A Few Thoughts About the Jets Game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

A game I expected to win.  A game that gave me the typical Bills confidence in the first quarter.  Then a game that lulled me to sleep and ended with us having a worse record than the Browns.  With that negative, I'm going to focus on the opportunities from the game first before closing it out on some positives for the remaining few weeks

 

1 - Crossman - Let's just get this out of the way now.  If you are going to own the entire special teams performance, then he gets credit for the fumble recovery on the kickoff.  That's where the positives end.  Week in and week out, his team finds a way to negatively contribute to the overall game and it needs to end.  It's very well possible that the talent on special teams is part of the issue as depth is an overall issue on the team, but this is just too often a topic of discussion each game.  The field position given to the Jets is the main reason they were even in this game.

 

2 - Offensive Line - This was probably one of the worst weeks for the offensive line in a while.  There was absolutely zero room for the running backs.  Allen was under pressure a lot, even though it was from the spy blitz not allowing Allen to execute a full play-action pass.  But overall, it's tough for any quarterback to look downfield when under almost constant pressure.  I thought the line was doing a lot better recently and I know we had some injuries, but we were getting schooled well before that.  Mills in particular whiffed on defenders quite a bit.

 

3 - Frazier - When up against a rookie qb who's prone to throwing interceptions, how do you not constantly pressure him in to making poor throws?  While holding them to 13 points through 3 quarters was a strong effort, and would have been less if not for special teams, the exotic blitzes we've seen the past few weeks went away.  Also, how many short yardages runs did we give up on obvious rushing situations?  Didn't we spend a ton of money on guys to prevent that from happening?  I'm sure there was a gameplan for the Jets and you can argue it's success, minus some last minute heroics, but the lack of pressure today was a problem.

 

4 -  You can trouble me for a warm glass of shut-the-hell-up. Now, you will go to sleep or I will put you to sleep. Check out the name tag. You're in my world now, grandma.

 

5 -  Penalties - This is going to be the last time I talk about this for the season.  There needs to be a serious offseason discussion in the NFL and in the Bills front office.  The process team is leading the league in penalties and we are not a strong enough team to overcome this.  Yes, there are some bad calls out there, including the no-call on the late hit on Hyde during one of his punt returns, but the overall quality and pace of the game is being affected every week.  There needs to be some level of judgement exercised about what's dangerous and preventative.  I'm curious to know the amount of 1st and +10 yard drives there has been this season.

 

6 - Allen - Allen continues his head scratching inconsistency.  He's still unphased by defenders in his face.  He doesn't care if it's 3rd and 1 or 3rd and 20, he's going to delivery solid strikes  down the field.  He does a great job of knowing when to take off with his feet, but only after keeping his eyes downfield first.  His two INT's were terrible throws.  One, he should have known to just throw the ball away.  The other was a really tight read with a bad throw to seal the game.  These are the kind of mistakes that he should grow from, but it's the misses to wide open guys by more than a few yards that have me worried.  However, for those comparing Darnold to Allen this game, mainly because of a beautiful deep throw by Darnold (Allen has already made quite a few of these btw), don't forget that Darnold had all day to throw and that makes a ton of difference.  I'm not saying one is better than the other based off this game, and the fact that's it's open to debate is a big win for the Bills since it wasn't even supposed to be close. 

 

7 - Daboll - For the most part, I'm liking Daboll more and more each week; and I was big on the "fire Daboll" train.  He called some good plays to create some form of respect for our rushing attack.  He got guys open past the sticks and gave Allen some targets.  Overall, execution was the real killer in today's game as well as lack of offensive line support.  The biggest difference between this Jets game and the previous was the lack of deep threat.  It's hard when watching on TV to know what's available downfield, but the lack of downfield attack coupled with lack of rushing attack made it a lot easier for the Jets defense to focus on the middle of the field.   Also, not sure if the trick play with Zay and Allen on 3rd and 3 was the right time for that call.

 

8 - Lorax - To me, the play of the game was the goal line stop on 2nd down by Lorax.  He showed patience, watched the line create the hole. and attacked it at the same time as the back.  Lorax attacked the whole and stopped the back for a loss.  Lorax keeps playing beyond his contract and age.  They may need to draft his replacement this offseason, but absolutely should be extended.  At this point, pay him until his performance falls off, not because typical players of his age don't contribute.

