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This season McConkey has less yards, less TDs, a lower catch %, and a substantially lower receiving success rate than Coleman. While playing from an easier position on the field. Worthy has been banged up all year and his role has been easily supplanted by Tyquan Thornton who KC picked up off the scrap heap. Coleman has frustrated me this year but I'm willing to give him until his 3rd season to develop. The flashes are there but he needs to be a lot more consistent, otherwise he'll never be more than a jump ball role player. I still think the biggest mistake wasn't necessarily taking Coleman, it's that they only took Coleman. They either needed to double dip at WR in that draft to maximize the probability of success, or they needed to bring in a legit outside WR so Coleman wasn't forced into a high volume role too early. If Coleman never ends up developing into a legit top 2 WR I can forgive them for that, but I can't forgive them for leaving themselves such a low margin for error at the position by investing so little into it.

Or better yet, Tyrod.

Was he hurt? Hard to believe he played this way otherwise.

Good post. Mostly what I meant in my OP. When I say downfield, I don't necessarily mean chucking hail marys.

Burrow isn’t coming back. He ripped the tendon off the bone of his big toe. That toe is kind of important for balance and pushing off. And if they rush him back, he will be gimping around behind the sieve offensive line and probably get re-injured. He’s Glass Joe for a reason.

Going to give these a shot. Likely not going to get too far into the weeds on it because it takes a lifetime to watch these things, but its helpful from a fan perspective to get an idea of the nuts and bolts. I'll start with the offense and go by half. If I have time I'll add the defense later on. 1st Half Summary- Blame it on the coordinator I think it's often too easy to blame coordinators for bad football, especially if you haven't watched the game tape to get a real understanding of what prompted certain calls. That said, in the 1st half the Bills were essentially running the throw stuff at the wall and see if it sticks scheme. The personnel groupings and formations were all over the place. They tried everything from 10 personnel with 4 wide and trips, to 21 and 22 personnel with bunch formations, often using one wideout. It was like Joe Brady was trying to reinvent the wheel of high school play calling. Brady came into the game knowing the Patriots run a heavily man-based defense, and most of what they were trying to do was win outside the hashes with wideouts who can't beat man coverage. The game plan in the first half was lazy, and akin to a coach deciding to watch zero tape of the opposing defense. Notes: Its man defense- where are the crossers, digs, and slants? Multiple instances of wideouts and tight ends running short of the sticks Need to start running more out of the shotgun 2nd Half Summary- Blame it on the Quarterback The Bills were in 11 personnel around 25% of the time in the first half. In the second half they stopped getting cute and ran 11 personnel 72% of the time. On top of that they finally ran a crossing route! A lot has been made about the wideouts being bad in this offense. While they aren't speed demons who can split two high safety or win on go routes, they can produce when asked to do what they do well. That said, the QB needs to be who he was in the first four games and take what the defense gives him. Sadly, that's not the QB the Bills got in the second half. While he was more productive, the All 22 showed he was dead set on doing what he wanted rather than taking what was there. 5:17 Left 3rd Quarter- Kincaid absolutely smokes the safety at the same time Josh tries the back shoulder to Shavers. If he waits a second longer, he likely has an easy touchdown. 11:18 Left 4th Quarter- Crossing route is wide open to Knox. Josh comes off the read. 5:11 Left 4th Quarter- Josh doesnt take the easy outbreaking route to Kincaid. Instead he throws to Cook on the sideline covered and is lucky to get a PI. 5:01 Left 4th Quarter- This one is on Samuel- Call looks to be a Go or a Post. Corner drops off 10 yards. Instead of breaking off his route to a out or comeback Samuel keeps running towards the CB. Would have been an easy 6-yard gain plus space to run. 4:52 Left 4th- Josh doesnt take the open crosser to Coleman. Cook doesnt block free rusher. Sack 2:43 Left 4th- Josh has Cook wide open on the crosser, doesnt take it for an easy 5 yard gain. Also has Palmer on an outbreaking route for 7 or more. Scrambles, has Knox open coming back towards the hash for a 17 yard pass, doesnt take it. Launches a pass across the field to Coleman in the back of the endzone. Out of bounds. 2:31 Left 4th- Shakir and Kincaid immediately open on crosser short of sticks. Johnson has single coverage on a wheel route to the endzone-why isnt Cook in the game! Samuel wide open at the front of opposite side of the endzone- likely an impossible throw. Game Summary- The good news is the Bills beat themselves. I am not sure what Joe Brady was doing in the first half of the game. I am also not sure what Josh Allen was doing in the 2nd half. The Bills need another outside WR, but they arent as hapless there as I thought before I watched the film. Put this one away, dont shoot yourself in the foot next time you play the Pats. The Patriots didnt do anything great on defense. I have every expectation that Allen wont play like this in the second meeting. Player Grades Bull Market The Offensive Line- They lost a few reps but otherwise they were fantastic. Specifically, the left side of the line played very well Kincaid- He had a great night and it would have been even better if he played more reps. I dont care if its as a slot, outside WR, or either tight end position, he needs to be in the game unless he's injured or needs a breather. His blocking still leaves a little to be desired. But outside of Cook or Allen he is the best weapon the Bills have on offense. Better than I Expected Dawson Knox- Not flashy but he did his job. He was open when he needed to be, whether the QB saw him or not. Josh Palmer- Not a game breaker by any means but he is the best outside receiver the Bills have in terms of understanding leverage and route running. Needs to be on the field more. Bear Market Keon Coleman- He caught a touchdown but the tape isn't good. He flat out can't beat corners off the line in man coverage. The coordinator doesn't put him in advantageous positions. Much better in the second half because Brady finally started calling crossing routes. But he is a very limited player at this point in his career. Shavers- Not to dunk on a kid that barely made the team but for those of you waiting for him to be the savior at WR, stop.

