Decision to Blitz on 3rd down

[Mikie2times]

Prior to the 3rd down conversion we had what was probably our most effective blitz of the season. With the field position if we get a sack (which we did) it would take them out of field goal range. On the next play you have to assume Wilson would be ready for instant pressure if we showed that look. Even 5-10 yards is FG range and by blitzing you either get home or you leave holes everywhere. I really felt like we would show it and back off. It seemed like the perfect trap for Wilson. Yet we doubled down and you saw the result. 

 

This was even more frustrating to me than 12 men on the field. It was the wrong call. If they're in FG range I get it. But if you ever decide to play coverage, that is the spot. Give them 5 yards and make them ponder a 50 yarder or so or go for it on 4th. Demoralizing call by Sean. 

 

 

[BillsFan692]

 

[Big Blitz]

Terrible call because the Broncos had no timeouts.  Make them throw it in the field and go from there.  
 

 

But this is a coaching staff forever running from 13 seconds and choking so you do stupid things when it matters with that in the back of your subconscious mind.  
 

 

This firing will be 2 years too late.  Said it that night you don’t recover from that.  
 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Big Blitz

[Perry Turtle]

That blitz call was Gregg-Williams-esque.

[MJS]

I was begging him not to blitz there. It was a horrible call.

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

4 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Prior to the 3rd down conversion we had what was probably our most effective blitz of the season. With the field position if we get a sack (which we did) it would take them out of field goal range. On the next play you have to assume Wilson would be ready for instant pressure if we showed that look. Even 5-10 yards is FG range and by blitzing you either get home or you leave holes everywhere. I really felt like we would show it and back off. It seemed like the perfect trap for Wilson. Yet we doubled down and you saw the result. 

 

This was even more frustrating to me than 12 men on the field. It was the wrong call. If they're in FG range I get it. But if you ever decide to play coverage, that is the spot. Give them 5 yards and make them ponder a 50 yarder or so or go for it on 4th. Demoralizing call by Sean. 

 

 

 

I just mentioned this in another thread..... I bet all of you bitchign about the Blitzing are the same ones who last year said we don't blitz enough. You hated soft zone, now you hate blitzing. 

[Old Coot]

4 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

This was even more frustrating to me than 12 men on the field. It was the wrong call. If they're in FG range I get it. But if you ever decide to play coverage, that is the spot. Give them 5 yards and make them ponder a 50 yarder or so or go for it on 4th. Demoralizing call by Sean. 

The fault is Taron Johnson. It's man coverage with no help over the top because of the max blitz.You simply cannot get beaten long in that situation yet Jeudy did precisely that.

[DuckyBoys]

1 minute ago, Old Coot said:

The fault is Taron Johnson. It's man coverage with no help over the top because of the max blitz.You simply cannot get beaten long in that situation yet Jeudy did precisely that.

no Taron has failed numerous times in 1/1 match ups w game on the line  Its on Sean for putting him in the situation  He needs help  We should have lost Ginats game when he grabbed the receiver  He panics just like his coach

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I didnt have a problem with blitzing, Johnson shouldn't have gotten pass interference.

 

How many times have we played soft and got blazed down the field on. Blitzing was the right call. Players need to quit making miakes

 

 

[Old Coot]

3 minutes ago, Old Coot said:

The fault is Taron Johnson. It's man coverage with no help over the top because of the max blitz.You simply cannot get beaten long in that situation yet Jeudy did precisely that.

Maybe so but no coach can micromanage the D when the bullets are flying. The O screwed the pooch tonight. Is that on McD because he's the HC?

[ChrisWatson#21]

The decision to go for it on fourth down very early in third quarter down by one score was also a terrible decision that is flying under the radar of this entire fiasco.

[Big Blitz]

11 minutes ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

 

I just mentioned this in another thread..... I bet all of you bitchign about the Blitzing are the same ones who last year said we don't blitz enough. You hated soft zone, now you hate blitzing. 

 

He did the same thing on back to back plays against Sean Payton.  
 

 

He’s done here.  

[DuckyBoys]

5 minutes ago, ChrisWatson#21 said:

The decision to go for it on fourth down very early in third quarter down by one score was also a terrible decision that is flying under the radar of this entire fiasco.

yep again bad decision  He is awful in big moments during games and with adjustments  Other than nice slogans he brings nothing to the table

[Royale with Cheese]

He had called a good game prior to that.  It was so stupid.  The Broncos were averaging 3.7 yards per pass and 3rd and 10 you send the house when they were already out of FG range?  

[BuffaloRebound]

9 minutes ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

I didnt have a problem with blitzing, Johnson shouldn't have gotten pass interference.

 

How many times have we played soft and got blazed down the field on. Blitzing was the right call. Players need to quit making miakes

 

 

Agreed.  I’d much rather get beat like that than playing soft.  

[RyanC883]

15 minutes ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

 

I just mentioned this in another thread..... I bet all of you bitchign about the Blitzing are the same ones who last year said we don't blitz enough. You hated soft zone, now you hate blitzing. 

