HoofHearted

I'd imagine sloppiness. You're not going to want it to look any different regardless of coverage.

I don't, but I'm sure they're out there somewhere.

Couple things: - What do you get out of running play action vs all the man coverage we're seeing? - Kincaid runs the entire route tree - We just need to be more consistent and stop shooting ourselves in the foot

All of them are capable of getting separation on the conversion routes - that's the whole point of them. They are designed so that anyone (regardless of physical skill) has a chance to be open simply by running to green grass as opposed to into a coverage. That's why we've seen so much man this year. Teams have become savvy to it and aren't allowing us to run our conversion routes as often and we do not have the guys to beat man coverage consistently.

The Bills have seen less Cover 2 than most teams, and as a whole it's not being run a ton in the league. Quarters is by far the most common split safety coverage being run league wide. We're seeing a ton of MoF Closed coverages this year.

I dunno, he's been open often on the wheel and Josh just looks him off. It's frustrating at times.

It's definitely a mixture of both. We've seen way more man coverage this year than I can remember us seeing in the past and a lot of that has to do with our scheme. The route conversion stuff gets nullified if you don't have a zone defender you can make wrong every snap. I don't think we've done a great job in man coverage from a scheme standpoint from Dorsey's end, but also an execution standpoint from the player side. We're doing a lot of "win your 1v1" instead of scheming guys open using crossers to run away from coverage or using rubs to get guys separation.

To your first point - that's exactly what you want. When you watch a game and without understanding what is happening our offense looks extremely vanilla. That's what makes it so hard to defend, because if you come into the game thinking I just need to stop these however many route concepts and then you go out to stop those you won't even see those routes because they'll be converted to something different. Now obviously this isn't the case on every concept, but we do have quite a few that are. It's definitely not as complicated as it sounds. In the simplest form it's run to where the defenders aren't. Is it more to handle mentally than just a pre-determined concept, sure, but from my experience players love it because it gives them the opportunity to be open every time. Cook is used on wheels every time we run mesh, and is the first read on that concept the majority of the time. We've also split him out when we go empty to try and get him the ball in the open field. Can they do more of it, certainly, but it's definitely been done to some degree.

I don't think it's a preparation issue. I'll put it this way - it's hard to pre-determine human reactions. What I mean by that is individual player movements post-snap will not look the same every time they do something - there will be variance simply because those guys are human too. So for example - from a pre-snap look a player could have a preconceived idea of what coverage a team is playing. However, if post-snap the defender is slow to react or diagnose what is going on that will delay our receivers post-snap processing which can then throw off the timing of a concept. It's not that our guys are doing the wrong things all the time. More often it's timings that are thrown off.

The eye discipline on zone blitzes, yes. The 1v1 from Allen, no. That's just him playing within the scheme and taking the match-up he likes. In McDermott's defense too you can clearly see on film there has been an emphasis on details since he took over. Footwork and eyes have been much improved - you can really see the difference when the back-ups come in.

There’s no doubt about it, and it’s on both ends. We’re not hitting home sometimes but also the coverage isn’t allowing us to hit home at other times. It’s frustrating to continually see us playing with zone eyes on these zone blitzes - man match and give your rush a chance.

We actually haven’t seen a lot of Cover 2 from defenses against us this season.

I'm assuming your line of thinking is that because Davis is pulling coverage that Kincaid should be running deeper routes? Right, the response was to a question posed about the OL and their execution in both the run and the pass. It wasn't about the volume of runs - just that they didn't execute well when called upon. So I'm still not clear why you're bringing up number of carries.

I'm not in the building - I can't answer this. You're right though - he is electric with the ball in his hands in open space. If it's a matter of him struggling to learn the scheme (pure speculation on my part) you'd think they'd at least be able to use him in the screen game. They've used him as an outside receiver deep ball threat and he's looked less than impressive in that role, but they do need to find a way to get him the ball in space. Not sure what you're getting at with the Kincaid comment. Again, not sure what you're getting at here.

