Jump to content
Bills Fans Gear Now Available! ×

Buffalo Bills @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers - A Few Thoughts about the Bucs Game, in no particular order


Virgil

Recommended Posts

29 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

Yeah, it would help if there was a third linebacker to fill the third lane.  Then you wouldn't have the middle linebacker guessing at which lane to clog and making his life like a constant three card monte game.  Edmunds might take a while to think, but they sure don't make it easy on him, either.

 

 

 

I suspect Edmunds may be covering for Taron Johnson who misses assignments and tackles.  What if Taron was supposed to cover Perriman and missed his assignment, with Edmunds seeing this and picking up the dropped assignment?  I don't think even Frazier would assign Edmunds to cover Perriman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 49
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Core Four

    11

  • snafu

    9

  • Crap Throwing Clavin

    6

  • Foxx

    5

Top Posters In This Topic

1 hour ago, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

That's why I wonder if he might do better at OLB, with only half a field to cover (theoretically).  

 

Absolutely. But they're married to the scheme and Milano isn't going anywhere.

An easy fix is to put him on the weak side (less thinking without a tight end?) and get a good inside linebacker.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Core Four said:

 

I suspect Edmunds may be covering for Taron Johnson who misses assignments and tackles.  What if Taron was supposed to cover Perriman and missed his assignment, with Edmunds seeing this and picking up the dropped assignment?  I don't think even Frazier would assign Edmunds to cover Perriman.

 

Somebody missed something on that TD.  I doubt it was Edmunds' job to cover Perriman.  And you can't let Brady see that.  It was a done deal.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crap Throwing Clavin
49 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

Somebody missed something on that TD.  I doubt it was Edmunds' job to cover Perriman.  And you can't let Brady see that.  It was a done deal.

 

 

 

Looked to me like a well-designed play.  All the other WRs went deep, drawing the corners and keeping the safeties committed.  Perriman took the cleared-out underneath route with only Onalim to beat.  It's broadly the sort of play the Bills were succeeding with last year, when Allen had time to throw. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crap Throwing Clavin
53 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

Absolutely. But they're married to the scheme and Milano isn't going anywhere.

An easy fix is to put him on the weak side (less thinking without a tight end?) and get a good inside linebacker.

 

 

Exactly, which is why I'd prefer to see a true 4-3 with Klein at MLB.  He seems to have better vision and discipline for the position.

 

They may be in love with Edmunds' athleticism - and who can blame them, really?  But they're not putting him in a position to succeed if he keeps using it to run himself out of the play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, KD in CA said:

Just two comments:

 

-Allen:  A win would have made it a career signature game, but even in defeat he showed grit and toughness that shows how valuable he is to the franchise.

 

-DL:  I’ll continue to beat this drum:  this D needs a dominating star in the front 7.  If you get the guy who can disrupt plays all by himself, suddenly all these other young guys get freed up to make plays and you have a monster D.  That is THE most important piece of the puzzle.

I could see that. Meanwhile Jerry is done. Has not been dominate in years and he still gets tons of snaps. Would like ot see more Boogie. Let him develop. Im off the Edmunds train. He has to get moved to outside or moved off the team. Shame because he is built like a wrecking machine. See him stand back and wait for the play to develop too long. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

It's not just the Bills...excruciatingly bad calls are happening to everyone.

 

And it's not just "bad calls."  It's a pattern of inept officiating, every week, league-wide.  To the point where you have to watch the refs to see which plays they'll end up allowing as much as watching the players for the plays they make.

 

And I don't tune in to watch the refs officiate games.  I haven't bothered watching anything but a Bills game since about week 4, for that reason.  It's become the National Officiating League, with football games providing a context within which the refs perform.

