A Few Thoughts about the Steelers Game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

For months, fans, radio announcers, and players have all talked about the Bills home opener as being the place to be.  Being at the game today, the fans did not disappoint.  The lots filled up early, traffic was heavy, and the music was loud.  In all my years attending games, that was easily the most electric of a tail gate experience as I can remember seeing.  The weather held off, the Bills are Super Bowl favorites, and they were favored by almost a touchdown.  All that was left was to take care of business...

 

1 - Stadium Experience - I've attended Bills games since the early 90's, attended multiple playoff games, and witnessed huge comebacks.  I write that to give context when I say that this was the loudest Bills game I've ever been to.  I literally couldn't hear the announcers or the people talking beside me when it was at it's loudest.  At kick-off, there wasn't a single fan trying to find their seats as the stadium was 100% full and rockin.  All of the pre-game hype and ticket prices for this game lived up to the billing.  The rain never came, the wind was rarely a factor, but the food selection was terrible.  I can only speak for the visitors side on the lower deck, but the only food options were pizza and hot dogs.  This is the first Bills game I've ever attended where I couldn't get an italian sausage inside the stadium. 

 

2 - Defensive Line - Of everything going on in the game, I watched the defensive line rotation as closely as possible.  The rotation of the defensive ends appeared to go by series.  Groot was out there for the first two, rotated on the other side by Hughes and Addison.  Groot and Addison appeared to be the most effective.  Oliver played a hell of a game, disrupting the inside and getting pressure quite a few times.  Addison showed good speed on the strip sack and Groot didn't hit home, but got good pressure against a quick pass release and chased a few runs down from behind.  Granted, against a weak offensive line, I expected a bit more production, but the loss of this game cannot be put on the core guys up front.  Harris didn't get anything going on the ground and Frazier did start sending some more guys in the second half.  I'm still not a fan of having so many active lineman, especially when it means keeping Groot off the field.  I can't say I noticed Obada on the field at all.

 

3 - Edmunds - As a player I'm usually pretty hard on, I thought Edmunds had a great game.  He was quick, decisive, and in the backfield on quite a few runs.  His coverage over the middle was strong too.  On the one somewhat deep pass down the middle, the TE slipped and appeared down, only to get up and then sneak down the seem for a catch.  Overall, for those looking for a positive sign that Edmunds might turn it on this year, today was a good first step.

 

4 - I take a walk outside, I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear
Mm, and twisted thoughts that spin 'round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning, how quick the sun can drop away

 

5 - Allen - When you get paid the second most of NFL quarterbacks, the expectations go through the roof.  Call it sugar high Allen or whatever you want, but Allen was not on his game today and you could see it in his body language.  The pressure was there from Watt and Gordon sometimes, but that was not an excuse for some of the missed throws and poor decisions.  He missed Sanders on a wide open deep ball, but also made some questionable throws downfield to guys double/triple covered.  While playing man in the first half, the Steelers relaxed into zone in the second.  On a few drives, there were receivers being covered on one side of the field by a linebacker in zone, but Allen never looked their way for the easy first downs, as he seemed locked in on his guy.  While not trying to take away from the Steelers defense, the opportunity was there for Allen to deliver and he just wasn't the player we saw most of last year.

 

6 - Wide Receivers - When I think of a stubborn coach, I always think of Mike Martz and his compulsion to prove what he could and couldn't do.  I say that because I feel like Sanders is being force fed down our throats as an offensive weapon.  While he worked downfield on a few plays, he overall acted in the same role as Beasley.  In the red zone, we had Diggs, Beasley, and Sanders out there and I couldn't figure it out.  In the first half, I only counted a few plays where Davis was even out on the field.  The fact that he was on the bench, Kumerow didn't see the field in the red zone, led me to believe that we ran a very stubborn game plan.  The Steelers secondary is one of their biggest weaknesses, and we never really pushed the ball downfield.  It was either a deep shot or something underneath.  The deeper crossing routes were nowhere to be seen and the usage of our 2020 TD receiving leader was abysmal. 

