Logic

Something something, "at least they got a touchdown first", something something. It's early on the west coast. I need more coffee.

Blitzing the least but sacking the QB the most? This is McDermott's ultimate football aspiration come to life. It is THE defining characteristic of what McDermott wants to do on defense. He finally has the defensive line to do it. AND VON MILLER IS COMING BACK. Look out opposing offenses. The thing I like the most about the past two weeks is that the Bills are dominating in the trenches. If you want to know who's likely going to win a football game after watching only the first few drives, just look at the battle in the trenches. The team winning that usually wins the game. The last two weeks, the Bills won both battles handily. If that continues, it'll be a great season.

I wanted to say two things: First, this is an excellent thread and a great discussion. It's posts like this that make TBD such a great place. Even @Einstein, who sometimes makes me want to shake a puppy, provided an excellent contribution. Thank you, Einstein, and thank you everyone else who is contributing. Second, I am team "play-action always makes the QB and the offense better. Always, always, always". There has been data over the years showing that you don't even need to be running the ball effectively for play-action to work well. No matter what, the defense HAS to account for the run possibility. It's just innately ingrained in the brains of defensive players to react -- at least a little bit -- to the handoff action. Even the tiniest split second of hesitation for a defensive player gives an advantage to the offense, just like pre-snap motion does. Josh Allen, I think, ESPECIALLY benefits from play-action. I don't have any evidence to back that up other than what Einstein already provided. It's just an anecdotal, gut feeling I've gotten from watching him over his career. Josh just seems better off play-fakes. Always has. I can't comment as much on the "under center vs shotgun" debate, except to say that on the graph provided above, there ARE some successful offenses all the way to the left of the chart, like the Rams and Lions. Shotgun is not NECESSARILY a prerequisite for success in the modern NFL. Hopefully, the new emphasis on heavier personnel sets in the Bills offense and the new commitment to and success with running the ball will continue to lead to more pro sets, more play-fakes, and better Josh Allen.

The key point to me is that the guy who replaced Edmunds made more game changing plays in one afternoon than I can recall Edmunds making in his entire Bills career.

I think the biggest change I've seen the past two weeks -- and make no mistake, this is likely due to Ken Dorsey's coaching -- is that there seem to be a lot more passing plays where Josh Allen's progressions are from short to long, rather than long to short. This is a HUGE difference, and a big reason that Josh suddenly looks much more comfortable back there. Less double-clutching, less running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He seems to be being coached that if the short completion is there, you take it. This, in turn, gets him in more of a rhythm and builds his confidence, and when shots ARE there (see the Gabe Davis TD and Knox end zone drop) he takes them. To add to that, the coaches seem to be instilling in Josh that he doesn't need to be a hero against inferior opponents. The most interesting andencouraging thing I heard during the broadcast today was the announcers saying that Josh said he "needs to be aware of who the opposing QB is, too". In other words, there will be weeks where he needs to sling it and let it loose and make things happen (vs Mahomes, vs Tua, etc), and weeks where he simply needs to be smart and take small profits (vs Howell, vs Garappolo, vs Mac Jones, etc). Great stuff.

LOL. "Continues to struggle", he says. 🤣 30 offensive points this week against a quality defense, on the road. 38 offensive points last week. "Continues to struggle". Amazing.

People bagging on Dorsey today? REALLY?! They mentioned early in the broadcast that the Commanders had gone an NFL record 9 straight games without allowing more than four 3rd down conversions in a single game. The Bills today were 9 for 15 on 3rd downs. They were the picture of balance, with 32 passes and 33 runs. They had 170 yards rushing, 218 yards passing, and scored 30 points. Yes, there were short fields, and lots of credit goes to the defense. But the Bills offense just had a quality showing against a very good Washington defense. They dominated time of possession, kept their quarterback clean, barely punted, and put up 30 points. Was Dorsey's gameplan perfect? No. Were there some calls he'd probably like to have back? I bet so. But that's the NFL. If you're honestly upset with Ken Dorsey TODAY, well, you're just looking for reasons to be upset, and I doubt anything will ever please you.

