Shaw66

I think that this is what a lot of Bills fans failed to understand about McDermott when he came to Buffalo. He isn't some kind of one-trick pony. "His" defense is whatever defense he needs to stop this week's opponent. That's his philosophy on offense, too. He's perpetually learning, borrowing ideas, tinkering, pulling old tricks out of a bag he keeps filling endlessly. I guarantee you that Sunday night or Monday morning, film of the Chiefs' most recent offensive show is must-see for Daboll and McDermott. What can they borrow? And McDermott's prepared. He and his staff and his players spend the time to get ready. I thought it was funny that the 49ers said they knew exactly what the Bills were doing on offense. Knowing what's coming is only the first half of being prepared. Knowing how to stop it is the other half. What the 49ers really were saying, whether they knew it or not, was "our coaches told us what was coming, but they didn't give us anything to stop it." McDermott's teams are told "when they do this, we're going to do that. Then, when they do the other thing, we're going to Plan C." They get beat sometimes, but it isn't because they were just tackling dummies for the opponent to play with. There's so much of what Belichick does that makes sense, and it seems few coaches follow his lead. McDermott does. Belichick takes away the thing that you do best. Some game several years ago he was double teaming a star tight end at the line of scrimmage. The tight end was the their best weapon, and Belichick was prepared to go 9 on 10 against the rest of the offense. What McDermott did on Sunday (I now realize, listening to this discussion) was the same thing. "What they do best is run the ball. We're going to stop that. If it takes four, fine. If it takes five, fine. If it takes six, fine. Whatever it takes, we're stopping the run. Whoever is left after we dedicate resources to stop the run, that's who is going to have to stop the pass." Shanahan didn't do that. What do the Bills do best? Pass. Shanahan essentially said "I don't have the horses to play those receivers man-to-man (and I'm lucky Brown isn't playing), so we'll just play zone and do the best we can." That's giving up. We haven't seen anything close to the best McDermott yet. Five years from now, he's going to be every coach's worst nightmare. He'll still be smiling, clapping his hand, saying all the same stuff he says now, but his teams are going to be so well prepared, it will be amazing.

That means that during in game prep during the week they asked and answered the question "what are we going to if we cant stop the run with four?

Stanky - Thanks for posting this. I don't go looking for much to watch, but I should look for Simms. This stuff is so good. I mean, I get that I like listening to it because he's raving about Allen, but his analysis is right on the money, over and over. He understands what's making Allen good, and what's making the offense good. He REALLY understands what's making the defense good. He gives details. He talks about in like an ordinary guy, with enthusiasm, but he understands stuff that ordinary guys don't. It's really good. He probably gets in trouble occasionally for being as frank as he is. I thought it was hysterical that he commented on the stat they put up during the game, that in his first 13 starts, Mullen has more yards passing than anyone in the history of the game except Mahomes and Luck. His comment was "one of those guys isn't even in the same universe with the other two." How great is that? And then he backed it up, explaining the Mullen gets the benefit of a genius coach. Great stuff. Thanks.

I like your edit.

For me it was the touchdown to Ray Ray late in that video. First preseason game, rookie year, you could see how special he is.

Pretty cool. Thanks for pointing that out. I think it was Knox. Very heady play.

Gotta say a couple of things about this: 1. Great post. It focuses on how special Allen is, because for Allen, these five are not unusual. We see throws like this almost every week. He's a special thrower. 2. I keep thinking about the sideline throws to Diggs and Beasley. Diggs and Allen have making this play all season - it's the the third or fourth time Diggs has done a special toe-tap on the sideline to catch a laser Allen threw up the sideline. Monday night, when Allen did it with Beasley right after he did it with Beasley, I thought, "wow, now he's doing it with Beas." The truth is that Beasley and Diggs are two of the best route runners in the league, and I think they're learning from each other. They're starting to play like each other. It's amazing to watch. 3. No one has talked much about communication this year. It's one of those cute football buzzwords that eventually gets trotted out to describe the relationship between thrower and receiver. There's been a little discussion from commentators about how quickly Allen and Diggs have gotten in sync. As I think about it, I think a lot of it must have to do with Allen. Allen and Beasley are very much on the same page. Allen and Diggs. Allen and Brown are. Allen and Davis, too. All those receivers make good reads of the defense, but Allen is the common denominator - he understands where his receivers are going. He knows the pass patterns, of course, but I think it goes beyond that. Allen seems to read the receivers' body language, so he knows when breaks are coming. It's pretty special and of course, it's a lot of fun to watch.