 

7 - Refs - Each official has a specific assignment on the field.  The head ref watches the quarterback, the line judge watches the line of scrimmage.  On deep plays, the deep side judge watches the receivers and plays downfield.  On the pass interference call, please help me understand why the female ref threw the flag from 20 yards behind the play when there was another ref right next to the play and didn't throw a flag?  In watching the replay on the big screen, I did not see pass interference, so I definitely don't know how she saw it from where she was standing.  That was a game changing play (so was the blocked punt), and McD was furious about it.  Even after the Steelers scored a touchdown, McD was in her ear about it until the white hat came over.  The officiating wasn't terrible overall, but it did feel like some of those holds were one sided.  I also argue the hold against Tre.  While contact was made, it felt like hand fighting and didn't affect the play.  Ben through a bad pass and Tre broke on it.  Another call that hurt us badly.

 

8 - Dawkins - For all the focus on Watt, and rightfully so, Dawkins got abused by Ingram on the other side.  Two of his holds were survival holds and he wasn't able to get any push as they tried to power run to his side.  I don't know if he's not fully recovered and in shape from his bout from COVID, but that was not a good look for him and we will need better protection from him on Allen's blindside.

 

9 - Special Teams - One play shouldn't define a unit, but when it leads to a touchdown, it's hard to not give this unit a failing grade.  McKenzie had a great opening kick off that we squandered into a field goal and Bass is just money.  Haak booted his first punt into the end zone and settled down after that.  On the blocked punt however, our line just crumbled to the Steelers.  I don't know what the miss was, but it seemed like we just got dominated and the game was over from there.  Be prepared for that highlight every time we punt for a few weeks.

 

10 - Coaching - Can someone please get a hold of 2020 McD and tell him we need him back as a coach, because 2019 McD is going to get us in trouble.  If you are going to be cautious, then at least be consistent with it.  The decision to punt on our out 40 in the first half, but then go for it in the second half from further out made zero sense to me.  Allen even tried to keep the offense on the field and was overturned.  The trick play on 4th and one was a travesty and should never be run again.  Overall, this team was not ready for this game and McD was out-coached by Tomlin.  Daboll had some terrible play calls and didn't seem to know how to use his guys out there.  He was getting great runs out of Motor from the shotgun, and then proceeded to try again later in power formations.  Yes, Allen didn't execute well and that blocked punt was a killer, but I put this loss on our McD and Daboll as much as anyone else.  It was embarrassing and the fans deserved better. 

 

 

One week down and it's not what everyone wanted to see, but it is only one week.  If Allen needs to have a bounceback game, what better team to face than the Dolphins next.  It's frustrating to kill the hype train at our first regular season home game in over 18 months and when the fans showed up like they did, but it's a long 17 game season and there were a lot of positive take aways from today.  I look forward to a new week and a strong season from this team.  We will find out rhythm and get this party started, it's just going to be a little later than we thought.

 

Go Bills!

Edited September 13, 2021 by Virgil

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Great job Virgil.  I usually have a few places where I disagree when you’re watching the same network broadcast I am, but can’t disagree with a thing here.

[Process]

The Sanders signing made 0 sense from the beginning. But you are correct, McBeane is very stubborn and it is a huge flaw of theirs. 

 

This offense needed to add another playmaker. Not a poor man's version of what we already have. 

[Freddie's Dead]

Re-sign SmokeY and cut Sanders.  Problem solved.

[Starr Almighty]

On the last drive the Bills had, Sanders was basically tackled in the endzone it was a PI yet the zebras didn't see that either 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Bruffalo]

I think you're spot on with Dawkins, it seems obvious to me that he hasn't regained his strength/conditioning, which honestly is understandable. 

 

What's not understandable (to me anyways) is that the coaching staff have so little trust in Spencer Brown or any veteran to take his place. I understand Brown is a project, but if this is the product we're throwing out there right now, then how bad exactly is our tackle depth?

[LeGOATski]

This sums it up pretty well. Out of all the receivers, Allen seemed to have the best connections with Diggs and Davis. Should've rode those two in the passing game and ran the ball more on 1st down.

 

I expect them to fix some things. These coaches have shown time and again that they can improve during the season, so it's weird that some posters seem to be doubting them so much. Just overreacting to game 1. I can't imagine how depressed Packers fans are right now.

