Good Night / Bad Night - Pre-season Game 1

[SinatraSinger]

27 minutes ago, Dr. K said:

Based only on this game, I agree with you--and I am someone who has been skeptical about this team's chances this season. They looked well coached and both Peterman and AJ looked like NFL QBs.  Allen looked better than his stat line would indicate. If the team can continue to grow they will do better than expected.

 

I was overall impressed with the offense, and troubled about the defense. But it's early yet. 

 

My feelings as well, which confused me because all the talk so far has been about how great our defense is going to be.

[Realist]

I thought for the most part they looked pretty good last night. Biggest disappointments for me were the second half defense and second half OL. I see several people not pleased with Allen's performance, maybe it's just me, but I thought he did pretty well for what he had to work with. Definitely better than I thought he would do in his debut performance. If I didn't watch the game and only looked at his stat line this morning I would have been disappointed, but I saw a lot of good things in him last night. I'm not sure how much time he's going to get with the firsts, if any, in the preseason, but it sure would be nice to see what he could do with them.

[TPS]

27 minutes ago, eball said:

 

Playing a base D they allowed one scoring drive in the 1st half.  This troubles you?  They also had two potential INTs they missed out on.

For me, no concerns about the starting D, but big concerns about CB depth. Davis and White need to stay healthy...

[Tyrod's friend]

felt that Lawson had a good game; moved upfield nicely, played to his strengths well. 

So many reports indicated to me that he was on death's door this pre-season. Didn't look that way to me.

[MILFHUNTER#518]

1 hour ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

The BIG question..........

 

How did Nate perform when under pressure?   That was a big knock on him last preseason.   

 

Was there a lot of pressure or did his quick release avoid avoid the pressure? 

 

 

Nathan was arguably the best QB on the field last night. I couldn't believe it either.

 

A.J. took a sack first snap, attributed mostly to the second string O-Line having jitters, but both he and his O-Line recovered quite nicely. If you take him recovering from that into consideration, an argument could be made that he was tied with Nathan in regards to performance, as overcoming adversity is huge in QB evaluations.

 

Josh had a tough night as he was with the third string, and the drop off in depth from second to third string on our roster was on full display last night. Nothing another year of development and another good draft wont fix though. All that being said, I would LOVE to see how Josh performs with better talent around him... 

[Kelly the Dog]

2 hours ago, CLTbills said:

To go along with your Daboll point and the personnel combinations. It was great to see, in the first preseason game, the guys execute. They were changing personnel groupings, at some points, EVERY DOWN. And there didn't seem to be much confusion on the players' part. They seemed to know what they were doing. Didn't see any timeouts called because guys didn't know where they were supposed to be. Even when the 3rd string guys were on the field.

Kudos to the coaching staff for having them prepared.

 

All in all, I am as encouraged as I could possibly be after the first preseason game. I know it's only preseason. But I live in Charlotte and only get the Panthers broadcast... and even their broadcast team was talking about how one-sided the first half of that game was in favor of the Bills.

I thought Robert Foster looked great also. He had 2 steps on the Panthers DB's more than once... that one that Allen overthrew by a step sticks out in my mind. The dude can certainly run! Some of my Panthers-fan friends have been talking about him this morning and how good he looked as well.

He was awful. He didn’t track the ball well on the bomb you mentioned he could have caught. Way worse there was another bomb to him that was overthrown by three yards except he stopped running for it then saw it was coming and started again. It likely would have hit him in stride. Coaches are going to kill him in the tape sessions. And I was really pulling for the guy. 

 

He did get open though. 

[JerseyBills]

Streater was very impressive imo. I think he's going to make the 53 and have a big impact..

 

Also a good night for Shady McCoys season. He's going to have a career year in this scheme, where teams can't consistently out 8-9 in the box. 

 

[thebandit27]

1 hour ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

I think he's our future starting LG.  If we can solidify the RT spot, our line would be young with promise.  Dawkins, Teller, Miller and Groy are all young.

