2024 Buffalo Bills (4 Viewers)

[themeistersinger]

Tre White is Active

Bills Inactives
LB Tremaine Edmunds
DE A.J. Epenesa
S Cam Lewis
C Mitch Morse
DE Greg Rousseau
LB Baylon Spector
TE Tommy Sweeney

 

[GroveDiesel]

#1 goalie is back baby!

 

[JohnnyU]

Any team that loses 4 straight Super Bowls deserves to win one. Just as much as a team that has never been to a Super Bowl.

 

[Judge Smails]

2nd half struggles continue

 

[Judge Smails]

Officially time to be worried. Not panic. But very worried

 

[GroveDiesel]

Reports are cautiously optimistic that Von Miller only has a knee sprain.

If Bills don’t get Morse, Edmunds and Epenesa back for next week, they’re in a lot of trouble. The Patriots won’t have poor game management like the Lions and their defense won’t give up plays like that throw at the end by Josh either.

It’s a win and move on to the next one.

 

[The Duff Man]

It is BS that the Bills get all three division opponents on their field first before they get one of them in Buffalo. I know the NFL wanted the division to stay tight late into the year but

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I think we can officially shelve the SB talk this year if Miller is out. This defense just isn't good enough right now, and it's not going to be good enough to beat KC or really any other playoff opponent at this point.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I think we can officially shelve the SB talk this year if Miller is out. This defense just isn't good enough right now, and it's not going to be good enough to beat KC or really any other playoff opponent at this point.

How can you say that when they now have Tre White for 10 plays a game?

Goodness we Bills fans are so cynical and jaded.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Funny stat (not to Detroit fans I’m sure), but Buffalo is the first team since 2016 to win back to back games in Ford Field.

 

[GroveDiesel]

OBJ has visits lined up with Cowboys, Giants and Bills this coming week.

 

[Da Guru]

WAs at the Lions game today and there were a bunch of Bills fans there. Have to say they were so different than some of the idiots that come into town. Tailgating was huge today and there with Lions and Bills fans partying together. Some salt of the earth people. Even at the game it was the same.

After the Lions I am rooting for the bills to win it all.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Do we realize how spoiled we've become with Josh Allen? Bum elbow, 3/5 of the starting OL injured, guy throws for 250, runs for 75, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 60% completion, ice-in-the-veins game-winning throw to Diggs, and we're here complaining.....

The team isn't playing immaculate football and they're still in every game, and 8-3 after 11 games. Miami is playing better right now, no question, but the Bills haven't been this injured in years, and they're still very much in the mix. Defense was down 4 starters (I'm counting Tre as being out) (and Dane Jackson, while a starter, is playing his worst ball), and still got enough stops on the road, short week, to stop a pretty good Lions offense when it mattered. After a 17 year playoff drought, I'm happy to be here for the ride.

With these injuries as they are, I stand by my assessment that the team is "cooked" in the long run, but there is unreal talent on this team if the key players, including Allen, can get healthy as the season wears on.

 

[Steve Tasker]

WAs at the Lions game today and there were a bunch of Bills fans there. Have to say they were so different than some of the idiots that come into town. Tailgating was huge today and there with Lions and Bills fans partying together. Some salt of the earth people. Even at the game it was the same.

After the Lions I am rooting for the bills to win it all.

There's no hate for the Lions among the Bills fanbase. We empathize with our fellow sad-sack Lake Erie brethren Lions and Browns. And personally, I like Dan Campbell a lot.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Do we realize how spoiled we've become with Josh Allen? Bum elbow, 3/5 of the starting OL injured, guy throws for 250, runs for 75, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 60% completion, ice-in-the-veins game-winning throw to Diggs, and we're here complaining.....

The team isn't playing immaculate football and they're still in every game, and 8-3 after 11 games. Miami is playing better right now, no question, but the Bills haven't been this injured in years, and they're still very much in the mix. Defense was down 4 starters (I'm counting Tre as being out) (and Dane Jackson, while a starter, is playing his worst ball), and still got enough stops on the road, short week, to stop a pretty good Lions offense when it mattered. After a 17 year playoff drought, I'm happy to be here for the ride.

