OBL 10/6: Getting the Offense Back In Sync, Thurman Thomas And Mitch Morse Join The Show

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Love y'all boys. He is a beast with a capital B.
00:00:09
Speaker 2: The cook is in the kitchen. Looks down the sideline.
00:00:15
Speaker 1: He's got Kincaid for a 23-yard touchdown.
00:00:20
Speaker 3: And it's intercepted.
00:00:21
Speaker 4: Jumping up in the air is Bedford.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: This is One Bills Live.
00:00:34
Speaker 1: All right, welcome into a Tuesday edition of One Bills Live. Chris Brown, Steve Jasker with you. A lot to discuss today as we still lament the post-mortem of the first loss of the season at the hands of the Patriots in week four. And eventually, probably tomorrow, we'll spin it forward to the week five matchup with the L.A. Rams, which is already looking to be a daunting matchup. Got a jam-packed show for you today, as usual. Got the Hall of Famer, Thurman Thomas, joining us at 10.30, which is about 28 minutes from now. And then second hour of the show, we will have pregame and postgame co-host on the Bills Radio Network, Mitch Morse joining us for his thoughts post-mortem on Bills Patriots as well, and maybe take a look ahead to Bills Rams. So we'll get into all of that with them when they arrive. In the meantime, it's you and us. And we always remind you that you can call us on the Duntire Fan Hotline, presented by Duntire, a proud partner of the Buffalo Bills, 716-427-0989, the number to get on board. But we begin with some Bills.
00:01:47
Speaker 3: Notes, Steve.
00:01:47
Speaker 1: And our Bills notes begin with, really, No update on the injured players from Sunday's game, which included Dee Alford, Landon Jackson, DJ Moore to Corey Couch, and Ed Oliver. Moore should come to light when the first injury report is released. And we kind of expected that because Joe Brady has, you know, he doesn't have to really provide any information on a Monday after a game, and he chooses to wait until Wednesday. In this case, Thursday for the Monday night game. Yeah, in this case, Thursday with the Monday night game. So it's going to be a minute. before we know the potential status. And obviously, the nickel corner position is of greatest concern here, based on Dee Alford's availability. Couch lift, the game with a hamstring injury, those usually take a week at least to come back from. And he was a practice squad elevation, and as we know, Jordan Hancock is on IR with a hamstring injury. He's not going to be available for three more games.
00:02:56
Speaker 2: So....
00:02:58
Speaker 1: That's kind of where it sits. Jim Leonard did say yesterday he was pleased with how DeMar Hamlin handled the assignment because he went in and was the nickel corner for basically the second half of the game.
00:03:10
Speaker 3: He's not a nickel corner. He's a safety.
00:03:12
Speaker 1: Right, but he felt he handled some. Leonard said I had to put him in some man coverage assignments. He won on those downs. So he said the greatest asset of DeMar Hamlin's game is his consistency. And in a secondary that is lacking down-to-down and series-to-series consistency, that is uber valuable.
00:03:33
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:03:34
Speaker 3: The only knock on DeMar is he's not elitely fast. He's got experience. He seems sharp, and he's capable of doing it. He's just not an elite athlete. He's not an NFL corner athlete. You know what I mean?
00:03:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:03:49
Speaker 1: That's why he was a six-round pick.
00:03:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he understands what he's doing, and he's going to try and do the right thing, which is, you know, that's what coaches love. Just try and do the right thing. Don't go over here when you're supposed to be over here. It sounds basic. It's not easy.
00:04:06
Speaker 1: After leaving the locker room following Sunday's loss and not speaking with the media, Max Hairston requested to come speak to the media Monday after the coaches' press conferences. First thing he did was apologize for not being available to the media after the game. He said he was too emotional and and did not want to say something he regretted. After having some time to reflect on his personal performance that left him frustrated, he was asked how he looks back on his performance from Sunday now.
00:04:41
Speaker 6: Yesterday, I kind of just, I reflected, I watched the game again a couple times, and where I felt like I left plays out there on the field, and not feeling bad for myself, but knowing that I have to be better. And last night, I kind of just Allowed it to kind of hurt and to use that as fuel to continue to go. And this morning I woke up with a growth mindset. Knowing it's Monday, it's time to move on and not put that on tape again. We have a very good opponent coming up out in LA and I'm excited.
00:05:13
Speaker 3: To get to work.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: I think he really said all the right things yesterday. And I know the fans are still just getting to know Max Hairston as a player. and I know a lot was made of the third and ten at the end of the game, which basically iced the game for the Patriots, because if the Bills got the stop there on third and ten, they could burn their last time out and get the ball back for their offense for one last chance to try to tie the game or go win it. And Jim Leonard said it yesterday, and Max Harrison said it yesterday, my effort on that play was not up to the standard, because... And I don't think it's because he's not willing. I just think he and Igbenosin, in particular, as young players, still feeling their way at this NFL level against the best of the best at the receiver position, I think their brains are so focused on assignment and alignment that they're losing the situational awareness component of the game.
00:06:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, we talked about that a little bit yesterday, yeah. down in distance, um, time and score. And they, they're so focused on what they're doing on their assignments and everything that they're trying to get right because that they struggle. I mean, they were leaving guys running open against Houston early in the season. They're starting to get better at it, but they're still so focused on it. They forget about thinking what's the offense got to do right here.
00:06:44
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: And that's, you know, that's just one more step in their, in their confidence and their familiarity that they got to get past. Um, I'm not saying it happens every down, but certainly there were a couple of instances where it's like, you know, you forgot about what's really important right here. And that's, you know, it takes reps, time on task. It takes confidence. And while they have, I think they have in certain situations, oodles of confidence, both max and IGB. It doesn't extend in every facet of what they're trying to do out there.
00:07:16
Speaker 1: But I think there are two examples of the growing pains that, we anticipated this defense could potentially have not only due to a scheme change and a play caller change but due to the fact that you were going to commit to being younger and more athletic but the drawback on that is you're putting a lot of inexperience out on the field and they're going to have to learn quite literally on the fly week after week but I felt that Max's approach is a healthy one that should lead to more consistent play from him and I know IGB kind of has a similar approach. So you would anticipate with the assistance of coaches that those two, along with some of the other youth on the defensive side of the ball, is going to continue to progress and get better and deliver more consistent play. So that's the hope. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonard also had his weekly press conference and was asked if the youth on his side of the ball, to our point here, is still thinking a bit too much and losing... their situational awareness as a result.
00:08:18
Speaker 4: I think there's a lot of reasons on why it's happening, but you do see some youth coming up that way. And that's my football IQ and the situational awareness isn't as high as it needs to be. Like we got to make it as simple as it has to be in order to where we can focus on that, right? So if it is too much mental processing or communication going on, like how do we simplify it enough to to just play fast, play confident, and trust what's going on around us. We have some guys playing at a high level. There's also some situations where guys are trying to make plays that they don't need to. Just trust the rest of the defense around you to handle their job. You just do yours, and so then everyone continues to build trust because I think that's what's happened a little bit within the drive. When somebody feels like, all right, last time this play didn't get handled a certain way now I have to go over correct and we're having some things where you're having to fix two different issues within really the same type of call or coverage or front structure so we just got to have a little bit more trust and we're doing things the right way and the people around us are going to make their plays and we can just settle in and do what we have to do individually.
00:09:37
Speaker 1: I thought the second part of his point is something that we have also seen out there And this is an example of a defense with six new starters from the 11 that took the field last year. And guys are not familiar or comfortable with the players around them because they don't know them intimately on the field. in a game situation where things happen in the snap of a finger and if you're not sure if you can trust maybe a young player who may not play that call perfectly the time before when the call comes in again you're kind of leery like alright I might have to cheat this way a little in case the kid doesn't get it right again So I'm there to help him make the play, but now you've compromised your role in the call, and they take advantage of that. And that's what Jim's talking about.
00:10:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we get into a little bit of the weeds into how this works, but what it basically means, and some of the things that people don't think about, fans don't think about, is during the week, these guys watch the games themselves together. And they watch the call, they know the calls, they see what they're supposed to do, and then they see what happened. And It's not just about you saying, well, I wish I had done this and I should have done that. And the coach will say, hey, you need to stand here or you need to open your hips the other way or all the little nuances that will happen. But then, like if you're IGB or if you're Max and you're playing out there or if you're DeMar and you're talking about that and they coach you up and then the safety will say, well, I was thinking this. And you'll say, and you were thinking that, well, if I had known that, I would have done this. And then you have these conversations about what happened on a certain play And you get an insight as to what your teammate, your code defender, is thinking as well. And it gives you a bigger, wider depth to say, well, shoot, if he's going to do that, I don't have to worry about this, right? And I can do this and that. And then you start to get at a different level of confidence about because you know, because you've been told and you've had conversations during the week about what your guys are thinking and what they're expecting. So when that call comes in the next time, it's like, okay, now I got this. Now I'm going to do this. And you feel that much more confident. not only in what you're doing, but also you're doing it the right way. So all those steps happen, and the defense becomes transformed just because you understand why you're doing what you're doing and what he's thinking about what you're doing. You know what I'm saying? And it sounds a little bit more like the princess. Yes, it sounds a little bit like the princess bride scene. I know that you know that I know that, and it's a little bit of that. You start to understand what you're doing in the context of the defense, certainly. But you also understand what your teammate is thinking. And let's go another step. Your teammate, like Cole Bishop, is doing this because he knows that's the only thing. I don't have the strength to do something. I can't take it over the top because I don't have the speed to get back there. So I'm going to do this earlier than you would expect me to. So you understand what Cole Bishop understands about his own game, and you understand his game, and you understand why your defense has to manifest itself the way it does. This is all deeply nuanced. And that's why a cover two with certain teams is fine. And it's another cover two with a different team looks a little bit differently because the players have different strengths and weaknesses that they understand.
