Shaw66

Far be it from me to explain how he does it, but lt seems that part of Andy Reid's continuing success is that every week he layers on a few brand new wrinkles. Different motions, a few different plays. And I think he then adjusts their existing scheme to run off those motions. The effect is that he freezes one or a few defenders for a split second, and that allows receivers running the same routes they ran last week to get separation. The defender is ready for that route, the defense has prepared for it, but the new looks give the receivers the momentary edge they need. Every week, it's some new looks, but they aren't overhauling the offense every week. It's simple but detailed creativity to get an edge. When your offense is running three or four new plays, and disguising 15 old plays to look like the new plays, the defense is put back on their heals, and then here comes the steamroller. I don't see with the Bills, at least not yet.

I've had exactly this thought, except, well, not so well thought out. For me, I think it's that Allen has been distracted by his notoriety, and now that the games have started he's found that he isn't in touch with the magic he had last season. Yesterday he was throwing off balance and late, often with a defender menacing him, a lot like 2019. Yesterday it seemed like he thought that was okay, that he could come up with a magic throw no matter how rushed he was. I commented last week how disappointed I was in his late game body language. Yesterday it seemed there was some doubt in his eyes. He needs to get back on track. I suspect he knows it and can feel it. I hope so. Hap - Thanks for the refresher about the beginning of last season. I'd forgotten how troubling it was, and you didn't even get to Tennessee and KC.

Yeah, yeah, I agree with all this. But the difference between the Bills and the Ravens is that the Ravens have a line that is going to get you the yard - they will push the line of scrimmage, or they'll crack seams, and Lamar just has to be a running back who picks the spot and takes the yard. Allen, as often as not, has to supply the push, which means that the guy at the point of attach may stop him. I agree that Allen is a good bet on the sneak. He runs them very well. I just think it would have been a higher risk call with Allen behind Morse and the Bills' guards than it was for with Jackson behind that line.

When McDermott has the offensive line the Ravens have, he'll have the guts to make that call.

There's no question Allen hasn't been at his best, but he wasn't consistently at his best last season, either. He started hot, but then he and the offensive struggle mightily. The final five games of the season, he had four with very high passer ratings. Several points: It's a long season, it's the entire offense and not just Josh, and given McDermott's approach, it's not surprising early in the season. The fact that others have come out looking better isn't a concern to me, at least not yet, for the reasons that I'm talking about. I already talked about the Ravens - they want to beat you by being as one-dimensional as you'll let them. Mahomes and Brady are superstars, so we should never be surprised when they play well. Allen isn't quite in that category yet. McVay's teams seem to me to struggle down the stretch in seasons and playoffs. He made a big splash with his new toy Goff a few years ago, and we saw how that went. I'll wait and see on Stafford. Mayfield has the ability to have big games. He started hot last season, just like Allen, and folded down the stretch. If the Bills are 4-4 at the turn, and Allen hasn't exploded in some games, I'll worry. But not today. It simply isn't the way McDermott manages the season, and understanding that leaves me much less troubled by some of the troubling things we've seen in week 1 and 2. Exactly. And that's where McDermott relies on culture. He expects to win his share of the early season games with grit, determination, and some talent. But it's definitely a risk to play the season that way. On the other hand, the Bills defense completely shut down Lamar Jackson and the Ravens last January, and the Chiefs were defenseless against pretty much the same team. So I'm not so sure we should be expecting ANY team to be really good week after week early in the season. The Steelers did that last season, then folded down the stretch.

The bolded part is my point. That's what his teams do. He wants to teach them so much that it simply isn't possible to have his fully developed team ready on opening day. He's building all along. The challenge is to find a way to win in the early weeks, when his team is truly a work in process. As for putting it on tape, that's really only part of it, and the less important part. You're right, the plan to rush from the secondary was opponent specific, but it's also teaching the team how to play that way, so that the team knows how to do it in the future. In Wednesday practice in December, when they're installing the defense for a game with playoff implications, it's a whole lot easier to install a defensive scheme that the team already knows than to teach it for the first time. Because it takes less time, the team has more time to focus on other things. Even more to the point, if they've taught the defense how to bring the secondary into the pass rush, then it becomes something they can go back to in halftime adjustments. McDermott wants his teams in their final form to be able to play any style, any time. He wants to look at film of an opponent on Monday and think, "Okay, we've got something for that."

