Paup 1995MVP

The secondary is as much to blame for this loss (including Christian Benford) as anything. They absolutely can not cover any receiver tightly. All 4 of our home games this year, the opposition has had guys running wide open all over the field. Short, middle and deep zones. Other than the pick by Bishop on the "Philly special" by Olave last Sunday, has anyone in the secondary made a play on a ball all year? Why are our safeties always 10 yards away from the receiver catching the ball? There was one deep pass yesterday that Maye threw in the second half I believe, at least 30+ yards down the field. And our safety was still too far behind him to make a play on the ball and the receiver. That McDermott is calling out Coleman, when Tre White and the entire secondary looks pathetic seems really petty. McDermott likes "his guys" and that's it. Coleman has not made a lot of plays since being drafted. But what WR on our roster really has down the field? Its a real problem. But not just a Keon problem. They should have done a better job scouting him, and finding out what makes him tick before drafting him, if the organization was going to constantly make him a scapegoat.

Great post Ethan. I said last night. White needs to go. He could not cover college receivers at this point. And Shaq is still good and plays hard w an edge.

The secondary is terrible. (Even Benford looks lost out there.) No one is contesting any throws. Our corners have not come close to making an interception. Beane has put together a roster thet is nowhere near chsmpionshipnlevel. We seriously could be 1-4 or 2-3 right now. We have a great all time QB. A very good RB and a strong O line. Good TE’s. But our WR’s are bottom 5 in the league collectively. And the defense has no stars or guys who are even very good. I would argue that Shaq Thompson has the most talent on this defense. And the secondary is bottom 5 also. The coaching is not smart enough, creative enough, and too arrogant to tweak or redesign their schemes. This is the 9th year of McBeane. It has grown stale, and relies all on #17. But has shackled him for whatever reason. Some new blood in the organization on the management and coaching side (someone from the outside) would do wonders in giving some much needed new perspective. I think the league has passed McDermott and Beane by over the past few years.

Good point about Poyer. He understands the defensive scheme extremely well. And plays with an edge to his game. He and Hyde were always great leaders on the defense.

One of my boys sent me that analytics post about Sanders and his rush pressures. I must admit I was surprised. Hopefully he will continue to get better and feel more comfortable in his role. And I hope he isn't seriously injured. Because you know the Bills never give out much info on our injury situation.

Agree about White and Rapp. They are terrible. In fact, I think the secondary as a whole is bottom 5 in the league. Bishop is athletic, but is always a step or two late to the party. Is constantly thinking instead of just reacting, (accept for the pick on the goal line against NO last week). Taron looks like he is aging before our eyes, and really doesn't do much in coverage any longer. And Benford has gone from a strong A type lock down corner to a C+ this season. Doesn't look like the same player. I do want to give props to Shaq Thompson. I think talent wise he is the best Bills defensive player right now. And I would put Bernard right there behind him. And a shout out to Dione Walker also. He will be the leader of our D line by next season with Ed Oliver, if Ed can ever get back on the field. I thought Josh looked fine last night. He made one bad throw on the pick. He was running his ass off, and is elusive enough to give every broken down pass play a chance. Our WR's are just lousy except for Shakir. They don't get open. Finally, kudos to Kincaid. He was a beast last night. He needs at least 10 targets per week. And a thumbs down to the coaching staff. (Except for Special teams.) The team plays with no fire and intensity. And their schemes are lousy and predictable on both sides of the ball. That starts with the coaching staff. No way are they smart enough or creative enough to get us to a Super Bowl. Coaching really does matter.

Agree about Arizona. Wow that was awful.. I bet them -7 1/2. It should have been a run away. Thats a joke of a team. That TD when they kicked the ball in their own endzone after the guy fumbled away the interception, was one of the craziest plays you will ever see.

Our WR's are garbage. And our DB's are worse. You can't win consistently with that poor talent at any position in the NFL. And we can barely get any type of pass rush. But to blame this loss on Josh is absurd. The guy has so little to work with on offense. And I think he knows that. He looked exhausted at the end. Kincaid was good tonite. But the receivers do nothing down the field. Any YAC is Shakir catching a swing pass out of the backfield. I don't think this coaching staff is smart enough to make the adjustments needed to make this a Super Bowl contending team. The defense looks confused pre snap every week. They don't know where to line up or who to cover. This should not be happening in week 5. The team seems to have tuned out the coaching staff, and are just going through the motions. Thinking Josh will bale them all out. And he sure as hell tries. But you can only do so much as a one man team.

