The view from Section 226, just below the press box, on Saturday, August 10th was nothing short of Stay-Puffed Marshmallow clouds dotting a sun-kissed Upstate New York afternoon. A hint of Autumn breezed through the seats packed full of the faithful at Highmark Stadium, gathered to welcome the Buffalo Bills back to action.
Writing this with the win in Pittsburgh in the rearview, things look more cheerful today, but the opening preseason appearance of our beloved Bills left many in Western New York wondering if the sky was, indeed, falling. Has the window closed? Is Buffalo even a playoff contender any longer? A divisional contender? A bottom-feeder?
We a spent a bitter week spitting out blood and chips of broken teeth, after the seemingly Super-Bowl-Bound Bears--now 3-0 in the preseason--embarrassed us on our home grass. Perhaps that punch in the mouth was just what we needed, as our Allen-less roster hopefuls waltzed into the Steel City, this weekend, and brought many back from the brink of keyboard warrior meltdowns on the message boards.
My Dad and I had the good fortune to snag a pair of tickets to kick off the 2024 / 2025 season together, and I took plenty of notes from our vantage point beneath the broadcast crew.
I'll bullet-point some highs and lows, in temporal order, then circle (the wagons) back, to ruminate on the afternoon.
While we missed the opening kickoff (Thank you: Ronald McDonald, for being a Keon-Coleman-Fast Food establishment...), so the first kickoff we caught was a muff by K.J. Hamler.
-A surprisingly successful run-blitz by Elam stuffed the Bears' RB for a 1 yard loss.
-Coleman wisely knocked don a near-INT in the end-zone, on a 2nd and 6. The rook showed some smarts on that play.
-The first Sam Martin punt we saw took a Buffalo bounce and roll to the 3!
-Kendall Williamson makes an egregious four out-of-bounds on a 3rd and 8 play. You cannot make mistakes like that, when you're surfing the roster bubble.
-On that same play, Kameron Cline (DE) was offsides. Serious lack of awareness by the hopeful end.
-Rookie EDGE, Javon Solomon, had a nice run pursuit across the formation. While many worried--when we drafted him--that Solomon would be a pass-rush specialist, he showed good discipline on this play.
-Hamler has a partial muff-redemption, with a nifty punt return.
-Shavers followed up not long after with an excellent catch, and the R.A.C. awareness to get to the sticks. Coach McD has been lauding the UDFA wideout's attention to detail, and it showed on this play.
-We ran up against downs, and Sam Martin's next punt was a pitiful shank.
-The Bears got it back, and Austin Johnson provided great pressure, forcing a throw-away on 3rd and 5. The zebras called intentional grounding, for a would-be-sack. We may have found something in Johnson.
-On the next Bills' possession, MVS does MVS things: Drop...
-Ray Davis makes an appearance with a short catch, followed by a dogged four yards, to get a 1st down. The Kentucky rookie showed some moxie on that one!
The first half ended with the Bills still lingering in the game, but the second half was when the go-kart's wheels came flying off.
-We finally get a Zach Davidson sighting. After all the message board hype about the 6 foot 7 inch D-II tight end tearing it up in training camp, it was telling that he didn't come in until the second half. Bruce Nolan did an excellent podcast ("When and With Whom" - Audible Link) leading up to the pre-season opener, outlining the way we should view these players and plays. Seeing Davidson grace the field so late in the game should tell us all we need to know about how the Bills' staff view Davidson, versus how the Bills fan-media and message-board-warriors see his roster chances.
-Ray Davis kicked off the 2nd half notable-plays with a toe-tap grab for a 1st down. This kid has hands, vision, wiggle, and toughness. I like what I'm seeing.
-Unfortunately, Davis' play was negated by an illegal formation penalty.
-Te'Cory Couch stepped up for a 3 yard TLF. It could have been a fumble recovery, but he missed the opportunity. At this point, my Dad looked at me, and exhaled: "OOOF, our 3rd and 4th stringers are bad!" I couldn't disagree.
-Andy Isabella followed up with a decent KR, then a nice catch-and-run in the ensuing offensive series. The battle for the back of the roster is a witch's brew of KR / PR / WR / CB / LB. You know that McD and Beane are going to be looking for position flexibility, special teams acumen, and value.
-We get a Darrynton Evans sighting, next, with a solid carry, followed by a great catch and run by the un-sung Lawrence Keyes. The back-of-the-roster churn is relentless, but seeing some of these names, live, brings their chances into focus.
-Much to the chagrin of internet trolls, Bass makes a 49 yarder!
-Much to the chagrin of Bass-supporters, he could have dispelled the keyboard trolls had the FG been one yard further. 50 yards seems to be the hill the trolls have set up camp on.
-The savvy vet, Deon Jones, makes a nice tackle-for-loss, followed by a sure tackle in space by "Buffalo Joe" Andressan. The latter stopped a Bears drive; one of the few second half highlights for our "D".
-The Bills got the ball back, and it was Frank Gore Junior time. A 7-yard catch and run out of the gates looked pretty good, for the rookie.
-A Shane Buechele pass rises just a bit too high for K.J. Hamler to reel in. You'd like to see the former 2nd rounder reach a little higher for that pass.
-On the OL, Gunner Britton gets flagged for a pair of penalties in quick succession. Edge of the bubble O-linemen like Britton can't afford to see their name in print. Not a great sign.
-Buechele steps up and barfs all over himself with an ugly pick-6. You do have to feel for the guy, going out later with a neck injury, but he was uninspiring, at best.
-After another failed offensive possession, a Sam Martin punt falls un-returnable at the 17. With the Bears in full beat-down mode at this point, at least something is going right.
-Kameron Cline follows in the next series with a nice TFL.
-We get the ball back, and it's more Gore, as the Mississippi State back rips off a solid inside run, peppered with jukes and cuts.
-And when the 3rd and 4th string offense sputters and dies, yet again, Sam Martin makes a terrible punt. Up and down day for the vet, in a slightly windy Orchard Park.
-When Buffalo gets the ball back, it's Gore with a 12 yard run right up the gut. They say his R.A.S. score is one of the lowest in NFL history, but the kid doesn't seem to care about metrics. He just runs. Hard.
The bloodied, downtrodden Bills had to have limped out of their season opener licking their wounds and questioning where and who they were. Overall, the depth looked, in one word: Gross. Aside from Buffalo Joe, some flashes from Ray Davis and Frank Gore, JR, this loss served as a wake-up call: It's a new season, and a new team. There will be growing pains.
On the coaching front, it was very nice to see McDermott go 2:2 in challenges. Maybe the hiring of former NFL referee, John Perry, is going to provide some in-season benefits to this squad. With a steep learning curve, a tough-as-nails division, and the hardest schedule in the NFL, we will need every ounce of advantage we can muster to sniff the playoffs this year.
With the hindsight of our hard-fought win in Pittsburgh, I can say that the sky is no longer falling in Western New York; however, we do need to be ready for a potential rebuilding year in Buffalo.
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