All of the above at different times throughout the game. Here's what I mean: Drive 1: Dorsey did a fantastic job with a Change of Strength shift then motion to scheme Diggs wide open in the flat for a big gainer Drive 2: Dorsey motions across the formation and pulls the overhang into the box vs the split zone run concept we run and it gets shut down Drive 2: Dawkins whiffs a block on a well designed pin and pull concept that would have gone for at least 10 had he maintained the down block Drive 2: Dorsey schemes Diggs 1v1 on a backer using a short motion and Diggs runs an in-breaking route vs inside leverage instead of running the out-breaking route he should have (and Josh anticipated him running) Drive 2: Vertical pass concepts are covered - Allen doesn't take the check-down which probably would have gotten us into a forth and short in "go for it" territory Drive 3: Allen under throws a hole shot and gets intercepted Drive 4: Morse whiffs a block on outside zone that would have been a solid gainer had he made it Drive 5: Allen does a really good job with eye manipulation to uncover Kincaid on a decent gain Drive 5: Allen takes the 1v1 option to Davis and isn't on the same page and throws the vertical instead of playing the field concepts which were also man beaters vs man coverage Drive 6: Allen mis-reads an RPO that should have been a give and ends up dirting the ball because there wasn't anything there Drive 6: Ran the same RPO off Dart action that we ran at the beginning of the game and it's executed perfectly again Drive 6: Vertical pass game is covered and Allen doesn't take the checkdown Drive 6: Torrence trips on a slip screen that would have otherwise been a big gainer Drive 7: Man coverage and Allen looks to Diggs/Kincaid side instead of going to his man beater side - had Shakir open on a crack/slant Drive 8: Stack receivers too tight to formation on the Dart RPO which pulls overhang defender into the box when Josh correctly gives the ball - Brown also whiffed his block. Drive 8: Kincaid fumble Drive 9: We finally used Tight Ends to block on the perimeter screen game!!! It's a mixed bag of everything. There were some really good things from Dorsey from a scheme and play calling perspective - there were also some head scratchers. Josh did some really good things, but also did some boneheaded things. Overall execution at times was really good and others really bad.

I don't think so. The pass game is largely carry over from Daboll's system - and a lot of that came from his time at the college level at Alabama. He brought a bunch of schemes that have been run consistently at the college level to the NFL.

It's a slippery slope. Allen has made a ton of big time plays by taking the 1v1 he likes as well. It's one of those "it is what it is" type of deals imo. I think we win more of those plays than we lose which ultimately is all you want. Really good defensive lines are hard to play. Defensive lines have become more and more athletic every year and so the separation in the mismatch gets wider each year. I don't think it's so much that we've been getting worse, but I think it's been more a shift in how defenses have been playing us as of late. We're seeing a lot more pressure than we did early on and we've played a bunch of really well coached front 7 units the past three weeks in New England, Tampa Bay, and Cinci. We put Dawkins on an island all night against one of the league better pass rushers - he's going to lose a few of those match-ups. Torrence is still young and things are happening fast - one extra step is the difference in a perfect pockets vs. a sack in this league. He's been mostly solid on 1v1, but movement has been his struggle and it mostly (from film) looks like it's just processing time. He's a half-step behind. He'll get there. The run game stuff this week was just the Bengals being really freaking good in the run game. Their backers are super impressive in how tight they fit things and how athletic they were. It forced our guys to have to wrap super tight at times and they're just not athletic enough to do it consistently.

Gabe isn't a #1 - the expectations for him on this board are astronomical and I don't really understand why. Gabe is what he is - he is not a guy who will go out there and dominate a game because of his athletic ability. He is not overly fast and he's not twitchy enough to be a good route runner. However, he can be schemed open on 1v1 matchups via option routes which is what has happened when we've seen him have his success. When teams don't allow him to have those opportunities he's not a real factor in games, but he is pulling coverage which should be opening things up for other guys (and it has - Kincaid/Shakir have been the biggest benefactors the past few weeks). As Kincaid continues to develop teams will eventually start pulling coverage his way which will then open things back up for Davis to win his 1v1's. There's a rhyme and reason for why things are happening - you just have to know what you're looking for. What I completely hate about Davis is how he catches the ball. It's so unorthodox and the big reason he drops so many balls.

Let me try to explain as best I can. Yes, there are a ton of route conversions within our pass game. Those route conversions are based on post-snap reads. There are defined depths at which you need to have made a decision by (this is called the decision point). So as an example lets use the easiest version of this, a two option concept - as an outside receiver I'm staring at the defender lined up across from me as the ball is snapped - if i get to 10 yards (my decision point) and I can touch the defender I'll keep going vertical and win with speed - if i can't touch the defender then I'll shut it down and hitch back to the QB. So to your point - our receivers don't have the autonomy to run whatever they want - the options are defined as well as the decision point. Route depths, however, can become an issue when first learning the scheme because of post-snap processing time. Now the example I gave is the very simplest form. Our guys can go out there at times with 5 or more options available to them based on the various coverages they are seeing from the defense and where people are (i.e. overhangs, high safeties, etc.). It takes a ton of reps to nail down, but is extremely difficult to stop if executed correctly because you essentially have a built in answer for every coverage. If you want to learn more about it look up Art Briles and the Deep Choice concept he made a living on while at Baylor.

They were disguising their Man Free look as Quarters pre-snap - that's why he was off 10 yards. The breakdown wasn't because of his depth of alignment, but because he drifted post-snap instead of working his catch technique. If you are playing off man you have to get hands on receivers at the break point to slow them down or you will be beat every time because you're flat footed.

