Bills posting "insane" offensive efficiency metrics thru 2 weeks

[Big Turk]

30 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

This is actually the crux of the offseason debate.

 

Column A

WR's aren't good enough to win a SB

 

Column B

They are fine, it worked last year

 

Two different goal posts.   Some of those in column B ventured into "well the Chiefs won the SB" with a bad WR corps and the debate about whether they were bad or not come January......... but most of the vocal defender's of the Bills moves(or lack thereof) at WR were just aiming at a lower bar than winning the SB.   It was already clear that Brady ball can win a lot of regular season games.   But it was also clear that it comes at the expense of hard mileage on the QB and lesser passing game numbers.   Those things have held true.   The QB got injured running the ball and the bulk passing numbers are predictably poor.   Perhaps I missed it but I never saw @HappyDays or @Kirby Jackson claim that this team wouldn't be a top 10 scoring offense the way they were constituted.   That seemed a given with Josh Allen.   It's not any surprise to anyone that they've won 2 of the seemingly most winnable games on their schedule Arizona in Buffalo and @ Miami(who they had beaten 11 of the last 12 meetings).  

 

We will see how it all worked out in February.

 

 

 

Our offense has been far better than KC's for much of the last 1.5 years week in and week out.

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

This is actually the crux of the offseason debate.

 

Column A

WR's aren't good enough to win a SB

 

Column B

They are fine, it worked last year

 

Two different goal posts.   Some of those in column B ventured into "well the Chiefs won the SB" with a bad WR corps and the debate about whether they were bad or not come January......... but most of the vocal defender's of the Bills moves(or lack thereof) at WR were just aiming at a lower bar than winning the SB.   It was already clear that Brady ball can win a lot of regular season games.   But it was also clear that it comes at the expense of hard mileage on the QB and lesser passing game numbers.   Those things have held true.   The QB got injured running the ball and the bulk passing numbers are predictably poor.   Perhaps I missed it but I never saw @HappyDays or @Kirby Jackson claim that this team wouldn't be a top 10 scoring offense the way they were constituted.   That seemed a given with Josh Allen.   It's not any surprise to anyone that they've won 2 of the seemingly most winnable games on their schedule Arizona in Buffalo and @ Miami(who they had beaten 11 of the last 12 meetings).  

 

We will see how it all worked out in February.

 

 

 

Bills have scored 65 points in 2 games despite:  A)  Allen having just 2 pass attempts until final 2 minutes of first half week 1...and B) The Bills mailing it in for almost the entire second half of week 2.  

 

Cardinals showed this week they are not the doormat they were last year too.  Final 6 games of the guy you defended all offseason in Dorsey, Bills averaged under 20 ppg with Diggs as the focal point of the offense.  Brady took the focus off Diggs and the offense went on to average over 8 more points per game the rest of the season on its way to 6-1 finish saving the season.  In the first 2 games we are now averaging 32.5 PPG despite the offense only playing at full speed barely a game and a half (and all but 3 of that came in a stretch of about 4.5 quarters of play).

 

There is only one column that matters, the win column and we went from 5-5 against bad teams under Dorsey with a focus on Diggs to 9-2 since while averaging significantly more points per game.  

 

I would say the returns thus far are showing this is a better brand of football for this team.  Lot of football left, but early returns are positive.  

Edited September 17 by Alphadawg7

[Coach Tuesday]

4 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Bills have scored 65 points in 2 games despite:  A)  Allen having just 2 pass attempts until final 2 minutes of first half week 1...and B) The Bills mailing it in for almost the entire second half of week 2.  

 

Cardinals showed this week they are not the doormat they were last year too.  Final 6 games of the guy you defended all offseason in Dorsey, Bills averaged under 20 ppg with Diggs as the focal point of the offense.  Brady took the focus off Diggs and the offense went on to average over 8 more points per game the rest of the season on its way to 6-1 finish saving the season.  In the first 2 games we are now averaging 32.5 PPG despite the offense only playing at full speed barely a game and a half.  

 

There is only one column that matters, the win column and we went from 5-5 against bad teams under Dorsey with a focus on Diggs to 9-2 since while averaging significantly more points per game.  

 

I would say the returns thus far are showing this is a better brand of football for this team.  Lot of football left, but early returns are positive.  

 

The Bills also have (according to a stat I saw somewhere here the other day) the second-best average drive start over the first two games, due in part to Tua gifting them some easy ones.  Let's let the sample size grow a bit more.

