Chris Simms Unbuttoned on Colts-Bills: he's worried about us

[RyanC883]

we need help on the lines for next year, particularly the D line.  

[Stank_Nasty]

3 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

Agree to disagree.  They came into that game wanting to minimize possessions, bleed clock and make good use of every chance they had.  

 

They scored 24, possessed the ball for 2/3rds of the game, never turned it over and moved into our side of the field, which - at the very least - kept us pinned back on offense.  

 

They did everything they wanted on O, except for self inflicted wounds on two critical missed throws by Rivers, drops to open guys in the flat and a missed chip shot FG.

they possessed it for 34 min. not 2/3's. the colts were averaging less than 4ypc and had 60 yds rushing with 10 pts scored heading into the 4th. you call that doing what they wanted? what game were you watching? The 4th quarter D was an issue. Luckily they played good ball the first 3. how about we look at the full picture? 

 

I think we both agree they'll be better. So theres that i guess.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Stank_Nasty

[Simon]

12 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I wonder myself if the Colts noticed patterns in our zone coverage that we could shift or redo to take away "tells" in a relatively short time. 

 My sense during the game was that the Colts were attacking personell as much as they were attacking spots on the field.

This could easily be a six of one, half dozen of the other issue, though.

[Stank_Nasty]

2 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I think you should care because every second they have it, Josh Allen does not.

That affects the entire game, not just the BillsD vs ColtsO matchup.

 

 

they possessed it for 34 minutes.... not nearly the amount people would like to make it out to be around here.

[ndirish1978]

I agree with him, this was not a great game for us defensively. The offense really wasn't clicking all that much for us either. Josh had to run the ball way too much this game just to push the offense down the field. Worrisome game headed into the Baltimore one. 

[dave mcbride]

11 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I have said this since the KC game—

our defense can basically focus on and stop one thing. They aren’t good enough to stop balanced attacks.  And when the Bills get a lead, it’s great— because they just focus on playing the pass. 
 

The good news is that there aren’t a ton of balanced offenses left— KC, GB, and maybe NO? Everyone else is pretty run or pass heavy. 

Cleveland is balanced (and the Bills lost to them last year), but I think KC is going to obliterate them. Mahomes ain't gonna turn it over like Roethlisberger.

[Sharky7337]

6 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

I agree with him, this was not a great game for us defensively. The offense really wasn't clicking all that much for us either. Josh had to run the ball way too much this game just to push the offense down the field. Worrisome game headed into the Baltimore one. 

Aftwr watching the cover 1 film review the defense did some good things and it wasn't as bad as I thought.

 

Missed tackles was the key I think

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Sharky7337

[Simon]

20 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

they possessed it for 34 minutes.... not nearly the amount people would like to make it out to be around here.

The other factor that I think needs to be taken into account is how many plays you're running. The Bills only had like 8 possessions and as a result only ran 50-something plays; meanwhile the defense's inability to get the Colts off the field resulted in the Colts offense running 70-something plays.

When your opponent gets the opportunity to run 20+ more plays than you do, you're putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage, imo.

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, finn said:

I think this nails it, although I'm not sure if it's personnel or approach that determines this outcome. In the Colts game, it's like the coaches decided that they had to stop Taylor at all costs, much like they stopped Henry and (pretty much) Mahomes. As you say, the good news is that not many teams left have the balance the Colts have. Baltimore may be the most unbalanced team of all. Please tell me if you think I'm wrong, but it seems to me that if Jackson isn't allowed to run at all, they lose. If this is the case, then the Bills' formula should work, provided the Bills offense holds up its side of the bargain. 

One thing I'll say about Jackson is that he's a better passer than many think. Yes, his passing game is helped by the Ravens running game. However, in their last six games -- which is a six-game winning streak including the playoffs -- his passer rating is a sky-high 107.9, and he's completing 68 percent of his passes at 8.0 ypa. People shouldn't underestimate him. His passing numbers in 2019 were ridiculously good too. 

