A few thoughts about the Titans game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

Family weekend in Buffalo and didn't bring the laptop, hence the late posting.  Was happy to see the game in person and really see the entire field.  Some guys really shined, others....not so much

 

1 - Daboll - I'm not going to get this out of the way now.  This guy is a nightmare to me.  No, I don't know the read progressions or other nuances of what's supposed to happen, but there were so many things obvious from the stands about why he is setting up this team to fail.  First off, they ran the same play with zero success at least 3 times where Allen rolls out to his right with dump off passes in front of him and the TE drags across the field.  It was covered every single time.  Then, after the refs messed up a quick snap play, they run a throw-away play on 3rd and long.  On that same drive, we used two time outs because we couldn't figure out what we were doing.  On one of the timeouts, DiMarco was lined up at WR.  Are you kidding me?!    I also can't understand the QB keeper on 3rd and long.  You take away the turnovers that setup field goals and our TD that was a broken play, I don't know what our offense was doing today.  However, he does get credit for calling the game winning drive.

 

For those who want to talk about talent, let me remind you of Gailey.  We were fantastic on offense for a while there with Stevie, Nelson, Jones, Freddy, and Fitz.  You telling me that those guys were better than what we have now?  It's not talent.  There's much bigger problems here.  

 

2 - Milano - This kid impresses me more every game.  He's turning into one of our best defensive players.  Watching him in real time fly to the ball, hack at the ball, and just make tackles was beyond fun.  Don't get me wrong, the whole defense was moving well and Edmunds is improving weekly, but Milano is turning into a force.  I love watching him play and hope to see him continue his progression.  He plays very aggressive, as does the defense forcing the turnovers we had.  I'm loving seeing it all come together.

 

3 - Phillips - I'm sorry, where the hell did this guy come from?  This dude was in the backfield quite a bit and then running all over the field to get the fan hyped up.  I don't know what they showed on TV, but he was running behind the qb after plays jumping up and down trying to get the fans into it.  It was fantastic.  Great pickup this past week and great to see him integrate so quickly.  His teammates loved it.

 

4 - I don't tip, I don't believe in it. She don't make enough money she can quit. I don't tip because society says I have to, I'll tip if someone really puts forth the effort. Tipping automatically is for the birds....She only filled my coffee cup 3 times, I want it filled 6 times.

 

5 - Allen - If I showed you Allen's stat line at the end of last season, most of us would think that Tyrod was still our starter.   Allen was off today.  He had a lot of low throws and missed a critical 3rd down throw to a surprisingly open Benjamin.  The game plan was to run the ball, but to not break 100 yards is scary at home.  You can't blame the pressure today as Allen had more than enough time most of the game.  Yes, we are 2-2 with him starting.  A BIG shout out to the fact that he led the game winning drive.  But honestly, I don't know what I'm seeing from him to make me believe that he can be the guy.  It's not just the talent around him.  It's not just Daboll.  Truth is, I don't know what it is.  Probably a little of everything.  But right now, I'm not feeling much better about Allen than I did when he started game 2.  

 

6 - Wide Receivers - On the flea flicker to start the game, it was Kelvin and Zay running deep.  Both were blanket covered and I was proud Allen for just throwing it away.  It's been talked about on here since the game, but Kelvin should not be the guy going deep.  It looked like he jogged downfield.  There were some plays that he got open, but overall, these guys get zero separation.  I still refuse to believe that these guys don't care or forgot how to play.  They get open just fine on crossing routes, but I think Daboll's route tree is so uninspired that defenses are sitting all over it.

 

7 - Running game/Offensive Line - This was easily the best week for our offensive line and rushing attack.  Allen had time to throw and we got a majority of our 3rd and short rushing yards.  There were solid holes and Shady looked quick as ever.  Ivory was a perfect change of pace back who bruised the defense.  If not for these two factors, I don't think we are winning this game.

 

8 - Defensive Tackling - Yes, we held them to 12 points and yes we won.  However, I'm starting to get concerned with our defensive tackling.  Both on Special Teams and plays in the backfield, we are letting guys break free for big gains for what should be losses.  I'm not talking about Hughes letting go of Mariota, as that's a whole other embarassment by the league.  I've overall worried about how this is going to bite us when we are in a close battle against a better team.  I think it will haunt us.

