Buffalo Bills rushing offense led by Frank Gore Jr. shines in preseason loss to Carolina Panthers

the preseason has come to an end for the Buffalo Bills with a 31-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers I'm sharing my top observations from the game today on lock on [Music] bills you are locked on bills your daily Buffalo Bills podcast part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day what's up bills Mafia uh it's Joe Marino author of go bills and Buffalo's run also the co-host of the lock on NFL scouting podcast and I your host of locked on bills want to thank you for making locked on bills your first listen every day and a big welcome and shout out to our every dayers you know who you are those of you who never miss a single episode I appreciate y'all being here very very much I'd also like to invite you to subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts we're part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV just visit fanduel.com locked on to get started well folks welcome in the pre-season thank God is over the bills falling 31-26 to the Carolina Panthers on a beautiful Sunday or excuse me Saturday afternoon at High Mark stadium and so we are going to reflect on my top observations from the game again preseason not really about the results it's about how players performed and so I want to discuss that with you here today on this podcast we'll start by talking about the rushing offense then we'll get to the passing game then we'll talk defense and special teams I want to start with the rushing offense because I thought that was really the highlight of the game for the Buffalo Bills and we'll get to the passing offense and I think the quarterbacks did a little more than I expected but this rushing offense was extremely good wind up having 27 carries 164 yards over six yards per carry the Bills running backs if you take away the the quarterback runs Bills running backs over five yards per carry was a really good day and I think it starts with the offensive line of course they created a ton of movement and displacement in the Run game if you watch the game constantly bills blockers on the other side of the line of scrimmage with no penetration from Carolina I knew that Bears game in week one was fluky when it comes to this rushing offense the timing just wasn't there but boy oh boy did they did they respond the last couple of weeks and it's Collective right it's I know that today wasn't an opportunity to see the bill starters but I think there's a trickle down effect here in terms of how the rushing offense is supposed to look and how the the backup units respond to that as well and of course the Bills starting offensive line did a great job with run blocking last week against Pittsburgh I thought there was just a few warts in pass protection the big Shining Moment was Richard garage he was late reacting to the te stunt him and Ryan vandemar garage is supposed to slide down and and pass off the the the tackle because the end's coming around and he was late to get off of that stunt and gave up a sack and then I think the other notable sack was given up by Zack davidon in pass protection and he's a tight end so good overall day for this Bills offensive line showcasing their depth and that starting group for this game with Cedric vanran Granger at Center the guards being Lyall Collins and Alec Anderson your tackles being tylon grael and Ryan vandemar and I thought they were terrific and the next unit was was just fine as well but the running backs also feasted off of this run blocking and I thought both Frank Gore Jr and Darron Evans showcased themselves extremely well it was a big opportunity for them you figured you wouldn't see James Cook Ray Davis or Tai Johnson running the ball in this game and it would be a lot of Evans and a lot of Frank Gore Jr both played well unfortunately both got hurt and couldn't finish the game hamstring injury for Daron Evans knee injury for Frank Gore Jr and Frank Gore took xra after the game that's all we know about the status of those two players at this point in time and you figure one you know at least one of them is going to be on this bill's practice squad at least one maybe both we'll see if injuries complicate that but I think the good news is you felt good about watching both of them play and really throughout the entire preseason it wasn't just today they've had both of them have had good preseason Frank Gore in this game 18 carries 111 yards had a touchdown I think you got a good chance to see his skill set very patient Runner that works off of his Blocks he's tight with his with his Cuts very efficient Runner finishes runs extremely well for a small back and so that's what you get I think you think he's got pretty good contact balance I think what's missing with Frank Gore is speed right like there was that one run kind of earlier in the game where the right side just everything was caved down and Frank G had a a clear path to to break towards the sideline and get a big chunk boy oh boy did that Turf disappear slowly that linebacker had no issue getting an angle on and so that's kind of the big piece of where Gore's lacking he just doesn't have much size and athleticism but you like the style in which he runs he's very compact patient all that's very good just very very modest I mean I wouldn't even say modest poor I would say poor physical traits for an NFL