Edited January 12, 2021 by dave mcbride

[billsfan1959]

1 hour ago, SectionC3 said:

 

Agreed.  Here's another reality.  We played a stinker on Saturday in which our lines "lost" during the first three quarters and really "lost" during the fourth quarter.  Field position was horrible all day long, in large part to at least one dumb decision by Roberts.  D couldn't get off the field on third downs.  John Brown was a negative.  Game plan might have been a little better (use McKenzie a bit to at least get them thinking and maybe make their D-line run side to side and get a little more tired?).  I don't even think Allen was all that sharp, honestly. (The toe-tappers to Davis were kind of lucky and inflated both our score and his stats.)  And yet we still won.  

 

Basically, this year, we learned that the way to beat us is through a balanced attack and to have our offense have a stinker.  Tennessee wrote the script.  Arizona, although an unlucky loss, was similar.  Our troubles really arise when we play a team like the Titans where we have to sell out to stop the run and the QB is good enough to beat us otherwise.  KC and first NE games were affected by weather and injury, and I don't think they speak to the formula to beat us. 

 

So, long story short, yes we were bad on Saturday, but I completely agree with you.  Now we're used to being in a tough game again, and we won in spite of turning in a clunker.  Let's make Lamar beat us through the air and see what happens.  Let's also see how true they are to their principles - bring on the blitz, and let's let Allen throw it around all day. 

 

 

While I don't necessarily agree with the take that it was a complete stinker on Saturday (I believe the defense played fairly well through 3 quarters, given the field possesion differential and time on the field), I agree with your overall assessment that the 4th quarter defense left a lot to be desired and the offensive line was physically outplayed most of the game. The play calling was questionable at times, they could not put together any semblance of a run game, and Allen rarely had the ability to throw from a clean pocket.

 

IMO (here's the only other area in which I disagree with you), Allen was phenomenal. Those throws to Davis, all while on the run from heavy pressure were elite throws. If a QB makes a throw like that once in a while, one could argue it is a lucky throw. When that type of throw has become routine for Allen when throwing outside the pocket on the run, it is talent. Again, IMO, he carried the team on Saturday.

 

In the final analysis, I am with you: The Colts played, arguably, the best game of their season while the Bills played far from their best - and the Bills still won. I believe they will learn from this game and be better against the Ravens.

 

Cheers, my friend 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by billsfan1959

[Livinginthepast]

All the things that Simms said are true, its a good analysis but our problems vs the Colts were hardly inexplicable.  The situation is now how do we fix these things before Saturday. Frazier and McD need to creating a defensive game plan that not only focusses on neutralizing Jacksons run game but messes up his reads in the passing game. But probably the most important thing besides this tailor made Plan A, is a PLAN B!! They obviously had no Plan B vs Rivers last week or if they did it wasn't very good. They must have a Plan B and adjust if Jackson starts burning us with runs or if we cannot get pressure. Most of what they tried against Rivers in the was an abysmal failure but the defense was able to stiffen and they got a few bad throws and some good luck. You cannot win on that every week, especially in the playoffs. They have to adjust if their game plan is failing. They did this really well against the Steelers and I thought we had really turned a corner but there it was again vs the Colts!

[Buffalo Junction]

1 hour ago, thenorthremembers said:

I am fully on board with this.  Thought about it a little yesterday and I am just not sure where they get that player.   Its not a great runningback class, and Kenyan Drake is probably the best player in free agency.  I wonder if there is anyone we can bring in via trade?

Javante Williams probably won’t be there when we pick, but if he is I hope Beane considers taking him. Plus..... He’s a “Williams”.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Buffalo Junction

[Realist]

I agree with Simms, but I look at it a little differently. We played like crap for pretty much the entire game and still came out on top. I don't think we play that bad again in the playoffs.

 

I'm not saying we're going all the way yet, because any AFC team can easily reach the Super Bowl.

[Fan in Chicago]

23 minutes ago, Simon said:

The other factor that I think needs to be taken into account is how many plays you're running. The Bills only had like 8 possessions and as a result only ran 50-something plays; meanwhile the defense's inability to get the Colts off the field resulted in the Colts offense running 70-something plays.

When your opponent gets the opportunity to run 20+ more plays than you do, you're putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage, imo.

We were certainly not playing complementary football in the first half (at least). A 25+ yard differential in field position was hurting really badly on both sides of the ball. The #of plays delta correlated with this.