 

9 - Clay - Where has Clay been all season?  He had his one catch over the middle that made me remember the games he had last year.  He's healthy and a mismatch.  Why are we not using him  more?  Daboll?  It's pathetic the waste of talent we have there.

 

10 - Bojorquez - Not be old school, but aren't kickers supposed to be seen and not heard?  We are 5 games into the season and he's cost us points now twice.  His misunderstanding of us doing a fake FG cost us again.  Also, his punts do not get enough hang time to allow our defense to get downfield to cover.  I'm not feeling the love with this kid, regardless of the stats.  He does pin some guys in the 20, but he also hurts us more than a punter should be able too.

 

 

I'm sorry if these thoughts feel off.  I feel off about the team.  The defense is coming together, but getting wasted by the offense.  We beat a team that now has two games where they didn't score a touchdown.  Is that a win for us or a loss for them?  Clay, Shady, were weapons last year that we can't seem to fully utilize.  Other teams do so much more on offense with less.  When does that change here?  Are we going to have to fire Daboll and start from scratch again next season?  Will Beane even know how to hire an offensive guy as the good ones are getting the HC jobs now.  

 

We need to figure out something on offense.  

 

Go Bills!

 

[Buftex]

#4 makes you kind of a dick.

 

As for the rest, agree about the lack of use of Clay and McCoy...but I am not writing off Daboll just yet.  I like some of what I see from his game plan...I will give them a season to see how things pan out. I do like some of the screens that they have been running...use guys on the roster, you may find out that they aren't as talentless as is percieved.  

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, Buftex said:

#4 makes you kind of a dick.

 

 

Copy, google, paste

[BillsPride12]

5 minutes ago, Buftex said:

#4 makes you kind of a dick.

 

Reservoir Dogs man! 

Edited October 10, 2018 by BillsPride12

[fansince88]

6 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Copy, google, paste

Never seen it.

[Augie]

#4? Bad karma. Move to another team if you hate the Bills, or another country if you hate our customs. If they suck it should reflect that, but they don’t live on that $2.39/hour. 

 

Just my opinion, of course. 

[B Fan in LA]

26 minutes ago, Virgil said:

5 - Allen was off today.  He had a lot of low throws and missed a critical 3rd down throw to a surprisingly open Benjamin.  The game plan was to run the ball, but to not break 100 yards is scary at home.  You can't blame the pressure today as Allen had more than enough time most of the game.  But honestly, I don't know what I'm seeing from him to make me believe that he can be the guy.  It's not just the talent around him.  It's not just Daboll.  Truth is, I don't know what it is.  Probably a little of everything.  But right now, I'm not feeling much better about Allen than I did when he started game 2.  

 

I share your feeling of trepidation, but remember, Allen is like watching your son when he was a teenager. You hope for two steps forward, one step back.

Except it doesn't always work out that way. He's a big, bold, cocky, son of a gun, we know that. But is he smart, like Brees, and Rodgers, and Brady, and many more?

We won't know that until maybe 5 years from now, if he's still playing. But if Terry Bradshaw can enter the HOF, this guy can too. Not saying he will.......

but it brings a new type of angst every Sunday watching him............better than watching TT hunt and scratch for yards..........Go Allen........Go Bills........!!!

 

[Buftex]

11 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Copy, google, paste

Sorry...how could I have forgotten?

 

[sullim4]

I think you and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of what's been happening.  Daboll is nothing short of a disaster and it worries me because this is now McD's second whiff on installing adequate leadership on the offensive side of the football.  I scratched my head when he was hired and I am still doing it 5 games into the season.

 

I don't agree with you on Allen.  He looks like he has the talent of an NFL-caliber quarterback unlike Losman, Edwards, EJ, Tyrod, etc.  However, he is in desperate need of a quarterbacks coach that can sit with him, break down his mechanics and his reads, and point out what's happening and what needs to be fixed.  We should be seeing shots of the sidelines with him talking to the coaching staff and I haven't seen a lot of that yet this season.  I think Allen can successfully develop if they get the right staff in there to develop him properly.  Otherwise yes, I fear that his talent will be wasted.

 

TL/DR: We need an offensive coaching staff that can use the talent they have to its maximum potential.  Daboll and company seem woefully inadequate at this task.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

12 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Copy, google, paste

Google, CopyPaste 

 

get it right

[npeartisgod]

Oh.My.God! 

 

Every week this guy guy includes a pop culture quote, and it is usually a Grateful Dead lyric. The tipping bit is Steve Buscemi in Resevoir Dogs.

