Things you liked, didn't like and wonder about

[Max Fischer]

This game was a disaster but did have a few things I "liked" (or didn't hate):

 

• Josh Allen - With the game already over a lot of pressure was off.  However, it was still his first game and I thought he did well under the circumstances.  Not ready to say he is "ready" but I would feel comfortable starting him Game #2.  
• The Punter - Other than THAT play and a shank that still went 35+ yards, this kid is a keeper. 
• Tre Edmunds - Wow, I didn't expect him to do so well.  Yes, a few plays here and there didn't go well, but he's seems to have much more confidence than in the preseason. 
• Milano - Same. They seemed to say, "Screw it, stop thinking and start hitting." 
• Murphy - He runs hard, some nice returns. 
• Croom - He seems to get open, hard to cover.  Unlike what's his name. 
• Dawkins - Not a great game but solid.  I don't really care about the penalty. 

 

 

Didn't like - or more, disappointed. 

 

In particular: 

• OL - Much worse than I even imagined.  Not even sure where to begin.  
• Inactives - Vontae is average but I don't understand how you sit him.  
• Gaines - Holy crap he's terrible 
• Star - Invisible
• Benjamin - Dude plays small and like he doesn't care. 
• Peterman - I didn't expect much but it's clear defenses don't fear him - at all.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kelly the Dog]

Edmunds for a 20 year old rookie MLB on the road against the Ravens played great. He missed some tackles he needs to make. He took himself out of a few. But he really played well overall. There was a stretch in the middle of the game when on four consecutive plays I think he had a sack, a pass defensed, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. 

[The Process]

I wonder how many years it will take to have a Steelers type franchise.

[StrikeParry]

2 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Edmunds for a 20 year old rookie MLB on the road against the Ravens played great. He missed some tackles he needs to make. He took himself out of a few. But he really played well overall. There was a stretch in the middle of the game when on four consecutive plays I think he had a sack, a pass defensed, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. 

Agreed. Very nice to see him make some splash plays; still needs to get more consistent of course. He’s the least of their worries.

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, The Process said:

I wonder how many years it will take to have a Steelers type franchise.

80?

[cd1]

I didn't like anything. I did like nothing. I wonder why I feel this way?

 

The entire team was ill prepared for this game.

 

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by cd1

[Best Player Available]

I didn't like the team preparation. And the offseason FA acquisitions by the GM 

[StrikeParry]

Mahomes looks pretty good so far. I wonder about that...

[Happy]

13 minutes ago, Max Fischer said:

Gaines - Holy crap he's terrible

 

Remember that Gaines is a rookie.  He never stood a chance against a receiver like Crabtree in his opening game as a pro.

[Bangarang]

I liked that Peterman didn’t get to play the entire game.

[frostbitmic]

I hated the coin flip and everything that happened after that until the clock ran out.

[Max Fischer]

5 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

Remember that Gaines is a rookie.  He never stood a chance against a receiver like Crabtree in his opening game as a pro.

 

Philip Gaines is a 5th year player

[Bangarang]

2 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

I hated the coin flip and everything that happened after that until the clock ran out.

 

We did win the coin flip though. We lost everything else after that.

[Happy]

1 minute ago, Max Fischer said:

 

Philip Gaines is a 5th year player

 

You're right.  My bad.

[StrikeParry]

8 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

Remember that Gaines is a rookie.  He never stood a chance against a receiver like Crabtree in his opening game as a pro.

I think you’re thinking of Taron. Who played well! And then got hurt.

[dwight in philly]

1 minute ago, Max Fischer said:

 

Philip Gaines is a 5th year player

i lost count of the "Gaines" players we have 

[jrober38]

The only positive I saw was Marcus Murphy. The guy should be pushing McCoy for carries at this point. He runs hard and doesn't take plays off. 

 

Edmunds was okay. He was out of position several times in coverage but is clearly a freak athlete. He needs a lot more experience. 

 

Allen didn't do it for me. He's got a huge arm, but when his first read isn't open and there's pressure he folds up and walked into at least 2 sacks. He's talented, but he's not ready for prime time. He's obviously going to play next week, but I expect the next two games to both be complete train wrecks. 

 

Everything else was a disaster. Offensive line can't block, McCoy looked completely disinterested, the defensive line was dominated and we still have zero pass rush, linebackers lack experience and our secondary can't cover for 4+ seconds. 

 

This is a terrible football team and we're going to be in serious contention for the #1 overall pick. I think we're starting at least 0-4 and it's hard to see more than 3 or 4 winnable games on the schedule. 

