Ten early Week 1 thoughts

[BACH]

Being an expat in South East Asia gives me a time advantage, so already slept, had a nap, my coffee and a lunch after watching the game at 1 am. I went to sleep angry after the game, but a bit more in balance now.

5 positives
1 - This game was a game on the road against a top 7 team and the 3rd best team on our schedule. This is a developing team that will improve over the season. To be in a close game on the road against a superior team with a chance to win it with under 1 minute to go is a POSITIVE.
2 - The interior O-Line looked good. Brown played well, Froholdt and Hernandez looked good.
3 - The running game looked dominant out of the gate. Connor looked great. Benson filled in fluently from Connor.
4 - I liked the ILB play from Wilson and White. Good players
5 - Well coached and disciplined team. Very few penalties.

5 Negatives
1 - Rushing D looked horrific in large periods of the game. It stabilized a bit, but this was not good, but from a rushing POV, the Bills is one of the best teams and it got exposed. Just the Allen x-factor makes this arguebly the hardest match-up of the season.
2 - Pass-rush was frustrating. The notion that the team has zero pass is wrong. It's NOT Great, but it's also not zero. The frustration comes from getting to Allen multiple times without getting the sack.
3 - OTs. Beachum did not look good subbing from Williams. I pray that William's injury is not serious. PJJ looked average
4 - Passing game was bad and out of sync. Perhaps my biggest dissapointment, because it was the least expected. Dortch killed the Bills in the first half. Higgins had some nice plays. The lack of involvement from our two elite receivers in MHJ and McBride was scary.
5 - Our young secondary is not there yet. Receivers got lost in zones and it didn't look good.

 

[BritCard]

The rush D thing is a mirage because of Allen's runs. But even Allen was 4.2 YPA.

James Cook had 3.7 YPA, below average. It was fine, not good, not bad.

The front is an issue as we thought, especially when in a 4 man front, which makes it tough for the D to cover everyone when the QB has time.

 

[DVontel]

Not sure how you thought Conner looked great. I thought he was the worst offensive starter yesterday.

 

[BACH]

Not sure how you thought Conner looked great. I thought he was the worst offensive starter yesterday.

I specificly wrote out of the gate...

 

[DVontel]

I specificly wrote out of the gate...

I don't think Conner looked great “out of the gate” either.

 

[Stout]

The rush D thing is a mirage because of Allen's runs. But even Allen was 4.2 YPA.

James Cook had 3.7 YPA, below average. It was fine, not good, not bad.

The front is an issue as we thought, especially when in a 4 man front, which makes it tough for the D to cover everyone when the QB has time.

The DL was constantly gashed for big runs on 1st downs. That's not good.

 

[eastcoastDave]

I have to admit that I did not see the game because of a prior commitment, but I did follow along on my phone’s Gamecast feature. I was sutunned that Harrison had only 1catch and 3 targets. Was that the QBs fault, the game day coordinator’s fault, the coach’s fault. Don’t know. If he’s not going to be used — and a lot — why draft him? There are plenty of holes to be filled, especially in the defensive side. My feeling is that the other team must be the one to take out our best option, not our decision to under utilize that option. If you’ve got a shiny new SUV in the garage, don’t take your 20-year-old pickup on a cross country trip.

 

[GeorgiaCard88]

Basically all of our worst fears that we have been perseverating over the last couple months (o-line depth/performance, lack of pass rush, run defense) have been confirmed. One thing I didn’t expect is the lack of involvement of MHjr and McBride.

Next week Stafford wont be able to run like Allen, but he’s certainly got two huge threat receivers that Allen didn’t have the luxury of (Kupp appears to be back in full form). I wouldn’t be surprised to see the rams run up the board even more with the cardinals defense we saw yesterday.

 

[Garthshort]

Think that Bach's five and five were spot on. I agreed with the team's decision not to play the starters in the PS games, but it looks that it might have cost us in the passing game, yesterday. Can only hope for improvement in Week Two.

