Tre White carted off

[Big Blitz]

8 minutes ago, TheBrownBear said:

Most of this is just nothingburgers (Cook's hold-in was like a week and ended positively, Gabe Davis isn't even signed, preseason is just preseason and injuries happen), but I do agree that New England looks poised to push us.  And I do slightly worry about the mindset of the team (McDermott imploring the vets to get it in gear during that one clip) and whether they aren't distracted by the Hard Knocks stuff.  I can definitely see a slow start to the season where we are forced to play catch-up to push past the Pats (see 2023).

 

I agree - mostly nothing burgers.  
 

But almost nothing has happened that is giving us good vibes.  
 

And that’s largely because the team hasn’t played yet.  The starters.  So the vibes most likely are going to be …. Not great.  
 

 

Nothing good happens in August.  

[chris heff]

27 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

But its the Ravens and Chiefs we have to have the head to head tiebreaker with for Home field Advantage

 

Last year we lost to the Ravens in regular season, but beat them in home playoff game. We beat the Chiefs in regular season and lost away playoff game.

[SCBills]

9 minutes ago, chris heff said:

Last year we lost to the Ravens in regular season, but beat them in home playoff game. We beat the Chiefs in regular season and lost away playoff game.

I certainly understand minimizing the Baltimore game if we lose.   We, and they, will be entirely different teams come January.  
 

But for once, can this team get the 1 seed.  It’s so massive.   And we have the best schedule (on paper) that we’ve ever had to get it this year.  
 

Losing a head to head against Baltimore could be the difference. 
 

Conversely, if we win that game..  We’re far and away the favorites to get the 1 seed. 
 

 

Edited Friday at 05:28 PM by SCBills

[KOKBILLS]

8 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Man it’s hard to find Tre White updates in this Tre White update thread…

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Big Blitz said:

We have not had ONE Bills post season run under Allen not down at least 1 significant starter on defense.   It’s exhausting.

 

So get the #1 seed. Get a whole week off to rest up and then likely avoid the Ravens or Chiefs in the divisional round. We've had our opportunities to get it but every year we have these multi-game slumps that kill our chances. This year especially we have our best chance in a while because Ravens and Chiefs both have harder schedules. I think 14-3 gets us the #1 seed this year. So go get it. If we don't and we lose a player in the wildcard game or a hard fought divisional game, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

[BullBuchanan]

29 minutes ago, JustHewIt said:

 

We'll feel better until we don't. Like giving up 90 pts to the rams and lions last year rattled everyone in the midst of a 13 win season.  We clinched the division on Dec 1 and no one felt good. 

 

By this point hasn't this team and regime earned some patience? We've started strong, we've started slow, we've reset the offense mid year, we've had Diggs drama, the snowstorms, the Damar and Kim Pegula stuff, the shooting.

 

We just keep on bouncing back. We've barely played any starters. What do you expect to get hyped about? Last year we were picked to finish 3rd or 4th in the east and the bears blew us out in the preseason. I doubt anyone was hyped then either 

I guess it depends on what your expectations are. Are you satisfied collecting division championship pennants to hang on your wall or do you want that silver Super Bowl coin and collector's set from Sports Illustrated?

I didn't feel good during last season, because I saw how little had changed on defense and how we still didn't have players who could take over games. I saw the same old strategy that continues to fail to beat elite teams in the playoffs. Still this year we've changed nothing. We've added yet more depth to a team that's never had a shortage of it, but the top of our roster is fairly consistent to what it's been over the last 3-5 years.

Do I think McD has learned anything from his premature playoff exits these last 6 years? No, no I don't. Like too many posters here, I think he probably feels they were a play of two away of better execution, instead of a fundamentally flawed approach. Watching Spags pull out all the stops to beat us was simultaneously horrifying and a thing of beauty. He manipulated the play in the trenches like an all-star manager manipulates his bullpen in game 7 of the world series. McD doesn't do anything like that in any phase of the game. There are no wow moments where he shows us something we've never seen before. He just expects everyone to go out there and beat their man. Josh continuing to do that gives his strategy credibility it doesn't deserve.

