Bills are a Good, Solid NFL Team.

[PUNT750]

Suddenly a lot of people are thinking this Bills team is weak in a lot of areas! 

 

We have a great offense with a Franchise QB leading the show.  The Offense line is built to protect him and does.

The Defense has struggled but how many teams in the League haven't?  The lack of pre-season work & contact worked against us especially with 3 new players on the DL, new CB's and  injuries. 

 

We're in good shape. 

[Coach Tuesday]

Ok

Edited October 17, 2020 by Coach Tuesday

[Augie]

8 minutes ago, PUNT750 said:

Suddenly a lot of people are thinking this Bills team is weak in a lot of areas! 

 

We have a great offense with a Franchise QB leading the show.  The Offense line is built to protect him and does.

The Defense has struggled but how many teams in the League haven't?  The lack of pre-season work & contact worked against us especially with 3 new players on the DL, new CB's and  injuries. 

 

We're in good shape. 

 

From your fingertips to Monday night’s scoreboard! 

[Utah John]

The biggest problem for the Bills is that offensive holding isn't being called.  Of course this helps our offense too, but time and again I saw a Bill defender just about ready to grab Tannahill, despite having someone's arm across his neck, and Tannahill then hitting an open receiver.  Frankly I never notice when the Bills offense gets away with holding, but I'm sure they do too. 

 

For some reason the league seems to have mandated that scoring needs to be up, so holding calls are few and far between.

[PUNT750]

5 minutes ago, Utah John said:

The biggest problem for the Bills is that offensive holding isn't being called.  Of course this helps our offense too, but time and again I saw a Bill defender just about ready to grab Tannahill, despite having someone's arm across his neck, and Tannahill then hitting an open receiver.  Frankly I never notice when the Bills offense gets away with holding, but I'm sure they do too. 

 

For some reason the league seems to have mandated that scoring needs to be up, so holding calls are few and far between.

I agree - and from the NY Times - "Through four weeks of the 2020 season, the average combined score of a game is 51.3 points, an increase of 16 percent over the same period a year ago and a roughly 20 percent increase in the average score of games since 2000.

 

[Thurman#1]

Wait, a 4-1 team is pretty good? Hmm, I'll have to think about this.

 

EDIT: OK, I thought about it. It's true. But we lost, so large amounts of the fanbase lose their minds and run around overreacting like chickens with heads cut off. The way of the world.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Thurman#1

[BuffaloBillies]

A strong defensive front ruins us. We have to be able to run. At least some. ..

[Penfield45]

We have tons of holes on the team. On offense imo we just need to run the ball better. 

 

But on defense we have one of the worst front sevens in the league, poor DE’s and even worse LB unit. Our secondary was very good last season and hid some of those flaws but this year they are struggling heavy. 

[TroutDog]

8 minutes ago, Penfield45 said:

We have tons of holes on the team. On offense imo we just need to run the ball better. 

 

But on defense we have one of the worst front sevens in the league, poor DE’s and even worse LB unit. Our secondary was very good last season and hid some of those flaws but this year they are struggling heavy. 

I’ll argue this: Murphy and Hughes are not terrible. Hughes, in particular, has not been setting the edge, but Murphy has (oh, how the tables have turned!). 
 

Phillips has been better than good, so has...one of the new guys...Addison (?). Milano is very good and so is Edmunds when he’s not injured. That makes your argument a challenge, from my point of view. 
 

Ok, not enough depth? I’ll buy that. But with the general slant of the NFL towards O, I’d expect this to go on. What that means for future draft picks, etc. is another discussion. 

[LB48]

8 minutes ago, TroutDog said:

I’ll argue this: Murphy and Hughes are not terrible. Hughes, in particular, has not been setting the edge, but Murphy has (oh, how the tables have turned!). 
 

Phillips has been better than good, so has...one of the new guys...Addison (?). Milano is very good and so is Edmunds when he’s not injured. That makes your argument a challenge, from my point of view. 
 

Ok, not enough depth? I’ll buy that. But with the general slant of the NFL towards O, I’d expect this to go on. What that means for future draft picks, etc. is another discussion. 

agree on D depth - but - money has to be saved to re-sign Josh, Diggs etc.   It is a good team

[CEN-CAL17]

To be honest... Milano is our biggest playmaker on this defense. Some will say Tre White, I disagree. 
 

This defense is a different defense if we can’t disrupt the QB and hit the QB... the DL has definitely taken a step back this year. I’m predicting 3 new starters next season on the DL...

[Penfield45]

14 minutes ago, CEN-CAL17 said:

To be honest... Milano is our biggest playmaker on this defense. Some will say Tre White, I disagree. 
 

