A Few Thoughts About the Jets Game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

When coming off a two game losing streak, even if you are about to play the Jets, sometimes you have to change things up as a fan.  For myself, I kept the meal the same but didn't take notes this game.  Rather than looking at certain players or watching parts of the field, I just watched the game as a fan and was curious to see what would stand out to me hours later.  With that, if I miss a detail or something, be gentle.

 

1 - Bass - Let's start with the man who was 100% of our offense.  I'm sure there's going to be a lot of different opinions on him today as many will pick apart the misses.  I was overall impressed with him and there were two things that stood out to me, besides his obviously powerful leg.  My biggest concern with Bass going into this game was that he seemed to just boom the ball off his foot and didn't show a lot of overall control.  Today, you saw the spin and draw that most kickers have, which gave me more confidence.  The best part of his game today was his second miss.  He didn't look lost or beaten down, but instead immediately took ownership and you could tell it didn't phase him.  He didn't take the miss as a sign of not deserving of being on the field, but was instead just a miss.  We knew this season was going to have it's ups and downs with Bass, so this was a good progression game and ultimately did what we needed today.  I would have called this the "Special Teams" though, but we didn't punt.  Although, Roberts did continue to have some nice returns.

 

2 - Scripted drives.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous when the game started as the Jets moved down the field fairly effortlessly against our defense.  The entire first half had to make you wonder if we were in for an upset.  I never was worried overall, but it was hard not to at least consider the possibility.  We were prone to the normal misdirection passes and were gashed on the zone runs.  I always think of the Mike Mularkey days when we would score an opening drive TD every game, but then couldn't do anything else.  That was the Jets in the first half with only a few possessions.  They made it look effortless until the scripted plays wore off.  That's when things got ugly for them real quick.

 

3 - Rushing Attack - I was just going to focus on Motor, but Moss overall had a strong game today as well.  It was frustrating on some of our drives how much we abandoned the run, especially when we proved that it was working well enough to keep it alive.  I think Daboll needs to work on his run/pass ratio, but I really want to talk about two things with Motor.  His pass blocking/blitz pick-ups are light years ahead of where they were last season.  He does a fantastic job there and I like to see that evolution.  Also, and I'm terrified to jinx it, but he also covers the ball a lot better and hasn't coughed one up yet.  He uses both arms on the ball and holds it tighter between the hashes; again, another improvement.  Moss was a good compliment, but I still worry about his speed.  He doesn't ever make me feel like he's going to break one.

 

4 - I'm a king bee buzzing around your hive

Now I'm a king bee darling buzzing around your hive

Yeah, I can make some honey babe if you let me fly up inside

Cause I'm young and able to buzz all night long I'm young and able mama,

Lord to buzz all night long

And you know together we can make some honey

Like the world ain't never known

 

5 - Beasley - Talk about a quite 100 yard game.  Beasley is the key to this offense while defenses are running 2-3 deep safeties against us.  How Beasley was utilized today was perfect and I hope to see more of the same.  I was hoping to see more Gabriel Davis today in a similar fashion, but I'd have to see the All-22 to watch if he was running the deep routes with Diggs.  Either way, it's crazy to think our #3 is well on his way to a 1K season.  I love the toughness he plays with and don't know if we win this game today without him.  I hope he eats the Pats alive next week and is the best short route receiver on the field.

 

6 - Kroft - Regardless of when Knox can come back, I believe Kroft needs to remain the primary started at TE going forward this season.  He didn't post huge stats, but caught all 4 balls his way and was fantastic with his blocking.  In both the rush and pass, Kroft owned guys on a few plays today and his reliability in both blocking and short yardage catching is something I can't understate.  If Allen's throw is a little better, Kroft takes a long one to the house.  Knox has a ton of potential, but I think he needs to earn that snap count before we pull Kroft's reliability off the field.  Yes, this is the first time I've ever complimented Kroft in one of these.  

