Beck Water

Allen said that his brother Jason caught endless passes for Jordan Palmer's group when he was prepping for the draft in 2018, and that he could play TE. His father Joel once said in an interview that Jason was actually the better athlete of the two, but that he went to college on a baseball scholarship and hurt his back, ending any chance for a pro sports career. Personally I want someone to show up at a Bills party in a Gorilla suit

So you may have all this, but that was a play where the Bengals rushed 4 and left 7 in coverage. They had a bunch formation on the R and Knox on the L. There wasn't a hot read or a quick outlet pass unless that was supposed to be Knox. Josh dropped back and was bouncing a bit, almost standing still, waiting for something to develop downfield. Something strange about where Shakir was headed vs. where Knox was, can't tell you what's up there except I don't think that's what was designed. Dawkins was beat and was holding, but Josh had maybe 2.5 seconds? Not enough for the play. Here's a shot just a bit earlier. See what I mean? Dawkins beat like drum. Brown about to be beat. At this point, pocket to step into prognosis does not look positve although Morse regrouped and Saffold came over to help Bates.

But what are your feelings about their reaction to our reaction to their reaction to our reaction on their reaction? He's alive, so

I was going to say that Josh didn't have a pocket to step into or time for the hot read, but actually he did have room to step up, and he could have pitched it to Singletary, I think. But those decisions are bam-bam and an instant earlier, it looked as though both Morse and Bates were gonna lose their guys. Singletary did a good job of being QB friendly.

You are absolutely correct. Dawkins was beaten like a drum. Was holding, too; didn't help him. seems to me like we don't run draws very often

I'm reminded of the joke about the mule trained with loving kindness. McDermott may need to bring a stick I do have the impression that for all the "holy spirit" that Morse joked about coming out of Dorsey, he doesn't have the pipeline into the space between Allen's ears that Daboll constructed and I'm not sure he has the capability to construct it. 🤷‍♂️ We may have to live with it, but I don't think McDermott has any intention of living with it. I think what I come up with for the throw to Brown, is that some thing was off there, but without knowing the play, none of us outside OBD can know what. Brown 100% did something unusual with his route - he checked or paused. If McD, knowing the play, felt it was a bad decision, and Josh is willing to acknowledge that, I have to go with them. Totally agree that Josh should have read the blitz and looked for the hot read.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they did that at times earlier in the game as well

I'm spitballing from memory, but I think we did rush only 3 in our earlier game against KC. We were trying to be confusing with coverage, showing blitz and then dropping into coverage but leaving an LB as a spy (Milano). It was one of the things that stood out about having Von Miller, that we were able to get effective pressure with 4 or even (if my memory is correct) only 3 at times. Well, Hey, Y'all

Wait, Cris Collinsworth is not a HOF WR? JK I knew that, it's just his affect

I Don't Think So That said.... I had the impression McDermott is nonplussed and a bit at his wit's end with some of Josh's decision making the last couple weeks, and that if he had hair left, he'd be pulling it out. He said there's a balance there, you prepare, you put the work in, and there's calculated risk, calculated being the operative, the key word. He was asked if he felt the Bills had dodged a bullet there with the turnovers, and he said "Yeah. I mean, that's not the way you want to live your life, if you want to win games. That's proven, in the NFL. I trust our players, though, that they're going to take great ownership of it, and get it corrected." Later, he said "it's something that's been addressed, directly, indirectly and will continue to be addressed, one way or the other, as we continue down the road here." Not quite sure what "one way or the other" could mean, LOL. On the other hand, going back up to @Bocephuz OP, on his Tuesday appearance on Kyle Brandt's Basement, Josh said that he felt he only made one really bad decision in the Dolphins game, and that was the deep throw to Brown. I don't know if I agree with that; I think on 2nd down, a decision to throw to a tightly covered Beasley with 2 other defenders in the vicinity, vs Diggs short of the chains but very wide open, really ought to be considered.

