Rewatched Divisional Matchup: One Bills coach did well, One Bills coach not at his best

[IgotBILLStopay]

Rewatched the entire game on slow mo. Here are the  thoughts from that re-watch

 

Both DCs had completely new game plans  for this game and neither OC could really cope.

 

Bills on Offense

 

Wink Martindale set up Daboll by stating prior to the game that "we are who we are". I dont think a single observer (including yours truly) expected the Ravens from being anything but aggressive with blitzes. Daboll knows blitzing leaves Diggs against the secondary one on one and gave Allen the green light. On the few occasions (<20%) of the time the Ravens Blitzed, Allen was almost perfect with his short and intermediate throws. That shows the Bills were prepared for the Ravens' blitz. But Wink Martindale cunningly played McD type defenses and sold out to the secondary stopping the Bills WRs and daring the Bills to run. Dabs C'mon man - I cant think of single coach who will eschew the run and keep throwing when the defense doubles down in the secondary. Havent you heard of keeping defenses honest? Reminded me of Tin Cup and Kevin Costner keeping on trying the same shot and landing in the water -  it may have been heroic in the movie - but here it was kinda stupid. The first half snooze fest on offense was just Dabs being stubborn. Martindale took another leaf out of McD defense playbook by showing blitz and one-one-one but having the safety in delayed double coverage. Allen threw deep into double coverage a few times. Oh and the plan makes even less sense with the wind conditions being what they were. Clearly folks are blaming the wind for Allen missing Diggs on a deep route - but IMO, Dabs caught a break because of the wind conditions as well - we have to thank the wind for Allen's throws not being intercepted - they were so off when he threw into double coverage😀 It is not a surprise that our best offensive drive of the night came where Singletary had his 12 yard and 9 yard runs. The fact that Allen got 206 yards throwing against that defense tells you how good Allen and Diggs are - they (along with the OL) bailed out their coach by not making any big mistakes (Allen did have a fumble - I called it a Bills' vulnerability in my preview - but kudos to Dawkins for falling on it and limiting the damage). I was also concerned with the play calling in the second half - we have the ball at the Ravens' 31, up two scores and 6 minutes left and Dabs play call leads to an Allen scramble to the right and a harmless throwaway that stops the clock. A three yard run instead there puts us more comfortably in FG range (given the weather conditions) and burns the clock. Really Dabs?  Game balls to Allen, Diggs and the entire Oline, a jar of stickum to Gabe Davis and detention with extra study for Daboll.

 

Bills on Defense

 

First the game plan. ever since the Chiefs game, we have seen our defense become increasingly aggressive with the blitzes in passing situations. Most of us remember how they gave Russell Wilson fits since he was dropping back to pass everytime. Nobody expected the Bills to have a similar game plan against Lamar Jackson - although I now see it as the Bills' base defense against scrambling QBs (that is how Lamar and Russ are similar). The Bills' speed at LB with Milano and especially, Edmunds, allows them to sell out on a blitz yet run sideline to sideline to contain Lamar from breaking out.

 

I have always felt that Jerry Hughes winning his one-on-one matchups does not translate well into QB pressures and sacks since he always has an outside move that takes him so far away from the QB. I dont know if this was intent or accident but planning for scrambling QB meant that you had to have the defensive end squeeze inside and the LB loop outside or Hughes on the outside and a blitzer on the inside. Hughes was deadly since his inside move was bringing him into the QB's face half the time. The play that set up the play of the game was the 2nd and 9 where Hughes was in Jackson's face preventing an easy TD to Hollywood Brown. 

 

Coming to the Bills' play of the last 25 years - that cover 2 call on the goalline was sheer genius on the part of Frazier closely following the 2nd and 9 incompletion. Leaving Taron Johnson shallow meant Jackson was too concerned with the secondary and failed to spot #24. Again this was the result of an aggressive game plan - if Lamar had more time all day - he would have been patient and gone with the guy Taron Johnson was supposed to cover for an easy touchdown once he saw Johnson cheating. But I am sure Hughes in his face on the previous play rattled him.