Posted this in the gameday thread, but... - Bills offensive line looking amazing the last two weeks. They were NOT going against slouches this week, either. Very, very impressive. - Spencer Brown. Where the HECK did this come from?! Looks like a totally different guy. Not perfect, mind you, but leaps and bounds above what we all thought we were gonna get this season from him. - Splash plays from a middle linebacker? Affecting the outcome of the game with sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries? What on earth? THAT'S ALLOWED?!! - This defensive line is gonna be a PROBLEM for opposing teams this year. Adding Von Miller back in the next few weeks? My goodness! - Count me among those who prefer McDermott's playcalling to Leslie Frazier's thus far. - Jimbo Cook is silky smooth. - The week 1 Jets game looks to have had the same effect on Josh that the Pats multi-turnover game did in 2019, where it flips a switch in his brain and he starts paying controlled, smart, and within himself. - Love the diversity of the Bills offensive personnel and playcalling so far. - Things are no longer looking like a struggle for this Bills team. They're starting to get back to dominating and not getting in their own way and playing smart football on both sides of the ball. All in all, a very encouraging two weeks. Onto the absolutely ENORMOUS game against the Dolphins next week. GO BILLS!

- Entire offensive line - Spencer Brown specifically - Terrel Bernard - Leonard Floyd - Stefon Diggs. I know that these types of performances are commonplace from him and we hardly even notice, but...he's just SO good and SO consistent. - Sean McDermott - Tyler Bass 37-3 on the road against a 2-0 opponent? Give a game ball to all 53 active players, as far as I'm concerned.

- Bills offensive line looking amazing the last two weeks. They were NOT going against slouches this week, either. Very, very impressive. - Spencer Brown. Where the HECK did this come from?! Looks like a totally different guy. Not perfect, mind you, but leaps and bounds above what we all thought we were gonna get this season from him. - Splash plays from a middle linebacker? Affecting the outcome of the game with sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries? What on earth? THAT'S ALLOWED?!! - This defensive line is gonna be a PROBLEM for opposing teams this year. Adding Von Miller back in the next few weeks? My goodness! - Count me among those who prefer McDermott's playcalling to Leslie Frazier's thus far. - Jimbo Cook is silky smooth. - The week 1 Jets game looks to have had the same effect on Josh that the Pats multi-turnover game did in 2019, where it flips a switch in his brain and he starts paying controlled, smart, and within himself. - Love the diversity of the Bills offensive personnel and playcalling so far. - Things are no longer looking like a struggle for this Bills team. They're starting to get back to dominating and not getting in their own way and playing smart football on both sides of the ball. All in all, a very encouraging two weeks. Onto the absolutely ENORMOUS game against the Dolphins next week. GO BILLS!

I think you misunderstood the OP. The Bills' offensive rushing scheme has nothing to do with how teams run the ball against them.

I think it was more so the "I was just waiting for Bernard to get hurt and Kirksey to take over" wording that I objected to. Also, Kwon Alexander is 227. Fred Warner is 230. Lavonte David is 233. Matt Milano is 225. Bernard is a bit slight, yes, but he's not tiny. His size compares reasonably well to some top flight linebackers around the league who have managed to have good to great careers.

Respectfully...it's hard to overstate what an awful post this is.

As for my own prediction: The Bills will win the game, but it won't be the easy, runaway, blowout victory that some are hoping for to ease everyone's pain. I predict that Maxx Crosby is going to so badly eat Spencer Brown's lunch that it's going to lead to some stalled drives, sacks, and a boneheaded Josh Allen decision or two. Overall, as has happened a fair amount since the middle of last season, the win will look labored and difficult for the Bills. I won't believe this team is still capable of regularly blowing inferior opponents out until I start seeing it again.

