HappyDays

Almost every team has a liability somewhere on the OL. I don't agree that our RT being below average is a huge problem. I agree with your headline though. Our biggest problem on offense last year was not having a consistent #2 pass catcher. That problem continues this year. Teams with below average RTs have made it to the Super Bowl in recent years. Teams with inadequate #2 pass catchers have not.

Actually most of the all-22 analysis I've seen this week shows that a lot of our sacks were coverage sacks, and not just a result of Howell needlessly holding the ball. We were not typically getting into the backfield right away, we were keeping tight coverage which allowed the pass rushers to slowly suffocate the pocket. Our back 7 was just as responsible as our front 4 for that insane pass rush production IMO.

For the most part I agree. Dorsey has some goofy play calls but overall I'm satisfied with how balanced his play calling has been. We just don't have anyone consistent behind Diggs. It is a big concern. Our run game is better but isn't going to win us games. So once again we're stuck relying on Josh Allen superhero mode.

Well we're past the point of rooting to be ranked in top 5 offensive statistics. We've been there since 2020. Now we want a Super Bowl. And when you look at offenses that have made it to and won the Super Bowl in recent years, it's fair to wonder if our personnel and/or coaching on that side of the ball are at that level. If all of the consternation sounds like nitpicking, maybe it is, but that's the level of detail needed to win a championship.

McGovern has been a really good signing so far. He hasn't been dominant but he's been a stable fixture which is really all we needed from that position.

But that sort of goes to the point. The offense is somewhat lackluster because an inconsistent guy like Gabe Davis is our #2. I'm more than happy with our pass protection and our run game so far. Dorsey has made a few too many goofy play calls for my liking but overall I am satisfied with the design of the offense and the balanced play calling. The concern for me, as it has been since January, is that we still don't have anybody behind Diggs that can consistently be relied on. I feel like I'm beating my own dead horse here but it is just so hard to have a consistent offense with that handicap. I hope at some point we make a trade for an established pass catcher.

One reason for this that I don't see talked about a lot is that Josh has genuinely elite sleight of hand in those situations. He apparently does magic as a light hobby and it shows. It's one thing to just go through the motions of faking the handoff but Josh really SELLS it. I notice this especially on play action rollouts where often times even the camera man is fooled by Josh's ball handling. It's a huge underrated piece of his success in play action IMO.

I predict that Gabe Davis will get the Tremaine Edmunds treatment next year. He'll get overpaid by some dumb team and it will quickly become apparent that he was even worse than some of his detractors thought. I sincerely worry about our championship aspirations as long as he is our #2. Way way way too inconsistent to have that kind of high target role. 1 catch on 4 targets in this one... That kind of inefficiency just isn't sustainable over the long term.

What makes you think that? On 2nd down we ran for 1 yard. Even assuming you're correct that a 4 yard checkdown was available (which I am not at all confident of in that condensed area of the field), maybe then it's 3rd and 5 and that's no guarantee. We probably kick the FG anyways. We can't chip away 4 yards at a time into the endzone. The NFL doesn't work that way. It's too much living on the edge. Eventually you need to take your shots and score TDs. First downs are the priority right up until the 20 yard line, then the goal is TD. Obviously that is within reason, you can't throw interceptable balls that close to the endzone. But this was not an interceptable ball. It was a pass into the endzone where only his pass catcher could possibly come down with it. What's the problem there? There was no possibility of an interception there unless the ball took a goofy bounce, which can happen on any play including check downs. You're overexaggerating the difficulty of the throw. Yes there were a couple defenders in the area but Josh correctly recognized the leverage. That's what QBs are reading, leverage not body count. You have your TE with leverage against 2 defenders that both have their back to the QB. That's an easy decision every time. It isn't Josh's fault Knox didn't focus up and look for the ball. You're asking him to play the position differently than even his coaches would want. If you're playing Mahomes and he takes a 4 yard dump off over an endzone shot to a pass catcher with leverage, you're thanking your lucky stars. There's a fine line between smart and conservative. You're leaning too far towards conservative.

Dawkins has mostly been excellent this season. I doubted his conditioning entering the season but he has proved me wrong. Maybe having more than a turnstile to his right is making it easier on him.

The graph is kind of confusing. The blitz % is in decending order, the pressure % is in ascending order. So the Bears are like us not blitzing much, but also not getting any pressure.

Yep and this is why I want Dorsey to keep committing to the run even if it isn't working early. I saw a lot of people in the gameday thread after our first couple drives saying we should give up on the run. I was happy to see Dorsey keep going back to it. Committing to a balanced offense matters over the course of a full game.

I think Bernard has a lot to do with this. He has looked as good as advertised as a pass rusher. We aren't blitzing in the normal sense of sending 5+ so that drives our blitz % down, but we are doing a great job of disguising who the 4 rushers are going to be. When Bernard is a pass rusher he's making an impact. So far we've only played below average QBs so we'll see how the misdirection holds up against better QBs but it's encouraging.

And the QB is helped when his OL washes the entire DL out of the picture, leaving huge rushing lanes in the middle of the field. Allen is a magician but don't take away the OL's performance the first 3 weeks. They're going against studs and mostly winning their reps.

This is insane.

He has a $20 million cap hit this year. How much of that would be on the hook for? I see we can cut him after this season with only a $1.1 million dead cap hit, just not sure if we can afford him for this season.

To be fair, Bernard was a healthy scratch in the divisional game last year. The coaches gave him less and less snaps after his starting opportunity against the Jets until he wasn't even on the gameday roster. Then in training camp he had lost the job to Dodson and then suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the preseason. Nobody in their right mind thought he was going to take over the job and suddenly start lighting it up. Mostly I was just hoping to get replacement level play from that position. I would bet if you asked McDermott in confidence even he'd admit to bring surprised by Bernard's play. Out of nowhere he is playing like a superstar.

Annual scheduled post

Just a reminder of how absolutely insane this throw is, and I will never take these throws for granted no matter how many Allen makes throughout his career.

I disagree, I thought we dialed up quite a few long developing pass plays and the pass protection just held up really well, plus Allen stayed in the pocket or escaped when the defensive coverage won the play. Execution won the day for offense, not coaching IMO.

I have nothing bad to say about the defense. Incredible almost perfect performance from them, and had to overcome a few officiating mistakes too. The offense though has some legit concerns. And we're about to face a team that just put up 70. We have to look crisper than we did today and we can't afford any goofy play calls in critical moments.

They need to recognize that Harty was a bust of a signing and take him out of the game plan. The problem is who can we count on outside of Diggs?

Right now the #2 receiver spot is a hodgepodge of guys, none of them consistent or exceptional. It is a major concern. For now it will have to be Allen making magic happen and Cook maximizing his opportunities.