Joe Brady's performance tonight

[Captain Hindsight]

Josh looked like he was having fun. That alone is a huge improvement. This team is better when Josh is relaxed

[RobbRiddick]

Many games this year reminded me of the drought , this game reminded me of the best ones from 2021. Just guys having fun and making big plays

[PBF81]

1 hour ago, Gunsgoodtime said:

It's 1 game.  But I give credit to him so far.  It was much better.

 

Exactly

 

Brady didn't fudge it up.  

 

 

[Tenhigh]

3 hours ago, davefan66 said:

Gotta wonder what Brady has been thinking all season.  How do you sit there and watch your OC call plays you wouldn’t, and not call plays you would.  Gotta sit there and take it I guess.  
 

Wonder how much input he had in the offense?  Did Dorsey lean on him, or go his own way?  My guess is Dorsey went his own way.

 

Anyways, great game last night!  Let’s keep it up!  Go Bills!

Who even knows if Brady didn't see solutions but kept his mouth shut to see how it would play out? 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

2 hours ago, Dan Darragh said:

Too much east and west stuff.  I was half expecting Trent Edwards to run out on the field.

I thought 'east and west' is valid movement of the ball towards the goal line.  'North and south' is C.J Spiller running 27 yards back and forth between the sidelines for a net gain (or loss) of 2.  What am I missing? 🤔

[Punch]

2 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

I thought 'east and west' is valid movement of the ball towards the goal line.  'North and south' is C.J Spiller running 27 yards back and forth between the sidelines for a net gain (or loss) of 2.  What am I missing? 🤔

You have it backwards: East-West is side to side. North-South means hit the hole.

[NoSaint]

6 hours ago, sven233 said:

There is a lot we can get into with this game, the scheme, and the play calling.  Without the benefit of seeing the All-22 yet, some of the nuances won't even be picked up and talked about yet.  But, on first watch, there were definitely things that were easy to notice and some other more subtle things that made things easier for Allen.

 

While I am not going to get into all the specifics I saw until I can confirm them with the All-22, I will comment on some of the little things that added up.  First off, this was not an overhaul of what we've been seeing the last several weeks.  But, what we did was add little wrinkles to the plays we were running.  The more obvious things we saw today started with the use of motion.  Not just motion, but motion with a purpose.  Sure, we have used motion this season, but a lot of times it was just motion to motion.  Guys need to line up so we'd run someone across the formation.  Maybe you get an idea of if it is man or zone, but it was never to set anything up.  Right from the jump today, there was orbit motions and eye candy that hasn't been there all season.  But not just that, the motion was used to scheme guys open.  This was most evident on the Cook TD.  By motioning him and determining that is was man coverage, they immediately knew the route they were going to run.  There was no way Cook's speed that his guy was going to get all the way across the formation with all that trash and get there in time to make a play on the ball there.  That play design was a thing of beauty.  There were at least 3 plays I can remember that actively schemed a player open in this game which is about 3 more than we have had all season. 

 

They limited the amount of mesh concepts they ran today.  Dorsey's go to concept in almost every critical situation.  We knew it.  We all could see it.  But the defenses all knew this as well.  Today, I can't say that the didn't run it at all because I haven't seen the film yet, but it never came across to me as standing out pre snap that it was coming.  Throw in the fact that we were under center a lot more, spread the ball around, threw it to the backs, ran the ball effectively, no 4th and inches shotgun hand offs, etc. and, at least in this game, eliminated a lot of the "dumb" stuff we saw every week up until now.  Finally, the overall route spacing for the most part, was so much better.  Outside of Davis running a bad route here and there, you never saw 3 or 4 WRs in the same area like we have seen all season.  There are several more great things we could talk about, but this stuff alone made a big difference.  This was never about trying to reinvent the whole offense.  That isn't possible right now in the season.  But the added wrinkles and the use of concepts (ie. throwing to the backs consistently, a lot more spread, etc.) that have been underutilized to this point in the season might be enough to get some of the mojo back on offense.

 

Was it perfect?  No.  That QB draw with time running out in the half was a puzzling call.  I have no idea what they were doing there with so little time left.  Gabe Davis.  WOOF.  We are literally playing handicapped with him as our #2 WR.  He is very rarely open.  His decisions on option routes are terrible at times.  There are many plays he does more harm than good because he screws up the spacing of routes by choosing the wrong option.  Unfortunately, we are just stuck with him for the rest of the season.  Of course Brown got beat like a drum a few times and there were some untimely penalties.  But honestly, for a team that had 5 days to get ready for the best defense in the NFL with a brand new coordinator, it couldn't have gone much better.  But man, next week is an entirely different animal.  We're not going to be able to basically just shut things down for a quarter+ because we know the other team can't score.  The pedal will have to be firmly planted on the floor next week.  Going to be a very tough game to try and win on the road.

 

PS.  Dalton Kincaid is a dog.  He is getting better and better every week.  His first half was amazing today and if we needed more in the 2nd half, I am confident he would have a monster day.  But it isn't just the stats......his blocking is so much better than it was when the season started.  It is not perfect, but he is a willing blocker and doesn't shy away from it.  Shakir does not get in the end zone if not for his effort and blocking down the field.  He affected 3 tacklers on that play alone.  He is a stud and is only going to be better.  He is the 2nd best weapon on this team.

I’m trying not to confuse process with results, and be starstruck by the points

 

but it did feel like the motion, personnel and formations were more purposeful pre snap leading to the “easy button” plays post snap 

 

there really weren’t the shotgun runs on and 1 situations or the outs to harty with time expiring. In fact they ran that little underneath sweep to him? Wasn’t a big gainer but again the type of play that feels like he was running a scheme and not a random collection of plays. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Just now, Punch said:

You have it backwards: East-West is side to side. North-South means hit the hole.

That explanation seems contrary to reading a map, but since Buddy Nix, anything is possible. 🤔

[PatsFanNH]

The Bills team didn’t look like the same team we have seen for like the last month or so. ALL3 phases looked energized and ready to play. I mean the first play of the game special teams gets a TO. 
 

Also it felt like Allen had time in the pocket, the best game I have seen by that O line all year against a good front, the job doesn’t get any easier next week. (Eagles front 4 are scary good)

[Punch]

Just now, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

That explanation seems contrary to reading a map, but since Buddy Nix, anything is possible. 🤔

You're basing it on the standard TV view. Offenses march the ball "up and down" the field, hence North-South.

 

Regardless, it's been standard football speak for decades.

[Since1981]

That D is so good and used to know how to stop our O. A key break thru that I for now attribute to Brady and a haircut

[RichRiderBills]

I liked the execution. Team was fired up and OL had a great performance. The run w Ty Johnson that got called back, the OL had every Jet on roller skates 5 yards down field. 

 

A few other observations:

 

Jet sweeps are back! Nice to see this fixed. They didn't work that well, but will make defenses think and may open up other things. 

 

QB runs. Again teams will have to have a plan here. Liked how they were used and think we may see some big ones here against lesser DLs. 

 

Screens and short passes. Yes, and much more emphasis. Cook is a demon. Really impressive. 

 

Shakir. He needs to be our de facto #2 . During the bye and next week, would not mind him lining up outside some and Davis in slot. 

 

Offense seemed patient. Patient to drive the field, take points when they come and relay on YAC, running and the occasional shot. Loved it. 

 

 

[Simon]

7 hours ago, sven233 said:

There is a lot we can get into with this game, the scheme, and the play calling.  Without the benefit of seeing the All-22 yet, some of the nuances won't even be picked up and talked about yet.  But, on first watch, there were definitely things that were easy to notice and some other more subtle things that made things easier for Allen.

 

 

Nice post.

I'd also suggest that they ran the offense with much more pace than they have been for most of the year. I think that's a huge advantage for them when it comes to the need to sustain drives.

Having the calls come in in earlier, not using as many sub packages within individual drives, getting to the line faster, etc. All that puts more pressure on defenses both as a unit and as individuals, and limits their ability to mentally reset and grasp how offenses are trying to attack them. I thought they made a clear effort to do that and the results speak for themselves.

[BuffaloRebound]

43 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

I’m trying not to confuse process with results, and be starstruck by the points

 

but it did feel like the motion, personnel and formations were more purposeful pre snap leading to the “easy button” plays post snap 

 

there really weren’t the shotgun runs on and 1 situations or the outs to harty with time expiring. In fact they ran that little underneath sweep to him? Wasn’t a big gainer but again the type of play that feels like he was running a scheme and not a random collection of plays. 

Agreed.  Josh wasn’t asked to make the super-man plays all the time.  The first couple drives Josh looked a bit out of sorts but then settled in and took the easy plays that were dialed up for him.  That was also a top defense we were doing that to.  We looked a lot less disjointed.  Good start to the Brady era, but let’s see what happens in a close game or when we’re playing from behind.  

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

8 hours ago, FireChans said:

I was extremely pleased and encouraged.

 

However, and this is not to be doom and gloom, but the hardest thing OC’s have to do is recognize the season long chess match and adjust their tendencies to the defensive adjustments that are coming.

 

It wouldn’t surprise me for Brady to have 3-4 “easy” games to call. Where the trouble comes (and what Dorsey hugely struggled with) is when the defense has a counter punch. Dorsey himself, both seasons, had a pretty great opening 4-6 weeks. He could not figure out how to adjust when defenses started to take away what he liked.

 

I’m not sure Brady will either. But I’m pretty hopeful.

Exactly what I think.

 

As much as we are collectively dancing on Dorsey's grave today, he did have stretches of greatness. The issue is, as you pointed out, what happens when DC's take away what has been working and you need a second punch.

 

That said, there are reasons for optimism

1) that 3-4 "easy" games could not come at a better time, right when we need it.

2) the folks at Cover 1 pointed out something useful: that the Jets defense had done an excellent job shutting down receivers on the outside this season, but their weakness had been giving up passes to RBs. Not only was the James Cook TD using motion to identify the defense and running play action from under center (two things we've been screaming for) it attacked a defense deficiency and I do not remember the last time we did that. The result speaks for itself: a wide open, easy throw and catch, red zone TD.

[Process]

👀👀

[Dopey]

If he can keep Josh from being a turnover machine, cool. 

[BBFL]

I’m not complaining in any way shape or form, it’s just a concern. 
 

My concern is that they get don’t get Diggs more involved going forward. Dude had 4 targets in the first 2 drives; 3 drops 😬 and then 2 more in garbage time… As the game wore on from the 1st quarter, dude seriously looked disinterested and checked out. Always lifting his hands in the air like “wtf” with some calls. 

 

I’m not talking about forcing him the ball so many times like they have been in the past, just get him involved as it might be a potential problem going forward if it’s continued as he’s an emotional player (nothing wrong with that). 
 

Have the Diggs rumors in the past been blown out of proportion? Most likely but there has to be even a speck of truth to these things…

 

Dude is our best assets aside from a competent run game in Josh’s success. Don’t care about “keeping him happy” would just like to keep him squarely involved and not where he feels he’s an afterthought. 
 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by BBFL

[Dan Darragh]

1 hour ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

I thought 'east and west' is valid movement of the ball towards the goal line.  'North and south' is C.J Spiller running 27 yards back and forth between the sidelines for a net gain (or loss) of 2.  What am I missing? 🤔

North is straight to the other team's goal line.  East is to your right, west is to your left and south is behind you.

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, BBFL said:

I’m not complaining in any way shape or form, it’s just a concern. 
 

My concern is that they get don’t get Diggs more involved going forward. Dude had 4 targets in the first 2 drives; 3 drops 😬 and then 2 more in garbage time… As the game wore on from the 1st quarter, dude seriously looked disinterested and checked out. Always lifting his hands in the air like “wtf” with some calls. 

 

 

 

Actually he had 8 targets last night, which is the most he's had so far in the month of November.

I don't think that concern should be costing you any sleep. 

1 hour ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

That explanation seems contrary to reading a map, 🤔

 

If you're on the field it's a different perspective as opposed to watching it go left and right.