A Few Thoughts About the Raiders, in no particular order

[Virgil]

For as much as some of us clamor for prime time games, the 4pm start was just weird.  I didn't quite know what to do with myself today and that off-rhythm day followed me into the game.  And when I feel off, for some unrealistic reason, I expect the Bills to be off.  I was prepared for the letdown game, regardless of how banged up the Raiders were.  But, as the Bills continue to do each game this season, they proved again that this is a very different team.

 

1 - Norman - I'll be completely honest, I had zero expectations of him going into this season.  I wasn't sure he'd even make the roster.  However, as fate would have it, injuries occurred and Norman came to make one of the key plays to the game.  Early in the game, Norman looked solid in coverage, and very sound with tackling (minus one tackle).  I don't think the plan was for him to play as much as he did, as his snap count in the first half seemed low.  In the second half though, he was out there for most of the snaps and was far from a liability.  On the main play in question, he both punched a fumble out and recovered it.  Even more so important, he got the entire defense fired up.  The energy level of the defense from that play on was completely different.  The players responded to Norman well and I remember someone on there forums saying that was a benefit of Norman joining the team.  Good call sir.

 

2 - Beasley - In the first quarter, I couldn't help but notice that Beasley wasn't out there for the first few drives, even in 3-4 receiver sets.  I remember thinking about how I hope this new rotation doesn't lead to dissension among the receivers, as even Brown was out from time to time.  But then, Beasley strolled onto the field and picked up a key third down as he does.  Then, Beasley makes a ridiculous catch in the endzone and holds onto the ball through the air in the most Beasley way.  He was mentioned to be hurt in the game, but found his way back out there for another acrobatic catch later.  If these guys are truly team-first players and winning fixes everything, you have to love the role he has on this team.

 

3 - Singletary - In this pass happy offense, I''m starting to think that these past two games might be the most we get out of our rushing attack. It's not that Motor isn't capable of doing more, as much as it's just not our style of play.  Motor had a great run at the end of the game to put it away, a touchdown run where he showed good power (helped by a 3 man block by Dawson), and continued to show up in the screen game.  The only real blemish for Motor was on the second to last drive where the Bills telegraphed three straight runs.  Don't fault Motor as it's just not his style of game.  Overall, with how this offense is playing, and how well Motor is blocking, catching, and holding onto the ball, I don't find myself wondering what we have in Moss much at all.

 

4 - Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street.

Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street.

Your typical city involved in a typical daydream

Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings

 

5 - Tight Ends - Looks like Kroft's game last week earned him some more snaps in this game as visually, I'm pretty sure he was out there more than Knox.  When I was able to keep an eye on him, he delivered some solid blocks, and wasn't a factor really in the passing game.  I'm only mentioning it as Knox was dominating the snap count in the first few games, and that seems to be slowly changing.

 

6 - Defensive Scheme - Watching the game live and knowing the Raiders didn't punt until midway through the 3rd quarter, you'd think we were getting scored on at will.  But, as the Bills defense in 2019 did, they were vintage bend but don't break defense today.  Until the last Raiders TD, we were up 4-1 in the touchdown column.  The defense had quite a few negative plays on first down, gave up a chunk play on 2nd, then gave up the 1st on 3rd down all the way into our red zone.  We'd keep them out of the end zone and make them settle for the field goal.  No real pass rush to speak of, huge zone gaps in the middle of the field, and no real plays that stood out.......until the 4th quarter.  

 

7  - Defense in the 4th - As reference before with Norman, the defense looked as it has all season through the first 3 quarters.  But when it came time to make plays, and really show the better team on the field, huge shout outs go to Norman, Oliver, and Jefferson.  Oliver single-handedly shed a block to stop the Raiders in Bills territory on a 4th and short play.  Jefferson had a fantastic strip an recover sack as the Raiders were driving and trying to make a game of it.  These are the plays that we haven't gotten all season from this defense and came to be the real difference maker here.  And, not to turn this massive positive into a negative, but this is where it made me start to question some of our guys; mainly Oliver and Edmunds.  Maybe the scheme of this defense is to know your role and play that part, but I feel like we should start to see more flashes from these guys based upon where they were draft and their expectations.  Edmunds is a year away from being in new contract territory, and I don't even know what his value would be right now.  But I digress.