This was just the two not being on the same page. These are the route conversions I spoke about in another thread. If Davis doesn't get top shoulder on the defender off the LoS then he is suppose to shut it down. Davis knew he wasn't going to outrun the corner so he shut it down. Allen has to see that. We've had a bunch of success on this this year - just not on the same page - it happens. What's more frustrating to me about that play was Allen took his backside 1v1 matchup he liked (fine), but it was Man Free - he had 1v1's across the field and took the single who, pre-snap, is running a vertical vs press man on 3rd and 6. Had Diggs and Shakir win their 1v1's to the field for an easy 1st down completion. A lot of times we're playing match coverages, but our guys are playing with zone eyes instead of working to their assignment and then peaking. Poyer, Dodson, and Williams all got caught doing this at times and so their caught flat footed instead of widening to their assignment (whether than be a Seam 2 player or 3 quick player). We're running a bunch of 3 under 3 deep concepts as well (because we haven't been productive rushing 4) to try and generate pressure and that in and of itself makes it tough to cover everything. Yes, we're in man coverage and his man assignment initially stays in to block. He can now add-on to the rush, but he has to rush through his man assignment on his rush (essentially run through his assignment and push him into the QB) in case he releases late (which he did). This is what Edmunds was doing a lot when he rushed and people just thought he was an idiot just running into the RB... this is what happens when you don't account for your assignment.

Defensively The Bad - Underneath defenders repeatedly caught staring at QBs eyes instead of working to a man in zone coverage (Poyer, Dodson, D. Williams, Shaq) - Poor path by Floyd on the naked bootleg allowed Borrow time to get the play off clean - Dodson fit incorrectly multiple times - Played the Stalk & Go incorrectly twice - Add-ons HAVE to rush through their coverage assignment otherwise that touchdown is exactly what happens - Micah caught on the deep ball to Chase that went over top of Dane - people matter! - Poor rush integrity a couple times - Miscommunication multiple times - Dorian busted a coverage on motion and then later him and Douglas busted coverage to the flat (each thought the other had the flat - both hesitate towards it - Williams eventually takes it, but was too late) - Still don't have RZ man coverages in - have to be able to switch off routes in man down there Overall Thoughts - Thought we fit the run really well for the most part all night - Found it interesting we played with a Crash 4 and Wide 9 to the open side all night (curious if that's going to be a staple going forward or just a game plan deal based on the Bengals Tackles) - We're trying to disguise our Hole coverage, but we're tipping it with our Linebacker alignment. Might as well just line up in it since we're not fooling anyone. - Not sure how to feel about us moving our DEs inside and DT out whenever we're running games (we don't do it every time). On one hand it puts our athletes in positions to make plays, but on the other it tips what we're doing (we've done this since McDermott has been here). Noticed it with Floyd line up as a 3tech running a Pirate game - Norman calling for a flag instead of finishing the play on the final run of the game - it's inexcusable Offensively The Bad - Bengals DL dominated the LoS all night. Multiple, just flat out, whiffs on blocks in the run game that would have gone for good gains - Allen holding the ball too long - take the checkdown and give yourself a chance (did better with this as the game went on) - Tex game gave us trouble all night on the right side of our line - Cook tipped the slip screen that Torrence fell on with his alignment - Dawkins got beat multiple times because he overset - We're missing some good potential gains when Allen is choosing his 1v1 backside over working the concept side Overall Thoughts - Thought we did some good things with shifts and motions to scheme guys open - would like to see more of that - Allen did a good job with his eyes multiple times pulling defenders where he wanted them and then throwing off of it - Shakir continues to impress underneath with the option package that Beasley used to run for us - Allen working Diggs/Kincaid side every time we're running mirrored concepts (Again, people matter so it's good from that standpoint, but it's also a tendency) - Q Counter looked really good. I miss the QB run game. It puts so much stress on a defense, but I understand why we've gotten away from it. - Like the creativity of the reverse flea flicker in that shot area. Unfortunately they were in man so there was no play to be had. Would have been nice if it would have just checked to the reverse vs man coverage because it was there. - Davis is what he is - he's not a route runner - he doesn't have twitch. He's phenomenal in the run game for the most part and is versatile in that aspect. Would be nice to play into that more. Play him more condensed - get him matched up on backers within the Hook/Curl area and I think he could excel there (showed some of this vs. the Bucs with our condensed sets) - We are not fast as an offense - Diggs even looked slow on that one he got out on

Florio is a hack. Dude doesn’t know a thing about football. How this guy has been successful of of his click baity nfl rumor mill website blows my mind.

I wouldn’t say regularly. Most teams run route conversions. It seems like a similar clip of miscommunication from most teams. Sometimes there’s grey area and in those situations you have to be on the same page. Allen’s deal is if he doesn’t know for sure he just needs to move on. Kincaid has some - not a ton.

It’s definitely not something that just happens over night in fairness. That’s why our young guys don’t see the field so much early on. It takes a high volume of reps to get it down but even then it can be tough at times. Deep Choice is a fantastic concept and it’s hard as hell to defend, but it does take a while to perfect. If you want to know more about it research what Art Briles did with Baylor offensively. It was all based around Deep Choice.