I’m watching the replay and...

[oldmanfan]

1.  Milano, Dodson and Jackson got blocked out on the TD run and Poyer took a bad path.  Well blocked by the Steelers

 

2.  Milano got beat on the TD pass after the big punt return.

 

3.  Brown blocked fine the first series.

 

So thus far I’m seeing some different stuff than others

 

Our second series:

 

1.  Dawkins got beat but Josh got it to Davis.  Brown OK again

 

2.  Cook dancing too much

 

3.  When Josh gets it out quick we are usually successful

 

4. Dawkins beat again with power this time

 

5.  That was not a block in the back

 

6.  Brown beat there and held to save Josh. Him and Dawkins need to anchor better.

[oldmanfan]

More input at 14-0:

 

1.  Special teams poor, but should be better once they have the guys they know they’ll use each week

 

2.  Good double by Benford and Poyer

 

3.  D line playing OK.  Klein with a missed tackle

 

I’ll stop here.  It’s what I thought I’d see.  A couple concerns, Dawkins to me primarily.  But all the rest I read last night and this morning is overblown.

[LeGOATski]

Seems consistent with the analysis others are putting out today and what I saw.

 

I hope they eventually go with Milano/Williams or Milano/Bernard at LB. I'll take the athletic upside and playmaking ability along with the mental mistakes. They're young guys who gotta learn anyway. Dodson or Klein is not the answer.

 

The OL had a rough night against a Steelers team constantly blitzing, but overall they still seem improved. The interior particularly seems better. If the tackles simply play to their usual standard, the line looks better.

[Brand J]

The Steelers starters whooped our Starters because of fluke plays. At least that’s what someone here told me 😅

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

11 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

 

2.  Cook dancing too much

 

I hate that even more than Spiller trying to get 'into space'. 🤨

[GoBills808]

If it's the same TD as I'm thinking of it looked like a miscommunication between the LBs like one was supposed to pass him off

 

If he was Milano's responsibility that's not great

[oldmanfan]

4 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

Seems consistent with the analysis others are putting out today and what I saw.

 

I hope they eventually go with Milano/Williams or Milano/Bernard at LB. I'll take the athletic upside and playmaking ability along with the mental mistakes. They're young guys who gotta learn anyway. Dodson or Klein is not the answer.

 

The OL had a rough night against a Steelers team constantly blitzing, but overall they still seem improved. The interior particularly seems better. If the tackles simply play to their usual standard, the line looks better.

The one thing I saw that others did was Dawkins.   He got beat 3 times in that first quarter.  He needs to step it up, or I can see the Dutch kid or the Gator FA kid getting that spot.  Your LT can’t get beat like that.  On the other hand Brown has looked OK to me.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

21 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

 

 

2.  Cook dancing too much

 

3.  When Josh gets it out quick we are usually successful

 

2- Steelers d line was pushing bills o line back 2-3 yards. Nowhere to go

 

3- that’s been true for several seasons. Needs to happen consistently.

 

you missed the plethora of penalties. 
 

 

Not the end of the world- in a glimpse, they look the same as last year with a better tightend and a more vulnerable defense. 

[oldmanfan]

1 minute ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

2- Steelers d line was pushing bills o line back 2-3 yards. Nowhere to go

 

3- that’s been true for several seasons. Needs to happen consistently.

 

you missed the plethora of penalties. 
 

 

Not the end of the world- in a glimpse, they look the same as last year with a better tightend and a more vulnerable defense. 

Yeah didn’t bring up the penalties but that’s just ridiculous.  Guys need to start getting benched.

[Success]

Glad to hear the observations on Brown. Reading the thread last night, I thought he was a disaster, but it sounds like he held up okay.

 

[AuntieEm]

30 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

Seems consistent with the analysis others are putting out today and what I saw.

 

I hope they eventually go with Milano/Williams or Milano/Bernard at LB. I'll take the athletic upside and playmaking ability along with the mental mistakes. They're young guys who gotta learn anyway. Dodson or Klein is not the answer.

 

The OL had a rough night against a Steelers team constantly blitzing, but overall they still seem improved. The interior particularly seems better. If the tackles simply play to their usual standard, the line looks better.

standards. Dometimes a wrong read may turn into a he played that well because he's where the qb didn't expect him to be.   

