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

[SirAndrew]

6 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

If I'm not mistaken when we played Denver they were the #4 defense in the league and we ran all over them, 47 rushes for 244 yards. The Bills came out rushing in that game and stuck with it with 47 rushes to 25 passes!

 

Singletary with 21 rushes, Gore with 15 rushes and the Bills O line played well allowing only one sack.

 

This game it was like the Eagles game in that the Bills O line got manhandled most of the game. The Bills center, Morse stunk it up.  Once the Ravens saw the Bills couldn't hit those deep passes they came after Allen blitzing over and over...meanwhile, where were the adjustments to help stop those blitzes? That Ravens pass rush could have been deterred by running more with short, quick passes. The Ravens had a top five defense and it was enabled more by the bad play calling. 

 

Like I said, find a way to make that Bills run game work from the start with Singletary who got 5.2 YPC avg, while Gore with 4 carries got a 1.5 YPC avg.

 

Daboll did this same crap against the Browns with only 20 rushes vs 41 passes and Allen is not at the stage yet where he can carry the offense with his arm against a good defense. 

 

Different play calling and its a completely different outcome and game in my view.

Great points, and I agree that Daboll’s play calling is very erratic game to game. He seems to go from one extreme to the next. Ultimately, everyone needs to be better. Yesterday was a failure for everyone on offense. It really starts with the oline imo. I’ve been Daboll’s biggest critic, but we’re not going anywhere if we have games where the oline decides to stay home. Our offense will never function with them blocking the way they did yesterday. Even when we attempted to run the ball, we had defenders busting into the backfield two yards behind the line. 

[May Day 10]

They need a new punter.  This one is awful

[Big Turk]

Definitely not the worst game of the season for Allen. The Patriot game was far worse with a similar looking performance with more turnovers.

 

Bills need to figure out a way to beat Cover 0 looks from teams that can run it successfully. However there are not many teams that can do it that often.

 

Baltimore and NE have the corners to do it...Bills need to be able to hit a few deep balls to make them pay. Without that they have no reason to back off it.

Edited December 9, 2019 by matter2003

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

The Bills Defense contained Lamar. Whether you choose to believe it or not. 

 

1 blown coverage allowed him to pass for over 100 yards (139) and the team 118 TOTAL rushing yards and score a TD.

1 NON CALL by the refs of 12 man in the huddle gave them 7 points

 

LJ's 40 rushing yards is the 2nd lowest yardage gained of the season 11 for 40  3.64 ypc 

 

The 2nd fewest was against KC (46) where the Ravens Lost. 

 

His lowest * Rushing in a game was against Miami when they won 59-10.   When you can pass at will,  why run?? 

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by SlimShady'sGhost

[Hebert19]

12 hours ago, Special K said:

If the Bills beat the Steelers they would have the tiebreak over them in that scenario, I believe.

 

Plus the Bills would likely beat the Jets as well and end up 11-5.

And we already have over titans.  So that's all she wrote. 

3 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said:

The Bills Defense contained Lamar. Whether you choose to believe it or not. 

 

1 blown coverage allowed him to pass for over 100 yards (139) and the 118 TOTAL rushing yards and score a TD.

1 NON CALL by the refs of 12 man in the huddle gave them 7 points

 

LJ's 40 rushing yards is the 2nd lowest yardage gained of the season 11 for 40  3.64 ypc 

 

The 2nd fewest was against KC (46) where the Ravens Lost. 

 

His lowest * Rushing in a game was against Miami when they won 59-10.   When you can pass at will,  why run?? 

 

This. The D was awesome.  But we needed a complete game and didnt get it from returner or the offense.  It is what it is.   Win and in baby. 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

13 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

And we already have over titans.  So that's all she wrote. 

This. The D was awesome.  But we needed a complete game and didnt get it from returner or the offense.  It is what it is.   Win and in baby. 

 

Daboll didn't call a smart game. 

You'd think by the 2nd half he'd know they wouldn't stop blitzing.  

 

This was a match up of the (current) 2 best running QB's in the league.   Why were there no Josh designed runs before his ankle got stepped on??

 

[thebandit27]

Here's my take:

 

I hated the offensive game plan 

Way too many drops in critical situations; it's an epidemic on offense 

Pass protection was a big issue...

 

but...

