Richard Noggin

Chicago, aside from some blitzes that Allen couldn't/didn't attack, seemed to employ a lot of light boxes in favor of dropping into heavy coverage looks. And Josh Allen seemed to be impatient often and kept looking downfield when there were gimmes underneath (and then put some POOR mechanics on tape when he did finally check it down). Obviously Dorsey called a pretty solid game against the looks they were getting, with our rushing success as one indicator, but Allen was not on that same page often enough to methodically dissect that defense all game long. Doesn't Cinci employ similar strategies against Mahomes? I know they tend to rush only 3 and use a spy/delayed blitzer, but otherwise they'd rather lose from a thousand cuts instead of a few big blows. Methinks Allen and Dorsey need to oblige them next week, and run the damned ball and check it down when they're backing off into that shell look. The key, of course, is also making them pay when they gamble and send pressure (like Allen did masterfully against KC for two key plays down the right sideline). That 3rd down deep in their own end today where Diggs was 1-on-1 on the left sideline and the Bears sent pressure was a criminally missed opportunity by Allen. It seemed so obvious pre-snap (and Diggs certainly agreed after the play).

He is complete dogs#!t. The most dramatic beeeotch when he suffers minor injuries, and then looks to injure others when his fragile little ego is bruised. Pats fans deserve him.

Or, maybe today the Bills ran well against VERY light boxes. (Doesn't mean these other observations have no bearing, just that there was a TON of space out there today as the Bills spread it out and the Bears dropped into coverage looks.)

LOL say more

Dak has performed, to more than just my eye, a LOT like a Kirk Cousins level QB: productive, sometimes highly productive, but also inconsistent when it gets down to it. And honestly, it seems to me like his arm is a bit lacking if he doesn't have his base perfectly set. Doesn't look like he can drive the ball off-platform like other upper tier talents.

While I agree with you overall, I'd also argue that Allen is better when he's distributing the ball broadly across the entire field, to a variety of targets. That Miami game showed what I think is growth in the passing game, especially in the red zone. The rise of Knox had something to do with that, and we'd all agree that having 3 targets (Diggs, Knox, and Davis...in that order) who can be featured based on matchups and gameplans, helps a passing offense ascend to elite status.

Agreed. It kind of HAS to be related to the pre-snap communication between Edmunds and Poyer, yes? Or if not, then it's just a blatant blown assignment by a guy who tends not to blow assignments.

It's so simple and obvious: competitive and excellent WR knows that throwing him the ball will help his offense move the chains and score points, and therefore win games, and gets frustrated when that doesn't happen AND the offense sputters, in part, as a result. Good. His competitive edge instantly elevated the play of everyone around him once he arrived in Buffalo, and I don't want him changing to control outside narratives.

Great thread. I'll bet there is outside analysis (Cover-1?) on this particular play that could add a perspective, but not sure I have the focus at this hour to find it.

Either you're being intentionally obtuse, or it's not...an act. We all know it's about team travel and gameday logistics when these games get moved, as the NHL example provided for you on page 28 shows. Football should be played outdoors, on a natural grass field. I guess Arizona was able to tweak that equation enough (indoor venue but with a natural field that mostly lives outside) to provide a workable alternative for their unique set of circumstances. It's almost like football in HOT climates is a better candidate for indoor play, given the danger of rising heat indexes to those gigantic athletes.

So is critical thinking, apparently

Going out of your way to share a negative take? Weird...

Without yet watching this video, we know Warner's MO has been critiquing Allen's play based on a very conventional, rote interpretation of pocket passing and progressions. He's not going to appreciate the off-schedule and scramble stuff because he'll instead point out the play that could have been made in rhythm from the pocket (instead of holding onto the ball longer and/or breaking the pocket). It's the traditional, pedantic way to analyze QB play. He's not exactly wrong, but he's also not necessarily right.

Now he can lead an expedition to the EDGE of the earth...

