dave mcbride

Gotta say, the whole approach of "rely on Josh to make the free rusher miss and then manufacture a play" seems like a pretty unsustainable approach. I feel like we saw this vs. Atlanta and early on in the Tampa game too.

The Jets may well get the number one pick in 2026, and they are arguably tanking right now. They traded their two best defensive players and benched their QB. I am not sure Fields is better than Taylor, but he is capable of a big offensive game in one out of every 4-5 games. I wouldn’t say that about Tyrod at this point. Also, circle the date: December 21. That’s this year’s tank bowl, with the Jets traveling to New Orleans.

“6. Two-minute drill: Bills' predictable offense? Bills quarterback Josh Allen took eight sacks, and his offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, took criticism from some analysts for overusing mesh concepts on third down in a 23-19 defeat at Houston. What's the truth? On the sack front, the Bills have empowered Allen to handle free rushers instead of leaning on intricate protection schemes to do the job, according to coaches familiar with Buffalo. Allen can make defenders miss and break away from their grasp as well as just about any quarterback. He can also play freer without directing more of his energy and preparation toward setting protections. But with Allen taking sacks at a higher rate this season (7.9 percent) than in any since he was a rookie (eight percent), that's an area the team might be wise to revisit. The Bills have also led the NFL in rate of plays using five-man protection, the minimum number possible, in each of Brady's two seasons as coordinator, per TruMedia. The answer is nuanced regarding Brady's love for mesh concepts, which deploy receivers running shallow crossing routes to create natural rubs against man coverage in particular. Critics had a point Thursday night when Brady called mesh concepts on failed third-down plays with 1, 3 and 6 yards to go for a first down. Houston played Cover 3 Seam and Cover 1 defenses on these plays, ideal schemes for either defending crossing traffic (Cover 3 Seam) or making tackles immediately before the sticks (Cover 1). On the one mesh rep against zone Thursday night, Allen found no one open and tried running up the middle, only to have Texans linebacker Denzel Perryman slam him to the ground from behind with great force. Mesh was a successful go-to concept for the Bills last season, but Buffalo's effectiveness on those plays has plummeted in 2025. How Brady adjusts will be important for Buffalo.” https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6808180/2025/11/24/chiefs-eagles-playoffs-super-bowl-hopes/

Anyone who watches football and thinks Elam has been better than any of the Bills CBs this year is bananas. The Bills pass D is actually ok, relatively speaking. It’s the run D that’s the problem. For years, PFF has been penalizing CBs in heavy zone schemes because of the separation numbers. But that is how the D is supposed to be run.

From Diana Russini in The Athletic today. Thoughts on this idea? I confess to really liking it! But I realize it’s unlikely to happen. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6828031/2025/11/22/nfl-rumors-news-joe-burrow-brandon-aiyuk-shedeur-sanders/ ‘And finally, save some room on your Thanksgiving table for a special Wednesday edition of the column. With luck, it will give you some good NFL chatter to discuss with those cousins you see once a year. Here’s a safe debate topic that doesn’t involve politics: Would the NFL ever implement a minimum number of wins a team must reach to keep its first-round draft pick? My friends over at “Pardon My Take” were using their weird but brilliantly wired brains to dream up ways to prevent tanking in the NFL, and I’ll admit it — Big Cat and PFT Commenter might actually be onto something. If a rule like this ever passed, some of Sunday’s Week 18 slate would instantly become must-watch TV for teams outside the playoff picture, scrambling for that final win to retain a top-three pick. Think of it as an unorthodox, chaotic, American spin on relegation in global soccer. So, of course, I had to ask around the league. Here’s what I heard, via text: • “Wowwwwwwwww. I love that. No tanking!” — AFC executive • “They won’t do that. They should.” — NFL owner • “Zero chance that ever happens. The league loves parity.” — NFC team president • “December would be nuts. We’d be starting injured veterans just to scrape out a third win, so we don’t lose our shot at a franchise QB.” — NFC head coach • “You think coaches get fired fast now? Imagine if this became a thing?” — Super Bowl-winning veteran And from a GM who said such a plan would have no shot: “Just because you get the first pick doesn’t mean you’ll get it right,” he argued. “Put a team out there that competes and let the chips fall. The Mavericks had like a .1% chance of getting the first pick and ended up with (Cooper) Flagg.”’

Kind of strange for people to be attacking Rousseau after a game in which the defense gave up 17 points on the road (6 points came off of Bills’ turnovers deep in their own end and where the D prevented TDs), gave up only 261 yards (4.7 yards per play), and held their opponent to 2-12 on 3rd down. The defense gave up some points, as all NFL defenses do, but neither it nor Rousseau are the reason they lost that game. Anything under 20 points given up is a win in today’s NFL.

Re: missed tackles, never forget the Bengals.

Definitely confirms @Einstein’s take.

The texans scored less than 20. The bills turned it over twice in fg range and held them to fgs.

Believe what you want to believe. I can think of a half dozen subpar plays by him in a game where his supporting cast also played poorly. Two things can both be true.

Allen had a fairly poor game but I agree about the receivers. There was a lot of hidden yardage in those sacks in the sense that Allen repeatedly passed up 4-5 yard sacks and instead took 8-12 yard sacks. It was frustrating to watch. He played pretty out of control, generally speaking, although of course his line and receivers didn’t help. His first pick was awful too. He had time and misread the field. He had open guys underneath. I also think he made a very poor decision going after stingley on the boundary on the final set of downs. That was a no-chance play.

Well, the D essentially held the texans to zero points in the second half. The fg was attributable to Shakir’s fumble in houston fg range.

I can’t get too down on the defense. They effectively gave up zero points in the second half. The only points houston scored were the three they got after the shakir fumble in FG range.

Irrelevant because of the penalty. The much, much bigger issue was not running a tush push on third down. It almost always works, and they HAD to get a first there. And they should have run it on fourth down as well if they weren’t going to run it on third. Get up to the line quickly and force it through.

Irrelevant. It would have been called back. The real issue is not running a tush push on either 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 . Effing inexcusable. You need a first above all else. That play works.

Back to the 4th down call: that was a true “deserve to lose” play call. On fourth and a long 1, that play call never works. More specifically, it has never worked for the Bills in recent times.

I knew they were going to pass it there after three straight meager runs on first down. Houston knew it too.

Brady is being seriously outcoached.

Yeah, first posession. Pass to Hawes.

All legit calls. It’s been a problem two seasons running, and that is coaching.

Again, I hate to be that guy, but it is in the league’s interest for Houston to win this game. The refs are an issue.

One penalty on the Int return, which was blatant. To be fair it saved the bills four points.

And should have more.

This defense is so, so bad. One of the worst offenses in the league should have 30 if not for errant throws to wide open receivers under no duress.

Really, if not for some errant throws to wide open receivers with no pressure, the Texans would have 30 in the first half.