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

[The Wiz]

1 minute ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Amazingly, both. 

Sounds about right. 

[HappyDays]

I've been as down on Foster as anybody this year, but man he can be a weapon when used correctly. I hope they find a spot for him next year. His injuries have killed his season but he still has a ton of potential.

[Bills!Win!]

I’m just waiting for andre Roberts to take one to the house 

[BuffaloBillies]

2 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

I'm sensitive to mentioning him.  I have a man crush on the guy and have mentioned him many times. 

 

I think he's a stud and have focused on him a lot

 

Ha. Don't censor your own writing for fear of man drooling criticism. No judgments here.

[whatdrought]

Great post Virg. This was a great game through and through and it feels like we're peaking at just the right time. 

 

I said in the Game day thread that Allens interception didn't matter as it was either just a fluky/bad throw or a miscommunication. Bad throws over bad decisions all day. Allen looked great, team played great!

[Big Turk]

21 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Wasn't the play Foster came up lame the crossing pass he caught and not the reverse he ran? I heard someone on the post game say the same thing so maybe I drank more than I thought I did. But I thought he looked like he pulled up on the pass play for good yardage and not the run play. 

 

Yep it was the crosser Allen threw on a 3rd and long which he converted and then some...

[london_bills]

37 minutes ago, Virgil said:

It's not very often the Bills play a game where you never feel worried about a loss from the moment of kick off.  The Bills did that twice in consecutive weeks in a game where they always seemed in control.  So much in control, I was a little annoyed when they called a time-out to allow 3 points, preventing the shutout.  I was that confident in our guys that they wouldn't have scored against without it.  With that being said....

 

1 - Gore - The future HOFer was a change of pace back today, and did well doing it.  When he finally came into the game, he was a battering ram up the middle, just punishing a Broncos defense that was already on the field a lot.  You had to laugh at the Billsy moment of Gore losing yards on the first play he could have eclipsed the #3 spot, but he put the record away and then some, a few plays later.  I just want to acknowledge how rare this accomplishment is in a league where running backs are a throw-away position and careers end as players fade out in free agency.  Gore has bounced around from team to team, finding productivity and bringing leadership.  Every single week I read an article about Gore getting other players involved and being a phenomenal role model.  As the media was interviewing Singletary post game, asking him what it was like playing along side Gore, Gore overheard them and told the media to instead ask Singletary about getting his first 10 yard game as that's a big deal for the rookie.  Pure class and I'm glad he got the record while playing for the Bills.

 

2 - Singletary - If you had any questions about the rookie's ability to be a feature back, that was put to bed today.  The kid carried early, and he carried often.  He had some runs where he showed patience behind the line, waiting for holes to open.  He had some runs where he initiated contact and took some defenders with him.  We were a purely run heavy team today and Singletary was the bell cow.  Breaking 100 yards for the first time in his career against a solid defense is nothing to overlook.  He didn't get into the end zone or light up the fantasy rankings, but today was the most impressive game for his rookie season and really showed us a glimpse of what this rushing offense can look like. 

 

In addition, as many of us wondered how the Bills would handle Von Miller; Singletary had quite a few plays where he helped chip Von as he left the backfield, giving Allen that little extra bit of time.  Just another great attribute of this promising rookie.

 

3 - Tre White - Did anyone ball out harder that White today?  And I'm saying this after a game where we only gave up 3 points and multiple defenders had big plays.  Tre was EVERYWHERE.  I say that because he could've easily had two additional interceptions on top of the stellar over the shoulder catch he had in the redzone.  If he wasn't completely shutting down Sutton, he has knocking balls loose, breaking on flat routes to knock balls free, and just overall making Brandon Allen if he was sweating a little down there or if he was having an accident.  Tre is playing at an absolute elite level this season and is on his way to earning a massive payday.  We will definitely need him next week as go up against a team with the deepest receiving core we've played all season.

 

4 - "That's a heck of a win man and this is one heck of a team baby.  Now listen, one game and we are 1-0.  That's the goal every week and keep this in perspective.  Now hit the reset button.  I'm so proud of you guys."