[BADOLBILZ]

44 minutes ago, Virgil said:

For months, fans, radio announcers, and players have all talked about the Bills home opener as being the place to be.  Being at the game today, the fans did not disappoint.  The lots filled up early, traffic was heavy, and the music was loud.  In all my years attending games, that was easily the most electric of a tail gate experience as I can remember seeing.  The weather held off, the Bills are Super Bowl favorites, and they were favored by almost a touchdown.  All that was left was to take care of business...

 

1 - Stadium Experience - I've attended Bills games since the early 90's, attended multiple playoff games, and witnessed huge comebacks.  I write that to give context when I saw that this was the loudest Bills game I've ever been to.  I literally couldn't hear the announcers or the people talking beside me when it was at it's loudest.  At kick-off, there wasn't a single fan trying to find their seats as the stadium was 100% full and rockin.  All of the pre-game hype and ticket prices for this game lived up to the billing.  The rain never came, the wind was rarely a factor, but the food was terrible.  I can only speak for the visitors side on the lower deck, but the only food options were pizza and hot dogs.  This is the first Bills game I've ever attended where I couldn't get an italian sausage inside the stadium. 

 

2 - Defensive Line - Of everything going on in the game, I watched the defensive line rotation as closely as possible.  The rotation of the defensive ends appeared to go by series.  Groot was out there for the first two, rotated on the other side by Hughes and Addison.  Groot and Addison appeared to be the most effective.  Oliver played a hell of a game, disrupting the inside and getting pressure quite a few times.  Addison showed good speed on the strip sack and Groot didn't hit home, but got good pressure against a quick pass release and chased a few runs down from behind.  Granted, against a weak offensive line, I expected a bit more production, but the loss of this game cannot be put on the core guys up front.  Harris didn't get anything going on the ground and Frazier did start sending some more guys in the second half.  I'm still not a fan of having so many active lineman, especially when it means keeping Groot off the field.  I can't say I noticed Obada on the field at all.

 

3 - Edmunds - As a player I'm usually pretty hard on, I thought Edmunds had a great game.  He was quick, decisive, and in the backfield on quite a few runs.  His coverage over the middle was strong too.  On the one somewhat deep pass down the middle, the TE slipped and appeared down, only to get up and then sneak down the seem for a catch.  Overall, for those looking for a positive sign that Edmunds might turn it on this year, today was a good first step.

 

4 - I take a walk outside, I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear
Mm, and twisted thoughts that spin 'round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning, how quick the sun can drop away

 

5 - Allen - When you get paid the second most of NFL quarterbacks, the expectations go through the roof.  Call it sugar high Allen or whatever you want, but Allen was not on his game today and you could see it in his body language.  The pressure was there from Watt and Gordon sometimes, but that was not an excuse for some of the missed throws and poor decisions.  He missed Sanders on a wide open deep ball, but also made some questionable throws downfield to guys double/triple covered.  While playing man in the first half, the Steelers relaxed into zone in the second.  On a few drives, there were receivers being covered on one side of the field by a linebacker in zone, but Allen never looked their way for the easy first downs, as he seemed locked in on his guy.  While not trying to take away from the Steelers defense, the opportunity was there for Allen to deliver and he just wasn't the player we saw most of last year.

 

6 - Wide Receivers - When I think of a stubborn coach, I always think of Mike Martz and his compulsion to prove what he could and couldn't do.  I say that because I feel like Sanders is being force fed down our throats as an offensive weapon.  While he worked downfield on a few plays, he overall acted in the same role as Beasley.  In the red zone, we had Diggs, Beasley, and Sanders out there and I couldn't figure it out.  In the first half, I only counted a few plays where Davis was even out on the field.  The fact that he was on the bench, Kumerow didn't see the field in the red zone, led me to believe that we ran a very stubborn game plan.  The Steelers secondary is one of their biggest weaknesses, and we never really pushed the ball downfield.  It was either a deep shot or something underneath.  The deeper crossing routes were nowhere to be seen and the usage of our 2020 TD receiving leader was abysmal. 