 

If it wasn't for that phenomenal drive prior to the end of the half (read: the Allen-Davis show), this game would have been unsalvageable in the second half. 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Fan in Chicago

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

36 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Cleveland is balanced (and the Bills lost to them last year), but I think KC is going to obliterate them. Mahomes ain't gonna turn it over like Roethlisberger.

I have never seen Cleveland look so balanced as Sunday. For whatever reason, Stefanski gets away from the run game way too much for the talent they have there. I thought AVP called a terrific, balanced game. That said, it’s easier to call a great game when you get three quick turnovers and have a lead.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

47 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

they possessed it for 34 minutes.... not nearly the amount people would like to make it out to be around here.

 

Can I vote for "you're both right"?  The TOP was dead even in the 2nd half - the Bills may have had a slight edge.  No big deal.

 

In the first half, the Colts had a 2 to 1 TOP advantage.  20 minutes to 10 minutes. 

 

That's huge.  It's actually amazing defense that we went into half leading 14-10 because all of their drives started more than halfway to Bills territory and two of them started past the 40.

1 minute ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I have never seen Cleveland look so balanced as Sunday. For whatever reason, Stefanski gets away from the run game way too much for the talent they have there. I thought AVP called a terrific, balanced game. That said, it’s easier to call a great game when you get three quick turnovers and have a lead.  

 

Not to mention, Pittsburgh came out looking unprepared and they quickly advanced to looking whupped.

[GaryPinC]

29 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Cleveland is balanced (and the Bills lost to them last year), but I think KC is going to obliterate them. Mahomes ain't gonna turn it over like Roethlisberger.

Maybe.  But don't count Cleveland out.  That O-line is fantastic with Wyatt Teller in there, he's finally healthy and if Bitonio, Conklin can make it back they can control the ball.  Browns are weak at LB and secondary but Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson should make it back from Covid also.

 

In one game, they came together and won a tough football game handily, not allowing an experienced team like the Steelers back into it.  Baker was cool and focused the entire game, Hunt will be uber motivated, Landry's always tough.

 

Maybe their youth catches up this week but I think it'll at least be a tight match.  That's a talented Cleveland squad who have had a tough time with Covid and injuries but are finally getting healthy.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 minutes ago, Realist said:

I agree with Simms, but I look at it a little differently. We played like crap for pretty much the entire game and still came out on top. I don't think we play that bad again in the playoffs.

 

I'm not saying we're going all the way yet, because any AFC team can easily reach the Super Bowl.

 

I hope you're right.  I can't say we "played like crap" so categorically either.  As I said elsewhere, we had a 2:1 TOP disadvantage going into the half, Indy was starting drives from a 36 yd line ave and we were starting from our own 8 yd line. 

 

It takes a pretty good defense to keep the opponent to 10 points in those circumstances.  Also, I hate the "if not for these plays Indy blew" Monday morning stuff because you can also do "if not for these plays we blew" analysis.  What if Roberts keeps his ass in the endzone after the Indy TD and we start on the 25 yd line instead of the 6?  We have more playbook available on the 25 yd line.  What if we convert 3 and 1, as we have pretty reliably all season, and sustain that drive? What if Hyde intercepts one of the two passes that went through his hands?   The what-if'ing can go both ways.

 

And any time one play changes, the whole game changes, as my kid learned in 6th grade CYC ball.

 

I will say we got whupped on both sides of the line.  Indy does have, I believe, 2 all-pros on both sides of their line, and probably with good reason.  We have been whupped on the line one week before, and have come back pissed off and fired up and gotten it done the next week, so here's hoping.

[dave mcbride]

5 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Maybe.  But don't count Cleveland out.  That O-line is fantastic with Wyatt Teller in there, he's finally healthy and if Bitonio, Conklin can make it back they can control the ball.  Browns are weak at LB and secondary but Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson should make it back from Covid also.

 

In one game, they came together and won a tough football game handily, not allowing an experienced team like the Steelers back into it.  Baker was cool and focused the entire game, Hunt will be uber motivated, Landry's always tough.

