mjt328

Yep. Ryan Fitzpatrick can deliver the crushing blow to the Patriots, help us win the AFC East, then sign a one-day contract to retire as a Buffalo Bill. Meanwhile, the Dolphins lose out on drafting one of the top QBs.

I certainly don't want to downplay our defensive talent. But it's really the coaching staff that makes this unit special. Once Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier figure out what the other team is trying to do, it's pretty much over. Notice that almost every time an opposing teams puts together a scoring drive, it comes in one of these three situations: - The first 1-2 drives of the game, when our coaches are still figuring out the offensive gameplan. - The first 1-2 drives of the second half, right after there have been some halftime adjustments. - When gifted a short-field from a turnover or busted special teams play. The average team scores 23-24 points per game. In 14 games, we have allowed the league average exactly twice (31 to Philly, and 24 to Baltimore). We have allowed less than 20 points a total of 10 times. If Josh Allen can just fix-up a couple of his issues, we are a couple offensive pieces away from being a legitimate powerhouse.

Absolutely not. The Bills need to win-out, crushing the Patriots and the Jets. This will leave the door open for... wait for it... RYAN FITZPATRICK to cement himself as a Buffalo hero, and do what he could never do while actually playing for the team. Win us the AFC East!

Love to see guys with entertaining/fun personalities, who aren't also self-centered and distracting to the rest of the team.

When it comes to young Quarterbacks, it's not about how you start. It's about how you finish. Some guys come into the NFL with big flaws in mechanics, very little understanding of how to read a defense, and almost no experience running a professional-type offense. But they have elite-level physical skills, and coaches believe they can develop them into something great. Other guys come out of college very polished/developed as passers, and experience some immediate success when inserted into a basic/stripped-down offense. But they have very little upside, and generally crash after defensive coordinators get a little bit of game film on them. You will notice that NFL scouts and GMs seem to like the "big-upside" guys earlier in the draft, hoping they can eventually turn those guys into franchise QBs. They don't care so much about how good a player is on Day 1 of training camp, and more about how good he's going to be at the end of Year 4. The guys who come into the league "pro-ready" and little room for improvement are usually Day 3 picks (Rounds 4-7), because the professionals know they will ultimately max-out as backups in the league. This year, we have seen a huge number of QB injuries. So lots of backup-level young guys (Kyle Allen, Brandon Allen, Gardner Minshew, Duck Hodges, Mason Rudolph, David Blough, etc.) have gotten a chance to come off the bench and shine to some extent. Offensive coordinators simplify the gameplan to focus on what they do well. Defensive coordinators have no idea what to expect. And for a few weeks, they look surprisingly good. But then opponents figure out their limitations, and everything falls apart. A great example is Kyle Allen. After Cam Newton went down, he started with a 4-0 record. But then defenses figured out that he couldn't do much beyond throwing screen passes to Christian McCaffrey, and the Panthers have gone 1-6 since that great start. You are seeing the start of a similar trend with Minshew. Whether we are talking Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Dwayne Haskins, Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, etc. - it's simply way too early to make a determination on ANY of these guys. Last year, Mayfield was setting rookie passing records. This year he's got 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Daniel Jones looked brilliant early in the season, and now the New York media is wondering if the Giants should consider drafting a QB again in 2020. Josh Allen started with nothing but physical talent, and has improved dramatically. But if he can't overcome his struggles against heavy blitzing, he's ultimately not going to be the answer for us. Lamar Jackson will probably win MVP this year, but it's only a matter of time before defenses figure out how to keep him in the pocket.

This is what happens when the blocking has been terrible ALL GAME, and the quarterback knows he's got one last chance to make a play. He knew Brown got open on a similar route earlier in the game, and hoped he could do it again. He didn't.

This pretty much says it all.