 

8 - Refs - Is it me, or did the main ref seem like he wanted to be anywhere but at this game?  I've never seen a more miserable looking man on a football field, besides maybe Adam Gase.  Moving on; how was Smoke's amazing catch at the goal line not a touchdown?  Two feet, control of the ball, and the ball is on the goal line stripe.  If you stand at the one yard line, place the ball in the air over the imaginary barrier and pull it back, it's still a touchdown.  Possession was clear, the ball was clear.  What am I missing here?  We still scored that drive and the refs did a gratefully amazing job calling back the Raiders first touchdown, so I can't complain too much.  We also got a gift on the illegal block in the back against the Raiders.  I was a little surprised they called the Carr fumble dead by forward progress as that felt like a fast call and the PI on Poyer seemed weak to me.  Overall, It's nice to see the Bills keeping the penalties in check, and most of the calls going against the opposing team.  Maybe this is what happens when you are the more disciplined, winning team.

 

9 - Allen - Based off another thread, I know this isn't going to go well.  I'm going to do my best to preface this, but I know it won't matter.  I'm grading Josh based upon how he's played this season and as the AFC MVP he's being talked about as.  With that being said, I think this was Josh's second worst game in this limited 4 game season.  I'm not focusing on the drops or the box score, I'm focusing on his ball placement.  When hitting his players in previous games, he was hitting them in stride on the front half of their body.  In this game, on multiple occasions, he was hitting guys on the back half of their body.  They were still completions and they still got some YAC, but they had to slow down a bit.  This is something he was excellent at the prior two games.  The sack out of FG range is something he's got to get better at and is a known issue for him.  I defend his decisions to fight through sacks that sometimes lead to big plays or negative plays, but he's got to be better in this situation.  He will tell you the same thing.  On the deep ball to Diggs, I want to see the All-22 review, but I also think that's a TD if he leads Diggs at all.  Listen, he had 288 yards in this game, which was better than any of his games prior to this year.  He made an amazing pass to Smoke and others throughout the game.  He's seeing the entire field and in total control.  I'm not crapping on Josh here.  If anything, I love that these are the only things I can say he needs to improve on.  

 

10 - 4-0 - In listening to the pregame, there were a few people who were upset that the Patriots were going to be without Cam for a few weeks.  Their reasoning was that they want the Pats to be at full strength in a season we could win the division and don't want any excuses.  There's also people talking about COVID and how this season should have an asterisks next to it.  I'm sorry, but this is all total bull *****.  We have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this year, play with the same limited fans, and no one gave us any pity over the past 20 years when we were decimated by injuries or other happenstance.  Fact is, this team has earned it's 4-0 and there isn't a single team I think we can't beat.  If this defense gets any form of spark from how they finished this game and Josh keeps being Josh, there isn't a single team that is going to underestimate us.  And that doesn't scare me one bit....

 

Go Bills!

Edited October 5, 2020 by Virgil

[Big Turk]

Norman was fantastic in run support also making several big stops of Jacobs behind the line and stringing him out so teammates could make plays on others...he should start over Wallace for this reason alone...

[Virgil]

Just now, matter2003 said:

Norman was fantastic in run support also making several big stops of Jacobs behind the line and stringing him out so teammates could make plays on others...he should start over Wallace for this reason alone...

 

Wallace was seen on crutches after the game, so it looks like you'll get your wish

[Seasons1992]

Glad to see you survived and advanced to Week 5, Virgil. I paced a bit but happy to have come out with the win. Thanks for the grateful truckin' write up.

[78thealltimegreat]

8 minutes ago, Virgil said:

For as much as some of us clamor for prime time games, the 4pm start was just weird.  I didn't quite know what to do with myself today and that off-rhythm day followed me into the game.  And when I feel off, for some unrealistic reason, I expect the Bills to be off.  I was prepared for the letdown game, regardless of how banged up the Raiders were.  But, as the Bills continue to do each game this season, they proved again that this is a very different team.

 

1 - Norman - I'll be completely honest, I had zero expectations of him going into this season.  I wasn't sure he'd even make the roster.  However, as fate would have it, injuries occurred and Norman came to make one of the key plays to the game.  Early in the game, Norman looked solid in coverage, and very sound with tackling (minus one tackle).  I don't think the plan was for him to play as much as he did, as his snap count in the first half seemed low.  In the second half though, he was out there for most of the snaps and was far from a liability.  On the main play in question, he both punched a fumble out and recovered it.  Even more so important, he got the entire defense fired up.  The energy level of the defense from that play on was completely different.  The players responded to Norman well and I remember someone on there forums saying that was a benefit of Norman joining the team.  Good call sir.

