Richard Noggin

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...

Tom Brady used to turf the ball without ANY effort to make it look catchable or valid, so long as some RB or TE was within 5 yards. He was shameless about it.

Honestly I'd reverse this argument entirely. It's the guys in trail position who are closing on the WR while the (ostensibly underthrown) pass approaches and the WR throttles down to adjust, causing the DB to contact him without playing the ball... Whereas if that same DB turns his head sooner while still sprinting to catch up, he's able to get his hands up (and even leave his feet) to legitimately play the ball in spite of contact. Face-guarding is a penalty if it involves contact while the ball is in the air. Gotta turn your head...OR somehow maintain just enough separation (difficult to do with back shoulders and underthrows) while reading the WR's eyes and arms for when to swat. Please don't use this thirsty plagiarism machine. It just amalgamizes so many online posts by people who do AND don't know what they're talking about. Plus it drains a Finger Lake in doing so. Let's talk to one another without bringing venture capital-forced products into this.

An objective view of the Pats v Bills game should emphasize that the Bills played terribly, the refs shaved hard with one-sided calls early, and even dumb luck seemed one-sided...and still the Pats escaped with a one-score win. It took a LOT to lose that game by 3, including REALLY bad offensive play. While the loss of Ed Oliver, presumably for most/all of the season, is just more of that unlucky brutality, the Bills will be a different team (for the better) when they face New England again. Who among us would swap coaching staffs with the Pats straight-up?

I've never attributed the hesitance/confusion/happy feet to self-preservation, as Allen is always a dawg even when he's out of sync, but there is definitely something(s) interfering with his rhythm and success as a passer for 3-4 weeks consecutively. Smells to me like the passing concepts are just not working, whether that's personnel-related or scheme-based, or both. Really is a repetitive shame that we don't get to see Josh Allen in his prime with dangerous receiving weapons (outside of like 2-3 seasons with Smoke Brown, Beasley, and Diggs and Davis). Even that group proved to be limited once we got to the point in the playoffs where the Chiefs/Bengals are allowed to mug everyone. So it's been unfortunate to watch the beastiest QB ever not have a beasty WR who just elevates when needed (outside of 13 seconds). This is why I wanted Ben Johnson to replace McD, so we could finally just go all-in on JA17 and attack teams relentlessly. Not unlike Daboll did overall, except his running game couldn't dictate and his OL were always pass blocking a TON. Something is badly missing from the Bills passing game, and it's probably talented WRs and an OC who can scheme up advantageous matchups for his best guys (Kincaid and Cook, mostly). **was nice to see McD's LBs mugging the A-gaps pre-snap today, like old times, even if one of those looks got chewed up for a nice inside run gain. I feel like that dude just needs to seize the defense and leave Brady alone forever. Either it works or we learn a lot about Brady and Co.'s limitations.

This take has been coming up more and more. And I have a hard time disagreeing with it. The best coaches empower their guys to go out there and play aggressively. McD like to pretend he wants his guys playing aggressively, but the play calls on offense don't often align with that mantra. They just want to run and convert 3rd downs and not turn the ball over. Like if they had never let Tyrod Taylor go. Like they're more worried about the opposition than the opposition is about them. So fundamentally conservative. So fundamentally boring. Players need to have fun out there. Players need to feel like the coaches believe in them.

The first few games of the season, I kept pointing out (in real life) how Allen was frequently and masterfully stepping UP in the pocket and often THROUGH the pocket between OC and LG, or LG and LT. It was amazing how natural it was for him time and again. He was moving forward and usually finding a throw or a few yards. Then something changed around about the Saints game (and definitely the Pats game), usually the point in the season where DCs have enough film to make opponent-specific adjustments. Now Allen seems downright jumpy and out of sync. Not diagnosing Ds or setting protections pre-snap as well as he should. Throwing off-platform and inaccurately. Indecisive/in-between in his decisions. But we've seen this before. He can be streaky. He can be frazzled. Remember how many seasons we spent watching the first few offensive snaps so closely to determine if Allen was psyched-out OR dialed-in? Like which Allen are we getting today? Gotta call the first drive like a 2-minute drill to start with a positive play, even if it's a short pass. Then maybe follow it up with a designed QB run to get Allen some contact and shake him out of his own head. I don't think #17 looked fully present and in control today until about the time he was pulled from the game.

Well thanks to THIS thread the cover's blown.

The water table somewhere in this country was lowered, however slightly, by this specific LLM query and response.

And that was just this season.

I'd like to assume sarcasm here, but it's difficult to tell where you're coming from in an effort to throw shade on Beane (and Wilson?). Other than the major injury last season (your "injury prone" label), Wilson is kind of big or at least plenty big enough (so not "small") by modern LB standards, and he's on a 2nd deal already (so not at all "cheap").

Think the WR/offense take is a bit hyperbolic, in that one personnel upgrade there probably doesn't suddenly catapult the Bills into dynamic deep and intermediate passing success. But that doesn't mean I'm against spending to add there. Have to at least keep trying. I'm hopeful as well that Hairston can gradually upgrade the Bills secondary, but one has to imagine, especially with the Bills difficulty in maintaining edge contain against the run, that teams will run and throw screens right at Hairston. Wonder what that looks like. Tre has at least been tenacious a number of times playing downhill against such plays.

Chad Hall? Why would Chad Hall provide intel to the Bills? Didn't he leave on a lateral move? Also, not sure Gabe Davis is someone with a post-playing career future in NFL front offices. Good locker room guy though, so his opinion is probably gonna be positive for just about any former teammate. Been said already, but while this is an intriguing series of correlations, it immediately makes me think of our own failure to maximize WRs over this same span. **ALSO: lot of posters taking this report to mean that Jags are actively looking to move on from BJT. I guess if they DO move on, then we know they were open to it. But it could be more about teams inquiring right now and the Jags not telling them to eff off right away.

