Rational Thoughts Day After Eagles

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

30 minutes ago, TC in St. Louis said:

Take way that fluke 69 yard run and the Wentz scrambles, and it wasn't horrible.  They made some good plays, but the Philly line pushed our guys around more than usual.  On the 69 yard run, it was as if our guys were the o's in the way of the x's on the diagram.

 

Their o line blocking at the second level on that play was a masterpiece 

[Jerome007]

Reading this board since last evening I would think the Bills are 2-12, not 5-2. Yes, yes, a lot of things are worrisome but still. So many "fire Daboll, fire McD, Allen is a bust, D was never that good" posts.

[Wayne Arnold]

2 hours ago, corta765 said:

9. In closing I am happy to see the fanbase is not satisfied with 5-2 and just making the playoffs. I am happy expectations are higher like they should be. For far too long I think Buffalo settled for break the drought or just make it. We should want more as fans and it’s refreshing to see mostly well thought out feelings by fans on here.

 

Agreed. 

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

2 hours ago, corta765 said:

I’ve been doing this for the season with the goal of giving 24 hours to calm and have rational thoughts not impulsive. Here’s the eagles version:

 

1. The game and momentum something I’m not a big believer in swung in 7:38 seconds. Up until the Allen fumble the Bills seemed to be fighting toe to toe with Philly and you felt pretty decent about winning. Then in 7:38 from the end of the first to 9:15 left in the third the Allen fumbles Philly scores and instead of feeling good with a 7-3 halftime lead your down 11-7 thanks to the missed FG by Hasuchka. By this point the Eagles smell blood and you could see the defense we’re back on their heels. Then Sanders TD 17-7 and it’s bad. To the offense credit they did get a TD to get it back to 17-13 and you could see the energy was back in the crowd and team. But the dagger came on the Jeffery 38 yard catch. In a season where a sequence like above they had made the stop or turnover the wilted. If at home I could feel the energy die the stadium looked like a black hole of emptiness after that. It didn’t take that long but that 7 minute stretch saw Buffalo go from a 7-3 halftime lead to trailing 24-13 with an energy killing play at that moment. It felt like this season we’ve played with fire with situations like this and I think they just finally got burned against an Eagles team that desperately needed and wanted this game.

 

2. For a team that had a bye two weeks ago I am incredibly disappointed in the entire group as a whole. Against Miami they came out very flat and yesterday they wilted in the 2nd half. Perhaps it’s me maybe someone can explain so sports science on byes having negative effects, but I have been very disappointed in how unprepared they’ve seemed after the bye.

 

3. DaBoll I want to show where I have to graded him in three chunks for the season before analyzing. 
Games 1-3: A    Thought he was very good at creating plays that maximized our players and exposing matchups

Games 4-5: B    He still did some exposing of matchups but started being slightly predictable with play calls

Games 6-7: D-   Both games he was farrr too cute with his play calls with very little creativity and goes to the well far too many times on calls that did work.

 

I have been a supporter of DaBoll this season and think in general he has done a nice job moving Allen from a brash talented rookie into at least a somewhat serviceable starter who can make some plays. Let’s not underscore how hard that is and how many teams fail to even make that step. I want more from the offense and Allen which I’ll touch in below but I will give credit for where it’s due.

 

That said Madden gamers have put together more creative less predictable game plans compared to him the last two weeks. Yesterday when the defense is bleeding having a bad day and it’s 24-13 why are you not running the ball? Why are you not doing screens to Singletary is they are hitting you so hard up front? For gosh sakes we scored a TD because of this. In the 12 plays Buffalo had after it was 24-13 before the Eagles got their last TD the Bills passed on 8 of them being sacked once with one Allen scramble and two runs. The pressure Allen has seen the last two weeks I thought DaBoll had done a good job scheming from pre bye. Next week is a big test for him as much as it is for the team.

 

3. On the fourth down failed pass to John Brown a lot of people got on Allen including myself but post game Brown said he ran the wrong route. It was suppose to be a comeback route which had he done its 1st in goal. Instead he ran the post and the past was just behind. 
 

