Congrats to the O Line!

[vincec]

28 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I think the commitment to running the football (by Daboll) has helped stabilize the OL.  

Not just the commitment to it, but Singletary’s play. It makes life a whole lot easier on the OL when the defense doesn’t know it’s a pass on every play and has to play a little more honestly.

[ganesh]

3 minutes ago, vincec said:

Not just the commitment to it, but Singletary’s play. It makes life a whole lot easier on the OL when the defense doesn’t know it’s a pass on every play and has to play a little more honestly.

Agreed.  And recently the Bills RBs haven't just run into a wall everytime

[CSBill]

7 hours ago, BTB said:

Williams moved to guard. Bates and Brown in the lineup. 
 

Feliciano, Ford and Boettger to the bench. 
 

Amazing transformation. 

 

All of the above, And I'll add:

• Dawkins somehow coming ack bbetter than ever after his second round with COVID (if that is what it does to you, bring it on).
• What I think cannot be overstated, is the intelligence of Bates. He may not be the most physically gifted, but he is always where he should be, doing what he should be doing.
• Brown is the opposite of Bates, he is young and it shows sometimes, but he brings a physicality this line needed.
• Williams just seems much more comfortable inside.
• And with the right people around him, we are seeing the best of Morse. He is the QB of the line, and his leadership potential is finally being seen by all. .... And on the Motor run last night, he showed some wheels that I did not know he had.
• Feliciano is where he should be, the capable backup at Guard and Center.
• And the more I see of Doyle, the more I like him--I'm glad they have been able to bring him along slowly.

All-in-all, the oline is finally jelling at the perfect time. It really looks like the are getting better every game.

Edited January 16, 2022 by CSBill

[CincyBillsFan]

This is a huge development going forward.  It's looking less and less like the Bills will need to blow up the O-line and rebuild it.  From the emergence of Bates and Brown to Williams clearly being better at guard this O-line may actually be moving in the direction of being one of the best in the NFL.  And they have quality depth with Feliciano able to play guard & center and when Boetenger gets back.  Throw in Doyle as the 6th O-lineman, a trend that might become the norm in the NFL going forward, and the Bills have completely reversed the script on their O-line.  It's actually amazing.

 

 

 

 

[TPS]

9 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

This is a huge development going forward.  It's looking less and less like the Bills will need to blow up the O-line and rebuild it.  From the emergence of Bates and Brown to Williams clearly being better at guard this O-line may actually be moving in the direction of being one of the best in the NFL.  And they have quality depth with Feliciano able to play guard & center and when Boetenger gets back.  Throw in Doyle as the 6th O-lineman, a trend that might become the norm in the NFL going forward, and the Bills have completely reversed the script on their O-line.  It's actually amazing.

 

 

 

 

I think they'd only keep Feliciano if he restructured to a lower cap hit because he's paid too much to be a backup.  The Bills will need to release a few players to create more space in order to re-sign a guy like Harry and (I hope) lil' dirty.  Possible cap casualties are Feliciano, Star, Beasley, and Klein.

[Maynard]

They have been truly impressive. It’s sort of shocking!

[Dopey]

Bates played a good game last night. Still think we should draft an interior lineman. Williams at RG and Brown at RT is the key to me. The o-line was UGLY when Brown was out. That meant Williams at RT and Ford at RG. Williams was HORRIBLE at RT and Ford was almost as bad at RG.

[bmur66]

At some point during the season someone said we are going to run the ball if it kills us. I took awhile. It wasn’t pretty. But they figured it out. This is what they need to do to get to the next level.

[T master]

I don't know if Bates was the missing link but since he has played the O line has been a ton better & last night seeing Mitch on some of the plays he was pulling on & getting out from of Motor i was stoked ! 

 

They say you need to be hitting your stride late in the year & into the play offs & last night looked as if the stride is in sink I hope that they can keep it up because after last night if they play like that they can play with & beat any of them !! 

 

GO BILLS !!! 

[SCBills]

This OL is playing at a high level, but I’ll be sold if/when they give Josh Allen time against (most likely) KC’s pressure.  Chris Jones, Melvin Ingram, Frank Clark etc..  NE has a better overall defense, but KC has a better DL.   If they ball out against them, I’m sold, bring back Bates and send Morse fruit baskets and chocolates every day until he announces he’s coming back for next season. 

[Solomon Grundy]

1 hour ago, CSBill said:

And with the right people around him, we are seeing the best of Morse. He is the QB of the line, and his leadership potential is finally being seen by all. .... And on the Motor run last night, he showed some wheels that I did not know he had.

It’s unbelievable!! Williams and Bates at guard seems to have solidified the interior. I’m ready to bring Morse back after earlier in the season excommunicating him

27 minutes ago, Dopey said:

Bates played a good game last night. Still think we should draft an interior lineman. Williams at RG and Brown at RT is the key to me. The o-line was UGLY when Brown was out. That meant Williams at RT and Ford at RG. Williams was HORRIBLE at RT and Ford was almost as bad at RG.

Yes, for depth

[Jerome007]

Morse has been a maniac blocking downfield these past few games. All the OL has indeed jelled. A Bills O with a running game... wow! They are more dangerous than ever. 

[Brand J]

Earlier in the season they were getting beat physically as much as mentally (stunts/loops/etc), but now there’s cohesion across the board. Williams is playing better at guard, Brown is playing better as a rookie, Dawkins is actually looking like a pro bowler, Bates is extremely smart and aware, and Morse has been playing his best ball. They waited for more than half a season to come together, but they’re humming now. Let’s hope it continues, we’ll need these performances for a super bowl W.

[ganesh]

57 minutes ago, SCBills said:

This OL is playing at a high level, but I’ll be sold if/when they give Josh Allen time against (most likely) KC’s pressure.  Chris Jones, Melvin Ingram, Frank Clark etc..  NE has a better overall defense, but KC has a better DL.   If they ball out against them, I’m sold, bring back Bates and send Morse fruit baskets and chocolates every day until he announces he’s coming back for next season. 

I think this line has stood up Judon twice in 4 weeks.

[GunnerBill]

I was actually saying this week, don't take the stats for granted, the line has improved but is still only average, Allen is getting them out of trouble.... well last night they shut me right up. 

 

There was one play I can recall in the whole game, in the first half where Allen escaped the pocket in a way that for 80% of NFL QBs is a sack. I think it was 1st quarter but will go back and look. And that is the only broken protection I can recall. They were blasting off the ball in the run game and they really played an excellent game. 

 

I said this last week but it does remain the case - this oline reminds me a bit of Ben's second Superbowl with Pittsburgh. Was it the 2008 season? They did go 12-4 in the regular season but their offensive line took a lot of heat early in the year for letting Ben take too many hits and was widely thought to be the reason they couldn't win the Superbowl. Towards the end of the year they finally settled down a bit and found some consistency and then in the playoffs they almost became a strength of the team. It does have a bit of that feel about it. Can they hold up next week will be fascinating. Especially if it is, as we expect, Kansas City with a healthy Chris Jones because he was the biggest disrupter of our offense last year in the AFCCG. He didn't play week 5 so he will be a difference maker from that game if we see them again.