running back in terms of size and athleticism with Darren Evans he has three rushes for 15 yards three catches for 28 yards and a touchdown so six touches 43 yards in a score and he's got juice right like in in some ways the exact opposite of Frank Gore where Evans is able to just be really Shifty and explosive and Twitchy and has that Breakaway ability about him uh but maybe doesn't have the same level of physicality that a Frank Gore gives you I guess for a a third preseason game it's a great tandem right nice complimentary skill sets and so I'll be interested to see what happens first of all with their health and then second of all if the bills keep one or both of them on the practice squad it's an interesting decision to make ahead for the Buffalo Bills and um I could see the case for for either one of those two players all right folks here in just a second we're going to talk quarterbacks wide receivers tight ends but I do want to tell you about a new tradition that I'm very excited to be part of uh it's the rally at the river presented by Colton RV and Marines rally on the river the day before kickoff festival at Buffalo riverworks you got to check this out September 7th I'm going live at 3:00 doing a live podcast at Buffalo River works Saturday September 7th three o'clock the rally on the river can't wait for that that's going to be fun getting a chance to do a live show hopefully there's great interaction and participation from people that attend it's going to be fun and it's going to be a big event like a day long event there's free admission it's a familyfriendly event you get the live podcast for me at three o'clock there's also going to be performances from the strictly hip uh Scott salani Tom Petty cover band and Mark Christie of Flipside there's a beer release party for Buffalo's first organic beer called om which stands for organically made I've had a chance to try this beer it's actually very very good there's going to be free tastings and giving giveaways on the new beer line you got to try this it's it's like if you're interested in like very like clean organic ingredients this thing that's what it is but it also tastes very good check that out there's a mechanical Buffalo you can ride there's uh all kinds of stuff local Buffalo vendors 26 shirts is going to be there the totally Buffalo store I mean a lot of things going on plus chalk vest is going on that day this is a a really cool thing where they have the the grain silos there there's tons of concrete and all these chalk artists from the area are going to come in and draw things on there and I saw some of the art a couple weeks ago when I was touring the facility and I'm going away by these drawings and the theme of this chalkfest is authentically Western New York so you can look at the chalk art they've got amusement rides there they've got kayaking zip lining it's an unbelievable property come hang out with me the day before kickoff Festival the rally at the river Buffalo River works Saturday September 7th there's a link in today's show notes so if you want to check it out there's a link to the Facebook event page in today's show notes come make us part of your kickoff weekend I cannot wait for this event uh that proper that Buffalo River works as one cool place and I'm honored to be part of this new tradition all right folks passing game stuff we're talking about that on the other side of it be sure to stick with me this show is sponsored by better help when your schedule is packed with kids activities big work projects and more it's easy to let your priorities slip even when we know it makes us happy it'll be hard sometimes for us to make time for that but when you feel like you have no time for yourself non-negotiables like therapy are more important than ever if you're thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it's entirely online designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule all you do is fill out a brief questionnaire that'll get you match with a licensed therapist you could switch therapists at any time for no additional charge never skip therapy day with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com lockon today to get 10% off your first month that's betterhelp.com lockon all right let's talk uh quarterbacks wide receivers tight ends tell you what these quarterbacks are a lot better than I expected banducci has like a week and a half on the team Anthony Brown has just under a week on the team and these guys came in and I thought they were okay which I don't know I didn't expect much out of them at all denucci goes 11 of 15 for 76 yards and a touchdown Anthony Brown goes 11 of 12 for 102 yards and I think Joe Brady did a good job of giving them some like scheme throws just get the ball out of their hand make it easy for them to find some Rhythm completions and then some situations where they able to roll outside the pocket and and work on the move and both of those guys are are pretty decent athletes with good size so you can definitely ask them to do that type of stuff and I thought they functioned pretty well and it's an important showcase for for those players obviously the bills have roster spots available at quarterback and and not really roster spots but like practice squad spots is what I should have said there the quarterback three for this team is probably going to be one of those two guys I thought it was wise of Joe