Ralonzo

Ankou was way too good against the Colts. He never clears waivers with that film. Ford is a bit like Oliver, just not stout enough at the point of attack, but doesn't have Oliver's elite quickness to disrupt. He got engulfed or driven back most plays, the one he didn't he got the sack. Even that one run play people point to as a highlight for standing up the guard and having the runner barrel into him, went for 4 yards. Evans may have a path as a return guy. Isabella ain't it. Anderson has been working at G/C like Bates. Gouraige should at least get a mention for PS. Steenbergen is bad at blocking and bad at ball security it seems. Don't even want him on PS. If I had another scratch it'd be Quess. Judging the depth chart he's already on the way out and if not for Shell retiring I'd say he's 100% gone. Pretty sure Doyle makes it over Quess but honestly I'd rather have Gouraige if it came to that.

Oh no. William & Mary won't do.

I can't help reading that in Cockney, "Oi, ya go' a loicense to swing an helmet chap?" Was the Logician sketch in the screenplay? It didn't make the film.

After watching the 2nd half, he was as dominant as in the first half or more so. On one play he pushed French at guard back farther and faster than anyone has pushed the French at guard since the Panzerwaffe in 1940. I have him ahead of Settle, but Settle's contract has $5.1M dead cap if he's released. It's gonna be tough.

Was too beat to get to 2nd watch/2nd half impressions last night so: Ankou was still having his way. Van Demark was getting beat by the same power-to-speed move at RT all night, that needs coached up. Anderson can be the next Bates. Has G/C flex and looked strong, got good push. Jonathan doesn't look nearly as good as last preseason, not showing the bend he was then. Mims wasn't as impressive as on first watch. Seemed to get barely what was available most runs. Evans was much better at getting a little extra. Zayne was about the only DB that stacked positive plays. Ingram with that 4th down tackle and then a whiff for 20 yds of RAC, for instance. There's a lot of big receivers vying for #8. The down-roster TEs whiffed a lot of blocks. Taken in it's entirety, what KAllen showed was high variance. Some wonderful throws, some inexplicable decisions. It wasn't as bad in an overall context because those 4-5 wtf plays are what sticks with you. He can execute NFL plays and NFL throws, when the decision-making is right.

