Tag: Davis Webb

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ win over the Packers

Stock up, stock down following the #Bills’ win over the #Packers (via @mckennamiddle):

The Buffalo Bills capped off their preseason with a 19-0 win over the Green Bay Packers. The Bills took control of the game during the first drive and never looked back.

When quarterback Josh Allen was on the field, Buffalo looked in mid-season form, they connected on the short and intermediate routes as well as taking calculated strikes down the field. The Bills defense also looked ready to go, creating havoc for opposing quarterback Jordan Love and forcing a turnover. 

So let us look at who performed and who didn’t in the Bills preseason finale in this week’ stock report:

What we learned from Bills’ preseason win over the Bears

What we learned from Bills’ preseason win over the Bears (via @NateMendelson):

The Buffalo Bills made it look awfully easy from start to finish against the Chicago Bears in their second preseason game. The Bills leave Chicago with a 41-15 win.

As is always the case in the preseason, there were plenty of things to note in the contest when reading between the lines.

Here are eight things we learned from the Bills’ preseason win over the Bears:

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ preseason win over the Lions

Stock up, stock down following the #Bills’ preseason win over the #Lions (via @mckennamiddle):

The Buffalo Bills kicked off their preseason with a dramatic 16-15 win over the Detroit Lions. The Bills controlled the game early, but a fourth quarter push from Detroit needed to see a late field goal from Tyler Bass to win the game for Buffalo.

Let’s see which of the preseason performers for the Bills excelled (and which didn’t) against the Detroit Lions in Bills Wire’s stock report:

Instant analysis: Bills kickoff preseason with dramatic win vs. Lions

Instant analysis: #Bills kickoff preseason with dramatic win vs. #Lions (via @jdiloro):

The Buffalo Bills brought as much drama as possible to a preseason game, besting the Detroit Lions, 16-15, in Week 1 of preseason action. Buffalo ruined Dan Campbell’s head coaching debut for the Lions, as Tyler Bass’s 44-yard field goal with 19 seconds left ended up being the difference.

The first exhibition game for the Bills game gave an opportunity for several depth players to flash their skills and challenge for a depth spot on the roster. Buffalo rested several starters, including Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders, Jerry Hughes, Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano, Tre’Davious White, Jordan Poyer, and Micah Hyde.

The good news: Many of the reserves who should make Buffalo’s final roster kept Detroit off-balance when they were on the field. In particular, the Bills defense limited any meaningful progress by the Lions offense in the first half. When this group was pushed back, they still refused to concede a touchdown.

The Lions managed only three points in the first half, as kicker Randy Bullock completed an 18-play drive with a 28-yard field goal. Levi Wallace made a nice play in the end zone to deny progress as the Lions entered the red zone.

Offensively, the Bills made a commitment to the run game in the first half. Devin Singletary carried eight times for 42 rushing yards, while Matt Breida ran 10 times for 27 rushing yards. Meanwhile, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky threw only two passes in a quarter of work, completing one for 10 yards. With Buffalo’s receiving room basically set entering the season, the Bills could place an emphasis on the run game in the first half.

Singletary scored the Bills’ only touchdown in the game. The third-year pro was on the receiving end of a play-action pass, where he found the end zone with no resistance from the Lions defense.

While the night seemed to drag on, the fourth quarter became very interesting. As several deep roster players took the field, the Bills defense started to falter, allowing the Lions to claw back into the game.

The tackling of this unit was questionable at best. A massive swing occurred in one segment of the fourth quarter, as a Nick McCloud pick-six was overturned as an incomplete pass. On the play, Olaijah Griffin was flagged for a personal foul, setting up Detroit in good position for their first score of the game.

Craig Reynolds weaved his way through Buffalo’s defense for a 24-yard rushing touchdown. The Bills responded to negate the Lions two-point conversion, still giving Buffalo a 13-12 lead.

Buffalo’s offensive line had some struggles in the closing of the game, leaving Jake Fromm little time to throw. The Bills punted away, giving Detroit an opportunity to take the lead.

Lions quarterback David Blough responded with two big passes on the subsequent drive, completing a 35-yard pass to Javon McKinley and a 29-yard pass to Tom Kennedy. Kicker Randy Bullock was successful on a 28-yard field goal to give the Lions their first lead of the game, 15-13.

As they have done many times before, the Bills rallied their squad to mount a comeback. Even with third and fourth stringers, Buffalo’s offensive depth found a way to pull off the revival. On fourth down, Jake Fromm found Marquez Stevenson for 25 yards to extend the drive. From there, Fromm kept things under control, slowly moving the team into field goal range. From there, a Tyler Bass 44-yard field goal put the Bills in the lead for good.

