BillsFan3434 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Other than our defense letting them go down the field on us on multiple occasions (which is a legitimate concern) I think our offense we shouldn't take too much away from this game. EJ was out and Kolb went out with concussion symptoms after that I'm sure Marrone told Tuel to not go out there and get himself hurt, just finish the game. Which is why you didn't see a lot of throws down the field and a lot of 2 runs 3 and outs which is why the defense got put in a tough spot all game. I think the only thing we should take away from this game is the lack of pressure (which could have been by design) and the lack of run defense. Other than the special teams played well, CJ played well, our starting O went down the field and responded to Washington's TD drive. I wouldn't focus too much on the offenses 3 and outs. Does my argument seem valid? Anyone have any thoughts? I didn't think Marrone wanted to come out of the game with 0 quarterbacks and didn't want his only quarterback going out there in preseason looking down the field 10-20-30 years while he gets blasted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 It is preseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Other than our defense letting them go down the field on us on multiple occasions (which is a legitimate concern) I think our offense we shouldn't take too much away from this game. EJ was out and Kolb went out with concussion symptoms after that I'm sure Marrone told Tuel to not go out there and get himself hurt, just finish the game. Which is why you didn't see a lot of throws down the field and a lot of 2 runs 3 and outs which is why the defense got put in a tough spot all game. I think the only thing we should take away from this game is the lack of pressure (which could have been by design) and the lack of run defense. Other than the special teams played well, CJ played well, our starting O went down the field and responded to Washington's TD drive. I wouldn't focus too much on the offenses 3 and outs. Does my argument seem valid? Anyone have any thoughts? I didn't think Marrone wanted to come out of the game with 0 quarterbacks and didn't want his only quarterback going out there in preseason looking down the field 10-20-30 years while he gets blasted. True there is overreaction. Just like there was in the other direction after the first 2 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swnybillsfan Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 i agree that we shouldn't jump off the ledge after this preseason game. however, i also believe that this game has shown a lot of areas that the bills need to work on and improve quite a bit. so if you can try to encompass the entire preseason as a whole, i think that we have seen as many or more reasons for optimism as those of concern. and i think the season will be one of both growth and improvement as well as growing pains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Other than... How was the play Mrs Lincoln? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt in KC Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I agree with you, BF3434. I think many Bills fans have PTSD though, and will need awhile to calm down. The CBs playing way off must have been by design - - it was a big change from what we've seen recently. Couple that with a lack of blitzing and players returning to their first game and some bad bounces, and we looked pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAWNDO Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Yesterday proved what we all knew, the Bills are lacking in depth some positions. If the team looks better in Week 17 then it did in Week 1, that would be considered a success and something to build on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 It was disheartening to see the 1st string defense perform so poorly, whether they gameplanned or not. That is the biggest disappointment I took from yesterday. I don't really care too much what happened on offense because "our guy" wasn't out there. Kolb led a TD drive and then Mr. Glass broke again. Tuel is overmatched, and it was obvious. I view Thursday's game vs. Detroit as a glorified practice, and hopefully Marrone has already made 95% of his roster decisions so he won't put key guys out there for any extended period of time. I'm not "over" reacting to the game, but it wasn't any fun and I have to admit the "oh crap, we might suck again" feeling entered my consciousness shortly before halftime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I had to process this game, and watch the 1st half again this morning, before revisiting the board. Overall, I am sure fans overreact in these situations with every team. With Bills fans, it is worse because we have been through so many down years, just when we thought everything was looking up (maybe), it was like it landed with a big thud. In my mind, no team is every as good or bad as they look in the preseason. The coaches and players want to win the game, but more importantly the 3rd game is what determines the roster cuts. We saw a lot of guys in there who we won't see in the reg season, and a lot of starters who were not Also, there was definitiely a different approach on defense - for whatever reason. I am OK with this, they have their reasons. That, along with missed opportunities and all around bad tackling. A few bright spots: Our starting QB wasn't in - we hope upon hope he makes a difference when he does. 2) Robert Woods is a baller and solild #2 WR. 3) Stevie looked good for his first game back, although a bit rusty as we saw with the fumble 4) Spiller is a stud, 5) Kicking game and kick return game - thumbs up. I won't go into the ugly parts of the game, I am sure everyone has already hashed and re-hashed that stuff. The worst part of the game for me wasn't the score, but the injury to Gilmore. I just can't spin that any way but bad. Really hoping for the best but worry our luck ran out with EJ and CJ's "injuries" ending up minor. I hope his is too though!