Preseason Week 2 Bills at Bears - Game thread

[Fleezoid]

6 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

overall it's nothing,  lot of these guys will never see the field,  it's just bit concerning watching our 2nd/3rd stringers get dominated.  Just a year or 2 ago we won every pre season game under McDermott 

 

I would much rather see how the joint practices went 

 

This morning Sal Cappacio said he thought part of the reason for the poor performance was they were tired having had the joint practice on Friday. Head scratcher. Weren't the Bears there too? 

[nbbillsfan]

Did Darrick Forrest play?

 

He seems to be going the way of Mike Edwards from last year…. It’s so weird our safeties seem to stink, but when we bring in some FA competition (albeit mediocre), the FA’s don’t really get ever heard from.

[CincyBillsFan]

21 minutes ago, gonzo1105 said:

I mean I get it but there’s no gameplan , it’s clear the Bills didn’t care about this game besides getting through it healthy. Multiple good teams have been blown out. The Packers lost by 20 to the Jets and the Chiefs weren’t competitive in week 2 either. We lost by 27 to the Bears just last year and were a mistake or two away from the Super Bowl. They were doing things they will rarely do in the regular season. 

And 2 years ago we were down to the Steelers 27 - 0 going into the 4th quarter of that preseason game.

 

Are the people panicking over this loss thinking that the Patriots are Super Bowl bound with their 2 - 0 PS start?  After all they beat a good Washington team 48 - 14 and led 27 - 0 at half.

 

The most interesting thing about last nights game was that since McD became head coach the Bills have always used the 2nd to last preseason game to get the starters 1 - 2 quarters of playing time. Yesterday they completely abandoned that.

 

 

 

 

[zow2]

5 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

 

This morning Sal Cappacio said he thought part of the reason for the poor performance was they were tired having had the joint practice on Friday. Head scratcher. Weren't the Bears there too? 

 

They showed Bosa yawning on the sidelines and I see on social media how tired they all are. from one guy yawning. Lol.

 

There were a couple factors.. I think Chicago and Ben Johnson were trying to win that game, and win big.  The Bears are resetting the culture.  They brought the house on White and Trubisky on several 2nd and 3rd and longs.  The Bills were definitely using some fringe guys in the first half.  That being said, we hoped a few players that we know will be on the team would POP, and that didn't happen. And some guys looked slow and physically not there.

 

 

[CincyBillsFan]

8 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

 

This morning Sal Cappacio said he thought part of the reason for the poor performance was they were tired having had the joint practice on Friday. Head scratcher. Weren't the Bears there too? 

The Bears had multiple reasons to play well. They obviously scripted their opening TD drive after taking the ball on winning the coin flip.  There's been a lot of negative noise coming out of the Bears training camp about the QB & new coach not being on the same page.  Bottom line is when one team needs to win the game in preseaon it almost always turns into a head scratching blowout of the better team.

 

 

1 minute ago, zow2 said:

 

They showed Bosa yawning on the sidelines and I see on social media how tired they all are. from one guy yawning. Lol.

 

There were a couple factors.. I think Chicago and Ben Johnson were trying to win that game, and win big.  The Bears are resetting the culture.  They brought the house on White and Trubisky on several 2nd and 3rd and longs.  The Bills were definitely using some fringe guys in the first half.  That being said, we hoped a few players that we know will be on the team would POP, and that didn't happen. And some guys looked slow and physically not there.

 

 

The best way to describe last nights game was that it looked like how the Bills have played their final preseason game over the last few years.  A lot of marginal and likely to be cut players right from the get go.  The difference was that unlike previous years Chicago did not reciprocate and played their starters and key back ups the entire first half.

 

 

[Fleezoid]

4 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

They showed Bosa yawning on the sidelines and I see on social media how tired they all are. from one guy yawning. Lol.

 

There were a couple factors.. I think Chicago and Ben Johnson were trying to win that game, and win big.  The Bears are resetting the culture.  They brought the house on White and Trubisky on several 2nd and 3rd and longs.  The Bills were definitely using some fringe guys in the first half.  That being said, we hoped a few players that we know will be on the team would POP, and that didn't happen. And some guys looked slow and physically not there.

 

 

 

I will accept that to a certain degree. But there are guys trying to make the team. And to come out that flat from start to finish?......They weren't prepared to play. The Bears were. McDermott got schooled on how to prepare a team. 

[Bruffalo]

6 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

The most interesting thing about last nights game was that since McD became head coach the Bills have always used the 2nd to last preseason game to get the starters 1 - 2 quarters of playing time. Yesterday they completely abandoned that.

 

 

 

 

I got to think the parade of injuries through camp have got to be a factor in resting all of the starters. Maybe he saw how aggressive the Bears were in practice and thought "yeah not gonna risk that".

 

I'm not particularly concerned at the Bills' performance last night, but as a fan it sucks to watch your team look like hot dogwater out there.  I think the Bears and Ben Johnson came in with something to prove and needed to get Chicago hyped up. 

