Chris Simms Unbuttoned on Colts-Bills: he's worried about us

[US Egg]

2 hours ago, BananaB said:

I’m worried about the D

I worry that too many hang on every word spouted by TV, internet and social media self annointed know it alls and it ruining their joy of the Bills playoff win before they play Saturday.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by I am the egg man

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, klos63 said:

He's right about everything, but one big thing he's missing is the field position in the first half. It had a huge impact. Normal field position and we are likely up at least 2 scores at halftime.

 

Yes, the field position was huge. 

 

The best field position we had was after the Colts FG - 15 yd line - so we were able to operate more or less normally and we scored a TD.

I don't want to repeat the words I said when Andre Roberts chose to run the kickoff after the Colts TD out of the end zone, only got to the 12 yd line and then we had a holding penalty on top of it (while they overlooked a facemask on Roberts), so we wound up at the 6.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ponch]

[ticketssince61]

37 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Simms is absolutely right. The more I think about the game I more I think the better team lost. Not that the Colts are outright better than the Bills but they were better on Saturday. Several dropped passes that would have gone for big gains. The decision to go for it on 4th down and the dropped TD pass on that play. The dropped interception in the end zone. The missed field goal compared to Bass nailing two difficult field goals. The almost fumble recovery at the end. The Offside on the 4th and short hard count. Any one of those plays goes differently and it's either going to overtime or the Bills lose in regulation. We were inches away from a miserable offseason multiple times and happened to end up on the right side of them all. Allen and Diggs and Davis and Bass each making spectacular plays were the only reason we stayed in the game and managed to steal it.

 

All of those Colt plays that you mention (dropped passes, missed FG's, ...) show that they were NOT the better team.

 

If they were the better team, then they would have made those plays

[DrPJax]

1 hour ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

They were open because the DB’s were running into other defenders on those all games. It was bizarre. 

This is true and I said all this after watching the game a second time after all the emotion had dissipated.  I blame this on Frazier. He went back to not rushing guys in the a gaps which was why were successful agains Denver and Miami.   Our LBs almost constantly dropped back 7-8 yards off the  LOS , THEN WITH THE SNAP dropped back behind the first down sticks. In doing so, as they dropped tight ands and slot receivers kept crossing and our dbs , especially Tauron Johnson who was putrid, kept getting rubbed off and was consistently out of position behind the crossing routes.  ALL DAY  those routes were wide open , and backs were also wide open in the flats as the dbs also were dropping back. It was so obvious that Rivers  was going to the crossing routes that I ( as someone who has watched football since the 60’s , but never formally trained as a coach etc, ) could not understand how Frazier kept the same scheme through the entire game and never adjusted. 
 

Had Rivers not made some errant throws, and had the receivers not had some critical drops, we would have easily lost this game. As it was The Colts  left 10 points out there going for it on 4 th instead of a fg from our 4 yard line and had the misfortune of a fg hitting the upright losing an almost sure 3 points. Ten points left out there in a game they lost by 3 and came down to a Hail Mary.   While our o struggled with field position and conservative play calling , our d did little to contribute as they had 0 sacks against a notably immobile QB. ALSO , go focus on Edmunds.  Other than two PBU’s that were good plays , he was owned by Tight ends pushing him downfield or backs and receivers breaking his frequent arm tackles.  For such a large frame , this guy plays soft and rarely makes IMPACT plays like tackles for loss , interceptions , causing fumbles etc.  The next time he drives his body thru a tackle as opposed to arm tackling will be the first time he hits someone with authority. Great guy , young guy , but being misused IMHO. Why they refuse to play this guy outside and let him play in space is beyond me. If an offensive lineman or even a tight end gets hands in him it’s over as he just fails to ever disengage.  
 

 Great to celebrate a win cuz a win is a win. To say you can’t see big margins of victory in playoffs is false as please see the browns and even an injured Rams team won by 10.  We came in as a hot  team and in my eyes Frazier coached terribly and reverted to his style that got us pounded by the Titans and KC.  If he goes again with that “ playing not to lose “ or afraid to give up a big play style of defense against the Ravens , they will kill us with tight ends crossing , passes to dobbins in the flats ( who is an excellent receiver) , and getting  no pressure on a QB who will make errant throws if pressured will bite us a Lamar will eventually find a lane to take off.