This defense is a different defense if we can’t disrupt the QB and hit the QB... the DL has definitely taken a step back this year. I’m predicting 3 new starters next season on the DL...

we used to see tons of creative blitzing from McD in past seasons but this year haven’t seen any of it really...or it’s just not working 

[John from Riverside]

2 hours ago, Penfield45 said:

We have tons of holes on the team. On offense imo we just need to run the ball better. 

 

But on defense we have one of the worst front sevens in the league, poor DE’s and even worse LB unit. Our secondary was very good last season and hid some of those flaws but this year they are struggling heavy. 

So what players were lost to make it a weak defense?

 

This should be good

[ShakAttack]

For me the concern is simply our schedule. It seems like every week we are going up against another playoff team, which was rare last season. Frankly we could be a better team than last season and end up with a worse record. We were also incredibly lucky with injuries last season. You take this year’s offense with last years schedule and I think we are at least 13-3, regardless of the defense. On the bright side, however, the division seems a lot more attainable this season and this is our year to win it.

[Brennan Huff]

The offense has carried the defense all season so far up til Tuesday night. It would be a great week for the D to come together with a game plan to slow down the great Patrick Mahomes. It’s our only chance

[Jpsredemption]

I think this is yet to be determined. We’ve seen fast starts erode before.  

[Nextmanup]

12 hours ago, PUNT750 said:

Suddenly a lot of people are thinking this Bills team is weak in a lot of areas! 

 

We have a great offense with a Franchise QB leading the show.  The Offense line is built to protect him and does.

The Defense has struggled but how many teams in the League haven't?  The lack of pre-season work & contact worked against us especially with 3 new players on the DL, new CB's and  injuries. 

 

We're in good shape. 

Are you trying to convince us?  Or yourself?

 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

10 hours ago, Penfield45 said:

We have tons of holes on the team. On offense imo we just need to run the ball better. 

 

But on defense we have one of the worst front sevens in the league, poor DE’s and even worse LB unit. Our secondary was very good last season and hid some of those flaws but this year they are struggling heavy. 

How's your 6-10 prediction looking?

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

12 hours ago, PUNT750 said:

Suddenly a lot of people are thinking this Bills team is weak in a lot of areas! 

 

We have a great offense with a Franchise QB leading the show.  The Offense line is built to protect him and does.

The Defense has struggled but how many teams in the League haven't?  The lack of pre-season work & contact worked against us especially with 3 new players on the DL, new CB's and  injuries. 

 

We're in good shape. 

I agree, if our off week was a weird Tuesday night game with key injuries I'll take it. If Moss can provide a spark in the running game we could put up a big number vs KC. I have a feeling the defense will come around, we still have a very good overall team that can win a SB. 

[Bob in STL]

8 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

So what players were lost to make it a weak defense?

 

This should be good

Star missing is hurting the ability to stop the run.   LBs are getting sealed off. 
 

Jordan Phillips missing hurts our inside pass rush.  He was disruptive in pass rush. 
 

Lorenzo missing is hurting LB play and leadership.  
 

The defense is clearly not as good as last year.  Injuries to Milano/Edmunds have contributed to poor play.  Oliver is playing hurt and has not been a factor.  Depth at CB and LB are problem areas, as they were last year. 

[XXI~PsychedelicBillsfan~]

9 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

Star missing is hurting the ability to stop the run.   LBs are getting sealed off. 
 

Jordan Phillips missing hurts our inside pass rush.  He was disruptive in pass rush. 
 

Lorenzo missing is hurting LB play and leadership.  
 

The defense is clearly not as good as last year.  Injuries to Milano/Edmunds have contributed to poor play.  Oliver is playing hurt and has not been a factor.  Depth at CB and LB are problem areas, as they were last year. 

this says it all right here, man

 

 

defense has fallen off from the past and it's a drag because had they held the defense together and/or added players equal or better they had lost, this team would be a serious contender.

 

don't know how they turn it around this season but it is a MUST issue to address with the next draft and free agency.

 

monday afternoon (that sounds weird, man) will be a true test for this team going up against the sb champs and the mahomes kid. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

13 hours ago, PUNT750 said:

Suddenly a lot of people are thinking this Bills team is weak in a lot of areas! 

 

We have a great offense with a Franchise QB leading the show.  The Offense line is built to protect him and does.

The Defense has struggled but how many teams in the League haven't?  The lack of pre-season work & contact worked against us especially with 3 new players on the DL, new CB's and  injuries. 

 

We're in good shape. 

 

The expectation is no longer a "good solid team"

 

The expectation is a serious playoff contender

 

Fans aren't seeing that, from areas of the team we expected better from, and they're disappointed to pissed

[Hebert19]

This D will figure it out.  And when they do we will be back to a contender.  

 

This about Josh's rookie year.  The first few games we were historically bad on D.  Then boom 20 games where we are top 5 in league.  It'll come. 