 

Maybe their youth catches up this week but I think it'll at least be a tight match.  That's a talented Cleveland squad who have had a tough time with Covid and injuries but are finally getting healthy.

I just don't think their defense can hold up vs. KC's passing attack. They have one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and KC has arguably the best passing offense. 

[IgotBILLStopay]

12 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

 

Point of interest to me:

About 5:20 in starts talking about the Bills Defense.  Says the Colts have balance, and we couldn't go overboard protecting our front in the run because the Colts pass.  Says they exposed us with the same 3 pass patterns all day - a shallow cross underneath, then either a slot corner route or a crosser that came from the other side and ended up in the same place.  Says they attacked the same two areas all day, 15 yds down the field just on the edge of the numbers, and the crosser, and if one wasn't open the other was.  (I'm thinking this was detecting and dissecting the edges of our zones). Says when we played two deep safeties in the 4th, the Colts exploited that and ripped off deep runs.  

.

 

 

This is the key. Ultimately we are limited by our personnel against a balanced team like the Colts. We have to pick our poison. I think the coaches did what they could by limiting the damage to yards and not points. Our LBs and front 4 will always leak yards against zone runs - maybe having Lotuleilei and an improved Epenesa can help us next season. But Beane has some work to do with both 4 man pass rushes as well as zone run defense this offseason. Not many teams can do to us what the Colts did.The one team that can gash us with a scheme similar to the Colts is the LA Rams. But fortunately Goff is not likely to play as well as Rivers. 

 

Totally agree that it was all Josh. We have a transcendental QB who can cover significant weaknesses and win a game on his own. The coaches did well with in-game adjustments to keep the plan Josh centric and did not feature trick plays with McKenzie etc.

 

I expect to see more AJ Klein and maybe even Dodson next week.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

8 hours ago, Buffalo Junction said:

There’s a bit more to it than that. For starters; 58% vs 74% completion percentages for Rivers and Allen respectively. 36.5 (Colts) vs 47 (Bojorquez); punt average. 40% vs 100%; Colts vs Bills red zone efficiency. There are more aspects of this game where the Bills performed better when you start to look at the details. For example we took away TY Hilton (32 yards on 2 receptions) and limited Taylor to 3.6 y/c. As a result of a few things like that I don’t exactly see all of those drops as incidental. Rather, they managed to make Rivers throw to secondary options and rely on a rookie who’s had a fair amount of drops to make plays on critical downs. I also think that their offense looked a bit better than it should have due to the refs not calling holding at all. There were a few egregious holds that were completely ignored. Veldheer in particular got away with basically horse collaring Hughes and committing a violent act of love on Edmunds in the red zone. 
 

Of course, at the end of the day a team always stands a good chance of winning when they’re QB plays better and their head coach out coaches the other on game day. 

 

Good assessment and love the descriptive.  Too true.  The Colts came out holding.  The Bills OL held more after halftime when they assessed it wasn't being called (and I was terrified the refs would change their mind at inopportune times.

 

I do think that Reich had a brilliantly designed offensive game plans and a number of plays I think Daboll will steal if he doesn't already have something like that scripted up.  The Colts also showed why it's important to have quality play at TE.  Cover1 showed an end zone angle on one catch where Hyde's coverage was so perfect you literally can't see him from the endzone.  He's right there, and you can see from the other view that he got his hands up.  Rivers just threw the ball where the TE could outjump him and make the catch anyway.

[SectionC3]

30 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

 

While I don't necessarily agree with the take that it was a complete stinker on Saturday (I believe the defense played fairly well through 3 quarters, given the field possesion differential and time on the field), I agree with your overall assessment that the 4th quarter defense left a lot to be desired and the offensive line was physically outplayed most of the game. The play calling was questionable at times, they could not put together any semblance of a run game, and Allen rarely had the ability to throw from a clean pocket.

 

IMO (here's the only other area in which I disagree with you), Allen was phenomenal. Those throws to Davis, all while on the run from heavy pressure were elite throws. If a QB makes a throw like that once in a while, one could argue it is a lucky throw. When that type of throw has become routine for Allen when throwing outside the pocket on the run, it is talent. Again, IMO, he carried the team on Saturday.

