Shaw66

This is really the point. McDermott is not stupid. He's a student of the game. He knows that great teams have great QBs, and QBs distinguish themselves in those situations, such as Rodgers last night. McDermott knows he has a guy who could be one of those guys, and the only way to find out is to get him position to show he can do it. When you're a bad team trying to get to mediocre, you're conservative. It's the right strategy, from an analytics point of view. When you're a good team trying to be the best, you're aggressive, for a couple of reasons: You're good, so you're probabilities are better than most teams, not the league average. Also, you're good, so you're better able to recover later if something goes wrong. You figure you can afford to take the risk. McDermott knows what he has, and he knows what he has to do.

Virg - I wasn't as excited about what the Bills did as you were. Oline did fine on pass pro, not much in the run game. Dline really got no big wins, TFLs or sacks. They didn't need them, so the Bills looked okay without being really good at some important things. And Washington couldn't compete with the Bills receivers . Point is, aspects of their game that weren't important yesterday will be very important against the best teams. They need to improve.

I can't really argue with that. But they played a different style of defense against WFT. They were less aggressive, more bend don't break. That's less impress in ve football. Effective against WFT, if not so much fun to watch. I'm not saying one style is better than another, just that McDermott likes to play multiple defenses.

Good stuff. Thanks. And remember that the glitzy stars of September often have faded by December. It's the tested survivors of the first half of the season who show their stuff in the second half. Right now, the Bills are looking for growth. Where are they looking for growth? Allen, the receivers, the oline, maybe contribution from Spencer Brown, Ford growing into a force. More from Rousseau, Epenesa, and Basham. Guys stepping up in the Dline interior. More from Edmunds. More from Daboll. McDermott believes that focused work on continuous improvement will create continuous improvement. I'll be surprised if the November-December Bills don't look a lot better than we've seen so far.

Great stuff. Thanks to those who explained what was going on there. Still, I don't like the call. When you're on the goal line, the defense can pack way in and try to take away plays just like this without risking a mid-range to deep ball. But the Bills weren't on the goal line. They still had the whole field to attack. I think the question shouldn't change - what play do we have that offers the best opportunity to gain 2 yards? So, you have to ask if the defense will be a goal-line defense, are there pass plays that are really high probability completions? The answer has to be yes. Why attack at the line of scrimmage when that is exactly the place the defense is selling out to defend? You have three great short-route receivers - Diggs, Sanders, and Beasley. You must have something that's very high percentage. Play action, crossing routes, escape routes for Josh.

I don't remember seeing something like that in pro games, but I was at a UConn game one time when one of the Grammaticas was playing for the opponent, and he was sending kickoffs 20 yards beyond the end zone. In that game there were a couple of those comebacker punts that netted essentially nothing. One other thing about yesterday - the wind was blowing harder at the top of the stadium than on the ground. The flags were whipping around all day, but the streamers on the goal posts sometimes settled down, although not for too long. Hopkins got more air under that kickoff than usual, and it actually seemed to keep rising in the wind, almost like a round ball with backspin rises. The flight was a little unusual - your brain was telling you the ball should be flying and starting to come down, but your eyes were telling you that it was still rising and stalling. That's when McKenzie knew he was in trouble.

You must have been sitting on the south side, the Bills' side. On the WFT side, wind came blowing in from the southwest corner and right into the faces of the fans. In the sun it wasn't too bad; if you were in the shade it was cold. An interesting thing about the wind was that it was blowing diagonally across the top of the stadium (you could see all the flags at the top of the stadium blowing that way), but on the field it was blowing almost directly from goal line to goal line.

Exactly right. The front eight guys didn't see anything unusual. The ball flew overhead as usual. From the stands, however, after the ball had traveled maybe 25 yards, you could see that it was high and it was not going to carry. McKenzie saw it too, but it was too late. You know how the Bills had to hold the ball on all the kickoffs? I was thinking about how the special teams somehow adjust their kick coverage when they do that - the assignments of some guys change. Well, in a wind like that, the assignments of some of the return team should change, too. McKenzie needed help back there, instead of being a single guy. He's been doing a good job, but he isn't Willie Mays.

It was all the wind. McKenzie was lined up on the goal line, which it turned out was way too deep. Hopkins got a lot of air under the ball, and when it was about half way to the goal line, the wind held it up. McKenzie suddenly realized that the ball was going to fall way short of the goal. He broke forward hard, and I think slightly to his left. The ball essentially stopped in the air and fell almost straight down and to McKenzie's right. He couldn't get there in time to catch it. Then it was a free for all, with the ball bouncing around like in a pin-ball machine. The Bills were unprepared for the wind on that play. I've seen games like that before, where kickoffs are going 15 yards beyond the back of the end zone in one direction and landing on the 20 in the other. Bills should have known a kick like that was possible. After that kickoff, the Bills put Hyde back with McKenzie on punts, because they realized that it was too unpredictable. They should have had two back on that kickoff, too.

