Some All 22 observations on the Texans game that I’ve yet to see elsewhere

[Mr. WEO]

1 minute ago, Sundancer said:

 

McKEnzie fell as he started his comeback. That was clearly the route. He would have been in the play (maybe not making the catch given that he's not a great WR), but Roby only had a clear shot because McKenzie had fallen.  

 

 

See my edit above.  The ball was short and in the dirt.  No way a standing McKenzie had any play on that pass. 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Mr. WEO

[SCBills]

Great breakdown.

 

Josh made some glaring mistakes, but he also made some incredible plays. 

 

As I said in a separate thread, only Josh Allen and Devin Singletary made plays.  Everyone else played at, or below, their expectations:

 

Our Defense put up the worst performance of WC Weekend.

 

The OL was surprisingly subpar.

 

Brown, Beasley and Knox had poor games.

 

Our best WR was Duke Williams, but even he dropped two perfectly thrown balls from Allen.  Both were good defensive plays, but it goes to the point that the Texans Defense imposed their will on everyone outside Allen and Singletary.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by SCBills

[Scott7975]

17 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

I agree.  Poyer is the one who can be replaced for less.  He makes a few big plays a year.  The rest he is late to arrive.  Burned on both TDs Saturday.  That's what he is.

 

Josh had some great throws.  But had two bad ones that were miraculously dropped INTs (plus a 3rd he through right at JJ Watt).  One an easy pick 6, the second one (by same DB) would have ended the game in regulation.  Then there was that really bad decision to lateral as he was being tackled after a 20 yard run to the 50 yard line with over a minute to get into FG range.  Really bad choice. 

 

All QBs have dropped INTs.  Watson had a dropped INT in his own end of the field in that same game.

[Mr. WEO]

Just now, Scott7975 said:

 

All QBs have dropped INTs.  Watson had a dropped INT in his own end of the field in that same game.

 

yes.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

35 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

I agree.  Poyer is the one who can be replaced for less.  He makes a few big plays a year.  The rest he is late to arrive.  Burned on both TDs Saturday.  That's what he is.

 

Josh had some great throws.  But had two bad ones that were miraculously dropped INTs (plus a 3rd he through right at JJ Watt).  One an easy pick 6, the second one (by same DB) would have ended the game in regulation.  Then there was that really bad decision to lateral as he was being tackled after a 20 yard run to the 50 yard line with over a minute to get into FG range.  Really bad choice. 

no question josh made some horrid choices. 
 

my guess is not that he regressed (like Joe B said) as much as the playoff game was just a little faster and so his young decision making was flustered at times. It’s going to take more time but the kid makes throws that only 2 or 3 other guys in the league can make. Time to pair him with some elite pass catchers, regardless of 40 time, size, height, etc. 
 

I didn’t get too much into the other josh stuff as it’s covered as naseum in the love em hate em threads 

[Bob in STL]

9 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Nerded out and rewatched the game.  Saw a bunch of key moments that hadn't already been noted I think. 

 

mods feel free to kill if it’s redundant. Tried to be objective. 

 

1) first half score was so close to being 21-0 or at least 17:  

- we saw brown miss that sideline ball, to me it looked like would’ve set them up on the 2, but right before that play, there was a false start, whistle, josh spiked the ball in the dirt, then two Texans hit him and knocked him to the ground. No call. Blatant PF at least offsetting the false start or maybe it was a shift, which I could not see anywhere 

2) Devin Singletary was the best offensive player by far. His vision, slipperiness, agility... he might be in the conversation this time next year as one of the best in the league. He also made clutch third down plays and really tough catches. Add an off-season of pro football everything... excited! A great screen offense would really maximize him. 
 

3) #22 Conley was holding and clutching brown at the top of his routes all game long. When the refs put the whistle away, you can not rely on ‘smurfs’ to separate. In general lots of uncalled clutching and grabbing on him, Beasley McKenzie and evening knox. 

 

4) speaking of Brown, his body control around the boundary was not very good at all. Several times losing catches to the sideline. Dukes was actually very good at the same and Duke also stood as getting consistent separation. Interested to see where this goes. 
 

5) that OT heave to Dimarco, that the leotard guy chastised him for...  turns out the Texans rushed two guys and dropped 8, and kept a spy. The two guys deep downfield were him and lee Smith. Singletary was well short of the line to gain, and the other guys were bracketed. They subbed in that package for that play then lined up 5 wide with that!!! brutal call.  I guess Daboll outsmarted himself

 

6)Josh losing his mind taking those two awful sacks was discussed thoroughly, but on the third down play, Texans rushed 3 guys, bills had 7 man protection and they stunted at lee smith who didn’t know who to block so impeded neither and Singletary wiffed too while all 5 linemen blocked watt or air. No chance for the QB. 
 

7) Dawson Knox Looks like a Timid blocker. He and Morse missed the LB in OT on that Josh sweep.  There were several running plays I noticed if it wasn’t a DB, he wasn’t hitting the block hard enough to to make a difference of just whiffing all together. 

