A few random thoughts about the Saints Game - Please share yours as well

[wjag]

2 hours ago, Mat68 said:

Samuel as kick returner and Shakir at punt returner makes Codrington very replaceable.   Bass, Hairston, Grable, Hoecht, and Ogunjobi are all returning here soon.  Spots are certainly getting taken.  First is a return specialist.   

 

IMO Shakir is too valuable to expose him to return punts; acceptable only as a emergency sub I would think.

[Virgil]

26 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

I've criticized Van Demark a few times, so I feel obligated to point out that his overall game apparently was much better than it seemed live. He lost a couple pass protection reps but apparently was excellent as a run defender:

 

PFF reinforces this - they gave Van Demark the 2nd highest grade on offense for this game. Overall rating of 79.0, 68.6 in pass blocking and 82.0 in run blocking.

 

I am really surprised to see his grade being so high.  From the seats, he looked like he was getting abused at times.  

[stlbills13]

My opinion is that two players I am very concerned about are Taylor Rapp and Taron Johnson 

[theAteam]

Someone can come in here and destroy me with stats but just going off what I feel like I'm seeing this year.

 

Whenever Cook is getting decent yardage the offense clicks very well and essentially scores at will. No duh you'll say, the run game opens the pass game.

 

But whenever a team has success slowing Cook down, the offense doesn't seem to have any sort of backup plan. The offense tends to stall out more often than not except for the usual Allen hero plays. It feels to me like our passing game lacks scheming to get guys open quickly and Allen either has to improvise until someone does or a lane opens for him to run and that's basically all of our successful plays. It just seems unsustainable especially in the playoffs where you're going to face a bunch of teams that will be able to stop Cook for periods of time and their offenses will continue scoring on us in the meantime while we figure things out.

[GunnerBill]

34 minutes ago, pennstate10 said:

When Walker and Jones were on the field together Jones was playing 3 and Walker 1T. At least in some plays. 

 

They have mixed some of that in, yes.

[PoundingDog]

7 hours ago, Niagara Dude said:

Walker needs to starting with Oliver when Oliver returns

Not sure. Walker was still pushed around in some run plays, too much for the Coach's like. 

 

I'd say both he and Sanders are not quite there in terms of what Daquan Jones said "you gotta understand what they (offense) are trying to do first." He's still get by with pure physical ability so far but that's the exciting part: physically he can overpower people now, what happens when he knows who and where to overpower people on individual plays? I don't have inside info on him, but every his interview, looks like he's kid eager to learn and take coaching to heart. There are talks about he does not anchor well due to him being top heavy. I think with offseason plan, nutrition, and technic improvement (like getting low at stands), he could develop into a more complete DT. 

 

Ideally he's more suited to an aggressive attacking defense. 

[somnus00]

10 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

Terrel Bernard needs to blitz more. When he became the starter at MLB 2 years ago, he was very good as a blitzer, be it immediate or delayed.

Last year he did less and less of that, and we used him in coverage more. Which he has shown to be decent in coverage.

When Bernard blitzes, as he did today, he causes havoc in the backfield. 

The Bills need to use him this way more often.

He was really good at getting in the backfield at Baylor. Some guys just seen to have the timing instinct for blitzing. Bernard has it.

[Pecker]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Sure, for a snap here and a snap there. Walker is a 3 tech in a 1 techs body. 

Walker has been mainly 1 tech all season.  He and sanders, the 3 tech, rotate in together.  Walker has earned more snaps and is moving around more now tho.  

[Pecker]

1 hour ago, MikePJ76 said:

Cole Bishop's Interception.  He is never fooled on the play and goes from the left hash mark all the way across the field to make a one handed diving interception and then had the heads up ability to get up and run.  Great Play.

 

 

It was a wildly athletic interception, but I don’t think it was anything special it the diagnosis.  We were in man coverage and Bishop was following his man in motion pre snap, and just kept tracking the guy across the field. 
 

 

I would really like to see more Strong at CB.  I think he is great in run support, and is solid in coverage.  He is a big long dude too.  He just seems solid out there

[HappyDays]

Here's 3 plays where Kamara gets around Bosa on the edge. Doesn't look like any of them are his fault, at least the first 2:

 

1st one is zone read, Bosa is the conflict defender and is going to be wrong no matter what. Looks to me like Dorian Williams does his usual bit of biting on all of the eye candy and pulls himself way out of the play.

 

2nd play is identical. This time it is Bernard biting on the eye candy although at least he didn't wash himself totally out of the play like Williams did on the 1st play.

 

3rd play I'm not sure if Williams or Bosa are wrong. Bosa crashes inside but Williams takes the same gap (notice that he ends up practically stepping on Bosa's feet) which leaves nobody outside to string Kamara to the sideline.

 

Gap responsibility again is what killed us in the run game. Babich needs to get it figured out. It's more excusable in week 1 but we're through the first quarter of the season now and still seeing the same issues. These are not plays where their blockers beat our defenders 1v1, we are just out of position and making it way too easy for them.

