The BAD, the WORSE and the UGLY from Bills BLOWOUT loss to the Bears... but DO NOT PANIC

Summary

Buffalo Plus Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: The BAD, the WORSE and the UGLY from Bills BLOWOUT loss to the Bears... but DO NOT PANIC
Date: August 19, 2025
Hosts: Jenna Cottrell, Dan Fetes (Mike Catalana off this episode)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the Buffalo Bills' 38-0 preseason blowout loss to the Chicago Bears, exploring what went wrong and why fans shouldn't panic. Jenna and Dan break down the performance of specific players—particularly wide receivers and safeties—while examining “the good, the bad, and the ugly” from the game. They emphasize context, preseason nuances, roster implications, and maintaining perspective.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Tone: "It Wasn't Good, But Calm Down"

• [00:00–01:34] The hosts acknowledge the blowout humiliation but advise fans to relax—it’s preseason and doesn’t reflect the full reality for the regular season.
• Quote:
  • "The big takeaway was like, it wasn't good, but calm down." — Dan Fetes [00:00]

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2. Roster Spotlight: Tyrell Shavers' Impressive Camp

• [01:36–08:41]
  • Dan and Jenna highlight Tyrell Shavers as a major positive, praising his consistency from camp through preseason games.
  • There’s debate over Shavers' position on the roster (WR5 vs. WR6 vs. cut), and comparison with Elijah Moore and Curtis Samuel.
• Quote:
  • "Tyrell Shavers balled out... I would be shocked, shocked if Tyrell Shavers didn't make this roster." — Dan Fetes [01:38]
• Dan argues Shavers is outperforming Moore and is possibly moving into a more prominent depth spot.
• Jenna wonders if the team might prioritize special teams upside for roster depth decisions.

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3. The Elijah Moore Conundrum

• [03:14–11:25]
  • Both hosts express disappointment with Elijah Moore’s lack of impact. Dan openly questions Moore’s ceiling, referencing his unfulfilled potential and his status as a journeyman by year five.
  • Injuries and drops are raised as persistent issues.
  • The status of Moore’s contract and likelihood of being cut are analyzed, comparing similar past Bills moves (e.g., O.J. Howard).
• Quotes:
  • "I've never understood [the Elijah Moore hype]... If you're really good, you make plays." — Dan Fetes [04:08]
  • "You want someone with a little bit more special teams upside..." — Jenna Cottrell [02:42]
• Discussion on how potential vs. proven production plays out in actual roster-building.

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4. Fluidity of Roster Moves/Auditions Still Ongoing

• [07:21–08:41]
  • Acknowledgement that the Bills (and others) might find new talent after cutdown day; what looks locked in now could still change.

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5. Other Standouts & Injury Concerns

• [12:00–12:42]
  • Rookie Jordan Hancock gets props for strong play as a versatile safety/slot corner, but his injury clouds further evaluation.
• Quote:
  • "I felt like as a rookie, you wanted to see a guy making plays..." — Jenna Cottrell [12:00]

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6. Preseason Context: Opponent Motivation & Perspective

• [13:15–17:19]
  • The Bears and Giants, as franchises rebuilding their cultures, treated these games with more urgency than the Bills.
  • The Bills prioritized health and evaluation over preseason wins.
• Quote:
  • "These are two bad franchises...trying to find success. So I think they did game plan. I think the Bears and Giants did script plays, and the Bills were going, 'Hey guys, go out there. Let's fly around and compete.' Now they didn't compete." — Dan Fetes [17:19]
• The hosts point out that last year the Bills lost preseason games and it had no bearing on their actual season quality.

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7. The "Effort" and Depth Issue

• [13:26–18:58]
  • Jenna and Dan call out the visible 'sleepwalking' and lack of effort by Bills backups—a concern given that many are fighting for jobs.
  • The performance exposed some possible roster weaknesses, especially in depth roles that could be needed if (when) injuries occur.

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8. Safety Position Woes

• [18:05–25:15]
  • The safety group is under scrutiny—injuries, underwhelming free-agent signings, and a lack of someone stepping up.
  • Demar Hamlin is seen as dependable but capped as a “depth guy.”
  • There’s disappointment in high-value investments not delivering, especially Cole Bishop who, despite being a projected starter, looks unproven and injury-prone.
• Quotes:
  • "Demar is who demar is...the devil you know may be better than the devil you don't." — Dan Fetes [19:25]
  • "Maybe this is who Cole Bishop is. Maybe he's just not that good of a player. But he has this...sense of hope." — Dan Fetes [23:20]

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9. Perspective: Don't Panic, But Don't Sugarcoat

• [20:13–27:59]
  • The hosts reiterate—don’t base panic or preseason “success” on these games, but recognize that depth and fundamentals can become issues if pressed into starting roles.
  • Comparing the effort (and futility) of backups to the old “Alabama could beat [NFL team]” trope—they caution against taking too much from these matchups.