 

.   Please be creative, get out of the typical Nickel and bring in Klein so Johnson  has his snaps limited. It Frazier sticks to this same scheme it won’t surprise me if we are on the end of something like a 31-27/ 24 home game loss that should never happen with this talented squad.  In the NFL coaching is everything; I hope we coach like we had been to get us on this streak and not like we did on Saturday.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

10 minutes ago, ticketssince61 said:

 

All of those Colt plays that you mention (dropped passes, missed FG's, ...) show that they were NOT the better team.

 

If they were the better team, then they would have made those plays

 

Fair

[HappyDays]

10 minutes ago, ticketssince61 said:

 

All of those Colt plays that you mention (dropped passes, missed FG's, ...) show that they were NOT the better team.

 

If they were the better team, then they would have made those plays

 

I think plays like the ones I listed are more a matter of luck. For once in this miserable millennium the Bills had some bounces go their way. I'm not complaining but it's a valid analysis of the game. The good news is we have a QB and WR each playing at a top 3 level so we have a chance to win every game no matter what the rest of the team is doing.

[Dr.Sack]

Tthe Colts and Bills were evenly matched teams. Rivers brought his A game, and their OL and defensive front 7 did too. Fortunately for us Allen brought his MVP level game, outside the ugly fumble at the end that nearly cost us the game. In Allen’s defense he knew 27-24 was a tenuous lead and we needed a TD to ice the game. And we weren’t that far away from that reality. 
 

For the Bills the pass rush was simply outmatched. The Bills lack of pressure on 4 man rushes vs the Colts top of the league OL meant the Bills brought extra pressure and men open as pass defense cannot hold up well beyond 3-5 seconds. 
 

One way to fix this is to simply force the issue and bring obvious pressure off the edges from the corners. Also there appears to be a need to mix in AJ Klein on 3rd down blitzing linebacker packages. 
 

Each week presents a new challenge, so the Ravens strengths are not the Colts. As good as Lamar Jackson is he is a different QB than Philip Rivers. With Jackson you want him in the pocket for 4-5 seconds.  
 

That said chasing after Lamar is tiring on a front 7 so it will be vital to shut down their early down running game and force Lamar into 3rd and longs. 
 

 

[billspro]

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

As always with Chris Simms, he tells it like he sees it and this telling is not flattering to the Bills

 

 

0) makes a stupid Josh Allen jingle "giddyup giddyup giddyup".  All good!

1) Says that the Bills overall, without Josh Allen, "without a doubt" deserved to lose this game.  Says we don't win this game without Josh Allen or some QB of that nature of whom "there are 3 others of them on the planet" (Mahomes, Rodgers, Watson), that type of guy.  Says we were dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage, couldn't run, pressure, it didn't matter because Josh Allen was going to make a play.   Talks about the throws to Gabe Davis "are you kidding me" "unbelieveable throw".  Says the game overall was concerning to him about Buffalo because it was too "Josh Allen Centric".  Says straight out "The colts played better, it's just that the best player on the field was wearing #17 - in Blue"

 

I think he isn't fair to our defense, which did stiffen up and hold in the red zone - stopping the Colts for a FG on their 2nd drive.  They had some short passes defended for no gain and some great run D as well.  Holding Jonathan Taylor to 40 rush yards and the Colts to 55 rush yards in the first half (then only 15 more in the 3rd Q) is some pretty good D.  There was some very strong defensive plays. 

 

Can't take away, though, that in the first half we had 61 rush yards and 43 of them were Josh Allen.  Not being able to get a yard on 3rd and 1 was of strong concern to me.

 

2) Very critical of Phillip Rivers for the 4th down throw.  Says he created his own pressure by bailing backwards (instead of stepping up) and giving the DE the angle to rush him, says uncharacteristic for Rivers, he's usually really good about feeling pressure.  There was another close miss by Rivers that he criticizes - I think on their first drive of the 2nd half where they missed a long FG.  I dunno, I know Simms knows his football but I also think it's easy to Armchair Archie a guy when you're not out on the field.  So I kind of feel Rivers should get a little more respect from Simms.

 

3) Says the win has him worried about the Bills because it was too much depending on Josh Allen.

