Hapless Bills Fan

Thank you so very much for your positive contribution to altering this dynamic!

Cover1 and Jim Kubiak and others often point out plays where they assert Allen's reads are deep-to-shallow. If true, that may be a problem with play design.

Rather than start another thread, I thought I'd link this and some comments here Sal Maiorana take https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2021/11/09/buffalo-bills-offense-needs-fix-these-three-issues-solve-slump/6337395001/ 1. "Josh Allen needs more help than he's getting" Maiorana points out that various former QB/pundits have all come to the same conclusion, that the Bills offense is "Josh Allen and Nothing Else": Drew Brees: Chris Simms: Boomer Esiason: Maiorana's take: Mairoana goes on to point out problems that most of the folks here will totally agree with: 2. "The OL is a disaster". He calls Cody Ford a bust, and points out the "one that got away", Wyatt Teller, as well as the apparent miscue of re-signing Williams and Feliciano while letting Spain go. I'm pretty close to using that "b" word myself for Ford, but it's a little interesting that he appears to give Dawkins (whose play has slipped) and Boettger (who was servicable last season) a pass. We need to expect far more from our Franchise LT. Anyway no one can argue with the conclusion: 3. "Stefon Diggs needs more opportunities". I'm not sure how much of this is scheme, and how much of this is a determination to focus on Sanders. But while I think Sanders is a good WR, for whatever reason he hasn't been coming through in games. His overall catch % is 54.9%, and while some of that is overthrows, some of it appears to be he's not where and when Allen expects him to be, or he doesn't haul it in. I need less gushing in pressers and more catching in games from Manny Sands. 4. "The Buffalo Bills running game is non-existent" I don't think any of us would disagree with the above, but while some would agree with his conclusion: Um, Maiorana? Did you look at the film from the Pittsburgh game? The answer is "Yes. Yes, with 4 yds on 4 carries, he could, in fact, be less productive than Moss and Singletary" I thought the prevailing thought was that even if a team doesn't run well, play action is still effective? Football Outsiders makes that argument Anyway, no argument from anyone (except maybe Daboll) that we need to run. The question is, is this some thing that can actually be fixed in-season?

I suppose that could be part of it Josh is a very very different QB than Warner was. Warner made his living on the quick strike passing game, knowing where he was going to go with the ball and getting it there quickly and accurately. But when I watch him break down other games and other players, I just don't get as much out of it as I do out of, say, Brett Kollman or Cover1 or Jim Kubiak's writeup. I can't put my finger on why. I'll shut up now, not trying to squelch discussion from people who find his takes helpful. @Buffalo Bills Fan, can you share particulars about what you found insightful or useful here?

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2021/11/bills-sean-mcdermott-promises-adjustments-discusses-failure-to-run-the-ball.html Pretty much Parrino just reporting on what was tweeted out from McDermott's presser Parrino makes a cogent point about the degree to which Josh Allen has become our run game as well as our passing game: Parrino doesn't comment on the overall rushing rank of this season (11 for yds, 12 for attempts) which is higher than last year. An interesting point I noticed: Motor + Moss have almost identical rush ypg this year vs last - 77 ypg last year, 80 ypg this year. On the other hand, Allen's rush ypg are up, from 26 ypg last season to 40 ypg this season. So are his rush attempts, from 6.4 to 7.1 attempts per game So basically, the people who comment that we haven't improved our rushing game have a point - Allen appears to be responsible for the improvement. Parrino has that right. The question is, are there adjustments to be made with the same player personnel? And further - if there are adjustments, will they be sustained? Last season, we talked about improving the run game. We had a great, run-focused game against the Patriots (190 rush yards), then two games where we hardly ran, possibly by intention. We talked about improving the run at the bye week, came out of the bye and ran for 172 yds, then kind of put that away again. As Parrino quotes McDermott "I thought we would have progressed in that area". What took him so long to notice that we haven't?

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Funny you say that, because I get about the least out of them that I get out of any of the film breakdowns. Can't tell you why I loved Kurt Warner as a player, I just don't find his breakdowns that helpful.

I think it goes a little deeper. I think the gameplan for all three games was based on: 1) our strategy for success will focus heavily on the passing game 2) we don't have to marshal a capable rush threat to beat them 3) our OL will hold up to give us time to pass - if they blitz and play man, Allen will pick them apart; if they rush 4, we'll protect long enough for the deep routes and a shifty slot guy like Beasley to work open. The thinking after the Pittsburgh game was, OK, Pittsburgh has an exceptional DL. Maybe we have to run (1,0) and empty sets less and (1,1) and (1,2) sets more so we can protect, but Pittsburgh has an exceptional DL and Tomlin spent his summer vacation studying how to beat us. But other teams who have good but not great DLs have figured out that our OL doesn't seem able to handle twists and stunts and they can get home with it while running 2 high safeties and flooding the middle of the field where Allen was deadly last season. Just my thoughts. I mean whoopie, but someone posted Ford was their highest graded OLman in the Jags game, and that's so absurd that I can't exactly put a lot of weight in their OL grading system.