 

2 - Beasley - In the first quarter, I couldn't help but notice that Beasley wasn't out there for the first few drives, even in 3-4 receiver sets.  I remember thinking about how I hope this new rotation doesn't lead to dissension among the receivers, as even Brown was out from time to time.  But then, Beasley strolled onto the field and picked up a key third down as he does.  Then, Beasley makes a ridiculous catch in the endzone and holds onto the ball through the air in the most Beasley way.  He was mentioned to be hurt in the game, but found his way back out there for another acrobatic catch later.  If these guys are truly team-first players and winning fixes everything, you have to love the role he has on this team.

 

3 - Singletary - In this pass happy offense, I''m starting to think that these past two games might be the most we get out of our rushing attack. It's not that Motor isn't capable of doing more, as much as it's just not our style of play.  Motor had a great run at the end of the game to put it away, a touchdown run where he showed good power (helped by a 3 man block by Dawson), and continued to show up in the screen game.  The only real blemish for Motor was on the second to last drive where the Bills telegraphed three straight runs.  Don't fault Motor as it's just not his style of game.  Overall, with how this offense is playing, and how well Motor is blocking, catching, and holding onto the ball, I don't find myself wondering what we have in Moss much at all.

 

4 - Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street.

Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street.

Your typical city involved in a typical daydream

Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings

 

5 - Tight Ends - Looks like Kroft's game last week earned him some more snaps in this game as visually, I'm pretty sure he was out there more than Knox.  When I was able to keep an eye on him, he delivered some solid blocks, and wasn't a factor really in the passing game.  I'm only mentioning it as Knox was dominating the snap count in the first few games, and that seems to be slowly changing.

 

6 - Defensive Scheme - Watching the game live and knowing the Raiders didn't punt until midway through the 3rd quarter, you'd think we were getting scored on at will.  But, as the Bills defense in 2019 did, they were vintage bend but don't break defense today.  Until the last Raiders TD, we were up 4-1 in the touchdown column.  The defense had quite a few negative plays on first down, gave up a chunk play on 2nd, then gave up the 1st on 3rd down all the way into our red zone.  We'd keep them out of the end zone and make them settle for the field goal.  No real pass rush to speak of, huge zone gaps in the middle of the field, and no real plays that stood out.......until the 4th quarter.  

 

7  - Defense in the 4th - As reference before with Norman, the defense looked as it has all season through the first 3 quarters.  But when it came time to make plays, and really show the better team on the field, huge shout outs go to Norman, Oliver, and Jefferson.  Oliver single-handedly shed a block to stop the Raiders in Bills territory on a 4th and short play.  Jefferson had a fantastic strip an recover sack as the Raiders were driving and trying to make a game of it.  These are the plays that we haven't gotten all season from this defense and came to be the real difference maker here.  And, not to turn this massive positive into a negative, but this is where it made me start to question some of our guys; mainly Oliver and Edmunds.  Maybe the scheme of this defense is to know your role and play that part, but I feel like we should start to see more flashes from these guys based upon where they were draft and their expectations.  Edmunds is a year away from being in new contract territory, and I don't even know what his value would be right now.  But I digress.

 

8 - Refs - Is it me, or did the main ref seem like he wanted to be anywhere but at this game?  I've never seen a more miserable looking man on a football field, besides maybe Adam Gase.  Moving on; how was Smoke's amazing catch at the goal line not a touchdown?  Two feet, control of the ball, and the ball is on the goal line stripe.  If you stand at the one yard line, place the ball in the air over the imaginary barrier and pull it back, it's still a touchdown.  Possession was clear, the ball was clear.  What am I missing here?  We still scored that drive and the refs did a gratefully amazing job calling back the Raiders first touchdown, so I can't complain too much.  We also got a gift on the illegal block in the back against the Raiders.  I was a little surprised they called the Carr fumble dead by forward progress as that felt like a fast call and the PI on Poyer seemed weak to me.  Overall, It's nice to see the Bills keeping the penalties in check, and most of the calls going against the opposing team.  Maybe this is what happens when you are the more disciplined, winning team.

