A Few Thoughts about the Falcons Game - Community Edition

[Cray51]

8 hours ago, Jerboski said:

He doesn’t need to own ***** 

 

His receivers are ***** trash, the defense isn’t much better 

 

he is asked to do more than anyone in the nfl, enough is enough 

Every player needs to own their part, and Allen was a major issue last night.

[Coffeesforclosers]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

1. The defense is absolutely trash. There is no question it is poorly coached at the moment and dreadfully called. But the players can't execute the most basic stuff either. Babich has to go. I don't think that is a silver bullet but the not being lined up right on 3rd down in the redzone type stuff has only been a feature since he has been in charge. He is in over his head. Fire him and make McDermott directly accountable for improving the defense.

 

2. That said there is some Brandon Beane blame there too. Bishop is trash. Williams is worse. Tre White is washed. Rapp is a backup out of his depth. And extending Bernard was a mistake. 

 

3. On offense, Brady isn't faultless - the Falcons never stopped James Cook. He had 4.3 ypc at half time and yet had only 7 carries. He ended at 5.1 ypc on 17 totes. I don't care about load management he is our only weapon. He has to get the ball. Last week and this we have gotten away from him to put the game in the hands of bad receivers. It makes no sense. I don't want to be a run first team but with this roster we HAVE to be. 

 

4. Josh was crap last night. I didn't think he played poorly last week really except for the pick but last night he was bad. The ball never quite seemed to be coming off his hand right and then he got frustrated and was pressing and it spiralled. But I do not for a minute put this on Josh because......

 

5. The ineptitiude on offense isn't really on the OC or the QB. It is on the General Manager. He thought Keon Coleman was worth the 33rd pick. WRONG. He decided to spend his cap dollars on mid range FAs lile Samuel and Palmer. WRONG. He vehemently and aggressively defended his total under prioritisation of receiver by blaming radio guys in the spring. WRONG. Teams are basically bracketing Shakir, manning up everywhere else and daring our receivers to win and not a single one of them can. Yes I hated Brady going back to the gimmick sweep play, but he is running gimmicks because he knows what you know, what I know and what Josh Allen knows. In conventional drop back offense his skill guys cannot get open. And that is on talent. And that is on the GM. 

 

6. That is as bad a Bills performance as I can remember since the Peterman meltdown in San Diego. Pathetic. McDermott is squarely on the hook for the defense and as I say I'd make him directly accountable for that the rest of the way. Brandon Beane is on the hook for the offense. I think everyone (possibly except Pegula) believes the extension of their tenures should be a year to year decision at this point. They will be evaluated at the end of the season but right now there are more black marks than credit points on both ledgers for 2025. Both seats should feel boiling hot.

 

Thanks Gunner, if they can't get it done, they've got to go.

[yall]

This is what bad drafting and poor coaching with a once in a lifetime QB looks like on a protracted timeline.

 

The team sucks and we'd be lucky to have a winning record any of the last 5 seasons if we had an average QB 

[billsfan_34]

28 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

Trading up for Elam was another gem.

Aaah yes! The small LB experiment needs to end too. Coleman should not play another down this season. Disclaimer: these have been my thoughts all along.

[GaryPinC]

47 minutes ago, Mango said:

I think we have a Beane issue more than a McDermott issue. 

 

I have faith McDermott is still a good coach, he's proving to be one of the winniningest without a SB. 

 

It is time for a GM to sit above the HC and not be in the mud with them. It was great to get this franchise to wear it is now. I think Beane is too close to the roster, staff, etc, paired with meh drafting, has really sunk this team.

It's clearly both.  When do you ever see D-lineman do a stunt?  Our secondary play physical and at short yardage?  Sean is married to his risk-averse system.  It can prevent players from exploiting their talents because system rules often prevent it and if your drafted player doesn't mesh with the system it's a wasted pick rather than fitting your system to the players at hand.

 

Best (worst) example stuck in my mind is AFCC vs KC last year with Mahomes running those unstoppable end-arounds all game.  Groot was asked afterwards if he should have bounced out to try and stop it and he said "no, my rule is to stay where I'm at and I would do the same thing again."

 

Poignant example of why we can’t even get to the SuperBowl.

