OLine/Unforced Error Review - All 22- Week 16 - Chicago

[Bocephuz]

In the past i used to do lengthy in depth posts with gifs.. don't have time for that nowadays

 

I watched every passing snap to evaluate pass blocking performance as well as Josh Allen unforced errors committed (PASS BLOCKING ONLY EVALUATED.. did not evaluate running plays). 

 

Unforced error =  Allen has time to throw, wr is open and he misses throw.. or.. Allen makes poor unforced decision 

 

OLINEMAN BEATEN =  O lineman clearly loses his one on one matchup... or.. clearly misreads stunt/combo block

 

____

 

OLINEMAN BEATEN STATS

DAWKINS - 0

SAFFOLD - 2

BATES - 1 

GVR - 1

BOETTGER - 0

BROWN - 0

 

OL SUMMARY : The O Line had a much better showing in pass protect this week compared to the Miami game. 

 

-DAWKINS - 2 clean performances in a row for the Shnowman. Dawkins has had some very rough patches this year but he is trending back to his old pro bowl self.. just in time for the playoffs.

- SAFFOLD - another week.. another instance of Saffold leading the unit in pressures given up. At least he only gave up 2 this week.. and was not a complete tire fire like most other weeks. 

-BATES - no bad snaps and only 1 mistake in pass pro that I saw. Q3 Bates does not pick up a twist stunt correctly and surrenders a pressure. Other than that 71 was very stout. Showed grit coming back into game after injury. 

- VAN ROTEN -  Another solid showing for Van Roten this week. I only had him for 1 pressure surrendered. I believe he also shifted over to Center for a few plays while Bates was out.

- BOETTGER - Welcome back Ike! Stepped in for a few series due to injury to Bates injury. Looked OK and did not give up any obvious pressures. 

- BROWN -  79 finally had a game to hang his hat on. He was not beaten at all on the outside speed rush this week ( his usual kryptonite). You could tell on a few snaps that he was overselling his kick step on the snap to make sure his right/outside was covered. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. We shall see though. 

 

 

 

QB UNFORCED ERRORS:  Josh had 5 unforced errors by my count.  Based on my history of doing this kind of analysis when a qb has 5 or more unforced errors the chances of his team winning decrease materially.  

  - q2 - INT . Josh had protection .. just made a really bad unforced decision and bad throw for the pick

- q2 - overthrow Singletary not pressure related

-q3 -  Rolled right and made horrible reverse field throw that could have easily been picked off.  Sugar Rush Josh there. 

q3 - Clean pocket... has Diggs open on deep seam route but tucks and runs instead

q4 - Josh bails out of clean pocket unnecessarily

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY -  The Bills really leaned into the run game last Saturday and also were playing with a lead most of the game.. so game script put a lot less pressure on the Bills O Line regarding pass protect. Nevertheless... the line played much better this week than in Miami.

 

Josh did not have his best day between the 20's. Several unforced careless decisions and poor throws were made. He had several instances of bailing out of a clean pocket to early. 

 

That being said.. 17 really calmed down in the red zone. In particular the pass to McKenzie was a beauty as Josh stood statue calm in a clean pocket and waiting for 6 to cross and get open.. throwing a nice strike. 

 

Bates did another great job filling in for Morse and kudos to GVR and Ike for filling in admirably. Hopefully this is the game to get Spencer back on track.. and hopefully Ike replaces Roger Saffold sometime in the next few weeks. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Bocephuz

[Utah John]

All the evidence points to the Bears having a really lousy D line.  I can't name a single player on their D line -- I don't think any of them got their name called during the game for a good play.

 

Our O line and RBs didn't suddenly get a lot better -- they were just up against a JV team.  I'll take the win and move on, but next week at this time don't think everyone regressed after they face a tougher opponent in Cincinnati. 

[Bocephuz]

49 minutes ago, Utah John said:

All the evidence points to the Bears having a really lousy D line.  I can't name a single player on their D line -- I don't think any of them got their name called during the game for a good play.

 

Our O line and RBs didn't suddenly get a lot better -- they were just up against a JV team.  I'll take the win and move on, but next week at this time don't think everyone regressed after they face a tougher opponent in Cincinnati. 

no doubt the level of competition was below average... 

 

[Stank_Nasty]

good to see Dawkins trending in the right direction. He's gonna need to lock down hendrickson and his bum wrist.

[947]

Regarding the QB unforced errors...

 

Both INTs were obviously really bad, but the decisions to run when somebody was open downfield was OK by me considering the horrible wind conditions. I was there, and saw jackets, cups, and papers blow completely across the field in under 5 seconds. That sideways wind was ridiculous. If he can get a decent gain by running it instead, I'll take it on that day, especially after throwing 2 picks.

