Buffalo at Washington - The Ugly, the Ugly and the Ugly

[SkinsGuru]

I sure is nice to start the season 2 - 0, especially after that first quarter against Denver. It will get much more difficult starting this week. the 1 - 1 Buffalo bills come to town to take on the Commanders!!

MY week 3 keys to the game:

On Defense:

Come out with a sense of urgency. Washington cannot start slow like they did against Denver or the game will be over. Buffalo is a much better team than the Broncos across the board. If Washington is going to have a chance at the upset in this game we will need to have early focus and stay away from the boneheaded big plays. Get consistent pressure on Allen with the front 4 and IMO use Curl to spy Allen. He is dangerous and we must contain him. Cook is a good RB and they have good WR's and TE's.

On Offense:

the screen game yesterday really got Denver on their heals and helped the offensive line tremendously. We need more of that and more RPO's early in this game. The offensive line needs to play like it did in that second half and Howell needs to avoid the turnovers and keep working on not holding the ball too long and trusting his eyes/instincts.

Everyone needs to bring their A game!!

Unfortunately it will not be enough IMO. Bills 23, Commanders 20.

[VegasSkinsFan]

We really need an OT upgrade/s because if we did this offense will be very hard to stop. Totally agree on the above about the D coming out strong early. Need a bit more from the LBs along with solidifying communication with the Dbs. I want every game to get to the point with us having a lead to where Sweat and Young can just pin their ears back and get after the qb on every snap. The backend needs to hold up their end of the bargain.

[skinsfan93]

The spread was 7 but already dropped to 6.5 so the early money is on us. I think it will drop more and I’m betting on us on the money line. I really think we can win!

Defense:

James Cook is a pretty good rb but not as good as Javonte Williams who we shut down in the second half. I think we can and will contain their running game. That means the game is on Josh Allens shoulders. Diggs will get his but putting Fuller and Forbes on him hopefully slows him down. Gabe Davis is a good 2nd wideout but I’m confident that our secondary will hold him. Their other key options in the pass game are Knox and Kincaid so Barton, DFoe, and Kam will need to stick with them and I think they can. The Raiders had a couple sacks but that’s because Josh holds the ball a long time. Crosby usually gets a lot pf pressure but was limited. Can their line which is pretty good limit our defensive line? I don’t think so. Jets have a pretty good defense and had 3 picks against Buffalo. Our defense is better than the Jets.

Offense:

From what I saw of Jimmy G, there were opportunities but he just didn’t deliver consistently. Davante had a big first half and then they pressured Jimmy into making mistakes. Bills shut down Jacobi Myers who had a big first game. I think Jahan or Terry or whoever isn’t being covered by Tredavious White, their best corner, will need to step up and could have a big game. Bills run defense was good against the Raiders but gave up huge yards against the Jets. Hopefully BRob follows up on his big game and runs for big chunks of yards keeping the Bills off balance. Gibby could be a big factor on screen plays.

Maybe I’m still high from the win yesterday but I really think we can win this game.

21-17 good guys

[Moe]

Be a signature win to beat a team like Buffalo but I think it's a tall order. Their D is pretty damned solid top to bottom, no marquee All-Pro's but a unit with few weak points. The big fear with their offense is Allen's ability to buy time and make big plays with his legs, which also opens up some opportunities for him to find deep breakdowns in coverage. He is prone to recklessness and turnovers and that's where Washington needs to really take advantage.
Offensively, obviously they need to protect the ball and not give up easy situations. I also think they need to get the ball into space in the hands of their speed guys a little more. The screen to Gibson as an example or some edge stuff to Samuel where he can create with his speed and shift the field. But, controlling the ball and trying to wear them down, while limiting Buffalo's chances isn't a bad idea either.

Hope I'm wrong but I think it's a rough sunday for our boys. Buffalo 30-16.

[Farmer Ted]

One thing to remember is that Bieniemy has faced Buffalo a lot over the previous 4-5 seasons. He will know how to attack their defense. I think his familiarity with Denver made a difference last week, and I think it will give us a chance this week.

Also, this is the second week in a row with a Super Bowl re-match. We also get Miami later in the year. This has to be the first time we've faced all three teams we beat in a single season.

[skinsfan93]

After that Jets game where Allen was criticized heavily for his reckless scrambling and disregard to his body continuing to put his shoulder down, he may have finally got the message through his thick skull. He only ran 3 times for 7 yards against the Raiders. Typically it would make sense for JDR to have a spy but I really don’t think it will be needed. As long as the defensive line stays in their lanes with some stunts up the middle, I think Allen running will be minimal.

[Moe]

^^^I think it's in his nature to be a little reckless. The difficulty in dealing with him is that if you sit back and the line pressures him, then he can potentially escape and have acres of field to play with. I think with him it's about getting that pressure while not giving him easy looks, because his size and speed make it tough for the lineman. I think the less he runs the better.