 

or there are a time for each, and these guys coaches can’t figure it out. 

[Boatdrinks]

18 minutes ago, Perry Turtle said:

That blitz call was Gregg-Williams-esque.

Yep .. didn’t see it coming after Miami game , but we are watching some very drought- esque football right now. 

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

Just now, RyanC883 said:

 

or there are a time for each, and these guys coaches can’t figure it out. 

 

That was as good a time as any, if we would have played soft zone and the same happened you'd just flip the script and say "why didn't we blitz on that play". I thought it was thee right call, you live by the blitz and sometimes you die by the blitz. Taron Johnson was also equally clueless defending on that play.

[Success]

I just didn't get it.

 

It worked on 2nd - that's what you want.  But then you HAVE to just play D - they weren't getting 3rd & longs most of the night.

 

The coaches on this team are in way over their head.

 

[DapperCam]

Anybody else remember Gregg Williams getting fired as the Jets DC for that exact playcall?

[Perry Turtle]

Just now, DapperCam said:

Anybody else remember Gregg Williams getting fired as the Jets DC for that exact playcall?

Yep.  Consequences man, consequences.

[Mikie2times]

9 minutes ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

 

That was as good a time as any, if we would have played soft zone and the same happened you'd just flip the script and say "why didn't we blitz on that play". I thought it was thee right call, you live by the blitz and sometimes you die by the blitz. Taron Johnson was also equally clueless defending on that play.

Just because people didn't like Frazier it means we should run cover 0 in every high leverage situation until the end of eternity. Thank you.   

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Mikie2times said:

Prior to the 3rd down conversion we had what was probably our most effective blitz of the season. With the field position if we get a sack (which we did) it would take them out of field goal range. On the next play you have to assume Wilson would be ready for instant pressure if we showed that look. Even 5-10 yards is FG range and by blitzing you either get home or you leave holes everywhere. I really felt like we would show it and back off. It seemed like the perfect trap for Wilson. Yet we doubled down and you saw the result. 

 

This was even more frustrating to me than 12 men on the field. It was the wrong call. If they're in FG range I get it. But if you ever decide to play coverage, that is the spot. Give them 5 yards and make them ponder a 50 yarder or so or go for it on 4th. Demoralizing call by Sean. 

 

 

 

Terrible call. All year he has called blitzes too often and in bad situations. All night we had been stopping the Broncos on 3rd down playing coverage. Suddenly in the 4th Quarter Sean wants to blitz them. Idiotic.

 

37 minutes ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

 

That was as good a time as any, if we would have played soft zone and the same happened you'd just flip the script and say "why didn't we blitz on that play". I thought it was thee right call, you live by the blitz and sometimes you die by the blitz. Taron Johnson was also equally clueless defending on that play.

 

Put me in the camp who would not have been saying "should have blitzed." Was a horrible call.

[34-78-83]

1 hour ago, Old Coot said:

The fault is Taron Johnson. It's man coverage with no help over the top because of the max blitz.You simply cannot get beaten long in that situation yet Jeudy did precisely that.

Correct. The blitz actually worked perfectly an caused a horrible underthrown duck of a pass.

 

Issue was Taron trying so hard to catch up to the WR he didn't notice him stopping.

 

While that's on Taron 100% under the current rules, the PI on the underthrown prayer ball needs to something they can go "upon further review, there is no foul on the play"

[Dr.Sack]

What is PI, that looked clean to me, a QB can so under throw a ball that the CB has no idea where the ball is. I don’t think it was catchable, and clearly Johnson is turning his head around as the ball is arriving in the area. Plenty of hand to hand combat. I see that as a no call. We wouldn’t want to get that call to win a game. I prefer letting them play the game out.

[Mikie2times]

1 minute ago, 34-78-83 said:

Correct. The blitz actually worked perfectly an caused a horrible underthrown duck of a pass.

 

Issue was Taron trying so hard to catch up to the WR he didn't notice him stopping.

 

While that's on Taron 100% under the current rules, the PI on the underthrown prayer ball needs to something they can go "upon further review, there is no foul on the play"

I don’t want a play design the forces a jump ball with a WR who has better position in that situation. 

[34-78-83]

Just now, Mikie2times said:

I don’t want a play design the forces a jump ball with a WR who has better position in that situation. 

Thats fair but TJ got smoked right off the line. Needed to back off there a bit more readily. That pass was a prayer though there's no 2 ways about it. Its a call that needs addressing by the rules committee. A ton of the NFL players agree.

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

14 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Terrible call. All year he has called blitzes too often and in bad situations. All night we had been stopping the Broncos on 3rd down playing coverage. Suddenly in the 4th Quarter Sean wants to blitz them. Idiotic.

 

 

Put me in the camp who would not have been saying "should have blitzed." Was a horrible call.

 

I didn't hate the call, I hated the outcome of course but I didn't have a problem with it but thats why I enjoy this board, I may not agree with every poster on here but it's good to see the different takes and mindsets.

[Rocbillsfan1]

I was screaming don’t blitz before the play. 

