Bills o-line scheme and reliance on mesh routes - The Athletic (Mike Sando)

[Nihilarian]

6 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

They're not doing things just to spite Josh Allen and Bills fans. McDermott and Beane want to win, of course. They believe that the place to spend resources are on QB, OL, and DL. And there is data to suggest that this is the correct approach. I don't agree, mostly because elite WRs are fun to watch and the Bills right now are a boring team that isn't winning enough to make up for it. 

Oh, I dunno, that 4th and 27 with a hook n ladder play was pretty darn exciting. Shame we don't see more of stuff like that.

 

Anyway, what gets me is the Bills came out throwing against a Houston team with a very solid secondary and a top pass defense. Whereas their run defense was mid pack in the 20s. James Cook finished 17 carries for 116 yards, 1 TD. So why wasn't he used more in the run game? Why attack them at their strongest point? Then Buffalo could have won that game if not for a few missteps.  Like the false start on Dawkins on 4th and 1. Like Gabe Davis not getting both feet in bounds. The three turnovers killed them. 

[corta765]

6 hours ago, ProcessTruster said:

Bills were in real trouble on offense from the get go in this one.   

 

But if Gabe gets that second foot in , they win anyway.   Funny game this is.  

To me the killer was HOU getting the lead before half. BUF was not perfect but held the hammer in the game and didn't have to chase or press. Once the Texans got the lead it felt like the offense reallyy had to press and it got bad quickly. The defense certainly got better in the 2nd half, but that TD drive before half was sooo bad I have no idea what we were doing.

 

Like you said funny game, if Prater makes that XP then Josh ties the game late and who knows. Funny game.

[BillsShredder83]

5 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Worth a watch!I view it much differently after watching. Beane and Brady have really screwed the pooch!!!

Im saying this rationally: the worst thing that can happen to us is making the playoffs and not "bottoming out" (as much as you can with Josh under center).

 

Miss playoffs and guaranteed a top 18 overall pick at worst (17 maybe?).

 

Doesn't matter what coaching problem is, they cant identify it and they arent going to. Scrap everyone but Kromer. Need a different voice anyways.

 

Eat some bad contracts. Hope that the improved draft position and rookies contribute enough to off set the salary cap being blown out... new coaching/scheme too.

 

We can still make playoffs in 2026, and who knows from there. 2027 the serious window is back open.

 

This team does not have "it" , theres no magic. Our talent is depleted. Injuries (guys weve chose to pay) are too much.

 

I think we have one chance for a serious legit re-tooling and a bonafide chance to win one with a still prime Josh. If we continue this path for 2 more years, it might be too late, as far as catching his prime.

 

A half measure here is not acceptable.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

14 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Im saying this rationally: the worst thing that can happen to us is making the playoffs and not "bottoming out" (as much as you can with Josh under center).

 

Miss playoffs and guaranteed a top 18 overall pick at worst (17 maybe?).

 

Doesn't matter what coaching problem is, they cant identify it and they arent going to. Scrap everyone but Kromer. Need a different voice anyways.

 

Eat some bad contracts. Hope that the improved draft position and rookies contribute enough to off set the salary cap being blown out... new coaching/scheme too.

 

We can still make playoffs in 2026, and who knows from there. 2027 the serious window is back open.

 

This team does not have "it" , theres no magic. Our talent is depleted. Injuries (guys weve chose to pay) are too much.

 

I think we have one chance for a serious legit re-tooling and a bonafide chance to win one with a still prime Josh. If we continue this path for 2 more years, it might be too late, as far as catching his prime.

 

A half measure here is not acceptable.

I don't want Beane making these decisions again!

[stlbills13]

The mesh routes drive me nuts but I will never in my life forget the fumbled end-around to....DAWSON KNOX

[BigAl2526]

Has anybody asked Brady about the declining effectiveness of mesh routes and receivers not getting open in recent press conferences?

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, corta765 said:

To me the killer was HOU getting the lead before half. BUF was not perfect but held the hammer in the game and didn't have to chase or press. Once the Texans got the lead it felt like the offense reallyy had to press and it got bad quickly. The defense certainly got better in the 2nd half, but that TD drive before half was sooo bad I have no idea what we were doing.

 

Like you said funny game, if Prater makes that XP then Josh ties the game late and who knows. Funny game.

For the life of me, I can't understand why they went into prevent mode with zone coverage all the way down the field right before the half. Houston had plenty of time, and they predictably picked the Bills apart because a) the Bills couldn't get close with only four rushers and b) someone is always open in the Bills zone scheme if no one applies quick pressure on the QB.   

[WideNine]

I feel like it was not too complicated.

 

We go into each season thinking about the gaps and areas we could improve as a team and the O-Line was one area where everyone thought we were set with studs at LT and RT and little needed to change with personnel or protection schemes.

 

5-man protection and Josh eludes any that they don't pickup, but the Texans DEs simply outmatched our OTs and that threw everything else off.

 

There are other execution  things here and there that could have helped as our margin of error against that defense was pretty slim and less forgiveness for sloppy play.