This defense is Super Bowl caliber. The offense... not so much. After the last three games, I was optimistic that we had finally turned a corner on offense. But yesterday was a disappointing regression to the first half of the season. The same problems that plagued us for the first 8-9 games have resurfaced again. This tells me that our problems on offense are deeper rooted, and probably won't get resolved in this final stretch. In the playoffs, you need to string together 3-4 straight strong performances against the NFL's best. It's very unlikely we can go through the postseason without a stinker offensive performance that sinks us. - Josh Allen has made some amazing strides in his game. But he's struggled making quick decisions and accurate throws when blitzed heavily. He lost his touch on the deep ball somehow. It may be another offseason of work and development before we see these areas improve. - Outside of John Brown and sometimes Cole Beasley, our receivers struggle to get open. And despite his highlight plays, Dawson Knox is not dependable and drops the ball too much. This group is a ton better than in 2018, but we still need another threat on the outside and another dependable chain-mover on the inside. The good news is that 2020's WR class is considered exceptional. - The Offensive Line is also much improved from last season. But we still have some holes. As mentioned by multiple observers, Cody Ford is mostly a liability on the outside - especially against speed rushers that require better footwork. The team needs to determine whether he can improve in this area, or they need to bump him inside and find a replacement at Right Tackle. - Devon Singletary has star potential written all over him. Now we just need a complimentary between-the-tackles threat. Someone with some explosion and tackle-breaking ability. Sorry, but Frank Gore is really done.

How big this game is completely depends on the outcome. If the Bills lose, then I agree that next week against the Steelers will ultimately be more important. Because at that point, we are certainly looking at a Wild Card. If the Bills win (and especially if the Patriots lose), then we are in a legitimate position to take not only the AFC East, but also the #1 or #2 seed.

Dallas has plenty of talent. One of the best O-Lines in football. Possibly the best running back. Very good at all Linebacker positions. Not to mention a premier pass rusher, a Pro-Bowl cornerback and a pretty good #1 receiver. Dak has flashed as a Top 10 passer at times this season. And even their weakest positions (DT, TE, S), they have solid players. The Cowboys are a perfect example of the difference between team building and collecting talent.

In 30 years of watching the NFL, I've never seen a system or player that couldn't be stopped with the right gameplan, the right personnel and good execution. Right now, it's pretty clear that Lamar Jackson DOES HAVE flaws. He doesn't operate his best when forced to throw into tight windows from the pocket. The problem is... how do you force him into that kind of a situation? The first step for defensive coordinators is finding the right gameplan. And it doesn't appear the coaches of the NFL have figured it out yet. Checkout some of the other Baltimore-related threads. There are some really good football minds on this board, and nobody can agree on the exact approach to defending the Ravens offense yet. Once the Ravens offense is "figured out" (and who knows how long this could take) there will still be many teams who don't have the right talent to execute. And it's always possible that Jackson makes great strides as a passer, further limiting how defenses can slow him down.

Not sure that works in 2019. Baltimore made some adjustments in the offseason, specifically to combat this kind of defensive scheme. Personnel-wise, you need to match up with their heavy 3-Tight End sets. Otherwise, they are going to totally run you over. The problem is, when you go heavy on the D-Line... you don't have the speed to catch Lamar Jackson on QB-keepers. To me, you absolutely MUST keep Jackson in the pocket. Instead of rushing the defender, your edge defenders need to play disciplined and keep him contained. Your interior D-Line must play gap control, and keep blockers off the linebackers. I'm also playing lots of Cover 1, using the extra safety to help cover the TEs and support in run coverage. Make Jackson beat you with his arm.

Saw them. They were really good throws. Impressive accuracy. I'm not trying to say that Lamar Jackson cannot make pinpoint throws between defenders. He obviously can. What I'm saying is that Jackson isn't displaying the ability (at this point in his career) of consistent high-level QB play... meaning going through multiple reads and quickly diagnosing defensive coverages from the pocket. Instead, you are seeing Jackson taking advantage of defenses stacking the box, and leaving bare-bones man-coverage in the secondary. Combined with play-action and RPO's, his reads are simple, but extremely effective. Don't get me wrong. This is not a big knock on Jackson. His running ability (and opposing defenses being totally helpless to stop it) is the #1 reason he's getting those easy reads downfield. You must also remember that Jackson is still very early in development, and very few QBs can diagnose coverages at a high-level in their second year. But it's also why some fans still have some skepticism regarding Jackson's long-term outlook. History has shown that QBs who depend mostly on their legs - without also developing as a passer - don't succeed very long in the NFL. And despite what pure statistics/numbers say, I still think Josh Allen, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield are progressing beyond Jackson in pure development as a Quarterback.