This. Bradshaw used to be pretty good, including talking through the highlights. Now, he stumbles along like a drunk hanging out at your local all-night diner. They all work so hard to look like they're having fun, and it's all just a second-rate act. As Gunner said, though, at least Millen is entertaining. The Tolstoy and fart references made me want to keep listening.

Unless he got hurt on another play first. Brissett is smart and incredibly tough. He could survive under that pressure. Tua couldn't. Benched or hurt looked like his options.

There's a simply reality here. Milano is an excellent linebacker, and the Bills know how to use him. The Bills understood that when they ponied up to sign him. But there's a parallel reality, and that's Edmunds. Look at video of Milano's sack. He comes pouring in from Brissett's right side. Brissett sees Milano and looks to escape left. Edmunds is right there, so Brissett tries to escape up the middle. Edmunds forced Brissett right into MIlano's arms. Those two guys prowling all around are a real problem for defenses. And now they've added Rousseau, who's prowling in the same way. And that's who Hyde and Poyer are, too. The Bills are filling the field with guys who make tackles all over the place.

We'll start to see Stevenson get mixed in here and there in a few weeks. That will help. And for two weeks in a row, Sanders has gotten wide open deep. and Allen threw to another zip code. Allen also forced Diggs to make a contested catch instead of leading him to a touchdown on another deep ball, and he also badly underthrew on another big play opportunity. Those three passes were three opportunities for long touchdowns, and the Bills went 0-3. If Allen completes those balls, the defense will be dropping deeper, and everything will work better. I'm not saying that's the only answer to the passing issues, but it's one obvious answer - make good passes.

Millen is, was, and always will be horrible. He's been the darling of the networks because he's glib (just like Michael Irvin). He just runs his mouth. When the Dolphins went for it on fourth and two in the red zone, down 14-0, Millen said he liked the decision. They didn't make it. The next time the Dolphins got the ball, he said "it's really important that the Dolphins get some points on this possession, even if it's only a field goal." Well, you fool, they had the opportunity to get some points on the previous possession. They HAD the points; all they had to do was take them. So, if you understood five minutes later how important points were, why did you think it was a good decision to pass on the field goal? He just runs his mouth. Sometimes he's funny. Sometimes, just like the blind squirrel.

Exactly. Didn't want to be 0-2. Happy to be 1-1 with the Dolphins and Pats, because I don't think either is going to pile up enough wins to challenge. The task at hand is enough wins to get the home field. That's where the loss to the Steelers hurt. The Jets are so pitiful. I was not at all surprised to see Darnold lighting it up yesterday. The Jets set themselves back three years or more with managing Darnold as badly as they did.