With these injuries as they are, I stand by my assessment that the team is "cooked" in the long run, but there is unreal talent on this team if the key players, including Allen, can get healthy as the season wears on.

I'm pretty bummed about the 2022 Bills because we had a pretty fantastic roster back in training camp. The team that we're putting out there now is probably a playoff team but that's about it. We've lost an unreal number of pro bowl level players. It's one thing to ask the team to keep on humming with Tre out of the lineup. When it's Tre and Poyer and Hyde and Edmunds and Spector and Rousseau and Epenesa and Miller I don't know what anybody expects Frazier to do about it. Can we even competently run our base defense with the guys we have left? Our system is predicated on being able to get pressure with four, so we can help out replacement-level guys like Jackson. How can we expect to do that when we're down to the Shaw Lawsons of the world at edge?

And that's just on defense. Allen's banged up, the guy who was supposed to play slot is out for the year, and we're missing our two best linemen.

Of course, this isn't the first time I've been bummed about the Bills around Thanksgiving. In previous years, "bummed" meant another 5-11 season with no realistic hope for anything better next year. Now, "bummed" means we have to rely on our all-world QB carrying the entire team on his shoulders if we have any hope of making a deep run in the postseason. And that QB will be back next year. Definitely a pleasant change.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I know there's a lot of pessimism in Bills world, but I saw yesterday as a big win. Are there things to work on? Yes. inability to get off the field on 3rd and long was a problem.
But the Lions are hot right now, and Goff played the best I've ever seen him play. Gotta know that every team is going to give he Bills their best shot, and the Lions came in on a win-streak, at home, on TG.

Take the W.

As for ROS/Playoffs, I still see the Bills as the team to beat in the AFC., right up there with the Chiefs. IMO the Bills have a better defense, and better run game. In the playoffs that matters a lot.

That all said, Allen need to stop throwing dumb picks though.

 

[GroveDiesel]

No torn ACL for Von Miller.

Sounds like damage to his lateral meniscus which they’ll look at in a week or so. Could be that he misses 2-3 games. Could be he ends up needing surgery now and being done for the year.

So still the potential to be done for the year, but way more hope today than yesterday that he can come back. He’s 3rd in the NFL in AB pressures with 38. Next most on the Bills is 12. So it’s a serious problem if he can’t make it back.

 

[OldMilwaukee]

I can't believe I will have to put fellow Bills fans on ignore.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

I’m not as worried about the rookie thing as I am frustrated with the staff for not playing them more. This team’s insistence that they bring rookies along slowly no matter what is mind boggling when the team clearly needs more from them. Their hand was forced with the two rookie CBs and ultimately that will be a good thing IMO. Elam has been a disappointment considering his draft position (though he’s being asked to do way more off coverage when his strength in college was press man) but Benford has actually been pretty good. He could very well end up the #2 CB to White.

The guys on offense just simply aren’t being given opportunities. Shakir is being given no playing time. And they have no trust in Cook. His pass blocking hasn’t been tremendous, and I get that’s a problem, but if the O-line wasn’t so garbage that it forces the RB to straight up take on blockers so often it wouldn’t be as big of a deal that Cook isn’t a great pass blocker.

The question is, where are the plays/schemes to get guys open and use their strengths? Shakir was a great possession receiver in college. Where are the slants and comeback routes to get him open/touches? Where are the formations to use Cook and Hines out wide to stress defenses? Or start them both in the backfield and run actual routes with them and/or motion them out wide to run routes? Where are the combo routes that work together to confuse and stress defenses? Where are the routes to the TE over the middle of the field? Nothing this offense does confuses or stresses defense.

