Before the Roar - Lions vs Bills Week 2 Preview

0:00Have fun with the next event. What's going on, Lions fans? Welcome to the For the For your preview podcast over here at Pride of Detroit.com. I'm your host Miko, join once again by my guy Morgan Cannon. And this is your go to place for all things Lions related that includes news, updates, analysis and so much more. But over here at For the For our main focus is previewing the upcoming Lions opponent, which is what we're going to do today. Morgan, the Lions have a really short week and they have a Buffalo Bill's team that's coming or not coming into town that

1:00they're going to go out to see that is coming off a pretty impressive win. But this is a team that's always dangerous, no matter what. Yeah. And as y'all can probably guess it starts with the guy under center for them, you know, their MVP caliber, you know, year in and year out. He's going to be in that discussion. Josh Allen, you guys are all all aware of who that is. But yeah, they got another, it's another AFC contender man and it'll be a good good test. I hate that it's coming on a short week. But like Dan Campbell said a couple times, you know, Buffalo's working on that short week too. And they were in a battle against Houston. So very similarly to the Lions. I was going to say I think that's probably one of the silver linings here is that like obviously yes, they're both on a short week. But both of them are coming off of really hard fought wins. So it's going to be interesting to see which team can capitalize and improve from what they just did the previous week. Like we like to do over here before the world, we're going to go through the opponent side of things. We're going to talk about the offense. We're going to talk about the defense. And then getting into the second segment of the show,

2:03we're going to do a little bit of film study as well as talk about some of the impact players and matchups to watch. So Morgan, let's kind of just dive into it right now. When you look at this Buffalo Bill's team, how would you describe the identity of this team right now? I mean, it's evolving a little bit, right? So as you guys probably know, McDermott's no longer there. They have Joe Brady, who's now the head coach. So probably not much he's the offensive coordinator before just to get full context. So probably not much is changing on the offensive side of the ball. Simply because why would you? You got to maybe quarterback. You got a really nice array of skill players that can make a whole lot of plays. So you have that. The defense will kind of remain to be seen when I did go through the film. It didn't look too, too good. They were kind of getting pushed around up front. They gave up like 409 total yards offense. So yeah, I don't, it's the defense isn't as big of a worry. Obviously, as the offense is, but that's also not to say,

3:04like they have a lot of players on the defensive side of the ball too, right? Like I really like their front, you know, Ed Oliver, Greg Russo, Bradley Chubb. I think you have some nice players there where you can, you know, you can make some things happen with that front, right? Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's the thing that I kind of take away from this team, too, is like this is a team that yes, they did fire their head coach last year, but that was a team that still went 12 and 5. It's really weird because we'll and we'll get to them. We kind of dive into the offense. Like it was a 12 and 5 team when Josh Allen probably wasn't having his best season throwing the football necessarily, but they still found a way of winning games. And I think that goes to why Joe Brady kind of probably got the head coaching job is because of what he's able to do for them offensively, which I mean, if we're talking about what their biggest strength is as the this Buffalo Bill's team, like it has to be their offense. Like you said, there's there's things about their defense. I mean, we're going to talk about that next, but this offense, I mean, looking back at 2025, they were fourth and total points, which is ironic because they

4:05were tied with the Lions, but yet once again, drastically different seasons, fourth and total offense DVO way, they were sixth and passing, tenth and rushing. And then first in rushing yards, averaging five yards per carry as a team and ledily with over 30 touchdowns. Like this is a team that can be very, very explosive offensively. And that's going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams, including the Lions is a coming week. Yeah, and they can do a lot of things. And I'm excited to talk about their offense because it Dan Campbell had some comments today in the press and his media availability that kind of shed some light on like how these coaches look at things. Right. But yeah, the offense is the biggest problem. They can do it in a myriad of different ways. You guys remember that game? November 2024, when they got snowed out and they couldn't practice and they still came here and scored 48 points. I love liking the notes. Miko put like Tai Johnson, if y'all remember the Maryland running back that got drafted by the Lions years ago at this point, but he had himself a game and five catches 114 yards. He was beating the brakes off of

5:07the Lions like fifth and six string linebackers at that time because everyone in the mom was hurt. I hope it's not another game like that because that was I know a lot of people like high scoring games. I don't. I'm a little bit of a football purist at heart, like seeing off and score every time they have the ball is a little disheartening to me. I'd rather see some stops mixed in there. But it's also it's also not going to do you a lot of favors to if you're a Lions fan. You want to see this defense build upon what they were doing in the first half of last week. Like you want to see what you saw last week through four quarters. So yeah, like if this jumps out to a shootout, which it very well could, it's it's going to not sit well with a lot of Lions fans probably for the long term. But I think the thing that at least gives the Lions hope or at least should give a lot of Lions fans hopes is the fact like as good as this offense is working. You kind of alluded to it already. This defense might be the weakness of this team specifically when it comes down to run defense, which they were not very good at last year. This was a team that gave the 28th most

6:08rushing yards allowed 30th most rushing touchdowns and 31st in yards per carry where they were just as as easily as they were getting five yards per carry. They were also giving up five yards to carry as a defense. Yeah, and that's kind of where I think the Lions could help out their defense by controlling the tempo and the pace of the game. Like if they can possess the ball and and win that time of possession battle by eight to 10 minutes or what have you, that could be a big boon in their favor, right? Like being able to keep that's the best defense for Josh Allen man just having him sit over on the sideline looking at a Microsoft tablet, you know, like keeping him keeping him right there, keeping him comfy. That's what that's what I like. And I think and I think that you could very well like see the Lions are absolutely going to test this defense in the same way that the Texans did last week putting up 124 yards to rushing touchdowns. They were kept to about 3.9 yards per carry, but I mean, you got you gave 20 carries to David Montgomery for 60 yards. Woody marks, though, slightly better day, right? Nine carries for 42 yards. And I think even CJ Stroud had a couple

7:13carries. So it by a committee that they were able to at least still put up over 100 yards on this bill's defense. I think you're going to see the Lions do that and probably a little bit more when you talk about having a guy like Jameer Gibbs in the backfield. And if this offensive line is healthy going into this game at least having most of their, you know, pieces probably missing Christian Mahogany, they have an opportunity to really move this defensive route. Yeah, and I want to see you know, a good mix of what they were throwing at New Orleans like they were getting and heavy. They were moving the offensive line around. If you guys haven't seen the article that our own Anthony between the numbers Anthony did. He dropped it this morning on the website, terrific breakdown of several different running, running concepts that Petsing incorporated against the Saints man, including Crunch. Like I was, I was a throwback. I didn't see Crunch run like that in a bit. I'm going to definitely go check that out if you want to learn more about how Petsing is kind of like being innovative with the offense. So I think that's going to be that's probably the

