Rocky Landing

Antonio Williams making the most of his opportunity!

To say "no significant role on D" would imply that depth, and rotation going into the playoffs is not significant. I would strongly disagree. And, that's not even mentioning Siran's position flex.

I hope that injury on Siran isn't serious. Even though he isn't a starter, he would be a big loss towards out depth. He is a starting quality DB.

Even that trick play turned into a screen to the left.

Dolphins are running the same play over, and over again.

I would also like to give a shoutout to @Dont Stop Billeiving for his weekly scouting reports. While it's great to read Virgil, and Shaw's write-ups after the game, it's great to read DSB's write-ups before the game. For those who aren't taking advantage of the work he is putting in on these, I highly recommend these posts. He looks at the three prior games for every team we face, and provides analysis. And whether you agree with his opinions, or not, they're very informative. So, to Virgil, Shaw, and DSB: You guys really help make this the best fan forum in football.

Mason Rudolf better be wearing a heavy-duty chin strap.

The Bills want to win this game, and will do what they need to do to get it done. The Steelers losing is not a forgone conclusion. I would be pretty surprised not to see Allen play, and to be honest, I'm not worried in the least. The O-lines has been giving him great protection, he's been taking it easy on the hero-ball thing, and, of course, the league, and the refs are strict on roughing the passer calls. Diggs and Smoke are the players I worry about unnecessarily putting in harm's way. I hope they limit their snaps. Diggs doesn't need them, and give Smoke just enough to get his groove back from his absence. Let Davis have a huge game. Maybe elevate a WR from the PS. Run the ball more. But, win the game.

A quarterback named Tua Tagovailoa Was totally worth tanking for don'tcha know-a But the Fitzpatrick curse couldn't get any worse than the Bills sweeping ya two times in a row-a

Tagovailoa Tua will sorely miss Fitz Haikus are so dumb

The absence of Fitz makes this game so much easier to plan, I would think. The Phins offense looks like an utterly different team with Fitz under center. Flores has stated that Tua would start, but pretty likely that Fitz would have taken over at some point. But, even with Fitz on the sideline for the entire game, his relationship with Tua is pretty vital for the rook. With Fitz, his release is so quick, and he is so good at reading defenses, that I would expect some press man coverage, take away the short passing routes, force him to throw long, and get him out of the pocket. Tua, on the other hand-- keep him in the pocket. Pressure from the outside. And, I will expect a lot of disguised coverages-- something the Bills currently do very well. In fact, I think the Bills' D is going to look like they're square-dancing up until the ball snaps. When the Phins O-line sets, the Bills D-line will shift. LBs, and safeties will rush the line, then drop back, or not, and keep Tua confused. Without Fitz on the sideline to mentor Tua, he's going to have a hard time managing this game. Whether Fitz would have seen the field, or not, this game got easier with his absence, IMO. The Phins have a decent running game, but really only two receivers to worry about-- Parker, and Gisecki. The Bills O only needs to do what they do. Hopefully, Motor/Moss have a good day, and Daboll plays a balanced offense. If we can get a decent lead in the first half, they should take it easy the second. I'm not for resting the starters, per se. I think we want to win this game. But, they should be able to limit Diggs, give Smoke enough reps to get his legs back, but keep him limited as well, and Allen should take it easy. Those are my thoughts. As always, thanks for this writeup, @Dont Stop Billeiving (and ignore @Chandler#81. He's a grumpy old man.)

On the bright side, all players use a proximity recording device to facilitate contact tracing while on the premises, so we would probably already know if this affected other players availability. I would hope.

I'm looking at these practice squad changes in light of the NFL's recent approval of unlimited practice squad elevations for the playoffs. I suspect this might change the complexion of the practices going forward to some extent. I really wonder how that decision by the NFL/NFLPA affected these roster moves, and what Beane's and McD's thinking is?

That's hilarious! On Lee's second catch, Yelled out "nobody gets open like Lee Smith!" and then laughed really hard at my own joke. It's funny because it's (bizarrely) true!

