Yeah…Sorry America for that riveting game. Was I the only one hoping for a Bills 6-3 win so we could get revenge on that Browns/Bills timeless classic from 2009? No? Anyone…Alright, here are some hot takes on a fake game..
—Let’s start with Tyrod Taylor. I was happy with his performance. Of course, my expectations for the QBs on this roster are about as low as you can get. Hell, I get excited for a 6-yard slant completion or something that doesn’t result in me pulling out my hair. I thought Greg Roman called a really smart game for Taylor by having a number of different roll outs and using his skills to the best of his ability. Tyrod gained 105 of the Bills 117 yards in total offense in the 1st half. He burned them with his feet (41 yards) and through the air (65). He showed nice touch on a few throws to the sideline to the guy dressed in an Eric Moulds jersey. Probably the most impressive play for me was on the first drive when the Browns blew up a screen attempt and Tyrod improvised by running for 6 yards. Tyrod connected with 6 different receivers which culminated into an efficient QB performance that Bills fans would probably take when the regular season starts. Its too bad the Bills only scored 3 points, but they only had the ball 3 times in the first half which is really small body of work.
–Of course, the 450lbs. gorilla in the room is that its preseason. You guys know my drill by now with August football. Obviously Tyrod has to do this against legit competition during a regular season game if he wins the job. Anyone can do this during the preseason. However, he looked good when you consider the top 3 WRs and top 5 RBs were out. I’m willing to bet his numbers would have been better if he was throwing the ball to Sammy Watkins and not some guy dressed in an Eric Moulds jersey.
—Good for Ronald Darby to get 2 picks tonight. He gave up 80 yards receiving last week to the Panthers and rebounded nicely against Cleveland. Of course, that’s one of the shitty McCown brothers and he’ll have to bring his “A” game against Luck and the Colts.
—This defensive line is fucking awesome. They dominated a pretty solid Browns OL with 3 sacks and 4 tackles for losses. To think they kicked this much ass without Kyle Williams in the lineup. Hughes and Dareus really stood out on the DL.
—You better keep a running back in there to block when Nigel Bradham is looking to blitz. He was born to blitz in this system.
—Marcell Dareus had 4 tackles. That’s really good for a DT to have in a game…and he did this in the 1st half.
–BTW, I have zero idea why Rex decided to keep the first unit defense in for the first half. Was he trying to send a message to Josh McCown for picking Cleveland instead of Buffalo? Strange. I really don’t need to see the starting defense for the rest of August.
—As for the 2nd half, only thing I gave a shit about was EJ and he wasn’t so good until the final drive. His first 3 drives of the game netted him 19 yards passing for a paltry 2.7 YPA. Oh, and the team had just 17 yards in total offense on those drives. However, he rebounded nicely on the final drive going 6 of 8 for 92 yards and the game-winning TD/2-point conversion. Look, I know he sucks, but that was a gutsy final drive. It must suck to go from being the “franchise” guy a year ago to battling for a roster spot in the 4th quarter of a preseason game. He had zero help from his guys around him with shitty blocking and Marcus Thigpen playing ironman football. Yet, EJ didn’t give up. I know he’s 3rd on the pecking order for the Bills, but you can’t question EJ’s heart…his skills? Different story.
Final word: Its going to be very interesting to see where the Bills go in the preseason finale. Does Rex split reps between Tyrod/Cassel since the starters will play into the 3rd quarter? Does he decide to just give the keys to one of them? Does EJ somehow (Slim chance) get involved because of the final drive? I really have no idea. If you consider both Tyrod and Matt as equals, I think you go with Tyrod because of the mobility factor, youth, and how Roman has done well with mobile QBs.
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