Diggs was good tonite. But we have noone on the back end who is remotely athletic enough to stay with him. Defense on the whole is slow and are bad tacklers. Thats a bad combination. We drafted six guys on defense this year. And only one is making a difference. Thats a big problem. Lets hope Hairston comes back soon. Even Benford is sleepwalking on the field this year. Looks slow and disinterested. This team is seriously flawed. Gets very little from their outside WR's. And can't stop anyone. Could have the worst secondary in the league, definitely bottom 5. Beane has done a lousy job constructing the team. No playmakers on defense. Embarrasing that Tre is on the team. And only Josh and Cook on offense. Kincaid was finally getting targets. And played well tonite. But we have put a weak team around Josh. And McDermott is not a motivator. The team looked very sloppy in the 1st half. And plays with very little fire. You could see that on Hard Knocks. No edge or energy on the practice field. Everyone just watching Josh throw to receivers against air. Bills have gotten very comfortable as an organization making the playoffs every year. Nice organization with a lot of nice guys including our star QB. Not much edginess and fire in the organization from anyone to get better. I would cut Tre tomorrow. Need to send a message that ***** play is not acceptable. One guy I do like how they play is Sam Franklin. That guy is a demon on special teams. He plays like he wants to hurt someone. Why isn't Jordan Hancock playing? Bishop and Rapp were out of position all night. Give the guy a chance. We need some new blood.

That is quite a statistic. Who is the 3rd player? Lets hope Hairston gets well soon. And is a big contributor after the bye week. It is frustrating about Jackson, and Sanders. Both of these guys look very raw. I watched neither of them in college. But if we are picking them in the top 72 picks as you say, shouldn't they at least be good enough coming out of college to at least hold their own in an NFL regular season game. Not necessarily expecting Jared Verse. But its still football. And these guys are both big dudes. (Jackson and Sanders) So shouldn't some of what got them drafted high up, translate to the NFL game to some degree? Or does Beane and his scouts really have no clue how to evaluate defensive lineman? Because Rousseau and Epenesa while not sucking are definitely not dominant players. And Oliver has been good but certainly not close to very good on a consistent basis. Basham was meh, and Salomon hasn't made much of an impact either.

That's a fair assessment. But what do you think we built the defense to do then? Other than the Jets, teams have been able to move the ball on us. Yes we are 4-0, but we have not played the league's better teams, other than the Ravens. (Even though they are 1-3, they still have a lot of talent-I do think their defense is overrated though.) I will be real interested to see how we match up against the Patriots on defense.

Has his name even been mentioned even one time in any of our 4 games for making a play? We traded up for this guy in the second round from a decent SEC program. Between him and Landon Jackson we are basically getting nothing so far. What the hell is Beane looking at when drafting these guys? At least Boogie Basham got on the field and made a few plays. And everyone wanted him gone too.

It’s my buddy Kirby. We haven’t communicated since our long debate on Garett Wilson. lol. I am in total agreement on your assessment of Ray Davis. I was losing my mind when we ran him into the line on 3rd and 1 against the Saints in the 4th qtr near midfield. And I wish we had your namesake right now to play boundary corner opposite Benford. He actually had some game when he played. More than Tre White has now.

I agree. Ray Davis looks terrible. I see no reason for him to be on the active roster. Let’s give Gore Jr a chance.

I agree Bear. I think Williams is injured. So hoping it’s Milano and Bernard starting at LB, w some help from Shaq Thompson, who I think has looked pretty solid when on the field. And maybe a little Buffalo Joe as well. I would like to see Hancock getting some reps at safety for Rapp. And hopefully Hairston is back by the second half of the season. He and Strong splitting reps opposite Benford would be good to see. Eventually I would like to see a starting secondary of Bishop Hancock Hairston and Benford. And put Strong at slot Corner. Taron Johnson looks washed. And will likely be injured again shortly.

Knox has shown to have a low ceiling and a high floor. I thought Williams would be the same with a little higher ceiling then Knox. Based off of what I have seen this year, his ceiling and his floor seem to lowering. If he is going to continue playing like he did last Sunday trying to corral Spencer Ratler, he should not be active going forward. If Daquan Jones is improved this year, why are we last in the league against the run? I am not saying this tongue in cheek. I seriously would like some answers as to why we can not consistently stop the run. Are our guys too small? Are they too slow? Do they just pretty much suck against the run other than Walker?

Interesting conversation about Landon Jackson. I never watched him in college. But I heard good things when we drafted him. And living in the South I have seen a lot of SEC football over the past 3 decades, so I was pretty excited when we drafted him. That being said, he looked lost in the preseason. And to not dress when you have Epenesa Salomon and Rousseau in front of you-(none are making a lot of plays so far or are super dynamic players) is a bit concerning. I expect Hoecht to replace Salomon. And barring injury, he could sit the entire season. We need more from our D line from someplace. And it needs to start this Sunday against a good ascending Patriots team.

Both deep throws did not look like they were planned plays. It was Josh rolling out to his right under pressure and heaving the ball down the sideline. Coleman certainly wasn’t open on the pick. And the ball to Samuel was tailing to the right, and he collided w the DB as the ball was approaching. It was close to PI on the DB. The entire football field should be used by the offense. Not just the first 10-15 yards past the line of scrimmage. It makes us more difficult to defend. As bad as our defense looks at times. When we play the better teams, our offense will be under more pressure to make plays. So some vertical passing game will be needed.