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10. QB2 Battle—Disappointment with Mike White

• [27:59–29:15]
  • Mike White failed to impress; both hosts acknowledge his underperformance, though caveat his tough situation (no starting OL).
  • Mitch Trubisky’s greater experience gives a baseline reassurance as a backup but doesn't excite, either.
• Quotes:
  • "Mike White didn't get much help, but he didn't really help himself either." — Jenna Cottrell [28:29]

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11. Final Themes and Memorable Moments

• [29:40–32:15]
  • Lighthearted debate about spelling and usage of allude vs. elude brings some levity.
  • Jenna teases Dan about his contrarian instincts ("you zig when everybody else zags") when fans overreact either way.
• Quote:
  • "When people just want rainbows and sunshine, you're like, 'but here's the thing…' and when people panic, you say 'it's okay.' You zig when everyone zags." — Jenna Cottrell [25:25]

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00 — Opening thoughts and episode theme
• 01:34–08:41 — Wide receiver roster discussion (Shavers, Moore, Samuel)
• 12:00–12:54 — Praise for Jordan Hancock, discussion of the safety group
• 13:15–15:32 — Preseason "doesn’t matter," backup effort issues, perspective and context
• 18:05–19:25 — Defensive worries, especially at safety, and lack of standouts
• 19:25–25:15 — Deep dive on safety room problems, Cole Bishop evaluation, and the conundrum of DeMar Hamlin as a default starter
• 27:59–29:15 — Backup quarterback disappointment (Mike White), Trubisky's experience
• 29:40–32:15 — Lighthearted wrap-up on language, fandom, and not overreacting

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Notable Quotes

• "It wasn't good, but calm down." — Dan Fetes [00:00]
• "Tyrell Shavers balled out. I would be shocked, shocked if Tyrell Shavers didn't make this roster." — Dan Fetes [01:38]
• "I've never understood [the Elijah Moore hype]... If you're really good, you make plays." — Dan Fetes [04:08]
• "These are two bad franchises... trying to find success. So I think they did gameplan. The Bears and Giants wanted team success to start to get things in the right direction." — Dan Fetes [17:19]
• "You can hope in one hand and shit in another and see which one fills up first." — Dan Fetes [24:35]
• "Demar is who Demar is. The devil you know may be better than the devil you don't." — Dan Fetes [19:25]
• "When people just want rainbows and sunshine, you say, 'But here's the thing...' and when people panic, you say, 'It's okay.' You zig when everyone zags." — Jenna Cottrell [25:25]
• "Mike White didn't get much help, but he didn't really help himself either." — Jenna Cottrell [28:29]

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Tone & Takeaways

• Honest and Unfiltered: The hosts pull no punches about the poor effort and lack of depth but balance their critique with broader perspective about preseason football.
• Playful Banter: Their back-and-forth (right down to dictionary disputes) keeps the conversation lively and authentic.
• Big Picture Focus: Repeated reminders not to overreact—good or bad—to preseason results; it's about health, evaluation, and roster mechanics, not the scoreboard.
• Realism about Weaknesses: The safety position, backup competition, and WR depth are all flagged as concerns going into the final week of the preseason.

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Final Message

"Don't panic." The Bills’ blowout loss might have been ugly, but it’s preseason—focus on individual performance over results, keep an eye on roster battles, and remember that even bad summer football doesn’t dictate fall success.

Transcript

[A]

The big picture from last night, Jenna, I don't know. You, like, the big takeaway was, like, it wasn't good, but calm down.

[B]

This is such hot garbage. I'm terrified for the season. You could say, hey, it was the Bears start. What camera am I looking at?

[A]

This is the Buffalo plus podcast, brought to you by car, Connors and Ferris.

[B]

All right, welcome back to the Buffalo plus channel, presented by Connors and Ferris, Mike Catalano. With a veteran day off, Dan Fates. I am Jenna Cottrell. Please be sure to, like, comment, subscribe and share. Today we are breaking down the good, the bad, the very ugly from the Bills preseason loss to the Bears 38. Nothing.

[A]

I feel so different sitting on this side of the table.

[B]

Honestly, I feel weird. Like I'm in my normal spot, but.

[A]

It just looks weird because usually it's if I'm here with Mike, I sit there, and then if Mike's here with you, you sit there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so Mike's not here, and we clearly didn't know where to sit.

