Richard Noggin

Diggs is gonna be closer to what peak Beasley was as this season carries on, providing a reliable possession option who gets quick separation. Very QB friendly. John Brown in Buffalo was a boundary dude who could burn. He was dangerous when isolated. And they had chemistry, no doubt. But Allen also was MONEY going to Beas in the slot and even red zone. They complemented each other nicely, and then once the real #1 Diggs was acquired in his prime, the trio (with Gabe Davis as the 4th) did damage. Those passing performances in the 2021 season playoffs were historic. (And broke so many of our brains in the process.)

My concern with rushing four is will they maintain discipline and keep Mahomes bottled up? Or will the first guy through scream past him without breaking down, and then when he scrambles up or out of the pocket, will the 2nd guy lunge at his feet rather than strafe/stalk and regain contain while the troops rally? But aren't those the two guys you absolutely sell-out against if you're Spagnuolo? Like hit Kincaid on every snap possible (on the way to Cook) and then bracket him in coverage? Single man against the Bills WRs in general, and on 3rd down find additional eyes for Shakir/Kincaid. Blitzes, stunts, aggressive man coverage with deliberate matchup-focused schemes: 22 following Shakir around on 3rd down and Kincaid doubled, for example. Make boundary receivers and depth TEs beat you while getting after Cook and Allen.

100% agree. They will encounter opponents/games that force them to throw the ball to win. Like you, I'm not incredibly confident in their ability to do it. But they HAVE done it already this season in a HIGH leverage situation under the lights in prime time. In the two losses, it has seemed to my amateur eyes that Allen did a poor job of consistently diagnosing defensive looks and setting pass protections (I THINK it's mostly on him to do so, but not positive how much is McGovern as well). There were routes available against the blitz and Allen wasn't seeing it clearly enough pre-snap to have the right post-snap plan. Either he wasn't anticipating where the free runner/pressure was coming from and/or he wasn't on the same page with who should have been his hot receiver. **Which also indicates the exacerbating issue of his WRs not assessing pre-snap and adapting post-snap to be QB friendly. ***But all this really also points to coaching for me: it's the coaches' jobs to ensure their players are prepared to execute against nearly all contingencies. Is Brady and his staff keeping up with and staying ahead of defensive plans enough to have their own players truly ready to win snaps on the field? I wonder about our WR and QB coaches. On the other hand, OL and TE coaching is no concern of mine. And as for OC, I really don't know. Great collaborator (Kromer has so much input on running and the offense overall, and it looks like Boras is also heavily involved). I just wonder about passing concepts (and when the game is on the line, and the run ain't running, you gotta have some go-to intermediate and boundary players/plays).

Like against a healthy Ravens defense who was up multiple scores in the 4th quarter?

Did anyone else think the Commanders had a really solid plan last week, and kind of surprised KC a little bit? (for like a quarter, max, of course)

The first tweet is nonsensical/straw man territory. If there is a spread of several weeks, can't both things easily be true? Especially if the games where Allen was most asked to carry the team are also the games where his play was the worst? Also, which specific run earned Cook the scepter? I'm mostly remembering untouched yardage (~75% before contact WTF?!), so am I just omitting a particularly violent but less memorable rush? Could be.

Bolded part is super ironic, considering the slot-only designation many draft pundits wrestled with for Jefferson. But he definitely does run routes to all parts of the field tbh.

The Hoecht weight debate is ignoring all team-related nuggets (Chris Brown and Sal Cappaccio and the gang) saying ~260 lbs? He could be a little heavier after his offseason strength training regimen...ahem...but he's nowhere near 280 to my amateur eye.

Couple little bones to pick here: intangibles = EVEN?! With 100% slanted h2h playoff history PLUS published officiating bias, how can one suggest we're even here? RB - even? No way. Hunt is probably more effective than Davis or Johnson this season, but who cares? Cook is SO SO much better than Pacheco. Bills OL probably better, too.

