What a week 1! Some thoughts...

[Sestak4ever]

Saw it posted that the Bills have the NFL record and have gone 23 consecutive games winning the turnover battle.👍

[pigpen65]

Bernard and Milano were both horrible. Half the time they were still moving around confused at the snap of the ball. They spent the entire game either over pursuing, making the wrong read, or getting swallowed up by blocks. Bernard in particular looked completely gassed, like he was out of shape. Just an awful game for both of them. 

[JP51]

13 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

On offense, Joe Brady seemed to want the offense to play close to the vest until he couldn't any more.  On defense, I think the Bills struggle on the interior of the defensive line against very physical and athletic offenses, of which Baltimore is probably the prime example.  The Bills linebackers are also at a disadvantage.  There were a few breakdowns on the back end of the defense.  I was encouraged by the play of Dorian Strong.  He wasn't perfect, but his shortcomings weren't glaring and Baltimore did not appear to pick on him.  Bishop made a few mistakes, but I think he'll grow and learn.  I think with the interruptions his development has had due to injury, he's more like a rookie than a highly drafted second year player.  With Taylor Rapp, what you see is what you get, a smart physical player who is fine when he can keep the play in front of him, but lacks the speed to recover from any misread.  The image of 250 lb Derrick Henry running away from him just won't go away.  The Bills can probably manage with him as their SS, but that will be a position they are going to want to upgrade at some point.

I thought the same thing about Brady and look he hung 41 on the Ravens and pretty much kept Josh healthy so I dont have alot negative to say... although he could leave that 20 yard long pass 1 yard beyond the LOS alone, I have no idea why he does that unless he thinks he is setting up something longer.

8 minutes ago, pigpen65 said:

Bernard and Milano were both horrible. Half the time they were still moving around confused at the snap of the ball. They spent the entire game either over pursuing, making the wrong read, or getting swallowed up by blocks. Bernard in particular looked completely gassed, like he was out of shape. Just an awful game for both of them. 

Yes color me completely unimpressed, Dorian Williams looked interested at times though...  Bernard was invisible Milano was just ineffective.... 

[ngbills]

Other than some nice plays from Oliver that D was a disaster. And I dont want to hear the "what can you do" thing. These were not unique plays, but literally Henry running straight through the gap and our guys getting beat and the second level taking bad angles or unable to make tackles. It looked like Pee Wee football at times when you have the one kid that just runs straight down the field. Should not happen that many times in an NFL games. On passing plays how many times did we see blown coverage or Flowers running wide open? Wont even mention the Bishop blitz from 20 yards deep. I can be ok with Lamar doing his crazy stuff or even guys making contested catches. But we saw more Henry run straight and Flowers running wide open than the spectacular. 

 

On offense its hard to complain when you put up over 40 and comeback to win the game. The only issue which is something we saw a lot last year is when Brady seems to get in an ultra conservative mode with the WR screens and dump offs. He has to do a better job mixing that stuff up. And some of the play calling was suspect on the 2 point conversations and other short yardage plays. But we did what was needed to score enough to win. 

[JP51]

10 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Other than some nice plays from Oliver that D was a disaster. And I dont want to hear the "what can you do" thing. These were not unique plays, but literally Henry running straight through the gap and our guys getting beat and the second level taking bad angles or unable to make tackles. It looked like Pee Wee football at times when you have the one kid that just runs straight down the field. Should not happen that many times in an NFL games. On passing plays how many times did we see blown coverage or Flowers running wide open? Wont even mention the Bishop blitz from 20 yards deep. I can be ok with Lamar doing his crazy stuff or even guys making contested catches. But we saw more Henry run straight and Flowers running wide open than the spectacular. 

 

On offense its hard to complain when you put up over 40 and comeback to win the game. The only issue which is something we saw a lot last year is when Brady seems to get in an ultra conservative mode with the WR screens and dump offs. He has to do a better job mixing that stuff up. And some of the play calling was suspect on the 2 point conversations and other short yardage plays. But we did what was needed to score enough to win. 

My hope is that somehow some way they can be a cohesive unit and Josh doesnt have to wear a cape every single game... we will see they played an exceptional offense... I am not looking for the 2000 Ravens Defense... just make them punt a couple times a half...  unfortunately the game plan seems to be hold them to FGs while we score TDs... the Jets hang 30 or 40 on us.. no bueno... Josh misses a game.. muy no bueno... 

[zow2]

We all hated the D for 3.5 Qtrs. No question they were bad.  But there's no other combo like Lamar/Henry on our schedule for the rest of the year.  Hurts and Saquon are very good of course, but Lamar/Henry have a mastery over the Bills D.  

