Preseason Week 1 Giants at Bills - Game thread

[Maine-iac]

To Cam's credit he seemed to play pretty well but Hancock has a little more size and a little more speed so it would be pretty awesome if he took over the free safety spot.  I know our safeties are interchangeable at times but Rapp seems like a strong safety and so does Bishop just younger with a big more speed so it would be nice if Bishop could lock down that job at some point and Rapp could back up both positions.

[SCBills]

6 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

I'm not all the way down on Tre yet.  I'm not completely anti bend but don't break but you have to be able to make stops over the course of the game.  I think Dane came in for Tre after two drives and the Giants only had 3 points and had punted the last drive.  Near as I can tell the chunk plays stated after that.  I think at his age and physical abilities Tre has to play a bit of chess.  Tre might not have been lock down but I at least had the feeling that if you threw at him enough he'd jump one eventually.  He was keeping things in front of him and I trust his thought process enough to feel like he might give up a few but he'd got one at some point.  This is all just my opinion but I felt like Tre had it under control and Dane didn't.  

Yea, Tre gave up a few easy short ones, but the cushion to Robinson on the one chunk play he gave up probably clouds things.  
 

Im not out on him either, but was hoping to see him show a little better yesterday. 

[Maine-iac]

9 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Yea, Tre gave up a few easy short ones, but the cushion to Robinson on the one chunk play he gave up probably clouds things.  
 

Im not out on him either, but was hoping to see him show a little better yesterday. 

This is going to sound like I'm speaking our of both sides of my mouth but somehow an 11 yard out on 2nd and 7 doesn't bother me as much as a 11 yard gain on 3rd and 9.  The second situation being hypothetical.  He didn't get run over for 20 yards and he didn't get out run by a guy who ran a 4.75 40 at the combine.  I probably just have a soft spot for the guy that's blinding me a little bit but I'm hoping for Levi Wallace with better instincts and a little more fight in him.  

 

Nevermind it was 3rd and 7 .................. yeesh.  Age is a B word.  Just 3 years ago I didn't have glasses and I could remember anything.

Edited Sunday at 02:24 PM by Maine-iac

[wjag]

The nostalgia of Tre White wore off for me yesterday and the reality hit home. He can be a serviceable sub, but he is too soft married with too slow to be CB2. 

[RichRiderBills]

3 hours ago, Ralonzo said:

 

The scenario where the Bills cannibalize from the LB position, as it looks like they are aiming for.

 

Then it comes down to using the spot for a 4th RB who isn't a key ST player or a 6th WR in Shavers who projects as a top gunner and a Mack Hollins role on offense. Gore looked good but has nowhere near the value to the roster as Shavers.

 

I agree with your thesis here , but I think Shavers has a legit shot to even make it as WR#4 or #5 .

 

 

 

[4merper4mer]

1 hour ago, Maine-iac said:

This is going to sound like I'm speaking our of both sides of my mouth but somehow an 11 yard out on 2nd and 7 doesn't bother me as much as a 11 yard gain on 3rd and 9.  The second situation being hypothetical.  He didn't get run over for 20 yards and he didn't get out run by a guy who ran a 4.75 40 at the combine.  I probably just have a soft spot for the guy that's blinding me a little bit but I'm hoping for Levi Wallace with better instincts and a little more fight in him.  

 

Nevermind it was 3rd and 7 .................. yeesh.  Age is a B word.  Just 3 years ago I didn't have glasses and I could remember anything.

I remember when Bob Gibson gave up that double in Spring training.  The Cardinals were stupid not to cut him but they lucked out.

[HappyDays]

This is every pass rush snap from Walker/Sanders:

 

Considering it is pretty much all quick passes which makes it difficult to have an impact, I thought they showed well.

[sven233]

I'm seeing a lot of conversation about Tre getting picked on and the defense as a whole.  And, this game, in a vacuum, I can see how people that maybe aren't as familiar with the X's and O's and everything that goes into game planning would feel this way.  But I'm here to tell you there were a lot more positives on the defense than there were negatives.  After rewatching the game, especially the first half where our better players played, there were a lot of positives to take out of it.