How is it that other teams can run screens that break off for huge plays, but every time Buffalo runs a screen it gets blown up at the point of the catch? How can other teams have slot receivers and TEs run over the middle of the field and have nobody there to cut them off but Buffalo always has 2-3 defenders clogging that up? Diggs is the only guy on the team that can be expected to be good enough to just beat his coverage all the time. These other guys need some help to scheme up ways to get guys open. Guys like Davis, McKenzie, Knox, Shakir, Cook, and Hines have some elite skills, but Dorsey has done nothing to scheme ways to utilize those skills. As much as people complained about Dabol, he knew how to game plan for a defense and utilize the skills of his players to beat a defense. Dorsey seems like he just has a set playbook and each week goes out and just calls plays from the playbook with no rhyme or reason for why he is doing it against that defense other than he has plays for certain downs and distances and that’s that. So defenses shutdown screens before they start. They drop back into passing lanes at the goal line when they see an RPO. There’s no misdirection, there’s no double moves, there’s no WR stacking, there are no RPOs unless they’re in the red zone, etc. This team made a mistake in making Dorsey the OC. The guy is super smart, Allen loves him, he’s been with the team and all that, but this is a team that needed an experienced play caller that understands how to scheme against specific defenses each week.

 

[themeistersinger]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

I’m not as worried about the rookie thing as I am frustrated with the staff for not playing them more. This team’s insistence that they bring rookies along slowly no matter what is mind boggling when the team clearly needs more from them. Their hand was forced with the two rookie CBs and ultimately that will be a good thing IMO. Elam has been a disappointment considering his draft position (though he’s being asked to do way more off coverage when his strength in college was press man) but Benford has actually been pretty good. He could very well end up the #2 CB to White.

The guys on offense just simply aren’t being given opportunities. Shakir is being given no playing time. And they have no trust in Cook. His pass blocking hasn’t been tremendous, and I get that’s a problem, but if the O-line wasn’t so garbage that it forces the RB to straight up take on blockers so often it wouldn’t be as big of a deal that Cook isn’t a great pass blocker.

The question is, where are the plays/schemes to get guys open and use their strengths? Shakir was a great possession receiver in college. Where are the slants and comeback routes to get him open/touches? Where are the formations to use Cook and Hines out wide to stress defenses? Or start them both in the backfield and run actual routes with them and/or motion them out wide to run routes? Where are the combo routes that work together to confuse and stress defenses? Where are the routes to the TE over the middle of the field? Nothing this offense does confuses or stresses defense.

How is it that other teams can run screens that break off for huge plays, but every time Buffalo runs a screen it gets blown up at the point of the catch? How can other teams have slot receivers and TEs run over the middle of the field and have nobody there to cut them off but Buffalo always has 2-3 defenders clogging that up? Diggs is the only guy on the team that can be expected to be good enough to just beat his coverage all the time. These other guys need some help to scheme up ways to get guys open. Guys like Davis, McKenzie, Knox, Shakir, Cook, and Hines have some elite skills, but Dorsey has done nothing to scheme ways to utilize those skills. As much as people complained about Dabol, he knew how to game plan for a defense and utilize the skills of his players to beat a defense. Dorsey seems like he just has a set playbook and each week goes out and just calls plays from the playbook with no rhyme or reason for why he is doing it against that defense other than he has plays for certain downs and distances and that’s that. So defenses shutdown screens before they start. They drop back into passing lanes at the goal line when they see an RPO. There’s no misdirection, there’s no double moves, there’s no WR stacking, there are no RPOs unless they’re in the red zone, etc. This team made a mistake in making Dorsey the OC. The guy is super smart, Allen loves him, he’s been with the team and all that, but this is a team that needed an experienced play caller that understands how to scheme against specific defenses each week.

Last year Sigmund Bloom referred to a different team's offense (I don't remember which one) as the OC was calling plays, the OC was not running an offense. I think you hit the nail on the head with that. Not very likely that Dorsey gets much better this season, but it is his first crack at doing this so hopefully will be better next year - which is why I doubt the Bills make a change this offseason.

But one thing they could do now is bring in Frank Reich as a consultant. He's walking the streets right now, and while I don't think I'd want him as OC, he could bring a lot of insights into the room for a stretch run.

 

[Obie Wan]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

I’m not as worried about the rookie thing as I am frustrated with the staff for not playing them more. This team’s insistence that they bring rookies along slowly no matter what is mind boggling when the team clearly needs more from them. Their hand was forced with the two rookie CBs and ultimately that will be a good thing IMO. Elam has been a disappointment considering his draft position (though he’s being asked to do way more off coverage when his strength in college was press man) but Benford has actually been pretty good. He could very well end up the #2 CB to White.

