BCAS Baritone

OJ Simpson would make good use of the crown - running wide then cutting back to the middle of the field. The defenders were literally running down hill while trying to switch back to OJ. Most fields did have a crown, but the one at Rich Stadium was unusually large. The fact that the field is below ground level makes drainage even more challenging than it would be if at ground level.

There's only so much you can change in one week - we saw the same thing when Brady took over for Dorsey. Our offense got a lot better, but the changes were subtle and took several games to fully take shape. But I definitely assume he won't be making so many idiotic fourth down decisions as Staley did. Still, they definitely do not have Justin Herbert, and a good chance they don't have Keenan Allen either, who has been all-world this year. I would think it would be even less of a home game than usual for the Chargers - how many actual Chargers fans would have held on to their tickets after the Thursday night debacle. Of course, past Bills teams have blown equally optimistic situations. But this is this Bills team, not those Bills teams, so you can't really transfer that onto this squad.

I don't think you can do a fair catch once the ball hits the ground, and that kick was a squib. They just wanted to get the ball our far enough so they could kneel it out comfortably. It was the smart play.

They're making a point of calling it so Patty and Reid don't feel like it was just targeting them.

Actually I can think of a few by Gabe Davis. I can think of 3 where he speared an absolute rocket that was out in front of him that he grabbed on a dead run. Then there was one at the 2 yard line in a comeback attempt with no room at all at the sideline. As someone above mentioned, it's more a consistency problem with Gabe. He also has some wow drops.

The last game is in Miami. But as for weather, it's actually good for the Bills. Flying down from the frozen tundra of Buffalo in January and getting off the plane to nice, warm weather - that will lift their spirits right away. And there are always a decent number of Bills fans at any Miami game, between the people that have moved to Florida permanently, the snow birds that are there for the winter, and the Bills fans that always make the trip. Only logical explanation is that he's an outstanding practice QB and is especially good at running the scout team.

So I can recall several runs out of shotgun that lost yardage, the most memorable one being against the Patriots* at the goal line. Were all of those a different concept than Dart or Inside Zone? Or put another way, if they are not "successful" by your measure (and I think your measure makes a lot of sense), how many are barely unsuccessful as opposed to genuinely negative (like losing yardage)?

Just curious - does your wife have an account on this board?

Have to be pleased with scoring 32 against the Jets - that's the most they have given up all year. Next best was Dallas scored 30 against them in week 2.

Bills 18-16

I think option routes can contribute to that, especially if all the receivers have an option route. Basically, you want to run to the empty part of the field. If everybody sees the same thing, that a certain part of the field is open, they all run to it. And they have a nice group hug when they all show up together.

It's kind of like Rex Ryan's defense. The players have a ton of options, and they have to all pick the right one (and the same right one) in a fraction of a second. Nobody can make that many decisions that quickly. That's why you see option routes where the QB expects the receiver to go deep and the receiver cuts it short. If everybody makes the same right decision every time, it's unstoppable. If any one player makes the wrong decision, or takes too long making the right decision, the play blows up and it's over.

Given that a big part of our problem is Josh Allen right now, I am wondering who had a bigger negative effect on Josh - the OC (Dorsey) or the QB Coach (Brady). I guess we will find out shortly.

I'm still surprised

Surprised that the Bills didn't activate Fournette for this game.

I think the Bills only had 7 drives in that perfect Patriots playoff game

It would be cool if he and Josh exchanged a couple of FUs for old times sake

It would have been fair to call two penalties - one on the Bills player that took off the helmet, and one on the punter that swung the helmet. And the punter should have been ejected. Since he wasn't ejected, the league should suspend him for next week.

I definitely thought the offense was WAY better overall last night than at any time since the Dolphins game. Even in those late comebacks against the Giants and Patriots they did not look as good during those brief periods as they did overall last night. Even the last 25 minutes when they didn't score, they looked at least decent. The second half against Tampa Bay was way better than the first half against New England or NY Giants or Jacksonville. But I still think the third and goal shotgun run in the first half was absolutely idiotic.

It's not just that they don't score. They almost always lose yardage, no matter the down and distance and where they are on the field. They stink at it. STOP CALLING IT.

It happened in a Bills-Patriots game. The same one where they were obviously short of the sticks on a fourth down pass and the sideline official said "just give it to them" Resulted in an untimed down. Pats scored and won the game. Bills had only a couple players on the field for the extra point attempt after the TD.

I would have fired him right after that shotgun draw at the goal line. Just tell Allen to go no huddle the rest of the game. Throw Dorsey right out of the stadium.

I also wonder if his teammates were aware that he was trying to be "low positive". If they weren't, then they would be thinking, like most of us, "wow, Josh is just sitting there like a doofus. What's wrong?" If they didn't understand his approach before, but now they do, that will help immensely. Could also be related to the point Diggs made, that they are coming to the line too late due to all the substitutions, so Josh doesn't have time to adjust the play to the late switch that the defense is making.

I kind of like this and kind of don't. I think there's general agreement that week 1 was a classic example of Sugar High Josh and it cost us the game. So getting that under control is absolutely necessary. The problem is he dialed it all back so when the whole team is in Sugar Low mode, the only one trying to fire up the guys is Diggs. It's finding the right balance. Maybe turn it up most of the time, but have a trusted voice on the sideline that can tell him "you're getting into Sugar High, you need to dial it back for yourself, but not the rest of the team"

You can still do that even with multiple personnel packages - just do it per drive. I.e. start a drive in 11 and stay there the whole drive, then start a drive in 12 and stay there the whole drive. Have a Latavius Murray drive and a James Cook drive. Substitute as little as possible within a drive. Especially in the first half. Second half might want to mix and match more since the opposing D worked out their adjustments to what we did in the first half, so in the second half don't do the same thing.