A Few Thoughts about the Dolphins Game, in no particular order

[ganesh]

And Thanks Virgil for posting this column every week after the game.  Appreciate all the insights. You have been a good Torch Bearer for Bill in NYC.     Happy New Year to you and your family.   Go Bills!

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, ganesh said:

And Thanks Virgil for posting this column every week after the game.  Appreciate all the insights. You have been a good Torch Bearer for Bill in NYC.     Happy New Year to you and your family.   Go Bills!

 

Thank you. I appreciate that

[ganesh]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

 

its a shame we didn't win those close games we should have, could have made the playoffs.

 

 

WE could have realistically beaten both the Jets and Dolphins as we were leading in those games.  that would make us 8-8...I don't think we really had a chance in the other games.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

20 minutes ago, ganesh said:

WE could have realistically beaten both the Jets and Dolphins as we were leading in those games.  that would make us 8-8...I don't think we really had a chance in the other games.

 

Should have beaten the Texans as well, seemed like their was another??

 

 

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

 

Should have beaten the Texans as well, seemed like their was another??

 

 

Yeah..the thing with the Houston game was that we were running close with them (like the first Pat's game) and then the game got out of hand late in the 4th quarter. But the Jets and Dolphin games we lost after having a good lead.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

6 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Yeah..the thing with the Houston game was that we were running close with them (like the first Pat's game) and then the game got out of hand late in the 4th quarter. But the Jets and Dolphin games we lost after having a good lead.

 

Losing Allen in that game is what cost us and had he played the whole year i bet our record would be better.

 

Just looked up the record and there wasnt a fourth close game.

 

9-7 probably wouldn't have made it so I'll take this record as it gives us hope for the future and solid draft placing.

 

 

[ganesh]

5 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

I came on in the 90's just in time to see Bryan Cox.  When Brady leaves, I fully expect this to become a real rivalry again.  We've had some kind of in-game fighting each of the past few seasons, starting with Landry.  It's brewing...

our next rivalry hopefully is with the Jets...Allen vs Darnold.    

 

 

Allen vs Darnold   (Similar to Kelly vs Marino)

Allen vs Mayfield  (Similar to Kelly vs Elway)

Allen vs Rosen   (Similar to Kelly vs Aikman)

[Nihilarian]

14 hours ago, Ray Finkel said:

2 - Allen - Josh had a pretty good day today, but still seemed like the same old Josh to me.  Hit int was a terrible decision.  He had some great runs.  He made some passes that were what we hope to see for the next 15 years.  The biggest concern for me was his complete inability to throw a quick slant.  I'm not exaggerating here, it was bad.  Many called for this kind of play all season and I'm starting to see why they haven't.  He didn't execute any of his at least three attempts how he should have.  Yes, some were caught.  But they were slow and off target.  This is a basic weapon in any QB's arsenal and Allen couldn't do it.  It was odd.  Other than that, he hit Kyle when he needed to, accounted for 5 TD's and overall stepping on the throat of the Dolphins.  Here's too a solid off-season for him, time with his weapons, support from the rushing attack, and a big step forward next year Josh.

 

Pretty good day?  Allen was awesome in my view with 3 passing TDs, 2 rushing TDs, a QBR of 94.8, rating 114.9. Then 9 rushes for 95 yards a 10.6 YPC AVG with 2 rushing TDs.

 

Last time I looked Allen was still a rookie who is learning, developing and pointing out the few bad things that happened makes it look like you have an agenda against him. Yes, he still has some throws where his mechanics aren't set and he throws an errant pass. It happens to all QBs. 

 

The bigger picture here is that the Bills got one of the best QBs in this years draft...if not the best when all is said and done. Allen didn't have the talent around him that Baker Mayfield had with line, receivers among other things. Allen was more of a project then Rosen, Mayfield, Darnold and he was supposed to sit and learn like Mahomes did for a season. 

 

With a better line, better receivers, better run game Allen might have taken this team to the playoffs this season. 

 

 

14 hours ago, HappyDays said:

I didn't see the same old Josh Allen. Short throws were the focus of the game today. He definitely played a lot better in the 2nd half, at halftime I thought it was a more disappointing performance. He ended up scoring 5 TDs and completing 65% of his passes. That isn't the usual Josh Allen. I guess it's hard to judge because the Dolphins didn't look like they cared.

Me either! That bolded part cannot be overstated enough in that Brian Daboll for most of the season has called for far more mid to deep passes during a game.

 

This game was defined by the Bills QB making plays despite no real ground game other then the Bills QB. Shady 10 carries for 26 yards a 2.6 YPC AVG. Chris Ivory 14 carries for 45 yards a 3.2 YPC AVG.

 

Lastly, to me it looked like the Dolphins were intent on stopping the Buffalo Bills run game to force Josh Allen to throw it...and he burned them for it with his arm and legs. I think the Dolphins very much wanted to win this game and they were just smoked by a Bills QB who wanted it more. 

 

 

[Al Czervik]

I was listening to the game on the radio and the announcer stated that on that longer Allen run in the 2nd half that Josh had passed Tyrod's team record for QB rushing in a season...was that officially true?  

 

Virgil, thanks for a great season of write ups and keeping them going as part of my weekly Bills experience!  

 

Happy New year to you and to all TBD'rs!  

