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

[Virgil]

41 minutes ago, Dukestreetking said:

As always, thanks @Virgil. I always like your insight re the "lesser-noticed", in this case Horrible and EO.

 

One thing--and I trust I didn't miss it in your review--is that Tre is an under-appreciated tackler, imv.

 

Also, wish I could give double like for Bobby McGee ref. Great song to play on guitar, capo or no capo.

 

Finally, what is your "process" on the weekly #4s? What spirit moves to drop a particular verse?

Agreed on Tre.  He doesn’t get enough credit.  
 

There really isn’t much of a process as I’m not even a Dead Head 

[Reed83HOF]

10 hours ago, Virgil said:

With that, we are off to the AFC championship game.  It feels surreal to even type that.  We heard people call us Super Bowl contenders, but now that we are in the final four, it's starting to become real.  No matter what happens going forward, this team has proven everyone wrong this year.  Well, except one man.  In the 90's we had Chris Berman.  This Bills team has Kyle Brandt.  The hype and support this man has put towards the Bills has been absolutely amazing and he's created a fan out of me.

 

This one’s for you @Gugny  Go Bills!!!

 

Nice write up man!

[Dukestreetking]

13 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Agreed on Tre.  He doesn’t get enough credit.  
 

There really isn’t much of a process as I’m not even a Dead Head 

Roger all and thanks.

 

I am Un Grand Artiste, always in search of motivation.

 

/sarc tag (which I still don't quite understand)

[vanhalen26]

We have to get back to what worked over the back half of the season.  We were shredding defenses with multiple 6ish yard passes with all our great receiving weapons.  Over the last two games we got away from that.

 

Yesterday with wind as a factor josh went 1/8 in deep passes.  Overall he was 23/37 (62%), but strip out the 1/8 and he was 22/29 (76%).  Granted you need some shots downfield to keep the D honest, but we have gotten away from what’s working.  8/37 as ‘deep passes’ might be too much.  I’d go back to more mid and short distance passes if we are getting completions.  Especially when it’s poor conditions like yesterday.

[ganesh]

10 hours ago, Virgil said:

I don’t know why, but throws to the flat were off all game, which is where Beasley was living most of the game.  The Ravens had drops that way as well. I wonder if the wind was affecting those passes 

May be they were worried about the Raven's corners jumping those routes...with the wind, it was quite possible that these balls could float and give the CBs a chance.

[BillsFan619]

11 hours ago, Virgil said:

If I'm being completely honest, I didn't expect the Bills to win this game for most of the week.  Like many others, I bought into the hype of the surging Ravens who were playing like the 14-2 team they were last season with the MVP at the helm.  With the playoff win monkey off their back, their defense back at full strength, and windy conditions that favored the running game, I expected a close game where the Bills game up just short.  However, when I woke up Saturday morning, all of that went away and for some reason, expected them to win.  I didn't care about their depth at defensive back or Lamar's scrambling ability.  I thought about the entire season from when we were able to contain Kyler Murray and what we've done against top rated defenses, and I found myself incredibly calm for the rest of the day.  Win or lose, I was incredibly proud of the season we've had.

 

1 - The Play - Let me set the scene leading up to the pick six.  The game was tied at 3 going into the half, where most would argue the Bills should have been up by more.  It was the kind of first half where the BBFS reminded you of previous teams that couldn't take advantage of early opportunities and it would come back to bite them.  The Bills did come out of the half and drove downfield for a touchdown, continuing their 3rd quarter resurgence.  However, not to be outdone, the Ravens put together a drive of their own and made it into the Bills red zone.  On the play before, Marquise Brown was wide open on a crossing route and Lamar missed him as Hughes was right in his face.  The next snap occurs, Lamar drops back, and my eyes are all on Mark Andrews.  Lamar slings it in his direction, and I honestly can't see who caught the ball, as Milano and Hyde were also anticipating the throw.  I jumped up and yelled, scaring my unsuspecting daughter, as I saw a blue jersey emerge from the crowd.  In that split second, before he crossed the goal line, my cowardliness mentally screamed out for him to take the knee so that we could get the ball at the 20 and not be pinned against the end zone.  However, this is a team that plays for each other, so Milano knocks Andrews out of the way, and Tre takes off downfield to block Lamar out of the way.  And just like that, we are up 17-3 on the pick six after Taron Johnson returns the interception 101 yards.  On the replay, TJ played this ball perfectly, sitting in the underneath zone, watching Lamar's eyes, knowing he could take off at any moment, and staying just out of his field of vision.  As Lamar released the pass, TJ broke on the ball immediately and cleanly picked it off.  While he had a lot of great pressures in the backfield and was solid in coverage, this may very well be the defining play of his career.

