Good Night / Bad Night - Pre-season Game 2

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

38 minutes ago, balln said:

Yea I mean they were playing cover 0. If we all recall. We had Hyde cover guys in 0 and he got beat a lot. The Jax London came sticks out there. The bills almost never play 0.

 

that being said. They drafted a safety in the SECOND round. You would think he could play man to man better when called upon 

 

Everything felt low energy and effort.  Bishop never got a hand on the guy and didn't really have to swim through a ton of traffic.  Just a mis-step and a low effort chase.  He know's he messed up, the key is learning from it and playing with the required aggressiveness from wire-to-wire.  

[warrior9]

51 minutes ago, Roundybout said:

Landon Jackson is really emerging as a multi-year project at this point. The flashes are definitely there, but he's sooooo stiff and poor at setting the edge. 

He looks like an undrafted free agent to be completely honest. 

[MikePJ76]

6 minutes ago, Beach said:

Good night: Bears

Bad night: Bills

I just read it was the first shutout for the bears in the preseason since 1994.  

 

I just want to say 1994 sucked.  Everything about 1994 sucked.

[inkman]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

They may cut Cole Bishop.

 

Which would be shockingly early but he sucks.

 

PS, I love how Ben Johnson plays offense. Even in the pre-season. So hard to defend, even with limited QB’s.

 

 

You gotta ***** up off the field or something else highly unusual to get cut as a 2nd round pick in year two.  Yes he’s struggled mightily but our best path to success is hoping it’s just rust and injuries preventing him from playing to his potential.  
 

It does seem Hancock is making serious strides.  He is just one of those guys who finds a way onto the field and makes it imperative to keep him there.  

Edited Monday at 01:32 PM by inkman

[Mat68]

Shavers and Hancock are the preseason performers.  Shavers should make the team.  Hancock looks like a guy who will be on the field sooner than later. One thing about it this game exposed a lot of bubble guys as frauds.  No way Codgrington makes the team.  Andresson is a liability in coverage.  Dane Jackson is slightly worst than I remember.   Zack Davidson will never be more than a guy who pops in the spring.  Elijah Moore needs to hope Samuel stays off the field.  Can Buffalo finally draft a back up qb with some potential?   Trubisky and White are not fun to watch play football.  

[LEBills]

4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

First of all nobody should freak out. McDermott did say before the joint practice he would decide after it how to treat this game. By all accounts the Bills showed well in practice and as such they sat a ton of guys here. The Bears were playing a team, or a team and a half above the Bills all night.... but there were some things that could be taken from it..... even if my first reaction was "Wow... gotta find five "good nights" out of that!" Anyway, glad I only stayed up for the first quarter before going to sleep. Have watched the rest of the game this morning so here goes:

 

Good Night for...

 

Brad Robbins - Yes, it was that kinda night.... the first place by head goes is the punter played well! But just generally through the two pre-season games so far I have been impressed with Robbins. It is worth reminding yourself that he was actually drafted in 2023 by the Bengals but lost the job after one year. I wonder if he has benefitted from the year off because his leg looks plenty strong right now and there were two well judged shorter punts downed inside the 20 too. I'll add to it the coverage units have been pretty decent through two pre-season games when traditionally it is tougher to get that right with guys cycling through. 

 

Laviska Shenault - Three solid returns averaging 28 yards and he did look decisive on them. I don't think he is separating himself from Codrington yet (he had two for 27.5 average) and the competition still rages but the fact that Curtis Samuel can't get on the field and Elijah Moore can't catch a dump off means there is a potential gap there for a shifty, gimmick style receiver - something they might think Shenault can offer in addition to his returning. Not ready to say he is making the roster right now, but I have been pretty sniffy about his chances since he signed and my position is softening somewhat.

 

Tyrell Shavers - The reason Shenault needs one of Samuel or Moore to fall by the wayside is Shavers. He just continues to perform, is out there as a gunner on special teams, made a nice catch on a back shoulder throw from Mike White and looks like a guy who can run routes outside (as has been much discussed the Bills are overloaded with guys who prefer to play the slot). He is getting closer and closer to the 53. We have had guys like this feel like they have made it before under this regime only to end up on the cutting room floor but I think Shavers is trending towards making it. 

 

Frank Gore Jnr - Okay he had the fumble on a catch in the redzone that ended the Bills best drive in the 3rd quarter. But on a night where so many guys sucked and played at half speed Frank Gore went out there second half and played like it was the Superbowl. Ran hard, made himself available in the pass game and put his body on the line as a blocker. He ended with 81 of the Bills 180 offensive yards. He is kind of the perfect practice squad back in that he doesn't have special traits that are likely to get him poached but he is an absolute pro. If the Bills had a running back go down in year and had to call Gore up to the roster he would not let them down. 

 

Challenges - McDermott won a challenge! Hey, I was running out of positives..... 