Fixedit_Jay. Thanks.

Well, I just saw this and haven't look at what has come before, but I don't think it's so weird. It's just relative for different positions. You don't want your QB fumbling, but he's too important for plenty of other reasons that you can't afford to bench him for fumbling. (1) Execute the play, (20 throw the ball, (3) read the defense, (4) keep everyone organized, (5) hold onto the ball. A wide receiver has other parts of his job (1) catch the ball, (2) run your route correctly, (3) block downfield, (4) hold onto the ball. Plus, when he fumbles, he's downfield, so it has an effect that's more like a running back. For a running back, the job, in order of importance, is (1) hold on to the ball, (2) run as far as you can, (3) stay in bounds or go out of bounds, if the clock is relevant. #1 is hold on to the ball. If you're Zeke Elliott, you get to fumble a couple of times before you get benched. If you're Zach Moss, you go down immediately. Belichick and others take the same approach.

That play was great. I remember being impressed by Hyde's presence of mind and his toughness. That guy had a lot of room to run, and Hyde knew it. Hyde is a classic safety. He is the last line of defense, he knows it, and he takes that very seriously.

I mean, it's hard to pick one. I agree about what it says about Diggs. And it was text book. Fantatasic. I'll say this, the play of the game probably was in the that corner of field, because that's where Hyde made his tackle, too.

People are posting about "the play of the game." In that game, there were plenty. Hyde's tackle, White's INT, Johnson's TFL, Diggs' fourth down conversion, McKenzie's TD. Big play after big play. It's a lot of fun when you win like that. This, PLUS he's just learning. He's a fourth-year HC. He has to develop a feel for what works and what doesn't, just like players on the field. McD isn't done learning. His teams aren't done getting better.

Good stuff, especially #1. Thanks.

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Agreed. He was dinged and under pressure. He will learn. McD might now think it was a mistake to put him in the game for that series.

I didn't notice that Feliciano returned. I was worried that he'd miss some time. He really is a key part of the oline. The performance of the line is noticeably different when he's on the field.

One after-thought. Levi Wallace. There was a completion against him on an out pattern to the right sideline with Levi underneath and a safety behind him. And there was the long completion against him up the left sideline. On both plays, he could have been better, but on both plays he was very close to getting a hand on the ball as it arrived. And there was the pass interference call where he did get his hand on the ball, but apparently was holding the receiver's arm down. In every case, Wallace was technically excellent. He's really a solid #2. You never see Wallace looking around, wondering how he blew an assignment. He's where he's supposed to be, contributing all the time.

Team have stopped, or at least slowed down, the Bills passing game, but it's obvious that the Bills are now presenting some serious challenges to pass defenses. The Bills are pretty much forcing everyone to play zone against them. When Brown is on the field, they present difficult matchups, and even without Brown, Diggs, Beasley, and Davis are a pretty serious group. Beasley and Davis get deep well enough to complement Diggs, and Beasley and Diggs get separation against everyone but the best - Davis doesn't get separation, but he's one of those open-when-he's-covered guys. On top of that, playing man creates those running lanes for Allen where he just takes 15-20 yards because it's there. And to make matters worse, Allen's had great success against the blitz. If you blitz, you're forced into man-to-man, which is where you don't want to be. And if you're in man and blitz and Allen breaks the containment, those 15-20 yard gains can become 30-40 yard gains. So the Bills know they're going to see a lot of zone. And they're getting better and better at attacking it. And Allen is getting better at recognizing when the defense tries to change it up and go man. It's just becoming a first-rate passing attack.

