Questions to ponder during the bye week

[Gugny]

3 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

I think it’s just the blue pants..

 

Man, he's got big hands ... and feet ...

[NoHuddleKelly12]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:46 AM, stevestojan said:

Question to Ponder: 

 

Will Dawkins stop tweeting about “you already Shnow” and actually hit the weight room? 

I think you already shnow!

[Greatdane21]

Matt malino did not have his best game , that soft zone does not m

fit the character of a top defense. 
this team is vulnerable to Screens and draws 

special teams makes far to many costly mistakes

if I see another 12 yard across the middle pitch and catch because 

of the soft screen I’m gonna 🤮

[LABILLBACKER]

We're a blocked punt and slip from being 6-0. I have no doubt we'll be 8-2 going to Bourbon St. Yes we have specific areas that need improvement. OL, RB & ST to start. I'm not panicking on our DL considering nobody stops Henry who's a cyborg. I still think 13-4 gets us a #1 seed. We just have to make sure we don't lose that 5th game. Since his first 2 games, Josh is back on track. We'll be fine and we have 10 days to help Milano & Knox heal.

[cgg716]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:49 AM, FilthyBeast said:

 

Yes you are right, this team is good and I stated that.

 

But anybody that thinks they are in the same class as the Cardinals for example show me the proof otherwise. Again this team has lost to Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill who have been among the worst QB's in the NFL thus far. Cardinals for example destroyed this same Titans team on the road, and the Browns and Rams. Does anybody really believe we'd beat them head to head right now regardless of the venue, especially against that offense and the weapons they have?

 

The good news is that it's a week to week league and there's still a long road ahead but the questions I asked are legitimate and why I've said all along that Bills mafia might want to humble themselves and tap the brakes a bit especially in terms of making travel plans to LA next february.

The Cardinals? Come on dude

[LyndonvilleBill]

Was thinking about Doyle. With the Phins, Jags and Jets coming, would it be worth trying him at LT, move Dawkins to G and see what we get? Similar to what we did with Brown and Williams. 

[Orlando Tim]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:37 AM, FilthyBeast said:

This was a crappy loss but not necessarily unexpected given the nature of this league and this team likely wasn't going 16-1 anyway. With that said there are a lot of questions to ponder in the next few weeks:

 

1) How good is this team? Are they really a SB contender?

My biggest concern with losing against the Titans is the totality of the season as a whole thus far. Yes we dominated 3 lessor teams and beat what we assume is also a playoff team in KC, but there will be critics that now look at the Bills as paper tigers especially if the Chiefs continue to play inconsistent football. By default the Bills are certainly going to be an AFC contender given the weak remaining schedule and clear path to division titale, but after last night I'm really not sure if they are in the same class as a team like the Cardinals who dominated this same Titans team on the road, and several other contenders in similar fashion. Still plenty of time to go but right now I think the Bills are just another good team that's probably in the secondary tier until proven otherwise.

 

2) Speaking of the Chiefs, was this the Bills 'Super Bowl'?

As of right now I would say check back with me in a few months. But no matter what the players say, there's no question there was an extra motivation last week to have a good showing and get a win if anything to exorcise a necessary demon. I keep thinking back to the 2018 Jaguars who ironically started the season 4-1 that year and destroyed the Patriots (who they lost to in the AFCCG) and them completely falling apart the rest of the way after putting all their eggs in the proverbial basket for that specific game. Obviously this bills team is not a one  hit wonder like the 2017 Jags, and they also have a favorable schedule on deck but you can't argue how emotionally drained they were last night against the Titans particularly on defense. And to essentially lose the game on the last play of the game coming up short on 4th down play could foreshadow a similar end to the season come playoff time.

 

3) Can the Bills overcome the glaring flaws that were on full display again last night?

No team is perfect, but the same specific issues that cost this team against the Steelers (and have still lingered to a certain degree during the Bills 4 game win streak) are why this team lost again. Starting with the oline, they are way to inconsistent and simply not built to handle physical teams. John Feliciano in particular continues to show why he's not an NFL starting olinemen and both tackles struggled mightily again including Spencer Brown crashing to earth in a major way. On defense once again the pass rush was non existent against a QB and team that has been among the worst in the league until they played the Bills off course. As a result once again Levi Wallace was exposed as the weak link getting throw at and completed on over and over again. Just not sure the Bills can overcome this even if they attempt to address at the trade deadline and this is why sadly I don't think they ultimately go very far in the playoffs this year especially if they match up against the Titans or a simliar team again.