Disagree, respectfully. Sure, a PRIME Tyreek Hill is preferred to MOST alternatives tbh. That's no secret. And when that was combined with a PRIME Kelce, watch out. But the current group includes the kinds of RAC and speed traits that Reid is amazing at scheming for. Rice is a beast for what KC wants him to be, which is a big, fast, strong weapon who gets the ball in motion and matriculates it aggressively up the field. Hollywood Brown is a fast and ballsy undersized threat on slants and curls and fades alike. Worthy is a speed merchant who lacks physicality but does seem to have some moxy and compete nonetheless. Smith-Schuster is the perfect possession complement to that group, and they still have the dumb, effective ghost of Travis Kelce. Plus Thornton and Remigio offer depth. Brown, Worthy, and Rice is a STRONG starting WR group for Andy Reid. He loves to attack horizontally and vertically, with tons of pre- and post-snap motion, and those dudes can do that.

Lotta focus on the defense, which is fine. But without being MORE focused on the offense? The defense is what it is: mediocre. There will be bad games, we know, and there will be really bad games. And a few okay games. The D isn't the most critical branch of the Bills. The offense is. As they go, we go. -Would be nice if the defense could pick up the offense now and again, but didn't they do that in the 1st half against New England? And didn't they kind of do that in the 2nd half against Atlanta? Neither offense ran away with it, despite some chunky gains and clustered scores. It was the Bills offense that failed more impactfully. In my opinion.

They are PERFECT for what Reid and Mahomes want to do. Different kinds of speed and quickness and RAC and possession guys who can attack every part of the field. RB is that offense's only average-to-meh group, imho. Could see KC drafting a TE and/or RB on Day One or Day Two. Or of course a CB or S or DT. So...really narrowing it down here. But enough about Hoecht and Ogunjobi...

Young has won 3 straight and 4 of last 5, and his escapability has been key in converting 3rd downs and red zone trips. That sort of guy gives the Bills trouble. Dalton, on the other hand, is more apt at pre-snap reads and getting the ball out super fast. That sort of guy also gives the Bills trouble.

Really solid writeup that I also happen to agree with almost note for note. The responses questioning Allen's on-field fire/desire are curious/interesting, but too heavily reliant on unrelated off-field circumstances and very recent poor results. Correlation is not causation. What I've seen on the field hasn't looked great the last two weeks especially, but in no way suggests to me that the guy isn't putting it all on the line out there. One COULD reasonably question what playing this long for the same conservative (some might say gutless) head coach eventually does to a DAWG like Allen. Like maybe he's being robbed of a small piece of his competitive soul each week, each camp, each season, since 13 seconds. But the off-field, personal conjecture is kinda silly and undeserved for a dude who risks it all in ways most QBs won't and consistently plays through all kinds of damage.

While I still cannot understand how anyone is anguishing more over the defense than the current offense (who has struggled more recently imho despite a strong OL and a future HOF QB)...I do agree that the Panthers actually present a specifically challenging matchup for the Bills. They are very physical and aggressive defensively, with heavy run and pass games up front (possibly something you can exploit on the ground and in the screen game) and man coverage on the boundaries. Not unlike the Patriots, but with a much better rushing attack on offense. Not an ideal opponent for the current iteration of the Bills. One bright spot would be if Bryce Young can't play, or if he does play, he does so with somewhat limited mobility. Apparently, his escapability has been on display during their winning streak, and that's a quality that really exposes the Bills shortcomings in the front 7. While Dalton could potentially execute a quick game and play action passing attack, he is less likely to break contain or elude pressure. If the Panthers are able to establish some success on the ground, then it might not matter who is under center for them. Our D has difficulty against physical, balanced offenses who stay on schedule.

Little all over the place here, as you want them to run more 4-3 Over (which I agree with, with Hoecht as the SAM), but also Hancock should play the Nickel and Johnson should switch to safety? So Johnson would move to full-time safety (big increase in snap count) in an alignment (4-3 Over) that would actually ask MORE of its safeties in coverage, given you're effectively replacing an NCB with a big OLB. And Hancock wouldn't see the field as much as Johnson does now, depending on game script and matchups. It's a bit of a mashup of different ideas, which includes switching a strict lifelong NCB to full-time S. Hmm

Remember a few seasons back, that ONE game against Tampa when Gabe Davis was used in the way you suggest for Coleman now (slants, screens, etc.)? Davis had 9 for 87 and a TD. THAT's exactly how we should be using Coleman, no doubt.

But did he really ever master it? Had some big moments down the field against man coverage (which is something the team needs now for sure). But was kind of Coleman-like against the zone and on option routes and with identifying pressure and whatnot. Had difficulty adjusting post-snap, and was therefore super inefficient. His habit of "clapping" his hands together to let Allen's heaters clang off him was basically the WR yips. Total degradation of fundamentals.

This somewhat contentious decision has been forgotten of late, even with all the angst over Babich's defense. "Chose wrong" isn't easy to declare with certainty, but also isn't easy to rebut. This is a weird way to say Frazier coached multiple top-5 defenses over a 4-year stretch (and it might have been 3 out of 4, no?)... I also did not disagree with moving on from Frazier at the time. Quite the tea being spilled here; I've not heard this before. Has anyone else? (This does align with my worst case suspicions of McD's leadership in the locker room.) I heard some player yesterday admit post-game that a big TD play call had just been installed the day before, and that the TD was actually their first live rep of it... And while they were NO FLY, they were kinda YES RUN by comparison, at least with respect to avg Y/A. Game scripts probably helped cap their rushing yards allowed in many games.