The Bills put up 35 points and shut out the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday. In the old days, a win like that would have been cause for a multi-day celebration. Maybe it’s just me, but it isn’t the same any more. I mean, it’s always fun to beat the Dolphins, but they’ve been nearly as irrelevant as the Bills for a long time. Plus, Sean McDermott has been teaching me to see the season the way he sees it: We’re going to spend six weeks getting ready to play, and then we’re going to play for 18 weeks. The object of playing those 18 weeks is build a team that’s good at everything in December and to pile up wins any way we can, so that we make the playoffs and ideally have the home field for some or all of them. Each game is different, with different matchups with different talent and different skill sets. If you win, throw it on the pile and move on. If you lose, just move on. In either case, you learn something about what you do well and what you do poorly, and you continue to work on both. And so it is that I’m just not all that excited about the win over the Dolphins. For that matter, I wasn’t very upset about the loss to the Steelers. Just learn some lessons and go back to piling up wins. That’s exactly what the Bills did after the Steelers game. Along the way against the Dolphins they showed some flashes of what they could be, and they discovered some weaknesses. And, oh, by the way, they shut out the Dolphins!!! Sean McDermott has been teaching me to see the games the way he sees them, too: Some things will go right, some won’t, you’ll score some, you’ll go cold some, and at the end of the game, you may be coasting, you may be whipped, or you’ll need to make plays to win. No reason to get too excited early in the game, or get upset. Do your best and see what you have coming down the stretch. Coming down the stretch against the Dolphins, the Bills had a laugher. The only thing that mattered was that the reserves would preserve the shutout, and they did. Put the win on the pile and move on. Was it a blowout? No, or at least it didn’t feel like one. Why not? Because the Bills looked, alternately, very good and then ineffective. They fumbled, they threw interceptions, they went three and out. They lit it up with big plays on their first two drives, and then there was nothing for a long stretch. They had an opportunity to grab the game and make it theirs at the end of the first half, and they got nothing. Then a beautiful touchdown drive after halftime made it 21-0, and the Bills coasted home. The ups and downs of the offense didn’t matter all that much, of course, because the Bills defense came to play, and they just weren’t going to allow the Dolphins to compete. They sacked Tua and Brissett six times and pressured them on countless other plays. The defense gave up a play here and there, but not often enough for the Dolphins to sustain any kind of offense. Averages don’t mean much of anything after only two games, but check the stats: the Bills defense is second in the league in yards allowed, and second in points allowed. Of course, they haven’t played anyone you’d call an offensive powerhouse. The Bills got great pressure on the quarterback, rushing four and five defenders. Which four and five? Well, that’s the problem for the opponent to worry about. Sometimes the safeties are featured. Against the Dolphins, it was White and Taron Johnson. There’s always a mix of linebackers who might be coming. The Bills defensive ends often are back in in the short passing zones. Who stood out on defense? Easier to ask who didn’t? Everyone’s name was called sooner or later. Hughes and Oliver were relatively quiet, but they helped create the relentless pressure that came from the outside. Lotulelei and Zimmer made plays in the middle, Addison was a constant disrupter. Both Milano and Edmunds were active blitzing, chasing down ball carriers, defending passes. Taron Johnson stood out. Dane Jackson’s tackle on 4th and 2 was fabulous. Rousseau and Epenesa deserve special mention. Epenesa was relentless, showing surprising power to go with the shiftiness we saw some of last season. He played like he was determined to make a difference in the game on every play. It was an impressive show. If it was a sign of things to come, well, it’s going to be fun, because the guy on the other side is going to be Rousseau. Rousseau’s not overpowering people, at least not yet, but he has uncanny ability to pursue effectively. He’s always on his feet, always moving. In stunts, he just picks his way through bodies to find a seam. When teams run away from him, he pursues cross-field, behind the line of scrimmage. The result is that he’s always around the ball, and when he gets there, he gets his hands on the ball carrier or quarterback. Over and over, he’s there. He maintains his gap discipline, and he looks comfortable dropping into pass coverage. He’s already a threat, and as he gets stronger and more experienced, he will be a force. The Bills’ offense, on the other hand, is not 2nd, or 5th, 10th in yards or points. The Bills’ offense is still trying to figure it out. The offensive line is certainly trying to figure it out. While the defensive line recovered from the Steelers by playing better (granted, in part because this week it was, well, the Dolphins), the offensive line seemed to survive this week only because it was, well, the Dolphins. Manhandled by the Steelers, they stood up better this week, but no one would call them dominant. Sunday night, the Chiefs showed us what great pass protection looks like, and the Ravens showed us great run blocking. The Bills’ offensive line didn’t show either. The Bills’ philosophy seems to be to tell the running backs and the quarterback something like, “The guys up front are going to do the best they can; it won’t be pretty, but you have make the most of it. If you find a hole, take it, and good luck with those linebackers. Josh, find the open man and get the ball out, because you’re going to be on the run soon.” What’s needed to make the offensive line better? A stud somewhere along the line would be nice, but no one is looking very studlike. Dawkins and Feliciano seemed to hold up better this week, but they aren’t dominating. Ford looks like he’s winning the battle at right guard, and maybe now we will begin to see something special from him. Williams isn’t killing the Bills, but that’s faint praise. I’m expecting that we’ll see more of Spencer Brown as the season progresses, in part because his education as a pro will continue, and in part because the Bills will be looking for more solid play at tackle. Allen, of course, is the big, the big, the big what? The big piece of the puzzle? Absolutely. He makes it all work. The big mystery? For sure. Where did the 2020 Allen go? What happened to all those lovely touch passes, right on the money? He missed Sanders deep again. He missed Diggs badly a couple of times. Last season he was getting settled the instant before he threw and delivering balls to open receivers; now, everything seems to be happening in a hurry. And his decision making seems shaky, too. What we’re seeing is the 2019 Allen, the Allen with potential, the Allen who makes special throws, like the touchdown to Knox, and then makes a head-scratcher. Mahomes, Murray, and Jackson have something Allen doesn’t have – the incredibly quick release from almost any arm position. It’s amazing to watch them. Allen can’t do all of that, but he can do things they can’t. He can outmuscle defenders and use his arm strength to make throws that are truly special, like the touchdown to Diggs. The others maybe make that throw, in part because Diggs was wide open, but Allen’s really special on a play like that. So, for Allen, it’s definitely “throw that win on the pile and get back to work.” With McDermott’s approach to the season, this is not the time the Bills are going to be dominant. The Bills build to dominance through the season, trying to be good at everything, every week. Under McDermott, the Bills know they will look ugly a few times in the first half of the season, but they hope to be the team no one wants to play in the second half. By contrast, a team like the Ravens tries to be fantastic at one thing – running the ball, and hopes they can put together enough of a passing game to be multi-dimensional late in the season. That’s why the Ravens tend to look good earlier than the Bills. The Bills’ objective these days is to find a way to toss a win on the pile each week while they figure it all out. It’s a little frustrating for fans to live through each week, but it’s the Bills’ style. We’ve seen it before. What’s encouraging is that this season, there’s so much talent, and McDermott is so good at what he does, that I expect to see a big pile of wins come December.

