Rochesterfan

The other part to this is if they sit some starters against Miami and you have Kumerow, Roberts, Taiwan Jones, or you bring up a Duke Williams - there is a lot of opportunity potentially.

It is very difficult - the last couple of weeks teams started to attack by spreading the Steelers out (empty backfield) and preventing certain blitzes. That was what the Bills started with, but the Steelers had adjusted and were bringing pressure and the inside of the line was not holding up one on one. Dabol actually made the adjustment in the 2nd quarter - not at halftime. He brought the RB and 2 TEs in and chipped on Watt and allowed Ike and Morse to double team Hayward. That then played into the “green dog” blitzing scheme of the Steelers - where if the guy you are covering blocks - you blitz. The Bills adjusted to that more after halftime because that gave them more one on ones with Diggs rather than the blanket coverage - he and Beasley had in the first half. That is why I can’t wait to see a healthy Brown return because they can not double team all 3 guys. I think Dabol went into the first half with a plan based upon what he saw from other teams having success and I am not sure how well it would have worked if the players made plays. You had drops by WRs and TEs that would have been conversions, the Knox fumble, and guys flashing in Josh’s face. All of those were mostly player issues - not coaching. I give Dabol credit for then saying - let’s do what are we confident with, but also the players for stepping up. Once they started making plays and the offense shifted in the 2nd quarter - they were the better team.

We are the early SATURDAY game. We control or destiny.

Totally disagree with this take. McD talked about Teller after the trade - a good young player, but something they could get an asset for as opposed to losing for nothing. Teller last year projected (as he has this year) strictly as a guard with no position flexibility and could not beat out Spain or Mongo as a starter. Last year the team went out and tried to find significant improvements for the offensive line. They signed Spain, Mongo, Morse, Ty, drafted Cody Ford, Ike, they had Teller, Bodine, and Long, and brought in Bates. They found a starting 5 and Teller was not one of them (nor should he have been based on his terrible job in Cleveland last year - amongst the worst starters at guard in the league). The back-ups as has been typical of McD - he wants position flexibility in case of in game injury. At that time they recognized Teller might have a future with hard work, but he was not making the team because he was not good enough to start and provided poor depth as he was strictly a guard. The Bills knew he was going to be a depth cut and got something for him. Teller to his credit really needed the playing time and he was not going to get it here last year. Teller was one of many choices teams have to make when cutting down players. To act like the Bills did not recognize the talent is crazy - they drafted him because they thought he could play. They also knew as a 5th round pick he needed time to develop and they recognized he was not developing on the time line they needed to match up with their goals. They made a choice and got an asset and Teller went to a team that was a better fit for his talent and more importantly was able to give him a full starting year last year as a guard where he stunk, but the playing time was critical. Going into this year the Browns were not sure he was going to make the roster, but Teller obviously worked hard in the off-season and the new head coach is a run first guy - that really lines up with Tellers strengths. I have no issues with them trading Teller because what you see today from him was forged in battle last year and he was not getting that here - the Bills had expectations and were not going to suffer the growing pains when they had better players.

I think the real question is not does a trap game exist or not, but what does it mean. Statistically speaking it appears a better teams win percentage is not impacted - a better team wins just as much in a trap scenario as a regular scenario against worse teams. Therefore from a win percentage point of view a trap game does not exist. From your betting and a point spread point of view - these games may end up closer (sometimes significantly) and more competitive than the rest of the non betting public may think. Therefore from that point of view a trap game may exist. The only thing I am worried about is the Bills winning the game. I expect it to be closer than you would expect because I anticipate the Bills will get ahead and play a less aggressive defensive playbook in the 2nd half to run clock and close out the game. McD is not worried about point differential- he is worried about wins. I don’t care about a trap game - McD will do his best to have his team ready and fired up. I expect a win and healthy amount of complaining because we did not blow them out by 3 TDs - we were up big and let them get to 2 scores late and maybe even another last second Denver TD to get the game within 1 score making it appear closer than it was.

I don’t think so - you always want the first down there because that guaranteed enough plays to run out the clock. There were 3 goals with the naked bootleg there. 1st and most importantly- hold onto the ball - do not fumble - do not drop it - no matter what. 2nd - stay in bounds and run clock - it was second down and if the Steelers played it right and you could not get the first down - just get down and run clock and no stupid penalties to stop the clock - key. 3rd - if possible get the first down, but do not score - you want to stop short even if you faked out every Steeler player and there was a wide open path. Getting the first down ices the game there with no chances of something stupid. Josh did well and accomplished 2 of the 3 and could of had all 3, but getting down in bounds was the most important. Luckily Moss picked up the first down and finished the Steelers off. If Moss had been stopped then it was decision time as the Steelers stopped the clock. The Bills would be put in a bind of FG attempt (push to 14) or go for it and potentially give the ball up deep in Steelers territory. I personally think McD goes for it and trusts his D, but I am so glad we did not have to think about that. Sliding a yard short just opened up other possible issues - could be a fumble, tackle for loss, penalty - many things that could make the victory harder, but the Bills handled their business- so I am happy with the outcome.

