Rocky Landing

All six of our wide receivers made plays today. Daboll, and McDermott know exactly how to use each players' strengths, and McKenzie's sweep is a perfect example-- he was made for that play.

It's not like I was keyed on LG all game, or anything, but I did notice that when Ford was in at LG, he was really good. The entire front line was great in pass protection, but Food also had at least one beautiful block that afforded Motor a nice run. Gotta say, I like Ford at LG.

I really do apologize for this... There have been many players Attacked by nay-sayers From offense, and defense, and teams. But Late Nate to Zay Jones Would chill to the bones And infect a fan’s ugliest dreams Peterman

What if it's a Zay Jones/Nathan Peterman revenge game??? AAAHHGGG!!!!

2019, sure. 2018? Nope.

My point was in response to another poster who speculated that Gase would have ruined Allen in 2018 had Allen gone to Miami. Follow the thread. What's your point, btw? Are you really of the opinion that the above narrative of Allen's rookie season is an example of proper management? In my opinion, the fact that Allen is a top five QB does not indicate that putting a rookie QB in the worst situation possible is going to be good for their development. IMO, you can't look at Allens current stats and claim that, in hindsight, pairing Allen with literally the worst QB in the league, or any of the other elements I outlined, was a good idea.

Well, without gettin too far into the weeds, we drafted a QB that everyone (including Beane, and McD, btw) considered a raw talent who was not NFL-ready, that would need time on the sidelines behind a vet to learn the NFL. Having already let go of Tyrod Taylor, they hire as a vet mentor AJ McCarron, who IIRC had started all of five games in his career. They then run all of TC, and the offseason as a three-way QB competition. They cut AJ McCarron and name Late Nate Peterman as the starter, who craps the bed so spectacularly (worst week one start in franchise history) that he gets benched before the end of the third quarter. Allen then spends the next month as the starter behind the 29th ranked O-line, and the worst WR corp in the league, and Late Nate as his backup. Then, finally, in October they bring in a "vet Mentor" --- Derek Anderson. If you're going to describe that as some sort of 3-D chess... well, we'll just have to stand in disagreement.

Let's not pretend that Allen's first season in Buffalo was anything but woefully mismanaged.

Saints

If it's Levi Wallace vs Zay Jones, my money is on Wallace.

Actually, I remembered the issue with Miami, and the competition committee from last year. So, I googled "NFL competition committee Dolphins," and there were numerous articles. I just linked that one randomly.

I never suggested that tanking was a Gase plan, and clearly Flores was not on board with tanking for the Dolphins. It was broadly suspected that the Miami FO was "tanking for Tua," the the NFL competition committee certainly took that seriously. https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/news/can-the-nfl-competition-committee-stop-the-dolphins-from-tanking-jZdqkdFGYE2eGmcXQNQM-A Be that as it may, I was just indulging in speculation. I don't know that the Jets brass are wanting to tank the season. But, would anyone be surprised?

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the undisciplined thuggery isn't the Jets chosen method of tanking their season? The Dolphins started out last year by selling off all their best players, and installing Josh Rosen under center with less protection than he had in Arizona. Eventually, the NFL competition committee got involved. These Jets seem to be losing by utterly undisciplined coaching, and sheer thuggery. Eleven penalties for -118 yards, including six personal fouls, and giving the Broncos seven first downs, and clearly giving them the lead. Pretty crappy way to lose, but harder for the competition committee to call out.

I wouldn't expect Beane to veer from his BPA philosophy, but that being said... two words: Line. Backer.

The Raiders persona Ignores the Corona To them social distance seems odd But if Carr is sent off With a fever and cough Their backup's protected by God Peterman

I think the double-coverage on the check down may be overstated a bit. I know there was a play heavily circulated on Twitter showing this concept, but really it was an initial look that changed quickly. The Pats* showed Carr's check down double covered by a safety, and LB, but as soon as Carr looked off the check down, the safety was rushing around the LT, which pressured Carr to step up and by then the play was blown. That's a pretty complex scheme, and to be sure, the Pats* D is executing a lot better than ours at the moment.

I'm not going to say anything in defense of Edmunds, but the D-line was owned by the Rams O-line on run plays. Henderson was afforded enormous holes into the secondary all day long, and that's not just on Edmunds.

A couple thoughts: #1. A lot of hay was made over the offseason about how important team continuity would be, especially in the beginning of the season. I think the Bills D is suffering from that lack of continuity to a degree. Our D-line, and LBs are not performing, and it's putting a lot more pressure on the backfield. #2. Absolutely agree we are deficient at one tech, and that was sorely exposed vs the Rams. #3. Good point about TOP. I would add that vs. Miami, Fitz did an amazing job of getting the ball out fast. That was by design. With the Edmunds, and Milano injuries, we played press man, pressured Fitz on the edge, and kept him in the pocket. This allowed our D backfield to move in and help protect the weakness in midfield, and placed the Miami offense squarely on Fitz's ability to make quick completions. It more or less worked, but "Good Fitz" sure did show up that game, and kept Miami moving the chains. #5. Run vs. Jets? No we didn't! Our RBs combined for 41 yards that game, and most of Allen's rushing yards were not on design plays.I know that game strategy was by design, but I felt like a weakness at RB was exposed. Love Motor. Not sold on Moss, or Yeldon. We need a better #2RB. #7-10. Between Taron, and Siran (and hopefully with Norman's return?) I don't think nickelback is the concern here. Our reliance on a 4-2-5 formation is really exposing our weakness at LB more than anything, as well as our weakness at one tech (as you pointed out). After Milano, and Edmunds (who still seems below 100%) we are thin indeed, Klein, sold as a run-stuffer, has not delivered. Dodson has had some nice plays, but I'm not sure he isn't much better than backup quality. He's certainly not top-tier. Our biggest concern on defense, IMO, is the linebacker corp.

I thought they were called Pats* fans?

My brother sees them in Boston all the time.

I felt the same way about Neal. He seems like a beast, and plays with intensity. I was also intrigued that they switched his designation from safety to CB this season-- I interpreted that as an indication that he would see time as nickel CB, a role he filled last season when Taron Johnson went down. It does seem to me that Johnson has been playing well this season. I know a fair amount of fans have lamented Johnson missing some tackles on Henderson in the Rams game. I have a hard time faulting him too much for those tackles, as Henderson was afforded an enormous door into the secondary on far too many plays. If the secondary are making so many tackles on the RB, the problem is not with the secondary.

If the RB is consistently getting tackled in the secondary, then the D-line is failing to stop the run. The Rams O-line owned our D-line on run plays. Henderson had massive holes to run through all day long. I also think the reliance on nickel defense has a lot to do with our lack of depth at LB. Klein was sold as a "run stuffer," but has that been the case so far?

I suspect that Robert's first kick return (42 yards) may have resulted in the Rams kicker being instructed to boom the rest through the back of the end zone.

Nsekhe is a great rotational player, but I question if he has the speed for run downs. Certainly he doesn’t have the speed of Dawkins, nor the stamina. I also wouldn’t write off Spain just yet. Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t heard a complete or authoritative explanation yet for his benching. For all I know, it may have been a matchup concern with Donald, but I do trust this coaching staff. I think if you were actually standing in front of them with your “suggestion,” their answer would be: “What the hell do you think we’ve been doing?”