All-22 Grades for Bills/Jets (The Athletic)

[HappyDays]

 

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2. Harrison Phillips becomes an absolute must re-signing

 

Among the standouts, one-technique defensive tackle Harrison Phillips stole the show. His running mate Ed Oliver also was excellent, but Phillips was a dominating force all game.

 

As a run defender, Phillips kept offensive linemen off his pads all game and timed up the precise moment to rip them away and assist on the tackle at the line of scrimmage. If he didn’t have the room to tear his blocker away, he would move the blocker in the way of the runner’s intended path and redirect the run to his teammates. As impressive as Phillips was as a run defender, he might have been even better as a pass rusher. He consistently broke free from his one-on-one opportunities to provide some pressure up the middle, or at the very least, to get Jets quarterback Zach Wilson moving backward. Phillips was an impact player, a driving force of the Bills’ success on Sunday and more than deserved his A grade.

 

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3. What to make of Ed Oliver at defensive end?

 

Oliver has been on fire all season and is drifting into the top tier of all Bills starters. He is arguably their most important defensive player because of how much pressure he provides. Against the Jets, Oliver was ridiculous. He had a total of five pressures on only 18 pass-rushing snaps for an uncanny pressure rate of 27.8 percent. You don’t typically see that high of a figure for any player, let alone an interior pass rusher. However, one sneaky thing the Bills did on a pair of snaps Sunday was to put Oliver at right defensive end. Oliver even came away with a sack on one of the reps. 

 

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4. Dawson Knox kept in to do a fair bit of blocking

 

Although the Week 18 Jets were nowhere close to the roster they began the season with, they still have some talent on the defensive line. That much was evident with three of the Bills’ starting offensive linemen — right tackle Spencer Brown, right guard Daryl Williams and left guard Ryan Bates — ending with below-average grades against the Jets. The Bills have been tinkering with some of their formations to help the offensive line. Early in the season, we saw a high number of plays that sent all five skill player options out as receivers, but recently that has been scaled back a bit. A big reason is how they’ve been using Dawson Knox.

 

Knox is still running a lot of routes as the Bills’ top pass-catching tight end. But they’ve been getting him more involved with chipping a pass rusher before heading out on his route, and sometimes, keeping him in as a blocker altogether. Against the Jets, Knox contributed to blocking on 12 of his 44 snaps on pass plays. Six as an outright blocker, and the other six used to chip a pass rusher before heading out on his route. It made up for 28 percent of his passing-down snaps, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s been an evolving function of their offense.

 

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5. Tommy Doyle an under-the-radar asset to the run game

 

Doyle has boosted the offense for the last three weeks as their glorified blocking tight end. Doyle has done his best to maul his opponents and plays with a lot of intensity that sometimes extends past the whistle. He’s played a big role, including Sunday against the Jets, in sealing a block to spring a big run.

 

The stats back up Doyle’s impact as well. The rookie was on the field for 16 snaps that were not a kneel-down, and the Bills averaged 9.0 yards per play. Four of those 16 were highly successful pass plays that gained 61 yards on three completions, but the rushing stats were also impressive. The Bills averaged 6.7 yards per attempt with Doyle on the field, including the 2-yard loss on the final series with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in the game. Doyle has effectively taken over tight end Tommy Sweeney’s role in the offense, with Sweeney a healthy scratch over the last three games.

 

Top 5 grades:

1) Phillips (A)

2) Diggs (A-)

3) Hughes (A-)

4) Oliver (A-)

5) Allen (A-)

 

Bottom 5 grades:

1) Williams (C+)

2) Davis (C+)

3) Rousseau (C+)

4) Brown (C+)

5) Bates (C+)

[Rico]

Phillips has been a total revelation. I can't remember the last time someone turned from a career JAG to an impact player overnight... a true Cinderella man.

[MrSarcasm]

Phillips is Kyle Williams Reincarnated.

[hemma]

Really appreciate your posting this info each week.

 

Interesting that after all the outcry about Josh having another ‘bad game’, he is awarded an A-.

Wind adjusted rating and I agree with that score.

[ghostwriter]

Phillips is okay. How much are we talking though?

[HappyDays]

35 minutes ago, hemma said:

Interesting that after all the outcry about Josh having another ‘bad game’, he is awarded an A-.

Wind adjusted rating and I agree with that score.

 

Also a few of his incompletions were miscommunications with the receiver, not bad individual plays by Allen. I get why option routes can be so valuable but they've too frequently become incomplete or turnover worthy passes this year. If Daboll can't get everyone on the same page I don't want those plays being called in the playoffs.

[billsfan89]

57 minutes ago, Rico said:

Phillips has been a total revelation. I can't remember the last time someone turned from a career JAG to an impact player overnight... a true Cinderella man.

The first 5 games of 2019 he was starting to look like a breakout player then he tore his ACL (which then followed with a mid season slump in run defense) and he hasn’t looked the same until recently. Now he looks to be back on track.

[Rico]

8 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

The first 5 games of 2019 he was starting to look like a breakout player then he tore his ACL (which then followed with a mid season slump in run defense) and he hasn’t looked the same until recently. Now he looks to be back on track.

I thought he appeared to have some potential, but I don't think he's ever looked this good.

[Freddie's Dead]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

Bottom 5 grades:

1) Williams (C+)

2) Davis (C+)

3) Rousseau (C+)

4) Brown (C+)

5) Bates (C+)

 

Groot gets the same grade as Gabe, who dropped like 6 balls?  I don't get that at all.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Freddie's Dead

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Victory Formation said:

Phillips is okay. How much are we talking though?

He’s been much, much better than ok the last several weeks.  Availability is his drawback now.  His play has been stellar

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, Rico said:

Phillips has been a total revelation. I can't remember the last time someone turned from a career JAG to an impact player overnight... a true Cinderella man.