 

8.) McKenzie Looked to almost caused an INT, his come back route was to the sideline instead of attacking the ball, the corner actually played it better. He’s seemingly a jet sweep specialist and otherwise window dressing. Need a big upgrade here 

 

9) I am a huge TreD fan, But Hopkins owned his A$$. Beat him deep singled up, beat him on key third downs, smoked him on a two point conversion. After the forced fumble, TreD vanished and Hopkins took him back to goalie school... 
 

10) this may be redundant but it bears repeating- Gore is done. DONE. He just drops his pads and runs into walls. Time to complete the youth movement at RB. 
 

11) there was one play where josh had Brown on a deep post, 4 to 5 steps, no safety.  Seemed like he saw but then checked down to Devin for 4 yards Even though the pro held up. I feel like he took those shots last year. 
 

12) Poyer had a rough day also.  I counted him as the goat(lowercase, not acronym) on Both TDs and a two point conversion beat to the corner or simply steamrolled. 
 

13) all in all it was red zone performance that made the difference. Texans got to 19 in 3 scores. It took the Bills 5 scoring drives to get there, and then OT of course is a coin toss....  but yeah 3rd and 18, And all the other stuff too. Oh well lots to learn from I guess. 

 

14) where are the hot WRs on blitzes ? 
 

15) saw several instances of Allen throwing guys open. That one laser to Duke that was called back due to a Kroft hold or Duke catching that EZ ball would’ve put him right around 400 yards of total offense generated on the day. Not bad for a first playoff game. He’s gonna be just fine.   

 

 

fun season all and all. ... now Beane go get some shiny new toys to add to this team Also ...   have Lorax sit down with Frank and explain how you know when it’s time.... 
 

Go Bills! 

 

 

Thanks for the update.  Nice job.  I have read about 5 well done detailed summaries now and it all comes down to what McDermott and Allen have said. 

• We did not play good enough. 
• We did not take advantage of our opportunities. 
• We left a lot of plays on the field. 
• We made a lot of mental mistakes.
• They made more big plays. 

Hey, we can list out every bad call or missed call by the refs and none of it would have matter is we just played better and smarter.  Given all the things we are reading about missed blocks, wrong routes, bad coverage, missed tackles …. Our game plan and preparation was not just adequate.  Our execution was worse. 

 

I'm ready to move on.  Lets accept the fact that we lacked both the experience (QB/MLB) and talent (OL/WR/TE) in key positions to win this game.  Our offense only scored 20+ [points 6 times in 17 games and 2 of them were Miami.  We needed 20 to win. 

 

We are a few players away from a very good team. 

 

To help Allen develop into a good QB we need: (1) a real #1 WR; (2) better play at offensive tackle; (3) better options at RB than Gore and DiMarco; and (4) better play from TE position. 

 

On defense we need: (1) replace Lorenzo - which will not be easy; (2) more edge rush sacks; and a better #2 CB. 

 

Beane will have to be very good with the draft and with Cap management to improve the roster but I have faith in him to do it. 

 

We need Allen AND Edmunds to take another step up next year.  They both improved in year 2 … If they become star players we could be a powerful team. 

 

[sunshynman]

6 hours ago, Bleedbuffaloblue said:

Agree that Hopkins got the better of Tre in the second half, but still not a ton of yards and no TD’s in nearly three quarters of play after halftime. Hopkins is one of the top two or three WR’s in the league without question so no real shame there IMO.

At  least Tre didn’t get twisted around and smoked for a long TD like Brown did to that supposed best CB in the league in NE a couple weeks ago!?

 

We played prevent from the start of the second half. In the first Tre was on Hopkins at the LOS, the 2nd he was 10 yards deep at the snap. Coaches played to keep the lead instead of playing the game that got them the lead. Tre can run all day with the WR, he should never be playing that deep.

4 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

what is the right call there ? Punt it? 
 

at any rate the defense got the ball back and they tied the game. It was inconsequential 

 

You attempt the FG. Indoors, no wind, he was making them in warmups from there.

[Lurker]

11 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Nerded out and rewatched the game.  Saw a bunch of key moments that hadn't already been noted I think. 

 

OP.   I don't have access to all 22, but I wonder if you saw a play (that I believe was in the second half) where it was a run-pass option and Josh gave the ball to Singletary who took a 1-yard loss.    It looked like if Josh kept the ball and ran to his right that there wasn't a Texan defender on that side of the field and he could have had a big, big gain or even a TD.

 

Am I imagining what I saw, or does the all-22 back that up?

[sunshynman]

1 minute ago, Lurker said:

 

OP.   I don't have access to all 22, but I wonder if you saw a play (that I believe was in the second half) where it was a run-pass option and Josh gave the ball to Singletary who took a 1-yard loss.    It looked like if Josh kept the ball and ran to his right that there wasn't a Texan defender on that side of the field and he could have had a big, big gain or even a TD.

