Being nitpicky: please let Allen pass the ball more

[Toledo Bill]

19 minutes ago, KentuckyBillsFan said:

Definitely obvious some of our fans have not come to terms with the fact that our new identity is one of running the ball behind a big O-line and Josh not doing everything by himself

I think all he is pointing out is that it would be beneficial to occasionally throw the ball downfield. It would only benefit the running game. 

[Simon]

25 minutes ago, Success said:

Especially coming out of halftime yesterday.....I would have loved to see the coaches come out of halftime and call the game like we were down a score, instead of playing it so conservative those 1st few drives.

 

This might blow your mind, but Allen had over twice as many pass attempts in the second half as he did in the first half.

[Sweats]

11 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

People are not getting it that the student (McDermott) has learned from the master (Andy Reid).    The Chiefs have not turned the ball over in something like 8 straight games.  They don't take many sacks, they don't take tons of penalties, they don't take lots of risk.  Mostly they run and throw short/med passes to move the chains.  They make their FG's.  They wait to pounce on the other teams miscues and dumb plays.  And they win Super Bowls.  

 

We aren't gonna see a risky passing game downfield unless it's a busted play and Allen just heaves it.  If it turns into a game where they need Allen to throw, run and come from behind they will.

 

 

 

This is probably the most logical and most coherent thing i've read on the boards today.

 

Bravo, my man.........bravo.

[ticketssince61]

My complaint was that we seemed to run on every 1st down and we'll were too predictable. And most of those runs were not that successful which put us in a lot of 2nd and longs

[The Cincinnati Kid]

Bills are 36-0 in Allen Starts when they run the ball more than 50% of the time. I guess it works. Should probably do something else.

[ganesh]

38 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

That was my comment yesterday, that Brady called the second half of the game as though we needed to steal one with Trubisky playing, outlasting the Ravens rather than burying them.

It is going to be needed to win a championship.   The Bills have to figure out their passing game...They also did not use Knox yesterday..He could have been a big difference maker. 

[Dr.Mantis_Toboggan]

44 minutes ago, KentuckyBillsFan said:

Definitely obvious some of our fans have not come to terms with the fact that our new identity is one of running the ball behind a big O-line and Josh not doing everything by himself

Huge difference between Josh doing everything by himself, and coming out of halftime with a chance to step on their throat and instead just running straight at the best run defense in the league when you have the best player, ever, under center…

 

I do think controlling the time of possession, and trying to keep Lamar cold on the sideline was part of the gameplan, however, there was no reason to let Baltimore claw their way back into the game.

Edited 6 hours ago by Dr.Mantis_Toboggan

[DapperCam]

31 minutes ago, KentuckyBillsFan said:

Definitely obvious some of our fans have not come to terms with the fact that our new identity is one of running the ball behind a big O-line and Josh not doing everything by himself

Sure, but the Ravens were #1 against the run and #28 against the pass. And the play calling didn’t become ultra conservative until we got a 2 score lead. We went away from what got us the big lead in the first place. Sometimes you need to adjust your strategy for the opponent.

 

We did the same thing against the Lions and gave them a chance to get back into the game too, so it’s a pattern.

[SCBills]

It's a fair criticism.

 

We called an extremely conservative game up 11 out of half and put it all on our Defense to save the day because of it. 

 

Then we got lucky with the Andrews drop.

 

The result was Allen constantly being put in tough passing downs.  Also, upon seeing some film reviews, our TE's basically killed that 3rd Q.  Kincaid lost his footing and couldn't make the catch which led to a 3 and out and then Knox turned upfield like he lacks any peripheral vision ending another drive. 

[Big Turk]

Game plan specific.

 

We did what we needed to do to win the game.

[Dr.Mantis_Toboggan]

30 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

This might blow your mind, but Allen had over twice as many pass attempts in the second half as he did in the first half.

I think the problem is the overwhelming majority of the throws were like 5-8 yards at most in the second half. 
 

I’m not sure if this was intentional play design to beat pressure, playing safe ball security football, or the Ravens playing defense in a way that limited the pass game and thus made it more advantageous to call a run heavy offense, likely a combination of those factors. But yeah, I think it’s the lack of any big explosive pass plays made it feel like they weren’t passing the ball even though it was a pretty balanced approach, and to be fair, the run game was working more than it wasn’t against the toughest front in the league. Brady just seemed to fail to realize when it stopped being as effective and took longer to adjust than I would’ve liked personally, but we all got what’s most important - Big Dubs, on to KC. 
 

Geaux Bills.