Brady to kind of give them an opportunity to showcase themselves like play a little bit I know things are going to be limited in terms of your knowledge of the system and and time on task and chemistry with the receivers but we're GNA give you a chance and I thought both of them functioned reasonably well I mean you're talking about an offensive performance where they scored 26 points 21 first downs seven of 12 on third Downs it's not bad right it's not bad and I think they both had their moments now they both had their wild moments too bonucci rolling outside the pocket throwing back across his body he likes to get into some weird arm angles from time to time you can tell um Anthony Brown I don't think he had the goofy moments but um showcased his athleticism as well with a nice scramble I think there was some positive flashes from both of these guys that makes you feel like you can at least get a quarterback three out of them and that's really what the bills need we'll see what happens with qb2 what the timetable is on trabis if the bills wind up making a move whether it's a trade or they sign somebody that gets cut plenty to pay attention to on that front over the coming days but I thought these rece these quarterbacks were reasonably good all things considered as for the wide receivers I would say that they had moments right I thought that's that's kind of the overarching theme they had moments in this game uh Dion Kane I thought he had some good moments three catches for 20 yards all of those being kind of quick passes to the perimeter and on all three occasions he made that first guy Miss and got some yards after catch he looked like Sammy Watkins out there right with the dreads wearing that 14 jersey kind of having that bigger thicker build wasn't obviously Sammy but you I mean come on you thought it too didn't you so he was kind of fun to watch and I thought at a minimum you know made the most of this opportunity and that's all he can do deir bird another late arrival to the the wide receiver core had a 20- yard catch stiff armed to dude super competitive Xavier Johnson two Targets two catches for 18 yards I thought KJ hamler was his best in this game uh very competitive when he got the ball in his hands and not just a couple of catches but he ran the ball a few times as well the bills were out of running backs at the end of the game and so he he was able to run the ball few times and did well for himself and I thought he was very very competitive and I obviously he had a drop earlier in the preseason and and muffed the kick return which is not great but this was a much better Showcase of his ability and certainly you could see he was straining to try to make some plays and that's a good thing Tyrell Shavers has two catches for 25 yards um a lot of a lot of commentary about the Red Zone Target and here we are once again with a somehow a controversial Red Zone play I know that he cooked that corner right the double move plenty of space but he also misplayed that ball bonucci put that ball exactly where it's supposed to be all right and Tyrell Shavers coming out of that break he slows down he doesn't track and get to the ball well enough it's a very reasonable play for a a wide receiver to make and a perfectly fine throw by the quarterback and I can understand why you might think it's the quarterback when receivers is able to win the route like that and create that much space but based on when the ball was released and where that ball supposed to be it was where it supposed to be Tyrell Shavers has to he has to be able to run to that ball and it wasn't like a difficult catch or anything like that I'd expect him to make that play So my blame is squarely on Tyrell Shavers and it's a play he's got to make it's a play he's got to make I know that some people want to say it was a throw it wasn't the throw folks I promise you it wasn't the throw tyell Shavers got to make that play as for the tight ends I thought Zack Davidson and Trey mckitty both played well Zack Davidson four catches for 23 yards he did get cooked by DJ Johnson on on a pass Pro rep uh gave up a sack which that's the that's the deal with Davidson right he's got some nice pass catching upside you saw him make make the one-handed catch yards after catch he's he's a nice little pass catcher but some of the other things that are important for a tight end blocking not necessarily where he he makes up a lot of ground Trey mcky had a catch for 20 yards and then on the two-point conversion right it was like a pass and he was able to adjust and catch the ball um and was able to convert that and so it's an interesting situation there with these tight ends uh obviously Quinton Morris is the preferred tight end three for this team but I think the bills have a decision to make on on Quinton Morris and understanding the severity of his shoulder injury and if they're going to try to have him play through that or if they're going to shut him down with surgery we'll find out um but if if they do shut him down one of these two guys is going to make the team and they're going to dress and my suspicion is is that it's Trey mcky and that people are going to be upset about that because there's a lot to like about Davidson and his energy and the pass pass catching ability but the tight end three role is really uh blocking in special teams and I think mckitty probably has the edge there and and listen I