Sierra Foothills

I lied. 😄 AI Prompt: Are defensive backs taught to look back for the ball or not? Answer: The decision for a defensive back (DB) to look back for the ball depends on their position relative to the receiver and the type of coverage being played. It is not a universal rule to always look back; it's a calculated risk with situational benefits and drawbacks. When to look for the ball: When in "phase": If the DB is in a good position, often defined as being hip-to-hip or no more than an arm's length from the receiver, they are in a strong position to turn and make a play on the ball. Looking back in this scenario often results in an interception or pass breakup and helps avoid a pass interference penalty. On deep balls: On deep passes where a DB is running stride-for-stride with a receiver, turning to locate the ball is necessary to make a play. Coaches conduct "blind ball drills" where a DB practices turning their head late to track the ball and intercept it. When not to look for the ball: When out of "phase": If the DB is not in a good position, for example, a step or two behind the receiver, turning their head could cause them to lose speed and allow the receiver to gain more separation. In this situation, the DB is often taught to "play the receiver's hands" and try to swat the ball away only once the receiver's hands go up to make the catch. Reacting to a fake: Experienced receivers will often use head or shoulder fakes to trick DBs into turning early. If a DB turns to look for the ball before it is thrown, a receiver can use that opening to change direction and create easy separation. To avoid penalties: Playing through the receiver's hands without looking back can be a risky technique that invites pass interference penalties, as referees often penalize contact if the defender is not "playing the ball". Sierra Foothill take: Maybe these techniques are not universal across all coaching and that different teams/coaches have different philosophies?

I don't know what the coaching consensus is but I disagree with not looking for the ball. I would argue that: 1) A receiver can stop abruptly when the defender is blind to the ball, thus drawing an undeserved PI... the receiver doesn't even have to make an honest attempt at a catch... he can just wait till the last second and stop. 2) A defender looking for the ball makes a better case that he's playing the ball than if he's blind to the ball. 3) A defender looking for the ball has a better chance to rake the ball out.. trying to read the receivers eyes and arms can allow him to be deceived by a receiver who isn't giving any tells. We can go back and forth on this but this is as far as I'm going.

I don't know what you're suggesting. What I'm saying is that if a defender is looking back for the ball, he's less likely to run into the receiver.

There are people here who know football better than I and that insist that the cornerbacks are coached to not look back for the ball. I would not coach this way and one reason is because not looking back makes the defender more susceptible to this sort of PI situation. And how can you break up a pass or intercept a ball if you're not looking for it?

So far Doubs has dropped 2 and Kraft has dropped 1. In a game this close, one team having 3 drops is big.

Who's gonna be Hochuli's substitute for tomorrow night?

I think it stands for Yuengling.

Greg Olsen (who I thought was excellent today) described one of Cook's traits nicely when he said that Cook "gets skinny." Cook really has a knack for using his lack of size to squeeze into and out of crevices and seams.

I don't know how far Pittsburgh is gonna make it but I don't think Rodgers will be what holds them back.

Nevertheless, to look right and at the last second pivot left and throw a perfect strike to Metcalf is impressive to say the least.

Such an impressive throw by Love around Watt. Also, though he may be fragile, Christian Watson looks good in his return. On the other side, Aaron Rodgers looks to be in the best physical shape he's been since before his achilles injury.

They completely missed it... they kept talking about a guy wearing a Stetson who had his face painted... 😜

These teams strike me as very evenly matched. On another note, I was surprised to see that the NFC is 25-13 vs the AFC this year.

You're scaling everything... you're not getting small, are you?

After cleaning all day, she's gonna make you eat some "god-awful soup" for dinner?

I agree. Maybe they're playing a few different versions of dime? The DB breakdown in general is interesting.

And Dak's arm is plenty good.

Regarding your point about Hoecht, as Simon and others have pointed out, he also was taking snaps at DT so PFF didn't separate those snaps. Regarding Coleman, whether people care or not, one of the reasons he gets high snap counts is because of his run blocking.