[B]

No, I. It's weird. It's weird. We're getting used to it. All right, so that was something. We're going to talk a little bit about the safeties, the defense in general, QB situation, receivers, and just how we feel as we now head into the third and final week of the preseason. So let's start with this biggest takeaway. After Dan. The Bills got beaten up by the Bears in the preseason, but still, it was. It felt like the Bills were just zero effort in moments.

[A]

Yeah, I want to start with a positive.

[B]

Okay, so.

[A]

Because I think people are having a rough day today, I. I think that this is a time to one. Not only we can get into just the fact of the preseason and like, everybody relax. Like, this really does not matter in the slightest. But I do want to say Tyrell Shavers balled out.

[B]

He did.

[A]

Tyrell Shavers balled out. Once again, where I'm sitting there going, it's not just this one training camp, because last year he had a good training camp. We're like, hey, this is great. You know, maybe this guy could be somebody that cracks the roster. Now you have two training camps of really good camp. Like, now it's built off that because I go back to thinking about what he said, Sean said about Shavers last year that he's a professional, and now it's tough as nails, and now he's dependable. All of those things. I tweeted yesterday, I would be shocked, shocked if Tyrell Shavers didn't make this Roster and I'll even go as far to say is, and I know we can get into more of the wide receiver talk in a little bit. I don't think he's wide receiver six.

[B]

Really?

[A]

I think he's wide receiver five.

[B]

I'm, I'm kind of. I think Tyrell Shavers has had a really nice summer. He had a really nice summer last year. I just figured you would want someone with a little bit more special teams upside in terms of looking at the, the end of receivers and what you're going to get in terms of cuts and all that stuff.

[A]

So if it comes out to. The way I look at it is it's Shakir Palmer, Coleman Curtis Samuel by default because of what he did at the end of last year, his salary.

[B]

Cap to say the contract, the contract.

[A]

Goes into it gives him the edge, in my opinion, over Elijah Moore. And if you're talking about we're going to keep Elijah Moore at 5, like in all honesty, when is Elijah Moore going to do something? And like I clipped, I went back and clipped what we talked about before this preseason game because I was waiting for Elijah Moore to do something. I'm waiting.

[B]

Do you think they cut him?

[A]

I'd lean towards yes.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I don't know what you could save money wise. I don't know how much of it was guaranteed. I feel like it was like a, it was a five year deal with 2 million guaranteed, I believe.

[B]

2 million sounds right to me. But I don't know.

[A]

Again, this is also coming from a guy hand up. That was new. Never on the Elijah Moore hype train in the beginning. I never understood it for a guy that. And let me just say this too. This is whenever we talk.

[B]

Who's a hater?

[A]

No, no, no. But whenever we talk about, oh, Elijah Morris had bad quarterback play. Right. That's what we hear a lot. Hey, give him with Josh Allen now, he's going to be great. Garrett Wilson was still pretty damn good with the same quarterback.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Jerry Judy, Jerry Judy had a massive year last year with the same quarterback. So don't always blame the quarterback for wide receiver production. It's the cop out way where I'm sitting there going, if you're really good, you make plays.

[B]

I hear you. I, I definitely hear that. I think, can two things be true where you want more out of your quarterback play, but also it's on Elijah Moore to make the plays to make up for the fact that his quarterbacks before this have been less talented.

[A]

And if, if the offense, if Nobody caught passes. And they were. You know, there was. Both of those wide receiver rooms that he was in weren't very good. And some guys balled out and Elijah Moore didn't. And that's why he's on his third team. And whatever I. I hear hand up again. This is just coming from a guy that was never on the. The hype train.

[B]

I think you see the speed, but you want to see more of those moments out on the field. And we have yet to see. See that yet. How about that? I think that's fair.

[A]

Perfect. And injuries don't help.

[B]

You see the skill set. You see what he could add, but you haven't seen enough of it in Buffalo. Buffalo.

[A]

So far, you know what's gonna happen. He's gonna go for like 8 and 8 and 80.

[B]

Yeah. In this preseason, people are gonna be like, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Comments are gonna be, love that. And I thought at the end of that clip, we said he could go off for like 8 and 88 and a touchdown, and he didn't. He had two more drops.

[B]

Yeah. The drops are.

[A]

And to have somebody, like, the mentions are. And this hope of, like, oh, here comes Elijah Moore, all this stuff. He's healthy again. You know, he had a couple reps and a good joint practice. I'm waiting for him to do anything in this. Thought of this potential. Everybody tells me about this potential of Elijah Moore. I. I'm just waiting to see it. This is a guy that's on his third team in five years.

[B]

Yeah. When he's not that old either.

[A]

No. And it's the potential that he got drafted in the second round and. And that's what people cling on to.