39 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Every player needs to own their part, and Allen was a major issue last night.

You're not wrong, but are being myopic. 

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Billzgobowlin said:

I agree with everything except about Palmer (I think he is a very good signing, in fact him getting injured changed our whole offense)

 

I don't think Palmer was a bad signing. $10M is the going rate for #3 caliber WRs. That is what Tutu Atwell and Dyami Brown are getting paid and Palmer is better than both of them. The problem is that that was Beane's signature move at WR this year. Last year it was Curtis Samuel. Those should be moves to round out the offense, not your big ticket items.

 

We let Diggs go and I agreed 100% with that decision, but Beane made no attempt to find anybody even close to his level. They chose "everybody eats" over "feed a couple stars" and it has proven undeniably the wrong approach to building around your franchise QB. Mahomes had crap around him for a season or two, and KC has made every effort to fix the problem. Meanwhile Beane has taken to yelling at local radio hosts because he knows better than everyone.

 

Palmer + Rousseau + Bernard could have given us DK Metcalf. I was adamant in the offseason that adding a star WR needed to be the singular priority because it was our only possible path to a Super Bowl and unfortunately my worst fears about their approach have come true.

[Cray51]

3 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

You're not wrong, but are being myopic. 

Allen is a GREAT QB, an all timer, but there are a few instances in his career where he goes into these short spurts of poor play.  they aren't as frequent as 2019-2021, but they still occur.

 

I hold him to a standard because he is the leader of the team and he has shown levels of play where he has been steps above.  There are legitimate issues with this team, I find most of them to sit on Babich with his system that obviously is not working for the team.  However, Allen has been an issue the past two games.  I haven't liked his body language, he is late to alert on the line, and is jumping out of clean pockets.  The NFL is evolving to stop HIM, as he is the MVP and that caliber.  He needs to be better because he is the best in the world.

[boater]

Yes, fire Babich. Double hat McDermott HC/DC. He got good results the last time that was done.

[Cray51]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I don't think Palmer was a bad signing. $10M is the going rate for #3 caliber WRs. That is what Tutu Atwell and Dyami Brown are getting paid and Palmer is better than both of them. The problem is that that was Beane's signature move at WR this year. Last year it was Curtis Samuel. Those should be moves to round out the offense, not your big ticket items.

 

We let Diggs go and I agreed 100% with that decision, but Beane made no attempt to find anybody even close to his level. They chose "everybody eats" over "feed a couple stars" and it has proven undeniably the wrong approach to building around your franchise QB. Mahomes had crap around him for a season or two, and KC has made every effort to fix the problem. Meanwhile Beane has taken to yelling at local radio hosts because he knows better than everyone.

 

Palmer + Rousseau + Bernard could have given us DK Metcalf. I was adamant in the offseason that adding a star WR needed to be the singular priority because it was our only possible path to a Super Bowl and unfortunately my worst fears about their approach have come true.

KC hasn't made every effort.  They have spent nearly the same on the WR position as Buffalo

 

Worthy - Coleman - within 5 picks of each other

Rice - Shakir - both 5th round picks

Hollywood Brown - Palmer - FA signings

Hopkins - Cooper - Vet acquisitions

 

That's not a strong argument that Buffalo hasn't done the right thing in their offensive personnel.  Choosing the wrong players is one argument, but the allocation of resources has been nearly identical.

[mannc]

49 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Every player needs to own their part, and Allen was a major issue last night.

We can expect Carolina (and every other team we play) to blitz us heavily, until Allen makes someone pay for it.  He looked like a befuddled rookie last night.  And I don’t know what happened to our pass protection…

[Riverboat Ritchie]

39 minutes ago, billsfan_34 said:

Aaah yes! The small LB experiment needs to end too. Coleman should not play another down this season. Disclaimer: these have been my thoughts all along.

Elam was such a bad pick and every time I see Trent McDuffie play I get so pissed for what could of been.  Ironically though last night, even though Elam has sucked with Dallas too, I was like maybe we could of used him some to play tight man coverage. We are in trouble. Slow old and small. 

