Ralonzo

They'll start by not have you-know-who's $31M dead cap hit next yeat.

Yes, Van Noy lifted Knox off the ground and drove him into the turf with full body-weight on top as well. Both of those being points of emphasis in the offseason as to PF-UR penalties.

Yeah, but in a historical perspective the Bills might never get to 4 Super Bowls without this game, as iirc it marked the first appearance of the K-gun offense - no-huddle with Kelly calling plays, and they were almost unstoppable with it. After the 1989 Bickering Bills season the K-gun became a regular thing and they mowed down the opposition for years.

Anyone else remember, I think it might have been 97 Rock with Snorton Norton the next day after that game where they staged a phone call to Ronnie Harmon... <Ring> <Ring> "Hello?" <Bang> <Crash> <Clatter> "Ronnie? Ronnie Harmon? What's going on there?" "Yeah man... I just dropped the phone. If only you had called me a second earlier I wouldn't have dropped it" Was it Chris Simms that was torching Lamar for double-clutching that throw and thought it threw the timing off and made it much much tougher for Andrews?

There's always going to be situational offense, 2-minute, tempo/no-huddle, etc. It's been established under Daboll/Dorsey that Allen can sling it all over the yard with maximum arm arrogance, and that's not going away, it'll always be available when needed. I guess the point I didn't make clear is the shift under Brady away from that high variance "modern" NFL offense back to something that looks a lot more like a bygone era. I'm pretty sure as a much younger man I groaned just as much when Check Knox was plowing Joe Cribbs and Curtis Brown and Rosey Leaks into opponents, until he took them to the playoffs. It's still a simple game - you throw, you catch, you run, you block, you tackle. Do it at a higher level than the other guy, and win.

Situationally it's not great, as we saw on the Dawkins phantom hold that took the Bills behind the sticks and off schedule. Part of the fun of the Bills under Daboll and to an extent Dorsey was that every play was designed to get a first down - but with a lower %age of success. But, we ask, who cares if the plays work 40% of the time? You get 3 downs, you only need it to work once. That was the mindset. Brady's the first OC who is more aligned to what McDermott wants. The plays will have a greater chance of success but with a lower potential yardage. This is to Buffalo's advantage as it gets you to manageable 3rd-and-short or 4th-and-1 situation where you leverage Allen to nearly automatically extend drives. That's the point of 4-minute offense, extended drives, consuming clock and registering points. There's a saying I've heard Josh use where they want every drive ending in a kick: PAT, FG, or punt if you must. Turnovers are regarded (rightly) as being so situationally harmful that the entire offensive philosophy in the 20-odd games since Brady's elevation has completely shifted and it only happens because Brady convinced Allen to buy in and execute it. It's like the difference between buying lottery scratch-offs and investing in bonds. You have high variance with the former - you can win big in the short term but go to that well enough and you'll eventually lose. With the latter, it's boring, but locks in your gains.

This is the one call that favored the Bills in the game. Of course it's the call that make the highlight reels with a commentary that it's "questionable." A few packages also showed the clear DPI on Shakir on 3rd down but the scripts did not comment that as a missed call. Hence the narrative that "oooh the refs are in da Billzz pocket$ durrrr." No mention of: above DPI, bogus call on Dawkins, a couple false starts, PF's against Kincaid and Knox ignored, and Andrews tiring his hands out holding Bills defenders to the point where he couldn't hold the ball.

If you finally turtle after running toward the sideline, stopping, and doing a 180 straight back toward the middle of the field jumping around like a Kansas City ferret, I don't think that ought to be considered a valid "slide" to give yourself up as a QB.

Yeah the idea occurred to me rewatching the first 2 drives coming out of the half after Romo was puffing the Ravens for forcing a 3 and out and a punt after half. I think Allen kind of missed the throw to Kincaid but it was there. Same with the Knox tunnel screen, he uses to blocking leverage to get outside and he makes it, but that's TE's for you: saw Higbee do the same thing where he keeps running to the stick he makes 1st down easy but cuts upfield right into the defender who stops him, and then the Eagles get the series stop. (Edit: Allen was PISSED that Van Noy lifted Knox off the ground and drove him into the turf with full body weight, which is supposed to be a penalty of course but...) Back to the point, those two plays were there but not executed, and had the effect of letting the Ravens back in the game. But one thing Brady isn't going to do is let the opponent dictate his offense. That 1st down dive gets 1 yard? He's not abandoning it. Why let the D pin their ears back knowing you won't run? He's also not going full Daboll with 4-wide splits running 20 yard deep overs either. He's going to play to his strength which is the OL, and use the cheat code (Allen) to extend drives, and grind and grind and grind.

Not sure if it was Belichick or the other Brady that said it but a quote from the era that stuck with me: "Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong."

