Good Night / Bad Night - Pre-season game 1

[MasterStrategist]

34 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Personally, I think it's always been one of 2 options...he is on the 53 or gets traded if Beane gets an intriguing offer.  I didn't think Moss was ever in danger of being dumped in a trade like for peanuts or flat out cut without having a terrible camp to prompt that.  

 

I do agree the most likely scenario is Moss makes the 53.  I think to trade him, Beane would have to get a good offer, and that seems unlikely given he is coming off a forgettable season.  But to the team, in a SB push, Moss has value as a backup and also has value for next season when it comes to making a decision on Devin's future.

Agree on these points, and I think Moss showed last night that he looks alot more like his former self.  Which was a former PAC 12 OFF POTY.

 

I think each of our backs add a complementary component, albeit Moss and Motor are the most similar.  For the reasons you stated, I think Moss just brings more value to keeping VS trading.  

 

I really like Motor, think he's primed for a great year.  Will be fun to see Dorsey use all these guys, lots of talent to work with

[Robert Paulson]

2 hours ago, SectionC3 said:

 

I was at the game and watched the broadcast late last night.  I think Tasker said something about the velocity on that throw ambushing Crowder.  I couldn't disagree more having watched it live from a vantage point much closer than Tasker's.  It was not a high velocity throw.  Crowder is allowed to leave his feet to catch the football.  And that was a throw that had to have been caught. 

It looked like a high fastball on TV.

 

Crowder: old, injury prone and keeping some potentially decent receivers off the team/field.

 

Keenum: man , i thought there was more there there. 8 year vet can't pick up the offense? He does need a chance to play with the starters for a few series to be sure but:

 

I would not be dissapointed if both did not make the team.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Robert Paulson

[Solomon Grundy]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea the poor kid really struggled. He was trying his ass off as well you could tell. He just lacks foot speed and technique. 

PS for sure

[HappyDays]

If the Bills want to make up some cap space, some of these rookies might be able to replace the special teams aces on the team. Spector and Blackshear could take Matakevich's and Taiwan Jones's jobs respectively. Maybe not to the same level but I'll take the younger and cheaper production on special teams even if the floor is a little lower.

[Solomon Grundy]

3 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Keenan is #3 QB at best.  
 

thank God for Barkley 

I’d be a little concerned. You can see he was pressing the entire time. Maybe he was trying to hard to impress for the Mafia 

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

If the Bills want to make up some cap space, some of these rookies might be able to replace the special teams aces on the team. Spector and Blackshear could take Matakevich's and Taiwan Jones's jobs respectively. Maybe not to the same level but I'll take the younger and cheaper production on special teams even if the floor is a little lower.

Would be hard possibly. Jones and matakevich possibly one of the best ST players in NFL.  Hopefully somehow Blackshear makes it. Thinking possibly most practice squad for him. Spector possibly have to go on roster some team possibly might go after him.

[Solomon Grundy]

I haven’t seen any love for Shakir this entire thread as of yet. The rookie damn near had a 20 yd/rec avg on 5 catches on top of having punt duty responsibilities 

[clayboy54]

2 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

Raise your hand if you knew they couldn't execute it. 🤚

 

That's a tough play with the 1s out there.  With the 3s out there he should have called a play he thought they might be able to execute.  Especially when Sean made it clear (by going for 2) that he was playing for the win.

Then they’d never know who executed the assignments and who didn’t. This is exactly what preseason is for.

 

you play every game to win. Film will show who’s in and who’s out.

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

@GunnerBill I don't totally absolve Keenum on the first INT. 

 

This is an example of poor ball placement that needlessly ended up as an INT. 

Crowder was wide open over the middle on a short throw, Keenum threw high and the ball bounced off Crowder's hands for the INT.

 

Should he have caught it? Sure.

 

Was it a good throw? No...the ball should have been in his bread basket right out in front of him which would have resulted in a catch or him dropping the ball harmlessly to the ground.

 

This is an example where good ball placement results in a different outcome on the play and the INT never needed to happen.

 

And yet Shakir made a similar catch later in the game:

 

This is the NFL. Passes aren't always perfect. If you get your hands on the ball you're supposed to catch it. Especially when your role mainly consists of catching balls in the middle of the field, drops like Crowder had are dangerous and lead to turnovers. So far this offseason Crowder has been banged up and failed to make the play he was given in his one opportunity. His chances of making the roster went down a bit yesterday.

[BigAl2526]

4 hours ago, eball said:

 

He’s headed to the PS for sure.

I don't know that his place on the PS is a given.  He's got some UDFA competition for that spot.  He's getting a look because he's a draft pick, but having played poorly, it would not surprise me to see those UDFAs get more of a look going forward.

[RunTheBall]

I think we tend to read way to much into what happens in pre season games when the coaches are evaluating these guys every day. Yes it’s great to perform on the field and young guys can make a statement but the coaches already know 98% of the team. Take Keenum for example. Yeah he sucked but there is zero chance Barkley is the #2. The coaches already know what they are getting in him and will give him the entire pre season to get comfortable in the offense. Same thing with Crowder, he’s making the team based on his previous body of work and they will give him time to acclimate.

