Buffalo Bills 2023 Thread

[inkman]

I didn’t have a good feeling about this team prior to the preseason and this game did nothing to sway my opinion.  They look bad in every phase.  Kincaid was the only bright spot.  I was thinking at worst this could be a 10 win team but I’m thinking they may struggle to stay above .500.  The defense is a problem.  I was worried about the DBs and LBs.  I think they both are going to get gashed.  I don’t see playmaking at any position outside of Milano.  A bunch of garbage.  

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, inkman said:

I didn’t have a good feeling about this team prior to the preseason and this game did nothing to sway my opinion.  They look bad in every phase.  Kincaid was the only bright spot.  I was thinking at worst this could be a 10 win team but I’m thinking they may struggle to stay above .500.  The defense is a problem.  I was worried about the DBs and LBs.  I think they both are going to get gashed.  I don’t see playmaking at any position outside of Milano.  A bunch of garbage.  

I'd like someone to convince me, without using Josh Allen, that Beane drafts well. 

[Eleven]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

I'd like someone to convince me, without using Josh Allen, that Beane drafts well. 

I'd like someone to convince me, without using Josh Allen, that McDermott coaches well, while we're at it.

[That Aud Smell]

44 minutes ago, Eleven said:

When a political opinion is put forth by a moderator who is famous for stifling any scent of political discussion that doesn't conform to his view, that political opinion will be scrutinized.  You know this.  You're smarter than this.

I acknowledged that one person took a shot at unions. I said that the overall tenor of the conversation was very different.

I’m not sure I’m any smarter than I’ve shown here. I don’t really keep score around on this board. I routinely forget what certain posters are known for saying. 

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol, I get that it's preseason but holy ***** this team looks incompetent. Kincaid looks good though. So that's nice. 

Probably the worst I’ve ever seen a McDermott team play.

8 minutes ago, inkman said:

The defense is a problem.  I was worried about the DBs and LBs.  I think they both are going to get gashed.  I don’t see playmaking at any position outside of Milano.  A bunch of garbage.  

Entirely possible. I’m really not a fan of McDermott being HC/DC.

[Eleven]

10 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I said that the overall tenor of the conversation was very different.

I’m not sure I’m any smarter than I’ve shown here. I don’t really keep score around on this board. I routinely forget what certain posters are known for saying. 

And I explained.  

Not doing anymore of this.  I assume the Bills are still getting penalized and killed.

[LGR4GM]

30 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I'd like someone to convince me, without using Josh Allen, that McDermott coaches well, while we're at it.

I love watching 3rd and 5 converted easily because the backs are 10 yards off the line and safeties aren't within 25yrds.

[Randall Flagg]

44 minutes ago, inkman said:

I didn’t have a good feeling about this team prior to the preseason and this game did nothing to sway my opinion.  They look bad in every phase.  Kincaid was the only bright spot.  I was thinking at worst this could be a 10 win team but I’m thinking they may struggle to stay above .500.  The defense is a problem.  I was worried about the DBs and LBs.  I think they both are going to get gashed.  I don’t see playmaking at any position outside of Milano.  A bunch of garbage.  

No

[Randall Flagg]

The Bills have an elite, lasting offense that historically struggled at guard and in the slot

The best starters I saw on the field for them were Torrence, McGovern and Kincaid

[That Aud Smell]

45 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd like someone to convince me, without using Josh Allen, that Beane drafts well. 

Milano?

Torrence is showing well. Kincaid too?

[Randall Flagg]

The Bills have steamrolled the preseason since Allen got here. This will be the second preseason game they've lost since 2018, going 10-1 in that span. That didn't matter for anything, but when they have a ***** half against a team showing out at home, their preseason performance magically means something about the team again

I'm mostly talking about the game thread cesspool on TBD and fans on twitter, it's not bad in here. It's just funny

What matters in preseason is staying healthy, and seeing how particular individuals play in particular situations, and those particular players are generally not the important ones

The 3 or 4 particular players I had interest in watching actually looked really good today

[LGR4GM]

11 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

The Bills have steamrolled the preseason since Allen got here. This will be the second preseason game they've lost since 2018, going 10-1 in that span. That didn't matter for anything, but when they have a ***** half against a team showing out at home, their preseason performance magically means something about the team again

I'm mostly talking about the game thread cesspool on TBD and fans on twitter, it's not bad in here. It's just funny

What matters in preseason is staying healthy, and seeing how particular individuals play in particular situations, and those particular players are generally not the important ones

The 3 or 4 particular players I had interest in watching actually looked really good today

I watched to see if the line could protect Josh, they couldn't. 