Might as well drop the 2nd half here too. Lotta mo O-snaps here. 1st series Offense 74-65-62-70-72 1st & 10) Boettger whiffs, Allen gets sacked and Doyle gets hurt in the pileup. 2nd & 20) Incomplete, drop by Shavers. Good pass by Allen tho. Doyle actually singles the edge rusher. 3rd & 20) Hell of a completion to Ateman. Colts ran a left end stunt, it was swallowed by the Bills interior. 1st & 10) Swing to Mims for big gain. Anderson got beat but it was a quick throw. 1st & 10) Handoff Mims for 2. Good push from the IOL and Doyle pulls to pop the end. 2nd & 8) The Pick Six. Allen double-clutches because Van Demark and Boettger let 91 go to get out for the screen and he jumps. Doyle ends up 5 yards downfield because of that too. Gotta put that one on Allen, you can't double-clutch a WR screen. 2nd series Offense 75-65-62-70-74 1st & 10) Handoff for loss, Trips tight right in 12, some people think Van Demark whiffs on this but he blocks down on the tackle, the TEs just let the backer shoot the gap. 2nd & 11) Quick pass to KeeSean, you can see Van Demark's pass pro at RT is technically lacking. Gouraige handles his edge. 3rd & 2) Crosser to Ateman, Van Demark is again struggling with the power rush but does enough. Gouraige really handles his edge. 1st & 10) Looked almost like an RPO, Barkley's inc. Some of the linemen were firing downfield so hell if I know. 2nd & 10) A goofy looking screen with a double-clutch as Gouraige is blocking an upfield rusher. 3rd & 5) Isabella catch. The interior was getting worked a little, Boettger was losing his man but it came out quick. 1st & 10) Mims for a couple, which is the minimum he could have gotten. He had room to go. 2nd & 7) Hard count offside, Van Demark whiiiiiiffed setting for a power move as the end just shimmied around him and killed Barkley. 2nd & 2) Evans for the 1st going left behind the TE's. Line moved people that time. 1st & 10) Play action, quick to KeeSean. Darn close to a max protect there, no Colt got a sniff. 1st & 10) Evans loses. Boettger does get walked back but Sternberger misses his guy completely who makes the play. 2nd & 12) TD Shavers. Van Demark almost bit on the same move but just hooked the edge. Anderson just THROWS his guy down as I think he was trying a spin move or something. 1st series Defense 1st & 10) Handoff. Ankou penetrates upfield again. 63 Jarvis slides down the line to make the play. 2nd & 7) 96 Cline is unblocked and whiffs on Ehlinger who scrambles. Ankou in on the stop. 3rd & 4) Bills show blitz but rush 4 and don't get home. 1st & 10) WR screen. Dale got stacked and pushed back. 1st & 10) Short run, Broughton and Ray clogging their side and leaving the LB clean for the stop. 2nd & 8) Single blitzer, Cline and Dale both win and meet at the QB where Dale loses. 3rd & 15) Cline & Ray flips sides, Ray gets around the edge and hits the QB's arm to deflect the pass. 3rd series Offense 75-65-62-70-74 1st & 10) Mims short run. Formation penalty. Line had good push, again Mims coulda shoulda gained more looking at it a second time. 1st & 15) Barkley to KeeSean. He had time and a great pocket, Colts rushed 4 and never got close. 1st & 10) Mims over RG, as the Bills moved people. Anderson is a strong son of a gun. 2nd & something) Barkley sacked. Van Demark beat around the edge, he has had problems with the upfield power rush in his RT set all day. 3rd & 14) 1st down sling to Steenbergen, who fumbles after getting hit by Cousin Itt. Gouraige barely recovers as he's initially beat to the inside. 2nd series Defense 1st & 10) Inside run Drake, dragged down by Ankou. 2nd & 5) QB option run gets past Ankou for the 1st. 1st & 10) WR screen, and split screen, so not much to glean there. 2nd & 4) Pitch left, linebackers are kept clean again. 3rd & 2) Option given to RB, Ankou and Spector stack the middle and Ray comes down the line for the stop. 4th & 1) Drake is stuffed for the TOD, Ankou is this game's honorary German as he rolls right over French. 4th series Offense 75-67-70-63-74 1st & 10) Evans off tackle left for very little. Went behind Broeker and Anderson and they didn't get much. 2nd & 9) Good pocket allows Barkley to lob a carrier pigeon to Patmon. 1st & 10) Evans turns a possible negative play into positive, big whiff by the inline TE on right. 2nd & 4) Nice catch Patmon. Colts send 5 and it's eaten up. 1st & 10) Barley with ALL DAY despite a corner blitz and overthrows Shavers because he's being held. 1st & 10) Audible pitch right. Decent pull from Van Demark to try to give Mims the corner but once again he finds a defender instead. 2nd & 8) Hitch to Isabella, if it was a longer pattern one of the edges might have gotten home. 3rd & 3) TD Patmon. Once again the line identifies a blitz and picks it up perfectly (Gouraige again). Van Demark miiiight have gotten away with one again, the power-to-speed rush by their edges is definitely troubling him. 3rd series Defense 1st & 10) Quick throw, who can tell. 2nd & 1) Cline runs several loops around the QB before the throwaway. Coaches need to train him chasing chickens. Broughton gets double-teamed and eliminated. 3rd & 1) Slow developing run. Vickers fired through but they run at Jonathan and get it. 1st & 10) Quick out for a couple. Jonathan and Ray both doing the Von stand-up rush but getting nowhere. 2nd & 7) Quick dig for 6. Same story. 3rd & 1) Fake into the line and a short throw with long RAC. Ankou doesn't seem to notice people in blue trying to block him, he just wades right through them. 1st & 10) Run 999 and throw it the **** down the field and hope for a flag. DL was getting good push tho. 1st & 10) Cline german suplexes the runner into the end zone instead of stopping him. 2PC) Howard channeling Mike Stratton. 5th series Offense 75-67-70-63-74 1st & 10) Rollout toss to the TE. Most of the line just stood there, nothing to do, lol. 2nd & 8) Evans behind Broeker and Gouraige for a nice gain. 3rd & 3) Evans weaves throw a mess of blockers and blockees and then a big pig pile push for the 1st. 1st & 10) Play action to Shavers. Well-blocked by everyone, just a big mass of white stopping a big mass of blue. 1st & 10) Mims for 9 with a nice cut left behind the trip-TE bunch. 2nd & 1) Mims dances around the guys 48 and 83 pretended to block for the 1st down to ice it. 1st & 10) Victory formation, etc.

