Brand J

For all the talk this offseason that the young DEs had taken a step forward, AJE and Basham have largely been disappointments thus far. I’d like to have both those 2nd round picks back.

More dime packages coming for sure. Took the Bills forever to get out of nickel, but they have lots of quality DBs.

It was said the Bills ran a lot of dime packages this game. Which LB came off the field? Edmunds?

It’s interesting you made this comparison because Skip and Shannon were talking about Allen the other day and Elway’s name entered the conversation… then Skip says to Shannon “but he’s no Elway…” Shannon stayed quiet. I think Allen is better than Elway, or at least will be by the end of this season. He’s bigger, stronger, & faster in an era where athletes are superior to those in the 80s/90s. “Toughness” is the main trait they share, more than mobility, or a live arm.

Lawson has outplayed AJE and Basham lately. We need at least one of those two younger guys to make their presence felt. They’ve been too quiet.

First has a Lil Baby vibe to it. I liked the melody to that one the best and thought the lyrics were catchy, but it’d get old fast since it’s so repetitive. The second I wasn’t feeling much, the third reminds me of Three Six Mafia’s “Mafia!” chant, but lacks the production of DJ Paul. None should be the official anthem in my opinion.

It has to be infrequent and when you do, it needs to be disguised well enough that it surprises him. The Raiders had a great blitz where they brought both safeties and completely fooled Mahomes. He had to dirt the ball because none of his receivers ran a hot route.

I’m waiting for Diggs to get loose on a deep route like Davis and Allen connects with him in stride for a TD.

I wonder who makes the uniform decisions. A single individual (like Coach McD?) or a collection of folks.

First time I remember seeing a nationally televised game in the late time slot, for either network.

Those grades are odd. I was told right here on TBD that Bates was our worst lineman and Morse was our 2nd best. Who to believe?

Chiefs fans said they’re 3-1 with the Brad Allen crew and the Bills are 2-1.

On this point, Morris had a fantastic grab last game. He’s only going to improve the more he plays and the more confident he gets. Looks like a find. What makes these numbers all the more impressive is when you consider Josh and the starting offense likely has had 2.5 less quarters of work than everyone else.

Wonder why Hyde flew all the way out to LA for the surgery. The northeast is known for great medical centers, unless this particular doctor was just heads and shoulders above the others in his field.

Shakir has an interesting build; a “swimmer’s body,” where his torso is longer in proportion to his legs. Most high end athletes, the sprinter types, have longer legs and a shorter torso, this also aids their low center of gravity. Shakir’s build goes against the typical NBA or NFL explosive athlete, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

He’s grown into a vocal leader, that wasn’t always the case. Early on Frazier continuously encouraged him to speak more. I think Von probably had an impact on him as well.

You could tell in camp that Austin still had a lot of passion for the game and believed he could be a contributor. To have McKenzie go down, Crowder go down, Kumerow go down, and Davis running hobbled, if after all that he still couldn’t get the call up I don’t blame him for leaving. If I was Hodgins and didn’t get called up this week I’d leave too… unless I was content getting PS money. It’s odd Austin wouldn’t get activated, McD just spoke highly about him as one of the options they had earlier this week.

He’s credited for 2 his rookie year. None since.

Lawson apparently had the 3rd highest snap count at DE behind Miller and Rousseau. More than AJE and more than Boogie.

Get him outta there until he’s 100%. I’d rather have a fully healthy Shakir, Austin, or Hodges taking those reps than a hobbled Gabe.

When DROY front runner Devin Lloyd dropped to the Bills pick, I wanted the Bills to take him, immediately trade Edmunds, and then pick up a corner in the 2nd with that pick (Andrew Booth? Elam?) Yes, I realize it would’ve been sort of Madden-like, but knowing we likely wouldn’t be able to afford Edmunds past this year and picking up a rookie who could potentially be an upgrade anyway - on a cost controlled contract - was enticing. What does this have to do with Cook? I probably would’ve waited until the 3rd to see if he was there. And no, I’m not going to use hindsight to point to the other rookie RBs selected later who have came in and made a difference.

At this point, barring a setback, the ACL is fully healed. His rehab consists of getting the surrounding muscles as strong and stable as they were before (not to mention the mental confidence that goes along with that). And no, I’m not a doctor, but I have seen a bunch of them on TV.

He’s certainly flowing to the ball much better this season than he ever has. I’ve been critical of his play in the past, too many others explained away his shortcomings just as they did with Star Lotuleile (he eats up blockers/takes on double and triple teams/etc), but it’s nice to see he’s playing up to his potential. There’s still much room for improvement as well. That said, I don’t see any way the Bills afford him AND Ed Oliver and if given the choice between the two I’m going with Oliver. He’s been better at 3DT over the course of his career than Edmunds has been at MLB. Maybe we would’ve had the money had Knox not been extended for that eye-opening amount.

Their other 3 games were against the Bears, Seahawks, and Broncos. Not exactly the Titans, Dolphins, and Ravens degree of difficulty.

I heard the opposite, that Cook was all world in practice. Von even said something similar after his fumble against the Rams, that he consistently made plays and he told the rook “take the next one for 80.” Many beat reporters who showed up at camp said “Cook just looks different. He’s the most explosive back the Bills have.” We’ve seen none of this in games though, his opportunities have been limited, which doesn’t help his confidence.