 

9 - Allen - Based off another thread, I know this isn't going to go well.  I'm going to do my best to preface this, but I know it won't matter.  I'm grading Josh based upon how he's played this season and as the AFC MVP he's being talked about as.  With that being said, I think this was Josh's second worst game in this limited 4 game season.  I'm not focusing on the drops or the box score, I'm focusing on his ball placement.  When hitting his players in previous games, he was hitting them in stride on the front half of their body.  In this game, on multiple occasions, he was hitting guys on the back half of their body.  They were still completions and they still got some YAC, but they had to slow down a bit.  This is something he was excellent at the prior two games.  The sack out of FG range is something he's got to get better at and is a known issue for him.  I defend his decisions to fight through sacks that sometimes lead to big plays or negative plays, but he's got to be better in this situation.  He will tell you the same thing.  On the deep ball to Diggs, I want to see the All-22 review, but I also think that's a TD if he leads Diggs at all.  Listen, he had 288 yards in this game, which was better than any of his games prior to this year.  He made an amazing pass to Smoke and others throughout the game.  He's seeing the entire field and in total control.  I'm not crapping on Josh here.  If anything, I love that these are the only things I can say he needs to improve on.  

 

10 - 4-0 - In listening to the pregame, there were a few people who were upset that the Patriots were going to be without Cam for a few weeks.  Their reasoning was that they want the Pats to be at full strength in a season we could win the division and don't want any excuses.  There's also people talking about COVID and how this season should have an asterisks next to it.  I'm sorry, but this is all total bull *****.  We have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this year, play with the same limited fans, and no one gave us any pity over the past 20 years when we were decimated by injuries or other happenstance.  Fact is, this team has earned it's 4-0 and there isn't a single team I think we can't beat.  If this defense gets any form of spark from how they finished this game and Josh keeps being Josh, there isn't a single team that is going to underestimate us.  And that doesn't scare me one bit....

 

Go Bills!

The pass Josh made to  John Brown there maybe are 3 or 4 guys on this planet that can make that throw be thankful you have one of them 

Edited October 5, 2020 by 78thealltimegreat

[Big Turk]

Bills were a 3 and out machine last year, leading the league in that category. Also held teams to ridiculously low yardage totals...like under 200 yards passing most games.

 

This year not so much...

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, Seasons1992 said:

Glad to see you survived and advanced to Week 5, Virgil. I paced a bit but happy to have come out with the win. Thanks for the grateful truckin' write up.

 

I never really felt worried in this game.  Maybe it was the 4p late start.  I was more lethargic than anything else.  

 

Through the 3rd quarter, I felt the game was going to come down to whoever blinked first and I had total faith in 4th quarter Josh.  I'm glad it was the defense who made the big plays this time.  We need both sides of the ball.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

9 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

When hitting his players in previous games, he was hitting them in stride on the front half of their body.  In this game, on multiple occasions, he was hitting guys on the back half of their body.  They were still completions and they still got some YAC, but they had to slow down a bit.  This is something he was excellent at the prior two games.  The sack out of FG range is something he's got to get better at and is a known issue for him.  I defend his decisions to fight through sacks that sometimes lead to big plays or negative plays, but he's got to be better in this situation.  He will tell you the same thing.  On the deep ball to Diggs, I want to see the All-22 review, but I also think that's a TD if he leads Diggs at all.  Listen, he had 288 yards in this game, which was better than any of his games prior to this year.  He made an amazing pass to Smoke and others throughout the game.  He's seeing the entire field and in total control.  I'm not crapping on Josh here.  If anything, I love that these are the only things I can say he needs to improve on.  

agree completely on Allen. He had a good game, but had some accuracy issues. That deep ball to Diggs should have been a walk-in TD. He underthrew him by a lot. 

[klos63]

3 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Bills were a 3 and out machine last year, leading the league in that category. Also held teams to ridiculously low yardage totals...like under 200 yards passing most games.

 

This year not so much...

The refs aren't calling offensive holding calls much at all. That will help the offense tremendously. Look at the scores around the league, not many defenses stopping the offenses.