Goal-line offense? If you have a play that works 95% of the time, is that a problem? Do you mean 1st-&-goal? The Bills in the playoffs so far in that situation: Denver: FG, TD, FG Ravens: TD, TD, TD, FG

One thing that isn't a media narrative (yet) is how the Bills are winning in the post-drama era, and that's with an elite 4-minute offense that grinds out first downs, eats clock and opponent timeouts, and converts drives to points. Every team does it, but for the Bills it's really their offensive identity in 2024. Why doesn't Allen have so many late 4th quarter comebacks as his peers - well he doesn't need to. It's small-ball, it's minimal risk, but if executed at a superior level it's what the Patriots dynasty showed will win in January (& hopefully February). The Denver Wild Card game was basically the Bills running 4-minute offense the whole game leading to an absurd 24-minute edge in time-of-possession. Against the Ravens, two drives were the epitome: 1) The last drive of the 1st half: 1st & 10 at BUF 30 (3:43 - 2nd) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass short right to J.Cook to BUF 37 for 7 yards (M.Harrison). 2nd & 3 at BUF 37 (2:56 - 2nd) A.Anderson reported in as eligible. R.Davis right tackle pushed ob at BLT 47 for 16 yards (N.Wiggins). 1st & 10 at BAL 47 (2:14 - 2nd) R.Davis left guard to BLT 38 for 9 yards (A.Washington; K.Hamilton). 2nd & 1 at BAL 38 (2:00 - 2nd) J.Cook up the middle to BLT 35 for 3 yards (M.Pierce; R.Smith). 1st & 10 at BAL 35 (1:24 - 2nd) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass short left to K.Shakir to BLT 31 for 4 yards (T.Robinson). Timeout #2 by BLT at 01:18. 2nd & 6 at BAL 31 (1:18 - 2nd) (Shotgun) J.Cook right tackle to BLT 30 for 1 yard (M.Pierce; N.Madubuike). Timeout #3 by BLT at 01:13. 3rd & 5 at BAL 30 (1:13 - 2nd) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass incomplete deep left to K.Coleman.PENALTY on BLT-T.White, Defensive Pass Interference, 18 yards, enforced at BLT 30 - No Play. 1st & 10 at BAL 12 (1:08 - 2nd) J.Cook right tackle to BLT 8 for 4 yards (N.Wiggins). 2nd & 6 at BAL 8 (0:28 - 2nd) (Shotgun) J.Allen up the middle to BLT 4 for 4 yards (K.Hamilton). Timeout #1 by BUF at 00:20. 3rd & 2 at BAL 4 (0:16 - 2nd) (Shotgun) J.Allen right guard for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN. T.Bass extra point is GOOD, Center-R.Ferguson, Holder-S.Martin. 70 yards in 9 plays, using 3:27 of clock and forcing BAL to use 2 timeouts (0 remaining). The key was first down: 2 runs and 2 passes, averaging 6 yards per play. The Bills convert with a touchdown while leaving no time for the opponent and also burning their last 2 timeouts. Near perfection here. 2) The penultimate drive of the 2nd half: 1st & 10 at BUF 46 (8:41 - 4th) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass short left to M.Hollins to BLT 42 for 12 yards (M.Humphrey). 1st & 10 at BAL 42 (7:57 - 4th) R.Davis right guard to BLT 39 for 3 yards (R.Smith; M.Pierce).PENALTY on BLT-D.Ojabo, Illegal Use of Hands, 5 yards, enforced at BLT 39. 1st & 10 at BAL 34 (7:27 - 4th) J.Allen pass short left to K.Coleman to BLT 29 for 5 yards (T.White). 2nd & 5 at BAL 29 (6:49 - 4th) J.Allen pass short right to Ty.Johnson ran ob at BLT 21 for 8 yards (R.Smith). 1st & 10 at BAL 21 (6:12 - 4th) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass short left to C.Samuel to BLT 20 for 1 yard (K.Hamilton). BLT-M.Humphrey was injured during the play. 2nd & 9 at BAL 20 (5:32 - 4th) J.Cook right guard to BLT 12 for 8 yards (N.Madubuike; R.Smith). 3rd & 1 at BAL 12 (5:09 - 4th) (No Huddle) J.Allen left guard to BLT 10 for 2 yards (R.Smith). 1st & Goal at BAL 10 (4:26 - 4th) J.Cook up the middle to BLT 7 for 3 yards (K.Hamilton). Timeout #1 by BLT at 04:21. 2nd & Goal at BAL 7 (4:21 - 4th) (Shotgun) J.Allen right tackle to BLT 2 for 5 yards (N.Madubuike). Timeout #2 by BLT at 04:17. 3rd & Goal at BAL 2 (4:17 - 4th) (Shotgun) J.Allen up the middle to BLT 2 for no gain (A.Washington; T.Jones). Timeout #1 by BUF at 03:31. 4th & Goal at BAL 2 (3:29 - 4th) T.Bass 21 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-R.Ferguson, Holder-S.Martin. 52 yards in 11 plays, using 5:12 of clock and forcing BAL to use 2 timeouts (1 remaining). First downs: 3 passes, 2 runs (one negated by penalty), averaging nearly 5 yards. While the Bills fail to convert a touchdown here, they do finish with points on a FG to take them "dormie" with 3:29 remaining in the game - i.e. one possession by the opponent cannot give them the lead. 4-minute offense isn't new, the difference with the Bills is it's not as situational, it's just what they do. Early on they might mix in some shots downfield., but once they get ahead in a favorable game situation like those two drives above, they neither need nor want those chunks. It's like a python constricting. Even opponents mounting a furious comeback can run out of runway (e.g. Ravens rematch, Lions). If for some reason the Bills find themselves on the other end of it, you throw 17 his cape and while it might not always work, there's a puncher's chance because Allen is still excellent running the 2-minute offense. The ability to drive with a mix of run and pass, getting ahead of the sticks on 1st down, avoiding negative plays, and stringing together wins play-by-play and series-by-series is the Bills "secret sauce" in the 2024 season. They dictate terms to the opponent, compress the game, eliminate their options and diminish their percentage chances of winning methodically. While the defense can't be relied upon to stop the opponent every time - if someone has made it this far in the playoffs their offense doesn't suck - this is the complementary football that eases the task for the D by taking away options from the opponent, forcing them to look for chunk plays quickly and increasing the odds that Bad Things happen to them. The Bills are on the other end of that lever, minimizing their risk, and because of that, McDermott can spend some of that risk capital on aggressive 4th down decisions and the like. Small wonder that he looks the happiest he's ever been!

