Football “Tells” : Why we lose opportunities on offense and defense

[Don Otreply]

7 hours ago, Putin said:

I miss cocaine 

Yup, but my heart is much happier, 😂

4 hours ago, Motorin' said:

I wonder if Ramius still crazy Ivan's to starboard in the bottom half of the hour?

Just one ping..,

[JerseyBills]

9 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

When you watch the game each week, you pick up on little mannerisms and “tells”. Like watching other players at a poker table, you can pick up ticks or gestures that indicate what they are doing or about to do. I’ve been compiling various “tells” for the Bills the last six weeks and you’ll see what I’m talking about if you pause the game or watch closely:

 

1) When Gabe Davis lines up wide, if he adjusts his helmet before snap, it’s a run play. The CB might as well run toward midfield. 
 

2) If Dion Dawkins pops his head to the left BEFORE the snap, it’s a passing play. He’s checking for DE’s position. 
 

3) Watch Josh Allen in the huddle. If he’s illustrating the play with a lot of hand movement, five times out of 10 it’s an RPO. The defense knows this. 
 

4) On defense, take a look at Edmunds. If he positions his right hand on his knee/thigh area, he’ll drop in coverage. Pretty easy for the opposing QB to hand off through the G gap. 
 

5) Singletary…if he cheats his left foot to 11 o’clock, he’s gonna be pass blocking or running. 
 

Our quality control coaches should do a better job so average Joe’s like me can’t figure this stuff out. Tell me if you pick out any more tomorrow or as the season progresses. 

#3 is funny. So 50% of the time it's a run/pass option 

So the other 50% of the time it's also a run or pass. 

 

What a tell!

[BillsFanSD]

9 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

When you watch the game each week, you pick up on little mannerisms and “tells”. Like watching other players at a poker table, you can pick up ticks or gestures that indicate what they are doing or about to do. I’ve been compiling various “tells” for the Bills the last six weeks and you’ll see what I’m talking about if you pause the game or watch closely:

 

1) When Gabe Davis lines up wide, if he adjusts his helmet before snap, it’s a run play. The CB might as well run toward midfield. 
 

2) If Dion Dawkins pops his head to the left BEFORE the snap, it’s a passing play. He’s checking for DE’s position. 
 

3) Watch Josh Allen in the huddle. If he’s illustrating the play with a lot of hand movement, five times out of 10 it’s an RPO. The defense knows this. 
 

4) On defense, take a look at Edmunds. If he positions his right hand on his knee/thigh area, he’ll drop in coverage. Pretty easy for the opposing QB to hand off through the G gap. 
 

5) Singletary…if he cheats his left foot to 11 o’clock, he’s gonna be pass blocking or running. 
 

Our quality control coaches should do a better job so average Joe’s like me can’t figure this stuff out. Tell me if you pick out any more tomorrow or as the season progresses. 

In honor of this post, I'm going to try to keep an eye out for (1) and (2).  The broadcast should show these players most of the time at or around the snap.

 

Not sure why so many people are assuming this post is a joke.  If you watch this team every week religiously, you almost surely pick up on stuff almost subconsciously.  There was a period a few years ago where "Josh in shotgun" was a called passing play 100% of the time (granted, this is kind of common with rookies and raw 2nd year guys).  For pretty much this entire season so far "Cook on the field" means he is either getting the ball or he's running a pattern -- he never stays in to block.  And that's just play-calling tendencies.  It wouldn't surprise me if individual players had their own tells. 

[Long Suffering Fan]

5 hours ago, Motorin' said:

I wonder if Ramius still crazy Ivan's to starboard in the bottom half of the hour?

 

Nice.

 

Buy that wasn't a tell.  Ryan needed a break.  😀

 

9 minutes ago, BillsFanSD said:

In honor of this post, I'm going to try to keep an eye out for (1) and (2).  The broadcast should show these players most of the time at or around the snap.

