A few thoughts about the Titans game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Noticed most of his deep balls were under thrown last night. Which is weird for a dude with his arm. Again, another reason I disagree with saying he was "great". Still love him, but an off night.

Fine.  I’ll change it from great to good enough to win 😋

[WideNine]

 

Thanks Virgil.

 

Nice write-up right there with ya on how tired I am getting of us losing games to that squad.

 

The new kid Spencer I can forgive the rookie bumps in the road. The other guys on the OL just needed to be better moving guys.

 

I thought in the second half they fixed some of their protection issues and Allen often had time, but they were abysmal getting any push on short yardage.

 

Damn.... going to be a long 2 weeks.

 

 

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

1 hour ago, beavis said:

Titans were dropping bodies. Do that in January. Don't do that in October. I bet Titans don't make the playoffs.

 

 

Epnesa, Zimmer, and Klein really were no brainers here. Move Edmunds back 2 yards. Blitz from the edge.

They did seem to gas out on the dline late in the game too.  I'm shocked they came up so huge on that 4th down

3 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Fine.  I’ll change it from great to good enough to win 😋

It's crazy how much getting the W or the L changes the perception of things.  If he gets the ball one inch further on that hurdle and we get in the end zone I bet he'd be the mvp favorite right now and the whole sports world would be talking him up...but now we've got people saying he was mediocre last night loll

[ILBillsfan]

You nailed this when you said there front four vs our 5 on that last play...The Bills should win this identify the double team smash and go to that side.  Not experienced enough to know the line call but seeing the three inside guys go right and Brown then come behind them it looked like Josh should of went right and then had Brown on the back pushing to get that.  Thought Tennessee really gambled only putting four there and almost inviting the Bills on the sneak.

 

I personally agree with the call.  I would of liked to seen Josh start there under center and also have the hard count to help there as well

[Southern Bills Fan]

Great write up. I would have gone for it on fourth down because our defense wasn’t going to stop Tennessee at that point. The play didn’t work because Dawkins got blown up and pushed back into Allen. I can’t ever remember a tackle getting blown up like that on a QB sneak. 

[npeartisgod]

I look forward to these write ups. I couldn’t get to sleep I was so upset. Crazy, it’s just a game; but dammit, the years of suffering were supposed to be over last year.

 

I did not expect 16-1, but they (Titans) were dropping like flies out there; thank God the guy carted off is ok!

 

The Bills have simply GOT to play elite football week in and out. That’s it. Full stop. And hate on me if you want, but Daboll is only human and he’s been absolutely wrecked by tragedy in three weeks’ time. 
 

Take a week off Bills, and let’s show up for the next one.

 

ps—and the long shot to Diggs resulting in PI was NOT underthrown as the idiot on tv kept saying. The Titans’ defender shoved Diggs forward into the end zone, ergo making the pass fall behind. It was a killer throw.

Edited October 19, 2021 by npeartisgod

[Realist]

Nice write up as usual, agree with most of your points.

 

I don't agree they did a decent job on Henry. Every yard counts, it was more than just the 73 yard TD, he had a couple of other big runs and also it seemed whenever they needed only 2 or 3 yards for a first, Henry got it. The defense stopped him several times, but not when they needed to in order to get off the field.

 

Because they were forced to worry about Henry all the time, they also failed miserably at defending the play action.

[nedboy7]

51 minutes ago, Realist said:

Nice write up as usual, agree with most of your points.

 

I don't agree they did a decent job on Henry. Every yard counts, it was more than just the 73 yard TD, he had a couple of other big runs and also it seemed whenever they needed only 2 or 3 yards for a first, Henry got it. The defense stopped him several times, but not when they needed to in order to get off the field.

 

Because they were forced to worry about Henry all the time, they also failed miserably at defending the play action.

 

Take away the 76 yrd TD cause of holding.... he was 67 yrds on 19 carries for a 3.53 avg.  It really is decent I think.  He does however change the entire D approach. 

[billsfan89]

A loss stings (and it was an extra big sting for me as it caused me to lose my fantasy football game) but in the end the Bills lost a road shootout to a good team. They lost basically because they couldn't execute a QB sneak late in the game. 

