All-22 Grades for Bills/Dolphins (The Athletic)

[HappyDays]

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1. The listless running game is so much more than the RBs’ fault

 

When you analyze the full scope of the ground game against the Dolphins, Devin Singletary, Zack Moss and James Cook really didn’t stand a chance.

 

The key focus is on yards before contact. The Bills had one breakout play when Moss busted off a 43-yard run where he was untouched until driven out of bounds. It’s a great run, but it’s like hosting a party and keeping everyone confined to one spotless room when the rest of the house is in complete shambles. On the other 13 carries combined, the three Bills running backs had a total of one yard before contact. That’s an average runway of 0.08 yards before contact per rush. The backs were set up to fail.

 

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2. The Bills’ OL problems run deep

 

Except for left tackle Dion Dawkins, the rest of the offensive line had one of the worst collective performances we’ve seen in quite some time. It didn’t matter if it was in pass blocking or run blocking, from left guard to right tackle, the entire group up front were liabilities against the Dolphins’ defense. The performance was reminiscent of some games we saw from the Bills’ offensive line in 2018, Josh Allen’s rookie year, featuring the likes of Russell Bodine, Ryan Groy, John Miller, Vladimir Ducasse and Jordan Mills. The 2022 line is more talented than that 2018 bunch, but the performances have not backed it up.

 

Saffold has been the biggest disappointment thus far after being one of the offseason signings they hoped would finally help stabilize the guard position. He deserves a lot of credit for playing the entire game in the heat, and he looked out of gas on film at the end of the game. But even before that, Saffold struggled significantly with maintaining his blocks, leading to multiple Miami opportunities to attack Allen when he dropped back to pass.

 

Bates has also struggled in two of his first three games and now is in concussion protocol. He hasn’t looked as natural at right guard as he did in the handful of starts at left guard last year.

 

Before leaving the game, right tackle Spencer Brown was a liability as a pass blocker. The Bills consistently needed Allen to duck and maneuver because of the misses Brown had as a pass blocker, and it varied from outside rushes to power moves. Brown did not look comfortable at any point and, before leaving the game, had a pressure allowed rate of 14.3 percent, according to TruMedia and Pro Football Focus. For perspective, of offensive linemen with at least 20 pass-blocking snaps in Week 3, Brown’s pressure rate was better than only three other players. Brown has been solid in his first two games, so the Bills will hope it was just a bad outing.

 

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3. DaQuan Jones continues to shine in a supersized role

 

He played on 75 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, which is an extremely high marker for what the Bills usually like to do with their defensive tackles.

 

On field, Jones helped set the table for his teammates numerous times, including on a pair of big late-down run stops by linebacker Matt Milano. The Dolphins really couldn’t get much going on the ground and gained only 11 yards on the 10 attempts with Jones on the field.

 

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4. Some safety inexperience was noticeable

 

For the most part, the Bills did a pretty good job playing their keys and not allowing all of the absences in their secondary to impact them in a significant way. For example, cornerback Kaiir Elam had a really nice second half after some early game struggles, while safeties Jaquan Johnson and Damar Hamlin showed their physicality in tackling with a bigger role. Everyone remembers the third-and-22 mishap where it seemed both safeties played a role in being split down the middle by receiver Jaylen Waddle. Still, outside of that, Johnson was caught hesitating just a quarter-of-a-second too much on some plays. There weren’t a ton of these examples in the game, but they’re reps Johnson will want to have back. He was likely thinking about the Miami team speed and its challenge, making it a bit more difficult to be as decisive as he had been in past games.

 

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5. Boogie Basham is playing his way into more snaps

 

When second-year edge rusher Boogie Basham has gotten his opportunities, he has taken full advantage of them. Basham has been excellent as a pass rusher. He won several one-on-one opportunities for instant pressure against the Miami right tackle late in the game, while being the most versatile defensive end of their top four. He also puts in some great pass-rushing reps when he slides inside to defensive tackle. His best play against the Dolphins was when he lined up next to Rousseau, crashed into both the left guard and left tackle and freed up Rousseau to loop around and pick up a sack. Basham has outplayed Shaq Lawson to the point where the Bills need to consider making Lawson a game-day inactive again and get Basham on the field a bit more.