 

9 - Foster - If there's one player I want to see continue to develop over the last 3 games beyond Allen, it's Foster.  The fact that he put up a 100+ yard receiving game today and built on his momentum from the past few weeks is amazing considering his preseason performance and journey to the active roster.  Not only did he put up good yardage, but he also does a great job of finding holes in the opposing defenses zone and making big 3rd down catches.  In a season where wide receiver production has been a major point of contention, the emergence of a guy like Foster would be a huge win in not having another hole to fill this offseason.

 

10 - Around the league - As I'm watching the game to me, the entire NFL season got summed up by one stat.  The 4-7-1 Packers played the 4-8 Falcons this year.  Two the best NFL QB's are 3 games below .500 with only 3 games left.  The Browns have a better record than us.  The Dolphins beat the Pats in a shootout and last minute play.  Overall, this has been a crazy year with a lot of teams playing different games each Sunday.  We should have beaten the Dolphins last week, who beat the Pats.  We definitely should have beaten the playoff bound Texans who just had their win streak come to an end.  Overall, in a season where we always knew we'd be evaluating our team and getting to next season's draft and FA, I'll take the progress we've made on defense, the progress of Allen, and the emergence of Foster, Zay, and Milano.  

 

Go Bills!

[PearlHowardman]

7 minutes ago, Virgil said:

6 - Allen - Allen continues his head scratching inconsistency.  ...His two INT's were terrible throws.  One, he should have known to just throw the ball away.  The other was a really tight read with a bad throw to seal the game.  These are the kind of mistakes that he should grow from, but it's the misses to wide open guys by more than a few yards that have me worried.  

 

Get used to it!  This will be Josh Allen his entire NFL career.

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by PearlHowardman

[mjd1001]

On WGR this morning, the pregame show..they made a point of saying they think people are too hard on the OL...it seemed the consensus they agreed upon was the OL was SLIGHTLY below average.  I disagree with that. I think they are really bad. Not that any team in a league has an OL that blows the other team off the ball (maybe Indy?), but this OL is far from average.  On pass protection, half the time they give Allen the 2-3 seconds he needs before he takes off by himself...the other half of the time someone is in his face before he finishes his dropback.  And run blocking....they have gone from one of the best to one of the worst. This OL is not slightly below average, they are bad.

[jahnyc]

The o-line is really bad and we probably need upgrades at four positions on the o-line.  Allen had no time to throw today and the running backs had no room to run.

[mjd1001]

8 minutes ago, PearlHowardman said:

 

Get used to it!  This will be Josh Allen his entire NFL career.

 

I have nothing to back this up but a feeling...but my impression of Allen is he needs time to have someone sit him down and go over stuff for him to get better.  He showed flashes early in the year then got hurt.  After a few weeks off he has been better (not a lot, but overall better).  I get the feeling he is going to be the exact same QB for the rest of the year as he has been the last few weeks.  In the offseason,  I expect him to take the next step.

 

He just doesn't seem to have the feel of someone who learns week by week...I get the feeling he learns in 'big chunks' of off time...then he goes full speed but at the same level until his next 'break'.

[Irv]

Happy Gilmore.  Fire Crossman.  Cost us the game. Cut "Hands of Stone" Jones.  

 

 

Edited December 10, 2018 by Irv

[Warcodered]

With the O-line as bad as it's been they were kind of gelling and doing a bit better. I think the switch at center from the injury somehow made them worse.

[Kemp]

Allen is EXACTLY as advertised.

 

Strong arm and a whole bunch of the same negatives as in college.

 

Hopefully he gets better, but I never thought he would be much and he has done nothing to convince me otherwise. 

Edited December 9, 2018 by Kemp

[Mango]

The OL is pretty bad, exacerbated by poor to inconsistent rookie QB play. 

 

Jets had had it right today, don’t let Allen be the best athlete on the field, and make him be the best QB.  Josh is late on his throws and takes off because he isn’t quite seeing the field yet. It’s fine, he’s a rookie. But teams will TT him. Make him beat you with his arm. 

 

 

[chaccof]

Thanks for the thoughtful post, as always Virgil.   I and many other Bills fans couldn't agree with you more about the Special Teams coach and play....even during the 17 year drought, the Bills typically had decent ST's.  Now its a crap shoot at best.   I don't suppose Steve Tasker could suit up again?  

[mjd1001]

6 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

The o-line is really bad and we probably need upgrades at four positions on the o-line.  Allen had no time to throw today and the running backs had no room to run.