00:13:06
Speaker 1: But just to illustrate that example that you're talking about. So let's just say hypothetically that the Bills are making a single safety high call and Bishop's the deep safety and If he tells C.J. Gardner-Johnson, hey, on that against this receiver, I'm going to cheat a step or two because I've got to make sure I'm over the top and I know he's faster than me. Now C.J. knows how Bishop is playing the single safety high call when that receiver's there. I've got to be mindful of that. So maybe I've got to cover to this side of the post on this half of the field knowing Bishop is leaving sooner. So it's information helps them play the call better.
00:13:43
Speaker 2: Right.
00:13:44
Speaker 1: But that only happens through communication and through reps time and time and time again.
00:13:50
Speaker 3: And it's conversation after conversation after conversation and rep after rep. And the problem is, you know, in practice at the NFL level now, particularly at this point of the season, you're in shorts and T-shirts. I mean, you have pads on. Ain't nobody going down. And you're not going against... You're not going against Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. You're going against Steven Gosno and Skylar Bell.
00:14:18
Speaker 2: In practice.
00:14:19
Speaker 3: So you've got to get at what you can get, and it all comes down to having instantaneous recall about what you're doing and about what your teammates are doing. They're not there yet.
00:14:29
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard also admitted that Max Hairston is letting his emotions get the best of him right now, and it's up to the coaches and his teammates to help him settle that down. Leonard said Hairston is a prideful player who wants to succeed, and he takes the small failures just as hard as the big ones. He said the key is getting him focused on the next play and his technique. And Max said the same thing yesterday. He said, my biggest focus going forward here has to be focusing on the next play and focusing on my technique. So that's kind of where he left it, and I give him a lot of credit for making the ask to address the media the next day. Felt bad about not doing it right after the game, but just didn't think his head was in the right place to do that. Let's go around the NFL. Monday night football, and for the second straight week, B. John Robinson put on a show as the Falcons cruise past the Saints, 45-24. Robinson had 19 carries for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Brian Robinson Jr., his backup, had 62 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns. Atlanta has gone over 200 yards on the ground in each of the past two weeks. On Monday, the Falcons had five rushing touchdowns to tie a franchise record as they became the first team in NFL history to win back-to-back primetime games on the road by 20 or more points. Last week, they beat the Packers in Green Bay. On Thursday Night Football, they have another primetime game next week. And Steve, you and I said it last year. This is a team that gets up for primetime games.
00:16:03
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:16:04
Speaker 3: They're playing really well. They love the lights. Bijan is a force. That first run he put out, the 64-yard, whatever it was, 74-yarder, he snapped off in the sidelines. He was behind the line of scrimmage, and the Saints knew they had a problem.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: He just outruns angles.
00:16:23
Speaker 3: They had five guys turn their hips and start to try and catch him, and they gave up. That's pretty impressive. I was loud as a dude. That was unbelievable.
00:16:34
Speaker 1: He.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: He got that ball in the backfield, took a hop step around the edge rusher, and when he turned it on, four Saints players are 10 yards down the field. They turn and run, and he outruns them. He outruns them, and it was over. You knew that was– and that's the kind of thing as well. Brownie, you've experienced it as well when you watch these night games. The team comes out, whatever team you're at. For us, it's the Bills and all that. They come out, and they hang something up quick. They come out, and they're all over. The Bills on the Thursday night opener against Detroit, you just knew it was going to be one of those nights. You just knew it. And now Detroit's going to be able to score, too, and all that, but you knew on that side of the ball the Bills were going to run it up. That's what happened to Atlanta last week and then last night as well. They turned it up. And it's easy to see, because of the recency bias all of us have in this world, you think, wow, Atlanta, you know, it's a long season. And it's easy to get wrapped up in a team that looks like they have in the last two weeks.
00:17:50
Speaker 1: The NFL has suspended line judge Jeff Seaman for two games and referee Adrian Hill for one game as punishment for instances of unprofessional conduct toward a player. NFL Vice President of Officiating Ramon George issued the suspensions. Seaman was caught on camera apparently cursing at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride during Sunday's loss to the Giants. McBride felt he had been interfered with by Giants cornerback Drew Phillips on a third and eight pass that fell incomplete. McBride got hit, complained to Seaman, who appeared to yell a profanity at McBride. I wouldn't say appeared. It was pretty obvious what he was saying. I saw the video. After the McBride incident, NFLPA Executive Director J.C. Tretter posted a statement on X that called for officials to receive the same level of scrutiny as the players. Quote, this kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable. Players are consistently held accountable when roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard. Hill's incident involved Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson. During their win over the visiting Miami Dolphins, Wilson was pushed into Hill by Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon midway through the first quarter, and On a play that was whistled dead because of a Minnesota penalty, Gordon drove Wilson away from quarterback Malik Willis and into Hill, who was knocked down. As Wilson tried to help him up, Hill, the referee, jumped up while pointing and yelling at Wilson to get away from him. Clearly, he didn't realize that he got pushed into it by somebody else. It's not like he hauled.
00:19:21
Speaker 3: Off and knocked him over. That's the one that really surprises me. Now, I don't know when the whistle blew, if the whistle was way, way before that, and they just kept playing.
00:19:29
Speaker 1: I saw the video without sound, so hard to tell.
00:19:31
Speaker 3: It is hard to tell. So I can see that. But, yeah, the dude, yeah.
00:19:37
Speaker 2: Wilson.
00:19:37
Speaker 1: Get a grip.
00:19:38
Speaker 3: Wilson bent down and said, hey, bro, you know, I'm like.
00:19:41
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:19:42
Speaker 3: And the guy lost his mind. And I don't know what he was yelling at.
00:19:45
Speaker 1: And he's like, dude, that guy pushed me into you.
00:19:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, so.
00:19:49
Speaker 3: There's always going to be that friction between emotions and aggression and anger and retaliation and, yeah, just flat out intensity.
00:20:03
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:20:04
Speaker 3: When, and then the play is over. And you got to deal with that. And, The officials get caught up in it because I was as bad as maybe anybody in NFL history about my treatment of the officials.
00:20:18
Speaker 1: I do remember.
00:20:18
Speaker 3: I was awful. And, you know, a lot of times they're just like, you know, which is what they should have done, right? But in retrospect. And so I know the officials have some pretty thick skin. And they should have. And they understand these guys, most of the anger is not directed at the official. It's about the guy who did an infraction or got away with something or didn't get away with something or whatever. So they kind of understand that and that most of the players don't hold the officials personally responsible for their success or failure. But they lose sight of that. And everything under the sun is uttered out there. And most of the time the officials are have crocodile skin. They just rolls off. Sometimes, for some reason, it doesn't.
00:21:10
Speaker 1: The Seattle Seahawks.
00:21:12
Speaker 3: I see it. There we go.
00:21:13
Speaker 1: Steve getting thrown out of his last game.
00:21:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's me. Get out!
00:21:16
Speaker 1: All up in the official's kitchen.
00:21:17
Speaker 3: And don't come back. And don't come back. Mike Carey, Mike Pereira is on that crew.
00:21:28
Speaker 2: Uh.
00:21:29
Speaker 1: Guys.
00:21:33
Speaker 1: Get out.
00:21:34
Speaker 3: Get out.
00:21:36
Speaker 1: The Seattle Seahawks plan to sign veteran running back Joe Mixon to their practice squad as long as he passes his physical. Coach Mike McDonald confirmed that Mixon worked out for the Seahawks and that he'd be joining their practice squad if the team signs him. Mixon, who's now 30, was released in March by the Texans after missing the entire season last year due to a foot injury. In 2024, he rushed for just over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns and went to the Pro Bowl in his first season with Houston. The Eagles' offensive backfield banged up as well. Running back Tank Bigsby headed to IR after suffering an injury Sunday against the Rams that requires core muscle surgery to repair it. Bigsby was injured in the closing moments of the game when he was tackled by Byron Young following a short run to the right side. Bigsby was the primary running back for much of the game because Saquon Barkley pulled his hamstring early in the first quarter. Barkley considered weak to weak but not thought to be a long-term injury. Ravens uncertain whether quarterback Lamar Jackson will play Sunday night against the Falcons. Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said, I don't know the chances yet. We're still gathering a lot of information in the imaging and things like that. Just dealing with a bit of an ankle, and we'll kind of see where that shakes out. I have full trust and confidence in him that when it's ready to roll, we'll roll and go from there. Jackson injured his left ankle in Sunday's win over the Titans. Did not play in the second half. Obviously, if he can't play, backup Tyler Huntley would get the start. After the Rams' comeback win over the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday, several videos surfaced of some Los Angeles assistant coaches interacting with the home fans from the coaches' booth, shall we say. In the videos posted on social media Sunday night, one assistant coach appears to bang on the glass and then gesture at the Eagles fans sitting in the stands below the booth after the Rams' go-ahead touchdown. One video shows a cup and then a water bottle thrown from the stands at the glass windows of the booth. Rams head coach Sean McVay said he and the assistant coaches talked about the incident, saying we'll be better in those situations. It's basically Rams assistant coaches after the touchdown going, get a taste of that, you know, like going right back at them because the Eagles fans have been like all up in their kitchen the whole game. So have a taste of that. Arizona Cardinals starting left tackle Paris Johnson out for the season after tearing his left biceps in the loss to the Giants on Sunday. Head coach Mike LaFleur said Johnson would have surgery soon so he can begin his recovery. He too was hurt on the final drive of the game holding his left arm as he walked off the field. He was replaced by rookie Jaden Williams who was a seventh round pick in the draft back in the spring. It is kind of interesting. I mean I understand bodies are fatigued and they're tired at the end of games but it It seems like a lot of injuries happen on the final drive of a game or in the waning moments of a game. I mean, that's what happened at Bigsby for the Eagles. That's what happened.