Gotcha. Have to believe guys like Saffold, Van Rotten and Quesenbunny would be no better than 3rd string with the current depth (and in Q's case, that's a fact)

That play annoyed me for how well the OL had set the pocket, only to have the ball come out way too fast to the wrong guy.

1) Boogie got stymied about half his reps, but Epenesa got stopped on every rep. 3) There were about 4 throws from Kyle that were forced into heavy coverage, whether it's a bad read or a one-read preseason call where "ball goes here, we need this play on tape" I dunno. I suspect former since Barkley didn't do any of that. 4) Based on yesterday Ankou was simply the Bills best 1-tech, better than Settle. Oliver is locked as a 3, and Jones at 1. Phillips is more of a 3. I wasn't impressed with Ford at all, he had one play where he actually anchored and got his hands inside the G and it's all over twitter. 5) Dorian looked worlds better in that game than Bernard ever has shown.

I think Doc is arguing that this years backups are better than last year's starters and we can have that discussion. I refrained from going that far because the 74-76-71-64-68 combo did not run against 1s vs the Colts. We may get to see that yet; I'd sure like to see what happens.

Focused on the trenches for the first half rewatch. If not Torrence, then Eli Ankou was the best Bill on the field. For all the Poona Ford hype he got rekt 2 out of every 3 plays. Ankou was disruptive constantly.

