HappyDays

So to me this is a coaching problem. Our small MLB looks like he is trying to penetrate into the backfield instead of maintaining a gap, and immediately gets taken out of the play by a guy that probably weighs 200 more pounds than him. You've got Benford strafing right and towards the line as if he needs to play edge contain but Dorian Williams already has the edge. The job of the coaches is to instruct the players on how to execute against this play call. That didn't happen. Henry was gifted an easy wide open gap. I really don't want to hear about personnel issues on the defense this year. I don't see that as a reasonable excuse for the massacre we watched last night. Over the last two offseasons we spent the vast majority of our resources on that side of the ball. The coaches need to make it work with this group.

It's hard to tell because sometimes the Ravens defense makes their own check in response to our audible: It's not so much that Allen gets "fooled," it's that he's making the audible according to what the defense is showing pre-snap and sometimes the opposing DC just has a great play call that goes against pre-snap expectations. That's what great DCs are supposed to do. Would be nice if we could see some of that from our own side. I still would like these screens and quick swing passes to be less common even as the check, especially on 3rd down. Because then you're basically leaving all of the success of the play up to the defensive play call vs giving your best player a chance to create with the ball in his hands. When we let Allen create later in the game good things happened.

Here's another good example: This is a good defensive play call designed to get a sack and possible safety. They overload pressure to the left but have Kyle Van Noy hang back and then loop to the right. The idea is that Allen will look to bail to his left and will run directly into KVN for the sack. But watch Allen's head - he anticipates the loop and has eyes on KVN the whole time. As soon as KVN loops right Allen runs up the middle through the vacated gap and flips the ball to Shakir.

So that's kind of the problem, right? Our offense as constructed could work if it had a strong defense backing it. KC had a middling offense last year scoring just 24.1 PPG, in part because of below average weapons. But they went 15-1 because they had a clutch defense. Our problem is we have a middling group of pass catchers paired with a defense that looks like it is going to give up 35+ to any top tier offense. It's the definition of non-complementary football.

I think the play you're thinking of was to Palmer. I'm talking about a different one, I think it came on the series after Allen got out of trouble and flipped the ball to Shakir. On 3rd and 8 the pass hit Shakir right in his hands but there was contact and he didn't complete the catch. I don't know if if will officially go down as a drop because of the contact, but my point was his WR had a chance to make a play for him in a critical moment and couldn't do it. Shakir otherwise had a pretty good game. So did Coleman although his almost all happened in the 4th quarter. I just question if we can sustain a bunch of WR3 types (maybe Coleman can keep developing into a WR2) and not one pass catcher that is your go to guy on a critical play, while also trying to get by with a defense that once again looks a complete waste of investments. We have a defense where you'll probably need to win some shootouts paired with an offense that isn't built to win them, save for Josh going god mode.

I like this breakdown because it shows two plays on the final drive where Allen beat Baltimore with his mechanics and then with his brain. It's a perfect snapshot of how far he's come as a player.

Zero problems with the officiating night. They let both sides play. They had one bad spot on Allen's slide and nothing else to complain about.

Baltimore has maybe the best secondary in the league so this was always going to be a tough game to evaluate. But the separation just wasn't there until the very end. And when they had opportunities to make individual plays they couldn't do it. Shakir had a chance to make a big catch on 3rd down but dropped it after contact. Coleman stepped out of bounds before his 2PC, then failed to make a contested catch on the next try. Palmer supposedly has these great separation metrics but none of that showed up tonight. The one bright spot was Coleman heating up in the 2nd half. We saw glimpses of the guy that had reportedly been dominating training camp, and he and Allen clearly have developed a good connection that should only get better from here. I'm not sure that is going to be enough though.

My only concern with him is he's 41 years old and that leg might die as the season goes along. That being said in the Allen era I've never felt more comfortable watching a kicker line up than I was with him tonight. That last kick I actually was extremely confident it was going through. With Bass I would have been waiting for it to hook wide right. I appreciate Bass' ability to hit the occasional 60 yarder but that is a rarely needed skill. Give me the guy that hits 100% of the <45 yarders and 90% of the 50 yarders. That's the more consistently important skill.

Easy one tonight: Allen Oliver

Lamar had an incredible game. Yes he obviously had a more help around him than Allen. But credit where credit's due.

Not exactly breaking any news here but the defense remains a massive concern. I don't know that our coaches can fix it. A lot of players had poor fundamentals and some of the play calls in critical moments were head scratching.

I just remember Baltimore missed an XP too. I don't know I should feel about this game. Allen's play is the only part of it that's sustainable. But if it helps us get the #1 seed that's all that matters.

It's 12:01AM. I call that tomorrow 😁

ESPN is recapping the game, talking about how Baltimore's pass defense was their problem. But that isn't true. Their pass coverage was incredible, barely gave any space until they were worn down at the very end. Allen playing at that level is just literally unstoppable.

Celebrate the win but also acknowledge the faults that made it literally a 0.9% win percentage odds with 4 minutes left.

The 4th down to Coleman and Henry fumbling were both like 1% percentage plays that just randomly happened one after another. Jackson freaking Hawes catching a seam pass to the goalline. We didn't deserve this win but we got it.

Amazing game. 16/21 for 251 yards and 3 TDs. Oh wait that was just the 4th quarter.

Imagine 3 months ago showing a screen shot of Josh Allen standing next to Matt Prater on SNF post game with a big smile on his face. What even was this game

Just give him the MVP now

What do you even say

Very happy Bass is on IR right now. Sorry Tyler.

Better he didnt score!!

Now do you believe??