9/22 Around the NFL - Post about games other than the bills here

[Happy]

Just now, apuszczalowski said:

You don't have to stop scoring or go conservative on offence just because you have a good defence

It almost backfired on them today

 

 

I agree.  Almost backfired against the Jets week 1.

I don't understand the "protect a lead" philosophy, which is like a prevent defense; they just prevent you from winning.

[apuszczalowski]

28 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Well, considering there were only three QBs with a longer active streak of 200 yard games going into today (Mahomes and Big Ben with 17 and Watson with 10), eight in a row is not insignificant.

Did either of those teams celebrate that stat? Probably not since 200 yards from Ben or Mahommes would be considered bad games for them

Its great that the Bills finally have a QB again who is reaching that milestone, but its kind of embarrassing to make a big deal about it in a time where QBs are putting up 300-400 yards regularly

[whatdrought]

47 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Looking forward to the eagles starting 1-3. This town will implode. All off-season on sports radio people were predicting a 13 win season.

 

I really thought they'd be solid... No idea what happened... 

[K-9]

6 minutes ago, apuszczalowski said:

Did either of those teams celebrate that stat? Probably not since 200 yards from Ben or Mahommes would be considered bad games for them

Its great that the Bills finally have a QB again who is reaching that milestone, but its kind of embarrassing to make a big deal about it in a time where QBs are putting up 300-400 yards regularly

Nobody is making a big deal of it. It’s just worth pointing out for two reasons: first because it’s a Bills milestone and second, because so few active QBs have eight consecutive 200 yard games currently, even with all those 300-400 yard games you imagine occur with such regularity week in and week out by every other QB. 

[Perry Turtle]

41 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

Is it that or because McD wants to put the game in his defense's hands?  The defense is the strength of the team, though he seems to weight the DBs above the defensive line, which is backward.  

It looks like the offense is still trying to figure things out.  New O-line, new WRs, new RBs, and Daboll has tried to do some specific things that didn't really work out in the game plan (spreading out the Jets, attacking the edges against the Bengals).

 

Good news is that this team has shown the ability to put together drives and make plays, so it's not like they're a bad team playing above their heads.

 

They have talent and playmakers, they just need to figure out how to best put it together.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Perry Turtle

[apuszczalowski]

24 minutes ago, Perry Turtle said:

It looks like the offense is still trying to figure things out.  New O-line, new WRs, new RBs, and Daboll has tried to do some specific things that didn't really work out in the game plan (spreading out the Jets, attacking the edges against the Bengals).

 

Good news is that this team has shown the ability to put together drives and make plays, so it's not like they're a bad team playing above their heads.

 

They have talent and playmakers, they just need to figure out how to best put it together.

I don't know, they started out great against the Jets moving the ball at will until they would turn it over, then came out of the half playing more conservative

against the Giants they came out of the half conservative again

And today they were in a position to put things away and then came out conservative after the half.

 

Either the opponents are making changes to their game plans at the half while Daboll doesn't adjust his or they think that their defence can just keep holding the opponents to nothing while the offence just tries to run out the clock on 2 quarters.

 

Allen seems to be clicking better with his 2 new WRs then anyone who was on the roster last season, and the offensive line is already better then last year

[Perry Turtle]

11 minutes ago, apuszczalowski said:

I don't know, they started out great against the Jets moving the ball at will until they would turn it over, then came out of the half playing more conservative

against the Giants they came out of the half conservative again

And today they were in a position to put things away and then came out conservative after the half.

 

Either the opponents are making changes to their game plans at the half while Daboll doesn't adjust his or they think that their defence can just keep holding the opponents to nothing while the offence just tries to run out the clock on 2 quarters.

 

Allen seems to be clicking better with his 2 new WRs then anyone who was on the roster last season, and the offensive line is already better then last year

The Bills are doing a bunch of things on offense.  They're trying to attack specific weaknesses in the opponent's defense.  They're trying to find the right personnel on the offensive line.  They're trying to increase Allen's completion percentage.  They're trying to work rookies in at TE and RB.  And most of all, they're trying to win games.

 

Against the Jets, they spread the defense out to blunt the impact of their interior DLine.  It was weird, because you would figure that this would open up run lanes, especially because DiMarco took a bunch of snaps, and especially since it would give a speed back like Singeltary open lanes to run through.  But the Bills didn't run in the first half, Singeltary didn't get a carry, and they flexed Dimarco out wide, which created no mis-match with the LB who followed him out.  It was a weird gameplan that predictably got repeatedly bogged down around the 50.

 

Against the Bengals, the goal was to attack the edges, where the 49ers destroyed Cincinnati the week before.  Problem with this was that the Bills only speed back was injured, so they tried WR jet-sweeps and QB runs, which were only moderately successful, and ended up only burning plays. fIn the 3rd quarter the drive before Allen's interception ended on one of these reverse sweeps on 3rd and 1.  It's an example of how the gameplan bogged down the offense during the 3rd quarter today.

 

The Bills are also still trying to find the right offensive line personnel, and this is causing some issues.  Ford has had a rough time rotating at RT, and today the Bengals DLine overpowered the Bills in the second half after Feliciano left the game.

 

The team is trying to improve Allen's completion percentage, and have him checking down rather than attacking the defense downfield.  It's necessary for his development, but the handcuffs are on, and Buffalo doesn't take nearly the shots down field that other teams with strong-armed QBs do (like the Chiefs, Chargers, or even the Ravens).

 

Allen has meshed with Brown and Beasley, but Beasley is an underneath, check-down guy.  The more passes that go to Beasley, the less chance that Allen throws for 300 yards (Beasley averaged 6 yards on 8 catches today).  Foster, last year's deep threat, hasn't been integrated into the offense as of yet.  McKenzie also has played close to the line of scrimmage.  It's apparent that the Bills aren't willing to unleash Allen like KC has unleashed Mahomes (and they might never be willing to do that).

 

Finally, instead of completely focusing on what has gone wrong for Allen and the offense, focus on the what has gone right.  This team has scored on fourth quarter drives in all three games.  On those drives, the team has loosened the leash on Allen and the rookies in the fourth quarter, and  the team has looked doing so.  As the coaching staff gains confidence in not only Allen, but Singeltary, Sweeney, Knox, and Ford, hopefully they'll open up the playbook like they've done in the 4th quarter after halftime.

 

Anyway, I hate the term "process," as it's often more of an excuse than anything else, but in this case, I actually believe that Allen's and the offense's development is a process, and it will produce results as the season progresses.