 

Top 5 grades:

1) DaQuan Jones (A-)

2) Matt Milano (B+)

3) Von Miller (B+)

4) Greg Rousseau (B+)

5) Taron Johnson (B+)

 

Bottom 5 grades:

1) Rodger Saffold (D-)

2) Greg Van Roten (D+)

3) David Quessenberry (D+)

4) Spencer Brown (D+)

5) Ryan Bates (D+)

[Dablitzkrieg]

Christ, the entire oline as bottom tier 😳 

Time to flip flop Saffold and Bates

[QCity]

The O-Line was brutal. They desperately need Morse back. Spencer Brown has not elevated his play so far this year, in fact he may be regressing.

 

Best line in the article: "The Bills had one breakout play when Moss busted off a 43-yard run where he was untouched until driven out of bounds. It’s a great run, but it’s like hosting a party and keeping everyone confined to one spotless room when the rest of the house is in complete shambles."

Edited September 28, 2022 by QCity

[Einstein]

There is a reason why they are backups.

 

Need the RB’s to block better as well.

 

 

[Big Turk]

I am starting to wonder after watching Cover 1 and that John Fina podcast if some of the run issues is that Allen is not checking out of runs where there are clear numbers advantages for the defense at the point of attack.

 

Doesn't it seem odd why teams consistently have players in the backfield on handoffs? From what it looks like, many times the Bills are running plays into outnumbered blocker situations where the defense have 4 guys to that side and only 3 blockers or 5 guys and only 4 blockers...it's no wonder they can't block them all...

 

Why do they keep doing it is the question? Why isn't Allen checking out of those obvious bad plays? He does a TON of checks and alerts and things at the line so I assume he is doing it sometimes, but the ones that happen seem to almost always be bad play calls that should have been checked out of or at least ran to the other side where we have at least even blockers if not an advantage...perhaps that is the one thing Allen isn't all world at yet??

 

Something to keep an eye on moving forward...I guess I could go back several games and see how often this is happening but I don't have time to...

 

One thing I will say is I went back and watched one of the Dolphins games from 2016(the one where the Bills ran 90 plays and also lost) and it was amazing to see the holes being blown open for the backs to run through...literally it looked like the DLine was on skates moving backwards...could really use some of that now.

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Big Turk

[Einstein]

2 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

I am starting to wonder after watching Cover 1 and that John Fina podcast if some of the run issues is that Allen is not checking out of runs where there are clear numbers advantages for the defense at the point of attack.

 

Doesn't it seem odd why teams consistently have players in the backfield on handoffs? From what it looks like, many times the Bills are running plays into outnumbered blocker situations where the defense have 4 guys to that side and only 3 blockers or 5 guys and only 4 blockers...it's no wonder they can't block them all...

 

Why do they keep doing it is the question? Why isn't Allen checking out of those obvious bad plays? He does a TON of checks and alerts and things at the line so I assume he is doing it sometimes, but the ones that happen seem to almost always be bad play calls that should have been checked out of or at least ran to the other side where we have at least even blockers if not an advantage...

 

Something to keep an eye on moving forward...I guess I could go back several games and see how often this is happening but I don't have time to

 

 

To possibly answer your question of why they do it - Good running backs and proper positioning can make defenses pay when they overload a side.

 

One cutback and they’re gone.

 

Example;

 

 

 

 

[whorlnut]

31 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 grades:

1) DaQuan Jones (A-)

2) Matt Milano (B+)

3) Von Miller (B+)

4) Greg Rousseau (B+)

5) Taron Johnson (B+)

 

Bottom 5 grades:

1) Rodger Saffold (D-)

2) Greg Van Roten (D+)

3) David Quessenberry (D+)

4) Spencer Brown (D+)

5) Ryan Bates (D+)

Shocker…the 5 worst grades were oline. 

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

13 minutes ago, QCity said:

The O-Line was brutal. They desperately need Morse back. Spencer Brown has not elevated his play so far this year, in fact he may be regressing.

