Buffalo Bills Pre Season Update

By Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

Photo by Jerome Davis

The Buffalo Bills most recently practiced with The Chicago Bears followed by a pre-season game in Chicago.  The practice was reported to have gone well, but the game on Sunday was absolutely awful. Now, I know those of you that have followed me over the years have read my continuous statements “Do not get too excited about pre-season.”  We need to make an exception to that longtime philosophy with this past game mostly played by 2nd and 3rd tier pro players.

Since Sean McDermott’s arrival no matter who is in the game you are expected to compete in each play. This was not done at all this past Sunday in every facet of the game, and I’m anticipating many of these players will be released or told that their play is not up to the standard of this franchise.  It’s how you play the game and this past Sunday, our backups did not impress at all, with multiple missed assignments, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Our backup linebackers just could not either make plays, or they just failed to show a grasp of fundamental assignment responsibility on each play.  The depth of this football team at certain positions could be a factor as the season nears regardless of it being a pre-season game. Most of these athletes are competing for jobs and what we saw on Sunday was a poor grasp of fundamental pro football which could result in their coaching staff making some serious changes before the season starts.  We also have a problem at the Safety position right now as we are still seeing the struggles of a young Cole Bishop and Damar Hamlin, who just were not in sync with their assignments throughout this very ugly game.   

The offense just failed to complete a drive during this game and backup quarterback Mike White also struggled at times.  The problem I’m seeing are players that did not grasp fundamental assignments throughout this ugly game that resulted in the second year in a row that a Chicago man handled our hometown team during the pre-season.  Look for The organization to begin moving some of these players out very quickly as the regular season is right around the corner.