Maybe this is the exciting part: we already know there is talent among the offensive weapons (especially when Knox gets has the ball in his hands), so seeing the offense diversify and distribute (including an increased role for Knox, among others) seems like a promising development. Red zone success has been an issue this year, and the recent success (11/13) bodes well moving forward.

Exactly. Then a bigger jump this week. Obviously we'll see if this continues, but there is HUGE value in the potential emergence of another target. Especially one who offers such dangerous RAC ability.

I thought he showed up a bit last week as well, no? With respect to targets and production. Possible that we're seeing an upward trend.

I definitely would. Can you point me in a specific direction? Appears you beat me to this topic by a few minutes. Guess I DID want to "start a new thread for this" lol.

He's no doubt been doing his 1/11th as a blocker (and admirably, at that) to date, but it's exciting to think that the Bills are starting to feature him more (or that Allen is actually looking his way more? It's really difficult to know where credit is due). I just watched more of the video, and was reminded of that brutal late 2nd quarter drop over the middle (and that Knox had 2 drops total). The drops thing is an issue that could singlehandedly be responsible for the fan angst over the 2022 offense.

Exactly what this offense has been searching for the 2nd half of the season, and one would hope what the organization envisioned when giving him a handsome extension: a dangerous mismatch for defenses devoting extra attention to Diggs. While Davis, understandably, suddenly became everyone's favorite WR2 prospect following his historic KC playoff explosion, I'd argue that Knox breaking out would be even more beneficial. Contrary to many of our well-honed eye tests, Davis IS having a pretty solid WR2 season (minus catch %). But man how great it would be if Knox continues to ascend. Here is Erik Turner's breakdown of Knox's night against Miami:

Love the breakdown of Tre's aggressive coverage. That's exactly what you have to do against this offense, as has been demonstrated for 3 weeks in a row now (and to a large extent, in week 3 when the Bills played it similarly). Take away time and space. As Greg Cosell and many others, including Baldy, have conceded: this aggressive approach WILL surrender a big play or two over 4 quarters. But, it will also stifle the Dolphins offense often enough to be a net positive approach. REALLY happy in retrospect that Frazier was an early adopter of this game-plan in the first matchup. Kind of disrupts the narrative that his defense is all passive and vanilla. I'm hoping this week to see a similarly proactive rollout of the same defensive game-plan the Bills used against San Fran back in 2020: if memory serves, they employed (often enough to be noticeable to me, a moron) a 5-2 front-7 alignment with Edmunds lined up on the edge and Klein playing MLB. Something akin to a 46 defense makes a lot of sense if the game is played in a blizzard.

Probably been said, but the way he dropped that bottle suddenly, but limply, onto the booth is so damning. So premeditated. He is utterly effed, and rightly so.

That IS, actually, ironic! Sincere congratulations on being the first person maybe ever online to use that term correctly. Hate those names lol

In response to the bolded: Statistically, Gabriel Davis is having his best professional season (or, if you like, the same kind of season but with a few more targets). Note that his poor catch % is perfectly in line with his first two seasons. And also recall that he also disappeared and/or underperformed for stretches each of the past two seasons (due to injuries and/or poor play). That KC playoff game has skewed everyone's expectations. This is who he is, just with a more prominent role.

The snowball throwing was disappointing throughout the game. Aiming at on-field security personnel is one thing (which is stupid), but lobbing snowballs into the endzone where defensive players are lined up during a play is an entirely different, even dumber, thing. Such a bad look for Bills fans. My seats are in 137, which is along the left/west goal-line on the Bills side, and the fans near me who were throwing snowballs were mostly younger, drunken dummies. Even from the upper rows of the lower bowl it's easy to reach the field with a well-packed snowball. While I hate policing my fellow fans, I was able to confront and stop a couple rows of boisterous youngsters from continuing to target the field. It's so dooshy to light up sideline photographers and reporters (Sal Cappaccio took a snowball to the neck/head from someone nearby) and workers who aren't able to defend themselves due to divided attention. It's even dooshier to try to affect the field of play. I don't know how it looked on the TV broadcast.