00:24:28
Speaker 3: It's fatigue. It's wear and tear. It's getting tired after the game, exhausted, and asking more of your body that you can give. And also, it's an old cliché almost. We used to have a practice that we would do You're doing these drills, and every time you talk to a guy who had a twisted ankle or a bum knee or a blown knee or a blown ankle or a blown elbow, he'd always tell you it was the last rep of practice. It was the last rep of a drill we were doing. I was going to do one more. So every time they'd blow the whistle, and, you know, most guys would get up and just take one more rep. Andre Reid and I, James Law would step in and go, no, no, no, you ain't doing it. There ain't going to be no more. You ain't going to get hurt on the last rep, you know. We would stop it because it was so common. that guys would get hurt and the whole, the story was always, you know, and it's always the same story. I was the last guy they cut from training camp or I was like, I was always got, I got hurt on the last rep of the game. I got hurt on the last game, whatever. And so it became this mantra that we kind of had to try and short circuit by saying, Hey, it's going to be no last rep.
00:25:37
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker 2: Yeah. It's true.
00:25:40
Speaker 1: It's true.
00:25:40
Speaker 3: You get tired.
00:25:41
Speaker 1: Preemptive. Yes.
00:25:42
Speaker 3: Or you're, You start trying to put a period on the end of the sentence, right, of whatever drill that was or whatever game that was.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: Or an exclamation point. Yeah.
00:25:53
Speaker 3: And you get hurt doing it. It's, who knows if it's real, but it felt real.
00:25:59
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:26:00
Speaker 1: Topic of discussion for you today, how would you get the Bills offense back in sync? I think just based on everyone's observations, we can say it's looked a little disjointed each of the last two weeks.
00:26:11
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:26:12
Speaker 1: Injuries obviously have played a part in that, but everybody has injuries. I mean, look at the Eagles. They didn't have Devontae Smith and Saquon Barkley in their game last week. How would you get the Bills offense back in sync? 716-427-0989, the number to jump on board. But we take a break here because when we come back, we'll see what Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas has for ideas. I think I know what his answer is going to be, and there's a very good chance it's going to be similar to mine. We'll check in with Thurm when we return. here on a Tuesday edition of One Bills Live. All right, back here on One Bills Live, Chris Brown, Steve Tasker, Hall of Famer Thurm at Highmark Stadium. Welcome in, Thurm.
00:26:57
Speaker 2: What's up?
00:26:59
Speaker 1: Second straight year, Bills get off to an undefeated start and lose a three-point game to the Patriots. Why do you think it happened?
00:27:09
Speaker 2: It was tough. It was tough. I don't– they– I don't know.
00:27:15
Speaker 9: It's the Patriots, man. You know, I mean, they got Josh McDaniel. They got Mike Vrabel. Guys who have been in this situation when, you know, your team is down and you're coming up against this team.
00:27:28
Speaker 2: They know how to match up with their other team.
00:27:32
Speaker 9: I thought from the beginning of the game, and I.
00:27:37
Speaker 2: Was like, you know what? Their defensive line and their offensive line, they came to play today.
00:27:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, they knew.
00:27:44
Speaker 2: And it had to go from the start, from play one.
00:27:48
Speaker 9: Whatever offense or defense went out there first, it had to be from play one, and that had to set the tone for the rest of the game, and I think it totally did.
00:27:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, they came in, nicked up, backups playing. Right. Their best defensive lineman was out of the game, so certainly somebody stepped into that. Offensive, defensive line meeting and said, hey, they're laughing at you. They're counting on you to fold. And when you challenge guys like that, it does work. They do rise up. And they really did. They had lost the line of scrimmage in the first couple of games or the two losses that they had. They lost the line of scrimmage. And then they come in to Buffalo with an even weaker setup, I mean, talent-wise or whatever, backups, injuries, and played better.
00:28:37
Speaker 7: Yeah.
00:28:38
Speaker 2: Played better.
00:28:39
Speaker 3: So that's something that's unique to pro sports, where a team is embarrassed one week and they look weak like they can't get anything done, and they spend a week doing something and they show up better next week.
00:28:51
Speaker 2: And it came down to one guy, and that one guy was Drake May. Yeah, he played well.
00:28:58
Speaker 9: The one guy that we've seen the first three weeks, how did he come in second place at MVP last year, you know?
00:29:06
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:29:06
Speaker 9: The first three games, I mean, just including the Patriots, the playoffs, and the Super Bowl, you just think, like, man, he came to play. And they followed his lead. He had an outstanding game. And what was surprising with that is that he used a lot with his legs, too. Because you don't expect that kind of, but he's a good athlete and can run.
00:29:32
Speaker 2: Very, very well.
00:29:33
Speaker 3: I think that was part of the Bills saying, listen, if he's going to pull it down and run it, we're fine with that. Our D linemen will cage rush him, whatever, whatever. If he's going to beat us with his legs, we'd rather have him do that than have him sling it around because, you know, you saw he can make throws.
00:29:49
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:29:50
Speaker 3: Let's get him to do something he doesn't really do to beat us. And it was, you know, good on him. He could do it.
00:29:57
Speaker 2: He could do it.
00:29:57
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:29:58
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:29:59
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard, when he talked to the media yesterday, he basically said their biggest problem right now is second down. He said, we're actually getting some decent stops in the run front on first down. Right. We're getting good pressure on third down. He said, our problem is second down right now. So I went back through the game so far. I'm through the first three drives by the Patriots. I'm going to read you the second downs.
00:30:24
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:30:26
Speaker 1: Second and eight. May scramble for 15 yards, first down. Same drive. Second and nine. May to the tight end, Raritan, 12 yards, first down. Second and seven. May to Hunter Henry, eight yards, first down. Second and 11. May incomplete to Stevenson. But that was the drive where they had the penalty. The Bills got him in a fourth and three, and they converted down close to the end zone. And the drive result is a touchdown. Next drive, second and 10. Travion Henderson, 11 yards, first down. Second and two, Stevenson, six yards, first down. Second and two, Henderson, three yards, first down. Second and nine, Mays sacked, lost the ball, fumble, turnover. Third drive. Second and 10, May to Hollins, 26 yards, first down. Second and 10, May, scramble, 26 yards, first down. Second and 10, May, scramble, 26 yards, first down. Drive result, touchdown. That's just the first three possessions.
00:31:29
Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah.
00:31:31
Speaker 1: Those are all like second and long. They're not even getting to third down.
00:31:35
Speaker 10: No.
00:31:35
Speaker 2: No, that's impressive.
00:31:37
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard is correct.
00:31:38
Speaker 2: He is correct. He is definitely correct about that.
00:31:41
Speaker 3: He's almost like he.
00:31:43
Speaker 2: looks at that stuff.
00:31:47
Speaker 3: And they spread it around. You could say it was a different guy every time. It was Hunter Henry. It was Hollins. It was, you know, all of them. I didn't realize that situational football, it just seems like you kind of focus on the money downs, you know, first and ten, third and third down. Short yardage goal line, red zone, all of that thing. The second down is like, eh. The only time I think about it is if it's second and one, you think, okay, that's the time to take a shot. Let's go deep because we got third and one then after that. That's the only time I ever give second down any consideration. Yeah, I'm with you.
00:32:28
Speaker 2: I mean, oh, second and eight. Let's run a draw. Yeah. Run the ball. Run the ball, right?
00:32:35
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of things that Buffalo's defense is trying to tie together right now. You got young guys going through some growing pains. Look, I mean, Steve and I talked about it before we came on the air today. The coverage by Hairston on the one touchdown he gave up to Dobbs in this corner of the end zone down there, he's step for step with him. It's good coverage, but it's a better throw and a better catch. And then end of the game, Igbenosin is right there. I mean, he's in Chisholm's hip pocket. He even grabs his one arm to make him catch it with one arm. Good coverage, better throw, unbelievable catch. So, like, I know people are on the kids that are playing corner right now, but it's like... they're not playing poorly in these one-on-one coverage situations.
00:33:26
Speaker 3: No, they're in spots. Here's the problem though. You've got, and, and it was meant a lot was made of it. Uh, CJ, uh, Gardner Johnson said it. I mean, Chisholm isn't Jamar Chaser, T Higgins, or, or D, you know, CD lamb.
00:33:42
Speaker 2: It was for one play.
00:33:43
Speaker 3: You need, you need, you need to be able to cover those guys up. And that's, that's what, that's where it is. Um, The kid made an outstanding play. And you know this term, the guys on the practice squad, they show up once in a while. You know what I mean? And Chisholm did it for the Patriots. He's there for a reason. They like him, and he can play. And people think, and like I just said, you think, well, gosh, those are the guys you should be able to blanket.
00:34:12
Speaker 2: Not so much.
00:34:13
Speaker 9: I mean, you look at it. I mean, he's Wes Walker. He's Julian Edelman. I mean, he's that size, right? He's the guys that make plays. And all of a sudden, you know, he's probably going to end up catching, what, 50, 60 balls this year, right?
00:34:26
Speaker 2: I mean, it's, yeah.
00:34:28
Speaker 1: As long as they're still as injured as they are.
00:34:30
Speaker 2: Right, exactly.
00:34:31
Speaker 9: But I think with this play right here, you're probably going to see him get a little bit more targets.
