A Few Thoughts from the Commanders Game.....in no particular order

[Virgil]

Took the opportunity to go to the Commanders game yesterday, but with that comes limited observations from the seats.  While I would love to give thoughts in the normal fashion, I honestly just didn't have the same vantage point as usual.  With that, expect some questions as I still haven't been able to see a good replay of the game.

 

1 - Commanders Fans - I've been to quite a few away games and I can honestly say that this felt more like a home Bills game than anywhere else I've visited.  I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that 50% of the fans in attendance supported the Bills.  I decided to take the metro (free parking at $4 total metro fees) and would absolutely recommend it for anyone going to a Commanders game.  What was interesting was that I had to change trains near the old RFK stadium, which is still standing.  Looks haunted, but still there.  All of the fans I spoke too talked about wanting the Commanders to move back to this area.  And in fairness, the location is great.  Also, the Commanders fans didn't seem concerned about a win or loss, but were just happy that Snyder didn't own the team anymore and overall felt they were headed for brighter times.  Once in the game, I had the pleasure to sit behind the only drunk Commanders fan who wanted to stand up almost every play.  Thankfully, that was beaten out of him around halftime.  Once halftime was over, that might have been the quietest crowd I've ever heard.  It was beyond strange.   On the visitors site, I'd say 80% of the fans were Bills fans.  The shout song was sang loudly after every score and there were only Bills fans left with about 8 minutes remaining. 

 

2 - FedEx Field - I've been a long time critic of this stadium since I first visited over 20 years ago.  However, I will say that they've done some quality work with seat renovations and the upper deck isn't the steep death trap I remember it to be.  However, the covered seats still have huge concrete pillars to block your view if you sit more than 19 rows deep.  As for the atmosphere, that left much to be desired.  In the tunnels, they had about as many TV's as in Buffalo, but only 1 out of 5 of them actually showed the game. I thought the game was at a commercial break until I heard the fans react.  In terms of replays, audio commentary, or just any form of information about the game as it was happening, don't count on much.  It was strange how little information we had during replays, challenges, or penalties. The main ref's mic wasn't working, so that didn't help.  Lastly, they invited over 100 legend Washington Players, but I have no idea why. They marched them on the field at halftime, but then didn't say or do anything to address why they were there.  All of the focus quickly turned to a kid trying to kick a field goal to win a thousand dollars.  Seriously, it was a really awkward halftime for what it was supposed to be.

 

3 - Gabe Davis - I have to get this one off my chest first.  On the Josh Allen interception, did Gabe not realize the ball was coming his way until it was too late?  For whatever reason, I watched Gabe that entire route.  He either got tripped or pushed out of bounds.  Whatever it was, he seemed to slow down and almost give up on the route.  Then, once he saw that ball was in the air, he tried to play defender but it was too late.  Again, I haven't seen the replay, but I was pissed in the moment that Gabe seemed to just give up once he stumbled a bit, and could have at least made a real play on the ball.  Also, was his drop over the middle as bad as it looked live? Again, no replays at the stadium.

 

4 - Oh how strange is the story your eyes tell me

And quiet all the new words that you say

So come and hold my hand for you see I'd understand

And remember the only time is now

 

5 - Dorsey - To me, this was a game score that didn't truly reflect the overall performance within the game.  Most of our offense took over once the Commanders were exhausted.  This felt like a college game where the depth chart finally won out and the trenches were the Bills to dominate.  Before that point, at 16-0, the Bills offense did not look great to me.  The first FG only happened because Josh had to Josh on two plays and make something happen.  Dorsey decided today was the day he was going to make WR screens happen, which is fine, but know when to walk away.  But overall, what's with the empty backfield on 3rd and 4th and short?  Are we back to just not even pretending we can run the ball?  Not a single QB sneak?  While it was nice to see Sherfield get involved, where the crap were the Knox/Kincaid targets?  Thankfully, our defense was great, because our offense was not going to keep up with the Commanders if they knew how to score.  Good thing we aren't playing any high scoring offenses soon....

