Shaw66

Buffalo News, I think. It's actually a really interesting article about the mentality of the defense.

Cool thought. It used to be that teams could be automatic like that. I think defenses have progressed beyond that. You don't see anyone be automatic on third and 2 anymore. Virtually no one can do it running, and even passing it's tough. I think teams are effective by virtue of being able to THREATEN to beat you a lot of different ways and force you to defend EVERYTHING. Forcing you to defend the whole field, run and pass, usually allows the offense to pick the favorable matchup. I think Brady, for example, comes to the line of scrimmage, sees the defense and KNOWS where he has a matchup that can win. He KNOWS. They do it by being very good at everything. In fact, what's so scary about the Patriots is they seem to have developed the perfect passing game, technically, and now they are going to have some of the most talented players executing a perfect passing game. They actually could approach perfection.

OOH, that's interesting. But I think they ALWAYS can stop it, by deploying so much of the defensive resources that it's just too simple to attack someplace else. I think Belichick doesn't care about anything being unstoppable. I think he cares about being able to win a lot of different ways and forcing opponents to be able win in all those ways, too. Belichick wants to be better than you at everything, which doesn't require being perfect at anything. But maybe you're right. Football philosophy. Cool.

It isn't the ultimate goal. Yes, they want to be "we want to do this, try to stop it," but there's another step. The second step is if can stop it, we have something else that will work. When we see your defense set up to stop A, we're doing B. See if you can stop that, too.

That's a good observation. And I continue to think there will three or four or five more rookies moving in next year. The talent on this team is on a serious uptick.

This is an interesting point. I think it's correct. I think it may be better to characterize as an offense that takes what the defense gives, and because the offense now has enough weapons, it forces the defense to make more difficult choices about what to defend. When the defense makes the choice, there's a good weakness to attack. There's a 10-yard opening somewhere.

Right. I see more and more the results of what McDermott calls building the right way. Everyone on this team seems to know his job and execute. He doesn't necessarily make outstanding plays, he just makes the right play and executes it just about all the time. Everyone on the team learns this methodology. Then, year after year, the talent improves. A guy gets drafted at guard, for example, who gets the process and is a better talent than a guard the Bills have. It's constant competition, looking to produce guys who are better and better. The defense is ahead of the offense in this developmental process, but yesterday we saw the offense making strides. They were running complex formations and shifts, they were changing plays, and they did it with virtually no penalties (virtually no delays or false starts), and when the snap came, they all did their jobs. Receivers were getting open, because the plays they were in attacked weaknesses in the defense. Allen understood where he was going to find guys open, like on the TD pass - he knew where to go with the ball and how to get it there. Brown knew how to run the route. Constant execution like that puts a lot of pressure on the defense, so you generate things like the missed tackle on that play. So not only was a win of that kind, on the road against a division opponent, down to scores, a really good win and good indicator, the WAY they did also was impressive.

If you're saying he was open and a different throw by Josh would have gotten there, then it's still all on Josh - a learning experience. He has to learn if he can actually make that different throw. If he can't make it from there, he cannot throw it. If he CAN make that throw, then he has to make the throw. What he did was a bad decision or a bad throw. Either way, it was a bad play (that he has to make in order to learn what he can do and what he can't).

Late to this party, but when the ball hits the defender in the hands, and it was a defender who was in clear view as Allen was processing whether to throw, that is a bad throw. Accurate, I suppose, but a bad decision and a bad throw. But, as I keep saying, you have to throw some of those to learn not to throw them. If he never tries to fit it in there, he never learns which throws he can' make and which he can't.

Good point. And the important second point is that the mistakes all are things he will learn from and improve. He isn't just a winner, he's a student. By this time next season, the Bills will have a guy who is a top 10 QB for three quarters and top 3 winner in the fourth quarter. He's going to be big time good.

That's interesting. Thanks. In something a bit related, I was just looking the video of every touch Singletary had in the game. The runs are nice, but what's really impressive is the line play. Watch Morse in particular, but just notice how defenders are either out of position or cleared out or blocked by the offensive line. The line was in total control. Mosley's absence may have contributed to that. Still, the line was sharp. Here's a link: https://www.buffalobills.com/news/top-3-things-we-learned-from-bills-at-jets-kickoff-weekend

Thanks. One other thing - something I've been thinking about since yesterday and I just said in the thread about the Bills being better in the first half than many people think. I find I keep coming back to something Belichick said right after Atlanta collapsed in the Super Bowl. He said something like "we weren't worried at halftime, because we were competitive on the field, we just weren't competitive on the scoreboard." That's how I felt at halftime. When the Jets scored, I was worried a good deal, but I kept thinking the Bills were okay. I admit, it was a little weird, but I kept thinking the Bills are built for this. Then it was 16-3, Bills still hadn't gotten into the end zone, but I felt like it was starting. Then it just unfolded. The Bills didn't look like they were doing a lot different, except they figured out how to spring Singletary. The press makes a big deal about Moses going down, but although that may have helped the Bills, I don't think it made that much difference. The Bills just kept on executing, just like they had all game, maybe a little better. The Jets didn't have an answer. So, yes, absolutely, the Bills were not as bad in the first half as people say. They took control of the game on the field from the very beginning and never let go. It was impressive.