 

5 - Allen - Josh through an interception and I could not have cared any less.  The ball came out of his hands weird and just sailed on him.  Interceptions are going to happen, but not for Josh in the past few games and this wasn't a poor decision.  This was a play that randomly will happen and the Josh did what makes most of us love him, not care about it going forward.  Josh played fantastic to me today.  I'd go so far as to say it might have been a better performance than last week.  Yes, he got a big help by having the defense need to respect our running attack, but Allen made some amazing throws today that many have been asking to see.  And yes, he hit a BEAUTIFUL deep ball to Smoke which was deliciously over Harris' head.  Brown was taken away from Allen today and it didn't slow him down at all.  Beasley finally had a game where he was a focal point and responded in spades.  His TD pass to Beasley was one I hope other teams take note of and think twice when sending zero blitzes against Allen. 

 

I can tell I'm rambling here a little so here's the point.  Allen showed the accuracy, ability to read defenses and find the right match-ups, and scramble (3rd and long was amazing) in ways that make you realize we have a guy that can literally do anything against anyone.  Today checked all the boxes for me and he did it against a top 5 defense.  Keep it coming Josh.

 

6 - Defensive Line - If you were told a defensive line was going to have a solid day today, I think many would've assumed Josh would've been running for his life.  Quite the opposite as Shaq came out of his coma and Eddie had his first real sack today.  Both guys had great days and seemed to have their way with the Broncos offensive line any time they made the choice to take them on one on one.  Brandon Allen was sacked, knocked down, and overall off his mark due to the pressure.  There's a stat out there that it's the most sacks for the Bills in two games since sometime (Sorry, I'm not looking it up).  Credit to McD for continue to run stunt blitzes and give different looks.  I really think he's finding ways to put these guys in a position to win.

 

7 - Penalties - The only negative note I have about today's game was the insane amount of holding penalties that knocked us out of scoring position.  The holding call at the Broncos 1 yard was a killer.  More than that, we had multiple calls (none against Lee) that tried to slow the game down.   More frustrating was that the camera's never showed the replays.  There was one play where the commentators said they couldn't see why a hold was called and the players seemed frustrated.  The penalties kept quite a few more points off the board and absolutely killed a drive right before half.  I hope to hear more about these as people review the film and I hope they get this cleaned up as we have teams who will take better advantage of this going forward.

 

8 - Special Teams - Speaking of best games of the season.  Bojo and Roberts were absolutely huge today.  They gave us great field position all day and pinned the Broncos inside the 20 on quite a few plays.  These guys either took a beating or were unheard of until recently, but you can put this victory on these guys as much as anyone.  I'm happy to see this unit get some love and come together at a crucial time in this season.  We might even be at the point where we can consider them a strength and, like I said before, we are going to need them coming soon.

 

9 - Halftime Adjustments - If there's one thing I've really banged the drum for this season, it's how flat we look after halftime on offense and lack of overall adjustments.  Not only did our defense step it up a notch and hold Brandon to -4 yards through the 3rd quarter, but we scored a touchdown immediately after coming out of the tunnel.  The teams ability to make these adjustments is a major check on the list of things great teams do.  I think the Broncos only had 3 plays of over 10 yards in this game, and only one of them came in the second half on a broken tackle run by Lindsay, which was completely inconsequential.  Just great job. 

 

10 - Execution - Hearing McClappy talk about the teams opportunities mainly coming from lack of execution has always seemed like a blow off response in his dry post-game press conferences.  As the Bills have now put two back to back solid games, I can now see what he meant.  Yes, the coaches have done a great job making tweaks to their scheme.  But more importantly, you can see that they are still relatively running the same type of plays, but the the players are executing at a much higher level.  I almost want to throw up saying it, but it makes sense now and I think we are finally seeing the team that McD envisioned for us.  I feel as confident in this team as I have in the past few years.  It's not about the record of the teams we've played against, it's about how we've put them away and executed the plays called on the field.  The defense is communicating well, Allen is finding the right reads, we can run hurry up or ground and pound.  McD has Frazier and Daboll in the right spots and this team is playing like a family.  I don't know how the next 3 games will go, but I expect to see a competitive team out there playing their style of football.