[Moe]

Random stats:
- If Howell gets a win this weekend, he'd be the first Washington QB since Billy Kilmer to start 4-0 in 1971
- Josh Allen was named AFC Offensive player of the week for the 11th time, passing Jim Kelley for a franchise record.
- Allen is 2-0 against Washington, tossing for 518 yards, 5 td's, 0 in't s, 78% completion and 2 rushing td's.
- Buffalo is 10-6 all time against Washington, won 8 of last 9 since Super Bowl loss, only win for Washington was under Cousins in '15.
- Scoring Offense Buff 8th (27 ppg), Washington 7th (27.5 ppg)
- Passing offense Buff 10th (242 ypg) Wash 15th (211)
- Rushing Offense Buff 7th (140) Wash 17th (107)
- Total Offense Buff 5th (382) Wash 19th (318)
- Scoring Defense Buff 5th (16) Wash t-17th (24.5)
- Passing Defense Buff 6th (151) Wash 12th (195.5)
- Rushing Defense Buff 19th (113.5) Wash 17th (109)
- Total Defense Buff 5th (264.5) Wash 10th (304.5)
- 3rd down Defense Buff 17th (40%) Wash 8th (30.7%)
- TO margin, Buff Even Wash +1

Wed Injury report:
Wash
- Payne DNP ankle
- Thomas DNP concussion
- Martin Limited concussion
- Robinson Full hip
- Samuel Full hip

Buff
- DE Floyd DNP ankle
- S Hyde DNP hammy
- TE Knox DNP back
- DT Phillips DNP illness
- LB Bernard Limited knee/quad

[Moe]

Weather looks like it'll be crap for the game, so turnovers will likely be a big deal.
Logan Thomas is unsurprisingly out.
Curtis Samuel is questionable.

[First an goal 32]

As someone said, we can't come out sloppy and we gotta keep pressure on Josh Allen to keep the score close, if he goes unchecked we're dead!!

[Skins-R-Us]

Damn that linebacker can jump. It’s a game of inches.

[BurgundyAndGold]

Sam's gotta learn to get the ball out or move around. I think that INT was a knee-jerk reaction to those two sacks. Unfortunate.

[BurgundyAndGold]

Well this game isn't starting out as I'd hoped. Too many mistakes by Sam. The defense was looking pretty good though until that last play.

[BurgundyAndGold]

What a beautiful pass to Samuel! We need more of that Sam, but play smart, please!

[BurgundyAndGold]

Should've spread the offense on that 4th down play to give Sam running room if nothing was open. Nice drive squandered.

[Skins-R-Us]

We need a three and out here.

[BurgundyAndGold]

Same issue as always - the inability to stop or even slow down a mobile QB.

[hogskins]

The 1st-and-goal from the 6 series was signature Commanders football. 3 passes and zero points. Why not try a direct snap sneak once in a while? And push him across like the Eagles do?

[BurgundyAndGold]

The defense has been pretty decent in the first half but the offense has been a complete disappointment. Hopefully halftime adjustments will pay off, but what does it say about their game planning if they always have to rely on second half adjustments to be successful?

EB is showing the all-too-common propensity to become very pass happy. He needs to learn, too.

[hogskins]

Can't understand why Brissett isn't getting reps for the last bunch of gametime? Howell needs to sit and start some mental healing from this embarrassment. And not get injured during a meaningless quarter.

[Farmer Ted]

Brutal day.

[Farmer Ted]

Oh, and glad I'm not a Broncos fan. LOL!

[Winnipeg_Skins_Fan]

Brutal day.

Washington got a real clear picture of where they sit in the NFLs totem pole, and it isn’t high.
Defence played decent for 3 Qs but just ran out of gas for being on the field for so long. Offence was just brutal and some especially terrible throws from Howell.

[skinsfan93]

Mama said there would be days like this.

It’s a loss in the book doesn’t matter if by one point or 34 points. We will see the fortitude of this team against a good team next week in Philly, which by the way I’ll be at that game!

[Moe]

To quote Ron Burgundy, "Wow, that escalated quickly."

Weird game in many respects but ultimately the turnovers and sacks just crushed them and gave the D very little chance. That was a case of a superior opponent taking advantage of some clear issues that Washington has and the team being unable to solve it. We all knew Howell would have his struggles and he had a doozy yesterday, but at the same time, the kid can play and these issues are correctable. The hope is that with more time the problems he is exhibiting will diminish. He doesn't have his head on the NFL clock (yet) and he has to get better at realizing when to get out of trouble, when to toss it away to live another day and when to dirt it instead of trying to make something from nothing. I think he can get there, but it's going to be hard with the line getting overwhelmed as often as we're seeing. Buffalo knew that any overload would cause problems, and they were right, this line does ok straight up but really struggles when there is a blitz or a swarm of defenders. Again, with more experience Howell will start recognizing this more accurately, but EB also needs to have some options for him in these situations. But when he has time, damn he can really put a beautiful ball out there.

It's going to be tough facing a team like Philly next week or Dallas coming up that can aggressively come after you and we'll see similar results if they can't figure out how to minimize that impact. There are weapons to use and they've shown that they can move the ball, but they can't keep racking up these negative plays. I'm not sure if this is something they can really fix quickly but they need to try something or we'll see more of this and Howell will absolutely get injured.

[Farmer Ted]

There's just not much to say about that game, except that I wish Rivera had invested more premium draft picks on the o-line. The team needs tackles badly.

[Skins-R-Us]

That game was just ugly. From the coaching, to the playing to massive blue wave in the stands. Ugly all around.

[skinsfan93]

We take on the Eagles, who will be on a short week flying back from Tampa tomorrow. They are vulnerable this year especially if we can contain Hurts from running.

We must start quickly on offense. Hopefully EB learned a bit as a play caller mixing in runs with quick short passes especially slants. Where is Dotson? Why hasn’t there been more emphasis on getting him the ball allowing him for YAC, his best attribute.

[Farmer Ted]

That game was just ugly. From the coaching, to the playing to massive blue wave in the stands. Ugly all around.

It was crazy how blue the stands appeared on tv. The gift of Danny Boy keeps giving this season, I guess.