Buscaglia's Bills-Chiefs All-22 Takeaways include Oliver playing well and the Interior OL being overpowered

[Big Blitz]

15 minutes ago, Reader said:

Were we bad at running in the 19-20 season as well or did for some reason our ability to run the ball decline? Aside from the losses of Spain and Ford (which I wouldn't expect to be that impactful) I am not sure as to what changed, especially with additions like Williams, Diggs and Davis.

 

 

Spain in the run game >>> Ike

 

That might be a part of it.  Not saying I'd have kept Spain but he did have that edge to his game Ike does not. 

 

Spain's pass pro....very meh.  

[97bills]

9 hours ago, RunTheBall said:

I hope this puts to end all the talk about not needing any semblance of a running game. I can remember so many threads full of clowns saying “We don’t need to run the ball at all” “Daboll sucks he called 3 run plays in a quarter”. Well, you guys got your wish and we got absolutely destroyed because of the imbalance. You were proven 100% wrong so save your crap takes next season.

 

Knox is a huge disappointment. I was really hoping he just needed some time and reps but he sucks and it’s time to move on. He consistently whiffs on assignments and still has concentration issues catching the ball. I’m not saying cut him outright since he’s on a rookie contract but we need someone to come in and start so we can attack the middle of the field.

 

Brown is gone unless Beane thinks his poor production is 100% injury related

 

Edmunds will get more time and they will pick up his 5th year option.

 

Agree 💯 about the running game it’s like fans haven’t been watching football long you got to have a running game to win a super bowl. That’s why coaches say before games we got to make them One dimensional well Buffalo comes in games with no run game so the defense is already a step ahead. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

For those of you who get the Athletic, it's here:

https://theathletic.com/2354616/2021/01/29/buffalo-bills-kansas-city-chiefs-all-22/

 

Joe:  "For much of the game, the Chiefs were daring the Bills to run the ball on them. As the Bills rarely complied or went with heavy personnel, the Chiefs settled into using four defensive linemen, one linebacker and six defensive backs throughout the game, complete with successfully disguising coverages and blitzes before the snap to confuse Josh Allen. None of it would have been possible without the Chiefs defensive line, particularly the tackles, dominating the Bills offensive line the way they did."

 

Ouch. He includes Feliciano in the group of guys who struggled, though many will struggle against Jones. Thoughout the season Joe has graded Feliciano well, but not here, and Morse and Boettger also had problems. 

 

Feliciano has struggled in pass blocking all season IMO.  To everyone who is calling for Morse to be cut and Feliciano to be moved to center: I love me some Mongo.  But he did not pass block great this season at times and I think he'd be the first to tell you that.  As long as Josh got the ball out relatively quickly he was fine, but when he had to deal with strong pressure in the middle and give time for the guys to work open, he struggled.

 

12 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

6 DBs consistently? I hadn't noticed that, and haven't gone back to look again at the game. It'll be another few weeks before I can stand to look at it, I would guess. But being able to use 6 DBs consistently is going to make it hard on any QB.

 

Yeah, the Chiefs like their Dime, I think someone said they run Dime more than anyone else in the league 35% or something.  But IIRC they were >60% Dime against us.

 

12 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

Joe:  "The last part of their struggles is the most important both to the undoing of the matchup and moving forward. The Bills weren’t able to run the ball with their preferred power scheme consistently at all during the season.

 

Joe lost me right here.  Where did he get the notion that the Bills preferred run scheme is power?  We certainly weren't a power run scheme last year to my eyes.  A lot of pin-and-pull, outside zone, sure.  But if we wanted to run a power run scheme, we should no way have signed Morse as our center, he is NOT a power guy.

 

Where is Joe getting this?  Am I out to lunch here?  Help me out, Fellow Wayfarers

 

 

[John from Riverside]

10 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Oliver was comfortably our best dlineman. That was obvious just from the TV angle. The flashes from Ed are of a guy with real outstanding talent. A guy who can be in that Chris Jones conversation as the second most disruptive interior lineman in the league after you know who. It is just consistency. Down in down out and game in game out. Brandon Beane said as much when he spoke to the media on Wednesday. If we can get that out of Ed he will be a difference maker. 

