A Few Thoughts about the Titans Game, in no particular order

[transplantbillsfan]

Good stuff.

 

About the Lorax horse collar. I'm fine with it and I think he was aware of it as he was doing it. Henry had a lot of open field to his right and Alexander was pretty much the last line of defense. Without that 15 yard horse collar, I don't think he's able to tackle Henry who might've run all the way into the EZ.

[Trogdor]

10 hours ago, Nelius said:

 

That was awful. Yeldon is just not dependable in any way. I can't wait for a healthy Singletary.

Yeldon sits down in space when he stops there. I don't think that pass is to him either way. I don't like Yeldon, but I think maybe people are looking for a scape goat. 

[May Day 10]

11 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

 

Is it me, or does it feel like the Bengals and Titans are in our division with as much as we play them?  Between the Bills fans representing so strongly and how familiar the Titans roster feels to me, it's almost like looking into a mirror from two years ago from when TT was running the show.  Listen, there is a lot to talk about from this game.  However, many points are quick blurbs and I'm going to do my best.  

 

 

It seems to go in cycles.  I remember there was a long period where the Bills and Chiefs played nearly every season.  There was a huge Jaguars era as well.

[BillsFanSD]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

One thing I don't think I've seen anyone mention that really stood out in my mind and deserves some time, was the defensive series at the very end of the 3Q/start of the 4th.  This was after a COP by punt.

 

I'm not sure I have ever seen anything like it from any Bills defense since the SB years.  To recap, the Bills D gave up a 57 yd pass play, mostly YAC.  On the next play, they gave up a 6 yd Henry run to put the Titans on the 15.  At that point, I pretty much feel if we give up 3 points it's a win.

 

Bills D then proceeded to play 8 snaps, EIGHT FREAKIN SNAPS, inside or near the Redzone.  Let your mind wrap around that.  Eight freakin' snaps. 

Finally the Titans have 4th down and  go to kick a FG - a chip shot from the 15 yd line. OK 3 points - and we blocked it.  

We won the game right there.  They're professionals, they were still fighting, but we had them and they knew it.

I agree -- after that missed FG, I texted my son about what a huge possession that was to come away with no points allowed and the game still tied.  That was an incredibly eventful possession that the Titans had to feel like they get a TD on like 90% of the time, but unfortunately for them our defense is the other 10%.

[WhoTom]

7 hours ago, Limeaid said:

Bills fans are just used to Moorman who used to kick punts into corner of 20 yard zone and have it go out of bounds.  They had it so good by a player in a tough stadium to kick in they were spoiled.

 

I don't think "spoiled" is the right term to describe fans of a team whose punter is the best player. Let's just say that we remember what good punting is, and we're disappointed in the current status of that aspect of our game.

 

 

[Trogdor]

36 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

I don't think "spoiled" is the right term to describe fans of a team whose punter is the best player. Let's just say that we remember what good punting is, and we're disappointed in the current status of that aspect of our game.

 

 

Even Colton Schmidt was superior in placement. He also didn't fumble snaps, mess up holds on kicks, or shank nearly as often. 

[PaattMaann]

A couple of things: 

 

I think we see a kind of pass heavy opening so far this season because we only have one RB that the team trusts to tote the rock, and they don't want him to be worn out in the 4th quarter (which worked out GREAT today because a fresh Gore rammed the ball down their throat to seal the deal)...once we get Singletary back I think we will be a bit more "balanced" with pass to run ratio. (39 called pass plays to 27 rushes, six of those runs coming in the last 4 minutes). 

 

Cody Ford needs to figure out his footwork on speed rushes....he is getting ROASTED and its gonna get Josh Killed (already has), and the solution CAN'T be to give him Lee Smith as help because he has struggled in pass pro so far this season too. 

 

Once we establish the run early (when we have Singletary back after the bye) I think everything in the passing game will open, and our 3rd quarter woes will be easier to overcome. That HAS been the biggest concern so far in the early part of the season. 

 

GO FREAKIN BILLS!!!! 4-1 about to be 5-1 with a huge showdown with the Eagles at home. LETS F'ING GO!

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said:

Good stuff.

 

About the Lorax horse collar. I'm fine with it and I think he was aware of it as he was doing it. Henry had a lot of open field to his right and Alexander was pretty much the last line of defense. Without that 15 yard horse collar, I don't think he's able to tackle Henry who might've run all the way into the EZ.

 

I agree with that.  Even the announcers made that comment - something to the effect of "that's a horse collar, but he had to do it". 