 

6 - Turnovers - I mean, wow.  Two weeks in a row we had an interception just stolen from a WR.  White's interception was amazing from the stands and I can't blame Howell at all.  The receiver had all the body positioning and Tre just decided he wasn't okay with that.  Also, that was the moment the Commanders fans died a little inside.  The Bernard interception was amazing too.  Fully body extension, great positioning, and everything Edmunds wouldn't do.  It was almost comical how the Commanders found a way to turn the ball over every single time they made it into Bills territory.  Even seeing it liv just felt surreal.  If we can keep this level of ball hawking skills up even a fraction of the time, this defense could end up setting some Bills records

 

7 - Defensive Line - Let me start by saying that Leonard is wide as hell.  I don't think I realized how big he was during training camp, but he definitely stood out in this game.  Not only that, but some of his routes to the QB were like a DB blitz that doesn't get picked up by the line.  Seriously, dude was a missile on some plays.  This is not to take away from Oliver, whom I think everyone is pleasantly surprised with his performance.  Dude is a wrecking ball up the middle.  But overall, I can't remember a game where I saw so many pocket collapses.  Yes, Howell is known to hold the ball too long and that did happen a few times.  But mainly, the gates of hell opened around him and Howell was swallowed up by the Kraken that is the Bills front 4.  If the Dolphins are going to be slowed down at all, these guys need to show up and the Dolphins head specialist should be waiting on the sidelines. 

 

8 - Safeties - It was nice to see a couple of strong hits by Poyer, as discussions of his decline have popped up more and more.  The safeties showed a lot of cover 2, but would switch to Cover one during the count. The one deep ball that Bendford gave up was during one of those transitions, were Poyer creeped up into the box and left Benford on an island.  Hyde's interception was almost comical to me, as if Howell's arm finally just gave up and thought Hyde was wearing a Commanders jersey.  But overall, strong game keeping the Commanders underneath.

 

9 - AJ - If you would have told me that I was going to mention AJ two weeks in a row, I would have taken the under all day.  The AJ pick six was absolutely amazing.  From my vantage point, AJ was chasing Howell like the Waterboy, jumped to grab the lob pass, had the mental cognizance to swap the ball to his other hand, then used his dominant hand to stiff arm Howell into the earth's core.  I mean, this is AJ we are talking about, right?  It's great to see him take advantage of his opportunities and really close out our 4 man rotation once Von comes back.  Seriously, Von, Floyd Groot and AJ....looking really good.

 

10 - Murray - Is Murray our 3rd down back now?  I'm very confused on this RB rotation.  Is Murray considered the better pass catching back?  Or, was Cook just brought out of the game on numerous 3rd downs to rest him?  I'm not really complaining, except that we didn't use RB's on 3rd/4th and short, as much as I'm just trying to figure out what the plan is there.

 

Extra Credit - Dawkins and Brown were left on an island for multiple plays against elite pass rushers and very much held their own.   Great job to both of them 

 

One thing regarding Josh - Was he having issues hitting hitting receivers in stride?  From my vantage point, he wasn’t leading the receivers and forced slight enough adjustments that the defenders were able to tackle immediately.  Anyone else see this?

 

 

Prepare for a whole week of Dolphins/Bills coverage.  I hate to say that a Week 4 game matters, but a home game against the Division/Conference leader can make a difference come final standings and tie-breakers.  Should be a fun one.

 

Go Bills!!!!!!

Edited September 25, 2023 by Virgil

[Big Turk]

4 minutes ago, Virgil said:

Took the opportunity to go to the Commanders game yesterday, but with that comes limited observations from the seats.  While I would love to give thoughts in the normal fashion, I honestly just didn't have the same vantage point as usual.  With that, expect some questions as I still haven't been able to see a good replay of the game.

 

1 - Commanders Fans - I've been to quite a few away games and I can honestly say that this felt more like a home Bills game than anywhere else I've visited.  I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that 50% of the fans in attendance supported the Bills.  I decided to take the metro (free parking at $4 total metro fees) and would absolutely recommend it for anyone going to a Commanders game.  What was interesting was that I had to change trains near the old RFK stadium, which is still standing.  Looks haunted, but still there.  All of the fans I spoke too talked about wanting the Commanders to move back to this area.  And in fairness, the location is great.  Also, the Commanders fans didn't seem concerned about a win or loss, but were just happy that Snyder didn't own the team anymore and overall felt they were headed for brighter times.  Once in the game, I had the pleasure to sit behind the only drunk Commanders fan who wanted to stand up almost every play.  Thankfully, that was beaten out of him around halftime.  Once halftime was over, that might have been the quietest crowd I've ever heard.  It was beyond strange.   On the visitors site, I'd say 80% of the fans were Bills fans.  The shout song was sang loudly after every score and there were only Bills fans left with about 8 minutes remaining. 

 

2 - FedEx Field - I've been a long time critic of this stadium since I first visited over 20 years ago.  However, I will say that they've done some quality work with seat renovations and the upper deck isn't the steep death trap I remember it to be.  However, the covered seats still have huge concrete pillars to block your view if you sit more than 19 rows deep.  As for the atmosphere, that left much to be desired.  In the tunnels, they had about as many TV's as in Buffalo, but only 1 out of 5 of them actually showed the game. I thought the game was at a commercial break until I heard the fans react.  In terms of replays, audio commentary, or just any form of information about the game as it was happening, don't count on much.  It was strange how little information we had during replays, challenges, or penalties. The main ref's mic wasn't working, so that didn't help.  Lastly, they invited over 100 legend Washington Players, but I have no idea why. They marched them on the field at halftime, but then didn't say or do anything to address why they were there.  All of the focus quickly turned to a kid trying to kick a field goal to win a thousand dollars.  Seriously, it was a really awkward halftime for what it was supposed to be.

 

3 - Gabe Davis - I have to get this one off my chest first.  On the Josh Allen interception, did Gabe not realize the ball was coming his way until it was too late?  For whatever reason, I watched Gabe that entire route.  He either got tripped or pushed out of bounds.  Whatever it was, he seemed to slow down and almost give up on the route.  Then, once he saw that ball was in the air, he tried to play defender but it was too late.  Again, I haven't seen the replay, but I was pissed in the moment that Gabe seemed to just give up once he stumbled a bit, and could have at least made a real play on the ball.  Also, was his drop over the middle as bad as it looked live? Again, no replays at the stadium.

 

4 - Oh how strange is the story your eyes tell me

And quiet all the new words that you say

So come and hold my hand for you see I'd understand

And remember the only time is now

 

5 - Dorsey - To me, this was a game score that didn't truly reflect the overall performance within the game.  Most of our offense took over once the Commanders were exhausted.  This felt like a college game where the depth chart finally won out and the trenches were the Bills to dominate.  Before that point, at 16-0, the Bills offense did not look great to me.  The first FG only happened because Josh had to Josh on two plays and make something happen.  Dorsey decided today was the day he was going to make WR screens happen, which is fine, but know when to walk away.  But overall, what's with the empty backfield on 3rd and 4th and short?  Are we back to just not even pretending we can run the ball?  Not a single QB sneak?  While it was nice to see Sherfield get involved, where the crap were the Knox/Kincaid targets?  Thankfully, our defense was great, because our offense was not going to keep up with the Commanders if they knew how to score.  Good thing we aren't playing any high scoring offenses soon....

 

6 - Turnovers - I mean, wow.  Two weeks in a row we had an interception just stolen from a WR.  White's interception was amazing from the stands and I can't blame Howell at all.  The receiver had all the body positioning and Tre just decided he wasn't okay with that.  Also, that was the moment the Commanders fans died a little inside.  The Bernard interception was amazing too.  Fully body extension, great positioning, and everything Edmunds wouldn't do.  It was almost comical how the Commanders found a way to turn the ball over every single time they made it into Bills territory.  Even seeing it liv just felt surreal.  If we can keep this level of ball hawking skills up even a fraction of the time, this defense could end up setting some Bills records

 

7 - Defensive Line - Let me start by saying that Leonard is wide as hell.  I don't think I realized how big he was during training camp, but he definitely stood out in this game.  Not only that, but some of his routes to the QB were like a DB blitz that doesn't get picked up by the line.  Seriously, dude was a missile on some plays.  This is not to take away from Oliver, whom I think everyone is pleasantly surprised with his performance.  Dude is a wrecking ball up the middle.  But overall, I can't remember a game where I saw so many pocket collapses.  Yes, Howell is known to hold the ball too long and that did happen a few times.  But mainly, the gates of hell opened around him and Howell was swallowed up by the Kraken that is the Bills front 4.  If the Dolphins are going to be slowed down at all, these guys need to show up and the Dolphins head specialist should be waiting on the sidelines. 

 

8 - Safeties - It was nice to see a couple of strong hits by Poyer, as discussions of his decline have popped up more and more.  The safeties showed a lot of cover 2, but would switch to Cover one during the count. The one deep ball that Bendford gave up was during one of those transitions, were Poyer creeped up into the box and left Benford on an island.  Hyde's interception was almost comical to me, as if Howell's arm finally just gave up and thought Hyde was wearing a Commanders jersey.  But overall, strong game keeping the Commanders underneath.

 

9 - AJ - If you would have told me that I was going to mention AJ two weeks in a row, I would have taken the under all day.  The AJ pick six was absolutely amazing.  From my vantage point, AJ was chasing Howell like the Waterboy, jumped to grab the lob pass, had the mental cognizance to swap the ball to his other hand, then used his dominant hand to stiff arm Howell into the earth's core.  I mean, this is AJ we are talking about, right?  It's great to see him take advantage of his opportunities and really close out our 4 man rotation once Von comes back.  Seriously, Von, Floyd Groot and AJ....looking really good.

 

10 - Murray - Is Murray our 3rd down back now?  I'm very confused on this RB rotation.  Is Murray considered the better pass catching back?  Or, was Cook just brought out of the game on numerous 3rd downs to rest him?  I'm not really complaining, except that we didn't use RB's on 3rd/4th and short, as much as I'm just trying to figure out what the plan is there.

 

 

Prepare for a whole week of Dolphins/Bills coverage.  I hate to say that a Week 4 game matters, but a home game against the Division/Conference leader can make a difference come final standings and tie-breakers.  Should be a fun one.

 

Go Bills!!!!!!

 

Howell was to blame tho, on that White INT.  Even on the broadcast the color commentator said that was a young QB mistake...that once Tre kept outside leverage on the route McLaurin was running Howell should have immediately moved off him and looked elsewhere because that route was dead at that point in terms of where you want to go with the ball and that the coverage dictated it go elsewhere. Said that it made it too easy for White to jump the route with that positioning, which is ultimately what happened.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Big Turk

[Pokebball]

#3 - IMO he runs poor routes. Always has

[Virgil]

Just now, Big Turk said:

 

Howell was to blame tho on that White INT.  Even on the broadcast the color commentator said that was a young QB mistake...that once Tre kept outside leverage on the route McLaurin was running Howell should have immediately moved off him and looked elsewhere because that route was dead at that point in terms of where you want to go with the ball and that the coverage dictated it go elsewhere.

 

Interesting. Thanks for that.  From where I was, McLaurin had Tre boxed out and had all the leverage and positioning.

[NewEra]

Glad you went to the game, saw our boys kick *** and had blast 👍🏻 

 

Latavious Is a beast of a blocker and a beast of a tackle breaker.  He’s still fast “enough”.  I love him as our 3rd down guy and hope he’s that guy all season. I definitely prefer him over Harris.  One of my favorite Beane gems of the offseason.  As of right now…. Beane looks to have had a GREAT offseason

18 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Howell was to blame tho, on that White INT.  Even on the broadcast the color commentator said that was a young QB mistake...that once Tre kept outside leverage on the route McLaurin was running Howell should have immediately moved off him and looked elsewhere because that route was dead at that point in terms of where you want to go with the ball and that the coverage dictated it go elsewhere.

Lawson was also to blame.  He hit the RT with an inside jab step then accelerated around the outside and was all over Howell pretty quickly.  

Edited September 25, 2023 by NewEra

[wvbillsfan]

Re third down back

 

maybe the want the bigger back picking up blitzes

 

Cook plays a lot of snaps. Maybe some of that is just the normal rotation

[BillsFan130]

Yes Gabes drop was brutal.

Should have been a simple catch 

[BuffaloBillyG]

I think you're seeing more Murray on 3rd downs because he's been a bit better pass blocker than Cook. Cook has improved since last year IMO, though

[Beach]

17 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Interesting. Thanks for that.  From where I was, McLaurin had Tre boxed out and had all the leverage and positioning.

on tv Matt Ryan explained why Howell should not have thrown it.

[jletha]

26 minutes ago, Pokebball said:

#3 - IMO he runs poor routes. Always has

Ran a poor route on the 3rd int against the Jets too.

[Luka]

The offense looks disjointed at times, most likely a side effect of having an inexperienced coordinator. Some of the play calls were just atrocious. The screen on 4th and half a foot is an obvious sneak situation and Josh is the only person that can prevent Josh from picking up at least two yards. Could've been called the play before and Josh would've picked it up.

 

Dorsey should probably learn how to go with the flow and let Josh make him look good. Dab would do this also at key moments and it's why some fans got sick of him and weren't particularly sad to see him go. You do not need trick plays with this much talent on offense. If you want to use them, 1st or 2nd down is the time to call them and really should be used when you've got a defense on it's heels, say after a big gain on 3rd and long to convert. 

 

The front 4 have looked superb the last two games. The McDermott experiment so far is a rousing success. Much more aggressive, really getting guys into situations where their individual talent has the opportunity to wreak havoc. Bernard has clearly responded in a huge way after being handed the keys to the defense in the offseason. He is what you want out of a middle linebacker in this system. Quick to diagnose and fast to the ball. My hope now is that he can add some weight like Milano did and maintain his speed. If that happens Beane and McDermott may have really hit the jackpot with Bernard. 

 

I am with you on the situation at running back. I think it's obvious that Cook is RB1 and Murray is RB2. Cook is the kind of guy you want to feed a little bit because if he gets loose he's capable of a house call from anywhere on the field. Murray is a great change of pace and is more stout against contact but man, when I see Cook run I can't help but think the kid has a chance to be special. (Happy Birthday to him.) Harris is good too, but to me it seems like he was brought in as insurance maybe? If Cook couldn't cut it this year? 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by Luka

[freddyjj]

45 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Howell was to blame tho, on that White INT.  Even on the broadcast the color commentator said that was a young QB mistake...that once Tre kept outside leverage on the route McLaurin was running Howell should have immediately moved off him and looked elsewhere because that route was dead at that point in terms of where you want to go with the ball and that the coverage dictated it go elsewhere. Said that it made it too easy for White to jump the route with that positioning, which is ultimately what happened.

https://www.buffalobills.com/video/bills-at-commanders-game-highlights-week-3

@Virgil too 

In the replay, Shaq Lawson forced a dead duck throw and Curtis Samuel was the intended target. 

Edited September 25, 2023 by freddyjj

[Steve O]

re #3 - in addition to the Davis drop, which was as bad as it looked, Knox had a drop in the end zone when Josh had put the ball in a tiny window. Pretty much the only place he could have put it for there to be a catch. Gotta make that catch. Probably didn't look that bad in person, maybe even like the pass was broken up, but It wasn't, it was dropped. Those are the passes that some guy that played for New England, his name escapes me, used to always make - especially against us. 

 

Great report as always, thanks.

[BearNorth]

41 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

Yes Gabes drop was brutal.

Should have been a simple catch 

And I've seen WR's in this league get the second foot in on throws like the pass ruled OB in the endzone.

 

[Saxum]

37 minutes ago, Beach said:

on tv Matt Ryan explained why Howell should not have thrown it.

And Matt Ryan seems a better broadcaster; many of the ex-QBs start out good but devolve into cliché magnets.

[mushypeaches]

First time to FedEx for a game and it was a blast.  Our crew drove down from Harrisburg PA (2 hours) and hit one of the private tailgates.  We were actually there too early since they weren't opening any lots until 9 AM

 

The crowd seemed like 60% Bills fans and we were way louder than the WAS fans at all points in the game.  Our section in the upper deck was 90% Bills fans

Stadium experience was a joke - couldn't hear anything on the mikes, scoreboards might as well be from 1995, and the team's attempts at firing up the home crowd were hilariously poor.  I'd forgotten that some teams still have cheerleaders

 

The best was after they scored that meaningless FG at the end and they actually set off a couple of fireworks and fired up the marching band.  There were literally next to zero home fans left at that point, but we all got a good laugh out of it

 

[Allen2Moulds]

I think you're still spot on. 

 

The good: oline, dline, Bernard, Josh. McDermott the DC

 

The bad: Dorsey playcalling

[Virgil]

12 minutes ago, mushypeaches said:

First time to FedEx for a game and it was a blast.  Our crew drove down from Harrisburg PA (2 hours) and hit one of the private tailgates.  We were actually there too early since they weren't opening any lots until 9 AM

 

The crowd seemed like 60% Bills fans and we were way louder than the WAS fans at all points in the game.  Our section in the upper deck was 90% Bills fans

Stadium experience was a joke - couldn't hear anything on the mikes, scoreboards might as well be from 1995, and the team's attempts at firing up the home crowd were hilariously poor.  I'd forgotten that some teams still have cheerleaders

 

The best was after they scored that meaningless FG at the end and they actually set off a couple of fireworks and fired up the marching band.  There were literally next to zero home fans left at that point, but we all got a good laugh out of it

 

I kinda liked their dance squad honestly.  Spot on about the rest 

[Albany,n.y.]

18 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

And Matt Ryan seems a better broadcaster; many of the ex-QBs start out good but devolve into cliché magnets.

I had a few problems with the broadcast crew.  On an obvious Bills 1st down on a running play, they said he was short.  On an obvious Offside they were clueless what the flag was for.  Finally, Matt Ryan got his teams mixed up.  He said he was with Van Demark in Atlanta when it was actually last preseason in Indianapolis.  I guess that whole Indy experience last season is something he wants to forget.  

[BuffaloBud]

I thought some of the plays were "odd".  Jet sweep, WR screen, there were a couple of other odd calls.