[In Summary]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

1 - Trenches - This game was lost in the trenches on both sides of the ball.  The Titans had three guys with their hands planted and one roaming fourth defender come at Josh for most of the game.  In some cases, that was enough as the Bills offensive line struggled to pick up the stunt.  There were a few plays that Allen looked deep, but had to get rid of the ball or got hit as he threw.  The line didn't get much push as Motor and Moss were relatively ineffective all game, even though Daboll kept pushing it up until the last drive.  Similar to the Steelers game, and what we will probably see against the Bucs, our offensive line is still not able to win the 5 on 4 match-ups, allowing the opposing defenses to drop 7 into coverage, with two safeties deep.

 

2 - Allen - Allen had an overall good game, barring the second to last series were he took an unnecessary shot deep against double coverage, setting us up for a long 3rd down.  I have no issue with him wanting to take shots downfield, but that wasn't the coverage or time to do it.  Had he taken the open underneath passes, we would have had a much more manageable third down and possibly a sustained drive.  The slip on the 4th down sneak to end the game was unfortunate, but it's hard to blame Allen for that one.  Considering the lack of run support, pass rush, and two deep safeties, Allen did more than enough to win the game.

Re 1:   Probably more disappointed in the O-line.  Not much time for Allen.

Re 2:  3rd and really long and throwing lower percentage bombs?  It was as though Daball/Josh wanted highlight plays more than they wanted a 1st down.  Ill-timed indeed.

Other:  The number of flags in games has conditioned me to not enjoy the play as it happens (e.g. the McKenzie return).   I just expect a flag and a nullified play.

[BobbyC81]

3 hours ago, Success said:

On #10, I'm in the "go for it every time" crowd, but agree w/ your analysis.  First, it's not really a "debate" - both points of view on the core decision are valid, imo.  I don't see how anyone can really fault the aggressiveness, and I certainly wouldn't have complained had they kicked the FG there. But I liked the mentality.

 

But the bigger issue is the play call itself.  In general, we see that too much.  Dallas did it Sunday and almost lost the game as a result (and BB always stacks against the run on those plays - more than other coaches).  They were aggressive on the decision, but ultra-conservative on the play call.  Let Josh play fake & see what's available.  If he chooses to run, he's better in space regardless.

 

Great write-up, and a great game.  Rare is the loss where I don't feel discouraged.  I'm still just as optimistic as I was when we beat KC.

 

Yes, Josh is so good at throwing on the run to the right, I’d have rather seen them run that.  Being outplayed in the trenches and running a QB sneak near the goal line was just dumb.

[Nextmanup]

4 minutes ago, BobbyC81 said:

Yes, Josh is so good at throwing on the run to the right, I’d have rather seen them run that.  Being outplayed in the trenches and running a QB sneak near the goal line was just dumb.

Totally disagree.  Josh missed converting on that play only once when the snap was fumbled (bad snap).

 

Josh sneaking 6 inches forward is virtually a guarantee, except for when it isn't.

 

When something disappointing like that happens, people IMMEDIATELY want to start BLAMING someone or some thing.

 

The reality is going for it on 4th down was TOTALLY the right call; the play call was just fine and it should have worked.

But it didn't.  Move forward and be very grateful that didn't involve our season ending.

 

There's no blame to spread here!  It just didn't work.

 

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Seems like a good thread for this ; i think with Justin Zimmer 's size and athleticism he should be used as a short yardage back. Im not saying every time but on plays were both teams know what were doing then it would be a good time, especially when Allen was getting shut down for the most part in games like last night. Also trick plays could be designed off this setup so its not obvious all the time.

 

 

[BobbyC81]

5 hours ago, Virgil said:

 

 

9 - Offensive Line - Spencer Brown, the golden child by many, had a rough game out there.  He allowed a pressure which led to an interception.  Morse and Mongo couldn't communicate on stunt plays, letting guys run free to Josh.  Dawkins got destroyed on the final play.  Overall, in the second week of their new look starting lineup, the Bills front 5 were didn't show up when it mattered most and it showed on the final scoreboard.  With no rushing attack, Allen was his normal pass happy self and made some throws to counter the pass rush.  However, with a better effort up front, we could have easily seen a better outcome.