[Happy]

1 minute ago, StrikeParry said:

I think you’re thinking of Taron. Who played well! And then got hurt.

 

That's probably right.  Really wishing EJ Gaines would have worked out.  Probably will need to address CB (again) in the offseason since neither Gaines or Davis appears to be the answer, at least at this early juncture.

[bdutton]

Special Teams did well on returns and coverage.

Defense was actually better against the run early in the game.

Edmunds might be good.  

OL sucked.  As expected.Peterman was terrible.  As expected.

Secondary was terrible.  Receivers open all day long.

Allen throws well on the run.  I wonder what he could do if we had an NFL caliber OL.

[T_Thomas]

22 minutes ago, The Process said:

I wonder how many years it will take to have a Steelers type franchise.

 

Probably less than it would take to have a NE type franchise

[StrikeParry]

4 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

That's probably right.  Really wishing EJ Gaines would have worked out.  Probably will need to address CB (again) in the offseason since neither Gaines or Davis appears to be the answer, at least at this early juncture.

Yup. Some people around here get pretty bent when the Bills take corners early in the draft, but they are ESSENTIAL. In today’s league they may be the most important position on the team besides QB. Ignore that, and you end up getting beat by 40 week in and week out. 

[PeterDude]

39 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Edmunds for a 20 year old rookie MLB on the road against the Ravens played great. He missed some tackles he needs to make. He took himself out of a few. But he really played well overall. There was a stretch in the middle of the game when on four consecutive plays I think he had a sack, a pass defensed, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. 

 

Great?  He sucks in coverage.

[Kelly the Dog]

Just now, PeterDude said:

 

Great?  He sucks in coverage.

No he does not. 

[row_33]

Things I LIKED?

 

 

[TigerJ]

As I stated in another thread, I did not see most of the game, and could only listen from the second quarter on.  From what I could gather by listening, I agree with the OP.  I didn't hear some names he mentioned, so it's not really fair for me to comment on Edmunds or Gaines.  I'm especially encouraged by the play of Allen.  It's true that the game had already been decided by that point.  Baltimore may or may not have pulled starters on defense by that time, but Martindale (the Baltimore DC) was still calling an aggressive game with plenty of pressure, especially given that Buffalo was in a position of having to pass a lot.  Allen appears not to have played like a deer in the headlights.  His completion percentage wasn't great, but it was better than Peterman's and he his receivers had a number of drops.  If the Bills end up taking a step backward this year, but end up with a true franchise QB, it would be well worth it.  

[oldmanfan]

Liked:  Allen and Edmunds

 

Didn't like:  The O line.  Worse than I could have imagined.  The D line and lack of pass rush.

 

Wonder about:  How McD will respond.  I hope he sends a signal to his team that the kind of effort shown is inexcusable.  If I were him I'd cut Ducasse or Lacey (jumping offside on a punt is ridiculous) and send a message.

[/dev/null]

 

[Dan]

I wonder why every team in the league can field a professional looking football team, except Buffalo.  They were disorganized, unprepared, slow, and every other bad word you can think of.  It's not that we lost; it's not that 5pick Peterman isn't a good QB; it's that the entire organization from the top down was once again completely out classed.

 

All the excuses in the world don't change the fact that this is the team the McD and Beane have chosen to field, and they looked completely inept in every facet of the game. 

 

It is inconceivable that they had all summer to prepare for this game... and that isnhe effort we witnessed. Just horrendous.  We, as fans, don't deserve this kind of performance. So I wonder... when are we ever going to see a team that is worthy of our passion and love of the game?

[US Egg]

McDermott's post game conference was more pathetic than his teams performance.

 

His already tired excuse of needing to look at game film before accessing what happened during the game is gutless.

Edited September 9, 2018 by I am the egg man

[PlayoffsPlease]

Liked Allen.

Liked Edmunds

 

The performance of those two improved my opinion of Beane. 

 

Worst aspect was the terrible coaching across the board.  I am concernced that McDermott is in way over his head.  He comes across as a stubborn egoist.  This is not a good trait when you are losing. 

3 minutes ago, Dan said:

I wonder why every team in the league can field a professional looking football team, except Buffalo.  They were disorganized, unprepared, slow, and every other bad word you can think of.  It's not that we lost; it's not that 5pick Peterman isn't a good QB; it's that the entire organization from the top down was once again completely out classed.

