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I think that the thing I like about this win the most is that they didn't have to play a perfect game in order to win it. Josh and Mike can pull up a TON of film that can be used to create a REAL horror film on Monday. So, the more I think on it, the more I believe, given a lucky year in health, the more I think we are a playoff contender and at this point I will be disappointed to see us anything worse that 6-4 after 10 games. (and given the schedule and who we play 7-3 is certainly doable, if we continue to make these incremental steps forward .
Health of course is key. We can see how injuries can derail a team's season. The Bengals, Ravens and Chargers have all see their season go off the rails to injuries. The Chargers are dead in the water, not so much because their QB is overrated, but because injuries have literally wiped out what was one of the league's best OL's such that what was once an asset is now a critical liability. Even the best QB can't win without having their QB on his feet. The Ravens D is getting killed on what was once thought to be a feared D, that is now nothing but a disaster. Injuries can to that to a team and how a team responds to them tells a lot about them. Kudos to SF for what they did this week.
OK lets break it down
General offensive overview: Another solid plan and excellent game day play calling and adjustments over the course of the game. Thank GOD, we didn't have to endure one of those horrible starts we've seen in the previous 3 games. Next to the I formation off tackle HS power plays that mostly didn't work, I wonder why we didn't run more of the misdirection plays like Rham's walk in TD over the course of the game. I want to see Henderson run that play 3 times next week and see if we can unlock that explosiveness. We are going to need more than 70 yds on the ground if the offense is going to thrive. Teams WILL respond to what we do well.
1. QB - God the hype train is going to be nigh on unbearable going forward. But like I said, the great part of this game was just how much Drake has to improve on. His biggest flaw, IMHO, is his tendency to create his own sacks when he doesn't have to. He did it at least twice last night. He sometimes seems to stay in the pocket, even though it seems to me he had a chance to escape. He needs to watch Allen tape. He is a master of extending the play under control.
That being said, that kind of skill only comes from repetition after repetition. It is NOT something you just recognize and get immediately better at. On the plus side, I remember thinking at half-time that Drake isn't going to have a 70%+ completion percentage tonight... until he did with that monster 2nd half. He and Josh are a great fit.
2. OL - I can't emphasize enough how important coaching is to OL play. I don't think we realized just how bad the situation was along the OL last season, not just with talent and all injuries, but with the coaching as well. The guy literally quit the team in the middle of the season. Marone needs his kudos for putting together 4 new guys together with Owenu and turning it into a solid and effective group so quickly. The best part is this is a group that will likely get better as the season wears on and continuity continues to build up. Bradbury continues to silence his virulent critics, and we haven't heard a "short arm joke" in ages. The price was high, but it is clear, no one got a more impactful and effective player at the top of the draft this year than we did.
3. Receivers - My favorite comment by Diggs after the game was his response to a question about where he thought he was on his road back from his ACL. He responded 6 of 10. Well, if he is going to get better than THAT, then that is a really scary thought for our opponent's. The other thing is that the rest of the WR's caught almost everything that was thrown to them 6 targets 5 receptions. But it is not sustainable to have half your targets going to one guy. Teams can shut a receiver down, just like they can attempt to force your QB to left, and not right. No targets for Hollis or Hooper.
But remember one of a football coach's favorite things is to "create a tendency, then BREAK it" That is why teams have 20 man coaching staffs these days. There are a whole crew of guys going over each play last night looking to find any tendencies we created as a team or as individuals and figure out how to use that knowledge this week. This is the kind of secret sauce Earnie Adams did back in the day. Now they have entire departments doing it.
4. RB's - Let's get to the elephant in the room. I found this particular fumble most troubling because it wasn't a "forced one". I mean one caused by a violent blow to the ball that is being taught now. This was rather a "soft" fumble imo and thus scarier. On the other hand it is something we can only hope will get better and live with it, especially with the Gibson's injury. It simply is what it is. I think we all recognize that he isn't trying to fumble and feels horrible about it. As long as he is doing everything humanly possible to resolve the problem, then it is our job as fans to support him through his trials and help will him through them and move on.
5. DL - Is the heart of the D with 2 all pro types starting and playing 50% of the snaps, especially in passing situations, and with Tonga, Famer, and Durden starting to come on as runstoppers and depth the DL looks like it CAN become more than just a 2 trick pony. I recall that last year Young was sometimes effectively used as an inside rusher. Have they done any of that yet so far this year. I don't seem to remember him being in on many impact plays. Is he going to play his way into this rotation or out of it?
We missed Chaisson's rush, but this was the best anyone has done so far with the Buffalo rush and I don't think Jennings presence setting the edge was a surprise in that happening. He did a great job setting the edge. As the league gets back to having running the ball as a priority, having a guys like Jennings and Tavai who are good at stopping the run isn't sexy, but it IS important.