1 minute ago, Fleezoid said:

 

They weren't prepared to play. The Bears were. McDermott got schooled on how to prepare a team. 

It's almost like they had completely different ideas of what they wanted to get out of a preseason game.

[CincyBillsFan]

9 hours ago, Brand J said:

I heard a bunch of whispers that Malaki Starks was going to be the pick… until the Ravens snatched him ahead of us. Nick Emmanwori, I’m not sure he was ever in consideration but reports are he’s looking as advertised so far. We were really counting on Cole Bishop to take a step forward in his second year, but he keeps missing valuable reps. He‘ll have to get better in season. Glad Beane failed in his attempt to trade up for him or the pick would sting a little more. 

As for Bishop let's see how the next 3 weeks of practice go.  If he's able to practice fully he will be fine for opening day and I suspect you will see that jump in performance the Bills are expecting. If he can't practice fully and misses multiple practices then we have a big problem on our hands.  No point in worrying about what might happen until it does happen.

 

 

 

[Mat68]

This exposed alot of guys on the bubble.  Shavers and Hancock are the only bright spots.  White, Moore, Andresson and Bishop disappointed as guys looking to take a step forward.  Bishop as a starter getting shook for a TD is tough.  On the flip side WR3 should win vs a safety.  Moore and White are looking to take spots as WR4 and QB2.  Neither seems very likely imo. Joe looks less and less like an NFL linebacker.  Too far behind in coverage ability.  Ok on teams but at this point simply a core teamer.  I think its a farewell to Codrington.  Not a NFL corner.  Played outside cb last year and nickel this year.  Good at neither.  Not dynamic enough imo to be a return specialist only.  
 

I think Shenault is live going into game 3 for a final roster spot.  Return man who will play  all teams with some juice to play offensive snaps.  

Edited August 18 by Mat68

[ngbills]

Last year vs Bears in preseason

 

6-3 at half

13-6 going to 4th

Chi had 340 yards to Bills 200

 

Yesterdays drubbing was on a whole new level. 

 

[syhuang]

 

 

[zow2]

The absolute worst parts of the game for me was the performances (or lack thereof) of our two backup QB's.  I thought White was terrible and Trubisky was lousy.  Yes they were pressured on occasion but they did not know how to handle it.  That's a bad sign.

 

The defensive secondary was a mess, and of course we've all mentioned Andreesen as well.

 

 

Edited August 18 by zow2

[Mat68]

7 minutes ago, syhuang said:

 

 

This seems pretty fair.  I go with Ingram over Jackson if Hairston isn't ready week 1.  Moore is on ultra thin ice.  Samuel is expensive to cut.  I dont think Moore has done enough to pass him.     

[mjt328]

4 hours ago, gonzo1105 said:

I mean I get it but there’s no gameplan , it’s clear the Bills didn’t care about this game besides getting through it healthy. Multiple good teams have been blown out. The Packers lost by 20 to the Jets and the Chiefs weren’t competitive in week 2 either. We lost by 27 to the Bears just last year and were a mistake or two away from the Super Bowl. They were doing things they will rarely do in the regular season. 

 

I still expect the Bills to win the AFC East easily, and to be a serious contender for the Super Bowl.  That hasn't changed.

 

But Free Agency and the Draft always bring a lot of hype.  Sometimes it's justified.  A lot of times it turns out to be B.S.  The talk all offseason has been about the Bills defense making a big jump, and that being the piece that finally lands us the Lombardi trophy.  And unfortunately, the last two preseason games has really put a damper on much of the the improvement talk.

• We spent a bunch of draft capital on the D-Line.  For the most part, they don't look ready to play yet.  Maybe that changes, but defensive linemen have a history of developing very slowly on this team.  Joey Bosa can't stay healthy and has already been injured since joining the team.  Our other free agent adds are suspended for six weeks.  This pass rush is pretty much back to relying on Groot, Oliver, Jones and Epenesa.

• Tre White was one of the stories of training camp.  But our only look at him this preseason was very underwhelming.  He looks slow, and was getting picked on by the Giants passing game.  With the time/reps Maxwell Hairston is missing, his rookie season might end up being a wash.  Which leaves this unit about the same as last year when we had Benford, Johnson and Douglas.

• The plan at safety seemed to be hoping Cole Bishop developed.  He's been hurt, and was terrible in his first appearance last night.  Which pretty much brings us back to Rapp and Hamlin.

 

All these moves, and the Defense looks almost identical to 2024.  

That doesn't necessarily mean we can't go all the way.  But we know how the story has ended the last 4-5 years.

 

[gonzo1105]

12 minutes ago, mjt328 said:

 

I still expect the Bills to win the AFC East easily, and to be a serious contender for the Super Bowl.  That hasn't changed.

 

But Free Agency and the Draft always bring a lot of hype.  Sometimes it's justified.  A lot of times it turns out to be B.S.  The talk all offseason has been about the Bills defense making a big jump, and that being the piece that finally lands us the Lombardi trophy.  And unfortunately, the last two preseason games has really put a damper on much of the the improvement talk.

