Kubiak on Bills-Ravens - lots of play diagrams, info on how Bills are using pre-snap motion

[Hapless Bills Fan]

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/jim-kubiak-four-receiver-and-empty-sets-provide-the-space-for-bills-qb-josh-allen/article_0ba281e8-59f1-11eb-94a8-63ff5d41a26c.html

 

I really like the play diagrams, they're a great addition.

 

For those who have been asking "why aren't the Bills using pre-snap and post snap motion? there is a lot of good detail in here about just how and why we're using it and how it's helping.

 

Good stuff

 

What I'd like to see is more about where our drives stalled and were there alternatives that could have scored us more points?  I know we could have had 4 more pts on the FG drive.

[GunnerBill]

I can't see the article for GDPR reasons but does he talk about the pre-snap motion with Beasley and Knox? I confess I didn't notice it so much watching the game live but when I watched back on Sunday morning they actually did plenty of pre-snap stuff last week it just wasn't of the Isaiah McKenzie sweep variety. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

31 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I can't see the article for GDPR reasons but does he talk about the pre-snap motion with Beasley and Knox? I confess I didn't notice it so much watching the game live but when I watched back on Sunday morning they actually did plenty of pre-snap stuff last week it just wasn't of the Isaiah McKenzie sweep variety. 

 

I'm not sure which play in particular you're talking about, but if you tell me I'll look for it and repost.

 

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'm not sure which play in particular you're talking about, but if you tell me I'll look for it and repost.

 

 

There were at least a couple... I'd have to go back and pull them out now to remind myself which ones.... where they had Beasley in the backfield. On one of them I think they started with Beasley in like a H-Back spot and Singletary split wide and then motioned Beas out into the slot and brought Singletary into the backfield just before the snap. Might even have been the incompletion to Beas going toward the sideline. Was early in the game and I thought (though by no means saying this is correct) it might be part of their plan to determine who was primarily covering Beas in the slot.... if you remember during the week there was some debate whether Baltimore would use Smith or Humphrey as the nickel in 3 corner formations because they have done both this season at different times. 

 

There was another play later where they did some funky motion with Knox and Beas kinda swapping spots before the play...  that might have been on one of the deep shots. 

 

Just struck me that there was more motion Saturday than I first realised it just wasn't that sweep motion we have used a lot during the year.

[Shaw66]

Good stuff. I too didn't realize there was so much motion.  It wasn't really motion so much as intentionally resetting the formation to learn something about coverage or to force a defender to reposition himself. Interesting little technical adjustments to gain a momentary advantage.  

Edited January 21, 2021 by Shaw66

[SoCal Deek]

3 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Good stuff. I too sisnt realize ther was so much motion.  It wasn't really motion so much as intentionally resetting the formation to learned something about coverage or to force a defender to reposition himself. Interesting little technical adjustments to gain a momentary advantage.  

I’ve been noticing quite a lot of this type of small motion around the league all year. We used to see Brady use full motion to read the defense. This year I see QBs asking WRs and TEs to make really small adjustments, either in or out a few steps, and I’ve been wondering what that’s all about to the play call. It can’t be that the WR doesn’t know the route, or the play, at this time of the season. Is the QB using that tiny adjustment to read the defense? 

[billsfan1959]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

There were at least a couple... I'd have to go back and pull them out now to remind myself which ones.... where they had Beasley in the backfield. On one of them I think they started with Beasley in like a H-Back spot and Singletary split wide and then motioned Beas out into the slot and brought Singletary into the backfield just before the snap. Might even have been the incompletion to Beas going toward the sideline. Was early in the game and I thought (though by no means saying this is correct) it might be part of their plan to determine who was primarily covering Beas in the slot.... if you remember during the week there was some debate whether Baltimore would use Smith or Humphrey as the nickel in 3 corner formations because they have done both this season at different times. 

 

There was another play later where they did some funky motion with Knox and Beas kinda swapping spots before the play...  that might have been on one of the deep shots. 

 

Just struck me that there was more motion Saturday than I first realised it just wasn't that sweep motion we have used a lot during the year.

 

Cover 1 did a break down of a number of plays with several involving pre-snap motion. Starting at the 15:25 point is the play I believe you are talking about.

 

 

The other plays they break down are at:

 

19:55
23:35
26:15
30:50
34:15
36:54
44:15
47:32
49:57
52:41
56:32

 

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by billsfan1959

[Shaw66]

57 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’ve been noticing quite a lot of this type of small motion around the league all year. We used to see Brady use full motion to read the defense. This year I see QBs asking WRs and TEs to make really small adjustments, either in or out a few steps, and I’ve been wondering what that’s all about to the play call. It can’t be that the WR doesn’t know the route, or the play, at this time of the season. Is the QB using that tiny adjustment to read the defense? 

Apparently either read the defense or set up the defender to get rubbed. 