The Bills really didn’t need to go for it. It was fourth and two on the San Francisco 28. They led 27-17, and they’d just run five minutes off the clock. A field goal would put them up by 13 points with ten minutes left. But Sean McDermott wanted more. I imagine the conversation on the radio went something like this: McDermott: “Bri, you got something for this?” Daboll: “Oh, yeah!” McDermott: “Do it!” A few seconds later, Stefon Diggs made about eleven moves to get five yards open on a three-yard route, leaving Josh Allen with one more wide-open target. First down! Two plays later, Allen found Gabriel Davis alone behind Richard Sherman – I admit it, I love to watch loud-mouthed players get beat! – for a 28-yard touchdown, and the game was over. The Bills gave up a late touchdown and won 34-24. Two things about that fourth-down play stood out. One is named Diggs, the other, McDermott. Diggs came to Buffalo, we thought, to be the glamor boy, the deep threat, the guy you see making plays on Sports Center, if you still watch Sports Center. Lately, he’s been doing the dirty work, and a lot of it. Last night, four Bills caught touchdown passes – none of them was named Diggs. Three Bills had longer receptions than Diggs. Still, the passing game was all about Stefon Diggs. It was easy to see in his grass-stained uniform late in the game – he had been mixing it up all night. Tough contested catches, including his signature sideline toe-tap. Smart route running. Blocking – his perfect block on the goal line created the airspace for Dawson Knox to fly into the end zone and give the Bills the lead in the second quarter. Diggs had 10 catches for 92 tough yards (he leads the league in receptions and is fifth in total yards). He leads a receiving corps that is such a threat to go deep that, together with Josh Allen’s arm and legs, opponents abandon man-to-man coverage. Only the best zones have been able to stop the Bills passing game. Give that man a game ball. As for McDermott, this is the man fans criticized as recently as last season for being too conservative, for running out the clock to end halves, for punting when he should have gone for it or kicked the field goal on fourth down. No one is complaining now. On that fourth-and-two play, McDermott told his team there would be no hail Mary TDs in the Arizona desert this night. He told his offense he knew they could convert, and he told his defense he trusted them to win it if they didn’t. He had an offensive coordinator ready with the play, and he had players who could execute. He had no fear going for it at fourth and goal from the one to open the game, the beginning of one of the most disastrous stretches in a Bills game since McDermott arrived. (Well, let’s say since Nate Peterman’s start against the Chargers.) And he had no fear at the end of the first half. If ever there was a time to run the ball, run out the clock, and head for the locker room with the lead at the half, this was it. After the Bills’ spectacular drive to open the game, ending in failure at the one-yard line, after the 49ers’ equally spectacular drive deep into the red zone, after the brilliant Bills’ goal-line stand, after the Moss fumble and the 49ers touchdown, the Bills recovered. They put together a quick, long touchdown drive to tie the game, forced a punt, and drove for a second touchdown and the lead with less than three minutes remaining in the half. Just don’t give up a score, and we’re good. The Bills forced a second punt and took over on their own ten with just over a minute left in the half. Last season, the Bills run the time off the clock and head for the locker room, happy to have escaped with the lead. That was last season. This season, it was Singletary, Beasley, Diggs, Beasley, Davis, Bass for three and a ten-point lead. It was what Rodgers does, Brees and Brady do, what Manning did. And now it’s what Allen does. Let’s say it plain and simple: The Bills win over the 49ers was the kind of game that good football teams win: On the road, against a desperate, well-coached, physical team, a must-win game (they’re all must-win at this time of the season), and the Bills simply took control of the game and never let go. It was impressive. And I haven’t said a word about the defense. I could write a completely different column about the equally superb effort on the other side of the ball. I know about all the adversity the 49ers have faced, and I know that Garropolo and Kittle weren’t on the field, but Kyle Shanahan is one of the very best coaches in the league, and there was no question that the 49er offense would show up, ready to pound the relatively weak Bills run defense. The 49ers wanted to control the game by running the ball, and the Bills defense simply wouldn’t let them do it. It was one of the Bills’ best defensive performances of the season. Consider these plays and players: 1. The goal-line stand has become a Bills’ staple. They simply will not allow you to run up the middle against them on the goal line. The stand in the first quarter was superb. The stand in the fourth quarter was, of course, even better and deserves separate shout outs. 2. Fourth-quarter goal-line stand, first down. Butler penetration and monster tackle for a two-yard loss. He was blocked, but it didn’t matter; he was coming. 3. Fourth-quarter goal-line stand, second down. Incredible recovery and touchdown-saving tackle by Hyde. What a play! Toughness, determination, technique. 4. Fourth-quarter goal-line stand, third down. White chases his receiver across the end zone and outfights him for the interception. 5. The entire defense looks different when 58 is running around out there. The guy is just so good. Several plays I’d ask myself, “Who was THAT? Oh, it was Milano.” The defense McBeane imagined in the off-season was going to feature some three-linebacker sets, with Klein in the Alexander role. I think it’s coming. 6. I mention Edmunds every week, but that’s because there’s something to say about him every week. Now we’re seeing what the whole package can look like. He was all over the field against the 49ers, and he was hitting people with authority. Nice solid tackling, excellent pass defense, just all-round savvy play. 7. Beasley is superb. I thought he was lost for the game on the first hit, but he’s tougher than that. Like Diggs, he’s doing the dirty work. 8. Remember when Micah Hyde returned punts? I’d forgotten how good he is as a return man. Then he had his interception and reminded us all. He wasn’t going down until it was time to go down. 9. Remember when Tyler Bass looked shaky place-kicking? Balls off line, hooks and slices? He’s settled down and looks like the kind of guy the Bills expected when they drafted him. Interesting how the Bills use him on kickoffs – sometimes directional kicks to the coffin corner, with the coverage pinning the returner deep, sometimes long kicks into or through the end zone. He’s looked sound and effective for weeks. 10. Feliciano went down and the offensive-line play suffered. He’s a key guy. 11. Brian Daboll continues to draw up surprise plays, with the McKenzie touchdown and the Knox touchdown and the Knox inside shovel pass. His offense was ready. 12. Saved the best for last. Josh Allen. 9-3 with four big challenges left. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