00:34:36
Speaker 2: And when A.J.
00:34:37
Speaker 9: Brown comes back, that just adds another. And this guy is going to be in the mix right now.
00:34:41
Speaker 1: Because Hollins went out with a hamstring injury.
00:34:43
Speaker 2: Went out with a hamstring.
00:34:44
Speaker 9: So, yeah, I mean, like we said earlier, big-time game, you know, by them. You don't want to, but they came in there and they got the job done. But, you know, I think we said it before the season even started, you know, how is this defense going to respond? These guys are still playing together.
00:35:04
Speaker 2: And you know what? For the young guys out there, yeah, it was tough. It was tough. But you know what? Max, I appreciate what he did.
00:35:10
Speaker 9: You know, he's like, hey, look, I didn't want to talk to the media after I was, hey, I've done it.
00:35:15
Speaker 2: I know what it's like. You're right. I know what it's.
00:35:19
Speaker 7: Like, you know.
00:35:19
Speaker 1: I think you remember a post-game press conference against the Chiefs. It might be an AFC title game.
00:35:25
Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh.
00:35:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, that term said.
00:35:27
Speaker 2: A few things.
00:35:28
Speaker 9: But, you know, I mean, he's going to go through those. These guys are still learning this defense. And we've said it, you know, probably a day after, you know, or the day of that Jim Leonard got hired. What is the defense going to look like? And it's been a constant talk throughout the year.
00:35:45
Speaker 1: But Steve and I have at least tried to make it known, having seen during the drought, we saw constant scheme changes, constant coordinator changes. That degree of change is the greatest degree of change this team has seen. Head coaching change and a coordinator change on the other side of the ball in the same offseason. That's the greatest degree of change this team has seen in a decade. And so that's big enough by itself. Then the team made a conscious decision to get younger and more athletic on the defensive side of the ball. This is the youngest defense in football with the starting 11 out there.
00:36:25
Speaker 3: Oh, man.
00:36:26
Speaker 1: So that all, I mean, I'm not telling you guys anything you don't know, but that takes reps and time because it's six new starters in the starting 11 from last year's starting 11.
00:36:36
Speaker 5: Six.
00:36:37
Speaker 10: Six.
00:36:38
Speaker 1: And all of them are like first and second year guys.
00:36:40
Speaker 9: The last change that I see in the last 20 years was the change to go to Rex Ryan.
00:36:48
Speaker 1: To be more changed.
00:36:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, to be more changed. Bring it in a 3-4 after you had the.
00:36:54
Speaker 9: 4-3, which was amazing at that.
00:36:56
Speaker 2: Three or four guys with 10 sacks. They went to the Rex Ryan defense. It became.
00:37:01
Speaker 3: It blew up.
00:37:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, that went from Jim Schwartz to Rex Ryan's defense.
00:37:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's what the guys are here.
00:37:08
Speaker 3: And I know we live in the age of overreaction, but favored or not in every game, the Bills were going to be favored in a ton of their games as they were in this one. But you knew they probably weren't going to go 17-0. And when you think about it, this is what the losses are going to look like. They're going to be by three points, a single possession. And they've got to help you. And they've got to help you.
00:37:36
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:37:36
Speaker 3: And that's kind of what this one was. This one, though, I think we saw Patriots team is well coached, and they had some stuff to offer. They're not going away. They were in the Super Bowl last year. And for whatever, you know, the schedule, you can say all you want about that. They're a good football team, and they played like it. And they walked out here with a three-point win and a spot where you usually, with Josh, three timeouts in a minute, 40, think, okay, we're going to get this. We're going to tie it back up. And it didn't happen. That's what losses are going to look like in Buffalo in this era. Joe Brady and McDermott, that is what it's going to look like. And you've got to get your mind around it and how close it is to turning a loss into a win. and how often you're going to be able to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat.
00:38:31
Speaker 1: So, Thurm, realizing we don't know the status of D.J. Moore for the Monday night game at L.A., how would you propose getting this offense back in sync? Because it's looked a little disjointed the last two games, Chargers and Patriots. Like, they couldn't get Kincaid involved at all. They probably... The run game was struggling in the first half. They went away from it, didn't come back to it until the latter stages of the game.
00:38:59
Speaker 3: It was working.
00:39:00
Speaker 1: And then they decided to run two-minute drill when they got the ball back with 142 left. And Ty Johnson's on the field because he's the two-minute drill back. So how would you propose getting this offense back in sync? I think I know the answer here, but why don't you lay it out?
00:39:16
Speaker 2: You know what? Let's go back to what?
00:39:20
Speaker 9: Didn't they have the highest percentage last year of running, what, 12 or 13?
00:39:25
Speaker 1: Well, right now, believe it or not, through the first four weeks of the season, the two teams that run 13 personnel more than any other teams in football, Bill's number two, Ram's number one. Ram's number one. Both teams run 13 personnel.
00:39:39
Speaker 2: More than anybody. Yeah, they did. Yeah, I remember that stat. I kind of remember that from last year.
00:39:44
Speaker 1: I'm saying right now. No, I'm saying last year.
00:39:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, last year. They did the same thing, too, so. Interesting.
00:39:53
Speaker 9: Wow, you know what? Let's see some running game. Let's see now.
00:39:59
Speaker 1: I know I can count on you.
00:40:05
Speaker 9: I mean, Aaron Donald's back, supposedly. The Rams got a good football team.
00:40:14
Speaker 1: Garrett's on IR, thank God.
00:40:17
Speaker 9: If you think that These rookies saw something this week. Wait till Monday. You got a future Hall of Famer and possibly a future Hall of Famer.
00:40:29
Speaker 2: And one at quarterback.
00:40:33
Speaker 1: And the running back's not doing too bad.
00:40:34
Speaker 2: He's not doing too bad either. Yeah, Kyron Williams. Let me see. What school did he go to? I think he went to Oklahoma State.
00:40:41
Speaker 1: I think.
00:40:42
Speaker 2: But, yeah. I bet he did. Yeah, I bet he did.
00:40:45
Speaker 9: But, yeah, it's– going to be an interesting game um hey run the football man and you know at that did anybody notice like when they set up for the two-point play i'm like my my son looked at me and said josh is running this and i think it was the perfect setup for josh to do that counter right yeah around the right side so.
00:41:14
Speaker 3: The thing that I think about was the Kincaid delay block, delay release. He came wide open. Josh never looked his way. Probably because they had taken him away for so long in the game, he just decided they were probably going to do it again. They didn't. They did. They did not take Kincaid away.
00:41:29
Speaker 2: He was wide open. He was wide open.
00:41:30
Speaker 3: And Josh just couldn't see him.
00:41:33
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:41:33
Speaker 2: Hey, I mean, it's going to be. Hey, look.
00:41:36
Speaker 9: And look for this conversation for probably until the end of the season. hopefully we get some of our guys back healthy on the football field and these guys can, you know, try to play up to the level that they did the first three games, you know? I mean, Greg Rousseau, I mean, I was kind of wondering, I looked and I was like, he's getting double teamed almost every single play on pass plays.
00:41:58
Speaker 1: He did make some plays, though.
00:41:59
Speaker 9: He did make some plays, but on passing plays, they accounted for two guys against him.
00:42:04
Speaker 1: Seven pressures on 33 pass rushes against the Patriots. That was the most on the Bills' defense. He's got 24 pressures on the season, third most in the league.
00:42:15
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:42:16
Speaker 1: We've got to take a break here. When we come back, we'll continue with Thurman. And I'm sad to report, Thurm, that Kyron Williams went to Notre Dame.
00:42:24
Speaker 2: Oh, he went to Notre Dame.
00:42:25
Speaker 1: But we'll take a break and talk more run game here on a Tuesday edition of One Bills Live. All right, back here on One Bills Live, Chris Brown, Steve Tasker, the Hall of Famer. And Therm's cure for maybe getting the offense back in sync is to run the football. And really, I think people forget, like, this was the number one team in rushing last year. They were good at running the football against almost anyone.
00:43:11
Speaker 3: Everybody, yeah.
00:43:12
Speaker 1: And the Rams are a good run defense. I think they're 12th against the run so far this year. They're even better against the pass. They're like number two or number one against the pass. Jalen Watson and Trent McDuffie, good additions to their secondary. But, like, the Bills ran the ball well against the Rams two years ago with Cook. They also used Ty Johnson. As a mismatch in the passing game. They got him on a linebacker an awful lot in that game. That was that crazy 44-42 game where Josh had six touchdowns.
00:43:42
Speaker 2: Did Hesh play in that game?
00:43:44
Speaker 3: Did who? Hort.
00:43:46
Speaker 2: Michael.
00:43:46
Speaker 1: Oh, for the Rams?
00:43:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, for the Rams. Probably.
00:43:49
Speaker 3: Probably.
00:43:51
Speaker 2: He should be in there going, do this, do this.
00:43:53
Speaker 1: That was a shootout. I think all, unfortunately for Intel like that, Thurm, I think the defensive coordinator has changed since 2024.
00:44:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:44:04
Speaker 1: A lot of that probably won't apply, unfortunately. Although, there was a lot of speculation that Reggie Gilliam gave Brable the keys to the Buffalo offense because they were sniffing out a lot of stuff awfully early there with the alerts and things. Did you notice that?
00:44:19
Speaker 9: No, I did not. No, I did not. And don't know if it helped or not. But, hey, Reggie was a great guy who was here, and I'm sure.
00:44:27
Speaker 1: He was here for five years.
00:44:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was here for five years, same offense.
00:44:31
Speaker 9: So, yeah, I'm sure– He probably did give them something to work with.
00:44:35
Speaker 2: So, yeah, interesting game, but, yeah.