[Walking Tall]

5 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

Two thumbs down for the equipment manager … seemed to me our guys were slipping a lot for a game under ideal conditions

Players decide what shoe they want to wear. 

[Inigo Montoya]

2 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I am starting to get concerned about our backup RB situation. Cook can’t have this manny carries. Ty looks like a shell of his former self. Ray has gotten almost no action.

 

i was actually thinking that trading for a guy like Raheem Mostert near the deadline might be a risk worth taking. He’s obviously old and coming off injuries, but probably nice to have one experienced ball carrier back there down the stretch. 

 

 

Ty Johnson has 8 carries this season, Ray Davis has 11.  I don't think that sample size is sufficient to say that they're doing good or bad.  I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet.

 

I agree that it's great to see Cook tearing it up, but we all want him to have some gas left in the tank in the post season.  It would be nice to see Ty and Ray getting more touches.

[PaattMaann]

1 hour ago, Einstein's Dog said:

I think I may have a different interpretation of the test for Samuel.  He failed.  Codrington as returner and Moore as a receiver make Samuel and his large contract replaceable.  

 

Samuel, IMO, would make a great addition to an in-season trade for a top flight safety (to pair w Bishop) or an RB of better caliber to back up Cook (I'm getting worried about our current backups)

 

except no one is going to trade for Samuel. Get used to him being around. Makes zero financial sense to cut him, so they wont. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

4 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

 

Ty Johnson has 8 carries this season, Ray Davis has 11.  I don't think that sample size is sufficient to say that they're doing good or bad.  I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet.

 

I agree that it's great to see Cook tearing it up, but we all want him to have some gas left in the tank in the post season.  It would be nice to see Ty and Ray getting more touches.

 

Ray davis has been running into brick walls it seems so far this year.  Cook's got an amazing ability to turn 1 into 4-6, or -3 into 1 with his patience and quick feet.  Davis is more of a one-cut guy who needs an alley.  Like you can't even break tackles when there is no where to go in any direction.  

Johnson's had a couple of drops, and needs to be better.  He also blocks on more third downs so his impact isn't always going to show up on a stat sheet.  

[PoundingDog]

24 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

3rd play I'm not sure if Williams or Bosa are wrong. Bosa crashes inside but Williams takes the same gap (notice that he ends up practically stepping on Bosa's feet) which leaves nobody outside to string Kamara to the sideline.

I don't know how D is coached. But definitely not 2 guys taking the same gap. Either Bosa should go outside for containment and leave Williams to control the inside gap or Williams should read Bosa and go outside in this case.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

18 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

 

Ty Johnson has 8 carries this season, Ray Davis has 11.  I don't think that sample size is sufficient to say that they're doing good or bad.  I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet.

 

I agree that it's great to see Cook tearing it up, but we all want him to have some gas left in the tank in the post season.  It would be nice to see Ty and Ray getting more touches.

Good points.
 

Ray Davis is the kind of back that needs touches to get going. I think they need to start rotating him for some full series.

[PoundingDog]

19 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Ty Johnson has 8 carries this season, Ray Davis has 11.  I don't think that sample size is sufficient to say that they're doing good or bad.  I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet.

My take is a bit different. Ty & Ray got so few carries because when they are in there, they were NOT effective, which forces Brady to give Cook more carries, kind of similar to Joey Bosa had to be out there taking so many snaps because no one else can get close to the QB. Pre-season game time to find out is over.

 

If this continues post the bye, I'm willing to give Gore Jr. some try as a PS call up. 

[TBBills Fan]

3 hours ago, Mango said:

 

I don' think Samuel needs to be a better returner than Codrington to stay on the roster or even take over return duties. He just needs to be on the low end of comparable. Because ultimately if we have a rash of injuries Samuel is a better option at receiver than Codrington is at DB. 

I say that as a guy who isn't stoked about Curtis Samuel's career as a Bill. 

Yeah if the staff is happy with how Samuel and shakir did, codrington is gone once we need to free up spots for Larry, Hoecht and Max

[JP51]

3 hours ago, warrior9 said:

Why are you asking where a 2nd string TE is when we have one of the more productive TE's in the NFL starting right now???

 

Why would you want to involve your 2nd and 3rd RBs if you dont have to because you have a top 3 back in the league? Where is your thought process for these? 

 

Rapp not being noticeable.... is a good thing. 

Especially if you are a Bills DB lol 

[Einstein's Dog]

51 minutes ago, PaattMaann said:

 

except no one is going to trade for Samuel. Get used to him being around. Makes zero financial sense to cut him, so they wont. 

The Samuel part of the trade would be kind of a negative asset that the trading team has to take on.  The Bills in turn would be incorporating that into the draft pick value given up - along with hopefully the improved Safety received. 

 

For instance,  instead of the Bills giving up a fourth round, they give up a third round and Samuel.