Virgil

It’s only just begun. Wait until Beckham and Landry start getting publicly frustrated with their number of catches

I stole your underwear instead and wore it to bed like a helmet

touché

Who knows weirdo? It’s actually not a dentist office anymore. He retired and left the house to his son. The sign is still out front. It’s the 3rd house before the gas station.

Had the pleasure of attending the game Sunday, hence the delay in writing this up. I also had the chance to since watch the recaps on youtube (which are about 10-15 min, amazing, and available quickly) of other games from around the league. With that, this weeks thoughts are going to be a little different because I couldn't take notes or rewind plays. There are also going to be things that I missed because of my vantage point, but also things I was able to pay attention to. Either way, here we go. 1 - Stadium experience - Since I was at the game, I wanted to share a few things about what seemed to be different that previous years. First off, a lot of the lawn parking popularity seemed to have shifted this year. Some lawns, usually empty were packed and others were empty. Also, seems like some people are starting to do more pre-paying. It's interesting to see how much of a business it's become. My normal spot, the old dentist office, was sold out by 9:30am, and I've never seen it sell out period. When going into the stadium, people really struggled with electronic tickets. I get it, use tickets. I'm sorry old times, but times are changing and you need to get used to it. It really helps prevent fake tickets. The security lines moved fine for me, but the ticket scanning took forever. Personally, I love electronic tickets and put all of them in my apple wallet. I do this for all tickets, including movie and plane. It makes like so much easier as it doesn't require internet. In the stadium, it was an absolute cookout. The sun was brutal and even Hyde made comments after the game how they were gassed. The last two minutes of the first half took forever. (Seriously, why did the Bengals wait until after two minute warning break to challenge the previous play?!) Between that, reviews, and halftime, it took almost an hour to get through 5 minutes of game play. I was really surprised they kept going to commercial breaks so much in the 3rd when we were a solid 5 minutes behind other games. It was so hot, that people went into the tunnels for a break. My sister and I found a spot on one of the steps with large groups of other people. No one blocked anyone's path, but security kept threatening to kick people out if they sat down. They were honestly kind of ***** about it. You had older people, flushed white, just trying to get a break from the sun and they just weren't having it. Bad form. In the last quarter, on the Bengals final offensive drive, that might have been the loudest I've heard the fans in as long as I can remember. Maybe it was louder because we were only 9 rows deep, but it was deafening. I was really proud of how the fans pulled it together, despite blowing the lead. 2 - Defensive Line - I'm going to start by saying that this is one of the harder units to evaluate because you don't know what their assignments are. DT's, for example, are given high grades without acquiring any stats because they are setting up other players. With that, I don't know what the gameplan was, but I was very disappointed in this unit. The Bengals offensive line is notoriously bad. I get that Dalton got the ball out quick, and that's where Frazier needs to start pressing the DB's a little bit, but we should have done more overall damage with our front 4. We weren't playing contain, as Dalton is a statue, but we also rarely sent more than 4. In my opinion, 4 should be enough to get more pressure than we did throughout the game. 3 - Knox - I mean, I can't leave this out, can I? I know it's been talked about to death, but holy crap. I don't want to hear about Gronk. Let's talk Shockey. I can't remember an angry run (see what I did there?) like I did. The best part? It was right in front of me. I'm actually disappointed in all of you for not having more meme's and gifs ready to roll. Seriously, get your priorities straight. Besides that, besides bringing the thunder, I'm really impressed with this kids speed. The fact that he ran, and well, a TE sweep for yardage showed me this kid is going to get incorporated more and more into this offense. I really liked what I've seen of this kid so far in both speed, hands, physicality, and blocking. Also, dude looks like a goon, which helps at that position 4 - TBD Tailgate - I'm going to make a one time exception for the number 4 spot and really give credit to those that put together the tailgate. I got to meet some posters on here and put names to screen names. It was a truly inviting atmosphere. Moreso, I had a chance to meet @SDS and it was impressive to see what's become of this site and how it brought people together. Truly an accomplishment to be proud of. Side Note: I took my sister to see the pinto experience as I had done it 4 years back. I have to say, I don't like what it's become. There was almost a 15 minute intro plugging podcasts and giving away shirts. However, Pinto just kept making food selflessly the entire time and just a great overall dude. The ketchup and mustard thing? I guess it would be fun in the moment, but seemed strange to me with all the presentation of it. 5 - Deep Shots - One big difference between this year and last is the lack of big plays downfield. I'm not talking about the typical 15-20 yard downfield throws. I'm talking about the endzone deep balls. In this game, the Bengals typically played one safety deep and press. Granted, they have a decent DB tandem, who are big boys btw. There was one play early where they sent someone deep, but our offensive line didn't give Allen the time to let it develop. The other deep shot we actually took made zero sense to me. Allen's throw could've easily been intercepted as he threw it deep to exactly where the single deep safety was. Overall, I would have liked to have seen Brown and Foster on opposite sides of the field, with both of them going deep. Make the safety pick a side and at least take the shot. I'm seeing way more press coverage with single safety coverage in the league. We need to start making teams regret that. The Pats started this party and we will see a healthy dose of it tomorrow. 