendation. I think I did the Beatles actually. I forgot how long I've been writing these

Wow, you think we are going to allow 160 points? I thought you were a fan...

As it's the preseason for the refs, camera crews, networks, alongside the players; it's also the preseason for me in terms of getting myself back in that writing rhythm and mindset. Typically, I would write these late Sunday night or Monday at work, thinking I was meeting a solid 24 hour turn around. These Friday games just mess me up heading into the weekend because I can never find the time. Also, I've been very in my own head around what more I can do with these recaps. I want to change things up a bit, but also don't want to lose the core of how they read. I'm still TBD (no pun intended) on that. With that, these thoughts aren't going to be just around players, but where the team seems to be at while in preparation for this upcoming season. Excuse the cobwebs and scattered nature, I'm just trying to warm up. Also, I'm not going to waste much time on players who have no shot of making this team. That goes for the horrific performance of the offensive line in the second half. It's just not worth my or your time. 1 - Preseason Context - Preseason games are not real games. I see so many fans who live and die by what they see in the preseason and it's never made much sense to me. I'm not going to waste my time googling this, but I know there's a stat out there that shows how poorly 4-0 preseason teams perform in the regular season and to the contrary, how well 0-4 teams will do. The Preseason is about individual match-ups in the most basic of settings. There aren't any trick plays, stunts, disguises, audibles, pulls, or anything else. The preseason comes down to a very simple message to all players: Execute the fundamentals and beat the person in front of you. That's it. Case and point, if anyone thinks we are going to run as much as we did in the Lions game in the regular season, you are seriously crazy. So please, take these games for what they are, practice against other teams with fans and a clock. 2 - Rousseau - It's incredibly natural for most fans to see what our first round pick can do during the preseason game and my eyes were locked in on the lumberjack every play he was on the field. However, I believe there is a large amount of context to be found in what he was asked to do and the offense he was up against. The Lions gained most of their yardage on quick curl routes and 3rd downs. They struggled to move down the field with ease and got the ball off quickly. Rousseau (I need a nickname for this kid quickly) was matched up against arguable the 3rd best prospect, and best overall OT in the draft, in Penei Sewell. With no support, Rousseau was able to push Sewell back on multiple plays, one even resulting in an arm sack (which shows the strength of this kid). While this is from just one quarter, it's easy to see the potential this kid has and I'd give him an A+ for his very first on field performance. (Side note: Honorable mention to Oliver who was playing out of position, got double teamed frequently, and still got some decent push up the middle) 3 - Running backs - We saw success early in the game with draw plays up the middle and Motor had two nice plays where he showed burst and the strength to break some arm tackles. He also had a nice touchdown catch in the second quarter, which was overshadowed to me by the fact that he was out on the field in the first place. Outside of that, there wasn't much to be excited about from the run game. It didn't help that we made it obvious early that we had zero intention of passing the ball nor had any starters at pass catcher besides Knox and Gabe out there. I was not very impressed with Breida as he didn't show that outside speed we are looking for. Antonio Williams, who many wanted to see move up the depth chart, had a very lackluster day, but it's hard to evaluate him behind the putrid offensive line that was blocking for him. 4 - This is typically where I post lyrics from a song by one band for the entire season. One year, I did movie quotes, but that was harder. In the past, I've used the Grateful Dead (Always for you Bill), Dave Matthews, and Barenaked Ladies. This year, I haven't decided what I'm going to do. If you read this and have ideas, let me know. I'll post this same message in all three game recaps and see if there's a consensus. 5 - Bass - In full transparency, I've always enjoyed the jokes about kickers in the NFL. While I understand the mental pressure of having the game on the line, I still never put much thought into kickers. If they made the kick, they did their job. If they missed, cut em! Bass has slowly changed the way I pay attention to kickers. Early last season, you could clearly see the power of his leg as he would just boom the ball off his foot. But also, you could see the ball had a strange trajectory when he kicked it as if the ball had a mind of it's own. There were definitely moments early one where many wondered if we kept the wrong kicker and we saw him improve as the season went on until we got to the point where you expected him to hit everything. So far, through training camp and in this game, he truly is Bass-omatic. His swagger and confidence each time he walks onto the field is evident and his kicks are going right down the middle with the same level of power. It's been interesting to watch his development and hope he keeps it going. 6 - Haack - Of all the offseason moves I didn't understand, not resigning Bojo is one of them. Beane made some cryptic comments that led me to believe Bojo wanted to get paid, but then he took a competition role with the Rams. While we didn't punt a lot last season, I figured Bojo was a no-brainer to be resigned and wouldn't cost a lot (which he didn't for the Rams). However, after just one game watching Haack, I'm good. This guy has an absolute leg and is a pure assassin with it. I don't understand why the Dolphins let him go. He pinned two punts inside the 20 from the opposite side of the field and really had a good showing. This, like so many other thing, is just proof of why I'm a fan and Beane is a Wizard. 7 - Refs - After one full weekend of preseason games, I'm officially on notice of the refs. There were WAY too many flags in this game and the theme was leading with the helmet. Like holding, I can't deny that this happens a lot in every game, but many of these looked like calls that normally don't get flagged. I'm hoping this was an exhibition for the refs and they are leaning towards guilty until proven innocent while they practice, but if not; we are going to be in for a long season. 8 - Fromm - Typically when I write these, I don't have the time to read other people's comments about the game. However, with my aforementioned delay, I see a lot of Fromm bashing going on. A lot of context needs to be considered here. He was a 3rd string quarterback last season who hardly gets any reps. There was no preseason last year and practices were limited. This year, he's still a 3rd string QB (maybe) and this game was his very first live action against another team. Take that, put him behind an abysmal offensive line and rookie receivers, and he still found a way to lead a game winning drive. All I'm saying is, there's nothing to really evaluate him on from this game. I have wondered if Mitch would became a trade candidate if other QB's keep going down around the league, but I still don't know that Fromm is our number 2 quarterback. Webb looked very comfortable and made some good throws. (Side note: Allen and Webb are seen around each other a lot and I think Allen helps him out more than anyone else) 9 - Boogie - From the time he was drafted, all the analysts say that Boogie was the most pro ready of any of our draft picks. With that, I was very surprised to see him still on the field well into the second half. He was lining up more on the right side, but also lined up at DT a few times. I can't say I saw a lot in him to give me optimism and he seemed held in check in one on one match-ups. There's not much to say here, but I did watch him and Epenesa a bunch and don't see any threat to Addison or Hughes. The playing time of Boogie, Epenesa, and Obada was definitely interesting. 10 - Progress - As we went through the drought, preseason was always a telling sign to me regarding where our team was regarding evaluations. It wasn't about the Bills so much as the other teams. Teams that knew their starting lineup and scheme would trot their starters out for a series, go 6-6 and score points on the first drive. It was truly a practice for them while we are trying to figure out who will be 7 of our 11 starters. In this game, it really felt like we were the other team. We didn't have the majority of our starters out there and I feel comfortable saying our talent dominated theirs. It was nice to watch the Lions rotate guys in and evaluate, with job battles on the line, while we just showed up because we have to. This game was a prime example of why some teams don't want preseason games and others need it. It's nice to be on the other side. My grudge - I'm wrong a lot. Like, a lot. Guys I target in the draft typically perform to the opposite of my expectations and Beane is proven Wizard. However, with the drafting of two DE's in this draft and Epenesa still not looking like someone ready to earn that starting spot, I'm still annoyed that we passed on Dobbins, who was taken one pick later by the Raven. When I look at this team and see Hughes, Addison, Roussseu, Boogie, and Obada and realize we would have Dobbins in this offense, I feel like Beane missed there.