 

Bonus - Special Credit needs to go to our offensive line today.  Ford held his own today against Von.  Feliciano held his own after taking over for Morse.  Just a great game for these guys in both protected Josh and opening holes for Singletary.  The 400 yards of offense we had today started and stopped with them.

 

 

*Around the League

- I watched Brady throw a 22 yard "bomb" to Edelman.  He had to #### his arm back and really let it fly.  It's the first time I've ever laughed at Brady as I realized how hard that throw was for him when Allen would've thrown that with a flick of his wrist

- On 3rd and 6 on their last drive, Brees hit Thomas on a fade route. The same exact play we missed against the Browns.  Since we missed it, I feel like I'm seeing that same play executed all over the league in similar situations. 

-Saints had a PI call overturned against them.  Someone might want to follow Sean around as he may need an alibi

 

 

**LAMP! - I'm sorry, but I have to say this on here.  I took a bunch of crap for suggesting the Bills let Foster run a jet sweep or reverse.  Man did I forget how fast that kid can be.  I mean, wow.  With his size and speed, he put us in great field position and reminded many of us what a talent he is if only he can keep it all together.  I was bummed to see him pull up lame after his catch and run.  I hope he gets healthy. 

 

Go Bills!

Good Post. 

 

It will be interesting to see if, at 8-3, this team is getting better. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by london_bills

[WideNine]

48 minutes ago, MarkyMannn said:

Milano might have had as good a game as T White

 

Milano snuffed out every would-be screen and stretch play they tried. He was a sideline-to-sideline tacking machine, one of the most sound games I have seen from him diagnosing plays, and wrapping up.

[Buffalo Junction]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

**LAMP! - I'm sorry, but I have to say this on here.  I took a bunch of crap for suggesting the Bills let Foster run a jet sweep or reverse.  Man did I forget how fast that kid can be.  I mean, wow.  With his size and speed, he put us in great field position and reminded many of us what a talent he is if only he can keep it all together.  I was bummed to see him pull up lame after his catch and run.  I hope he gets healthy. 

 

Go Bills!

Really? I suggested this in a few threads and didn’t catch any flack for it. ?‍♂️ Heck, I even went so far as to say they should activate Duke and sit McKenzie because they should run those plays with Foster, Knox, Beas, and Brown to keep it unpredictable. 

[bobblehead]

I dont know what was going on before the end of the 1st half, it’s a good thing that Denver really had nothing all day.  That whole series was concerning when you think about that happening against one of the teams they are about to play in the coming weeks. 

 

I liked Feliciano at C during the preseason and I liked him at C today.

 

Allen looked really good today,  saw one bad decision pass where he launched a howitzer at Beasley, from 10 yards away, and one he threw one into double coverage.  The int wasn’t right coming out of his hand, flukey AF. The difference today was that he looked in control all day, knowing Denver couldn’t really hurt him. He looked like he was seeing it in slow motion all day and that’s quite a difference.

 

Singletary had to show that he wouldn’t put the ball on the floor today and he did that and gained 100 yards.  I think I can call it a “breakout” game, right? 

 

Oliver sure had a game. I think the Bills are missing Phillips more than has been discussed and that was good to see today. 

[Reed83HOF]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

5 - Allen - Josh through an interception and I could not have cared any less. 

 

*threw

 

Edit: As a concerned fan earlier this year, the lack of hearing Cody Ford's (or Von Miller's for that matter) name during the broadcast was quite encouraging

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Reed83HOF

[Virgil]

2 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

 

*threw

 

Edit: As a concerned fan earlier this year, the lack of hearing Cody Ford's (or Von Miller's for that matter) name during the broadcast was quite encouraging

 

 

Son of a.......