This goes along with what my eyeballs are seeing......Im telling you put a true 1 tech next to Oliver and watch him shine next year.....you cannot ask a 285 pound DT to be your best run stop guy he just doesnt have it in the ass.......he is however one of those guys who could be in the backfield a LOT if there were other defensive linemen that actually had to be accounted for.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

28 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Spain in the run game >>> Ike

 

That might be a part of it.  Not saying I'd have kept Spain but he did have that edge to his game Ike does not. 

 

Spain's pass pro....very meh.  

I'm no oline expert but I think you have that completely backwards.  Spain was very good in pass protection. Did not give up one sack in 2019. He was marginal in the run game. 

1 minute ago, John from Riverside said:

This goes along with what my eyeballs are seeing......Im telling you put a true 1 tech next to Oliver and watch him shine next year.....you cannot ask a 285 pound DT to be your best run stop guy he just doesnt have it in the ass.......he is however one of those guys who could be in the backfield a LOT if there were other defensive linemen that actually had to be accounted for.

Let's s hope so. I've criticized Oliver but never once was ready to call him a bust DT takes a long time to develop.  He's the least of the problems on DL. Get Star back and add two edge players in the draft. Harrison and Zimmer can be your rotation DTs. That would be a nice combination of veterans and youth on the DL.

[Big Blitz]

2 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

I'm no oline expert but I think you have that completely backwards.  Spain was very good in pass protection. Did not give up one sack in 2019. He was marginal in the run game. 

 

 

Yea just my own observations.  I have no stats to back that up just what I thought I was watching.  

[John from Riverside]

4 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

I'm no oline expert but I think you have that completely backwards.  Spain was very good in pass protection. Did not give up one sack in 2019. He was marginal in the run game. 

Let's s hope so. I've criticized Oliver but never once was ready to call him a bust DT takes a long time to develop.  He's the least of the problems on DL. Get Star back and add two edge players in the draft. Harrison and Zimmer can be your rotation DTs. That would be a nice combination of veterans and youth on the DL.

You hear a lot of people say "how do you beat the cheifs" as this offseason unicorn

 

To me the answer is not as difficult as people make it out to be:

 

- We have the QB

- Keep adding offensive weapons

- Fix the running game (whether it be a RB.....or OL.....or both

- Get good enough on the 4 down linemen to generate a pass rush on him WITHOUT blitzing because PM destroys the blitz

 

This can be done.....I expect a lot of these contracts on DL that are high priced to be gone to clear up cap space

[Billl]

4 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

John Brown played pretty darn well in 2019, without Diggs to draw coverage. 

 

Buscaglia observes what some already suspected: Knox is a real problem. Not just that he doesn't make many positive plays, but that he makes a LOT of negative plays, blocking AND receiving (in the Texans playoff game he almost got Josh killed).  He isn't improving either.

 

Get rid of Knox or get a TE above him on the depth chart.

Allen completed 70% of his passes to pass catchers other than Knox.  He completed 54.5% to Knox.  That’s a huge problem.  He only caught 24 passes all year, and he fumbled twice losing both.  Beane has to fix the position in the off-season.

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

I'm no oline expert but I think you have that completely backwards.  Spain was very good in pass protection. Did not give up one sack in 2019. He was marginal in the run game. 

Let's s hope so. I've criticized Oliver but never once was ready to call him a bust DT takes a long time to develop.  He's the least of the problems on DL. Get Star back and add two edge players in the draft. Harrison and Zimmer can be your rotation DTs. That would be a nice combination of veterans and youth on the DL.

Completely agree. Ed was never the problem nor should he put on even 1 lb. Star's opt out set the tone for a very disappointing DL. The 3 FA D-lineman were useless. We never got enough pressure from our edge DE's to help Oliver.

[WideNine]

2 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Tyler Kroft was not going to move the needle in that game.

 

We can agree to disagree. I believe Kroft is a far superior run and pass blocker than Knox any day of the week.

