Brand J

According to Texans insiders, their OL has been a big problem for them. In their blowout loss MIN feasted and in their three wins they couldn’t run the ball to save their lives, so it’s left a lot of 2nd or 3rd and long. Bobby Slowik was on the list of many here to take over for McD, but if the Texans weren’t 3-1 his seat would be pretty warm. No excuse for the Bills DL not to get to Stroud, especially with Tunsil having injury concerns.

I’d bet most of our guys in the secondary have good numbers because from halftime of the Cardinals game and up until Baltimore, the DL had been winning their battles up front. They battered Murray in the 2nd half, Tua, and Lawrence. Numbers on the backend are beneficiaries of rushed, pressured, or inaccurate throws. Hamlin’s only interception of his career wasn’t a phenomenal play by him, just an overthrow by Lawrence for example. If the DL doesn’t pressure the passer going forward, the numbers for everyone in the secondary will start to look far worse. As far as Cam Lewis, I don’t think he should be on the field for meaningful snaps, so I’m not surprised his defense leaves a lot to be desired.

Again, no one is asking for him to get into the weeds of the case (or maybe the reporters are, but they already know he’d never go there). But how is not answering what players are permitted to do around the facility protecting them? How is this a collective bargaining issue? Is it a collective bargaining issue to confirm what the suspension is for and leave it at that? He can limit conversation by not getting into the case, or he can make every answer general, as it pertains to anyone in that situation. I don’t see how either of those are wrong, or how the CBA would find him at fault. It’s his prerogative to answer as he wants of course, but count me on the list of those who don’t appreciate a genuine attempt to answer questions. Brandon Beane felt the same and said it’s why he traded for Diggs, but great talent can be found anywhere in the draft. In fact, I bet most of the productive WRs in the NFL now were drafted long after pick 10. Just gotta be lucky.

Yes, he didn’t want to get into the details of the suspension, but I think it’s more than fair to share what suspended players are permitted to do around the facility. I don’t know myself, would’ve learned something. You can give general answers to questions, reporters are asking because they don’t know.

If your three LBs are Williams, Bernard, and Milano, they could absolutely run a 4-3. They’ll still give up rushing yards because all three are light, but each guy can run and cover. You’d see a much better result than what we saw on Sunday. I need Logue to put on about 30 pounds of functional weight and channel his inner Mt. Ted Washington.

Looks like they’re trying to find a way to get him on the field, likely as part of some package.

McD is very cagey with answers he doesn’t need to protect. “Is this suspension in regards to last year’s allegation?” [paraphrased McD] With respect to Von and the suspension I won’t get into the why. “Coach, can Von be at the facility while under suspension?” [paraphrased McD] Again, with respect to the process I won’t get into all of that. How difficult would it be to say “as I understand it, it is in regards to last year, but I won’t go into it much more than that.” or ”When a player is suspended, he is allowed or not allowed to _______.”

Couldn’t agree more in regards to NOT running a 4-3. Both starting linebackers are injured, so at that point you’re talking 3 backups on the field, one of which would be a 3rd stringer given that nickel is our base. I still maintain that you also cannot go into the game against a power rushing attack and expect to get the job done with 6 players in the box. It’s just not going to work. Your options are to stay in the nickel and bring Rapp down as a linebacker, or bring an extra DL in the game and go with a 5-2-4 look. The Bills seemingly were surprised they were getting gashed and went to the seldomly used 4-3 as a result. Just seemed like they didn’t have a solid plan to stop this particular offense.

Most likely because it’s our typical bread and butter and not much else is ran from outside that alignment. Looking at the stills from the game where Ravens were in heavy personnel and we were in the 4-2-5 inviting them to run into a light box, it’s not hard to understand why they ran for 270 yards. The wham block on Oliver in particular is the same rushing attack Jonathan Taylor gashed us on the last time we were blown out. Nicholas Morrow wasn’t the answer, but perhaps 5 DL - with Cam Lewis the one rotating out - could’ve been. Before this game there were rumblings the Ravens were too predictable, that 88% of the time Henry was in the game it was a rush attempt between him or Lamar. We did nothing to counter that.