I haven't read the 10 pages of this thread because I don't hate myself, but... Has anyone mentioned the four turnovers that Dorsey committed? That was BY FAR his most egregious contribution to the loss on Monday. Until Ken Dorsey stops throwing into double coverage, we're screwed.

This oughta fix what ails us.

Your thread title is rather vague, and the post itself surely could have been put into one of the many already-existing discussion threads about Monday's game. Aside from that, great job.

I bet he has a hose like a baby's arm.

This thread was a riot. Thank you to all who participated. I think my award for Best in Show goes to the guy who said the reason Josh played poorly is that he "cares more about pu$$y than winning". Top notch stuff.

This. These are the growing pains of a second year middle linebacker making his first NFL start after missing all of preseason. This may seem like pouring salt into already gaping wounds, but...I have a feeling that if Aaron Rodgers had been healthy all game, the Bills defense might have had a loooong night.

I agree. I definitely wonder if Dorsey is the right guy for the job. That said, the problem is that I don't see an easy way out of this one in the short term. Short of firing Dorsey and promoting an underling like Joe Brady, I don't see how they could make any meaningful change this season that wouldn't completely disrupt the offense and make things even worse. Furthermore, Josh likes Dorsey and personally advocated for his being hired as OC. Dorsey also presided over a top five scoring offense last season, so any kind of dismissal of his services this early would likely not be met kindly. That means riding with Dorsey for this season, at least, and seeing if things improve. One very bad Josh Allen game, on the road against an elite defense, in week one of the season (see: Chiefs, Bengals, Giants) is not enough for me to close the book on Dorsey yet. But yes...absolutely starting to wonder about his abilities as a COACH, more so than as a play designer/caller.

I agree with @Success. It's hard to make judgements on the play calls or play design after last night's game. The main reason for me is that when I go back and re-watch negative plays -- interceptions, sacks, throwaways -- I often see open receivers. It's hard for me to fault the OC too much when players are open (often short, yes) and Josh is refusing to throw it to them. If the plays Dorsey is calling have open receivers and Josh just isn't hitting them, it's hard for me to call it a Dorsey problem. What I AM beginning to question is Dorsey's ability to coach Josh Allen the way he needs to be coached. As buddy-buddy as Josh was with Daboll, Josh would be the first to tell you that Daboll didn't hesitate to chew him out when he was being dumb. I think Daboll had a great feel for reigning in Bad Josh and harnessing Good Josh. Dorsey doesn't seem to have that feel. I'm starting to feel like Daboll was a very big reason that Josh had an all-world stretch of play in 2020 and 2021, and that Dorsey's lack of understanding of how to harness Josh's abilities and limit his negative tendencies in the same way are going to continue to mean that we see less Elite Josh and more Roller Coaster Josh, and that he's going to regress back to being the player the haters always told us he was. THAT'S my concern. Less the play design and play calls, and more the actual COACHING of Josh Allen.

I'm just glad Bills fans are finally starting to actually hold Josh accountable for the offensive struggles sometimes. Too often last year, I saw every single thing that went wrong blamed on Ken Dorsey. Don't get me wrong, I had problems with the playcalling and play designs at times, too. I'm certainly no Dorsey apologist. But time and again, I'd go back and look at the All-22 and see open guys that Josh just wasn't finding or getting the ball to. If you go back and watch the first two interceptions last night, for instance, you will see an open receiver underneath for a short gain on both. When guys are open and Josh is refusing to throw it to them, instead opting to force the ball downfield into tight coverage again and again with complete disregard for the situational context of the moment, it's a Josh problem, not a Dorsey problem. My biggest problem with Josh Allen right now is his lack of situational awareness. Knowing WHEN he needs to take the risks and push the ball downfield and when he needs to play it safe, take a sack or a checkdown, and live to fight another down. Had he simply shown situational awareness last night and played within himself, the Bills would have won the game.

I mean...the people he's referring to were BORN here, as were -- most likely -- their parents and grandparents and great grandparents. But sure.

To be fair... Not being racist toward people of Asian descent does not mean that he can't be racist toward black people.