know that what you're thinking is like well the bills run 12 Personnel if they want the pass catcher they need Davidson the bills run 12 Personnel because they have Canad and Knox you saw it last year when they didn't have cancade and Knox when either cancade or Knox was out they didn't run 12 Personnel nearly at the same level of frequency they run 12 Personnel specifically because they have conc and Knox when you take one of them out of the equation that's that's not something that they want to tap into so this is when you talk about the receiving upside it's definitely Davidson not that mck's a bad receiver but the upside is with Davidson but you're talking about the tight end three might be a I mean like what aggressively a 10 Target for the season type situation maybe so we'll see how that shakes out great if Quint Morris was good to go I don't know that that's going to be the case got more to learn on that front all right folks we got a ton left to get to all of the defense special teams you know we got to talk Tyler bass we know we gotta S Talk Sam Martin the returners all of that's coming up here on the other side of it folks be sure to stick with me when you're hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn isn't just under job board LinkedIn helps you hire professionals that you can't find anywhere else even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but might be open to the perfect role in a given month over 70% of LinkedIn users don't even visit other leading job sites so if you're not looking on LinkedIn you're looking in the wrong place on LinkedIn 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours so hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NFL that's linkedin.com lockon NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all right folks defense and special teams the rest of the way here not a great day for the defense right just not a whole lot of resistance um and that's what I'm trying to work through on the lockon bill subtext you can join that there's a link in today's show notes to join the lock on Bill subtext where you get my uh kind of my drive by Drive analysis on what's going on in real time and it was hard to put together the text for defense because there just wasn't a lot of resistance and you're trying to figure out all right who's getting cooked here it was tough uh bills give up 31 points 22 first downs uh Panthers are 10 of 17 on possession Downs 414 yards 6.4 yards per play 340 passing yards to whoever the heck these quarterback I know Bryce young started the game um and then was it Jack plumber coming in these guys were getting what they wanted against this bills defense they're three for three in the red zone not a banner day for the defense right for the bills and I think that always starts up front the defensive line was really really quiet and I was hoping to feel some guys a bit more you know deshun Williams got plenty of run in this game Kingsley Jonathan Casey twohill Casey two Hill gets unblocked that's a clear shot at a sack and he whiffs because he doesn't he doesn't go for the upfield shoulder like come on man this was your chance to make a play you couldn't do it so you you certainly hope to see I mean those guys have been rostered NFL players for the last few years I was hopeful to feel more of their presence in this game I don't think Dwayne Carter played which is a good sign for Dwayne Carter I think the bills wind up rostering four defensive tackles Oliver Jones Carter and Johnson um but just was hoping for more collectively I thought Branson Dean had some decent moments in terms of penetration style reps where he's able to get in the back field and be a little bit disruptive had some pressure Gable Stevenson flashed a little little bit with some of that same same type of stuff Rond delbard had a sack which was a good play but that's the first thing he's done yet Cameron Klein's a player that I want to like he had a tackle for loss in this game I think he's got some power elements to his game and decent run Defender but he's such a segmented and Slow Burn pass rusher that I just it's hard to really Buy in on that guy so quiet day for the defensive line which unsurprisingly means a pretty bad day for the bills defense linebackers not a great day right I feel like the bills were getting really worked in the middle of the field in the passing game and I think that speaks to linebackers and safeties Jo andrees uh completely out of position on that first touchdown uh to was it was it tight end over the middle of the field was it was it Matthews or Thomas I can't remember but he just completely buzzes down in the flats vacates the space behind him that he's responsible for and then you know Bryce young throws a touchdown pass and they're all excited about it but I mean honestly anybody could have threw that touchdown pass Joe andrion just buzzed completely out of his spot so I think you saw some of his shortcomings in coverage and certainly was not nearly as impactful as we saw last week against Pittsburgh and and look I'm I'm sure last week he benefited a bit from what was around him and certainly not his quality of talent playing with him and so you can't really deny last week in terms of the quick downhill trigger against the run the way he played off contact was really good but what I I think is fair to say about Joe andreon and we'll study the tape and figure it