 

In the final analysis, I am with you: The Colts played, arguably, the best game of their season while the Bills played far from their best - and the Bills still won. I believe they will learn from this game and be better against the Ravens.

 

Cheers, my friend 

 

 

Maybe you're right about elite.  They were ridiculous.  I thought he was throwing the first one away and, as it was in the air, I was thinking that he put a lot on it to simply get rid of the ball.  Just a stunning throw.  Probably the most amazing throw I've ever seen.  I don't think a play like that is easily replicable.  The other throw was reminiscent of Rodgers (on Thanksgiving, I think?).  Just absurd.  But probably not as lucky. 

 

I think we actually kind of agree on Allen.  He is the reason we won the game.  I just felt like . . . I know he can play a lot better.  It's not a criticism, I guess, just a recognition of what a gifted player he is and what an excellent player he has become.  If he's "on" his game, we will win the Super Bowl.  

[Jauronimo]

1 hour ago, Stank_Nasty said:

and i dont understand yours. i dont care how long they possessed the ball. the d gave up 24 points. thats merely an average output in todays NFL. AGAIN, for as sub-par as we both felt they played, they held a top ten scoring team to 4 pts below their average and made the play at the end of the game that should have sealed it(fumble). So how awful were they really? come on, man...... also FTR, the colts possessed it for 34 minutes. 6 mins shy of the 40 it would take to have it for 2/3's

 

The problem with losing TOP as badly as we were in the first half is that the Colts ran 18 more plays and had one more drive than us. 

 

A big part of that was our total ineptitude on 3rd down as an offense.  That is my biggest concern.  Bills were the best team in the league on 3rd down conversions in the regular season and went 2-9 on 3rd against the Colts.  If we sustain a few more drives we might not have been starting drives inside our own 10, might have scored some more points, and forced Indy into pass mode where our secondary can make plays.

[GaryPinC]

13 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

I just don't think their defense can hold up vs. KC's passing attack. They have one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and KC has arguably the best passing offense. 

Yep, agree that looks bad on paper and they have been soft down the middle this year.  CLE's D-line will be key.  But, they're finally getting healthy on both sides of the ball and the moment wasn't too big for them in Pittsburgh when nearly everyone thought it would be. 

[GaryPinC]

1 minute ago, ScottLaw said:

A lot underestimate him around here..... as if they need to bring him down to prop up Allen. Jackson is no Tyrod. He is a very good QB. 

The thing about him is he doesn't see the field well and I hope Frazier makes it a point to roll our coverage to whatever side he's scrambling.  But we did a good job against the Ravens last year so I'm hoping they can scheme them up again.

[Jauronimo]

4 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

The thing about him is he doesn't see the field well and I hope Frazier makes it a point to roll our coverage to whatever side he's scrambling.  But we did a good job against the Ravens last year so I'm hoping they can scheme them up again.

One thing Lamar does well is hitting guys for deep shots when scrambling.  Typically when DBs and safeties abandon their man to fly down field in run support, Lamar will plant and throw right before crossing the LOS.  Even when he does have wide open guys he still has a tendency to miss wildly.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

7 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Yep, agree that looks bad on paper and they have been soft down the middle this year.  CLE's D-line will be key.  But, they're finally getting healthy on both sides of the ball and the moment wasn't too big for them in Pittsburgh when nearly everyone thought it would be. 

Their secondary is atrociously bad, they have no impact linebackers either, maybe Takitaki.  

 

Part of that is no Delpit, no Greedy Williams, but Denzel Ward, as good as he is, is small. And Harrison has been in and out of the lineup all season. 

 

It's not scheme for the Browns, they don't have any horses in their back 7. 

[finn]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

One thing I'll say about Jackson is that he's a better passer than many think. Yes, his passing game is helped by the Ravens running game. However, in their last six games -- which is a six-game winning streak including the playoffs -- his passer rating is a sky-high 107.9, and he's completing 68 percent of his passes at 8.0 ypa. People shouldn't underestimate him. His passing numbers in 2019 were ridiculously good too. 

