RunTheBall

Stop with the “McD should have fired Frazier” revisionist history. I am VERY happy Frazier is gone and McD is calling the plays now, you can see the difference. But, it’s ridiculous to think that McBeane was going to get rid of a very highly respected defensive coach who was fielding a top 4 D every season. McBeane are not that type of ruthless guys, they are loyal to a fault but that has more positives than negatives in the locker room and on the recruitment trail. Besides Frazier being gone, the loss of Edmunds right now looks like addition by subtraction. 90% of this board were killing McBeane about the MLB position and Bernard has been a revelation. Our coaches saw that, most of us did not. Some of you guys who have been bashing this coaching staff non stop since 13 seconds need to STFU and appreciate that players, coaches and GMs can and do get better within a culture of growth which McD has fostered since day 1 and has always preached.

It’s not Dorsey who adapted it’s Josh. I’ve been a big Dorsey critic but if you watch the coach’s film from the first 3 games, the gameplan was sound and Josh was passing up the easy stuff. The difference is Josh is now taking the short stuff first, not looking deep to short. That’s a maturity thing and it’s great to see. In this game, he started off taking all the short stuff which opened up the intermediate/deep stuff. That’s what a running game and trusting your O-line does for a QB.

This team is different and you can really feel it now. They are FINALLY physical and playing with an edge on both offense and defense. We can RUN THE BALL and that opens up the entire play book. Every player is delivering hits not just taking them, that’s a mental adjustment from previous seasons. It looks like Josh is trusting that he doesn’t have to be Superman every game. He’s hitting short throws quick, not as a last resort. He’s letting his playmakers make plays and this game most came through (looking at you Shakir, gotta catch that DIME). No turnovers, we owned the interior gaps, and Josh was the best Josh. W We are on to Finheaven to wallow in the misery of those September Champion Douche Bags Then we are on to Jacksonville (London)

Why do people think you can just take a starting CB and plug him him at safety? It’s a completely different position. I’m excited to see what Rapp can do because he’s the potential future Poyer replacement. If he craps the bed then you’ve got Lewis or Hamlin to plug in (I’d go Lewis first, Damar was smoked against Miami on the regular)

I think the keys to victory are fairly simple 1) No Turnovers 2) Oliver and Jones blow up the interior gaps on both run and pass 3) Full good Josh Allen experience including designed runs and using his legs on scrambles when it’s there

Why would you activate your 4th string corner to replace a starting safety?

The key to our D is to disrupt Tua’s timing. Yeah, you could say that about any QB but especially Tua because he’s the ultimate game manager. What I mean is McDaniels is scheming guys wide open and Tua is throwing to a spot with anticipation. Only when he comes off his first read does he really survey the defense to see who’s open. If you can get him off his first read, he’s not an off script guy. Easier said than done. McDaniels has done a brilliant job of using motion and routes to make space for guys to get wide open. Dorsey should take some pointers from this guy - you don’t see 2 receivers in the same spot all the time and the motion is very effective. I think the best way to disrupt this is to blow up the gaps, especially Oliver and Jones in the A/B gaps. I’m sure we are going to see a lot of simulated pressures but if we can win off the snap and just get in Tua’s face, his timing will be disrupted, hopefully enough to disrupt the throw to his first read. I doubt Tua is going to take many sacks with his 2.4 second time to throw, but if you make him second guess what he’s seeing he might. The pressure needs to come from the interior, the DE’s coming around the tackles won’t have enough time. So, they should rush contained, ready to defend the run and get their hands up. Send the heat from the interior and play zone for the most part. We can’t run with these receivers, Trey has lost a step, Poyer looks a step slower and Benford is an instinctive zone defender. It’s their bread and butter.

We absolutely do. Diggs/Knox/Kincaid and Cook both running and catching out of the backfield plus an improved O-line are plenty good enough to dink and dunk / run the ball and force teams out of that 2 high shell. I'd get Murray involved earlier in games because I think he's got better vision right now than Cook between the tackles. That plus more play action with Josh under center is how you take advantage of that type of defense

This is exactly what teams who play a 2-high shell with 7 defenders (rushing 4) want Josh to think. The deep balls are covered, the intermediate balls require precision and we've got only 1 guy right now (Diggs) who's getting separation regularly and catching the ball. This is where Davis / Knox / Kincaid should be used with play action. We should be running the sht out of the ball into light boxes and hitting slants/quick WR screens/TE chips to the flat. If you are successful the D adjusts and now the deep/intermediate shots are more open

I’ve been a big Dorsey critic but after re-watching each game, I think he’s called some pretty good games. Yeah there are questionable calls at times but how he’s attacked what has mostly been the 2-high shell has been sound. Hate to say it but Josh is part of the problem. He whips through his progressions and sometimes comes off the #1 read too quick. I think I read somewhere we are last in the league in number of completions to our first read. I think putting him under center and using more play action will get him into a better rhythm. Still too much shotgun for my liking especially in short yardage situations. Some ball placement issues have lead to less YAC than was there also. Execution is another issue has others have mentioned - guys have a chance to make plays and they either drop the ball or don’t get separation. Brown didn’t get nearly as much help against the Commanders as he did against the Raiders and held up pretty well. Baby steps. Overall I think we are seeing and offense that is changing from what it was and finding a new identity. Finding what works. As long as we stack Ws I’m fine with them finding their way and hopefully start to ramp up by mid season. I know Miami is playing lights out but IDK if that’s sustainable. They look like they are peaking in the first quarter of the season and will regress to the mean a bit but time will tell.

