What are your top TWO takeaways from the Bills-Steelers game?

[Chaos]

There is potentially a lot to unpack from last nights game.  If you had to pick only TWO takeaways from last nights game, what would they be? Here are mine
 

1. The Bills 53 man roster was set before the game or the Bills had not intention of using that game as part of determing who wins "camp battles"
2. The Bills either have a bad problem with offensive tackles, or they have secret schemes they aren't sharing in a preseason game. 

[PromoTheRobot]

I worry "Shnowman Dion" got too fat (literally) and happy with his new contract.

[dickleyjones]

1. The board will overreact.

 

2. This board never disappoints.

[BillsPride12]

*I recognize it's only one preseason game we are  judging off but if you want two takeaways in the moment*

 

1) Offensive Line is what we were afraid it is

 

2) Kincaid and Torrence look the part....in itself great news but also made me feel a bit frustrated knowing how important it is to hit on your top draft picks and knowing we have whiffed on quite a few in the last few previous years 

[BillsFooteball]

1. RT is a huge  issue

2. MLB is a huge issue 

 

The rest I’m not so worried about. It concerns me that going into the season a SB caliber team before any injuries has 2 significant holes. Understanding cap restraints there has to be something once all cuts are made. 

[Freddie's Dead]

1. The return of Sugar Rush Josh was jarring.

2. The pre-snap penalties is a huge concern, preseason or not.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Preseason brings out the best in fans. Always. 
 

 

[4merper4mer]

9 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I worry "Shnowman Dion" got too fat (literally) and happy with his new contract.

Following Josh’s lead?  Josh got fat, went Hollywood, got to  hire the OC and two backup QBs, either blankly stares at his iPad or laughs it up on the sidelines after bad series.  Why wouldn’t his LT follow suit?  It looks to me like Allen has lost his will to win or in his mind he has already won because he’s achieved his goal of money and fame.  Maybe that’s why Stef was so pissed.

 

My two takeaways were the above and that Kincaid and Gabe looked pretty good and Cook made me want Singletary back.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by 4merper4mer

[LabattBlue]

1 minute ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Preseason brings out the best in fans. Always. 
 

 

You think McD and BB said the same thing while watching the 1st half yesterday?

[BigPappaPump]

1. Penalties. No excuses about schemes or game plans there. Just a total lack of discipline. Coaches need to hold players accountable along with themselves 

 

2. MLB & OT are still a major concerns.  Didn’t see anything that makes me feel comfortable about those positions moving forward 

[PBF81]

1.  The top rookies looked good out-of-the-gate for a change.  

2.  If anything holds us back this season it's going to be coaching.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Just now, LabattBlue said:

You think McD and BB said the same thing while watching the 1st half yesterday?

I don’t know. I’ve been on teams where the coach take the practice film and smashed it after a bad practice. Other times he’d call out everyone in the film session.

 

 I don’t know how McDermott will handle it. I think they believe they have a veteran team and won’t really stress what happened other than the pre snap penalties.

[Captain_Quint]

1. Burn it down and fire McDermott now and stop the bleeding. Maybe we only lose one season because of it instead of two. We only have so many with Josh at the helm. 

 

2. Kincaid is the real deal. He looks smooth out there.

[BuffaloBillyG]

19 minutes ago, Chaos said:

There is potentially a lot to unpack from last nights game.  If you had to pick only TWO takeaways from last nights game, what would they be? Here are mine
 

1. The Bills 53 man roster was set before the game or the Bills had not intention of using that game as part of determing who wins "camp battles"
2. The Bills either have a bad problem with offensive tackles, or they have secret schemes they aren't sharing in a preseason game. 

The actions of the game itself would undermine your first takeaway IMO. Specifically, Dodson being pulled early and still playing through the 4th quarter. 

 

As for my takeaways, quite simple for me.

 

1. O'Cyrus Torrence is going to be solid. Played very well against a really good defense. Held his spot well and looked like the most solid OL we had out there last night.

 

2. Dorian Williams not getting a shot at MLB may have been a shortsighted mistake. Yes, he's inexperienced and has some growing to do in this scheme but if they couldn't coach him up to be at least ahead of what Dodson was last night, that's on the coaches.

 

BONUS TAKEAWAY: Aaron Kromer is vastly overrated at this stage of his career. There were reports that he and Dorsey had "communication issues" last year that were fixed. There still seems to be issues. Would not shock me if he is gone sometimes between now and the end of the season.

 

 

[Chaos]

2 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

The actions of the game itself would undermine your first takeaway IMO. Specifically, Dodson being pulled early and still playing through the 4th quarter. 

Disagree. None of that means  a decision is not already made.

 

3 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Would not shock me if he is gone sometimes between now and the end of the season

Why not the beginning of the season? 