Which I think is the argument next year for trading down. the OL.

 

It seems to get an above average-to-good OL in free agency, you are going to pay a TON of money. But, OL seems to be the one place you can draft players from the late 1st to the 3rd round and have a decent chance of getting a good one. Is it guaranteed? No.  But if you can gain extra picks by trading down...that might be the best/quickest way to rebuild this line.  to get 2 or 3 GOOD starters in Free agency is going to be very, VERY hard.

[Teddy KGB]

Fire Crossman.    Add competent OL and receivers 

[Nihilarian]

No NFL QB should need to run for 100 yards the last three games to make the offense work. Allen has been beat up and exhausted at the end of the last few games, particularly in Miami where he ran around for something like 800 yards.

 

The run game outside of the QB running is almost non existent save a few trick plays. The passing game is inconsistent due to various reasons like the QB having little to find the open receivers. The receivers dropping balls and not going that extra effort to make a play. 

 

Special team stunk as you don't have the kicker kick off to the very same returner who ran it back for a big play, simply moronic. The defense had no pass rush and very little pressure on the Jets QB in the second half and they let the Jets have some long drives that they normally don't give up. 

 

To me Daboll stinks as he should be finding ways to make that run game more effective without needing the QB to get first downs. Without Allen that offense simply fails bigtime.  Juan Castillo stinks as the run game coordinator/line coach as that line is horrid and the run game has taken many steps backwards the last two years under him. Special teams coach Danny Crossman stinks.

[Boatdrinks]

The bad OL and WRs won’t be an inexpensive fix. Both are best repaired via the draft, but the timeline is such that they will have to spend some sizable $$ to get both fixed quickly enough. It will be a judiscious mix and still take some great drafting to pan out. 

[stony]

[RochesterRob]

1 minute ago, Boatdrinks said:

The bad OL and WRs won’t be an inexpensive fix. Both are best repaired via the draft, but the timeline is such that they will have to spend some sizable $$ to get both fixed quickly enough. It will be a judiscious mix and still take some great drafting to pan out. 

  We should have the resources to take a major step forward next year.  Despite my disappointment we are obviously in evaluation mode given the rather bland defensive plan used today.

[Boatdrinks]

4 minutes ago, RochesterRob said:

  We should have the resources to take a major step forward next year.  Despite my disappointment we are obviously in evaluation mode given the rather bland defensive plan used today.

I think the bland defensive plan is a continuing trait of Frazier. It bit them in the a$$ today, but a play here and there and it would be ignored. This won’t change without a new DC, which I doubt McD would do. 

[RochesterRob]

Just now, Boatdrinks said:

I think the bland defensive plan is a continuing trait of Frazier. It bit them in the a$$ today, but a play here and there and it would be ignored. This won’t change without a new DC, which I doubt McD would do. 

  I don't think that they were playing to win.  The Bills' offense was doing things then the Jets made an adjustment to contain Allen.  I am not saying that Allen is far along in his growth process but it seems like McD was content to sit on the lead so the offense went into a shell.  I always want wins but understand getting the best draft pick which I think the team is trying to do w/o openly saying it.  If one could read Beane's mind a person would find he is still pissed at giving up so much to go up and get Allen.  Not pissed at Allen but wanted to keep more picks.

[SoTier]

2 minutes ago, RochesterRob said:

  We should have the resources to take a major step forward next year.  Despite my disappointment we are obviously in evaluation mode given the rather bland defensive plan used today.

 

Having the resources doesn't mean that the Bills will actually use them.  More than anything, the Bills need a commitment to building a winning team by the owner, and I haven't seen anything recently that Pegula has that.  When he first bought the team, it seemed that he did have that commitment but after the Rex Ryan debacle, Pegula seems to have bought into Russ Brandon's "money ball" which has been continued by Beane. 

[Virgil]

4 minutes ago, RochesterRob said:

  I don't think that they were playing to win.  The Bills' offense was doing things then the Jets made an adjustment to contain Allen.  I am not saying that Allen is far along in his growth process but it seems like McD was content to sit on the lead so the offense went into a shell.  I always want wins but understand getting the best draft pick which I think the team is trying to do w/o openly saying it.  If one could read Beane's mind a person would find he is still pissed at giving up so much to go up and get Allen.  Not pissed at Allen but wanted to keep more picks.

 

That’s the one thing I forgot to add.  This seemed like the first game in a while where we made zero halftime adjustments.  

 

Very unlike us