[ghostwriter]

I agree that this offense rests solely on the shoulders of Josh Allen.. as does Green Bay’s offense with Rodgers and Tom Brady’s offense in New England for so many years.. No problem with that.. When you have a QB of the caliber of Josh Allen, that’s the right way to go.. However, if we have any chance at winning the Super Bowl, which I do think we have a great chance at winning.. This defense needs to play very very well.. They did great against Baltimore but that trend must continue on for us to have a chance at winning a Lombardi.

[Shaw66]

9 minutes ago, Victory Formation said:

I agree that this offense rests solely on the shoulders of Josh Allen.. as does Green Bay’s offense with Rodgers and Tom Brady’s offense in New England for so many years.. No problem with that.. When you have a QB of the caliber of Josh Allen, that’s the right way to go.. However, if we have any chance at winning the Super Bowl, which I do think we have a great chance at winning.. This defense needs to play very very well.. They did great against Baltimore but that trend must continue on for us to have a chance at winning a Lombardi.

At this level, needing the defense to play well is a given.  There are few Super Bowl winners that just simply outscore the opponents.  Teams that get to this level almost always are playing good defense.  

 

Clearly, against KC the Bills need another good game out of the defense.  

[Hapless Bills Fan]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Good stuff. I too didn't realize there was so much motion.  It wasn't really motion so much as intentionally resetting the formation to learn something about coverage or to force a defender to reposition himself. Interesting little technical adjustments to gain a momentary advantage.  

 

Not just to force a defender to learn something about coverage or force a defender to reposition himself, but also to set up plays - force the coverage to leave some space open.

 

Here's an example Kubiak charts of a play that uses post-snap motion plus routes to clear out defenders for a Diggs reception

Quote

Here, the Bills are lined up in a three-receiver formation, with Diggs in the middle and Cole Beasley as the inside receiver. Gabriel Davis was the lone receiver to Allen’s right, and was positioned tight to right tackle Daryl Williams. Daboll used two whip routes on each side, one by Beasley and one by Davis. This attracted defensive attention and allowed Diggs to come across the field behind both routes, creating a triangle of possibilities for Allen.

 

Oh and by the way....from this play, to Diggs point, it may only be for a wrinkle in time, but on this play as many, "Cole Beasley is Always Open"

[Saxum]

I like Irony.

 

Quote

Buffalo’s 11-play drive included this RPO on a critical third-and-2. The Ravens had all 11 defenders at the line of scrimmage and were in man-to-man Cover 0. Ravens linebacker L.J. Fort was responsible for Knox.

The design here was to block everyone except Fort in the running play. If Fort rushed or played the run, Allen would throw it to Knox, which is what happened.  The Bills used the Ravens’ aggressiveness against them on a high-pursuit third down. It takes preparation and poise to pull a play like this off.

 

A player named Fort on a player name Knox with a Bills pre planned gold rush play.

17 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I can't see the article for GDPR reasons but does he talk about the pre-snap motion with Beasley and Knox? I confess I didn't notice it so much watching the game live but when I watched back on Sunday morning they actually did plenty of pre-snap stuff last week it just wasn't of the Isaiah McKenzie sweep variety. 

 

Yes they did a few of them. Even Smith got in the pre-snap pulling defender very slowly away from offense giving time for Allen to prepare for snap.

[brianthomas]

18 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I can't see the article for GDPR reasons but does he talk about the pre-snap motion with Beasley and Knox? I confess I didn't notice it so much watching the game live but when I watched back on Sunday morning they actually did plenty of pre-snap stuff last week it just wasn't of the Isaiah McKenzie sweep variety. 

Here's a link to the article in case you care to see it: https://outline.com/dRzu3d

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Baldys take 

 

 

 

[Nihilarian]

Not to be a contrarian...it was the Buffalo defense that won that Baltimore game. That pick six was a 14 point differential.  The Buffalo offense scored a whole ten points all game. They are going to need to step it up big time on offense to compete with that KC offense.

 

Yes, we can laud that Diggs had 8 catches for 106 yards and a TD. Brown had 8 catches for 62 yards. I'm not praising Brian Daboll for that Ravens game plan or the play calls.

 

For whatever reason the Ravens didn't pressure Allen all that much and nothing at all like last years game where they blitzed 67% of the Bills offensive plays,6 sacks,12 QB hits. 

 

That alone let Allen have more time to throw and yet not one pass caught by Cole Beasley, he had two targets. Gabe Davis had four targets, no catches. Allen 23 of 37 206 yards, 1 TD. QBR 51.0. As crappy as Jackson played he had a QBR of 55.7.

 

In my view the Bills offense was playing like they were behind in the game with all that passing. That article talks about no RB runs in the entire first quarter and one RB run in the second quarter like that was a good thing. With that much wind I think it was taking far too many chances slinging the ball around 37 times vs 9 RB runs.  