8:13line's biggest strength. And then on the flip side, right? Like there was that tweet getting thrown around today. The bills were in 13 personnel. So if you guys again, I'll break it down real quick 13 personnel. One running back three tight ends when you hear analysts talk about that. That's what they're saying. So 11, one and one, 12, one and two, etc. 13 personnel and Dan Campbell talked about it today. They have three guys that are like it's a King Cade, Knox, and then 85, the rookie that came out to Jackson Halls. Yeah, the from Iowa. Funny enough, right? Yeah. So yeah. Yep. I think they have three guys with like really different skill sets, but can do a lot of things really well. So what kind of see was that a trend? They were in 13 personnel to deal with Houston's best-year ed rushing duo just to help out, you know, Deon Dawkins and who's their right tackle? I was having a brain. Spent a brown, but we'll have to see. We'll kind of see how they come out, but they can do it all. Similarly to lions, they can get heavy, they can spread you out. We like

9:15their skill guys, but yeah, they weren't 13 personnel, 50% of the time, which is pretty absurd. That will be, and I expect them to try to do that. Like they're going to want to try to push the lines around because then that's going to make things. If they can't stop the run this week, that will be a tough time because that opens up Joe Brady's entire box of horrors that he can throw at you with Allen, whether it's like design runs with Allen, and then you're having to deal with that. James Cook's a terrific player, and they can really just start gashing you. So the first order of business, I know we sound like a broken record. Got to bottle up that run. I would like to see a lot more of what we saw against New Orleans where they didn't have any success, minus that one run late to that. Echan, dude, I also noticed, and during that, we've been saying Travis ETN's name wrong, man. He says that Louisiana is, you know what, it's H-chan. H-chan? Yeah. Listen. Yeah. News to me. So, yeah, they H-chan, H-chan. I don't think there's going to be any saints, fans watching this anymore, but next time we play them, I will be on it. I promise. But yeah,

10:18I think that'll be, that's going to be the first order of business. Hate to sound like a broken record, but you have to bottle up the run against Buffalo or else it's going to get crazy quick. Yeah, and I think that what you just hit on in regards to the bills running so much 13 personnel, which is not something that I think most people would think of when you talk about a team that has Josh Allen as the quarterback, you know that they have talented players when you talk about James Cook at the running back position, DJ Moore, the talented tight ends that they have, but you still wouldn't be quick to be like, oh, this is a team that runs 13 personnel. This is a team that probably like spreads teams out and lets wants their quarterback to go to work. But like you said, it kind of goes down to what this offense is at its core, which is the next thing that we're going to talk about here is kind of how this offense is kind of made up because they are going to still set you up primarily with the run game. But at the end of the day, this ship is absolutely captain by Josh Allen and he starts an end kind of with him at the helm of this ship. So we're going to ask a silly question because I already know the answer, but in case people are wondering,

11:22what does Josh Allen do particularly well? Everything, everything like we have a couple clips later, man, he's really developed into just a really excellent passer from the pocket. He's got a super strong arm. He throws within anticipation now. Like when he was coming out, man, he was funny to watch early on. Like we would make jokes. I'm like, this man is crazy. He would do some really dumb stuff. But it pays to stay with your guys, especially when they have freaky, deaky treats, treats, traits like Josh Allen does. So yeah, man, and that's what makes it tough, right? Like it, it makes it harder to stop a James Cook because you're not really dealing with just a traditional run game. You have to be aware that he could keep it. It could be an RPO. They could be setting you up, like they're going to run this outside zone over and over and over again. Oh, now it's a naked boot and he's out here in space. And it can really get crazy fast. So you have to be able to, it's going to be a crush the crush the can type of week. I don't think they're going to go

12:24all the way back to like we don't want to rush the quarterback quickly. I think that has to happen this week. Like they did a good job last week of manufacturing pressure. And I think that has to happen this week. But at the same time, I think they need to win like you're going to have to rush, you're going to have to pressure him with four or five players too because you're not going to I they were getting bit at the end of the game. And this late in the second half against New Orleans, they were gassed. They weren't playing complimentary football. So the defense was out there over and over again, they were trying to heat a shut up. But then he was seeing it, throwing it into the void and getting it to his playmakers quickly for easy chunks of yardage. That can't happen against Buffalo because Josh Allen with respect to Chuck. Josh Allen is a lot better player right now at the stage of his career than Chuck is. So yeah, I know that's kind of a weak answer, but he can really do everything extremely, extremely well. But he does have a couple weaknesses, right, Miko? Yeah, you kind of alluded to him at the beginning as advanced as Josh Allen is and as much

13:25progression as he's made in his game. I think his Achilles heel has still kind of remained his tendency to lean into the hero ball a little too much at certain instances. So this is where if the Lions can get off to a quick hot start, you allow Josh Allen to kind of become his own worst enemy where he starts looking for the big play too much when he starts holding the ball too much when he starts trying to extend plays a little too much. Those types of situations combined with an offensive line that's not bad, but can also give up pressure quite a bit can start to impact how he plays. And so you kind of like I said, you kind of allow him to become his own worst enemy in the sense that like he starts to think that he has to do it all. And now you get the guy that will maybe throw the occasional interception or once again, just retreat too much in a dropback and now you're getting the big sacks and putting them further behind the sticks. Yeah, he'll drift in the pocket a little bit because he is six foot five and he can see. So he's like, okay, I'll take a couple I'll not drift. I'll take another step and that can hurt you. Obviously like offensive lineman don't

14:28like that. Like dude, I don't know where to not really sure where to take this edger usher because you're at 13 yards back here and I don't have anywhere to run him off at. But yeah, he can he can play a little bit of hero ball here and there. That'd be great if he'd turn it over a couple times. That certainly helped the cause. I liked this stat from NFL pro, but like 13 different lion's defenders generated a pressure in week one. It's the most in the league and three more than the next close of defense. And that's where like I like their tackles like Deon Dawkins is a really good player. Yeah, Spencer Brown, but they're in their interior as a Cyrus Torrance at right guard, Conor McGovern at center and Alec Anderson at left guard and you know, all those players, you know, it's early in the season, but none of them are bad necessarily, but as well as Alimic Neil, Tile E. Williams and Skylar Gil Howard played last week, that does give me a little hope because that can like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson doesn't matter who it is, my homes, a ton of interior pressure can make elite quarterbacks look not so elite because that is tough to deal with, especially if you have

15:32Aiden Hutchinson, Derek Moore, Wannum because then that interior pressure flushes a mountain and hopefully into the waiting hands of an edge rusher. But if I were to say like that would be something the lions would need to take advantage of this week is, you know, pushing around that interior offensive line a little bit and generating some of that pressure without sending a jack Campbell or Christian is he in or someone along those lines because I think you're going to need all hands on deck and I know a lot of people love a cubie spy. All right, Naren Glenn famously pushed back against that a couple years ago, but there are instances where it is a feasible, you know, tactic. So that'll be something I'll, you know, in certain situations do they spy Allen just to cover their butts a little bit. So there's a lot of things that go into it and on a short week, but it's not like the lions haven't played Buffalo before, right, Miko? No, not at all. And I think that's where you talk about like your interior defensive line guys as well as like just your front four in general.

16:33I do think you possibly have an advantage there where your guys on the inside are working and forcing Josh Allen off his spot. One of the things that Aiden Hutchinson has done better than probably a lot of guys at his position at league is like be able to chase you down, be able to have the type of motor to just like continue to rush the the passer even beyond his rush line. So you get guys like a lean forcing Josh Allen to extend plays Aiden Hutchinson's not giving up on that play. Like he will absolutely find a way of getting to you. But in addition to that, you talk about potentially spying him. This is where Jack Campbell can probably have a really big game. But I'm also looking at sneakily enough like maybe Devon White, if you want to be able to manufacture pressure, but without having to send guys from the secondary without compromising, you know, your corners and your safeties, maybe you see the lines use a few more linebacker blitzes this week than you did the week before. And this was something that we saw Devon White do a ton in the preseason and it was looking really good. When I was watching the tape back, he did that a few times against New Orleans

17:36too. Like he's just a downhill player, man. He plays a lot of a lot of passion. We'll call it. But yeah, I think that's something they can do. And Josh Allen's a vet at this point, two man. He's no longer a younger player. So there's only so much he can do to really disguise what you're doing. Pre-snap. So that'll be something to watch too. And then like their skill players, man, like you mentioned it earlier, James Cook, right? Phenomenal running back. DJ Moore had a big week, last week, a hundred yards. I really like Khalil Shakir, you know, very, very, you know, like awesome slot player. They still have Keon Coleman. We talked about their the three headed monster at Tide-ends. They're all a little different like Nox is your miss or a Nox is kind of your do it all, right? Boom. Jackson Haas can play a little. He can block, you know, he's a good like move, like a big Y. Kincaid is a mismatch just in general. Like he one of the plays we're showing. He just runs a great route. Gets the separation. Allen gives him a dot. He breaks a couple tackles and it's a huge gain. So very simple for the like in that situation. Like he talked about Dalton.

18:41Kincaid. Yep. He really is, man. He's a kind of a complete player. There's a reason he's one of the better Tide-ends in football. But I mean, he caught all four of his targets over 10 Aries yards. This is for NFL pro. 124 yards against the Texans. Pretty, pretty good, man. Yeah. And Josh Allen, it was his highest. It was 12.6 Aries per attempt in week one. His most in a game since week 18 of 2022. That tells me Joe Brady is like, yeah, we're about to unleash this man. So little scary, if you're a lion's fan because Josh Allen pushing the ball down the field can be a little scary, but at the same time, you know, that's where this defense has to adjust. Like it's Calvin Shepherd and the staff and the players responsibility to get ready. But it all leads back to what we were talking about in the first segment, right? Me go like, we, it has to be, you can't let James Cook get going because you know, when they go heavy, the lions, that's something I want to see how they counter it, right? Like Houston last week stayed in Nikola Ton. Yeah. And they can, I mean, it kind of worked, right? Like they, well, they didn't like Buffalo

19:46still scored 36 points. But like you, you, I don't know, again, we don't know if it was to combat the edge rushers with the Neil Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. But if the lions go back to base, that could, that could be a little bit like if they're going to go a bunch, you know, play a bunch of tight ends, they could have three, four linebackers on the field or three linebackers and Christian Izzy in near the line of scrimmage. And I think that could be a way to combat that. But Buffalo can get to a lot of their looks in a myriad of different ways. So yeah, Dan's presser comments, you know, we're recording this Tuesday night. So Tuesday, he said, you know, it's easier to defend everything in Nikola. Like if you can do it, like he said, the candy store is open. If you can play everything in Nikola, whereas base, you can eliminate some things, but you can't necessarily, you know, cover all your bases if you're in base. Sure. So I think that'll be something to watch. And next year in stats, I love that you added this in here. Kincaid did a ton of his damage when he was lined up wide. So like away from the line of scrimmage, right? Like, excuse me, away from the offensive line, you know, not in line. Three of his five

20:49receptions from there. And that turned into 113 yards, including the one that's going to come up later in the show. So yeah, I think six, three, two, forty six, Kincaid is one. We know DJ Moore is a heck of a player too. We already talked about Shakir, but you know, stop and Dalton Kincaid and not letting that connection get going, I think is going to be, is going to be pretty big. Yeah, this kind of comes down to some of the same things that we saw the lines struggle with last week, which is like, can you limit the explosive plays of the Buffalo bills? The bills had seven explosives last week against the Texans. And like you said, you have two receivers, DJ Moore goes for our, for exactly a hundred yards receiving Donkey and Kincaid goes for a hundred and thirty, something. And then on top of that, Khalil Shakir still averaged like 12 yards of reception on, I think only in like three or four receptions. Those are just too many big plays that can easily flip a field. So if you're the Lions, yes, it is about very much impacting Josh Allen. But at the

21:50same time, like we talked about when he does so many things so well, you really are just trying to figure out like, okay, which thing are we allowing him to do the most? And the thing that I think you can allow him to do, which is kind of some of the same things that they tried to do. I think even with Lamar, which is like, listen, if you're going to like dance in the backfield, if you're going to take, you know, a cup, some of the underneath stuff, like we'll give you that. You can't give this team the big plays though, because once they get into the red zone, this is also like we didn't talk about this with Josh Allen. But like that's where Josh Allen becomes the most dangerous because now he truly is a run pass option for this offense. And now you have to defend the field entirely different. It's not about just like shorter condensed field, easier to cover guys like, no, it's also easier for him to run and possibly get a touchdown here or there. So those are the things like with this offense that I'm very much worried about is once again, can the Lions handle the explosive plays that the bills are going to throw out there. And also can they handle the mixed matching of personnel that the bills are going to throw out

22:55there. Would they go heavy with their team personnel do the lines have the proper answer to that and do they have the matchups that they want? Yep. And I love that you put it that way. The really like simple way to say that is like, you got to make them earn it. Me go right like you can't be two, three play drives where it's a broken tackle or a busted coverage and they're getting the easy six points. Make them earn it. Like make them, you know, string together a long drive without any mistakes. But yeah, I was happy that the Lions, we kind of anticipated it, right? Like we thought they were going to move away from all that base they played in 2025. The base personnel usage according to NFL pro again down to 26.7 per, you know, when compared to 2025, 65% nickel, 4% dime. So they're definitely mixing matching and that will be key because like, are you going to, are you going to try to defend the run out of nickel? Like if they can, if you can bottle up the run, if you can stop James Cook and kind of neutralize this running game, the traditional running game in nickel, I think that would be a huge boost because I think

23:58Mike McDonald, the Seahawks coach made that comment a couple like last year and he was like, if you can defend the run like soundly out of nickel, it's like a superpower because yeah, just like the comments Dan Campbell made, it just makes things easier for you as a play collar, being able to match up when they do get out of their heavier look and they have Shakir, Cook, Coleman and DJ Moore all in the field at the same time because that's, it's not the lion's skill players like a one-to-one comparison, but it's not that far off either. Like that's a heck of a skill group. So that would be, we'll kind of see probably on those first couple series, like do they try to bottle up the run with the nickel, like even if it's a heavier nickel, right? Like if is he ends your nickel, right? And you have Chuck Clark and Avanti Maddox still back there and Isian's playing near the line of scrim, it's almost like in a Brian, Brian Brandt rule, like that could be something they do, but we'll have to see. They might end up just like, hey, we're gotta have to match up base and they did a heck of a lot of subbing, like watching the game, you know, I know you guys see

25:01some of it at home on the TV, but like in the in the game, man, like our seats are right by the tunnel, so you can see straight down the line, sideline. And it's just always funny, like seeing the position coaches like jumping up and down, yelling like someone's on the field that they're not supposed to. I was getting nervous that they were going to get a two-minute man, but they kept it pretty clean to their credit. So that'll be the big thing, man, watching that chess match, seeing how they, you know, do their best to slow down this offense, because I don't stopping it completely is a tall task. Can you slow it down a little bit, make them earn their money? Yeah, and on the flip side of that, that's where it also kind of switches over to the offensive side of things where can the offense take advantage of a defense that is talented Morgan, like has guys that if I just told you the names and if I told you stat lines, you'd be like, yo, those are good players, but hasn't quite put it together. While the defense for the Lions has to do their part, the offense has to do their part as well and try to find ways of taking advantage of a Bill's defense that first and foremost has a new has a first time defensive coordinator over there. And I think there's always some learning

26:06that that has to happen with the defensive turn in terms of making those types of adjustment. This is a Bill's defense that's going from a four three defensive scheme to a three four defensive scheme. It's kind of, it's a, it's a good transition for them considering the type of players they have. When you talk about having Greg Russo, when you talk about having Bradley Chubb as two outside pass rushers and Oliver is, is still a really good impactful defensive tackle. And then Delani Walker is someone that they're kind of relying on as their, as their nose tackle there. It's like, you said in the beginning, like, it's a really impressive defensive front. But for whatever reason, it just still hasn't quite translated to an, an out of this world type of defense that you would like it to be. And I kind of feel like that's partially like the secondary to blame very similar to the Lions. Yeah. And they, like you said, they're moving to that transition to the three four. They got Deon Walker at the nose. I really like Ed Oliver both in the against the run and against the pass. But that three four will kind of have to see like the Lions had a lot of success running

27:07against that three four that New Orleans had last week. And obviously it's not a one-to-one comparison. But man, there was like, jaw averaged. I think it was over five yards of carry. And there is like three two to three runs where both when watching it live and watching the all 22. I'm like, oh, that's almost gone. Like, yep, a couple times, dude, I stood up out of my seat because you, you know, we're in an in zone essentially. So you can see everything on, you know, developing. And my coach brain, like I said, with one of my best friends that I listened to as well. And like, we'll both be like, you know, because you see it. I said, I said, I said, yesterday on the, or on Sunday on the POD cast, it's there's very few times when Dan gets up to the podium. He's like, oh, man, we were this close to breaking a couple of those and he's right. I immediately think of the plays where I was like very much in the same way where we're like, if Jameer slips that tackle, like it's off to the races. Yeah. And you can tell sometimes because Jameer will get up and he'll like slam the ball because he'll know like, man, is this close to bus in a 60 yard or instead of like a 15 or 20 yard or so. Maybe get a couple of those against Buffalo. That would help come some quick

28:10strikes. But yeah, not a ton to go off of in terms of because we just got the one week with them with Jim Leonard as the defensive coordinator. So we just got the one week of tape of them in the three, four. They did pick up three sacks and nine quarterback kits against the Texans. Yeah, some talented pass rushers. We'll have to see what they do because that's going to be there for shorter business because they're looking at that tape from last week from the Lions playing New Orleans with Petsing and they're like, damn, they were throwing the kitchen sink at New Orleans, like in terms of concepts, moving Pene's stool around and like going heavy right and you know, mix-matching. I like that just because it's it seems minuscule. But like as a defender and a defensive coach, like when you go out there and you're like, oh, they got the right, they got their left tackle stacked over there next to Miller and a tight end. Is this messing up our alignment? Like what are like it's it's kind of like a throw a wrench into things. So I hope he continues that. And again, give another shout out. Go read Anthony's all 22 article. That was awesome. If you're

29:13looking like, hey, what were the Lions doing to try to like mess, you know, mess with New Orleans and make things more difficult? So that's kind of what I look at and I want them. I know they took a couple shots. I know Jamo should have had that one. Those really two plays, man, the deep shot to Jamo and then the reverse, that reverse probably would have scored too. If you guys haven't watched that like the replay or not the replay because it's not really going to show you on the broadcast angle, but boy, that was set up. I'm pretty sure Jameson would have scored had he successfully handled that, you know, the reverse side that would have been a touchdown. So see some more of that because I do think the Lions will have success running the ball against Buffalo. And then you got to build off of that, right? Like take some shots and then can the Lions like they did it a little bit like there was like six plays. I want to say where they had Borum in there as an extra offensive lineman to get a little heavy and try to push people around. So that's something we could see against Buffalo as well. But then we also know the Lions have the ability to run out of lighter

30:16personal groupings like 11 and spread people out. Still beat people up. So yeah, I think that's going to be the key is how they're able to dictate the pace of the game with their offense. Yeah, it almost comes down to like it almost becomes a must in some senses because like if the Lions like the defense has to do their part in terms of getting stops, getting off the field. The way this offense can help this defense though is by sustaining drives and by running clock and by having an effective run game. And I'm not saying that Josh shouldn't break a couple for like big gains, but we might want to keep him like if Josh gets to like the 10 or gets to the three like hey, just just fall. Just fall in some of those just so that your defense can be like okay, we don't have to go back on the field right now. Let us breathe. Man, that was really that's what the wheels came off. It was 21 nothing. And I said it earlier and you guys were probably like, oh, this old man talking about complimentary football game. It's it is what it is, man, because they was like okay, they scored boom, couple like a big play. They score three and out. They got

31:21the ball back boom score again. And it's just you got to have that that give and take. So even if your offense isn't scoring, like get a couple first downs, let the defense breathe because they were on the field for 90 snaps against New Orleans. Like you could watch. I'm sure y'all saw it on the broadcast, but when you watch Hutchinson breathe like is my guy good? Like he's like, you know, like it's very, you know, he looks like he's hurt. It was so obvious that it was just like, hey, somebody get that man some oxygen because we just don't craft jerky isn't the thing that's going to help this man, right? Like as as as as a great of a product as it is as high quality protein as it is, righteous felon is not the thing that you need when you're just on the field continuously. But fortunately for our listeners, it's exactly what you need, especially if you're looking for a high protein snack that's also just jam packed with flavor. And before the roar is brought to you by righteous felon craft jerky. It's the jerky that fuels before the roar. Each two ounce bag of jerky has 16 to 20 grams of protein and each stick has eight grams. Trust me, if it's good enough for the line, it's going to be good enough for you to righteous felon is based in Westchester,

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33:26use the promo code POD 15 at checkout. And that's going to get you 15% off your order. Again, that's promo code POD 15 at righteous felon.com. When we come back, we're going to talk about some of these impact players and some of the matchups that you need to watch on both the offense and defensive side. And there might even be a coaching battle that we really need to keep our eyes on as well. So we're going to talk about that in a whole lot more right after this. And welcome back to before the Warrior preview podcast over here at PritedDetroid.com. Morgan,

34:27in the first segment, we talked about what the bills are, who the bills are as a team. We talked about the offense. We talked about the defense. But let's get into a little bit more of the Nitty Gritty when it comes down to this team because there's still so many other aspects of it. And let's start with some players that we just feel like people need to know specifically on the defensive side, because I did want to feel like there was a couple players that we just didn't get to hit on. So we know about the past rushers, right? We talk about Greg Russo. We talk about Bradley Chub. These are two guys that last year. We're putting a pretty decent sack numbers. Greg Russo finished the season with seven sacks. Bradley Chub finished with eight and a half. Bradley Chub is the one that at least I look at where it's like I know that's the name most fans know of, but maybe has taken a bit of a step back as he's kind of getting up there in age. Yeah. And I like Chub still. Like he's a, that's a three down player. Like defense that run really well is going to rush the passer. I think at this point in their careers, I do like Russo's upside as a pass, pass rusher a bit more. So that would be something to watch. Like, man, I tell you what, just it is in

35:27the side. Chase Young played his butt off last week against New Orleans. Get it. Pane everything that he was looking for him more. Yeah. Like so. I'd be like, I'd be out because that guy's training towards getting himself a couple of, you know, nice bags here in like the second stage of his career, if you will. But yeah, that'll be Russo and Chub are both really good players. I do think Russo, like I said, a little more dynamic as a pass rusher at this point. We'll see if they move him around much, you know, just going like, will he stay over against Pane? Will he move across like from, you know, if it's Blake Miller or Larry Borum, we'll have to see the other ones. I think another really good matchup that we can focus on is Christian Benford and Maxwell Herston. So the two corners, like their outside corners that are going to play like the majority of their snaps, that'll be one. I want to see too because Maxwell's are rookie, right? It's the he's had a hockey, I want to say. Yeah, it's a third player. Okay. Yep. So Maxwell Herston is a really good player, like a good up and coming player. My opinion, can they

36:32handle the Lions? You know, I know Jameson didn't have the best game last week, but I think he'll bounce back. I was really happy to see him make that catch and over time that basically got the Lions down into the low red. Happy that got went to him and happy that Jameson made the play that made me really happy, but can those two handle the Lions? You know, the Lions receiving core because that'll be, that's a top task. I guarantee you every week that a team's playing the Lions are like, yeah, we got to deal with these two, you know? Yeah. And when you talk about, like you mentioned it in the first segment, I know a defense that gave up over 400 yards gave up a lot of yardage in the passing game. There's a lot to to expect of that defense when you have another really talented wide receiver duo coming in, as well as a talented tight end in Sam LaPorta and a talented running back in Jumir Gibbs. It's a lot for a secondary to have to worry about. It's also a lot for a linebacking core to have to worry about, but Toreau Bernard is someone that I think could be really impactful in this game specifically for the bills if they want to have a chance at stopping the run. Like you talk about having a three, four defense, your linebackers have to carry a lot more

37:37responsibility and be enabled to, you know, play downhill and be able to fill some of those rushing lanes in. He did a really good job with that last week against the Texans. According to next-gen stats, 12 tackles on the day, seven run stops, that's a guy that once again, if you're talking about, you know, Ben Barge, Tate Ratledge, if you are being tasked to go up to that second level, you got to put a body on a guy like that. Yeah, and I, they were good against, like when I watched that game back, Bernard and their other inside linebacker, Dorian Williams, they're both good and it kind of led to David Montgomery. I know he had three scores, but he was pretty inefficient. It was 20 carries for 60 yards. The average three yards a pop. So not the best game, but man, I will say I was very impressed with Tate, like juice shrugs had himself, excuse me, a solid game, but Tate was playing like somebody who took a big old step from, from rookie year to sophomore year. So that'll be something to watch. Like, are they going to run more duo where they're getting those guys up to the second level because a three, four, that is kind of, that's opening yourself

38:39up a little bit if you're playing that knows like that's, that's opening you up some to some duo concepts because they can climb like Tate Ratledge, Ben Barge, who's probably going to be a left guard, I would assume if Mahogany's out. So that'll be one. And yeah, I think like you said, Miko, getting hats on guys, getting to the second level and letting Jameer do what he does. I'm not super concerned with his workload either. I think that was just kind of how the game shook out. Yeah, I don't think he's going to get 30 something touches every week. I think they'll dial that back. And like Dan said, it was just the situation's going to dictate how they, like they're going to do what they need to do to win the game. But yeah, like I can't really think of anything that this defense can do to make life too difficult for the Lions as they're currently constructed just because this offense, like, and that's not me being cocky or anything like that, it's just that Lions offense can do it all, man. Like, and it certainly didn't look like it was that was not the case against New Orleans. Like, they, besides some of those inefficient periods

39:40and like the third and early fourth quarter where they just kind of fell asleep at the wheel, they kind of got what they wanted, right? Like in terms of being able to run the ball, reset the line of scrimmage, get Jameer into the second level. Like, they did all that. And like we said, it's got to continue against Buffalo in order to, to keep this thing where they want it and not where they're chasing the whole game. Yeah, my thing, my only concern about the Lions offense going into this game really kind of hinges on the health of Blake Miller. If Blake is actually a cable of playing this week, he's missed the last two days of practice. Let's just hope it's precautionary of the fact that like, hey, it's a short week. We saw, we've seen the Lions do that before. I believe they did that a couple times last year where if you had guys that already were dealing with like little nicks and nacks, things like that, there's, there's no point in also trying to put them through a week of practice when they have to turn around and play on Thursday. So let's kind of keep our fingers crossed here in the case of Blake Miller. But even if Blake's healthy, we talked about it again at the top of the of this segment. Greg Russo Bradley Chubb Blake got a little bit, I don't

40:43want to, you know, I get don't want to be disrespectful to Karl Granterson over there in New Orleans or anything like that. But like, you're not going to necessarily get a break with either of those two guys whether they decide to flip them or whether you have to go against one of those guys on every single down. If you're Blake, I guess you would probably prefer Greg Russo because I don't know if you want to deal with the wily vet in Bradley Chubb. Yeah, I mean, Blake look really good in his debut, but it's a different flavor of elite every week in the NFL man, every, every team just about has got a couple dudes at Ed rusher. It's a premium position for a reason. And I will say, I know no one want to hear this, but I know having boredom is nice just because he's seen it before. Like, it's not the worst thing in the world, but I do agree with you. I think if if Blake gets a limited participant in Wednesdays like walkthrough or whatever they designated as, I'll feel pretty good because you're 100% right. Like this was coaching staff usually plays it pretty safe, especially on a short week. Like, hey, let's manage you and make sure your body's right and get you get

41:45you up for the game. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Let's get to the part of the podcast that I least I know are video watches are going to enjoy the most, which is the all 22 film breakdown. We decided to incorporate a little bit of this into these podcasts. It's not going to be a really long detailed one. We only have two plays for you, kind of highlighting some of the things that the Buffalo Bills offense does really well. So Morgan, I'm going to put these up on the screen and I'm going to hand it over to you because you kind of put these together. So go ahead and just got to wrap about what we're kind of seeing from the Bills offense here. Yeah. And for those of you listening, don't fast forward. I'm going to walk you through it really well to where you're not like what are they talking about. So what we're doing is it's the fourth quarter. There's two minutes left in the game and the Bills are down 31 to 30. Right. So this is their go ahead scoring drive. They're back here on their own 32. And man, they're in 13 person elegant. Would you know it? And the formation is interesting because they have Kincaid at the top of the screen. He's circled and then they have the I think that's Knox. I can't really tell. And then another like an almost

42:50like an H back back there as well, which aims cook. So that's a heavy backfield. But this is the thing that's tough with Buffalo. They can get shots out of these heavier personnel groupings. So Coleman is your lone receiver at the bottom of the screen. As we talked about earlier, Kincaid doing a lot of damage split out like not in line. And what he's going to do is he's going to get a clean release. All right. And then he's just going to basically find a seam to run through as he's running this like it's almost it's not a post. But it's almost like a rounded off like a little like a crosser. And he just gets behind the linebacker and in front of the safety. And because he is a good athlete, he runs away from the safety a bit. Josh Allen delivers a seed right on right on the money broken tackle. Another broken tackle. And he's finally taken down dang near almost at Houston's 30 now. So a nice little what was that 60 yard gain basically. So that's that's tough to deal with man. He can he can make those plays. It's a little play action. Josh Allen

43:55hits his back foot drops his arm angle. And that is a dime right on the money allows him to run after catch. And that's something they were pushing the ball down the field quite a bit against Houston. But usually one of the calling cards for Buffalo's offense is the run after catchability. And they got guys who can do it. Whether it's King Kate at tight end. We know how good and dynamic DJ Moore is once he's got the ball in his hands. Shakira's awesome. So James Cook's a terrific receiver. The Ken to Jamir Gibbs. So that'll be something the lines have to deal with because they still can't get to those shot plays out of those heavier personnel groupings because you got an alien at quarterback right. Yeah. And one of the things that kind of stood out to me on that play you talk about how the king Kate was able to get behind the linebacker but also in front of the safety and because of the angle that he's taking. Get a step on the safety. This is where it's important for your linebackers to understand what is happening in front of them right like it kind of felt like the Texans were really very much expecting a run. So you don't have your linebackers

44:58dropping to the proper depth that they need to. And the reason I think that's important Morgan is that like it could just cause don't concave to have to take a different angle. If he has to all of a sudden now have to run around the linebacker to get clear. Well, now maybe your safety can take a better angle. Mounted is maybe a little bit more catch up speed there or Josh Allen just has to hold the ball longer for that player to now clear that zone. So those are the types of things if you're the lines where you're just like, Hey, even if it's 13 personnel, let's not be so quick to jump the gun and thinking that it's a run play that we forget our responsibilities in coverage to still go back and drop to the proper depth to once again, just muddy up windows for the quarterback. I love that you made that point, man. That's what's tough about playing Buffalo, right? Because they they run that play action. You're you're dealing with Allen scrambling ability and those linebackers after a play fake they do get sucked up to the line of scrimmage a little bit and this is where it's nice having Jack Campbell because this man's a football maniac and I'm sure he's going to be ready to go having prepared and watched a lot of Josh Allen film. But yeah, that makes it tough

46:02because you're you're it's a double edged sword, right? Like, okay, I got to respect him. I need to be near the line of scrimmage because he can run the ball or he can't hand it off to a delayed handoff to cook. But at the same time, you have athletes like Concade who are good route runners like so much of that is like like you just talked about linebackers getting to their proper depth and mudding up windows and then the same thing like that was just a really nicely run route. Getting behind the linebacker crossing in front of the face of the safety and pulling away from him. This next one, man. So same drive, all right, just three plays later. And man, it's right after. So I want to almost included this because it was like the the duality of of Josh Allen, but the play before this, he gets pressured. And if you guys want to go look it up, go ahead. It's the play before this one at 141 left in the game. He throws up like he goes through his progressions and he just throws it up, dude. I don't know who dropped it. It was Houston, but like the receiver didn't make a play on the ball. The defensive back. It just kind of hit him in the in the chest and he dropped it. I

47:06was like, dude, that that probably should have been the end of the game. But that was that was second down. This is third and 11 on Houston's 34. So shortly after that play, we just highlighted. They got a chance to to force a fourth down. But so in this one, Josh Allen's going to shift out of empty. Okay. So he's going to bring a running back into the backfield. Houston, Houston is going to rush four, drop the other seven into coverage. And Alan initially, like you can see it from the beginning, he wants this receiver top at the top of the screen on the post. Like he doesn't look anywhere else. And this is Josh Palmer. If you guys remember that name coming out a couple of years ago, a couple of years ago, I don't know, the years brought up together. But yeah, Alan once Palmer from the jump, you can see where his head is pointed. If you guys are watching, if not, just listen to my sweet seething voice tell you, but he's looking at the post the entire time. He hits his back foot and he just rips it. He's working. I don't number three. I don't know who that

48:08is for Houston off the top of my head, but the safety is a Camarri Lasseter. There you go. My man, yep, I think so because they have Stingley and Lasseter, right? Those are their corners. Yeah, so good players, but not the best rep for him gets turned around a little bit once Palmer gets out of his break. And Kalen Bullock, the safety, you kind of see him, you know, he's getting his depth, right? Boom. He's getting into his back pedal. In my opinion, he should have gotten towards Palmer earlier, right? He's on the opposite hash here when Alan rips this. And if you're not a SS tier athlete, you're not going to get to this ball because there's a vapor trail coming off of it, first of all. So it's an easy score, but I just wanted to highlight these two plays because I know we we talk a lot about Alan, excuse me, being a runner and being an athlete, but he has the crazy, arm ability to write because this is a is a heck of a throw. It doesn't look super hard, but

49:10you're talking quarterback, you're like, yeah, that was a that was a missile man. So that's something the lines are going to have to just you can't give them these easy ones. Like those were two chunk plays with the last one being the go ahead score that ultimately wins Buffalo the game. But I don't want to make it that easy for them. That hurt me like for a go ahead score to be that easy. I'm like, well, and there's and there's two mistakes on that last play in my opinion, regards to like you mentioned the the one safety that doesn't get enough depth to be able to cover for that post route. So you're again, you're playing two safeties deep or you're playing a single high safety deep, but he's on the far side of the field. So doesn't have any type of timing to be able to catch up and like close that distance. But on the outside with Camaril Acitor, you have a corner that at least from my vantage point looks like he's playing as though this is going to be an out breaking route. So you've allowed yourself because you're now facing the whatever. I don't know if that's Houston style and there is, but you're facing the sideline, which means the entire