[SoMAn]

1 hour ago, oldmanfan said:

1.  Milano, Dodson and Jackson got blocked out on the TD run and Poyer took a bad path.  Well blocked by the Steelers

 

2.  Milano got beat on the TD pass after the big punt return.

 

3.  Brown blocked fine the first series.

 

So thus far I’m seeing some different stuff than others

 

Our second series:

 

1.  Dawkins got beat but Josh got it to Davis.  Brown OK again

 

2.  Cook dancing too much

 

3.  When Josh gets it out quick we are usually successful

 

4. Dawkins beat again with power this time

 

5.  That was not a block in the back

 

6.  Brown beat there and held to save Josh. Him and Dawkins need to anchor better.

#3, yes. Getting the ball out quick was Brady’s bread and butter. Todays NFL O-line can rarely hold the blocks very long of the faster, stronger D linemen of this era. 
I’ve said all along, take the short stuff. It’s higher percentage, keeps chains moving, keeps ball from opposing team’s hands while controlling clock. 
I believe that’s where Dorsey is trying to steer the offense. Will Josh quit with the hero ball? 

[Big Blitz]

Dorsey needs to assess quick in game that “I have an oline problem today” and adjust.  
 

Not saying they did this last night - but against the Jets if guys are getting whooped I would take that immediately as that might not get fixed tonight.  
 

And if you can actually run the ball and have success getting rid of it quick that will assist in letting the D line think they can just tee off.   
 

 

If I wasn’t worried that there is something wrong with Dawkins I wouldn’t be worried about the Oline as much.  If Spencer is the only issue we can work with that.  

[The Firebaugh Kid]

Its ***** preseason lol. 

[SCBills]

We should be using the Brown pancake block as an example of how good he can be if he figures it out..

 

Instead it was incorrectly flagged and led to more confirmation bias.  
 

Not to say he isn’t a concern, but how that play was wrongly officiated unfairly dug in perceptions of his play. 

[akcash]

Josh and offense did not have all the tools at their disposal last night. Plus the interior line played fine. Dion gets better as season goes along every year. But protections weren't adjusted for last night. 

 

 

Good or bad you can't put alot of stock into preseason. It's basically not real.

 

Penalties yes the are real, but sometimes they are a consequence of not being in rhythm and not being confident because there is no gameplan. 

 

I'm not putting a lot of stock into what all I saw last night.

 

 

@oldmanfan thanks for the write up and report.

 

I will say Brown getting beat by Markus Golden last night is a problem and that is real and he needs to fix that immediately.

Edited August 20, 2023 by akcash

[Bermuda Triangle]

On the TD run, it looked to me that Dodson was out of position and Poyer took a bad angle.

 

On the Freiermuth TD, I thought that Milano actually had decent coverage, but Pickett threw the ball behind Freiermuth.  If Poyer wasn't late and slow, that a PBU.

[HOUSE]

Come on

Nobody watched this game twice

If you call 911, nobody will even show up

[LeGOATski]

1 hour ago, AuntieEm said:

standards. Dometimes a wrong read may turn into a he played that well because he's where the qb didn't expect him to be.   

You'll need to be more specific

[oldmanfan]

Just now, HOUSE said:

Come on

Nobody watched this game twice

If you call 911, nobody will even show up

I didn’t watch it last night.  I live in Indiana so I had to record the replay on NFL Network.  So I focused on Brown and Dawkins since everyone complained about them.  And Brown was nowhere near as bad as people were saying.  Dawkins though...

[ngbills]

We sucked. No sugar coating it. Our starters were worse than Steelers starters and back ups. 

Josh was quickly bailing the pocket even when OL blocked. Cook could not hit the holes. The play calling only worked on kick slants. Everything else was a mess. The D could not stop anything. Special teams sucked. A bazillion penalties.  This was a classic stinker. 

[oldmanfan]

Just now, ngbills said:

We sucked. No sugar coating it. Our starters were worse than Steelers starters and back ups. 

Josh was quickly bailing the pocket even when OL blocked. Cook could not hit the holes. The play calling only worked on kick slants. Everything else was a mess. The D could not stop anything. Special teams sucked. A bazillion penalties.  This was a classic stinker. 

