WideNine

Refs are keeping these Miami drives going...

Bassomatic... We have the slow-blinker refs that seem to have a Miami bias so far.

That defensive Offside was some BS... Miami C and G both moved. McD was right to lose it on the refs. Can't believe that one throw went between 3 Bills hands to get home.

Bad week for Tua Defense primed for a shut out No red zone struggles Was going to skip this, but we have a streak going against these guys and why rock the boat. Go Bills!!!

The Bills feature a lot of 11 personnel and some 12 down at the goal line. With that kind of game planning having the 2 TE depth on the bench would be the smart move in case Sweeny gets dinged during the game. Figured they would just roll with Sweeny and Gilliam, but we will see.

There is a chance that if it is Tampa, and we do make it to the big show, that Groot or someone on our DL actually breaks the 44 year old Brady before the game is done and Tampa falls apart in epic fashion. Not wishing for injury, but when you are 44 the clock has ticked well past midnight for most humans on being able to play a physical sport against men in their 20's and early 30's. I don't care what deal he has made with the devil, or how fast he gets rid of the ball...payment is past due.

I honestly have not looked him up in a while, but was shocked. 3 years there for him looked like 15 years of living rough.

Warring was such an intriguing prospect, but the injury bug and failing to pickup Texan's playbook. The Texans have been such a dumpster fire it makes you wonder if they just failed to nurture the raw talent. The kid really had no chance... getting a severe concussion the year he was drafted at a joint preseason practice with Green Bay. At 6.5 with 4.6 speed if he could get back to 100% and develop in the Bill's system he could be a waiver steal. NE was willing to take a shot on him till Bill stroked some hefty checks to bring in veteran TE help for his green QB. Not a bad side bet for the Bills to stash for a while to see what they have. A lot of good TEs in that 2019 class, but the 2 that I wanted the Bills to take (Oliver and Warring) spent their first 2 years on IR. In hindsight, glad we had Knox just for his durability. ...and what a few years in Detroit did for T J Hockenson ...

That's the lineup I'd expect as well. Ford is not a bad kid, was hoping he would work out with a move to G having to cover less ground. Would be good for the Bills and Cody if he could put together some solid film.

On offense Sweeny steps up. On defense I've been jinxing Star (although he's been solid). How about Oliver gets his name and number called making some noise in the backfield? Groot will draw more attention, or at least he should.

I would not throw the baby out with the bath water. Dawkins was playing at a high level last year, but post-covid Dawkins has been inconsistent. Morse in on his final year... not sure if Bates is all that. He hasn't been able to push Morse out of the lineup. Have not seen enough of Williams at guard, and Mongo is a depth guy playing the best he can. Spencer had some struggles in pass pro against TN, but he does move and finish run blocks and gets to the next level. Would like to see more runs to the right in the RZ to see what we have there. Beane usually does not make mid-season moves ala erasing a mistake like Kelvin Benjamin. I don't see him rocking the boat this year either - IMO. I do think an investment in a solid G and C prospect is needed. They passed up some good ones this past draft, but Beane was prioritizing DL rebuild.

TBD has always been a tough crowd after a loss. You can say the sky is blue and the earth is round and folks will disagree, eye roll, and vomit emoji your posts. We win and it is all 🌈 and 🦄 and folks singing around the campfire... We take care of business with Miami (in convincing fashion) and the natives will be less restless.

I get those a bit confused too as he said he wanted to see more zone reads (reading DL player) with Allen keeping the ball and making plays with the ball in his hands - getting outside the tackles vs RPOs (traditionally reading LB, but I guess could be reading extra S with how teams play Allen) for inside handoff or pass. Either way using RPOs can still be a part of the plan on inside runs.

