Old Coot

Frank Reich. Frank holds records for the greatest NFL comeback and (until 2006) college football's greatest comeback. We all know about his NFL comeback (Bills comeback win after being down 35-3). He also QB'd Maryland to a 1984 win over Miami after being down 31-0. The greatest backup QB of all time would have to be Earl Morall. He QB'd the Colts to Super Bowl III (Johnny U was injured that year) and Miami for most of their undefeated 1972 season (Bob Greise was injured for much of the year).. Oh, yes, both teams had excellent defenses. That helped.

Bruce had that incredible outside body lean. His body could be at a 45 degree angle to the ground but he still could push to get outside of the tackle. Amazing.

The Rockpile was featured in the R Redford film, "The Natural"

A number of factors may account for the passing game not putting up the numbers it did early in the season. 1. Opponents now have plenty of tape on our passing game & likely use D's that take away the deep ball. This is helped by the fact that our running game is anemic. 2. Injuries to our WR's -- Broen was out several games & he's the one who threatens to take the top off the D. 3. Maybe the weather.

I think Edmunds will continue at MLB. Why? The Bills play Tampa-2 a lot. With two deep safeties there's a hole in the center of the field in front of & between the safeties. Edmunds has the speed to fill that hole. Think Urlacher's role with the Bear's D. A thumper at MLB doesn't have the speed or agility to do that.

I agree with those who say we have a good coaching staff. It is a bit worrisome that the D adjustments are not quicker. Both this game and the last the D let the other team back into the game from the 3d quarter. The slow adjustments may be a function of our team leading at halftime so its difficult to anticipate how the opponent will adjust. It's difficult for even the best coaches to adjust on the fly. The DC will have a call sheet based on what statistically the opponent's O likely will call given down & distance as well as field location. The DC can't just throw away his call sheet. He's got to rely more on what the coach upstairs sees that the O is doing and on the D being able to execute the adjustments.

It's likely that the Rams figured out what we were doing on D at half time & made offensive adjustments. hard to tell without the all-22 view

Hope we win this one. I don't expect to see a lot of deep balls from Josh in this game. Two reasons: Aaron Donald (as in get the ball out quick) plus Rams' DC will try to take away our passing game. They now have two weeks of film on our passing game. I hope we bring a strong running game with us because we'll need it both to move the ball & loosen up the Rams' pass D. Our best chance on O is to run an O the Rams haven't anticipated.

Interesting Youtube video of Chris Simms explaining what an NFL QB will be thinking as he looks over the defense. It demonstrates why so many QBs with the physical tools are busts in the NFL.

Formerly called a crackback block which has been illegal for years!

Here's the Australian solution to the wide right problem: 6 points if bewteen the uprights; 1 point if "behind" (the wider uprights): video at 2:34 Also shows why you occasionally see Aussie placekickers or punters in the NFL.

It's risky, that's for sure. So why do it? As has been pointed out our run game was non-existent except for Josh's runs. With zone blocking you get the DL moving laterally and gap control can be difficult. Invariably, there is a hole which the QB can scoot through. The success of the QB runs forces the defense to account for the QB as a runner and that usually takes a man out of pass coverage which makes the passing game more successful. Still, I'm worried about the wear & tear on Josh's body. Look what happened to Cam Newton.

This has been a problem for decades. In 1965 the Colts lost a sudden death playoff for the Western Conference title as a result of a last minutes Packer FG that sailed higher than the uprights and was ruled good. Photos later showed that it was beyonf the upright. The "FG that wasn't" tied the game at 10 @. The game went into overtime & the Pack won 13-10. The Pack went on to beat the Browns to claim the last NFL championship pre-Super Bowl. As a result of the blown call the height of the uprights was extended from 10 feet to 20 feet. In 1974 the height was again extended to 30 feet and to 35 feet in 2014 at the behest of the coach we love to hate, Bill Belichick. Can 50 feet be far behind? BTW the goalposts originally were right on the goal line providing an extra blocker on running plays but also an extra defender on pass plays.

Screens don't work well when the defense's back 7 are playing primarily man. In the past we didn't have enough top notch skill players on offense to force defenses to zone schemes. Now we do.

The link is correct but its not hyper. You must copy & paste it into your browser

Interesting vid evaluating Devin Singletary in pass protection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIDNvu3fiZA&feature=youtu.be

Shades of our Jack Kemp acquisition. We hornswoggled the Chargers on that one. They tried to sneak him through waivers over a weekend. Read the story here: http://www.profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/22-03-853.pdf

Good discussion. Two points: 1. WE did defense the Ravens well. Belichick knows that and he'll have analyzed what we did in that game so we better have some wrinkles to throw at him. 2. RPO is blocked as a run but the QB needn't run it if he reads run. He can hand off to the RB.

The forum has been quiet -- too quiet. So let's discuss the Run Pass Option (RPO) Cam Newton likely will be the Pats QB. At Carolina, he ran a lot of RPO. Belichick is thus quite likely to make use of it. As I understand it, the QB reads the playside safety or outside LB. If that man plays run, the QB passes; if that man plays pass, Cam will give to the RB or run it himself. I've read some articles on defensing the RPO but they weren't very clear. How will the Bills defense deal with the RPO? BTW Belichick may be building a defense to stop the RPO. see this article: https://www.si.com/nfl/patriots/gm-report/patriots-appear-to-be-building-rpo-proof-defense If so, you can bet he'll have a thorough understanding of how the RPO operates and will use it to maximum advantage so we better know how to stop it.

Re his accuracy on long throws: He's changed his throwing technique. Initially he threw his long throws on a rope. In one of the patriots' games the DBs undercut the receivers & got some interceptions or broke up the reception. Last year he put more air under his throws. He needs more practice in actual games to get used to doing that.

That's one of the theories; see the link I provided

Goodbye Mr Spalding from the Natural

On a related note, no one knows why the city is called Buffalo. I don't think that buffalo ever ranged in WNY. I know that someone will point out that the city is named after Buffalo Creek but that just shifts the question to how did the creek get its name. I once read an after-dinner speech by Grover Cleveland delivered about 1885 on this issue. I can't find it on the web now but here's a link that includes much of what was in that speech: https://owlcation.com/humanities/How-Buffalo-New-York-got-its-Name

Expect a healthy does of RPO from the patriots offense this year.

The Old Coot's memory isn't what it used to be. I think that I was thinking of the Bill's last playoff victory -- 30 Dec 1995 against the Dolphins. The Bills rushed for 341 yards. Tasker only for 7 but he did have 108 yards receiving on 5 receptions. Plus they may have run the Wing-T not the single wing. That game was also Shula's last game.