Yeah not a great night.  

[Nuncha]

October 9, 2022   Bills 38, Steelers 3.  I'm sure Tomlin didn't have to "remind" his team of that embarrassment.  It was a meaningless preseason game for the Bills but probably had a bit more meaning to the Steelers.

[Old Coot]

2 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

2.  Cook dancing too much

Pass protection for a RB is a  learned skill. It will take some time before he becomes proficient.

[oldmanfan]

Just now, Old Coot said:

Pass protection for a RB is a  learned skill. It will take some time before he becomes proficient.

I was talking about him running.

[Senth]

Dawkins needs to take a good long look ...... disappointed. 

Murray .... Harris ..... Cook that should be the depth order.

 

Harris would be 1st if healthy.

 

Cook is better coming in off the bench right now.

[MasterStrategist]

Few items:

1. Agree with your takes, especially on OL.  @Ralonzoalso put out a thorough/fantastic analysis.  Some correctable adjustments to be had on OL, but also with Josh/Cook reading blocks.

 

2. Penalties: the false starts are inexcusable, but I didn't think the holding penalties were called consistently at all.  Case in point, Steelers first 3rd down conversion, I thought Groot was held.  Best way to eliminate potential hold calls, is a better quick passing attack.  Too many long developing plays, which was a Dorsey/Daboll trait (more Dorsey).  Again, this is an adjustment to learn from and adjust (Dorsey/Josh).

 

3. 2nd Steeler TD: I saw it different than Milano in coverage. I thought he was pointing to Dodson to get a better drop/depth to Pat coming down the seam.  But either way it looked like a blown coverage.  Communication is expected to be an adjustment, with a new Mike LB beside Matt.  But I'm all for seeing what Bernard has to offer.  At the very least, Rapp/Neal look much better than Dodson or Klein right now.  I'd find a way to go dime on 3rd/obvious passing downs.  Dodson is what he is, same with Klein, I'd expect alot of teams to attack them in coverage.  Dodson looked worse this week than expected.

 

4. Young OL: VanDeMark at LT, looks better than Q at right.  Broeker and Anderson also look to have potential.  I'm wondering if Q isn't a safe bet to make the team anymore, even with Doyle out and Shell retiring.

[Dan Darragh]

2 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

Yeah didn’t bring up the penalties but that’s just ridiculous.  Guys need to start getting benched.

I can see guys dropping and giving me 50 during TV timeouts.

 

Or running laps after a flag.

[78thealltimegreat]

Good assessments I’ll have to rewatch but I just remember the awful holding call Spencer had when only Josh Allen can hit a 35 yard laser on 3rd and 24 and it got called back. 
The guard play was surprisingly good especially against the Steelers front 7 but Dawkins was terrible. Listening to his comments I think he realizes if he plays like that he’s officially on borrowed time in Buffalo. 
 

[QLBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Senth said:

Dawkins needs to take a good long look ...... disappointed. 

Murray .... Harris ..... Cook that should be the depth order.

 

Harris would be 1st if healthy.

 

Cook is better coming in off the bench right now.

Wow Cook will start and gain over 1000 yards this year. 

[4th&long]

2 hours ago, Nuncha said:

October 9, 2022   Bills 38, Steelers 3.  I'm sure Tomlin didn't have to "remind" his team of that embarrassment.  It was a meaningless preseason game for the Bills but probably had a bit more meaning to the Steelers.

This is actually what I was thinking. I didn’t want Josh to play because of it, I was afraid of them going after him.

 

 Thank you old man for a more balanced write up and review.

 

i know I’ve never seen the bills play a bad first quarter and then dominate the rest of the game lol. The difference last night? The starters got pulled. After that I don’t care what happened. 
also did they game plan?

 Did the players sleep walk through a meaningless preseason game so they don’t get hurt?

 

 Too many variables to put any stock into this game! how do you judge anything in a preseason game? 
 

i will just sit back and laugh at everyone going for the razor blades.

Edited August 20, 2023 by 4th&long

[Don Otreply]

2 hours ago, MasterStrategist said:

Few items:

1. Agree with your takes, especially on OL.  @Ralonzoalso put out a thorough/fantastic analysis.  Some correctable adjustments to be had on OL, but also with Josh/Cook reading blocks.