 

Same time as is the heat. Just wondering question's if it is before whole unit playing or after when o-line lost lots of players with the heat or injuries.  Question needs answering before I can reserve judgement.

 

Hoping everyone progressing. This week might be a better answer.

[whorlnut]

20 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

Christ, the entire oline as bottom tier 😳 

Time to flip flop Saffold and Bates

Time to spend high picks on the oline. 

[gobills404]

5 minutes ago, Einstein said:

There is a reason why they are backups.

 

Need the RB’s to block better as well.

 

 

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

Just now, gobills404 said:

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

 

Ya looks like Dawkins got smoked by blitz. 

[HappyDays]

1 minute ago, gobills404 said:

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

 

Yeah I've never seen 2 players whiff on the same block before, that's a brutal rep. It seemed like there were a lot of plays where not everyone was quite ready for the snap. Play calls seemed to come in slowly and I think Allen having to set the protections with Morse out threw off a lot of our usual pre-snap timing. The coaches need to do a better job preparing the players when they know a key starter is out. Morse being injured shouldn't lead to this much chaos, especially when they had plenty of practice time to get the offense ready for life without him.

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

Just now, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah I've never seen 2 players whiff on the same block before, that's a brutal rep. It seemed like there were a lot of plays where not everyone was quite ready for the snap. Play calls seemed to come in slowly and I think Allen having to set the protections with Morse out threw off a lot of our usual pre-snap timing. The coaches need to do a better job preparing the players when they know a key starter is out. Morse being injured shouldn't lead to this much chaos, especially when they had plenty of practice time to get the offense ready for life without him.

 

Ya that's what i'm thinking. Morse is such a key piece on o-line. He like the QB on o-line making sure everyone is right.  Allen helps but Morse is good like said leader of the o-line. Dawkins should learn from him but that's a center.  Bill's need someone to learn from under him (morse)

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

I was at the Titans game and I noticed that Spencer Brown kept reaching for his back and appeared to be in pain during the second half (Quessenberry later came in to replace him). He had back surgery during the offseason, so that's a very worrying sign. He doesn't look like the player we saw last season and may not be fully recovered.

[Big Turk]

24 minutes ago, QCity said:

The O-Line was brutal. They desperately need Morse back. Spencer Brown has not elevated his play so far this year, in fact he may be regressing.

 

Best line in the article: "The Bills had one breakout play when Moss busted off a 43-yard run where he was untouched until driven out of bounds. It’s a great run, but it’s like hosting a party and keeping everyone confined to one spotless room when the rest of the house is in complete shambles."

 

 Ostrowski(sp?) Said he believes Brown is still bothered by his back and that he doesn't look right

[Maine-iac]

13 minutes ago, gobills404 said:

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

Seems pretty clear to me the tackle got smoked.  Cover 1 was even showing how the safety used a hand check on him.

[UKBillFan]

Josh graded at B+ or lower?

 

If anyone read that article without knowing how we got on they’d think we’d been blown out.

Edited September 28, 2022 by UKBillFan

[whorlnut]

14 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Offensive line struggles? Who could’ve predicted that when they signed an aging Saffold and statistically one of the worst pass blocking tackles in the league in 2021? 😅

 

As I suggested all off-season, if this team doesn’t win the SB it will be due to lack of playmakers or shotty offensive line play…. Still plenty of time to improve at least.👍🏻

A lot of us could see it coming. The neglect at oline could be our undoing this season. Signing an aging vet to a one year deal and an overachiever to a 4 year deal isn’t gonna get it done. 

[H2o]

The bottom 5 are all OL. Shocking.

[Einstein]

43 minutes ago, gobills404 said:

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

 

He did. 

 

Singletary is there get overflow. There is a reason he is back there on a pass play.

[HappyDays]

37 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

Josh graded at B+ or lower?

 

6th rated player with a B+.

[FilthyBeast]

I'll never understand the Saffold signing. Some fans thought this was a great move because of his name but there's a reason why the Titans were quick to dump him and that's because he's about done in this league.

 

Almost wondering if not letting Bates go to the Vikings was a mistake too.

 

Granted it's early, but aside from Dawkins and Morse there are still way too many question marks right now and even Spencer Brown looks to be headed down that dreaded Bills sophmore slump.

