Other than some injuries, is there anything NOT to like about last night?!?

[zow2]

It's easy to praise everyone and everything about this team right now...but for fun, i was trying to find some things to nitpick.  Anyone see anything? 

 

I think it was 24-7, then the muffed punt.  I was expecting Buffalo to pound the rock, kill some time and score.  Instead, Allen passed three straight times and had two knocked down at the line and they settled for a FG.  It was a very rushed series and not a smart series of plays.  That's about all i could find.

[gonzo1105]

3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 play calling 

Edited September 20, 2022 by gonzo1105

[UKBillFan]

Just now, gonzo1105 said:

3rd and 4th and short play calling 

And that dreadful challenge flag in the first.

[wjag]

Jumping Offside at home. 

[Captain_Quint]

1 minute ago, gonzo1105 said:

3rd and 4th and short play calling 

Yeah, they seemed to be in 3rd and short alot of the time. Something to work on, but with a new OC, and Van Roten having to step in at center its understandable to struggle there. Plus very few runs up the middle with Simmons playing stout all night. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Just being picky here because overall it was a great performance 

 

1. Wasted challenge by McD

2. Too many penalties

3. Failed 4th and 1 looked disorganized - Allen or McD should have called TO
4. Too much shotgun on 3rd and 1

5. Cook and Shakir have a long way to go

[Captain Hindsight]

I got home pretty late. Kinda tired 

[HOUSE]

I missed Gunsmoke...

[zow2]

2 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Just being picky here because overall it was a great performance 

 

1. Wasted challenge by McD

2. Too many penalties

3. Failed 4th and 1 looked disorganized - Allen or McD should have called TO
4. Too much shotgun on 3rd and 1

5. Cook and Shakir have a long way to go

 

Yeah Cook.  I was glad he got several carries in a live game when there were no consequences for any mistakes.  Hard to really trust him yet.  He looks like a fumble waiting to happen when he gets hit.

[Beach]

the time out by the Bills when the Titans would have jumped Offside.  If the delay of game happened we woulda still been kicking a short field goal.

[wjag]

Shakir didn’t wow. Missed block on 4th and 1.  Dropped a pass that he seemed to catch in preseason. 

[Greg S]

There really hasn't been anything to complain about these first two games. The bad plays are so far and few between that it doesn't matter as the Bills have been so dominant. Only thing that sucked in week 2 was the rest of the division won. The all blues still look like poop. Should have been blue over white last night. If the only thing I can B word about is the uniforms then I really have nothing to B word about. Bills won and that is all that matters. Well that and getting healthy.

[boyst]

Knox not getting separation and finding the deep seams necessary to exploit weaker defenses.

[Beach]

one terrible thing last night was the promotion of the Eagles/Vikings game and then split screening it.

[sherpa]

19 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

And that dreadful challenge flag in the first.

 

I suspect that might have been a "strategic" challenge.

They were going to take a timeout, and why not challenge instead.

 

[Heavy Kevi]

Yeah, I mean.... Take the final score out of the equation, and the offense looked out of sorts for most of the first half.

 

Especially that first quarter, the team looked incredibly average. Josh made some hasty decisions, even had a couple "hero ball" moments with a near fumble and a sack. Trying to break the game open.

 

At the end of the first, when McD spoke to the team, they seed to calm down and execute better.

 

Once halftime happened, though... Sheer domination. But if we have a bad quarter or half against some better teams we might get behind on the scoreboard. The Titans can't score at will, but some of our AFC competitors can.

 

But overall a very enjoyable dismantling of a team we've had trouble with recently. Was very happy to see them shut down Henry, and nice also to see the LBs make a big impact on the game. Also, rookie schmookie when it comes to corners. Even after Dane got hurt, Elam and Benford played really well overall.

[junior]

For those talking about the challenge... Whoever controls the videos that are replayed on the big screen failed McD. That one's not on him. They only showed one view on the screen and you couldn't tell from it whether or not the second foot came down. McDermott waited til the absolute last second to throw the flag and you could tell he was very hesitant to throw it. 

[Simon]

15 minutes ago, Beach said:

the time out by the Bills when the Titans would have jumped Offside.  If the delay of game happened we woulda still been kicking a short field goal.

 

Preventing the delay of game by calling the TO with 1 second on the playclock enabled the Bills to still go for it on 4th/short.

Which resulted in a TD.

McD did nothing wrong there; it was just unfortunate timing with that moron jumping offside with .5 seconds left on the playclock.

[DrDawkinstein]

16 minutes ago, Heavy Kevi said:

Yeah, I mean.... Take the final score out of the equation, and the offense looked out of sorts for most of the first half.

 

Especially that first quarter, the team looked incredibly average. Josh made some hasty decisions, even had a couple "hero ball" moments with a near fumble and a sack. Trying to break the game open.

