dave mcbride

White was called twice for defensive holding while covering Hopkins in that game. Hopkins had 2 catches for 27 yards and a TD vs White in that game. The other three receptions weren’t against White. It’s also worth pointing out that the coverage was excellent on the TD (just look at the photo). A great player simply made a great play.

It is also completely hilarious that Shaq Barrett didn’t even make their second team. 19.5 sacks, 37 qb hits, 6 forced fumbles, and a pick. He was utterly dominant. I definitely agree with you about this.

Any site that grades White as the 15th best CB in the league is useless.

I strongly believe Micah Hyde is one of the best safeties in the league. He runs that defense out there.

He also says that there were 21 plays in which he was beat and the qb didn’t connect, but doesn’t mention that the Bills played 5 games in absolutely dreadful conditions for qbs (4 with 20+ mph winds) that will change how a defense approaches its pass D.

I don’t think they play favorites as much as rely on a flawed system that simply can’t deal with the complexity of 22 moving parts on every play. Just as importantly, all of those moving parts are playing within schemes that vary from play to play based on an always evolving situational context, and PFF isn’t privy to the directives that coaches are issuing to their players.

Did you PFF writer Sam Monson’s staggeringly stupid thread about Tre White? There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. It’s as if he’s completely unaware that the Bills run a matchup-zone system. https://mobile.twitter.com/PFF_Sam/status/1212044325250580480

... zero Bills on either the first or second team defense. The Bills finished 2nd in points allowed, 3rd in yards allowed, 3rd in opposing team passer rating, 3rd in net yards per passing attempt allowed, 2nd in passing tds allowed, 10th in turnovers forced, 2nd in points allowed per drive, 4th in yards allowed per drive, and 5th in plays allowed per drive. They were also ranked 5th in overall defensive DVOA by Football Outsiders, for what it’s worth. Analytics! https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2019-pff-nfl-all-pro-team

I don’t know. I kinda doubt Daboll ran a NE system at Bama, and in any event Tua only played for one half plus an OT possession under Daboll (in catch-up mode for the most part too).

Relative to this conversation, I thought you’d find this piece of info from Albert Breer interesting: ”Dolphins offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea was let go, and I’m told that part of it was Brian Flores’s desire to move away from his Patriot roots on that side of the ball. Why does that make sense? My theory is that since Miami’s going to be really young the next couple years, running a scheme with the complexity of New England’s might be tough on the players developmentally. Which is why it wouldn’t surprise me if we see some more college ideas infused into what Miami is doing.” https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/12/31/nfl-black-monday-coaching-rumors-mock-draft

I'd actually prefer that their best players be hobbled by injury given that they're arguably the better team on paper and playing at home. Exactly.

You think Walsh would have made chicken salad with that horrendous line, those qbs, those garbage receivers, and no credible TE to speak of?

The "Daboll era." The "Gailey era" averages out to about 22nd, but I don't want to play that game. The context of individual years matters. Please factor in that context, particularly the historically bad offensive roster last season. You're better than that, man.

Watt has historically destroyed the Bills. He basically won the 2014 game single-handedly (9 QB hits - 9! -, one of which caused a game ending INT, and a pick-six), completely dominated in the 2012 game, and was unblockable in the game last season. He also played well in the game the Bills won in 2015, with a bunch of tackles and a TFL.

Agreed. I expect Watt to be a force in this game. He was playing really well early in the season (21 qb hits in just 8 games), and my understanding is that the tear wasn't a major one. I expect he'll be fine.

Yeah, he's terrible. He's also wildly inconsistent, which is almost worse than the poor ypp average. I swear to god it seems like his ypp in the final five minutes of games is 20 ypp.

DePodesta deserves this. He is really, really smart, and if he had had more clout previously, the Browns would be in a lot better shape.

Speaking of ST, Hauschka made 14 of his last 15 FG attempts this season, which was a very nice bounceback from a rough first half.

They were not a good offense in 2012: 21st in points, 19th in yards, 20th in offensive DVOA, and 28th in offensive turnovers. That's not the worst in the world, but it's basically where the Bills' offense was this season albeit with worse turnover numbers.

Perhaps. I will say this: Gailey has been 50-50 with Fitz: good in 2011 and 2015, basement-level in 2010 and 2016, and a little below average in 2012. The scrambles can accurately be described as passing plays that broke down, but the designed runs are genuine rushing plays.

I of course know that some OCs are better than others. That goes without saying. But saying that the Bills are 30th in scoring since he arrived and failing to mention that the Bills fielded arguably the worst offensive talent in franchise history last season is sophistic arguing. Bill Walsh would have had the same results as Daboll last season. I'm also not saying that Daboll is Gailey's equal, but I do want to see him run an offense with good overall talent. Hopefully, the Bills will have that next season. True, but they did finish 24th in pass attempts and 6th in rushing attempts. Context is important - most teams pass more than they run now.

That is, without question, the funniest tweet of the year. Everyone in this thread: do yourself a favor and watch this.

The Bills' offensive rankings were poor in his other two seasons in Buffalo, however. As for 2011, they did have a great start, averaging 30 points and 380 yards over the first seven games. I'd also argue that Fred Jackson was playing like a first-team all-pro that season (and far better than the RB combo we have now). The offense really pretty much cratered after he went down. Also note that the Bills' offense had a ton of turnovers in 2011 - 30 (25th worst in the league). They ended up 11th this season and would have finished higher if not for Barkley's trifecta of turnovers on Sunday. They had 16 going into week 17. As I've said elsewhere, it's really about the players. Gailey has overseen some good offenses and some very bad offenses (the Jets finished 26th in points, 30th in yards, and 31st in offensive turnovers his final season in NY). There's a pretty strong correlation between the players he had and the offensive performance. I like Gailey; don't get me wrong. I think he's a good schemer. But it's a simple fact that Daboll has been plagued by poor talent in all of his stops in the NFL.

That is an INSANE story. Wow. Sullivan is in no way comparable to Mehta.