Allen has fed off those drag routes near the back of the end zone for a while especially when he has rolled out to extend plays. I think that is his comfort zone, but teams are standing defenders up on the goal line so as Allen is looking for that trailing receiver he is seeing narrow windows and bodies in the way. So he has held the ball more down there than we have seen before. Still always a danger to run it himself. Attacking the zone gaps with quick seam and post routes rather than drag routes may be more effective and is another thing I expect Allen will master. Sucks that we cannot run up the middle when we have the numbers advantage, but you have to play to your strengths. I think you still have to TRY running - pulling guys and using counters to test those safeties and LBs filling from the slots, just to keep play action viable. Play action down there helps create the hesitation and enough space needed to beat the zones. Dabs and Dorsey have some time to go back to the lab and scheme up some solutions they can practice.

Josh has open windows against those zones - especially after play action, but you are right that he hesitates attacking the seams and they are not there for long. It is likely a combination of not trusting what he is seeing, and his prioritizing avoiding throwing RZ picks. Josh has a great record of not turning the ball over in the red zone (knocking on wood), but he may need to trust his instincts more. If we had a more feared running attack with better blocking, we would not see so many light boxes either. I like the idea of more Josh read option keepers where he rolls out to the side with just a db and safety over top... if the TE or RB releases to that side too it really stresses the D on who to cover.

Our backs have done a decent job on picking up the odd rusher, but on one of our stalls in the RZ against TN we had Spencer with no TE help and they lined up a DE in a wide nine on the right and our RB motioned to the left of the formation at the snap. Their DE came in unblocked and Allen had to throw it away or take a sack. Good to have some size in there blocking. I have not seen enough of Gilliam to have strong feelings one way or another, but he had a sure TD wiped out by an unflagged mugging at the goal line and does give us that motion to a fullback role.

That was a pretty throw, but no one covering Ertz on that deep crosser. Houston's defense is ranked just above the Jets and look that way.

More like a Tyreek Hill that can throw too. You would expect more tipped balls from him, but he is so quick and so good at sliding around and creating space and throwing lanes. Has a fast release too and pretty accurate throwing off platform, sidearm, etc... and that helps. Some of the most tipped passes were QBs with an exaggerated throwing motion that defenders could predict where height had little to do with it. Best defense is to keep him hemmed in and get those hands up into throwing lanes because even if you don't get a piece of the ball you have a better chance of forcing a bad throw. I am still a bit salty about the ol' Hail Murray play.

I think Kumerow and Davis will be in the mix - Sweeny may get more reps too as he was starting to see some playing time. Will be interesting to see who they keep active each game - the Bills are deep enough at receiver that they have options that they can leverage to fill in for Knox. Sucks a bit in regards to the chemistry Allen was building with him, but we should get Knox back for the stretch run and gives some other guys on the bench a chance to showcase what they can bring.

Bill has never let off the accelerator when ahead. Kind of a dick move, but you don't have to worry about nicely letting a team back into a game either. On the downside a team that far behind in a game can and will take shots at your stars.

With Jones and Brown healthy, they are a tough team to beat. They are two strong possession and jump ball receivers. I still think zone blitzes and robber coverage is the way to beat Tanny's dink and dunk over the middle game.. Will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh's defense handles them as they do those things well. I don't think the Steeler's offense poses much of a threat. KC was doing a decent job stopping Henry, but Brown and Jones ate their lunch beating the single coverage and getting enough off the short passes to keep the sticks moving.

Someone made a pretty good point earlier in this thread that there are not any AFC teams that you just put an "L" on the schedule. The Bills CAN beat any of these teams... watching sloppy Baltimore false start their way backwards twice on a deparate 4th down play. As good as Allen is he still has so much room to grow his game and that is a scary thing for the rest of the league.

Pringle is KC leading receiver. Tells you what you need to know about how teams are defending KC... Mahomes got rocked, but don't think that knee was on purpose. He always tries to throw the ball when going down and that puts him in awkward positions and is a good way to get injured.

More than just cap restraint, but Beane is pretty careful about who he brings in and the team culture they want to maintain. KC spent on upgrading their OL this offseason...not sure if they are really getting the return on that investment.

The Bills copied teams that held KCs offense well and perfected some things that worked pretty well. TN has a good defensive blueprint to follow. Take away Hill and Kelce, and keep Mahomes hemmed in the pocket and you rattle him into mistakes. TN seems to be playing off KC now...