[buffaloboyinATL]

11 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

9 - Allen - Based off another thread, I know this isn't going to go well.  I'm going to do my best to preface this, but I know it won't matter.  I'm grading Josh based upon how he's played this season and as the AFC MVP he's being talked about as.  With that being said, I think this was Josh's second worst game in this limited 4 game season.  I'm not focusing on the drops or the box score, I'm focusing on his ball placement.  When hitting his players in previous games, he was hitting them in stride on the front half of their body.  In this game, on multiple occasions, he was hitting guys on the back half of their body.  They were still completions and they still got some YAC, but they had to slow down a bit.  This is something he was excellent at the prior two games.  The sack out of FG range is something he's got to get better at and is a known issue for him.  I defend his decisions to fight through sacks that sometimes lead to big plays or negative plays, but he's got to be better in this situation.  He will tell you the same thing.  On the deep ball to Diggs, I want to see the All-22 review, but I also think that's a TD if he leads Diggs at all.  Listen, he had 288 yards in this game, which was better than any of his games prior to this year.  He made an amazing pass to Smoke and others throughout the game.  He's seeing the entire field and in total control.  I'm not crapping on Josh here.  If anything, I love that these are the only things I can say he needs to improve on.

Go Bills!

That was a lot of words. Was he good or was he bad?  😛

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Great write up per usual OP. I’m with you on the 4:25 start—it messed with the flow of my day and I too was worried about this being a letdown game—as soon as I saw how easily we punched it in 1st Q though, I mentally went on cruise control, even when the Raiders went on a mini-run, it felt nothing like the angst of the Rams game to me—crazy how quickly we can go from the mindset of how will we lose this game inevitably, to how close will we let the other team get before we slam the door shut for good...

[78thealltimegreat]

2 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

agree completely on Allen. He had a good game, but had some accuracy issues. That deep ball to Diggs should have been a walk-in TD. He underthrew him by a lot. 

He threw it from his own 33 to the opponents 11 

[NoHuddleKelly12]

2 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

agree completely on Allen. He had a good game, but had some accuracy issues. That deep ball to Diggs should have been a walk-in TD. He underthrew him by a lot. 

Because it seemed like that ball had no windup—just a flick of his wrist and out it launched for umpteen yards—otherwise it’s heading to the Hoover Dam? 🤔

[Cruiserplayer]

8 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

The pass Josh made to  John Brown there maybe are 3 or 4 guys on this planet that can make that throw be thankful you have one of them 

2. Rodgers and Allen. And I’m not sure Rodgers can.

[BillsFan130]

I’ll have to revisit your point on Josh Allen and his ball accuracy. To me it looked liked he hit them in stride for the most part, but I’ll re visit that one.

 

Good Write up as always

Edited October 5, 2020 by BillsFan130

[GaryPinC]

9 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

He threw it from his own 33 to the opponents 11 

Josh should have thrown it earlier.  When Diggs made his post move he was wide open before the safety came over on the deep throw.

[Virgil]

18 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

He threw it from his own 33 to the opponents 11 

 

Is that true?  I really missed the distance on it.  I just looked it up and it was a 49 yard pass. 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Virgil

[KD in CA]

30 minutes ago, Virgil said:

2 - Beasley - In the first quarter, I couldn't help but notice that Beasley wasn't out there for the first few drives, even in 3-4 receiver sets.  I remember thinking about how I hope this new rotation doesn't lead to dissension among the receivers, as even Brown was out from time to time.  But then, Beasley strolled onto the field and picked up a key third down as he does.  Then, Beasley makes a ridiculous catch in the endzone and holds onto the ball through the air in the most Beasley way.  He was mentioned to be hurt in the game, but found his way back out there for another acrobatic catch later.  If these guys are truly team-first players and winning fixes everything, you have to love the role he has on this team.

 

I thought I saw him grimace as if in pain after the second catch.  I didn't notice how many more snaps he was in after that play.

[Coach Tuesday]

2 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Is that true?  I really missed the distance on it.  I just looked it up and it was a 49 yard pass.  Unless he dropped back 17 yards..

Seemed to me that he was hurting on that pass.  Really his only deep throw after the shoulder thing and I think he just couldn’t get the juice on it.

[Virgil]

Just now, KD in CA said:

 

I thought I saw him grimace as if in pain after the second catch.  I didn't notice how many more snaps he was in after that play.

 

I saw the same thing and thought he wasn't going to come back into the game