His year with us, Gore averaged 3.6 ypa. That average of 3.6 ypa was comprised of games 3-6, where he averaged 5.3 ypa, games 2 and 7 where he had 3.6 and 3.8 ypa, and then games 8-14 where he averaged 2.1 ypa (and that's inflated by a single game; many were 1.22 or 1.5 ypa) So, I'm not quite sure what exactly you're missing. Halfway through the season, Gore was cooked and it was painful to watch.

Well, not listening hasn't stopped others from opining....you could also have just listened to a few minutes. We can most certainly agree to disagree There is this helpful feature called the "ignore" function which will prevent you from reading his takes. It won't help with Beth Mowins and the table tennis game though

And on this note, I think this could have been a different thread about under what circumstances the NFL would cancel games/forfeit game checks, but it seems to be another Rodgers thread so....

Both Rodgers, the Packers, and the NFL have said they were aware of his vaccination status and he was following protocols (mostly) within the facility He was fined for attending a team-sanctioned Halloween party with more than 3 players (that's against the protocols) etc. Again, he and the team have said they knew his status and he was following protocols within the building, which would include daily testing. The only people Rodgers lied to were the media and fans, and (possibly, some of) his sponsors.

It's nice to know you can summarize the presser without bothering to listen to it. You should be accorded all the credit you deserve for this take. I don't think he sounded beat up at all. I think he sounded like a man who knows what he wants and intends to get it - grounded and determined. If you didn't "waste the time" to listen to it, again, how do you reach this conclusion about how he sounded? If you did listen to it, Bad Take IMHO

That's a tougher question than you might believe to answer, because you would have to find and remove the contribution of QB rushes from all of the teams, and it's not always obvious which teams those are. For example, Ravens are durrr of course, but Murray actually doesn't contribute that many of the Cardinals rushing yards, while Fields does contribute a lot for the Bears. The order shifts around substantially.

The Bills are gaining on average ~120 ypg, 11th in the league Allen contributes on average ~40 ypg The order of teams would shift a fair bit if the QB contributions were subtracted (and not necessarily on the teams you might think, either) For example, the Ravens are #1 in the league for rushing, but Lamar Jackson contributes 75 of their 160 ypg. Without him, they gain 85 ypg or 5 more ypg than Buffalo achieves without Allen's contributions. Judging by today's presser, I don't think Coach McDermott would disagree with you.

He's looking as though he's progressed. Catching the ball equally with both hands, and throwing it back each time with his R hand and a normal grip and throwing motion.

I'll answer as a general question (a Rodgers Q perhaps belongs in the Rodgers thread?). Neither teams nor the NFL penalize players for getting sick with any disease (or injured). The NFLPA would rightfully have a meltdown if they tried. At the end of the day, the probabilities the NFL has observed are significantly lower, but a player could be vaccinated and follow all the protocols and miss a game due to Covid. If the team or the NFL feels the player has violated its rules and protocols and that has led to them getting an illness, then that is addressed as a violation of rules.

Wow. Just listened. The presser suffers from the usual horror of being unable to hear most of the questions. Here if anyone wants to give it a listen for themselves. But this sounds to me like McDermott's firm, not throwing anyone under the bus but not bullgaffling either, version of Matt Rhule's comments about Sam Darnold's picks, where he said we've been having these conversations over and over and the picks are still happening.

All well and good but hasn't he promised that before? I think at this point there may be a philosophical disconnect between McDermott and Daboll on the importance of cultivating the run game. I think Daboll plays it lip survice but deep down, doesn't really believe it. My rationale is that Daboll has repeatedly said something like "everyone wants balance until you have problems doing the one thing, then you better do less of that thing and more of the other". I think that's at core, his approach - if we struggle to run, we'll just pass. I think after certain games, McDermott puts Daboll in a half Nelson and pins him and won't let him up until Daboll says "We will work on running the ball and a balanced offense". Then it becomes a focus, and for a few games we rush effectively - the first Patriots game last year, the Chargers game last year, the first Dolphins game this season and two games afterwards. The thing is, if Daboll wants to advance and become a HC, he's got to show he can curate an offense that is more than "The Josh Allen Show" as Chris Simms put it. Even great QBs who are capable of carrying a team like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady play more effectively and their teams go farther when they're supported by a capable rushing attack. McDermott is a former DC and understands how DC's think and scheme. Daboll needs to internalize that.

A Reuters report (Reuters, like AP, usually requires multiple sources) stated that the NFL does not know the vaccination status of players - that knowledge stays with the clubs. If that is correct, then the clubs would pretty much have to be the ones to enforce mask protocols. Other reports though, have asserted the NFL does know.

Did you come up with that independently or borrow this? Either way, it's funny. Harsh, but funny.

Someone told me the pressers where Beasley has not worn a mask are outside and not subject to those rules. I dunno. I'm tired of thinking about it, I just want enforcement of the rules to be fair between teams, on and off the field.