Tag: buffalo bills preseason

Bills Wire Preseason Week 3 Player of the Game: Siran Neal

#Bills Wire Preseason Week 3 Player of the Game: Siran Neal (via @TejasVemparala):

The Buffalo Bills’ last preseason game was on the road against the Chicago Bears. The Bears won 24-21 in a close game and a few Bills players had a very good game.

We are awarding our third issue of the Player of the Week Award in 2023 to cornerback Siran Neal, who had two tackles, two pass deflections, and helped teammate Ja’Marcus Ingram secure Buffalo’s only interception of the game.

The Bills special team veteran was drafted by Buffalo in 2018 in the 5th round and is listed fourth on the depth chart at CB. Usually, Neal appears on special teams but Bills fans will remember his catch against the Patriots on a fake punt in December 2020.

Today, Neal was tasked with multiple snaps against the Bears first string wide receiver Darnell Mooney on the right side of the field. He prevented Bears QB Justin Fields on finding Mooney in the end zone at the end of the first quarter. He deflected another pass intended for Mooney in the end-zone from backup Chicago QB Tyson Bagent, limiting the Bears to a field goal attempt when down 7-0.

Neal would continue to frustrate Bagent and the Chicago offense when he crucially disrupted the timing of Bears wide receiver Daurice Fountain in Chicago’s sole interception of the game. When the Bills fumbled the ball after conceding a rushing touchdown to Bagent and were down 14-10 with the Bears looking to take the lead, Neal physically disrupted Fountain’s crossing route, which provided Ingram the opportunity to jump the route and intercept Bagent. This helped the Bills go into the locker room with a 7 point lead.

Neal’s physicality and man-marking skills in coverage was clearly evident and we hope he will get more snaps for the defense in the regular season and continue to make an impact in special teams.

Buffalo will be on the road at MetLife Stadium for their first regular season game against the New York Jets.

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Studs and duds from Colts’ preseason loss to Bills

Studs and duds from the Colts’ preseason opener against the Bills.

The Indianapolis Colts opened their preseason with a 23-19 loss against the Buffalo Bills on the road at Highmark Stadium on Saturday.

Marking the first time we’ve seen the Colts play under a new regime led by rookie head coach Shane Steichen. There were plenty of highs and lows from the preseason opener.

This will focus solely on those who performed well and those who failed to make a strong impression Saturday. Most of these players will have a chance to build off their performances, either good or bad, over the next two weeks.

Here are the studs and duds from preseason Week 1 opener against the Bills.

PFF: Bills’ Greg Rousseau has NFL’s highest QB pressure rate

PFF (@pff_bills): #Bills’ Greg Rousseau has NFL’s highest QB pressure rate (via @Stereorush):

The Buffalo Bills worked to build depth in their defensive end group to improve their pass rush and pocket pressure this past offseason

It’s gone so well that they are getting trade inquiry calls from teams around the league on players from their defensive end group

One reason why is the immediate impact and steady play this preseason of 2021 first-round pick Greg Rousseau. The Bills took the 21-year-old edge rusher with the 30th overall selection in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft.

And so far, that pick is paying off even sooner than expected.

In fact, according to Pro Football Focus Rousseau has had the highest percentage of any NFL player in applying pocket pressure to opposing QB’s this preseason:

The rookie defensive end’s play is opening eyes and turning heads among the media and NFL alike.

While his immediate productivity may come as a surprise to some, PFF actually predicted during their 2021 predraft analysis that the hype surrounding Rousseau would be warranted.

Considering he was second to only Chase Young in major stat categories during his final NCAA season with the University of Miami, Rousseau has the potential to progress towards becoming a starter in the NFL.

If he continues to play with this level of consistent productivity, regular season playing time in his position group rotation may come sooner than later.

That regular playing time could allow him to take those next steps towards achieving similar success at the pro level as well, which is something that Bills coaches, fans, and veterans like Bruce Smith and Andre Reed, would love to see.