out but he definitely didn't double down right based on the live watch so we'll see what that means for his overall resume that he's built to this point to make this roster seems like we got a nice extended look at Edan Osio who certainly flashed a couple of times to me he's a guy that when I go back and watch the tape tomorrow he'll be a high priority for me to look at and kind of get a feel for what he was able to do in this game and it looked like a rough go for Deon Jones who I think played the first couple of series I saw him get blasted out of out of one run fit but I certainly didn't see enough to really assess although it didn't feel like it was a good performance in real time and I'm pretty sure those are the only three linebackers the bills played in this game if I'm not mistaken they only played andr Osio and Deon Jones I'm not sure a single other one played so we'll confirm that and check out the tape but didn't feel like a strong performance from the linebackers let's get to cornerbacks how about dayquon Hardy continues to be a bright spot they challenged him down the field one-on-one he had a pass breakup tight coverage carrying that vertical route had a tackle for loss as well the dude's a baller I just I love the way he plays I love how he competes and um he's been a real Revelation for this team if you remember one of the things that I said going into the you know the spring and summer was I thought the bills needed more competition for that CB4 spot outside right like Jamara singam was pretty much being handed the job U behind KY elim and the only meaningful air quotes meaningful competition was Kiren Brown you saw what that guy is I mean he got cooked again in this game this time for a touchdown the receiver and quarterback was able to hook up for that play but he got absolutely dusted in coverage that was the only real Contender for CB4 and now we've seen in terms of outside threats we've seen now dayquon Hardy emerge and you feel decent about him and Ingram and elim behind your starters and Benford Benford and Douglas so dayin Hardy's emergence at corner is a big deal we'll talk about this the Special Teams version of him in just a moment but he continues to impress me I already mentioned kirron Brown getting absolutely cooked uh toori couch slot Corner played a ton in this game I think he continues to flash from the slot had some nice tackles in space had a sack I think um he's certainly earned himself a strong strong consideration for a practice squad gig at the minimum I mean I don't think he's gonna make the the active roster but when I say at a minimum I mean to make that practice squad and kind of be on a on a path that you know we'll see what happens in future years the bills have whether it's been Jamarcus Ingram it seems like this year or Cam Lewis in years past they've had this little pipeline going from the practice squad and maybe maybe Tori couch can do that um but we'll see what the tape says more on these Corners I know KY elim played early in this game I know Jamarcus Ingram played as well and so I want to kind of get more familiar with what they did after watching the tape at safety Kareem Jackson flash with a few nice tackles and space I'm not sure how that's going to shake out its safety it feels like the bills are going to want their safeties to be uh rap Hamlin Bishop Edwards and then cam Lewis is probably like a safety slot hybrid I don't know that there's space on this roster for Kareem Jackson or anyone like that Kendall Williamson continues to be like on the wrong end of bad plays for the bills missed a tackle on the glance route touchdown I think to Terrence Marshall uh and he was late to close on another touchdown if I'm not mistaken so he's he's just always fooled up and um has made some big mistakes so far this preseason let's get the special teams obviously the big conversation at Tyler bass uh made from 31 missed from 51 he made his extra point but I mean even when he made that extra point it was from the left hash and it just it's the ball's just on this just flaring right trajectory he's just not hitting the ball pure um and then he missed the landing Zone on a kickoff and that means the Panthers get the ball at the 40 so I know this is technically his first Miss of the preseason but you you you read the practice reports just like I do I mean he goes four of six seemingly every day with Miss all kinds of Misses from 40 41 yards all the time every day it feels like now one thing I do want to clarify because I've gotten enough questions from people that I feel like I need to say this out loud when you hear that Tyler bass goes four to six don't think to yourself that oh my God he's only attempting six field goals in practice those are just referring to the team drills where where all where 11 on 11 is doing a practicing the kickoff the kick field goals right Tyler bass kicks tons of field goals off to the side during individual work right so I I compare this to like Josh Allen you might read that Josh Allen went uh eight of 10 in team we He Didn't Throw just 10 pra uh balls during the practice that was just the team drills he threw 50 other passes in individual and seven on seven work so same type of thing with Tyler bass if you hear he goes four for six those are just the Reps that are in team drills he does a lot of kicking off to the side um otherwise so bottom line here is is there's just a lot