[Cray51]

1 minute ago, mannc said:

We can expect Carolina (and every other team we play) to blitz us heavily, until Allen makes someone pay for it.  He looked like a befuddled rookie last night.  And I don’t know what happened to our pass protection…

I think 1) Brady isn't using as much motion pre snap so the defense is disguised better and 2) Allen is overthinking and overcommunicating to the line which is leading to breakdowns.  

 

I understand Allen trying to learn the pre snap reads and grow that part of his game.  However, at some point he needs to settle down and let the play calls operate naturally

[HappyDays]

4 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

KC hasn't made every effort.  They have spent nearly the same on the WR position as Buffalo

 

Worthy - Coleman - within 5 picks of each other

Rice - Shakir - both 5th round picks

Hollywood Brown - Palmer - FA signings

Hopkins - Cooper - Vet acquisitions

 

Rice was a 2nd rounder. They also used a 2nd rounder on Skyy Moore (awful pick, but I'm just talking about the investment strategy). That is 3 top 64 picks on a WR over the same period that we have used 1. This year they spent a 4th on one while we used a 7th. They have absolutely prioritized the position more than we have.

[Ned Flanders]

This is your best post ever @Virgil  You touched on all the hot buttons.

[Cray51]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

Rice was a 2nd rounder. They also used a 2nd rounder on Skyy Moore (awful pick, but I'm just talking about the investment strategy). That is 3 top 64 picks on a WR over the same period that we have used 1. This year they spent a 4th on one while we used a 7th. They have absolutely prioritized the position more than we have.

How did I think Rice was a 5th?  My apologies I totally thought he was a 5th.

 

They also never traded a first for an established player like Diggs, but recently they did use an additional 2nd compared to Beane.

[The Jokeman]

Josh Allen needs to be accountable. Yes, he is amongst the best this team and league has ever seen. Yet he's clearly regressed these last few games. As bad as the defense looked at times last night they gve him and the offense to win that game. People scream at the play design aka the 3rd and 1, sorry it wasn't poor design it was the execution. 

 

I don't know what the plan last night was on Drake London in the 1st half but clearly it was horrible. Prior to the Robinson 80 yards and cloud of dust we had moments of holding him in check. I found it funny we didn't notice or the announcers say anything about Daquan not being on the field. Hopefully Larry O proves he was worth the contract he got this off-season. If Hairston can play hell give us some speed we lack. Hoecht might give us some added pass rush we need. 

[DrDawkinstein]

10 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

 

Worthy - Coleman - within 5 picks of each other

 

 

This simple comparison tells the entire tale.

 

Sure, they were only 5 picks apart.

 

The big difference is:

 

Worthy went at 28, the Bills original pick. KC traded up to get the top talent.

 

Buffalo abdicated their position, and in those 5 picks, traded down twice, out of the 1st round completely, passed up on 3 other WRs... and took "a guy"

 

Even worse that we held the original position, and helped KC leap frog us.

 

Huge huge difference in philosophy.

[HappyDays]

3 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

They also never traded a first for an established player like Diggs

 

Yeah I'm just talking about recent years. Since 2021 Beane has spent exactly ONE top 140 pick on a WR. One in five drafts. That's an almost incomprehensible failure for any team, let alone one built around its rocket arm QB.

[Dan Darragh]

1 hour ago, uticaclub said:

Culture over talent pick, they thought he would be a good character guy and overlooked his on field ability

I'm a good character guy and would have required much less of a salary.  My on field ability is not NFL level but hey...

[HappyDays]

9 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

Yet he's clearly regressed these last few games.

 

Here we go again. I remember people saying the same thing last year after the Baltimore and Houston losses. Then we added a downfield boundary WR and lo and behold the "regression" was stopped in its tracks. And Cooper was no elite threat for us by any means, but just having that baseline option available made a massive difference.

 

I'm going to keep saying this until I'm blue in the face - the worst sin this regime has committed is convincing a portion of the fanbase that Allen is anything less than elite. They are ruining his legacy as evidenced by posts like this. Tom Brady had a disappointing final year in New England and people thought his career was over. Instead he went to the team with the best set of offensive weapons in the league and promptly won another Super Bowl. Every QB that has ever played in the NFL has needed help to perform at their best.