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

[Niagara Bill]

A note to consider, in most 35 to 0 blow outs 1 or 2 TDs are often defensive TDs. 

This was all offensive scoring and control. Our defence was outstanding when it needed to be, but we had no gimme scores. Impressive.

[Mango]

Let me just say, I looked forward to these from @Bill from NYC, and I look forward to them from you. You have done a tremendous job in taking the reigns. Thank you!

I agree on most things...except for one thing. Then one add on. 

1 and 2 Not to take away from AJE, but I saw that Jerry, Star, and Ed Oliver had higher win rates vs. the OL. Which is remarkable given the snap count for some of those guys. AJE may not have shown up on the stat sheet but he had a helluva game. Similarly, AJE made some splash plays, but the rest of the DL was right there with him in terms of productivity. 

 

5. Thunder and Lightning At the risk of beating a dead horse, Singletary does not have very good top end speed. The difference between elite top end speed and Singletary is literally the percentage difference (8.7%) between Tom Brady, a meme of a professional athlete running 40 yards, and Baker Mayfield, somebody who most would consider reasonably athletic QB in the league.

For reference, Daniel Jones had an 80 yard carry last year. Nobody would consider him to have good top end speed. 

[Pete]

Great points.

 

I'm an old Bills fan and I remember going 0 for the 70s against Miami.  We lost 20 straight.  I still hate the Dolphins LOL

 

Trailing 7-3 going into the fourth quarter, Buffalo scored two touchdowns in the final 3:42 of the game to secure a 17-7 win. Fans stormed the field and tore down the goalposts after the game - a sign that the fans were feeling the losing streak even more than the team itself.

"Stingy" Ralph Wilson didn't care about the vandlaism. "It’s the biggest win this club’s ever had," he commented. "Bigger than the AFL championships. I’ll be happy to buy new goal posts."

 

for those with facebook- great vintage WKBW footage - at 1:55 we are ripping down goalposts, celebrating beating Dolphins in a regular season game, first time since the 1960's!

 

That makes the Bills dominance over Miami extra sweet

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155073077846892

[hondo in seattle]

12 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

The one comment I'll make is glad to see the Bills ran more, but didn't like all the 1st down run calls.  Would rather see them pass on 1st down when teams are more geared to stopping the run.  Even quick short passes for 6 or 7 yards on 1st, then run on 2nd and 4!

 

Is this true anymore?   

 

I don't think opponents necessarily expect the Bills to run on 1st down.  I think they expect the short pass.

[Irv]

Good write up!  By my untrained eye, it looks like Allen has regressed to passing off his back foot like he did earlier in his career.  

[hondo in seattle]

21 minutes ago, Niagara Bill said:

A note to consider, in most 35 to 0 blow outs 1 or 2 TDs are often defensive TDs. 

This was all offensive scoring and control. Our defence was outstanding when it needed to be, but we had no gimme scores. Impressive.

 

That's an interesting point.  Much has been said about the relative impotence of our passing attack.  I've talked about it myself.  

 

Yet this game had no ST or defensive TDs.   The offense had some crap drives.  Allen and the passing attack seemed off.  And yet the O still found pay-dirt 5 times.  It was a good day's work.  

[hondo in seattle]

3 minutes ago, Irv said:

Good write up!  By my untrained eye, it looks like Allen has regressed to passing off his back foot like he did earlier in his career.  

 

Did you see the Chris Sims breakdown of the Steeler's game?  He only broke down one play, unfortunately, but the Steelers were clearly ready for us.  They were jumping routes in anticipation, knocking receivers off routes, etc.  And they were getting pressure just rushing four.  Whether Allen's footwork was right or not wasn't the issue.   Their D was clearly better prepared than our O.   Butler ate Daboll for lunch.  

 

But now that you've said this, I'm going to pay more attention when watching the WFT game.  

[Nihilarian]

Highest rate of pressure allowed on pass plays this season...

