dave mcbride

Dude. My god. A) it was 35 yards and b) #53 was covering him, not Edmunds. Hate Edmunds all you want, but please, please don’t make stuff up out of whole cloth to advance a pretty friggin’ dumb crusade built out of misguided spite. It’s unbecoming, as all crusades are. Material evidence: .

Albert Breer in SI today: ‘There’s no sugarcoating it—Justin Fields hasn’t looked good for two weeks. So I figured the time was right to try and figure out what the tape is telling teams that are studying him. And the answers I got were pretty interesting. “It’s a combination of a lot of things,” says one AFC exec. “Protection isn’t great, and when he does start getting hit, he starts to drop eyes. The biggest issue is he’s not seeing the field—he has guys open at times and doesn’t pull the trigger. On top of that, he’s had some misses. They’re actually probably doing too much, in terms of pass options. . . . It’s a good scheme. [Offensive coordinator] Luke [Getsy] was probably hoping he took the next steps in the pass game. There’s no rhythm in the offense right now because the quarterback can’t see it.” Along those lines, another exec says he saw similarities over the past two weeks to where Fields was in his development during his rookie year under the previous staff. “It’s trying to make him a pocket passer and not doing enough to get him out on the edges where he has easier throws, because he can hurt you with his running ability,” says the NFC exec. “Everyone’s gonna play him the same—keep him in the pocket and make him feel like the rush is closing. And then his eyes will come down and he can’t find open guys. And the offensive line is not good, so he will keep feeling pressure.” So what’s the answer for Getsy and coach Matt Eberflus? First and foremost, it seems as if the big thing is what it’s always been for Fields—the Bears have to get him playing faster. And going back to college, he always played faster when the running game was working, and he knows where he’s going with the ball. Of course, creating those circumstances for a quarterback is easier said than done.‘ https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/09/19/week-2-nfl-notes-patrick-mahomes-contract-justin-fields-development-brian-burns-trade-options

It might well be the worst call ever. Maybe the tuck rule is comparable, but that's at least a rule and hence not really a terrible call (just a bad rule).

good game for Brown!

This is pretty good. Hard to pin down specific blame, though; it might be players simply running bad routes. But of course that's coaching too. The Davis route was really poor.

It makes no sense because it’s effing stupid. A lot of people have been militating against this rule for years but with no success. The announcers are too in the tank with the league to make this obvious point.

It’s the stupidest rule of all. Just freaking dumb in every respect.

Worst rule in all of team sports globally and it ain’t even close.

I hate to bring this up, but Jimmy G is 41-17 as a starting QB. He played well against a talented Denver D too. And Davante Adams is arguably the best WR in the league. The Bills are going to need to put up points in this one. I don't know how good the Raiders defense is, but Maxx Crosby vs. Spencer Brown strikes me as a problem.

Anyone else worried about LDE Maxx Crosby vs. RT Spencer Brown?

I'm not saying run it every play; I'm saying shift to a run-heavy under-center mode with a non-fumbler, work in play action, and don't turn the goddamn ball over and you'll likely win. Murray never fumbles, and making safe passes on occasion gets you another field goal opportunity or two. It's not like they were passing to set up the run or running to set up the pass; they ran only to slow down the d-line pass rush (or so it seemed) and got into a chuck-and-duck mode that resulted in a ton of turnovers. The only way you lose to Zack Wilson with a ten-point lead is if you play high-risk pass-the-ball-75-percent-of-time-against-an-elite-pass-defense, and that's exactly what they did. Allen was horrible, but the game plan didn't change to account for circumstances and that's on the OC.

83.4 is a very low grade from him and he was quite tough on Allen (deservedly so). He seems to be basically arguing that Allen performed poorly 17 percent of the time, which isn't a road to success. Anyway, I wouldn't equate his grading system with that used for a ninth grade math test.

It's more about situational football -- having a lead against a team with a very bad QB and sticking with a pass-heavy attack when you could play smash-mouth with a non-fumbling tackle breaker (Murray) with some play-action mixed in and then cruise to victory. Dorsey stuck with his initial gameplan despite the circumstances drastically changing (i.e., Rogers going down at the very beginning of the game). When the facts on the ground change and the situation calls for something else that might not be as flashy but which will more likely lead to a victory, you adjust. He didn't.

I was a defender too. The good ol’ days!

Your choice, but I'd read the entire thing rather than dismissing it because you disagree about the interpretation of one particular play.

That kick occurred in a blinding rainstorm.

From The Athletic this morning: https://theathletic.com/4858584/2023/09/13/bills-offense-josh-allen/ Allen took five sacks and nine hits. He was hit on five of his scrambles, too. So where did the pressure come from? According to TruMedia, Spencer Brown was the main culprit with four pressures allowed. O’Cyrus Torrence and Connor McGovern each allowed three pressures, and Mitch Morse and Dion Dawkins each allowed two. Assigning credit and blame for pressures and sacks isn’t always cut and try, so we went back through to see where things went wrong. Sack one: Brown was walked back into the quarterback and clearly deserves blame for the sack. Sack two: This one actually looked like a design run on which Allen got poor blocking and had nowhere to go. Hit three: Allen was hit on an incomplete pass early in the Bills’ only touchdown drive. Again Brown got overpowered and thrown back into Allen, who rushed an off-target throw that Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley dropped. Sack three: With 40 seconds left in the first half, Allen dropped back and had a decent pocket. But the Jets sent six rushers, and Allen didn’t get rid of the ball quickly. Instead, he stepped forward into the pocket and fell into a sack for a short loss. Sack four: Midway through the third quarter Allen had a clean pocket after faking a handoff to James Cook. He dropped his eyes almost immediately and then stumbled to the ground for a sack. This one was entirely on Allen. Hit six: On the next play, Mitch Morse got beat clean, knocking Allen off his spot. Allen launched a pass into double coverage intended for Stefon Diggs that became his second interception of the night. Sack five: Early in the fourth quarter, the Jets sent five rushers. Again, Allen’s eyes dropped when he thought he saw a running lane. But Jermaine Johnson beat Connor McGovern and brought Allen down for the sack. Hit eight: The Jets got a free blitzer through, which happens. Allen made a great play to avoid the rush and flip the ball to Latavius Murray for a decent gain. Hit nine: With 16 seconds left in regulation, Torrence allowed pressure but not before Allen got plenty of time to hang in the pocket and try a deep pass to Gabriel Davis down the sideline. This wasn’t much of a negative play for the offensive line. Brown’s inconsistency is a problem but not a surprising one. The Bills started to give him extra help, so they understand this is an issue. The more concerning trend was Allen dropping his eyes early on multiple occasions. That’s a habit that was more common from him in 2018 and 2019. He’s either not trusting his protection, not trusting his receivers to get open or not trusting what he’s reading in the defense. Maybe it’s a combination of the three.

A bit deceiving. Sony Michel had 931 yards in 2018 and the Eagles finished 3rd in rushing yards in 2017. Also in 2018, the Pats finished 3rd in rushing attempts and 5th in rushing yards. Good RBs are an asset provided you have a great QB (which the Bills have).

But in a game where Zach Wilson is the emergency backup QB, another FG would have sealed the deal. As I have said in other threads, look at Murray’s fumble stats in the last 750 or so carries: one fumble. And he breaks tackles.

Welcome back, AKC! D-line equity FTW! 😀

Not my point, but whatever. I've said multiple times that Allen was terrible and blew the game. But more than one thing can be wrong with an offense.

The week before: https://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore/_/gameId/401326626

We can agree to disagree. I don't buy what you're selling and you don't buy what I'm selling. Fair enough. For the record, though, I thought that Allen was godawful last night and cost them the game. I mean, that's freaking obvious. But more than one thing can be wrong on a team.

See my point above about situational awareness - both of the score and the quality of the opposing offense. And they literally signed a big back who almost never fumbles.