[QBorBust2018]

1. Team Stinks

2. Never winning a Super Bowl after the 13 seconds debacle 

[without a drought]

1. The Bills were bad.

 

2. The fans are worse.

[Buffalo Boy]

1    Dorsey needs to dial up a non stop short game featuring Kincaid, Cooke and ? With the obligatory long ball to Diggs/Hardy/Davis from time to time.

    Quick hitters like the Rams game last year. Get Josh to deal to the playmakers and keep him safe for the first quarter of the season till the O line figures itself out and the team creates an identity.

2. Have the corners play man, on the line, when it’s 3rd down and jam the receivers , not allowing free release and pitch and catch.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

1 minute ago, Chaos said:

Disagree. None of that means  a decision is not already made.

 

Why not the beginning of the season? 

If the decision to start Dodson had been made they wouldn't have him playing that late in the game. He would have come out, stayed out and Spector would have likely come in after AJK to finish out the game. They aren't going to have him in that spot at that stage of the game if he was locked in as starter. 

 

The reason I say Kromer may get until the end of the season is that he's there now. McDermott is likely to give him the season to figure it out. Unless there are things behind the walls that we don't know (example, perhaps Kromer is an egomaniac and hard to work with). In any event it looks like he's not the miracle worker some hoped he could be.

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

24 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Preseason brings out the best in fans. Always. 
 

 

Yes, I’m sure the entire coaching and front office staff laughed that performance off with the fans

[Toyo321]

1) I still have no faith in McD as head coach.

2) I still have no faith in McD's ability to multitask now as DC.

 

This is a early sample size but the undisciplined penalties yesterday were atrocious.   For a veteran team.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Toyo321

[Chaos]

3 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

locked in as starter. 

locked in as starter has nothing to do with what i said.  My takeaway is only about the 53.  And obviously things like the injury to Tommy Doyle might change that.  But nothing the Bills did last night highlighted any of the fan percieved "camp battles"

[BillzFreak]

2 minutes ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

Yes, I’m sure the entire coaching and front office staff laughed that performance off with the fans

Obviously the coaches are going to be pissed with that performance, but unlike the "fans" on this board, I highly doubt they believe this team is garbage and will finish last in the afc east and miss the playoffs entirely. I get the overreacting in the regular season game day thread when the game means something. But yesterday's amount of female dogging for a preseason game, as so many would say on here....It has me concerned lol.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Just now, Chaos said:

locked in as starter has nothing to do with what i said.  My takeaway is only about the 53.  And obviously things like the injury to Tommy Doyle might change that.  But nothing the Bills did last night highlighted any of the fan percieved "camp battles"

Ah, ok I may have misread that point about the 53. I still don't believe all 53 spots are locked in. There's still a lot of backend of the roster battles taking place IMO. As far as what the fans perceive, it's just that...the fans. We see far less of what players are doing so where we believe 2 players may be close...coaches see more and feel different. Not saying their call is 100% spot on...but it is what it is.

 

As far as camp battles at specific positions, I think there were opportunities for certain players to "lock down" the win last night. Had Dodson played better he likely wins the MLB job. He played himself out of the battle IMO. On the other hand Torrence had a shot to really ***** the RG job...and I believe he did just that. Had he looked bad...Bates would have reentered the conversation. 

 

CB looks like the battle had been over anyway. Everything that I've seen it's looked like Dane has been locked in as CB2 for a bit now. 

 

And like you say, an injury changes a lot of things. 

[John from Riverside]

I thought that it was interesting that even though we struggled at tackle, we appear to have put a solid interior line together
 

Torrance is the real deal man

[OldTimer1960]

14 minutes ago, Buffalo Boy said:

1    Dorsey needs to dial up a non stop short game featuring Kincaid, Cooke and ? With the obligatory long ball to Diggs/Hardy/Davis from time to time.

    Quick hitters like the Rams game last year. Get Josh to deal to the playmakers and keep him safe for the first quarter of the season till the O line figures itself out and the team creates an identity.

2. Have the corners play man, on the line, when it’s 3rd down and jam the receivers , not allowing free release and pitch and catch.  

Dane Jackson and Benford will not look good playing man to man and Elam is no longer an option.

[HOUSE]

# 1 The Bills lost a meaningless game

#2 I don't give a sheet

[RalphWilson'sNewWar]

Worry…not certainty…but worry that:

 

1.) Poyer hung on too long due to ego and wanting money.

 

2.) Front Office wasn’t able to make the hard call by removing a fan favorite vet too early instead of too late.

Edited August 20, 2023 by RalphWilson'sNewWar

[Chaos]

7 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

# 1 The Bills lost a meaningless game

#2 I don't give a sheet

If you took the time out to watch the game, then your takeaways are not totally true.  

[PBF81]

2 minutes ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said:

1.) Poyer hung on too long due to ego and wanting money.