Lorax is a pro's pro.  He doesn't get in the heat of the moment, his experience told him it was 15 yd horse collar penalty or high probability give up a TD

 

38 minutes ago, PaattMaann said:

A couple of things: 

 

I think we see a kind of pass heavy opening so far this season because we only have one RB that the team trusts to tote the rock, and they don't want him to be worn out in the 4th quarter (which worked out GREAT today because a fresh Gore rammed the ball down their throat to seal the deal)...once we get Singletary back I think we will be a bit more "balanced" with pass to run ratio. (39 called pass plays to 27 rushes, six of those runs coming in the last 4 minutes). 

 

Cody Ford needs to figure out his footwork on speed rushes....he is getting ROASTED and its gonna get Josh Killed (already has), and the solution CAN'T be to give him Lee Smith as help because he has struggled in pass pro so far this season too. 

 

Once we establish the run early (when we have Singletary back after the bye) I think everything in the passing game will open, and our 3rd quarter woes will be easier to overcome. That HAS been the biggest concern so far in the early part of the season. 

 

GO FREAKIN BILLS!!!! 4-1 about to be 5-1 with a huge showdown with the Eagles at home. LETS F'ING GO!

 

I hope you're right, but it does call the question of why we went into the season with a raw rookie, Methuselah who needs to be kept fresh, and Yeldon as our RB room.  Still, McBeane has done enough good that I give him the benefit of the doubt that he had his reasons.

[PaattMaann]

11 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I agree with that.  Even the announcers made that comment - something to the effect of "that's a horse collar, but he had to do it". 

Lorax is a pro's pro.  He doesn't get in the heat of the moment, his experience told him it was 15 yd horse collar penalty or high probability give up a TD

 

 

I hope you're right, but it does call the question of why we went into the season with a raw rookie, Methuselah who needs to be kept fresh, and Yeldon as our RB room.  Still, McBeane has done enough good that I give him the benefit of the doubt that he had his reasons.

 

I do agree that it makes you question the decision to keep Yeldon over Shady ($$$$ probably) or some other RB like Murphy. My guess is they like his pass catching ability (when all three RBs are healthy and active) and special teams ability. You can never fully prepare for injuries at EVERY position, and I think Beane has done a pretty damn great job with roster construction. So if this is our area of weakness during injury then so be it...

 

Gore doesnt need to be kept fresh just because hes old, he needs to be kept fresh because hes the only true RB with Devin out. 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

The final drive, keeping the Titans from getting the ball one last time, was "gold."

[Hapless Bills Fan]

10 minutes ago, PaattMaann said:

Gore doesnt need to be kept fresh just because hes old, he needs to be kept fresh because hes the only true RB with Devin out. 

 

Somehow that didn't seem to bother McDermott in 2017 with Shady, when he averaged 18 carries per game and our 2nd best back was Mike Tolbert.

 

We have the 5th highest effective cap space in the league per OvertheCap, so I don't think cap space is the issue either.

 

Like I said, McDermott and Beane have done enough good that I give them the benefit of the doubt that they had their reasons, it just looks thin to me.

[CLTbills]

13 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

2 - Duke - I will always root for guys who we can chant their name.  For those watching at home, how crazy was it to hear the crowd chant "Duke" after the go-ahead score.  It sounded like a home game.  There were actually a few plays where they showed the crowd from certain angles and I couldn't find any Titans fans in the crowd.  Just insane.  Anyways, back to the man of the hour.  Between all the presesason love, the push for him to start this week on the board, this was a truly fan favorite story.  Besides the TD, which was his number all the way, I was really impressed with his blocking ability.  He's a wide framed dude and made some good plays downfield.  You could see how hyped he was to be in the game and caught all 4 of his targets.  It's crazy to me that this guy was targeted so much and was on the practice squad just a few days ago.  He's earned the right to continue to be out there and keep Zay on the bench.  I will say, I would still like to see McKenzie get involved more in the offense.

 

 

I will say, I loved to see that they used that play ONCE to great success, but didn't try to run it six times like in the Cincinnati game. It's great to run once or twice, but when you run it so often, the defense sniffs it out from a mile away. 

 

Great job by Daboll.

[PaattMaann]

9 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Somehow that didn't seem to bother McDermott in 2017 with Shady, when he averaged 18 carries per game and our 2nd best back was Mike Tolbert.

 

Good point....but maybe we saw how that worked out for us and he is changing his approach/philosophy. Growth mindset baby!

 

We will see how the game approach changes after the bye when Devins back, but I do truly believe we have been going pass heavy due to the limited RB stable. 

7 minutes ago, CLTbills said:

I will say, I loved to see that they used that play ONCE to great success, but didn't try to run it six times like in the Cincinnati game. It's great to run once or twice, but when you run it so often, the defense sniffs it out from a mile away. 

 

Great job by Daboll.

 

McKenzie can be used in other ways in the pass and run game too...doesnt just have to be the motion hand off or toss, I believe thats what the poster was intimating 

[CLTbills]

1 minute ago, PaattMaann said:

 

Good point....but maybe we saw how that worked out for us and he is changing his approach/philosophy. Growth mindset baby!

 

We will see how the game approach changes after the bye when Devins back, but I do truly believe we have been going pass heavy due to the limited RB stable. 

 

McKenzie can be used in other ways in the pass and run game too...doesnt just have to be the motion hand off or toss, I believe thats what the poster was intimating 

Oh yeah. That's 100% what he was implying. I'm just saying, in the way they DID use him, I was much happier with the way they did it instead of running the same play 5 times, 1 time with great success and then four times with no success at all (like they did in the Cincy game)

[Boatdrinks]

2 hours ago, Trogdor said:

Yeldon sits down in space when he stops there. I don't think that pass is to him either way. I don't like Yeldon, but I think maybe people are looking for a scape goat. 

I think maybe people just want to understand what actually happened on the play. It appears that the play has “ broken down “ and guys are trying to get open for their QB. Yeldon stops , then starts running across the field in while looking at the QB. He then stops suddenly, but Allen has already let the pass go to a spot where it looks like Yeldon would have been if he continues running. You don’t “ sit down “ on what essentially is a scramble drill. Remember the phrase “ always running, always alert “ ?  Just who was Allen throwing to , then ? He owned the throw post game ( as he should) , and wasn’t going to blame anyone else. It appears that Yeldon was the likely target. I haven’t seen a more likely explanation yet. Fwiw , I think Yeldon has done a decent job so far, in spite of his ill-timed fumble. 

Edited October 7, 2019 by Boatdrinks

[Jukester]

13 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

7 - Officiating - Fortunately, there weren't any game changing calls, but the Refs sure did give the Titans some chances.  Thankfully, the illegal forward pass was flagged on the field as I don't know there was enough evidence either way to overturn it.  But the roughing call on Milano was pure crap.  I honestly want to know what Milano could have done differently on that play to prevent himself from hitting Mariota.  He was pretty much tackle blocked and his body was thrown there.  I get protecting the QB, but have some awareness of what's happening on the play.  They also made a terrible call against Milano on defensive hold call that gave the Titans a first down.  The true phantom call was the encroachment on Murphy.  Even on the replay, there was nothing to see.  The Titans argued their way into that call.  Overall, I'm just going to say the refs were an annoyance in this game.

 

 

 

I was up in arms with the same thing while at the game so had to look up the rule.  We are both correct.

ARTICLE 9. ROUGHING THE PASSER. 

(e) A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee. It is not a foul if the defender is blocked (or fouled) into the passer and has no opportunity to avoid him.

 

It's obvious that many officials don't know the rules or just turn a blind eye to them.

[RevWarRifleman]

Thanks Virgil. It's good having the guys 4 up and 1 down.

[Virgil]

11 hours ago, Jukester said:

 

I was up in arms with the same thing while at the game so had to look up the rule.  We are both correct.

ARTICLE 9. ROUGHING THE PASSER. 

(e) A rushing defender is prohibited from forcibly hitting in the knee area or below a passer who has one or both feet on the ground, even if the initial contact is above the knee. It is not a foul if the defender is blocked (or fouled) into the passer and has no opportunity to avoid him.

 

It's obvious that many officials don't know the rules or just turn a blind eye to them.

It blows my mind when the white hats main job is to watch the QB

[Augie]

On 10/6/2019 at 9:58 PM, Alphadawg7 said:

We are 4-1 not 5-1

 

Yeah, but after the bye......no, wait......

[ganesh]

On 10/7/2019 at 8:00 AM, Virgil said:

 

Like I said in another thread, I'll stop bringing it up as an issue once he has a few games where he doesn't throw THAT interception.  Throwing into coverage, while on the run escaping a sack, where a Bill doesn't even get a fingertip on it.  

 

All other Ints, I'm good.  It's that specific throw that he has to stop making every single week

The problem is that many of us don't see the completions he makes in those tight windows/.. We have a risk taking QB...he is going to throw those TDs as well as the INTs.   For 20 years we had QBs who were afraid to throw...Many a  3rd and long, QBs would throw before the 1st down marker.....Let us enjoy a QB who is willing to push the ball and continue to learn to avoid the dumb plays...