[B]

So Tyrell Shavers is older than Elijah Moore. I do think Tyrell Shavers has had a better body of work this summer. But when you look at who is proven more in the NFL, albeit the consistency in the last couple weeks hasn't been there. Elijah Moore has a more. I want to say bonafide, but I always. You guys make fun of me for how I say it, but, like, he has a more proven resume. That's what I'm saying. I agree with you. I think Shavers has played better.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But do you. Because you just signed him because you paid him a decent. A little bit of money. Like, you have Curtis Samuel, you have Elijah Moore, you have Tyrell Shavers. It feels like those are the guys that are battling for that last spot or those last couple of spots. But then, like, Leviskus Chanel, like, where does he factor in because he can give you the most on special teams.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But he can probably give you the least amount in terms of just the overall offense.

[A]

Right. And so I guess I've just looked at it where I go. It's between Samuel Moore and Shavers and it's two out of those three guys are making the roster.

[B]

Yeah, I, I totally agree with you.

[A]

And we're also seeing this too like and we're obviously going to get into the safety position and things like that. But teams are also going to cut wide receivers and teams are going to cut safeties that the Bills will maybe be interested in, in picking up. So to sit there and say, well these are the wide receivers, this is who they have, this is who they have right now and they're going to cut guys on the day of August 26th I believe is the cut down day and on Tuesday they'll have new guys like.

[B]

So this is very fluid. I hear what you're saying.

[A]

So again, I just thought Shavers once again went out there when the team stunk and laid an egg. He still made plays. His releases were really good. All of those things that I wanted to see, hey, go out there and make plays. He made plays. And I think that's a big factor into continuing to sack those days. If he would have gone out and disappeared like goes back to Shavers being like this is the most important like two weeks of my life.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he's playing like it, drawing an offensive pass interference on a great release, making another catch like the timing, all those things. I think he's earning more and more chances to get reps with ones to prove that he can be a guy that just doesn't get reps from Mike White and Mitch Trubisky and, and deserve some more time with, with Josh Allen.

[B]

If you are putting on your Brandon Bean hat. So it seems like you would say you are would reward a guy like Tyrell Shavers who has proven more in the last couple of weeks then someone like Elijah Moore who you've talked about potential, you've heard and you've seen it, you've seen the quick feet, but you just haven't seen it pan out so far with the team.

[A]

Yeah, and I'll go one further and I'll dunk on. I'm going to dunk on myself here for this one. Oh, you look at the contract for Elijah Moore. I think it's a five year, $5 million deal. Two and a half of it is guaranteed. They have cut players with guaranteed contracts before. I can't Remember the tight end from Tampa Bay? They got a tight end from Tampa Bay that was from Alabama. They signed to a guaranteed contract. He was a massive human being. And they cut him before week one, two years ago.

[B]

I don't even remember.

[A]

Pause.

[B]

A few moments later, OJ Howard.

[A]

OJ Howard. They signed OJ Howard to a pretty big guaranteed contract.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And they cut him before week one.

[B]

Yeah. $3.5 million contract with 3.1 million guaranteed. And yeah, he was. Yeah, gone.

[A]

So, so when you look at contracts and maybe that's. I think Curtis Samuel's contract is a little too big for that.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

But when you look at Elijah Moore, I'll dunk him myself here. Marquez, Valdez, Gantling. Okay. Cheap contract. Oh, it was all fully guaranteed. They caught him. Like, they will move on from guys that don't produce. And so again, Curtis Samuel needs to get on the field. Like, yeah, that has been his biggest problem in Buffalo because when he's been on the field, he's been pretty productive. And maybe that's part of their annoyance and maybe that's where they move on again. I just think you got Samuel and More do the exact same thing, and one's making a whole lot more money. One's going to be more costly to cut. And I think Shavers is proven now, not just one camp, two years, had that moment in the regular season finale. I, I, I don't know. I just think that Shavers has proven enough to me.

[B]

Okay. No, I hear you. I think he's done a lot. I just feel like a lot of people are holding out hope that Elijah Moore can finally get that pop that was expected of him when the Bill signed him after the draft. But I agree, like what we've seen on the field, I just really haven't seen the moments. And then to have in the preseason game a rough game, a couple of drops and look, I get it. Mike White was throwing in the football, but you need to be able to make plays in spite of the quarterback, and that's just how it all pans out. So need to see more from him. It's good that he got back out on the field after dealing with the injury, but will it be enough?

