Sierra Foothills

I agree that KC made better halftime adjustments than we did. I also thought they outschemed us on both sides of the ball. Josh was pressured as much if not more than in any game this year. I also noticed that when Josh was flushed he was always flushed to his left. Another thing that jumped out at me was the horizontal throws in bunch formations. The Bills suck at these plays and should either redesign them or scrap them. By contrast it seemed that when KC ran these types of plays that they were successful. Granted the Bills offense is one of the best in the league statistically but I feel like the best OCs in the league (Reid and Shanahan to name two) scheme players open better than the other teams. It seems like the Bills sometimes really struggle to get free runners in the defensive secondary. JMO.

The Chiefs D has been coordinated by Steve Spagnuolo for the last 5 years. I don't recall that their D under him has ever ranked very highly but they tend to play well in big games and he seems to scheme pressure better than most coordinators. I realize Chris Jones is an elite player but I think Spags does a great job creating pressure. By contrast I was watching the Bills pass rush a bit today and though we sent extra rushers quite often, as has been the case most of the year it seemed like our pressures were too vanilla and easily blocked for the most part. By my untrained eye it seems like McDermott and Eric Washington need to use more stunts and play more games in the pass rush.

Two things: This feels like the makeup game after the Bills had been screwed by the officials in Philly. We're talking about Kadarius Toney... classic great athlete with a 10 cent brain. His list of missed mental assignments and diva tendencies made it easy for the Giants to write him off not long after taking him in the 1st round. This guy is a complete moron and not someone who should be given the benefit of the doubt in any situation. Actually if I were Andy Reid I would use this latest *****up to light a fire under his ass. Why would any coach run to the defense of a chronically underachieving and mistake-prone player? If I were his coach I'd have Chris Jones grab him by the shoulder pads and shake him violently until some small glimmer of comprehension flickered in his eyes.

I was watching in the SF Bay Area. I assumed because it was the national game that it would not be available on YouTube TV/Sunday Ticket. I went to Hulu to watch the CBS feed (local affiliate KPIX). Buf-KC was listed but they stayed with the Jax-Cle game. I went over to YouTube TV/Sunday Ticket and they had Buf-KC listed stand alone and as part of their 4 game multi-view. In both instances the feed was Jax-Cle. I was not able to watch the Bills game. It ended up that I had to wait until after Jax-Cle was over. This meant I had to endure Jacksonville's statistically remote attempt at coming back from 2 scores down. I had to watch the Cleveland victory formation. Finally the game ended and after a LONG commercial break joined the Buf-KC with just 3 minutes left in the first quarter. I missed the Epenesa INT and the Cook TD. Interestingly the game was available on Sunday Ticket even though it was on local broadcast TV.

You were right. The defense, in spite of some nice in-season reinforcements is falling short and trending in the wrong direction. The loss of DaQuan, Milano, and Tre White hurt quite a bit but in addition Von's recovery remains stuck in neutral and there's little doubt that the Hyde/Poyer excellence is a thing of the past. The officiating in the game was just horrendous but the defense really let the team down again. On the bright side I believe that with another strong offseason combined with the development of players already on the roster that this defense can return to top 5 status.

Even when you set aside Zack Moss and Devin Singletary (and please do), there has been real or fan-perceived improvement by the following players : Ed Oliver, AJ Epenesa, Spencer Brown, James Cook, Terrell Bernard, Kahlil Shakir. All 6 of these picks look better now than they did in August.

I hope you're right and I too, hope for more. That said, for a guy 10 games into his career, being compared to Dallas Clark can only be considered high praise.

Fournette's best yards per carry by season were 4.5 and 4.3. Over his 6 seasons he's averaged 4.0 yards per carry. In 10 seasons, only once has Murray averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry. In the 7 years both have been in the NFL, Murray has 4282 rushing yards, Fournette has 4478 in spite of Murray supposedly being in the twilight of his career and Fournette supposedly being in his prime. Entering the season, Murray's 6252 rushing yards was 5th amongst all NFL RBs since 2014. In 1777 career touches, Murray has only fumbled 10 times... one fumble every 177 touches. He's a very dependable player and people don't value that aspect enough. Besides all of this, Murray is our best pass blocking running back and is also an excellent receiver. This year with the Bills he's caught 13 of 15 targets including 2 one-handed catches. Murray is also a team and community leader. People are blinded by Fournette's draft position, 4th overall in 2017. His career hasn't been much more than mediocre.

