Daboll is an excellent play caller

[dave mcbride]

1 minute ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Interesting.  It may be asking too much, but could you pull out (or at least give the time stamp of) the comments that have you believe so?

I may be reading too much into this but ...

 

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2019/11/03/buffalo-bills-beat-redskins-sean-mcdermott-says-team-work-in-progress-devin-singletary-josh-allen/4125094002/

 

How hard is it to gain one yard?

 

Really hard if you’re the Bills. They have been confronted with a third-and-1 situation 12 times this season and have made the first down just five times, gaining only three yards net. Add in fourth-and-1 and they’ve had that situation four times and made the first down twice, gaining just two yards. Not good.

As McDermott said, “and ones” were a problem in this game, specifically. It was most glaring in the second quarter when the Bills failed to gain an inch on first-, second-, and third-and-goal at the 1 — all Frank Gore runs — before Allen finally punched it across. Later, they failed on a fourth-and-1 attempt by Gore at the Redskins' 24.

Allen made a third-and-1 with a sneak in the first quarter, and he was stopped in the same situation on a sneak in the third on the play before Gore was stuffed on fourth down. And then in the fourth, on third-and-1, Gore lost three yards.

In every case, the Bills were bunched together at the line with multiple tight ends and could not win, rather than spread out the formation and attack into wider spaces. 

“At the end of the day, it’s your job to drive the guy off the ball, right?” McDermott said. “So we’ve got to look at that.”

What McDermott and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll really need to be looking at is changing their approach and using more spread formations on short yardage plays. Just ask their own defensive players, which I did.

When safety Jordan Poyer sees the “big people” come on the field on third-and-short, he loves it. “Of course you do because you can kind of narrow down the types of plays they’re going to run,” he said. “Especially if they’ve been running them all game and they’ve been successful. To me it’s always easier to play third-and-1 when they bring bigger guys on the field than it is to play when they spread you out and force you to probably play man.”

Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said, “It can be (tougher against spread out formations), depending on who the quarterback is and what type of weapons they have on the outside. I think at the end of the day, the core of it is, (the offense) saying, ‘We’re tougher than you and we’re going to knock you off the ball and get this first down.’ It’s mindset football, it’s an old-school way of thinking.”

[Hapless Bills Fan]

14 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

But it does rely on the play of the OL in front them. I continue to contend that Morse and co, a group we invested a decent chunk of cash into, should be able to get a yard on 3 plays. Regardless of the talent level of any front 7 in the NFL.

 

I agree with you, a decent OL has to be able to get a yard.

FWIW I think Morse is playing a bit hindered but not enough to show on the injury report.  He was injured in Week 5 vs the Titans about 1/3 into the game, and showed up on the injury report as "ankle" in week 7 but not last week.  Long had an ankle too, so they're kind of low on options.  But that would fall into making adjustments.

7 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

I may be reading too much into this but ...

 

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2019/11/03/buffalo-bills-beat-redskins-sean-mcdermott-says-team-work-in-progress-devin-singletary-josh-allen/4125094002/

 

How hard is it to gain one yard?

 

Really hard if you’re the Bills. They have been confronted with a third-and-1 situation 12 times this season and have made the first down just five times, gaining only three yards net. Add in fourth-and-1 and they’ve had that situation four times and made the first down twice, gaining just two yards. Not good.

As McDermott said, “and ones” were a problem in this game, specifically. It was most glaring in the second quarter when the Bills failed to gain an inch on first-, second-, and third-and-goal at the 1 — all Frank Gore runs — before Allen finally punched it across. Later, they failed on a fourth-and-1 attempt by Gore at the Redskins' 24.

Allen made a third-and-1 with a sneak in the first quarter, and he was stopped in the same situation on a sneak in the third on the play before Gore was stuffed on fourth down. And then in the fourth, on third-and-1, Gore lost three yards.

In every case, the Bills were bunched together at the line with multiple tight ends and could not win, rather than spread out the formation and attack into wider spaces. 

“At the end of the day, it’s your job to drive the guy off the ball, right?” McDermott said. “So we’ve got to look at that.”

What McDermott and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll really need to be looking at is changing their approach and using more spread formations on short yardage plays. Just ask their own defensive players, which I did.

When safety Jordan Poyer sees the “big people” come on the field on third-and-short, he loves it. “Of course you do because you can kind of narrow down the types of plays they’re going to run,” he said. “Especially if they’ve been running them all game and they’ve been successful. To me it’s always easier to play third-and-1 when they bring bigger guys on the field than it is to play when they spread you out and force you to probably play man.”

Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said, “It can be (tougher against spread out formations), depending on who the quarterback is and what type of weapons they have on the outside. I think at the end of the day, the core of it is, (the offense) saying, ‘We’re tougher than you and we’re going to knock you off the ball and get this first down.’ It’s mindset football, it’s an old-school way of thinking.”

 

Thanks.  I'm not sure I read into it the same way.  But it's clear it reflects McDermott's mindset of what "ought to work" and the mindset of the defensive players is also interesting.

[dave mcbride]

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I agree with you, a decent OL has to be able to get a yard.

FWIW I think Morse is playing a bit hindered but not enough to show on the injury report.  He was injured in Week 5 vs the Titans about 1/3 into the game, and showed up on the injury report as "ankle" in week 7 but not last week.  Long had an ankle too, so they're kind of low on options.  But that would fall into making adjustments.

 

Thanks.  I'm not sure I read into it the same way.  But it's clear it reflects McDermott's mindset of what "ought to work"

Yeah, that's fair, but I'm also connecting it with the fact that he's constitutionally pretty conservative. I think that sort of playcalling reflects his preferences. 

[ColoradoBills]

4 hours ago, kenny3000 said:

 

I won't lie, first 2 times I was like "hand that effing ball off" ?‍♂️

 

I did too.  I was yelling to punch it in.  Glad they did.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Just now, dave mcbride said:

Yeah, that's fair, but I'm also connecting it with the fact that he's constitutionally pretty conservative. I think that sort of playcalling reflects his preferences. 

 

I think one thing that is pretty clear from McDermott's press conferences - and this is both a strength and a weakness - is that he is pretty "old school" in his thinking.  If something fundamentally ought to work, and it doesn't work, his idea is that you fix the fundamentals. 

 

Which can be a strength during a long season - athletes want to believe they can get a different outcome somehow, and coaches who can say "let's look at film, you're doing X, we need you to be doing Y and then it will work" can be lifted up much more easily than by a coach who, say, just yells at them for being a bunch of lazy @#$$!*

But it can be a weakness, because sometimes you really don't have the horses (or your horse is injured) and you need to come up with a different approach.  I kind of get the impression this kind of flexibility simply isn't in McDermott's or Frazier's vocabulary.  Maybe I'm wrong.

[dave mcbride]

6 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think one thing that is pretty clear from McDermott's press conferences - and this is both a strength and a weakness - is that he is pretty "old school" in his thinking.  If something fundamentally ought to work, and it doesn't work, his idea is that you fix the fundamentals. 

 

Which can be a strength during a long season - athletes want to believe they can get a different outcome somehow, and coaches who can say "let's look at film, you're doing X, we need you to be doing Y and then it will work" can be lifted up much more easily than by a coach who, say, just yells at them for being a bunch of lazy @#$$!*

But it can be a weakness, because sometimes you really don't have the horses (or your horse is injured) and you need to come up with a different approach.  I kind of get the impression this kind of flexibility simply isn't in McDermott's or Frazier's vocabulary.  Maybe I'm wrong.

I think that's a good observation. 

[Reed83HOF]

3 hours ago, Dr. K said:

"Toe" the line, not "tow" the line.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

9 hours ago, stuvian said:

running Gore 3 x in a row on the goal line was real innovative

 

The guy has averaged 4.4 yards per carry for nearly three miles of NFL yardage. I wouldn’t have objected if he ran him on fourth down too. 

 

Who wouldn't bet on gore getting in the end zone on three tries, first and goal from the 1?

 

Gore had a bad day and the Bills got the TD. 

[Reed83HOF]

1 hour ago, BringBackOrton said:

Even Bill Belichick runs goalline dives. Is he sometimes putrid?

Not sometimes, he is always putrid. F that guy

[dave mcbride]

Just now, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 

The guy has averaged 4.4 yards per carry for nearly three miles of NFL yardage. I wouldn’t have objected if he ran him on fourth down too. 

 

Who wouldn't bet on gore getting in the end zone on three tries, first and goal from the 1?

 

Gore had a bad day and the Bills got the TD. 

Gore didn't have a bad day; the Bills' o-line did against superior talent across from them. Gore never had a ghost of a chance on any of those plays. He was stoned either behind the LOS or at the LOS every time. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Just now, dave mcbride said:

Gore didn't have a bad day; the Bills' o-line did against superior talent across from them. Gore never had a ghost of a chance on any of those plays. He was stoned either behind the LOS or at the LOS every time. 

 

True- they are stout up the middle.

 

I thought Gore was getting in on third down. That hole closed out of no where. 

 

Bills game plan of attacking outside outside was smart. For most of the game. 