6 - Running Game - This was probably our best rushing performance of the season. Not to say that anyone broke 100 yards, but Gore had some solid runs, showed some burst, cuts, and a few +5 yard runs. I was remiss when we cut McCoy without replacing him, but Gore was solid. The line blocked well enough for him and he ended with a decent average. On the other hand, Yeldon continues to be a concern for me. The fumble was on him and he doesn't seem to make much of his opportunities. When healthy, I think we will be in good shape with Gore and Singletary, with Singletary being the pass catching back. But again, it was a step in the right direction 7 - Allen - I was surprised when I saw that his completion percentage was higher this week than last week. I thought Allen played exactly like he has in the first two games, great for 65% of the game (no pun intended). He made an absolutely inexcusably bad throw for an INT. But, on that same play, he probably had that terrible intentional grounding call in his head. On the flip side, I think about how many sacks this kid avoids and turns into plays. I know you have to take the good with the bad, but he's got to stop with they throws across his body while falling backwards. It's at least once a game. Other than that, his short pass accuracy was on point. He's continuing to grow at the position and was again unshakable on the game winning drive. In watching the other QB's this week, I can honestly say we are on pace to have the best QB of his draft class. (More on that next) 8 - McD - How many times do people go back and criticize individual points in a game and try to talk about "what if we" or "why did we". In this case, the decision to go for 2 after the penalty was an absolute difference maker in the game and we are talking about OT possibly, as well as a loss. In terms of coming out prepared, one first down by the Bengals in the first half and no 3rd down conversions until the 4th quarter sums up the defensive performance. McD's job is to win games and, no matter how close it got, we came out prepared, buckled down when needed to, and got the win. I'm worried about the lulls we hit in games, more on that in a bit, but overall, solid job. BUT, because I have to. I really question our play calling at 1st and 10 on the 40 yard line when we were up 14-7. We needed about 5 yards to get into FG range and make the game a two score affair. We didn't call a single run or short yardage play and ended up punting. To me, that was a missed opportunity. Lastly, I truly believe we have the best coach/QB combo for our situation. For what Allen is given, asked to do, and situations he's being put in, I think there's a plan and it's coming along well. Both are developing together well and I see this only growing in time. 9 - Receivers - I am continuously impressed with the hands on Beasley and Brown. Both of them made fully out-stretched catches as well as found the first down makers. Brown's field and play awareness is incredibly under-rated. I don't know how much of this are the options he was with this self-proclaimed "complicated offense" or just him adjusting on the fly, but he's done a great job adjusting to plays and being Allen's safety option on broken plays. I do believe that the Bills need to make a decision on our number 3. I like McKenzie in the situations we are using him, but this back and forth between Zay and Foster needs to ironed out. Zay had a great play in the game, but other than that, both weren't really heard from. Also, I want to point out again that this is only the 3rd game where Allen has an entirely new offense around him. If the offense is as complicated as Brown says, it takes offensive players, lineman included, a long time to find their timing and rhythm. I think they've done a great job so far and it's been worse with other teams (more on that later) 10 - 3rd Quarter offense - I've always believed that next level coaching occurs at halftime. You have all week to prepare for a team, as do they for you. But, halftime adjustments can make or break a game. The Bengals did it, we didn't and it almost cost us the game. This is not 3 weeks in a row where we came out of the locker room extremely flat. I don't know what the disconnect it, but it's a problem that will get us beat by better teams. If you look at the Chiefs, they do all their damage in the 2nd quarters, but do enough where they can coast out the second half. We aren't them. Either way, I really hope that they figure out these issues as the Pats won't be as gracious. Also, for the complaints about Allen not breaking 300 yards per game, all you need to do is look at the 3rd quarters. If you proportioned out his yards from the other 3 quarters, he'd have broken 300 all three games. Bonus - Around the League: Lamar - I'm sorry, I get the fantasy points and big play ability. But if you want to talk accuracy and carelessness with the football, watch the breakdown of this game. He hits guys on comebacks, or standing still, typical of your college spread offense. He does his some people in stride. However, when a play breaks down and the defense doesn't let him scramble, he is a dangerously bad. He had at least two throws that were absolute prayers and his receivers bailed him out. Baker - I don't know how badly the Titans broke Baker in game one, but this guy plays scared. Even when only rushing 3 against him, Baker bailed out way too quickly. He also scrambled out in a way where the defenders could corner him. On the last drive, he had a few plays where he could have stepped up into the pocket and probably picked up a first down on his feet up the middle. Back-Ups - Did Eli and Cam just lose their jobs permanently? That's all folks. 3-0 Baby with the Cheats coming to town. For more post game, please visit @Shaw66 breakdown. Go Bills!!!!