 

At the end of the first, when McD spoke to the team, they seed to calm down and execute better.

 

Once halftime happened, though... Sheer domination. But if we have a bad quarter or half against some better teams we might get behind on the scoreboard. The Titans can't score at will, but some of our AFC competitors can.

 

But overall a very enjoyable dismantling of a team we've had trouble with recently. Was very happy to see them shut down Henry, and nice also to see the LBs make a big impact on the game. Also, rookie schmookie when it comes to corners. Even after Dane got hurt, Elam and Benford played really well overall.

 

Which makes sense. McD said he told the team to calm down. They were too hyped and all pressing too hard to make a big play at the hyped up home opener instead of playing loose and doing their jobs. I give McD credit for getting the team calmed down and playing better, but as others have noted, some of the coaching miscues were the main issues of the game.

[wjag]

23 minutes ago, sherpa said:

 

I suspect that might have been a "strategic" challenge.

They were going to take a timeout, and why not challenge instead.

 

 
Agree. I really thought that was a chance to give the D a rest.  

[The Avenger]

Short yardage definitely needs to be worked on. Say what you will about Tom Brady, but that guy used to convert like 98% of his 1 yard first downs by just plowing forward and Josh is bigger than he is and the Bills line usually gets a decent push. That we struggle so much in those situations and never seem to have Josh push it successfully is a puzzling to me - we should be able to get damn near automatic in those situations.

[Billsfan1972]

Three & out after the fumble recovery on the punt @ the 20.  Josh had two balls tipped.....

 

Very upset that the Bills punted!!!!!😉🤣

[Wayne Cubed]

If I'm being super critical, still think it wasn't the cleanest game from the Bills. Could clean up the penalties and thought there was some situational football that could have been better. 

 

Saying all that, to make mistakes and still demolish a team tells you how good of a team this is. I think they'll need to clean those issues up with the upcoming games.

[Behindenemylines]

On the series after the fumble recovery where we kicked the field goal it appeared as if there was no urgency to score.  Felt like the energy faded away and everyone was at 75%.  
 

My wife commented that Allen seemed out of it a bit. 
 

anyone else notice it?

[skibum]

I thought the Bills looked pretty mortal through the first quarter or so. It was kind of nice to see them being challenged by the Titans D, after they had their way with the Rams. We saw that they can just keep at it, move the chains and put up points even when they're not getting everything they want. 

[Rico]

I remember 2 years ago when Meathead had them throw for a TD at the end of the game just to run up the score and I would’ve liked to see 48-7…. that’s about it. 

[Freddie's Dead]

How was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

Edited September 20, 2022 by Freddie's Dead

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

51 minutes ago, junior said:

For those talking about the challenge... Whoever controls the videos that are replayed on the big screen failed McD. That one's not on him. They only showed one view on the screen and you couldn't tell from it whether or not the second foot came down. McDermott waited til the absolute last second to throw the flag and you could tell he was very hesitant to throw it. 

 

Don't most teams have a dedicated person to watch all broadcasts/replays to determine when to challenge? It's an embarrassment if our process is to rely on our head coach to watch an in-stadium replay on a jumbotron. What if we're on the road and they deliberately don't show a replay on a big play that would be overturned? 

 

I'm hoping McDermott was using it as an extended timeout....which is still pretty lame (defensive timeout that the offense converts anyway). 

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Just being picky here because overall it was a great performance 

 

1. Wasted challenge by McD

2. Too many penalties

3. Failed 4th and 1 looked disorganized - Allen or McD should have called TO
4. Too much shotgun on 3rd and 1

5. Cook and Shakir have a long way to go

 

Pretty much this. 

 

Bit of a segue on #5 that our run game was atrocious. We padded the stats in garbage time, but I believe midway through the 3rd we had 16 yards rushing on 8 rushing plays by our RBs (JA had a legendary 10 yard scramble in the 1st). Singletary started the game with a 16 yard run, then our next 7 rushing attempts amounted to 0 yards. 

[Process]

Sloppy first half again. Running game stinks.

[Coach Tuesday]

Would like to see Dorsey reincorporate pre-snap motion.  Was a Daboll staple.  The running game could’ve gotten going last night with some McKenzie end-arounds testing the Titans’ boundary corners who were gassed from chasing Diggs around.

[Warriorspikes51]

The Officials with their idea of encroachment haha 

[Big Turk]

some short yardage plays and the lack of ability to pick them up in the run game. Other than that not really.

[GunnerBill]

A few things:

 

1. Whatever the reason the challenge was an awful challenge. Obvious catch. 

 

2. The short yardage plays. It was a combination of factors. There were a couple that were just plain bad execution by the players, the 4th and 1 first Qrtr where they were messed up from the start and Shakir whiffed, the 3rd and 1 2nd Qrtr where Josh had Kumerow wide open and just missed, but there were a couple where the play calling was a little off too. 

