KOKBILLS

GO BILLS!!!

However anecdotal, further proof of this would be the long TD pass to Douglas today... The Pats sent 2... 2 WR's into routes and had a check down on that play today. The Saints had Douglas bracketed. But watch Maye, they dialed that one up special. And good grief that Saints Safety helped them... But there are 4 Saints Defenders covering no one on that play... One of the TD's to Boutte there are 3 Saints Defenders in the vicinity... They are just brutally attacking secondaries, they have no run game at all, and none of their receivers is Ja'Marr Chase... I mean... Come on folks... We have Josh Allen... This is a problem...

This is exactly correct and what the Bills want to do... 100%... However, all that being said, I don't think the Bills want to stall out on these drives and put themselves into longer down and distance. Penalties aside which always seem to rear their ugly head from time to time. At the risk of beating a dead horse... The Bills have become one of the best run offenses in the NFL... They have earned that... So... every time they get a team into base defense...that is earned. They Drafted Dalton Kincaid...at least I imagine...for exactly this...mismatches... So when a team like NE presents the Bills with base defense 14 times in a game, they are basically saying...we are going to give you a mismatch...probably a LB on a TE... we dare you to take it... And the Bills instead ran into that base D 12 out of the 14 times. The 2 times they passed it... 2-2...43 yards... These passes vs base D are generally not going to be field stretching passes to WR's, because most of those times the Bills will be in 12 or 13... They will be chain movers mostly... Probably designed... Watch around the NFL you will see this constantly... In fact NE is very efficient at this with their TE's, especially Henry... I think if they can just bump that % in a game like Sunday night's from 14% to 50%, you're going to see a HUGE improvement. Teams will be on their heels more in base D, and probably more reluctant to use it, which means the run game is even more effective... In theory of course...

Poona Ford and Tim Settle have played every game but one (Settle missed a game last year) since they left and have combined for 83 total tackles, 9 sacks and 20 run stuffs as rotational DT's...

I'm not sure we can get anything exactly right on that side of the ball... Benford was a great pick as a 6th rounder... But... That's a 6th round pick... If we were really that smart we would have taken him a lot sooner... And if our 1st round pick that year is even an average CB we are light years ahead of where we are now... In the 1st-3rd rounds of the 2022-2024 Drafts our best pick on Defense (so far because we don't really know anything about the rookies yet) is Bernard who is definitely a good player as a leader and where turnovers are concerned, but also has size limitations that show up often at MLB. Outside of Bernard, McBean added Elam who completely busted out, Dorian Williams who is massively inconsistent, Cole Bishop who looks to be improving at least...but let's be honest...he is no where near what the Bills thought he would be at this point. Then there is DeWayne Carter... And that's it... Since 2022 after the 3rd Round they added Benford...great! Alex Austin who they let get away... Could have really used him as depth these past couple years. Javon Solomon who seems to be just an undersized special teamer. And lastly Edefuan Ulofoshio who they cut. So during the 3 KEY off seasons when logic was screaming to McBeane that their top tier guys on D were going to age out, the Bills basically added the three B's, Benford, Bernard, and Bishop in the Draft before 2025, and a couple JAG's... That's it... And that is a REALLY tough way to keep up unless you are knocking it out of the park with UFA deals. And they're not...

Man I have been a Jeffrey Simmons fan...on the field... since before the Bills decided to take another DT 10 spots before he was Drafted... But I totally understand why the Bills wanted no part of that risk...To his credit he's stayed out of trouble in the NFL. He has missed a total of 14 games due to injury. But when that dude is healthy is is an absolute beast...

Looks good... Even in those short drills good grief he is so much quicker than anything we are fielding in the secondary on Sunday's... It's glaringly obvious...

I'm not panicking at all.. But I do not think they are THAT good right now... Maybe they will be by the end of the year... But I think any of the top 7-10 teams in the AFC...if healthy... can give the Bills a tough game currently... Yes, if the Bills play their best game and are on point they will win those games...Probably by a TD or more. But outside of the Jets game they have not shown that kind of 4 quarter consistency yet. I can't remember the last time this Defense was remotely healthy, and there are massive question marks on that side. Like... There are legit doom scenarios on the Defensive side of the ball... It could get worse. I don't think that will happen... But it's not outside the realm of possibility. And while I believe the Bills Offense should be the best Offense in the NFL, I have zero confidence in Brady's ability to consistently call games to take advantage of the opposing Defense's weaknesses... I think a lot of feedback is the reality that right now...this does not look like a team that can win a SB... It looks like a team that can definitely win a SB if this, this, this, and this happens... But we have not seen all the this' happen yet... And the injuries are clouding things a bit... It's not panic... But it's uncertainty...

Incredible... We may be well into the 2nd half of the season before we see any consistent meaningful contribution from our top 3 Draft picks... And even that may be wishful thinking...

Or... As Joe Marino is reporting...The Bills got NE into base D on 14 downs Sunday night...14...and they passed it 2 times... 2 times out of 14!!!! And the worse part was they got 43 yards on those 2 passes!!!! That's what Joe is saying... Not saying I can confirm it. But if that's true I would be careful before pinning anything on Josh... Maybe Josh checked into some of those runs? But if we ran that much into base D, and that was the calls, he was being put into those awkward positions far too often IMHO... And I don't see how running 12 out of 14 times into Base Defense is "leaning into your MVP"... That bullspit... Sure they HAD to lean into him when they got behind the chains because of penalties and shorter run plays... But the D is literally giving Brady what he wants and he's not taking it... And that's not Josh's fault... Not to say that Josh was perfect either... Just saying...

Revisiting this point this after I watched The Bills Squad last night because Joe Marino had a stat that just blew me away from Sunday night's game... Now... This was what Marino said. I cannot speak to the validity and I have not confirmed anything... But... He said the Bills got NE into Base Defense on 14 downs Sunday night...14...and they passed it 2 times...2 times out of those 14 downs!!!! And the worse part of it is they got 43 yards on those 2 passes!!!! Take it for what you will... But I think what some of us have been saying all along about mixing in more passing vs stacked boxes, especially in the middle of the field, is the final key to this whole thing. Sometimes it feels like Brady and the Bills want to be the neighborhood bully and force a game of checkers out there when the kids want to play chess. It works when the kids in the neighborhood are too weak to stand up to you. But when a tougher kid shows up and forces us to play chess...It gets dicey...

Oh I agree there... He definitely wants long drives... I just think...if that's what he's thinking... I don't know... I can't even go there because my head is going to explode...

I totally agree and I've been saying the same for over a year now... I call it stubbornness...

I'm not certain where the confusion is coming in here... Passing more against stacked boxes is not advocating for over the top 2 play drives. It's taking advantage of what they have earned. They have earned the matchups, especially in the slot where they can get Kincaid or a WR on a LB... It's a tweak to get keep the chains moving and to keep teams off balance and fits in perfectly with what they already do. They just don't do it enough. Too many 1st and 2nd down runs against stacked boxes when you can take the mismatch for an easy 7-10 yard gain... It disallows teams to load up and guess right. Like I said... It's a tweak...Not a philosophy change...

Joe also mentioned the fact that the Bills are getting exactly what they want a lot...stacked boxes, single high...but all to often just running right into them... They have to take advantage of the mismatches they are creating... I've been saying this for two years now... They are REAL stubborn with the run game... They are a great running team no question... But they also get stubborn with it and don't take advantage of what opposing Defenses are giving them.

On this subject... And it's not a huge thing... But it is a thing... While we continue to try to find answers at DT... Two players we let walk for nothing...Both basically played 2024 for around the vet minimum...Both DT's... Poona Ford and Tim Settle have played every game but one (Ford missed a game this year) since they left and combined for 83 total tackles, 9 sacks and 20 run stuffs as rotational DT's... We let them walk... I get they may not have been great here... Maybe a scheme thing... But they seem to be OK NFL DT's...

It's 100% McD... And who we pick on Defense in the Draft is mostly McD as well... IMHO of course...

Well... I won that crudest, most drunken, and trashiest slut competition... So that's why it had to change...

I'd love to snag Olave... Really, really liked him coming out... The thing about CB is...I agree about all they did...But they are in the spot they are in now regardless... Looks like Strong will be gone for a while, maybe the season... Who knows with Max? And even if he comes back 100% physically it's going to take several weeks to get him up to speed. That's after he gets fully healthy. Tre is a liability out there. If he's our CB4 then OK... But that guy is going to have a target on his back every time he's out there. Outside of Ingram and Dane there is nothing internally... I think they have to make some sort of move at CB... Even if it's a depth guy with experience. If they don't do anything I'll just assume they expect Max to be back after the bye and Strong to play sometime by the end of the year.

Woah... The statistical probability of that is .988%...

I know Greg Newsome has been mentioned as a trade possibility in Cleveland.

Totally fair

Agreed... Josh's back foot hits and he's gone... It's all but simultaneous...

I hear you believe me... But I was just really surprised at how open they were... Like... They were open... And he seems to be staring at least one of them down arm cocked... Just surprised me more than anything. I just assumed live there were no options and everyone was covered up tight...