Game strategy continues to elude McD

[Livinginthepast]

1 hour ago, WIDE LEFT said:

As it so often does. Pats final drive, only needing a field goal to take the lead. Given that making a field goal from 50-60 yards is routine these days, your D has to defend first down markers, NOT the end zone. But the soft, prevent zones allow Pats to methodically move the ball downfield, chewing up all the time. On the play where Maye was almost sacked, with Jones draped all over him, Diggs is wide open for a short pass, as our linebacker has to come up from his deep position to make the tackle. That’s terrible defensive strategy. Man up, take the short stuff away, blitz , whatever but u need to prevent first downs - not touchdowns. If a long TD happens, so be it, Allen gets back on the field with time to operate. KC faced similar situation in our playoff game last year. Our final drive - they threw the kitchen sink at Allen, knowing that if a long scoring play happens, at least Mahomes has a chance to comeback. But the slow death of dropping D back, bend don’t break, results in the slow death of a methodical drive that chews up all the clock. God awful strategy. 
 

As was the incredible decision to have Samuel field & return the final kickoff, with just 15 seconds left. Let the ball go into end zone, take it at the 20, and let Allen take 2 or 3 shots downfield. Long shot I know, but far better than a kickoff return that leaves virtually no time to do anything. It’s this consistent mismanagement of game strategy which will once again haunt this team in the playoffs 
 

 

I completely agree. McD is never a few moves ahead in his strategy. 13 seconds was the classic example but we have seen it time and again (last year in the Texans game was also abysmal). The last Pat drive was shades of 13 seconds in that they were giving the Pats receivers too much cushion. It was great that they pressured Maye but they were playing too far off the receivers. The Boutte reception was even worse and sealed a much easier FG try. By the time that FG was good McD just gave up. There was seemed to be no strategy for the kickoff or the subsequent play. The Instruction should have been clear. Let the ball go through the endzone and give Josh time for two deep strikes or one to get us into FG range. Once Samuel has his brain cramp there is barely time for one play and that was just going through the motions. I've said this for years we will win a SB despite McD's game management and never because of it.

[fan_in_tx]

30 minutes ago, MJS said:

Stop with the "soft zone" complaints. You're just showing that you aren't actually watching what the defense is doing.

The offense turned the ball over three times. The best QB in the NFL directly contributed to throwing this game away. Yes, the defense wasn't good in the 2nd half, but Allen shares in the blame and is at least an equal party to it.

I agree with this Take.. The picked forced throw to Shakir in double coverage and Coleman was 1-1 outside at the pylon..   Should have taken that shot instead.

[Low Positive]

39 minutes ago, MJS said:

Stop with the "soft zone" complaints. You're just showing that you aren't actually watching what the defense is doing.

I agree with this 99%, because the Bills don't really play a "soft zone" very often anymore. They play a lot of zone, but almost every NFL team does that. But contrary to TBD rage posts, the Tampa-2 left Buffalo with Leslie Frazier. Any look at the All-22 will tell you that. In fact, they didn't play cover-2 on the play that the OP rages about. But they did play cover-2 two plays later and let Maye end the game with an easy pass for 19. But the only way to know this is to watch the overhead views,  but most people refuse to pay $15 a month to see what actually happens in games. 

 

Lets put some data to this. Like everything sports these days, there is data. There is not a single team in the NFL who plays more man than zone, but the Browns are close to 50/50. I think I might start a thread with this table so that people can stop acting like the Bills are the only team that plays a zone defense. But in the meantime, here ya go: https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/stats-nfl/nfl-coverage-schemes/

[BlazinBill]

The defense under this regime, even in good to average years  is not up to par against good QB’s. Yes Maye is a good QB and he will make games a challenge in which i will

enjoy. This past week against the Patriots, no matter how you view the defense the offense gave this game away and could not get things going. That’s completely OK - it happens to all squads.

what’s interesting to me after watching this defense under McDermott, people actually expect them to play lights out and be difference makers - that’s not who they are

Edited 2 hours ago by BlazinBill

[ngbills]

39 minutes ago, buffalostu2 said:

Didn't we just stop the Dolphins?   But...it certainly doesn't happen enough

Actually the Dolphins was typical - We take the lead 28-21 with 7 mins left. The Dolphins drive all the way down to the Bills 21 yard and milk the clock down to 3 minutes. They are solid position to essentially run the clock down as they tie or even win the game with a point conversation. What happens? Tua throws a pick on a 1st down play when they probably should have been running the ball. 

[Captain Hindsight]

1 hour ago, boater said:

This place is dreck after a loss.

Right? If they sack Drake Maye on the first play of the drive, the game might be going into overtime or the Bills get the win. Sometimes the other team makes a great play.

 

Maye and Diggs were awesome Sunday and the Bills played terrible and it was a 3 point game.

[Low Positive]

32 minutes ago, fan_in_tx said:

I agree with this Take.. The picked forced throw to Shakir in double coverage and Coleman was 1-1 outside at the pylon..   Should have taken that shot instead.

I've watched that play over and over. The only open throwing lane was to Shakir. Both the OL and DL was between Josh and Keon. He probably couldn't even see him. What he should have done was to either:

• Throw the ball low and away so only Shakir could make a play on it (Another poster suggest this option, so I can't take credit here)
• Rush through the lane and pick up a yard or two
• Roll out and throw it away. 

Throwing that ball where he did and allowing a CB to jump the route is Josh Allen pre-2024 stuff. There was more of that in this game that I would like to see ever again. 

[colin]

our d is set up to protect the heck out of the trash secondary, gun for negative plays and stuffs on the run, and hope the pass rush gets there for turnovers and incompletes.  it stank in the 4th quarter on sunday night with milano out and strong with a horrible neck issue, but over the course of the game it was more than good enough to win.

