Observations from the game (Lions-Bills)

[Dr. Lecter]

1. Holy empty stadiums. Maybe 25,000 there. At most 30,000. The private lots were empty too.

2. Brian Moorman is back. He was booming the kicks like his old self. And placing them well too.

3. Merriman, if healthy, is still a hell of a talent.

4. Jasper was better than last week but still needs a lot of work. I think he will go on the practice squad but he might not even go there. At least he did not stand straight up every play.

5. Hairston was very inconsistent. Generally he was not that bad. When he blew it - he blew it bad though. Clearly he needs some work to develop and learn.

6. Antonio Coleman was all over the field

7. Reggie Corner was horrible and great all in one series

8. I am not sure Shawn Nelson played at all. It is shame as he has talent but has never been able to stay on the field

9. Bruce Hall runs hard and with good energy. It would be nice if he got a shot somewhere sometime

10. There is no depth on the Oline. Hangartner looked bad too. Hairston might be the best on the bench

11. The Bills are flirting with blocking a kick

12. The Bills store is not nearly as good as the Sabres store. And the women's jerseys they said would be there are not there. And they have no Kyle Williams jerseys.

13. If the starters stay healthy the team can be competitive. They is depth at very few positions.

14. Kamar Aiken deserves a PS slot.

15. Chris White could be a career long depth and ST guy.

16. I am ready for the regular season in one week and the home opener in two. The home opener is always a great time with great people and great friends!

[psubills62]

2. Yes...the Detroit guy was far, far back on a lot of his punts.

9. Hall might force the hand of the coaches to keep a 4th RB.

11. I noticed the Bills were very, very close to blocking a couple of Hanson's FG's. Was surprised at one point that he had gotten it off.

Agree with pretty much everything here. Good observations, Lecter.

[Oaf]

My vers.

From tonight (not overall).

Levi > Thigpen - by a significant amt
Hall > White
Caussin > S. Nelson
Heard > Jasper - although J did play better

I favored Hairston more than I think Dr. L did, thought he was solid on the left side.
Shep, Batten played well. Aiken was the only WR not to make at least one boneheaded play, although some of the boneheads made a play or two to at least break even (Davis, R. Martin).

If all things were even, Hall reminds me of a Danny Woodhead-type and makes the active roster, with White on PS. However, it looks like White's job to lose even though he didn't show me much in terms of ball carrier vision this preseason.

[justasportsfan]

12. The Bills store is not nearly as good as the Sabres store. And the women's jerseys they said would be there are not there. And they have no Kyle Williams jerseys.



couldn't find one to match your thong eh?

[Meathead]

still three wins?

[jimbohastle51]

by monday afternoon there will be a vet G and a vet T added to this team after cuts are finalized. do not be surprised if one of them are brought in and start opening day much like milloy did years ago for us after his surprise cut.

[jimbohastle51]

thanks to this jacked up off season due to the lockout and all these low 1 year deals as players are just trying to bide their time till next off season there are going to be some insane low deals being signed by guys just trying to get on a 53 man roster that normally probably wouldnt even be cut under a normal off season.

[don137]

couldn't find one to match your thong eh?
Bad visual.

[John Doe]

15. Chris White could be a career long depth and ST guy.


I thought that Chris White played himself off the team last night, although he did make a great special teams ball strip.

[Goobylal]

I thought that Chris White played himself off the team last night, although he did make a great special teams ball strip.
I wonder how much of that was the injury affecting him? I like his potential and see him on the PS for sure.

[Night Train]

My obersvation is that no effort or preparation was put into this game, which is common with every NFL team in the last pre-season game. Survive and ready for week 1. The backups are supposedly playing for a roster spot but they have already been decided.

A total waste of a game but more $$ for Ralph.


So it's hard for me to care about supposed good or poor efforts from last night.

[X-Era]

1. Holy empty stadiums. Maybe 25,000 there. At most 30,000. The private lots were empty too.

2. Brian Moorman is back. He was booming the kicks like his old self. And placing them well too.

3. Merriman, if healthy, is still a hell of a talent.

4. Jasper was better than last week but still needs a lot of work. I think he will go on the practice squad but he might not even go there. At least he did not stand straight up every play.

5. Hairston was very inconsistent. Generally he was not that bad. When he blew it - he blew it bad though. Clearly he needs some work to develop and learn.

6. Antonio Coleman was all over the field

7. Reggie Corner was horrible and great all in one series

8. I am not sure Shawn Nelson played at all. It is shame as he has talent but has never been able to stay on the field

9. Bruce Hall runs hard and with good energy. It would be nice if he got a shot somewhere sometime

10. There is no depth on the Oline. Hangartner looked bad too. Hairston might be the best on the bench

11. The Bills are flirting with blocking a kick

12. The Bills store is not nearly as good as the Sabres store. And the women's jerseys they said would be there are not there. And they have no Kyle Williams jerseys.

13. If the starters stay healthy the team can be competitive. They is depth at very few positions.

14. Kamar Aiken deserves a PS slot.

15. Chris White could be a career long depth and ST guy.

16. I am ready for the regular season in one week and the home opener in two. The home opener is always a great time with great people and great friends!

Agree with most of it. Considering the number of plays Hairston played, I think he did well. He did blow a block that led to a sack. Depth is a real concern at OL. If they don't sign a vet, they may be screwing the teams success... injuries happen.