 

4) Defense owned and exposed?

Piggy backing off the last question, it's really hard to know if this defense simply had a let down or just isn't as good as we thought. Realistically for me it's probably somewhere in between. Yes there is a talent on defense but it's more a collection of really good role players/above average players and no true game changers (at least against other playoff caliber teams). And once again this is why I've always hated this scheme and the whole 'bend but don't break' style because when it works great, but when it breaks it truly breaks as we saw pretty much the entire game after the 1st quarter against the Titans. I'm sure this defense will come out of the bye week and look great again against the likes of the Dolphins, Jets, etc but there are still going to be a lot of question marks until we play a legit team again.  Also no matter what way you spin it,  a defense that some were comparing to the 2000 Ravens has lost to a washed up Big Ben and Ryan Tannenhill so far this year in just 6 games.

 

Anyways, hopefully this team comes out angry and has a similar finish to the season after last years pre bye week debacle.

This is one of the elite teams of league, we barely lost to Tennessee when all the lucky plays went against us and Josh still would have won it had he not literally slipped. The defense had a bad game, but if you thought this defense was 2000 Raven good that is on you. This Defense will remain near the top  all year and deservedly so but it is not one of the best ever. BTW that glaring weakness is the the reincarnation of Jim Brown, he is a weakness to every team. 

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

1 hour ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

Was thinking about Doyle. With the Phins, Jags and Jets coming, would it be worth trying him at LT, move Dawkins to G and see what we get? Similar to what we did with Brown and Williams. 

Sadly, Doyle's ceiling is probably backup swing tackle at best. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

Was thinking about Doyle. With the Phins, Jags and Jets coming, would it be worth trying him at LT, move Dawkins to G and see what we get? Similar to what we did with Brown and Williams. 

 

Keep thinking.

 

If the Bills thought Doyle was a better player than the 8 OL who are active on gameday, he'd be active.

He's a LOOOOOOONG way from challenging the franchise LT - even the franchise LT who is not playing at franchise LT level at present

 

The official depth chart at LT is Dawkins-Brown

The unofficial depth chart at LT is probably Dawkins-Brown-Bates-Feliciano-Harrison Phillips 'cuz why th not?-Doyle

 

The difference between what we did with Brown, and what you propose, is that in preseason, Brown flashed at both LT and RT, enough that the Bills felt comfortable going into gameday with him as the backup swing.  Doyle showed he's got a development curve ahead of him.

[LyndonvilleBill]

3 minutes ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Sadly, Doyle's ceiling is probably backup swing tackle at best. 

Maybe, but with his size, RAS score and the schedule why not give it a shot. I think we need to try something as I don't see any trade happening to improve the line. I personally don't think we need a lot from the running game, but just a little more than what we've had would go a long way.

[Your Brown Eye]

1 hour ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

Was thinking about Doyle. With the Phins, Jags and Jets coming, would it be worth trying him at LT, move Dawkins to G and see what we get? Similar to what we did with Brown and Williams. 

 

You want to take a guy who's been inactive on game days 5 out of 6 games this year and say "f-it, make him our starting LT" 

 

 

It might just work

[LyndonvilleBill]

8 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Keep thinking.

 

If the Bills thought Doyle was a better player than the 8 OL who are active on gameday, he'd be active.

He's a LOOOOOOONG way from challenging the franchise LT - even the franchise LT who is not playing at franchise LT level at present

 

The official depth chart at LT is Dawkins-Brown

The unofficial depth chart at LT is probably Dawkins-Brown-Bates-Feliciano-Harrison Phillips 'cuz why th not?-Doyle

 

The difference between what we did with Brown, and what you propose, is that in preseason, Brown flashed at both LT and RT, enough that the Bills felt comfortable going into gameday with him as the backup swing.  Doyle showed he's got a development curve ahead of him.

That unofficial depth chart is scary. If Harrison Phillips plays LT before Doyle, we are in serious trouble...😉. I'm not an OL guru by any means. When you say developmental curve, what kind of timeline before we see if he's made any progress in game action? 