 

 

Bad Night for...

 

Cole Bishop - Can't start anywhere else. He was the one likely starter that suited up for the Bills on defense, he played one drive and ended it giving up a touchdown after being lost and late in coverage again. Yes - he ended up on a slot receiver, tough matchup. But this wasn't a guy just out doing him athletically. He was in the wrong position, slow to read it and slow to react before the athleticism even became a factor. And this was not some super complex defensive call either, it looked like pretty vanilla single high with Bishop as the box safety (which is the role he is generally more comfortable in and played more in college). I'm really worried about his coverage struggles. It looks too much for him mentally to me.

 

Joe Andreessen - Possibly the first time since the train left the station last summer that someone has pumped the breaks but that was a rough half of football for Buffalo Joe. Again getting the start as the 2nd string MLB he struggled with Ben Johnson's play action calls - was not getting his depths right, was attacked in zone coverage and then made a mental mistake in man coverage too and dropped his guy. The suspicion has been there throughout that he is a bit more of an AJ Klein type who is a lot happier moving forwards than backwards but the Bears might be the first team to have really exposed it.

 

Mike White - I am not here to tell you Mitch Trubisky is good, but he is better than this. White's accuracy is a total lottery ticket. I will give him his props, I like how he stands in there and is willing to take a hit to get the ball off but he just misses too many throws. He didn't get a ton of help, I admit, but 4/11 for 54 yards with the 2nd string receivers and the best collection of offensive linemen the Bills had active was not a great statement in the backup QB battle.

 

Ryan Van Demark - It's been a good pre-season for Vandy to this point, he started camp splitting time with Tylan Grable at right tackle in Spencer Brown's absence and then has switched over to the left with Dion missing a couple of practices and he played well in pre-season game one. However, this was a poor outting. Two false starts on the first drive set the tone and it seemed to affect him because I thought he was chasing his blocks a bit after that and it affected his balance and technique.

 

Zach Davidson - This guy is toast. The drops last week, two bad penalties that wiped out chunk plays this week. It's over. 

 

 

Pick the bones out of that if you dare folks.... one more to go!

 

 

There were so many layers to this game. First, the amount of players that were draft picks by the Bills at any point was incredibly small. Especially compared to who the Bears played. I can’t really say a past UDFA or an inexpensive free agent did poorly in this game. So Mike White, Andreesen, Davidson, Elijah Moore just kinda played how you would expect. 
 

Unfortunately, the former draft picks that did play just weren’t good. Bishop I have never been very excited for him but I will hold out hope that he can develop with more reps. LJ is just lost out there but I think he did a bit better than last week, Dwayne Carter is just a guy, Javon Soloman unfortunately I don’t think makes the roster he was so unimpressive in this game getting stymied over and over. Ulofoshio we know won’t be making this team. Dequan Hardy I think may be playing injured.

 

Strong was mostly just out there, Hancock was streaky but may play Safety for us this year. Walker and Sanders didn’t do much though Sanders didn’t play much that I saw, and I thought Lundt showed some good movement and fight. 
 

In the end what I took away from last night was that was about as discombobulated of an effort as I had ever seen from this regime. The talent gap certainly was there, but it seemed like the players were just lost out there. 
 

Second, our safeties are going to be a problem all year and I think we may see a first round pick there next year.

 

Third, if I was Beane, I would sit on my hands in free agency the next few years. As tempting as it is to fill holes there, there are way more misses than hits in his past. It was another uninspiring Hoecht performance from what I noticed of him. I would try to trade down in the draft and stuff the back end of the roster with draft picks as much as possible. When you miss in those picks, they are not as costly. 
 

Finally, it may be time to spend a draft pick on a QB. Not a Jake Fromm type, but someone with a good arm who can move well and hope you can develop him behind Josh. The rotating noodle arms behind Josh are relatively expensive and have no upside. It’s been described as a strong QB draft upcoming, so maybe a 4th rounder or so could be used there.

 

[Fleezoid]

The good: The game ended and we don't have to watch that ****. At least for now.

 

The bad: Penalties! Why do McD's teams not get penalties in check until like week 9 or 10.......every year?

[billsbackto81]

 

 

It's scary and uninspiring to think that an injury prone Rapp is currently our most experienced and reliable safety.  

 

I can't stomach another season (though all of us may most likely have to) with this safety group. 

 

They are barely 2nd string quality and if this team suffers another injury to one of the starting CBs their lack of play making will be even more insurmountable. 

 

This group may be able to reach the postseason because Allen can carry this defense against mediocre competition in the regular season.  

 

But in the playoffs against offenses like KC and Baltimore it may very well end in another nail biter with us on the 💩 end of it. 

 

Of course it's JMHO.....

[TFBillsfan]

This game is difficult to truly assess as the vast majority of players won’t be on the team and the others will see limited playing time in the regular season. 
 