[John from Riverside]

6 hours ago, Bob in STL said:

Star missing is hurting the ability to stop the run.   LBs are getting sealed off. 
 

Jordan Phillips missing hurts our inside pass rush.  He was disruptive in pass rush. 
 

Lorenzo missing is hurting LB play and leadership.  
 

The defense is clearly not as good as last year.  Injuries to Milano/Edmunds have contributed to poor play.  Oliver is playing hurt and has not been a factor.  Depth at CB and LB are problem areas, as they were last year. 

I agree with a lot of this......but the only one I feel we are truly missing as far as players that left is Star....injuries are def hurting us

 

Gotta weather the storm.   It would be nice to see them at least TRY to find a true one tech

[Bermuda Triangle]

16 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

So what players were lost to make it a weak defense?

 

This should be good

I don't think that our defense was really that good last year, either.  We just faced a lot of bad QBs.  OTOH, 6 of the QBs that started against us are no longer starting QBs in the NFL (Duck, Eli Manning, Allen, Haskins, Dalton, Mariota).

The D has performed poorly since the drive on which NE scored the GW TD in Week 17.

[Malazan]

I think the Bills are a good team, but to be completely fair...their record against teams with a winning record isn't good. That's started to turn this season if the Rams and Raiders maintain winning records (I think they will). 

 

To your real point though, a stinker laid against the Titans doesn't change the team into an utter mess. There were certainly concerns that have been hanging around some all season about the defense hammered home. McDermott has faced this before with his defense getting whooped and he's generally turned it right around. 

 

Win or lose, play well against KC and a lot of fears will be allayed. The fashion in which they lost means they need a good showing against KC.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

I think we can hang with anyone. I think our game with KC will come down to execution and turnovers. 

[LB48]

4 hours ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I think we can hang with anyone. I think our game with KC will come down to execution and turnovers. 

"Hang" is a great term.  Two years ago we couldn't do that even with a top rated Defense.

[TroutDog]

On 10/16/2020 at 10:38 PM, TroutDog said:

I’ll argue this: Murphy and Hughes are not terrible. Hughes, in particular, has not been setting the edge, but Murphy has (oh, how the tables have turned!). 
 

Phillips has been better than good, so has...one of the new guys...Addison (?). Milano is very good and so is Edmunds when he’s not injured. That makes your argument a challenge, from my point of view. 
 

Ok, not enough depth? I’ll buy that. But with the general slant of the NFL towards O, I’d expect this to go on. What that means for future draft picks, etc. is another discussion. 

Ok, @97bills, please share your thoughts. Thanks!

[97bills]

20 hours ago, TroutDog said:

Ok, @97bills, please share your thoughts. Thanks!

Sorry just saw your post but yes I do think Hughes is long in the tooth and would be great if we had a young stud on that side we’re then Hughes could just be depth his not someone the offense is worried about. And I fill just about the same on Murphy they will get us through the year. But you better believe you will see more games like last week then them causing havoc. Just think when is the last time you seen either one make a game changing play sack on 3-8 or strip sack more then likely it’s the QB running around the edge for a big game or Hughes getting mad and getting a flag because he can’t get there any more. 

[BillsFan692]

Hughes is not good anymore, murphy is trash.

 

Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson are missed more than star lotulelli which the best thing anyone can even say about him is he "isnt a star".

 

Edmunds is bad. MILANO is a beast when healthy. 

 

Our defense is bad.

 

On the positive side are offense is pretty good so thats "different" for us bills fans.

 

But true success is when both sides are good.

 

Having it flip on us is "bittersweet".

[BuffaloBobs]

On 10/16/2020 at 8:31 PM, PUNT750 said:

I agree - and from the NY Times - "Through four weeks of the 2020 season, the average combined score of a game is 51.3 points, an increase of 16 percent over the same period a year ago and a roughly 20 percent increase in the average score of games since 2000.

 

 

This is absolutely worth considering -- our team is far from the only winning team to have uncharacteristic struggles on defense this season.

 

Baltimore's strong defense almost let a completely depleted Eagles team back into their game today, while the Colts defense that has been one of the strongest this year gave up 27 to the Bengals and put up a stinker against the Jaguars.

[LB48]

2 hours ago, BuffaloBobs said:

 

This is absolutely worth considering -- our team is far from the only winning team to have uncharacteristic struggles on defense this season.

 

Baltimore's strong defense almost let a completely depleted Eagles team back into their game today, while the Colts defense that has been one of the strongest this year gave up 27 to the Bengals and put up a stinker against the Jaguars.

All teams this season are showing D problems.  Was it the short training camps or the fact that D players are rotated around the NFL in free agency?  Nobody wants to pay $10 mil a season for a DL or LB!