[LyndonvilleBill]

6 minutes ago, Your Brown Eye said:

 

You want to take a guy who's been inactive on game days 5 out of 6 games this year and say "f-it, make him our starting LT" 

 

 

It might just work

I'm not saying it will work, but I think trying something instead of the status quo might be better. And given the schedule, would there be a better time to try something different? 

[TheBeaneBandit]

Trade for Andrew Norwell or Will Hernandez or just leave it be for this year for me. Whether it be Oline or some other position, imo this is the year to actually make a move before the deadline. Jmo

[Hapless Bills Fan]

41 minutes ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

I'm not saying it will work, but I think trying something instead of the status quo might be better. And given the schedule, would there be a better time to try something different? 

 

Change for the sake of change is NOT a good notion.

53 minutes ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

That unofficial depth chart is scary. If Harrison Phillips plays LT before Doyle, we are in serious trouble...😉. I'm not an OL guru by any means. When you say developmental curve, what kind of timeline before we see if he's made any progress in game action? 

 

You want to see progress in preseason and practice before you take him for a test-drive when the QB isn't wearing a red shirt.

 

We can lose any of the next 4 games if we take them lightly

[WhoTom]

On 10/20/2021 at 11:38 AM, Gugny said:

Man, he's got big hands ... and feet

 

You know what that means.

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He wears big shoes.

 

[LyndonvilleBill]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Change for the sake of change is NOT a good notion.

 

You want to see progress in preseason and practice before you take him for a test-drive when the QB isn't wearing a red shirt.

 

We can lose any of the next 4 games if we take them lightly

Change for the sake of change, may not be the best notion, but would you agree that change is a better action plan than hope? I have seen several times where posters hope our line improves (not saying you).

 

We can't continue to hope, that Feliciano is the answer at LG, we can't continue to hope that Ike or Bates (or Ford at this point) is the answer there. Hoping that Dawkins can get it together (albeit most likely one happen) isn't working yet. Right now both of our starting tackles are ranked in the bottom half at their position and our Guards (regardless of who we are putting there) are not getting the job done. Redshirt or not, Josh is still running around (thank goodness he is able to make up for such a poor OL) every other play.

 

I just think IF we are going to try anything further on the Oline, it will be the next 2 weeks against Miami and the Jags. After that, we've got the Jets (Williams - twice), Colts (Buckner), Pats ( twice, you know they will get after Josh) and the Bucs (Vea and Suh).  Without looking them all up, I believe these DT's are all active and probably not the DT's you are going to experiment with. I just think that by the time the Jags game is done, we need to have our answer for the remainder of the season and right now, my OPINION is, we don't have the answer...

 

Believe me, I am not taking ANY games lightly. I am probably taking them more serious than others. Been a fan too long for that.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

Change for the sake of change, may not be the best notion, but would you agree that change is a better action plan than hope? I have seen several times where posters hope our line improves (not saying you).

 

Change is not always different than hope.  Benching our franchise LT for a rookie who hasn't earned a spot on the active roster based on practice or on preseason performance is a change BASED on hope - you "hope" that against the odds, "change" to a 5th round rookie who hasn't been considered one of the 8 or 9 best OLmen to date would be "change for the better".  That's really sort of a "Hail Mary" play.

 

I'd be all for meaningful change to try to improve, like trying to swing a trade for a better OLman than Feliciano if one is available.  We could also look at whether Boettger or Bates would be an upgrade at LG - sometimes teams are slow to bench an entrenched starter, though I'd like to assume they're making assessments based upon practice.

[Solomon Grundy]

I’d like to see if any of the trade prospects from other teams will be active players this week 

[LyndonvilleBill]

16 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Change is not always different than hope.  Benching our franchise LT for a rookie who hasn't earned a spot on the active roster based on practice or on preseason performance is a change BASED on hope - you "hope" that against the odds, "change" to a 5th round rookie who hasn't been considered one of the 8 or 9 best OLmen to date would be "change for the better".  That's really sort of a "Hail Mary" play.

 

I'd be all for meaningful change to try to improve, like trying to swing a trade for a better OLman than Feliciano if one is available.  We could also look at whether Boettger or Bates would be an upgrade at LG - sometimes teams are slow to bench an entrenched starter, though I'd like to assume they're making assessments based upon practice.

I can see where your coming from and I appreciate the back and forth. I guess no matter which way any of us look at things, we all would like to get better and have varying thoughts on how to get there. Much appreciated. 👍