 

Not sure why so many people are assuming this post is a joke.  If you watch this team every week religiously, you almost surely pick up on stuff almost subconsciously.  There was a period a few years ago where "Josh in shotgun" was a called passing play 100% of the time (granted, this is kind of common with rookies and raw 2nd year guys).  For pretty much this entire season so far "Cook on the field" means he is either getting the ball or he's running a pattern -- he never stays in to block.  And that's just play-calling tendencies.  It wouldn't surprise me if individual players had their own tells. 

 

I too am going to watch for these.  I'm sure every team has tells, like the old Josh Reed in motion slowly behind the line meant a run with him as a blocker.  And every team should work hard to eliminate them.  As you say, if we can see it, so can the other team.  

 

If you are right, I tip my cap to the OP because these are pretty detailed.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

1 hour ago, hemma said:

OP taking a lot of crap, but he’s been around foe 12 years & I’ve never noticed him to be a troll.

Agreed.  However, there are times he does enjoy having that je ne sais quoi. 😁

[blacklabel]

Ken Dorsey likes to drink soda. 

 

Josh Allen's car....is green!

[US Egg]

4 hours ago, Buddo said:

#5 is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Well, scrap this Xmas gift idea.

[without a drought]

Special teams Spoiler Alert. 

 

Every time there is a kicking tee placed on the field, there will be a kickoff.

[Beerball]

10 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

When you watch the game each week, you pick up on little mannerisms and “tells”. Like watching other players at a poker table, you can pick up ticks or gestures that indicate what they are doing or about to do. I’ve been compiling various “tells” for the Bills the last six weeks and you’ll see what I’m talking about if you pause the game or watch closely:

 

1) When Gabe Davis lines up wide, if he adjusts his helmet before snap, it’s a run play. The CB might as well run toward midfield. 
 

2) If Dion Dawkins pops his head to the left BEFORE the snap, it’s a passing play. He’s checking for DE’s position. 
 

3) Watch Josh Allen in the huddle. If he’s illustrating the play with a lot of hand movement, five times out of 10 it’s an RPO. The defense knows this. 
 

4) On defense, take a look at Edmunds. If he positions his right hand on his knee/thigh area, he’ll drop in coverage. Pretty easy for the opposing QB to hand off through the G gap. 
 

5) Singletary…if he cheats his left foot to 11 o’clock, he’s gonna be pass blocking or running. 
 

Our quality control coaches should do a better job so average Joe’s like me can’t figure this stuff out. Tell me if you pick out any more tomorrow or as the season progresses. 

Have you picked up on any coaching ‘tells?’ Does McD clapping 37 times mean something different than say 20?

[Don Otreply]

To the OP, I am quite certain that “tells” as you have pointed out are prevalent on all teams and are noted by their opponents during film study etc, so what you are saying is an issue for all teams. 

[CSBill]

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

#3 is funny. So 50% of the time it's a run/pass option 

So the other 50% of the time it's also a run or pass. 

 

What a tell!

 

That is some high level Socratic Method right there. Well done!

[BringBackFergy]

7 minutes ago, Beerball said:

Have you picked up on any coaching ‘tells?’ Does McD clapping 37 times mean something different than say 20?

Interesting. I’ll take a look today. I have watched Leslie Frazier before and if he folds his arms and puts his right hand up with index finger on his cheek, usually indicates they’re rushing 4 and dropping 7 into coverage. Usually. That’s not a guarantee obviously. 

[17islongenough]

Another thing I've noticed is Diggs. When Diggs stands up and just looks into the backfield it's going to be a run. He doesn't even try to hide it

[Thurman#1]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Every time Milano is on screen I touch my junk. He is dreamy.

 

 

See, you're making his point. This is a tell!!!

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

11 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

When you watch the game each week, you pick up on little mannerisms and “tells”. Like watching other players at a poker table, you can pick up ticks or gestures that indicate what they are doing or about to do. I’ve been compiling various “tells” for the Bills the last six weeks and you’ll see what I’m talking about if you pause the game or watch closely:

 

1) When Gabe Davis lines up wide, if he adjusts his helmet before snap, it’s a run play. The CB might as well run toward midfield. 
 

2) If Dion Dawkins pops his head to the left BEFORE the snap, it’s a passing play. He’s checking for DE’s position. 
 

3) Watch Josh Allen in the huddle. If he’s illustrating the play with a lot of hand movement, five times out of 10 it’s an RPO. The defense knows this. 
 

4) On defense, take a look at Edmunds. If he positions his right hand on his knee/thigh area, he’ll drop in coverage. Pretty easy for the opposing QB to hand off through the G gap. 
 

5) Singletary…if he cheats his left foot to 11 o’clock, he’s gonna be pass blocking or running. 
 

Our quality control coaches should do a better job so average Joe’s like me can’t figure this stuff out. Tell me if you pick out any more tomorrow or as the season progresses. 

You never go against the family, Fergy.  What happens next is not personal. 

[Buffaloflash]

10 hours ago, TailgateChef said:

Do you notice this in real time?  If so, that's absurd attention to detail.

The only one I know of is Dorsey always follows up a 15+ yard run play with another run play.

He probably downloads the games and reviews the play-action. I do, but I never thought to look for tells.

[ChasBB]

4 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

To the OP, I am quite certain that “tells” as you have pointed out are prevalent on all teams and are noted by their opponents during film study etc, so what you are saying is an issue for all teams. 

Maybe so, but the better-coached teams will have fewer tells.  The OP is spot-on.  These tells can change outcome of a game and MUST be addressed ... and RE-addressed throughout the season and not just during the bye week when teams self-evaluate.  Looking for these tells needs to be an ongoing process.  To the OP ... if your observations are accurate you should apply for a quality control position with the Bills - good stuff!

[somnus00]

11 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

When you watch the game each week, you pick up on little mannerisms and “tells”. Like watching other players at a poker table, you can pick up ticks or gestures that indicate what they are doing or about to do. I’ve been compiling various “tells” for the Bills the last six weeks and you’ll see what I’m talking about if you pause the game or watch closely:

 

1) When Gabe Davis lines up wide, if he adjusts his helmet before snap, it’s a run play. The CB might as well run toward midfield. 
 

2) If Dion Dawkins pops his head to the left BEFORE the snap, it’s a passing play. He’s checking for DE’s position. 
 

3) Watch Josh Allen in the huddle. If he’s illustrating the play with a lot of hand movement, five times out of 10 it’s an RPO. The defense knows this. 
 

4) On defense, take a look at Edmunds. If he positions his right hand on his knee/thigh area, he’ll drop in coverage. Pretty easy for the opposing QB to hand off through the G gap. 
 

5) Singletary…if he cheats his left foot to 11 o’clock, he’s gonna be pass blocking or running. 
 

Our quality control coaches should do a better job so average Joe’s like me can’t figure this stuff out. Tell me if you pick out any more tomorrow or as the season progresses. 

I can't validate any of these, but I don't understand why people are making jokes. NFL teams have talked about looking for tells for decades. I remember a story about Dan Fouts standing with his right heel up before hiking on passing downs. There have been times during the season when I feel like the opponents know what's coming. I think this is a fascinating topic. Thank you. 

[YattaOkasan]

10 hours ago, JDubya76 said:

Who was it that said when Davis motions back into the line it is always a run?

Not sure but it’s a common thing that most teams do. Motion your biggest WR into the box to get another blocker at the expensive of bringing in a CB (maybe).  Dorsey has used this to set up for big plays too.  See first TD of the year for one

[Don Otreply]

11 minutes ago, ChasBB said:

Maybe so, but the better-coached teams will have fewer tells.  The OP is spot-on.  These tells can change outcome of a game and MUST be addressed ... and RE-addressed throughout the season and not just during the bye week when teams self-evaluate.  Looking for these tells needs to be an ongoing process.  To the OP ... if your observations are accurate you should apply for a quality control position with the Bills - good stuff!

Oh I agree that tells should be addressed every week, they can give you away if ignored, I was just saying that it is likely an issue for every team.