 

Unless he decides to stay here on the cheap, Miller will most likely leave in FA next offseason.

 

The only OLmen under contract for 2019 (among those that have potential to start or play significant minutes) are Dawkins, Teller, Ducasse, and Bodine.  It's very likely that the team will have between 60 and 80% turnover on the starting OL from 2018 to 2019.

[Wayne Cubed]

2 hours ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

The BIG question..........

 

How did Nate perform when under pressure?   That was a big knock on him last preseason.   

 

Was there a lot of pressure or did his quick release avoid avoid the pressure? 

 

 

 

To be fair to Peterman he looked good. But, to me, he was doing the things we know he can do well. He got the ball out quick and on time. What he didn't do was show he can do the things he couldn't last year, stretch the field and make those longer throw. I thought McCarron had no problem showing he can do that.

 

I also thought he wasn't putting a lot of mustard on his throws, which in preseason is fine as there is more space and separation. Guys will be able to jump those balls when the regular season starts. To me he looks a lot like he did last preseason.

[John from Riverside]

Brandon Reilly had what....2 targets?  One of which was a throw behind him and the other a huge play

 

Does he really deserve to be in the "did not play well" group?

[Rubes]

Great thread!

[Lurker]

1 hour ago, SinatraSinger said:

 

My feelings as well, which confused me because all the talk so far has been about how great our defense is going to be.

 

Relax.  The D didn't blitz at all last night and a number of starters on the D-line didn't play.   McD runs a pressure defense and last night was the plainest of vanilla...

[cage]

2 hours ago, JP's Voice said:

 

 

I agree. No advantage to cutting/trading Shaq. I think the concern for Trent Murphy staying on the field is real. The guy still has talent and seems to be doing better as of late. We need depth on the DE... good depth. Unless we can trade him for some depth on the OL, I'm holding on.

 

 

I agree on Murphy... groin injuries can linger and get very frustrating

[Rubes]

3 hours ago, eball said:

Another thought as I was driving in to work -- I'm sure we'll see some national media who didn't watch the game point to Allen's 9/19 performance as a means of confirming his "accuracy issues in college" are still present.  Which is hilarious, because I only saw one ball that wasn't where it needed to be.  He also showed good touch on the short ones -- something he has been routinely criticized for.

 

 

And on cue.... https://www.sbnation.com/2018/8/10/17673128/nfl-preseason-2018-week-1-winners-losers-browns-qbs-baker-mayfield

[NewEraBills]

3 hours ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

The BIG question..........

 

How did Nate perform when under pressure?   That was a big knock on him last preseason.   

 

Was there a lot of pressure or did his quick release avoid avoid the pressure? 

 

 

 

Not a lot of pressure from Carolina last night, that's why I'm not buying the Peterman ticket just yet.  While he looked good on his first two drives, I'm more of the mind that when teams game plan and show a lot of press and bring pressure, Peterman is not going to look like that.

 

I'm interested to see which 6 WRs we keep.  

Benjamin is a lock but after that, I wonder how it will shake out.

 

Boy was Conner McDermott bad. Boetger and Teller held up really well.  I think if you give them a year in an NFL weight and conditioning program you might have some special guys on the interior.

 

I really liked the play designs by Daboll.  I think Shady is going to eat on that shotgun power run.

 

As for the linebackers, this game was pretty much base for them and they were just "there".  Not a concern as you never know what coaches will do with them once the season starts.  They may have them on the move a lot in game 1 to hide some of the hesitation and weaknesses.  The good thing about our team is we have the secondary to allow that.

[GunnerBill]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

@GunnerBill what did you think of Tremaine Edmunds’ night? I haven’t seen the game yet because the replay on NFLN isn’t until 10am but I saw others say he had tough debut...

 

 

Took a bad angle on the early catch and run - and got lost a couple of times in traffic in the run game. But it was okay. I'd say 6/10 room to improve but by no means a disaster.