I also watched to see if Dorsey could string a drive together that didn't rely on Allen heroics, he couldn't. 

Finally, I wanted to see Kincaid who did indeed look good. 

[That Aud Smell]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

I also watched to see if Dorsey could string a drive together that didn't rely on Allen heroics, he couldn't. 

No scheming. No opponent specific game planning. No showing anything you plan to showcase in Weeks 1-4. 

I’m no fan of Dorsey, but a preseason game isn’t the place to watch for an OC to shine.

[Randall Flagg]

9 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I watched to see if the line could protect Josh, they couldn't. 

I also watched to see if Dorsey could string a drive together that didn't rely on Allen heroics, he couldn't. 

Finally, I wanted to see Kincaid who did indeed look good. 

I literally don't want Dorsey scheming anything. If there's a particular chipping technique or block formation they have for elite lines like Pittsburgh's, I do NOT want them running it in this game. They never would, because that would be a ridiculous thing to do 

You use these games to get guys feeling what it feels like to be hit again, to go through game mechanics in at game speed etc. so that week 1 isn't so jarring. Whether you get yards or lose yards or anything else, it doesn't matter, and of course, any sort of analysis confirms this

The only thing that bugged me was the pre-snap penalties, but seeing them now has no correlation with whether or not we see them in 3 weeks

[inkman]

37 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

No

I sincerely hope you’re right 

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd like someone to convince me, without using Josh Allen, that Beane drafts well. 

39 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Milano?

Torrence is showing well. Kincaid too?

Knox? Taron?

[Randall Flagg]

9 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Knox? Taron?

One of those PFF style organizations did a deep-dive ranking of team drafts over a 3 or 5 year span, a couple of years ago. The Bills ranked in first place at the time

Every team has misses they hate, and there are some things I wish we did differently in that department in two particular draft years, but overall you can add things up basically any way you want over the last 3-4 years and they will always show that there are two teams at the top and then a gap to the rest of the field, and those teams are always the Bills and Chiefs. Track record means something. People will be as bullish on the Sabres as they are down on the Bills and it blows my mind

This team wins a *****-ton of games, has a *****-ton of talent, and whether or not they drafted "better" within reason, they will need a reset soon as any team would. Just gotta hope they have enough juice to get across the finish line before they have to do that. 

Oh and when you have Josh Allen, the reset doesn't have to be painful. The Chiefs resetted their way to a super bowl win last year

 

[LGR4GM]

46 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

No scheming. No opponent specific game planning. No showing anything you plan to showcase in Weeks 1-4. 

I’m no fan of Dorsey, but a preseason game isn’t the place to watch for an OC to shine.

It's not scheming when you don't have anything that's underneath. It's normal every day football and for some reason, Dorsey didn't have any easy completions, just like last year. So either Josh Isn't taking what's given or Dorsey is having every route be 10-20yrds down field. Kenny ***** Pickett easily completed passes, guess Pittsburgh showed their hand by... running a short slant. 

[LGR4GM]

I've seen this reaction before. You can't question the Bills because they found Josh Allen. The fact the team has issues that repeat in the postseason is passed off as irrelevant. Hope I'm wrong but I think and have thought that perhaps McDermott and Beane have gone as far as they can. I really do hope I'm wrong. 

[Randall Flagg]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I've seen this reaction before. You can't question the Bills because they found Josh Allen. The fact the team has issues that repeat in the postseason is passed off as irrelevant. Hope I'm wrong but I think and have thought that perhaps McDermott and Beane have gone as far as they can. I really do hope I'm wrong. 