As others have stated, Bishop and Damar are major liabilities. I’ve seen more from Hancock in two preseason games than I’ve seen from either of them in totality. Beane needs to get on the phone immediately!

 

DL hasn’t shown any improvement in getting to the QB. We’ve given up over 70 pts in two games and the D has generated TWO sacks! TWO!  Our DL continues to get stonewalled far too often and guys struggle to beat their man one on one. &nbsp
 

Backup QB is woeful. Mitch, White and Buchele all look like PS players at best. 
 

Unfortunately, last night highlighted numerous negatives for players fighting for a roster spot. 
 

 

[MikePJ76]

I am watching the all 22 at the moment and I have to say the bishop stuff is being blown way out of proportion because of one play where not for nothing but hamlin should have made the tackle and bishop shouldn't be playing man to man with wr.  

 

anyway, Carter blew up the screen on the second drive, he won off the snap and then recognized it was a screen and got in the way and forced campbell to throw it into the ground.

 

The bills looked like they were in cover 1 and depending on the formation just sending whichever safety 15 to 20 yards deep....in the first three drives anyway.

[Behindenemylines]

From my limited viewing last night nobody seemed to have any energy and at one point Mike White was seen yawning.   
 

I had read somewhere that the joint practices got quite chippy, so was this grouping a way to prevent injuries possibly?   Few looked like they were making the 53 from what I saw.

 

preseason is preseason but that was embarrassing 

[Rocky Landing]

This seems like the year we might carry six WRs on the strength of Shavers, and Shenault's ST abilities.

[HappyDays]

Bad night for the young defensive linemen. Really all of them - Sanders, Walker, Jackson, Solomon, Carter.

 

Sanders and Walker in particular I was hoping to see them build off a good showing last week and instead they mostly laid an egg. Disappointing to see them struggle when the Bears had their starting OL out there, more disappointing when it continued even when their 2nd and 3rd stringers got on the field. Walker had that one really good pass rush at the end of the 1st half, other than that I saw him get out leveraged all night. Sanders was getting blown off the ball on combo blocks and in general was just totally ineffective pushing the pocket. Oh well. I was probably getting my expectations too high after their performance last week. I expect both to look better when they are used situationally and with established players next to them instead of fellow rookies.

 

Carter continues to look like a complete bust. If you watched the game blind and didn't know he was a 3rd round pick last year you wouldn't think he was going to make the roster. This is a guy they are hoping to be their backup 1T this season presumably with an ability to take on doubles and shed blocks, and instead he is getting stonewalled by a 3rd string RG as the RB runs right past him for their 5th TD of the night.

 

Solomon I didn't watch as closely as the DTs but when I did see him he was getting walled off and was getting no push. I saw one good rep where he at least walked the RT back but I'd hoped to see more from a player that reportedly had a good training camp. Landon Jackson I'll say it at least wasn't as abysmal a performance as he had last week, so baby steps and all that, but still doesn't look like a player that deserves to dress on game days and that is a poor outcome for a high 3rd round pick.

 

The young DL was the primary thing, maybe the only thing, I really cared about last night and I came away disappointed to say the least. None of these guys are starters but they are all supposed to play important roles this season so I wanted to see more flashes.

 

Edited Monday at 02:50 PM by HappyDays

[beebe]

Expect any Bills starters in the finale? Will Josh get a series?

[Gregg]

Didn't the Bills lose to the Bears 33-6 in last year's preseason game. Maybe the Bills should stop playing them in preseason. The Bears treat these games like regular season games when the Bills treat them for what they are MEANINGLESS.

[The Frankish Reich]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

First of all nobody should freak out. McDermott did say before the joint practice he would decide after it how to treat this game. By all accounts the Bills showed well in practice and as such they sat a ton of guys here. The Bears were playing a team, or a team and a half above the Bills all night.... but there were some things that could be taken from it..... even if my first reaction was "Wow... gotta find five "good nights" out of that!" Anyway, glad I only stayed up for the first quarter before going to sleep. Have watched the rest of the game this morning so here goes:

 

Good Night for...

 

Brad Robbins - Yes, it was that kinda night.... the first place by head goes is the punter played well! But just generally through the two pre-season games so far I have been impressed with Robbins. It is worth reminding yourself that he was actually drafted in 2023 by the Bengals but lost the job after one year. I wonder if he has benefitted from the year off because his leg looks plenty strong right now and there were two well judged shorter punts downed inside the 20 too. I'll add to it the coverage units have been pretty decent through two pre-season games when traditionally it is tougher to get that right with guys cycling through. 