 

7 - Refs - Each official has a specific assignment on the field.  The head ref watches the quarterback, the line judge watches the line of scrimmage.  On deep plays, the deep side judge watches the receivers and plays downfield.  On the pass interference call, please help me understand why the female ref threw the flag from 20 yards behind the play when there was another ref right next to the play and didn't throw a flag?  In watching the replay on the big screen, I did not see pass interference, so I definitely don't know how she saw it from where she was standing.  That was a game changing play (so was the blocked punt), and McD was furious about it.  Even after the Steelers scored a touchdown, McD was in her ear about it until the white hat came over.  The officiating wasn't terrible overall, but it did feel like some of those holds were one sided.  I also argue the hold against Tre.  While contact was made, it felt like hand fighting and didn't affect the play.  Ben through a bad pass and Tre broke on it.  Another call that hurt us badly.

 

8 - Dawkins - For all the focus on Watt, and rightfully so, Dawkins got abused by Gordon on the other side.  Two of his holds were survival holds and he wasn't able to get any push ass they tried to power run to his side.  I don't know if he's not fully recovered and in shape from his bout from COVID, but that was not a good look for him and we will need better protection from him on Allen's blindside.

 

9 - Special Teams - One play shouldn't define a unit, but when it leads to a touchdown, it's hard to not give this unit a failing grade.  McKenzie had a great opening kick off that we squandered into a field goal and Bass is just money.  Haak booted his first punt into the end zone and settled down after that.  On the blocked punt however, our line just crumbled to the Steelers.  I don't know what the miss was, but it seemed like we just got dominated and the game was over from there.  Be prepared for that highlight every time we punt for a few weeks.

 

10 - Coaching - Can someone please get a hold of 2020 McD and tell him we need him back as a coach, because 2019 McD is going to get us in trouble.  If you are going to be cautious, then at least be consistent with it.  The decision to punt on our out 40 in the first half, but then go for it in the second half from further out made zero sense to me.  Allen even tried to keep the offense on the field and was overturned.  The trick play on 4th and one was a travesty and should never be ran again.  Overall, this team was not ready for this game and McD was out-coached by Tomlin.  Daboll had some terrible play calls and didn't seem to know how to use his guys out there.  He was getting great runs out of Motor from the shotgun, and then proceeded to try again later in power formations.  Yes, Allen didn't execute well and that blocked punt was a killer, but I put this loss on our McD and Daboll as much as anyone else.  It was embarrassing and the fans deserved better. 

 

 

One week down and it's not what everyone wanted to see, but it is only one week.  If Allen needs to have a bounceback game, what better team to face than the Dolphins next.  It's frustrating to kill the hype train at our first regular season home game in over 18 months and when the fans showed up like they did, but it's a long 17 game season and there were a lot of positive take aways from today.  I look forward to a new week and a strong season from this team.  We will find out rhythm and get this party started, it's just going to be a little later than we thought.

 

Go Bills!

 

 

3. Tremaine still doesn't play thru the whistle.........he let up on a play where the ball was tipped and the delayed reaction cost him a much better chance of intercepting the ball.    He always seems caught off guard when opportunity knocks.  The big plays are what they need to start getting from him.

[LABILLBACKER]

Excellent piece Virgil. It all begins with coaching,  playcalling and preparation. Unfortunately Sean and Brian crapped the bed today. The refereeing calls today were clearly lopsided as holding was repeatedly ignored by Steve Carell and his crew. Josh as he admitted was too amped and aggressive (again). He's gotta find some zen to calm it down by kickoff. Josh needs to get that mojo back quickly against a team he does well against.  Loved the way Motor looked but BD insists on putting our running game on the back burner. Our adjustments need to happen faster. Not after quarters or half, but drives. We have to choose our 4th down battles more intelligently. Happy with the D giving up only 16.

[newcam2012]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

For months, fans, radio announcers, and players have all talked about the Bills home opener as being the place to be.  Being at the game today, the fans did not disappoint.  The lots filled up early, traffic was heavy, and the music was loud.  In all my years attending games, that was easily the most electric of a tail gate experience as I can remember seeing.  The weather held off, the Bills are Super Bowl favorites, and they were favored by almost a touchdown.  All that was left was to take care of business...