Several players made the most of their opportunities on the field. Davis Webb showed that he could guide the offense, going 11-of-16 for 90 passing yards and one touchdown pass. Webb added 26 rushing yards on two scrambles. Fromm’s late-game response in the face of pressure was impressive. Singletary’s game gave some confidence in the run game. Stevenson’s performance on the final drive will keep him in the conversation for a depth receiver.

On the defensive side of the ball, Andre Smith seemed to be everywhere, leading the Bills in tackles with eight in the game. Cam Lewis followed with seven tackles. Joe Giles-Harris also made his presence known with six tackles.

First-round draft pick Gregory Rousseau was as advertised, recording his first sack in the NFL, albeit in the preseason. He recorded three pressures on 11 snacks. More impressively, his sack came against Penei Sewell, the No. 7 overall draft pick this year.

Tyler Bass showed that he is automatic, making all three of his field goals, including a 50-yard bomb in the first quarter and the game-winner from 44 yards out.

Overall, the Bills had a nice start to their 2021 campaign. Most of the mistakes that occurred were by players who were not threatening to make the 53-man roster, so all in all, this result is just what Buffalo needs to get the ball rolling for a successful season. It took the entire roster to seal this victory for Buffalo.

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5 takeaways from the Bills’ 16-15 preseason win vs. the Lions

5 takeaways from the #Bills’ 16-15 preseason win vs. the #Lions:

The Buffalo Bills won their preseason opener against the Detroit Lions on Friday, 16-15.

As it usually is with the preseason, the final score does not matter much at all, it’s all about reading between the lines.

With that, here are five Bills takeaways from the first exhibition game of 2021:

Buffalo Bills practice squad QB started ahead of Patrick Mahomes

Davis Webb started ahead of Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech

Talk about trading places.

The year was 2014 and Patrick Mahomes was on campus in Lubbock, Tx, with Texas Tech.

However, the quarterback who was to become an NFL and Super Bowl MVP was not deemed worthy of the starting position by coach Kliff Kingsbury.

The Red Raiders went 4-8 that season and it took a while for Kingsbury to replace Davis Webb as his starter with Mahomes. The battled for the position spilled into 2015, too.

When Mahomes took over, he did throw for 1,547 of his 11,252 yards in three college seasons.

Fast forward to 2021 and Mahomes and Davis Webb are on teams that will vie for the AFC Championship on Sunday. Kind of.

While the sports world — okay, the whole wagering world — awaits news on whether Mahomes will clear concussion protocol and face the Bills, Webb is in a different space and place.

Webb is on the Bills’ practice squad. He has made his tour of “New York” teams, drafted in the third round by the Giants in 2017, with the Jets in 2018 and with the Bills’ practice squad since last season.

Mahomes has thrown for 14,152 yards and 114 yards as a pro. Webb? He is still looking for his first NFL stat.

ESPN compared the two before the 2015 season:

With the help of ESPN Stats and Information, here’s a closer look at the 2014 season for Webb and Mahomes:

    • Against the blitz, Webb was 37-of-61 (60.6 percent) for 296 yards with three touchdowns, three interceptions. Mahomes was 13-of-35 (37.1 percent) for 191 yards, three touchdowns, one interception. Takeaway: It should be no surprise Webb was better on third down considering he had more experience heading into 2014. But Mahomes needs to improve against the blitz or teams will attack that weakness even though he is the more mobile of the two.
    • Webb was 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) for 137 yards and one touchdown when blitzed on third down plays. Mahomes was 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) for 9 yards when blitzed on third down plays. Takeaway: Much like the rest of the plays, Webb handled the blitz in critical situations better than Mahomes.
    • Webb was more accurate on passes between 6-14 yards (71-of-115, 61.7 percent) than Mahomes (24-of-46, 52.2 percent) but also threw more interceptions. Webb threw 10 touchdowns and six interceptions on throws of that distance while Mahomes had two touchdowns and two interceptions. Takeaway: This is an important piece of the puzzle as this intermediate pass difference is a key part of the Red Raider offense with the duo combining for 161 passes of this distance. Webb needs to shave down the interceptions while Mahomes needs to increase his accuracy.
    • Both quarterbacks’ accuracy dropped significantly on deep throws (passes of 15 yards or more). But Mahomes threw as many touchdowns as Webb (7) but five fewer interceptions (6 for Webb, 1 for Mahomes). Webb was 22-of-68 for 676 yards on throws of 15 yards or more. Mahomes was 18-of-48 for 590 yards on those throws. Takeaway: Mahomes’ numbers as a deep passer are much better than Webb and he takes better care of the ball on those throws as well. His combination of running ability combines with his ability to make big plays in the passing game to make him a serious run-pass threat.
    • Webb and Mahomes had similar numbers against a regular pass rush (four defenders). Webb was 121-of-201 for 1,455 yards, 7.2 yards per attempt, 13 touchdowns, six interceptions. Mahomes finished 64-for-108 for 906 yards, 8.4 yards per attempt, nine touchdowns and one interception. Takeaway: Neither guy really separates himself against a normal pass rush although Webb’s interception struggles continue to be a issue in those scenarios.
  • The importance of the Red Raider running game is underscored by the play action numbers of both quarterbacks. Webb was 60-of-89 for 901 yards, 10.1 yards per attempt, 10 touchdowns and four interception on play action plays. Mahomes was 37-of-58 for 586 yards, 10.1 yards per attempt, eight touchdowns and one interception. Takeaway: It’s a good thing the Red Raiders have one of the best groups of running backs in the Big 12 because the running game clearly takes pressure off of both signal-callers and makes the offense more explosive with both averaging 10.1 yard per attempt on play action plays.

