Buffalo Bills: Things we know this week

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - AUGUST 16: Frank Gore #20 talks with LeSean McCoy #25 of the Buffalo Bills during the second quarter of their preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on August 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - AUGUST 16: Frank Gore #20 talks with LeSean McCoy #25 of the Buffalo Bills during the second quarter of their preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on August 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

This is what we learned about the Buffalo Bills over the past week…

It sure is fun watching the Buffalo Bills going 4-0 this preseason. An exciting finale where all of the backups stunt men played, but yet the starters cheered on the team on the sidelines as opposed to already being at the Big Tree or in the weight room by the end of the first quarter. Undefeated. A comeback? Hello? Winner winner chicken dinner.

Marv Levy’ss teams lost most of the preseason games in Club Marv camps/preseason. Chuck Knox teams never came close to perfection in preseason. One important detail you may ask yourself about all of these Bills preseason teams that lost a large share of the contests would be:

DID THEY ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THE SCOREBOARD?

I am sure in a perfect world all coaches prefer winning over losing, no matter who you tapped on the shoulder to play that particular game. Winning is good for the confidence. Winning is good for the fan base. Winning is good for league respect of organizations off-season moves. Coaches, GM’s and players typically are extremely competitive by nature.

That said, winning preseason games, although some perks were casually claimed above, are not even close to an important result of said games. Staying healthy. Team chemistry. Reviewing the entire talent base. Making decisions on the final 53 man roster. Deciding on practice squad prospects. Vanilla play calling. Low risk collisions desired. Review leadership. Try trick or specialty plays. Sell some tickets. STAY Healthy. Redundant, I know. Lather, rinse, repeat.

4-0 is still a treat since it was the first time in Bills history that remarkable record has been accomplished. Buffalo last went 3-0 in the preseason in 1966. They won 9 games that season and went to the championship game. They eventually lost to the Chiefs.

PUMP THE BRAKES!  The 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns both went 4-0 in preseasons. They also had 0-16 regular seasons. Yes, bad organizations. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but the Bills organization does not fair that much better. Lots of losing since the 90’s. Lot’s of losing before the Almost-a-dynasty team. I digress..

Things we know about the Buffalo Bills this week:

Trades

Offensive guard Wyatt Teller has been traded to the Cleveland Browns for a couple picks next year.

Center Russell Bodine has been traded  to the New England Patriots in exchange for a sixth round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

LeSean McCoy released

The news of the Buffalo Bills moving on from LeSean McCoy has started surfacing Saturday morning as the team had to cut their roster down to 53 plywea. All along media and fans have speculated that after McCoy’s regression in productivity last season, his high salary and all of the bench-strength they had surrounded him with,  he would be a prime candidate to be a salary cap casualty.

The argument for the release was the lack of drop-off by going with Frank Gore and the rookie, Devin Singletary . All along management rested McCoy and claimed he was in every plan to be the main starter. He had an off year along with the line in front of him last season. They claimed he was hitting the holes and running like he did for the three previous seasons to last years struggles.

I personally believe they should have traded him for anything or released him earlier since it is beginning to appear a lot of the experts were correct and the McBeane administration was simply giving us lip service all along. Why not give him more time to find work and learn the new teams playbook? Why treat a future Hall of Famer with such company lines and last minute surprises?

I can only figure either his performance in practice has shown a drop off or they did not want to get rid of him and then have three injuries making the running back position a liability.

I guess my McCoy jersey can join the Marshawn Lynch, Willis McGahee, Fred Jackson and Thurman Thomas in the man cave by the bar. I believe I wore it one time at the London Jacksonville game. Ouch.

As for the Travis Henry jersey, it was given to Goodwill so someone who still chose to sport his name after the prison time for drugs could get a deal.

Schedule