KC had no idea how to handle the Jumbo last year's divisional round. Bills rammed the ball down their throat. The defense didn't hold up with shoe clerks and crumb bums forces into covering Kelce. Just 3 stops on the KC offense, I think that would be enough this year. I think the Bills might average 1 or 2 stops the previous playoff matchups.

At the end of the first half the Baltimore O was completely rattled. That last possession where the Bills were basically pulling a page from the Ravens/Chiefs books of showing blitz from anywhere and everywhere and coming/bailing from various spots was completely flummoxing them. I don't know why they got out of that the 2nd half, probably to do with down/distance/field position situations. The final drive I disagreed with doing the contain rush to that extreme degree. Let Lamar run it at that point - he's as apt to lay the ball on the ground as throw a pick anyway, and better that than giving him 15 seconds to scan the field for an open white jersey.

What nobody on the national or even local media narrative is picking up on as the reason the Bills won the game is: they have an elite 4-minute offense. It's been building for years now. Possess the rock, grind first downs, convert to points. They did it at the end of the first half, they did it at the end of the second half. They did it against the Broncos. This wins in the playoffs, period, full stop.

Because they're about to look very very stupid awarding a player as many MVPs as playoff wins.

That ref is in frame the whole play staring right at it. What could he have possibly seen that was a hold? That's what bugs me. Stuff like the phantom face-mask in the other game, at least in real time looks can deceive. There's just nothing here that even has the appearance of the thing he's flagging, in full clear view, 5 yards away.

This thread needs a bottom crawl that reads "Allen 0-3 In Playoffs Vs Mahomes" like their network has.

Any 5 TSW'ers would be an improvement over what they got. Even the ones from the GDT's.

Away we go on the morning shows to see what narrative is coalescing: ESPN: Highlight package shows the Tre DPI. Damien Woody "Baltimore is the better team" Louis Riddick "Baltimore's Achilles Heel is themselves" Dan Orlovsky "I'm not making this about Baltimore... Buffalo's QB stopped worrying so much about stats. Buffalo has figured out how to play their very best when it's needed" Louis Riddick "Joe Brady called a perfect game" Greenberg "I have no idea how Baltimore lost that game" Alex Smith "If they play 10 times, Baltimore is winning 8 of them" Greenberg "The Ravens were the best team in the AFC last year and the best team in the AFC this year" So, Baltimore choked and low-key implying the refs helped. Pretty much Orlovsky on an island saying Buffalo earned it by playing the right way, and Allen has evolved into "an elite decision maker, playing smart but not careful, agressive but not reckless"

If only we knew where to find a safety with experience in this system.

Romo particularly wouldn't shut up about how the Ravens were a much better team and had a very wide margin of error where they could step on their own schwantz all day and still win. He's going to claim this result, a two point loss after a bunch of sloppy turnovers, as a victory for his narrative.

Really getting tired of people giving their parlay plays. I don't care.