Great video and great discussion. In some ways I look at it and think that Steelers have a very good front four, and one that allows it to force one-on-ones wherever they want to attack. They had a good defense last season, and they look like it's carried over. I think the Bills ask their guys to be able to win, or hold their own, against whatever the defense may do. That style may work reasonably well against average NFL defenses, but it has a tendency for the o line to be mismatched against teams who come at the Bills with superior athletes. McDermott's response to that is "my team will learn to win against the superior athletes, too." In the meantime, as someone said, what are we doing from week to week to actually win the game.

History is history. It isnt on anyone's side.

Well, I sort of agree with you. It CAN work to run ten times in a row, or pass ten times in a row. It all depends on what the defense is doing, who they have on the field, what scheme they're running, etc. For years, teams have run no-huddle as a device to keep the same 11 defensive players on the field, because those players don't match up well against the 11 the offense has on the field. Brady used catch teams mismatched like that and run the ball over and over. It's why I think the offensive failure on Sunday was so much on Daboll. Yes, you can pass ten times in a row, and yes, you can go five-wide over and over again, but that only makes sense if you have schemes and plays that allow you to take advantage of what those calls and formations do for you. Whether you can take advantage is exactly what the coaches are supposed to figure out during the week, and they need to have contingency plans built into the game plan so that they can attack in different ways if that's what's need on Sunday. I mean, it's not like the Bills didn't know the Steelers had pass rushers. They knew the Steelers were third in the league last season in yards allowed and points allowed. The Bills have the talent to attack any defense, and it's up to the coaches to figure out how. You can't just throw 11 guys on the field and say, "Go outplay them."

I didn't see that, but you could be right.

Right. I think Allen is as talented as Mahomes, and his receivers are, too. It's the creativity that is lacking.