 

7 - Offense - This is a tough one for me as I can't quite put a pin on what the issues are with the offense.  Yes, Allen had another 300 yard passing game, but we were also in Jets territory at least 9 times and didn't score a touchdown (I want to see a replay of the one called back).  Our red zone offense has been a point of pride this season and it was non-existent today.  I liked the few Allen called runs to keep the defense honest.  I didn't like how little Diggs was targeted early in the game, although I saw a stat of how much Josh was spreading it around.  Yes, defenses have been playing to stop the deep ball, but we've struggled to adjust through 3 games at this point and the schedule isn't getting any easier.  Today wasn't about Josh being off, but just the offense missing something.

 

8 - Safeties - Poyer is still one of the more under-rated safeties in the game.  His ability to play anywhere on the field and then, once he sees where the ball is going, go after it like a heat-seeking missile is impressive.  He's going to be a big factor next week against the Pats and I believe he will bring it.  Hyde was solid in coverage today, but I really want to talk about his PF.  Man, if there was ever an NFL play!  I get protecting the defenseless receiver, so the penalty didn't bother me too much.  I would argue that the receiver lowered his head at the time of hit, and his injury was less about the head shot and more about getting absolutely blasted by a strong NFL defender.  These guys don't get enough credit in my opinion and was happy to see the energy they brought to the defense today. 

 

9 - 2nd Half Defense.  I don't really know what to even say specifically about the group.  I know it was the Jets, but they are still technically and NFL team who showed decent success in the first half.  Someone can add the stats in for me if they want, but Darnold completed what, 2 passes in the second half?  I think they had less than 40 total yards too?  I mean, the defenders were flying to the ball and the defensive line actually started to make some plays.  Hughes was amped up towards the end and somehow walked away with an interception.  Even AJ seemed to be showing signs of life in this game.  However, I do want to call out that we put more guys in the box for pressure, which shockingly worked (sarcasm).  Hopefully, this game is the spark needed by the team going forward.  I was surprised to hear Harrison being a healthy scratch again and am concerned about his trajectory.  But the DB's played a much better game today and the linebackers didn't totally whiff on their tackles, which was a plus

 

10 - 5-2 - Talk about playing the Jets twice all your want, but we've earned wins against 3 teams with .500 records or better and have survived quite a few injuries.  Going into this game, I was hoping we would sit more guys if they thought the extra week would help them get better.  I'm glad we didn't because we needed everyone today.  My season MVP besides Allen still goes to Smoke as you can feel his absence out there. Each Sunday is a new game and the past means nothing.  We have some tough games overall coming up, but this next one is the difference maker.  Don't even look at the Pats record.  What matters is that McD has never beaten the Hoodie and the division is there's until someone actually takes it from them.  There's no excuses in this next game and 6-2 at the halfway mark is a big win with this schedule.  Every team goes through moments in a season where they have to adjust and re-invent.  Hopefully we are seeing our offense and defense slowing coming through the other side of that.  Regardless, it's about the record and 5-2 is a great start to the season with a division guiding game coming up next.  

 

Go Bills!

 

 

[NewEra]

Great write up, as always Virgil.

 

Jerry Hughes deserves a mention. He came up with huge plays today.  Yes, George Fant sucks, but he still brought it today. 
 

such a tough call vs Hyde.  He made the perfect play AND tried to hold up once he saw it wasn’t a catch.  Wasn’t anything he could do.  This is the NFL now.  So be it.

 

i’m happy with Bass.

 

I’d actually like to see Moss get more touches.  I think he’s a safer bet to get positive yards and that seems to be the most important aspect of our run game.  Seems to me like motor just gets tackled real quick by the first guy that touches himself.  I’m starting to see Moss’ power

 

did McD mention if he took over D play calling?  Surely seemed as such.  The D went from being a sieve to a brick wall after the Darnold  pick 

Edited October 26, 2020 by NewEra

[formerlyofCtown]

16 minutes ago, Virgil said:

When coming off a two game losing streak, even if you are about to play the Jets, sometimes you have to change things up as a fan.  For myself, I kept the meal the same but didn't take notes this game.  Rather than looking at certain players or watching parts of the field, I just watched the game as a fan and was curious to see what would stand out to me hours later.  With that, if I miss a detail or something, be gentle.