 

1 - Stadium Experience - I've attended Bills games since the early 90's, attended multiple playoff games, and witnessed huge comebacks.  I write that to give context when I saw that this was the loudest Bills game I've ever been to.  I literally couldn't hear the announcers or the people talking beside me when it was at it's loudest.  At kick-off, there wasn't a single fan trying to find their seats as the stadium was 100% full and rockin.  All of the pre-game hype and ticket prices for this game lived up to the billing.  The rain never came, the wind was rarely a factor, but the food was terrible.  I can only speak for the visitors side on the lower deck, but the only food options were pizza and hot dogs.  This is the first Bills game I've ever attended where I couldn't get an italian sausage inside the stadium. 

 

2 - Defensive Line - Of everything going on in the game, I watched the defensive line rotation as closely as possible.  The rotation of the defensive ends appeared to go by series.  Groot was out there for the first two, rotated on the other side by Hughes and Addison.  Groot and Addison appeared to be the most effective.  Oliver played a hell of a game, disrupting the inside and getting pressure quite a few times.  Addison showed good speed on the strip sack and Groot didn't hit home, but got good pressure against a quick pass release and chased a few runs down from behind.  Granted, against a weak offensive line, I expected a bit more production, but the loss of this game cannot be put on the core guys up front.  Harris didn't get anything going on the ground and Frazier did start sending some more guys in the second half.  I'm still not a fan of having so many active lineman, especially when it means keeping Groot off the field.  I can't say I noticed Obada on the field at all.

 

3 - Edmunds - As a player I'm usually pretty hard on, I thought Edmunds had a great game.  He was quick, decisive, and in the backfield on quite a few runs.  His coverage over the middle was strong too.  On the one somewhat deep pass down the middle, the TE slipped and appeared down, only to get up and then sneak down the seem for a catch.  Overall, for those looking for a positive sign that Edmunds might turn it on this year, today was a good first step.

 

4 - I take a walk outside, I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear
Mm, and twisted thoughts that spin 'round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning, how quick the sun can drop away

 

5 - Allen - When you get paid the second most of NFL quarterbacks, the expectations go through the roof.  Call it sugar high Allen or whatever you want, but Allen was not on his game today and you could see it in his body language.  The pressure was there from Watt and Gordon sometimes, but that was not an excuse for some of the missed throws and poor decisions.  He missed Sanders on a wide open deep ball, but also made some questionable throws downfield to guys double/triple covered.  While playing man in the first half, the Steelers relaxed into zone in the second.  On a few drives, there were receivers being covered on one side of the field by a linebacker in zone, but Allen never looked their way for the easy first downs, as he seemed locked in on his guy.  While not trying to take away from the Steelers defense, the opportunity was there for Allen to deliver and he just wasn't the player we saw most of last year.

 

6 - Wide Receivers - When I think of a stubborn coach, I always think of Mike Martz and his compulsion to prove what he could and couldn't do.  I say that because I feel like Sanders is being force fed down our throats as an offensive weapon.  While he worked downfield on a few plays, he overall acted in the same role as Beasley.  In the red zone, we had Diggs, Beasley, and Sanders out there and I couldn't figure it out.  In the first half, I only counted a few plays where Davis was even out on the field.  The fact that he was on the bench, Kumerow didn't see the field in the red zone, led me to believe that we ran a very stubborn game plan.  The Steelers secondary is one of their biggest weaknesses, and we never really pushed the ball downfield.  It was either a deep shot or something underneath.  The deeper crossing routes were nowhere to be seen and the usage of our 2020 TD receiving leader was abysmal. 

 

7 - Refs - Each official has a specific assignment on the field.  The head ref watches the quarterback, the line judge watches the line of scrimmage.  On deep plays, the deep side judge watches the receivers and plays downfield.  On the pass interference call, please help me understand why the female ref threw the flag from 20 yards behind the play when there was another ref right next to the play and didn't throw a flag?  In watching the replay on the big screen, I did not see pass interference, so I definitely don't know how she saw it from where she was standing.  That was a game changing play (so was the blocked punt), and McD was furious about it.  Even after the Steelers scored a touchdown, McD was in her ear about it until the white hat came over.  The officiating wasn't terrible overall, but it did feel like some of those holds were one sided.  I also argue the hold against Tre.  While contact was made, it felt like hand fighting and didn't affect the play.  Ben through a bad pass and Tre broke on it.  Another call that hurt us badly.