Well, keep in mind he was facing some pretty mediocre defenses: Dallas, Jaguars, Giants, Bengals and Titans. Only Cleveland was better than ok, and they barely won that game. I'm not underestimating him, but I have more respect for Kyler Murray, who offers everything Jackson does and is a more dangerous passer. The Bills wrote the book on Jackson last year: keep him in the pocket. He gets antsy, double clutches then, if he can't escape, takes the sack. Of course, you can't contain him all day, but if they keep him from scoring more than a few TD's, the Bills should be ok. 

[Mango]

13 hours ago, Rocket94 said:

Indy laid out the perfect blueprint on how to beat the Bills.  McDermott has to be running film on the players around the clock!

Yes...a legitimate TE and RB!

 

Meh, perfect blue print to put up points, but ultimately the Bills went into the half with the lead after not starting a single drive outside their own 10 yard line. I trust this team in a shoot out. The only reason this game was so close was because of the field position in the first half. 

The defense is a major concern. 

[SectionC3]

16 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

One thing Lamar does well is hitting guys for deep shots when scrambling.  Typically when DBs and safeties abandon their man to fly down field in run support, Lamar will plant and throw right before crossing the LOS.  Even when he does have wide open guys he still has a tendency to miss wildly.

 

The INT last week was a brutal throw.  Not sure if it was on the move - he might have been climbing the pocket.  But just a horrible, horrible throw. 

 

[Jauronimo]

7 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

 

The INT last week was a brutal throw.  Not sure if it was on the move - he might have been climbing the pocket.  But just a horrible, horrible throw. 

 

What little I have seen of Lamar this season always includes comically bad misses. The type of misses that go viral in 2 minutes if its Josh Allen.  He hits a few home runs every game and that's the part that concerns me but man does he leave points on the field.  Hoping the latter continues Saturday night.  

[NewEra]

12 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Said the same thing about Rivers watching the game.... He just kept drifting back in the pocket on that 4th down early when there was absolutely no pressure. Basically Rivers career. Guy never wins a big playoff game..... he does just enough to not win it. And thankfully he did it again Saturday.

 

And Sims is 100% right. Bills won’t beat the Ravens if the defense is that trash again unless Allen continues to carry the team on his back. I mean, where would this team be without Allen? Probably not even a .500 ball club. 
 

 

I mean, can you really ask that question without talking about who his replacement would be?  

[billsrul120]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

 

Agree to disagree.  They came into that game wanting to minimize possessions, bleed clock and make good use of every chance they had.  

 

They scored 24, possessed the ball for 2/3rds of the game, never turned it over and moved into our side of the field, which - at the very least - kept us pinned back on offense.  

 

They did everything they wanted on O, except for self inflicted wounds on two critical missed throws by Rivers, drops to open guys in the flat and a missed chip shot FG.

 

Then, when we went up by 14, I figured hey.. at least it takes them forever to  move the ball and the clock is not their friend in the 4th Q... nope... they then just moved the ball like the greatest show on turf. 

He says while conveniently leaving out the fact that the Colts couldn't even get in position for a long field goal attempt starting with about 2 and half minutes left when they needed it the most. 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by billsrul120

[SCBills]

4 minutes ago, billsrul120 said:

He says while conveniently leaving out the fact that the Colts couldn't even get in position for a long field goal attempt starting with about 2 and half minutes left when they needed it the most. 

 

 

Man.. some y'all have really low expectations for our defense.  

 

I don't expect perfection, but I don't think we should sugar coat how poor their performance was on Saturday.  They are the only team to give up the stats they did and win....ever.  

 

Congrats on them not completely blowing the game on that final stop.  

 

I don't believe we have a bad defense, and i'm hopeful to see the return of the defense we saw in the last half of the season against Baltimore. 

[Buffalo Junction]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Good assessment and love the descriptive.  Too true.  The Colts came out holding.  The Bills OL held more after halftime when they assessed it wasn't being called (and I was terrified the refs would change their mind at inopportune times.

 

I do think that Reich had a brilliantly designed offensive game plans and a number of plays I think Daboll will steal if he doesn't already have something like that scripted up.  The Colts also showed why it's important to have quality play at TE.  Cover1 showed an end zone angle on one catch where Hyde's coverage was so perfect you literally can't see him from the endzone.  He's right there, and you can see from the other view that he got his hands up.  Rivers just threw the ball where the TE could outjump him and make the catch anyway.

