So....what happened to the O-line?

[Success]

They've been pretty magnificent since the 2nd half against the Bucs.

 

Today was amazing.  Allen had time in the pocket on almost every throw.  They were opening holes for the running game.  They were depleted & lost a guy during the game - and played just as well.  And that front for NE is no joke.

 

They're the key. If they keep this up, it will be very tough to stop this team.

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

The bad players weren't playing

 

 

[Punching Bag]

It appears it got dire enough that they needed to let Bates play continuously rather than coming in short term substitute.

He is the lineman who knows how to play every position including LS I heard. 

[Nextmanup]

BB chose to hang back and not press on defense, which was probably a mistake.

 

 

[Warcodered]

[StHustle]

One word...

 

Chemistry.

 

I know it makes no sense how that lineup worked the best together but there appeared to be some natural chemistry working in favor of that group.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

They were pretty much what they want at the front 5 when they were Dawkins-Ike-Morse-Williams-Brown

[NewEra]

Helluva performance vs a bunch of dudes that aren’t very good pass rushers.  It looked like Belichick was super bland and never blitzed.  The OL reads seemed very basic.  Played into our hands. 
 

This is our offense when our OL plays well.  Hopefully we can make the proper moves this offseason to make this type of performance the norm.  

[John from Riverside]

They decided to play an offensive guard it’s been languishing on the bench the whole year

[Coach Tuesday]

Dawkins was forced to play after the injury and actually may have had his best game.  Such an odd season.

[poblano]

17 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

They were pretty much what they want at the front 5 when they were Dawkins-Ike-Morse-Williams-Brown

Today that was not the case, Dawkins only saw action when Boettger went down. 

Brown-Ike-Morse-Williams-Doyle started (during first series they changed to Bates-Williams on the right side) and after Ike injury we saw Dawkins-Bates-Morse-Williams-Brown

[oldmanfan]

Well, I would say they were pretty bad last week.  But today we saw that Bates gave them better inside blocking, Brown was much better at RT than LT, and Dawkins was back at LT.  I hope going forward they keep Bates in there, and let Feliciano be the C/G backup.

Edited December 27, 2021 by oldmanfan

[The Wiz]

They weren't force to play Ford at any position.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

No offense to all You good posters, but none of the above explanations make any sense. 
 

Bates doesn’t miraculously make the other guys better. Cody Ford has been playing decently lately. There is more too what happened today.
 

Even when Brown was at LT today, they were looking great at every position. A few weeks ago Darryl Williams didn’t even move at the snap— now he is playing great at both guard and tackle? 
 

Morse has been getting blown off the ball at the snap, and suddenly held his own today. 
 

i have no idea what happened, except all 5 guys played out of their minds today. 

[Turk71]

Kudos to the line, they dug deep and really came through today.

Proud of the whole teams' effort, they played with a lot of heart and a cohesive will. Great game.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

22 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Dawkins was forced to play after the injury and actually may have had his best game.  Such an odd season.

Agree. He looked like he was having trouble moving but he was stout at the point of attack and just stoned the pass rushers. Monster effort by Dawkins 

[Iiiiiiiiive Got a Feeeelin]

Ryan F-n Bates is what happened. granted he tripped up moss on that clear lane to the end zone

bout time for Bates though. O line looked great

[BillsShredder83]

15 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

No offense to all You good posters, but none of the above explanations make any sense. 
 

Bates doesn’t miraculously make the other guys better. Cody Ford has been playing decently lately. There is more too what happened today.
 

Even when Brown was at LT today, they were looking great at every position. A few weeks ago Darryl Williams didn’t even move at the snap— now he is playing great at both guard and tackle? 
 

Morse has been getting blown off the ball at the snap, and suddenly held his own today. 
 

i have no idea what happened, except all 5 guys played out of their minds today. 

sounds like an ass chewing of sorts, combined with a tough competitive / physical week of practice.  have no way to prove this, but most reasonable explanation to me

[bigK14094]

8 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

sounds like an ass chewing of sorts, combined with a tough competitive / physical week of practice.  have no way to prove this, but most reasonable explanation to me

Maybe they even practiced outside, immagine!