 

 

He really was trending this way before he hurt his knee though..........he was A LOT better than Star Lotulelei already at that moment in 2019.

 

Took a lot longer to get back there than expected...........but he was a tackling machine at Stanford even though he was a 0 tech nose tackle............his senior year at Stanford he had 98 tackles 17 TFL and 7.5 sacks.........which were basically Star's stats for his entire career at Utah.        

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

Groot gets the same grade as Gabe, who dropped like 6 balls?  I don't get that at all.

 

 

He didn't cash in on the pass rush party.

 

It's my opinion that he has been dealing with turf-toe or something that's hindering his power.........he hasn't been the same since that KC game......I suppose it could also be a rookie wall.......he only played one season in college and if the Bills advance deep in the playoffs he will have played basically twice as many games as he did in that one season at Miami when you factor in all the preseason/regular/postseason games.

 

He hasn't been nearly as impactful rushing the passer since that KC/Tenn period............but by the same token Groot tied for the NFL lead with 32 run stops on the year so he's been very productive.   

[msw2112]

A lot of folks on this board were extremely impatient with Phillips while he recovered from his knee injury.  He's finally returning to the form he was starting to show pre-injury, plus he has more experience and more time in an NFL weight room since then.  Kudos to him and the team for sticking with the process.

Edited January 13, 2022 by msw2112

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, billsfan89 said:

The first 5 games of 2019 he was starting to look like a breakout player then he tore his ACL (which then followed with a mid season slump in run defense) and he hasn’t looked the same until recently. Now he looks to be back on track.

 

 

He only played 2 full games in 2019.........he was really showing out though.     Yeah they weren't the same front afterward.   

[Sherlock Holmes]

2 hours ago, Rico said:

Phillips has been a total revelation. I can't remember the last time someone turned from a career JAG to an impact player overnight... a true Cinderella man.

 

2 hours ago, MrSarcasm said:

Phillips is Kyle Williams Reincarnated.

I told you guys to give him some time

[ghostwriter]

23 minutes ago, NewEra said:

He’s been much, much better than ok the last several weeks.  Availability is his drawback now.  His play has been stellar

He looked great his rookie year too IIRC, he showed great promise and then he tore his ACL in 2019. In 2020, he didn’t look the same and in 2021, it seems like he’s gotten a lot better as the season has went along.
 

I’ll admit that he’s looked great at times and I’ll admit that I want him on the team but I’ll also admit that I would set a limit on how much I would be willing to pay him. He’s a good player, but he’s a streaky player. I could be wrong though and you could be right. PFF has an astronomically high grade on him this year so you don’t seem to be alone in your opinion.

 

I said he’s okay though because of the inconsistencies in his play. I figured great play followed by terrible play makes him “okay”, but I will also admit that there is enormous potential in his upside because he flashes great play at times to begin with, so that must conclude that he has a high ceiling.

[78thealltimegreat]

Harrison has grown on me he’s strong as anyone in the league and is really starting to use good technique to gain leverage on the olinemen he’s playing and I’ll tell ya what Eddie Oliver at defensive end could be an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses 

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Victory Formation said:

I said he’s okay though because of the inconsistencies in his play. I figured great play followed by terrible play makes him “okay”, but I will also admit that there is enormous potential in his upside because he flashes great play at times to begin with, so that must conclude that he has a high ceiling.

 

I don't know that he's been inconsistent. He was a rookie, then showed flashes in 2019 before his injury. His development never really had a chance to finish. I'm inclined to believe the player we've seen of late is for real. Just have to hope he doesn't suffer another knee injury and probably build his 2nd contract around that contingency. It's been a recurring issue for him since college.

 

One thing I know about Phillips is that he isn't the type of player to get lazy after getting paid. No question I'd pay him what he's earned as a reward for his hard work and dedication, and to show young players what can happen if they follow the same track that he did.

 

The emergence of Oliver and Phillips could bring this defense into the truly elite category even without Tre White on the field. I wish we had more from our DEs right now but quick interior pressure is the most consistent route to disrupting pass plays. The middle of our defense from front to back is as good as any in the league. Fast forward to next season, if Rousseau takes a big step and White returns to form by December we could be looking at one of the best defenses in Bills history (adjusted for era) heading into the 2023 playoffs.

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by HappyDays

[Doc Brown]

Since this is the last game here's the final overall players based on his rating system.

 

Top 10 in order starting from highest graded with at least 200 snaps: Diggs, Allen, Hyde, Poyer, White, Oliver, T. Johnson, Milano, Phillips, Star

 

Bottom 10 starting from lowest graded with at least 200 snaps:  Ford, Boettger, Sweeney, D. Williams, Butler, Brown, Jackson, Klein, Feliciano, Epenesa

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

9 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I don't know that he's been inconsistent. He was a rookie, then showed flashes in 2019 before his injury. His development never really had a chance to finish. I'm inclined to believe the player we've seen of late is for real. Just have to hope he doesn't suffer another knee injury and probably build his 2nd contract around that contingency. It's been a recurring issue for him since college.

 

One thing I know about Phillips is that he isn't the type of player to get lazy after getting paid. No question I'd pay him what he's earned as a reward for his hard work and dedication, and to show young players what can happen if they follow the same track that he did.

 

The emergence of Oliver and Phillips could bring this defense into the truly elite category even without Tre White on the field. I wish we had more from our DEs right now but quick interior pressure is the most consistent route to disrupting pass plays. The middle of our defense from front to back is as good as any in the league. Fast forward to next season, if Rousseau takes a big step and White returns to form by December we could be looking at one of the best defenses in Bills history (adjusted for era) heading into our second Lombardi hoisting...

 

FIFY!