thenorthremembers

The deep diving has more to do with me enjoying the intricacies of the game of football. Yes, you can boil it down like you did here. You can watch the ball 100% of the time in the game and enjoy the hell out of it. I dont bemoan people who do. But why bother commenting on the thread if its not what you like? If I am honest I cant stand the guy. A big part of that has to do with him being a very good coach.

Fully agree. They dont have a guy who can consistently beat teams week in and week out without help from the coordinators plan.

There were a few things I thought went into the poor run game. Collinsworth mentioned one on the broadcast. The Bills personnel and where the Quarterback lines up under center tips the defense off to whether its run or pass. Against the Patriots 80% of the snaps they took from under center were run plays. Even the personnel groupings were a bit of a tip off. 78% of the run plays came out of 11 or 13 personnel. Essentially, Brady didnt make them guess enough. Joe Marino mentioned the Bills ran a lot of 11 personnel. Which is true. But when they ran in 11 personnel, even if they had trips to one side, they ran the receivers tight to the tackles rather than outside the hashes. The Bills ran 46% of their run plays out of some sort of bunch formations. Which means in those instances they were facing some variation of an 8, 9, or even 10 man boxes. Even if the line plays well, which they did, its hard to make progress against stacked boxes. Further evidence the Patriots were not very worried about play action or the wideouts ability to beat anyone over the top. Next time they play a team like this it would be helpful to show more runs out of shotgun and spread formations. Right now Brady is tipping his hand. Lastly, give the Patriots credit, their linebackers are extremely patient in the run game. They are sound with their gap integrity and dont overrun plays. Brady needs to make teams like this more uncomfortable with misdirection. They ran that jet sweep, but never set it up with fakes, or motion across from one side to the other. Daboll was a master at this. He could show you three plays out of the same look and just build and build on it. I miss that aspect of his coaching.

Enjoy Fatherhood. The hardest, most amazing and rewarding part of life. On the passing identity, its hard to say. I think they are still in the process of deciding who their best options are at outside receiver. The personnel groupings from the last game were all over the place. Part of me wonders if they are trying to see what they have from Samuel there. I would say at current their identity is strictly matchup based. Going forward the Bills passing identity will be determined by two things, how the opposing defenses play them, and how creative they get with Dalton Kincaid. Kincaid is the only pass catcher they have that can win consistently against man coverage. Once they get into the playoffs, he shouldn't come off the field for anything but a breather. They also need to figure out how to get James Cook involved in the passing game. He is too good to be coming off the field. Long story short, the Bills are short to intermediate passing game currently missing the ability to hit plays in the deep third-Gos, Posts, and Corners because they lack both ability and speed in their receiving core. Shakir is a good slot receiver, but he is a zone beater. When he has to try and beat man he struggles. He is also being doubled more this year. Samuel's play speed when space isnt manufactured doesnt look great to me. Coleman you may as well forget getting seperation. Teams that continue to play a Cover 2 Shell against them are almost doing them a kindness.

Kincaid could have had a bigger game than he did. He looked fantastic

So why is it you cant keep a ball if it flys into the stands? Its not like baseball where it happens multiple times a game. The NFL that hard up?

Yes Cover 2 Man Under.

Thats fine and youre likely right. I am just telling you what I see. Ive coached but I am also trying to learn.

The play is certainly cover 1 post snap. When I look at the setup I see cover 2 pre snap.

It looked like the Patriots were trying to disguise Cover 1 pre snap. Its cover 1 man, but the weak side safety didn't declare until post snap. Regardless you have 1 on 1 with Kincaid on a safety with a middle deep strong side safety that isn't likely to make a play on it. Agree he went into a half field read but thats the frustrating part. Have screenshots of the plays just cant post them.

