WideNine

Too successful?

That call should have blown the play dead before or as it happened, not after the miss. Was weird.

Allen is off. McGovern is a turnstile today in pass pro. Passes to Murray and Sherfield are wasted efforts. Defense is balling out, but an ill timed zero blitz let Zappe run into the EZ untouched.

Different injury, different recovery time and Jones has come back from other upper body injuries and performed at a high level after doing the appropriate rehab. I don't expect he will need the same time to find his structural confidence curve as players coming off knee injuries. I expect the biggest curve is just regaining the game stamina and getting back to the rep count he usually can command, but with Joseph and Poona helping out with reps they should be able to keep him fresh.

Been a huge DQ fan since Beane made the move. Was desperate to see the Bills do something to plug the middle and get some push on the pocket and Star was not the same player at all that he was in Carolina and did little to reward the trust they extended him in his contract. DQ more than delivered. They need to monitor his reps, but he is a solid vet that will get it done. Just needs to work on the game stamina and work into owning more reps. Poona did a pretty decent job manning Phillips gaps last week and good to see him get his chance to help the squad. This defense operates best when you have those solid 1-tech and 3-techs that can rotate and spell each other and feed off of Oliver.

It is a balance for any leader. When our OL struggles you will not see Allen single out a player, he says things like the other team has some good players and they get paid too, and they gave us some issues. We will have to take a look at the film and learn from it. I have seen Allen yell "Let's go", and pump up his teammates and lead by example. Mahomes has not had the same path of adversity that Allen had becoming an elite QB in this league. It will be interesting how he responds if they miss the postseason. When all is said and done, it's a good year to retool WRs. The draft is deep at that position.

Not to mention Spags as a DC who is pretty solid. How can I forget the epic 13 second fail that prevented Allen from having a great chance of looking Mahomes in the eye and flashing his own hardware. One team got it done and one did not.

I am not a Mahomes hater and my boy played guard all thru school and college. I've been around the game enough to know that there is a game within the game especially in the trenches so I showed that clip to him at our holiday get together. We catch some Bills games together, but he does not follow the sport that much after playing; His focus and muse is law and pursuing his government minion career in DC at the DOJ, but I asked if that was motivational to him and would he want to block for that guy? He laughed and said he would rather block for Allen, after asking if that was really his voice? So to me, or at least to a former OL player, that was just a QB venting frustration and whining. I stand by the fact that he owns some of the poor play yesterday and there was a better way to rally the big boys - gifts aside. Mahomes has his share of highlight reel plays, and has sub-par receiving options this season. Hill and Kelce created a lot of space to operate and both have great hands and catch radius. Hill is gone and Kelce is one weapon, but his penchant for holding the ball, running around in circles behind the LOS, and being creative off schedule is very hard for any O-Line player to block for and puts a lot of stress on those guys he is screaming at. If you want to believe that was a motivational speech you are certainly welcome to it. I think I would prefer to bleed and block for Allen he could keep the custom carts.

I love the idea that he was crapping on his O-Line on national TV. I can see the wheels turning now for some of those guys... "what free rusher?". Adversity brings out the best and the worst in folks. Seeing it play out in KC this season and where is Mahomes ownership throwing that weak pick six with that defender watching his eyes all the way?

Yup... like a 59 yard field goal in the rain so the Eagles could beat us in OT. We have been snake bit, but also put ourselves in situations where fickle fate could weigh in on the result. And we have been on the wrong side of those quite enough. I think we all prefer handing it to teams and having Kyle hand it off to close out the win. Can't always get what you want in this league.