 

First, let me start off by addressing Tre and his performance.  Yes, he got threw at a lot.  But, you have to expect that is going to happen because of who we have playing the other side.  Now, regardless, you have to remember there was absolutely no game planning done in this game.  Basically we lined up and played.  There was no defensive scheme.  When the real bullets start flying, you are not going to see Tre White on an island all by himself on virtually every snap.  We are going to play a ton of zone and he's going to have help on most downs.  He's not going to be responsible for locking guys up man to man like he was trying to do yesterday.

 

On top of that, you have to remember that not only were we not scheming on the back end, but we weren't scheming up front either.  There were no stunts.  There were no pass rush blitzes (at least to the extent you will see them in the regular season).  We lined up, rushed our guys, and what happened, happened.  In the regular season, we are going to be game panning in a way to do everything we can to take away the first read on offense.  So, that right there is going to help Tre out by giving him an extra second to make sure he is in the right position.  One of the biggest positives I saw yesterday is that even though we didn't get home, there were quite a few pressures.  Bosa had 2-3 real nice rushes in the limited action he saw.  Walker and Sanders both busted through a couple times and were a step away from finishing.  Solomon had a couple nice rushes.  But the guy I want to mention is Hoecht.  Some on here are dogging his game and I think it is a bit unwarranted.  Was he out of position on a couple of plays?  Yes.  He overran some stuff of committed a bit to early.  But let me tell you.....he had several reps where he was fast off the ball and got some pressure as well.  He tipped a pass that should have been intercepted.  He had both hands on the QB at one point and just didn't finish.  But you could see the potential of things he will bring to this defense when he comes back from suspension.  He wasn't perfect yesterday by any means, but he was far from bad either.  He showed me a lot more positives than negatives and he will be greatly helped with scheme.  The only guy I was disappointed with on the line was Jackson.  I thought he struggled most of the day.  He had a couple of good reps and did get held a couple times that weren't called, but he had more trouble than I was hoping to see.  No, he was a third rounder for a reason.  He's not polished.  I think he plays with great effort so he's got that to build off of.  It's going to be about improving his technique.  He's a guy I think might find himself scratched early in the season, but as he gets more reps under his belt with proper coaching, could potentially have more of an impact later in the season.  But it may be a while before we see what he truly is.

 

Anway, this was longer than I anticipated it to be, but I just got frustrated seeing so much overreaction to this game and what happened on the field.  Yes, I got mad too seeing us give up big yards on every 3rd down screen as we always seem to do, but again, some of that is due to the lack of game planning.  And the thing is, Dabol being who he is, knew our defense was vulnerable to screens.  So, credit to him, especially in preseason knowing we aren't doing any scheming at all, for calling them.  He knew we weren't going to be ready for them and he put them in his plan.  And you could tell he wanted to win that game yesterday with the way he played his guys and the calls he made on certain downs.  Not saying he sat in his office specifically game planning, but there were certain things he did that were intentional to take advantage of things he knew.  Anyway, the point is, don't panic.  There were more positives in this game than negatives and if you focus on individual players, there were some things to possibly get excited about.  Remember......  The regular season is 100% all about the team where is preseason is 100% about the individual.  Keep that in mind while you're watching.  It would be different if all of our guys were getting their butts handed to them, but that was not the case at all.

 

 

Edited Monday at 03:54 AM by sven233

[Dr. K]

20 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

Just driving home from work, had Wfan on, listen to Dabol post game presser, very fiery , night n day to McD..

 

If s*** hits the fan , I'd take him over McD next year, I've been a McD homer, always defended him but the more I think about it the more angry I get , this guy's defense does nothing when it matters

There's a contingent of Bills fans who somehow think that if a coach yells a lot and gets angry, he must be good.

 

Sort of like Matt Patricia, who went 13-29 with the Lions.

[Sierra Foothills]

5 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

From someone who hasn't waded through the pages of this thread, any instances of 'Daboll Unhinged' yesterday?  Not so much his decisions, just curious about his temperament. 😁

 

Daboll never became unhinged but yesterday wasn't a test because he was given no opportunity for that to happen.

 

He was cordial and smiling pre-game with McDermott and the game played out with the Giants in the lead and playing relatively well for the duration. Plus it was the first preseason game so there was no fuel for the fire as far as Daboll overheating.