[Doc]

2 minutes ago, NewEraBills said:

 

Not a lot of pressure from Carolina last night, that's why I'm not buying the Peterman ticket just yet.  While he looked good on his first two drives, I'm more of the mind that when teams game plan and show a lot of press and bring pressure, Peterman is not going to look like that.

 

I'm interested to see which 6 WRs we keep.  

Benjamin is a lock but after that, I wonder how it will shake out.

 

Boy was Conner McDermott bad. Boetger and Teller held up really well.  I think if you give them a year in an NFL weight and conditioning program you might have some special guys on the interior.

 

I really liked the play designs by Daboll.  I think Shady is going to eat on that shotgun power run.

 

As for the linebackers, this game was pretty much base for them and they were just "there".  Not a concern as you never know what coaches will do with them once the season starts.  They may have them on the move a lot in game 1 to hide some of the hesitation and weaknesses.  The good thing about our team is we have the secondary to allow that.

 

Where did Boettger line up?

[NewEraBills]

2 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Where did Boettger line up?

RG

[Dr. K]

22 minutes ago, Rubes said:

 

And on cue.... https://www.sbnation.com/2018/8/10/17673128/nfl-preseason-2018-week-1-winners-losers-browns-qbs-baker-mayfield

Let them laugh. It's so patently wrong that they aren't worth listening to. 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Wayne Cubed said:

 

To be fair to Peterman he looked good. But, to me, he was doing the things we know he can do well. He got the ball out quick and on time. What he didn't do was show he can do the things he couldn't last year, stretch the field and make those longer throw. I thought McCarron had no problem showing he can do that.

 

I also thought he wasn't putting a lot of mustard on his throws, which in preseason is fine as there is more space and separation. Guys will be able to jump those balls when the regular season starts. To me he looks a lot like he did last preseason.

 

And what we know about Peterman is he makes good pre-snap reads and gets the ball out quick.  The problem is he doesn't react to what the D does post-snap. Teams in pre-season are playing vanilla 4-3, cover 2 shell and not disguising much and so it does play to his strengths.  That is not to take anything away from him last night. He sucked even in pre-season last year so this was a step forward in that regard.

[Misterbluesky]

1 hour ago, TPS said:

For me, no concerns about the starting D, but big concerns about CB depth. Davis and White need to stay healthy...

Davis had a bad game..played off the WR's...a huge missed tackle and out of place on three panther outside runs.

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, NewEraBills said:

RG

 

A bit of RG and some snaps at RT. He did really well. Was the best player on the 2nd team OL in my opinion. 

[Freddie's Dead]

RayRay deserved his own Good Night.  Bad Night for Corey Coleman, who fell behind through no fault of his own.  The Terrible Night goes to Robert Foster, who showed no heart in failing to lay out for two potential TD passes and giving up on a go route.  Second coming of Da'Rick.

[SinatraSinger]

31 minutes ago, Lurker said:

 

Relax.  The D didn't blitz at all last night and a number of starters on the D-line didn't play.   McD runs a pressure defense and last night was the plainest of vanilla...

 

Lurker, if you knew me you would know that I am very relaxed.  I understand what you are saying but a team that lives by the blitz will also die by it.  The players should still be able to play in a base defense. I saw many holes for the Carolina RB's.  I saw many receivers running wide open.  If your not blitzing then you should have more people in coverage, where were they?  But most of all I saw a lot of missed tackles both in the first half as well as the second.  I don't care what kind of D you are running they should not be missing tackles.

[Lurker]

2 minutes ago, SinatraSinger said:

 

Lurker, if you knew me you would know that I am very relaxed.  I understand what you are saying but a team that lives by the blitz will also die by it.  The players should still be able to play in a base defense. I saw many holes for the Carolina RB's.  I saw many receivers running wide open.  If your not blitzing then you should have more people in coverage, where were they?  But most of all I saw a lot of missed tackles both in the first half as well as the second.  I don't care what kind of D you are running they should not be missing tackles.