00:44:39
Speaker 3: It's more probably to give them something to work with about mindset and what they like to do here and what Josh likes to do when he sees stuff, more so than the specifics of a game plan. He said, well, kind of think like this, and Josh will do this if he sees that, and they can take advantage of that as well.
00:44:54
Speaker 2: Maybe we're missing that. Maybe we're missing that part. Reggie Gilliam. I mean, he was here last year with the running game, right?
00:45:02
Speaker 9: I mean, he was a huge part of it.
00:45:04
Speaker 3: I don't think it's their inability to run the ball. I think they can run the football. I think the first half got away from them, and they had like eight plays. I'm exaggerating. They had a small number of plays. I don't think they got through their first series of scripted plays, and they broke away from it. Probably because of down and distance and situation in the game and the turnovers and all of that. So I think it kind of discombobulated their entire sequence of how they wanted the game to unfold offensively before they got to the running game in the second half. The running game in the second half was fine. Better than fine. He went from two and a half yards a carry to five and a half. So it was working.
00:45:44
Speaker 1: But Steve is right because the entire afternoon, the offense played behind the sticks. There were a lot of second and tens, a lot of second and twelves. A lot of third and sevens, third and eights. You're not running the football there. So this is the point I'm trying to make to your point about running it. Fourth quarter, it's still a one-score game here.
00:46:05
Speaker 3: Right.
00:46:06
Speaker 1: And the Bills come out, and let me see here. First and 10, Cook for eight. Second and two, Cook for 17. First and 10, Cook for 10. And then that drive winds up with the 38-yard field goal to make it 21-20, Patriots. Patriots have to punt. This is one of– Bills had three consecutive– forced three consecutive punts between the third and fourth quarter there. And then Bills get the ball back. Cook on first and 10, 16 yards. Cook on first and 10, 6 yards. That drive ends in a touchdown to Coleman. So in the fourth quarter, they got back to the run game, and it worked well. But then the next time they get the ball back, there's 142 left.
00:46:56
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:46:57
Speaker 1: And they go into two-minute drive mode. I've always campaigned, Thurm, for putting Cook on the field in those situations at the end of the game. Because we've seen... Because you're without D.J.
00:47:08
Speaker 3: Moore already.
00:47:09
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:47:09
Speaker 1: He's out of the game. We saw it in the AFC title game against the Chiefs.
00:47:13
Speaker 2: Yes, the Chiefs.
00:47:14
Speaker 1: End of the game, Ty Johnson's out there because it's the two-minute drill.
00:47:17
Speaker 2: Yes, yes. I don't know why.
00:47:19
Speaker 1: I don't understand why you can't put Cook on the field as one of your most dynamic athletes. And even if you don't want to put him in the backfield, put him out wide.
00:47:27
Speaker 3: And throw the ball. In place of who? D.J.
00:47:30
Speaker 10: Moore.
00:47:30
Speaker 2: D.J. Moore.
00:47:31
Speaker 3: D.J. Moore's not on the field. In place of who?
00:47:32
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying.
00:47:33
Speaker 3: In place of who? Because somebody's playing for DJ Moore.
00:47:37
Speaker 5: Right.
00:47:38
Speaker 3: Who do you take off the field? I mean, seriously. Because DJ's not available.
00:47:41
Speaker 1: Josh Palmer.
00:47:42
Speaker 2: I don't know.
00:47:42
Speaker 3: So you take Josh Palmer off the field?
00:47:43
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:47:44
Speaker 1: I mean, somebody.
00:47:45
Speaker 2: I did see them. I mean, you can't.
00:47:47
Speaker 1: Deny that Cook's arguably your most dynamic athlete on offense.
00:47:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, but he's not an X receiver.
00:47:52
Speaker 2: He's not. No, he's not.
00:47:54
Speaker 3: Ty Johnson's not an X receiver.
00:47:56
Speaker 2: But he's a threat for this offense. He can run. You know how many times I had to clear out for Andre Reid? Oh, I get you. Yeah, I mean, put him on the field. It takes the element away from like, okay, well, maybe let's try to get him a pass.
00:48:10
Speaker 1: My point is he's somebody they got to worry about.
00:48:12
Speaker 2: I know. Exactly. There you go. You got another weapon out there besides Josh. All right? So why not use it?
00:48:18
Speaker 1: And so far this season, we've seen a couple of snaps of a little pony backfield. There was a play out there where Ty and James were out there at the same time in the backfield, offset eye.
00:48:29
Speaker 3: I get all this, but this is like the old days when Marv, you say, yeah, I get it. If it didn't work, you should have done the other thing.
00:48:41
Speaker 2: Well, let's try the other thing. Okay, let's try the other thing. What do you think? Yeah.
00:48:44
Speaker 3: And one of the things, and the elephant in the room is that Ty Johnson's a better pass protector, too, in the two-minute drill. And he's a great receiver as well. Cook brings you something. It's a different skill set. I agree. They should have done something, but it all came down to Josh trying to make something happen and doing too much in the end, trying to make that throw he shouldn't have made. It took away that last opportunity. A minute 42 with three timeouts isn't a minute 42. It's like three and a half minutes of game time. It's like all kinds of time. They could have run the ball on first down, which is why I thought maybe James Cook is in the game. Three timeouts, you put him in the game.
00:49:22
Speaker 1: He agrees with us.
00:49:23
Speaker 3: You could do that. But also, you've got to score there. And let's face it, this ridiculous argument comes up too. What happened? They scored too fast. They're idiots. I'm not getting into that.
00:49:35
Speaker 2: They scored a score.
00:49:37
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:49:38
Speaker 1: But if you run the ball, you use more clock.
00:49:40
Speaker 2: You do use more clock.
00:49:41
Speaker 3: So I get it. We're sitting there in a game like this. Like I said, every loss the Bills are going to suffer this year, it's probably going to look a lot like this one.
00:49:49
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:49:50
Speaker 3: Every one of them is going to look a lot like this one. So it's going to be down to, well, they should have had this guy in the game and that guy, or they should have made this throw instead of that throw. If Josh hits Kincaid on the two-point conversion, everything's different because then the Patriots try to kick the extra points instead of going for two. Now it's a tie game. All of that stuff, I don't know if it's a tie game, but anyway, you get the point. That's what it's going to look like. So you can second guess all the personnel stuff you want, but in the moment, in the game plan, when they watch film for an entire week and get in there and they have something they want to try, they try the thing they think is going to work best. The player's got to make it work.
00:50:36
Speaker 2: Let's just have a better game Monday night. That's it.
00:50:39
Speaker 1: I'm for it.
00:50:39
Speaker 2: That's all it is. Yeah. Okay. Same thing happened last year with New England.
00:50:44
Speaker 3: Okay.
00:50:44
Speaker 2: They came in here and they beat us or whatever.
00:50:46
Speaker 7: Okay.
00:50:46
Speaker 9: Let's go on the road for the next two weeks starting with the Rams and try to win this football game.
00:50:50
Speaker 2: There you go. Because it's a team that from the beginning of the season, Super Bowl bound, right? Most people had them.
00:50:57
Speaker 9: Going to the Super Bowl. The Rams going to the Super Bowl. And we were kind of second or third, right? So here's that mashup that everybody's been talking about.
00:51:03
Speaker 2: Let's see who's going to win. All right. That's it.
00:51:06
Speaker 9: And let's hope these guys can play better, man. It's going to be a tough matchup, no doubt.
00:51:12
Speaker 3: There's a lot. I think there's a lot more in the tank for the Bills, both on offense and defense, than they showed up. And if they show up, not too many teams can beat them.
00:51:22
Speaker 1: All right.
00:51:23
Speaker 3: So we'll see.
00:51:24
Speaker 1: We'll end on that note. Thurm, thanks for stopping by. We'll catch up with you next week. Enjoy that Monday night game. When we come back, second hour of the show begins with Mitch Morse. pregame and postgame co-host on the Bills radio network. We'll check in with the former center next here on One Bills Live.
00:51:44
Speaker 9: We'll be right.
00:51:52
Speaker 5: Back.
00:52:02
Speaker 2: Looks down the sideline.
00:52:03
Speaker 1: He's got Kincaid for a 23-yard touchdown.
00:52:08
Speaker 3: And it's intercepted.
00:52:09
Speaker 1: Jumping up in the air is Bedford.
00:52:18
Speaker 3: This is One Pills Live.
00:52:22
Speaker 1: All right, second hour here on a Tuesday. Chris Brown, Steve Tasker with you. The pregame and postgame. co-host on the Bills Radio Network, also a former Bills center. It's Mitch Morse joining us, and Mitch, that was a tough one that the Bills took on the chin there, and it was eerily similar to the one last year, 364 days away from one another. Bills go undefeated, 4-0 last year, drop a three-point decision to the Patriots at home, and they start 3-0 this year, drop a three-point decision to the Patriots at home. What do you think were the biggest changes stumbling blocks that got in the way of the Bills pulling out a come-from-behind victory?
00:53:06
Speaker 8: I think, Chris, if you look at the first two games and what the Bills were able to do in the last two games, those weren't the football that the Bills wanted to put on film. The first one you were able to squeak out a win this past when you saw what happened when you didn't execute to your standard. I think it's getting back to I mean, this is such coach speak, right? But like turnovers are killing this team. And then also just we got to find a way to start a little bit faster that way, because this is a resilient team. And even if the last game didn't end the way we wanted it to, this is a resilient team that's in their DNA. They have to have an opportunity so that it's not just nut crunching time in the fourth quarter every single week. You can see how explosive this offense can be. I give an opportunity for this defense to really hunt the pass rusher because, I mean, we have some absolute dudes on this defense, and I'm in no place to give a diagnostics on something that wasn't my area of expertise. But it seems like this defensive secondary still might be getting their footing a touch, so what I would like to see is I mean, your edges have been the bright spots, including, and also Deion Walker in the middle. How can we manufacture a little more four-man, five-man pressure on this quarterback, continuing with the edge pressure, maybe a little bit more up the gut to give our defense an opportunity in the back end so that it's not seven on seven and continue, as these guys continue to maturate in this defensive scheme.
00:54:44
Speaker 3: How does the fact that Matt Stafford won't or can't or doesn't like to run change this equation because you know obviously drake may snapped off a few runs that were back breakers and sustained drives kept drives alive put them in position to score points stafford won't do that but then again drake may didn't have puka nakua and of you know the other dude davante adams how does that change things.
00:55:18
Speaker 8: Well, I would say this is going to be a similar. So it comes down to rush patterns and creating pressure.
00:55:25
Speaker 3: Yes. Right.
00:55:26
Speaker 8: Like if you have an opportunity to win a one on one rep against your offensive lineman and or person who's blocking you, do what you can. But at the same time, I thought what we saw a little bit of, I mean, leakiness like Drake May is sneaky and. he's got a sneaky attribute of being able to be mobile when he needs to be.
00:55:48
Speaker 2: And I think we.
00:55:48
Speaker 8: Saw that very much at play this past weekend. Matt Stafford and Jared Goff are maybe the two guys left who are true pocket passers, right? So creating these, whatever a rush plan that you thought might work against Jared Goff, I would also kind of adopt that for this game plan. But that being said, I mean, I'm sure Matthew Stafford still has some wheels left in that 38-year-old body. He is the most comfortable when he's in the pocket, and I think the quickest way to the quarterback is through the interior, whether that's creating pick stunts with that spinner or that guy who's walking around, which we've seen Michael Hoyt do a lot in creating that. I thought Deion Walker did a very good job a few of these times creating disruption in the pocket, but we need to continue that, and if we can add that and implement that to our repertoire as a defense, then we're going to have an opportunity to muddy your pictures for these quarterbacks, and a very prolific one in Matthew Stafford.
00:56:46
Speaker 1: How do you think the Bills, and obviously this might be a tough one to answer, Mitch, because we don't know the status of D.J. Moore, which would obviously go into the stew here, but how, because you've mentioned it, the offense has looked a little disjointed each of the last two games. How do you get the offense back in sync knowing it's going to have to be to have a chance to beat a very highly efficient team in the Rams?
00:57:14
Speaker 8: Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, if you look at those first few weeks, we would have talked like after week two, especially when you keep four tight ends on the roster. And then after those first two weeks, we talked about just how exceptional this tight end group was, how great of a job Rob Boris has done. getting these guys coached up and everything that Joe Brady wants in both the run and pass game. And I saw a statistic, I'm no math guy, but it seems like every week that's passed, we've seen a little bit less of this 12 and 13 and heavy personnel, which really seem to open up the offense and create explosive plays, but also kind of get the offensive linemen engaged in run play action, not really putting them in this, you know, this drop back affair. I really steer into those guys. I think there's, I mean, we definitely saw Dalton Kincaid, not, utilize as much as he had in the prior weeks. Maybe we can find a way to do that. But also, I think we get a guy like Dawson Knox involved as well. I mean, he's a guy who's sure-handed and has an opportunity to acquire 60 or 70 yards in a game if need be. But I think whatever we do, whatever the situation is, we get these guys in 12 and 13 personnel. I thought Keon Coleman had a fantastic game that was really fun to see. really showed up clutch in these big moments, give him more opportunities on shot plays. And I know Joshua Palmer didn't have the, made two receptions this year for two touchdowns. I still think there's more hay for that. There's still an explosive offense there. Even without DJ Moore, we can't understate how impressive he's been and the opportunity to utilize him as much as possible. But if we're down a receiver, we got to lean into these tight ends.
00:58:55
Speaker 3: What do you make of the slow start this last week for the Bills offense?
00:58:59
Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't totally know. It seemed like I can't speculate. I can't speak on everyone's energy. I just don't think that's fair since I'm not in the locker. room but one thing that i i would love to see is this fire right and it's sometimes you got to manufacture it sometimes you got to make it up right fake energy is better than no energy and you talk about Is it the chicken or egg situation? Does energy breed execution or does execution breed energy? I don't know, but if there's a lack of execution.
00:59:31
Speaker 1: At times, bring the energy.
00:59:33
Speaker 8: Bring the juice. Brandon Bean brought in guys this offseason that are a little bit edgy. They can be testy.
00:59:41
Speaker 2: Bring it.
00:59:42
Speaker 8: Celebrate each other's wins. This game is hard. It is a hard game. To execute to your standard, your job is incredibly difficult. Whether it's a catch, a pass, a pass deflection, a tackle for loss, a big tackle. Feed into each other, man, because energy is infectious. And I think if we have that energy, it's not always going to be great. And say you have a mishap.
01:00:05
Speaker 2: Awesome.
01:00:06
Speaker 8: It's football.
01:00:06
Speaker 2: It's going to happen.
01:00:07
Speaker 8: The next play, test yourself to see if you can bring even more energy. And don't shy away.
01:00:14
Speaker 2: Push.
01:00:15
Speaker 8: Push the envelope. Feed into each other. I want to see these guys talk and smack. It wasn't my M.O., Well, you definitely feed off of it, right? Like come in, you're going to be on an away. You're going to be in a way it's so far. I mean, it's definitely going to be a little bit of a bills crowd, right? So far is not the greatest home field advantage, but you know, it's you versus the world lean into it, man. And I think if we just have this, this, this kind of this manufactured energy that feeds into something that's real, and then it's a snowball effect and then execution ensues. And then, and then, It's a wildfire, man, and that's a really fun sideline to be a part of.
01:00:54
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard was very upfront and honest about the shortcomings on their side of the ball. I thought he was very open and honest with the media yesterday, just giving answers and the hard and fast truth about what is plaguing them on that side of the ball. It seems like the younger players in particular, Mitch, are so focused on their assignment and their alignment that they're losing sight of situational awareness. And Jim said that's on us as coaches and the veteran teammates to simplify what we're asking them to execute so they can just go and play and they're not spending time processing and they're just playing. What does that look like, Mitch, in the form of a game plan when you've experienced coaches that have said, hey, let's pare it down this week and just go play.
01:01:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, wow.
01:01:54
Speaker 8: It's easier said than done. I'll tell you that because you still have to execute and you still have to match accordingly to what an offense shows. But sometimes the adage is dumbing it down a bit or simplifying, especially for these young guys. These young guys, now you're starting to realize what an NFL season might You have so much more football ahead of you. It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows these past two weeks. You're asked to continue to do your job. Criticism is at the all-time high after a loss. Now you're feeling it. Simplify it. What has made football fun for you? When have you played your fastest? Some guys it is focusing on that job and some guys it's just like I'm feeling like I'm playing in a backyard football game. Now you still have to do your job. And how do you find that fine line? It just takes time. And for these veterans or guys who have been around for a bit and understanding, yes, we have rookies and you've told them now that you're playing, you're no longer a rookie. But yes, there are, in fact, still rookies who are trying to, at times, tread water a bit just to stay afloat. now is the opportunity for you to onboard a little bit more if you can, right? These veterans, these superstars, these guys who have been, you know, have risen to the occasion, who are your stalwart players, who are veterans. The unfortunate truth is when times like this, more is even required. So take as much as you can on your plate, you know, find ways to simplify terms because often if coaches are trying to talk and they're talking to players and What they're saying to players makes a lot of sense to those coaches. They feel like they've put it down to this level, but I've talked about it before. There's different frequencies in which information resonates to guys, and often the frequency that is known the most is from player to player, and players who know how to kind of be the mediator between these coaches and what they're talking about, and these young guys who might not understand the way they're these coaches are vocalizing the information. So these guys who have been around for a bit sometimes need to be the mediator of information.
01:04:04
Speaker 3: So we've got this young defense that they got a couple of wins right out of the gate, but they were giving up 30 points a game. They gave up another 29 yesterday. What are some of the, like for a casual fan and for people who listen to the show and maybe and watch the games and Don't dig into the analytics online and go into all that stuff. What are some of the things you would look for in a game for a casual fan? What can they look for and say, yeah, okay, they're getting better? Is it just as, I mean, because I think this defense will improve. and I think there's going to be some times where you think, ah, there we go. You know what I'm saying? What would you look for and what would you tell people to look for? Like, ah, they're getting better now. It's not just as simple as turnovers. It's not just as simple as even third down. What do you look at?
01:04:53
Speaker 8: Steve, that's a great question.
01:04:55
Speaker 2: Oh, my.
01:04:56
Speaker 8: I would kind of go back to what I talked about earlier in this interview, is that defense is an emotionally charged position group. I'm not a position group, but a side of the ball. It is one that is all about the celebration of making that big hit or when the read is supposed to be made, flying to the football, having those big pops. When I see C.J. Gardner-Johnson make a big hit, Cole Bishop's the first guy over and talking to him in that position group. Guys are feeding each other. If there is a tackle for loss or a big play that's made, let's celebrate it.
01:05:39
Speaker 2: Let's celebrate.
01:05:39
Speaker 8: You can feel that energy.
01:05:40
Speaker 2: If there's a.
01:05:41
Speaker 8: Hole to be hit from a linebacker, I'm going to fly it around and I'm going to hit it. And I'm going to play with reckless abandonment. And I might hurt tomorrow, but there's going to be a statement made and he's going to feel it as well. So I just think it's the ferocity in which you attack your assignment and then celebrating each other's successes.