You know, Mup, I'm not all that excited about this win. I didn't think the Bills were great. I thought they were a very good team playing a very weak team. A really great win would have had some sacks. The running game would have been something more than an after-thought, again. This was just the Bills handling a team that couldn't compete. When it got to 21-14, the Bills didn't panic. They should have finished the next drive with a TD instead of a field goal. In some ways, the best series of the game was the last of the first half. After the Bills went up 24-14 with that field goal, the question was whether Washington would mount a drive in the final minutes of the half to get a TD or at least a field goal. Instead, the Bills made the defensive stop and Allen took them on a quick, long drive to tack on one more field goal. That drive showed everyone who was the boss. True. What's fun about blow-out wins is that you can take a minute to appreciate good plays that the opponent makes, too.

Matchups, an excellent D line, first game was practically like a preseason game in terms of team development, maybe the Bills had been reading their press clippings a little too much, etc., etc., but whatever) I think the season is divided into four quarters, four games each (now there's an extra game but whtever). Your objective is to go 3-1 every quarter. Bills have to go 1-0 next week, and they've finished the first quarter 3-1. 4-0 would be nicer, but 3-1 is what you need.

Ha ha ha ha!!! Ha ha ha!!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!! The Bills beat the Washington Football Team on Sunday. In a word, it was a laugher. Final score: 43-21, but as they say, it wasn’t that close. When the Patriots recovered after a disastrous first half to beat Atlanta in the Super Bowl, someone asked Bill Belichick after the game if the coaches were worried at halftime. He answered that they didn’t feel too badly, because they were competitive on the field, they just weren’t competitive on the scoreboard. Well, late in the first half against the Bills, WFT was competitive on the scoreboard, 21-14, but they weren’t competitive in the game. In fact, the game was over shortly after the opening kickoff; we just didn’t know it yet. Washington couldn’t stop the Bills, and Washington couldn’t move the ball against the Bills. Everyone knows that WFT made exactly two plays in the game, two that resulted in two touchdowns. Other than those two plays, the Bills completely dominated from start to finish. The first was a picture-perfect screen pass and run on second and eight from their own 27. Antonio Gibson’s catch and run, finished off when he reached for the pylon following Tre’Davious White’s spectacular downfield sprint and hit, was a beautiful football play. The second was the ensuing kickoff, when Dustin Hopkins (remember Dustin Hopkins?) lifted the kick high into the fierce wind. Isaiah McKenzie at first looked like he played it well, but the ball stopped in the wind. Stopped. And drifted left, falling to the ground in the great no-man’s land that the Bills’ special teams unit leaves between two rows of blockers upfield and McKenzie. McKenzie didn’t get close to catching it, and after WFT batted it around a bit, Hopkins recovered one of the odder, albeit unintentional, on-side kicks even seen. A few plays later, Washington scored, and suddenly it was 21-14 – competitive on the scoreboard, maybe, but not on the field. Late in the half, two Bills field goals made it 27-14, confirming that the game was over. Washington’s offense isn’t very good, especially with Ryan Fitzpatrick not on the field, and their defense is worse. They give up passing yards in big chunks, and they were just what the doctor ordered for Josh Allen’s early-season passing ills. Beasley, Sanders, and Diggs each caught a bunch of passes, long, short, and in-between. Josh’s touch returned on several passes. None was better than the touchdown pass to Sanders, when Allen got rid of it in a hurry but still somehow floated a catchable ball low and away. He dropped a perfect long ball into Sanders later in the game. He found Beasley with multiple fireballs, and Beasley thrives on balls coming in hot. The defense didn’t miss out on the fun. But for that 73-yarder, the Bills would have given up a total of 217 yards. 75 of those 217 came on WFT’s meaningless final drive of the game. The Bills defense simply gave Washington nothing. The Bills had one sack for zero yards, and it didn’t matter. They showed none of the exotic pass-rush schemes we saw a week ago – they rushed four down linemen over and over, generating very little quick pressure. The Bills knew they didn’t need pass rush – their back seven allowed pretty much nothing except one screen pass. It was an odd game in a few ways. The wind was brutal again Sunday. It blew from hard to very hard. Justin Tucker may have kicked a 66-yarder to win on Sunday, but given the opportunity to kick to the closed end of Highmark Stadium, Tyler Bass would have been good from 70. He crushed it in warmups and on kickoffs in that direction. There weren’t any big plays, because by definition a big play is a game-changing play, a play that may determine the outcome of the game. Plenty of guys made good plays – Taron Johnson, Dawson Knox, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Matt Milano, McKenzie, but if they hadn’t made their plays, someone else would have. There was no way Washington was winning that game. On fourth and two, how did Josh Allen manage to complete a pass for zero yards? I mean, I get that on third and seven or fourth and eight, the only thing the defense may give you is short of the sticks. But really, why are the Bills throwing short of the sticks on fourth and TWO? No matter though, because just like there were no big plays, there were no bad plays. The Bills went for it on fourth and two because, well, it just didn’t matter. It was a good day. The Dolphins lost, the Patriots lost, the Jets were the Jets, the Chiefs lost, and the Bills threw another win on the pile. They’re on their way.