Mahomes owned Edmunds which is part of the reason we let him go because McBeane knew it too. He was too easily manipulated by Mahomes even in games we won.

It’s a consistent theme on TBD that players are judged to be boom/busts immediately with no opportunity or expectation that they can learn and improve.

Never change TBD. 34 point blow out on the road against an undefeated team with a consensus top D-line and people still find something to complain about because the blow out didn’t happen in the first 2 quarters. It was an excellent display from Josh/Dorsey of not doing more than you have to do to get the W. Sure, there’s a few play calls I’d have liked something different but the reality was it was clear Washington wasn’t going to score many points (I expected more than 3) and all we really had to do was not turn the ball over. It worked. We are on to Miami

Why does everyone seem concerned with this Howell? McD has a great track record against young QBs. He’s going to confuse the sht out of him, Howell will be reduced to screens and dump offs most of the time. Of course we have to minimize our own TOs, that’s the only way you keep an inferior team in the game. If we play clean, we win easy. If we play sloppy, then Washington has a chance. That’s why we play the game. I suspect we are going to see Josh continue what we saw last week especially in the first half. Establish the running game, play the short game and force them out of their Big Nickel. Then play action and more deep shots than we saw last week. On D, I expect McD to use a lot of disguised coverages and simulated pressures. Bills Win

I hope they keep both BB coach/GM and noodle arm whiner Mac Jones for many years so they can wallow in 7-10, 9-8 mediocrity for a decade

I echo others comments that Hebert doesn’t seem to have the “it” factor to turn his excellent physical skill/traits into a top 3 QB. I haven’t watched a ton of Hebert but the games I watched I was always left wondering if he reads the field well

They gave him 50 million guaranteed! So if they cut him after year 2 that’s 25 mil/season plus a huge dead cap hit. Don’t think that’s happening but it’s the Bears so who knows

No one is obsessed with Edmunds. It’s perfectly natural to wonder if the team made the correct decision in letting a 1st round draft pick who we traded up for walk after being a 5 year starter. I LOVED the Edmunds pick. I thought we had our starting MLB for a decade at least. After a couple years I started to wonder if he would ever develop instincts. During his 5th year, he played better but it still wasn’t instinctual. Still, I was convinced McBean were going to sign him to an extension and I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m thrilled we didn’t pay him 18 million, he’s not worth that and he’s never going to live up to it. Guys don’t just “get it” after 5 years, they either have it or they don’t. Edmunds is an above average LB because of his elite physical and athletic traits but has horrible instincts. He’s being replaced so far by guy half his size who has already made more splash plays and is getting paid about 16 million less. Now the book hasn’t been written on Bernard yet, and I’d say 80% of this board wrote him off after one game of his rookie year, but so far has anyone noticed a lack of Edmunds? I’d say no. I wish Tremaine the best, I wish he worked out here, but right now it looks like McBeane made the correct call not only by letting him walk but by giving Bernard the opportunity to play MLB. Time will tell.

In almost every throw Sam is climbing the pocket before he unleashes. I think with our DTs that’s going to be a problem and we are going to see a lot of back foot throws. I take every team seriously but if Buffalo comes out and plays the same gameplan we did against the Raiders, we win easily. Instead of Crosby you chip Young on most plays. Cook should be able to get the edge on these guys, their LBs aren’t anything to write home about. Their secondary is suspect as well so if we can establish the running game the play action shots will be there all day.

Bernard seems to have good instincts which Tremaine never developed. Benard is shooting the correct gaps like Tremaine never did and I was a big Edmunds fan, just not 18 million big

Your yearly reminder that there is no statistical data to back up the "trap game" myth. It's only a fan anxiety reaction.

Speaking of which, your team is on in 50 minutes. Shouldn’t you be pre gaming with the other Fins fans?

I hate NE and their bandwagon fans (I’m in RI, there’s been near ZERO Pats* talk the last 3 years) with the heat of a thousand suns, but it’s better for us if Miami loses. So, I will hold my nose and hope the Hoodie dials up something where they sack Tua in the closing minutes and seal a 6-3 victory

WHERE ARE ALL THE BERNARD HATERS?? I liked Tremaine but at 18 million IDK if he even makes the plays Bernard made today. If you can keep Bernard clean, he can shoot gaps and dropped Jacobs a couple times. It’s only game 2 but he’s holding his own and even making some plays. This is the second straight game Dorsey called a good game, this time Josh stuck to the script. I’d still like to see him under center more with play action (like the long Kincaid pass) and that 4th down call sucked but overall he’s shown some growth. Yeah I know it was the Raiders D but we needed a game like this to get on track and winning in dominant fashion doesn’t suck either. Overall, exactly what this team needed especially Josh. Hopefully they can keep it rolling against Washington and then get a good test against Miami. Go Bills!

My bad dude. 78 was responding to me so I wrongly assumed your comment was meant towards me. I'm a huge Josh supporter. I just feel strongly he unnecessarily went into Josh Mode and at year 6 we shouldn't be seeing that very often. I fully expect a bounce back I rarely ciritcise him so clearly misinterpreted your meaning. Thanks for the clarification.