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

3 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Daboll never became unhinged but yesterday wasn't a test because he was given no opportunity for that to happen.

 

He was cordial and smiling pre-game with McDermott and the game played out with the Giants in the lead and playing relatively well for the duration. Plus it was the first preseason game so there was no fuel for the fire as far as Daboll overheating.

 

Screw reality television.  Just give us Daboll or Chuckie losing it on the sidelines in game conditions. 😁

[Dillenger4]

On 8/9/2025 at 1:08 PM, HappyDays said:

White beat cleanly by Wandale Robinson. Not great. I still worry about his quick transitions, not sure he can ever get back to his old self.

The dude is washed. He won't ever get back and it's clear as daylight. We need Max to heal up. Tre is soft 

2 hours ago, sven233 said:

I'm seeing a lot of conversation about Tre getting picked on and the defense as a whole.  And, this game, in a vacuum, I can see how people that maybe aren't as familiar with the X's and O's and everything that goes into game planning would feel this way.  But I'm here to tell you there were a lot more positives on the defense than there were negatives.  After rewatching the game, especially the first half where our better players played, there were a lot of positives to take out of it.

 

First, let me start off by addressing Tre and his performance.  Yes, he got threw at a lot.  But, you have to expect that is going to happen because of who we have playing the other side.  Now, regardless, you have to remember there was absolutely no game planning done in this game.  Basically we lined up and played.  There was no defensive scheme.  When the real bullets start flying, you are not going to see Tre White on an island all by himself on virtually every snap.  We are going to play a ton of zone and he's going to have help on most downs.  He's not going to be responsible for locking guys up man to man like he was trying to do yesterday.

 

On top of that, you have to remember that not only were we not scheming on the back end, but we weren't scheming up front either.  There were no stunts.  There were no pass rush blitzes (at least to the extent you will see them in the regular season).  We lined up, rushed our guys, and what happened, happened.  In the regular season, we are going to be game panning in a way to do everything we can to take away the first read on offense.  So, that right there is going to help Tre out by giving him an extra second to make sure he is in the right position.  One of the biggest positives I saw yesterday is that even though we didn't get home, there were quite a few pressures.  Bosa had 2-3 real nice rushes in the limited action he saw.  Walker and Sanders both busted through a couple times and were a step away from finishing.  Solomon had a couple nice rushes.  But the guy I want to mention is Hoecht.  Some on here are dogging his game and I think it is a bit unwarranted.  Was he out of position on a couple of plays?  Yes.  He overran some stuff of committed a bit to early.  But let me tell you.....he had several reps where he was fast off the ball and got some pressure as well.  He tipped a pass that should have been intercepted.  He had both hand on the QB at one point and just didn't finish.  But you could see the potential of things he will bring to this defense when he comes back from suspension.  He wasn't perfect yesterday by any means, but he was far from bad either.  He showed me a lot more positives than negatives and he will be greatly helped with scheme.  The only guy I was disappointed with on the line was Jackson.  I thought he struggled most of the day.  He had a couple of good reps and did get held a couple times that weren't called, but he had more trouble than I was hoping to see.  No, he was a third rounder for a reason.  He's not polished.  I think he plays with great effort so he's got that to build off of.  It's going to be about improving his technique.  He's a guy I think might find himself scratched early in the season, but as he gets more reps under his belt with proper coaching, could potentially have more of an impact later in the season.  But it may be a while before we see what he truly is.

 

Anway, this was longer than I anticipated it to be, but I just got frustrated seeing so much overreaction to this game and what happened on the field.  Yes, I got mad too seeing us give up big yards on every 3rd down screen as we always seem to do, but again, some of that is due to the lack of game planning.  And the thing is, Dabol being who he is, knew our defense was vulnerable to screens.  So, credit to him, especially in preseason knowing we aren't doing any scheming at all, for calling them.  He knew we weren't going to be ready for them and he put them in his plan.  And you could tell he wanted to win that game yesterday with the way he played his guys and the calls he made on certain downs.  Not saying he sat in his office specifically game planning, but there were certain things he did that were intentional to take advantage of things he knew.  Anyway, the point is, don't panic.  There were more positives in this game than negatives and if you focus on individual players, there were some things to possibly get excited about.  Remember......  The regular season is 100% all about the team where is preseason is 100% about the individual.  Keep that in mind while you're watching.  It would be different if all of our guys were getting their butts handed to them, but that was not the case at all.