4. The defense is very good it’s not elite and that’s fine. Elite is used wayyyy to widely in sports. A defense that is elite dominate happens every few years. The last truly elite defense I remember seeing where they never had a bad day was Seattle in 2013. This Patriots defense is close but I do want to see what happens against some better opponents. The Bills defense finally got worn down yesterday and I don’t want to say there not still really good. I think in the second half of the season they will have another game like this and also have a few games where they don’t allow more then 13 pts. They are missing that game breaking pass rusher and the DT spot hurts without Harry. But I think

when the season ends they still are top 5 in almost all categories and the rushing issues are a blip not a trend.

 

5. Was it me or did the crowd not seem into it? It looked like a miserable day to be outside and compared to every other home game the crowd seemed lackluster throughout. Not a slight more a question if you were there.

 

6. Matt Milano balled out. He and Jordan Phillips were the two defenders throughout who kept making plays . Great finds by Beane.

 

7. After 8 weeks of games coaches have enough film to start attacking in both sides of the ball how they see fit. I believe one reason the last two weeks Buffalo has faced what feels like an uphill climb is the season has hit the point where teams can really start game planning at certain things because enough film exists to show the flaws. Allen is facing a lot more 3-4 rushes which leaves a lot of men in coverage. Against Miami he figured it out and closed the day well. The Eagles front 7 though is much better and the offense never could win at the point of attack to do much.

 

8. Allen. The fumble was a killer, but otherwise he was like the rest of the team and overmatched by the end. This is the first game I think his o line let him down, but we are getting to the point we’re I understand fans wanting more. He has taken the step from raw rookie that’s flawed to an Ok starter. His numbers are Tyrod in a nutshell 2 TD 200 yds 20-30 yds rushing weekly with a bit better 4th quarter composure. At some point we want him to take that leap to breaking a defense when everything on your team isn’t going well. Not a ton of guys can do that but he also was drafted top ten. I don’t care about him breaking 300 yds as much as he has not had a game like at Miami last year where he was unstoppable and there best player on either team. The longer the season goes without this the louder the unrest feeling many fans have will increase for him to do more. I think his best play is to come still, but he failed both tests this year so the question remains.

 

9. In closing I am happy to see the fanbase is not satisfied with 5-2 and just making the playoffs. I am happy expectations are higher like they should be. For far too long I think Buffalo settled for break the drought or just make it. We should want more as fans and it’s refreshing to see mostly well thought out feelings by fans on here.

 

I just don't understand the play calling by Daboll, I see Aaron Rodgers shred defenses not always by the deep ball, if teams take away the deep ball you throw it to your TE and backs, how about try some bubble screens? Do we have anything but homerun throws to Foster that he's clearly struggling with? Are we trying to get Allen to regress? I don't even know what I'm witnessing, we should be hitting teams with a solid run game each week that sets up some real good pass plays for Allen. Instead were asking a raw 2nd year QB to make the huge play on every other throw and run it what 18 times a game? What are these option QB runs with Allen? I just don't think this offense has any sort of identity.

[zow2]

1 hour ago, Do The Reich Thing said:

Pretty spot on post OP!

 

Additional food for thought:

 

1) We drafted JA for conditions like this, right? Let the kid rip it and don't be afraid. If we're scared of playing in shaky conditions then build a damn dome.

 

2) The coaches seem content with conservative Jauron-ball. This team is FAR too passive at this point in the season and McD seems satisfied with playing not to lose. I really get the feeling they overthink things more than my ex-girlfriend and think more of what could go wrong rather than what could go right.    

 

3) In hindsight this was just one game. The Ravens got blown out at home by the Browns and now everyone is saying they're the biggest threat to beat the Pats. Do I believe that the Bills will make adjustments moving forward and this will make them better? No idea and I am skeptical, but we will see. 