Jared Goff may someday be a great study on the "Do's and Don't's" for developing a young Quarterback. By all the accounts that I've read, Goff was brought along on training wheels the first 2 years under Sean McVay. At some point, McVay should have backed-off and let Goff sink or swim by himself (especially before the team handed him a huge contract extension). But he didn't, defenses have now adjusted, and they are stuck with a QB who seemingly never learned how to truly play the position. Based on the comments Brian Daboll has made, I think he understands this when it comes to Josh Allen. There is a thin line between teaching a player, and actually doing his job for him. Someday it comes back to bite you.

Great post. Baltimore is running an offensive scheme that perfectly matches the talents of its players. That's not the same as being a gimmick offense. Lamar Jackson isn't picking teams apart with his arm. But his running ability is possibly the best the NFL has ever seen for a QB, and teams are forced to stack the box to focus on stopping it. When he does throw, he's certainly good enough to take advantage of the weak coverage in the secondary. I'm sure that eventually, defensive coordinators will figure out how to slow-down/contain what they are doing. (Will they do it before the Ravens win the Super Bowl, I don't know...) Once defenses adjust, it will be on the Ravens players and coaches to formulate a counter-punch. Look no further than the team they played last night. The Rams were the Greatest Show on Turf 2.0 until running into Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl. Suddenly Jared Goff looks below average, and Sean McVay doesn't look like such a genius. So yeah. Long-term, I can understand why people would be skeptical about Jackson and the Ravens. But don't forget that he's developing just like our young QB, and he could still get better as a passer as time goes along. And if they can get 2 more months out of this scheme, they just may be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

Like many of us said at the trade deadline... there just weren't many options that could significantly help our team down the stretch. Everybody wants a receiver. But it's hard to support giving up a Day 1-2 draft pick for any of the guys supposedly on the trade block. Lots of people were pushing for AJ Green, but it's looking extremely unlikely that he will even play in 2019. And then he's a a free agent anyway. The thing I like about this regime (both coaches and front office), is that they seem to learn from their mistakes. A few years ago, they jumped on the Kelvin Benjamin deal - and it was probably the worst move they've made in the last 3 seasons. So now they are being more careful in trading resources for the discarded junk from other teams.

Agreed. You also have to consider the overhaul at WR (Brown, Beasley) and TE (Kroft, Knox) as weapons in the passing game. If usually takes time for the QB to get timing down with his receiving weapons. I was harping all offseason that our offense may start slow, and it would take some patience. I'll admit that I was getting nervous after 7-8 games and we were still having the same problems though... Hopefully the last two weeks is evidence we have gotten into a groove and turned the corner.

Tre White Jordan Phillips John Brown Micah Hyde Jordan Poyer All of these guys should definitely make it. But since the fans get to vote (and we are ignored/underrated in the media), it's quite possible that none of them get voted in. Let's be honest here. Patrick Mahomes was the hands-down MVP before his injury. He hasn't been spectacular in the two games he's been back. But he hasn't been bad. He deserves to make it. Derek Carr has also been pretty good this season, although the entire Raiders team was dreadful yesterday. Tom Brady has been pretty average, but he's still Tom Brady. And the fans vote for big names. He will probably make it, regardless of play. If Allen manages to get into his first Pro Bowl, it will be due to 3-4 guys sitting out and him getting in as an alternate (like Tyrod Taylor).

You basically have John Brown as our #1 target, Cole Beasley as our #2, and a bunch of guys who are limited in skills. Andre Roberts is a pretty good return guy, but is below average on everything else required from a WR. Isaiah McKenzie is quick and runs nice gadget plays, but doesn't have great hands and his fumble issues make him risky as a returner. Robert Foster is a proven deep threat, but doesn't really do anything else well and still often struggles make plays on the ball. Duke Williams is big and has good hands, but he's also really slow and struggles to get open. When you have a group like this, the coaching staff is forced to activate/deactivate players based on gameplan. Roberts gets called up regularly, because we must have a KR/PR each week. McKenzie is getting preference over Foster, because we are having more success with jet-sweeps than deep passes. That has left Williams as the odd-man out, because his skill-set can be duplicated by one of the tight ends.