 

3 things we learned from Sean McDermott, post-roster cuts

Takeaways from Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott following roster cuts.

Team personnel is more the forte of Bills general manager Brandon Beane. Following roster cuts over the weekend, Beane broke down the series of roster transactions the Bills went through over the past few days himself, but Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott gave some insight onto things from a coaching perspective as well,

Here are three things we learned from McDermott following roster cuts:

Bills head coach Sean McDermott. (James P. McCoy/The Buffalo News via AP, Pool)

Can’t give ’em an inch

Across the NFL this week, teams have already started to release their depth charts ahead of the season-opening weekend en route. Heck, Buffalo’s first opponent, the Jets, dropped theirs already. Throughout training camp, McDermott & the Bills have been on top of reports coming out of training camp. We didn’t see the reporting we are used to. In particular, mentions of the depth chart, we put on lock down.

Evidently there’s a Wednesday deadline for teams to release their depth charts.

For the Bills, the biggest question marks on their roster sit along the offensive line. Who’s playing where without Jon Feliciano in the lineup? We can speculate that Cody Ford will move from right tackle to fill in at guard, but then on the outside it could be a few different options such as Ty Nsekhe and Daryl Williams. We’ll find out the answers on Wednesday, it appears. When asked if the O-line depth chart has been settled, McDermott said he’s going to take this one to the finish line.

“I think we’ll know a bit more after practice today… I’ll get that to you guys on Wednesday,” McDermott said. “I’ll get that to you guys as soon as I can on Wednesday.”

But no worries, guys (and the Jets). We’re almost there.

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Most surprising decisions made by Bills on roster cut-down weekend

A list of the Buffalo Bills’ most spurring moves made over the roster cut-down weekend.

Over this past weekend, the NFL and Bills made a lot of decisions. Plenty of tough ones, too. The objective was to get down to 53 players on team rosters ahead of the 2020 regular season. Just last week, most teams in the league had near 80 players, and each team had to fill out a practice squad as well.

In breaking things down and allowing the dust to settle, the Bills certainly did make a few surprising decisions. To catch you up, we’ll go through some of those now:

Bills quarterback Jake Fromm (10) hands off the ball to Bills quarterback Davis Webb. (James P. McCoy/The Buffalo News via AP, Pool)

Jake Fromm sticks

Perhaps the biggest debate out of training camp was what the Bills will do with their quarterback situation and as it turns out, they did the smart, sensible thing: Kept four of them. This was the suggested scenario we made prior to roster cut-down day as well.

While reports out of training camp were few and far between, none of them had something good to say about rookie quarterback Jake Fromm. Some speculated that the fifth-round pick was outplayed by Davis Webb and the veteran backup was actually going to be the third quarterback behind Josh Allen and Matt Barkley.

But nope, instead, it’s Fromm over Webb, who eventually made his way to the practice squad. What Sean McDermott & Co. were thinking seems to be pretty clear now.

Cut Fromm? As a rookie and a very well-known college quarterback, he was going to get claimed by someone. Webb? He’s been on and off practice squads in his career and with the Bills specifically, no one has signed him of their practice squad in recent seasons. So putting Webb out on the wavier wire was much smarter and if anything, it could just be a formality.

If Webb did outplay Fromm in camp? It would be interesting to see what the Bills do if Allen or Barkley go down. Could Webb be ahead of Fromm on the depth chart even though he’s on the practice squad? That’s speculation, but certainly a scenario most would prefer not to find out.