[Big Blitz]

The pass pro was fantastic.  Best it's been all season.  

 

Run blocking was OK but there were a handful of playcalls where you could tell they don't trust the run game.  

 

Singletary was 12 for 39 and a TD.  Moss 3 for 12.  So 15 carries 51 yards.  The Patriots are not a good run D. 

 

But Allen was on another level today.  And the oline giving him time was a big deal.  

 

Allen 12 carries 64 yards btw.  

 

 

[BigAl2526]

That's kind of where I am, Miyagi.  The Bills' offensive line played well in spite of being short handed.  I don't think it necessarily follows that the Bills are better off without Ford and Feliciano, though I do think that Ryan Bates has earned himself some playing time.  I hope the stronger play from Dawkins and Morse is a sign of things to come in the playoffs.

[RyanC883]

more running game, helps OL get in rhythm, better pass pro as a result.  That, and each person playing better.  

 

We still need help in the offseason, we are very thin.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

They were pretty much what they want at the front 5 when they were Dawkins-Ike-Morse-Williams-Brown

 

That was never the lineup.

 

The lineup was Brown-Ike-Morse-Bates-Williams

 

after Ike was injured and went out, then it was

 

Dawkins-Bates-Morse-Williams-Brown

 

Personally that lineup looked promising and I’d rather like to see more of it even after Feliciano and Ford return.

1 hour ago, Success said:

They've been pretty magnificent since the 2nd half against the Bucs.

 

Today was amazing.  Allen had time in the pocket on almost every throw.  They were opening holes for the running game.  They were depleted & lost a guy during the game - and played just as well.  And that front for NE is no joke.

 

They're the key. If they keep this up, it will be very tough to stop this team.

 

 

Josh attributed the play to them liking the Christmas gifts they got him

[CircleTheWagons99]

1 hour ago, The Wiz said:

They weren't force to play Ford at any position.

They had no choice with him being out with COVID

[EmotionallyUnstable]

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That was never the lineup.

 

The lineup was Brown-Ike-Morse-Bates-Williams

 

after Ike was injured and went out, then it was

 

Dawkins-Bates-Morse-Williams-Brown

 

Personally that lineup looked promising and I’d rather like to see more of it even after Feliciano and Ford return.

 

Josh attributed the play to them liking the Christmas gifts they got him

Right, typo. 
 

Dawkins forced into action by the Ike injury allowed the insertion of BATES (not Ike as I wrote) for them to return 3 guys to their more desirable spots. 
 

thanks for the fix 

1 hour ago, poblano said:

Today that was not the case, Dawkins only saw action when Boettger went down. 

Brown-Ike-Morse-Williams-Doyle started (during first series they changed to Bates-Williams on the right side) and after Ike injury we saw Dawkins-Bates-Morse-Williams-Brown

corrected, thanks 

Edited December 27, 2021 by EmotionallyUnstable

[TailgateChef]

Bates played well.  Was he relegated to the bench because he's the back up center?  Time to put in all the chips, Coach.

Knox is a pretty solid blocking TE.

As some have said already, Dawkins seemed motivated to prove his Pro Bowl nod was deserved.

[John Adams]

Silly. Belichick made the line look good. Rarely rushed more than 3. Terrible game plan.

[ExiledInIllinois]

On the ground or Dawkins watching in awe, shock and awe baby!

 

[DapperCam]

Maybe with the possibility of missing the playoffs becoming real they got their crap together and actually focused. Like a student procrastinating an assignment.

[JohnNord]

3 hours ago, Success said:

They've been pretty magnificent since the 2nd half against the Bucs.

 

Today was amazing.  Allen had time in the pocket on almost every throw.  They were opening holes for the running game.  They were depleted & lost a guy during the game - and played just as well.  And that front for NE is no joke.

 

They're the key. If they keep this up, it will be very tough to stop this team.

 

I don’t think they’ve been magnificent and also there’s been so many different combinations over the past 3 weeks.