 

Point of interest to me:

About 5:20 in starts talking about the Bills Defense.  Says the Colts have balance, and we couldn't go overboard protecting our front in the run because the Colts pass.  Says they exposed us with the same 3 pass patterns all day - a shallow cross underneath, then either a slot corner route or a crosser that came from the other side and ended up in the same place.  Says they attacked the same two areas all day, 15 yds down the field just on the edge of the numbers, and the crosser, and if one wasn't open the other was.  (I'm thinking this was detecting and dissecting the edges of our zones). Says when we played two deep safeties in the 4th, the Colts exploited that and ripped off deep runs.  

 

The only note of hope he sounds is that with Baltimore, if we have less pass game to worry about, we can play the run better.

 

I wonder myself if the Colts noticed patterns in our zone coverage that we could shift or redo to take away "tells" in a relatively short time.  Maybe one of our former players or coaches here could help me out here?

 

Anyway, really good listen.

 

 

Those all sound like fair points. Josh Allen is elite and he won the game even with the rest of the team being outplayed. How many games do you win when the lines on both sides of the ball get whopped.

[purple haze]

2 hours ago, Playoffs? said:

I think he’s dead on in the first point. Josh Allen carried the team!  Defense made two nice 4th down stops, but otherwise was putrid. We got dominated on both sides of the line. We made enough plays to win, but if the Colts made a few of their own, we lose that game. Awesome to come out on top... lots of work to do for Ravens though!  Need a much better game. 

He makes good points.  But in spite of not being at their best, they did win the game and the Bills do have a difference maker at QB.

I'm actually encouraged.  They won in spite of not being on top of their game.  What great teams do.  Onward and upward.  I think we

see a much better performance Saturday night.  Doesn't guarantee a win.  But if the Ravens get 'em they played a great game in all

phases.

[Chandler#81]

2 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

What did he say that we don't already know? The truth is we are soft on both lines. Everyone knows that and feared being pushed around. The defense is puzzling. They had several stops for little gain but then would get gashed. 

Baltimore has a dynamic QB that will be hard to defend and a better secondary than the Colts. But the Bills have weapons and a QB that can challenge every spot on the field. Just play solid defense and don't give them any short fields and Bills win. I'm worried the Bills may press a little at first, but I think they settle down and take care of business and win by 10 points 

🤦‍♂️ the Truth..

Jerry Hughes #2 DE pressure

Bills #4 OL Pass blocking 

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29939464/2020-nfl-pass-rushing-run-stopping-blocking-leaderboard-win-rate-rankings

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 minutes ago, purple haze said:

He makes good points.  But in spite of not being at their best, they did win the game and the Bills do have a difference maker at QB.

I'm actually encouraged.  They won in spite of not being on top of their game.  What great teams do.  Onward and upward.  I think we

see a much better performance Saturday night.  Doesn't guarantee a win.  But if the Ravens get 'em they played a great game in all

phases.

 

I'm watching the Cover1 game review now and making my way through the all-22 and it's actually breathtaking and aggravating

1) how beautiful some of the Colts offensive play designs were.  Betcha Daboll wants to copy them.  They were schemed to get more than 1 guy open and give Rivers choices

2) how surgical Rivers throws were and how excellent some of our coverage actually was.  he made throws that literally went through Micah Hyde's outstretched hands to get to his TE or WR a couple of times.  He just had that confidence and threw it where they were open, and they made the play.

3) how much of our bad defense was a self-inflicted wound - huge number of missed tackles that would have limited gains or even caused TFL

 

Win or lose, I just don't want to see all those freakin' missed tackles on Saturday night.

[Solomon Grundy]

17 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'm watching the Cover1 game review now and making my way through the all-22 and it's actually breathtaking and aggravating

1) how beautiful some of the Colts offensive play designs were.  Betcha Daboll wants to copy them.  They were schemed to get more than 1 guy open and give Rivers choices

2) how surgical Rivers throws were and how excellent some of our coverage actually was.  he made throws that literally went through Micah Hyde's outstretched hands to get to his TE or WR a couple of times.  He just had that confidence and threw it where they were open, and they made the play.

3) how much of our bad defense was a self-inflicted wound - huge number of missed tackles that would have limited gains or even caused TFL

 

Win or lose, I just don't want to see all those freakin' missed tackles on Saturday night.

Poor tackling as been the Bills bugaboo all season.

