GunnerBill

The 2022 class is our best since 2018 (Josh and Taron) despite missing on our 1st rounder. That class has been critical in moving towards the Allen Bills 2.0

AB at his peak was the best non-QB in football. Diontae Johnson is average at best.

Average player, terrible teammate. I have said it every one of the previous times in the last 10 months a team has got rid of him. This is number 4. That is surely that?

He played well on Sunday.

He's gone.

He is still the best corner in football. The Bills caught him with a nice design on the Samuel touchdown.

I never said it was the only way to distinguish yourself. Our guys have other strengths. They bring size, physicality, Hollins is surprisingly short space shifty for his size and is pretty smart in making himself available to his QB and Keon is a beast with the ball in his hands. I still think you need a separator, particularly who can win on the boundary and I think Amari looks like a sticking plaster solution to that and they will have to revisit it in the offseason. But in response specifically to why are we not seeing more receiver separation my answer is: because of who we have at receiver.

I think he has found ways to get guys open. Could they improve, sure. You can always improve. But I think the overwhelming reason our WR separation rates are as they are is because of who we have there. Coleman didn't separate in college. Hollins has never separated in his 8 year NFL career. They have been our two primary boundary receiver most of the year. Expecting them to transform into guys they have never been is unrealistic IMO. There is still hope you can improve Coleman's separation a bit. He is still young, he is a rookie and some of it is coachable. But it was never going to happen overnight and with Hollins he just is who he is at this point.

That was entirely forgettable.

There is an additional candidate there now with McCarthy. They will hire someone with Saints links though. That is Loomis's MO.

I know because before Hard Knocks and All or Nothing there was that brilliant book from an author embedded within the 2004 Ravens that chronicled the season from the inside. I remember Matt Cavanaugh gets fired at the end of the book, almost against Billick's better judgment due to pressure from the owners and the fans, and they promote Fassel and then the final chapter basically summarises the 2005 season very quickly by saying "Boller got worse they brought in McNair and Fassel was no good". Cavanaugh went on to work for Rex in New York I think and then for Jay Gruden in Washington. There is a guy who disappeared.... Jay Gruden. Did he get another job after being fired as Washington Head coach?

He did get an OC job for Billick didn't he? I think he might have been Billick's last throw of the dice at OC in Baltimore?

My take is as it has been since the spring: our wide receivers are non-separators. Coop can separate some, but has only played just over 20% of our total season snaps, Coleman is a non-separator, Samuel is not a big separation guy despite his speed and Hollins is not a great separator. Shakir is a space finder rather than a route runner which is why he struggled earlier in his career while he was developing that nuance over where to sit so he is never going to have big separation numbers, he will find those small windows where his QB can make a throw to him like the first play of the game Sunday.

I think Moore will get interest from Dallas. Jerry loved him, remember McCarthy kept him initially at Jerry's command.

I do think he failed in Carolina, his offense there was messy, and he never seemed to decide on an identity. He was trying to be prime New England Brady offense IMO, where they could run it 35 times one week and pass it 55 times the next depending on opponent and they just never established who they were or what they did well. But I disagree that his route structures are basic. I think his route combinations are top tier compared to OCs I see around the NFL. I think he is a really smart offensive mind, and I said pre-season I was very optimistic about him. On the off schedule plays, sure Josh has made them. He always does and always will. My perception is there has been way more available to him on script this year than any year since 2020. Some of that is offensive line, sure, a reason for the high percentage off script in 2021 and 2022 in particular was the poor pass protection but the first half of last year it was pure scheme failure and Brady has massively reduced that. They exist, sure. But I feel like Josh is pulling on the cape 3 or 4 times a game this year, whereas the last 3 years there have been times or parts of seasons where it has felt like the entire offense. Is he a "mastermind"? Maybe not. But beyond the obvious proven elite guys - Reid, Shanahan, McVay - I'm not sure who else in the NFL I'd swap him for as an offensive coordinator. Maybe Mike McDaniel. I do think he is a very smart OC too, but I think Brady's impact on this season should be recognised. He has been excellent. Of course having Josh Allen makes your job easier. But he shouldn't get dinged on his job with this offense because he has Superman at Quarterback. Honestly if Brady's work this year hasn't impressed people I'm not sure they will ever be impressed with any OC who works with Josh Allen. As to whether he succeeds as a Head Coach, well that depends on where he lands and fit. I think personality wise he is better suited than Daboll. Right now I worry about whether he is sufficiently experienced. The knock on him in Carolina was he was a bit aloof and didn't involve his players. He has gone completely 180 on that here, but I suspect there is other learning he needs to do to step up to managing an entire team. If I was his agent my honest recommendation would be: this market is bad even by the standard of normal NFL job markets, you have Josh Allen, you are gonna have a productive offense again next year and be in the conversation, and another year of seasoning probably isn't the worst idea in any event.

I didn't see that. Let me see if I can find a clip.

Dion is one of Baldy's favourites. He loooooovvvvessss him some Dion Dawkins.

.....as far as the spleen?

What a bizarre headline. They didn't "earn" anything and the draft pick is not "new." Bills find out fate of additional second round pick might have been a better headline.

But did he play better because of it? I don't doubt players notice it and if it helps them feel like they are locked in, great. But in reality it doesn't make a difference.

Interesting I think he can play in this league. I've got a high 3 on him indicatively from my first review.

I played and coached semi-pro soccer and was paid pretty well for it. It's placebo effect.

Whatever scheme wrinkles we choose to deploy we have to play better than we did the first time around. We were outcoached, for sure, but we were comprehensively out executed too. That Henry run to start the game was the perfect example. Every Raven won their rep on that play. If that happens you are in trouble whether you have 2 linebackers, 3 linebackers or 11 linebackers. I think the scheme failings mainly came after that point. But both have to be a lot better Sunday.

Short term emotional bursts, sure. That doesn't last 3 and a half hours of an NFL game. I think being taunted on the field for example might get that bit more from the opponent on the next play where they get a chance to hit the taunter. But the idea that bulletin board material can sustain extra effort throughout and NFL game? Nah. That's placebo effect.

I believe it was contract length not incentives that caused this to break down.