To be clear, I've said for the last year I think we're 2+ years away from real SB contention due to a lack of high end talent. I thought there was an outside chance they could compete this year if they made the right moves to bolster the top end of our roster, but they didn't. The injuries to Hairston and white are now very concerning, The play of our safeties increases that concern, and I thought Hoecht could be a dark horse candidate to raise the entire level of our d-line and he's been very underwhelming to me so far in pre-season.

[HappyDays]

45 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

I’m kinda shocked so many of you still put any stock whatsoever in a pre season game

 

Yeah the reaction to that game has gone way overboard. I think Ben Johnson decided to actually do a little game planning, to make his offense look good and give his team some confidence. Not a bad tactic for a first year head coach. So he called plays that attacked the middle of the field where he knew our depth LBs couldn't hold up in coverage. Our coaches on the other hand did nothing of the sort.

 

I remain optimistic that there will be some real changes made to the scheme and play calling this year, and I'm a believer in the investments we made on the DL. None of those changes are going to be apparent until September though. If it looks same old same old against Baltimore than we can start to panic.

[Einstein]

51 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

I’m kinda shocked so many of you still put any stock whatsoever in a pre season game

 

 

When the head coach looks concerned, and is making public statements, its fair to be concerned.

[SoTier]

41 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

This is easily explained aside from typical Bills doom and gloom - I’m pretty sure most here felt like winning the division last year was a long shot.  Just hope to get in the playoffs?

 

 

Now it feels like we can legit win the whole thing.  
 

So with the expectation of a Super Bowl win - not a division title - win the whole thing.  Here are our pre season “highlights.”

 

1. We resigned our own - that’s great but they’ve been here and our D was terribly mid last year - how is it better?

 

2. The 2 new Def line guys get suspended 

 

3. The 3 Rookie D line guys have played a majority of the snaps in 2 preseason games where we got shredded.  Nothing to get super excited about …… yet.   
 

4. Our first round pick has a significant injury where we may not see him till October

 

5. Our starting safety we are counting on can’t stay on the field.  The coach is essentially calling him out.  
 

6. The first “hold out” under Beane happened.  
 

7. We have looked God awful in the 2 preseason games - not counting the 1st quarter vs the Giants where Bosa and Milano looked great.  
 

8. Why was Gabe Davis here?

 

9. Tre White hurt.  
 

10. Competition from New England is legit. Their schedule is very easy and they look ready to take the next step.  I think Maye is the best QB of that rookie class.  Their rookie RB is lighting it up.  They will be tough.  The challenges from the Dolphins and Jets were based on a HOF QB add that fizzled out and then Tua got hurt.  This is different.  

 

 

 

 

Some people can't trust themselves to be optimistic, so they walk around fearing everything is a sign of trouble to come.  

 

 

 

 

[Goin Breakdown]

Came for Tre White updates and stayed for the counseling session on how to manage feelings and when it's ok to be either optimistic or pessimistic. We don't have a lot of validating. Thats a big one for building a good relationship. I'm good enough, smart enough and dog gone people like me. 

[HappyDays]

50 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

We resigned our own - that’s great but they’ve been here and our D was terribly mid last year - how is it better?

 

Bosa, Hoecht, Sanders, Walker. That's where the improvement needs to come from and I expect it to. I think each of those players will be more impactful than their counterparts last year. If fans are skeptical Bosa will stay healthy, I get it. That's a genuine question mark and we'll just have to hope he doesn't miss any extended periods of time. Ditto for Milano staying healthy because we all know how much of an impact he makes when he's himself.

 

The most obvious path to improvement from last year is the 3rd down defense. We ranked 30th giving up 44.5% of 3rd downs last year. I don't have specific stats on 3rd and medium/3rd and long but I would bet the discrepancy on those compared to the rest of the league would look even worse. To my eyes poor pass rush in those situations was a big problem. So we really just need our new collection of pass rushers to show up on those downs and get our opponent off the field. Even if the secondary is just as mediocre as it was last year, the DL impact will be the difference.

[Mikie2times]

5 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

Some people can't trust themselves to be optimistic, so they walk around fearing everything is a sign of trouble to come.  

 

 

 

 

Some people are blissfully ignorant. Then other people think it's worth talking about different types of people as if the point of view they have is somehow more relevant or better or _______. 

[Goin Breakdown]

11 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

Some people can't trust themselves to be optimistic, so they walk around fearing everything is a sign of trouble to come.  

 

 

 

 

Cough cough (my wife) cough. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

11 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Some people are blissfully ignorant. Then other people think it's worth talking about different types of people as if the point of view they have is somehow more relevant or better or _______. 

 

I don't know that its blissful ignorance - i'm a fan of the team.  I root for their success.  I go on a site like this because there's at least a higher percentage of level-headed discussion vs. something like twitter where its just everyones hot takes arguing.  I don't think saying you have concerns about depth or something is inherently pessimistic - but basing your concerns about cornerback depth for example - because we didn't do well in a preseason game isn't fair to the players and coaching staff.  I have no idea what Dorian strong is capable of, and i don't know that i got more insight based off of that preseason game. 

 

The 24 hour news cycle, and the NFL's insistence on daily news amplifies the importance of practice games that truly don't match the game-planning process, or the physical intensity of actual NFL football.  Every year "the game slows down" for all the QBs in the 1st round, followed by them playing actual games and it speeding back up and punching them in the mouth.  The player you are today isn't the player you will be come september, october, november, all the way to february.  Just my 2 cents in trying to try and be a bit level-headed with player criticism, and expectations.  

[Mikie2times]

1 minute ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

I don't know that its blissful ignorance - i'm a fan of the team.  I root for their success.  I go on a site like this because there's at least a higher percentage of level-headed discussion vs. something like twitter where its just everyones hot takes arguing.  I don't think saying you have concerns about depth or something is inherently pessimistic - but basing your concerns about cornerback depth for example - because we didn't do well in a preseason game isn't fair to the players and coaching staff.  I have no idea what Dorian strong is capable of, and i don't know that i got more insight based off of that preseason game. 

 

The 24 hour news cycle, and the NFL's insistence on daily news amplifies the importance of practice games that truly don't match the game-planning process, or the physical intensity of actual NFL football.  Every year "the game slows down" for all the QBs in the 1st round, followed by them playing actual games and it speeding back up and punching them in the mouth.  The player you are today isn't the player you will be come september, october, november, all the way to february.  Just my 2 cents in trying to try and be a bit level-headed with player criticism, and expectations.  

The preseason freak out is silly, but incredibly expected as you point out. 

 

I really don't care for the implied notion that people who question or are pessimistic about the direction of this team are that way because they're scared to be happy, sad, lonely, not fans of this team, however else these posters want to frame it. With that specific poster being chief among them. They have an approach to belittling posters they don't agree with by trying to categorize them people into these groups.

 

This has never been a personal thing to me on this message board, but it is to others and most of them fall pretty hard in the McD camp. I look at most of these people as blissfully ignorant types, but who cares what I think. Who cares what they think. Nobody here has the truth locked down. Some just seem to act like they do, which tells me a lot more about these people than somebody's opinion of our roster building or head coach.    

[Mango]

Kind of surprised we don't have a Tre update yet. Since it is a travel day does McD have any media availability? 

[TFBillsfan]

5 minutes ago, Mango said:

Kind of surprised we don't have a Tre update yet. Since it is a travel day does McD have any media availability? 

Agree. The Bills are in flight to TB and not one report from the media on if Tre is on the flight, walking fine, in a boot, etc.?

[JP51]

2 minutes ago, TFBillsfan said:

Agree. The Bills are in flight to TB and not one report from the media on if Tre is on the flight, walking fine, in a boot, etc.?

Just a thing, I am a bit outside of Tampa, and everyone is pretty much delayed due to thunderstorms... so it could be a while before they land... I would guess that we might get an update tomorrow before the game...