[TheBeaneBandit]

Here come more people who can't handle criticism of the offense but i too was at the game and it is well deserved. Daboll is very uninspiring, Benjamin is a bum,  and this is the only reason I suggested possibly seeing what can they get for McCoy.  I said possibly (just see what you might could get). This team is no threat whatsoever with this offense so may as well plan ahead if you can

[Roundybout]

I think Daboll is an improvement over Dennison but still I want him to design more safety valves for Josh like have shady bubble out to the outside instead of all this deep stuff.

[Augie]

1 minute ago, npeartisgod said:

Oh.My.God! 

 

Every week this guy guy includes a pop culture quote, and it is usually a Grateful Dead lyric. The tipping bit is Steve Buscemi in Resevoir Dogs.

 

I’d prefer Dead lyrics, personally. 

[ChevyVanMiller]

I'd comment, but I'm already on to Houston.

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

First off, they ran the same play with zero success at least 3 times where Allen rolls out to his right with dump off passes in front of him and the TE drags across the field.  It was covered every single time.

 

Yeah they need to stop calling that play. It never works. I don't think it's led to a single completion this year and if it has it wasn't for a 1st. But other than that I don't necessarily have a problem with Daboll. Our interior line is terrible, our receiving group is the worst in the league, and our best TE is old and slow and banged up. The All-22 shows receivers coming open a fair amount but Allen doesn't always see them or sometimes his passes are just off. Daboll can't control that. We do seem to run a more modern offense at least. I'm giving the whole offense a mulligan for this year but next year I definitely need to see more. If Allen can develop even into a game manager, with this defense we could be serious contenders next year.

[transplantbillsfan]

#1 and #5 are interconnected.

 

No, it might not be "just Daboll," but the majority of it is on him since the onus is on him for rookie QB development and he's doing a piss poor job of it so far.

 

Regarding Phillips... I assume you're referring to Jordan Phillips...?

 

If so, I agree 

[Solomon Grundy]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

Family weekend in Buffalo and didn't bring the laptop, hence the late posting.  Was happy to see the game in person and really see the entire field.  Some guys really shined, others....not so much

 

1 - Daboll - I'm not going to get this out of the way now.  This guy is a nightmare to me.  No, I don't know the read progressions or other nuances of what's supposed to happen, but there were so many things obvious from the stands about why he is setting up this team to fail.  First off, they ran the same play with zero success at least 3 times where Allen rolls out to his right with dump off passes in front of him and the TE drags across the field.  It was covered every single time.  Then, after the refs messed up a quick snap play, they run a throw-away play on 3rd and long.  On that same drive, we used two time outs because we couldn't figure out what we were doing.  On one of the timeouts, DiMarco was lined up at WR.  Are you kidding me?!    I also can't understand the QB keeper on 3rd and long.  You take away the turnovers that setup field goals and our TD that was a broken play, I don't know what our offense was doing today.  However, he does get credit for calling the game winning drive.

 

For those who want to talk about talent, let me remind you of Gailey.  We were fantastic on offense for a while there with Stevie, Nelson, Jones, Freddy, and Fitz.  You telling me that those guys were better than what we have now?  It's not talent.  There's much bigger problems here.  

 

2 - Milano - This kid impresses me more every game.  He's turning into one of our best defensive players.  Watching him in real time fly to the ball, hack at the ball, and just make tackles was beyond fun.  Don't get me wrong, the whole defense was moving well and Edmunds is improving weekly, but Milano is turning into a force.  I love watching him play and hope to see him continue his progression.  He plays very aggressive, as does the defense forcing the turnovers we had.  I'm loving seeing it all come together.

 

3 - Phillips - I'm sorry, where the hell did this guy come from?  This dude was in the backfield quite a bit and then running all over the field to get the fan hyped up.  I don't know what they showed on TV, but he was running behind the qb after plays jumping up and down trying to get the fans into it.  It was fantastic.  Great pickup this past week and great to see him integrate so quickly.  His teammates loved it.

 

4 - I don't tip, I don't believe in it. She don't make enough money she can quit. I don't tip because society says I have to, I'll tip if someone really puts forth the effort. Tipping automatically is for the birds....She only filled my coffee cup 3 times, I want it filled 6 times.