Edited 6 hours ago by Dr.Mantis_Toboggan

[GaryPinC]

37 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

People are not getting it that the student (McDermott) has learned from the master (Andy Reid).    The Chiefs have not turned the ball over in something like 8 straight games.  They don't take many sacks, they don't take tons of penalties, they don't take lots of risk.  Mostly they run and throw short/med passes to move the chains.  They make their FG's.  They wait to pounce on the other teams miscues and dumb plays.  And they win Super Bowls.  

 

We aren't gonna see a risky passing game downfield unless it's a busted play and Allen just heaves it.  If it turns into a game where they need Allen to throw, run and come from behind they will.

Yep, except we will see a risky passing game downfield if the game situation calls for it.  Ball control offense and open it up as needed.

 

My worry is if Josh is only drinking and dunking his accuracy and timing may be off for those few downfield throws.

[GoBills808]

36 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

This might blow your mind, but Allen had over twice as many pass attempts in the second half as he did in the first half.

It's situational right

 

If you look at our second half series success rate (first-3rd/4th down conversion rate) it's pretty stark the difference between when we threw on first down vs when we ran on first down

[HappyDays]

45 minutes ago, zow2 said:

If it turns into a game where they need Allen to throw, run and come from behind they will.

 

My concern is that we're going to turn it into that kind of game because we're being way too conservative with a small lead. I know this offense is capable of explosive production like we saw just a few weeks ago against the Lions and Rams. I don't understand what's changed and it started with the home Patriots game. Everyone chalked up that lethargic passing performance to a let down game, but that's been the passing offense ever since then.

[ganesh]

5 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

My concern is that we're going to turn it into that kind of game because we're being way too conservative with a small lead. I know this offense is capable of explosive production like we saw just a few weeks ago against the Lions and Rams. I don't understand what's changed and it started with the home Patriots game. Everyone chalked up that lethargic passing performance to a let down game, but that's been the passing offense ever since then.

the WEATHER.  It is not the same playing in Highmark stadium as in domed stadiums in Detroit and LA

[zow2]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

My concern is that we're going to turn it into that kind of game because we're being way too conservative with a small lead. I know this offense is capable of explosive production like we saw just a few weeks ago against the Lions and Rams. I don't understand what's changed and it started with the home Patriots game. Everyone chalked up that lethargic passing performance to a let down game, but that's been the passing offense ever since then.

 

Yeah i was thinking maybe that was a rehearsal game for playoff football. 

 

All i know is that I don't want to be the fanbase a week from now lamenting that wow, we outgained the Chiefs 410 yards to 289 or whatever and lost....and we lost the turnover battle 2-0 because we threw into double coverage and got strip sacked on a trick play getting greedy instead of running.  So there has to be a balance, and so far they've figured it out.

[HappyDays]

52 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

This might blow your mind, but Allen had over twice as many pass attempts in the second half as he did in the first half.

 

For me it's not about the number of attempts, it's about the quality of attempts. Brady called our passing offense like our backup was in. It was kind of bizarre. I don't need Allen to be Superman on every snap but we should put the ball in his hands and take the leash off to let him close out games.

[dave mcbride]

30 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Sure, but the Ravens were #1 against the run and #28 against the pass. And the play calling didn’t become ultra conservative until we got a 2 score lead. We went away from what got us the big lead in the first place. Sometimes you need to adjust your strategy for the opponent.

 

We did the same thing against the Lions and gave them a chance to get back into the game too, so it’s a pattern.

The Ravens’ pass D has been lights out since week 11. In 7 out of 9 games they held opponents to under 200 yards passing. They also gave up 202 in one game and 251 vs the Steelers in the playoff game, but most of those yards were garbage time yards: 211 passing yards in the second half when the game was out of hand and not in doubt. At halftime, they were up 21-0 and had given up just 40 passing yards. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rav/2024.htm

Edited 6 hours ago by dave mcbride

[zow2]

28 minutes ago, SCBills said:

It's a fair criticism.

 

We called an extremely conservative game up 11 out of half and put it all on our Defense to save the day because of it. 

 

Then we got lucky with the Andrews drop.

 

The result was Allen constantly being put in tough passing downs.  Also, upon seeing some film reviews, our TE's basically killed that 3rd Q.  Kincaid lost his footing and couldn't make the catch which led to a 3 and out and then Knox turned upfield like he lacks any peripheral vision ending another drive. 

 

We're seeing it now, just how Mid the supporting receiver cast is.  It's all Allen,...and then Cook, Shakir, and some Ty and Ray Davis.  Everyone else is just out there being decoys or blocking.  Be nice if someone else steps up vs KC and helps out.

[Buffalo ill]

Playing conservative only works if you actually get 1st downs.  Stop running the ball into an ocean of big bodies and throws behind the line of scrimmage.

 

I'm not complaining about the win, it just felt like "same old bills" in the 3rd quarter when that should have been the knockout punch instead.