I have Sprint. How does this work?

Do you then see that he’s getting doubled on most plays? Moreso, we are running a pure base defense. No extra rushers, no stunts, just vanilla. They are getting solid pressure with zero disguise against a good offensive line.

What position battles is everyone watching?

Once we win a Super Bowl, we will get a better movie

26. That’s a good point. But also, what percentage of games overall are won on special teams. I think wins contribution is in the statistical category. If you were to build a HOF team and had to fill a complete roster, would Tasker earn a spot for special teams? I would say yes.

I think it matters how you view HOF players. Do you solely look at stats or is it a reflection of impact players of their time? If it's stats, I agree with you on some of the players you mention. If it's a question of impact players, then I believe Tasker should be in. If special teams is one third of the game and his name is synonymous with them, then he should eventually get in.

I was team Mayfield all the way and thought we had a chance at him. Darnold was never under consideration because he was the anointed golden boy and we had no shot. Rosen was my expectation and was pissed when we took Allen over him. But again, because projects like Allen don’t pan out, right? I never wanted Lamar

I wish it were a little longer. The Josh Allen leap is equally part of why he’s so special. What he’s become as a passer from where he was 3 years ago simply doesn’t happen. He’s become the example of what every GM, Coach, and fan hopes for in the draft. I openly admit to being pissed when we drafted him and I don’t feel guilty about it because his ascension simply doesn’t happen.

I love how he faked out the dudes pretending a ball was coming

My family got it for free as well.

Up to 43 people who are wrong. Good to know. 😋

Sir, how many times are we going to have to talk about posting porn on here?

Discovered the BFLO store this weekend in Buffalo and they have a website. Solid store