After leading the league in missed tackles over the first 3 games, I get the sense that we have been much better overall the last 2. Holding the Bills' RBs to just 60 yds is an accomplishment. When you consider Josh Allen's 59 yds was accomplished in 9 carries, at roughly 6ypc he wasn't gashing us. Granted it could be better, but if we keep making the assumption that the defense is still a work in progress, it will get incrementally better over the next 3 weeks. It will be interesting to see if the result will continue to improve
The secondary is still showing the showing the improvement of Gonzales being back. I thought his play improved his second week back as he shakes off the rust of his lengthy inactivity. Davis was decent as the trusty #2. A number of the catches he gave up were hard fought grabs. Overall, the Bills WR's weren't major factors. The major hurt coming from the TE position.
BTW- that might have been a choice by the defensive leadership to focus on limiting the WR at the expense of TE coverage. And who exactly IS the defensive leadership now. Is Williams contributing at all? and how much is Mike Vrabel himself involved in creating the weekly game plan. I think it is time for the media to flesh this out. I don't care who is responsible for getting in the sideline signals, since I believe most of the adjustments don't happen until after the offense lines up. But I do think it's important to know who is responsible for the weekly game plan.
Special teams - Once again ST's was an asset to our overall victory. KO coverage mostly held forced the Bills to start inside their own 30. Punt coverage was forced the Bills to start their drives inside their own 20 most of the time and there was that one 70 yarder that flipped field position completely. Not much in the return game, but nothing bad either. Finally we saw Andy pass his first test of a game winning kick. Normally you'd think you'd be impressed with 53 yarder, but in today's game, that's a chip shot. Unfortunately the REAL test of whether Borgalles is our LT FG kicker will be to see how he responds after he MISSES a game winning kick. Hey it happens to everyone and it will happen to him, as it happened to Adam and Gotskowski. The real test of a kicker happens when he faces REAL adversity and missing a couple of extra points isn't real adversity. So we will have to wait to see if he can pass the final test. Hopefully we will be waiting a LONG time.
OK, we have NO next, which has never been an easy place for us to play and they are coming off their first win. It's a probably a game we SHOULD win, but I'm not sure we are at THAT place yet, especially on the road. We are still a team that can lose any game, just as we are one that can win any one.
This is a rookie class that just keeps on giving. Henderson will move up and share starter snaps so we will have 4 kids in that role (Campell, Wilson, Henderson, and Woodman) plus 3 rotational and the 2 ST's guys. It's a home run when you get 4 starters out of draft class after 3 years, let alone after 5 games.
We won the turnover battle 3-1 and won the game. What a shock? Anyone starting to see a pattern here. Your comments and coaching points are welcome
Health of course is key. We can see how injuries can derail a team's season. The Bengals, Ravens and Chargers have all see their season go off the rails to injuries. The Chargers are dead in the water, not so much because their QB is overrated, but because injuries have literally wiped out what was one of the league's best OL's such that what was once an asset is now a critical liability. Even the best QB can't win without having their QB on his feet. The Ravens D is getting killed on what was once thought to be a feared D, that is now nothing but a disaster. Injuries can to that to a team and how a team responds to them tells a lot about them. Kudos to SF for what they did this week.
OK lets break it down
General offensive overview: Another solid plan and excellent game day play calling and adjustments over the course of the game. Thank GOD, we didn't have to endure one of those horrible starts we've seen in the previous 3 games. Next to the I formation off tackle HS power plays that mostly didn't work, I wonder why we didn't run more of the misdirection plays like Rham's walk in TD over the course of the game. I want to see Henderson run that play 3 times next week and see if we can unlock that explosiveness. We are going to need more than 70 yds on the ground if the offense is going to thrive. Teams WILL respond to what we do well.
1. QB - God the hype train is going to be nigh on unbearable going forward. But like I said, the great part of this game was just how much Drake has to improve on. His biggest flaw, IMHO, is his tendency to create his own sacks when he doesn't have to. He did it at least twice last night. He sometimes seems to stay in the pocket, even though it seems to me he had a chance to escape. He needs to watch Allen tape. He is a master of extending the play under control.
That being said, that kind of skill only comes from repetition after repetition. It is NOT something you just recognize and get immediately better at. On the plus side, I remember thinking at half-time that Drake isn't going to have a 70%+ completion percentage tonight... until he did with that monster 2nd half. He and Josh are a great fit.
2. OL - I can't emphasize enough how important coaching is to OL play. I don't think we realized just how bad the situation was along the OL last season, not just with talent and all injuries, but with the coaching as well. The guy literally quit the team in the middle of the season. Marone needs his kudos for putting together 4 new guys together with Owenu and turning it into a solid and effective group so quickly. The best part is this is a group that will likely get better as the season wears on and continuity continues to build up. Bradbury continues to silence his virulent critics, and we haven't heard a "short arm joke" in ages. The price was high, but it is clear, no one got a more impactful and effective player at the top of the draft this year than we did.