But.....TAUNTING! I was thinking about this. Have you noticed that this has not been called much lately? That was so November right?  In all seriousness, When a ref stands 5 yards from a play and the game is on the line, the WR is mugged for the entire 5 yards yet doesn't throw a flag I cant say he missed it. He intentionally didn't see it. It seems more rigged every week. In fact, Bucs won the first game of the year due to an uncalled OPI:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i don't know where to begin with this team.  I think we're watching their greatest collapse in franchise history.  Can't recall a season where expectations were so high and the team just tanked.  There was evidence of this in the opener against Pittsburgh but I don't think we as fans took that seriously.  The first half last night was embarrassing.  While there is hope for playoffs, this team shows no signs of righting the ship.  They've had several wake up calls this season.  They just aren't a complete enough team.  Abysmal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/12/2021 at 9:22 PM, Virgil said:

MozJPEG USATSI_17347215.jpg

© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

 

While this season is one of parody and week-to-week results, the Bills fell to one game over .500 in a game where they didn't look like they belonged on the same field for half the game. As I look back on this season versus my previous seasons writing these, it's hard for me to tell if it's harder to write during a season of blown expectations or during the drought. At least during the drought, we could focus on improvement and hope. In this season, it's been more about meeting expectations or letdowns. At this point, it's evident where the problems lay with this team and not it's only a matter of how the Bills will fix it in the off-season through personnel or coaching changes.

 

1 - Allen - I'm sure many will discuss the interception before the half, but even by that point in the game, it's almost impossible for me to blame Josh for much of anything he does. Behind this offensive line where he was running for his life on almost every play, because Daboll can't seem to figure out how to block more than 5, and receivers that don't magically get open in less than 2 seconds, Josh is constantly being asked to make something out of nothing. I'm not saying he doesn't have opportunities (high throws to the sideline), nor is Josh perfect. I'm just saying it's impossible to tell. He had a great touchdown run off the RPO and had a solid completion percentage for a bit, but then was down 21 and had to start playing hero ball. Josh is our entire offense and sets up everyone else's success on the team. His ability to move in the pocket brings up safeties, and he avoided more sacks than the stat sheet will show. But it's unrealistic to expect him to carry this team on his own. I feel good knowing that we have our QB to build around no matter what changes happen on this team.

 

2 - Daboll - Coming into this game, you knew the Bucs could do one thing well on defense, and that was rush the passer. With that being said, why did Daboll leave only five players in to block so much? With the amount of DB blitzes, Motor in the backfield as extra pass protection. I say Motor very specifically because Breida got absolutely run over when he tried to make a block. McKenzie ran a Jet Sweep threat only one time which pretty much sums up Daboll's attempt to confuse the defense, move the pocket, or do anything at all to slow down the Bucs pass rush. While we did get it going in the second half, there's still no excuse for the first half performance or the three and out in OT. I don't feel like this team has any "go-to" plays anymore, and there's no overall theme on offense. Each drive and 3rd down play feels like a toss-up. This has been an ongoing theme this past month, and it's one thing just to get beat up front; it's another to not plan for it at all. 

 

3 - Running backs in the first half - 

 

4 - I seem to recognize your face
Haunting familiar, yet I can't seem to place it
Cannot find the candle of thought to light your name
Lifetimes are catching up with me
All these changes taking place
I wish I'd seen the place
But no one's ever taken me

 

5 - Defensive Line - I almost labeled this thought pass rush, but that would indicate that the Bills have one. Brady had all day literally to throw, and this 40 million dollar defensive line with multiple first-round pics was beyond pathetic in this game. You can see the frustration brewing from the players, and Oliver is a ticking time bomb of a personal foul. I've been able to tolerate McD's rotation on the line, but we can't rush the passer or stop the run with these guys and aren't getting an ROI. Groot has been non-existent since the first few weeks. Addison's had one good game and threw in an offside in this game. Hughes is the kind of almost sacks and missed holding calls. Oliver is high motor, undisciplined, and I'm waiting for more PFs against him.

 

MozJPEG USATSI_17348289.jpg

© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

 

6 - Zone Defense - While Poyer and Hyde are great safeties, how were they left to cover Godwin and Evans so much? I understand that Tre is out, and we need to compensate to a degree, but our great passing defense gave up over 200 passing yards in the first half, with each pass looking to fall right in front of either safety. Also, with zero pass rush, zone defense is only good if you force the QB to make bad reads and throw into coverage. With Brady having all day, it was surgical how easily he picked us apart. As we transitioned to the second half, it does look like we started playing man and saw more success. With that, shout out to Dane Jackson for playing well one on one in coverage against Gronk.  