That is true. When I see our nickel defense on the goal line when the offense is in heavy personnel… no words. I’ve been vocal about how I don’t believe Belichick is the greatest coach of all time, BUT he would do unorthodox things on defense that were opponent specific. It wasn’t ever “this is what we run and this is who we are.” Even Rex Ryan for all his worts would switch up how he played opponents. I don’t understand how a defensive coach doesn’t specifically key on the one thing you have to take away going into the game. Before Dallas, Henry looked old and slow. Thanks to the light boxes he’s faced the past couple games, he’s the talk of the NFL. Hopefully Babich has the freedom to get out of our base 4-2-5 alignment when it warrants it. I want to see innovation on that side of the ball, opponent specific game plans.

Kirk Cousins really impresses me in this area. I think the best manipulator of the pocket was Tom Brady. He always had guys reaching for him, always on the verge of a sack, but it was tough to get him. Before the season I said if Josh could improve on his pre-snap recognition his game would really elevate. Now I say if he could learn how to manipulate the pocket and bail less (thus keeping both sides of the field open), I wouldn’t know how to stop that guy as a DC.

Hamlin really stands out in a negative way watching the animation. Slow to react, extremely poor angle, and slow to chase. A safety with recognition skills would’ve been quick to trigger and met the runner after about a 7-8 yard gain. At that point Henry had serious steam so tackling the Mack truck would’ve been a bigger issue.

Next time we play the Ravens, I’ll love to see what adjustments are made. Hopefully it’ll be to have 5 down lineman: Groot - Carter - Jones - Oliver - Epenesa

What for? And why was Rashee Rice not on the hook for his recklessness? He should also be handed a suspension once he’s cleared to play.

You must have LOVED that QB sneak call on 2nd and inches.

Really was alarming how our DL was getting manhandled. Getting pushed back 3-4 yards right at the snap. Haven’t seen that in awhile. We were physically outmatched by an OL that had been having issues coming into the game.

I wonder if we got an answer to the question of if we had beaten KC and went to BMore last year, would the Bills have won that game as well? I don’t think we would’ve taken down Baltimore AND San Francisco for the Lombardi. We don’t have the “ice in his veins” kicker, or the guy on defense to come through in the clutch for us like KC does.

Was there a receiver wide open deep?

I HATED the fact that Dorian Williams couldn’t learn and take his lumps on the field last year and that lack of athleticism problem surfaced when we trotted AJ Klein out there against the Chiefs in the playoffs. Enough of the Rapp/Hamlin duo. Get your uber athletic 2nd round safety in the starting lineup and let him take his lumps. I’d also love for Elam’s athleticism to get incorporated into the defensive game plan, because right now, Buffalo has to have the slowest secondary in the NFL with regards to regular contributors: Lewis, Ingram, Douglas, Rapp, and Hamlin. Physical bunch, but slow.

Definitely wasn’t Allen’s sharpest game, but I agree - that game plan was all wrong and did him no favors. They didn’t attack, they were trying to rely on YAC from horizontal stuff until they got in a big hole and Allen just started launching it. Would also help if his guys would catch the ball.

It was an 18 pt game at that point if I remember correctly. Needed the 3 there to get it to a 2 score possession.

You got that backwards. Near last in pass defense, tops in rush defense.

Allen first QB the Ravens have played that didn’t throw for at least 235. Bills are the first team that didn’t score at least 25 against that defense and the QBs even include Gardener Minshew. Just felt like they weren’t attacking on offense or defense. On offense everything was horizontal until they got down big and Josh just started chucking it. On defense they played scared of Lamar until they came out with aggression after halftime. The trick play turnover was the back breaker. Never recovered from it.

They had the wrong game plan for both sides of the ball.

Ravens OL has been an issue for them this year, but they’re physically dominating the Bills out there so far.