The Bills D has been good for "most" of the first two games

[Simon]

Just now, BillsFan130 said:

Even if you don't count the garbage time TD by Detroit, 27.5 PPG for 2 games is not good

 

That's lower than Detroit's average PPG last year.

[Prickly Pete]

DB's are a problem. Hopefully they improve a lot through the course of the season.

 

I think they will lose us a few games along the way.

[BillsFan130]

Just now, Simon said:

 

That's lower than Detroit's average PPG last year.

Ok. How about Houston?

[CincyBillsFan]

4 minutes ago, Thrivefourfive said:

 Has Cole Bishop been doing much? Me just watching the games on the network broadcasts, I haven’t noticed him at all. No run help, no plays at the ball. I could’ve missed a lot so correct me if I’m wrong please. 

Remember that key 2nd & 10 in the 4th quarter with the Bills only leading 34 - 24?  They ran Gibbs and Bishop blew him up for no gain.  On the next play the D line tipped the pass for a crucial 3 & out.  The Bills O took the Lions punt at their 40 and ended the game with a TD drive.

 

 

[BuffaloRebound]

We have a legit pass rush sending 4 and we look more stout against the run.  There’s a lot of breakdowns in the secondary right now.  You’d hope that gets cleaned up and the young guys show improvement. If not, then Beane’s gotta consider a trade by end of October to bolster secondary.  

[CincyBillsFan]

Just now, Prickly Pete said:

DB's are a problem. Hopefully they improve a lot through the course of the season.

 

I think they will lose us a few games along the way.

They will get better and every game we win reduces the chances that their play will lose us a game.

 

 

[Pecker]

The Lions first TD drive - we had a whole sale change on the DL (I’m including the edges).  It was all backups for the first few first downs then I saw Walker in there but it was the rest 2nd team.

 

a whole sale change seemed weird.  Why not sub one guy at a time?  
 

also at that point, we had very short D series and very long O drives, so our guys should not have needed a rest at all.

 

that drive gave the lions life. 

[Simon]

Just now, BillsFan130 said:

Ok. How about Houston?

 

They gave up one more TD than Houston averages last year.

 

This is new personnel in new spots with new coaches running an entirely different D this year.

Having ginormous fits about it after two weeks is absurd and pointless, imo.

You KNEW coming in this was going to be a work in progress that would take time and you've forgotten it already.

[Thrivefourfive]

2 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

He's playing all-pro quality football out there in multiple aspects.

Thank you. I’ll check that out. I honestly didn’t know. Glad to hear it. 
 

What is it then @Simon? I know your glass is half full right now, and you’re defending Benford to the grave, but something is amiss a little bit, no? CJGJ? Is Alford’s play causing this? Hairston seems invisible? 
 

I think the long drives give us fans anxiety and an ugly feeling in our stomachs as fans. Seems like it’s a three and out, or a 15 play TD drive with multiple third and fourth down conversions—which always seem to be on the secondary. 

[NoSaint]

2 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

And they pressured Goff plenty and Gibbs was not a rushing factor.

 

Detroit is a playoff team.  Their offense is top 10 in the league.  Buffalo forced pressure, got the scoring gap early, and outside of the final drive were quite effective against that offense.

 

Gibbs is a monster, and Detroit had to get him in the passing game because the running game was stuffed.  Williams is considered the best 2 WR in the league outside of Higgins, he did nothing.  Laporta is healthy, did nothing.  St brown was the key, and there are questions about Alford and Hamlin, st brown exploited that weakness.

 

not many teams have a st brown.  Maybe Seattle with JSN lined up inside 

they have:

 

RB1

arguably a top 5ish wr

their WR2 is a top 32 guy

a top 10 TE

elite LT

And above average qb play 

 

first 8 drives 4 punts, fg, 3 tds and TD 3 was four down territory because we were up 3 scores AND got help from the refs. 
 

if we ignore the under 2 mins when like 29 of 32 teams just run the clock… we stopped half their drives and had them below their scoring average essentially at the league scoring average 

 

again, not putting the report card on the fridge with a good star but we shouldn’t be shredding their night. 

Just now, Thrivefourfive said:

Thank you. I’ll check that out. I honestly didn’t know. Glad to hear it. 
 

What is it then @Simon? I know your glass is half full right now, and you’re defending Benford to the grave, but something is amiss a little bit, no? CJGJ? Is Alford’s play causing this? Hairston seems invisible? 
 

I think the long drives give us fans anxiety and an ugly feeling in our stomachs as fans. Seems like it’s a three and out, or a 15 play TD drive with multiple third and fourth down conversions—which always seem to be on the secondary. 

can I say it? 
 

a lot of you are going off feelings 

[BillsFan130]

Just now, Simon said:

 

They gave up one more TD than Houston averages last year.

