HoofHearted

Minkah was actually a coverage player on that play. He had combo coverage on the back. When he stepped up away from him that's what gave him the ability to rush the pass since he became a free player.

Oh 100%! Those are adjustments made throughout the week or on the sidelines/halftime during games though not on the fly during a play.

No, I'm with you haha. The safest bet there is to throw the under. It was so wide open when the ball left Josh's hand - that's why he took it. The thing I was trying to get across was that it wasn't just a prayer being thrown up that we got lucky on.

It is Tampa 2, but again - tell a QB he's got a receiver 1 on 1 with a linebacker and they're gonna take that shot every time.

Saffold's eyes hang on Minkah for another second or two after the initial step back, but he can't just sit there and wait on it. He has to protect B gap. So if he were to just sit there with his eyes inside and the 5 tech who stayed outside on Dawkins instead ran some type of pinch and came into B gap he'd have a clear rush lane to the QB. Slide protection works because it's gap based. Can't start making up rules based on who the personnel is in front of you on any given play. It muddies the waters and then you are just freelancing.

I'm running into the same issue with the pictures, but lets see if I can explain it without them. Fitzpatrick eliminates himself as an initial rush threat as soon as he steps backwards into coverage. You can see as soon as the ball is snapped both Saffold and Morse have eyes on Minkah because pre-snap he is a potential rush threat. Once he declares himself to no longer be an immediate rush threat Saffold no longer has anything holding him to help chip with Morse so he works to his gap side to double for when the defensive end will ultimately work back upfield on Dawkins. Once Morse sees Minkah isn't an initial rush threat his eyes go to backside A to punch the backside A gap rusher to help Bates overtake. As soon as Morse engages with the defender his eyes immediately go back to his gap side (left) because that's ultimately what he is responsible for. Once Morse sees Minkah try to add on he works to disengage from the backside A gap defender to pick up Minkah. If Minkah had rushed immediately Saffold would have been involved in the block - if he rushed B gap Saffold would have him - if he rushed A gap Saffold would have punched to give Morse time to overtake, but would have gotten eyes back to his B gap after making initial contact with his punch. Hope that helps clarify.

Yes, the 98 yard touchdown play. I explained the blocking rules to the half slide protection that the Bills ran in that original response I linked.

Saffold doesn't get "pwn'ed" by anything. He has a potential threat in his gap and once that threat is eliminated he moves on to his gap side to double that threat. Not sure where the chemistry bit with Morse is coming from. The rules are the rules and freelancing will get you beat.

Everyone is a "system" player. You either get guys who fit that system or you mold your system around what your players do best. We do a really good job of both.

He's alerting the ref that he's off the LoS.

He's right. I didn't see the bottom side corner before. Still follows the sample principles I was talking about earlier though - the Mike Linebacker is a wall player to give the corner and Safety time to get to the throw. It's still the right read with the deep half player coming from so far outside. Diggs looks so open because the Safety to that side is reading Allen's eyes. If Allen were looking Diggs way he'd be tighter on Diggs over the top.

Offense was in trips to the field with a wide split by #1 to widen the corner - Steelers are sitting in Cover 3. Shakir is running the seam. That's a LONG way for the corner and backside Safety to travel. Mike has to carry or wall a vertical by #3 to give the Safety and Corner time to get over top. Was it an impressive throw and catch? Certainly. This notion that Allen was just throwing up a prayer into triple coverage is far from the truth though. Here's what Allen is seeing as he releases the ball: The corner doesn't come into the frame until the ball is about halfway to Shakir. Again, impressive throw and catch, but to me this is just two dudes understanding the scheme they are running vs the scheme they are seeing from the defense and attacking it at it's weakest point for maximum gains. Just all around good execution. Side note - who is the dude talking in the twitter video? He doesn't sound like he has a clue what he's saying lol.

He's got a receiver 1 on 1 with a Linebacker. What's wild about it?

Yeah, he definitely didn't in college. He was very vanilla - basically worked three techniques - speed, bull, and long arm.

Has this part been reported? Very surprising this wasn't already in his bag of tricks with how much he likes using the long arm.

Bates is alright initially - punch to your gap. Morse gets squared up on the guy after Bates punch which is really the issue - he needs to keep his left arm free in order to work off to the second level defender if he rushes. The pocket is fairly clean - there's a clear path for Josh to be able to step up into - he just didn't.

Morse's/Bates - Bates should overtake Morse's guy and Morse should be free to then work to the extra rusher.

It's a half slide protection. Basically you lock the backside tackle (RT) and every other Offensive Lineman is responsible for the gap to their left. The Backs will insert backside B gap looking inside/out. Saffold is responsible for the left side B gap - when he see's the defender back up at the snap he is no longer a B gap threat and so he works to double to his gap. Morse is ultimately responsible for passing off his block to Bates so that he can work to that left side A gap if something shows.

Combination of Diggs pulling coverage and choice routes within the scheme.

DaQuan Jones. This dudes play has elevated the play of others on the defense far more than any other player out there imo.

Tre will replace the rookies. They've been given a bunch of help so far. Playing Tre and Dane allows Frazier to do more with the scheme than they've been able to do so far this year.

Haha. That looks a lot more complex than what it actually is. When you break it down positionally it simplifies, but yes, things can get complex.

IMO you're able to have more complex things in at the NFL level because they aren't teaching a ton of technique (for the most part). I think that's where the Bills have separated themselves from others in the NFL - they still focus on the fundamentals of the game and spend time working the little technique stuff whereas most teams expect guys to come in with the technique already developed and they focus solely on scheme. At the end of the day coverages are coverages - there's only so many ways you can slice an apple and still be sound. The complexity comes in how teams are able to disguise their coverages.

Well yeah, that's always the risk/reward you have to weigh based on who you're playing lol. 0 blitzing Josh or Lamar would scare the hell out of me. Much safer to send 5, attack the protection to where you can guarantee a 1 on 1 with a back, and play Cover 1 or Zone behind it. And yes, at the high school and college level.