The adjustment was solid, but unfortunately it didn’t trump the Colts advanced accounting on the officiating crew. If the Bills had come out with that at the start of the game I think we get out of that field position hole in the first quarter. I do think that Reich & staff really prepared better for this game. Unfortunately for them, McD smacked them with game day decisions..... which was nice to see as it signifies self assessment and improvement from McD. 
 

There’s really nothing we can do about the TE situation until the off-season. I think we would benefit from Sweeney if he was available though. He’s certainly not a world beater, but he did show a penchant for finding holes in zones, making himself available to Allen, and catching the ball. There’s a reliability factor that goes with being a 6’4” check down option. Still, he’s no world beater and we can definitely improve.

 

As for defending TE’s, the only guys with the size and speed to do so on our D are Milano and Edmunds, and teams have figured out where they’re going to be and scheme to exploit the hand off to a DB. We saw that with the Doyle touchdown where there was a communication breakdown between White and Milano.

[dave mcbride]

54 minutes ago, finn said:

Well, keep in mind he was facing some pretty mediocre defenses: Dallas, Jaguars, Giants, Bengals and Titans. Only Cleveland was better than ok, and they barely won that game. I'm not underestimating him, but I have more respect for Kyler Murray, who offers everything Jackson does and is a more dangerous passer. The Bills wrote the book on Jackson last year: keep him in the pocket. He gets antsy, double clutches then, if he can't escape, takes the sack. Of course, you can't contain him all day, but if they keep him from scoring more than a few TD's, the Bills should be ok. 

He was getting pressure and instead of throwing to the boundary, it ended up being a wounded duck to the hashmarks. He threw without stepping into it. It was inconsequential, however. A bomb from your own end that gets intercepted between the 20-30 yard line way downfield is basically a punt. All QBs make bad throws like that. Allen did it vs. Pittsburgh in the first half when he had a guy in his face.

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

A lot underestimate him around here..... as if they need to bring him down to prop up Allen. Jackson is no Tyrod. He is a very good QB. 

 

He's 22nd in yards, 24th in attempts, 11th in rating, and 33rd in yards/game (less than 200yds/game, only Cam and Tua averaged less).

 

I know his numbers are low due to how they run that offense, but they run the offense that way due to his abilities (read: limitations).

 

I'd say we estimate him just fine.

[Nextmanup]

The story of this game is 7 trips over the 50 yard line for Indy with ZERO POINTS to show for it.

 

No team with over 400 yards offense and zero turnovers (like Indy had) has ever lost a playoff game.

 

Of those with those stats who won, they won by an average of over 20 point margin! 

 

And Indy lost! 

 

This is why I wrote in the post-game thread 3 minutes after the game was over that if we play like this in the next round, we go home.

 

 

[SCBills]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

A lot underestimate him around here..... as if they need to bring him down to prop up Allen. Jackson is no Tyrod. He is a very good QB. 

 

I find that people rarely take the rational approach to Lamar Jackson:

 

Some just pretend he's terrible.  He's not.

 

Some want to prop him up like he's an elite QB.  He's not. 

 

He is a solid QB who happens to be an elite playmaker.  You have to defend him like you would any elite playmaker, while keeping in mind that he can make throws down field when there's a big window.   That certainly equates to "very good QB" in my eyes.

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by SCBills

[SectionC3]

1 hour ago, Jauronimo said:

The problem with losing TOP as badly as we were in the first half is that the Colts ran 18 more plays and had one more drive than us. 

 

A big part of that was our total ineptitude on 3rd down as an offense.  That is my biggest concern.  Bills were the best team in the league on 3rd down conversions in the regular season and went 2-9 on 3rd against the Colts.  If we sustain a few more drives we might not have been starting drives inside our own 10, might have scored some more points, and forced Indy into pass mode where our secondary can make plays.

Agreed.  Part of the constellation of factors that went Indy’s way.  They had to play a perfect game to win, and they nearly did.  But for what I suspect was a perfect breeze on their missed FG a and the overthrow of Pittman it easily could have been different.