 

7 - Edmunds - With this thought, I will be retiring any future comments about Edmunds, as I'm just over him as a player. While Milano didn't have a great game, I can at least remember seeing him on the field (Brady sack was beautiful) with some big tackles and pass knockdowns. Edmunds had one good tackle in the open field against Gronk. Other than that, Edmunds was just a big-bodied player in the middle of the field who occupies space. Edmunds got engulfed by blocks, couldn't beat a man when rushing the passer, took terrible angles on both Fournette long runs, and was overall invisible. He did start to play better in the second half, but he's nowhere near a playmaker or worthy of his draft selection. I don't blame the game-winning touchdown on him, but I blame him for the converted 3rd and 1 in OT. Edmunds was clearly behind the LOS and still allowed Fournette to get 2 yards from the point of contact. When we need a hero, it continues not to be him.

 

8 - Knox - If there's a bright spot this season, it has to be the emergence of Knox in this offense. Needing to forget his terrible play last week, Knox was decent on the plays he was left in to block and scored our only passing touchdown of the game. With that catch, he leads the NFL in touchdown passes by a TE. In an upcoming off-season where many tough decisions are going to be made, TE is no longer one of the positions we need to worry about. 

 

MozJPEG USATSI_17346014.jpg

© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

 

9 - McD - I want to give McD props for clearly getting involved with the defensive play-calling early in the game. However, another question is why the defensive game plan needed to be adjusted so early in the game. But what will be talked about more so than anything else tomorrow will be his decision-making again on 4th down. Sure, if the fake punt worked, then everything is fine. But the choice to give Breida the ball over Allen on 4th and short is a head-scratcher to me. Then, when the Bills actually have some momentum, he punts on 4th and short. I'm all for continuity, and we did just sign him to an extension, but I don't think that gets him out of having to present a solid plan of change to the owners going forward. I hope he's willing to adapt his defensive line rotation and start to take a bigger interest in the offensive game planning. Being 7-6 with this schedule and roster is a joke.

 

10 - 2nd Half - I know a lot are going to take the second half as a positive sign that the offense woke up and hopefully will be good down the stretch. And while I do try to take a positive approach to these games, I'm also human and tired of not winning a close game this season. I remember expecting to convert every third and fourth down play last year versus expecting not to this year. I think we were 1-9 on 3rd downs at one point. The offense did wake up, but I still attribute that more to Allen playing hero ball as much as finally remembering Davis and Beasley are on the field. To that point, I don't care if Sanders plays another snap for us. Since his arrival, he's taken snaps away from guys who proved it on the field last year, has had maybe three good games, and has disappeared since. I'm happy it was a game but also felt like I lost twice today. This game felt over at half, but the Bills did the most Billsy thing they could by coming back, giving hope, only to lose again.  

 

**The only reason I'm not talking about the refs is because of promise earlier in the season to stop blaming games on them. Yes, the 50/50 calls for PI went against the Bills and never in their favor, but we need to stop expecting them to help us. To call that play on 3rd and two if you don't plan on going for it on 4th is stupid and on us.


I know the season isn't over, and we still have a good chance to make the playoffs, but there's no reason to believe this team is capable of winning a game against any team who's physical in the trenches or be able to come back and win a game from behind. The beauty of the drought was having no expectations. I don't even know how to process this season besides it being a disappointment. There's a lot of off-season work to do, and I don't know if it will be possible in just one year. We've proven that we need to upgrade at least three spots on the offensive line, get a genuine pass rusher (not a rotation!), a big space-eater up the middle, a DB to fill in for Tre (Tre won't be back until November and Wallace is a UFA), and an MLB who can actually make a play. This team needs to change at a core level, and I hope it can be done with tweaks, but I honestly don't know anymore.

 

Go Bills!

 

 

BillsFans - Virgil

 

Related:

Buffalo Bills vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 14 game preview

THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Stand and Deliver

Bills Drop Key Division Matchup on Blustery Night

Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots - A Few Thoughts about the Patriots Game, in no particular order

Buffalo Bills @ New Orleans Saints - A Few Thoughts about the Saints Game, in no particular order

Buffalo Bills vs Indy Colts - A Few Thoughts about the Game, in no particular order

 

 

View full article

 

Great review!  I had defended our MLB before but he just doesn't have the instincts or physical strength to be a factor that we need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Ninety-4 said:

i don't know where to begin with this team.  I think we're watching their greatest collapse in franchise history.  Can't recall a season where expectations were so high and the team just tanked.  There was evidence of this in the opener against Pittsburgh but I don't think we as fans took that seriously.  The first half last night was embarrassing.  While there is hope for playoffs, this team shows no signs of righting the ship.  They've had several wake up calls this season.  They just aren't a complete enough team.  Abysmal. 

