1st Ammendment NoMas Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Bills Fans. We are 5-3. This is probably the best anyone really expected at this point. In Billsy fashion, we lose games we think we should win (Jets/Bengals) and win games we thought we'd lose (Falcons/Broncos). It's that kind of league and truth is as the saying goes, "Any Given Sunday." With that in mind, we are still set up to make a run at the playoffs. But is this team capable of breaking the drought. YES! and NO! That's the life of a Bills fan. The key now is to make adjustments. that have exposed our weaknesses. OFFENSE >. C+ I said after the Cinci game that I saw their defense do something no one else had, flush Taylor to the middle of the pocket, seal off his outside run and force him to step up. Well that's exactly what the Jets did too and it is becoming a big problem. Dennison (C-) needs to design plays to take advantage of this defense against us and keep it off balance. Tyrod (C+) is not going to beat it with three step drops, quick throws over the middle and well designed screens. Our O-line © isn't great at this either and they can't handle stunts and linebackers moving around and blitzing the gaps. Especially the right side. Ducasse can't pull to save his life. Watching the O-line on the all 22, you can see them at their best when they set the edge, and let Taylor roll out to a side or if they each have a straight ahead assignment and attack on run plays. If we win these one on ones, Shady (sometimes Tolbert (C-) seems to find the holes to run and Tyrod also has choices to run or throw and find a hole in the defense to exploit. TT did a little better of throwing over the middle tonight, but the timing of these play calls was off and we had no deep threat, nor did we take a shot down the field. You can say he didn't have time, but not once did we see him roll out, move the pocket and take a shot. We never moved the pocket and the Jets sealed off the edges, rushed 5 and let Tyrod step into the pocket. Once inside, TT can not see down the field and he becomes timid. He has trouble finding an open lane to throw and that 1-2 second hesitation causes sacks. In all of our losses, this is how defenses played us and if we do not adjust and design plays to expose this weakness, we are in trouble. Luckily, starting week 10, we have Kelvin Benjamin. At 6'5" 240 and a large catch radius, I think he is the ideal receiver to bail out TT. If you listened to Berne's presser, " he said, Kelvin's the guy who is open when he's not open." We desperately need this. Our WR (D) can't get separation, drop, fumble and are severely underperforming. That's the key! Without time, we don't have the receiver's to get separation and TT will not throw it up to just anyone. He trusted Clay (B) and would take shots with him and we are going to get better on offense when he's healthy.The run game without Shady (B) is shady at best. I really wish we had a second RB who was a threat to take it all the way. J-Will and Gilly would rip off those 20-40 yd runs and keep a defense honest. Tolberts big runs are 8-10 yes and he is not a threat to score a 60-70yd TD. Last year Gilly had a few of those and tonight Powell was that second wave for the Jets. When you have a Kamara, Gilly, A Jones, Powell get you 7-10 carries for 60-70 yards, the run game hits that second level. Tolbert and DiMarco are fullbacks. Why we have 2 of those and no game-breaker is beyond me. I thought the Barnyard was going to be that guy, but he's on and off the roster and never has a chance to prove himself. To win down the stretch, we need that guy or we need Tyrod to get us 50+ DEFENSE > B- We missed Gaines (A-) . Wright (D) sucks and I hate seeing him start. Humber ( was back and making tackles, but I missed Milano's (B) big plays. Tonight our D did not force any of the game changing turnovers that we've lived off. Flame me, but we miss DairyAss. (C-) He takes up double teams and makes the middle of the field hard to run against. Go ahead and say he only plays 40% of the snaps. Who cares! Those are first and second downs and when teams get stuffed and are facing 2nd and 8-9, 3rd and 7+, When this happens this is a different D and DairyAss was fresh to keep taking on double teams. (I wish he bought in and lived up to the big contract) The Jets ran all over us on first down and sealed it with 3rd and long runs for first downs. That was embarrassing. NO PASS RUSH! (F) What the hell happened here. We get no pressure of the front 4. There are 10,000 posts about how bad it is so we won't go into depth, but 15 sacks in 8 games is close to a league low. We need to find a way to blitz corners and linebackers without getting exposed by the Brady, Brees, Rivers and even the Cutler's of the world. We don't have the luxury of not making plays when they present themselves. Can't drop surefire picks. Can't whiff on sacks, can't miss tackles. We need to go back to fundamentally sound D and hopefully this is a wakeup call. SPECIAL TEAMS > B+ Just keep doing what we are doing. Our coverage units have been solid. HouseMoney and Schmitty have been solid. We could use a few game changing returns for TD's. We need to see Hyde, Tate take one to the house. 1 or 2 of these in the second half may be the key to a big win. COACHING > B+ We've got to make adjustments on both sides of the ball as outlined. If our coaches learn from this and we get better prepared on the road, then we can look back at this game as a learning experience and the start of growth instead of the BBFS syndrome that brings out the worst in our team. I think we can make the adjustments to make a run, but a 4-4 finish will not get it done. SCHEDULE > (Degree of difficulty 7/10)We need to take it to the teams in our division. Sweep the Fish and split with the Pats and we are 3-1 that makes us 8-4. Saints, Colts at home. Chargers, Chiefs on the road. If we defend our dirt and lose on the road, we're 2-2 and that makes us 10-6. The key to the season will be to get back momentum and beat the Saints. At 6-3, confidence is restored and we have a shot. At 5-4 with a 2 game road trip, things get tougher. We need to solve the road woes. We are now 1-3 on the road. We need to take 2 of 4 in the second half. If we finish 3-5 on the road and go 7-1, 8-0 at home, we should be in at 10-6. However 9-7 with a 4-4 second half may squeeze us in. Patriots, Steelers, Jags, Chiefs should all win divisions. That leaves 2 SPOTS to jump ahead of these teams. Which two have a chance of surpassing us. Dolphins 4-3 look weak on offense. We need to SWEEP THEM! Jets 4-5 are inconsistent. Already have 5 losses. Titans 4-3 are up and down. Texans 3-4 are lost without Watson. Baltimore 4-4 is weak on offense. Bengals 3-4 are weak on offense We lose head to head Broncos 3-4 lost a step, Ozzy is not the answer. We WIN head to head Chargers 3-5 are on life support, but are a strong second half team. Raiders 3-5 are hanging by a thread. We WIN head to head Make the adjustment, trust the process and play good solid football and the Bills break the drought. There are challenges ahead but take the Pats and Saints at home, don't let down against the Phins and steal one in San Diego and we're talking playoffs. WHAT SAY YOU!! Post your grades and outlook for what can be an exciting second half of the season. GO BILLS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan130 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Crazy about the sacks. Only 15 all year and I'm pretty sure 6 or 7 of them came from the Carolina game. So basically only 8 sacks in the other 7 games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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