50:10inside of the field is wide open. I don't know if that's a scouting report type of decision where you're like, hey, in these types of situations, they like to run, you know, an out route, you know, to the to the outside. They like to or it's something that's specific to Jordan Palmer that they like to do or Josh Palmer. But whatever the case is like that also is wide this throw is so wide open because now Camaril Acitor has to flip his hips the other way after being so committed to that other sideline. Yep. And I don't know like to your point, like he the leverage was weird. Like did he expect Bullock to be more in the center of the field and like be able to make a play on that ball or at least dissuade Alan from like ripping it immediately because he didn't look anywhere else. Like watch that play guys. If you're if you're listening come watch the video and this is, you know, you'll be able to find it. But Alan doesn't look anywhere else. He hits that back foot and he lets that thing rip and yeah, can't make it that easy. And you know, there was there was some breakdowns in the line secondary last week against New Orleans. But I keep thinking I'm like,

51:13how much of that was just due to them gasping for breath because they were dying and hadn't played that many snaps and a calendar year, you know what I mean. So it's a good point. I think that kind of leads really well into like the next segment that we're going to talk about here, which is the matchups for this game. We're going to kick this one off because I feel like one of the top matchups for this game is going to be Kelvin Shepherd versus Joe Brady slash Josh Allen. Like not wanting to to pile on by any means to to the performance that the lines had in the second half. But I think it did put a really big target on Kelvin Shepherd's back of like, hey, as great as that first half look, you didn't quite make the adjustments that fans feel like they should. And to your point, yes, there was some element of the defense getting tired. So what's the adjustments that you can make as a defensive coordinator to help your your defense be able to still execute at a high level. For me, it's going to be very important. I don't know how much I'll just say this right now. I don't know how much single high safety I want to see from the lines in this game. I'm not saying I don't want to see any because it's unrealistic to just dictate one style of coverage

52:16for an entire game. That's just as easy to read as if you just if you if you played single high, in my opinion. But how much is Shep going to mix his coverage and and mix it mix his blitz looks so that to at least get Josh as Allen thinking a little bit more. Yeah, and I like some of the early on. I liked a lot of what they were doing like blitzing from the slot like they were sending um of ontematics and Chuck Clark and these players Roger McCreery. Yeah, Roger McCreery, even though he whiffed on that fourth and 12 Mike that was I was like they you know you lined it up perfectly, but yeah, you just missed and and chucked me to hook a heck of a thrill. But yeah, that is something and I agree with you. I don't want to see a lot of covers zero or even cover one. I don't want to see it. I don't want to see here's the thing. Sometimes people are so hyperbolic. They're like I don't want to see any man against Josh Allen. You can't do that. You can't you got to be able to mix and match your coverages. Now is playing a ton of man against Josh Allen

53:16a super wise decision? Probably not. And if you're asking why those guys like your your corners, your safeties, your linebackers, they're running with their assignments. Their back is to Josh Allen. And that's how you give up 60 yards, crambles because you don't know he's running until he's 30 yards down the field. So in my opinion, that would to your point would lend to playing a little bit more zone, a little more cover two, some you know cover three, just have some two high shells just to kind of keep things in front of you. But at the same time, they had issues in the second half where they were blitzing out of those looks where they were dropping into zone. And shock was immediately finding the void in the zone like okay I'm throwing where the blitz just came from. McLeary just came off the right edge. I'm going to find this out right here. They're running a little bit of a rub combination. That's an easy eight to 15 yards. And it's a first down. So I do think they're going to have to we're going to need to see some adjustments. It'll be a different game plan obviously because Allen's a different animal than Shuck. But I do think we're going to see more zone this week just

54:19because like we talked about you don't want to be playing a ton of man against a run a quarterback like Allen with those legs. And you got to be able to win your one on one's man. I don't you want to be aggressive still like they're not just going to not blitz all game. But I do think you're going to have to rely like hey we're scheming this up for you, Aleem. We're scheming this up for you Hutchinson. When you're one on one to get a quick pressure and get this man off his spot. So we're not getting gassed. Yeah. You know. No, absolutely. What's another matchup that you kind of have your eyes on in this game? We touched on it briefly earlier. But I want to see how they're you know, their secondary holds up against the lion's skill players like specifically St. Brown, Jamo and Laporta. Right. So they we talked about their corners, Benford and Maxwell. They do have Cole Bishop and old friend alert one not really friend CJ GJ is back there. Change in teams again. So there probably be a little chirping if I had to guess him and St. Brown and go like each other. Yeah. Just to talk like even whether they like each other or not

55:25two talkers are going to go at it. Yeah. There was a lot of yapping last week too man. Kool-Aid McKinchery was yapping the whole time to to Jamison and St. Brown like a couple different. Like they were going off the field one time and Jamison was yapping and then St. Brown stopped and like you could tell they had some words and I'm like oh boy. So I think there will be some more of that. Were you going to say I was going to say I'm the Kool-Aid and Jamo thing might just be a Bama thing right both of them play the Bama. Both of them both both of them were number one. Like it's probably just bands are between former teammates type of thing but like well I don't even know if they overlap but still. I couldn't tell if he was making fun of Jamo's like a celebration you know it's crazy to do the crane and he kept doing like this I'm like all right now calm down a little bit man. But yeah that's what I want to see like how today to just what we were talking about like the Lions having to play a lot of zone. I don't know how much man Buffalo is going to want to play against the Lions just because the weather wherever you have Benford or Maxwell whether

56:25they're on Jamison or St. Brown it doesn't really bowed well for either or I think Maxwell's a pretty terrific athlete in space pretty fluid hips. Could he be the Jamison matchup and then you try your luck with Benford going against St. Brown but then St. Brown plays in the slot obviously quite a bit and now you're bringing in D Alfred who's their current nickel right now and that's also a tough matchup so that could be something the Lions exploit and I think Petsing did a pretty good job of it last week minus the the cold spell they had that we've talked about a couple times now but if they can continually pepper you know St. Brown and get him going and maybe uncork a couple shots to Jamison that's just going to soften things out for Jamir man because that's the that's the crux that the Lions offense puts you in you know especially if the offensive line is returning to the 2023 and 2024 form which they looked really good against New Orleans against a pretty good little front in my opinion but if they can do that that puts Buffalo in a tough spot because are they

57:30going to stay in a too high shell because you don't want to get beat by Jamison or Laporta or whoever but if you're getting beat over the head and Jamir is averaging six and a half yards of carry by the middle of the third quarter something's going to have to shake right well and I think that's where we get to the next matchup that's kind of worth keeping I own because if you decide to keep to safety is high well now it becomes a really interesting matchup between the Lions rushing attack and the bills front seven can you can you have do you have enough bodies do you have enough players there to handle what the Lions want to throw at you if they decide to go with 13 personnel if they decide to just run out of you know 11 personnel like are you still able to kind of handle what the Lions want to do there because if you're going to run at three four you mentioned it earlier that does open you up to more duo that does open you up to more situations where you're often blinded and get up to the second level and if you are any if you're even a little bit familiar with Jamir Gibbs you know it doesn't take a lot he doesn't need a lot of space to all of a sudden eat up yardage and start to flip the field so it's going to be interesting to see how