I am not too down on the team. We really need to clean up the turnovers more consistently from game to game. One poor pass decision by Allen throwing deep across his body (still was a yard from being on the money which is a bit unreal), Cook put it on the turf which I hope is something he can correct as he has had a few of those this year, and Deonte started running East and West on a punt return which is usually a recipe for fumbles... which it was. So the "good" news is that it was not a flurry of bad Josh decisions, but it was some bad ball security across offense and ST. There were some really ticky-tacky penalties called back to back to back to squash one drive and keep the Vegas lines close 2 holding calls on our veteran center that erased some great plays made to move the sticks on the 3rd and longs - WTF. So weak, and rarely ever called on the guys in the middle of the trenches. Defense gave up one TD on a very short field after the punt turnover by Harty then tightened the screws. I can't get completely down on this team and call it lucky, they pulled out an ugly win which the best teams sometimes have to do, but they do need to show that they can string together more games where they execute cleanly and are on the positive end of the turnover ratio to be a deep post season threat. Still a bit too inconsistent right now to make me truly believe. I want to see a better passing game plan with more quick timing throws and use of the middle of the field from Brady. I like that he got the running backs involved in the passing game the past few weeks, but it seemed like the Chargers took that away so what was the plan B when that happened? They blitzed their linebackers quite a bit so there should have been opportunities in the middle of the field. I will wait to hear what the All-22 has to say, but I would guess they played their 2 safeties in the box and went cover 0 at times, or showed that look and had them bail at the snap. Perhaps they went single high a few times and left a safety in the middle to play zone, either way they sent a lot of extra man pressures. The pass pro was a bit shakey as they brought the extra man, but teams will roll the dice and blitz us and Brady has to have answers for Allen (that he is confident using).

Not to say that Allen does not miss on any throws as he does, but the Bills use a lot of choice routes that require the WR and QB be on the same page. One of the knocks on McKenzie is that he often ran bad routes breaking them off when he was supposed to continue, or continuing when he needed to break them off or sit in a spot, inbreaking vs outbreaking, or just the wrong route. We would have to know if it was a designed play or scrable drill first and then what McKenzie was supposed to be running before assessing blame. Allen last year had that shoulder injury that really affected his release and accuracy too. This example may be from before, but he was definitely struggling after that UCL injury from the Jets game. Even Diggs who runs great routes was frustrated at times as he was dirting or air mailing a lot more of his short to intermediate throws. I think banged up Bills did a good piece on that UCL injury and how it impacted throws, the rest needed between games - so less practices, and ultimately the impact to our passing game.

I can get behind your thinking outside the box because it never hurts to think through alternative paths to success and sometimes change is needed. The question remains whether McD is that guy that can get this team over the playoff hump and to the big show; Making the right defensive and ST calls in pivotal moments against talented teams to protect a lead and close the door. Some have already made up their minds and I am unlikely to shift those opinions. I like listening to Marino and I know where he stands on the subject and can respect how he got there. Perhaps I am a bit too patient, but my preference usually leans more towards incremental positive tweaks rather than blowing up something that is largely successful to start anew. I also like to weigh the feedback from the locker room and (to me) it does not sound like he has lost this team. I get that there is some anecdotal evidence that offensive-minded HCs have faired better winning out in recent years with the Pats dynasty having ended. As far as McD's continued coaching of the defense, I think McD is a good defensive coach, but one that relies a lot on a system he has where he simply has to have the right guys to plug in to be successful, but those systems are often easier to teach. He and Beane have swung for the fences on some defensive pickups and overpayed for guys that have not quite panned out, but overall I would give them a passing grade drafting/developing & acquiring FA defensive talent.

McD was dialing up quite a few 0 blitzes earlier this year and teams had our number. They were diagnosing the tells and had ready answers that were moving the sticks. I think he and his coaches have done some self-scouting and have gotten better at disguising those looks. Also a lot of new faces in the defensive lineup where those nuances may have a learning curve. I do think he has made some poor decisions in crucial moments, but has managed the team well through a lot of adversity. Rather than throw the baby out with the bath water I could see them looking for an up and coming defensive coach that could once again take on those DC duties and free him for the HC duties that he has performed admirably. Folks like to get creative with the scapegoat narrative lumping in the Frazier release, but we knew what a Frazier defense was before McD came along... safe, bend don't break, zone scheme with minimal blitz or pressure packages. Works well against the lions share of offenses, but gets dismantled by elite QBs and receivers that can work the flats and the sticks all the way down the field. I am not scared of change, but change for change sake is not enough to justify the risks.

