Rousseau on Cover1

[corta765]

20 minutes ago, Virgil said:

All this tells me is the Chiefs are playing chess while we are playing checkers.  
 

We should be showing the Chiefs nothing of value in the regular season, or at the very least, plan B.  Use the regular season to setup the offseason.  
 

Even the 4th down play was the Chiefs sending a different pressure than we’d seen all game.  Meanwhile, we ran the same stuff repeatedly.   
 

This is the difference in the games.  They are one step ahead of us. 

 

Agreed. The numbers are staggering that against anyone else KC on offense is not nearly as good in the playoffs, but they really manage to get to our D and coaching staff hard come post season.

 

2023 I think the coaching staff (outside of the Hamlin Disney movie 4th down call) was the one time they actually went toe to toe coaching wise with KC and we got beat by bad luck and inches. The defense was scotch tape at that point and the only gameplan that worked was what the Bills did which was ball control the heck out of KC and hope by making them play a million plays you got some turnovers. Again, game of inches and it still didn't fall our way.

 

But other than that the defense specifically and coaching staff is just a step behind every year come playoff time in the big game (especially vs KC). The offense in all 4 playoff matchups has been 24 ppg or better. I was and still am (a bit) critical that Josh had the ball and the offense failed this year as you would want that every time imo. But realistically they scored 29 points with a B level performance on offense and never got any real support by our D. Not once in any of the four playoff games has the defense put up a performance on defense that is any better then a C+ (2023) and basically told the offense good luck be perfect which they were in 13 seconds and arguably were in 23' given the gameplan at that time.

 

Beane certainly is trying again to bring in new talent and blood on the d-line which has never done a thing in the postseason vs Mahomes and McD has brought in some new faces coaching wise that are different from anything he has used prior which indicates to me a new philosophy. But until the games start and performance is real I am skeptical in the defense and coaching staff.

[Lothar]

I think many of you are being too harsh on the coaches for that specific game. When you lose (arguably) your best defensive player of an already statistically tepid defense, there's only so much you can do. I thought the D, given their state, did a good enough job in allowing the Bills offense to go win the game. They tried playing more man, caused a couple critical takeaways but simply didn't have the horses. It wasn't ideal but in these playoff matchups of best on best, I'd 100% be happy with giving Josh and the offense the ball to go tie or win the game. Every time.

[Logic]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

My biggest problem with them.... well let me be more specific, with Erik, is that he is incredibly thin skinned to legitimate disagreement. It's like their narrative is the only narrative. 

This is true.

I come down in the middle of the argument.

 

On the one hand, I think Cover 1 at times provides valuable insight to fans and educates them on some of the nuances of the game with which the average fan is likely not familiar. I think there's great value in talking about advanced level football strategy and technique in a way that is accessible to fans. I also think it's great when they have players on to actually discuss football. That type of content doesn't really exist anywhere else. It SHOULD, but it mostly doesn't. It's refreshing.

On the other hand, I DO think the whole Cover 1 team -- particularly Erik and Greg -- can be very condescending, smug, and dismissive. They know more about the game than most average fans, and they act like it. They let you know it. And if, God help you, you disagree with them, they're quick to remind you.

Overall, I like Cover 1. But it's important to keep who they are and what they do in perspective. 

[wppete]

Cover1 guys are the best Buffalo Bills content online. Better then any talking head media we see covering the Bills. 

[Einstein]

3 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Ahhhhh now Erik's video last week defending Groot's dreadful performance in the AFCCG makes a lot more sense...... 

 

Shills gotta shill. 

 

Yep

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

My biggest problem with them.... well let me be more specific, with Erik, is that he is incredibly thin skinned to legitimate disagreement. It's like their narrative is the only narrative. 

 

Greg too. Probably even more so.

[babulator]

It's entertainment, and gets people talking. They put in the time and produce solid content, I enjoy it, even if I don't agree with everything within. Honestly, what analyst can you agree with 100% of the time? Id imagine getting defensive over your work and effort is a natural reaction, the whole sports media industry is designed to be combative, my team vs yours, my opinion vs yours etc etc... The player insight is really the best part here.  I also appreciate guys that put in the time breaking down film so +1.