 

Overall, the Bills dared Jackson to throw and relied on a. their DL + Blitzer to pressure him and b. their disciplined and elite secondary to stop the completions. When you sell out with a blitz, there is going to be the occasional WR being "left all alone" but neither of the Ravens' QBs could take advantage of the couple of occasions that Hollywood Brown got behind the defense (likely the wind had something to do with it).

 

Strangely enough - if you black out the jersey numbers and just showed me animations, I woulda thought the Ravens Defense (multiple looks with secondary containment) was actually the Bills and the Bills Defense (aggressive blitzing) was actually the Ravens.

 

The Bills' major vulnerability had been the tackling. Micah Hyde in the pre game show was heard saying - "we gotta make sure we tackle well". On the first drive Poyer whiffed and the Ravens moved the ball and I was a lil scared. But as the game wore on, our tackling was pretty decent. Of course the best defense against the Ravens is to run up the score and once the TJ pick six happened, they had to abandon the run quite a bit - which meant we did not have to worry about our tackling so much.

 

Game Balls to Taron Johnson (let us give him 2), Frazier, Edmunds and Hughes.

 

Bottomline: We won handily this week thanks to the defense and despite a flawed plan on offense and adverse wind conditions. Daboll and the offense however get some slack since they have carried us the whole season - I like it that we are balanced enough that each side of the ball can  cover the other side's deficiencies and still pull out wins. That is the hallmark of great teams - since they can have an off-day and still beat a decent opponent. Cant wait to punch our ticket to Tampa this weekend. Go Bills.

Edited January 20, 2021 by IgotBILLStopay

[TailgateChef]

Good review.  Gives one pause on always praising Daboll.  The pass really could have set up the run in the 2nd quarter, like it did at the start of the 3rd.

[Nextmanup]

I don't know how you evaluate a coordinator's performance when there is so much going on with every play that you do not--and cannot--know about.

 

As a fan, particularly one watching network TV viewing angles, I don't know how you can evaluate much of anything.

 

 

[Turbo44]

Big ? Is if kc blitzes a ton like they did in the 1st game or if they have a similar game plan to the Ravens??

[clayboy54]

5 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I don't know how you evaluate a coordinator's performance when there is so much going on with every play that you do not--and cannot--know about.

 

As a fan, particularly one watching network TV viewing angles, I don't know how you can evaluate much of anything.

 

 

You can clearly see that Daboll had a blitz-beating game plan. Fool me once. They made adjustments as was evidenced by the 3rd quarter opening drive, which was masterful. You won’t fool me twice. The mark of a good coordinator and play caller is that they make good adjustments and they work. In this case, Daboll did and they were.

 

if IgotBillstoPay wants to argue that the initial game plan was wrong, cool. But, adjustments were successful and well timed which more than makes up for the initial miscalculation.

[IgotBILLStopay]

10 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I don't know how you evaluate a coordinator's performance when there is so much going on with every play that you do not--and cannot--know about.

 

As a fan, particularly one watching network TV viewing angles, I don't know how you can evaluate much of anything.

 

 

Really man? Cant you see where people are lining up, where they are moving and what they are reacting to? If you cant use slow mo game film to evaluate a coordinator's performance - how can you evaluate it at all.

[ProcessAccepted]

1 minute ago, Turbo44 said:

Big ? Is if kc blitzes a ton like they did in the 1st game or if they have a similar game plan to the Ravens??

Allen is healthy and much better against the blitz. I think they'll show blitz a lot but only blitzes sparingly this time around.  

[IgotBILLStopay]

5 minutes ago, clayboy54 said:

You can clearly see that Daboll had a blitz-beating game plan. Fool me once. They made adjustments as was evidenced by the 3rd quarter opening drive, which was masterful. You won’t fool me twice. The mark of a good coordinator and play caller is that they make good adjustments and they work. In this case, Daboll did and they were.