[A]

Right? And somebody was talking, you know, was responding to my tweets yesterday and was like, we'll give Elijah Moore a break. It's bad offensive line play and he has doesn't have a ton of reps with these backups. Spoiler alert. Elijah Moore has taken as many passes from Trubisky and Mike White, as he has from Josh Allen at training camp. Like, he's not a guy that runs every rep with Josh.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He's not Curtis. He's not Josh Palmer. He's not Keon Coleman. He's not Khalil Shakir. Like, those are the guys that Josh always throws to. That's not Elijah Moore. So I guess I'm again going back to the other week, but that's just my thoughts.

[B]

Okay. Another bright spot, other than Tyrell Shaver's play, I thought, was Jordan Hancock. Now, he did leave the game with a shoulder injury. Still waiting for an update on that in terms of the severity of that. But I felt like as a rookie, you wanted to see a guy making plays, had the tackle for a loss, had a couple nice plays in there. I felt like someone standing out for a good reason in. In the preseason game yesterday. So for me, I was like, Jordan Hancock as a safety, like, what will that be? As well as we can get into the safety play, just in general as Cole Bishop, the only starter that was out on the field yesterday to begin the game. But did you. What'd you see from Hancock?

[A]

I liked it, and I like the versatility because after he played safety for a little bit, he moved into the slot.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that was kind of like I said, I think in a perfect world, they want Jordan Hancock to be the next Cam Lewis. They want him to be a guy that can be the jack of all trades.

[B]

Versatility.

[A]

Versatility guy. So, again, I don't know if it's right now. It's funny the way that you. You view people and where you see them long term, as to where they are immediately. Like, he may be third or fourth on the depth chart at a bunch of different positions, but you can see him being a guy that can be two in a year or two at a lot of those spots.

[B]

But.

[A]

But yeah, I. The big picture from last night, Jenna, I don't know what you like. The big takeaway was like, it wasn't good, but calm down.

[B]

I think two things can be true, Dan. I think if you're a fan and you were watching that game yesterday and you were like, this is such hot garbage. I'm terrified for the season. You could say, hey, it was the Bears start. What camera am I looking at? Okay, this one. Okay. Sorry. I wanted to make sure I was looking at the wrong one. You could say, hey, it was the Bills backups against the Bears starters, and it didn't look good. And it. That's how it will look. But Then later on in the game, it was the Bills backups against the Bears backups. Now, it's important to keep in mind that a lot of these guys will get cut. They just need the bodies for the preseason, and then this is how this works. But for players that were playing to try to make an impression in terms of the Bills, the sleepwalking, I felt like we saw, that's what was concerning to me, was like, where's the. The effort? Where's the passion? Where's the putting the body on the line? Like, it sounds so cliche, but some of the fundamental stuff, tackling, like, effort, things that you just don't expect to see. That being said, it is the preseason. 99 of the starters were not out on the field. But I think there's things to take away, and that is, to win in the NFL. You got to bring it. And just because the Bills have been good in the past doesn't mean they will always be good. But also, it's the preseason.

[A]

Yeah, I looked at that, and I kind of had the same sentiment that you had where, like, we all realized, like, the Bills didn't play any of their starters. They got Cole Bishop out there, who's a projected starter because he hasn't been able to play much. So that's part of it, but none of it was really good. The fundamentals. Sean said that, like, they wanted to get more of the twos and threes and fours out there to see how they would stack up and compete, and they obviously did not compete. Well, I want to put it in this perspective, because you talk about both. Two things can be true. It's not worth panicking at all in any sense. I remember they lost to the Bears last year in the preseason. They lost to the Steelers last year in the preseason. And everybody was like, oh, this is bad. But for the guys that are trying to make the roster, it was a very bad day.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And so Bean has to look at that and evaluate not the team effort, but the individual effort or lack thereof of some of those players that were trying to make an impression. But I also look at this, too. The Bills do not care about the preseason in the slightest. And I mean that in the sense of. Why are you rolling your eyes?

[B]

No, I was cracking my neck.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I just. I mean, I don't think that's fair to say. They don't care about it at all.

[A]

So I. You're right. I wrote down.

[B]

What was that?

[A]

I wrote down the Giants and Bears cared more.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

So those are Two organizations that are trying to build something, they got to.

[B]

Be buttoned up because they have not been in the past. I hear you.

[A]

So they're trying to build something in that aspect. So like we talked about with Mike and after the first preseason game, I think the Giants did game plan a little bit for their quarterback play to look good. I think the Bears wanted to have a good performance with a new offensive coordinator and a new head coach and to build Caleb Williams confidence because they played their starters like, do you. They thought that was more important. The Bills thought it was more important to be healthy because they know what the grind and the playoff run and all those things are like. The Bears don't. The Bears need to find any sort of confidence to build off. The Bills didn't care about that. And how do I know that? Because they didn't play their starters.

