BackInDaDay

football can be enjoyed at multiple levels. most fans don't understand what they're seeing, and could care less.. because it in no way impacts the enjoyment they get from watching a game. at it's simplest level, you can watch the ball.. those trusted to advance it, and those trusted to stop them. that in itself, is a compelling ballet of brutal individual battles. there's no need to for a strategic understanding of how and where these anonymous gladiators meet each other, play after play - all one needs is an appreciation of how fiercely contested those meeting are. some fans think they understand what they're seeing, but their opinions are less their own - than the product of popular opinions shared by others - who also think they understand what they're seeing. the author of this piece fall into this category of fan... but his personal revelation regarding his limited understanding of the game doesn't impress me, because he qualifies his lack of understanding by assuming the game cannot be understood by anyone other than those in the huddle or on the sideline. that's just being lazy. there are no secrets on the football field - especially after the whistle.

if he plays, he needs to stay disciplined.. he was one of the chief contributors to our first half meltdown against the Pats. this was the end of the play where Williams hurt himself after biting too hard on misdirection to his left, and losing Edelman crossing to his right.

make that 3 of us.. i'd also like to point out that - for whatever reason - the Texans left Sammie in single, while giving help to both Woods and Hogan. I don't know how to make an .avi out of it, but it looks like Taylor immediately recognized that single coverage on Sammie, and as he had to adjust in the pocket - he gave a real quick look from Hogan to Woods - before stepping into his throw to Watkins. It's sweet when the safest play is the biggest play you can make. Be impressed. Be very impressed. edit - btw, any chance on increasing the size of a single .jpeg to 100KB, and increasing overall space allowed from 200KB to 300KB?

where ya think he got the idea from? rumor is Chip devised a scheme to enjoy more girls by speeding things up, but like in Philly.. no one's satisfied

yep.. thanks Cover1 for reminding me of this TD.. hope you don't mind, but i thought i'd add some pics (hope they can be viewed) so others might appreciate what you're describing. this is the unbalanced line - along with twins right and our FB right -that got them rotating their safeties to that side - leaving SS Demps in their deep middle. i'm guessing if Demps hadn't rotated so far, he may have been Clay's target, and Cushing would have been your 'alley' defender for Felton - leaving Taylor to option Simon on the mesh with McCoy. just shows you how you can beat a team before the snap by knowing how they'll react to formations and motion. this is Felton engaged 1:1 with their their SAM (Simon), Clay taking on their MIKE (Cushing, after chipping Watt). Demps is flat-footed in EZ - trying to find the ball.. now, i'm thinking Taylor was pleasantly surprised to find he had a FB lead on this , so he just ha to decide whether to cut it up, or race contain to the pylon. looks like Felton finally found something to go after on the backside (maybe enough to keep the coach happy), as Taylor makes the play if you didn't bring this play up, i woudn't have taken the time to look deeper at it.. and that's where you really get an appreciation for what goes into a play. thanks Cover1, i'm off to look up the Wrap play - should i start with the Ducks?

these are the games that cause coaches to utter "it's hard to win in the NFL' .. there's very little difference between the teams we're fighting for a playoff berth with. i think the last two weeks illustrate this. we could have won or lost both. there's very little that separates each team in the league, but the teams that struggle share the same major fault - inconsistency every one of our wins, and every one of our losses comes down to the following factors - and which team can get the edge in more of them on game day. consistently gaining the edge in more of them - from week to week - is how you string a winning season together. my point is, this isn't just a failure of the Bills - it's what keeps teams from taking the step up to championship caliber play.. but for now - to keep winning - our team has to find a way to keep being the better team at what it can control. creating game plans that are effective and adjustable preparing players to make plays and play smart/under-control football managing the game intelligently - from adjustments, to time management and challenges for instance - using the evenly matched KC and Houston teams as examples - in KC, we lost the edge in 1 and 3 by half-time. both our offense and defense were on the ropes after initially taking control. with Houston, we kept the edge in all three. our initial offensive game plan and subsequent adjustment moved the ball all game, and our defense adjusted well enough to make the stops they had to. As far as the season's gone so far - i think all three of these factors have reared their heads at some point during our season. i'm hoping to see more consistency in 1 and 3. in defense of the staff and coordinators, this war of attrition that is the NFL, has placed significant stress on player availability. it's the same across the league, but we've had some injuries where the talent gap was a serious drop off between starter and back-up. that said, there have been some head-scratching game plans and adjustments from both sides of the ball that i don't think are all attributable to the personnel. for me, the most impressive turn around has been the second factor. if we get a rep for being the team under control, maybe we don't get as many calls against us. considering that there's an infraction of some type on every play, the refs won't become "over officious jerks" unless they feel they should be. kinda like a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'... that is, if they think you're an undisciplined bunch of meatheads, they'll penalize you - because not penalizing an 'undisciplined bunch of meatheads' means they're not doing their job well. it's not supposed to work like that at this level of football, but i'm thinking it still does. so our efforts in cleaning up our act, and avoiding play killing whistles, has been a huge improvement. can we get the edge in enough of these factors, in enough of our upcoming games, to make the playoffs? i hope so.. but if not - i hope the consolation prize is seeing us becoming more consistent in getting the edge in more of them, in more games, than we've been.

yes.. and very well. today, his game looked similar to what you'd expect from Russell Wilson. he looked healthy, and wasn't abandoning the pocket early. great gameplan bu Roman, and great execution by Taylor.. very impressive.

the idea is to keep them on the field without substitution, and to limit the damage they can do in the backfield.. any long developing play is risky if they're playing on our side of the ball.. which is why our ability to pull our linemen should be more effective after Crennel decides to start throwing some zone blitz and other shallow cover schemes at us. but i think middle screens to either McCoy or Clay, would definitely be of use - along with the option of hitting WR screens out of twin and trip formations that employ rubs on their cover men.. throw the spread O book at em if we can.. move them wide, and strike the middle

yep.. one of our favorite misdirections isthat play that begins as a naked boot off a fake sweep, with the TE running a flat route to the boot side.. it's one of those plays designed to force a single defender into choosing to force contain the QB or play coverage

.. it seems that way, but alot of that's on our players.. they have to make plays when the play works. unlike the Hackett teams, we're schematically sound - as in, our receivers aren't dragging coverage into each other's routes - and our O linemen are executing more complex blocking schemes that actually create running lanes. why Tyrod has developed middle-phobia is anyone's guess.. routes are being run that are coming open in there, so i'm guessing Roman wants the plays made. but that's the growing pain of a virtual 1st year player at QB. and there are also some inside cutbacks there for the taking - that McCoy has missed trying to take the corner. the line and receivers are really doing a good job on the backside. it's not a biggie, because some of those powers get a guy as quick and talented as Shady upfield, anyway.. but it's just another little execution thing that can make the difference in keeping a the chains moving.

KC seemed more interested in defending gaps. i was surprised by the lack of pressure they put on Taylor, especially up the middle. like Watt, Hali moves from side to side. he got that strip sack in the 3rd coming from our right, but he was handled well almost the entire game by both Glenn or Henderson. i think Houston went out in the 2nd, but before that, his only pressure came in the 1st - on a bull rush that Henderson held up long enough to allow Taylor to complete his throw without even resetting his feet. i think Romeo is gonna let the dogs out against our QB, and force him to scramble, throw short, or take the sack. that's why i'm thinking that going into the game with a quick passing game in mind helps get the ball out under our terms. hmm. Romeo vs Roman.. let the games begin

good level-setter.. maybe if the question was - which makes an NFL offense more productive, the QB or the O line? - folks could stay on topic. but my problem with the premise of that argument, is that we're asked to examine the two in a vacuum that defies the reality of the environment in which they both participate. there are skill position players, position coaches, an offensive coordinator, and head coach that factor into the equation.. and once you introduce all of these variables into in the equation, you'd be remiss in not considering the strength of the team's defense - when considering what level of risk is acceptable to offensive game plan. for instance, the thoughts we share about us opening up our offensive attack against Houston is a response to how i think we match-up against the potential devastating nature of their current defense. there is the risk of executing such an attack without having executed it in game situations before, but the reward might be a healthy QB and enough points to win. the ability of our defense to contain the Texans' O in a game where we'd sacrifice time of possession due to such an O game plan - has to be considered. if i'm the HC, and i think my D is up to the task, that allows me to consider that offensive game plan an option. an option specifically designed to help our O line neutralize their D linemen and LBs. the OP is a great place to start the discussion, and i applaud your attempt to keep things focused - as we're probably only a post or two away from another 'Tyrod sucks' hijacking - but it's hard, at least for me, to remain at such a simple level. it's almost like asking which is more valuable to the English language, the letter A, or B?

some of you may remember Terry Metcalf of the St Louis Cardinals.. McCoy's springing into his cuts and leaving defenders flat-footed, reminds me of him. i'm really impressed with McCoys work inside, but i wonder what his yac would be if we could get him involved in the passing game more - and not just on go routes, but quick curls/stops/slants where he cuts across the face of a defender. jeez, this team has offensive talent.. even without the Harvin/Goodwin speed in the lineup, or when missing Karlos. while i'm on the subject of our roster, does anyone know who's our backup QB Sunday?

i hear ya.. and the fact that we've never run anything like it, doesn't mean we're unprepared or incapable of executing it - but it probably does.. but man, what a way to frustrate a D - especially when it's unexpected

the idea is to get him through the game by getting the ball out his hand quickly - in a way that moves the chains. there aren't too many post snap options to read in a spread option passing game - the idea is to identify where you're going pre snap, where formation and personnel isolate a defender and force him to choose where to defend - allowing the QB to go where he doesn't. i don't know if Roman - who from pre-season reports - loves to play 'what if' while game planning, even has toyed with the idea of running such an O.. even if just to surprise an opponent. we seem to be rather methodical.. which isn't a bad thing.. i just don't think it's the way to approach this game. i'm thinking the O we've been running attacks the Texans' defensive strengths, and we have to do something that backs them off.

the conversation is offense boys.. plenty of 'our D sucks' posts out there for you - if that's all ya got

just a thought.. considering our weapons, our injuries, and the Texans resurgent D - the best way to neutralize their attacking style, may be to take a page of what's been effective against us - play quickly out of 3, 4, 5 receiver sets. if our O line could stand the strain, our split ends could beat their press, and Tyrod could hit horizontal short routes running to open space - including the middle of the field! - it may be an effective plan that forces them to adjust to us, early. we can't live on the boundaries this game.. there's no way Taylor will have the time he had against KC to set those up.. i expect him to be flushed within 3 seconds of getting the ball in his hands. they're gonna come hard, and we have to set them back on their heels. our usual 'trap and counter' game will be chewed up in the backfield before we can get numbers laterally and upfield. why waste McCoy in there until Crennel backs off.. and don't waste time chipping Watt and Clowney.. flex Clay and/or Gragg wide enough to get into their routes or downfield blocks without getting caught in traffic. just get the damn ball out! maybe we can't execute this, but if Roman doesn't get them before they get us - it's gonna be one big $hitball * rolling downhill fast. note * - apologies to mr lahey

tom cable's zone blocking schemes and marshawn lynch's ability to transform ( like terrel davis and clinton portis did for shanahan) into a fine one-cut power back is what made russell's job simpler - that and pete carroll's adapting some collegiate spread option ideas into his O (see auburn's malzahn). before the league transformed into a 7 on 7 drill to increase offensive touches that could be spread across enough players to satisfy several fantasy league rosters - an O line was the foundation upon which a consistently productive O was built. now, as Marcell's quote points out - the relevance of engaging and holding blocks has become secondary to offensive execution. so, yeah.. grab yourself a spread option athlete who can make all the throws.. while you're at it.. grab a few.. and change Al's old mantra from 'just win, baby' to 'plug and play, baby'

np.. i can understand how some walk away from viewing a game with an 'impression' that this player performed well, and this one didn't.. but it's not called "coach's film" for nothing.

well, he hasn't fought anyone over lawn furniture yet, so he's not that far gone yet

well, there's that.. the thing is, Roman's still threatening the center, and guys are coming free - so the expectation is there to make the plays. let's hope it just as simple as him not developing a sense of anticipation on these, yet - because i do like the skills he brings

guess somebody has to go back to earlier games to see when his aversion to the middle of the field began.. because his skipping past those is becoming a tendency that DCs will make note of. it's not just the horizontal routes, it's the seams, too. strange.

great work, Yolo. from someone who also watched each offensive Bills play on O, two things jumped out.. and one, you referenced in my breakdown of Henderson.. 1- Taylor had a clean pocket to work from most passing plays, considering how long he took to either pass, or abandon it. 2 -there were a few plays to be made in the deep/medium middle - to Woods, Clay, Hogan and Watkins - that Taylor either didn't see, or wouldn't pull the trigger on

.. and here's the 'wiff' on Hali in the 2nd qtr - a few Chiefs got there too late to keep Taylor from completing the pass -

here's the Houston bull rush in the 1st qtr - the hit came from Hali after beating Clay on our left side -