01:06:02
Speaker 1: Mitch, thanks for the time. We'll catch up with you on the weekend.
01:06:08
Speaker 3: Thank you, guys.
01:06:09
Speaker 2: God bless.
01:06:09
Speaker 1: All right, that's Mitch Morse joining us, pregame and postgame co-host on the Bills Radio Network, obviously former center. Yeah, I just, I'm curious what that looks like in the planning stages. That's why I asked him that. When you hear a coach say, you know, we got to pare it down, make it simple enough for the guys to just go play.
01:06:31
Speaker 5: Right.
01:06:31
Speaker 1: Like, we hear that, but I don't necessarily know how that's formulated during the week, and how it's ultimately decided upon once you get to the game.
01:06:43
Speaker 3: The problem is exactly the same problem that you have on offense. If you always run the ball in this situation, you become predictable. If you always throw it in this situation, you become predictable. If you always play cover two in this situation, you become predictable. If you always send pressure in this position, you're always going to be predictable. Same thing happens on defense. Offensively, you become predictable, you become easier to stop. Same thing on defense. And the difference on defense is inherent in which side of the ball you're on. Ten guys on defense can do the wrong thing and stink, and one guy makes a play, you look great. It rarely happens like that on offense. Defense... You can get away with some stuff if the offense doesn't see it or doesn't take advantage of it or doesn't have the weapons to take advantage of it. So it always looks a little different, but it's the same concept. If you dumb it down enough or simplify it enough or shorten your menu enough, you become predictable. And against any kind of offense in the NFL, particularly one like you're going to play on Monday night, it's going.
01:07:55
Speaker 2: To cost you.
01:07:57
Speaker 1: So simplify or pare it down, but not to the point where you become predictable.
01:08:00
Speaker 3: Well, then it becomes, and you can do that to a certain extent, no question about it, and teams are very successful doing it.
01:08:04
Speaker 1: But you're limited in how much you can reduce it.
01:08:06
Speaker 3: Wade Phillips was really good at making it really simple on his side of the ball. It may look complicated, but it was really a simple defense. You can do that to a certain extent, particularly with a good play caller. If you get a guy that makes it look like one thing and shows you another... You're still only playing one or two or three or four defenses. They can play inside those defenses But it looks like you're playing 20. Yeah, a play caller can help you with that But you still got to execute at some level and the more you simplify Without any doing anything else the more predictable you become Certain defenses in the past and over the past, you know decades have You know, you get the 85 Bears, you get the Legion of Boom, you get some of these defenses. They'll beat you one-on-one. It doesn't matter what you do offensively. They can call any defense they want. Somebody's going to win. The 2000 Ravens were like that. They just have some guys.
01:09:09
Speaker 2: That's rare.
01:09:10
Speaker 3: You've got to have a play call married with enough variety inside your scheme to to put some doubt in the quarterback's mind and give you an edge. If you simplify too much, you become predictable.
01:09:26
Speaker 1: Got to take a break here, but we will open up the phone lines when we come back.
01:09:31
Speaker 3: 716-427-0989.
01:09:32
Speaker 1: How would you help the Bills offense get back in sync after two games where they haven't looked nearly as explosive as they did earlier in the season? You tell us next here on One Bills Live. All right, back here on One Bills Live, Tuesday edition, Chris Brown, Steve Tasker with you and asking you how you would get the Bills offense back in sync after a couple of weeks where it's just looked a little off. They're still producing points, as we know, 24 and 26 the last two weeks, but something seemed just a little off. And last Sunday they were playing behind the sticks an awful lot, not super efficient. And obviously now, we don't know the status of DJ Moore going forward after he re-aggravated his shoulder injury. So you let us know, how would you get the Bills offense back in sync? 716-427-0989, the number to get on board. And waiting patiently has been Mark in Grand Island. What's up, Mark?
01:10:39
Speaker 5: Hey, Mr.
01:10:40
Speaker 10: Brown, how you doing? I'd like to first of all start off by thanking you for I'm just glad the Bills found somebody with the same passion as Murph to do play-by-play, and I'm glad you're there. Mr. Tasker, I'd like to thank everybody from the organization from the 90s for what they did for us. That was awesome. I guess I'm a little bit off subject, but you were talking about it earlier in the show today, and my subject is the officiating. I think an answer to it is I don't think they should be depending on the big three teams networks for their replays. And I know the NFL can afford this. I think they ought to put a closed-circuit television system in every NFL stadium and do it themselves. I'm not really sure if that would be something they would be interested in, but it makes sense to me. I'm going to hang up and let you guys talk about it.
01:11:36
Speaker 7: Thanks.
01:11:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been a topic. It always is a topic of conversation during the league during the year particularly at this early stage the officials are getting back into their groove as well there's been a ton of defensive holding this year we've had two guys suspended which is unprecedented in my time I can't remember ever having that happen again where the officials gave it back to the players and the coaches who were cursing them so yeah there's a little bit of a conversation going on about it I'm not And the league does have the ability, it does have in every stadium, particularly the new ones like Highmark, they have in-house cameras that are available, that are used. Now they have the pylon cameras. They have the down-the-distance cameras. They have the SkyCam.
01:12:26
Speaker 1: They have the Hawkeye technology that isn't even part of the broadcast cameras.
01:12:30
Speaker 2: Right.
01:12:30
Speaker 3: The Hawkeye technology is worthless to me, but okay. They're making every effort to help them as much as they can, but they are very, very hesitant to take the game too far away from the guys on the field that are doing it in real time where they use their judgment to— mitigate advantages. Like the old adage is you can call holding on the offensive line every play. But if a hold on the offensive line affects the play, they'll call it. If it's illegal and it keeps a guy from making a play, they'll call it. If it's away from the play and it has no bearing, nobody cares. You know what I mean? So there's kind of that kind of give and take that happens. Certainly, I don't know that it would help giving it to a nameless, faceless person up in a booth that says, hey, do this, do that. They already do that to a large degree.
01:13:25
Speaker 1: There's replay assist already.
01:13:26
Speaker 3: There's replay assist already on spotting the ball, other things as well. They are very willing to, and they've expanded it a little bit by a little bit where the replay can step in and say, no, that ball was in. Keep the game going. There was no fumble. Or, yes, hold on. We're going to review it, and it was a fumble. Turn it over. Let's go. They're very good at that, and crazy as it sounds one of the one of the priorities is they don't want the game to last four hours yep so if they can make adjustments and do it on the fly and make get it right and most people are okay with that they will keep expanding it to get it to where we we all think it should be perfect but those guys on the field are better than they get credit for they, you know, certainly they get a black eye every year at some point because they make a bad call or a guy does this or like the two guys got suspended.
01:14:21
Speaker 2: Okay.
01:14:22
Speaker 3: They'll, you know, it looks bad for a hot minute, but for the most part, those guys are really good at what they do. And the league wants to let them keep doing that. They're human beings like everybody. They're going to make a mistake here and there, but they're also going to get it right in a way nobody else could. And they handle the emotional outbursts and The venting that players invariably do towards them, they handle it pretty well most of the time. You saw a couple of instances where they didn't, where they got after the guy. But most of the time, because they get yelled at constantly.
01:14:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, Gable got a flag here last week.
01:15:01
Speaker 3: And I'll say it again. This is the drum that I pound all the time. Brownie's going to roll his eyes. The league is all about getting games close, keeping them competitive, making them compelling. Whenever you do that, you're asking for an official to insert themselves at a point where, yeah, they broke the rules. You got to throw the flag. That's all there is to it. That's what we all want. But when you start throwing the flag, then it's going to be like, well, I don't know. They didn't call that earlier. There's always going to be a gray area where it's going to enrage some people and reward some other people. The games are meant to be tight and close. And any time you get a tight, close game that's coming down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the officials are going to be expected to keep the rules enforced in a time when the players are going to push the envelope to break the rules to win. That's where the rub is. It's always going to be a factor. And you've got to be willing and able to live with it because that's what you're asking for. So just remember that. When the games come down and they're close, guys are going to push the limits and the officials are going to get into there where it's a gray area. And they're either going to have to throw the flag or if they're going to keep it in their pocket, you're going to say, why did you not call that? So that's what you're asking for.
01:16:22
Speaker 1: And the league deserves credit because every time, invariably, they ask, can we do better? Can we make this better? What are the ways in which we can do that? Are there any unintended consequences? Yes, no, maybe not. And I would imagine and be willing to bet that they looked at all of the camera angles that the participating broadcast networks and streaming services provide. And I'll bet they looked at all of that and said, can we do better than this? And came up with the answer, no.
01:16:51
Speaker 7: Yeah.
01:16:51
Speaker 1: I mean, you got two sky cams over the field now. There used to be one. Now they got two. You can hear stuff. Sometimes the play calls in the huddle.
01:17:02
Speaker 2: Right.
01:17:02
Speaker 1: And, I mean, they can take you just about everywhere on the field, around the field, the side of the field, the end of the field, overhead. I mean, the only camera they don't have is underneath. And sometimes they do because the pylon cam's got guys flying over them. So I think the league has probably decided they can't do better than the coverage provided by their participating partner networks. And that's kind of where it sits.
01:17:25
Speaker 6: Yeah.
01:17:26
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the phones, and next up is Butch over on the east side. What do you got for us, Butch? You're on One Bill's Live.