The guys on offense just simply aren’t being given opportunities. Shakir is being given no playing time. And they have no trust in Cook. His pass blocking hasn’t been tremendous, and I get that’s a problem, but if the O-line wasn’t so garbage that it forces the RB to straight up take on blockers so often it wouldn’t be as big of a deal that Cook isn’t a great pass blocker.

The question is, where are the plays/schemes to get guys open and use their strengths? Shakir was a great possession receiver in college. Where are the slants and comeback routes to get him open/touches? Where are the formations to use Cook and Hines out wide to stress defenses? Or start them both in the backfield and run actual routes with them and/or motion them out wide to run routes? Where are the combo routes that work together to confuse and stress defenses? Where are the routes to the TE over the middle of the field? Nothing this offense does confuses or stresses defense.

How is it that other teams can run screens that break off for huge plays, but every time Buffalo runs a screen it gets blown up at the point of the catch? How can other teams have slot receivers and TEs run over the middle of the field and have nobody there to cut them off but Buffalo always has 2-3 defenders clogging that up? Diggs is the only guy on the team that can be expected to be good enough to just beat his coverage all the time. These other guys need some help to scheme up ways to get guys open. Guys like Davis, McKenzie, Knox, Shakir, Cook, and Hines have some elite skills, but Dorsey has done nothing to scheme ways to utilize those skills. As much as people complained about Dabol, he knew how to game plan for a defense and utilize the skills of his players to beat a defense. Dorsey seems like he just has a set playbook and each week goes out and just calls plays from the playbook with no rhyme or reason for why he is doing it against that defense other than he has plays for certain downs and distances and that’s that. So defenses shutdown screens before they start. They drop back into passing lanes at the goal line when they see an RPO. There’s no misdirection, there’s no double moves, there’s no WR stacking, there are no RPOs unless they’re in the red zone, etc. This team made a mistake in making Dorsey the OC. The guy is super smart, Allen loves him, he’s been with the team and all that, but this is a team that needed an experienced play caller that understands how to scheme against specific defenses each week.

all of the above shortcomings plagued the offense last year under Daboll as well
maybe thing would improve dramatically if the line were healthy and Allen wasn't running for his life most of the time
Knox should be a bigger contributor to the passing game, but he is required to spend most of his time helping the overmatched OL

With a real OC this offense will really improve on the 3 and outs, low scoring games, poor record and other mallady's so reminiscent of the **** Jauron days.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

I’m not as worried about the rookie thing as I am frustrated with the staff for not playing them more. This team’s insistence that they bring rookies along slowly no matter what is mind boggling when the team clearly needs more from them. Their hand was forced with the two rookie CBs and ultimately that will be a good thing IMO. Elam has been a disappointment considering his draft position (though he’s being asked to do way more off coverage when his strength in college was press man) but Benford has actually been pretty good. He could very well end up the #2 CB to White.

The guys on offense just simply aren’t being given opportunities. Shakir is being given no playing time. And they have no trust in Cook. His pass blocking hasn’t been tremendous, and I get that’s a problem, but if the O-line wasn’t so garbage that it forces the RB to straight up take on blockers so often it wouldn’t be as big of a deal that Cook isn’t a great pass blocker.

The question is, where are the plays/schemes to get guys open and use their strengths? Shakir was a great possession receiver in college. Where are the slants and comeback routes to get him open/touches? Where are the formations to use Cook and Hines out wide to stress defenses? Or start them both in the backfield and run actual routes with them and/or motion them out wide to run routes? Where are the combo routes that work together to confuse and stress defenses? Where are the routes to the TE over the middle of the field? Nothing this offense does confuses or stresses defense.