 

I know Knox is their future, but Kroft is more mobile than Smith (who is their best blocker) and better than Knox in pass-pro and run blocking. Does it solve all their issues - no, but relying on Knox to block is a liability in every game and his blown assignments lead to far too many negative plays. He needs a lot of coaching up on that aspect of his game to be the multi-tool TE that Daboll prefers in his 11 personnel sets.

 

On the flip side having a healthy Knox line up in the slot vs a gimpy ineffective Davis is a win IMO. They already use Knox all over the place as a receiver, they have him at times at slot or even FB, although I would not trust him lead blocking for me. Daboll did have a cool play with Knox at FB where he got open against the Steelers, but that was also the play where he popped the ball up into their arms.

 

I thought Knox's focus and ability to catch contested balls that last game was one of the bright spots - just saying they should have focused on getting him involved more as their receiving option as he was a mismatch for the many DBs KC was using and leveraged someone else to help with blocking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Spain in the run game >>> Ike

 

That might be a part of it.  Not saying I'd have kept Spain but he did have that edge to his game Ike does not. 

 

Spain's pass pro....very meh.  

Actually the opposite imo.  His run blocking sucks for such a big dude.  He’s in better in pass protection that as a run blocker 

[DCOrange]

7 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

the TE writeup is somewhat alarming.   What does everyone think of going after Everett from LA?   Seems to flash, albeit inconsistently for whatever reason.  

I’m not really a fan of any of the TE options in free agency. Maybe you sir back and see who doesn’t get a deal and bring one of them in super cheap, but I think a trade is probably the best way to upgrade at TE this offseason. I’d be going for Cam Brate or OJ Howard from Tampa. 

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Feliciano has struggled in pass blocking all season IMO.  To everyone who is calling for Morse to be cut and Feliciano to be moved to center: I love me some Mongo.  But he did not pass block great this season at times and I think he'd be the first to tell you that.  As long as Josh got the ball out relatively quickly he was fine, but when he had to deal with strong pressure in the middle and give time for the guys to work open, he struggled.

 

 

Yeah, the Chiefs like their Dime, I think someone said they run Dime more than anyone else in the league 35% or something.  But IIRC they were >60% Dime against us.

 

 

Joe lost me right here.  Where did he get the notion that the Bills preferred run scheme is power?  We certainly weren't a power run scheme last year to my eyes.  A lot of pin-and-pull, outside zone, sure.  But if we wanted to run a power run scheme, we should no way have signed Morse as our center, he is NOT a power guy.

 

Where is Joe getting this?  Am I out to lunch here?  Help me out, Fellow Wayfarers

 

 

That’s exactly what I was worried about and why I posted this 

going to some heavy set earlier and often may have changed Spags’ game plan, but the plan was to stick with what got us to the AFCCG. Can’t blame them.

[WideNine]

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Joe lost me right here.  Where did he get the notion that the Bills preferred run scheme is power?  We certainly weren't a power run scheme last year to my eyes.  A lot of pin-and-pull, outside zone, sure.  But if we wanted to run a power run scheme, we should no way have signed Morse as our center, he is NOT a power guy.

 

Where is Joe getting this?  Am I out to lunch here?  Help me out, Fellow Wayfarers

 

 

 

I have also read elsewhere that we were running more outside zone and pulling Morse more last year than this year. Not sure if that is true, but would be interesting to see how our run preferences have changed.

 

If that is the case and we do run more power, perhaps the change could be both that we have a lot of different starters on the line. That, and  defenses started playing us differently with more coverage personnel and a lot of 4-man fronts with occasional pressure packages from slot DBs, heavy nickel, or dime linebackers. With such a thin front and safeties playing off, I am sure Daboll and his staff felt they could go with more power runs between the tackles, but that does not align well with the current strength of the guys up front.

 

Been a mixed bag. I feel like it fails far too often, but based on some of your research and our YPG averages it looks like it may be just a lack of commitment where we get very 1-dimensional. I do know that we have a well-known tendency to pass on 1st downs and that has been largely successful, but tendencies like that are exploitable in games against better teams with better coaches. For example, don't play the run on 1st down, play press coverage with 2 safeties deep. The odds then go into your favor that you will snuff that out or force Allen to hold longer and let your pass rush get to him.