 

I'm sure the D will get better.  They won't be great but hopefully get a few stops, have a nice + ratio on turnovers and be opportunistic.  They will feast on some lesser teams and improve their fundamentals.  By the time January rolls around they will be better than this.

[JP51]

5 minutes ago, zow2 said:

We all hated the D for 3.5 Qtrs. No question they were bad.  But there's no other combo like Lamar/Henry on our schedule for the rest of the year.  Hurts and Saquon are very good of course, but Lamar/Henry have a mastery over the Bills D.  

 

I'm sure the D will get better.  They won't be great but hopefully get a few stops, have a nice + ratio on turnovers and be opportunistic.  They will feast on some lesser teams and improve their fundamentals.  By the time January rolls around they will be better than this.

I am rooting for your thoughts... 

[oldmanfan]

29 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Other than some nice plays from Oliver that D was a disaster. And I dont want to hear the "what can you do" thing. These were not unique plays, but literally Henry running straight through the gap and our guys getting beat and the second level taking bad angles or unable to make tackles. It looked like Pee Wee football at times when you have the one kid that just runs straight down the field. Should not happen that many times in an NFL games. On passing plays how many times did we see blown coverage or Flowers running wide open? Wont even mention the Bishop blitz from 20 yards deep. I can be ok with Lamar doing his crazy stuff or even guys making contested catches. But we saw more Henry run straight and Flowers running wide open than the spectacular. 

 

On offense its hard to complain when you put up over 40 and comeback to win the game. The only issue which is something we saw a lot last year is when Brady seems to get in an ultra conservative mode with the WR screens and dump offs. He has to do a better job mixing that stuff up. And some of the play calling was suspect on the 2 point conversations and other short yardage plays. But we did what was needed to score enough to win. 

Their O line dominated the first 3 quarters.

[SoonerBillsFan]

2 hours ago, Peace Frog said:

Amen to the Henry thing, geez that guy is like Okoye with speed.

 

Thats  the key, don't let him get started

[SoTier]

1 hour ago, JP51 said:

So yeah, I agree we have problems... but if we have problems on D, so do the Ravens..  I may be whistling here but I am gonna go with 2 defenses playing 2 offenses that were just dominant...  points gonna happen. 

 

This is how I look at it, too. 

 

Two things to keep in mind about week 1 defenses:

• NFL defenses are tailored to specific opponents but in Week 1 defenses are working off last season's offenses, which may have changed significantly with changes in coaching and personnel.
• Most NFL teams play their starters relatively few snaps in pre-season, so veteran defenders don't play too much, and starting units may hardly play together at all.

Years ago, it was always said that the defenses tended to be ahead of the offenses early in the season.  I think this has reversed in modern NFL because the defenses are so much more sophisticated than they were even a decade ago that it takes defenses more playing time to get up to speed than they get in preseason.   

 

I also don't think that the Bills are going to face a tougher offense than the Ravens' this regular season.  The Ravens can easily have the best running game in the NFL paired with a top five passing game led by a QB who can also run like a RB.  Even teams like the Eagles don't present quite the challenge of the Ravens.

 

If the Bills defense fails against a team like the Jests, then it's time to start worrying, but this week, enjoy the win.

[JP51]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

This is how I look at it, too. 

 

Two things to keep in mind about week 1 defenses:

• NFL defenses are tailored to specific opponents but in Week 1 defenses are working off last season's offenses, which may have changed significantly with changes in coaching and personnel.
• Most NFL teams play their starters relatively few snaps in pre-season, so veteran defenders don't play too much, and starting units may hardly play together at all.

Years ago, it was always said that the defenses tended to be ahead of the offenses early in the season.  I think this has reversed in modern NFL because the defenses are so much more sophisticated than they were even a decade ago that it takes defenses more playing time to get up to speed than they get in preseason.   

 

I also don't think that the Bills are going to face a tougher offense than the Ravens' this regular season.  The Ravens can easily have the best running game in the NFL paired with a top five passing game led by a QB who can also run like a RB.  Even teams like the Eagles don't present quite the challenge of the Ravens.

 

If the Bills defense fails against a team like the Jests, then it's time to start worrying, but this week, enjoy the win.

I was literally remembering that last night that in the"Old:" days D was ahead of O... not it seems to have reversed.  for sure. 

[JP51]

2 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Thats  the key, don't let him get started

Indeed! That was they key! 

[SoonerBillsFan]

23 minutes ago, JP51 said:

Indeed! That was they key! 

Or find the next Steve Atwater 😁

[JP51]

4 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Or find the next Steve Atwater 😁

Yes please...