 

 

I agree - BUT, you can scheme all you want. Tre is NOT athletic enough anymore. He can't and keep up and shouldn't be near an NFL field. So scheme away... we need Max back. 

[Low Positive]

1 hour ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Daboll never became unhinged but yesterday wasn't a test because he was given no opportunity for that to happen.

 

He was cordial and smiling pre-game with McDermott and the game played out with the Giants in the lead and playing relatively well for the duration. Plus it was the first preseason game so there was no fuel for the fire as far as Daboll overheating.

 

I think Daboll and McDermott agreed beforehand not to give Hard Knocks anything to talk about regarding the pre- and post-game handshakes.

[Rousseauisnoschmo]

20 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

I played golf and watched it later. You didn't miss much. I didn't golf well either so it's been a great day. At least the weather was nice.

NFL Network used the Bills broadcast.

First preseason game is the worst. Caught some of the fourth quarter on the radio. Pretty bad when they're naming players on the radio and you have no idea what team they're talking about.

[Not at the table Karlos]

17 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

He’s paid to speak.

 

He speaks very poorly.

 

That’s the problem.

 

You can’t critique players that people like. They think everything they do is perfect and pointing out a legitimate flaw means that you have something against them. It’s either black or white. No shades of grey allowed. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

42 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

I think Daboll and McDermott agreed beforehand not to give Hard Knocks anything to talk about regarding the pre- and post-game handshakes.

I wasn't so much interested in that perceived McD snub from last year.  I was more interested in if Daboll had any occasion to rant, rave, and rail at his players, coaches, or game officials.  There were quite a few of us here who were members of the 'DABOLL IN THE BOOTH!' fan club when he was Bills OC.  

 

[JerseyBills]

23 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

It's always something.  2 years here, 3 years there,and during that time Allen gets older.

Exactly how I'm starting to feel 

 

I always had the stance of that guy but we need immediate impact players,  can't keep waiting for guys to develop , it's getting freaking ridiculous 

[sven233]

1 hour ago, Dillenger4 said:

The dude is washed. He won't ever get back and it's clear as daylight. We need Max to heal up. Tre is soft 

I agree - BUT, you can scheme all you want. Tre is NOT athletic enough anymore. He can't and keep up and shouldn't be near an NFL field. So scheme away... we need Max back. 

 

That may be true.  Haven't seen him in the regular season yet, though. 

 

While I haven't been able to see the practices to this point, there have been several media out there saying he's been one of the 3 best players on the field at camp outside of Allen.  So there's that.  I won't be able to form my own opinion until I actually see him play for an extended period of time myself.  But it could very well be he won't be able to keep up.  We'll find out right out of the gate week 1 as we are playing a team that boasts 2 of the top 5 man coverage separators in the league as of last season.

 

Unfortunately, like it or not, he's going to be probably the best we have at CB2 for a while, though.  Max won't be back for a few more weeks and he will have missed a ton of valuable time on the field.  And if I know anything about McDermott, he is not going to put a guy out there on the field in regular season games until he deems him ready in practice.  Quite honestly, outside of some reps here and there, we may not get a big dose of him until after the Bye providing there are no injuries.  But, we'll see.

[Albany,n.y.]

3 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Screw reality television.  Just give us Daboll or Chuckie losing it on the sidelines in game conditions. 😁

We once had Carl Mauck for that but never promoted him to HC.  

[Aussie Joe]

2 hours ago, Dillenger4 said:

The dude is washed. He won't ever get back and it's clear as daylight. We need Max to heal up. Tre is soft 

I agree - BUT, you can scheme all you want. Tre is NOT athletic enough anymore. He can't and keep up and shouldn't be near an NFL field. So scheme away... we need Max back. 

I will be happily surprised if Max is playing early season after missing time ..Tre looks to be CB2 in the meantime