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With game 3, the universally viewed “dress rehearsal” wrapped up, we certainly have a lot of things to talk about. Between the tweet bag, some things I had gnawing at me the last week or so and finally my first and probably final shot at the week 1 54 (with suspension). Let’s boogie and begin with my thoughts on the Bills 43-Steelers 19:
1. The QBs handled their business – EJ and Tyrod had an And-1 QB mixtape battle. Cassel tried his darndest not to lose ground. Matt Simms came in and scored a TD. All this and not a turnover to be seen, though Cassel was close on a tip drill. At this point, the race has to be between Taylor and Manuel, with Taylor getting the nod because of his ability thus far to win inside and outside the pocket. I remarked during the game I wouldn’t mind a 2012 remix of the 49ers, with the role of Alex Smith going to Manuel and Kaepernick to Taylor; but if it’s just Taylor with Manuel as backup I would not mind simply because of coaching. Roman has done a great job when each QB is in, even in pre-season of calling the offense to fit them.
If, however, Rex turns to Cassel after all of this I’m going to be a little disappointed. Nothing personal against Cassel, but he’s Holcomb. He’s Orton. He’s the guy who has been mediocre but can point to that magical NE season and subsequent starting year in KC as his “moments” that got him paid and keeps him in the NFL. Taylor is that magical mystery machine of a man that hasn’t gotten that shot yet but has had 4 years to figure it out. And EJ is to me, without Doug Marrone finally learning to be a competent NFL QB. I am genuinely excited to see both of those young guys grow; Cassel gives you this:
When Matt Cassel tries to hit the juke button… but the juke button is stuck… #PITvsBUF http://t.co/Y8ZVKAPoZI
— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsI don’t want that. And neither do you methinks.
2. The offensive line butterfly effect – With the signing of Richie Incognito and the drafting of John Miller, the Bills have seemingly fixed two problematic positions of the 2014 team and the butterfly effect of that change is profound. This week’s game was a great example of that – as Glenn and Wood looked quite good passing off defenders in the pass pro game and run wise all five starters got down the field and were able to match physicality with a rebuilding, but still physical Steelers D. In fact, the lines held up quite well going into the 3’s this week, which allowed all four quarterbacks to have confidence in their pockets. If this can continue into the regular season the Bills offense will be more productive than last year, which may be the difference in getting to the playoffs…
Incognito has had a great preseason. Guard was bigger weakness than QB last year for Bills O. 2 new ones look solid.
— Rob Quinn (@RQUINN619) August 29, 2015
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3. The secondary is kinda…(trash emoji) – …But that playoff push may be stymied by the relative difficulty Ronald Darby has had in covering bigger receivers. I imagine Andrew Luck and the Colts are excited to match Andre Johnson against Darby, as he’ll either struggle with the size or get a penalty in coverage. Aaron Williams getting hurt and returning was nice to see, however I’d rather see him 100% for the season and not a pre-season game. I’m not saying it’s going to be a Justin Rogers situation, but if the secondary is having this much trouble right now –
4. Injuries are the biggest concern right now – In this game alone Aaron Williams, Stephon Gilmore, Marquise Goodwin, Tony Steward, Austin Willis (aka “White Lightning” according to Rex) were either taken out of the game completely or for a few plays with injuries. Not to mention the 8 or so key players at WR, RB and DL (Dareus) that were rested and didn’t suit up. Getting into week 1 with the full compliment of players is the goal, so file me under the list of folks that want to see Matt Simms and the 5th string stuntman squad run the entire Detroit game.
Now let’s fire up the ole Tweetbag….
@RDotDeuce @BuffaloWins Stephon Gilmore: Good Football Guy?
— The Defenseman (@TheDefenseman) August 29, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsWell Defenseman, I think that Stephon Gilmore IS IN FACT A GOOD FOOTBALL GUY. So good in fact I was a bit concerned the starting defenders played as long as they did in the game. (Note: Defenseman is a delightful listen with Ryan N on the RoostCast, which I mention in a bit. He is also kidding, so no awkward @’s s’il vous plait…)
@RDotDeuce @BuffaloWins do you think that going from Marrone to Ryan is as big an upgrade as Singletary to Harbaugh? #SuperBowl
— Bills_Chick (@Bills_Chick) August 29, 2015
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BillsChick is hitting on a pretty good comparison. Full disclosure: I Love Mike Singletary. However, his time at the end with the Niners was not a good one. While he made inroads with players like Vernon Davis, the team on the whole tuned out. Enter Harbaugh and you know the rest. Doug Marrone to me last year was a guy that coached like he had wide-eyed freshmen on his roster and not grown men like himself that deserved to be treated as such. And for the few youth that needed him to be a teacher, to be a mentor (EJ, Watkins, Dareus) he instead wanted to beat the creativity out of them like a martinet. If you’ve watched the film ‘Whiplash’ you’ll see how a single-minded teacher can get you to reach heights. But he can also break people that cannot or will not learn that way.
I think Rex can be a great improvement on Marrone, but only if Rex has learned from the Jets experience and allows for a bit more accountability out of the players. Having Greg Roman on offense goes a long way towards fixing things. Just watching the team we’ve seen, in pre-season more touchdowns I’d wager in this game than whole pre-season ‘seasons’ under other coaches. I can only hope that bodes well for the season. Long story longer I guess…
My spitball at the 54 man roster – Given there’ll be an extra spot with Dareus’ suspension, here’s where I’m thinking:
QBs (3) – Taylor, Manuel, Cassel
RBs (4) – McCoy, Jackson, Williams, Dixon
FBs (1) – Felton
TEs (4) – Clay, Mulligan, Gray, Gragg
WRs (5) – Watkins, Woods, Harvin, Easley, Thompson
OTs (3) – Glenn, Henderson, Kouandjio
OGs (3) – Incognito, Miller, Richardson
C (2) – Wood, Urbik
DTs (5) – Dareus*, K. Williams, C. Bryant, R. Bryant, Carrington
Rush (4) – M. Williams, Hughes, Buchanan, Enemkpali
LBs (6) – Brown, Bradham, Lawson, Tarpley, R. Johnson
CBs (5) – Gilmore, McKelvin, Robey, Darby, Butler
Ss (5*) – A. Williams, Graham, D. Williams, Rambo, Meeks
ST (4) – Carpenter, Gay, Schmidt, Sanborn
Feel free to @ me with where I went wrong.
Some Random Thoughts for the Road:
- James Harrison vs NFL Draft: While listening to the aforementioned RoostCast, I had the delightful epiphany that while James Harrison is not a fan of participation trophies for his kids, the NFL loves them. The NFL draft essentially allows that kid that didn’t have enough grit to overcome all to get a little help with more talent. “Hey Colts, sorry about that one year you didn’t do good when Manning got hurt. Does Andrew Luck make that boo boo okay?”
- QB Carousel Warning: This is regarding the artist known as T-Mobile, TyGawd, etc etc. Every few years the cycle runs of 1) discover new player, 2) claim he is the next (insert 90s Bill here), 3) call player out when mistake happens, 4) run player out of town #BecauseBuffalo. Let’s take a few of those steps out this time – allow Tyrod if he’s the starter to just…develop. Let’s not put him on a pedestal because when the inevitable issues arise we can just see him as a player and not the savior of the Bills. Ultimately he could be awesome or terrible or somewhere in the middle. But let’s allow him to get there. Fair?
That’s it for this weekend and as always, it’s just one Fan(n)’s opinion.
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