 

2 - Frazier - Besides the broken coverage play against Hurst last year, Frazier had a pretty good game plan against Lamar and the Ravens last season; enough to give you hope against them going into this game.  Even early in the week, the Bills defenders talked about how they had a good game plan and were ready for the Ravens.  But, this was a defense that turned over major components of their defensive line and a Ravens offense that finally got over the playoffs first round hump.  The result?  An absolute masterful performance in one of the most dominating defensive showings we've seen in a very long time.  The Bills defense completely shut down the Ravens high powered college-style (sorry, couldn't help myself) RPO offense in a way that I don't think anyone saw coming.  Frazier bunched 4 at the line to cover the gaps and had them rush from the inside out, taking away a scrambling lanes and creating pressure at the same time.  When he did send an extra rusher, it was a DB from the blindside who usually got home clean.  Outside of the two drives, the first and almost TD drive, the Ravens were only able to make gains on broken plays.  All week you kept hearing about how physical the Ravens played and how their defense was going to be the star of the show.  Frazier; he took that personally.

 

3 - Wind - The 3rd most important factor in this game had to be the wind.  Watching on TV, you could see some of the flags in the stadium not moving at all, while others were completely blowing sideways.  For those who weren't around in the earlier days when they talked about the swirling winds in January, this is what we were talking about.  The wind wreaked havoc on both kickers, leading to a 2 for 6 performance.  Both QB's missed wide open deep shots that are believed to have been lost in the jet stream.  There were even a few shotgun snaps that you could see the wind affect it's path.  The strong legged Bojo punted one into a wall of wind.  It affected both teams, so that advantage was neutralized, but it did make me think about one thing.  If this is going to be the Bills offense for the next 15 years, do I dare say we want a stadium that isn't going to slow us down?  We aren't a Thurman led team that can rely on our rushing attack in these conditions.  If it truly were the wind, wouldn't you rather have a dome and have Allen hit Diggs early on that touchdown bomb?

 

4 - Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to do.

Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free.

Feelin' good was easy Lord, when Bobby sang the blues.

Feelin' good was good enough for me, good enough for me and Bobby McGee.

 

5 - Milano - Pay that man his money.  I have a lot of respect for Mark Andrews and thinks he will command a solid contract this off-season.  He's got the speed, hands, and physicality of an elite tight end and has been a focal point of this Ravens offense.  While all of that is true, Matt Milano beat the absolute ***** out of him.  Milano was a man possessed on the field in both run protection and pass coverage.  He didn't just cover Andrews, he leveled him the moment the ball touched his hands.  He played fast, he played hard, and he was consistent all game.  I've always been a Milano fan and really don't want to lose him in this cap-reduced off-season, and this game was a perfect resume for his extension.

 

6 - Hughes - Against the Chargers, I kept wondering what it would be like to have a Bosa on our team.  A guy that would absolutely dominate an opposing teams offensive line when only sending four.  Against the Ravens, Hughes answered that question.  I don't know if he was drinking a Code Red Mountain Dew while applying his Old Spice before the game, but Hughes was an absolute man on the field.  He was credited with 2 sacks, but was in on another and was chasing Lamar all over the field.   You want your stars to show up in the biggest games and that's exactly what Jerry did, he showed up and he shined bright.