[Alphadawg7]

Just now, Coach Tuesday said:

 

The Bills also have (according to a stat I saw somewhere here the other day) the second-best average drive start over the first two games, due in part to Tua gifting them some easy ones.  Let's let the sample size grow a bit more.

 

I don't disagree...I said there is a lot of football left, but the early returns are positive.  And lets not forget we scored 31 points in 31 minutes on AZ too without all those Tua short fields.  A team that just dominated and decimated the Rams this week showing they are not the doormat there were last year.  

 

But there is no doubt this team will be tested more over our next stretch of games of Jags (a team we have played down to in the past), Balt, Hou, and Jets over our next 4 games...which includes each of those teams having more and more film on Brady's offense to prepare for with each passing week.  

 

And as I have said in every other post, the first week or two does not decisively prove anything, it was never going to be proven in the first 2 weeks, good or bad.  But...none the less, its an encouraging start by all measures and good early returns to start the season.

[BillsVet]

Worth noting that the last 3 seasons Buffalo has started off hot...4-1 in 2021, 5-1 in 2022, and 3-1 last year highlighted by the 48-20 romp vs. Miami.  In each of those starts they were good scoring (over or near 30 points per game).  

 

Then came the mid-season 8 game swoon where suddenly what was working isn't anymore.  And each season to overcome that, they needed Josh carrying the ball even though it was a priority at the start of the season for him not to.  

 

That's the script 3 years running and there's a likelihood it repeats itself this year except this year, there's no Diggs to catch passes.    

Edited September 17 by BillsVet

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

Our offense has been far better than KC's for much of the last 1.5 years week in and week out.

 

The Bills have scored more points than the Chiefs in 3 of the last 4 seasons and subsequently more points overall since Allen broke out in 2020.   Higher point differential as well.   Everyone on this board should know that.  

 

The reality is that chasers often run up more numbers.   See 2023 Tua and the Dolphins easily outscoring/passing the Bills on the season despite getting swept by Buffalo in their matchups.

 

Allen/Mahomes is close........but the Chiefs have had better quality playmakers in that span of time.   And it's mattered "week in and week out" when those weeks happened to be against the Bills in the playoffs.   How did they do in their 3 playoff defeats of Buffalo?   Kelce/Tyreek/Rice combined for 50 receptions on 58 attempts for a ridiculous 658 yards and a tidy 6 TD's.  The quality of player on the field with that QB has made a big difference in those games.   Would be nice if Buffalo had a 1-2 punch to throw at the Chiefs in the playoffs but hasn't been the case.

 

 

 

Edited September 17 by BADOLBILZ

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

Perhaps I missed it but I never saw @HappyDays or @Kirby Jackson claim that this team wouldn't be a top 10 scoring offense the way they were constituted.

 

I won't lie, I was not 100% confident the Bills would end up a top 10 scoring offense. I looked at the Chiefs offense last year, they ranked 8th in YPG, 14th in PPG, and 8th in DVOA (which is my preferred ranking measurement). An offense led by Mahomes and Andy Reid ending up with those metrics because of a depleted receiving corps made me wonder if we would ultimately end up a top 10 offense.

 

As of now I am cautiously optimistic that we will in fact exceed the Chiefs offense from last year, with a big emphasis on cautiously. Through two weeks we rank 2nd in offensive DVOA. The obvious caveat being that it's an incredibly small sample size. Every year under McDermott the whole team has had a midseason slump, can we avoid it for once? I am still worried about the sustainability of an offense that features a bottom quartile outside WR group (which is probably a generous description). Naturally I'm worried that none of the regular season stats will matter at all anyways when we inevitably face the Chiefs in the playoffs. But I'm willing to step back on some of my offseason concerns and say that at the very least I'm more optimistic than I was and I'm interested to see where it goes from here.

 

I really wish we played the Chiefs before the trade deadline. That would be a great barometer of where our offense is at relative to a championship caliber level and might have given Beane the push he needs to make a "cross the finish line" type of move.

[Alphadawg7]

2 hours ago, BillsVet said:

Worth noting that the last 3 seasons Buffalo has started off hot...4-1 in 2021, 5-1 in 2022, and 3-1 last year highlighted by the 48-20 romp vs. Miami.  In each of those starts they were good scoring (over or near 30 points per game).  

