Video analysis: How the Falcons shut down Dawson Knox

[HOUSE]

 

One of the breakout stars for the Buffalo Bills this season has been tight end Dawson Knox. The Bills have leaned heavily on him, with Knox only falling under 80 percent of snaps in three games he’s appeared in this season. The last time this happened was in mid-October. Against the visiting Atlanta Falcons, Knox fell just shy of 90 percent of playing time. Despite this new emphasis, Knox was only targeted twice against the Falcons. He had zero receptions. Did they do something special to take away the budding star? Let’s find out.

 

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2022/1/7/22869600/video-analysis-how-the-falcons-shut-down-dawson-knox

[machine gun kelly]

House this was excellent.  I love the cut up tape.  TY for sharing.

[GunnerBill]

Dawson now makes a difference to our offense not just with the plays he makes but he is now, as this shows, a legitimate weapon teams are gameplanning to stop. That is going to open other things up. We need to get younger at receiver around Diggs and Dawson and watch this explode again.

[Matt_In_NH]

46 receptions 538 yards and 9 TD's.  Noticeable uptick for him, particularly in TD's but I am not sure I would call him a breakout star.

[HOUSE]

Its a good sign when opposing teams target Dawson Knox, frees up coverage

[CSBill]

It's a good thing when Coaches are way more patient with player development than fans are.

[machine gun kelly]

34 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Dawson now makes a difference to our offense not just with the plays he makes but he is now, as this shows, a legitimate weapon teams are gameplanning to stop. That is going to open other things up. We need to get younger at receiver around Diggs and Dawson and watch this explode again.

Agreed GB.  We do have GD, and IM added to Diggs.  I think we use more of them tomorrow as Sanders and Beasely can keep healing up.  I doubt they’ll be here next year, so along with WR, TE, and more importantly Guards are important.

 

We can do some damage in the playoffs if all these guys are healthy down the stretch.  I know we need to win tomorrow, but being healthy for most likely the Cheats week 1 will be important.  Beat them by 20 and we can say the first meeting was the wind.  Any other given week, we dominate the Pats.

 

I hope McD keeps play calling aggressive like he did in Foxborough.  By far our best game with KC a close second.

[BuffaloBill]

28 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

Its a good sign when opposing teams target Dawson Knox, frees up coverage

 

 

Yes, and not something that would have been said last year.

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

Thanks! Josh is like why the heck do I want to comeplete a Five Yard easy completion to Dawson when I can chuck it 50 to Diggs in the snow lol What fun is that! 

 

 

 

 

[BuffaloBillyG]

2 hours ago, mattynh said:

46 receptions 538 yards and 9 TD's.  Noticeable uptick for him, particularly in TD's but I am not sure I would call him a breakout star.

Factor in he did that in a few less games due to the broken hand and I'd say he broke out quite nicely.

[YoloinOhio]

He’s going to be expensive. 

[CincyBillsFan]

1 hour ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

Thanks! Josh is like why the heck do I want to comeplete a Five Yard easy completion to Dawson when I can chuck it 50 to Diggs in the snow lol What fun is that! 

 

 

 

 

IMO that was the right choice by Allen.  It was actually close to being a TD and reminded the Falcons that even in those conditions he could throw it relatively accurately deep downfield. Since it was first down that was the time to take the shot. Had it been second down a throw to Knox there to make it a 3rd & 5 would have been the better play.

 

Also, why wasn't the Falcon defender flagged for a PF Blindside Hit when they cracked back on Knox on that one pattern?

 

Finally, I believe that the slower, snow covered field allowed the Falcons to get away with stuff they wouldn't have on a faster field.

 

 

 

 

[SCBills]

2 hours ago, mattynh said:

46 receptions 538 yards and 9 TD's.  Noticeable uptick for him, particularly in TD's but I am not sure I would call him a breakout star.

You do know there are other Tight Ends not named Kelce and Kittle, correct?  
 

Those guys have much more experience than Knox, so when you think breakout star, look at other TE’s around the same age.   Knox is in that next group to become the next wave of star Tight Ends.  Outside of Mark Andrews, Knox is arguably one of the next top TE’s. 

[Hebert19]

When I watched the game again the thing I came away with was that Knox is a heck of a blocker. 

[eball]

So…no Ertz?

[SCBills]

20 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

He’s going to be expensive. 

TE’s and Pass Rushers are an interesting dilemma. 
 

Unless you’re drafting a Hockenson, Pitts or Bosa brother, you typically need to develop these guys.  Then by Year 3/4 you start seeing them flourish (if they have it in them).   Unfortunately, that’s also when you need to think about paying them. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1 hour ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

Thanks! Josh is like why the heck do I want to comeplete a Five Yard easy completion to Dawson when I can chuck it 50 to Diggs in the snow lol What fun is that! 

 

 

 

 

That was exactly JA’s mindset. There were a lot more of those plays where Knox was just floating out there for an easy 5 yards and Josh ignored him. It was noticeable in real time all day.

 

While I think the Falcons did some things to try to limit knox, I don’t think that was why he had a quiet game. Josh just didn’t feel like throwing it short a lot. 
 

I also think the combination of the Falcons doing some tricky things in coverage and the oline protecting Josh well caused him to basically avoid the checkdowns. He looked all around downfield for a while and if he couldn’t find someone, then he would run. 

[BuffaloMatt]

55 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

He’s going to be expensive. 

Pay him. JA and DK have a long way to go to catch Brady and Gronk TD record! Having a quality TE pays dividends.

[Flipnmi]

3 hours ago, CSBill said:

It's a good thing when Coaches are way more patient with player development than fans are.

No truer words have ever been posted here!!

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

We need more of play #5. That was a thing of beauty by all the blockers. Morse and Knox specifically with great blocks.