Nice writeup as always, Virgil. A few thoughts I would like to add: Offensively: I love Lee Smith. And, color commentators should stop referring to him as "blocking tight end Lee Smith." Lee Smith runs routes! Gabriel Davis is in a slump, and has been for at least a few games. And he's still pretty good. I mentioned in another thread that Knox's drops notwithstanding, McD, Daboll, and Allen all still trust him. He was not pulled the play after that egregious drop, and IIRC, it was only a few plays later that he was thrown to in tight coverage, and made a beautiful, contested catch. And, it wasn't all that long afterwards Allen trusted him on fourth down for another great catch. If only he could make the easy ones... Dear God, please let Beasley's injury not be season ending! That being said, getting Smoke back lowers the anxiety level considerably. I love Motor, and I love Moss. But, they aren't complimentary backs. Their styles are too similar. Whether it's Motor, or Moss, we need a more complimentary back next season. Defensively: Quinten Jefferson can be super disruptive when he steps on the field. The rotation in the front line has turned into a nightmare for opposing offenses. Especially late in the game, the rotation is so deep, it's gassing O-lines. It gassed the Steelers O-line, and it ether gassed, or just demoralized the Pats* young O-line. Fun to see. I love seeing Hughs, and Addison closing in from both sides! I feel like I saw a lot more 4-3 formations than usual, and I like it. Milano/Edmunds/Klein is a formidable trio. A lot of hay was made by the announcers (several times, I believe) that Milano is essentially "playing for a contract." This is horse crap. From all the things I have read, and heard about, and from Milano, I feel entirely confident that both on, and off the field, he is not motivated by money. That's not to say that he won't want to get what he deserves, but the guy puts 110% on the field every single play. I don't think he even looks at the scoreboard. The issues we had at LB earlier in the season were really affecting every other defensive unit. The front four couldn't contain the run, and had to back off pressuring the QB. The backfield had to play closer to the LOS. Safeties had to play less on a string. Now that Milano is back, Edmunds is healthy, and Klein flipped that switch several weeks back, it is incredible to watch this D, with every unit clicking, work like a well-oiled machine. I do believe this is the first time I've ever seen Belichick* look befuddled. The Pats* weren't just out-played. They were out-coached. Watching the Bills pull their starters in the fourth was the perfect cap to this game. There was a point in the fourth that the camera showed a shot of Handyman Kraft in his box, and his mask couldn't hide his depression. Their reign is truly over.

I wasn't, no. Not speculating at all. It's just an impression I was getting from his demeanor, his expression, and his eyes. Maybe that's just him. I will say that during the game I was was impressed that he looked utterly relaxed throughout.

I don't know who's watched Allen's post game presser from yesterday-- I'm sure it's been posted somewhere upstream-- but as I was watching it, I started to get the distinct impression that Josh was hiding some sadness. Maybe it's just me, but the longer I watched, the more I felt that he looked like he was just... down. Like maybe he had received some bad news, or something. Anyone else get that impression?

It's worth noting that they kept Knox on the field after that egregious drop, and that Allen threw to him shortly after, and trusted him with a very difficult catch on fourth down. Also, while we're on the subject of TEs, at some point color commentators are going to have to stop referring to Lee Smith as "blocking tight end Lee Smith."

What struck me about that play was that it was shortly after Knox had egregiously dropped the pass in the end zone. It's a mark of great leadership (and I assume this is on McD, and Daboll, as well) to put this kind of trust in someone who had screwed up as badly as that drop was. The winning culture of this team is remarkable. They hold each other accountable, but they also trust, and support each other to move on from their mistakes. Such a strong team.

As always, McD: Change up your signals Expect the headset to cut out Play loud music, and don't talk too loudly in the locker room And I hope they had some security personnel in the hotel last night.

Dang. I cracked a rib watching that...

Watching the Steelers/Colts game right now, and the Steelers do not look like a playoff team.

That was insane

I wouldn't.

Not a grab, IMO.