How is it that other teams can run screens that break off for huge plays, but every time Buffalo runs a screen it gets blown up at the point of the catch? How can other teams have slot receivers and TEs run over the middle of the field and have nobody there to cut them off but Buffalo always has 2-3 defenders clogging that up? Diggs is the only guy on the team that can be expected to be good enough to just beat his coverage all the time. These other guys need some help to scheme up ways to get guys open. Guys like Davis, McKenzie, Knox, Shakir, Cook, and Hines have some elite skills, but Dorsey has done nothing to scheme ways to utilize those skills. As much as people complained about Dabol, he knew how to game plan for a defense and utilize the skills of his players to beat a defense. Dorsey seems like he just has a set playbook and each week goes out and just calls plays from the playbook with no rhyme or reason for why he is doing it against that defense other than he has plays for certain downs and distances and that’s that. So defenses shutdown screens before they start. They drop back into passing lanes at the goal line when they see an RPO. There’s no misdirection, there’s no double moves, there’s no WR stacking, there are no RPOs unless they’re in the red zone, etc. This team made a mistake in making Dorsey the OC. The guy is super smart, Allen loves him, he’s been with the team and all that, but this is a team that needed an experienced play caller that understands how to scheme against specific defenses each week.

all of the above shortcomings plagued the offense last year under Daboll as well
maybe thing would improve dramatically if the line were healthy and Allen wasn't running for his life most of the time
Knox should be a bigger contributor to the passing game, but he is required to spend most of his time helping the overmatched OL

With a real OC this offense will really improve on the 3 and outs, low scoring games, poor record and other mallady's so reminiscent of the **** Jauron days.

The one beautiful thing is that no matter all the frustrating stuff, the Bills always have a chance simply because they have Josh Allen. And that isn’t changing for years and years.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

I’m not as worried about the rookie thing as I am frustrated with the staff for not playing them more. This team’s insistence that they bring rookies along slowly no matter what is mind boggling when the team clearly needs more from them. Their hand was forced with the two rookie CBs and ultimately that will be a good thing IMO. Elam has been a disappointment considering his draft position (though he’s being asked to do way more off coverage when his strength in college was press man) but Benford has actually been pretty good. He could very well end up the #2 CB to White.

The guys on offense just simply aren’t being given opportunities. Shakir is being given no playing time. And they have no trust in Cook. His pass blocking hasn’t been tremendous, and I get that’s a problem, but if the O-line wasn’t so garbage that it forces the RB to straight up take on blockers so often it wouldn’t be as big of a deal that Cook isn’t a great pass blocker.

The question is, where are the plays/schemes to get guys open and use their strengths? Shakir was a great possession receiver in college. Where are the slants and comeback routes to get him open/touches? Where are the formations to use Cook and Hines out wide to stress defenses? Or start them both in the backfield and run actual routes with them and/or motion them out wide to run routes? Where are the combo routes that work together to confuse and stress defenses? Where are the routes to the TE over the middle of the field? Nothing this offense does confuses or stresses defense.

How is it that other teams can run screens that break off for huge plays, but every time Buffalo runs a screen it gets blown up at the point of the catch? How can other teams have slot receivers and TEs run over the middle of the field and have nobody there to cut them off but Buffalo always has 2-3 defenders clogging that up? Diggs is the only guy on the team that can be expected to be good enough to just beat his coverage all the time. These other guys need some help to scheme up ways to get guys open. Guys like Davis, McKenzie, Knox, Shakir, Cook, and Hines have some elite skills, but Dorsey has done nothing to scheme ways to utilize those skills. As much as people complained about Dabol, he knew how to game plan for a defense and utilize the skills of his players to beat a defense. Dorsey seems like he just has a set playbook and each week goes out and just calls plays from the playbook with no rhyme or reason for why he is doing it against that defense other than he has plays for certain downs and distances and that’s that. So defenses shutdown screens before they start. They drop back into passing lanes at the goal line when they see an RPO. There’s no misdirection, there’s no double moves, there’s no WR stacking, there are no RPOs unless they’re in the red zone, etc. This team made a mistake in making Dorsey the OC. The guy is super smart, Allen loves him, he’s been with the team and all that, but this is a team that needed an experienced play caller that understands how to scheme against specific defenses each week.

all of the above shortcomings plagued the offense last year under Daboll as well
maybe thing would improve dramatically if the line were healthy and Allen wasn't running for his life most of the time
Knox should be a bigger contributor to the passing game, but he is required to spend most of his time helping the overmatched OL

With a real OC this offense will really improve on the 3 and outs, low scoring games, poor record and other mallady's so reminiscent of the **** Jauron days.

The one beautiful thing is that no matter all the frustrating stuff, the Bills always have a chance simply because they have Josh Allen. And that isn’t changing for years and years.