 

Dolphins 55%

Jets 52%

Saints 46% 

Bills 44%

Lions 43%

 

From PFF

 

Defensive rankings, 

10. Miami Dolphins, (LW: 8th) All things considered, the Miami Dolphins did a nice job against the Buffalo Bills’ offense. Miami’s secondary limited Josh Allen to 179 passing yards on 33 attempts and Stefon Diggs was contained by Xavien Howard. But the defense got tired, allowing 14 fourth-quarter points, resulting in a 35-0 finish.

 

8. Buffalo Bills (LW: 15)

The Buffalo Bills defense is largely responsible for the shutout victory over the Miami Dolphins. Buffalo pressured Miami’s quarterbacks on 33-of-57 dropbacks, a stunning 57.9% pressure rate. Everyone made an impact in Week 2, but rookie Greg Rousseau (two sacks) is the real defensive MVP. Once the Bills’ offense figures things out, the AFC is up for grabs.

https://sportsnaut.com/nfl-defense-rankings/

 

Washington #6

Pittsburgh #4

Patriots #3

Bucs #2

 

[RoyBatty is alive]

2 hours ago, Casey D said:

Everyone should read the Kubiak analysis in the BN today.  Explains much.  Sorry but I can't seem to link it.

Could you at least give some highlights?

[BFLO]

8 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'm hampered by "No All-22" and the new Gamepass interface which, unless I'm missing something, has no ability to go directly to different plays.  It sucks.

That said, I'm halfway through a detailed re-watch of the game and I'm here to say that I see a BUTTLOAD of pressure still.

 

There were 3 throw aways under pressure and a batted pass - that's 25% of the passes thrown in the first half.  Of the 16 throws, I consider Allen under pressure in half of them.

 

 Now I'll say right here that it's not the whole story - there were 2 high throws and a pick, and there was an additional throw I would call a bad decision.  Two were not thrown under pressure and 2 were. So that's 25% of the passes thrown in the first half. 

 

A number of the 7 completions lacked pressure only because they were quick passes.  There was one completion on a deep pass.

 

So I would say that while it wasn't the complete and total jailbreak of the Pitt game, there was still a lot of pressure and Allen wasn't running for his life trying to pass as much because he was either getting the ball out quickly, or he was just running.

 

 

See, I disagree with a lot of the take here (see above).  I think pass rush was still a concern, and I don't understand how someone could watch the game and think it wasn't.  There were poor throws - a high throw and the pick - that were NOT thrown under pressure.    Rashoman-like!  Most of the first half completions had no pressure only because they were quick throws.

 

I said elsewhere and will repeat here, one objective stat is the 'pocket time" metric on pro-football-reference.  It was 2.6 seconds last year, and is 1.2 seconds so far this year.  Pressure is an issue.  Hopefully all the running we did this game will help.

 

However....you may be "on" to something about the impact of Sanders.

Diggs 13 receptions on 21 targets, 62%

Beasley 12 receptions on 17 targets, 71%

Sanders 6 receptions on 14 targets, 43%

He's not being targeted more than Diggs or Sanders, but he's getting a lot of targets and catching less of them, and I would say that Allen's timing with him is just off.

 

 

 

I'd like to see Gabe Davis getting that target share that Sanders is currently receiving. I know Gabe hasn't been healthy, but once he's back to 100% he should be our #3, he proved himself in that role last year. Sanders should be a great #4, but he's really letting us down so far as a #3. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, BFLO said:

I'd like to see Gabe Davis getting that target share that Sanders is currently receiving. I know Gabe hasn't been healthy, but once he's back to 100% he should be our #3, he proved himself in that role last year. Sanders should be a great #4, but he's really letting us down so far as a #3. 

 

I think they'll give it a hot minute because Sanders "boo boo foot" and lack of practice reps with Josh during the pre-season obviously hindered timing, and I see a bunch of throws where it seems to me that timing is off.  But it needs to get fixed, and fast.

[BringBackFlutie]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yes. 