 

I'm assuming the 3Q roll-right play was the one to Gabe. Bad play call in that wind/cold, but if Josh throws it a millisecond earlier, or gets it up 6" higher & it doesn't get knocked down. Gabe was wide open for a while on that play. Still way too risky in those conditions.

 

 

[balln]

4 hours ago, Bocephuz said:

track.. and hopefully Ike replaces Roger Saffold sometime in the next few weeks. 

You think saffold Gets benched? I hope so. But McD is so vet friendly.

[Doc]

2 minutes ago, balln said:

You think saffold Gets benched? I hope so. But McD is so vet friendly.

 

Boettger's a vet...

[balln]

8 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Boettger's a vet...

Listen I wish it would happen. Saffold is a major liability. 

[Beck Water]

24 minutes ago, Doc said:

Boettger's a vet...

 

Well, yes, Boettger is a vet. 

 

But you get a feel for how teams expect a guy to perform and how much slack they'll give him, according to what he's being paid.

 

Saffold close to $6M (split over 2 years but it's really a 1 year contract)

Boettger vet minimum, $1.2M

 

In  the case of OLmen, every OL coach seems to bring "his guy" to help be his player coach and teach his technique and schemes.  Bobby Johnson brought Jon Feliciano.  Juan Castillo brought *gulp* Vlad Ducasse.   Saffold is Kromer's "guy"

 

It's not that "his guy" won't get benched - essentially Ike Boettger kept Jon Feliciano on the bench  last season and eventually Wyatt Teller benched Vlad Ducasse - but it takes Some Doing.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Beck Water

[First Round Bust]

several holding penalties esp in first-half against almost the entire starting line-up most were in pass play IIRC...

[John from Riverside]

1 hour ago, balln said:

Listen I wish it would happen. Saffold is a major liability. 

Saffold is also a monster run blocker and I’m liking this resurgence of our running game

[Thurman#1]

7 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Well, yes, Boettger is a vet. 

 

But you get a feel for how teams expect a guy to perform and how much slack they'll give him, according to what he's being paid.

 

Saffold close to $6M (split over 2 years but it's really a 1 year contract)

Boettger vet minimum, $1.2M

 

In  the case of OLmen, every OL coach seems to bring "his guy" to help be his player coach and teach his technique and schemes.  Bobby Johnson brought Jon Feliciano.  Juan Castillo brought *gulp* Vlad Ducasse.   Saffold is Kromer's "guy"

 

It's not that "his guy" won't get benched - essentially Ike Boettger kept Jon Feliciano on the bench  last season and eventually Wyatt Teller benched Vlad Ducasse - but it takes Some Doing.

 

 

Yeah, it does take some doing. But this could be one of those cases.

 

He's replaced higher-paid guys with lower-paid ones before, and vets with younger guys, particularly later in the year when the younger guys are showing signs of getting it.

 

Look at Singletary taking over for Gore late in his rookie year, Milano starting with nothing and pushing into the lineup so quickly, look at Taron Johnson and how quickly he got fully trusted. Look at Cody Ford being ushered away from tackle when they started trusting Brown more in game four of his rookie  year.

 

It's not the norm. But it happens when he decides he trusts one guy more than another one.

 

I think they do trust Saffold not to make rookie mental mistakes, but equally they must see that he's not what he used to be physically, and that particularly at pass blocking he's getting beat more than they had expected.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by Thurman#1

[NewEra]

8 hours ago, balln said:

You think saffold Gets benched? I hope so. But McD is so vet friendly.

Benched?  He’s pro bowl 1st alternate!!!  

[freddyjj]

2 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

Look at Cody Ford being ushered away from tackle when they started trusting Brown more in game four of his rookie  year

I may be remembering this incorrectly, but Brown replaced Daryl Williams at RT last year.  Cody Ford played RG and was replaced at RG by Williams after the switch to Brown at RT.    

[Ethan in Cleveland]

7 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Yeah, it does take some doing. But this could be one of those cases.

 

He's replaced higher-paid guys with lower-paid ones before, and vets with younger guys, particularly later in the year when the younger guys are showing signs of getting it.

 

Look at Singletary taking over for Gore late in his rookie year, Milano starting with nothing and pushing into the lineup so quickly, look at Taron Johnson and how quickly he got fully trusted. Look at Cody Ford being ushered away from tackle when they started trusting Brown more in game four of his rookie  year.

 

It's not the norm. But it happens when he decides he trusts one guy more than another one.

 

I think they do trust Saffold not to make rookie mental mistakes, but equally they must see that he's not what he used to be physically, and that particularly at pass blocking he's getting beat more than they had expected.

 

 

Ok that never happened.  They tried Ford at RT his rookie year and he was terrible.  He was ultimately benched in favor of Nsekhe.  The following year he was moved to Guard but got hurt and only played 7 games. They brought in Williams to play RT and he was great for one year then regressed terribly the second year as a BIll after signing a big off-season deal.  Williams was moved to RG mid-season where he played reasonably well.  