 

2. Penalties: the false starts are inexcusable, but I didn't think the holding penalties were called consistently at all.  Case in point, Steelers first 3rd down conversion, I thought Groot was held.  Best way to eliminate potential hold calls, is a better quick passing attack.  Too many long developing plays, which was a Dorsey/Daboll trait (more Dorsey).  Again, this is an adjustment to learn from and adjust (Dorsey/Josh).

 

3. 2nd Steeler TD: I saw it different than Milano in coverage. I thought he was pointing to Dodson to get a better drop/depth to Pat coming down the seam.  But either way it looked like a blown coverage.  Communication is expected to be an adjustment, with a new Mike LB beside Matt.  But I'm all for seeing what Bernard has to offer.  At the very least, Rapp/Neal look much better than Dodson or Klein right now.  I'd find a way to go dime on 3rd/obvious passing downs.  Dodson is what he is, same with Klein, I'd expect alot of teams to attack them in coverage.  Dodson looked worse this week than expected.

 

4. Young OL: VanDeMark at LT, looks better than Q at right.  Broeker and Anderson also look to have potential.  I'm wondering if Q isn't a safe bet to make the team anymore, even with Doyle out and Shell retiring.

I have read the same about those three young O-line guys from a few different posters on this board, hope they continue to show well in the last preseason game and make the team. 

[Steptide]

It's not as bad as it seemed, but there's definitely work to do. If I'm McDermott though, I play the starting o line this week at the bearsnforna quarter. Gotta get the bad taste out of their mouths 

[Fleezoid]

3 hours ago, HOUSE said:

Come on

Nobody watched this game twice

If you call 911, nobody will even show up

 

I've been plucking nose hairs out since yesterday. I'm preparing myself in the event I'm stuck watching the game again. 

[Success]

Can anyone who watched all of the downs shed some light on Elam?  Was he bad?  

 

I had some high hopes coming into this season.  I thought he looked great at times last year, and like a guy who could easily move into the #2 spot after Tre.

 

One preseason game doesn't mean that much - but it's starting to feel like he is not going to be a starter.

 

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, Success said:

Can anyone who watched all of the downs shed some light on Elam?  Was he bad?  

 

I had some high hopes coming into this season.  I thought he looked great at times last year, and like a guy who could easily move into the #2 spot after Tre.

 

One preseason game doesn't mean that much - but it's starting to feel like he is not going to be a starter.

 

the only rep that comes to mind is watching him get dog walked into the EZ by legacy product Connor Heyward for a TD

[Franco_92]

Everyone who studies film sounds miles different from everything I read here, glad it worked out that way for you too. 

The all-22 film also shows that Milano had great coverage on the TD, and Pickett put it back shoulder where that seam pass is not traditionally thrown, and he barely had room. It was a GREAT throw. The sort of thing Allen started being capable of out of nowhere in 2020. 

[oldmanfan]

6 minutes ago, arcane said:

Everyone who studies film sounds miles different from everything I read here, glad it worked out that way for you too. 

The all-22 film also shows that Milano had great coverage on the TD, and Pickett put it back shoulder where that seam pass is not traditionally thrown, and he barely had room. It was a GREAT throw. The sort of thing Allen started being capable of out of nowhere in 2020. 

Good point about that throw 

[NickelCity]

I guess some of the reaction is overblown (esp the Josh critiques imo). But I don't know that the main points were. Or at least my main concerns heading into the game. O-line, Dorsey, MLB have been the big question marks. The first looks terrible, the second isn't really knowable because it's preseason (although some of the play designs last night that had no short options gave me bad flashbacks), and the third looks terrible. 

 

We have months to get things right, but it's a shame we have to fix roster issues that seemed apparent months ago.

[DieHardBillsFan]

Finally had a chance to watch the game...

 

Wow, enough penalties???

1st teams were beat in every way possible, offense, defense, special teams. That first series was as bad as the Broncos looked last year.

I know its preseason, but that was as big an egg as in the Bengals playoff game.

 

Positive takeaways... positive takeaways... Mims looked good again!