• We spent a bunch of draft capital on the D-Line.  For the most part, they don't look ready to play yet.  Maybe that changes, but defensive linemen have a history of developing very slowly on this team.  Joey Bosa can't stay healthy and has already been injured since joining the team.  Our other free agent adds are suspended for six weeks.  This pass rush is pretty much back to relying on Groot, Oliver, Jones and Epenesa.

• Tre White was one of the stories of training camp.  But our only look at him this preseason was very underwhelming.  He looks slow, and was getting picked on by the Giants passing game.  With the time/reps Maxwell Hairston is missing, his rookie season might end up being a wash.  Which leaves this unit about the same as last year when we had Benford, Johnson and Douglas.

• The plan at safety seemed to be hoping Cole Bishop developed.  He's been hurt, and was terrible in his first appearance last night.  Which pretty much brings us back to Rapp and Hamlin.

 

All these moves, and the Defense looks almost identical to 2024.  

That doesn't necessarily mean we can't go all the way.  But we know how the story has ended the last 4-5 years.

 

I get what you’re saying. Outside of the Bengals divisional game and the first AFC title game every game the Bills have lost they could have easily won. They just don’t make plays when it matters. I’ve said it about 100 times, people always want to blame something. The Bengals lost we need offense, the 13 second game our coaching cost us, two years ago it was injuries and kicking, last year it was Benford/Elam, when the truth is despite all of that the Bills had the game in their grasp and squandered the opportunity to take it

[Robert Paulson]

6 hours ago, mjt328 said:

Preseason is what it is.  Our starters watched from the sidelines.  Game planning was non-existent.

But last night has to be a sad reality check for anyone who was optimistic this Defense was going to take a huge jump this year.

 

Cole Bishop, Damar Hamlin or possibly both (considering how much Taylor Rapp gets hurt) are going to start a significant number of games this year.  People seemed to be excited about that Darrick Forrest guy, but I don't even know if he makes the team.  If I'm Brandon Beane, my number one priority in the coming week is trading for a solid veteran who can hold down this position.  Right now, safety is a huge liability.  

 

It also doesn't look like any of the young investments we've made in the D-Line are anywhere near ready to contribute.  Which is bad news, considering how much we like to rotate up front (and because everyone knows Joey Bosa won't stay healthy for 17 games).  Maybe we can get a splash play from Deon Walker here and there.  But I haven't seen anything remotely promising from TJ Sanders, Landon Jackson, Javon Solomon or DeWayne Carter.  No pressure.  Out of position.  Getting blown off the ball.  As 

 

Expect the media hype around "Buffalo Joe" to take quite a hit this week.  People have been hyping him up like the second coming of Matt Milano.  The guy looked absolutely lost out there.  Hope we can stay healthy at that position (we usually don't though, because we are undersized).  

 

 

 

 

[Jalan81]

19 hours ago, Niagara Dude said:

He also has had big games when it matters,  i trust him over Shavers

I’d rather give Shavers a chance, we also can’t afford Gabe unless he takes a vet minimum. For Jacksonville to dumb him after one season is a big tell. 

[hondo in seattle]

16 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

But it was never an equal fight at any point. Literally the only time all night that it became even was the final Bills drive when Buechele went it and at that point the Bears did give the very bottom of their defensive roster a drive. All night they were playing a team up. 

 

That isn't to excuse the Bills - that was lousy - but it was never even 2s v 2s or 3s v 3s. By the time the Bears went to the 2s the Bills 3s were in and by the time the Bears went to their 3s the Bills were down to as many future shelf stackers as they could find. 

 

Didn't McD say there were times when our 2s were up against their 2s and our 3s were up against their 3s?  I don't know the Bear roster well enough to know if this was true.  In any case, we're supposed to have a lot of depth this year yet our backups didn't look good.  

 

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

Didn't McD say there were times when our 2s were up against their 2s and our 3s were up against their 3s?  I don't know the Bear roster well enough to know if this was true.  In any case, we're supposed to have a lot of depth this year yet our backups didn't look good.  

 

 

It's not true. I haven't heard McDs presser, so not sure if he said it but if he did he might well have meant our 2s "on the night". But even our starting lineup had guys like Gouriage, Feeney and Codrington out there who are not even in our twos. They are threes. And they started the game for us.

[hondo in seattle]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It's not true. I haven't heard McDs presser, so not sure if he said it but if he did he might well have meant our 2s "on the night". But even our starting lineup had guys like Gouriage, Feeney and Codrington out there who are not even in our twos. They are threes. And they started the game for us.

 

I'm not sure of the truth of the matter, but here's what McD said...

 

"Get out there and playing against their ones, I expect -- we expect -- to compete with them, and that wasn't the case early.  And then our twos, who were out there against their twos, and our threes against their threes -- it didn't get much better."

 

bleacherreport.com/articles/25239443-sean-mcdermott-rips-bills-after-38-0-loss-caleb-williams-bears-nfl-preseason