 

 

Go Bills!!!!

On one play that sticks in my memory, the Titans had only 3 D-linemen, with Landry positioned near the edge, who was probably rushing.  They ran a stunt and Landry got thru to sack Josh.  Meanwhile, Williams is by himself near the line of scrimmage looking around for someone to block.  I also noticed Williams a couple of times diving to try and get a hand on a rusher already running free.  Same with Brown.

[DCbillsfan]

4 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Again, this goes to my point - if you don't like the Baysian probability thing, call it macro-probability (overall success against any team we've played) vs micro-probability (probability of success given in-game observations against this specific opponent in this game).

 

IMHO the overall analytics need to be modified to account for new in-game information of how the OL is performing against this team on this day.

 

 

I actually agreed with the decision to go for it.  However I did not like the play call.  The Oline was struggling pretty much all game.  I would have preferred an Allen rollout to his right with an option of either throwing or running it in.  The defense couldn't stop the Titans and I think this weighed heavily on McD's decision to go for it.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, DCbillsfan said:

I actually agreed with the decision to go for it.  However I did not like the play call.  The Oline was struggling pretty much all game.  I would have preferred an Allen rollout to his right with an option of either throwing or running it in.  The defense couldn't stop the Titans and I think this weighed heavily on McD's decision to go for it.

 

That's about where I am.  Overall I believe the win probabilities are higher if you go for it.  But given how our OL and their DL were playing, a different playcall may have been better.

[Best Williams Available]

4 hours ago, cale said:

There's no way a team this talented on offense should settle for field goals. But we are essentially one dimensional without a solid running game. We just happen to have an other worldly QB who in most games gets enough protection. Completely agree, that lack of adjustments killed us.

How many wasted runs did we have in the red zone? Daboll using them to keep LBs from defending the EZ on passes or something? That was infuriating. We lost the last series by running 2x in a row.

[CincyBillsFan]

4 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Our problem in the red zone is we have no real run game. People talk about our YPC but a lot those yards are gifted to us by defenses that are overplaying the pass. When the deep passing windows go away, we see what the run game is really made of. Every time we hand the ball off in the red zone it is a complete waste of a down. But I can't blame Daboll too much, if we just pass it every time defenses can tee off. I don't have statistics on this but it feels like a lot of our TDs this year have been from 20+ yards out. Once we get inside the 10 yard line our offensive identity doesn't work.

This is spot on.  And defenses are onto the designed Allen runs.  My thought is that once they get in the red zone they should pass on almost every down with Allen being told to run if anything opens up. 

[Peter]

5 hours ago, Virgil said:

Dawkins got destroyed on the final play. 

 

I tend to be conservative as well, but I am 100% fine with McD going for it. Gutsy move.

 

Of course, we all would be feeling a whole lot better today if, as you say, Dawkins did not get absolutely destroyed on the final offensive play.

 

I was a bit surprised that we had so much trouble with the Titans given their injuries etc. The Titans definitely would be a very tough team to play against in the playoffs if they are healthier than they were yesterday.

 

Oh well, these next couple of weeks without Buffalo Bills football are going to be tough. 

[CodeMonkey]

Overall agree completely. Just disagree on 2 things:

Best Shot: I agree the Titans played their hearts out, but "we got the Titan's absolute best game" with the injuries they had on the defensive side of the ball simply is not possible IMO.

 

The Play: "I don't blame McD for going for it and understand why."  I do.  He is supposed to know better, and the topper was the play call as you mentioned.  But, Josh yells to the sideline to go for it every 4th down less than 5 yards it seems.  Maybe he will learn a valuable lesson from yesterday.

 

All in all it was a fun game to watch and the Bills showed well.  Just need to improve more in both play and in-game coaching decisions before they will be bringing home the big prize.

 

And, Henry is a freak ... period