 

3. Shakir looked a little overwhelmed at times, not just on that missed block and the drop which (while not a well thrown ball) he should have had but also his route running from the TV angle he looked like he struggled to get any separation. I still have a ton of confidence in the kid long term, but he is a rookie 5th rounder and we have to remind ourselves of that. 

 

4. James Cook still doesn't look as explosive to my eye as I expected him to. He had the one nice run on the sweep for 33 yards, but that was more just a well called and well blocked play than anything he particularly did. Otherwise it was 10 carries for 20 yards. I know the blocking wasn't great and on that long run he did look like he was moving when up to full speed but that initial explosion is the part I have been a tad disappointed with so far. 

 

5. Jake Kumerow is our outside WR depth. I don't wanna bang on Jake because he had a nice game. Excellent move on Caleb Farley who was a first round pick a year ago for the long reception on the outside. Fair play to him. But it was a banged up set of Titans corners, missing their #1 guy in Fulton. My concern all offseason was our depth at outside receiver and I said "I think Kumerow is their guy." Others argued he wasn't but evidence through two games is pretty clear. Kumerow is the next man up. So far so good, but still call me nervous should Gabe's issue linger or should we lose he or Stef at any stage for a more prolonged period. Jake can get you through a game or two. Can he play 4,5,6 games straight and perform at a high enough level for a contender? I hope we don't have to find out. 

 

 

But I should stress that overall there were FAR more positives than negatives. The main concern for me is the injury situation. Hope that clears up soon. 

[FireChans]

Just now, GunnerBill said:

A few things:

 

1. Whatever the reason the challenge was an awful challenge. Obvious catch. 

 

2. The short yardage plays. It was a combination of factors. There were a couple that were just plain bad execution by the players, the 4th and 1 first Qrtr where they were messed up from the start and Shakir whiffed, the 3rd and 1 2nd Qrtr where Josh had Kumerow wide open and just missed, but there were a couple where the play calling was a little off too. 

 

3. Shakir looked a little overwhelmed at times, not just on that missed block and the drop which (while not a well thrown ball) he should have had but also his route running from the TV angle he looked like he struggled to get any separation. I still have a ton of confidence in the kid long term, but he is a rookie 5th rounder and we have to remind ourselves of that. 

 

4. James Cook still doesn't look as explosive to my eye as I expected him to. He had the one nice run on the sweep for 33 yards, but that was more just a well called and well blocked play than anything he particularly did. Otherwise it was 10 carries for 20 yards. I know the blocking wasn't great and on that long run he did look like he was moving when up to full speed but that initial explosion is the part I have been a tad disappointed with so far. 

 

5. Jake Kumerow is our outside WR depth. I don't wanna bang on Jake because he had a nice game. Excellent move on Caleb Farley who was a first round pick a year ago for the long reception on the outside. Fair play to him. But it was a banged up set of Titans corners, missing their #1 guy in Fulton. My concern all offseason was our depth at outside receiver and I said "I think Kumerow is their guy." Others argued he wasn't but evidence through two games is pretty clear. Kumerow is the next man up. So far so good, but still call me nervous should Gabe's issue linger or should we lose he or Stef at any stage for a more prolonged period. Jake can get you through a game or two. Can he play 4,5,6 games straight and perform at a high enough level for a contender? I hope we don't have to find out. 

 

 

But I should stress that overall there were FAR more positives than negatives. The main concern for me is the injury situation. Hope that clears up soon. 

Before the game got out of hand, the Titans DL was manhandling our OL.  It was like 3 years of deja vu playing the Titans.

 

I think that made everybody a little more skittish, including Josh.

[Playoffs?]

If I have to nitpick, I’d like to see more devin singletary please. Give the kid a chance to get some momentum. 

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

Before the game got out of hand, the Titans DL was manhandling our OL.  It was like 3 years of deja vu playing the Titans.

 

I think that made everybody a little more skittish, including Josh.

 

Yea - particularly on the interior and particularly while Morse was out. 

 

Should have added Greg Van Roten's snapping to my list of concerns. Man they were an adventure. How Josh managed to corral some of those snaps was something of a miracle. With someone with less outstanding coordination and / or smaller hands we would have had multiple botched snaps while he was in the game. 

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea - particularly on the interior and particularly while Morse was out. 

 

Should have added Greg Van Roten's snapping to my list of concerns. Man they were an adventure. How Josh managed to corral some of those snaps was something of a miracle. With someone with less outstanding coordination and / or smaller hands we would have had multiple botched snaps while he was in the game. 

Isn't Ike our normal backup C?

[major]

Want to see more production from our RB’s

[Greg S]

1 minute ago, major said:

Want to see more production from our RB’s

 

Exactly. If we do then that will mean Allen is running less and not getting hit as much. That would be a great thing.