A Few Thoughts about the AFC East Run, in no particular order

[RoyBatty is alive]

2 hours ago, BearNorth said:

In the Dolphins game, our TD's were to Knox, Morris, Hines, and Cook, so that would suggest Josh and Dorsey know they need to diversify the offense.

 

Regarding your point on defending the run, I saw Milano whiff on a couple of tackles, and our CB's are slow to come up in run support [that could be scheme as they are told to stick to Cheetah and Waddle as job #1].  I also notice that instead of trying to stop a runner in his tracks, we tend to try to ride them towards the sideline.

 

As always enjoy your analysis and the poetry is uplifting.

 

 

Milano had one really bad whiff near the beginning of the game, Dolphin was right in front of him and he somehow missed, allowed the dolphin another easy 15 or so yards.

[Virgil]

7 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Milano had one really bad whiff near the beginning of the game, Dolphin was right in front of him and he somehow missed, allowed the dolphin another easy 15 or so yards.

Yeah, as a big supporter of Milano, that one hurt to watch 

[Rubes]

Couldn’t agree more about Hamlin. Seemed like he started out strong but has really regressed the past few weeks. Really becoming a big concern, and teams are figuring out how to take advantage of him.

 

Hyde better come back or we’re going to have to look at a S in the early rounds.

[BearNorth]

The Bears Offense is a decent test for the Bills defense, which is down 2 key starters in Von & Micah.  Their Defense has been devastated by injuries, and the trade of Roquan, and that should be a mismatch against Buffalo's offense.  If Josh doesn't play due to injury, then this may be a good game to establish the running game for the playoffs.  The weather of course could be the great equalizer.  I trust McDermott & Co. will be focused on the game at hand and not looking ahead to the Bengals.

[Draconator]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

I have thought about watching game replays recently.  I stayed away from it before to keep things raw and fresh (title of Gugny’s sex tape), but now I’m more open to it.  
 

It’s hard because they all seem to come off as “We are amazing” or “oh no, we suck again”

Are you sure "Oh no, we suck again" isn't the real name of Gugny's sex tape?

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, Draconator said:

Are you sure "Oh no, we suck again" isn't the real name of Gugny's sex tape?

Honestly, his collection is so vast, I can’t keep up 

[Stranded in Boston]

3 hours ago, Virgil said:

I've argued for years that one of my most enjoyable seasons was when the Bills went 3-13.   ... You relish in those wins longer than you do when you are expected to win ...

Thanks for another great write-up, Virgil; I look forward to them every week.

And I know what you mean about the power of low expectations: I'll never forget the 1971 Bills team that went 1-13 (I believe their worst record ever). The Bills lone win was against the Pats 27-20 (after starting that year 0-10), sealed by 2 picks by my man Robert James -- and still one of my favorite all-time games, LOL!

[RoyBatty is alive]

3 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

The Bears Offense is a decent test for the Bills defense, which is down 2 key starters in Von & Micah.  Their Defense has been devastated by injuries, and the trade of Roquan, and that should be a mismatch against Buffalo's offense.  If Josh doesn't play due to injury, then this may be a good game to establish the running game for the playoffs.  The weather of course could be the great equalizer.  I trust McDermott & Co. will be focused on the game at hand and not looking ahead to the Bengals.

Agreed.  Justin Fields and his running what really scares me.  When he is on, he is as hard a running  qb  to tackle as anyone.

[Virgil]

3 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Agreed.  Justin Fields and his running what really scares me.  When he is on, he is as hard a running  qb  to tackle as anyone.

This is where I’m glad to have Lawson and Klein back.  Both were great in contain against Lamar

[ExWNYer]

3 minutes ago, Stranded in Boston said:

Thanks for another great write-up, Virgil; I look forward to them every week.

And I know what you mean about the power of low expectations: I'll never forget the 1971 Bills team that went 1-13 (I believe their worst record ever). The Bills lone win was against the Pats 27-20 (after starting that year 0-10), sealed by 2 picks by my man Robert James -- and still one of my favorite all-time games, LOL!

 

I wish some of the younger posters here could have seen good old #20 play. He was phenomenal. It's a shame that today's medical technology was not around for surgically repairing knees back in his day or he may have had a HoF...or at least a much longer...career. He was a special CB and is still one of my all-time favorite Bills.

[Stranded in Boston]

6 minutes ago, ExWNYer said:

 

I wish some of the younger posters here could have seen good old #20 play. He was phenomenal. It's a shame that today's medical technology was not around for surgically repairing knees back in his day or he may have had a HoF...or at least a much longer...career. He was a special CB and is still one of my all-time favorite Bills.

Heck yes, Ex, #20 was special ... Several other really promising Bills players had their careers truncated by knee injuries before arthroscopic surgical techniques came to the fore -- Jerry Butler and Jeff Nixon spring to mind. And the Bills gave up on Ahmad Rashad after his knee injury -- prematurely, as it turned out!

[Low Positive]

Reading this thread reminded me that sports fans fall into some traps because we all care so much about things over which we have no control:

1. When the other team makes a play, we all search for "who's guilty" on our favorite team rather than acknowledging that the other team can and will make plays.  I think that we do this because we want to feel like the "problems" are fixable with better defensive technique and/or personnel. For example, Hill makes a lot of safeties take bad angles due to his olympic sprinter speed. I think that on this particular play Micah Hyde himself would have taken a "bad angle" because once Hill is at full stride there is little that you can do. I'm not saying Hamlin made a good play, but once Hill gets that ball where he did he is taking it to the house 9 times out of 10. This goes across all sports. To baseball fans, every HR hit by the other team is a bad pitch. On SabresSpace, every goal scored by the other team is a missed defensive assignment.  Sometimes the other team makes a play. Imagine being a Fins fan breaking down JA17 40+ yard run. You would blame the DC, the entire DL, LB corp, and the DBs. They all missed tackles and took bad angles.
2. Fans of every NFL team hate the OC. And I mean every team. We do this because it seems to us like a job that we could do. Fans also like the plays that work and hate the ones that don't. Everyone here has conveniently forgotten how much we used to hate Daboll. Go read the post game thread after the Jax debacle for a refresher. Bengals fans HATE Zach Taylor (he calls the plays) with the force of a thousand suns (I know because I live in Cincinnati and hear it all the time). Chiefs fans, after the past two games, want Andy Reid to give up play calling duties (I actually waded into the cesspool that is Chiefs Planet to confirm this). In Dorsey's case, if you look at the All-22 you'll see short and medium options open on every pass play. Dorsey is "scheming" them open but Josh Allen is just refusing to take the layups. It comes with the territory. A QB that takes the easy options doesn't even think to attempt that TD pass to Cook at the end of the 2nd. Nor does he scramble out wide, jump in the air, and throw a TD pass across his body instead of throwing the ball away like JA17 did in the Pats game. 
3. I think that Bills fans need to find a way to watch other NFL games with the same critical eye as they watch Bills games. Most NFL games are close, with a few plays deciding the outcomes. And most blowouts are the result of a strange  circumstances. For example, everyone is pumping up the Bengals right now but they would have lost to the Bucs if the Bucs offense had not TURNED THE BALL OVER ON FOUR STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS. The first one was a good play by a DB but the next three were a complete implosion by the His Royal Tomness. And in their great win over the KC Chiefs, the Mighty Cincinnati Bengals slot receiver and Bills' fan favorite Tyler Boyd had a worse drop than any this season by Davis or Knox. You just don't remember it because the Bengals won the game and it didn't hurt you on an emotion level.

 

[ExWNYer]

Just now, Stranded in Boston said:

Heck yes, Ex, #20 was special ... Several other really promising Bills players had their careers truncated by knee injuries before arthroscopic surgical techniques came to the fore -- Jerry Butler and Jeff Nixon spring to mind. And the Bills gave up on Ahmad Rashad after his knee injury -- prematurely, as it turned out!

 

I was excited when Jeff Nixon was drafted because he played here at the University of Richmond. As an alum of VCU and an avid Ram's basketball fan, I can't stand UR now but that's a story for another day. lol

 

I was a huge fan of all of the guys you mentioned. Jerry Butler's career day against the Jest was a thing of beauty and, when the Bills acquired Diggs, it immediately brought me back to the day when they got Ahmad Rashad from the Vikings.

[Let's Go Buffalo]

Good post as always, Virgil. To take some pressure off Josh, I would also like us to get the ball to our backs a little more on passes out of the backfield, getting them into some open space, and getting some easy yards that way as well. It seemed like we started to do that a little more for part of the Miami game, and with Motor, Hines, and Cook, it's not a bad combination of speed and agility if they're utilized properly. 

[RoyBatty is alive]

29 minutes ago, Virgil said:

This is where I’m glad to have Lawson and Klein back.  Both were great in contain against Lamar

Tremaine Edmunds also needs to really stand, we need his length along with Grot out in the game as well.  No missing tackles.

[Dan Darragh]

3 hours ago, Virgil said:

Shakir, is out on the field quite a bit, but seems to only get 1-2 targets a game. 

He's had exactly 2 targets since the Minny game (that's 2 targets over 5 games)

[transient]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

Side note - If Cam Lewis makes one more dumb play, I want to see him cut mid-game.

You're too kind. I don't need another dumb play; I don't believe in three strikes when the mistakes are that egregious. I wanted him cut immediately after the brain fart against Minnesota. I wanted him beaten with a sock full of pennies THEN cut after the roughing the punter.

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Draconator said:

Are you sure "Oh no, we suck again" isn't the real name of Gugny's sex tape?

 

I think we can all agree that it's not "We are amazing."

 

[Stranded in Boston]

1 hour ago, ExWNYer said:

I was a huge fan of all of the guys you mentioned. Jerry Butler's career day against the Jest was a thing of beauty and, when the Bills acquired Diggs, it immediately brought me back to the day when they got Ahmad Rashad from the Vikings.

Love to talk old-time Bills stuff, thanks! I remember Jerry Butler's 4-TD explosion like yesterday ... But if I recall correctly, Bills traded for Rashad (previously known as Bobby Moore) from the St. Louis Cardinals. Seattle grabbed him from the Bills in the expansion draft -- and then he went on to a bunch of Pro Bowl seasons with the Vikes. (And poor Bobby Chandler was pretty much the whole Bills receiving game in the mid-70s after Rashad left!)

[HappyDays]

4 hours ago, Fleezoid said:

Last year it seemed our receivers were catching most of their passes in open space. For some reason, this year, most of the catches are tightly contested. To me that’s play design/scheme.

 

Not at all, our YAC was terrible last year. Most of the time receivers were catching the ball and then immediately getting tackled. It's a function of the receiving corps we've built. No YAC specialists. I thought Shakir was supposed to be that type but he hasn't been utilized. Same with Cook but despite being fast he gets tackled with very little resistance so that minimizes his ability to break long runs after catches.