[BillsShredder83]

56 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Bosa, Hoecht, Sanders, Walker. That's where the improvement needs to come from and I expect it to. I think each of those players will be more impactful than their counterparts last year. If fans are skeptical Bosa will stay healthy, I get it. That's a genuine question mark and we'll just have to hope he doesn't miss any extended periods of time. Ditto for Milano staying healthy because we all know how much of an impact he makes when he's himself.

 

The most obvious path to improvement from last year is the 3rd down defense. We ranked 30th giving up 44.5% of 3rd downs last year. I don't have specific stats on 3rd and medium/3rd and long but I would bet the discrepancy on those compared to the rest of the league would look even worse. To my eyes poor pass rush in those situations was a big problem. So we really just need our new collection of pass rushers to show up on those downs and get our opponent off the field. Even if the secondary is just as mediocre as it was last year, the DL impact will be the difference.

1.  Get him acclimated during the first 4 weeks with an average normal snap count.  Hope he looks awesome.

2. Next 8 weeks, dude should not/can not see the field on any down that isnt 3rd/4th.... limit them situationally in the 1st half of game. Q3/Q4 you can elevate or reduce those as needed

3. Last 4-5 weeks... get him back up to speed again.  I want him in game shape, and making sure he doesnt have rust.  Evaluate, how those snaps look, increase/decrease as prescribed.

 

S*** happens and I know it cant be followed exactly, but this is the template IMO.  He's a one year rental here, we know who he is on the field as a player and should trust that.... thats why we signed him after all.  In the healthiest way possible I have no expectations for him.  Thats how he should be treated IMO, dude is icing on the cake.  Everyone else needs to pull their weight and look good enough to not NEED a Bosa to win a Chip.  Treat it almost like he isnt even there.

 

All his rested snaps will help to season all the other young guys we need to be hitting full stride come playoff time!  Please baby Jesus!!

[Pete]

35 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Bosa, Hoecht, Sanders, Walker. That's where the improvement needs to come from and I expect it to. I think each of those players will be more impactful than their counterparts last year. If fans are skeptical Bosa will stay healthy, I get it. That's a genuine question mark and we'll just have to hope he doesn't miss any extended periods of time. Ditto for Milano staying healthy because we all know how much of an impact he makes when he's himself.

 

The most obvious path to improvement from last year is the 3rd down defense. We ranked 30th giving up 44.5% of 3rd downs last year. I don't have specific stats on 3rd and medium/3rd and long but I would bet the discrepancy on those compared to the rest of the league would look even worse. To my eyes poor pass rush in those situations was a big problem. So we really just need our new collection of pass rushers to show up on those downs and get our opponent off the field. Even if the secondary is just as mediocre as it was last year, the DL impact will be the difference.

Beane watched the Eagles DL pummel Mahomes, and just dominate the whole game.  Beane took notes that is how you beat the Chiefs.  Beane has built one of the top Offensive Lines in the NFL, its deep and nasty,  Adding Bosa, Hoecht, Sanders, Walker and Jackson(game is starting to slow down for Landon), to Roos, Oliver,AJ, Solomon- the DLine is getting deep and nasty.  Games are won at the line of scrimmage.

 

On offense, we lacked WR who were good route runners.  Separation was an issue.  Palmer is a sneaky great signing.  Josh is a great route runner and technician.  Keon has been the talk of camp.  His route running is much better.  Keon is working hard at getting better.  He might become a star this year.  Moore is a great route runner.  Shavers is a great route runner.  When Josh needs a basket, Shakir is there.  Samuel seems healthy, hes fast.  So we went from poor separation last year, to now everyone can separate.  Everyone will eat.

 

Its exciting.  Bills biggest fatal flaws last year IMO was root stemmed in DL failing to get more sacks and stop, and WR failing to separate.  Josh extends and extends, and they still couldnt get open.  Both those fatal flaws, are now strengths.  Add all the above to our running game, Milano-Bernard-Dorian-our Big Bad Oline, and Josh ***** Allen- The Bills are going to be so fun to watch.  Ive been waiting my whole life for this Bills team.  Enjoy this great Bills team!  Enjoy the ride!

 

GO BILLS!