 

8 - Dawkins - For all the focus on Watt, and rightfully so, Dawkins got abused by Gordon on the other side.  Two of his holds were survival holds and he wasn't able to get any push ass they tried to power run to his side.  I don't know if he's not fully recovered and in shape from his bout from COVID, but that was not a good look for him and we will need better protection from him on Allen's blindside.

 

9 - Special Teams - One play shouldn't define a unit, but when it leads to a touchdown, it's hard to not give this unit a failing grade.  McKenzie had a great opening kick off that we squandered into a field goal and Bass is just money.  Haak booted his first punt into the end zone and settled down after that.  On the blocked punt however, our line just crumbled to the Steelers.  I don't know what the miss was, but it seemed like we just got dominated and the game was over from there.  Be prepared for that highlight every time we punt for a few weeks.

 

10 - Coaching - Can someone please get a hold of 2020 McD and tell him we need him back as a coach, because 2019 McD is going to get us in trouble.  If you are going to be cautious, then at least be consistent with it.  The decision to punt on our out 40 in the first half, but then go for it in the second half from further out made zero sense to me.  Allen even tried to keep the offense on the field and was overturned.  The trick play on 4th and one was a travesty and should never be ran again.  Overall, this team was not ready for this game and McD was out-coached by Tomlin.  Daboll had some terrible play calls and didn't seem to know how to use his guys out there.  He was getting great runs out of Motor from the shotgun, and then proceeded to try again later in power formations.  Yes, Allen didn't execute well and that blocked punt was a killer, but I put this loss on our McD and Daboll as much as anyone else.  It was embarrassing and the fans deserved better. 

 

 

One week down and it's not what everyone wanted to see, but it is only one week.  If Allen needs to have a bounceback game, what better team to face than the Dolphins next.  It's frustrating to kill the hype train at our first regular season home game in over 18 months and when the fans showed up like they did, but it's a long 17 game season and there were a lot of positive take aways from today.  I look forward to a new week and a strong season from this team.  We will find out rhythm and get this party started, it's just going to be a little later than we thought.

 

Go Bills!

Great write up. I always look forward to it. 

[Nihilarian]

Good stuff Virgil

 

Perhaps not playing the starters enough in preseason hurt their performance for the opener...who knows.

 

Just like against KC in last years championship game...the Buffalo offensive line simply wasn't good enough in the game to protect Allen. Think back to the 2020 season and when Allen had time in the pocket he did whatever he wanted game after game and the results were great things in the passing game. 

 

Singletary 11 carries for 72 yards, a 6.5 average. Yes, one 25 yard run.

Josh Allen, 30 of 51 for 270 yards. Allen 9 rushes for 44 yards. 51 pass attempts...

 

 

That 2020 Pittsburgh defense was #3 overall and they showed up big this season again against the pass. They were #3 in passing attempts and passing yards allowed all that year. #12th in rush attempts and 11th in rush yards allowed. 

 

My biggest fear going into this game was that Steelers RB Najee Harris (6'1 232 lbs) was going to run all over Buffalo for big yards, he didn't!   16 carries for 45 yards, 2.8 YPC avg. 

 

The Buffalo defense showed up today. Special teams had a huge breakdown. 

56 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Daboll had some terrible play calls and didn't seem to know how to use his guys out there.  He was getting great runs out of Motor from the shotgun, and then proceeded to try again later in power formations. 

No argument from me here. Where was Jake Kumerow? 

 

Someone still on vacation after that 2020 Miami game? 

 

 

On another note, As good as that Green Bay Packers offense was supposed to be this season. Aaron Rodgers was shown the bench in  a 38-3 loss in NO. The Bills play that Saints team week 12. 

 

 

[Mark Vader]

48 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

This sums it up pretty well. Out of all the receivers, Allen seemed to have the best connections with Diggs and Davis. Should've rode those two in the passing game and ran the ball more on 1st down.

 

I expect them to fix some things. These coaches have shown time and again that they can improve during the season, so it's weird that some posters seem to be doubting them so much. Just overreacting to game 1. I can't imagine how depressed Packers fans are right now.

I'm not doubting the coaches abilities to improve during the season, I was befuddled by how they appeared to not be able to improvise from the first half to the second half.