[ganesh]

3 hours ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

He's right.  The defense is going to kill this team if they don't figure it out.  The shallow crosses to Pittman and the TE's were open all day.  Even Lamar can make those throws.  It's tough when you can't affect the QB with pressure

I don't know about the Ravens OL..but the Colts have one of (if not) the best OL in football

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Simms is absolutely right. The more I think about the game I more I think the better team lost. Not that the Colts are outright better than the Bills but they were better on Saturday. Several dropped passes that would have gone for big gains. The decision to go for it on 4th down and the dropped TD pass on that play. The dropped interception in the end zone. The missed field goal compared to Bass nailing two difficult field goals. The almost fumble recovery at the end. The Offside on the 4th and short hard count. Any one of those plays goes differently and it's either going to overtime or the Bills lose in regulation. We were inches away from a miserable offseason multiple times and happened to end up on the right side of them all. Allen and Diggs and Davis and Bass each making spectacular plays were the only reason we stayed in the game and managed to steal it.

 

 

In 2017 probably the worst team to qualify for the playoffs from the AFC in 30 years played division champ 11-5 Jacksonville to a narrow 10-3 defeat.

 

Jacksonville went on to dominate Pittsburgh the following week and had a 10 point lead in Foxboro in the fourth quarter of the AFC championship.

 

That wildcard game was an "everything to lose" situation for the Jags........after that they played loose and nearly got to the SB.

 

I felt like the Bills played and coached that Indy game tight........now they don't have to fear the "one and done" failure and actually have a score to settle against this Baltimore team after the narrow defeat last season so I anticipate a much better performance.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by BADOLBILZ

[Big C]

Isn’t it amazing that we finally have a QB that can carry the team?

 

While I largely agree with what he is saying, one thing I do think is that the field position battle can’t possibly be as lopsided as it was this past week. That will make a huge difference.

[Do The Reich Thing]

Pretty much reiterating what the majority have said in this thread. Simms is right. 
 

If the Bills play like they did against Indy against Balt then it will be a long stressful evening for all of us. 

[eball]

As a Bills fan I am appalled and scared that we have to rely upon an MVP QB to win a playoff game.

[Buffalo Junction]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

Simms is absolutely right. The more I think about the game I more I think the better team lost. Not that the Colts are outright better than the Bills but they were better on Saturday. Several dropped passes that would have gone for big gains. The decision to go for it on 4th down and the dropped TD pass on that play. The dropped interception in the end zone. The missed field goal compared to Bass nailing two difficult field goals. The almost fumble recovery at the end. The Offside on the 4th and short hard count. Any one of those plays goes differently and it's either going to overtime or the Bills lose in regulation. We were inches away from a miserable offseason multiple times and happened to end up on the right side of them all. Allen and Diggs and Davis and Bass each making spectacular plays were the only reason we stayed in the game and managed to steal it.

There’s a bit more to it than that. For starters; 58% vs 74% completion percentages for Rivers and Allen respectively. 36.5 (Colts) vs 47 (Bojorquez); punt average. 40% vs 100%; Colts vs Bills red zone efficiency. There are more aspects of this game where the Bills performed better when you start to look at the details. For example we took away TY Hilton (32 yards on 2 receptions) and limited Taylor to 3.6 y/c. As a result of a few things like that I don’t exactly see all of those drops as incidental. Rather, they managed to make Rivers throw to secondary options and rely on a rookie who’s had a fair amount of drops to make plays on critical downs. I also think that their offense looked a bit better than it should have due to the refs not calling holding at all. There were a few egregious holds that were completely ignored. Veldheer in particular got away with basically horse collaring Hughes and committing a violent act of love on Edmunds in the red zone. 
 

Of course, at the end of the day a team always stands a good chance of winning when they’re QB plays better and their head coach out coaches the other on game day. 

[Buftex]

All of what Simms says is pretty much true...including the fact that we have Josh Allen.  Take the best player off of any team, and they will have a tough time.  

 

I really think you can't discount how much bad field position contributed to our struggle (to win, let's not forget) against the Colts. Particularly in the first half.  We know we don't have a great running game. That hurts us a lot deep in our own end of the field. And, it is all connected...it hurts our defense when the Colts always have good field position.  Getting off to a good start on offense is imperative in the playoffs.