dave mcbride

It's actually the rule, and it wasn't a hold. I just watched it again. You're allowed to touch an opponent; that's not holding.

It is actually a rule that once the QB leaves the pocket, the DB can push the receiver around. Richard Sherman made a living doing this. It's not a penalty. The idea is that once the QB leaves the pocket, there's a strong likelihood that he's going to run it, and receivers can therefore block defenders to help the QB on his run. To make it more even, the defenders are allowed to initiate contact. If he is still doing it while the ball is on the air, it's PI, but in this case he turned around to play the ball just as it was released. It was an excellent play.

It is legal, and Allen had been out of the pocket for some time. Personally, I thought it was pretty physical play, but I didn't think it was a penalty. I thought it was good defense. At the defining moment, he out-physicaled Knox. It was a really good play. It was a good throw by Allen too and he made a great play just to get into that position. He should have been sacked.

No, it was definitely a Bills player.

I'm thinking payday, at least in Williams' case.

Not true. PFT covered it. More importantly, it's not publishing until August 2022.

Daryl Williams gave up a very bad sack last night (where he matadored Ekuale at the Pats 44 yard line in the second quarter; see below), but he also did this. Note that while Barnwell says it's the center, it's the LG (Williams). We were lucky that wasn't called given that it was called against the Bills in the Saints game. Williams (#75) is definitely downfield (close to three yards) when the ball is released. I mean, what is he thinking? Personally, I think it's too ticky tack to be called, but it was by definition a penalty and could have been called. I don't want to obsess over this stuff, but that is just sloppy play. I gotta say, he looks overweight and seems to me like a classic case of a guy who got his final big payday and is playing like it. On that sack Williams gave up, Sanders was open for a big play:

I actually think the Bills present a decent matchup and in theory think they could win given the Bucs' secondary issues, but here's the issue: the Bucs are 5-0 at home and here are the scores in their last four home games (they opened with a tight win over Dallas): 48-25 45-17 38-3 30-10 They are absolutely blowing teams out at home this season.

Or the fact that Diggs was wide open for a TD at the goal line after he smoked Jackson and the ball sailed way over his head? Diggs would absolutely have caught a decent pass there. Don't get me wrong - Allen is great. But the crunch time play this year has been subpar. The sacks he takes, the wrong decisions, etc. -- they have added up. He has five games left to rectify things for this team, so all hope isn't lost. My larger point is that it's OK to hold Allen to account even if there are a lot of bad things happening around him. He's been paid a quarter of a billion dollars and he's a physical freak. He needs to rise above.

There are always tons of close games in the NFL. Great QBs make plays to win games all of the time. He hasn't done that this season.

He missed plays last night. He made some good plays, but he wasn't great overall. The throw would never have made it to Davis. It was clearly short (watch the angle from behind the LOS) and behind Davis. Also, Beasley was directly in front of him; it wasn't a sideline throw to his right.

Beasley would easily have scored on that play. Also, he had Sanders wide open for a first vs. Jax and made the wrong decision too -- forcing a throw across his body to a covered Diggs. His back shoulder throw to Diggs at the goal line last night was not only off, it was a bad decision given his struggles with that throw all game (Diggs was open and probably would have scored). He called the wrong sneak play vs. TN (one they were ready for because it's only sneak play he does). He's the best player on the team by a long way, but he has not excelled in crunch time in close games this year so far.

They announced before the game that there would be no sky cam because of the wind. That's the sort of thing Belichick would take note of and adjust accordingly vis-a-vis challenges. Not so much the Bills' coaching staff. Similarly, Allen had multiple throws to his right going into the wind, and they were all blown off course -- the most damaging one being the back shoulder throw to Diggs on their final possession. In normal situations, that's a TD, but this wasn't a normal situation. Why was that pass called given the clear evidence from earlier in the game that balls thrown that way were being blown off course? Indeed, one of the previous ones should probably have been a pick six if Jackson had held onto it. That's on the coaches. Take that play out of the repertoire. Instead, they tried it at crunch time and it failed. Blame also falls on Allen; he has to know that throw isn't working. McDermott's doghouse routine for RB fumbles is getting a little old. None of these guys are great, and there is going to be the occasional fumble. I mean, if you're that concerned about it, just roll Frank Gore out there.

It would have fallen short. If you watch the replay from behind the LOS, that ball is set to die at around just past the goal line. And it was behind Davis too. Watch it again from the angle behind the LOS. That ball ain't getting to Davis given his depth in the end zone.

I don’t know how many times I need to say this, but anyone predicting a fix for the SB to generate ratings/press and isn’t including the Cowboys is doing it wrong. The Cowboys still dominate in the ratings and their SBs are the most watched ones. Again, the Cowboys. Any SB involving the Cowboys regardless of opponent will generate better ratings than a SB fueled by a northeast corridor media story (Brady v Belichick).

Those other two games from the 70s had less to do with weather and everything to do with OJ and an offensive line that just dominated opponents.

Guys on the other side make great plays too. The coverage was great.

Knox did NOT drop that pass. It was perfectly defended by Phillips to the point where it was basically uncatchable.

I don’t understand, actually. I don’t know if he got the first or not - it was close - but after the penalty got called I stopped caring.

The pitt game didn’t come down to the end. They scored in garbage time to make it a one-score game, but the game was effectively over.

He wasn’t out of bounds. Wasn’t that obvious?

He quite literally wasn’t. The hit occurred before any part of his body touched the ground. It was blindingly obvious.

The officiating actually favored the Bills. NE was called for twice as many penalties and one was ridiculous — the PF on the allen tackle.

Not to defend knox, but that play in the EZ was WELL defended. That really wasn’t catchable. The diggs pass was moving like a spinning top.

8 points. Never assume the td, and tonight do not even assume the fg. The bills hadn’t even crossed the 30 yet.