So true. I don't think I'll ever forget that night Ahmad Rashad scored twice in the last two minutes to beat the Raiders on Monday night. I was so wired, I couldn't sleep for hours. Retire. It makes planning for game time much easier.

LOL!!!

Thanks!

I don't believe this. Football at this level is all about developing technique and developing an ability to read offenses and respond with the scheme the coaches have implemented. I keep thinking about White's two interceptions, where he left his man and dropped into underneath coverage, right in the passing lane. That's not instinct. He's taught to recognize the situation and make the break in certain circumstances. And the other defenders also are taught to recognize the same thing and understand that when the circumstances arise, White will be dropping and their responsibilities will change accordingly. Playing the mike in the defense that McDermott wants to run. It's study film, recognize, and react. If you have a superior athlete, he's able to react. That's where Edmunds is headed. He never played defense like that in college. He's had as much to learn on the defensive side as Allen has had on the offense. Allen isn't done, and Edmunds isn't either.

I agree with this. Certainly no Keuchly, but McD is no dummy. I'm sure he knows Edmunds is not the same guy as Keuchly. And he knows Edmunds is the classic, old-school Mike. What I think is going on with McDermott is that he sees that Edmunds is a special physical player (not unlike Allen in the sense that Josh, too, is a special physical player), and McDermott's sense is that he can a build a defense in which Edmunds can have the kind of impact, although in different ways, that Keuchly has had. That is, in the same way McD looked at Keuchly and thought "I can win with that guy," McD looked at Edmunds and told Beane "I want that guy." Edmunds is still learning and growing, physcially, and McDermott is still figuring out exactly how to play Edmunds. If McD was correct, Edmunds' best days are still ahead of him. I expect the Bills will extend him after they extend Allen.

Thurm - Thanks for posting this. I so much want Edmunds to succeed. I have to say, however, that notwithstanding what Klein says, I still have my doubts, primarily because Edmunds hasn't shown the physicality that I think the Mike needs. He needs be tougher to block and neutralize than he his, and he has to hit people with more authority than he does. If you could be a mike without the physicality, Micah Hyde would be playing there. The position demands a man bigger than a safety because the position demands physicality. I'm hoping he'll develop in that area, because if he does, he'll be a true star.