 

[BritCard]

The DL was constantly gashed for big runs on 1st downs. That's not good.

I guess Bills D line sucks too as we also had a bunch of long runs.

 

[DVontel]

I guess Bills D line sucks too as we also had a bunch of long runs.

?
Are you deadass?

Yea, on Kyler scrambles. Otherwise, run game barely did anything today.

 

[Oklahoma Card]

My biggest complaint is the deep shot at the end of the game. Not that we took the shot but who the target was.

Was it to or 1st round WR stud Harrison Jr? Nope.
Was it to our elite level TE McBride? Nope.
Was it even to our big target WR Wilson? Nope.
Was it to the smallest guy on the field Dortch? Yep.

Don't get me wrong. I love me some Dortch but not as a desperation, deep target.

 

[Dback Jon]

My biggest complaint is the deep shot at the end of the game. Not that we took the shot but who the target was.

Was it to or 1st round WR stud Harrison Jr? Nope.
Was it to our elite level TE McBride? Nope.
Was it even to our big target WR Wilson? Nope.
Was it to the smallest guy on the field Dortch? Yep.

Don't get me wrong. I love me some Dortch but not as a desperation, deep target.

That was a bad call.

 

[Stout]

That was a bad call.

Petzing had plenty of those yesterday. He and Kyler were a bad combo, which is no bueno.

 

[Dback Jon]

Petzing had plenty of those yesterday. He and Kyler were a bad combo, which is no bueno.

Can't figure out why they weren't targeting Harrison more

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Can't figure out why they weren't targeting Harrison more

No practice games (PS) to get familiar with each other

 

[Dback Jon]

No practice games (PS) to get familiar with each other

Great point - it would be interesting to see how teams fared that played starters in preseason vs those that didn't

 

[Goodyear Card]

Watching the game, I thought Conner looked game in the first drive. I was surprised when I looked at the stats, at how few running yards he had in the game. After reviewing the play by play most of his runs were only for 2 or 3 yards. He had one good run for 20 yards. Besides that play he did nothing.

 

[Proximo]

We have 3 OT's on the roster which seems insane to me. If Jonah is out for any length of time we are in BIG trouble.

 

[BACH]

We have 3 OT's on the roster which seems insane to me. If Jonah is out for any length of time we are in BIG trouble.

Christian Jones is on PUP-Return

 

[BACH]

Basically all of our worst fears that we have been perseverating over the last couple months (o-line depth/performance, lack of pass rush, run defense) have been confirmed. One thing I didn’t expect is the lack of involvement of MHjr and McBride.

Next week Stafford wont be able to run like Allen, but he’s certainly got two huge threat receivers that Allen didn’t have the luxury of (Kupp appears to be back in full form). I wouldn’t be surprised to see the rams run up the board even more with the cardinals defense we saw yesterday.

Nacua was carted off the field

 

[Russ Smith]

Watching the game, I thought Conner looked game in the first drive. I was surprised when I looked at the stats, at how few running yards he had in the game. After reviewing the play by play most of his runs were only for 2 or 3 yards. He had one good run for 20 yards. Besides that play he did nothing.

Yep a couple of us called it out on the game thread, even Ross Tucker did announcing the game, he left yards out there even on the first drive. Great guy, runs hard, but he's just not fast enough, there were several plays that were really well blocked that he got 3 yards on

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yep a couple of us called it out on the game thread, even Ross Tucker did announcing the game, he left yards out there even on the first drive. Great guy, runs hard, but he's just not fast enough, there were several plays that were really well blocked that he got 3 yards on

And yet large swaths of the board want to give him a 2 year extension.

 

[Proximo]

And yet large swaths of the board want to give him a 2 year extension.

That's just crazy. You should never give 2 year extensions to 30 year old running backs. Even having one on your roster is questionable.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

And yet large swaths of the board want to give him a 2 year extension.

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