[GaryPinC]

2 hours ago, Cash said:

 

Interesting, thanks for posting.  I watched the first clip and found it interesting.  I'd love to hear a similar accounting from the D-line coach, Babich, and McD, but obviously that's never going to happen publicly.  My question is, what's to be done about it?  It's a bit of a bummer that Groot ends the clip basically saying that he's not happy with how he played but he'd probably do it the same way next time.  (Anyone feel free to correct me if I misinterpreted.)  Like, I'm seeing a really good diagnosis of the problem, which is a great start, but not much in the way of solving the problem.

Yeah, Rousseau alludes to it in the clip, said he's not getting paid to think, he's still going to cover his primary gap because that's what's most important.  So it once again comes down to coaching being willing to adapt in-game or come in with a more diverse game plan.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

3 hours ago, FireChans said:

It’s the game dude. 
 

I don’t hate Cover1 for playing it, but I do hate that they are held up as some pillar of objective football analysis. 

they are a bunch of bills fans first with a modicum of football knowledge. That’s all. 
 

if you ever want a laugh, go watch their videos last year where they get so exasperated about how moving on from Diggs would make no sense and was impossible. 

 

I kind of agreed that it made no sense from a cap perspective to create space to then use that space with dead money - but they did it and the team was fine in 2024 and better positioned in 2025.  

56 minutes ago, Logic said:

This is true.

I come down in the middle of the argument.

 

On the one hand, I think Cover 1 at times provides valuable insight to fans and educates them on some of the nuances of the game with which the average fan is likely not familiar. I think there's great value in talking about advanced level football strategy and technique in a way that is accessible to fans. I also think it's great when they have players on to actually discuss football. That type of content doesn't really exist anywhere else. It SHOULD, but it mostly doesn't. It's refreshing.

On the other hand, I DO think the whole Cover 1 team -- particularly Erik and Greg -- can be very condescending, smug, and dismissive. They know more about the game than most average fans, and they act like it. They let you know it. And if, God help you, you disagree with them, they're quick to remind you.

Overall, I like Cover 1. But it's important to keep who they are and what they do in perspective. 

 

I do like that they go a bit more in depth onto things.  Keon coleman has a low separation grade - ok... lets see why on actual plays.  Is it speed?  Route running polish?: Challenges with release? etc.  

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

I don’t need another platform to tell me he flopped in the AFCCG. The entire DL did and continues to be our Achilles heel when we need them to come up huge. 

[GaryPinC]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

All this tells me is the Chiefs are playing chess while we are playing checkers.  
 

We should be showing the Chiefs nothing of value in the regular season, or at the very least, plan B.  Use the regular season to setup the offseason.  
 

Even the 4th down play was the Chiefs sending a different pressure than we’d seen all game.  Meanwhile, we ran the same stuff repeatedly.   
 

This is the difference in the games.  They are one step ahead of us. 

Totally agree except that you can't just show nothing of value in the regular season.  You still need to win there, too.  You just have to manipulate your looks and break trends at the right moments.  KC didn't pull that end-around out for that game, they did it during the regular season.  Just not much when they played us the first time, Rousseau mentions they did the fullback runs in similar situations during the regular season.

 

But it totally feeds into your point about checkers and chess, after 8 seasons as our HC let's pray McDermott finally learns how to play chess this offseason and year.

He's shown signs, like keeping Mahomes off the field late in the regular season game, but he really needs to accelerate his learning curve.  7 seasons is far too long to finally realize that. 

[34-78-83]

Bias or no bias, Erik and Anthony "Ant" from Cover1 for sure know more tape e v a l than 99% of TBD. Its a matter of sorting through that bias and listening to their actual film based knowledge they provide, which is quite good, and keeping the rest in perspective. Pretty useful stuff when you view it in that light.

 

 

[Virgil]

16 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Totally agree except that you can't just show nothing of value in the regular season.  You still need to win there, too.  You just have to manipulate your looks and break trends at the right moments.  KC didn't pull that end-around out for that game, they did it during the regular season.  Just not much when they played us the first time, Rousseau mentions they did the fullback runs in similar situations during the regular season.

 

But it totally feeds into your point about checkers and chess, after 8 seasons as our HC let's pray McDermott finally learns how to play chess this offseason and year.

He's shown signs, like keeping Mahomes off the field late in the regular season game, but he really needs to accelerate his learning curve.  7 seasons is far too long to finally realize that. 

The Chiefs lost to us in every single regular season game over the past 4 years.  I’d argue it’s really not that important.  Obviously, you need to make the playoffs, but we are past that.