If you're not getting the answers you want from me, that's too bad. Again, he's playing poorly and not acting like a Captain. Good bye.

So according to this research, Beane: Has drafted 44 players since becoming Bills GM. Of those players, 23 are still on the team. 16 are starters. 5 are starters for other teams. This is while drafting for a team which is a perennial contender and has had generally low draft positions... and a team which has been very aggressive both in the free agent market and in the trade market.

To the bolded, Davis is not providing results... either individual or team. And as a person selected as a Captain by his teammates, it's a bad look being a coward after a loss and refusing to speak with the media... so there's that too. Exact enough?

1) The comparisons of Oliver to Aaron Donald before this season had turned into a cruel joke. Oliver has finally legitimized that comparison. 2) God I hope DaQuan Jones makes it back onto the field this year. If he does that bodes well for the Bills. Like Oliver, he was playing at an All Pro level.

While he picked the Eagles, Buffalo News writer Ryan O'Halloran noted: "Only after a deep dive of the statistics did I find two areas that give the Bills a chance Sunday at Philadelphia as a three-point underdog. The Eagles have the NFL’s best record (9-1), but their defense stinks on third down and in the red zone. Opponents are converting 43.2% of the third-down chances and scoring touchdowns on 62.5% of their red zone trips. The Eagles rank 27th and tied for 25th, respectively, in those categories. The Bills’ offense is second on third down (48.1%) and third in the red zone (68.9%). Stay in third-and-manageable to keep drives alive and then be aggressive to score touchdowns in the red zone. There’s your recipe for a road upset." Mitigating these facts is Sal M's observation: "It has been a curious year for Philly’s defense because after being the league’s best against the pass in 2022, it is now among the worst as it ranks 28th in yards allowed (248.1) and 25th in passer rating against (96.4). Part of that is due to injuries and constant shuffling in the secondary, but the bad news for the Bills is that the Eagles finally had their No. 1 fivesome on the field at the same time in Kansas City - CBs James Bradberry and Darius Slay, NCB Bradley Roby, and safeties Kevin Byard and Reed Blankenship - and it clearly made a big difference."

Good post... it's nearly 3 am here but for some reason I'm pumped up for a strong showing by the Bills. (I think you meant to write "Dawson who?") Go Bills!!!

Dalton Kincaid reminds me a lot of Dallas Clark who played 11 years and averaged around 50 receptions, 500 yards, 11 YPC and 10 TDs per year. Clark was an All-American and the best TE of his draft class, winning the John Mackey Award. He was selected by Indy in the 1st round, 24th overall. Like Kincaid, Clark had a basketball background. In his best year Clark had 100 catches for 1100 yards and 10 TDs. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/ClarDa00.htm

For me, once he was named a Team Captain, that changed things. It's an opportunity that he is so far squandering... and not necessarily by his play. This has been a dark season so far and he has not brought anything to change that.

I never had unrealistic expectations for GD so it’s all good… except after the Denver loss when he and another “Captain” decided they weren’t gonna speak with the media. To me that was the moment he was supposed to exhibit leadership, perspective, and wisdom. As a Captain he got a failing grade IMO.

FYI, Von has 142 snaps in 7 weeks… 20 per week. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2023-snap-counts.htm

And some other close calls that could have gone against us. I hope the Bills continue to add complexity to their blitzes. It seems too often that when we send extra rushers on crucial downs we don't get there. With the length and athleticism of Epenesa and Rousseau I'd like to see them both loop inside more to put up a tall wall in the QBs face. Also their height and length could be a greater assets if they were to line up at tackle instead of end on passing downs.

Hmmm... could be but it's odd to me that they would want a 5'9" wide receiver to take the snaps for Taylor Rapp. It seems more likely to me that Ja'Marcus Ingram (6'2" 190 lbs) would take Rapp's snaps. We shall see.