I gotta admit, I don't pretend to know what to do. I just watch and listen. On this run-pass split thing, McDermott has said that he wants to be able to have success passing 50 times or running 40 times, depending on what works against one defense or another. That's his objective. I don't know if he really meant it, but he's said it. I don't care if they throw 50 times, if that's the way they think that they can move the ball. The only objective is to be successful - move the ball, score, win. That's the objective. What bothered me about Sunday is that they threw 50 times but had so little success. The Steelers had defenders everywhere. Now, some of that was bcause they could get pass rush with four, but frankly, I didn't think the pass rush shouldn't have disrupted the passing game that much. Allen had protection on plenty of plays, but nowhere to go with the ball. And Allen escaped the rush often enough. The problem wasn't the pass rush; it was that the scheme wasn't generating the open throws that Allen found so often last year. Pittsburgh was prepared for the route trees, and Daboll didn't have variations available that could counter the Steelers' defensive schemes. And/or, Allen wasn't composed enough to find them. In some way, Daboll thought he could run against the Steelers; he tried often enough. It looked to me that the Bills were running outside zone blocking schemes, and it just wasn't working. Just like last season. Motor's only real success running came in the fourth quarter, when the Bills were going really pass heavy, and the running game caught the Steelers off guard. So, I'm not sure that running more against the Steelers was the answer. I think more effective passing is the answer. I think that the Bills need creativity - the Andy Reid kind of creativity, where the pass routes seem different from week to week, and the plays they run off those plays, the little gadget shovel passes and other things, keep catching the defense off guard. Maybe to put it another way, when you have the talent the Bills have - Allen, Moss, Beasley, SIngletary, Davis, McKenzie, and Knox, you have the talent to be creative from week to week, to be one step ahead of the defense. Once in a while, that's going to be running the ball, but most of the time it's going to be bombs away. That's how KC plays, because they have Mahomes, Hill, Kelce and some other talent.

I dunno. You think that would work?

Yes. Bills email has a link for refunds.

Good points. Steelers may be built to win by hiding Ben, but the Bills are built win by putting the ball in Josh's hands. Limited role or not Ben produced, and he's going to the Hall of Fame because he produced for nearly two decades. Josh has to produce. If the Bills want to win by hiding Josh, then they should trade him and keep Trubisky - he's cheaper. Right now, it's live by the Josh or die by the Josh.

Great! Excellent description.

Perfect example of how they overhype the guys they've decided are the story. Carr was as bad last night as Josh Allen was on Sunday, and then this comment came out of RIddick's mouth, saying Carr was doing stuff only a handful of QBs can do. Half or more of NFL games are mediocre and uninteresting. The announcers' job is to make every game sound like the 1958 NFL championship game. They're selling, selling, selling the NFL product all day long. And to a great extent, we buy it.

The problem with all of them is that the networks have figured out that the fans want to listen to fanboys raving about the big name stars, rather than people who actually explain what is going on. So, for example, Romo was amazing his first season when he was telling you what the QB was thinking as he was standing behind center, calling signals. He would explain where the opportunities were, and how the QB was changing the play while it was happening. It was fabulous. CBS apparently stopped him from doing that. On the other hand, it was amazing to me how little he seemed to understand the running game. I agree about Collinsworth. He tells some interesting things that happened on the field, and he tells us about the little irritating things that happen to players on the field. He gives a good sense of what's really going on. On the other hand, NBC has forced Collingsworth way down the hero worship road (to catch up with Al Michaels, who's been down that road for so long he's pretty unlistenable). Sunday night, they simply raved all night about Aaron Donald, blah, blah, blah, the great Aaron Donald, blah, blah. The game is played by 11 guys, and the greatest of them on defense does pretty much nothing on 90% of the plays - he just does his job, the play goes the other way, and he goes back to the huddle. That was the game Donald had, but it didn't matter - just Donald, Donald, Donald all night long, except when the Rams had the ball, and then it was Kahlil Mack, blah, blah. They had graphics comparing their career stats. And they absolutely raved all night long about Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay, about how absolutely great they are, how they're kindred spirits, blah, blah, like they'd won the last three Super Bowls. Oh, and even more amazing was the Justin Fields hero worship - the guy's done nothing, couldn't win the job from Dalton (remember, we talked about Dalton), and yet they talk about him like he's an absolute sure thing. They dismissed Trubisky as one of a long line of horrible Bears QBs (four years ago they were no doubt raving about Mitch) - truth is that I'd say it's still even money that Trubisky will have the better career than Fields. There are 22 players on the field, and they're doing a complicated dance. All 22. Although the best players are, in terms of probability, more likely to make the game winning play, any of the 22 can do it. ESPN's guys went on all night about Rugg and Renfrow and that tight end, and friggin Zay Jones won the game. Booger is annoying after a while, but he knows his stuff. He says plenty of interesting things about what's going on on the field.