 

I suspect that wasn't even a base defense they were running last night, which may account for people being out of position and missing assignments.   They played catch rather than attack, and you're right, too many missed tackles was a problem.     But I know they won't come out againt the Ravens like that and just hope the starting 11 can stay healthy for another month...

[Jay_Fixit]

4 hours ago, eball said:

Another thought as I was driving in to work -- I'm sure we'll see some national media who didn't watch the game point to Allen's 9/19 performance as a means of confirming his "accuracy issues in college" are still present.  Which is hilarious, because I only saw one ball that wasn't where it needed to be.  He also showed good touch on the short ones -- something he has been routinely criticized for.

 

Absolutely. I’m looking at all sites trying to find the idiot that says it.

 

Allen looked lethal. I’m looking forward to using him in Madden today, however it’s going to be tough to play with my GIANT Bills boner.

[RyanC883]

38 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

RayRay deserved his own Good Night.  Bad Night for Corey Coleman, who fell behind through no fault of his own.  The Terrible Night goes to Robert Foster, who showed no heart in failing to lay out for two potential TD passes and giving up on a go route.  Second coming of Da'Rick.

 

why you don't lay out for a catch, esp. a potential TD when you are on the bubble and an UDFA is mind-boggling.   I'm sure he is hearing it from Daboll today.  Benjamin showed up every play.  If he's healthy, pro-bowl year for him.  He's got the talent and the heart.  

[Elite Poster]

The young wideouts were BRUTAL! Our hope is 5 foot 9 Ray-Ray - wish Proehl could step up. Reilly dropped a pass as well and hasn't had great practices. Foster....don't even get me started. Zay hopefully works back and brings something to the table. Happy with KB and Holmes. Wish we saw more of Kerley/Streater. Ray Ray put on a show with Allen. 

 

This group needs to get better at identifying good, young wideouts. The fastest way to improve that group is through the draft and they've dropped the ball so far. 

[Wayne Cubed]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

And what we know about Peterman is he makes good pre-snap reads and gets the ball out quick.  The problem is he doesn't react to what the D does post-snap. Teams in pre-season are playing vanilla 4-3, cover 2 shell and not disguising much and so it does play to his strengths.  That is not to take anything away from him last night. He sucked even in pre-season last year so this was a step forward in that regard.

 

Yea I thought that as well and he didn't really have a whole lot of pressure, and that will change. I don't recall him sucking that badly in preseason, I thought I remembered him being pretty steady away and the ball was coming out quick and to a target, pretty much what we saw last night. That's why there were calls for him to start but maybe I'm misremembering?

[Freddie's Dead]

20 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

 

why you don't lay out for a catch, esp. a potential TD when you are on the bubble and an UDFA is mind-boggling.   I'm sure he is hearing it from Daboll today.  Benjamin showed up every play.  If he's healthy, pro-bowl year for him.  He's got the talent and the heart.  

Maybe Foster can show it next week, we could use the speed.  But I doubt it.

[Fadingpain]

I really hope they handle the QB situation differently in Game #2. 

 

We all want to see Allen with the First OL protecting him and some better throwing targets.

 

The coaching staff has always said they have a plan and are approaching Allen's development methodically.

 

Let's hope that calls for stepping it up, and soon.

 

 

[TPS]

1 hour ago, Misterbluesky said:

Davis had a bad game..played off the WR's...a huge missed tackle and out of place on three panther outside runs.

Yes, but I’m not worried about him yet. Now, if it continues...

[GunnerBill]

29 minutes ago, Wayne Cubed said:

 

Yea I thought that as well and he didn't really have a whole lot of pressure, and that will change. I don't recall him sucking that badly in preseason, I thought I remembered him being pretty steady away and the ball was coming out quick and to a target, pretty much what we saw last night. That's why there were calls for him to start but maybe I'm misremembering?

 

He completed no better than 50% of his passes in pre-season last year. 

[Wayne Cubed]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He completed no better than 50% of his passes in pre-season last year. 

 

I do remember that now that you mention it ?