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Buffalo Bills training camp preview: Quarterback

2020 Buffalo Bills training camp preview for Josh Allen, Jake Fromm, quarterback position.

The Buffalo Bills are a few short weeks away from arriving for training camp in Western New York. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the preseason festivities will be diminished; the team will not hold their sessions at St. John Fisher College, their training camp location since 2000.

Nevertheless, the aim of the training camp remains the same. The organization must prepare players for the preseason, which depth players will compete in their final battle for a roster spot.

Training camp could hold greater importance this year, as the trimmed down preseason slate leaves fewer opportunities for players to impress the coaching staff.

The Bills Wire will complete a position-by-position analysis of each group on the Bills roster. This edition will focus on the quarterback position:

Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Players (age)

  • Josh Allen (24: 3rd season)
  • Matt Barkley (29: 8th season)
  • Jake Fromm (21: Rookie)
  • Davis Webb (25: 3rd season) 

2019 recap

Josh Allen did exactly what the Bills hoped for him to do last year: Make improvements to his all-around game. Allen, for the most part, made better decisions than his rookie year. The arm strength and athleticism were on display, still, but Allen improved his touchdown to interception ratio (10:12 in 2018 to 20:9 in 2019) his passing yards per game improved by 20 yards per game, and Allen’s completion percentage also trended in the right direction, improving by six percent from his rookie season. Add in nine rushing touchdowns, and Allen was the most essential cog in the Bills offense last year.

Even with the improvements, everything was not completely rosy last year. His 58.8 percent completion percentage was still well below the league average. Allen’s bad throw percentage was 20.3 percent, the fifth-highest in the league, as per Pro Football Reference. He also struggled mightily in completing deep passes, which should be a strength considering his arm power.

Allen had several highlight moments throughout the year as he guided the offense to its second playoff appearance in three years. The Wild Card game started out as a dream for the Bills. Unfortunately, the lasting impression of Allen trying to make things happen at the end of the game is what many in the nation will remember.

Still, it’s the progress that makes Buffalo happy. Allen improved with a new cast of talent at skill positions, and it benefited the second-year pro. In addition to Allen, Matt Barkley played in the Bills’ season-ending, meaningless contest against the Jets.

Now here’s a rundown of storylines to follow in this position group:

Can Allen take another step forward in his development?

Make no mistake: this year is all about Josh Allen. The team has rebuilt the roster over the past three seasons to position itself in the best vision that head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane could imagine. The team has several reliable and explosive receiving and rushing options.

Now, it’s up to Allen to make it all come together.

Allen is a bit of a complex individual for defenses to figure out. His unpredictability has led to many highlight-reel plays. In the same regard, this has led to some chaos.

Allen has fit the ball into tight spaces. His arm strength is exceptional, which is nothing new. The gradual increase in his accuracy still has some distance to improve. It’s more about developing a bit more consistency with Allen. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has done a great job at focusing on what Allen does well, Allen just needs to do more well, like the deep ball.

The next step for Allen is to further eliminate poor plays. He’s on the right trajectory if he continues his development from last year. With wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the fold, there will most likely be more space for Allen to find receivers in the passing game. It’s up to him to consistently make the right reads and allow his playmakers to excel. If he does this, the stats will go up, the wins will come, and the critics will get a little less loud.

 

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Which Bills players are unlikely to survive pre-training camp cuts?

Buffalo Bills pre-training camp cut candidates in 2020.

A series of big blows were dealt to bubble players and some fresh faces in the Buffalo Bills locker room this week.

First, the NFL and NFLPA jointly decided to cancel the 2020 preseason. While many hope in the future there are less preseason games, at least one or two could go a long way for such players to prove to a coaching staff they are worthy of a roster or practice squad spot.

Then things got even worse. Typically a team carries 90 players into training camp. In an effort to promote social distancing, teams will now carry only 80 when training camp gets started next week.

Most camps in the league are slated to begin next Tuesday, and just about every roster has more than 80 players on it currently. Among that faction is the Bills, who have 88. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott have some roster trimming to do.

So with that, which eight Bills players are most likely to be cut ahead of camp? Here’s our best 10 guesses at those spots:

Bills CB Ike Brown (Getty Images)

CB Ike Brown

You’ll notice a trend we’ll point out right away here with Ike Brown: This 80-man roster news is bad for undrafted rookie free agents. That’s what Brown was out of FIU. Brown has some desirable size at 6-foot tall, but he’s in a crowded cornerback room with EJ Gaines, Levi Wallace and Josh Norman already battling for a No. 2 job next to Tre’Davious White.

 

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