Do you think the offense was better yesterday?

[BillsSbSoon]

Yes absolutely. Josh was in command with the up tempo and calling it at the line. Dorsey got more diverse with his calls and broke out of some tendencies particularly the rpo stuff when it looked like our usual run from shotgun. But we do not play well when we take our foot off the pedal, it’s happened time and again with McDermott. It should’ve been a big blowout win and instead we were almost a third straight game with the ball at the goalline with the game on the line. Just baffling 

[Scott7975]

Yes, the offense was better. Stats aside did you not see Josh more poised, more decisive, quicker to get the pass off, more confident, and make better throws?  I did.  Did you not see other players besides Diggs stepping up? Shakir, Kincaid, even Davis.  I did. Did you not see Josh take off with the run lane when it was there? I did. Josh was also making better throws on the run. I'm not sure if this is true or not but the oline looked better to me yesterday.  Josh didn't seem to be under as much pressure as last week. The holes in the run game looked better, but again I don't know if that part is true or not. 

 

Now stats...

 

88 yards more offense

6 yards per play, was 5 against Pats. Full yard difference

3rd down efficiency 53%, was 41% against Pats. 12% difference

 

We had the lead the entire game as opposed to be behind the entire game

 

Dorsey was still Dorsey.  Shot gun hand off at the goal line.

 

This was also a short week.  However, I think the Pats know the Bills better and probably have a better defense so that kind of washes.  Also home versus away. Tampa also had the number 1 red zone defense.

 

Eye test as well as some other things, the offense was clearly better.  EPA can kiss my ass.  People touting EPA of the Bills being one of the best weeks 5-7, then I show some EPA showing the Bills being one of the worst at weeks 5-7.  

Edited October 27, 2023 by Scott7975

[Mango]

Yes, I think it was. My go to, when you have a great QB, is to spread the ball around. You don't just make the defense def

 

Mahomes and Brady have made careers at being willing to throw anybody the ball, at any time, in any situation, then if it doesn't work out holding that pass catcher responsible. The inverse is Rodgers, who is still remarkable, but has also been very open about not throwing the ball to certain players and calling out his FO. Rodgers has a ton of individual awards, Brady and Mahomes have multiple SB's. I don't believe that is a coincidence. 

 

(Worth noting that JuJu is getting a ton of hate in New England right now)

 

One thing I noticed last night was how engaged Josh was when the defense was on the field. For years it feels like he mostly sits alone on the bench. At least that is what the TV seems to show. But last night he was with Brady and "Other Allen" a bunch, and we seemed to see him a ton talking to his WR's about what they are seeing out in coverage. Both were a very welcome change. Just a lot more energy from some of the skill positions on the sidelines. 

That alone makes them better going forward. 

 

 

[78thealltimegreat]

It is very hard to stop this offense when Allen is a threat to run. You saw on Daltons TD pass Levonte David who is one of the top 5 or so linebackers in the league still was caught in no man’s land as he had to worry about Josh taking off.

3 times you had it 4th and 2 or less if anyone would be good at the Brotherly Shove it would be a team with a 6’5 qb that reportedly deadlifts over 500 lbs. 

 

So yes just a simply change of pace made it much smoother.

Edited October 27, 2023 by 78thealltimegreat

[Chaos]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

I made the argument last week that the offense played 'fine'. Points are points whether they are scored in the first half or final minutes. The offense scored 25 and left the field with the lead and under two minutes to play. So I figured lets compare the two.

Week 7 vs Patriots
Points: 25

Offensive EPA/a: .16
First downs: 24

Punts: 1

 

Week 8 vs Bucs

Points: 24

Offensive EPA/a: .09

First downs: 25

Punts: 4

This weeks offense did have 88 more yards, and also involved more receiving options, though this effort resulted in 1 less point, a lower EPA/a and more punts than last week. 

We did have a large lead this week, which can contribute to taking the foot off the pedal. However, I didn't get the sense we were doing that until the very last drive. We were running 11 personnel with Josh in shotgun up until the second to last drive.

PS, our no-huddle work was magnificent:
 

 

 

It seems many fans are under the impression that points scored in the first quarter count more than points scored in the fourth quarter.   Over the course of 60 minutes, the offense was not meaningfully better than against the Patriots over the course of 60 minutes. Hence, 25 points vs 24 points.   

But clearly the offense came out much better in this game than last week.  In any case the offense is not the problem for the Bills. The problem is defense and critical situtional coaching.  

[Einstein]

7 minutes ago, Chaos said:

It seems many fans are under the impression that points scored in the first quarter count more than points scored in the fourth quarter.   

Yes. Perhaps a form of the cognitive bias known as Primacy Effect.

[thewookie1]

What differs between the Patriots game and the Bucs game is how effective the offense played and how it looked play by play. 
 

Against the Bucs every drive felt like it could get somewhere, even if they stalled it still looked clean.

 

Against the Patriots the offense looked as if it were running through quick sand and every play was like pulling teeth. It felt like Allen was walking up a downward escalator. The two exemptions are the two hurry up drives that gave them 15 points in 4 minutes. 
 

When Dorsey doesn’t keep Allen waiting until the last second for calls and they spread the defense; he can accurately dissect a defense far better than when he has 10 secs to read, adjust and snap.

[PayDaBill$]

There def  was an improvement, spreading the ball & going up tempo. Dorsey still makes boneheaded calls though and we did revert back to Diggs-centric later in the 2nd.  I said it before Brady made a killin’ for years spreading the wealth and taking what’s there….
 

Shakir and Kincaid are more than sound targets as is Davis if you use him underneath. He’s not a great route runner but he’s a big strong target. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by PayDaBill$

[FireChans]

24 minutes ago, Chaos said:

It seems many fans are under the impression that points scored in the first quarter count more than points scored in the fourth quarter.   Over the course of 60 minutes, the offense was not meaningfully better than against the Patriots over the course of 60 minutes. Hence, 25 points vs 24 points.   

But clearly the offense came out much better in this game than last week.  In any case the offense is not the problem for the Bills. The problem is defense and critical situtional coaching.  

It wasn’t meaningfully better except for the career days for like 3 receivers, way more yards per play, way more yards per pass, way better on third down, more first downs. 
 

Got it.

[Einstein]

5 minutes ago, FireChans said:

It wasn’t meaningfully better except for the career days for like 3 receivers, way more yards per play, way more yards per pass, way better on third down, more first downs. 
 

Got it.

 

How many more points?

[Sharky7337]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

You feel like the offense was purposefully not scoring the last quarter and a half?

The staff wanted to practice punting? 

This is how i feel.

 

We still only saw one good half of football. And it looked nicer but really wasnt any better overall because we almost lost. Again.

[Jauronimo]

3 minutes ago, FireChans said:

It wasn’t meaningfully better except for the career days for like 3 receivers, way more yards per play, way more yards per pass, way better on third down, more first downs. 
 

Got it.

What does the EPA say about drinking my own piss?  

1 minute ago, Einstein said:

 

How many more points?

Do you want to see more of the offense that took the field in Foxboro or more of the offense we saw last night as we face Cincinatti?

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

How many more points?

More than the team they were playing against.

[BaaadThingsMan]

Mostly.

 

I loved the 2 seconds to release.  Keep that up.

 

I liked the tempo and getting more people involved.

 

I would still like to see more Cook in the passing game and maybe even a few more runs. 

 

 

[FireChans]

6 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

What does the EPA say about drinking my own piss?  

Do you want to see more of the offense that took the field in Foxboro or more of the offense we saw last night as we face Cincinatti?

I want to just watch a live EPA chart go up and down. That’s football baby.

[Jauronimo]

4 minutes ago, FireChans said:

More than the team they were playing against.

The offense's finest play in the New England game was Poyer forcing a fumble at the 20.  Major EPA boost in a game we could have easily lost by 2 scores.  

 

I shudder to think what our EPA could have been if we were playing down 14 points and needing to go for it on every 4th and short in the second half.  Coulda been huge! Playing with leads and complementary football is bad for EPA. 

[Jauronimo]

40 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Yes. Perhaps a form of the cognitive bias known as Primacy Effect.

Its a bad analogy to cite the primacy effect in this context for obvious reasons, but lets entertain this stupidity: were the primacy effect at play in this comparison, wouldn't our bias be to imprint on the earlier game in New England and discount the new information of last nights performance as less relevant?

 

Or are you suggesting that we imprinted the first half of the Bucs game into our long-term memory and are too rigid to deal with the subsequent half of football played 15 minutes later?  

[Einstein]

30 minutes ago, BaaadThingsMan said:

I would still like to see more Cook in the passing game and maybe even a few more runs. 

 

It’s difficult to do, because he is a bad pass blocker. When the opponent brings more rushers, the RB has to stay in and protect. He struggles.

[HOUSE]

I give them a B-

[nedboy7]

Felt great until the 24-10 lead got to 24-18. Then real panic set in about another historic collapse possibility.