This also makes me believe that we are still only in week 3 of an almost entirely new offense. The team will continue to grow and gel

He's got happy feet due to his offensive line imploding at any time. He drops back to far or scrambles before he needs to. There were multiple plays in last nights game where the Rams only sent 3, Mayfield would run scared with no one around him, and the middle of the field was wide open to scramble for a few yards. Instead, he'd roll out deep and add 10-15 yards to his throw, meanwhile corning himself 1 on 1 with a defender.

So, basically a 10 point spread since you get 3 for just being the home team.

You can throw for less than 300 yards per game and still finish with over 4,000 yards in a season. That’s considered to be the upper standard for QB’s I’ll say this though, we didn’t need to pass much in the second half of last weeks game against the Giants. But these 3rd quarter stalls are the reason Allen hasn’t throw for over 300 in all three games

I had zero expectations of him when we signed him, so I don’t care he’s not playing

size?

It's Lamar and it's not even close. I don't think he's going to pan out as a QB, but he really is. Mahomes is second. Allen has the threat of traits of both guys, but it hasn't shown up yet this season.

And there it is It’s ridiculous how true this statement is

I want to say good for them, but I feel like more info must have come to light and they are getting ahead of something

Bringing any extras to the tailgate Sunday?

Kind of the point. This article was the first one on msn.com’s sport section. Like I said prior, I think I’m more annoyed at what’s allowed to be considered a sports journalists opinion as the guy just makes general comments, moreso based off last year’s trend.

It’s a very warm corner You’re not wrong. I caved. It’s just frustrating what’s allowed to pass for as journalism

F this guy. Literally the only 2-0 team he took a crap on. And when you read his reasoning, you can see he hasn’t actually paid attention to this seasons games. It’s your basic generalist BS https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-2-0-team-rankings-from-contenders-pats-to-fools-gold-bills/ar-AAHwXzg?li=BBnbfcL

Already being talked about in another thread. You’ve go to be quicker if you’re going to spam.

I want to thank you for not making a separate thread about this. You're a god damned hero

I hope Oliver full body slams him, holds him down, lets every other defensive player taking a flying elbow at him, then let each fan down from the seats to get their shots in too. I mean, how many flags can they give us? One, two...?

Can’t pick two out three. Parsley or bust

Beat the Pats, eclipse 4K yards, win a playoff game.

Anyone watch this? I heard it was good at first, binged it, and pretty damn corny and crap. Then I go and read reviews and it got trashed for those reasons. For those that watched it, one question that I hopes not a huge plot hole: Why was Cooper on the island in the first place? They didn’t know he killed Chase’s mom, so what was he caught for that put him on death row?

After the first drive, they weren’t able to run anymore. However, they also seemed to abandon it strangely early. Either way, seems strange