Agreed. Their knockout punch is like Tyson in his prime. And they are definitely a team that could get back on a roll and steamroll through the playoffs, even on the road, and win it all in dominating fashion. I'd love to see it. Even though I have beefs with some Bills fans here about this or that, they have always been a franchise I have quietly rooted for and their fans have suffered long enough. It's time for a Bills Super Bowl victory.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Nice write-up on how teams might deal with a player suffering from a torn meniscus.

 

[Tanner9919]

Also, I think it's now fair to start to ask questions about this year's draft class. This team had very few starting spots open in camp, so it's not surprising that we didn't see much from the rookies early on, but it's kind of wild at how none of these guys has done much of anything.

Elam -- Can't beat out a guy who other teams are intentionally targeting (Dane Jackson).
Cook -- How long does it really take for a RB to transition into the NFL? He's still a liability in pass protection.
Bernard -- Whole lot of nothing.
Shakir -- Whole lot of nothing.
Araiza -- Well, you know . . .
Benford -- A nice find in the sixth round, but he's should be quality depth, not a starter.
Tenuta -- Gone.
Spector -- Nothing.

Obviously I'm not worried about whiffing on somebody like Luke Tenuta, but we've gotten next to nothing out of our draft class so far. I was very pleased with this group back in May.

I’m not as worried about the rookie thing as I am frustrated with the staff for not playing them more. This team’s insistence that they bring rookies along slowly no matter what is mind boggling when the team clearly needs more from them. Their hand was forced with the two rookie CBs and ultimately that will be a good thing IMO. Elam has been a disappointment considering his draft position (though he’s being asked to do way more off coverage when his strength in college was press man) but Benford has actually been pretty good. He could very well end up the #2 CB to White.

The guys on offense just simply aren’t being given opportunities. Shakir is being given no playing time. And they have no trust in Cook. His pass blocking hasn’t been tremendous, and I get that’s a problem, but if the O-line wasn’t so garbage that it forces the RB to straight up take on blockers so often it wouldn’t be as big of a deal that Cook isn’t a great pass blocker.

The question is, where are the plays/schemes to get guys open and use their strengths? Shakir was a great possession receiver in college. Where are the slants and comeback routes to get him open/touches? Where are the formations to use Cook and Hines out wide to stress defenses? Or start them both in the backfield and run actual routes with them and/or motion them out wide to run routes? Where are the combo routes that work together to confuse and stress defenses? Where are the routes to the TE over the middle of the field? Nothing this offense does confuses or stresses defense.

How is it that other teams can run screens that break off for huge plays, but every time Buffalo runs a screen it gets blown up at the point of the catch? How can other teams have slot receivers and TEs run over the middle of the field and have nobody there to cut them off but Buffalo always has 2-3 defenders clogging that up? Diggs is the only guy on the team that can be expected to be good enough to just beat his coverage all the time. These other guys need some help to scheme up ways to get guys open. Guys like Davis, McKenzie, Knox, Shakir, Cook, and Hines have some elite skills, but Dorsey has done nothing to scheme ways to utilize those skills. As much as people complained about Dabol, he knew how to game plan for a defense and utilize the skills of his players to beat a defense. Dorsey seems like he just has a set playbook and each week goes out and just calls plays from the playbook with no rhyme or reason for why he is doing it against that defense other than he has plays for certain downs and distances and that’s that. So defenses shutdown screens before they start. They drop back into passing lanes at the goal line when they see an RPO. There’s no misdirection, there’s no double moves, there’s no WR stacking, there are no RPOs unless they’re in the red zone, etc. This team made a mistake in making Dorsey the OC. The guy is super smart, Allen loves him, he’s been with the team and all that, but this is a team that needed an experienced play caller that understands how to scheme against specific defenses each week.

all of the above shortcomings plagued the offense last year under Daboll as well
maybe thing would improve dramatically if the line were healthy and Allen wasn't running for his life most of the time
Knox should be a bigger contributor to the passing game, but he is required to spend most of his time helping the overmatched OL

With a real OC this offense will really improve on the 3 and outs, low scoring games, poor record and other mallady's so reminiscent of the **** Jauron days.