[B]

No, I. Yeah, I hear you. But also to say that they don't care about the preseason at all.

[A]

Care more.

[B]

Yes. Okay. The Bears and the Giants do care more.

[A]

The Bears and the Giants wanted to have.

[B]

They wanted to win, they wanted results.

[A]

And they wanted team success to start to get things in the right direction. It's like when Sean was there in the first few years, the Bills won, like, every preseason game. They'd go 4, 0.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you're trying to build something from the ground up. These are two bad franchises that the Bills played that they're trying to find success. So I think they did game plan. I think they did. The Bears and Giants did script plays, and the Bills were going, hey, guys, go out there. Let's fly around and compete. Now they didn't compete.

[B]

That. That's where I feel like is the most upsetting, is that for a lot of these players, it is their chance to make an impression. And the impression that they made was they were not ready, they had low effort, or they're just not, frankly, good enough. And for some of these guys, they are not good enough. This. This will be the. Their opportunity to get some snaps in the NFL, but they won't make a roster. And that's okay, too. But just to see how bad it looked against the Bears backups when you had backups against backups.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And the penalties and like, look truly like in terms of my worry more, though, was for the defense, like, for the offense. You're like, Josh Allen wasn't out there starting o line like James Cook. I mean, Ty Johnson didn't get any play. Ray Davis had like two snaps. But the defense, like, what is. What will that Look. Look like. Like Joe Andreessen had a. Had a tough game. The SA. Cole Bishop had a. Had a tough game. DeMar didn't. I mean, Demar is a backup player, and that's okay, but you just. It. It feels like going into this season, we talked about the safeties, and we're like, all right, you got Taylor rap, and it's Cole Bishop's job to lose and all this stuff, but it's like, for what A backbone that has been to McDermott's defense to see how the plan is just continually not paid off.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like last year, they signed Mike Edwards, never saw the field. This last year, they signed Derek Forest. Hasn't. Hasn't made an impression whatsoever.

[A]

Nope.

[B]

You have Cole Bishop battling injuries. You have Taylor Rapp, who is fine. He's good. But his availability is usually questionable as well. I feel like he's constantly in and out of the lineup. You know, what you have in demar. But everyone that they've really tried to have unseat Demar and hasn't been able to rise to that.

[A]

That's the big thing that I was thinking about today was obviously, all of the talk is on Cole and. And obviously, I think demar is catching criticism, as rightfully so. But demar is who demar is. Like, yeah. That's part of the reason why I've said, and I made the take that I think he may start week one is because the devil you know may be better than the devil you don't.

[B]

He reminds me of Levi Wallace.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In the way that the Bills have continually tried to get someone else out there, but lo and behold, it's Levi Wallace that was continually winning that corner job. It's been demar. And I don't know what that says about the roster construction or the availability of Cole Bishop or what the plan has been, but I just looked at.

[A]

This, and I go, just talking to a friend, and I said, because I had a neighbor come over today and was like, what's wrong with the Bills? And I was like, easy. I was like, guys, yeah. Again, my point is, if the bills won 38 to nothing, would you be sitting here today going, super bowl, guys.

[B]

Do you see how probably I was.

[A]

Like, do you see how good we look? So good we looked in the preseason. It does not matter. Again, I understand.

[B]

Yes, sorry.

[A]

I understand the effort. I understand the compete. I understand the lack of fundamentals. What I'm saying there is that I think it was somebody from PFF kind of had the joke of like, yeah, if all 22 guys get injured, Starters get injured for the Bills. They're gonna have a rough season. Like, yeah, this is what. This is why when people say, like, oh, Alabama could beat the Cleveland Browns back in the day, it's like, no, they couldn't. This would have. That's what this would have looked like. Because it's backups versus starters. That's a big difference. They had Colcomette, Loveland, like, all those guys running out there, their offense. That's great for Chicago. The Bills just wanted to get out healthy. Like, that's. That's how this was in Rome.

[B]

Roma dunes.

[A]

Yeah. And he's running reps on Codrington. Like, yeah. Like, hey, yeah, advantage Rome. Like, I. I would hope so.

[B]

No, I get it. And I think you're right. Like, whatever. It's. It's never as good as you think. It's usually never as good as you think. And it's usually never as bad as you think.

[A]

Well, and we're so hungry for football.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We're craving it. And as a result, we inaccurately pretend that the preseason is football. So Mike's. We always say, you either win or you panic. That applies for the regular season. Don't apply that same thought process to the preseason. And unfortunately, like, it was a bad.

[B]

You see that your uniforms are like, those are the Bills. And then you have to. You have to take the step back and say, hey, these are the backups out there. But I don't do understand fans, like, from a point of pride, being like, really, that's the level that we're going to put out there.