[Nihilarian]

1 hour ago, Lothar said:

I think many of you are being too harsh on the coaches for that specific game. When you lose (arguably) your best defensive player of an already statistically tepid defense, there's only so much you can do. I thought the D, given their state, did a good enough job in allowing the Bills offense to go win the game. They tried playing more man, caused a couple critical takeaways but simply didn't have the horses. It wasn't ideal but in these playoff matchups of best on best, I'd 100% be happy with giving Josh and the offense the ball to go tie or win the game. Every time.

This! I agree!

 

Greg Rousseau wasn't the reason for this loss. Yes, the Bills didn't generate enough pass rush or pressure on Mahomes. Alas, he wasn't the biggest reason for the loss, and neither were the coaches. The biggest reason did come down to luck...that is bad luck! With starting S Taylor Rapp out you had a rookie starting at safety and the Bills best CB in Christian Benford leaving the game with a concussion.

 

The Chiefs capitalized on the Buffalo's weakened secondary and exploited it big time. This along with the lack of pressure on Mahomes allowed Kansas City to score more points against the Bill's defense than they had all season long!!!!!!!!!!

 

It wasn't magical coaching by the Chiefs or the failure of the Buffalo coaches as there was only so much they could do under the circumstances. There is a real reason why Kaiir "Toast" Elam is now a Dallas Cowboy. Mahomes roasted the guy right after Benford went out. A former first-round Buffalo pick at CB traded away for basically poo...

[Coach Tuesday]

18 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

This! I agree!

 

Greg Rousseau wasn't the reason for this loss. Yes, the Bills didn't generate enough pass rush or pressure on Mahomes. Alas, he wasn't the biggest reason for the loss, and neither were the coaches. The biggest reason did come down to luck...that is bad luck! With starting S Taylor Rapp out you had a rookie starting at safety and the Bills best CB in Christian Benford leaving the game with a concussion.

 

The Chiefs capitalized on the Buffalo's weakened secondary and exploited it big time. This along with the lack of pressure on Mahomes allowed Kansas City to score more points against the Bill's defense than they had all season long!!!!!!!!!!

 

It wasn't magical coaching by the Chiefs or the failure of the Buffalo coaches as there was only so much they could do under the circumstances. There is a real reason why Kaiir "Toast" Elam is now a Dallas Cowboy. Mahomes roasted the guy right after Benford went out. A former first-round Buffalo pick at CB traded away for basically poo...

Disagree.  The injuries were all the more reason to vary things up and break tendency.

[Einstein]

54 minutes ago, GaryPinC said:

Rousseau alludes to it in the clip, said he's not getting paid to think

 

😳

[Nihilarian]

5 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Disagree.  The injuries were all the more reason to vary things up and break tendency.

So, tell us exactly what could the coaches have done differently with a rookie starting at Safety and an inept CB on the field that would have won that game.

[Aussie Joe]

1 minute ago, Nihilarian said:

So, tell us exactly what could the coaches have done differently with a rookie starting at Safety and an inept CB on the field that would have won that game.

Why is Bishop being a rookie an excuse ? He was a second round pick …I dont think it’s unreasonable to expect that he would be a starter by the time they got to the playoffs…The Chiefs have started a few rookies against us in playoff games over the years …

[ProcessTruster]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

Come on. They certainly know a lot more than you do.

 

And on Diggs, it didn't make sense from a cap perspective at all. The move hurt the team. That's why it seemed impossible.

Correct on Diggs.   That was a cap disaster and cost Beane an entire season from a FA market perspective.  

 

Cover 1 has taught me quite a few scheme design things for sure, and I like to think I know what I'm looking at. 

 

Sure, they are WNY homer guys for sure, just like the rest of us..... but they take a very film analysis viewpoint, and the film doesn't lie. 

[MJS]

2 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

Correct on Diggs.   That was a cap disaster and cost Beane an entire season from a FA market perspective.  

 

Cover 1 has taught me quite a few scheme design things for sure, and I like to think I know what I'm looking at. 

 

Sure, they are WNY homer guys for sure, just like the rest of us..... but they take a very film analysis viewpoint, and the film doesn't lie. 

There are negative fans here who will dislike any analysis that says the Bills are good. They are heavily biased, just as there are some who are heavily biased the other way.

[GolfandBills]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

My biggest problem with them.... well let me be more specific, with Erik, is that he is incredibly thin skinned to legitimate disagreement. It's like their narrative is the only narrative. 

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