 

if IgotBillstoPay wants to argue that the initial game plan was wrong, cool. But, adjustments were successful and well timed which more than makes up for the initial miscalculation.

I did give him credit for the one drive where he used Singletary well in the second half. I also gave him credit for his game plan vs. the blitz. But cant really applaud him for the adjustments in the second half. We scored all of 7 points in the entire second half. One swallow does not a summer make. And, I pointed out questionable play calls in specific second half situations. 

 

I am a Daboll fan - last week I gave him a lot of credit for his in-game adjustments vs. the Colts. This week he was more like Kevin Costner in Tin Cup .. and that is not even my opinion - it is a fact  borne out by game film.

Edited January 20, 2021 by IgotBILLStopay

[JohnNord]

14 minutes ago, TailgateChef said:

Good review.  Gives one pause on always praising Daboll.  The pass really could have set up the run in the 2nd quarter, like it did at the start of the 3rd.

I think the Bills reluctance toward running was heavily influenced by the previous week and how well they took care of Darrick Henry.   Part of Tennessee’s downfall was there decision to continually slam into the DL.  
 

Like you said, this seems to have been the Bills defensive blueprint the last time they played KC - they dared the Chiefs to run the ball an Andy Reid did it.  
 

Based on McDermott’s comments, it doesn’t seem likely that this continues next week. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

18 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I don't know how you evaluate a coordinator's performance when there is so much going on with every play that you do not--and cannot--know about.

 

As a fan, particularly one watching network TV viewing angles, I don't know how you can evaluate much of anything.

 

 

 

When has this ever stopped anyone here on this site!

 

There's so much expertise here on this site, far more than the coaching staff possesses.  Just ask them.

Edited January 20, 2021 by Ed_Formerly_of_Roch

[clayboy54]

2 minutes ago, IgotBILLStopay said:

I did give him credit for the one drive where he used Singletary well in the second half. I also gave him credit for his game plan vs. the blitz. But cant really applaud him for the adjustments in the second half. We scored all of 7 points in the entire second half. One swallow does not a summer make. And, I pointed out questionable play calls in specific second half situations. 

 

I am a Daboll fan - last week I gave him a lot of credit for his in-game adjustments vs. the Colts. This week he was more like Kevin Costner in Tin Cup .. and that is not even my opinion - it is a fact  borne out by game film.

I’ll give you that. But after that 7 points, we had the pick-6 and were up by 14. With the wind conditions and the play of our D, it was time to play keep away.

[IgotBILLStopay]

2 minutes ago, clayboy54 said:

I’ll give you that. But after that 7 points, we had the pick-6 and were up by 14. With the wind conditions and the play of our D, it was time to play keep away.

no doubt my criticism is more about the lack of first half adjustments - but  we did not do so well even with the second half keepaways - see my example of the play call on 1st down at the Ravens' 31 with 6 minutes left. That was the time for Singletary or Allen keeper or a short quick high percentage pass, no? 

 

Hence the criticism.

[IgotBILLStopay]

I think all those head coaching vacancies did distract Dabs a bit last week. There is no doubt the Chargers' decision to go with Staley was a big blow since he was THE frontrunner for the position. I dont blame him and I am sure he will be back to being his best vs. the Chiefs.

[BornAgainBillsFan]

A lot of you are better at the Xs & Os than me, and I've been dying to ask somebody a question since Saturday's game. And this thread seems like a good one for it.

 

I noticed for the first time on Saturday that Milano and Klein were on the field at the same time on multiple plays. Don't they both play weak side linebacker, which is why we haven't seen as much of Klein since Milano came back from injury? But Saturday, it was noticeable that the two of them + Edmonds were flying all over the field at the same time.

 

Is this a recent thing because they've been planning to spring it on opponents in the playoffs? Or am I just misreading the whole thing?