3. Receivers - My favorite comment by Diggs after the game was his response to a question about where he thought he was on his road back from his ACL. He responded 6 of 10. Well, if he is going to get better than THAT, then that is a really scary thought for our opponent's. The other thing is that the rest of the WR's caught almost everything that was thrown to them 6 targets 5 receptions. But it is not sustainable to have half your targets going to one guy. Teams can shut a receiver down, just like they can attempt to force your QB to left, and not right. No targets for Hollis or Hooper.
But remember one of a football coach's favorite things is to "create a tendency, then BREAK it" That is why teams have 20 man coaching staffs these days. There are a whole crew of guys going over each play last night looking to find any tendencies we created as a team or as individuals and figure out how to use that knowledge this week. This is the kind of secret sauce Earnie Adams did back in the day. Now they have entire departments doing it.
4. RB's - Let's get to the elephant in the room. I found this particular fumble most troubling because it wasn't a "forced one". I mean one caused by a violent blow to the ball that is being taught now. This was rather a "soft" fumble imo and thus scarier. On the other hand it is something we can only hope will get better and live with it, especially with the Gibson's injury. It simply is what it is. I think we all recognize that he isn't trying to fumble and feels horrible about it. As long as he is doing everything humanly possible to resolve the problem, then it is our job as fans to support him through his trials and help will him through them and move on.
5. DL - Is the heart of the D with 2 all pro types starting and playing 50% of the snaps, especially in passing situations, and with Tonga, Famer, and Durden starting to come on as runstoppers and depth the DL looks like it CAN become more than just a 2 trick pony. I recall that last year Young was sometimes effectively used as an inside rusher. Have they done any of that yet so far this year. I don't seem to remember him being in on many impact plays. Is he going to play his way into this rotation or out of it?
We missed Chaisson's rush, but this was the best anyone has done so far with the Buffalo rush and I don't think Jennings presence setting the edge was a surprise in that happening. He did a great job setting the edge. As the league gets back to having running the ball as a priority, having a guys like Jennings and Tavai who are good at stopping the run isn't sexy, but it IS important.
After leading the league in missed tackles over the first 3 games, I get the sense that we have been much better overall the last 2. Holding the Bills' RBs to just 60 yds is an accomplishment. When you consider Josh Allen's 59 yds was accomplished in 9 carries, at roughly 6ypc he wasn't gashing us. Granted it could be better, but if we keep making the assumption that the defense is still a work in progress, it will get incrementally better over the next 3 weeks. It will be interesting to see if the result will continue to improve
The secondary is still showing the showing the improvement of Gonzales being back. I thought his play improved his second week back as he shakes off the rust of his lengthy inactivity. Davis was decent as the trusty #2. A number of the catches he gave up were hard fought grabs. Overall, the Bills WR's weren't major factors. The major hurt coming from the TE position.
BTW- that might have been a choice by the defensive leadership to focus on limiting the WR at the expense of TE coverage. And who exactly IS the defensive leadership now. Is Williams contributing at all? and how much is Mike Vrabel himself involved in creating the weekly game plan. I think it is time for the media to flesh this out. I don't care who is responsible for getting in the sideline signals, since I believe most of the adjustments don't happen until after the offense lines up. But I do think it's important to know who is responsible for the weekly game plan.
Special teams - Once again ST's was an asset to our overall victory. KO coverage mostly held forced the Bills to start inside their own 30. Punt coverage was forced the Bills to start their drives inside their own 20 most of the time and there was that one 70 yarder that flipped field position completely. Not much in the return game, but nothing bad either. Finally we saw Andy pass his first test of a game winning kick. Normally you'd think you'd be impressed with 53 yarder, but in today's game, that's a chip shot. Unfortunately the REAL test of whether Borgalles is our LT FG kicker will be to see how he responds after he MISSES a game winning kick. Hey it happens to everyone and it will happen to him, as it happened to Adam and Gotskowski. The real test of a kicker happens when he faces REAL adversity and missing a couple of extra points isn't real adversity. So we will have to wait to see if he can pass the final test. Hopefully we will be waiting a LONG time.
OK, we have NO next, which has never been an easy place for us to play and they are coming off their first win. It's a probably a game we SHOULD win, but I'm not sure we are at THAT place yet, especially on the road. We are still a team that can lose any game, just as we are one that can win any one.
This is a rookie class that just keeps on giving. Henderson will move up and share starter snaps so we will have 4 kids in that role (Campell, Wilson, Henderson, and Woodman) plus 3 rotational and the 2 ST's guys. It's a home run when you get 4 starters out of draft class after 3 years, let alone after 5 games.
We won the turnover battle 3-1 and won the game. What a shock? Anyone starting to see a pattern here. Your comments and coaching points are welcome