to be concerned about with Tyler Bass the way he finished last season weight weight training camp is gone now he has a Miss in the game and we'll see what type of leash the bills have on him um moving on is very costly the bills would lose seven .4 million in cap space this year and next and that's tough and I know that people are going to say well if the bills cared about dead cap space they wouldn't make this Stefan dig straight well I'm I'm not sure that's really I'm not sure that's a one for one thing it's certainly worthwhile to point to but I just want you to calibrate your expectations that there's a good chance the bills just continue with Tyler bass and it's because of the contract and and the reality is if you're going to move on from Tyler bash you have to feel confident that you're going to upgrade that spot and there are teams in the NFL every year that have massive kicking problems and it looks like the bills could be one of those teams this year I'm not going to sugarcoat it but your path to improving is hard to identify and on top of that if you make a change it cost you basically s a half million doll in cap space this year and next it's a tough pill to swallow the best outcome would be that Tyler mass is the kicker for the bills and he's awesome I understand that you're concerned about that I am too but if you if you move on from Tyler bass and you eat that cap space boy oh boy you better be right and that that kicker you bring in he better clearly be better it's a complicated situation but you heard Shawn mcder say after the game like earlier this week he was asked about Tyler bass during his press conference and he said look I understand the questions but I'm I'm confident with where he's at I like the way he's striking the ball Etc ETA he said all the right things then today after after this missing the game you know the the reporter said look I understand it's not a a chip shot but he missed from 51 he goes yeah that's a that's a bass that Tyler bass need that's a kick that Tyler bass needs to make Tyler knows that he's going to practice that kick a million times this week in practice felt a little bit more direct as opposed to kind of the giving the the confidence play that he did earlier in the week it's a complicated situation I think Sam Martin's been T terrific this uh preseason by the way three punts today 50 yard average one goes out of Bounds at the three I think he's been awesome and and oh by the way I want to clarify something right now he has zero culpability in Tyler bass not making field goals zero Tyler bat has had the best season of his career with Sam Martin as the holder and Sam Martin has held for two other allpro kickers during some of their best seasons like what what are we talking about just you don't have to blame something else Tyler bass has to be better the holding is fine Sam Martin in his 10th year whatever the heck it is didn't suddenly forget how to hold after a very good career as a holder so I feel very confident with Sam Martin obviously the concerns are with Sam Martin from the return situation today Dayco Hardy I think his growth as a decision maker was notable today um you saw him get a chance to field a punt around the five yard line and he let it go right he did the fair catch step forward let it let the hit the ground they bills got a Touchback and you also saw on a kickoff return opportunity he was wise to let the ball go out of bounds because that means the bills get the ball at the 40 so two great decisions today from dayquon Hardy which is notable growth from what we saw in the first two preseason games and then also on special teams thought it was notable that Ty Johnson uh had that first kick return opportunity in the game I like that role for him a lot I I I'm a big proponent of with this new kickoff return situation you need you need contact balance you need Vision um and you need some speed and I I think that you got to be able to break a tackle and I'm I'm surprised that you're seeing so many like smaller receivers and DBS get these opportunities I want a running back that can break a tackle and then get down the field I think that's what you have to beat that first wave somehow and it's it's a lot tighter of a situation so I think contact balance really matters and so Ty Johnson's a guy that I was excited to see that role I would put Johnson and Hardy back there if it was me making that decision uh but I thought it was notable that he got the first opportunity to return a kick in this game all right folks there you have it my initial reaction to the bills and their performance against the Panthers to close out the preseason and boy we got a lot to do from here um got all 22 review to do and then the bills are going to make a bunch of roster moves over the next few days uh cuts are due by four o'clock on Tuesday there's going to be a lot to talk about there it'll be a lot to talk about in terms of what the initial 53 looks like and then the bills got a game to get ready for against the Arizona Cardinals so plenty to do here on this podcast stick with me for the ride folks make sure that you're subscribed would love it if you took a second a rate review and share the podcast again Link in today's show notes for the rally on the river and of course the lockon bill subex Community appreciate you being here folks go bills I look forward to catching up with you again real real soon