 

Laviska Shenault - Three solid returns averaging 28 yards and he did look decisive on them. I don't think he is separating himself from Codrington yet (he had two for 27.5 average) and the competition still rages but the fact that Curtis Samuel can't get on the field and Elijah Moore can't catch a dump off means there is a potential gap there for a shifty, gimmick style receiver - something they might think Shenault can offer in addition to his returning. Not ready to say he is making the roster right now, but I have been pretty sniffy about his chances since he signed and my position is softening somewhat.

 

Tyrell Shavers - The reason Shenault needs one of Samuel or Moore to fall by the wayside is Shavers. He just continues to perform, is out there as a gunner on special teams, made a nice catch on a back shoulder throw from Mike White and looks like a guy who can run routes outside (as has been much discussed the Bills are overloaded with guys who prefer to play the slot). He is getting closer and closer to the 53. We have had guys like this feel like they have made it before under this regime only to end up on the cutting room floor but I think Shavers is trending towards making it. 

 

Frank Gore Jnr - Okay he had the fumble on a catch in the redzone that ended the Bills best drive in the 3rd quarter. But on a night where so many guys sucked and played at half speed Frank Gore went out there second half and played like it was the Superbowl. Ran hard, made himself available in the pass game and put his body on the line as a blocker. He ended with 81 of the Bills 180 offensive yards. He is kind of the perfect practice squad back in that he doesn't have special traits that are likely to get him poached but he is an absolute pro. If the Bills had a running back go down in year and had to call Gore up to the roster he would not let them down. 

 

Challenges - McDermott won a challenge! Hey, I was running out of positives..... 

 

 

Bad Night for...

 

Cole Bishop - Can't start anywhere else. He was the one likely starter that suited up for the Bills on defense, he played one drive and ended it giving up a touchdown after being lost and late in coverage again. Yes - he ended up on a slot receiver, tough matchup. But this wasn't a guy just out doing him athletically. He was in the wrong position, slow to read it and slow to react before the athleticism even became a factor. And this was not some super complex defensive call either, it looked like pretty vanilla single high with Bishop as the box safety (which is the role he is generally more comfortable in and played more in college). I'm really worried about his coverage struggles. It looks too much for him mentally to me.

 

Joe Andreessen - Possibly the first time since the train left the station last summer that someone has pumped the breaks but that was a rough half of football for Buffalo Joe. Again getting the start as the 2nd string MLB he struggled with Ben Johnson's play action calls - was not getting his depths right, was attacked in zone coverage and then made a mental mistake in man coverage too and dropped his guy. The suspicion has been there throughout that he is a bit more of an AJ Klein type who is a lot happier moving forwards than backwards but the Bears might be the first team to have really exposed it.

 

Mike White - I am not here to tell you Mitch Trubisky is good, but he is better than this. White's accuracy is a total lottery ticket. I will give him his props, I like how he stands in there and is willing to take a hit to get the ball off but he just misses too many throws. He didn't get a ton of help, I admit, but 4/11 for 54 yards with the 2nd string receivers and the best collection of offensive linemen the Bills had active was not a great statement in the backup QB battle.

 

Ryan Van Demark - It's been a good pre-season for Vandy to this point, he started camp splitting time with Tylan Grable at right tackle in Spencer Brown's absence and then has switched over to the left with Dion missing a couple of practices and he played well in pre-season game one. However, this was a poor outting. Two false starts on the first drive set the tone and it seemed to affect him because I thought he was chasing his blocks a bit after that and it affected his balance and technique.

 

Zach Davidson - This guy is toast. The drops last week, two bad penalties that wiped out chunk plays this week. It's over. 

 

 

Pick the bones out of that if you dare folks.... one more to go!

 

 

Thanks for watching so I don't have to! This one must have taken all of your willpower and half of you liquor cabinet to get through.

[MikePJ76]

2 minutes ago, beebe said:

Expect any Bills starters in the finale? Will Josh get a series?

Sounds like no.

 

Mcgovern tweaked his hamstring in practice friday apparently.  If Mcgovern doesn't play Allen is not playing for sure.

[Gregg]

2 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

Sounds like no.

 

Mcgovern tweaked his hamstring in practice friday apparently.  If Mcgovern doesn't play Allen is not playing for sure.

 

Even if the Bills did play the starters they wouldn't show anything in this game. The Bills and Bucs also play in the regular season. 

[Dillenger4]

I think they need to run a series at least together - both on O and on D in the next preseason game. I can't imagine us rolling out Sunday night vs Baltimore without any reps in preseason. Who knows.....

[The Frankish Reich]

7 minutes ago, Gregg said:

Didn't the Bills lose to the Bears 33-6 in last year's preseason game. Maybe the Bills should stop playing them in preseason. The Bears treat these games like regular season games when the Bills treat them for what they are MEANINGLESS.

I tried to pull up the box score on ESPN and clicked on last year's game. Other than Josh Allen throwing 4 passes, it was basically the same preseason crap performance. Thankfully neither one means anything, except for the Bears who showed that they now (finally) have a competent HC.