 

I agree there was still too much pressure. I will review the all22 today but I think on a first view the pressure has got into Josh's head a bit and his feet are fidgety which is why he is still missing some non pressurised throws. I am not sure the line played that much better than last week. It just faced a weaker opponent.

This I completely agree with.  He's not losing his mind or anything.  He's simply not setting his feet, and I think it's because he's hearing footsteps. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, Protocal69 said:

What's crazy about the ALL-22 thing is that some people have access to them somehow. I  messaged a guy on youtube that had the ALL-22 and he attached a google file link with all of weeks 1 ALL-22 except for the Bills game cause the file was corrupt smh at my request. Here is the file: 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GawwQ-BsDNy_k4NaN_MAmt8QmcoDCaKB

 

I would love to know how he had access to them. 

@GunnerBill has said NFL international customers have it, it's just we stooges in the US that are getting stiffed.

 

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I agree there was still too much pressure. I will review the all22 today but I think on a first view the pressure has got into Josh's head a bit and his feet are fidgety which is why he is still missing some non pressurised throws. I am not sure the line played that much better than last week. It just faced a weaker opponent.

 

IMHO it has not been uncommon, including in 2020, for Josh to miss a couple of his initial throws high.

I think we're just noticing it way more this season because overall, completions are hard to come by, but I'm not a QB guru to diagnose his mechanics.

 

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I would love to know how he had access to them. 

@GunnerBill has said NFL international customers have it, it's just we stooges in the US that are getting stiffed.

 

Week 2s is up for us international folks. just looking at it now.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Could you at least give some highlights?

 

Quote

The difference from the opening loss to Pittsburgh was not necessarily what Bills quarterback Josh Allen did, but in what he did not do. Allen completed 17 of 33 attempts for 179 yards and two touchdowns and an interception, compiling a very respectable QB Performance Grade of 90.5%. He was sacked once. 

 

Allen played with patience, passion and veteran leadership. His poise was on display as he threw the football away five times, which went a long way to keeping drives alive and minimizing offensive miscues. When opportunities weren’t there, Allen played smart, checking himself rather than attempting to force a result. While the throwaways hurt him statistically as incompletions, this approach shows growth and maturity and provides a blueprint for his future success.

 

Quote

Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll strategically adjusted, as well, with less razzle-dazzle and better run/pass balance. The Bills rushed 31 times for 147 yards and that kept Allen in better situations to attack the Dolphins’ approach that was geared toward stopping the pass.

 

Quote

On the second series, Allen capped off a seven-play drive with this amazing touchdown pass.

Allen steps up into the pocket to avoid the rush and rolls to his right. One of the cardinal rules for quarterback play is to never throw across your body and into the middle of the field. However, Allen does not always play within ordinary quarterback rules. Here, Allen strings out the play long enough to find Diggs for the touchdown. The fact that Allen was able to create time for himself for as long as he did was incredible, but Diggs did something extraordinary on this play as well. He fell to the ground, but he quickly got to his feet and instinctively came back to Allen from the spot he had fallen. 

 

He talks about the Allen INT and has a different perspective on the play, that it may have been "crossed wires":

Quote

Here the Bills’ offense is in an empty right formation. We can hear Allen call an audible and touch his helmet to visually alert his teammates that he was changing the play. We can only speculate on what it all means, but it is interesting to note that center Mitch Morse, left guard Jon Feliciano and left tackle Dion Dawkins all pass-set and released for what appeared to be a screen to the left side of the field. This was very peculiar, in that it would not be normal protection for a quick passing concept like a double slant. The other unique aspect of this play is that there wasn’t a running back in the back field to potentially catch a screen. 

Allen was late throwing the slant to Diggs, which gave the Miami defender the opportunity to undercut the throw. It appeared that either Daboll had his left side of the line releasing for a screen to make the Dolphins defensive linemen react differently, or something else was crossed up on the play that made Allen hesitate on his delivery. 
 

The lateness of the throw and the fact that it was behind Diggs leads me to believe something caused the inaccuracy. This was either Albert Einstein-level genius in screening the linemen in the quick passing game, or a case of crossed wires. In either event, the timing was uncharacteristically out of sync and late for a slant route.

 

To my eyes, Allen completed a very similar throw to a well-covered Sanders in the 2nd half, so I tend to believe Kubiak that something was off with that play (one could see two of our OL past the pass rushers and out of position and not acting as though they were beaten.  It was wierd)

 

Quote

Conclusion

Any 35-0 victory is a superb team accomplishment. The Bills smothered and demoralized the Dolphins in every way, and although Allen didn’t have an incredibly productive game statistically, he did play very well. This road win against a team that defeated the New England Patriots in Week 1 was critical for the Bills’ confidence. Allen played with authority; he was settled and measured; and he put the team in good situations instead of attempting to play hero ball. 

 

There will certainly be a need for scintillating plays down the line, but this game required Allen to play within himself. He responded with a gritty and solid performance despite producing less statistically.

 

I will say that this is a superb write up by Kubiak complete with diagrams and his "do your job" grading on every play, and IMHO Kubiak's articles alone are worth the very modest trial subscription to The Buffalo News.  For those of you who are "I never pay for coverage" try it, and cancel if you don't like it.

 

28 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Week 2s is up for us international folks. just looking at it now.

 

You Suck, Limey 😘😘.   Let us know what you see!

[NoHuddleKelly12]

14 hours ago, Virgil said:

Milano makes the plays you keep hoping to see from Edmunds. 

Line of the year so far, imho. Great write up overall per usual OP. 

[GunnerBill]

16 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

You Suck, Limey 😘😘.   Let us know what you see!

 

Hahaha. The other thing I see a bit in Josh's mechanics is his delivery being a bit slingy - the INT (which you link Kubiak's comments to above), the throw just before the INT where he misses Diggs up the left sideline and the 2nd down play on the previous stalled drive where he bails a pocket he could step up into and then sails one over Beasley's head. 

 

I think he is just playing a bit frantic. His feet are not moving and setting as comfortably as last year, his delivery which he did so much work with Jordan Palmer on before last season has been a bit slingy in places.... fundamentally I think the protection issues have rattled him a bit. The conversation Sean, Brian and Ken should be having with him is "Josh, trust your protection. If they screw up and you can't escape in time we will get on their ass." Because at the moment the overall conclusion for me is that Josh at times is expecting the protection to fail and as such he is in almost panic mode on plays when he doesn't need to be. Forget what the guys up front are doing. Focus on what you are doing. In McDermott speak do your 1/11th rather than starting the play already thinking you have to overcome the line breakdowns. 

 

I don't think he has forgotten to read defenses or lost the ability to throw accurately. Just think he needs to settle down. I tend to agree with @HappyDays. One week soon will come out throwing, get into his rhythm nice and early and it will all click. No reason to panic at all IMO. 

 

I will say other than the fact I thought we ran too much on 1st down I didn't see an issue with the offensive gameplan or playcalling.  

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

Is this true anymore?   

 

I don't think opponents necessarily expect the Bills to run on 1st down.  I think they expect the short pass.

 

Good point, if true, then their 1st down runs didn't seem to be very effective at surprising the D

[Rico]

D looked a whole lot better with the much-maligned Star L than JAG Harry. 

[Casey D]

1 hour ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Could you at least give some highlights?

Sure thing.  Basically he said you should not measure the Miami game for Allen based on his stats. He thought Allen played a very strong game, and took what the defense was giving him.  He said teams are scheming to stop the Bills big play offense from 2020, and the Bills are adjusting accordingly.  Overall QB rating based on Kubiak's system was quite good.  He liked the five Allen throwaways on busted plays as Allen did not try to play hero ball, even though it lowered his completion %.  On the pic, he said the play was all screwed up and that resulted in the int.