Why wouldn't we see them in the playoffs in that scenario (where they finish vaguely behind the Bills in playoff seeding)? Is it because both Bills AND Chiefs are wildcard teams? One could still envision an AFCCG showdown in that scenario. If it's because Bills win AFCE but Chiefs are a wildcard, why wouldn't they potentially come to OP?

And got flagged for contact in the process.

Only name that made sense there, yeah.

Nothing to do with Pats for me. Teams are going to rise and fall. There will be fierce competition. Sucks that Vrabel's in the division with a rising star at QB, but the league doesn't stand still. For me, it's a Bills-specific, organizational lack of optimization and innovation. From roster management, to opponent-specific gameplans, to player execution. McD should always call the defense, no matter what. And he should leave alone Kromer, Brady, and Allen (and Cook) to come together and turn the offense into a point maximization machine who can also control the game once they get ahead. Probably our WR coach has been hot trash since Hall left (ignoring the room he's working with). But something ain't being maximized there. Might have something to do with QB coaching, too. Allen isn't exactly his very best right now. My angst is usually more about the offense. With our running game, it's absolutely soul-crushing that the Bills can't/don't threaten defenses deep and intermediate. Their deep balls are handoffs to Cook or RAC throws to Shakir. Defenses must be cheating up like crazy (pre- and/or post-snap). Been the case in the playoffs for years.

The real kicker is that the Bills came out against Atlanta seemingly, finally committed to attacking deep and intermediate with Palmer, only to have him get injured on an illegal/scummy hip drop tackle just as he was grooving.

Clark?

How many times was Mahomes illegally granted a fresh 25 second play clock just because he raised the roof?

Nope, he was step away from being contacted when he turfed it. Gutless and conservative. But smart, I guess.

Some platooning, but also some different nickel and dime looks, methinks. I truly wish the broadcast announcers/commentators would just watch the monitor that shows the same frame fans at home are following, and comment on what they see regarding Xs and Os and personnel and schemes and whatnot. Forget all the coach cutaways and fan scans and backstories and all that, and just talk to us about the football contest underway. Analyze the football game itself. Please. I was initially aghast at only 14 snaps, then realized he was limited/questionable all week, AFTER a week off. So let's hope he's fresh for next week. And utilized HEAVILY.

Fundamentally, yeah. They have holes. But they can feast on bad or mediocre offenses, and at least hurry up good offenses.

Little habits and tweaks you introduce in private practice, in the offseason, then in the Spring and Summer, dozens and hundreds of times, which might at first make it HARDER to come down with the ball, but over time will win you a slight advantage on each contested ball overall, at least those where DBs are clocking your eyes and hands in anticipation of an approaching pass. Imagine how much of this hand-fight tinkering goes on for offensive linemen, for example. Throwing feints or holding back all together; It's like fencing, or boxing, or even hockey faceoffs. So many individual engagements in large part determined by eyes and hands (and of course feet).

Would be a LOT louder if the entire stadium just clapped instead of twirling those stupid handkerchiefs. Like, how do the towels help the players on the field?

Obviously.

He's flawed against the run in the eyes of most, but there's no question that he brings elite pass rush juice and can almost always find another gear when it's on the line. Not unlike TJ Watt, for example. Probably less physical, but that's splitting hairs.

Was it Davonte Adams who was recently highlighted in-game for just this trait? Late eyes/hands? Such a cool nuance.

Fair. So maybe there are specific offenses/QBs who tend to lean on the back-shoulder/underthrow enough that DBs need to get their heads around when the WR eyes flash and/or the arms raise...gotta be opponent-specific techniques for each game. Some savvy WRs DON'T tip off the pass's arrival clearly enough (with eyes or arms) for the DB to respond in time, while others definitely do. Some QBs (Tua) don't have the arm strength to get it deep enough if thrown too late in the route, so the DBs have to anticipate an underthrow...