Moss was always a lock, no one is trading for a 3rd string running back. Beneford is a lock and he was before this game. Bernard and Shakir were always locks. Tenuta will go PS. Blackshear will go PS

[Big Turk]

29 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

And yet Shakir made a similar catch later in the game:

 

This is the NFL. Passes aren't always perfect. If you get your hands on the ball you're supposed to catch it. Especially when your role mainly consists of catching balls in the middle of the field, drops like Crowder had are dangerous and lead to turnovers. So far this offseason Crowder has been banged up and failed to make the play he was given in his one opportunity. His chances of making the roster went down a bit yesterday.

 

I said the ball should have been caught. But I also believe on a throw that short with a player that open the ball should have been put in a better place.

 

The receiver is going to get all the blame for dropping the ball but it's more like 60/40 WR/QB for me on that one. 

 

No reason for a ball to be that high on such an easy throw

[Chandler#81]

 @GunnerBill Thank you, GB. Top notch analysis and I completely agree with all your takes -EXCEPT, you spelled favor & offense wrong.

’Merica!

[PromoTheRobot]

I don't blame Keenum for every turnover but that one pass that was picked off at the goal line? Woof.

[Shaw66]

3 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

Nice writeup @GunnerBill.  I thought Keenum was terrible.  Probably the biggest surprised to me.  It was a terrible pass but Crowder did need to catch that.  He definitely did himself no favors there.  The other thing I was surprised about was the lack of playtime for Cook.  I thought he would have been involved more than he was.  I wonder if its because he is a roster lock and they wanted to get other guys looks or if its because he isn't where he needs to be in this offense yet.

Well, I'm not getting too excited about Keenum yet.  He's new to the system, and may take a little while to get acclimated.  It was surprising, however, how much better Barkley looked.  It is possible, of course, that the Bills just made a mistake on Keenum and will cut him.   I doubt it. 

 

As for Cook, I wasn't surprised at all.  If he weren't a rookie, he wouldn't have played at all.   The Bills just wanted to get him into the game, let him have the feel for the game and the hitting, and then get him on the bench with the rest of the starters.  He looked fine.  He got decent yardage on his carries, in the sense that he got as much as the line gave him.   He didn't create on his own, but running backs don't do that on every play.  There was no need to see any more.  I'm sure he's going to be a key player when the real games start.  

[billrooter]

Blackshear looked good as well, but we are loaded or so it seems at running back. Here is to hoping he continues playing well and clears waivers for the practice squad I'm assuming.

5 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Keenan is #3 QB at best.  
 

thank God for Barkley 

Not so sure about that, he is still learning a new offense. I think he ends up the backup and Matt is on the practice squad, the way the team structures this roster is going to be very interesting though.

[No_Matter_What]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

If the Bills want to make up some cap space, some of these rookies might be able to replace the special teams aces on the team. Spector and Blackshear could take Matakevich's and Taiwan Jones's jobs respectively. Maybe not to the same level but I'll take the younger and cheaper production on special teams even if the floor is a little lower.

 

I generally agree with you, but problem is that (unless I am misunderstading something) it is MORE EXPENSIVE to cut Jones than to keep him. If you keep Jones his cap hit is $1,05M. If you release him, his dead cap is $650k and any rookie you replace him with adds at least another $750k, which is $1,4M overall. Taiwin got a lot of guaranteed money.

 

Matakevich is another story, he might net us $1,8M or so.

[GunnerBill]

23 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

 

I generally agree with you, but problem is that (unless I am misunderstading something) it is MORE EXPENSIVE to cut Jones than to keep him. If you keep Jones his cap hit is $1,05M. If you release him, his dead cap is $650k and any rookie you replace him with adds at least another $750k, which is $1,4M overall. Taiwin got a lot of guaranteed money.

 

Matakevich is another story, he might net us $1,8M or so.

 

Agree. And Spector was an excellent teams player in college. The issue there is short term or long term. Matakevich is probably the better player now.... but by this time next year Spector with some experience may well be on a par and on a late round rookie deal that could make sense. 

 

I can actually see a scenario where both Matakevich and Spector make it for the first 6 weeks while Smith is suspended. 

Edited August 14, 2022 by GunnerBill

[Doc]

If Keenum doesn't show up in game 2, cut him.  He would save $3.5M.  Maybe PS him.  Or look for someone better.

[BADOLBILZ]

7 hours ago, AuntieEm said:

 

    I disagree with thinking Tasker doesn't put in the work.  I am firmly in the opinion that the struggles we see with Task messing up names etc is more a result of how much the effects of  constant hits to the head accumulated to cause memory problems as he gets older.  

 

 

He's always been bad and I don't think he's ever put in the work........his knowledge of certain aspects of the modern NFL,  like the salary cap, for example,  are way below what would be acceptable for an NFL radio talk show professional if he weren't a local celebrity.

 

His IRT delivery on broadcasts is even worse now than ever...........but that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with hits to the head.......he's 60 years old and if he's not committed to always getting better then he's going to get worse.