Just did the same for the first half and I concur. The only reason that pass gets batted I think is by that point their DL was finally realizing the futility of trying to beat 64 and stopped trying, lol. The first snap of the game, Torrence and Brown used a couple of Colts as blocking sleds. That sort of thing gives one some hope. Other big sweaties that flashed to me were Eli Ankou who was a total menace in the 2nd Q and may have been the best Bills DL in the game. Also, the combo of VanDemark and Edwards who really worked well as a unit. Shell also beat the piss out of pretty much everyone he faced. The 74-76-71-64-68 unit was fairly dominant against the level of competition. There might not be much dropoff from 2022 if those were the starters, and they're not (maybe 64). I only did the first half notes, don't know that I'll get to the 2nd soon so rather than a thread where people will see it, I'll just dump the quick-hit analysis of the trenches here where nobody will haha. 1st D Series 1st & 10) Settle playing the 1 away from Nelson makes the stop. Oliver earns a draw vs Nelson but ends up on his back. 2nd & 8) Quick hitch, < 2 seconds for delivery 3rd & 3) Inside run goes over Oliver who is moved out of the way, milano is dragged for the 1st. 1st & 10) Screen to McKenzie, < 1 second to deliver 2nd & 6) INTERCEPTION Rousseau with an instant win and Neal nickel blitz were closing on Richardson who threw off the back foot and sailed it. 1st O Series - 73-66-60-64-79 1st & 10) Handoff Cook, Brown and Torrence moved the Colts D Line 5 yards downfield right away. Wow. 2nd & 5) Handoff Cook, Dawkins pancakes his guy, Torrence seals the other tackle off. Close to 1st but offsetting fouls. 2nd & 5) Handoff Cook TOUCHDOWN Dawkins and McGovern double team a DL and Kincaid in the Y does just enough to seal the edge before getting thrown unceremoniously to the turf by 52. 2nd D Series 1st & 10) Rousseau another instant win but Richardson escapes. 2nd & 5) Another quick rhythm throw for a 1st. 1st & 10) Rousseau goes upfield and Settle gets handled by RG, run goes between them. 2nd & 4) McD brings the house on a cover-1, incomplete. 3rd & 4) Coverage sack for Milano but Rousseau was in the neutral zone. 1st & 10) Bills stack the box and looked like a stuff for loss but Lawson drifts inside and loses contain, runner cuts back behinds him for a nice gain. 2nd & 4) Run is aimed at Ankou, Bills swarm to limit the gain 3rd & 2) Basham flashes from LDE around the edge to stop the play at the LOS. 4th & 1) Colts run at Ankou again and get NOTHING. Turnover on downs. 2nd O Series - 73-66-60-64-79 1st & 10) Draw to Cook, Knox at the Y gets defeated by the DE and the play is snuffed. Looks like bad play design as Dawkins and McGovern go right to the 2nd level. 2nd & 10) Quick handoff to Cook, Morse and McGovern parted the sea for him. 3rd & 3) Quick rhythm pass to the double covered receiver hits the Colt in the chest. Good pocket, either a poor decision or a single-read. 3rd D Series 1st & 10) Ed Oliver gets instant penetration 1 second before the snap. 1st & 5) Inc short right. Oliver with a real nice hand fight against Nelson and was close to arriving at the QB. 2nd & 5) Run right over Nelson, who turned Settle right out of the hole. 1st & 10) Colts block down left and blew most of the Bills off the line for the run behind. 2nd & 6) Screen over the entire Bills line, the Colts are adjusting to McD dialing up the blitzes. 1st & 10) 20 yard pass, Bills never got upfield at all except AJE who was way wide. 1st & 10) Play action holds the Bills line, AJE definitely was fooled for a moment. Elam handsy penalty, lister to the vets in camp kid. 1st & 10) End zone shot inc, Floyd juuuust got taken wide. 2nd & 10) Quick shot to Lil Dummy, Floyd way upfield again but this was another quick rhythm shot. 1st & 10) Run at Poona Ford who gets pushed right out of the way. 2nd & 4) Ankou pushes the line back, Ford does not, run goes between them. 1st & 10) Richardson naked boot left, Basham did not react and gave the corner. But... HOLDING 1st & 20) Run off right tackle, this time Ford gets his hands in on the pads to get a draw and the runner barrels into him. 2nd & 16) Bills don't get good pressure but Richardson still throws off back foot and sails it. Offsetting fouls tho. 3rd & 16) Bills do get good pressure but it's a screen so the Colts intended for that. 4th & 16) Figgie doinks, HAH-ha. Jeez that's a lot of plays for no points. 3rd O Series 74-76-71-64-68 1st & 10) Handoff Murray, Shell and VanDemark run their guys down the field and Edwards turns his, nice gain. 2nd & 4) Checkdown pass to Murray, GREAT slide step from VanDemark to handle a speed rusher lined up wide. Torrence singles his guy - he is just a rock. 1st & 10) Keystone Kops. Rhythm play doesn't happen in rhythm. VanDemark gets beat but pushed his guy wide enough that if the play happened like it should have, it should have been enough. 2nd & 12) Batted pass. Terrific pocket, but Torrence's guy knew he could not get around him so threw his arms up. 3rd & 12) Pass to Shakir. Edwards and VanDemark do a great job handling a stunt to allow that. Bates/Torrence/Shell are a wall. 1st & 10) Run Murray. Reminiscent of the Colts all-down-block-left, nice gain. 2nd & 5) High snap Bates blows the timing on that run. Nice pull VanDemark all the way to the right and bops a LB. 3rd & 3) Torrence turns the lineman out of the hole but LB's fill on Murray. 4th & 1) Allen scramble for 1st. Colts are just bailing on trying Torrence now, he's looking for someone to hit. 1st & 10) Bad pass Allen but nice work again between VanDemark and Edwards to double a guy ready to break free. 2nd & 10) Rhythm pass to Shakir, good anchor from Edwards on one guy, Torrence & Shell envelop another. 3rd & 3) Rhythm pass to Shakir, but dropped. Colts showed blitz but dropped out. 4th D Series 1st & 10) Colts 2nd string is in. Settle collapses the RG for the sack, with Basham closing 2nd & 14) Settle again moves the QB and Basham finishes this time. 3rd & 21) Draw snuffed by Ford. Bill DL won that series severely. 4th O Series 77-76-71-64-68 1st & 10) Screen to Murray. Thought Torrence got beat for a sec - oh it's a screen haha. 2nd & 4) Big drag route to Isabella, line handled everyone 1-on-1 leaving Quess with a corner blitzer which even he can handle. 1st & 10) Down-blocking right and Murray rumbling behind. 2nd & 6) Play action fails on a 12 set, 48 & 85 let a free rusher right by off the snap for the sack as they ran routes. 3rd & 15) Morris drop. Oof couple plays. Quess actually did ok against their edge. 5th D series 1st & 10) Ankou defeats a double-team instantly and forced a bounce outside. 2nd & 10) Neutral zone foul by Broughton. 2nd & 5) Ankou annihilates the play inside for no gain. 3rd & 5) Lol, Ankou stunts and ALMOST gets home, but the trash picks off Neal for the conversion. 1st & 10) Shane Ray from right edge comes down the line to make the stop. 2nd & 8) Bills send a whole lot of guys who don't get there. 94 got handled easily. 1st & 10) Quick throw, quick tackle, not much to see there. 2nd & 4) Ray and Jonathan get handled at the edge. 1st & 10) Jailhouse blitz, Dorian doesn't quick get there, Jonathan drops in coverage. 1st & 10) 93 and 94 aren't really holding up for that middle run. 2nd & 5) If that play idn't thrown that quick, Dick Dale or Ankou would have splattered the QB. Both looking like Pat Williams there. 1st & Goal) Quick throw, flag. Colts handle the middle blitz pretty good there. 1st & Goal) 51 and 61 still clogging the middle, Dorian shoots the gap for the TFL. 2nd & Goal) TD. Jonathan got smushed and they scored right over him. Colts sure ran a whole lot of plays on O that half.