 

1 - Bass - Let's start with the man who was 100% of our offense.  I'm sure there's going to be a lot of different opinions on him today as many will pick apart the misses.  I was overall impressed with him and there were two things that stood out to me, besides his obviously powerful leg.  My biggest concern with Bass going into this game was that he seemed to just boom the ball off his foot and didn't show a lot of overall control.  Today, you saw the spin and draw that most kickers have, which gave me more confidence.  The best part of his game today was his second miss.  He didn't look lost or beaten down, but instead immediately took ownership and you could tell it didn't phase him.  He didn't take the miss as a sign of not deserving of being on the field, but was instead just a miss.  We knew this season was going to have it's ups and downs with Bass, so this was a good progression game and ultimately did what we needed today.  I would have called this the "Special Teams" though, but we didn't punt.  Although, Roberts did continue to have some nice returns.

 

2 - Scripted drives.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous when the game started as the Jets moved down the field fairly effortlessly against our defense.  The entire first half had to make you wonder if we were in for an upset.  I never was worried overall, but it was hard not to at least consider the possibility.  We were prone to the normal misdirection passes and were gashed on the zone runs.  I always think of the Mike Mularkey days when we would score an opening drive TD every game, but then couldn't do anything else.  That was the Jets in the first half with only a few possessions.  They made it look effortless until the scripted plays wore off.  That's when things got ugly for them real quick.

 

3 - Rushing Attack - I was just going to focus on Motor, but Moss overall had a strong game today as well.  It was frustrating on some of our drives how much we abandoned the run, especially when we proved that it was working well enough to keep it alive.  I think Daboll needs to work on his run/pass ratio, but I really want to talk about two things with Motor.  His pass blocking/blitz pick-ups are light years ahead of where they were last season.  He does a fantastic job there and I like to see that evolution.  Also, and I'm terrified to jinx it, but he also covers the ball a lot better and hasn't coughed one up yet.  He uses both arms on the ball and holds it tighter between the hashes; again, another improvement.  Moss was a good compliment, but I still worry about his speed.  He doesn't ever make me feel like he's going to break one.

 

4 - I'm a king bee buzzing around your hive

Now I'm a king bee darling buzzing around your hive

Yeah, I can make some honey babe if you let me fly up inside

Cause I'm young and able to buzz all night long I'm young and able mama,

Lord to buzz all night long

And you know together we can make some honey

Like the world ain't never known

 

5 - Beasley - Talk about a quite 100 yard game.  Beasley is the key to this offense while defenses are running 2-3 deep safeties against us.  How Beasley was utilized today was perfect and I hope to see more of the same.  I was hoping to see more Gabriel Davis today in a similar fashion, but I'd have to see the All-22 to watch if he was running the deep routes with Diggs.  Either way, it's crazy to think our #3 is well on his way to a 1K season.  I love the toughness he plays with and don't know if we win this game today without him.  I hope he eats the Pats alive next week and is the best short route receiver on the field.

 

6 - Kroft - Regardless of when Knox can come back, I believe Kroft needs to remain the primary started at TE going forward this season.  He didn't post huge stats, but caught all 4 balls his way and was fantastic with his blocking.  In both the rush and pass, Kroft owned guys on a few plays today and his reliability in both blocking and short yardage catching is something I can't understate.  If Allen's throw is a little better, Kroft takes a long one to the house.  Knox has a ton of potential, but I think he needs to earn that snap count before we pull Kroft's reliability off the field.  Yes, this is the first time I've ever complimented Kroft in one of these.  

 

7 - Offense - This is a tough one for me as I can't quite put a pin on what the issues are with the offense.  Yes, Allen had another 300 yard passing game, but we were also in Jets territory at least 9 times and didn't score a touchdown (I want to see a replay of the one called back).  Our red zone offense has been a point of pride this season and it was non-existent today.  I liked the few Allen called runs to keep the defense honest.  I didn't like how little Diggs was targeted early in the game, although I saw a stat of how much Josh was spreading it around.  Yes, defenses have been playing to stop the deep ball, but we've struggled to adjust through 3 games at this point and the schedule isn't getting any easier.  Today wasn't about Josh being off, but just the offense missing something.