 

That's business, and let's not forget, it is a business first.  The new ticket pricing & PSLs will spell that out quite clearly for anyone not understanding that.   

 

Why shouldn't the players get what they can when they can get it.  

 

 

2 minutes ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said:

2.) Front Office wasn’t able to make the hard call by removing a fan favorite vet too early instead of too late.

 

Per the above, that's what good GMs do, they manage that ala good business, or conversely, don't.  

 

It helps when you effectively backfill positions in preparation for that via your drafts, and again, conversely, hurts when you don't.  

 

Having said that, Poyer will be above-average this season.  He's at the top of the profession in terms of intellectual understanding and reacting.  That's worth a lot.  

 

 

[Cheektowaga Chad]

1. I hope they actually have a plan at MLB, other than aj Klein

 

2. I hope the play calling for the first team offense is more what we saw with Barkley and Kyle ie short quick rhythm passing and some runs when the QB is under center 

[Charles Romes]

Would try to package Basham/Shorter for any kind of younger swing tackle with upside. Not much that can be done at this point. 

[PBF81]

Just now, Chaos said:

If you took the time out to watch the game, then your takeaways are not totally true.  

 

As someone in the game-day thread pointed out, the outcomes of preseason games are meaningless.  What's not meaningless are the man-to-man matchups and how the rookies play.  The former wasn't great, the latter was.  

 

 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

20 minutes ago, BillzFreak said:

Obviously the coaches are going to be pissed with that performance, but unlike the "fans" on this board, I highly doubt they believe this team is garbage and will finish last in the afc east and miss the playoffs entirely. I get the overreacting in the regular season game day thread when the game means something. But yesterday's amount of female dogging for a preseason game, as so many would say on here....It has me concerned lol.

I take it with a grain of salt …. It’s no different than watching a game with your friends and occasionally wanting to throw the proverbial brick through the TV, only to be forgotten after the next big play, except once you put it in text, it takes on more permanence 

[Mr. WEO]

30 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

If the decision to start Dodson had been made they wouldn't have him playing that late in the game. He would have come out, stayed out and Spector would have likely come in after AJK to finish out the game. They aren't going to have him in that spot at that stage of the game if he was locked in as starter. 

 

The reason I say Kromer may get until the end of the season is that he's there now. McDermott is likely to give him the season to figure it out. Unless there are things behind the walls that we don't know (example, perhaps Kromer is an egomaniac and hard to work with). In any event it looks like he's not the miracle worker some hoped he could be.

 

Kromer's a bum.

 

1).  Receiver group gonna be gooood.  Gabe and Kincaid stood way out over the rest last night.

 

2). Buffalo DA needs to round up Matt Barkley for his million dollar heist over at PSE.  He was caught in the act on camera last night.

[PBF81]

5 minutes ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

1. I hope they actually have a plan at MLB, other than aj Klein

 

Funny you say that, I've been preaching that for a while, but I've been vehemently reassured that McD has a plan thereby negating any such concerns, and that part of that plan may be all but eliminating the position, because despite all of the 31 other teams having MLBs/ILBs on their depth charts, the NFL is moving away from the position.  

 

So we'll see, either McD's a visionary and Beane's astute, or ... not.  This season should provide the answer to that.  I'm far from optimistic.  

 

  

 

 

[Cheektowaga Chad]

4 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Funny you say that, I've been preaching that for a while, but I've been vehemently reassured that McD has a plan thereby negating any such concerns, and that part of that plan may be all but eliminating the position, because despite all of the 31 other teams having MLBs/ILBs on their depth charts, the NFL is moving away from the position.  

 

So we'll see, either McD's a visionary and Beane's astute, or ... not.  This season should provide the answer to that.  I'm far from optimistic.  

 

  

 

 

It's starting to look like they only had hopes and dreams for the MLB position

 

It's a bad look when your coach legit benched your supposed starter.... in a preseason game

[hondo in seattle]

47 minutes ago, Toyo321 said:

1) I still have no faith in McD as head coach.

2) I still have no faith in McD's ability to multitask now as DC.

 

This is a early sample size but the undisciplined penalties yesterday were atrocious.   For a veteran team.

 

Since you mentioned sample size, let's talk about it.  

 

Last year, we McD won 13 of 16 regular season games.  Yesterday, we played poorly in a preseason game.  

[Mr. WEO]

1 minute ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

Since you mentioned sample size, let's talk about it.  

 

Last year, we McD won 13 of 16 regular season games.  Yesterday, we played poorly in a preseason game.  

 

I agree it's best not to consider his record in playoff closeout games in the denominator...

[boyst]

I would just like to point out that I was the first one to begin the rally against coach mcfraud. I'm glad everyone is getting on board, I still have plenty of seats available for the experience!