HappyDays

JJ Watt returned from surgery for a torn pec a few years ago, against us actually in the wildcard game at Houston. And his torn pec happened on October 27, almost three full weeks after Jones tore his. Of course Watt is a genetic freak and I would think for a 1T it's harder to bounce back from a pec injury, but there is a small glimmer of hope there that he could be back for the playoffs.

Through 3.5 quarters our WR2 had 28 yards. Very solid? That's crazy. He has an elite WR1 garnering all of the attention across from him and he can't separate from man coverage. On an extremely simple pitch and catch he let the ball get into his body and bounce off his hands. In a game with no margin for error for a myriad of reasons, two drive-killing drops from usual suspects Davis and Knox were big momentum swings. If this was a one-off single game issue you can live with it but it's instead a persistent issue that has directly led to us missing out on the #1 seed each of the past 3 seasons.

@HoofHearted mentioned that Elam did have safety help a few times but incorrectly played his leverage which made the safety help inconsequential. If the safety is playing inside leverage and Elam gives up outside leverage, it will look like there is no safety help. I have no clue how after two years in McDermott's defense he doesn't understand such a fundamental aspect of our coverage scheme but that is probably why he hasn't been active.

This is a game where we should have gone with a bunch of designed Josh Allen runs. I know everyone wants those stricken from the gameplan for some reason. But the Jags were playing man coverage which means coverage players have their back to the QB. The pass catchers were not separating, the blocking on passes and runs was not holding up. In situations like that you have to take the leash off of Josh and let him be a little reckless. Everyone wants Josh to play "normal" QB within the structure of the offense. But what about when the structure isn't working?

Nothing that I've heard. Most of what I hear is on injuries and sometimes low-level signings.

Yes! This game turned into a gritty defensive struggle. It was 11-7 at that point in the game. Every single 1st down in a game like that matters. That being a catch would have at the very least moved the chains, kept the defense on the sidelines longer, and led to us scoring a minimum of 3 points. That was absolutely a huge momentum swing. You're crazy if you try to pretend it wasn't. And now I see Bills fans today pointing to Davis's final stat line as if that wipes away his crushing mistake on a simple pitch and catch? Davis had just 28 yards before the Jaguars went up two scores halfway through the 4th quarter. It was nice of him to wake up at the same time the Jaguars defense started sleepwalking with an assumed victory wrapped up, but overall that is a piss poor performance from WR2.

Here's what I've heard: On Jones - No surprise but right now the team is assuming a torn pec. MRI still to come but that's the initial prognosis. This means likely done for the season but a small chance he could return very late in the season if he has surgery. On Milano - The bad news is surgery is expected which means he's done for the year no matter what. He apparently has a broken tibia which is a 5-6 month recovery. One possible sliver of good news on Milano is that his knee appears to be intact. The MCL appears to be just strained/sprained which would be good news in the realm of possible outcomes. However Milano is still in London - he couldn't fly back with the team - and he will get a 2nd look at the knee when he's back in the US. So as with a lot of initial injury news this prognosis could change after further evaluation (like Von Miller last year). If the initial prognosis of no structural knee or ACL damage is correct, his road to recovery for 2024 is pretty cut and dry. Tibia fracture recovery doesn't typically have a lot of complications because blood supply is good in that area. And in general broken bones don't have major re-injury risks or production drop offs after returning, like torn ACLs sometimes do.

I can't imagine that when Beane used a 1st + a 4th on a player, he envisioned him as nothing more than a 3 yard outlet. It just doesn't feel like Dorsey ever does anything creative to take advantage of his players' skill sets. It's very much a "line up and beat your man" offense, and NFL defenses have gotten way too advanced for that to be the only club in your bag.

Dawson Knox in 2021 - 39.1 YPG, 9 TDs This year - 14.5 YPG 🤮 on pace for maybe 3 TDs Nyheim Hines in 2021 - 16.2 rushing YPG, 18.2 receiving YPG Hines with us last year - -.3 rushing YPG (yes that is a negative sign 🤮), 5.9 receiving YPG Trent Sherfield in 2022 - 24.5 YPG Sherfield this year - 9.0 YPG 🤮 Zack Moss in 2022 with us - 18.2 rushing YPG 🤮 Moss with Colts in 2022 - 45.6 YPG Moss with Colts this year - 93.3 YPG❗️ What evidence is there that Dorsey is maximizing ANY of our players' skill sets? Allen and Diggs would be superstars with any OC. What is he doing to raise the level of the players around them?

He is though! But when every catch is no more than 5 yards past the LOS, none of his skill set is going to shine through. He has made a few rookie mistakes but that doesn't mean he should be an afterthought in every game plan. At Utah he was running seam routes, verticals along the sideline, crossing routes. Where is all that stuff in his route tree here? It's not like we have a plethora of superstars stealing his targets. It's Diggs and a bunch of nobodies. He can't run the route that Knox did on his 3rd down dropped pass today? I just don't understand his usage at all.

Cook is a hard player to figure out. I think what it comes down to is that if he has space to work with he is excellent and will maximize that space. That's where people get excited about him. But he is a little slow to accelerate and if he is met with direct contact he isn't going to break away from it. So when that space isn't created for him it looks as bad as it did today.

Eventually you have to go all in. Von won't be a long-term answer for us. Tre White might never play again. It won't be that long before Diggs is over the hill and Allen is getting into his 30s. The mantra "keep building for the future" doesn't work when the future is now. Most of the other Super Bowl contenders in recent years made a mid-season trade to fill a hole. We now have several holes - WR2, CB, DT, WLB. From left to right those are positions where I would like to see us make a move. Just one is fine. If we stand pat how can we realistically compete with a team like the 49ers?

Why did we have a designed play to the last player on our depth chart on a 2 point conversion?

You don't think Kincaid can make a simple downfield play like this? I have no idea why we've relegated him to 5 yards or less check downs. Here's a crazy (awful) stat: Does Dorsey actually know how to use 12 personnel? Or is he just using it because he feels obligated? We paid one TE $13 million a year and used a 1st + 4th rounder on another. Why can't Dorsey get them more involved?

Do you think this is on coaching, or the players themselves? It feels like too many times Allen is waiting for someone to separate downfield and it never happens, so he just has to check it down or escape the pocket.

At the last second they instead traded him to SF for some kind of late round swap.

Those are all marginal players with situational skill sets. Jeudy is a legit top 2 WR that can run all the routes. Not only does he immediately slot in as our primary WR2, but everyone else gets bumped down the depth chart - which helps a limited player like Davis look better in a reduced role facing lesser DBs.

I won't really believe the Broncos would trade Surtain until they do it, but I would easily give up our 1st if they were willing. More realistically I think Jeudy is an obvious move. Through 4 games he is catching 70.8% of his targets. Unlike Davis he can run every route. He isn't a superstar but he would be an upgrade for sure. What would they want for him? A 2nd?

I'm good with the Broncos continuing to lose and hopefully starting a fire sale. Surtain or Jeudy please...

In his postgame presser, Allen said the intercercepted pass was tipped as it left his hands. It still went 40+ yards in the air and hit the intended receiver in the hands.

Reminds me of a certain "underthrown" pass from earlier today. Why do teams like the Chiefs seemingly always have a plethora of players that step up and make great plays when their number is called, while Allen's weapons fail him time and time again?