 

You can argue we've faced 3 great defensive lines so far to start the year but you still need to perform and time is going to run out soon if this oline can't get it together.

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, FilthyBeast said:

I'll never understand the Saffold signing. Some fans thought this was a great move because of his name but there's a reason why the Titans were quick to dump him and that's because he's about done in this league.

 

Almost wondering if not letting Bates go to the Vikings was a mistake too.

 

Granted it's early, but aside from Dawkins and Morse there are still way too many question marks right now and even Spencer Brown looks to be headed down that dreaded Bills sophmore slump.

 

You can argue we've faced 3 great defensive lines so far to start the year but you still need to perform and time is going to run out soon if this oline can't get it together.

 

Think you missed part Brown solid first two games but had a bad one.  They'll get better imo. But Morse to me leader or qb of the o-line. He does lots for o-line. They missed him badly.

 

[NC-billsfan!]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

There is a reason why they are backups.

 

Need the RB’s to block better as well.

 

Not sure what you added to this. I’d certainly like to see the few seconds before this.

 

 

 

 

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, NC-billsfan! said:

 

 

Dawkins and Singletary both did horrible on this play. Forgive Dawkins sometimes cam be bad but usly does more good.

[JoshAllin]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

There is a reason why they are backups.

 

Need the RB’s to block better as well.

 

 

The block here was pretty sweet to bring em to 14-7

 

[Einstein]

4 minutes ago, motorj said:

The block here was pretty sweet to bring em to 14-7

 

 

That was textbook. Great block.

[uninja]

13 minutes ago, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

 

Dawkins and Singletary both did horrible on this play. Forgive Dawkins sometimes cam be bad but usly does more good.

Big O was saying though that the center was totally tipping the snap count. DL was teeing off. They knew it was a pass play and literally timed the jump. Dawkins and Singletary got smoked, because their assignments were in the backfield before the ball even made it into Allen’s hands. 

[JohnNord]

2 hours ago, QCity said:

The O-Line was brutal. They desperately need Morse back. Spencer Brown has not elevated his play so far this year, in fact he may be regressing.

 

Best line in the article: "The Bills had one breakout play when Moss busted off a 43-yard run where he was untouched until driven out of bounds. It’s a great run, but it’s like hosting a party and keeping everyone confined to one spotless room when the rest of the house is in complete shambles."

The offensive line was probably the reason the Bills lost the game on Sunday.  I know there were 3 backups in but they looked like trash.  I really think that this could be their undoing this season…but it seems like when all 5 starters are healthy and in the lineup, they do ok.  I’m hoping they can get their act together next week 

[Charles Romes]

Very Quesstionable call by Beane on the off-season swing tackle acquisition. The hope was that Doyle would solidify the swing tackle role by late season.  

[CoudyBills]

4 hours ago, Einstein said:

There is a reason why they are backups.

 

Need the RB’s to block better as well.

 

 

Backups?  Blew right by Dawkins first

[Scott7975]

I almost wonder if Brown didnt do his hydrate regime or maybe its just that he is so big that his body still doesnt care.  Brown usually blows a block or two but he is usually not that bad and he was pulled pretty early with heat sickness.

[Big Blitz]

5 hours ago, gobills404 said:

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

 

 

Watch how long it takes Motor to move his feet after the ball is snapped - pause it he's still in his stance - he didn't know who to block

 

I think that's Morse not being there - no way Dawkins isn't supposed to protect inside as guys are flooding the A and B gap his side.  

 

Our God Awful/non existent screen game is really infuriating.  

 

 

Oh.....and Allen not realizing 8 guys were coming and should have had a hot read called hurt to.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Big Blitz

[Rubes]

The offensive line looked bad to me from the very start of the game, which makes me think a good part of it wasn’t necessarily the heat. By the end of the first quarter, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing from either Dawkins or Brown. In fact, I began wondering if they were going to pull Brown just for his performance, and I thought that’s what they did when I first saw Q in there.

 

I don’t think they are as bad as it seems, and I suspect a good chunk of it is getting accustomed to the new coaching. My father always told me the OL was always behind other position groups, and you had to give them until game 4 or 5 to see them really start jelling. This year is making me believe him.