[zone]

My obersvation is that no effort or preparation was put into this game, which is common with every NFL team in the last pre-season game. Survive and ready for week 1. The backups are supposedly playing for a roster spot but they have already been decided.

A total waste of a game but more $$ for Ralph.


So it's hard for me to care about supposed good or poor efforts from last night.
I agree, like Gailey said when asked at half time last night, It is more likely for a guy to lose a roster spot than gain one in this game.

[ServoBillieves]

Pretty much hit the nail on the head in the original post.

I would add that Levi Brown almost definitely should make it over Thigpen. Who knows, though, especially with his contract being as it is. Brown looked good (albeit against 3rd/4th stringers) but Thigpen looked awful against 2nd teams.

[PromoTheRobot]

My obersvation is that no effort or preparation was put into this game, which is common with every NFL team in the last pre-season game. Survive and ready for week 1. The backups are supposedly playing for a roster spot but they have already been decided.

A total waste of a game but more $$ for Ralph.


So it's hard for me to care about supposed good or poor efforts from last night.


More money for the NFL. It's not like Ralph can let people in for free. It's the same BS everywhere.

PTR

[trapezeus]

i wish levi got the nod ahead of thigpen, but you know the bean counters are involved.

they most likely will go qB in the draft this year. unless fitz truly earns it, they aren't going to give him a contract next year. and they need someone to "teach" the new guy and take the lumps early so they can break the new qb in at their pace. they don't want to tell us fans that they'll willingly throw away another season just to do it cheaply. So they'll tell thigpen, "you got the job and you're a great role player and really a smart player. here's a small raise, and you'll be a starting qb."

Then thigpen blows, the new guy steps in ahead of schedule and they ruin him. ala the bills recipe of bringing a qb to fruition.

the most frustrating part of that is you know that fitz is the ideal guy to groom a guy and could actually win some games in the mean time, but it'll cost about 2 starting qb's worth, which shouldn't matter since we have so much extra in reserve. but they'll tell you we have kelsay and parrish signed til infinity. then you'll go throw up and watch pegula's championship team try to repeat.

[psubills62]

I wonder how much of that was the injury affecting him? I like his potential and see him on the PS for sure.
I've actually been thinking for several weeks now that Chris White will probably end up on the PS. I don't like cutting draft picks that quickly, but he's only a 6th rounder, we've got a lot of depth at ILB (whether it's talented or not is another question), and I have my doubts as to if any teams would try to sign him. JMO.

[Beebe's Kid]

My obersvation is that no effort or preparation was put into this game, which is common with every NFL team in the last pre-season game. Survive and ready for week 1. The backups are supposedly playing for a roster spot but they have already been decided.

A total waste of a game but more $$ for Ralph.


So it's hard for me to care about supposed good or poor efforts from last night.

You are nothing if not consistent. IT WAS A PRESEASON GAME. It wasn't a special addition to the schedule. There are four every year, and despite your intent to paint this as a cash grab; Ralph did not decide to add an extra game.

It must be hard to have every thing in life be part of a grand conspiracy against you.

[madness]

I liked Spiller's big gain... it looked very Jackson-esque.

[psubills62]

I'm going to add one more observation since people keep talking about him: Kamar Aiken. He had one really nice snag (Thigpen slant route, I believe, on 3rd down), but I seem to remember several dropped passes, one was on a deep route. He impressed me in general this preseason, but I didn't think he was as fantastic as people indicated last night.

[Historian]

How was Easley?

[Oaf]

I'm going to add one more observation since people keep talking about him: Kamar Aiken. He had one really nice snag (Thigpen slant route, I believe, on 3rd down), but I seem to remember several dropped passes, one was on a deep route. He impressed me in general this preseason, but I didn't think he was as fantastic as people indicated last night.
I don't remember any of those, although the deep one can be contested. He had to slow down on it and I believe a defender had a hand between his as they were going down.

[DraftBoy]

Somebody talk to me about the drops from Easley and Stevie? Catchable balls? Where did they hit them? Were they knocked loose or just good ol drops?

[justasportsfan]

How was Easley?
good at ST

[psubills62]

I don't remember any of those, although the deep one can be contested. He had to slow down on it and I believe a defender had a hand between his as they were going down.
I'm pretty sure it bounced right off his hands and the defender's back was turned. I can't remember any others specifically, but I know there were a few other times he had catchable balls and didn't bring them in.

[Dr. Lecter]

Somebody talk to me about the drops from Easley and Stevie? Catchable balls? Where did they hit them? Were they knocked loose or just good ol drops?
Very catchable. Stevie was reaching back a bit over his shoulder, but it was right in the hands. They were bad drops.

Fitz also overthrew a wide open Johnson on one play, although I am not sure Johnson ever kicked it into high gear for the ball (which he probably would not have been able to reach regardless)

[DraftBoy]

Very catchable. Stevie was reaching back a bit over his shoulder, but it was right in the hands. They were bad drops.

Fitz also overthrew a wide open Johnson on one play, although I am not sure Johnson ever kicked it into high gear for the ball (which he probably would not have been able to reach regardless)

This is going to become a reoccuring nightmare if it carries over into the regular season.

Drops kill drives.