Sometimes I think we overthink these things, and hold GMs to a ridiculously high standard. These guys aren't psychics. Brandon Beane stepped onto a team without a franchise QB, and he correctly identified we needed one to become a winning team. At that point, his job was to identify which QB(s) had the best chance to reach that level, and then get into a position to draft him. He anticipated we may need additional draft capitol to get into that position, and started making moves in advance to obtain it. Prior to the 2017 season, he didn't know when we would be drafting. He didn't know exactly which QBs would declare and were going to be available. Even once the draft order was set, there was still no way for him to predict what the other 31 teams were going to do, or exactly what draft slot he needed to be in to get the guy he wanted. And even if he also liked Lamar Jackson and was comfortable taking him as Plan B to Josh Allen, he couldn't have predicted whether either guy would be available outside the Top 10. Don't forget there were other QB-needy teams looking to trade-up. In my opinion, Beane should be judged on whether Allen turns out to be a franchise QB. Period. If he doesn't and Jackson does - then I think we can level some criticism. Anything else is asking him to predict the future, which is obviously impossible.

Last year, he was pretty much at the bottom of the league (in terms of JUST passing stats). We are talking around #30-32 in most overall rankings. He was arguably better than fellow rookies Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson. That was about it. There were flashes of his abilities, but the consistency just wasn't there. At just over the midway point of 2019, I would say he's jumped about 10 spots. Now he's hovering between #20-25 in the passing rankings. That is pretty decent progress for a single offseason. Especially considering the total overhaul we've see on that side of the ball - both WRs, TEs and O-Line, and the time needed to get everyone on the same page. As a QB with significant running ability, I also think his overall ranking would be higher than just what his passing stats reveal alone. A touchdown is a touchdown, regardless of whether it came on the ground or through the air. If he's #20-25 in just passing, I think it's fair to say he's in the #15-20 range with everything included. In my opinion, the goal is for Josh Allen to be in the Top #10-12 overall (passing and running) by the middle of Year 4. He's definitely not there yet. But if he continues to trend upwards, there is definitely some hope.

From what I've seen, Lamar Jackson is still pretty average/below average as a passer. If teams could find a way to force him into playing strictly from the pocket, I believe he would struggle. But I'm not sure modern defenses are built in a way that can successfully lock Jackson into the pocket. Right now, you see Baltimore running lots of 3-TE sets. This creates absolute match-up nightmares. If defenses don't bring in bigger personnel, they will get trampled by Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards. If defenses go big, they don't have the speed to catch Jackson. And Jackson is doing just enough in the passing game to keep them honest in the secondary. To me, this is a tremendous credit to Greg Roman and the Baltimore coaching staff. They have completely restructured their offense to fit his talents, in ways that I've never seen on the professional level. This usually doesn't happen with athletic/running QBs. I remember when Michael Vick was drafted, and he was supposed to "change the game" of football. Atlanta forced him into a West Coast system that didn't fit his skills, and he never truly reached his potential. Will defenses eventually adjust - either this season or long-term? It's really hard to say. They way Baltimore is rolling, I'm not sure anyone's defense matches up well.

Hopefully next year, the Bills will be in position to take the AFC East from the Patriots. That would give the team another potential way into the playoffs, and put them on the same footing as the other teams in the division.

I definitely like the "attacking" mentality on offense. Make teams afraid of Josh Allen's arm and what he can do. It seems to suit his skills more. I'm OK with him throwing some interceptions, as long as they aren't stupid decisions (like we were seeing earlier in the year). At the end of the day, I think we put more points on the board and win more games with an aggressive approach. On defense, I think we need to have a balance. What we were doing the previous 9 games was working, and working very well. The blitzing was nice for developing a pass rush, but we also let up some uncharacteristic big passing plays. The most important thing is points allowed, and I don't want to sacrifice more points for sacks/turnovers.

I'm sure WR will be a priority in the offseason. As many have stated, the upcoming draft class is being touted as one of the best ever. We should be able to get a really good one late in the first round. For this season, I think we have enough talent to put some points on the board. Personally, I would like to see them use Cole Beasley as more of a short yardage guy, instead of downfield routes. Too much Isaiah McKenzie on the outside, and give Robert Foster/Duke Williams more chances to make plays in that spot.