This is a really good question. I don't have access to the All 22 so I really can't say. I'm often complaining during the games that the directors are way too interested in closeup shots and not interested enough with wide shots which often times convey more information. Answers to your question are exactly the type of insights I wish we received from the Bills beat reporters.

You never know what the recovery curve is in any given instance.. Brain injuries are mysterious.

As a few people here regularly point out, the transitive property does not apply to sports teams. Absolutely. Shaq is clearly the best LB on this team. On a related note, with all the success the Bills have running the ball, you'd think the play action stuff would be wide open but that doesn't appear to be the case. Agreed. In a nutshell I think a bunch of things are at work simultaneously. Minimally: 1) The Bills lack the kind of premier receiving target which makes an offense's job so much easier. 2) To be proficient at something requires repetition. The Bills simply don't pass enough anymore to be good at it. I almost feel like the players should be scheduling extra sessions to address their lack of cohesiveness. 3) Josh has been so ingrained with not turning the ball over that he's become tentative and unsure. His decision making has worsened and he sometimes forces it when he should check down and sometimes checks down when he should pull the trigger. 4) Brady's not good at designing an offense which schemes players open. Before the Patriots game, Collinsworth and Tirico spoke with the Bills coaching staff who made it clear that 1) Palmer was faster than they first thought and 2) Palmer was a big part of the game plan. Palmer had two big catches early on and then was injured... all in the 1st quarter I believe. That game was supposed to be his coming out party. Between his questionable injury status this week and the way the game played out it was absolutely a combination of factors which limited his snap count. Agreed. Every aspect of this football team is good enough to attain their goals, except the passing game. I'm guessing Dion was talking trash all game... as he usually does. It's ridiculous that Rapp and Bernard played as many snaps this year as they have. As others have characterized it, addition by subtraction. I would be fine if neither of them start another game for the Bills... ever. Agree with all of your points. Well stated.

The Bills win and you get bonus information but you have to complain? 😄

I know this is very important for us to know, especially on Defense so I Googled it just now and though I don't have Pro Football Focus, it wasn't behind their paywall! https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-8-recap-buffalo-bills-40-carolina-panthers-9 Defense (54 total) Christian Benford CB 54 Cole Bishop S 54 Shaq Thompson LB 54 Dorian Williams LB 47 Jordan Poyer S 45 Taron Johnson CB 45 Tre'Davious White CB 41 Michael Hoecht ED 40 Deone Walker DI 36 Greg Rousseau ED 32 Larry Ogunjobi DI 29 A.J. Epenesa ED 28 Joey Bosa ED 27 Maxwell Hairston CB 27 Jordan Phillips DI 23 Cam Lewis S 21 Ed Oliver DI 18 Joe Andreessen LB 16 Jordan Hancock S 16 Javon Solomon ED 11 Ja'Marcus Ingram CB 7 Offense (63 total) O'Cyrus Torrence G 63 Spencer Brown T 63 Connor McGovern C 52 David Edwards G 52 Dion Dawkins T 52 Josh Allen QB 52 Keon Coleman WR 46 Jackson Hawes TE 35 Khalil Shakir WR 30 Elijah Moore WR 29 James Cook HB 28 Dawson Knox TE 27 Reggie Gilliam FB 26 Tyrell Shavers WR 25 Ty Johnson HB 20 Curtis Samuel WR 19 Ray Davis HB 15 Dalton Kincaid TE 14 Alec Anderson G 12 Mitch Trubisky QB 11 Ryan Van Demark T 11 Sedrick Van Pran-Granger C 11

Maybe even he doesn't know for sure. McDermott was definitely calling the plays today when they showed him on the sidelines when the Bills D was on the field.

Just for the sake of discussion and gaining knowledge, what if an individual stepped forward and said he would give to Mangold but no one else?