 

The one yard screen passes we did today, never worked, and brought back nightmares of Doug Marrone.

 

@Virgilfantastic write-up, I can only imagine what the intensity in the stadium was like, especially after the opening kick off. What a waste of great field position. Again, the second down play was a one yard screen to Diggs. Hated that, and Josh Allen did not look comfortable throwing those passes.

 

I agree with you about Edmunds, he played very good today. While Rousseau never made the big play today, his presence was there and I was surprised at how much playing time he got. Obada was not very effective, but Epenesa did apply pressure and came oh so close to getting a couple of sacks.

 

The referees were abysmal. The interference on Wallace was highly questionable, and the holding on Tre White was bogus. 

 

I did not like all of the designed running plays for Allen, we need to do that less. Also, why was Breida active, when we barely used him? And when we did use him, they had him running up the middle?

 

Such a shame, especially with how good the defense played today. They only gave up 16 points. We should win every time that happens. Inexcusable.

 

Oh yes, Dawson Knox caught all 4 passes thrown to him today. Another reason we lost? 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Mark Vader

[GoBills808]

You probably shouldn’t lose this game:

 

[Mark Vader]

5 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

You probably shouldn’t lose this game:

 

Bizarre.

 

Shows how big that blocked punt was.

[GoBills808]

11 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

Bizarre.

 

Shows how big that blocked punt was.

Today was the first time in over a year I felt like the coaches didn’t believe in the identity of the team they’ve built. Bizarre indeed.

[cale]

Bill Parcells used to hate superstar quarterbacks who played "hero ball." As much as I love Josh, I think he got too caught up in that. He didn't play smart. Didn't take what the D gave him and he certainly wasn't seeing the whole field. It almost felt like he and Daboll were reading their press clippings and really feeling themselves. I want them to be aggressive. But I also want them to be smart. They need to go watch how Stefanski took the game to the Chiefs on Sunday. They were arguably more creative with less weapons. Sure they lost. But for most of the game they had the Chiefs on their heels.

[machine gun kelly]

As always, thanks Virg.  The running game was working and we didn’t expand on it.  Whether it was Josh making a poor throw or the drops from the WR’s,  they waited way too long before they used the run game more effectively.  Coaching was terrible, and Daboll if you’re going to out in a heavy set, RUN THE DAMN BALL.  We were winning that game although sloppily until 10:38 in the 4th quarter.

 

Virg, thanks for the write up and I believe we can improve in Miami, but as you said, no more stubborn ball.  Now I haven’t nor any of us seen the all 22, so only the guys at the game would know when we were throwing it to Sanders, was anyone else open, or was he the only one open.  You can’t tell from the tv in most situations.

Edited September 13, 2021 by machine gun kelly

[BobbyC81]

One other thing not mentioned yet in this thread:  why do they keep bringing Levi Wallace back as the starting CB when he has games like this?  He was horrible.

[GunnerBill]

The only major point of disagreement I'd have Virgil is I do think it was PI on Wallace. He got there before the ball, didn't get his head around and impeded the receiver. I was surprised when the closest official did not throw a flag and was about to say we got away with one when the late flag came in. We got away with a lot more offensive holds that weren't called but I agree on the Tre White flag. I though that was very, very soft.

14 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

As always, thanks Virg.  The running game was working and we didn’t expand on it.  Whether it was Josh making a poor throw or the drops from the WR’s,  they waited way too long before they used the run game more effectively.  Coaching was terrible, and Daboll if you’re going to out in a heavy set, RUN THE DAMN BALL.  We were winning that game although sloppily until 10:38 in the 4th quarter.

 

Virg, thanks for the write up and I believe we can improve in Miami, but as you said, no more stubborn ball.  Now I haven’t nor any of us seen the all 22, so only the guys at the game would know when we were throwing it to Sanders, was anyone else open, or was he the only one open.  You can’t tell from the tv in most situations.

 

Just a point on the run game working... I mean it wasn't really. Singletary ended with 11 for 72 yards but he had 2 for 40 yards on that drive once we went down 10 inside 10 remaining at which point the Steelers were definitely playing softer because long runs don't hurt you at that point.

[bmur66]

Looks like a Chuck and Duck offense when Allen has a bad game. I really wish they had a running game for games like this.