01:17:35
Speaker 5: My brothers from another beautiful queen mother, I love each and every one of you. Send my regards to your queens and your family. I love your family. MSG, I love you. 98.9, I love you. 1120 AM, I love you. But I want to say this, though, Chris and Brownie, I want to send a shout-out. It's very special to me because I'm a military guy. I'm 82nd Airborne. To all the veterans that listen to your show, I want y'all. I love you guys. Y'all keep listening to the show and telling everybody about the show. It's a great show, and we need more people to watch it. But let me just say this. Y'all got to get right to the grits and eggs of this thing. You asked a question about what the offense can do. My thing is I got to start with the defense first. And I'm going to say this, is that the friendship that we have on this football team is deep.
01:18:23
Speaker 2: It's really loyal.
01:18:25
Speaker 5: It's really thick. It's really deep. But sometimes it can hold you back a little bit. And what I say about that is you have, like, the linebacker like Bernard, who gets paid a lot and he's got.
01:18:40
Speaker 3: A C on his jersey.
01:18:41
Speaker 5: Great, good player in McDermott's defense. In his defense, he's struggling a little bit. I'd rather see... my guy, number 52, which I call Special K, Khalid, and I'd love to see, like you already know, I call him Little Ray Ray, Dorian Williams, in the middle, more than often, because I think they can more attack. Now, if you think that the game would be too big for for Special K, number 52, just sit him on the blitz all the time and let Dorian drop if you need him to be. At least you got pressure. Secondly, that one man, Leonard, I love you, Leonard. I love you, coach. But let me tell you something. When you first took this job, I listened to your press conference. You stated that you was going to be more of an attack defense. You was going to bring more man-to-man press coverage. Now you're doing a little bit more zone than you said you were going to do. Now the players there in the preseason when we saw, you gave us a false identity because all those players like Kanai, Walker, and all these other no-name guys were playing great. And we was intrigued because we saw young players playing great in a system that we thought was going to go through the regular season. Now, you're playing on more zone coverage. Some of these players are not good for zone coverage. IBG, you draft out of Ohio State, you know you're a press cover. Max came with Shami Dermott for zone coverage, but he runs the 4-2-40, so he can make up. He just had a bad day last game. How am I going to get on Max? Max going to take this game, and I wouldn't be surprised if Max were all pro at the end of the season. That's just something else. Put that to the side. Let's get to this question now. Offensively, you stated, what can we do to get this offense back on track? My guy is Steve, your guy, Chris, your guy, T.T. I called him T.T. since he got on the team from Oklahoma State. My guy, Thurman Thomas. Thurman said, you're going to run that rock. I got that. But the catch is, we got a problem on offense with the running game. Why we got a problem? Somebody in the organization got to identify Ray Dates. Somebody got to say if Ray Davis is going to get the ball or we're going to be trading him. If you're going to trade him, leave him alone. Upgrade Frank Gore. Let's start pounding this rock. But at the same time, now what I want to put in is what Joe Brady is. Joe, I'm not going to lie to you, man. You got to do this if you want to win. You got to get Bell. You got to get Dortch. Speed. Quick. Get the short pass. Get the long ball all the time. Get the short wide receivers in, like when Steve Tasker was playing, and Kelly had Lawson, and he had Reed, and he had Broquette, and he had all these other guys. Steve used to be the little sly guy. He used to slide in. I know Shakir does that, but everybody got tape on Shakir. Let's get some guys that ain't got tape on and start winning this game come Monday night. Then you can go forward with that. Monday night, they already got tape. They're going to come after my guy Snowman. They're going to come after Max. We already know they're going to do that. They're going to try to double-team my guy Coleman because they think he can't get off the ball fast enough.
01:21:54
Speaker 10: So guess what?
01:21:55
Speaker 5: Let's slide some screens in with the running back. How about this? Let's keep cooking on three, third, third down and put him out like he used to do on the slot and let him run past a linebacker to throw the ball to him.
01:22:06
Speaker 10: How about this?
01:22:06
Speaker 5: Because he'll break away back. These are some of the things that we have to implement and get off the friendship. Let's get off the system that we had last year. Let's try to win and get a Super Bowl. But guess what? I'm not casting no shade, and I'm not throwing no stones at my football team. We just had a bad day last game. But guess what, ladies and gentlemen, and everybody who looks around the world? We have a new rival. The old stadium was the Miami Dolphins. Now this is the first team that beat us in our new stadium for the rest of my life. I'm 61 years old. It's going to be the New England Patriots. But guess what?
01:22:42
Speaker 2: I love you guys.
01:22:43
Speaker 5: Thanks so much for taking my call. You guys love you. Max, I love you. And everybody out there, I love you, man. And y'all be good. Y'all take care of yourself.
01:22:52
Speaker 2: Thanks, Butch.
01:22:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll just answer the defensive thing that he said about how Jim Leonard's playing a lot of zone defense, which he is when he said he wanted to dictate to opponents and play more man. I'll just tell you, when he did have man calls, Max Hairston got beat for a touchdown, and so did IGB. I don't think you want to leave those guys on islands too often because they are literally learning as they go. And that's not to say they're not physically capable. They are, but there's a lot more to playing NFL defense than physical talent. And Mac said it yesterday, I've got to work on my technique. It's got to be better. I think it's just safe to say the defense is a work in progress, and we'll leave it at that. It's still trying to gel together as an 11-man unit. The back end has had some of their shortcomings. We've seen them. They've been obvious. Second down is a problem right now for this defense as a whole, as I outlined earlier when Thurman was on. And then offensively, you know, I think, I think the one thing that they have been able to rely upon to kick them back in gear is using the run game as a catalyst for everything else they want to do. And I think if they get back to that, we will see them get back to being the offense we expect.
01:24:14
Speaker 2: Them to be.
01:24:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you on all of that. There is no, and Butch has, he calls in and he seems to have these pretty simple, straightforward solutions to a lot of the problems, or at least the hiccups that the Bills have faced.
01:24:31
Speaker 1: Amidst a stream of consciousness.
01:24:33
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I love Butch. He's great. He's one of our favorite callers. But there is no magic elixir that is going to fix everything the Bills want to do because you can't– you'll never see this on offense, or rarely, and you'll never, ever see it on defense. They'll never run the same thing twice in a row. They change it up snap by snap and for reasons that go beyond just giving them something else to look at. So there's no one thing you can start doing that's going to fix everything they've got to do. Plus, some of the stuff that's wrong with the offense and some of the stuff that hiccups on the defense are much more individual-based than they are scheme-based. So you're not going to fix it even by switching a guy out. The next guy that comes in is going to have his part. Otherwise, he would have been out there first, right?
01:25:29
Speaker 5: Right.
01:25:29
Speaker 3: So Skyler Bell's not going to fix the passing game. Greg Dortch isn't going to fix the passing game. There's still only one football to go around. And you're not going to put Skyler Bell or Dortch ahead of Kincaid on the pecking order or anybody else or DJ Moore if he's available. So everything you do, there's a reason. A ripple effect the other way.
01:25:52
Speaker 1: There's a.
01:25:54
Speaker 3: Consequence for every move you make. Somebody's got to sit down. If you put somebody in the game, somebody's got to sit down. And if you do one thing, it means somebody else is doing something they're not very good at. So there's a lot of that going around. And you've got to have– this offense was clicking in the first couple of weeks because they had so much going well for them. The run game– The tight end game, the quick passing game, the deep passing game, Josh's legs, James Cook's legs, the tight ends, 13 personnel, 11 personnel. All of that was working. It's pretty easy to look good when that's happening.
01:26:29
Speaker 1: Got to take a break here. One segment to go. We'll get to Ross and Buffalo when we return here on One Bills Live. All right, back here on One Bills Live, Chris Brown, Steve Tasker, and right back to the phones to Ross in Buffalo before we're out of here. What do.
01:27:01
Speaker 2: You got?
01:27:01
Speaker 7: Okay, guys, I'll be quick. For offensive spark, definitely put Skyler Bell in.
01:27:08
Speaker 10: Even if D.J.
01:27:08
Speaker 7: Moore is back, take out Josh Palmer. I think the Bills should go back to the 4-3. We have the second-worst defense and take points allowed behind Detroit now. The only good thing about this 3-4 is Greg Rousseau. So if they could go back to the 4-3 and make Greg Rousseau a linebacker, that'd be good. But definitely Skyler Bell and put Kincaid back. I don't know why he was not in last week. Also, I love when Steve Tasker's cold because when he's repped, When he's wrapped up, he looks like the kid from E.T., the little boy on the front of the bike. And also, Butch should be down one call a month. He's so long-winded, he's ridiculous. Take care, guys.
01:27:55
Speaker 1: All right, Ross, thanks for the call. Yeah, it's actually E.T. that's wearing the hood on the front of the bike, not the kid.
01:28:03
Speaker 3: Thanks for that, though.
01:28:04
Speaker 1: In any event. We didn't ask you to try to fix the defense, and to think they're going to flip back to a 4-3 is a little ludicrous. You spent all offseason instituting this system. And look, there are times where they play with a four-down front or a four-man front, you know, in nickel situations. So it's not completely a three, you know, a bare front all the time. And as for offense, Kincaid played a lot in the game. He just wasn't targeted. So they've got to find a way to incorporate him more into the series-to-series calls. or find a way to scheme him open if he's getting bracketed. Maybe that comes through pre-snap alignment. Maybe some late jet motion or burst motion before the snap to switch the coverage assignments by the opponent. You know, they can try all those things. They can try stacks, you know, where they stack two receivers together and then That can complicate coverage at times. But, yeah, I mean, Skyler Bell could be up this week. He very well may well be, depending on the availability of DJ Moore.
01:29:10
Speaker 3: Well, that's the key.
01:29:12
Speaker 1: That's it for us today. Got Dan Orlovsky tomorrow. We'll see you here at 10.