 

7 - Tip of the Cap - There's two players I've been incredibly hard on this season and mainly because of the expectations I have of them due to their draft status.  Edmunds and Oliver are guys far enough in their careers where they should be making a consistent impact on the field being top 15 picks.  In this game, both of them made significant contributions and had a strong impact on the game.  Oliver was fast this game and made some great pursuit tackles.  Edmunds was fast with his decision making and wrapped up all of his tackles.  He played his role in the defense exactly how he should have.  Both were fundamentally sound and allowed others to play more aggressive because of it

 

8 - Smoke - After the game against the Colts, I was curious was Brown's role in this offense was going to be.  With Humphries and Peters covering Diggs and Davis (right?!) most of the game, Smoke stepped up in a big way by becoming the safety net Allen needed and used in the first half of the season.  I'm not sure if Beasley was hobbled out there, but Smoke was our clear number two in this game and contributed on numerous first downs.  Brown also gave us our traditional "Allen scramble and finding a toe tapping receiver downfield" play.  If nothing else, any team planning for the Bills have four legitimize receivers they need to plan for.  Good luck with that.

 

9 - Allen - How would Allen handle the cold, windy conditions against a often-blitzing Ravens defense?  First off, the ice in Allen's veins makes the cold air seem like a warm ocean breeze.  The Blitzing Ravens dropped 4 into coverage on most plays trying to keep Allen underneath only to find Allen taking shot after shot downfield.  When they did blitz, they got to him a few times, but it didn't shake him at all.  Unlike the opposing QB on the other sideline who didn't know what to do when his gimmick was shut down, Allen kept his focus on the game, took what was given to him, and walked off the field a winner.  Allen didn't have a flashy game, but he also didn't make any mistakes.  He made adjustments and worked through his progressions.  Just an overall solid game, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about the flops.  I hate them in the NBA and MLS.

 

10 - McD - Coach has been the butt of many jokes for his sideline clapping, cliche' post-game speeches, and overall vanilla personality to the media.  However, if you haven't been paying attention the past few weeks, we are seeing a very different side of McD lately.  If one thing's been made clear to me, it's that McD had a very specific goal in mind with this team and he wasn't going to celebrate the little victories along the way.  When they won the division, he got emotional in the locker room.  When they won last week, he got loud in his post-game speech. In this game, you could see him bursting on the sidelines.   McD was going to be happy until he had a Super Bowl contending squad, and as that vision has started to become a reality, I think we are finally seeing the real McD.   With a 17-3 win, it's a beautiful thing. 

 

**Notable Call-outs:

--Harrison Phillips was great against the run and in penetration

--Trent Murphy is the Lamar's scrambling kryptonite.  His containment in this game was masterful and worth all the cap space sitting on the bench in recent games

--Knox wasn't flashy in his catches, but also didn't make any mistakes.  He was great in pass protection

--Wallace with some great pressure on DB blitzes

--6700 fans really did sound like 75,000 strong

 

 

With that, we are off to the AFC championship game.  It feels surreal to even type that.  We heard people call us Super Bowl contenders, but now that we are in the final four, it's starting to become real.  No matter what happens going forward, this team has proven everyone wrong this year.  Well, except one man.  In the 90's we had Chris Berman.  This Bills team has Kyle Brandt.  The hype and support this man has put towards the Bills has been absolutely amazing and he's created a fan out of me.

 

This one’s for you @Gugny  Go Bills!!!

Thanks for the thoughts, Virg! 

Are you ready to share your first thoughts (in no particular order) of a Bills AFC championship game?

 

Rest up my friend.

[BobbyC81]

21 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

I’m a LJ detractor. It’s hardly a secret.  
 

their 5 game win streak was against poorer teams than the Bills.  
 

was I concerned Yes I was. 
was I worried at the half Yes I was. 

 

did an unplanned QB pose the unknown threat? A bit.  
 

 When the Bills went up by 2 scores I relaxed A LOT. 

 

 

 

When the game was over, I was totally drained.  