58:35the bills handle that and can the Lions continue to move bodies the way they did last week yeah the Lions were creating the surge last week too we mentioned it like they were they're moving that line of scrimmage given Jamir Lanes Jamir is really patient you know like really patient at times like doing a little dance like a little Lavian Bell at the line of scrimmage and waiting for that thing to open up but yeah I think the bills front seven is going to have to come to play or else it could be very similarly to the Lions it could be a long day for their defense and Houston really like again they weren't really executing all that well and some of it was from just from what I seen through my one watch through their offensive line had some issues just with execution and and like getting a hat on a hat and making sure everyone was accounted for but the Lions did a pretty good job of that last week's save for a couple runs that didn't work out the way they wanted to but yeah yeah that's the it those two matchups that we just hit on those last two kind of work hand in hand like okay they're they're running the ball well we're gonna bring a safety down to the down into the box and try to mitigate some of this damage they're doing on the ground

59:38okay well now Jamison's going over the top hopefully he catches this one and it's a quick strike for the offense and that's kind of where I think this game is probably headed to like it'll probably be a good pivot to our predictions but that's kind of I don't I'm hoping it's not another 48 to 42 game and I can't handle that crap listen it took everything in me not to put 240 point games because I think this is going to be a high scoring game and I I don't know let me take that back I know that's not what Lions fans want to hear you don't want to hear that the team that gave up 30 last week all of a sudden gives up 40 this week and I'm not predicting that they give up 40 but I do think they're gonna give up 36 I do think that this is a game that the bills might just if we're talking about two teams that kind of have very similar strengths and kind of well I think the the Lions are better run defense wise but similar issues when it comes out the past coverage Josh Allen to me becomes the thing that kind of tips the scale one way or the other doesn't mean that the Lions don't have a shot at winning this game but I just think that that becomes a lot to have to deal with in terms of trying to deal with a a rushing attack that

1:00:45can be really potent a quarterback that is multifaceted and as much as people may want to point to that Ravens game last year I still think Josh Allen is a little different as talented as I think Lamar is I just think he's a different animal in comparison to Lamar Jackson and what the Ravens were specifically doing last year yeah and if you're looking for some hope because I'm picking the bills to I'm saying 3327 somewhere around there but if you're looking for hope I'm glad you looped that in me go because they did they came with like a Taylor made plan for that prime time game in Baltimore last last year when nobody picked the Lions to win including all of us on Predator Troid staff so if you're looking for some hope like hey Calvin Shepherd had a game plan ready to go you know Taylor made to stop Lamar like you said a little bit different of a beast with Josh Allen but that could happen you know we've seen crazier things and that kind of pivots me into like if we're we're finishing up with like one thing that we're watching if the Lions win that if the Lions win on Thursday night I think a lot of it will have be did like due to how the defensive

1:01:47line performs like Hatch had a great game a Liam and Tileek and Skylar Gil Howard really productive maybe Derek Moore want them but they're gonna have to those guys like the the defensive line rooms gonna have to be productive and some of that pressure some of that pressure and production is gonna have to come from four and five man rushes and not six or seven just because I think you need all hands on deck to deal with Allen and and those skill guys yeah and I think that leads perfectly into what I think and and it kind of picks up with where Dan at least feels like the game kind of went wrong which is also on the offensive side in terms of being able to just to sustain drives I'm looking at whether or not this run game can be the thing that dictates the pace for this game and dictates whether or not Josh Allen can get into a rhythm if you can go on long you know 12 13 14 play drives and just keep Josh Allen on the sideline with limited opportunities to make plays I think that's going to go a really long way another caveat to kind of piggyback

1:02:51off of what you're saying about the defense and and the defensive line needing to have a really big game this is a bills defense it bills offense I gave up two sacks last week this is a bills offense that got Josh Allen sacked 40 times last year like it's it's possible it's not like it's but it does require exactly what you're saying Morgan you need to win your one-on-ones your star players need to be your star players and if last week was any indication for Lions fans you might have enough there to rattle Josh Allen if those guys come come this week perform at just a high level a lean got a sack eight and got two sacks you got a little bit of pressure from from some of the secondary players that's as simple as it sounds like that's kind of all the Lions really need and maybe a turnover here or there yeah let's get some interior pressure man we touched we touched on it earlier but if we can get like I the lean tileek and scallery howard were all incredibly productive I know it's not all in the box score if you're you're talking about statistically you know statistic production but if you turn on the tape they were huge man

1:03:55especially tileek on the last play of the game the two-point conversion he just forklifted his blocker into the backfield and he's making strong yes sir like lean just yeah but if you you get some of that like and I like the rotation now too because they do like scallery howard was in there a lot like I need I don't have the snaps in front of me but I swear every time I look down I'm like oh 50's in again 50's in again and he was paired with sometimes it was him in a lean sometimes it was him and tileek sometimes it was tileek and a lean so keep those guys fresh he else yeah tileek in that game yep like I but he was in he they look good too man like he had some some he was stringing moves together he's a nuisance to block for some of these tall guys because he is so much shorter so he presents like a unique challenge but you get some of that interior pressure move Allen off a spot stay disciplined with your rush lanes like the one DJ want him took an inside move on one of the reps I had highlighted against New Orleans and

1:04:57it allowed shock to escape and then he had the shot down the sideline too I think that was against to vele vele I'm probably not saying his name right but yeah you don't want that because Josh Allen will make you pay if you jump out of a rush lane and allow him to to extend the play and do some school yard stuff so yeah man interior control the pace run the ball well interior pressure lines will have a shot at starting to know man that would be huge I think it's funny both of us are expecting this game to be fairly high scoring you have a 33 27 I have a 36 33 it's a Thursday night game it might turn around and be something slow scoring like 17 to 10 like who knows you surprised I wouldn't be surprised to be honest with you but that's pretty much going to do it for this episode of before the war guys if you are looking for any more additional lines news or coverage you can do that by heading over to prodigyroid.com or like I've said at the last couple of weeks download the SB nation app that is where you can actually go onto that app follow prodigyroid and it's like having the prodigyroid website on your phone it's like having

1:05:59a POD app without us having to you know spend any additional money or have to beg the lines for any more additional funding I'm kidding we are not funded by the lines in any way but it's an awesome app it's really great you can get all the articles there's a feed over there that you can engage with other lines fans and when the game kicks off on Thursday there is a game chat that you can be a part of and listen if you're excited share your excitement if you're frustrated you can share your frustration in there too this is the benefit of having the SB nation app and it's not just for prodigyroid if you like other sports if you like other teams if you like other leagues those are all available on the SB nation app as well you can follow those different leagues and get instant news and updates for all of your favorite teams and sports right on your mobile device so with all of that said i'm meeko he's Morgan thank you guys for taking the time to watch and listen and we will see you in the next