That is not my reaction lol

I didn't like seeing Allen run around either, but again, they used vanilla blocking schemes, everyone was 1v1 each snap. Doing that against Watt and Heyward and Highsmith is something that no coach would be comfortable with in any real game because they would win those battles 90% of the time against any line in the NFL

I actually saw some good things in those battles. The Bills were running long-developing routes and had they called quicker throws, we would have seen a lot of NFL-clean pockets. Allen bailed out of a couple good ones too. It is what it is, they weren't focused on that kind of stuff because they'd be tipping their hands

The Steelers make every team change it up in the regular season, that's the ebb and flow of football. In 2020, Buffalo faced the 11-1 Steelers and only scored 3 points in the first half, struggling to handle these guys. They put the game away in the second half after figuring something out with scheming that they are explicitly not going to do in the preseason. That's football. That's why these games don't mean anything outside of the injury report, the defining element of the game is completely absent. 

I'm happy to talk about worries and flaws, the Bills have them, and they have more than the Chiefs, the Eagles and maybe the Bengals (though I am NOT convinced at all about that one). Marino did a good episode talking about the comparison of these flaws last week, if you like Locked on Bills. But the bottom line is inescapable, the Bills are an excellent football team, they've been a whisker away from where they want to be, and they've added more than they've lost yet again despite entering the offseason 18mil over the cap. People call me a pessimist about hockey and an optimist about football, but I just call what I see, and I see a top notch organization taking another big swing at glory in Orchard Park, and I'm excited as hell to watch it 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Randall Flagg

[That Aud Smell]

7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

It's not scheming when you don't have anything that's underneath. It's normal every day football and for some reason, Dorsey didn't have any easy completions, just like last year. So either Josh Isn't taking what's given or Dorsey is having every route be 10-20yrds down field. Kenny ***** Pickett easily completed passes, guess Pittsburgh showed their hand by... running a short slant. 

Allen’s first completion was an easy 8 yard pitch and catch to Kincaid. He had a nice timing route to Diggs on that second drive for ~15. He had an easy slant to Diggs in that last drive (which should have given them 2nd and 2, but of course there had been a pre-snap penalty). He was 7/10 despite numerous bad penalties.

The Bills need to do better than what Dorsey did last season. They can’t always rely on Allen wearing the Superman cape. I just don’t think yesterday’s game is a harbinger of what they have planned.

[Eleven]

Regardless of whether the Bills wanted to "show their hand" by running the schemes and plays that they'll show us during the regular season, 12 penalties in one half is a problem.  A discipline problem, and therefore a coaching problem.

[That Aud Smell]

57 minutes ago, Eleven said:

12 penalties in one half is a problem.  A discipline problem, and therefore a coaching problem.

Absolutely horrendous.

[Taro T]

5 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Allen’s first completion was an easy 8 yard pitch and catch to Kincaid. He had a nice timing route to Diggs on that second drive for ~15. He had an easy slant to Diggs in that last drive (which should have given them 2nd and 2, but of course there had been a pre-snap penalty). He was 7/10 despite numerous bad penalties.

The Bills need to do better than what Dorsey did last season. They can’t always rely on Allen wearing the Superman cape. I just don’t think yesterday’s game is a harbinger of what they have planned.

Don't forget the sideline throw to Davis that got called back because of another Brown penalty.

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

Regardless of whether the Bills wanted to "show their hand" by running the schemes and plays that they'll show us during the regular season, 12 penalties in one half is a problem.  A discipline problem, and therefore a coaching problem.

Absolutely.  Thought a few of those calls were very ticky-tack.  But even having 8 penalties in a full game is bad; were they only called 8 times in the 1st half it would still have been horrendously bad and something they have to fix.

Am hoping the offensive penalties were due in most part to guys knowing they were on islands against very good pass rushers which would not happen in the regular season.

Was extremely disappointed in Elam's play on the other side of the ball.  Flip Benford's and Elam's draft slots and nobody cares, but a 1st rounder looking so bad in his 2nd season is problematic.  Chalked Elam's problems getting on the field last year as being due to being a man corner in a zone D but he's got to figure this out.

If Bernard isn't back soon could see Beane trading for a MLB.  Dotson looked very bad in that role.

[PASabreFan]

I gotta say that my elderly residents at work last night were all about this game. Honestly it could have been the Super Bowl to them. One fella was beyond himself at the Bills play. I rolled my eyes a few times. It's like they found a way to use their flip phones to register on here.

Chillax, Bills broskis.

[Buffalonill]

Man you bills fans worry about everything lol yikes.