I will chime here in here response to the OP and not in response to all of the well-done sub-discussions that are going on here. It's interesting to hear so many people here debate finer points, like the game plan, Allen's particular throws. Good stuff. I think the OP's original premise is correct. I was at the game, and I was unhappy about the situation as it developed through the first half (that is, I didn't like that the Bills weren't winning), but I wasn't unhappy with how they were playing. They were playing fine, just making a few mistakes and getting a few bad bounces. I find I keep coming back to something Belichick said right after Atlanta collapsed in the Super Bowl. He said something like "we weren't worried at halftime, because we were competitive on the field, we just weren't competitive on the scoreboard." That's how I felt at halftime. When the Jets scored, I was worried a good deal, but I kept thinking the Bills were okay. I admit, it was a little weird, but I kept thinking the Bills are built for this. Then it was 16-3, Bills still hadn't gotten into the end zone, but I felt like it was starting. Then it just unfolded. The Bills didn't look like they were doing a lot different, except they figured out how to spring Singletary. The press makes a big deal about Moses going down, but although that may have helped the Bills, I don't think it made that much difference. The Bills just kept on executing, just like they had all game, maybe a little better. The Jets didn't have an answer. So, yes, absolutely, the Bills were not as bad in the first half as people say. They took control of the game on the field from the very beginning and never let go. It was impressive.

Maybe someone can catch me up. I meant to comment about this. I was at the game and haven't been reading any news. What happened to Taron Johnson. At some point in the game I noticed that Neal was in the game, but didn't find Johnson on the sideline. I wanted to include a comment in my write up because it seemed like Neal was in good position a lot, rarely out of the play.

That's about what I guessed watching the replay in the stadium, but it was hard to see. Remember Beasley commented last week about how he and Allen have been working to get Allen to deliver that ball with a little less pace. Beasley said something like the ball was getting on him to fast, and they were working to get Beasley used to the speed and get Allen to dial it back a bit. He didn't say all of that, but that was the gist of what he said. If that's what happened yesterday, then it's on both of them for not having gotten that play working smoothly yet. Thanks.

If the Bills don't turn it over, they would have had more yards and more points and more time of possession. The Jets would have had fewer yards, fewer points and less time of possession. It was all about the turnovers.

I made noise in the stadium when the Bills were on defense.

Let the Jets eliminate two plays they wish they didn't make and the Bills eliminate two, and the Bills win, easily. Give the Jets a field goal and extra point they missed, that adds three points, because they wouldn't have gone for two on the second touchdown. But give them four. Take away the pick six and the safety. Bills win 17-8. Take away two Bills turnovers and that probably gives them more points. As others have said, the measure of the Bills control of the game is that they turned it over four time to zero for the Jets (ignore the final play), and the Bills still won. That means the Bills dominated the play, and the stats support that conclusion. That's about right. It was too low, but not so low that it shouldn't have been caught. I'm sure Allen is saying it's on him and Beasley is saying it's on him.

Eliminate a couple of mistakes/bad bounces and that game is 30-10.

I've been excited about Allen since last summer. I saw the game live, without good replays. Blindside or not, the fumble looked like a ball a rookie loses and a good veteran doesn't. The fumbled snap looked like Allen backed out early. The first INT looked like a low throw. I understand from comments I've seen that Dawkins, Morse and Beasley share the blame, but it didn't look that way live.

I was glad the clock ran. The Bill's had played so bad and were only down 8. I thought it was more important to keep the Jets from scoring than for the Bill's to try for points. Let the clock run out and regroup for the second half.

Pats looked pretty good tonight. Wow.

As I said, I hear what you're saying. Wrong place on the field to be passing. But it also may be, as seemed to be the case, that they didn't think they could move the ball running, and they definitely thought they could move it passing. So McD may not agree with you that the situation called for a conservative approach.

Right. Except I think one team will challenge the Pats this season in the AFCE, and it was going to be the winner of Bills-Jets. It's a nice start. The objective is to get 11 wins, and the first one is in the book.

I don't think "calm Josh down" is the way they're coaching him. They're challenging him to play the position as the game plan calls for it. The game plan doesn't take into account the fact that he's in his second season. The game plan called for throwing the ball against the Jets, so they kept throwing. Now, I hear what you're saying, and it makes sense, but I really don't think the Bills' coaches are coaching Allen that way. They're expecting Allen to do everything right now, and they're willing to live with the consequences.