The one beautiful thing is that no matter all the frustrating stuff, the Bills always have a chance simply because they have Josh Allen. And that isn’t changing for years and years.

as of last week he led the nfl in ints. he seems to have reverted back to his old turnover prone self here right before our eyes. questionable judgement etc. the more I watch the Bills the more I see a one n done playoff team

 

[Steve Tasker]

Can't help but feel like this team is going to Tennessee for the Wild Card, winning, then losing in Arrowhead again.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Von Miller reporting that he is targeting being back for the Jets game which is Week 14…

 

[C-Bound]

How's D. Dawkins looking for tomorrow night? Have to start the Pats D and not thrilled.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Buf 27
Nwe 23

 

[GroveDiesel]

How's D. Dawkins looking for tomorrow night? Have to start the Pats D and not thrilled.

Very unlikely he’ll play. Hasn’t practiced this week and team has been pretty quiet on him. The Bills rarely play guys who haven’t practiced all week.

 

[SoBeDad]

Can't help but feel like this team is going to Tennessee for the Wild Card, winning, then losing in Arrowhead again.

The Dolphins have a very tough road schedule, @SF, LAC,BUF (consecutive games) and @NE. Without LT Armstead stabilizing the oline for the next 2 or 3 games or more, the Bills should be the favorite to win the division. Miami's oline without Armstead was exposed in the 2nd half of the HOU game. The Jets have the easiest schedule.

 

[Steve Tasker]

The Dolphins have a very tough road schedule, @SF, LAC,BUF (consecutive games) and @NE. Without LT Armstead stabilizing the oline for the next 2 or 3 games or more, the Bills should be the favorite to win the division. Miami's oline without Armstead was exposed in the 2nd half of the HOU game. The Jets have the easiest schedule.

I mean, that schedule is no slouch, but Miami is better than all 4 of those teams. They should win at least 3.

 

[SoBeDad]

The Dolphins have a very tough road schedule, @SF, LAC,BUF (consecutive games) and @NE. Without LT Armstead stabilizing the oline for the next 2 or 3 games or more, the Bills should be the favorite to win the division. Miami's oline without Armstead was exposed in the 2nd half of the HOU game. The Jets have the easiest schedule.

I mean, that schedule is no slouch, but Miami is better than all 4 of those teams. They should win at least 3.

Miami is a 4 point underdog at SF, and will be an underdog at LAC, unless they win at SF. They will also be an underdog @BUF and probably @NE. With Armstead out I'll be happy if we go 2-2 on those road games.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

The Dolphins have a very tough road schedule, @SF, LAC,BUF (consecutive games) and @NE. Without LT Armstead stabilizing the oline for the next 2 or 3 games or more, the Bills should be the favorite to win the division. Miami's oline without Armstead was exposed in the 2nd half of the HOU game. The Jets have the easiest schedule.

I mean, that schedule is no slouch, but Miami is better than all 4 of those teams. They should win at least 3.

I think they lose to SF and Buffalo. The Chargers game will be very tough, too. @Ne... You never know.

This is definitely Miami's put-up-or-shut-up stretch.

 

[OldMilwaukee]

How's D. Dawkins looking for tomorrow night? Have to start the Pats D and not thrilled.

He is out.

per the Bills

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I hope this team invests some draft resources in the OL this year. Between whiffing on Ford, trading Teller, and Brown not developing incredibly well, this unit is becoming not exactly a liability but not what you want to put in front of your $250M QB either.

 

[Judge Smails]

The Dolphins have a very tough road schedule, @SF, LAC,BUF (consecutive games) and @NE. Without LT Armstead stabilizing the oline for the next 2 or 3 games or more, the Bills should be the favorite to win the division. Miami's oline without Armstead was exposed in the 2nd half of the HOU game. The Jets have the easiest schedule.

I mean, that schedule is no slouch, but Miami is better than all 4 of those teams. They should win at least 3.

Disagree. They are about to get exposed without Armstead. Think they will give up an average of 5 sacks a game vs those teams. If Houston got 6 down 30 how many will those 4 teams get? Tua will be rushed and hit often. And I don't think his body will take the punishment.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

Bills restructure Tre White's contract.