Beane was hired in May of 2017 AFTER the 2017 draft. Here are his significant transactions by year: Traded away Sammy Watkins and a 6th round pick for EJ Gaines and a 2nd round pick Traded away Ronald Darby for Jordan Matthews and a 3rd round pick Traded away Marcell Dareus for a 5th round pick Traded for Kelvin Benjamin (3rd and 7th round picks) 2018: Signed free agents Vontae Davis, Star Lotulelei, Trent Murphy, AJ McCarron, Matt Barkley, Isaiah McKenzie, Russell Bodine Traded Cordy Glenn, #21 and #158 for #12 and #187 Traded Tyrod Taylor for Cleveland's 3rd rounder (#165) Drafted Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds, Harrison Phillips, Taron Johnson, Siran Neal, Wyatt Teller, Ray Ray McCloud, Austin Proehl 2019: Signed free agents Spencer Long, Cole Beasley, John Brown, Frank Gore, Mitch Morse, Jon Feliciano, Ty Nsekhe, Tyler Kroft, Kevin Johnson, Andre Roberts, LaAdrian Waddle, EJ Gaines, Quinton Spain, TJ Yeldon, Lee Smith Traded Russell Bodine for a 6th rounder Drafted Ed Oliver, Cody Ford, Devin Singletary, Dawson Knox, Vosean Joseph, Jaquan Johnson, Darryl Johnson, Tommy Sweeney 2020: Signed free agents Mario Addison, Vernon Butler, AJ Klein, Quinton Jefferson, Jon Feliciano, Taiwan Jones and Darryl Williams Traded a 1st, 5th, 6th, and 2020 4th rounder for Stefon Diggs and Minnesota's 7th (Dane Jackson). Traded Wyatt Teller for Cleveland's 5th and 6th rounders. Drafted AJ Epenesa, Zack Moss, Gabriel Davis, Jake Fromm, Tyler Bass, Dane Jackson 2021: Signed free agents Emmanuel Sanders, Mitchell Trubisky, Matt Breida Traded Zay Jones to Las Vegas for a 5th rounder Traded Marshall Newhouse to Carolina for a 7th rounder Drafted Gregory Rousseau, Boogie Basham, Spencer Brown, Tommy Doyle, Marquez Stevenson, Damar Hamlin, Rachad Wildgoose, Jack Anderson 2022: Released Darryl Williams Signed free agents Rodger Saffold, DaQuan Jones, Von Miller, Tim Settle, Jordan Phillips, Shaq Larson, Matt Barkley, Jamison Crowder, Duke Johnson, David Quessenberry, Greg Van Roten, Sam Martin Traded for Case Keenum Drafted Kaiir Elam, James Cook, Terrell Bernard, Kahlil Shakir, Matt Araiza, Christian Benford, Luke Tenuta, Baylon Spector 2023: Signed free agents Kyle Allen, Deonte Harty, Connor McGovern, Trent Sherfield, Damien Harris, David Edwards, Taylor Rapp, Latavius Murray, Poona Ford, Leonard Floyd, Ty Johnson, Germain Ifedi, Josh Norman, Leonard Fournette, Linval Joseph Traded for Rasul Douglas Drafted Dalton Kincaid, O'Cyrus Torrence, Dorian Williams, Justin Shorter, Nick Broeker, Alex Austin If I missed anything please let me know and I'll add it.

Agreed. Brady will have a handful of plays for Isabella.

Yes, the only way he returns to his past form is to play and incrementally regain confidence in his knee. Von is a freak athlete. If anyone can beat the odds, he can. If he fails it's not because he's soft or unmotivated. He's never been either of those things. For some reason I've had this premonition that Von will get his first sack this week. I also sense that Rasul is gonna get another pick.

Harty has been a disappointment in the offense. He's done pretty well as a punt returner, averaging over 9 yards per and looking pretty dangerous. Probably not worth the contract they gave him but you win some you lose some.

Montgomery vs Gibbs is a non-issue. Both are excellent players and their usage has not been the issue in this game. That 4th down pass in the end zone was perfectly thrown by Goff but everyone's darling, LaPorta didn't look back for the ball.