 

Then came the mid-season 8 game swoon where suddenly what was working isn't anymore.  And each season to overcome that, they needed Josh carrying the ball even though it was a priority at the start of the season for him not to.  

 

That's the script 3 years running and there's a likelihood it repeats itself this year except this year, there's no Diggs to catch passes.    

 

We didn't snap out of our slump last year until we stopped focusing on Diggs.  So there is that too.

[Kirby Jackson]

5 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

This is actually the crux of the offseason debate.

 

Column A

WR's aren't good enough to win a SB

 

Column B

They are fine, it worked last year

 

Two different goal posts.   Some of those in column B ventured into "well the Chiefs won the SB" with a bad WR corps and the debate about whether they were bad or not come January......... but most of the vocal defender's of the Bills moves(or lack thereof) at WR were just aiming at a lower bar than winning the SB.   It was already clear that Brady ball can win a lot of regular season games.   But it was also clear that it comes at the expense of hard mileage on the QB and lesser passing game numbers.   Those things have held true.   The QB got injured running the ball and the bulk passing numbers are predictably poor.   Perhaps I missed it but I never saw @HappyDays or @Kirby Jackson claim that this team wouldn't be a top 10 scoring offense the way they were constituted.   That seemed a given with Josh Allen.   It's not any surprise to anyone that they've won 2 of the seemingly most winnable games on their schedule Arizona in Buffalo and @ Miami(who they had beaten 11 of the last 12 meetings).  

 

We will see how it all worked out in February.

 

 

All correct from my standpoint. I’m on record as saying that I thought that the Bills would win the division. I’m also on record as saying that they have a bottom 3 WR room. Through 2 weeks, I’m more emboldened on both of those than before the year. The Bills are good and the WRs are extremely limited. 

 

The things that have been pleasant “surprises” so far are the coaching staff, the OL, the DL, and the CBs. Those aren’t shocking to me, but those are the groups that are a little ahead of where I thought they’d be. I thought, with the exception of coaching, that those 3 areas were strengths of the team. They actually might all be near the best in the league. That’s a credit to the whole organization.

[BillsVet]

3 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

We didn't snap out of our slump last year until we stopped focusing on Diggs.  So there is that too.

 

They had Diggs in '21 and '22, yet fell into deep slumps both seasons, particularly on offense.  

 

What I love about TSW is people who go from...here is the problem...to the cause almost within a few seconds.  And then those providing some detail in perhaps historical perspective or decent statistical analysisl to illustrate it ain't that simple...get responses like yours here.  Just surface level / knee jerk / narrative / bullet point conclusions.  

 

But it's a long season...and fast starts aren't always a harbinger of things to come.   

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, BillsVet said:

 

They had Diggs in '21 and '22, yet fell into deep slumps both seasons, particularly on offense.  

 

What I love about TSW is people who go from...here is the problem...to the cause almost within a few seconds.  And then those providing some detail in perhaps historical perspective or decent statistical analysisl to illustrate it ain't that simple...get responses like yours here.  Just surface level / knee jerk / narrative / bullet point conclusions.  

 

But it's a long season...and fast starts aren't always a harbinger of things to come.   

 

Except that is not what happened, I mean I literally gave you nothing but detail in my simple and short reply to something you said.   You can pick any one of my many long-detailed posts all over this board on the subject and reply to them if you want to have a deeper convo on it...or just start one...or keep doing this complaining schtick...whatever floats your boat.

 

But I do find it ironic you are complaining about posts that don't have enough "historical perspective or decent statistical analysis" while making a post that literally has none of that or adds anything to the conversation really.

 

But I do full agree with the bolded that fast starts are no indication of long-term results, or even slow starts for that matter (like people who wanted to declare the Jets dead after week 1).  Teams will literally add film on Brady and this offense with each passing week to try and better prepare to defend it.  It is going to be up to Brady to figure out how to keep adjusting in order to find consistent success and avoid any offensive slump again like this team has gone through the past 3 seasons.   

 

IMHO - Week 5 is going to be our first true test...that is 4 weeks of film, that is a legit defense, that is a legit offense there in Hou.  That is a defensive HC too.  That is the game for Brady to officially take his first sniff test IMHO.

 

 

Edited September 18 by Alphadawg7

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

 

I won't lie, I was not 100% confident the Bills would end up a top 10 scoring offense. I looked at the Chiefs offense last year, they ranked 8th in YPG, 14th in PPG, and 8th in DVOA (which is my preferred ranking measurement). An offense led by Mahomes and Andy Reid ending up with those metrics because of a depleted receiving corps made me wonder if we would ultimately end up a top 10 offense.

 

As of now I am cautiously optimistic that we will in fact exceed the Chiefs offense from last year, with a big emphasis on cautiously. Through two weeks we rank 2nd in offensive DVOA. The obvious caveat being that it's an incredibly small sample size. Every year under McDermott the whole team has had a midseason slump, can we avoid it for once? I am still worried about the sustainability of an offense that features a bottom quartile outside WR group (which is probably a generous description). Naturally I'm worried that none of the regular season stats will matter at all anyways when we inevitably face the Chiefs in the playoffs. But I'm willing to step back on some of my offseason concerns and say that at the very least I'm more optimistic than I was and I'm interested to see where it goes from here.

 

I really wish we played the Chiefs before the trade deadline. That would be a great barometer of where our offense is at relative to a championship caliber level and might have given Beane the push he needs to make a "cross the finish line" type of move.

 

 

All fair points.  As to the midseason slump we have seen 3 straight years...here are two reasons to be more optimistic we can break that trend this year:  

 

#1 Reason to believe it may be different this year:  The Run Game.  

2021 - 2023 (until Dorsey firing):  The common denominator with all 3 seasons was the lack of a run game to compliment Josh.  Not saying we needed to be run first or run dominant, but Daboll struggled to run the ball and so did Dorsey.  Since Brady took over, we have had a much more reliable run game and that looks to be even more improved in the small sample of this year. 

 

You win the tough games in the trenches and being able to effectively run the ball when necessary.  Chiefs and Patriots all ran the ball very well despite having what many consider the 2 GOATS already in Brady and Mahomes.  Neither QB has nearly as many personal or team accolades without their respective teams ability to compliment their QB's with a quality run game.  

 

#2 Reason - Short area pass attack 

Those short area throws that are almost an extension of the run game, also something both the Chiefs and Pats did more than anyone.  This has been something that this team has struggled with, especially in the physicality department.  Only guy we had with size was Gabe, and he was not good in these areas, his bread and butter was down field with a limited route tree.  And Allen now has the weapons to execute that, as well as an OC that seems to understand how to build that into the offense.  

 

These are the things that also open up things all over the field for Allen to attack as well.  This team has been way too dependent on the big play for too long.  Teams would take that away and the offense would go into a funk each of the last 3 years.  

 

You want to win consistently...you want to win in the postseason...you want to win close games...these are the things that are major components of that.  To be clear, does NOT mean to be conservative or run first.  You use these to keep moving the chains and keep teams having to cover the whole field and open up those mid to deep shots.  But for too long we were way too dependent on the big play and this offense was too easily disrupted by taking that away.   

Me personally, if you were to ask me which offenses I want Joe Brady to try and incorporate more of...elements and things that the Pats and Chiefs have done or more of the Daboll/Dorsey stuff...well that is a pretty easy answer for me and it is the thing I am the most encouraged about regarding Brady.  

 

DISCLAIMER:  Brady still needs to be tested, as with each passing week teams have more film.  So as teams prepare to try and disrupt his flow and offense he still needs to show he can keep making the adjustments.  So this is a story far from over right now, just sharing the reasons that I think will help us potentially snap that 3 year streak of a midseason slump.

 

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

6 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

I won't lie, I was not 100% confident the Bills would end up a top 10 scoring offense.

 

6 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

As of now I am cautiously optimistic that we will in fact exceed the Chiefs offense from last year, with a big emphasis on cautiously.

It's because Allen is significantly better than Mahomes. Josh Allen is the top quarterback in the NFL by an appreciable margin. Allen is so good he can produce a strong offense with nothing around him.

 

It seems like Mahomes is better than, or just as good as, Allen because his supporting cast has always been better, including offensive coordinator.

[HappyDays]

25 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

#1 Reason to believe it may be different this year:  The Run Game.  

2021 - 2023 (until Dorsey firing):  The common denominator with all 3 seasons was the lack of a run game to compliment Josh.  Not saying we needed to be run first or run dominant, but Daboll struggled to run the ball and so did Dorsey.  Since Brady took over, we have had a much more reliable run game and that looks to be even more improved in the small sample of this year. 

 

You win the tough games in the trenches and being able to effectively run the ball when necessary.  Chiefs and Patriots all ran the ball very well despite having what many consider the 2 GOATS already in Brady and Mahomes.  Neither QB has nearly as many personal or team accolades without their respective teams ability to compliment their QB's with a quality run game.  

 

You know Alpha I don't inherently have a problem with a run heavy offense. I have never been one to say that when Josh Allen is your QB it means you have to always pass 35 times a game. I've seen people say Allen needs to throw the ball early and often to get in a rhythm and that a run heavy game plan would lead to him making more mistakes. Instead so far this season we've seen the run game help keep the offense on schedule which keeps Allen under control playing boring football until the situation calls for Superman and he dons his cape for a play or two. That formula does require mostly mistake free football across the board but so far the supporting cast has delivered.

 

I am not a believer in pass first or run first philosophy, I'm a believer in coming into every game with a specific plan to beat that week's opponent and executing that plan. Week 1 the Cardinals have terrible run defense and bad outside CBs so that's where we attacked. Week 2 the Dolphins are soft up front and over the middle, and strong in coverage on the boundary, so we gameplanned accordingly. This has been my favorite aspect of Brady's coaching so far - he doesn't stubbornly insist on trying to follow the same game script every week, he has shown a willingness to do the simple thing and attack his opponents at their weakest points. Some weeks that means Allen will only throw the ball 20 times and I have zero issues with that. I like that so far we are asking Allen to pull a rabbit out of a hat 2-3 times a game instead of 10 times a game.

 

At this point it's about sample size and sustainability. You can't argue with the efficiency. There are just certain game situations the offense hasn't been exposed to yet and we'll need to see how they respond when those situations inevitably come up.

[HappyDays]

17 minutes ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

 

It's because Allen is significantly better than Mahomes. Josh Allen is the top quarterback in the NFL by an appreciable margin. Allen is so good he can produce a strong offense with nothing around him.

 

It seems like Mahomes is better than, or just as good as, Allen because his supporting cast has always been better, including offensive coordinator.

 

I feel like I'm too biased to have an intelligent conversation about this, seriously. It's one of the few discussions where I have to admit that I'm too close to the situation to analyze it properly. There are times where I allow myself to consider what you posted. What I've ultimately come to in my mind is that whatever difference exists between Allen and Mahomes is negligible, and certainly not the primary reason for the Chiefs success versus the Bills success since 2020.

[mikemac2001]

9 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

Our offense has been far better than KC's for much of the last 1.5 years week in and week out.

Honestly we didn’t look bad at all.
 

If Josh doesn’t fumble and we don’t let Arizona control the clock in the first half more points would have been scored. 

 

I think they had like 20+ mins time possession in first the first half 

 

 

[Alphadawg7]

27 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

You know Alpha I don't inherently have a problem with a run heavy offense. I have never been one to say that when Josh Allen is your QB it means you have to always pass 35 times a game. I've seen people say Allen needs to throw the ball early and often to get in a rhythm and that a run heavy game plan would lead to him making more mistakes. Instead so far this season we've seen the run game help keep the offense on schedule which keeps Allen under control playing boring football until the situation calls for Superman and he dons his cape for a play or two. That formula does require mostly mistake free football across the board but so far the supporting cast has delivered.

 

I am not a believer in pass first or run first philosophy, I'm a believer in coming into every game with a specific plan to beat that week's opponent and executing that plan. Week 1 the Cardinals have terrible run defense and bad outside CBs so that's where we attacked. Week 2 the Dolphins are soft up front and over the middle, and strong in coverage on the boundary, so we gameplanned accordingly. This has been my favorite aspect of Brady's coaching so far - he doesn't stubbornly insist on trying to follow the same game script every week, he has shown a willingness to do the simple thing and attack his opponents at their weakest points. Some weeks that means Allen will only throw the ball 20 times and I have zero issues with that. I like that so far we are asking Allen to pull a rabbit out of a hat 2-3 times a game instead of 10 times a game.

 

At this point it's about sample size and sustainability. You can't argue with the efficiency. There are just certain game situations the offense hasn't been exposed to yet and we'll need to see how they respond when those situations inevitably come up.

 

I agree really with all of this Happy.  I said coming into the Fins game get ready for a lot of Cook/Davis on a short week on the road in a humid stadium.  Why...because its hardest on the DL and the Fins front 7 were already a mess.  Plus controlling the game on the ground also counters their offensive speed by keeping it off the field.  And that is also what I have loved about Brady, he doesn't go out there and just try and make his "system" work, he adapts to the game and gameplans accordingly.  Dorsey felt like he stubbornly stuck to a script even when the script was poor and not working.  