My only criticism of McD was that he waited as long as he did to pull the trigger on Dorsey. They both go back to the Carolina days, but it was clear he was either in over his head or simply not a good fit for the role after last season. The numbers for the offense last year were deceptive because they had a great start to the season, then teams adjusted and our offense was becoming a turnover machine when not going 3 and out. Josh was regressing and we were barely sqeaking out wins down the wire and finally ended the season in a wimper against the Bengals. I am sure making that switch this year was hard, but what we have seen to date is an offense that seems to be better prepared with a game plan for opponents and executing at a higher level. The confusion, mistakes, turnovers, and pre-snap penalties were just snowballing under Dorsey. McD does have a defensive system that relies on having types of players that fit that system, and he has been snake bit with injuries and they could not protect an offense that was struggling to put up points. Would be nice if the fickle gods of football give us a break on that side of the ball and we get some of those key guys back healthy. Bean has done a masterful job finding good replacement players and it is great to see some of the young blood starting to step up and grow into contributing roles.

This I think is the real test of this team's needed attitude adjustment. Do they play down to an opponent's level, or do they play with the same intensity and focus on execution that has lead to success against the league's better teams? I want to believe they have figured out how they have to approach each game... we will see.

On every end around they ran I saw our receivers working their tails off blocking. Proud to root for our guys when they play unselfish for each other like that.

Not sure I agree on the Dodson take, he could have pulled up. Instead he lead with his head and elbow above Dak's shoulder as he was going into his slide. If it was Allen, I would want that call. As to Rapp, I think you are spot on. He leaves his feet and leads with his helmet. Those guys are just as likely to take out their own guys because they don't have good tackling form and control.

This is a nothing burger. Idiots like Wright and other talking heads try to take some of the sting out of or deflect from their all-in on Dallas hot takes. Buffalo got up on them and then just manhandled a lighter athletic Dallas defense. Not to mention how our defense smothered them for most the game. All QBs try to draw the refs attention and lobby for flags on late hits, just about all receivers lobby for DPIs when they can't reel it in with tight coverage It is part of the game, and someone creating a montage of Allen trying to get a flag thrown means nothing. Put together another montage of Allen taking late hits with no flag... plenty of those over his career too. Meh... nothing to see here.

When a big strong O-Linemen gets a skinny fast guy on skates it's no contest. Agreed on the Dawkins take. He is moving really good this season taking good angles, playing with strong hands, balance and leverage. This whole OL has come together well. Protections, passing the right guy off, picking up stunts and blitzes, getting to the 2nd level and playing to the whistle. They are just working hard for each other as a cohesive group like I have not seen in years. They have always had some good players, but injuries and a few weak links have been enough to spoil those efforts. Great to see the big guys get to shine in these games and get a little recognition.

True. They were so focused on Allen that Dallas often missed his exchange with Cook and would bite on the misdirection flowing to Allen. Cook does not need a lot of room to chew up yards and make a few guys miss.

I have no idea other than we went on to pad our lead off that penalty. But yeah, no guarantee they do squat with the ball with the way the defense se was playing in the first half.

There it is.

When you have an OC that says prove you can stop this first, and maybe then I will think about changing what we are doing. How many times have we seen this offense just running through a defense only to stop and throw 20 straight passes at a defense that is designed to stop the pass and pressure the QB? Wow. Brady seems to understand this simple concept.

We are a different defense playing with a lead. Phillips looks healthy again, Oliver has been really disruptive and the swap of Bernard over Edmunds and the addition of Rasul later this year, and with Dodson coming on those moves have really solidified the back 7. If they could get Jones back healthy, watch out, that's a deep D line that can cause a lot of chaos.