This is a good description. I was there once - for the Fred Jackson stiff arm overtime win - what a game! - and it was really disappointing. What's different about is that it isn't surrounded by parking. After the game, everyone, 60,000 people had to walk a half mile or more before anyone got close to their cars. My friend and I had my wife pick us up at a street corner a mile from the stadium, because there just wasn't any way to drive and park a reasonable distance from the stadium. Still, the place is awfully new to be talking about building a new one. It's a measure of how much wealth there is in some communities. No way Buffalo is building a new stadium and 20 minutes later talking about building a new one.

Congrats, Shady!

Jets are just so dysfunctional. Darnold for the TD.

Thanks. Mike Martz, Wade Phillips, Bobby April on their faculty. Pretty cool. Good points. On the other hand, going wide often makes for easier releases of the line and assures that the defense is spread. A good mix is best.

Gotta admire who's that committed to the game. It's impressive. And it's a great service to us geek-wannabes - we get the benefit of his hard work.

I agree. I don't think Cover1 is perfect, but it's awfully good. Week after week they take the time to show us what the Bills are doing to make the plays they make, not just saying "watch the same highlights you've already seen." It's consistently really good stuff. I don't know where these guys learned all this detail (and it does bother me a bit how they love to show off all their football jargon), but my eyes tell me that what they're talking about is correct. I learn a lot from this stuff, and I'm happy that it gets posted weekly.

I agree. I like how he stays on his feet and flows to wherever he needs to be to stay in the play. You also can see how he fits perfectly into the style that McDermott wants to play. McDermott's defense is clearly a team defense, where when one guy does his job, he creates an opportunity for another guy. It's important for every guy to do his job and every guy to be athletic enough to take advantage of the opportunities presented.

Really good stuff. Thanks for posting. I like the detailed analysis of the concepts the bills used to free up defenders. Opponents are going to have to start figuring out how to slow down Rousseau, who has quickness and foot speed that is difficult to deal with.

I've seen a few in the stands. Not brawls - they only last a punch or two. And I haven't seen one in many years.

Chiefs and Rams, and you've got enough, week in and week out. And it doesn't even matter if the coordinators around the league know he's doing it, because they'd have to a game plan for the Bills PLUS what the Chiefs do PLUS what the Rams do. It would be an impossible task.

In the past I've suggested to some what you say here - that the Bills wouldn't have kept his butt on the field all this time if he wasn't doing his job. There's been no indication whatsoever that McDermott or Frazier or Beane has tried to replace him. Some people responded, "well they brought in Klein and Matakevich." Right. Like they're likely to challenge Edmunds for the job. Some others responded, "well, McDermott loves him and keeps on the field, hoping he'll do better." Right. That sounds like McDermott.

Yes, that's one way to look at it, I think. I don't really understand the defense, and Sean McDermott doesn't call me with any insights, so I don't know, but I think you've got. I also think that this is a defense that asks the players on the edge to make the plays, not in the middle. That's why it looks like Milano is outplaying Edmunds, because Milano is give the opportunities. I think Edmunds job, and the job of all the back seven, is to blanket the defense backfield, so that every spot on the field is covered by two guys, not one. You don't see many guys back there truly on an island; they're all helping each other. In that style of defense, Edmunds is extremely valuable, because his coverage range is so large. Between his speed, his size, and his reach, he's able to be one of the two guys covering someone all over the field. He's valuable not because he's supposed to make standout one-on-one plays; he's valuable because he covers so much ground that he makes the other six guys back there more valuable. It's very much a team defensive scheme, and he fits nicely. I've been amazed watching Rousseau, because he's the same kind of guy. He's not "responsible" for an area like Edmunds is, but he covers ground like Edmunds does, so as plays develop, the offense finds Rousseau in places he's not expected to be. He's maybe not going to be a a classic edge rusher, but he can be a disruptive component on a team defense. Actually, Epenesa was billed as a similar kind of players, and we saw some of that yesterday. He was just a pest.

This is exactly right. I've mentioned before that I haven't been a big Daboll fan, and I was a little perplexed that some people thought he was the next sure-fire head coaching candidate. To date, I'd say Daboll is gimmicky, but not creative in layering on wrinkle after wrinkle. Reid forces you to defend last season's offense, with a new layer every game. It just gets more and more complicated. Bills have a good base, but I don't think we're seeing the additional layers of complication.