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What Greg Rousseau, Sean McDermott said about first sack in preseason win

What Greg Rousseau, Sean McDermott said about first sack in #Bills preseason win vs. the #Lions:

The Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions 16-15 in a late-game comeback Friday in the Motor City.

One of the big stories of the game was the pocket pressure that came by way of Buffalo’s defensive end group throughout the contest.

The team made headlines this year using their first and second-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft to select players at the same position, defensive ends Gregory Rousseau and Boogie Basham.

This, only a year after using their highest selection in the 2020 draft to take edge rusher A.J. Epenesa.

These young players on the Bills defense are looking to impact games for a chance at more time in their position group rotation in the regular season.

And on Friday’s first live game competition, they did just that.

The 30th overall pick in 2021, Rousseau had 11 pass rushes, including three pressures, and a sack. That sack came early in the first quarter against none other than the seventh overall pick from the same draft class, Penei Sewell, who Rousseau powered his way around to push Lions QB Jared Goff to the ground.

After the game, the rookie who sat out last season at Miami was asked about the play.

“I just got off the ball, made sure I worked my hands, I think I did like a little stutter bull, and I saw Jared Goff and I tried to reach out and get him,” Rousseau said while addressing the media. “It was really great to be back out there, it was a lot of fun, the D-line we’re really tight, we live for things like that, the whole team does.”

The pressure created by Rousseau and Epenesa on the corners in closing and collapsing the pocket could be a preview of things to come, and the rookie knows it took the whole defense to get to the QB.

“It was a great feeling to get my first sack, and to be able to get back there,” Rousseau added. “But really it’s a testament to the whole defense, the secondary holding up in coverage, the other three D-lineman rushing their butts off, so really even though if I got the sack or whoever got the sack, it’s really a team effort and I’m glad we got him done.”

Rousseau wasn’t the only one happy with the results of his first game as a Bill, as head coach Sean McDermott shared his thoughts on the play.

“That’s what we want to see,” said McDermott during his media session. “We want to improve our pass rush, we were very intentional about that this offseason, so it’s good to see in particular against a guy that was picked high like Penei.”

The Bills defensive contributions didn’t stop there, 61st overall pick, Basham had a productive day as well.

While outsized at times, he was unrelenting in pressuring Detroit’s offense. It paid off in the third quarter when he combined with DE Darryl Johnson for a sack.

Free-agent addition Efe Obada joined him in making their presence felt. He played the inside and outside, and broke up a running play in the middle on fourth down.

While both players were each called during the game for roughing the passer penalties, they were part of the consistent effort that gave the Lions’ offense headaches.

The two lined up inside during the final minutes of the game with Epenesa and Rousseau on the edges, hinting at packages opposing offenses might see this season with their added versatility, size, and strength.

If this first preseason gameplay is any indication, early returns on the Bills’ DE group appear favorable. 

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Report: Bills preseason likely canceled

Buffalo Bills preseason likely to be canceled as NFL makes offer to NFLPA.

From the sounds of it, the next time we see a real Buffalo Bills football game, it’s going to be for all the marbles.

According to multiple reports on Monday, the NFL owners made an offer to players: No preseason games this coming August. The league already cut the exhibition slate from four to two games, and evidently due to the continuation of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States, all four will be gone.

Currently the various reports on the subject are saying that the NFL offered the cancellation of the preseason to the NFLPA. While there’s no word that the players union has accepted this, prior reports have suggested the NFLPA wanted the entire preseason canceled, and it appears it got its wish:

The Bills were scheduled to start the upcoming preseason on Aug. 14 at the Ravens and round it out on Sept. 3 as the Lions were set to visit Orchard Park. In terms of the next scheduled Bills game if the preseason is gone, the Bills’ Week 1 contest is on Sept. 13 as the Jets are in town.

Earlier on Monday, the two sides also came to another important agreement: COVID-19 testing protocols. That plus the canceled preseason shows the two sides are really making progress. Things have yet to be completely settled, but NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo added some further context in terms of the two sides getting on the same page on other differences:

Slow and steady, football might actually get the job done. But stay tuned to Bills Wire just to be sure as we’ll continue to bring the latest updates.

 

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