Listening to McDermott's press conference earlier today. He seemed a little distracted. Anyway, he praised the heck out of the Bengals: "Skill level is off the charts, Joe and what he's accomplished to this point as a QB in this league. He's extremely smart, accurate, the list goes on, he's an elite QB for good reason. Then the skill that they have with the receivers, the tight ends, the backs, they're as skilled as there is in the league" To listen to him talk, you'd think that their back is rushing for 4.6 ypc and ours for 3.9 ypc, instead of vice versa. You'd think that their TE had 517 yds receiving and ours had 414, instead of vice versa. I do give them the edge at WR. Their top 3 WR account for 2837 yds, our top-3 for 2688. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I know McDermott's mantra is "humble and hungry", but just as there's a line between aggressive and reckless, there's a line between humble and recognizing your opponent, and doubting yourself. I hope he's on the "right side" that's all.

That's where I am. I don't think this is something that's gonna heal up quickly for Phillips Milano was at one point "one arming" it with a partially torn pec. He came back, but the Bills shut him down with IR (was 3 games at the time), then worked him back in with a "snap count"

Now wait a minute here. Nothing wrong with cinnamon in chili However, I draw the line at allspice and cloves. What the hell are you making there, Chili or medieval-style Mince Meat Pie? Cleveland I believe @Ethan in Cleveland

Don't Know what they're saying, Don't Care to go look. They can't have it both ways though. Either they get the "Great Coach and Team" Karma points for being touched by the tragedy that unfolded on their field and reacting to it in a human way (so pausing the game was a mutual decision). I think they deserve them, myself OR It was a Bills-driven decision while the Bengals really wanted to continue a game where it looked like we just saw a teammate die on the field with "you just want an excuse, you want no part of us, you Weenies!" in which case they can Bite my *****-Covered Shoesole. Either Or, Not Both. They're a talented team. 7th ranked offense in the league, 6th ranked defense in the league. Sounds like they think they're better than whoever is 2nd at both Guess we'll find out

Indeed it does. Let us please not neglect that Singletary contributed one of the most difficult, hard fought 7 yard runs I've seen from a Bill to gain the first down and let us close out the Dolphins game. Then there is his role in pass protection, where he was a Boss. In his presser today, the normally chary of praise McDermott said outright that he thought all of our backs played really well this week but then called out Devin in particular and said he was "really proud of him" That's where I am. I think opening Crowder's 21-day window is a win-win situation for both sides. One, if there is an injury (avert!), he may be ready to step up and contribute. Two, Crowder is an UFA this off season; assuming he wants to continue his career, it's a signal to potential suitors in FA that the Bills thought he was healing well and likely to be able to contribute.

We can't have them all active. Diggs and Davis are locks. Pick 3 more: McKenzie Shakir Beasley Brown Crowder Gonna be interesting to see how the coaches see them. My bet would be we don't activate Crowder unless we lose someone (avert) to injury or possibly if the trainers decide McKenzie can't go The thing is, speed and agility are 100% his thing, so does being 90% put him back to the realm of ordinary players?

And that's fair, but I think the counterpoint some are making is that it's harder to break a habit of making overly risky decisions with the ball when you need your A game for those 10-20% of the games, than it is to just play your A game all the time.

That's a really good question. The Bills have a lot of option routes in their offense, where the idea is that the WR and QB read the D and choose an option based upon what they see. This works GREAT when they all see things the same way, and not so great when they don't. There's no question that with Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley, a lot of in-game experience left the building after last season. In fact, they may need a bit more route definition on their plays going forward.

I might agree, I might not agree - can you help me understand what you mean by "awful" mistakes? I think a number of throws that were a bit off target were affected by pressure.

Great stuff @Bocephuz, Thanks! I did not catch that Bates was assigned to pull on a "fake run". If that is correct (and I'm not doubting what you see, but interpretations can vary) given the field position and the aggressive nature of the Dolphins pass rush, I can not over-emphasize what a Stone Cold STUPID call I think that would be. Spencer Brown is becoming a theme as a problem. I caught an interview with Maddy Glab and Micah Hyde on the corny M &M show they do where he kind of mocked Bates for being a detail oriented guy with a pen and notebook taking copious notes. Brown needs to step up his game. Maybe Kromer needs to buy him a notebook. Anyway someone needs to take him in hand. Someone - think it was one of the Cover1 guys - commented that the OL did a good job picking up the zero blitzes, but the 4 and 5 man pressures (where I assume there were twists and stunts) was something they were "working on." Do you have any input there from what you saw? Josh had Morris completely open on a crosser 4 yards past the LOS, with a passing lane. It was 1D Morris could easily have made it 2nd and 3 or 4. Josh had Diggs shallow and completely uncovered on the R side of the field, about 3 yds past the LOS on 2nd down but could easily have gotten 5 yds and maybe more to make it 3rd and 5 or less. So obviously, errors on both throws, but disagree that Josh should have thrown it away because he had options Post I wrote in another thread on the John Brown INT, if you want to have a look and weigh in. Post I wrote in another thread on the Beasley INT, if you want to have a look and weigh in