[Mikie2times]

1 minute ago, 34-78-83 said:

Thats fair but TJ got smoked right off the line. Needed to back off there a bit more readily. That pass was a prayer though there's no 2 ways about it. It’s a call that needs addressing by the rules committee. A ton of the NFL players agree.

He's going to get the pass off. Which is the point of why I feel it’s a bad call. When you called the exact same thing for a sack the play before you’re basically saying let’s see who wins one on one. Our corners don’t typically excel in that situation and while the pass might have seemed low probability I would imagine Denver wins that one on one at least half the time. I just didn’t see that as being the correct call. Wilson would have froze up if the blitz bailed on that call. He was betting on that full house again am that’s exactly what he got.. 

[DapperCam]

3 minutes ago, 34-78-83 said:

Thats fair but TJ got smoked right off the line. Needed to back off there a bit more readily. That pass was a prayer though there's no 2 ways about it. Its a call that needs addressing by the rules committee. A ton of the NFL players agree.

Johnson is a slot corner. He’s no match for Jeudy going up the field like that.

 

He had to be ready for the quick slant for a first down, which was a much more likely play to be completed based on the defense. That would have allowed the Broncos to get it in FG range and spike it.

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

47 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Just because people didn't like Frazier it means we should run cover 0 in every high leverage situation until the end of eternity. Thank you.   

 

I dont know what you're trying to tell me or convince me here.

[34-78-83]

Just now, DapperCam said:

Johnson is a slot corner. He’s no match for Jeudy going up the field like that.

 

He had to be ready for the quick slant for a first down, which was a much more likely play to be completed based on the defense. That would have allowed the Broncos to get it in FG range and spike it.

You rate Jeudy a bit higher than I, but all good. I think TJ can run with him.

[Paup 1995MVP]

2 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

 

That was as good a time as any, if we would have played soft zone and the same happened you'd just flip the script and say "why didn't we blitz on that play". I thought it was thee right call, you live by the blitz and sometimes you die by the blitz. Taron Johnson was also equally clueless defending on that play.

Johnson is a liability in coverage every game.  Need guys taller than 5’8 on your secondary.  His technique is terrible.  When Benford is healthy, it should be him Jackson and Douglas on the field.  Johnson is toast every game.  
 

I don’t mind blitzing if your secondary all play w good technique.  Johnson doesn’t. 

[Dan Darragh]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

But this is a coaching staff forever running from 13 seconds

I've written this before and got flamed for it, but Sean's biggest failure was never owning 13 seconds or even explaining what went wrong.  It was obvious in the moment that this was caused by coaching failures.  Not being transparent about it cost him the fan base and maybe the locker room.

[Zag20]

1 hour ago, 34-78-83 said:

You rate Jeudy a bit higher than I, but all good. I think TJ can run with him.

Running isn’t a skill and Juedy is faster than Taron

Just now, Dan Darragh said:

I've written this before and got flamed for it, but Sean's biggest failure was never owning 13 seconds or even explaining what went wrong.  It was obvious in the moment that this was caused by coaching failures.  Not being transparent about it cost him the fan base and maybe the locker room.

This is obvious to me now. There’s a huge disconnect.

[BillMafia716ix]

3 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

Prior to the 3rd down conversion we had what was probably our most effective blitz of the season. With the field position if we get a sack (which we did) it would take them out of field goal range. On the next play you have to assume Wilson would be ready for instant pressure if we showed that look. Even 5-10 yards is FG range and by blitzing you either get home or you leave holes everywhere. I really felt like we would show it and back off. It seemed like the perfect trap for Wilson. Yet we doubled down and you saw the result. 

 

This was even more frustrating to me than 12 men on the field. It was the wrong call. If they're in FG range I get it. But if you ever decide to play coverage, that is the spot. Give them 5 yards and make them ponder a 50 yarder or so or go for it on 4th. Demoralizing call by Sean. 

 

 

I didn’t have a problem with the decision. It’s 3rd down and they were out of field goal range. Send the blitz and make the QB make a quick decision. You play soft coverage and Russ completes a 5-10 yard pass they right back in field goal range. 

Taron Johnson has to win his 1 on 1. 

[Doc Brown]

If we sack Wilson there or force an incompletion we're talking about the genius play call and how the defense won us this game.  I understand the decision.  If you play soft coverage the Broncos pry dump it off to a running back who picks up six yards and allows them a field goal shot as Lutz has a decent leg.  He's 5 for 7 in 50 plus field goals the last two years including a 60 yarder.

 

Having 12 men on the field on a field goal after a time out is 10,000 times more egregious.

[billsfan_34]

4 hours ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

 

I just mentioned this in another thread..... I bet all of you bitchign about the Blitzing are the same ones who last year said we don't blitz enough. You hated soft zone, now you hate blitzing. 

Blitzing when the situation dictates is wise, on third down well out of fg range it was unwise and that ended up putting the nail in the coffin along with 12 men.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

It was a terrible call. Dropping 8 worked all game. After the blitz worked all he had to do was drop in coverage and make a tackle.