Post-Preseason Scrutiny for the Buffalo Bills
Slackers mooched free water on the sideline despite not playing. Benched preseason players just don’t care. Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs wearing their uniforms will remain this month’s funniest moment. Engaging in cosplay is their own form of gaming.
Infinity percent fewer snaps than last preseason works out. We saw that Buffalo’s king remembered how to throw with no need to work on timing around this time last summer. Yelling at coaches to yank him was the most drama during the previous preseason. Those repetitions still apply. These games are there if teams need them. Many on this particular team do not.
Getting Kyle Allen jokes out of the way is easier based on a performance that didn’t quite wow. Worries about his play distract from how he doesn’t have his first name’s initial on his jersey. I guess the equipment staff figures we can tell apart Allens. The players with the same family name are unlikely to be on the field simultaneously.
The Bills knew who they were before the real pretend kickoff. I mean, they sort-of have it down. Defining ourselves is always tricky even with established behavioral patterns.
At least, they knew more than their foe. Indianapolis tried much more urgently to determine their identity. They have to show more than the Isaiah McKenzie resentment agenda. Striving to make his previous employer rue not continuing their work agreement took the form of returning a quite deep kickoff. A desire for revenge can affect decisions.
Watching a quarterback debut during organized scrimmages is a relief when your favorite side is facing him. Those associated with the Colts have spent the week diagnosing confirmed starter Anthony Richardson’s handful of snaps in a glorified exhibition as if they’re new commandments. Coaches must spend the rest of the month fretting that an early interception is a bad sign. An understandably rocky start in an imitation outing will be forgotten forever if he was just adjusting.
Either way, teams like the Colts should minimize their greatest hope’s exposure to danger. Seeing their top choice tackled on a read option to start his second series and later on a keeper in the red zone called back on a penalty adds unnecessary stress to a preseason that’s already packed with stress. You can feel bad for them in a detached way.
Looking for signs of progress becomes more urgent with desperation. Preseason is the time for haruspicy. Practitioners aren’t even professionals, although that may not affect the accuracy percentage. Check the entrails again.
The easy way to guess what will happen is to look at what’s already happened. I boldly predict many teams that experienced success last season will achieve similarly welcome results during upcoming games. I’ll see if I also know Powerball numbers.
Keep wagering success is indefinite just like how every stock always goes up in value. Don’t bring me down with examples that note success could possibly do anything but necessarily increase indefinitely. Netflix is trying not to match Blockbuster’s performance. Still, some trends may continue. Teams that seemingly make the postseason by custom don’t have to place faith on glimpses the announcers might not have bothered to catch.
Some younger guys took advantage of opportunities for us to excessively analyze. James Cook’s touchdown featured a nice bounce matched by speed. Finding a replacement for Devin Singletary is as tricky as remembering to keep using a running back in this offense; such an impression may make it easier. And O’Cyrus Torrence bowled over enough defenders to inspire optimism he could remedy interior line concerns from his first NFL game.
The biggest test came for someone who also didn’t play. Sean McDermott must get used to managing every situation while managing to call the defense. He doesn’t get to take it leisurely while Buffalo has the ball. That’s even with his starting quarterback keeping busy while watching. The endlessly impressive Josh Allen compensated for not taking snaps by calling plays. The biggest competition is for the offensive coordinator position.
Get overreactions out of the way. Pretend games offer fans a chance to adjust, too. Going from cheering for a guy making the team to sighing that he’ll get cut in a second is as natural as making playoff projections during the summer. You don’t have to tell anyone what you claimed would happen during a rash summer moment.
One player found a way to make it matter. Damar Hamlin making plays will serve as the preseason’s biggest moment. That’s not just for Buffalo. Watching from a suite would have been an incredible accomplishment. Participating in action again even in preseason means the comeback player of the year race is for second place.
Three inconsequential games are our reward for waiting since the Super Bowl. It’s natural to embrace any fragment of positive anticipation from a tackle for loss or concerted third down. True fun commences in September. The faux season opener was at least a little exciting,