Knox is ok. He is a good teammate and blocker. Makes a few big catches every year. But doesn’t have real good hands. He can be replaced if he doesn’t take a big pay cut after the season. The love that he gets on this board for being an overall mediocre NFL player is curious to me.

That’s a real short sighted approach. The defense has dominated one game out of 4. The Saints went into Seattle and were curb stomped by the Seahawks 44-13. We were 2 inches from losing the lead in the 4th qtr after Rattler’s pass was a smidge low to Cooks who pretty much waltzed between both our safety’s who had no idea what they were supposed to be doing. That is ***** defense. And for whatever reason-be it talent, scheme, motivation we play ***** defense a lot. Our offense is good because we have a ridiculously great generational QB, a great RB, and an excellent run blocking O line. However, we run an offense that isn’t using the talents of our QB or our receivers to the best of their ability. Throwing only 2 targets to Kincaid is inexcusable. As is throwing no targets to Coleman in the second half Is inexcusable. We have Palmer Shakir Kincaid and Coleman. All are good players and are being underutilized. Yes we are 4-0. And it’s a close team oriented group of guys. But the coaching and playcalling on the whole is average at best. And eventually mediocrity will get you beat.

I think we did well drafting Jackson Hawes. He has been a solid contributor. Dionne Walker looks like he belongs on an NFL field. I haven't heard Sanders name mentioned much. Hairston is injured. Jackson looked bad in the preseason. I was surprised given he was a starter on a mid level SEC team. He should be used to going up against good competition. Strong looked decent when he played. And I think Hancock could be very good if he can stay healthy and is given the opportunity. I think we all would like several of these guys' play to just jump off the screen where you are like right away, this guy is a baller!! Kind of like Sam Cowart. Remember him? He was playing lights out in 2000 when he suffered that terrible knee injury on that wet field in Tampa. But I am not sure that was his rookie year. And we did sign Matt Prater. LOL

I would try and extend McGovern and Edwards for 3 years each through the prime of their careers. My god we paid Rousseau, and he is nowhere near as good at his position as McGovern and Edwards have been at theirs. And yes Kromer must be a hell of an O line coach. The proof is in the results. Sure would be nice if some of our defensive coaches could make a difference like that with their position groups. Whoever our LB coaches have been seem to have done a pretty decent job with the talent we have. But can't say the same for the secondary and D Line coaches based on our performances. I did like John Butler at DB coach. I think him leaving after the 2023 season was a big loss for us.

I appreciate your reasonable optimism about the defense. I am excited to add Hairston and Hoecht to the mix. I think they both will add a good bit. As for Ogunjobi, I hope he is better than Daquan Jones at this point in their careers, and can provide a spark in the middle of the line, if and when he gets a chance. And we are better with Oliver and Milano on the field. I think the big problems is the secondary compared to some of the other top teams. Benford is a good, but not a great cover corner. He holds up real well against the run. But does not have especially twitchy athletic traits that make him elite covering real good receivers. The rest of the secondary seems problematic to me. Tre needs to sit. I personally would cut him because he has no upside left to cover NFL receivers. (I know a lot of people on this message board worship the man. But this is not pre injury Tre White) And I think our starting safeties suck. No team gives more room in the secondary then us. I wish Damar Hamlin could move some. Because from a technique standpoint he is probably the best we have back there. But he can't run. Lets hope Hancock gets a shot sooner than later. He at least looked to have a nice amount of upside when he was on the field in the preseason. (I think he has more potential than Cole Bishop-has Bishop even made one important stop since we drafted him?)

Kansas City has great coaching. And their defense still looks pretty darn solid to me. I sure wish our defense was in the same conversation as theirs. Speaking of defense, I sure like the Lions defense. They have some talent there. Not sure what's wrong with our defense. Is it the lack of talent, or the scheme is just too difficult to play where guys can just fly around and make plays? Maybe both? Because the way the Lions went at the Ravens last night was completely different then the way we played the Ravens.

Those grades are interesting. I find it painful watching Tre try and play CB in the NFL at this point in his career. He just doesn't have the movement skills or foot speed to keep up with NFL receivers any longer. And I wish the coaches would figure that out, this week. Perfect game coming up against the Saints to start Strong opposite Benford. And Taron really doesn't do much in pass coverage anymore. He is just another injury waiting to happen. The guy plays hard, and his body is beat up at this point. Overall we have a lot of mediocre athletic guys on the defense. And the defense seems to be very difficult for a lot of guys to understand. But I am excited for Hairston and Hecht to come back. Both are super athletic, and will hopefully give us some juice against the better offenses we play.