 

An interesting question was posed to Beane in his exit presser and it was something about adapting to league changes or changes in our competition. I don't know if it is a good idea to get into chasing yesterday's strategies. It is a balancing act, but I would rather the Bills be setting the bar that others chase rather than we draft and nurture players and schemes that may be irrelevant by the time they are fully baked.

 

Just thinking out loud

 

 

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

6 minutes ago, WideNine said:

 

I have also read elsewhere that we were running more outside zone and pulling Morse more last year than this year. Not sure if that is true, but would be interesting to see how our run preferences have changed.

 

We were pulling Morse more last year.  Beane acknowledged.

 

I haven't seen us trying to run with more power, but I don't see everything which is why I asked: where did Joe B get the idea that power is our preferred run strategy?

 

It would be dumb IMHO if we tried, since outside of Mongo and DDawk we don't have the horses for it IMO

 

Quote

Been a mixed bag. I feel like it fails far too often, but based on some of your research and our YPG averages it looks like it may be just a lack of commitment where we get very 1-dimensional.

 

I think it's both lack of commitment and lack of ability to stay on blocks consistently against the best DLs.  This isn't about not being able to overpower them and shove them 3 feet back or shove them to the side, it's about blocking technique.

[WideNine]

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

We were pulling Morse more last year.  Beane acknowledged.

 

I haven't seen us trying to run with more power, but I don't see everything which is why I asked: where did Joe B get the idea that power is our preferred run strategy?

 

It would be dumb IMHO if we tried, since outside of Mongo and DDawk we don't have the horses for it IMO

 

I think we all can agree that we need some changes on the line to give us more flexibility to go outside or inside. I think it may start with center and I am a Morse fan, I just think the concussions and the limits on his play are reasons to start thinking about grooming the next guy. 

 

There are a couple really good center prospects in this year's draft that fit the bill if Beane decides to go in that direction.

 

We seem to have role players now who are limited in what they can do. I still have hopes for what Ike can grow to become, with Morse I think you know what he does or has done exceptionally well and where he struggles, and the same with Mongo.

 

I was generally pleased with our current tackles although they need to always remember to play through to the whistle with Allen back there.

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

4 minutes ago, WideNine said:

 

I think we all can agree that we need some changes on the line to give us more flexibility to go outside or inside. I think it may start with center and I am a Morse fan, I just think the concussions and the limits on his play are reasons to start thinking about grooming the next guy. 

 

There are a couple really good center prospects in this year's draft that fit the bill if Beane decides to go in that direction.

 

We seem to have role players now who are limited in what they can do. I still have hopes for what Ike can grow to become, with Morse I think you know what he does or has done exceptionally well and where he struggles, and the same with Mongo.

 

I was generally pleased with our current tackles although they need to always remember to play through to the whistle with Allen back there.

 

Are there any guys who are good Center/Guard candidates?

 

I love me some Mongo but I'm not sold on everybody's "let's cut Mitch Morse to save $5M and plug Mongo in at center" notions (among other things, Mongo is a FA we don't know at this point how much it will cost to re-sign him). 

 

Also not sold on a proposal "let's cut Mitch Morse and throw a rookie C into the mix with no Plan B".  But drafting a player who can play both C and G seems like a good plan.

[Coach Tuesday]

13 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Also not sold on a proposal "let's cut Mitch Morse and throw a rookie C into the mix with no Plan B".

You mean the ole Demetrius Bell scenario?  It’s a Bills Special.  In fact now that you’ve put it that way, I’m positive that’s what they’ll do.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

12 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

You mean the ole Demetrius Bell scenario?  It’s a Bills Special.  In fact now that you’ve put it that way, I’m positive that’s what they’ll do.

 

Allegedly, we have wiser heads with better plans in charge these days.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

That how i see it, getter better on Oline and Dline and we become a better multidimensional team.