 

5 - Allen - If I showed you Allen's stat line at the end of last season, most of us would think that Tyrod was still our starter.   Allen was off today.  He had a lot of low throws and missed a critical 3rd down throw to a surprisingly open Benjamin.  The game plan was to run the ball, but to not break 100 yards is scary at home.  You can't blame the pressure today as Allen had more than enough time most of the game.  Yes, we are 2-2 with him starting.  A BIG shout out to the fact that he led the game winning drive.  But honestly, I don't know what I'm seeing from him to make me believe that he can be the guy.  It's not just the talent around him.  It's not just Daboll.  Truth is, I don't know what it is.  Probably a little of everything.  But right now, I'm not feeling much better about Allen than I did when he started game 2.  

 

6 - Wide Receivers - On the flea flicker to start the game, it was Kelvin and Zay running deep.  Both were blanket covered and I was proud Allen for just throwing it away.  It's been talked about on here since the game, but Kelvin should not be the guy going deep.  It looked like he jogged downfield.  There were some plays that he got open, but overall, these guys get zero separation.  I still refuse to believe that these guys don't care or forgot how to play.  They get open just fine on crossing routes, but I think Daboll's route tree is so uninspired that defenses are sitting all over it.

 

7 - Running game/Offensive Line - This was easily the best week for our offensive line and rushing attack.  Allen had time to throw and we got a majority of our 3rd and short rushing yards.  There were solid holes and Shady looked quick as ever.  Ivory was a perfect change of pace back who bruised the defense.  If not for these two factors, I don't think we are winning this game.

 

8 - Defensive Tackling - Yes, we held them to 12 points and yes we won.  However, I'm starting to get concerned with our defensive tackling.  Both on Special Teams and plays in the backfield, we are letting guys break free for big gains for what should be losses.  I'm not talking about Hughes letting go of Mariota, as that's a whole other embarassment by the league.  I've overall worried about how this is going to bite us when we are in a close battle against a better team.  I think it will haunt us.

 

9 - Clay - Where has Clay been all season?  He had his one catch over the middle that made me remember the games he had last year.  He's healthy and a mismatch.  Why are we not using him  more?  Daboll?  It's pathetic the waste of talent we have there.

 

10 - Bojorquez - Not be old school, but aren't kickers supposed to be seen and not heard?  We are 5 games into the season and he's cost us points now twice.  His misunderstanding of us doing a fake FG cost us again.  Also, his punts do not get enough hang time to allow our defense to get downfield to cover.  I'm not feeling the love with this kid, regardless of the stats.  He does pin some guys in the 20, but he also hurts us more than a punter should be able too.

 

 

I'm sorry if these thoughts feel off.  I feel off about the team.  The defense is coming together, but getting wasted by the offense.  We beat a team that now has two games where they didn't score a touchdown.  Is that a win for us or a loss for them?  Clay, Shady, were weapons last year that we can't seem to fully utilize.  Other teams do so much more on offense with less.  When does that change here?  Are we going to have to fire Daboll and start from scratch again next season?  Will Beane even know how to hire an offensive guy as the good ones are getting the HC jobs now.  

 

We need to figure out something on offense.  

 

Go Bills!

 

You lost me at #4!! Sincerely, the Skycap!!

[Virgil]

9 hours ago, Augie said:

 

I’d prefer Dead lyrics, personally. 

 

Sorry to disappoint. That was Bill’s thing. I did  Dave, BNL, Norah Jones, and this year I went quotes.  Just trying to find new ways to make it different 

 

A part of me wants to add the quotes, but it’s fun to watch people react to it as if it were my words 

Edited October 10, 2018 by Virgil

[Bill Murray]

Daboll is working with a rookie QB, horrible OL, and one of the worst WR groups in the league for some time.  His playcalling is conservative by design.  We ran 3 bootleg TE drags bc that’s one play Allen runs well in practice, I’m sure.

 

this isn’t the preseason... we aren’t trying to just let Allen run the big boy plays and see what happens so he gets a feel for it... WE ARE TRYING TO WIN THE GAMES!

 

unfortunately for the fans, what winning the games means in McDermottville is controlling the ball, not turning it over, and grinding out Ws.  Its not sexy, and everyone wants a fun and gun, but It’s literally the same formula from last year...

 

When the experience level, and talent level improve, they will take the training wheels off.  Until then, get used to this offense and play calling... it’s how the coaches think we have the best shot to win currently.... and based on last Sunday, it’s hard to argue with them.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Bill Murray