Game Thread: WEEK 1… @BUF

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I’m not ready to hit the panic button on the OL but it’s pretty bleak. It may take a few weeks of struggle before they get into a groove. Buffalo has a stout D so I think we’ll see better things in the coming weeks.

As for the defense… wow. They far exceeded expectations. Sutton, Pierre, Ingram, Wormley, etc. all played extremely well. Heyward & Watt were all-pro, but the pieces around them all showed out. Can’t say that I was particularly impressed with the ILB play, but they weren’t bad.

 

[Superbelt]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I’m absolutely loving the 3-headed monster they have at OLB right now… keeps everyone fresh for all 4 quarters

 

[thedddd]

I’m not ready to hit the panic button on the OL but it’s pretty bleak. It may take a few weeks of struggle before they get into a groove. Buffalo has a stout D so I think we’ll see better things in the coming weeks.

As for the defense… wow. They far exceeded expectations. Sutton, Pierre, Ingram, Wormley, etc. all played extremely well. Heyward & Watt were all-pro, but the pieces around them all showed out. Can’t say that I was particularly impressed with the ILB play, but they weren’t bad.

That might be their weakest link on defense right now. Good news of the OLB continue to get pressure it will hide the deficiencies.

 

[thedddd]

The good:

• Defense

The bad:

• Offense

Yeah and to go deeper:

- I feel bad for Najee Harris he won't have running room. Hopefully he learns quickly to find his own space and gets it out of his head. You saw the over thinking on those screen plays.
- If Ben continues to be inaccurate on short throws I see a ton of INT's in the near future off of tipped passes. Just got lucky this week.
- The O-line is awful. Nothing more to say than that.
- As mentioned earlier, Chase Claypoole needs to play a freaking ball vs trying for the flag on every tight coverage pass. Really getting sick of his flopping.

Positives:
- Diontae Johnson didn't drop passes and looked great.
- Friermuth essentially killed any playing time Ebron should get moving forward.
- Najee Harris is very good.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

That might be their weakest link on defense right now. Good news of the OLB continue to get pressure it will hide the deficiencies.

Got the chance to rewatch a lot of the game and 1 thing stood out to me about the ILBs.... Schobert was blanketing dudes in coverage. Like every single play.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Yeah and to go deeper:

- I feel bad for Najee Harris he won't have running room. Hopefully he learns quickly to find his own space and gets it out of his head. You saw the over thinking on those screen plays.
- If Ben continues to be inaccurate on short throws I see a ton of INT's in the near future off of tipped passes. Just got lucky this week.
- The O-line is awful. Nothing more to say than that.
- As mentioned earlier, Chase Claypoole needs to play a freaking ball vs trying for the flag on every tight coverage pass. Really getting sick of his flopping.

Positives:
- Diontae Johnson didn't drop passes and looked great.
- Friermuth essentially killed any playing time Ebron should get moving forward.
- Najee Harris is very good.

Agreed with all the above.

• Some strange stretch zone blocking assignments that Canada's system deploys. Like what the fuck is Ray-Ray McCloud doin blocking a DE that is easily 60lbs heavier & substantially stronger than him? I'm honestly shocked that he did as well as he did. But Mickey Mouse shit like that ain't going to go very far in the NFL and Canada needs to figure that out. He looks like he's deploying college-type plays in the NFL.
• After rewatching the game I am leaning on giving Ben a little more of a 'pass' last week. Literally every play he had less than 2sec before pressure was in his face. And operating under center a lot more is going to make things way tougher having to drop back 5-7 steps in that limited timeframe. They should go shotgun more until the OL gets sorted. The strange thing is the inconsistencies along the OL. Usually its 1-2 clearly overmatched players, but I saw it all across the OL and not consistently enough to pinpoint. Each player won their share & lost their share. But it was enough to make the entire OL look bad throughout the game. Makes me think we are mainly dealing with a "gelling" issue and it could get better as these players get more experience together. Some bleak optimism there lol.
• Claypool seems to lack a physical side that would make him a threat. If the play designed doesn't give him the release he wants then he's going to flop. He'll be near the bottom of the league in contested catches.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I see you Alex!!

 

[Bridgeburner]

Claypool needs to play mean. If he could learn aggressiveness from JuJu instead of brand-building and dancing he would be unstoppable.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]