[Reed83HOF]

1 minute ago, Virgil said:

 

Son of a.......

grate right up as usual

[Virgil]

2 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

grate right up as usual

 

It drives me nuts when people make that writing mistake.  Almost as much as you're and your

[Reed83HOF]

1 minute ago, Virgil said:

 

It drives me nuts when people make that writing mistake.  Almost as much as you're and your

LOL I agree! There, their and they're also drive me crazy

[Peace Frog]

10 - Execution - Hearing McClappy talk about the teams opportunities mainly coming from lack of execution has always seemed like a blow off response in his dry post-game press conferences.  As the Bills have now put two back to back solid games, I can now see what he meant.  Yes, the coaches have done a great job making tweaks to their scheme.  But more importantly, you can see that they are still relatively running the same type of plays, but the the players are executing at a much higher level.  I almost want to throw up saying it, but it makes sense now and I think we are finally seeing the team that McD envisioned for us.  I feel as confident in this team as I have in the past few years.  It's not about the record of the teams we've played against, it's about how we've put them away and executed the plays called on the field.  The defense is communicating well, Allen is finding the right reads, we can run hurry up or ground and pound.  McD has Frazier and Daboll in the right spots and this team is playing like a family.  I don't know how the next 3 games will go, but I expect to see a competitive team out there playing their style of football.

 

I like that we hurry up to the line to prevent defensive substitutions, then have Josh take his time and read the defense pre-snap, all while chewing up the clock.  

[Special K]

26 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

It drives me nuts when people make that writing mistake.  Almost as much as you're and your

 

Don't forget about resigned and re-signed.

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

Really nice write up. Complimentary football should be the game plan , if you have to respect our running game that only helps our passing game and vice versa. Kinda makes me wonder why we had games out there throwing like 40 times and rushing seven...keep Dabol in the booth, the flow of the game has been  so much smoother the last two weeks.

 

I think in Tre we have a corner who we finally resign instead of letting walk, he’s just too valuable. This whole process is making more and more sense of developing and keeping of as many of our own (Milano, trey, etc) and plugging in other spots through free agency and draft. We have a really really good young core and Beane will have his work cut out in dividing  up big paydays.. a good problem to have. a solid direction for This franchise. 

 

Last week I was vocal on having that one more wr in the mix. (Which will come!)  but Considering how smoke was taken out today it was great to see the balls distributed to Beasley and the tight ends in quick decisive passing decisions. Knox and kroft need to be involved. But I have to say  when Beasley went down my heart sunk for a moment, he is a valuable outlet on this offense. Good to see Josh make plays when he had to go somewhere other than smoke. 
 

I’m pretty sure I saw a few replays with dimarco plowing the road ahead for our backs. Love it and it’s great to not hear Lee

smith name called in any way. Probably because he really doesn’t add much value other than his impressive intellectual post game interviews. 
 

I see Gilmore held Amare cooper without a catch. Another big matchup for Tre Thursday.
 

our young guys are growing right before our eyes.  The future is bright, some one mentioned In another thread our Enormous cap space. These are great problems, of an organization trending in the right direction.  Mcd is right keep hungry, keep working, better execution as you mentioned. . I’m sure they are not Satisfied with fg instead of end zone, we need to really cut out that one penalty drive killer and punch that ball in. 

Some organizations out there have aging qbs on their last legs, some will pour out their

resources into all offense. But defense can still matter in this league, and our goal is to show we can score as well. I thought about comments from Frasier (I think) that  in year three Our d has really gelled , same players , communication, trust.  I don’t think we are close to where we want  to be yet as an offense but as I think right now I can’t help but wonder what this can be in a year or two. 
 

We have a couple games upcoming to change the narrative a bit, make some noise. Show we can play with the big boys. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by loveorhatembillsfan4life

[Sherlock Holmes]

Did anybody else drop a turd in their pants when Beasley went down and seemed to be in agony clutching his knee or was it just me?? ?

[Nihilarian]

Good write up Virgil. 

 

Bills run game, 47 carries for 244 yards against the #4 defense in the league, a 5.2 YPC avg! Whoa! 

 

Bills fans have been asking for more runs for Singletary and he got them today, 21 carries for 106 yards a 5.0 YPC avg.

 

Through the first nine weeks a prominent poster kept saying the Bills NEEDED to come out throwing so Josh could establish a rhythm or otherwise he would never settle in and be a good passer. Which now, was so obviously wrong as Allen does just fine with a run first offense. (not the OP)

 

The other positive point is that Daboll up in the booth is working wonders for the offense. 

 

The only real negative were the penalties 12 for 90 yards. They must correct this for the remainder of the season or they won't win many of the next five games.