 

I hear you.  I believe the thinking was that "our defense is so good let's not have Josh play Madden on the field and screw things up".   Well, after Miami and Philly (and to some extent Cincinnati)...we've seen the defense can be beaten down.  The coaches may now have to allow Josh to play a bit of his style of game...which is the opposite of Robotic pocket passer guy.   Enough with the chucking it out of bounds or at the Linemen's feet and wasting precious downs..  Take off and run, make a play.  He's a weapon.  The Ravens have scored 20+ points in every game.  They allow Lamar to be Lamar Jackson, the dual threat guy.. they're done with the Joe Flacco one dimensional stuff.  But when he's asked to be a passer, he's accurately hitting guys down the field as well for some chunk plays. 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, Joe in Winslow said:

The crowd was into it, despite it being miserable outside. 

 

At one time the TV showed 99.9 decibels 

[Whitey13]

1 hour ago, Mat68 said:

On offense they need to get younger and athletic.  I like Gore Smitg and Kroft but they should be regulated to smaller roles.  Singeltary and Knox need to be a larger part of the offense.  Both have yac abilty and will help Buffalo succeed against man to man.  Unless, there was an injury I was surprised to see McKenzie not dress.  Like Knox, and Singeltary he is an explosive player.  Yesterday the offense looked slow.  

 

Defensively, Oliver is going to be an issue Mcd has to figure out.  LA Rams have a similar problem with Donald.  Due to their size they can get washed out at times.  Peko is a good story but should not see the field imo.  Overall, this was one of the games we wanted but didnt need to have.  Buffalo wasn't going to go 15-1.  Buffalo still hasnt peaked or played a complete game yet. 

 

Knox can't get out of his own head right now with the drops and Kroft is only 27 so it's not like old even in football years. 

[Mat68]

7 minutes ago, Whitey13 said:

 

Knox can't get out of his own head right now with the drops and Kroft is only 27 so it's not like old even in football years. 

Knox needs to play.  He adds an element to the passing game Kroft doesnt.  Unlike the idea of 2 tes sets.  Just with Knox and Kroft.  Lee Smith should be regulated to 3 tes sets or short yardage.  

[Whitey13]

7 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

Knox needs to play.  He adds an element to the passing game Kroft doesnt.  Unlike the idea of 2 tes sets.  Just with Knox and Kroft.  Lee Smith should be regulated to 3 tes sets or short yardage.  

 

Don't get me wrong, I want Knox to play and learn but even last game Kroft only had 8 more snaps than Knox did. I'm hoping when Kroft gets more into the swing of things after being out injured for so long we see more 2TE sets with Kroft and Knox.

 

https://nflcdns.nfl.com/liveupdate/gamecenter/58008/BUF_Gamebook.pdf

[Formerly Allan in MD]

If they'd apply significant pressure on quarterbacks, the Bills wouldn't have to worry as much about them picking on Wallace.  And he's become a major target.

 

Now to fix the run defense - next year.

[hjnick]

1 hour ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

If they'd apply significant pressure on quarterbacks, the Bills wouldn't have to worry as much about them picking on Wallace.  And he's become a major target.

 

Now to fix the run defense - next year.

Thought we fixed the run defense with Oliver...

[boater]

6 hours ago, corta765 said:

2. For a team that had a bye two weeks ago I am incredibly disappointed in the entire group as a whole. Against Miami they came out very flat and yesterday they wilted in the 2nd half. Perhaps it’s me maybe someone can explain so sports science on byes having negative effects, but I have been very disappointed in how unprepared they’ve seemed after the bye.

The talking heads say a McDermott coached team will be prepared, regardless of circumstance or opponents. I'm just not buying it. To twist a phrase from High School Musical: they didn't have their head in the game. Who knows, it could be a bye week phenomena. But I suspect it's failure of the coaching staff to keep the players humbled and hungry after their recent successes.

 

McD is now a .500 coach. But the losses are fugly and reflect poorly on team preparation.

[Irv]

THEY WERE WORLD CHAMPIONS TWO YEARS AGO.  THEY BEAT LAST YEARS WORLD CHAMPIONS TWO YEARS AGO.  RELAX.  

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Irv