 

For me, week 5 is the first sniff test for Brady.  Houston has a good offense and good defense.  They have a defensive HC.  They will have 4 weeks of tape on this offense plus any tendencies Diggs helps point out.  Win or lose won't make or end Brady, but that for me will be the first real stiff test for the reasons I stated above.  Can he adjust, counter, bring things they haven't seen or expecting...things like that against a well coached and talented team with the defensive prowess to put our toughest test of the season.  

 

But the reason I am optimistic we can avoid an offensive slump this year is because I feel like we finally have the ability to incorporate the run and short area pass attack that can help build rhythm, move chains, etc even if nothing else is working down field.  Where before, we were highly dependent on the down field attack working or the offense was in trouble.  Daboll and Dorsey were frustratingly stubborn to a fault in contrast.  

[Alphadawg7]

28 minutes ago, mikemac2001 said:

Honestly we didn’t look bad at all.
 

If Josh doesn’t fumble and we don’t let Arizona control the clock in the first half more points would have been scored. 

 

I think they had like 20+ mins time possession in first the first half 

 

 

 

Adding to that...Bills only had 2 pass attempts until the final drive of the first half over the final 2 and a half minutes.  From that exact moment over the next 59 straight minutes of play, the Bills offense scored 54 points.  They had a FG prior to that and another 7 from a defensive TD after that.  

 

Now factor in because of the defensive TD early in the 2nd half, the Bills offense coasted and chewed clock from that point on.  If not for the early rust fumble week 1 or the blowout week 2, Bills very well might have put up 90+ points over the first 2 weeks with ease. 

 

But...now we face a team we keep playing DOWN too in the Jags the last couple outings.  So with the long layoff, I hope they come out flat or cold.  I want to see them come out sharp and get a rhythm going again like they have been establishing this season.  

Edited September 18 by Alphadawg7

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Adding to that...Bills only had 2 pass attempts

 

That counted. I think there were 6 pass plays called. 2 completions, 2 penalties, 1 scramble and a sack I think. 

[BillsVet]

10 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Except that is not what happened, I mean I literally gave you nothing but detail in my simple and short reply to something you said.   You can pick any one of my many long-detailed posts all over this board on the subject and reply to them if you want to have a deeper convo on it...or just start one...or keep doing this complaining schtick...whatever floats your boat.

 

But I do find it ironic you are complaining about posts that don't have enough "historical perspective or decent statistical analysis" while making a post that literally has none of that or adds anything to the conversation really.

 

But I do full agree with the bolded that fast starts are no indication of long-term results, or even slow starts for that matter (like people who wanted to declare the Jets dead after week 1).  Teams will literally add film on Brady and this offense with each passing week to try and better prepare to defend it.  It is going to be up to Brady to figure out how to keep adjusting in order to find consistent success and avoid any offensive slump again like this team has gone through the past 3 seasons.   

 

IMHO - Week 5 is going to be our first true test...that is 4 weeks of film, that is a legit defense, that is a legit offense there in Hou.  That is a defensive HC too.  That is the game for Brady to officially take his first sniff test IMHO.

 

I think far too often posters are talking past each other because we have different perspectives.  I've noticed a penchant for people to review what's happened and use that as evidence things will be as good or better.  That's not necessarily my approach.  Not saying you're only that either Alpha.    

 

I see others who review games with the added focus on trying to anticipate what's coming.  One way I look at a team is their talent...and that's what prompted a 100+ page thread about the WR room which discussed this ad infinitum.  

 

My anticipation is...I'm primarily concerned about the boundary WR talent because it'll likely become a focal point of the offense.  And that is because I anticipate that teams will work to take the run away.  They'd be less likely to do so if there was a dynamic passing offense that stretched the field.  Yet, their primary receivers who would be running deeper patterns, i.e. intermediate or beyond, at this moment (and the latter in their careers) (EDIT: do not) represent the type of threat to make a defense think twice.  

 

Scheme only gets you so far...and eventually you gotta win 1 v 1 battles.  That's the challenge when the scheme isn't so fresh to opponents.  

 

The offense will be tested and we're going to find out if their offensive philosophy within the complementary football approach is sustainable.  I don't believe it is. 

Edited September 18 by BillsVet