Arm of Harm Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Beane said that if you lose in a postseason game, that loss usually tells you where your team is falling short and needs to be fixed. With that in mind, let's look at the week 1 loss to see what was fixed or not fixed, in comparison with the KC playoff loss. Offensive line: played badly against KC, played badly against the Steelers Verdict: not fixed Josh Allen: played a decent game against the Chiefs, played badly against the Steelers Verdict: Worse against the Steelers Receivers: played badly due to injury against KC, had an off game against the Steelers without being hurt Verdict: Worse against the Steelers after taking injuries into account TE: Knox played well against the Steelers Verdict: Got better against the Steelers Daboll: Coached a better game against the Chiefs than the Steelers DL: Had a better game against the Steelers than the Chiefs. But, the Steelers have a bad OL. Verdict: probably got better, but we won't know for sure LBs: Had a better game against the Steelers than the Chiefs. But, Chiefs have better offensive coaching. Verdict: might or might not have gotten better DBs: Had a better game against the Steelers than the Chiefs. Not that that's saying much. Verdict: Too soon to tell, because Chiefs were a much tougher test. Defensive coaching: did a better job against the Steelers than the Chiefs. But the Chiefs are a much better offensive team with better offensive coaching. Verdict: too soon to tell if defensive coaching problems have been fixed. Overall: Obviously the team had a bad game against the Steelers. No arguing that. Underneath that, it appears as though some positions may have gotten better (DL, Knox), others stated the same (OL), and some may have gotten worse (WR). But it's just one game, and maybe some of the weaknesses we saw against the Steelers turn into strengths against the Dolphins. Go Bills! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 OL is the biggest concern. Fortunately not many teams have the Steelers' talent up front, but Daboll better be prepared for teams to do whatever is necessary to generate pressure. I'm glad OL was a focus in the draft, but that's not gonna help in 2021. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxx Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 This week, we'll see if maybe they just weren't ready last week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker 2.0 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 It’s far too early to cast judgment in any of those categories, or really any category at all. The post season is the culmination the season’s work. Last season was a different team. This is a new team with an unestablished identity. They’ve played one game. There is very little you can know about a team after one game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arm of Harm Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 3 hours ago, TakeYouToTasker 2.0 said: It’s far too early to cast judgment in any of those categories, or really any category at all. The post season is the culmination the season’s work. Last season was a different team. This is a new team with an unestablished identity. They’ve played one game. There is very little you can know about a team after one game. You have a point. That said, let’s look at the things which stayed the same from last year vs. those which may have changed. Stayed the same: Interior OL. Was a problem last year, same guys, also a problem this year. DBs: were good for most of last year, looked good against the Steelers Changed: QB: Josh Allen seemingly got worse OT: The OTs seemingly got much much worse WR: the WRs seem to have gotten worse TE: Knox seems to have gotten better. DL: Hughes seems to have gotten worse. Addison (of all people) seems to have gotten better. Rousseau seems to be more a member of the team this year than last year. OC: Daboll seems to have gotten worse. You are 100% right to say that of the above-listed changes, we don’t know how many will be one game blips vs. how many will be permanent. On the other hand I think it’s very safe to say that interior OL is just as much a need this year as it was last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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