The Bills may choose to try and draft a TE, but that will depend upon what they want to do with Lee Smith more than anything. Kroft is gone, but replaced by a returning Sweeney, Knox and Gilliam are here. If they decide to retain Lee Smith - then I would expect the only TE they will be looking at is perhaps a late round flier. If they decide to move on from Smith - which is possible with his contract - they might try a 2nd or 3rd round pick or a low cost FA. I am not anticipating the Bills looking for a high draft pick TE because that is not a high priority need. I think they feel they can get away with Sweeney and Knox as H-Back and in-line TEs and get enough out of them to supplement the offense. I think they will look at positions that will be losing depth - potentially O-Line, DE, CB, LB as the top 3 draft picks. Now if someone falls significantly and the value is right - I could see a value pick at TE, but the chances to me seem pretty remote.

I believe it is pre-recorded when Chris is doing his ESPN+ highlights and it is recorded prior to the Sunday night game. They never include the Sunday night game and on the podcast version of Primetime have another host record the highlights and attach it to the end. No conspiracy- no media blackout- nothing against the Bills - it is the same week after week.

I think he is still posting - just under a different screen name right now. The bad takes as High IQ (LOL) are replaced with a different trolling theme. Then he will return with his garbage.

Excellent post - I will add that early in the season with those injuries- is also the same time we had to deal with the Titans COVID crap (very similar to what the Steelers are dealing with). The Bills got off schedule and had a bunch of players out or playing hurt and basically - everyone assumed the Bills just weren’t that good - the Titans an Chiefs won and our defense was struggling. Once we got settled again - we played better and got healthy and Pittsburgh will get some of that in the coming weeks. Hap - I think your point about sub packages in Pittsburgh is right on point - it does not seem to be something Tomlin is comfortable with at all. He seems like such an old school coach - line up and play. He does not seem to embrace the new wrinkles and options and I think it actually limits his team to a degree. I love Tomlin as a coach- he is straight forward and to the point and man can he get guys up and emotionally ready to play. I think he lacks creativity overall and it costs him in games with guys like BB in NE that know exactly what is coming and can scheme off from that.

Agreed. I know it is an usual take with the way people love Gesicki, but to me he is simply a one dimensional pass catching TE. He is a below average blocker and would not fit at all with what we are doing. He is basically a big bodied WR and that is not the role they are asking of Knox in this offense. It has also taken into his 3rd season to figure out the passing attack only in Miami. One more year than Knox has had in Buffalo and they are asking Knox to figure out blocking assignments as an H back - a role he has never played. Of course I want Knox to be better, but if you are looking at him to be Gesicki - it is the wrong comparison. I also think you will see Sweeney return and be the extra TE to replace Kroft. I do not expect a lot of resources poured into the TE position unless someone falls perfectly to them. I think they will go into 2021 with Sweeney and Knox as the 2 starters because they can both block and get out on patters as needed.

We will see about John Brown. He is eligible to return, but that does not mean he will play this weekend. He had a nasty sprain and my guess is the playoffs are more important to them. It would not surprise me for another “game decision” just like Morse - where you give him the extra week by wanting to play what has been working.

I totally agree - right now Big Ben’s arm is just about shot and that limits what they can do. What I am not sure of (and hear a lot) is if it is just because of the surgery or if it is age. Many baseball pitchers with that injury come back and are limited in year one before finding the velocity again in year 2. I keep reading he is done and should retire - I just wonder if he gets some strength back and is better next year - especially with what he has learned in 2020.

I think he was more concerned with staying inbounds than anything. I also think that he thought (which used to be the rule) it is where you hit the ground and therefore felt he was going to land right at yard stick. It was a fine play, but really needed that one more step and he should have been fine. Rather see him get down than take a needless hit, but he had to stay inbounds to run clock.

I think Wallace knew he was down by contact - they went up together and he intercepted the ball and hit the ground. The Steeler player and Wallace were in contact throughout the play. The ref did not blow the whistle - so he took off and slide down to avoid any big hits since he knew he was down. The Refs made the correct call and moved it back to where he was down. No reason to be angry - the player knew he was down, but reacted delayed because the ref did not blow the whistle. No sense in killing yourself when the play was complete when he landed on the ground. Nice screen grab.