 

Am I imagining what I saw, or does the all-22 back that up?

I saw it the same way live. The right was wide open and Josh would have had 10 yards to get up to speed before any defender got near him.

[chris heff]

Thanks good write up. I think they signed both Gore and Yeldon because they knew that McCoy was done. They were going to try and trade him, if not then cut him. Which is what happened, both of them are as good as gone.

[Lurker]

10 minutes ago, sunshynman said:

 

We played prevent from the start of the second half. In the first Tre was on Hopkins at the LOS, the 2nd he was 10 yards deep at the snap.

 

Huh.   Not what I saw.   

 

In the first half, Hopkins lined up in the slot and Tre wasn't on him, as they played zone.     In the second half, Hopkins lined up outside and took Tre to school...

[BeastMaster]

4 hours ago, ILBillsfan said:

I agree, that being said Hyde has missed some key tackles including the one where they got the yardage for the winning FG but his play has been more steady than Poyer

 

.  Poyer has definitely been a bit more of a liability this year and I'm not sure I toss him a large amount of $$$  Watson ran him over a few blown coverage assignments that was not the first time this year a back went out alone on a bootleg and Poyer was sucked in leaving that are of the filed wide open this year. 

I'm convinced we should let Poyer go. At the most, I'd tag him for a year to make sure we have the position taken care of replacement wise.

 

We shouldn't pay everyone, and he appears to have peaked IMO. 

 

 

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, BeastMaster said:

I'm convinced we should let Poyer go. At the most, I'd tag him for a year to make sure we have the position taken care of replacement wise.

 

We shouldn't pay everyone, and he appears to have peaked IMO. 

 

 

 

Also, aren't there reports from those in the know, that Jaquan Johnson is the real deal? 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

1 hour ago, Lurker said:

 

OP.   I don't have access to all 22, but I wonder if you saw a play (that I believe was in the second half) where it was a run-pass option and Josh gave the ball to Singletary who took a 1-yard loss.    It looked like if Josh kept the ball and ran to his right that there wasn't a Texan defender on that side of the field and he could have had a big, big gain or even a TD.

 

Am I imagining what I saw, or does the all-22 back that up?

I know exactly the play you mean, seemed like a read option run. 

 

There was one line backer with eyes on josh playing edge contain (54 I think), more apparent from end zone angle... which is why I’m guessing the read to give and not take. That guy then crashed in after the hand off. 

 

great call though, I like joshes odds there If he beats him to the corner or with a juke, stiff arm, etc, and he wasn’t very wide to get around and the LB looked flat footed.... there was tons of real estate there if he got by him and 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

5 hours ago, K-9 said:

Terrible plays by Brown. Just not NFL caliber. Especially on the first pass. Josh has little margin for error as it is so it’s really frustrating when he can’t get just a little help out 

That 2nd one is just horrid. 

[billsfan1959]

3 hours ago, Lurker said:

 

OP.   I don't have access to all 22, but I wonder if you saw a play (that I believe was in the second half) where it was a run-pass option and Josh gave the ball to Singletary who took a 1-yard loss.    It looked like if Josh kept the ball and ran to his right that there wasn't a Texan defender on that side of the field and he could have had a big, big gain or even a TD.

 

Am I imagining what I saw, or does the all-22 back that up?

 

40 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

I know exactly the play you mean, seemed like a read option run. 

 

There was one line backer with eyes on josh playing edge contain (54 I think), more apparent from end zone angle... which is why I’m guessing the read to give and not take. That guy then crashed in after the hand off. 

 

great call though, I like joshes odds there If he beats him to the corner or with a juke, stiff arm, etc, and he wasn’t very wide to get around and the LB looked flat footed.... there was tons of real estate there if he got by him and 

 

There was a LB spying on Allen and even started to move with him until he was sure he didn't have the ball. There is also a safety shallow covering Knox on that side

 

 

I think Morse got kind of manhandled on that play....

Edited January 7, 2020 by billsfan1959

[ngbills]

6 hours ago, K-9 said:

Terrible plays by Brown. Just not NFL caliber. Especially on the first pass. Josh has little margin for error as it is so it’s really frustrating when he can’t get just a little help out there. 

Actually on that first one a better pass and that is a TD not a toe tapper on the sidelines. 

[Scott7975]

3 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Actually on that first one a better pass and that is a TD not a toe tapper on the sidelines. 

it wasn’t a toe tapper. First he had no need to leave his feet. He actually left his feet as the ball was caught. Second he was like 2 yards away from the sideline when he caught the ball. It was bad footwork and the pass was on the money. 

[K-9]

5 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Actually on that first one a better pass and that is a TD not a toe tapper on the sidelines. 

Oh, FFS! 

[billsfan1959]

9 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Actually on that first one a better pass and that is a TD not a toe tapper on the sidelines. 

 

What he said below...

 

3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Oh, FFS!