Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - That was a sports weekend from hell.
Do I really have to write about this? OK, fine, but I don’t want to:
Josh Allen had a bad game, and we can admit that
Yes, the wide receivers were also terrible, but it is hard for plays to be made sometimes when the quarterback is getting way too aggressive for his own good.
Allen started the day 1-of-9, and was not making the best choices or throws.
Then, at their own three-yard line late in the game, Allen just cooked up three moonshots instead of taking something available underneath.
From leaving a pocket too soon to throws that were just off, Allen was not at his best.
At his best, Allen is one of the top players in the NFL. At his worst, he will lose this team a game. Especially when there is not a lot of support coming from the rest of the team.
With that said…
Yeah, nobody ate
The "everyone eats" slogan is kind of dead after the past two games, as the wide receiver room has turned into more of passengers than capable of making plays.
Without Khalil Shakir, the position really floundered against Houston. Shakir is a good player, and clearly Buffalo’s top option. That said, his absence should not sink an offense.
Keon Coleman provided the highlight and the lowlight of the position on Sunday. He made a great play on a fourth down, getting open on a hitch and then casually taking it 49 yards to the house to pull Buffalo back from the brink.
Mack Hollins had a very tough time tracking down deep balls from Allen, in particular. The free agent wideout has been really off sync with Allen, only catching 6-of-17 targets on the season.
Hollins, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Curtis Samuel have all been relative non-factors by either scheme or ineffectiveness.
For losing most of the wide receiver room from last year, it is not the lack of a true No. 1 that is the current issue, it is not having several solid options. One of them, however, seems to have quite the roadblock created for them...
Can Joe Brady use Curtis Samuel like a normal receiver, please?
Samuel was brought in to provide some much-needed depth at the position, yet something odd has happened with him – Brady is only dialing up plays for him as a gadget player instead of as a normal wideout.
Yes, Samuel has had some normal routes, but these targeted gadget plays to Samuel are clearly not working. They need to let Samuel play as a typical receiver, especially on a team with a lack of production from the rest of the wide receivers!
And when he is running a normal route tree, why is he not getting some sort of priority in the progression?
In Houston, Samuel finished with one catch for 0 yards, and 1 carry for minus-1 yard. On the season, Samuel has nine receptions for 49 yards (with the longest being 10 yards) and three carries for six yards.
It has become abundantly clear that the gadget plays aren’t working, so a good coordinator should know to stop bashing their head into the wall and adjust.
At least the Sabres play Thursday night?
With the vibes surrounding the Bills down at the moment, fans were going to naturally turn to the Buffalo Sabres to see if there is a worthy distraction and... Oh my God, what the heck is that?!
Come on, Sabres!
It was a dreadful showing in Prague this past weekend. From a horrid start on Friday that led to a hole they couldn’t get out of, to an empty showing on Saturday that also saw JJ Peterka get concussed on a blatant headshot.
Now, Buffalo returns home for, what is somehow, a crucial, must-win home opener against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Sabres fan base has been broken, and the only way to calm them is to play a solid 60 minutes against the Kings. The last thing the fans want to see is another dud, especially when general manager Kevyn Adams, once again, did not make any additions to the top-six of the forward group.
If the Sabres get off to one of their usual poor starts after another offseason of relative inaction, pressure should be ramped up on Adams. Simple as that.
Within a hockey season, going game-to-game is not a proper way to evaluate the season, typically it is best to do so in chunks. By the first 12 games of the season, the Sabres need to have stabilized.
While teams can get hot (last year’s Edmonton Oilers), Buffalo cannot be worse than five wins to start out, or else it will already get ugly with an exasperated fan base.
Soccer bars are cool
For Saturday’s Sabres game, I went out to a soccer bar to, at least, be able to watch the game, because they were open to do so.
I was never truly informed on how fun a soccer bar is. Now, I get it. If I were to get into soccer, give me a pitch on who to cheer for on the pitch.