Silver lab. Though there is controversy whether silver labs are a thing, or crossbred Weimaraners. I'm tickled by the little Josh interactions with the dog during the show. You see little hints of the scope of the Josh personality. The dog brings him a toy, expecting to be indulged and play, the dog gets on the furniture, clearly easy-going loving 'dog parent'. Then "You quit your whining back there!" said in a No Nonsense, I mean Business voice and the dog is like 'whoops, OK Boss!" Just seems like a microcosm of some of the Jordan Palmer stories and his summation "He's a Sweetheart, but I wouldn't want to Mess with him!"

Leslie Frazier would like to know. Did he say when on the weekend the interview was going to be? If he interviews Sunday after the game, in theory not too much impact. ??

I could be unique, but I feel like this thread is very Bad Juju.

I mean, I think every fan and every QB thinks that to some degree, right? We feel that as long as we have Josh Allen we've got a chance, right? Burrows will learn that his team has a window. It starts when he gets his 2nd contract. Boyd and Higgins are FA after this season, as is DJ Reader and Jonah Williams their LT. Hendrickson and Mixon FA in 2025. It's not that the window slams shut, but it gets smaller and harder to squirm through and depends a lot on being able to pluck talent from the later part of the draft and from lower-tier FA. He shouldn't feel like an underdog. He's the QB of the defending AFC champions, and he probably feels like he came one canceled game away from hosting this game.

Let's take this piece by piece. "We signed 2 WR off the street that no one else wanted...." True. We did this because we lost 2 WR to injury and had our backup plan poached on waivers, and late in the season, they had disproportionate value in an offense they already knew (ie, dude off the street who already knows our offense and has a comfort level with Josh >> possibly more talented dude off another team's PS. "and gave them a good amount of snaps" - True. Beasley got 31 snaps (42%), Brown got 21 snaps (28%). Shakir's snap count also increased to 30 (41%). In part this was because we had a starting WR out for the game due to injury. He's one of the premier Whipping Boys on TBD, but he has been getting ~57% of the snaps all season, so that had to be filled somehow. Brown and Beasley have been running around 12% of the snaps, so 30% more for Bease, 14% more for Brown, 12% more for Shakir = 56% of the snaps. That's what happens when injuries bite, Next Man Up. "Teams have figured out if you bracket Diggs the other weapons aren't consistently stepping up". Some truth. In the first half, no other receiver had more than 3 targets. Diggs had 7 receptions on 8 targets for 114 yds. Acting upon your premise, the Fins took him away in the 2nd half and he had 0 receptions on 1 target. Then the rest of the Bills receivers had 9 receptions on 16 targets for 132 yds,. The Bills still got some production in the run game (total 26 for 107 yds; 13 for 64 in the 1st half, 13 for 43 in the 2nd half. It's not as though our offense was completely shut down; 173 yds of offense in the 2nd half with Diggs being 'taken away' vs 275 yds WITH 2 interceptions in the first half. We got 10 first downs, we converted 4 of 8 3rd downs which is excellent, we scored 14 of our 34 points. I believe the Bills were being more conservative in the 2nd half after the Josh Allen strip sack gave the Fins a defensive strip-6 (with good reason!), but it's not as though our offense was shut down. "The offense is mostly just Josh Allen making magic happen" Again, some truth, but begs the question "is that because it's a system incapable of operating in any other way, or is it because Josh Allen is choosing to try to force magic to happen a little too much, instead of operating within the system?" Simms thinks so, others may think differently.