[A]

And one last thing I wanted to say on Cole Bishop, which is, this is interesting because obviously the biggest problem is that he hasn't been able to be out there. And Sean talked about it after the game and said, you know, they wanted to get him out there. You know, he's asked if he's concerned, and Sean said, I'm concerned about it a lot of things, which I thought was very true. That is Sean being a coach after an embarrassing loss, being a head coach and being hard on his players. But he talks about how, you know, he's been wet around the ears and how he needs the reps and all these things. Unfortunately, you get those reps in practice, it's very tough to be a Super bowl contending team and to get those reps in live action again. If Cole Bishop played for the Jaguars, it'd be easy for him to just throw him out there. I don't know if you can do that when you're the Bills in Week one. You have the Baltimore Ravens. And the crazy thing is, Jenna, it's almost like Cole Bishop's injuries have helped him go on. There's this sense. It's like he gets a pass. When Cole's been on the field, it has not been good.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

You know, he played. Started four games last year. You think about the Houston play. He got run over once or twice in the Kansas City game. Yes, he's made plays. I'm not saying it's been all bad, but whenever there's something that goes wrong with Cole and he makes a mistake or a bad play, it's. Well, he hasn't been on the field a lot because he's been injured. Maybe this is who Cole Bishop is. Maybe he's just not that good of a player. But he has this. This sense of hope.

[B]

But he's young.

[A]

Exactly. And so it's weird to sit there and say it's been like a crutch for Cole. His injuries have helped him be the projected number one guy because we don't know because he's been injured.

[B]

My question to that is, though, you drafted him in the second round last year. At what point do you give up on a guy like that? Because it, in essence, it really has not been that long. And you invested a second round pick in him.

[A]

I see your Cole Bishop and I raise you a Dalton Concade.

[B]

Well, they still obviously believe a lot in Dalton Kincaid, and they clearly believe.

[A]

A lot in Cole Bishop.

[B]

You're right. I just. I totally hear you.

[A]

It's. It's that hope. It's. You can hope in one hand and shit in another and see which one fills up first. Like you're trying.

[B]

That is such a gross.

[A]

This thought of, you know, Everybody's like, oh, DeMar can't play DeMar. You can't have DeMar be your starter. It's like, then find somebody that's better to replace him. Because right now, I don't know if there is. And I'm not saying DeMar is good. I'm saying that he is not. He is not a quality starting safety. I think we've all agreed he is.

[B]

A depth guy, he is a backup. But because of how things have been, he has been out on the field.

[A]

Which, again, comment in your takeaways from the preseason, comment in your thoughts about Elijah Moore and Cole Bishop and that kind of stuff, because it wasn't good.

[B]

You know what's funny to me about you, Dan, is like, when people just want, like, rainbows and Sunshine, you'll be like, hey, but here's the thing. You should watch. And then when people are like, I can't believe how bad the Bills played, you're like, hey, guys, it's okay. Like, you, like, you zig when everybody else zags. You're like, hey, positives. And people are like, no, I want to get off the head of everyone that plays on the Bills.

[A]

Yeah. I felt like it was two memes in one. It was the not great Bob. And it was also the Aaron Rodgers of, like, R E L A. Smug like that. That was how I felt watching that game. Like, I. I always try and look at it. What if it's from the other side? What if. What if they beat? They won, 38 to nothing. Would we be going, man, this. This team is.

[B]

I would feel. Honestly, though, I would feel more comfortable in the level of talent.

[A]

I would rather them play good than not.

[B]

No, I know, but.

[A]

But I said I was never going to overreact in the preseason, good or bad.

[B]

But some of those backups that were playing for the Bills, unfortunately, with how injuries work in the league, will be out on the field, you would imagine, with other starters. What if Terrell Bernard goes down with others?

[A]

He has.

[B]

I. I know, but I'm saying, like, Joe Andreessen had a really quality camp last summer. This summer, amazing story. He has not held up the level of play that what we've expected.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And Terrell Bernard is such a playmaker, but he gets injured and so, yes, you're right. If Joe Andreessen were to be thrust into the lineup, he would be with all the other starters. But still, I just wanted to see more. It felt like he was constantly in the wrong spot.

[A]

Yeah. One step behind. And again, I think of it as the Bills need. You know what helped the safeties? A pass rush.

[B]

I didn't see any like.

[A]

Like that. Again, that. That would help.

[B]

The safety, Michael Hoyt has had some nice pop.

[A]

Obviously, he's on. Walker had a moment again.

[B]

I. I feel like he played better. Him and TJ Sanders played better against the Giants, though.

[A]

Agreed.