 

8 - Safeties - Poyer is still one of the more under-rated safeties in the game.  His ability to play anywhere on the field and then, once he sees where the ball is going, go after it like a heat-seeking missile is impressive.  He's going to be a big factor next week against the Pats and I believe he will bring it.  Hyde was solid in coverage today, but I really want to talk about his PF.  Man, if there was ever an NFL play!  I get protecting the defenseless receiver, so the penalty didn't bother me too much.  I would argue that the receiver lowered his head at the time of hit, and his injury was less about the head shot and more about getting absolutely blasted by a strong NFL defender.  These guys don't get enough credit in my opinion and was happy to see the energy they brought to the defense today. 

 

9 - 2nd Half Defense.  I don't really know what to even say specifically about the group.  I know it was the Jets, but they are still technically and NFL team who showed decent success in the first half.  Someone can add the stats in for me if they want, but Darnold completed what, 2 passes in the second half?  I think they had less than 40 total yards too?  I mean, the defenders were flying to the ball and the defensive line actually started to make some plays.  Hughes was amped up towards the end and somehow walked away with an interception.  Even AJ seemed to be showing signs of life in this game.  However, I do want to call out that we put more guys in the box for pressure, which shockingly worked (sarcasm).  Hopefully, this game is the spark needed by the team going forward.  I was surprised to hear Harrison being a healthy scratch again and am concerned about his trajectory.  But the DB's played a much better game today and the linebackers didn't totally whiff on their tackles, which was a plus

 

10 - 5-2 - Talk about playing the Jets twice all your want, but we've earned wins against 3 teams with .500 records or better and have survived quite a few injuries.  Going into this game, I was hoping we would sit more guys if they thought the extra week would help them get better.  I'm glad we didn't because we needed everyone today.  My season MVP besides Allen still goes to Smoke as you can feel his absence out there. Each Sunday is a new game and the past means nothing.  We have some tough games overall coming up, but this next one is the difference maker.  Don't even look at the Pats record.  What matters is that McD has never beaten the Hoodie and the division is there's until someone actually takes it from them.  There's no excuses in this next game and 6-2 at the halfway mark is a big win with this schedule.  Every team goes through moments in a season where they have to adjust and re-invent.  Hopefully we are seeing our offense and defense slowing coming through the other side of that.  Regardless, it's about the record and 5-2 is a great start to the season with a division guiding game coming up next.  

 

Go Bills!

 

 

Very good.

The only thing I would say is that I think Knox scares the hell out of the opponents D.  Kroft is more reliable but there is no big play potential.  He is one of the missing pieces from when our Offense was top 5.  Whether he could drop it or not the D must account for that big play threat.  I do wish he was a better run blocker though as I believe the run game was the difference for our D in the second half.

[golfball323]

Thank you!

 

My 2 cents goes to Allen’s development today. Just rewatched with gamepass and noted his accuracy. Can’t ever remember there being a game where so many balls were on the money and letting receivers doing some work. Hopefully a good sign going forward.

Edited October 26, 2020 by golfball323

[ganesh]

> 1 - Bass - Let's start with the man who was 100% of our offense.

 

Josh Allen milked the Jets defense and had over 300 yards passing and 55 yards rushing including  key 3rd downs.   Gabe Davis needs to give Allen the same level of confidence as John Brown.    We missed Brown and Knox ability to go downfield.  Bass got the clutch points, but Allen was moving the offense effortlessly.

 

>  Kroft - Regardless of when Knox can come back, I believe Kroft needs to remain the primary started at TE 

 

As another poster pointed out, Knox stretches the field vertically (even though he drops passes, the threat of going vertical scares defense).     We could have used Knox yesterday in Brown's absence.

 

> Having Miilano back -   This guy really needs to be locked down .   Every time he steps on the field, the defense plays better.   He makes very timely plays.

 

 

[HappyDays]

35 minutes ago, Virgil said:

7 - Offense - This is a tough one for me as I can't quite put a pin on what the issues are with the offense.

 

The best I can come up with is Allen and Daboll both always want big passing plays. To the point that they get greedy. The problem is our pass protection, notably the guards, is not holding up so long developing routes aren't getting open in time. Plus defenses are taking away the deep part of the field and daring us to hit short throws.

 

I'd have to go back and watch the game to know for sure but it felt like every time we got past the Jets 40 we were trying to dial up TD throws and it just wasn't working for us. The two long TD throws we should have converted taken away because of a dumb penalty and Kroft tripping.