[Bocephuz]

15 hours ago, 947 said:

Regarding the QB unforced errors...

 

Both INTs were obviously really bad, but the decisions to run when somebody was open downfield was OK by me considering the horrible wind conditions. I was there, and saw jackets, cups, and papers blow completely across the field in under 5 seconds. That sideways wind was ridiculous. If he can get a decent gain by running it instead, I'll take it on that day, especially after throwing 2 picks.

 

I'm assuming the 3Q roll-right play was the one to Gabe. Bad play call in that wind/cold, but if Josh throws it a millisecond earlier, or gets it up 6" higher & it doesn't get knocked down. Gabe was wide open for a while on that play. Still way too risky in those conditions.

 

 

Good point about the scramble one.. I was on the fence about making that an unforced error as he did run for a first down. Either way Diggs was open on the deep seem route and he did have a clean pocket.

15 hours ago, balln said:

You think saffold Gets benched? I hope so. But McD is so vet friendly.

Should he get benched... absolutely. He's had the worst year in pass protect at Guard that I've seen since I started doing this

 

Will he actually get benched... to your point... probably not

13 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

Saffold is also a monster run blocker and I’m liking this resurgence of our running game

I think both Brown and Saffold seem to be plus run blockers so that is probably a big reason they're not on bench. If it was my call I'd prioritize protected my $40 Mil franchise QB over getting a little juice in the run game.. but .. it's not my call 

[Bocephuz]

8 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Yeah, it does take some doing. But this could be one of those cases.

 

He's replaced higher-paid guys with lower-paid ones before, and vets with younger guys, particularly later in the year when the younger guys are showing signs of getting it.

 

Look at Singletary taking over for Gore late in his rookie year, Milano starting with nothing and pushing into the lineup so quickly, look at Taron Johnson and how quickly he got fully trusted. Look at Cody Ford being ushered away from tackle when they started trusting Brown more in game four of his rookie  year.

 

It's not the norm. But it happens when he decides he trusts one guy more than another one.

 

I think they do trust Saffold not to make rookie mental mistakes, but equally they must see that he's not what he used to be physically, and that particularly at pass blocking he's getting beat more than they had expected.

 

 

Problem is.. Saffold has deteriorated physically.. and the "vet" mental bonus seems to be gone too. Seems like every week he miscommunicates/mishandles picking up relatively simple stunts. 

[Doc]

7 hours ago, NewEra said:

Benched?  He’s pro bowl 1st alternate!!!  

 

Now that might make it harder to bench him.

[Thurman#1]

6 hours ago, freddyjj said:

I may be remembering this incorrectly, but Brown replaced Daryl Williams at RT last year.  Cody Ford played RG and was replaced at RG by Williams after the switch to Brown at RT.    

 

 

Turns out you're right, or at least for the first few snaps for each of game 1 and game 2 last year. I went and watched just two snaps each from the first drive of each of game 1 and game 2, and Ford was at guard and Williams at tackle. Nice catch. And thanks.

 

My point still stands though, as Brown took over from Williams, also a vet but a much higher-paid one, very early in the year.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

OP, can you explain why the 2nd INT was not an unforced error?  Allen missed a wide open Cook and sailed the ball over his head to the LB.  Just because Allen blamed the wind doesn't mean it was not an error.

 

Agree with your assessment this week of Brown.  He was solid again.  

 

Saffold is regressing terribly in pass blocking.  He started the year ok but is now getting consistently beaten especially to his right side between the G-C gap and right into Allen's face.  At least that is what I am seeing though I have spent more time watching Brown than Saffold.

[Bocephuz]

3 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

OP, can you explain why the 2nd INT was not an unforced error?  Allen missed a wide open Cook and sailed the ball over his head to the LB.  Just because Allen blamed the wind doesn't mean it was not an error.

 

Agree with your assessment this week of Brown.  He was solid again.  

 

Saffold is regressing terribly in pass blocking.  He started the year ok but is now getting consistently beaten especially to his right side between the G-C gap and right into Allen's face.  At least that is what I am seeing though I have spent more time watching Brown than Saffold.

That 2nd pick was borderline for me. .. it appeared that Allen had a DT in his face when he delivered the throw to 26. It appeared he had to throw around the DTs hand to get it to 26 and that.. along with the wind carrying it... seemed to cause the pick. In other words.. it was somewhat of a forced error due to he DT being in his face. 

 

You could certainly argue it the other way as well.. that he could have made a different decision there. 

 

SAFFOLD - Good observation. Now that you mention it .. most of the time Saffold gets beat it is in the direction of the Center.. to the inside... which is right in Allen's face and immediately blows up Allen's spot. Thankfully Allen is athletic enough to escape those most of the time... most other QBs would be trapped.