The problem with the Bills OL in 2022 was, something was Van Rotten in Van Denmark.

Settle got completely handled by Nelson 1-on-1 in the 1st quarter which freed up the rest of the Colts starting OL. As soon as Nelson exited the Bills DL poured through the Colts like they were a sieve. He's that important. Sad to see but Boettger is done. Doyle with one leg was more effective blocking. He was a JAG to begin with but has lost a significant something. The big'uns at receiver weren't getting separation in the first half, and Wrong Allen was throwing to them anyway. Shavers, Johnson and 8-man did have moments later with Barkley. Don't think Isabella is the answer at KR, but Evans could be, esp if Harty is going to handle punts. "3-car" Gouraige seemed to show well at LT, as did Van Denmark although he seemed to struggle some at RT. Saw more out of Dorian Williams today than Bernard his first preseason - lucky fumble return notwithstanding. Didn't see any down-roster CB's looking very good which, usually, one or two do for the Bills in preseason. Could it be that all the running backs looked better that previous years because the OL in general looked better in run-blocking?

Looks like out centers have adjusted the ball forward a little pre-snap. Colts center early on, would draw the ball back like a half yard. I'm inferring the LOS is the sticks, so lining up on the ball there is in the NZ. I think Von and Rousseau were shown having that discussion with the line judge earlier.

Mims has been a credit to Friendzone State U.

How tough is Tommy Doyle though? Finishes the Miami game with a torn ACL, plays 2-3 snaps after getting rolled up on before getting pulled from the game today. Evans is trying to close this game out by himself.

We found our Patsy.

Jeff Nixon is all over the place now

Flags blowing one way, kick moves the other. Welcome to Buffalo.

I'd think about Fitzy but I just saw him in the crowd and he has really let himself go.

Ankou dominating the bottom-of-the-roster shoe clerks.

Mic goes in front of the person talking, Cynthia.

They can still be brothers in arms. Dick Dale dinged.

Have French and Fries been in there together yet for the Colts?