Very similar to the play Tre jumped Offside. Just a second before the snap - Tre drove right into the middle of Claypools chest to knock him off stride and prevent him from getting down. The timing is critical and only works if you can hit the WR and not get knocked off stride. If you tried that with a veteran WR like Diggs - he has moves designed to counter and then blow past you once the DB is off balance. Claypool is not there yet, but this will be a learning experience for the rookie. The Dlineman that tackled Diggs did get called for holding. Josh even pointed it out to the ref during the play and then threw the ball downfield once he saw the flag.

Exactly and guys go out and perform. The times I have seen it is usually a guy like a TE gets dinged up and goes into the blue tent while on offense. The team scores and that TE (a guy like Lee Smith) is still in the tent and the team gets lined up and realizes they only have 10 guys. Sometimes a guy runs on late and they have enough time and sometimes they have to burn a timeout. The TDs don’t have to be unexpected for their to be an issue - it is usually just a guy getting dinged up and the training staff have not gotten the word to the coaching staff yet.

Yes, but not to warm up a kicker. It is typically for a special teams player being evaluated and not ready to go out for kick protection and the special teams coach was unaware. It happens a couple of times a year.

Just watched the replay highlight and he definitely began the slide just past the 20. I think the Ref nailed it. He looked to be a yard short as he left his feet to begin the slide. I think the play was blown dead - so can’t challenge. I am glad they did not challenge the Josh incompletion/fumble because I think the ball might have been loose.

Exactly - the only thing with the Josh slide was I think Ref marked from several yards behind and had a terrible angle (as was the camera angle). I think Josh was looking for the marking and slide right there - the guy came from behind and marked him short. I think it was a bad spot, but difficult for the Refs in that situation.

This is not going to go over well at all - LOL. The smile on his face was priceless. People expect their athletes after a loss to be as ticked off and angry as they are and most players are not that way any more. The game is done - they seek out friends and enjoy the time. Very different from 20 - 30 years ago.

I think early in the game the hope was to beat William 1 on 1 with Watt and force Allen to step up into Hayward’s rush. It worked a bit early on, but Josh got the ball out. I think in the 2nd quarter - the end of the game - they shifted and decided to bring pressure from the left side and tried to force Josh to immediately roll out to the right and into Watt. I think they saw a tendency after the 49ers game and thought - bring him to Watt because he has the athletic ability to handle JA on the outside. Josh just refused to bite much - he is so much better in the pocket and only moves to extend time and angles. It is so different and I do not think the Steelers were ready for that. I think they were playing with what they saw from last year - quick pressure and Allen moves - get him to Watt. Allen is different now - stays in and trusts the line and makes throws. I don’t think they moved Watt around for that exact reason. The Steelers biggest fear was Allen escaping to the right and making plays down the field and Watt was tasked with preventing that as much as possible. Not every play as you saw some full rushes, but enough that Allen had time later in the game.

They are not activating Kroft over Gilliam because Gilliam gives them special teams plays. It just is not happening. Gilliam is on this team for special teams and they are not benching him for guys that can’t play teams. Therefore - you have Smith, Kroft, and Knox and the Bills are playing 2 of the 3 - this allows the extra WRs so they can spread the field. I have no issue sitting Smith and having Knox and Kroft available, but the 2 of them are very similar in technique and what they provide. Smith is the odd TE out because of his big frame and blocking and what it presents to a defense. What I don’t know is if they get the same look if that is Kroft over Smith on the goal line, but then again you get a more polished receiver against smaller coverage guys maybe.

Perfectly well put. I think he is a phenomenal leader and motivator of players. He gets just about the most you can out of guys and somehow kept some very strong negative personalities in line for years. Year in and year out he finds ways to win - even when his team is less talented or missing key guys. The flip side is I think his coordinators and his game day X’s and O’s are not as good as many other coaches - his teams tend to out physical and out emotion the opponent and in games against great coaches (see NE) that was not always enough. He also struggled against Baltimore another team that tends to be ultra physical and emotional, but Harbaugh brings something to the X&O party. When you get down to it - he trusts his players and asks a lot of them and more often they deliver - therefore in whatever way you want to measure he is a good/great coach - I do not think he is elite (few are), but if let go - he should be snapped up immediately by a team looking to take the next step.

Um - not quite - they are still better than the Gase led Jets and most likely will be again next year.