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just in Atlanta Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I agree. It was just a dramatic difference between the first two weeks, when we looked explosive on both sides. Plus I think the Skins are going to be one of the best teams in football. Damn, they look solid, and appear to have depth, and I don't think I'm saying that just because our team looked so bad. Gotta keep negative--and positive--reactions in check here. Right now this team is all potential. Up and down, great and comically bad are what we should expect from this young team this season. Also keep in mind Pettine's Jets were pretty bad against the run, even though the teams generally finished in the top 8 Ds each year. So with our lack of LBs, I would not expect a shutdown D against the run this year. Plus, we're lacking at depth at CB. The good news, I find it incredibly hard to believe our D won't be substantially better than last year's. As for O, well, I frankly expect an exciting show. Ups and downs for sure. But we have the best running back duo in the NFL IMO, a bevy of talented WRs, and a capable offensive line that should be sufficient at pass blocking assuming we have a mobile QB (Manuel). If we have Kolb, we could be talking dangerous territory cause this guy ain't mobile, is injury prone, and has happy feet. Basically, as fans, we should approach this as having a team that go from lighting it up to crashing and burning in one quarter. Just enjoy the ride. It should at the very least be better than last year with Fitz and Wanny out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellyto83TD Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Same over reaction that has been the last 13 years... Oh wait we were right! I don't know how else to put it, we got our asses kicked starter to starter and it wasn't really close. Their THIRD STRING QB looked like Tom Brady / Joe Montana on us. Still can't stop the run, still can't cover the pass, still can't get pressure against good teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 The first team D has played poorly throughout the preseason. We'll see if that changes overnight once the regular season gets here, but it was hardly limited to yesterday's game. The first team O playing against first team Ds hasn't fared much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 For whatever reason, the Bills went with a very vanilla defense. I have no idea why. They aren't going to trick opponents into thinking Pettine has changed his approach. Maybe he was hoping to knock some swagger or complacency off of the players. It was odd though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 (edited) I think, too, this whole notion that the 3rd pre-season game, somehow has more significance than others is complete BS. As much as anything, coaches are trying to get through these games without costly injuries. It didn't work for the Billsyesterday. I originally only kind of half-watched the game, during my fantasy football draft, but watched a little closer later on last night. True, there wasn't a lot of good to take away from this game..but there was some, for some individual players Kiko Alonso, Macrell Dareus and Jerry Hughes (again) kind of stood out to me. Edited August 25, 2013 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatloaf Sandwich Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 If I don't overreact then I will end up disappointed more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Are we really overreacting? They are a 5-11 team with an injury or two away from 2-14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wing Man Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Any defense is going to have a tough time being on the field for 81 plays, it's going to have a bad day. The offense just couldn't stay on the field and it shows just how good Manuel is in orchestrating Ben's offense. Kolb is a disappointment in the sense that he hasn't been able to keep up with Manuel, concussions happen to everyone in the game. If Manuel is on the field, more than likely we have the 81 plays and they're scrambling. It's going to be tougher judging some of these players if Tuel has to play the majority of the last pre-season game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsguy Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Pre-season is definitely the season to overreact. The same people who were praising the Bills the first two weeks are now re-considering. Here is what we know. The Bills finished 6-10 last year. They are still a 6-10 team until proven otherwise. They will have a new unproven QB in Buffalo. They will have a new rookie head coach and a new rookie offensive coordinator, They will have a new defensive system to be learned by players who were terrible last year. They have major problems in the secondary. They have a woeful group of linebackers. They have a seriously under performing defensive line. They have many other defiencies too. This team has way too many question marks to seriously consider themselves playoff contenders. Right now this year looks like another transition year. Year number 14 without the playoffs is highly likely. However, if every one of the question marks works out for the best, they may win 8 games. The chances of everything going perfectly is about 3%. There are some signs of light at the end of the tunnel for sure, but not yet sorry to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 EJ was out and Kolb went out with concussion symptoms after that I'm sure Marrone told Tuel to not go out there and get himself hurt, just finish the game. Which is why you didn't see a lot of throws down the field and a lot of 2 runs 3 and outs which is why the defense got put in a tough spot all game. Then why would they stay with the hurry up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 For whatever reason, the Bills went with a very vanilla defense. I have no idea why. They aren't going to trick opponents into thinking Pettine has changed his approach. Maybe he was hoping to knock some swagger or complacency off of the players. It was odd though. I thought I saw a lot of blitzes out of the Bills D yesterday which I would not call vanilla. I could be wrong though. What would have made it not vanilla to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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