 

I think what happened today was getting Dion back AND having his play at a high level.  He kicked Williams into RG Brown back to RT and I think Bates was better than Boettger at LG.  

[Punching Bag]

2 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

That's kind of where I am, Miyagi.  The Bills' offensive line played well in spite of being short handed.  I don't think it necessarily follows that the Bills are better off without Ford and Feliciano, though I do think that Ryan Bates has earned himself some playing time.  I hope the stronger play from Dawkins and Morse is a sign of things to come in the playoffs.

 

Bates earned it earlier but Bills seem to see him as a swiss army knife not as an integral part of the offense line.

They keep him active when a lineman is dinged and as extra lineman although he has never gotten a pass.

It seems a role like Steve Tasker had where Jim Kelly would beg for him to become more of the offense but Bills see him as too important in current role.

 

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

That's kind of where I am, Miyagi.  The Bills' offensive line played well in spite of being short handed.  I don't think it necessarily follows that the Bills are better off without Ford and Feliciano, though I do think that Ryan Bates has earned himself some playing time.  I hope the stronger play from Dawkins and Morse is a sign of things to come in the playoffs.

Bates has always been a good plug in player who rarely gets a chance. And when he does he performs. The OL held the line today.

[Turk71]

55 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

On the ground or Dawkins watching in awe, shock and awe baby!

 

Amazing play at a crucial moment.  Allen's focused willpower slowed time and he warped space sliding between the defenders; then he sped up and they crashed into each other. ☺  Magic!

What a great move and what inner drive.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Turk71

[thewookie1]

To be honest I think it was a combination of the Patriots never adjusting and relying so much on their lineman who just didn't get to Allen all day and likely Allen giving a heartfelt speech to his line when he gave them their gifts. You know like some akin to, "We've all have had troubles this year, our team is banged up and sick but I know we can do it. I know all of you here can do it; so let's have a good Christmas and go out there Sunday and break the Pats!"

[The Wiz]

2 hours ago, CircleTheWagons99 said:

They had no choice with him being out with COVID

Hence, they weren't forced to play him. If he was available they probably would have. 

[Buffalo Junction]

3 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

more running game, helps OL get in rhythm, better pass pro as a result.  That, and each person playing better.  

 

We still need help in the offseason, we are very thin.  

That coupled with chips from TEs & backs along with Allen taking those quick dump offs to backs off chips/PA and short passes to McKenzie. Daboll dominated the chess match and the players executed. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Right, typo. 
 

Dawkins forced into action by the Ike injury allowed the insertion of BATES (not Ike as I wrote) for them to return 3 guys to their more desirable spots. 
 

thanks for the fix 

corrected, thanks 

 

 

[In Summary]

4 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

No offense to all You good posters, but none of the above explanations make any sense. 
 

Bates doesn’t miraculously make the other guys better. Cody Ford has been playing decently lately. There is more too what happened today.
 

Even when Brown was at LT today, they were looking great at every position. A few weeks ago Darryl Williams didn’t even move at the snap— now he is playing great at both guard and tackle? 
 

Morse has been getting blown off the ball at the snap, and suddenly held his own today. 
 

i have no idea what happened, except all 5 guys played out of their minds today. 

Maybe someone pulled rank on the O-line coach and said "step aside for awhile'. Maybe Pegula had enough and told Sean and Daboll to  get involved..... 

[Punching Bag]

39 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

 

 

Been saying that for a long time.  I think he is a free agent soon.

[BobbyC81]

9 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

The bad players weren't playing

 

 

Yes, they were.  There was a play I remember where a defender was quickly in Josh’s face.  I rewound and saw it was old #75, Williams, who totally whiffed on his block attempt.   I don’t get it.  Even if you’re physically overmatched, you should still be able to get in the defender’s way for a couple seconds, don’t you think?
 

The concept of pass protection doesn’t make sense to me in some ways.  I get that they like to make a pocket around the QB.    However, the idea of backing up and trying to hold off a defender that’s moving forward seems flawed.  The pass rusher, the aggressor, seems to have an immediate advantage and once the blocker is back on his heels, it’s pretty much over.