 

This is new personnel in new spots with new coaches running an entirely different D this year.

Having ginormous fits about it after two weeks is absurd and pointless, imo.

You KNEW coming in this was going to be a work in progress that would take time and you've forgotten it already.

I agree. But your statement was the defence has been good for the most part in the first two games.

 

They haven't been good in totality.

 

I fully expect them to get better as the season goes on and there is no panic on my end.

 

Just calling it as it, as 31 ppg is not good. At least in my opinion.

[NoSaint]

Just now, Simon said:

 

They gave up one more TD than Houston averages last year.

 

This is new personnel in new spots with new coaches running an entirely different D this year.

Having ginormous fits about it after two weeks is absurd and pointless, imo.

You KNEW coming in this was going to be a work in progress that would take time and you've forgotten it already.

yup - if you chalk it as 

 

Houston is streaky- especially stroud- and that was a slightly below average day for us but not horrific

 

lions are elite and we did better than average 

 

maybe 2 weeks in we are relatively middle of the pack despite growing pains and not just a dumpster fire that some think

[billsfan714]

The run defense is for sure improved, Montgomery had 3ypc carry last week and Gibbs was contained.  7 sacks through 2 games is also nice.  The secondary is a work in progress, but there is talent there that I think Leonhard can improve with time.  Last year the Texans put 23 on us with a backup QB and last Detroit game they put up over 40.  Im not going to deny this defense improving is a must if this team wants to get where they want to go.

[Thrivefourfive]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

they have:

 

RB1

arguably a top 5ish wr

their WR2 is a top 32 guy

a top 10 TE

elite LT

And above average qb play 

 

first 8 drives 4 punts, fg, 3 tds and TD 3 was four down territory because we were up 3 scores AND got help from the refs. 
 

if we ignore the under 2 mins when like 29 of 32 teams just run the clock… we stopped half their drives and had them below their scoring average essentially at the league scoring average 

 

again, not putting the report card on the fridge with a good star but we shouldn’t be shredding their night. 

can I say it? 
 

a lot of you are going off feelings 

You can say it 😂 Defense is giving up 31 points per game. Feels about right 🤣

[Simon]

Just now, Thrivefourfive said:

What is it then @Simon?

 

It's a bunch of guys in new positions in a new defense playing new roles under new coaches learning how to mesh as a unit.

In both games they've been better than expected for the majority of the game but have had trouble with working as unit for about 16-17 minutes a game.

That's all.

Over time, those 16-17 minutes a game will gradually become 13-14 minutes a game, then 10-11 minutes a game as they get comfortable.

[NickelCity]

Right now this defense is entirely dependent on DLine performance. If they don't disrupt the QB it looks pretty automatic for the O. 

 

Gotta have that secondary improve.

[AKC]

There were plays in the 2nd half where it appeared Dorian Williams is seeing the play in front of him quicker and taking a good line to where he is being coached, which has been a weakness to date. Hopefully all the reps are starting to give us a chance of having another of our picks developing into a positive contributor.

[Simon]

Just now, AKC said:

There were plays in the 2nd half where it appeared Dorian Williams is seeing the play in front of him quicker and taking a good line to where he is being coached, which has been a weakness to date. Hopefully all the reps are starting to give us a chance of having another of our picks developing into a positive contributor.

 

He even had a PD tonight; probably like the 2nd of his entire career.

[NoSaint]

It’s apparent a lot of yall were watching that game under the lens of disaster is happening and not seeing it as we are manhandling an elite contender from start to finish 

 

a 3 score win (ignoring the garbage TD) is massive in the nfl 

 

we did it in a short week vs a top ten team. 
 

we dog walked them from wire to wire and still have fans panicking about the performance 

 

 

4 minutes ago, NickelCity said:

Right now this defense is entirely dependent on DLine performance. If they don't disrupt the QB it looks pretty automatic for the O. 

 

Gotta have that secondary improve.

Thats basically the entire league 

 

and we did ok tonight even with the Oliver curveball 

5 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

It's a bunch of guys in new positions in a new defense playing new roles under new coaches learning how to mesh as a unit.

In both games they've been better than expected for the majority of the game but have had trouble with working as unit for about 16-17 minutes a game.

That's all.

Over time, those 16-17 minutes a game will gradually become 13-14 minutes a game, then 10-11 minutes a game as they get comfortable.

Or we won’t play the lions every week and we might look decently good against more lackluster units

[Simon]

2 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

Or we won’t play the lions every week and we might look decently good against more lackluster units

 

4 of the next 5 games are Chargers, Patriots, @Rams and Ravens.

I kind of wonder if them being thrown into the fire right off the bat might actually end up serving them well long term.