mbowman14

The disjointed offensive performances against the Ravens (hurt early) and Texans (DNP) certainly provide evidence as to his importance.

This also calls into question the 10 second runoff after the Intentional Grounding. I think with 2 TOs left there, burning one of them would have been preferrable to the 10 second runoff which equates to two plays. I really like McD as a coach, but his time management decisions continue to be poor. Not calling a TO with :01 on the play clock in the 2nd half to get below the 2:00 warning after the fg attempt was also suspect. You know these things are discussed in-depth because they are well prepared seemingly in all facets, but far too often it is not the optimal decision with regard to the clock.

I thought about this at the time, and it is the only logical reason not to throw the hail mary. If that really is the concern, let Trubisky throw it. You have to take a shot there for a lucky bounce or DPI. The play to Shakir had no chance whatsoever and it wasted a small opportunity at points. I would also look at the Hook and Ladder play Detroit ran. That is the perfect play for the next to last play of the half when the Bills needed 5-10 yards for a FG and the Lions took away the short sideline since Buffalo had 0 TOs. Something like that from Kincaid to Shakir flying across the field to then get out of bounds. Curious to see if it is added for playoff time.

A hidden part of the game that hasn't been mentioned much is how well the Bills caught the ball. Josh was slightly inaccurate on a few throws and the hands were unreal and need their kudos: (Ty Johnson sliding catch on 1st drive, Ty Johnson 4th down fingertip grab, Dawson Knox 1-hander, Ray Davis TD, Keon Coleman smoothly adjusting to deep ball over his other shoulder, Curtis Samuel diving 1 yard gain on Goal line out route - all off the top of my head). I love the way this team is catching the ball.

It was defensive hands to the face and Edwards’ hands were inside the framework. Horrible call.

Is Cooper hurt? Haven’t seen him lately.

I think game script is a huge deal. I have always been a proponent of deferring the ball until the 2nd half to try and double-dip. The Bills had the double-dip opportunity and failed on both ends which is when the game really went sideways and forced them into chase mode. The Bills seem to have done a poor job this year of scoring drives when they do get the ball first (Ravens game comes to mind as that set the tone). That said, the way the Rams took it to the Bills on the opening drive last week has me re-thinking the coin toss philosophy. It seemed like that drive set the tone and perhaps the Bills would be better off taking the ball and hoping the O can get points on the board first and play from ahead. I think the Bills are very tough when leading and a huge part of the defense being successful is getting ahead and having game situation dictate or play a role in the opponents' playcalling.

The two uncalled false starts by the RT (ridiculous toe-tap catch by Nacua and Screen TD) are not judgment and have to be made. False start calls are black and white. Both of those ended up being huge plays.

Two things can be true at once and apply here. The Rams were on fire yesterday and have a top echelon offense when healthy. The Bills defense was also very bad and the scheme was too predictable. We showed all of our blitzes way too much pre-snap. The screen TD to Nacua, I thought for sure from the look that the Bills were bluffing and dropping into coverage. Hell Stafford saw it, audibled to the screen, and we still blitzed exactly where we were aligned. Really poor against weapons and a QB that smart and talented. Another issue that is driving me nuts is the obvious holding (jersey grabbing) by our DBs. Way too many times they are in fine position but grab needlessly. The officiating was suspect but our DBs are putting themselves in the situation to be called. The free 1st Downs from this are killers. The main reason I wanted McD to decline the late holding penalty was because it would only give our DBs one chance to give them a free 1st down.

The same official missed an obvious false start in the 1st half on the Rams RT as well. It was on the ridiculous Puka toe tap catch that should have been blown dead. I believe that was 3rd down.

That is a fair point. I still doubt they throw before 3rd down but regardless you HAVE to preserve the TOs at all costs and make them earn it. Largely we agree and your takes are fair and rational.

1. Yes 2. It was a very basic mistake. Indefensible and obvious to anyone that has coached even at the high school level. 3 and out odds are far greater than on-side kick when you can bank on runs in 1st/2nd downs. Still unlikely to win but at least 15-20% chance if you have tos. 3. Absolutely. He is great overall specifically with culture. His late game management is just really bad. 4. 100%

Yesterday should have mirrored the Seattle gameplan in my opinion. Against Seattle, we bucked the normal trend of 1st down runs with play-action out of the gate and it was extremely effective. We then mixed the run game in later on early downs and worked in reverse of our normal pattern. With KC's aggressiveness at the LOS, I think a similar approach of working in reverse (play-action early in the game on early downs) would have been better that banging our heads against the proverbial wall. That presents the threat early and opens up the run game later.

I think there has to be some way to mix it up and take #3 off the field and play one high safety with Rapp, leaving Taron as the extra box defender. This wouldn't drastically change Taron's current responsibilities. Shifting into 2-High probably would, as I can't recall Taron ever being a deep-hash defender. Not every play, but it could be incorporated against run-heavy teams. They were creative last year when Milano went down, bringing Rapp in deep and moving Poyer to more of a LB role on obvious passing downs. Cam Lewis is doing the same thing this season.

Specifically, Tua's 4th down run that McDermott challenged. After seeing the holding call on Torrence to negate Josh's rushing TD in the 1st half, the no call on Oliver that 4th down-play was ridiculously bad.