Bills start two backup Tackles vs the Steelers pass rush, and TJ Watt was a ghost out there

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

It makes me wonder if they need to look at making a change this offseason.   Brown busts his butt, but isnt great at pass blocking

 

I get Dawkins is popular, does community stuff,but its been broken down how for I guess weeks now, he gives up on blocks early.   Several have seemed to wonder if he is just about the popularity vs. Being a great football player anymore.   Not good when those questions arise for the guy protecting your QB's blind side.

lol.  That’s all

[hondo in seattle]

That running game was great to see.  But let's not rush into conclusions.  Why did we run the ball so much?  Why did we not throw down the field?

 

Part of the answer to these two questions is that the run game was working.  But the other part was that Brady didn't trust the OL to protect Allen.  Allen wasn't sacked today because (1) he didn't throw very often, and (2) most of his passed came out quick.  

 

The Pitt DL is better at pressuring QBs than stopping runners.  So Brady didn't give them a chance to pressure Josh by calling short, timing passes.  It's what he should have done in the Texans game.  

 

The shame is that the Steeler secondary isn't great and we didn't/couldn't take advantage of that because we don't have great wideouts and don't trust our OL (with the two starting tackles out) to protect Allen.  Fortunately, we didn't have to pass downfield because our OL was pushing guys around on running plays.  

 

Props to Van Demark and Anderson but I wouldn't want Brown or Dawkins to be out long term.  

[GASabresIUFan]

Anderson was clearly nervous to start the game, but played well after early mistakes.  
 

Great credit to Anderson and Van Denmark for holding up on pass plays and playing well in the run game.  
 

Not a huge surprise.  Both are our most experienced back-up linemen.  RVD has 37 games of experience entering today and AA has 28.  I thought RVD would lose his job in camp, but Grable’s injury helped secure RVDs status.  I bet the Bills aren’t happy they kept RVD.  
 

 

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

Game script mattered a ton.

 

It worked out, but I think we can thank our defence for keeping our offence in the game.

 

Because if Pittsburgh capitalized on our offensive mistakes in the 1st half, it's a completely different ball game on offence   which would have forced us to pass more

The defense limiting points off turnovers is somehow pretty standard for this team. It’s really bizarre considering how meh they’ve been most of the non post-turnover drives up until the last few weeks haha.  I think they’ve only given up two or three td drives off turnovers all year and we’ve had a bunch of turnovers 😂. Probably like 3/17 giving up the td 

Edited 5 hours ago by Generic_Bills_Fan

[MrEpsYtown]

Need to see more of Grable at some point but Van Demark has played solid in tough spots over the past couple of years and I think he deserves a shot at being a full time starter in the league. It certainly feels like Anderson will be starter here somewhere next year whether it be at guard or center depending on what happens with Edwards/McGovern. 
 

It does feel like Dion is somewhat replaceable with some of these guys, however with his restructure and such he does not seem like a realistic cut candidate. 

[transplantbillsfan]

Honestly... he was forced into it.

 

Why didn't he adjust halfway through the Houston game?

[BullBuchanan]

They did a great job, but if you ask Steeler nation, Watt has been washed for over 2 seasons. They still handled the rest of the steelers front 7 which is a tall order, especially given what we have to work with right now.

[Buffalo716]

4 hours ago, Simon said:

 

It wasn't just those two.

The Bills were throwing a variety of players at Watt all night long.

I think offensive line play in the NFL is at an all time low and the Buffalo Bills are a team that can actually trot out 7 guys that could probably start on some NFL teams

 

With RVD and Alec Anderson

 

I've always been Alec Anderson's number one supporter here

Edited 4 hours ago by Buffalo716

[Scott7975]

This team always has a good plan for Watt. I said before the game that Watt doesn’t play well against us. Granted, doing it with backup tackles on both ends was next level. 

[gobills404]

4 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

Bye, bye Dion Dawkins?

Watt would’ve been going up against Brown

[davefan66]

Offensive line had a great game yesterday. Once Anderson calmed down, line blocked well.

 

Wonder why this wasn’t the same game plan for the Houston game?  Don’t believe we would have won, but it may have been closer. Houston’s defenders are much faster to the ball then the Steelers, so not sure how much of a difference it would have made…other than not getting Josh beat up last week.

[Sojourner]

Totally did not see that result coming. The offensive line was awesome given what we were down. TJ Watt was indeed a non factor!!
 

Steeler fans next to us were wondering why they weren’t just sending the house against the run every play. Thought that myself. Make the Bills beat them by the pass. 
 

Awesome game, awesome result. The run defense was a sight to behold too. Things look good going forward. 
 

Joey Boss sack and fumble return by Benford turned the game on its head! Nice to see 47 show what he was capable of last season 

6 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

Game script mattered a ton.

 

It worked out, but I think we can thank our defence for keeping our offence in the game.

 

Because if Pittsburgh capitalized on our offensive mistakes in the 1st half, it's a completely different ball game on offence   which would have forced us to pass more

Definitley. Defense was quality from the second quarter onwards. 

3 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

They did a great job, but if you ask Steeler nation, Watt has been washed for over 2 seasons. They still handled the rest of the steelers front 7 which is a tall order, especially given what we have to work with right now.

Theres many who feel they should have traded him and got something in return for the future. Got to agree there. 

[Since1981]

Are FRESH legs at OL combined with easier run blocking better than starter at wk 13? 

[Not at the table Karlos]

The pass protection wasn’t great. Josh as he always has, made them look better than they actually are. 

[oldmanfan]

They chipped guys with TEs so that helped.  But let’s give credit where credit is due.  Brady saw a weakness to exploit on their run D and did so.

[Matt_In_NH]

6 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

Knowing what we know now, we would’ve won if our tackles would’ve left the game right after their injuries last week and didn’t try to stubbornly play through them 

The did what they did do more to the gameplan not because the backup tackles are better than the starter.  They gave help to the tackles often which they never did va Houston.  The bills needed to adjust in game but did not.  

19 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

The pass protection wasn’t great. Josh as he always has, made them look better than they actually are. 

Not sure you could say that last week

[Not at the table Karlos]

24 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

 

Not sure you could say that last week

He made them look better against the Texans as well. If any other QB was playing there would have been a lot more sacks.