 

All the excuses in the world don't change the fact that this is the team the McD and Beane have chosen to field, and they looked completely inept in every facet of the game. 

 

It is inconceivable that they had all summer to prepare for this game... and that isnhe effort we witnessed. Just horrendous.  We, as fans, don't deserve this kind of performance. So I wonder... when are we ever going to see a team that is worthy of our passion and love of the game?

 

Sadly, this will mostly likely be corrected by Bills fans losing their passion and love of the game.  Very few people under 30 give a crap one way or the other.  The passion and Love of the Bills and football in general is an over 50 thing at this point.  

[Kelly the Dog]

4 minutes ago, Dan said:

I wonder why every team in the league can field a professional looking football team, except Buffalo.  They were disorganized, unprepared, slow, and every other bad word you can think of.  It's not that we lost; it's not that 5pick Peterman isn't a good QB; it's that the entire organization from the top down was once again completely out classed.

 

All the excuses in the world don't change the fact that this is the team the McD and Beane have chosen to field, and they looked completely inept in every facet of the game. 

 

It is inconceivable that they had all summer to prepare for this game... and that isnhe effort we witnessed. Just horrendous.  We, as fans, don't deserve this kind of performance. So I wonder... when are we ever going to see a team that is worthy of our passion and love of the game?

I like McD and Beane for the most part. Right now I am pretty glad we have them. But the jury is still out. And one thing I have always worried about and crusaded almost on here is McD especially loves Boy Scouts. I think that a lot of McD's infatuation with Peterman is stuff about Nate as a person. He's a great guy. He's a great teammate. He's god fearing. He works hard off the field and in the off season. He's great in the film room. But he stinks when real bullets are flying and McD is seemingly blind to it. 

 

I don't know of a team in any sport that won't take on a non Boy Scout that has won. McD and Beane like and want and sign and play a certain kind of player, and I like those kind of players too. But you need stars to win. And we are at a disadvantage against the rest of the league if we are unwilling to sign or draft guys with questionable pasts, worse, McD rewarding inferior players and starting them because he loves the man.

 

He's blind to Nate's deficiencies and it's a worry. 

[Dan]

2 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

I like McD and Beane for the most part. Right now I am pretty glad we have them. But the jury is still out. And one thing I have always worried about and crusaded almost on here is McD especially loves Boy Scouts. I think that a lot of McD's infatuation with Peterman is stuff about Nate as a person. He's a great guy. He's a great teammate. He's god fearing. He works hard off the field and in the off season. He's great in the film room. But he stinks when real bullets are flying and McD is seemingly blind to it. 

 

I don't know of a team in any sport that won't take on a non Boy Scout that has won. McD and Beane like and want and sign and play a certain kind of player, and I like those kind of players too. But you need stars to win. And we are at a disadvantage against the rest of the league if we are unwilling to sign or draft guys with questionable pasts, worse, McD rewarding inferior players and starting them because he loves the man.

 

He's blind to Nate's deficiencies and it's a worry. 

I gotta agree. Personally, I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Peterman looked good in the preseason.... maybe they know something I don't.  But now.. Peterman has started 2 games and been historically bad in both.  At the absolute least, you have to conclude that he is not ready to be a starter.    I think we all know he shouldn't be a starter period, but how can they possibly even consider him playing again?  

 

Move on to Allen.  And watch film... of real NFL teams to see how they play. Because they clearly wasted all summer. 

[WhoTom]

I liked it in the middle of the 4th quarter when the broadcast I was watching switched to another game.

 

And Josh looked decent under the circumstances.

 

I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised but I was prepared for the worst ... and the worst is what we got. This will be a tough year, but like others have said, next year we have more cap space to acquire some talent.

 

 

[Bob in STL]

Liked - nothing

 

Did not like - Not being prepared.  The  defensive game plan to play a loose zone in the rain.  The play of #28 in the secondary.  The lack of touches for Shady.  Kelvin Benjamin's lethargic play and attitude. The offensive line.  The WR's on this roster.  Special Teams -  Missing a FG and Punter not catching a snap.  But mostly the thought that Peterman can be a starter and now we have to plan Allen when he is still developing. 

[dpberr]

I too wonder how Coach McDermott responds. Your coaches and players were woefully unprepared to play today.

 

[GreggTX]

You know when your punter was the best player on the field for your team, you're in trouble. Hey! He only shanked 1! He only fumbled 1 snap! I guess that will be the bar for performance this year. I bet Shady is praying for his release so he can return to Philly.

Edited September 10, 2018 by GreggTX