BigAl2526

The fact that he took on Henry shows how Strong he is. He realized he signed with the right team.

With Rapp, I think what we see is what we'll continue to get. He is smart enough. He's tough and physical, but is not that athletic and has seriously below average speed. That makes him an automatic liability in coverage. The faster and more athletic the receiver, the more Rapp's liability shows up. Still, as a veteran, there are things Bishop can learn from him. As far as run support is concerned, I think the Bills probably asked their safeties to do more of it against the Ravens than they usually ask of their safeties thanks to Derrick Henry. That might make him a bit rusty.

We may have waited 16 months since he was drafted, but Cole Bishop hasn't had all that much time to receive on the field instruction. He was injured at the end of July at training camp last season. I don't remember for sure, but I think he missed a good part of it. Once the 2024 season started, the coaches didn't have the luxury of devoting a lot of time to teaching young players the fundamentals with the same intensity that they do in training camp. A rookie who's been hurt has to pick up what he can while the team focuses on game preparation. Then he missed a good chunk of training camp this season. It is certainly valid to wonder if Bishop is going to have to deal with the suspicion that he could be injury prone, but he still hasn't had the instruction time that a typical rookie gets in his first training camp. If he doesn't show improvement through the season, I will start to wonder if he can be an answer to the Bills need at safety, but I'm not worried yet.

Yeah, it was a forced fumble any day of the week. Henry is usually stronger than the guy trying to punch the ball out. Not this time.

Even if the defensive player is not penalized for shoving the receiver out of bounds, that receiver is eligible to catch the ball. Coleman was shoved out, so the catch should have counted.

Josh Allen had 250 yards passing in the fourth quarter, much of that in the last 4 minutes. That was against one of the most highly regarded defenses in the NFL. When the Bills offense is operating the way it is capable of doing, they may be unstoppable. I think the Bills defense is going to get better. As I said elsewhere, Cole Bishop is a lot like a rookie, his development being interrupted by injury, both las season and in training camp this year. He is going to improve. Dorian Strong played about as well as can be expected and the Bills will be getting both Tre White and Max Hairston back in October. Cornerback might be a strength of this team before they playoffs. I think the Bills are stuck with Taylor Rapp at one safety spot, but I think the pass defense will be OK as the pieces around him get better. On the defensive line, Buffalo got production from Oliver, Rousseau and Bosa. I even saw Javon Solomon pressuring Lamar Jackson once. To my untrained eye Daquan Jones, AJ Epenesa, TJ Sanders and Deone Walker were mostly invisible. That's concerning. Sanders and Walker get something of a pass because it was their first real game and Baltimore is a bid time foe with some elite players on their offensive line. I'm not expecting much from Epenesa. He's just an average defensive end at best, but Buffalo needs more out of Jones, especially in run defense. Our linebackers will probably always be something of a liability against teams with strong athletic offensive lines and big physical running backs. I think it's a price the Bills are willing to pay for their ability to use linebackers in multiple ways in pass defense.

I agree. It would be nice if they gave a little more credit to the Bills though.

It has been interesting to see how many reactions to the game are focusing on how the Ravens managed to lose the game. Not a lot of effort is given to crediting the Bills for their comeback. Does it seem so to you?

He struggled to make that catch, but stayed with it. Good for him. He doesn't have the speed to play a role as a primary pas catching TE, but if he can catch the ball when called upon, he'll make teams pay when they over play the more likely receiver.

"Prater is greater" sounds nice, but if Bass can get healthy, I'm fine with him returning.

I don't think there is really a better option than Bishop at the free safety spot. He will grow through the season. I've given my opinion of Rapp elsewhere. He's smart and tough but his lack of speed and athleticism is always going to be a liability. The Bills are probably stuck with him this season, but an upgrade is needed at some point. How about Dillon Thieneman in the 2026 draft?

On offense, Joe Brady seemed to want the offense to play close to the vest until he couldn't any more. On defense, I think the Bills struggle on the interior of the defensive line against very physical and athletic offenses, of which Baltimore is probably the prime example. The Bills linebackers are also at a disadvantage. There were a few breakdowns on the back end of the defense. I was encouraged by the play of Dorian Strong. He wasn't perfect, but his shortcomings weren't glaring and Baltimore did not appear to pick on him. Bishop made a few mistakes, but I think he'll grow and learn. I think with the interruptions his development has had due to injury, he's more like a rookie than a highly drafted second year player. With Taylor Rapp, what you see is what you get, a smart physical player who is fine when he can keep the play in front of him, but lacks the speed to recover from any misread. The image of 250 lb Derrick Henry running away from him just won't go away. The Bills can probably manage with him as their SS, but that will be a position they are going to want to upgrade at some point.

I have only been to a small number of Bills games, all at Highmark. I never gave a thought to buying food or drink while at the game. I don't even eat or snack while I'm watching the game at home.

Agreed, defensive players are not allowed to shove the receiver out of bounds unless they are in the process of catching the ball. They can shove the receiver and have some physical contact within five yards of the LOS, but the back of the end zone was well past that.

I agree. The difference is Lamar has a hall of fame running back chewing up huge chunks of yardage to go along with his own running and passing. James Cook is good, but he's not in the same league as Derrick Henry. Josh Allen just means more to Buffalo's offense. The same voters who voted Alen the MVP trophy also voted that Lamar Jackson was a better QB las year than Josh. I agree with them. It's way early, but I think statistically, you'd have to put Josh Allen ahead of Jackson so far this season even though Jackson had a higher QB rating.

Fans can exhibit horrible behavior, but the league can't do a whole lot about it. Security might eject a few of the worst ones, but we would never hear about it. The league generally takes a very dim view of players retaliating.

I felt the same way about Brady. It's almost as if he didn't want to fully trust Josh until it got desperate. He seemed to be trying to play it safe.

I wondered about the play calling on the drives where Buffalo went 3 and out after they scored the early touchdown. I think in general Brady was calling the game as if he didn't fully trust Josh to be able to make plays, until Buffalo was down a couple scores late and moved into desperation mode. Defensively, I just think Buffalo struggled with the run blocking of the Ravens' offensive line. They had committed to playing mostly man coverage in order to get more bodies close to the line of scrimmage and when Baltimore opened holes anyway, Henry was repeatedly able to break into the secondary where he is a total mismatch for any DB. Cole Bishop is still young and trying to catch up from his injury disrupted rookie season and injury disrupted training camp this year. Taylor Rapp might be smart and a tough, physical player, but if almost any offensive skill position player (Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson Mark Andrews or any WR you want to name, including Keon Coleman) gets behind him, he's not going to catch up. That makes the Bills especially vulnerable when they try to load the box.

Buffalo had 508 yards of total offense, more than half of that in the 4th quarter. Baltimore had 447 yards of total offense. Josh Allen had 394 yards passing to Lamar Jackson's 209, and accounted for 424 yards of Buffalo's offense compared to Jackson's 279 yard share of Baltimore's offense. So, which one looked more like an MVP?

They are still the first team to score 40 this season. Buffalo is the first team to score 41. BTW, I think the over/under on total points scored was around 55. The betting expert they had on the pregame show said to bet the under.

Baltimore is probably the toughest team Buffalo will face all season. It's going to be fun!

At least Kelvin Sheppard never got a penalty for slapping his own teammate's helmet.

I don't disagree, but Aaron Glenn is trying to mimic Detroit, and Buffalo dealt with Detroit pretty well las season.

Oops. I'm old and senile. What can I say?

Most likely Dorian Strong. Joe Brady said in a news conference that Strong's improvement over the last couple weeks has been amazing. We'll see this evening.