 

 

[buffaloboyinATL]

15 hours ago, LSHMEAB said:

 

 

The kid is an athletic marvel and I'm encouraged by much of what I saw from his this season. He's got a ways to go as a passer, but he seems to be a guy who's difficult to gauge because his strengths just might be enough to outweigh the weaknesses. 

 

Very fun game to watch.

The bottom part of your post is why I am so excited about next season and beyond. Allen is fun to watch! I am looking forward to seeing him develop and what he can do as we add talent around him.

[Billsfan1972]

1 hour ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

The bottom part of your post is why I am so excited about next season and beyond. Allen is fun to watch! I am looking forward to seeing him develop and what he can do as we add talent around him.

And how few do the Bills have.  Outside a lull in the second quarter where I'm 100% convinced they were ready to go in a shell and play for 17-14, the ofeense was there almost the entire game.

 

I am very excited to see what happens with some skill players around Allen (and an Oline).

[ctk232]

23 hours ago, Virgil said:

6 - Shady - It was good to see some production from Shady today and some yards beyond the line of scrimmage.  Like everyone else, he seemed to have an extra burst in him today.  It seems like ages since he scored a TD. He wasn't a dominant factor in the game, but was complimented well by Ivory who stuck to hitting the holes strong and fast (that's what she said).  Overall, it's hard to not think that age has caught up to Shady.  Even with a better offensive line, he's still not showing the explosive speed or ability to break tackles.  I don't know what the best move is cap-wise, but we need to find our future at RB this off-season.

 

9 - Crossman - Last game of the season, last time to call for his job.  When your coach doesn't know his kicker is too injured to make a 45 yard field goal, there's a problem.  We still have Hyde fair catching punts.  The unit is just a mess and I hope McDermott does what's necessary

 

10 - The Organization - As I'm watching the game and listening to the commentary, I'm hearing how the Dolphins could be moving on from Tannehill and their coaching staff.   Then, I'm seeing the Jets score amongst rumors of Bowles about to get fired as well.  All three teams in the AFC East have been trying to put the pieces together during the Cheatriots Dynasty and seem to be turning over coaches around the same time.  As this game ended, you could still question Darnold vs Allen, but we are clearly the team of the three with the brighter future, clear path of what needs to be fixed, solid coaching, lots of draft picks as well as 90+ mil to spend.  Like I said in my intro, my expectations will be a lot higher next year by week 17, but the future is bright with optimism.

 

Go Bills!

 

 

Posts always appreciated! Slightly different perspective on the above, but not necessarily in disagreement:

 

6/Shady - I do think age is catching up to him to some degree, but I don't believe we need to move on or offload him just yet. I wouldn't be opposed to picking an RB in the later rounds if the right value is there, but I do think we see more from Shady with a competent OL. Simply due to his running style, he was never effective in breaking tackles, just evading and avoiding them which he has proven he can still do when healthy. Health and remaining healthy is certainly another piece to the conversation, but his success has always been predicated on the quality of his OL to prevent rushers from contacting him in the backfield, and in getting to the second level to seal off LBs for him to create larger gains. He's still able to create in space and if we can truly address the OL this year to improve by any measure, it's worth seeing what he still has left. The complimentary running style between him and Ivory though is something we should maintain when we do eventually look to the future at RB.

 

I also wonder what regression has occurred since Castillo was instituted as run game coordinator and how much incognito and wood compensated for his lack of success in that role (evidenced through his previous coaching tenures as run game coordinator as well). Beyond simple roster depth and talent, if Castillo is truly responsible for our blocking schemes and more as the run game coordinator, I wouldn't put too much of our regression on Shady here either.

 

In a season where we desperately need to address the OL for more than just an improvement in the run game, certain positions will not be addressed and I'm okay with not addressing the RB position this next season if push comes to shove.

 

If nothing else his leadership on the offense with Josh will likely be worth more than not.

 

9. So if I had to choose, I'm 100% with letting Crossman go. Mostly as I have yet to see a modern ST unit. I get this isn't really a thing in the NFL, but beyond executing ST coverage on a fundamentally consistent level, there's no reason we cannot also be more innovative here either. The Titans opening kick return was a pretty good example of mixing up return schemes to gain even 5 or more yards on returns where traditional return schemes are lucky to break a touchback. That being said, I do wonder how much of the talent on the roster affected our ST this year, similar to how our offensive roster was simply offensive to production. I'm admittedly no ST guru, but it seems that the guys we had and have are capable of putting together solid ST performances and I would be happy to show Crossman the door for it. The one name I'm wholly content with letting go as of the moment he was hired? Castillo. Still waiting for that headline...might be waiting awhile here sadly as well.

 

10. Agreed - I do believe we have the greater upside in terms of the immediate future and competing within the division. Though, in my mind, the Jets position is still a pretty sexy opening to me as an HC candidate, and may not be as terrible as you think - they have more cap than we do (last I checked, could be wrong) or at least comparably as much, a stout rookie QB with upside, a top 3 draft pick, and for what it's worth, a rather attractive market for bringing in talent. I'm skeptical, but it could be just as likely the Jets team does a 180 next year with the right offensive coaching hire, and with the talent they do have in their defense (despite current season performance).

Edited December 31, 2018 by ctk232