 

[LABILLBACKER]

Aside from Dawkins & Morse, our OL is garbage. And this is basically the exact argument we all discussed adnasium last year and the year before.  Kromer hasn't exactly come in and done much with these guys. We usually use our top 4-5 picks each year on something other than OL.  Ford was bad and Doyle a perennial 3rd string guy. This organization has got to upgrade OL if for no other reason than to keep qb1 upright for the next decade. 

[HappyDays]

27 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

Oh.....and Allen not realizing 8 guys were coming and should have had a hot read called hurt to.

 

He knew... they had all the blocks set up perfectly and he was about to hit Davis downfield on a post route for a big gain. Singletary was slow off the snap and whiffed. Allen needed another quarter of a second to get the pass off.

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

4 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

Granted it's early, but aside from Dawkins and Morse there are still way too many question marks right now and even Spencer Brown looks to be headed down that dreaded Bills sophmore slump.

I really think Spencer Brown's drop-off in play is due to the fact that his back isn't fully recovered from surgery. His height makes bending even more important to maintain leverage and he looks to be in pain frequently. I think they may try to have Brown and Quessenberry split reps at RT until he's fully healthy.

[Thurman#1]

6 hours ago, Einstein said:

There is a reason why they are backups.

 

Need the RB’s to block better as well.

 

 

 

 

Singletary is a very very good pass blocker.

 

Not that he's perfect. He might have made a mistake there. Or not. You can't tell because whoever made that clip totally edited out the early part of the play where Singletary was making the decision. Based on that clip, no way to know whether he was to blame for that.

 

Could've been. Just that there simply isn't enough evidence there in that clip to even begin to tell on that play.

 

6 hours ago, gobills404 said:

In the full clip it looks more like Dawkins just got smoked

 

 

 

 

Ah, you can see it all on this clip. Thanks, GoBills404, for posting one that actually tells the story.

 

Yeah, that was a nice deceptive formation for Miami. They lined up all on the line and the LG and LT were facing a 4-on-2. As it's snapped, one of the defenders slips around the center to attack the other side of the line, leaving a 3-on-2. There's a guy coming unblocked between Dawkins and Saffold who Singletary has to account for and that guy comes forward two or three steps and pulls up. The instant he does that, Motor switches to trying to block the guy who has totally beaten Dawkins, but he's too late.

 

That one's on Dawkins, but when they rush so many guys, you have to get it out quick. Allen could have stepped up one step and avoided that guy. It's not like he'd have escaped everything if he'd done so, but he'd have gained just enough time to bring that arm forward.

 

Almost, but not quite.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

I'll never understand the Saffold signing. Some fans thought this was a great move because of his name but there's a reason why the Titans were quick to dump him and that's because he's about done in this league.

 

Almost wondering if not letting Bates go to the Vikings was a mistake too.

 

Granted it's early, but aside from Dawkins and Morse there are still way too many question marks right now and even Spencer Brown looks to be headed down that dreaded Bills sophmore slump.

 

You can argue we've faced 3 great defensive lines so far to start the year but you still need to perform and time is going to run out soon if this oline can't get it together.

 

 

I totally agree that they have to get things together on the OL. But I have a lot of sympathy for them with how very little time they had in training camp playing together as a unit. With injuries and problems, there was very little time to gel

 

They will need more time to get it together. If they manage to do that. It's not a given.

 

3 hours ago, JohnNord said:

The offensive line was probably the reason the Bills lost the game on Sunday.  I know there were 3 backups in but they looked like trash.  I really think that this could be their undoing this season…but it seems like when all 5 starters are healthy and in the lineup, they do ok.  I’m hoping they can get their act together next week 

 

 

Not only were there three backups, but two of them were playing out of position.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Thurman#1

[ganesh]

It is sad that some of these are not giving credit for the Miami defense for playing lights out.  They dominated that it did not matter whether our OL played well or not.  

 

The Bills are not a bad team..they had a bad day at the office...and in spite of that they were a play away from winning the game.   It happened last year and it will happen this year.  It is the NFL