[thurst44]

6 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

My gosh, there's a chance Lawson and Washington get cut this offseason - what a final draft for Doug Whaley.

 

As for the receivers, if Corey Coleman can't seize this opportunity, he has no future in the NFL.

Maybe I missed something, but what in the world did Shaq do wrong. He was disruptive on three of the first five plays and looked good whenever I saw him the rest of the game.

5 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Why cut Lawson? He was terrific. Curious he played with the #2's as well. John Murphy floated the idea he was being showcased like Sammy Watkins was last year. Maybe that's what Astro was alluding to?

Yeah, it did sort of look similar to the way they used Watkins in pre-season debut last year. However, unless he can get a 3rd or higher, or package him to get Mack, I don't get it. Murphy is coming off an injury and thrived as part of a three-DE rotation. 

[Misterbluesky]

6 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

My gosh, there's a chance Lawson and Washington get cut this offseason - what a final draft for Doug Whaley.

 

As for the receivers, if Corey Coleman can't seize this opportunity, he has no future in the NFL.

Lawson looked pretty darn healthy out there last night...and Murphy is already banged up.He isn't going anywhere.

[SoCoBills]

3 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

He was awful. He didn’t track the ball well on the bomb you mentioned he could have caught. Way worse there was another bomb to him that was overthrown by three yards except he stopped running for it then saw it was coming and started again. It likely would have hit him in stride. Coaches are going to kill him in the tape sessions. And I was really pulling for the guy. 

 

He did get open though. 

 

Everyone keeps saying he stopped running bc the announcer babbled about how he turned his head to locate the football but when he turned his head he lost no speed at all and kept sprinting. Allen overthrew him twice or his stat line may have read 2 rec, 170 yds, 2 TD’s.  I’ve seen people blame him for Allen throwing the first pass out of bounds and people claim he stopped running when he clearly didn’t.  

 

Im not some crazy Foster homer. He has very suspect hands and hasn’t proven to me he can run the full route tree but come on people. I know we all want Allen to be GREAT but let’s be objective. 

Edited August 10, 2018 by SoCoBills

[Jpsredemption]

Don't think Edmunds had a good night.

[Kelly the Dog]

26 minutes ago, SoCoBills said:

 

Everyone keeps saying he stopped running bc the announcer babbled about how he turned his head to locate the football but when he turned his head he lost no speed at all and kept sprinting. Allen overthrew him twice or his stat line may have read 2 rec, 170 yds, 2 TD’s.  I’ve seen people blame him for Allen throwing the first pass out of bounds and people claim he stopped running when he clearly didn’t.  

 

Im not some crazy Foster homer. He has very suspect hands and hasn’t proven to me he can run the full route tree but come on people. I know we all want Allen to be GREAT but let’s be objective. 

No. You're wrong. The first bomb to Foster was OB. The second bomb to Foster was the one you're referring to. I thought Foster looked too early and could have caught it and that was the one Tasker was talking about slowing down and not looking back which wasn't great commentary. It was the THIRD bomb when he completely stopped running. That is inarguable. That play started at 2:11 left. He would have caught it totally on the run in the endzone and it would have been the top highlight play in the entire league. You have to see the replay that they iso just Foster. It was brutal. He just figured Josh wouldn't throw it because he scrambled left but he did. And it was an amazing pass. 

[GoBills808]

11 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

No. You're wrong. The first bomb to Foster was OB. The second bomb to Foster was the one you're referring to. I thought Foster looked too early and could have caught it and that was the one Tasker was talking about slowing down and not looking back which wasn't great commentary. It was the THIRD bomb when he completely stopped running. That is inarguable. That play started at 2:11 left. He would have caught it totally on the run in the endzone and it would have been the top highlight play in the entire league. You have to see the replay that they iso just Foster. It was brutal. He just figured Josh wouldn't throw it because he scrambled left but he did. And it was an amazing pass. 

Second one he could have layed out and at least tried to catch it. Dunno whether to chalk that up to lack of experience at wideout or something more worrisome. He looked disinterested out there.