 

the biggest problem was that the QB didn't get it done. I've always said that it's the QB's job to beat the blitz, and Allen couldn't do it today. Yes, some of that is the route concepts. Yes, he's still young and will learn from it. No, he doesn't get a pass from me.

 

Now, that said, he made enough plays to get them one play away from attempting the tying PAT or go-ahead 2PC (which I 100% believe they'd have gone for) on their final drive, and that definitely matters. So good on him for that.

 

The fun part is that we get to see Josh get back to work, buck up, watch the oh-so-painful tape, take the lessons to heart, and get ready for SNF.

 

If nothing else, we know this kid is going to work his tail off to be ready for the big stage with a playoff berth on the line.

 

Side note: sure would be nice to have Nsekhe back for that one.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

11 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

Here's my take:

 

I hated the offensive game plan 

Way too many drops in critical situations; it's an epidemic on offense 

Pass protection was a big issue...

 

but...

 

the biggest problem was that the QB didn't get it done. I've always said that it's the QB's job to beat the blitz, and Allen couldn't do it today. Yes, some of that is the route concepts. Yes, he's still young and will learn from it. No, he doesn't get a pass from me.

 

Now, that said, he made enough plays to get them one play away from attempting the tying PAT or go-ahead 2PC (which I 100% believe they'd have gone for) on their final drive, and that definitely matters. So good on him for that.

 

The fun part is that we get to see Josh get back to work, buck up, watch the oh-so-painful tape, take the lessons to heart, and get ready for SNF.

 

If nothing else, we know this kid is going to work his tail off to be ready for the big stage with a playoff berth on the line.

 

Side note: sure would be nice to have Nsekhe back for that one.

So if it have this correct assigning blame for the offensive performance should be:

 

40% Josh Allen

30% Game plan by Daboll

20% Pass Pro

10% Drops

[thebandit27]

3 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

So if it have this correct assigning blame for the offensive performance should be:

 

40% Josh Allen

30% Game plan by Daboll

20% Pass Pro

10% Drops

 

I'd probably go 40/20/20/20, but yeah, for the most part I agree. ??

[SoCal Deek]

Here’s how I see it. The Bills played the hottest team in the NFL yesterday and had a dropped pass in the end zone at the very end which would have tied the game. (By the way, the same scenario as the mighty Patriots just three hours later.) Allen was horrible and yet the team still hung in there. In short....we’re getting there. Now let’s see what the COACHES learned from it.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

1 minute ago, thebandit27 said:

 

I'd probably go 40/20/20/20, but yeah, for the most part I agree. ??

We have seen our best offensive performances when we come out and throw some short rhythm completions early in the series. I knew we were in trouble early yesterday because none of that happened. Josh looked really uncomfortable, especially at the start when he was 1-7. I was baffled by the approach to the start of the game.

[MAJBobby]

13 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

Are you sure? Even if the Bills win next week, it could still end up:

 

Texans: 10-6

Titans: 10-6

Bills: 10-6

Steelers: 10-6

 

Either Texans or Titans win the South, leaving a three-way tie for the Wild Cards. Do we make it in that scenario?

yes. Only way that happens means Texans get division

 

Steelers win the Tie break for 5th seed

 

we win Head to Head tie break for 6th seed. 
 

One win out of 3 and we are in. 

[ganesh]

12 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

 

From my view the Bills OC went away from what worked the previous three weeks. 

Sometimes you have to;  teams watch tape on what you do and are better prepared...You have to do better this week than what you did last week.

 

Yesterday's failure was execution.

[Dont Stop Billeiving]

13 hours ago, Virgil said:

This should be a fun one to read the reactions as emotions are typically high after a loss.  There were quite a few holding out for a potential one seed throughout the playoffs.  There was the media talking how we still don't have our big win over a quality team (now that the Cowboys got crushed again).  Then there are just the fans who's season lives and dies by every loss.  For me, I honestly wasn't expecting a lot out of today's game.  I wanted a win, being that I live in Baltimore, but I also know this was our toughest game and wasn't going to crush our season with a loss.  Also, we were going up against a team that very few have kept it close against since starting 2-2.  Either way, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of different perceptions about why we lost this game and who is to blame.  Judging by the other threads post-game, I expect some lovely responses.