Going to give these a shot. Likely not going to get too far into the weeds on it because it takes a lifetime to watch these things, but its helpful from a fan perspective to get an idea of the nuts and bolts. I'll start with the offense and go by half. If I have time I'll add the defense later on. 1st Half Summary- Blame it on the coordinator I think it's often too easy to blame coordinators for bad football, especially if you haven't watched the game tape to get a real understanding of what prompted certain calls. That said, in the 1st half the Bills were essentially running the throw stuff at the wall and see if it sticks scheme. The personnel groupings and formations were all over the place. They tried everything from 10 personnel with 4 wide and trips, to 21 and 22 personnel with bunch formations, often using one wideout. It was like Joe Brady was trying to reinvent the wheel of high school play calling. Brady came into the game knowing the Patriots run a heavily man-based defense, and most of what they were trying to do was win outside the hashes with wideouts who can't beat man coverage. The game plan in the first half was lazy, and akin to a coach deciding to watch zero tape of the opposing defense. Notes: Its man defense- where are the crossers, digs, and slants? Multiple instances of wideouts and tight ends running short of the sticks Need to start running more out of the shotgun 2nd Half Summary- Blame it on the Quarterback The Bills were in 11 personnel around 25% of the time in the first half. In the second half they stopped getting cute and ran 11 personnel 72% of the time. On top of that they finally ran a crossing route! A lot has been made about the wideouts being bad in this offense. While they aren't speed demons who can split two high safety or win on go routes, they can produce when asked to do what they do well. That said, the QB needs to be who he was in the first four games and take what the defense gives him. Sadly, that's not the QB the Bills got in the second half. While he was more productive, the All 22 showed he was dead set on doing what he wanted rather than taking what was there. Have screenshots of the plays below but no clue how to post. 5:17 Left 3rd Quarter- Kincaid absolutely smokes the safety at the same time Josh tries the back shoulder to Shavers. If he waits a second longer, he likely has Kincaid for 6. 11:18 Left 4th Quarter- Crossing route is wide open to Knox. Josh comes off the read. 5:11 Left 4th Quarter- Josh doesnt take the easy outbreaking route to Kincaid. Instead he throws to Cook on the sideline covered and is lucky to get a PI. 5:01 Left 4th Quarter- This one is on Samuel- Call looks to be a Go or a Post. Corner drops off 10 yards. Instead of breaking off his route to a out or comeback Samuel keeps running towards the CB. Would have been an easy 6-yard gain plus space to run. 4:52 Left 4th- Josh doesnt take the open crosser to Coleman. Cook doesnt block free rusher. Sack 2:43 Left 4th- Josh has Cook wide open on the crosser, doesnt take it for an easy 5 yard gain. Also has Palmer on an outbreaking route for 7 or more. Scrambles, has Knox open coming back towards the hash for a 17 yard pass, doesnt take it. Launches a pass across the field to Coleman in the back of the endzone. Out of bounds. 2:31 Left 4th- Shakir and Kincaid immediately open on crosser short of sticks. Johnson has single coverage on a wheel route to the endzone-why isnt Cook in the game! Samuel wide open at the front of opposite side of the endzone- likely an impossible throw. Game Summary- The good news is the Bills beat themselves. I am not sure what Joe Brady was doing in the first half of the game. I am also not sure what Josh Allen was doing in the 2nd half. The Bills need another outside WR, but they arent as hapless there as I thought before I watched the film. Put this one away, dont shoot yourself in the foot next time you play the Pats. The Patriots didnt do anything great on defense. I have every expectation that Allen wont play like this in the second meeting. Player Grades Bull Market The Offensive Line- They lost a few reps but otherwise they were fantastic. Specifically, the left side of the line played very well Kincaid- He had a great night and it would have been even better if he played more reps. I dont care if its as a slot, outside WR, or either tight end position, he needs to be in the game unless he's injured or needs a breather. His blocking still leaves a little to be desired. But outside of Cook or Allen he is the best weapon the Bills have on offense. Better than I Expected Dawson Knox- Not flashy but he did his job. He was open when he needed to be, whether the QB saw him or not. Josh Palmer- Not a game breaker by any means but he is the best outside receiver the Bills have in terms of understanding leverage and route running. Needs to be on the field more. Bear Market Keon Coleman- He caught a touchdown but the tape isn't good. He flat out can't beat corners off the line in man coverage. The coordinator doesn't put him in advantageous positions. Much better in the second half because Brady finally started calling crossing routes. But he is a very limited player at this point in his career. Shavers- Not to dunk on a kid that barely made the team but for those of you waiting for him to be the savior at WR, stop.

I think they could still win their division. The Bengals and Browns are cooked. The Steelers arent good enough to waltz to the title. It could be close at the end of the season.

Agree fully. There are 14 referee crews in the NFL. I dont know most of their names. That said, if we get Houchuli, Hussey, Vinovich, Cheffers, or Blakeman I know there is a chance for tomfoolery.

Depends on what we are talking about. If we are looking for deep crossers sure, we need that. If we are talking strictly about Gos, Posts, and Corners, it's not something the current personnel is very good at. We dont have the speed at WR to split two high safeties, and even if we did Josh isnt particularly good at throwing those routes. One of our quarterbacks' biggest issues going back to his rookie year is deep ball accuracy.

Its beyond me to try and understand how and why refs do or dont call penalties. Offensive lineman have the worst job in the league. Pancake blocks are irrelevant because the ref is just going to call holding whether you did or not. Some team's secondaries can manhandle wideouts and other teams cant. You cant run rub routes unless you can. Just get rid of the frickin one yard beyond the line of scrimmage rule. A rub route is a rub route. The NFL has overcomplicated its games to a point where the referees play way too big a part in its outcome.

I'd be more than ok never having a white out again. Come up with something specific to the Bills and Buffalo.

But you'll still spend your time commenting on it?

Looks like a real tough guy.

Their backs averaged 6 yards a carry. Not their fault Nagy only called 14 runs.

I think it makes sense for both teams. The Saints have him for the rest of this year, and all of next on the 5th year option. They are already 14 million over the cap for next season. They get cap space and draft picks. We get a borderline #1 WR. Thay said, its likely just a pipe dream.

I am calling the Saints this week and seeing where they are on Olave. I'd be more than happy to offer a 2nd and 3rd for Olave and a 5th to have him in a Buffalo by the 15th and in a Bills uniform for the game on the 26th.

It wasnt just the cornerbacks. The Patriots chip blocked our defensive ends all game and dared us to get the pass rush from the middle of the defense. Maye made one off schedule throw after another because we couldnt get to him with the pass rush.

why does it take players complaining before flags come out?

You know whats a drag....the sun shining on my face.

I have a feeling that same question has been asked on many an internet message board....just be glad its ginger ale in this instance.