[B]

I didn't see, like, I was kind of waiting for them.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Landon Jackson. Yeah.

[A]

But that's what's so funny. Like, that's why we grade PFF. Does grades on week one preseason. And then everybody's like, hey, this guy graded a 90 something. And then they're like, well, where was he this game? It's week one of the preseason, and these guys are young. They're young, they're young.

[B]

You could Say that about Cole Bishop. They're young.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Yep. I love doing that to you. Okay. Last thing I want to say, QB battle, Mitch, is you know what I felt like? What is that? Is it the notebook where like, we were rooting for you. Rooting for you, Mike White. And look, he. He didn't have the starting offensive line, but you just needed to see more.

[A]

Chase Lunt wasn't good either.

[B]

Yeah, you just, you needed.

[A]

Mark wasn't good.

[B]

A couple penalties. Yeah. Mike White didn't get much help, but he didn't really help himself either.

[A]

Perfectly said. Yeah. I was really wanted to see something.

[B]

Yeah. We were rooting for.

[A]

Yeah. Was really kind of hoping to see something from Mike and there was a. Not much there.

[B]

Yeah. But at least I feel more comfort. Comfort in like, okay, Mitch, like, look, do I think you're the incredible athlete that people have mentioned? I don't see it. But you do have a lot of starts under your belt. That experience matters.

[A]

Former franchise quarterback.

[B]

Former franchise quarterback, obviously. I think for him, he has the experience, he has the trust, and he's been able to make more plays than what we saw from Mike White.

[A]

Relax.

[B]

I'm fascinated, though, with how hard Knox is going to cover this.

[A]

This will be interesting because like last last week, they didn't show a single Giants highlight like there. Renee was like, are they going to show Dable on this highlight? I'm like, no, the show's not about Dable and the Giants.

[B]

It's hard to talk about that game.

[A]

It's going to be hard to talk about putting up zero points and your defense getting torched.

[B]

Didn't they not even convert a third down?

[A]

I don't think so. But Tyrell Shavers and Jordan Hancock. Yeah, those are my notes. Backups versus starters. Giants and Bears cared more safety. And I'm, I'm again Ben out. And Elijah Moore.

[B]

Are you out on Cole Bishop?

[A]

No comment.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I plead the fifth. So.

[B]

Yes, but not quite yet. Trending towards. Trending towards. Yes.

[A]

I. I would love to be wrong. I'd love to be wrong.

[B]

No, you wouldn't. Or sometimes say we know you. No, you wouldn't. Okay. Yeah, two things can be true. You wanted it to be better ends the preseason. And now we're entering the final preseason game of summer. Coming up on Saturday, the Bills will be in Tampa Bay. They have Hard Knocks coming up tomorrow. Another episode dropping. We'll have our recap of that. And yeah, feel free to comment in just what you. What you made of of Sunday night scheme. Sunday night Too, like, should have been illegal. I heard people being like, you know what? The bills were exhausted from being in Chicago. That, to me, is so weak. That is such a weak answer.

[A]

And Sean must have liked what he had. And he kind of mentioned that.

[B]

Alluded to that. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Alluded. That's the word.

[B]

Spell it.

[A]

E, L. No, no, it's not E.

[B]

No, it's an A.

[A]

No way.

[B]

Yes. Yes.

[A]

No way.

[B]

Yes. Eluded. A L, L, U, something, whatever.

[A]

It's an E. It.

[B]

No, it's not. Allude. A L, L, U, D, E. What the hell are you looking up?

[A]

E, L, U, D, E, D. Eluded. Evade or escape from danger.

[B]

Allude, mention without discussing at length.

[A]

That's why you come to the Buffalo plus podcast.

[B]

Comment in if it's with an A or an E, it's an E. It's an A. What was the definition for that?

[A]

Allude, evade, or escape from danger.

[B]

Yeah, no, that's not what Sean McDermott was doing. He was mentioning without discussing at length, which is allude with an A.

[A]

Might be right.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. All right.

[A]

You can spell two ways. Maybe I was just spelling the other one. That's how you frame a take. Comment in. We'll have more content. Bills practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then their final preseason game.

[B]

You or something? Okay, for my Catalana. Who's not here? Dan Fates. I'm Jenna Katra. We'll catch you next time here on the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel. Please be sure to like, comment, subscribe and share. Reminder, you can find our audio only versions of the podcast available wherever you get your podcast. Just check it out. Buffalo Plus. Please be sure to rate and subscribe there as well. All right, that'll do it for us.

[A]

Don't panic.

[B]

We'll catch you next time.

[A]

It's the preseason.

[B]

Just don't on the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel.