KOKBILLS

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...

It was 100% the right throw. Even if he felt the pressure from the back he could have taken a step to the right and kept his eyes right then planted and led Samuel into the endzone... Even still there is a spot during his scramble when his has his arm cocked and loaded...Samuel and Shakir are both wide open and he does not pull the trigger... It's at the 11 second mark...

The way the play broke down and how quickly he bailed after his back leg hit and planted it's almost impossible to tell... If Josh holds right there though knowing he wants Samuel, and looks the S off, it's about as easy a 6 as he's ever going to get...

I agree the D is far more concerning year to date... But tonight...even with all the penalties...if we simply don't turn the ball over we win this game, and maybe even win it easily... The Defense did what was necessary. They are a MASH unit out there and we are seeing fast decline of key players that were thought to be relatively solid like Milano, Rapp and Taron... Not to mention Tre who is a liability. Groot and Benford are not playing up to their normal high standard... It's just a mess right now... Even still...The Bills Offense not scoring at least 24 points at home is just not expected. I'm actually shocked the D held them to 23...

I think so... But I also think there is a happy medium that they can't seem to figure out... There are ways to control the clock without doing dumb, risky things. And they do sometimes... But I feel like they have become so formula-matic on Offense and have moved way to far away from a controlled short and intermediate passing game that they are causing their own staling issues. When Diggs was here they would kill teams with the short and intermediate stuff and the chains were always moving. Now it's just too many runs and screens. Watch the rest of the NFL... There's almost always someone open... But the QB play is up and down... We have Josh... The Bills will go full games and not take advantage of obvious weakness in opponents Defenses and literally go right at their strengths... It's cool when it works... But it's risky, and I just don't think it's that smart tbh... But what do I know...

That INT by Josh ended up being the key play in this game...