 

So the solution is Allen and Daboll need to be patient with their drives. Beasley should become the primary focus of our offense, not Diggs. It feels crazy saying that but defenses have figured out to keep Diggs bottled up. If we kill teams with short passes you'll see the downfield routes open up. I'd also like to see Daboll use Allen's legs more in the redzone.

[DrPJax]

Just wondering , how many games have there been where the winning team NEVER  PUNTED, NEVER SCORED A TD ?  Pretty unusual I would think. Tried to find some records but could not find this as a specific category.  I did see an article in 2014 where the Buffalo Bills lead the NFL in wins without scoring a td at a total of 12 , but again that was in 2014.  Could  not find how many times we also concurrently never punted in those games.  Just seems like without scoring a td, the offense is likely not clicking, and you would see punts during that game. 
  We are part of the record in 1992 where neither team punted  ( against San Fran ), but I could not find the stats for winning without scoring a TD in a game while also never punting.   Seems like a pretty unusual combination.   Most fgs attempted by a single team in a game is 9 I believe. So maybe we witnessed a historic performance by the Bills?  If anyone finds out more about that performance ( 0:tds, 0 punts while winning) , would be interesting to know !  

[Teddy KGB]

I was impressed with Singletary's pass blocking as well.  
 

 

[Rocky Landing]

I feel like a shoutout needs to go to coaching. I honestly believe this is the first time I have seen the Bills under McD/Daboll/Frazier make proper adjustments at halftime in both offense, and defense.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Rocky Landing

[ganesh]

21 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

The best I can come up with is Allen and Daboll both always want big passing plays. To the point that they get greedy. The problem is our pass protection, notably the guards, is not holding up so long developing routes aren't getting open in time. Plus defenses are taking away the deep part of the field and daring us to hit short throws.

 

I'd have to go back and watch the game to know for sure but it felt like every time we got past the Jets 40 we were trying to dial up TD throws and it just wasn't working for us. The two long TD throws we should have converted taken away because of a dumb penalty and Kroft tripping.

 

So the solution is Allen and Daboll need to be patient with their drives. Beasley should become the primary focus of our offense, not Diggs. It feels crazy saying that but defenses have figured out to keep Diggs bottled up. If we kill teams with short passes you'll see the downfield routes open up. I'd also like to see Daboll use Allen's legs more in the redzone.

Everything you say was tried by them, but didn't really work. 

 

They are missing Brown as the other side deep threat and also missing Knox for his ability to stretch the field vertically. 

 

Allen and Daboll were patient yesterday and took what the Jets gave them.   

 

They did try to use Allen's legs but came up short.    In the final  drive, if he gives the ball to Moss instead of the fake,   Moss might have even walked in for the TD or at the minimum had the 1st down and the game would have been put away (Jets did not have timeouts).

10 minutes ago, DrPJax said:

Just wondering , how many games have there been where the winning team NEVER  PUNTED, NEVER SCORED A TD ?  Pretty unusual I would think. Tried to find some records but could not find this as a specific category.  I did see an article in 2014 where the Buffalo Bills lead the NFL in wins without scoring a td at a total of 12 , but again that was in 2014.  Could  not find how many times we also concurrently never punted in those games.  Just seems like without scoring a td, the offense is likely not clicking, and you would see punts during that game. 
  We are part of the record in 1992 where neither team punted  ( against San Fran ), but I could not find the stats for winning without scoring a TD in a game while also never punting.   Seems like a pretty unusual combination.   Most fgs attempted by a single team in a game is 9 I believe. So maybe we witnessed a historic performance by the Bills?  If anyone finds out more about that performance ( 0:tds, 0 punts while winning) , would be interesting to know !  

Bass tied Christie   6 FGs.   I don't know if Christie attempted 8 FGs in that game

[HappyDays]

11 minutes ago, DrPJax said:

Just wondering , how many games have there been where the winning team NEVER  PUNTED, NEVER SCORED A TD ?

 

I saw something earlier that said it last happened in 1941 if you can believe that.

[qwksilver]

Nice writeup as usual.