Flacco has 9 lives, and he's only used 8 of them. I predict a few big games before he finally rides off into the sunset.

DeShaun Watson #ftw

Since Wrecks got his new teeth, I now think of him as:

His scheme is cooked after they changed the presnap motion rules in 2014.

It's a bizarre move, to say the least. It has Mike Brown's fingerprints all over it.

Yep. Also pointed out in the past by Marino and Cover1 is the fact that most teams, when they get to the playoffs, throw in new wrinkles and adjustments, and start scheming beyond their talent. Whereas McD and the Bills just sit back and rely even heavier on "these are our players, make a play in this base scheme". Which adds up given what we've seen from this team in the playoffs. It's the main reason I'm on the Replace McD bandwagon.

Anything can happen but you are overestimating them. They lost to Steelers and Raiders managing to score grand total of 27 points combined. Diggs won't play like this every day. Maye won't play like this every day. Even with our 3 turnovers, we win that game 8 out of 10 times. They were good and lucky. We win 13+, they win 11 at best. Oh and we won't lose to them again this year.

Maybe he'll trade for Shedeur.

A FrankenBacker?

it's both further...if you watch teams w a bonafide threat at wideout you notice his gravity ie how the defense adjusts to that particular player. can lead to miscommunications/broken coverages that leave guys running open (not saying every wr who gets wide open is due to busted coverage, sometimes you're just in the perfect playcall, but it helps) however i would say our pass concepts appear less sophisticated than other top teams, using last game as an example (and there are plenty more) there are just a lot of route combinations that dont contribute to/enhance each other...and some that just don't make sense. like allen in a 3step drop from shotgun and theres 3 verticals that nobody is even looking back for, think it was 3rd quarter pats game. kind of stuck out in my mind that play...and again how much of that is on offensive design and how much of that is due to relative talent of the pass catchers isnt totally clear

I think I saw him on ST against the Patriots.

Let's say you're a government official. You are accused of accepting $50,000 in a takeout restaurant bag. Your response: A. "I don't even know what you're talking about. Of course I've never done such a thing" B. "There was an investigation and I've done nothing wrong." Only people who have actually taken $50,000 in a takeout bag answer B.

Thanks. This enticed me to look a little deeper. 10 of those 19 were in week 1. Week 2 he had none. Week 3 he had 1. The last two games split the rest. It goes back to what I was saying... they really only use it when they need to put superman cape on. I think it needs to be part of the regular offense just to keep defenses honest. Every team needs some chunk yards.

One always thinks the grass is greener on the other side, but most of the time it’s brown.

Add Hamlin to the list

The logos on the helmets were supposed to look frosted but instead they looked like gray blobs. I think there was too much lead in the paint because the players looked brain damaged.

Walking out of the stadium Sunday night I looked around at the sea of white out jerseys and told my son they should start a huge bonfire in the parking lot and burn them all

A mysterious back ailment keeps those checks rolling in until the season is over. That sounds like a solid plan…..for self preservation.