 

Two missed field goals by the Ravens, an over throw by the back up QB with the receiver five yards ahead of the defender...he hits that pass its a different game. The Bills don't recover that Allen fumble and its a different game, no pick six and its a different game. The Bills were outplayed by the Ravens, 340 yards to 220, ToP 35:33 to 24:27. 

 

I guess it's better to be lucky some games...holding that Ravens offense to 3 points was something of a miracle by the Bills defense.  

 

I'm hoping that the last two games were an anomaly and they find that high scoring Buffalo Bills offense that beat the Seahawks by 44, or the 49ers by 34, Denver by 48, NE by 38, Miami by 56! 

 

Go Bills! 

[Heavy Kevi]

13 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

Not to be a contrarian...it was the Buffalo defense that won that Baltimore game. That pick six was a 14 point differential.  The Buffalo offense scored a whole ten points all game. They are going to need to step it up big time on offense to compete with that KC offense.

 

Yes, we can laud that Diggs had 8 catches for 106 yards and a TD. Brown had 8 catches for 62 yards. I'm not praising Brian Daboll for that Ravens game plan or the play calls.

 

For whatever reason the Ravens didn't pressure Allen all that much and nothing at all like last years game where they blitzed 67% of the Bills offensive plays,6 sacks,12 QB hits. 

 

That alone let Allen have more time to throw and yet not one pass caught by Cole Beasley, he had two targets. Gabe Davis had four targets, no catches. Allen 23 of 37 206 yards, 1 TD. QBR 51.0. As crappy as Jackson played he had a QBR of 55.7.

 

In my view the Bills offense was playing like they were behind in the game with all that passing. That article talks about no RB runs in the entire first quarter and one RB run in the second quarter like that was a good thing. With that much wind I think it was taking far too many chances slinging the ball around 37 times vs 9 RB runs.  

 

Two missed field goals by the Ravens, an over throw by the back up QB with the receiver five yards ahead of the defender...he hits that pass its a different game. The Bills don't recover that Allen fumble and its a different game, no pick six and its a different game. The Bills were outplayed by the Ravens, 340 yards to 220, ToP 35:33 to 24:27. 

 

I guess it's better to be lucky some games...holding that Ravens offense to 3 points was something of a miracle by the Bills defense.  

 

I'm hoping that the last two games were an anomaly and they find that high scoring Buffalo Bills offense that beat the Seahawks by 44, or the 49ers by 34, Denver by 48, NE by 38, Miami by 56! 

 

Go Bills! 

 

I wouldn't call your take "being the contrarian". Seems to me everyone is saying the offense needs to get back to regular season form to win this game.

 

This isn't a Colts team who snuck in or Baltimore with a limited passer.

 

I think for Davis and Beasley, they are banged up a bit.

 

To your point of "playing like they were behind" I understand your point. I feel like that was the game plan though. Be incredibly aggressive with the offense, because the Ravens aren't built to play from behind. The plan was (imo) to try and pile up points early (like most of our games this year) and win the game before the 4th quarter even starts. The reason it looked bad is that it didn't work. The wind and a slightly off day for Josh blew our plan out of the water... The the defense was good enough to save the game, and that's just about time because the offense has been bailing out the defense for the better part of the year.

 

Now, as for KC I believe they will pull out all the stops. This is the game they were waiting for, the rematch with the defending Champs. I think it's going to be like the first Pats* game where they play like they have nothing to lose. I'm expecting some option plays, alot more mckenzie/knox motion, play action, and qb draws. We might even see a fake punt, fg, or surprise onside. Jmo

[batmanfreek]

We are down to one starting rb, we aren’t going to bash him until this game or if *fingers crossed* super bowl. Also, passing brought us to the dance we don’t need to get cute and change who we are. 

[GunnerBill]

6 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

Baldys take 

 

 

 

 

We have had Baldy on the UK broadcasts the past couple of weeks. He is a very welcome addition. 

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

 

In my view the Bills offense was playing like they were behind in the game with all that passing. That article talks about no RB runs in the entire first quarter and one RB run in the second quarter like that was a good thing. With that much wind I think it was taking far too many chances slinging the ball around 37 times vs 9 RB runs.  

 

It was. The Bills can't beat anyone running the ball. They don't have the personnel to do it. They have an offensive line built to pass block, average talent at running back and a Quarterback who plays better with the ball in his hands. Yea, passing into that wind is hard. It was hard on Saturday. But like it or not is is the ONLY way the Buffalo Bills can play offense. On defense the Bills can beat you a couple of different ways, on offense we are and need to be a passing football team. The wind took definitely one and maybe two touchdowns off the board for the Bills and Gabe Davis dropped another (though I do think the DB made a good play on that throw). The gameplan was absolutely fine. Agreed though that it needed the defense to play well, and they did. But that is in part also the wind. The "overthrow" you refer to us getting away with wasn't really an overthrow. It was also wind affected. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by GunnerBill