 

1 - Allen - I have to start here because this was arguably his worst game of the season.  However, many other players had some bad moments that also could have cost us this game.  But this is our starting quarterback, so he will take most of the heat; fair or not.  Allen was downright awful in the first half.  While Baltimore's defense got pressure at times and even caused a fumble, Allen still had plenty of throws with time and to guys who were open.  On the first three drives, he had a player open 20+ yards down field and missed him by almost 5+ yards each time.  On two of them, I got the impression that Allen was assuming the receiver was going to break a different way.  Regardless, two of them could have gone for touchdowns.  If he hit even one of them, it's a very different game.  In the second half, Allen had at least two plays where he held onto the ball for 5+ seconds and took a sack.  one of them knocked us out of Field Goal range today.  But like I said earlier, others contributed to his bad game with key drops.  Knox dropped a pass because he was already looking downfield, but we still got 3.  Singletary dropped one because he got excited about the open field ahead of him if he could beat one guy.  Beasley technically dropped a deep pass, that yes a millionaire receiver should catch, but was still not easy.  Overall, Allen hits just 10% more of his passes and we are either tied at the end or winning.  He played bad against a good defense and I think even he will tell you that.  but again, we had the ball with a chance to tie by the end.

 

2 - Defensive front 4 - I can't tell you how impressed I am with how well our front 4 contained Lamar.  Jackson had some solid runs, but none were from him breaking contain on passing plays.  Shaq had another great game tracking him down and even Oliver held contain well on a few plays.  I don't blame the Ingram plays on these guys much as I don't believe their job was to do more than hold their ground, take the tackles that came their way, and absolutely make sure Jackson didn't escape for a big run; something that no other team has been able to do.  Great job by that unit.

 

3 - Defensive Mistakes - Watching the Ravens a few times this season, they do a great job of capitalizing on defenses that over-commit to a play or don't hold their gaps.  Today, the Bills did an overall solid job of limiting those mistakes.  There were a few plays were Edmunds and Milano assumed the play to the inside, but they weren't burned badly on those plays.  The only huge mistake was on the long TD pass to their TE.  Poyer was left to cover two different players and he picked the wrong one.  He also seemed to be covering the shallow crossing route, and seemed caught off guard when the TE went deep.  You take that play out of this game and Jackson doesn't break 100 yards passing as we are kicking a field goal to win at the end.  I'm not dumping on Poyer at all as I don't know if he was supposed to have more support, but that was are only major mistake of the game and you could argue the true difference maker.  I'm more annoyed that it made Lamar's day look a lot better than it was.

 

4 - “We end in tears. That’s because we invested so much in each other,” Dawkins told his players. “I love you guys. It’s been amazing coaching this group, and for us, we got a lot of good memories, we accomplished a lot of amazing things this year.”

 

5 - Singletary - I'm sure that many are going to complain that Motor wasn't used more in this game on the first 3 drives, but I'm not one of them.  While the Ravens run defense has been suspect, the NFL is game of chess and points.  We came out throwing and had the right plays called on those first 3 drives, Allen just missed his throws.  Allen and Daboll will both tell you that they'll take those opportunities 10 out of 10 times.  After that last drive, we went with what works and Singletary had a strong game.  Motor had his longest run of the season and really showed some explosion.  His two drops hurt in the catching game, but he was easily our best weapon on the field today.  The key 3rd down play where we has tackled for a loss was a complete whiff block by Ford, simply inexcusable. 

 

6 - Special Teams - The punting game was rough today but I can't completely blame Bojo.  There were at least two bad snaps that Bojo did a good job fielding, but he still could have gotten off better punts.  Whether the wind was at his back or not, he wasn't hitting the ball clean and gave up decent field position a few times.  Roberts also made some poor choices to return a few kickoffs out of the endzone and tackled well shy of the 25.  The lone bright spot was Hausch Money as he was back today.  All of his kicks were solid and no-doubters.  That was a much needed pick me up after his last few games and hopefully he's knocked the kinks out.

 

7 - Judon - If there's only player who I really respected out there for the Ravens, it was the play of Judon.  He absolutely blew some plays up against us.  On the sack-fumble, we tried to let Knox block him 1 on 1 and you know how that went.  He was solid in both coverage and blitzes.  If Shaq Thompson got that contract, I'm afraid to see what he will get.  Judon was the best player on the field for them and a game changer at times.  I'm a little surprised we didn't account for him more.  Others may have gotten pressure, but that was more scheme that winning a matchup.

 

8 - Refs/Replay - Man, I hate going to this well after a loss but today was bad and I genuinely think the NFL is trying to protect them.  Outside of our last drive, there were multiple plays that prevented points for the Bills and helped the Ravens score.  On the missed 12 man in the huddle call, I've never seen McD so angry since he's been here.  If that is called, Jackson may not be throwing that touchdown from 5 yards further back.  The missed offensive PI call against Foster was terrible and the replay process is such a joke in that category that McD didn't even try to challenge.  Even if we don't get another yard, we are in field goal range.  As for my NFL comment, it's maddening to me that they didn't show any of the personal foul calls on replay.  If this has been an all season thing, I apologize, but I can't remember them not showing us the infractions.  I have no idea what Hughes did nor what the Ravens did at the end of the game.  I'm sure Hughes reacted to the defensive holding penalty called against our Star (seriously btw, a DT?!), but I don't know.  Hughes deserved to be pissed because he had his typical game of being held the entire time but not called for it.  Nor were many of the holds downfield on their 10+ yard runs.

 

9 - Smoke - This is now two games in a row where we really didn't hear Brown's name.  Granted, the first missed deep ball was to him, but he still didn't show up afterwards.  I look forward to the All-22 replay to see what happened to him, but it's alarming how much he's disappeared.  If you want to blame Daboll for not getting him open, you may have an argument, but I really don't know what's going on here.  In a game where too many players are making drops and Allen is shaky, Brown needs to be found to get the ball moving and confidence growing.  I hope this is something that gets addressed going forward.

 

10 - Frazier - The Ravens were held below almost all of their season averages in this game.  Lamar threw his first interception in forever and was sacked quite a few times.  We only gave up one large play, which if you remove that from the stat line, would've made the Bills offense the better on the field.  He had some great timed blitzes today and was so effective in his pressure scheme that the Ravens were forced to result to multiple screen passes.  I noticed on a few plays that Frazier had the entire linebacker unit shift to strong or weak side pre-snap which seemed to really do a number on Lamar.  Just a great scheme.  If there's a play book for how to bottle up the Ravens defense, I think Frazier wrote the first chapter today.

 

Random Play Thoughts:

• Any play were Allen immediately slid to one side of the field after the snap didn't work at all.  Each play was brutal
• Brown's last play felt strange that he didn't cut harder on the slot, creating more separation between him and Peters
• Singletary swing pass after 5 straight runs on the fourth drive.  Trying to mix it up, but then goes right back to him

 

Offense aside for the first half, I think we played the best team in the league incredibly well.  We were in position to tie the game at the end and I think the score reflected the game well.  Great game and still a Bills win next week, and Titans win this week, from clinching a playoff birth.  9-4 with a dominating defense.  And hey, with how we play at home, maybe it's best we are going on the road.

 

Go Bills!

Great recap as always Virgil, something I look forward to on Mondays win, lose, or draw.

 

Lawson is earning a big payday either from us or another team (possible comp pick?). He's so underrated vs. the run.

 

Judon is an excellent player with the athleticism and football IQ to disrupt offenses in a lot of ways...any interest in signing him as a free agent? As you said, it will cost a lot, but probably less than the Clowney/Ngakoue types. Hypothetically, would people rather get Judon at 16 million per year or Ngakoue at 23 million per year? 

 

RE: the lack of replays- it's not just you, they were few and far between yesterday and it was very frustrating. Joe Marino on his podcast basically said that unlike other game analysts, Dan Fouts is incapable of providing an adequate level of analysis on replays so they just don't bother with them on his broadcasts. Incredible...

 

I share your concern, but I think Smoke will be ok...Marlon Humphrey might be one of the top 2-3 most underrated CBs in the league. He's had tough match ups recently and we haven't executed well on the plays designed to go his way. As you mentioned though, he could have been better at gaining separation or even coming back to the ball a bit on the final play. 

 

Tough game overall in which we didn't get much luck and made a lot of mistakes, but this year's team always seems to fight back and give themselves a chance and that gives me hope. Go Bills! 

[Virgil]

13 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

So if it have this correct assigning blame for the offensive performance should be:

 

40% Josh Allen

30% Game plan by Daboll

20% Pass Pro

10% Drops

I’ll say 

50% Allen

30% Drops/Crap route by Brown 

10% Protection

10% Daboll

[Freddie's Dead]

14 hours ago, Virgil said:

8 - Refs/Replay - Man, I hate going to this well after a loss but today was bad and I genuinely think the NFL is trying to protect them.  Outside of our last drive, there were multiple plays that prevented points for the Bills and helped the Ravens score.  On the missed 12 man in the huddle call, I've never seen McD so angry since he's been here.  If that is called, Jackson may not be throwing that touchdown from 5 yards further back.  The missed offensive PI call against Foster was terrible and the replay process is such a joke in that category that McD didn't even try to challenge.  Even if we don't get another yard, we are in field goal range.  As for my NFL comment, it's maddening to me that they didn't show any of the personal foul calls on replay.  If this has been an all season thing, I apologize, but I can't remember them not showing us the infractions.  I have no idea what Hughes did nor what the Ravens did at the end of the game.  I'm sure Hughes reacted to the defensive holding penalty called against our Star (seriously btw, a DT?!), but I don't know.  Hughes deserved to be pissed because he had his typical game of being held the entire time but not called for it.  Nor were many of the holds downfield on their 10+ yard runs.

 

Refs cost us the game on that missed 12 men call.  CBS has been abysmal all season, not showing replays for key penalties.  There wasn't a single replay yesterday of a key call or non-call that went against the Bills.  The Foster DPI call wasn't shown until AFTER the Bills punted, too late for us to challenge.  I can't fault McD for not throwing the challenge and saving the TO in a close game.  CBS's game production is absolutely terrible, but I think it's because the NFL fixed the game for the Ravens and CBS was in on it. 

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

1 minute ago, Virgil said:

I’ll say 

50% Allen

30% Drops/Crap route by Brown 

10% Protection

10% Daboll

That's fair, although I'd include other receivers with Brown. When you play a team that can really cover, like the Ravens, I'm worried about Bills receivers. Strong opponents show you what your weaknesses are.

3 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

Refs cost us the game on that missed 12 men call.  CBS has been abysmal all season, not showing replays for key penalties.  There wasn't a single replay yesterday of a key call or non-call that went against the Bills.  The Foster DPI call wasn't shown until AFTER the Bills punted, too late for us to challenge.  I can't fault McD for not throwing the challenge and saving the TO in a close game.  CBS's game production is absolutely terrible, but I think it's because the NFL fixed the game for the Ravens and CBS was in on it. 

Nah, and I think the refs in general are garbage. Not that simple why we lost.

[thebandit27]

11 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

We have seen our best offensive performances when we come out and throw some short rhythm completions early in the series. I knew we were in trouble early yesterday because none of that happened. Josh looked really uncomfortable, especially at the start when he was 1-7. I was baffled by the approach to the start of the game.

 

Yep, completely agree

 

7 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Ford is god awful. As far as I’m concerned they whiffed on that pick in playing him at RT. Maybe he becomes a very good guard but man he stinks at tackle. Should’ve went with the WR. 

 

Agree with the rest of your post.... even when Allen had time, he was wildly inaccurate with some of the deeper passes which has been the theme with him all year. Not sure that ever gets fixed. 

 

We'll see with Ford. I think there's a fair chance he moves to LG (where he started for 2 seasons at Oklahoma) to replace Spain next season. I don't mind picking Ford if you realize that while he could end up a quality tackle he's almost certainly going to be a good guard.

 

As for Allen, the deep ball will be fine. He babies it a bit because he wants to throw it safe. When he decides to let it rip he's got no issues.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

14 hours ago, Gray Beard said:

Brown hasn’t done much in the past two games....

Is he in a slump?

Is he getting tighter coverage?

Has Josh moved to Beasley as his “go to” guy?

Something else?

 

Not gonna complain because Allen was in command in Dallas. He also threw a TD in that one.

 

This one he drew peters in a lot of zero man coverage. Allen's not going to him super often there 

[Billzgobowlin]

After seeing the result from yesterday, is there any game that people will count us out of the rest of the season including the playoffs?  I think this team plays hard.  The Allen fumble and the long Hurst TD drive me crazy but there is so much less of those plays this year than the past 20 years.