[ColoradoBills]

2 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

 

The guy has averaged 4.4 yards per carry for nearly three miles of NFL yardage. I wouldn’t have objected if he ran him on fourth down too. 

 

Who wouldn't bet on gore getting in the end zone on three tries, first and goal from the 1?

 

Gore had a bad day and the Bills got the TD. 

 

That is truly spectacular.

85 yards more to get to 3 all time!

[Turk71]

32 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

But it does rely on the play of the OL in front them. I continue to contend that Morse and co, a group we invested a decent chunk of cash into, should be able to get a yard on 3 plays. 

  The decent chunk of cash invested puts the Bills at 20th in the league in cash spent on offensive line. Right near the spot their offense ranks.

  Hate the 6yd deep handoff when you are trying to gain a yrd or less. Pretty sure 3 QB sneaks would have gotten it done.

  

[K-9]

3 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Gore didn't have a bad day; the Bills' o-line did against superior talent across from them. Gore never had a ghost of a chance on any of those plays. He was stoned either behind the LOS or at the LOS every time. 

The ‘Skins’ two DTs play with exceptional leverage; absolutely textbook. If a coach ever wants to teach what “low man wins” really means in the game of football, he need go no further than showing the video of those two tackles in short yardage and goal line situations. And they do that to most opposing OLs they face. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Derek Anderson on Twitter told a very handsome fan that the playcalling had been fine, it's all about growing.

 

So there may be some truth to what Wood is saying. Anderson is NOT on the OBD payroll, he also said players who fans claim suck are very poorly informed by the boardcasters. He didn't go into more info than that, so not sure who he was referring too.

[PlayoffsPlease]

7 hours ago, George C said:

Geez...

We’re not Cleveland. Let’s not fire everyone on a whim... Let them develop the team and the players for gods sake. 

Daboll is and should be our coordinator for the foreseeable future. 

The classic backwards understanding of cause and effect.  Cleveland makes bad coaching hires not bad coaching fires. Do you think holding on to Freddie Kitchens is a winning formula for the Browns.   NFL coaches who don't win much don't typically last past three years.  This more or less because they have demonstrated they are not that good at that point.  

[SirAndrew]

6 hours ago, TroutDog said:

It’s not a secret, it’s the SIMPLE fact of showing upcoming opponents as little of your O as possible when a game is already in hand. 
 

It is exceedingly basic and not sure how it’s hard to grasp. 

I’m not intelligent enough to understand. On a serious note, I know what you mean by the game being in hand, but usually teams come out of the gate running their normal offense in regular season games. I don’t understand what Daboll is hiding, please englighten the ignorant. The Pats and Brady have run an offensive scheme that has worked for years. They don’t need to hide what they are. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by SirAndrew

[Chas6969]

Am I the only one who knows this one? Every game since the NE game we have run ff Right Tackle and been very unsuccessful. Yet when we run off Left Tackle we have had good success. When it was 1st and goal I said to those around me, do not run right, run let or wide. Gore and the right side just can't get it done. For the last 5 plus years our lack of success running right is terrible. Left is so much better. I also agree the Sean calls every play inside the 10 yard line. Think about it, the calls tend to be conservative as a DC now HC  is.

[Chandler#81]

5 minutes ago, Chas6969 said:

Am I the only one who knows this one? Every game since the NE game we have run ff Right Tackle and been very unsuccessful. Yet when we run off Left Tackle we have had good success. When it was 1st and goal I said to those around me, do not run right, run let or wide. Gore and the right side just can't get it done. For the last 5 plus years our lack of success running right is terrible. Left is so much better. I also agree the Sean calls every play inside the 10 yard line. Think about it, the calls tend to be conservative as a DC now HC  is.

What the Hell does 5 years have to do with sunlight hours in the day??

[SirAndrew]

13 minutes ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Derek Anderson on Twitter told a very handsome fan that the playcalling had been fine, it's all about growing.

 

So there may be some truth to what Wood is saying. Anderson is NOT on the OBD payroll, he also said players who fans claim suck are very poorly informed by the boardcasters. He didn't go into more info than that, so not sure who he was referring too.

Isn’t ones opinion of play calling very subjective though? Regardless of whether or not a guy is a former player, it’s really a matter of opinion. At the end of the day, results are all that matters. Right now the Bills offense is not good. Personally, I don’t put much concern into what fans or former players think about these matters. Results are what matters, and Daboll/Allen have a lot to prove. It doesn’t help much when opinions also might have personal bias. Anderson could have liked Daboll a lot as a person, so he isn’t going to say the guy stinks as an OC, I’ll let his track record speak for itself.