 

I guess the question for Joe Brady would be could he have anticipated that his Tackes would be overmatched or why did he not make the appropriate in-game adjustments?

 

Sometimes the other team has the bigger, badder dogs.

 

 

 

[harmonkillebrew]

3 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

Oh, I dunno, that 4th and 27 with a hook n ladder play was pretty darn exciting. Shame we don't see more of stuff like that.

 

Anyway, what gets me is the Bills came out throwing against a Houston team with a very solid secondary and a top pass defense. Whereas their run defense was mid pack in the 20s. James Cook finished 17 carries for 116 yards, 1 TD. So why wasn't he used more in the run game? Why attack them at their strongest point? Then Buffalo could have won that game if not for a few missteps.  Like the false start on Dawkins on 4th and 1. Like Gabe Davis not getting both feet in bounds. The three turnovers killed them. 

After that first drive, it seems Texans started game planning for runs on 1st down and subbed in a heavier Dline rotation. They knew the Bills would then abandon the run on 2nd and longer and brought their pass rushers back in. Same for 3rd and long.  Brady should have had the smarts to see that strategy and the guts to keep running it on 2nd and 3rd down, even if the yardage was more. Cook is a weapon to break it anytime, you can't just run him on 1st, especially when going up against a strong pass rush. Keep the D on their toes with draws and screens. Brady was so ill-prepared for this game

[HappyDays]

8 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Yesterday, the Chiefs lose if Mahomes doesn't roll right, evade a rush, and complete a miracle pass to Noah Gray.

 

An average Allen game from this year and KC blows out Indy in that game. No kidding. Mahomes was awful for most of that game. Mistake after mistake after mistake and his team kept them afloat until he could find his groove. Here on the other hand you have fans pointing to a freeze frame where Shakir is maybe open for a 2 yard gain on 2nd and 10 and saying we can't possibly win with Allen missing that throw. The performance standard is on a different planet.

[Simon]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

An average Allen game from this year and KC blows out Indy in that game. No kidding. Mahomes was awful for most of that game. Mistake after mistake after mistake and his team kept them afloat until he could find his groove. Here on the other hand you have fans pointing to a freeze frame where Shakir is maybe open for a 2 yard gain on 2nd and 10 and saying we can't possibly win with Allen missing that throw. The performance standard is on a different planet.

 

I was thinking of you earlier when I clicked on a Bleacher Report link that graded QB's for this week.

They gave Mahomes an "A"

Allen got an "F"

[Buffalo716]

3 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I was thinking of you earlier when I clicked on a Bleacher Report link that graded QB's for this week.

They gave Mahomes an "A"

Allen got an "F"

 

What would you say if I told you according to advance metrics Dion Dawkins has the highest pass blocking win rate in the NFL out of any left or right tackle

Edited 2 hours ago by Buffalo716

[Simon]

4 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

What would you say if I told you according to advance metrics Dion Dawkins has the highest pass blocking win rate in the NFL out of any left or right tackle

 

I'd be a little surprised coming off last week, but the guy has been an absolute rock for like 7 years.

My only real complaint about him is that we're not really seeing anymore of that fantastic arm chop he was embarrassing people with last year.

[HappyDays]

7 minutes ago, Simon said:

I clicked on a Bleacher Report link

 

I made the same mistake once.

 

[Simon]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

I made the same mistake once.

 

 

Yeah, that might have been the 2nd or 3rd time ever for me.

It was undoubtedly the last.

[Buffalo716]

12 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

I'd be a little surprised coming off last week, but the guy has been an absolute rock for like 7 years.

My only real complaint about him is that we're not really seeing anymore of that fantastic arm chop he was embarrassing people with last year.

 

It would be great to get his arm chop back 

 

It's been a dion staple for years... I think he slightly started going away from it because they called him on penalties like 2-3 doing it last year

 

NFL referees also have biases.. and when you see a 280 lb end on the ground.. sometimes a referees instinct is that it has to be because a lineman grabbed them to the ground 

 

Not realizing that Dion Dawkins has world class technique and leverage ability 

 

 the advanced metrics have not updated from these last string of games.. but going into Houston he was the number one rated tackle with win rate on passing sets

Edited 1 hour ago by Buffalo716

[hondo in seattle]

12 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Worth a watch!I view it much differently after watching. Beane and Brady have really screwed the pooch!!!

 

Thanks for posting!  That was worth a watch. 

 

Not very different from my own view of the game, but to hear an ex-NFL-er talk about the Texans' disrespect and disregard for our receivers was sobering.  

[Tulsabillsfanz]

13 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Worth a watch!I view it much differently after watching. Beane and Brady have really screwed the pooch!!!

What makes this even worse is we weren’t missing any WRs that would’ve made it better.  We were missing Kincaid, but that’s it.

 

I really hope Beane & Pegula both watch this video.  There’s no excuse to field a group of WRs that inept with an elite QB on your team. Again, we can’t even blame it on WR injuries.