 

the real strategy failing was putting palmer, samuals, colemna, and shakur out to try to beat the strength of the NE d while the TEs and backs who can dominate them got a total of what, 9 targets?  it was also so obvious when we ran or passed.

[Low Positive]

3 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

Right? If they sack Drake Maye on the first play of the drive, the game might be going into overtime or the Bills get the win. Sometimes the other team makes a great play.

 

Maye and Diggs were awesome Sunday and the Bills played terrible and it was a 3 point game.

This times 1000. It's like on hockey boards when a great player like Austin Matthews scores an amazing goal, and everyone analyzes the Sabres' defense to find out who missed their assignment. Sometimes the other guys make great plays. 

[BananaB]

1 hour ago, boater said:

This place is dreck after a loss.

Yeah it was the first loss but they have not been playing good football. On both sides of the ball really. McDs D is huge problem. Gave up points right before half and gave up points at the end that resulted in an L. To me it was just a matter of time before this was gonna happen. Pats are a team we shouldn’t lose to at this point. This D has been in place for 8 years there should not be so many struggles against average opponents 

[GoBills808]

9 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

This times 1000. It's like on hockey boards when a great player like Austin Matthews scores an amazing goal, and everyone analyzes the Sabres' defense to find out who missed their assignment. Sometimes the other guys make great plays. 

for those of us who dont follow hockey is Drake Maye the Austin Matthews of the NFL 

[clearwater cadet]

He not a big game coach, without Allen he be coaching the D-Line at William and Mary.  Good players coach and culture guy, but not going to take us to the promise land.

[Rubes]

I'm more bummed about the offensive strategy once we had first down at the Pats 30 yard line with about 3-4 minutes left.

 

[Blackbeard]

1 hour ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

Agreed.

What kinda boat you got?

I rock a Crownline CCR 215 and recently got a Waverunner too. 

Yuppie

 

😁

[Allen2Moulds]

Babich was awesome as a position coach.  Helping coach Milano to his 1st All-Pro and then did same for Poyer and that group.

That had me hopeful, that we would see a fast/improved defense.  We are now 20+ games in, and I am I'm hoping for McDermott to take over the reins. 

 

[Jukester]

Good post OP. More often than not our defensive philosophy is based on fear, bend but not break, keep every thing in front. This is fine against many teams in the regular season as they’re not good enough to exploit it. But good coaches and qbs can and will exploit this, especially in the playoffs as we’ve seen repeatedly over the last few years. This was the Patriots with a young QB but they decided to pass more in the second half because it was plain to see how we were playing. 
If people think we’re a shoe-in for the one seed, get ready - it’s gonna be a bumpy ride with this D. 

[Goin Breakdown]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

Stop with the "soft zone" complaints. You're just showing that you aren't actually watching what the defense is doing.

The offense turned the ball over three times. The best QB in the NFL directly contributed to throwing this game away. Yes, the defense wasn't good in the 2nd half, but Allen shares in the blame and is at least an equal party to it.

His worst game since Houston last year that just so happens to have Diggs playing on the other side as well. I really hope he can get past Diggs. Getting swept by the Pats is going to make for a long offseason. 

[pennstate10]

2 hours ago, zow2 said:

 

This whole strategy by Buffalo pisses me off.  It's the same as the AFCCG game last season.  I believe the Bills had just tied it 29-29.  I told my son, play to win and don't let KC dink and dunk down the field easily for a FG and maybe a TD.  Then of course we allow it by playing soft and then everyone considers it a "win" because they only allowed KC a FG to go up 32-29.  NO, it was a Loss...because we allowed them to take a lead with 2:30 remaining.  And you aren't going to get down the field easily against a good defense in their house., which was proven to be the case.

Are you saying that Bills getting a game tying FG with 230 left is a difficult task?

Time didn’t run out in that game, they ran out of downs. 

[Mark80]

4 hours ago, WIDE LEFT said:

As it so often does. Pats final drive, only needing a field goal to take the lead. Given that making a field goal from 50-60 yards is routine these days, your D has to defend first down markers, NOT the end zone. But the soft, prevent zones allow Pats to methodically move the ball downfield, chewing up all the time. On the play where Maye was almost sacked, with Jones draped all over him, Diggs is wide open for a short pass, as our linebacker has to come up from his deep position to make the tackle. That’s terrible defensive strategy. Man up, take the short stuff away, blitz , whatever but u need to prevent first downs - not touchdowns. If a long TD happens, so be it, Allen gets back on the field with time to operate. KC faced similar situation in our playoff game last year. Our final drive - they threw the kitchen sink at Allen, knowing that if a long scoring play happens, at least Mahomes has a chance to comeback. But the slow death of dropping D back, bend don’t break, results in the slow death of a methodical drive that chews up all the clock. God awful strategy. 
 

As was the incredible decision to have Samuel field & return the final kickoff, with just 15 seconds left. Let the ball go into end zone, take it at the 20, and let Allen take 2 or 3 shots downfield. Long shot I know, but far better than a kickoff return that leaves virtually no time to do anything. It’s this consistent mismanagement of game strategy which will once again haunt this team in the playoffs 
 

 

Since 2017 exactly 1 team has more wins than the Bills, that is the Chiefs.  That includes a season when Tyrod Taylor was the starting QB and a season when Josh Allen threw more INTs than TDs.  But I'm sure YOU know more about winning strategy than Sean McDermott does.  Thanks for your wisdom.  The team would be lost without you.

[boater]

2 hours ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

Agreed.

What kinda boat you got?

I rock a Crownline CCR 215 and recently got a Waverunner too. 

Boatless at the moment, I had a Finnsailor motorsailer. She was too much boat for me to single hand, so off she went. Too bad, she was quite comfortable.