Roberts had a nice KO and Punt return and 0 on offense. Just the way it's supposed to be drawn up.

 

 

[BillsfaninSB]

Consider my expectations now managed. 
 

I just want them to win the next game.  I don’t care how they do it.  They don’t get extra points for style.  Just win.   I would take a 2019 type of win with score 17-13. 

[JerseyBills]

Great write up as usual just 2 things I wanted to say.

We held them to 4 yards I believe in the 2nd half! 

And I thought rookie CB Dane Jackson looked excellent.  A nice int , pass break up and he played fast with confidence.  Interesting to see what happens there going forward. I still think Levi is missed and should be back any week now. 

 

And penalties killed us again. Gotta cut back on pre snap penalties. 

 

[machine gun kelly]

Virgil, as always, bravissimo.  I liked you’re point on Beasley as well as others.  I’ve moved my eyes to him more times than not, and I swear he is always open.  Hopefully, Daboll gave him more direction to keep an eye on him even if it was simply Brown was out.  I like Kroft so I’m doing my own 180 Virgil.  He’s a reliable TE, and has good hands.  Knox needs to earn his way on the field.  He’s still young so I’m sure he’ll grow, but it needs to be on the practice field until such time he can catch the easy and hard ones.  
 

It was nice to see the defense tighten up in the second half, and yes it was the Jets, I know.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

8 hours ago, Virgil said:

2 - Scripted drives.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous when the game started as the Jets moved down the field fairly effortlessly against our defense.  The entire first half had to make you wonder if we were in for an upset.  I never was worried overall, but it was hard not to at least consider the possibility.  We were prone to the normal misdirection passes and were gashed on the zone runs.  I always think of the Mike Mularkey days when we would score an opening drive TD every game, but then couldn't do anything else.  That was the Jets in the first half with only a few possessions.  They made it look effortless until the scripted plays wore off.  That's when things got ugly for them real quick.

 

I made a comment yesterday.  My hunch was with the new play caller it may have takes a while to see what the style would be. Once they figured out his style they shut them down.

 

:shrug: 

 

[finn]

Zooming out a bit, I don't think the Bills have changed much at all since the start of the season. They never were as good as the hype early on, nor are they as awful as the disparagement they're getting now (Bleacher Report just called them "lightweights"). On balance, I'd say they're about as good as they were last year. There's hope, though: the potential of the offense (getting Smokey, Ford and Feliciano back) PLUS the potential of the defense (Milano and Levi back, Dane Jackson emerging, Tremaine regaining form, some 1-technique guy stepping up) exceeds last year potential. They still can be a dominant team if all the pieces fall into place. 

 

 

 

 

[ganesh]

5 minutes ago, finn said:

Zooming out a bit, I don't think the Bills have changed much at all since the start of the season. They never were as good as the hype early on, nor are they as awful as the disparagement they're getting now (Bleacher Report just called them "lightweights"). On balance, I'd say they're about as good as they were last year. There's hope, though: the potential of the offense (getting Smokey, Ford and Feliciano back) PLUS the potential of the defense (Milano and Levi back, Dane Jackson emerging, Tremaine regaining form, some 1-technique guy stepping up) exceeds last year potential. They still can be a dominant team if all the pieces fall into place. 

 

 

 

 

coaching needs to improve

[CSBill]

Thanks for the thoughtful analysis Virgil.

 

I'm torn on the Kroft vs. Knox thing. You are correct, Kroft is the more reliable, steady player. Knox is probably a better blocker--yes, that is a subjective issue, and certainly Kroft is right there if not equal--but Knox does give the Bills a more dynamic option on the receiving end of it. Then again, if you don't catch the ball, what good is that? .... Answer: He makes the Defense have to account for him more and, thus, opens things for the other receivers. .... By the way, I thought Gilliam did well yesterday. He blocked as needed, and made the catch  and good yardage on the one ball thrown at him. In time, I believe he will be a key contributor.

[ProcessTruster]

7 hours ago, Rocky Landing said:

I feel like a shoutout needs to go to coaching. I honestly believe this is the first time I have seen the Bills under McD/Daboll/Frazier make proper adjustments at halftime in both offense, and defense.

 

 

Looked like that to me as well.  Two different halves completely.