 

[themeistersinger]

Bills restructure Tre White's contract.

 

[themeistersinger]

Bills restructure Tre White's contract.

Apparently the Bills were ate $332K cap space left (lowest in the NFL) - mostly due to all the call ups and the trade for Hines.

Makes the Beckham signing extremely unlikely.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Bills restructure Tre White's contract.

Apparently the Bills were ate $332K cap space left (lowest in the NFL) - mostly due to all the call ups and the trade for Hines.

Makes the Beckham signing extremely unlikely.

There’s plenty of ways to create short term cap room at the expense of future cap. I don’t think Buffalo is interested in getting into a bidding war or paying top dollar for OBJ, but they wouldn’t be bringing him in at all if they didn’t have some plan to make room for him.

 

[Schmeabs]

Hearing Quarterback coach Joe Brady is in talks with Oregon to become offensive cordinator. Any chance he leaves Buffalo before season is over?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Von Miller to IR. Theoretically this might be only four weeks, but I've given up trying to understand how this team deals with injured players.

I need to start emotionally disinvesting from this season . . .

 

[GroveDiesel]

Welp, Miller put on IR. Bills say nothing has changed, they just don’t want to rush him back and are hoping to have him back before the end of the season.

Von had said he was targeting next week, so sure seems like something changed in planning at least. To not even entertain the possibility of him being back in the next 4 weeks means either: a) they have significant concerns about his possible return and/or b) they have so many other injury concerns that they need the temporary roster spot

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

I need to start emotionally disinvesting from this season . . .

I'm certainly not there, yet. They've been incredibly injured this year, but almost all of the injuries are non-season-ending. So, if a bunch of those guys can get healthy for the playoffs, then this team could return to dominant. I know we all thought the Bills would win the East pretty handily, but there's no way they miss the playoffs. In fact, it's possible they could move back up to the #1 AFC seed this weekend.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I need to start emotionally disinvesting from this season . . .

I'm certainly not there, yet. They've been incredibly injured this year, but almost all of the injuries are non-season-ending. So, if a bunch of those guys can get healthy for the playoffs, then this team could return to dominant. I know we all thought the Bills would win the East pretty handily, but there's no way they miss the playoffs. In fact, it's possible they could move back up to the #1 AFC seed this weekend.

Yeah, I get it. Even being banged up, this Bills teams is still better than NE, NYJ, or MIA.

The problem is that we're not that much better than any of those teams, and we really need to go 3-0 in those games. Even if we're favored in each individual game, it's very likely that we are going to suffer a backbreaking loss that costs us the division. 60% * 60% * 60% = 21.6%. What's frustrating to me is that our all-pro CB doesn't seem to want to play football, our first round CB still isn't ready to see the field, and we just shelved a HOF edge rusher who wants to play. Also, our second round rookie RB is still a liability in pass protection and can't be trusted to be on the field except in selected spots. And the guy who we drafted to be our future slot receiver can't beat out the gadget guy who is only in that spot because the guy ahead of him broke his ankle in camp. We're probably going to make the playoffs and this team is definitely capable of steamrolling teams if we're at full strength, but we're not going to be at full strength even in January at this pace.

Sorry for the negativity. I was very high on this team earlier in the year, and rightly so IMO. But things have gone deeply south and I'm not sure the fan base has really caught up to just how shaky this roster is at the moment.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Elam a surprise scratch tonight. Either White’s playing this whole game or we’re about to see a whole lot of Xavier Rhodes.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I mean, the CB who we drafted in the first round because we desperately needed another staring CB is apparently a healthy scratch. Against a divisional opponent.

Oof.

 

[Grigs Allmoon]

What's frustrating to me is that our all-pro CB doesn't seem to want to play football

I don't know that that is fair at all. Tre has always seemed to be a stand-up, team first kind of guy. I'm not pitting this slow return to action on his resume.

As we've talked about, this team can cruise to a playoff spot, and based on how they've treated injuries, it almost seems like they've conceded to take that route. As fans, we, of course, want the team to go for the #1 seed, but maybe that's not the best path to the Super Bowl. Maybe resting players is. Who knows...

(Anybody need an extra comma? I have lots of them laying around.)