 

Should be another competitive game next week.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

OP, you mentioned a few weeks ago that you were running out of superlatives/things say about this Bills team that haven't already been said...not so. Great writeup, you brought a lot of original insights this week and your descriptive flourishes including, "the ice in Allen's veins makes the cold air seem like a warm ocean breeze," and "Both QB's missed wide open deep shots that are believed to have been lost in the jet stream," show you are peaking just in time for your season finale post-Super Bowl column...keep up the great work!  

[fasteddie]

On 1/17/2021 at 11:18 AM, Virgil said:

I don’t know why, but throws to the flat were off all game, which is where Beasley was living most of the game.  The Ravens had drops that way as well. I wonder if the wind was affecting those passes 

Kelly also had problems with sideline passes. The wind was too unpredictable. But with his strong arm, his passes into the wind were often better than with the wind. Josh will figure this out in time. Hopefully as soon as possible. 

[fasteddie]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:32 PM, Steve O said:

Yeah I've watched it enough to be concerned as well. Looking frame by frame at both 4 and 39 seconds of the youtube video below, what I see is that TJ is off his feet when he catches it at or in front of the goal line with backwards momentum. His right foot lands first right on the red line of the L in Bills, the ball looks to be perfectly perpendicular to the red line. Can't tell if the left foot comes down on the red line or if he hops back with his right foot before the left lands behind the red line. If the former the question becomes how far behind the goal line is the red line in the L, and if it's 1-1/2 yards or more should should it be rounded up. If the latter then it is clearly minimum 102 yards. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feCeGAHPcXw

 

The 39 second view is the network replay and is shot from a different angle than the 4 second view.

 

NFL stats do not round up to the next yard mark. If the los is the 20, and rb runs just short of the 30, he is credited with a 9 yd run. It's been this way for years. The 101yd return seems correct.

Edited January 19, 2021 by fasteddie

[Rico]

I would just like to say that it is a beautiful day at work here in Baltimore today. 

[CapeBreton]

On 1/17/2021 at 11:13 AM, Virgil said:

 

3 - Wind - The 3rd most important factor in this game had to be the wind.  Watching on TV, you could see some of the flags in the stadium not moving at all, while others were completely blowing sideways.  For those who weren't around in the earlier days when they talked about the swirling winds in January, this is what we were talking about.  The wind wreaked havoc on both kickers, leading to a 2 for 6 performance.  Both QB's missed wide open deep shots that are believed to have been lost in the jet stream.  There were even a few shotgun snaps that you could see the wind affect it's path.  The strong legged Bojo punted one into a wall of wind.  It affected both teams, so that advantage was neutralized, but it did make me think about one thing.  If this is going to be the Bills offense for the next 15 years, do I dare say we want a stadium that isn't going to slow us down?  We aren't a Thurman led team that can rely on our rushing attack in these conditions.  If it truly were the wind, wouldn't you rather have a dome and have Allen hit Diggs early on that touchdown bomb?

 

 

Anyone know if there were any Tyler Bass interviews after the game? 

 

Both kicks that he missed basically went straight as an arrow, I'm thinking he adjusted for the wind but they just didn't change direction. OR he just straight up missed them. I'm betting we will need him to land some big kicks against KC so hopefully he crushes them.

[TBBills Fan]

18 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

He could have not thrown the interception

 

 

lmao...thank you needed that laugh

[Virgil]

2 hours ago, Rico said:

I would just like to say that it is a beautiful day at work here in Baltimore today. 

 

Oh yeah, they are salty here.  I'm in a FFL with all Ravens fans and that group chat has been beautifully silent

[Rico]

21 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Oh yeah, they are salty here.  I'm in a FFL with all Ravens fans and that group chat has been beautifully silent

My new approach is

“Gracious in Victory, Humble in Defeat”, 

and it’s pissing them off more than if I was talking smack. 

[Virgil]

58 minutes ago, Rico said:

My new approach is

“Gracious in Victory, Humble in Defeat”, 

and it’s pissing them off more than if I was talking smack. 

Ha. I’m doing the exact same thing