[JohnNord]

16 minutes ago, IgotBILLStopay said:

I think all those head coaching vacancies did distract Dabs a bit last week. There is no doubt the Chargers' decision to go with Staley was a big blow since he was THE frontrunner for the position. I dont blame him and I am sure he will be back to being his best vs. the Chiefs.

I think this is reading way too much into the situation.  There’s no evidence or reports to suggest that Daboll was distracted.  
 

Also, Leslie Frazier ends up putting together one of his best game plans ever as a DC - on the eve of his first interview with Houston.  In fact many theorists out there believed that Texans GM Nick Caserio was only interviewing Leslie to distract him from game planning at the behest of his good college buddy (John Carrol University) Greg Roman.  
 

Personally I think a number of factors were in play including the fact that the Baltimore defense might not be a great matchup for our offense.  I’m just glad we escaped with a W

[scuba guy]

Sometimes being a bills fan gives you  joy and happiness.

 

For 17 years we displayed our fandom while others of us stop wearing there pride hiding away saying they were a fan of another team

 

I hate when fans say crap like this about the coaches on the team or players

 

Did you know what all the play were going into josh. 

 

Nope

 

We're you in the headset

 

Nope

 

 

We're you in the huddle 

 

Nope

 

2 td throws one should have been caught one caught the wind

All pro kicker missed 2 field goals

 

It's hard to say something nice I get it

 

 

[billsherd]

24 minutes ago, BornAgainBillsFan said:

A lot of you are better at the Xs & Os than me, and I've been dying to ask somebody a question since Saturday's game. And this thread seems like a good one for it.

 

I noticed for the first time on Saturday that Milano and Klein were on the field at the same time on multiple plays. Don't they both play weak side linebacker, which is why we haven't seen as much of Klein since Milano came back from injury? But Saturday, it was noticeable that the two of them + Edmonds were flying all over the field at the same time.

 

Is this a recent thing because they've been planning to spring it on opponents in the playoffs? Or am I just misreading the whole thing?

It had to do with Lamar and their running game called for that 

[IgotBILLStopay]

21 minutes ago, BornAgainBillsFan said:

A lot of you are better at the Xs & Os than me, and I've been dying to ask somebody a question since Saturday's game. And this thread seems like a good one for it.

 

I noticed for the first time on Saturday that Milano and Klein were on the field at the same time on multiple plays. Don't they both play weak side linebacker, which is why we haven't seen as much of Klein since Milano came back from injury? But Saturday, it was noticeable that the two of them + Edmonds were flying all over the field at the same time.

 

Is this a recent thing because they've been planning to spring it on opponents in the playoffs? Or am I just misreading the whole thing?

That is actually a very good observation - Klein was barely in vs. the Colts but was featured prominently vs. the Ravens. This was just the Bills moving from an exclusively 4-2-5 (with Taron Johnson) vs the Colts to an alternating 4-2-5 / 4-3  deployment vs. the Ravens. So Taron was the hero in the game despite seeing a lot fewer snaps overall!!! That deployment was unexpected since even against good running teams the Bills had preferred Taron Johnson in there instead of the third LB.

 

At this point, I think Milano and Klein can really play SAM and WILL equally well.

[Success]

Game plans and decisions always look better with good execution.

 

And good execution is always more possible with better conditions.

 

The wind changed everything on Saturday.  When that happens, you just find a way, and the Bills did.

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I think Baltimore did a nice job on D. But I also blame a lot of our offensive woes on the wind. Guys were open, but throws were off or not attempted due to the wind. 

 

If Baltimore did one thing pretty well, it was bracketing Beasley. They doubled him more than I thought. If this happens this week, the Bills really need to feed John Brown a lot more. He had a lot of opportunities last week, and he will absolutely kill the chiefs if they cover him with their 3rd or 4th best DB. 
 

Cover 1 guys seem to mostly support me: