HardyBoy

Aw man, I was more excited about the Hook reference

I wasn't looking at the TV until right before the ball was snapped on that play...seeing Samuel in shotgun and then watching that play go down without having any context whatsoever...definitely felt like pure lsd a bit

Ru fi ooooo I mean they run Allen on power sweeps all the time

Writing the same thing at the same time, but you got there first...ugh, Monica had to call me about something for work or I would have been first

Looks to me like the play was supposed to be for Allen to do an end around and to be rolling to his right, but he got cut off by the early penetration and the pitch from Samuel being behind him.

He did a post game wrap up with the studio team on a game I watched a couple of weeks ago, and he actually said something interesting during one of his answers...i think he has potential, but he comes across as a cardboard cutout of a personality and says super obvious clichés during the game

My hope as well, and just trying to see if there was a type of player you would pay at that position and kinda where that line would be. What about a Barkley type running back? He's more in the Derrick Henry and Adrianne Peterson mold.

I hear ya and perhaps this is a bit of devils advocate, but what about paying CMC? I don't know that I'd call him a running back, as much as a versatile weapon that can be used in a variety of ways at a high level. He's not just an above average rb, where you can get that type of production out of late round rookies, especially with a top level oline...Cook is a different type of player arguably, and hopefully could maintain a high level of play through the end of a second contract.

Yeah, it's been really cool to see though for sure. Can you imagine having all these new receivers this year and having them all saying this offense is the most complicated they've ever tried to learn and just not contribute at all...everyone eats has a slightly different meaning when looked at through that lens too

Not sure I'd necessarily call that complimentary in the traditional sense...what I'm talking about isn't really balance and making sure the game scripts are aligned between offense and defense, but more in the philosophical approach to system design.

You could make an argument that the key to McDermotts success on defense is ultimately simplicity and allowing players to execute. Obviously this is the NFL, so it's a relative simplicity and I know they do a lot of pattern matching and there is thinking involved...but this isn't Rex Ryan's defense. With Daboll and Dorsey it felt like the offense was super complicated, which was mentioned time and again by receivers coming from different teams, and there were miscommunications over and over, especially in key moments (Gabe Davis and others). The offense this year sounds ultimately super simple, but highly nuanced and multiple. It's simple, but becomes complicated to defend because of the ability for it to be so multiple and you can't tell what they are going to do, because they can make the same thing do so many different things and get it into it in so many different ways with shifts and motions. That sounds exactly like the defense McD has been running for so long right! Allowing players to play well above their perceived abilities and allowing players to come in when injuries happen (or key players leave the team in terms of the offense) and keep the level fairly constant, both by keeping it simple and letting players play fast, but also by tailoring the gameplan around the players strengths and how they allow them to use those strengths to exploit the other team's weakness.

First, they are answering all the questions I've had, I'm super excited. That said, I think the next two weeks will be very telling. Week 1 the offense was awesome, but week 1 doesn't tell you anything. Week 2 they played on Thursday night against a team that had a significant disadvantage based on the heat and humidity they played in the week before...the gap in the teams could easily be explained by the fact that the dolphins just were screwed in terms of the recovery disadvantage. Week 3 they had a huge rest advantage. Now I'm seeing stuff that looks super repeatable and is simple and works because it let's the players play and just execute and not have to think and is designed around taking advantage of the opponent's weakness where they align to your strengths. I'm very positive about this team, but I just need to see them do it without me being able to explain it away with rest advantages.

13 seconds wasn’t a high scoring game really until the very end basically. It was very similar to last year’s playoff game until in the 13 seconds game they started throwing haymakers.

I think getting bigger at center might be helping with screens perhaps? Either way, they have a guard’s body size wise at center now and I’m curious how that’s impacting things.

Here’s to hoping the best value pick of Beane’s drafts so far is Rousseau…getting what might be an elite top 5 pass rusher at the end of the first round is insane and has a legit chance of being the case. Not diminishing how amazing the CB pick was by any means.

Lol, I don’t think it’s allowed to work that way. The nfl is such a tight league in terms of skill levels and games really come down to very few actual plays that matter in terms of the outcome. playing on that amount of short rest, if one team is just slightly impacted more…plus Miami played in high heat and humidity in week 1, which totally could explain that.

Thursday games are trash and you can’t really tell much about a team from them in my opinion. Yes, I’m well aware what I’m saying…

Two sports he loves…you don’t hit singles in golf, lol

Yet Tua is an excellent deep ball passer. Arm strength isn’t about throwing it deep, it’s about getting the ball into tight windows. It’s about throwing outside the numbers across the field from the far hash. All things Allen does regularly and has been doing this year. Also, Bills YAC is up significantly this year, if that continues I’m sure partially that will be on Allen getting better and going back to working on fundamentals this offseason, but also Brady’s scheme. He’s getting people into favorable matchups through scheme and then getting them advantageous leverage not just to make the catch, but get YAC. He also is working on how Allen’s eyes should move during the play (wild he hadn’t been coached on that before in terms of matching play design and reads with his eye movement).

You can’t ever intentionally fumble forward or intentionally bat the ball in any direction with any part of the body right? Also, you can’t advance a fumble at all in the last two minutes or on 4th down and if it’s fumbled forward and recovered there, the ball comes back to the spot of the fumble…like a muffed punt thats why on last minute hook an lateral type plays, if the ball bounces at all the game is over I believe.

How much do you think that’s not necessarily fair because maybe he likes having contact with his defender and uses that to create separation as the ball starts coming? Granted different sport and a lot of football is about anticipation, but I played soccer, basketball and lacrosse and a lot of times I felt I was more open/uncovered when I had contact with my defender because I could control them with my wrist on their hip and use my suddenness to get significant separation, not by pushing off per se (ahem, you can’t call it if you don’t see it) but either using that contact to understand when I could make my move because they were wrong footed, or just very slightly apply pressure with my wrist to where I could again not push off so much as get them to just slightly mistime their footing so I was planting and making my move when their weight placement was just off very slightly. I was really fast (not trying for this to be a humble brag at all, just trying to understand the nuances of separation and mention my approach was not because I was lacking speed or quickness, but intentional strategy ), so this wasn’t about not being able to run away from people, I just felt I was more open and had more control when I had contact with a defender (or as a defender) where I could focus on using my speed and quickness to get that half step to gain a leverage/positional advantage and maintain contact with my defender (or as a defender) to essentially control my opponent. Obviously football is different because there are times when you literally look up and the ball is on your face mask, but still you hear about how Coleman is good at separating at the top of the route/at the catch point and I’m wondering if maybe standard separation metrics aren’t adequate in terms of capturing that. I’m not saying you’re wrong either and I massively respect your opinion, which is why I’m asking. I’m not looking for an answer now on if this has potential for success either, I think we’ll need to see if he has a significantly higher success rate catching balls while defenders are in contact with him, and that will take Allen trusting he’s truly open when he’s got contact with a defender (I’d hesitate to call it contested catches though if he has a high success rate, because my argument if that’s the case again would be he’s doing it on purpose and it’s not a contested catch in that situation really, just like it wouldn’t be a contested rebound if Charles Barkley had you boxed out, because you were right where he wanted you even if he wasn’t the biggest, or more appropriately, fastest player on the court). Like he might be more open with a guy on his hip than he would be with a yard or two of separation because he can manipulate the defender and use that to make a catch and guide the momentum of the defender in a way that lets him spin out of the tackle and get massive YAC? I’m genuinely asking because football is so different and the steps you make with your feet and all that is not something I have any real understanding about. Just coming from a place where based on my experience in the sports I played, that being in contact with a defender, but while being well positioned with that contact was an intentional decision and would make me more open than if I had more space because it could ensure the defender couldn’t undercut me and I was in control/aware of their movement and could use that to my advantage.

lol, I haven’t watched him play and those bad plays are really bad, but if the narrative is he is making really dumb plays, I feel like that’s probably a decently good sign for him. it’s not he’s making really dumb plays AND he can’t play qb consistently…like it sounds like if (likely when) he cuts out the dumb plays, he’ll be fine. Very different convo than someone like Bryce Young, probably more annoying in some ways in games, but I mean it took Josh Allen getting screamed at after blowing that pats game in I believe his second year for everything to kinda click and for him to find the space within which he could improvise within structure (Josh Allen’s structure is just so much different than others, but everyone needs to find it for themselves and some people like Tyrod Taylor arguably, never bump up to the line, and sometimes you gotta cross it a few times and fail to really see where that line is…at least that’s how my brain works)

beat ya to it, although subtly, lol

I’m usually in the be aggressive camp myself, but where they had stolen a possession, I was kinda leaning towards stealing the points. Going for it was the right decision, I just found it interesting that my brain was having those thoughts. Granted, watching the QB School video the other day (def watch it if people haven’t watched it yet, it’s a really good one), it really looks like Brady is able to scheme guys open and get people into favorable matchups and leverages and I’m sure that play he called had answers for man, zone and blitzes.