 

Most of that falls on coaching.  Unless Sean wakes up and changes his approach to the game, we may have seen his ceiling as a coach last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fansince88 said:

I could see that. Meanwhile Jerry is done. Has not been dominate in years and he still gets tons of snaps. Would like ot see more Boogie. Let him develop. Im off the Edmunds train. He has to get moved to outside or moved off the team. Shame because he is built like a wrecking machine. See him stand back and wait for the play to develop too long. 


I’ve never been a big fan so won’t miss Hughes (or Addison/Butler).  Maybe they can trade Edmunds and roll that money into an impact player.  Another year of Star is painful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, KD in CA said:


I’ve never been a big fan so won’t miss Hughes (or Addison/Butler).  Maybe they can trade Edmunds and roll that money into an impact player.  Another year of Star is painful.

 

It's going to be very hard to trade Edmunds on a 5th year option, unless we eat some of that $12.7M salary or get very lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Fansince88 said:

But.....TAUNTING! I was thinking about this. Have you noticed that this has not been called much lately? That was so November right?  In all seriousness, When a ref stands 5 yards from a play and the game is on the line, the WR is mugged for the entire 5 yards yet doesn't throw a flag I cant say he missed it. He intentionally didn't see it. It seems more rigged every week. In fact, Bucs won the first game of the year due to an uncalled OPI:

 

can you say big league money tied to TV contracts and gambling

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Punt75 said:

Great review!  I had defended our MLB before but he just doesn't have the instincts or physical strength to be a factor that we need.

One thought is that what he is being asked to do in a 2 LB scheme is more than perhaps any LB is capable of doing on a scale to be considered good at what they are doing. Last year, while we did play a lot of 4-2, we still employed the 4-3 to a certain extent. This year, not so much. Consider that even Milano is not having the year he had last year and I don't think it is a falloff in his abilities.

 

Scheme sometimes trumps talent and talent sometimes trump scheme. There are times when it could reasonably be argued that scheme hinders talent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Foxx said:

Last year, while we did play a lot of 4-2, we still employed the 4-3 to a certain extent. This year, not so much. Consider that even Milano is not having the year he had last year and I don't think it is a falloff in his abilities.

 

Any idea why we're playing more 4-2-5, like almost every week?  I'm wondering if Leslie just wants to get Taron Johnson more involved than he was last year.  If so, that isn't working out well because Taron is another case of getting paid then dropping off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Core Four said:

 

Any idea why we're playing more 4-2-5, like almost every week?  I'm wondering if Leslie just wants to get Taron Johnson more involved than he was last year.  If so, that isn't working out well because Taron is another case of getting paid then dropping off.

I can't say that I know for sure but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say it was because of the wild success we enjoyed employing it. As was mentioned previously somewhere on site, after that loss to the Cardinals, we began blowing teams out of the water. In the playoffs we had a lot of success with it as well. I think it was the catalyst to shutting the Ravens down.

 

As an aside, I've seen you mention the take on TJ over these last couple days a few times. I am wondering where you are getting the data to back up that take. Raw data, eye data... what exactly? I'm not saying he hasn't, just that I haven't seen any number to that end or anyone else really saying that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Foxx said:

I can't say that I know for sure but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say it was because of the wild success we enjoyed employing it. As was mentioned previously somewhere on site, after that loss to the Cardinals, we began blowing teams out of the water. In the playoffs we had a lot of success with it as well. I think it was the catalyst to shutting the Ravens down.

 

As an aside, I've seen you mention the take on TJ over these last couple days a few times. I am wondering where you are getting the data to back up that take. Raw data, eye data... what exactly? I'm not saying he hasn't, just that I haven't seen any number to that end or anyone else really saying that.

 

Strong hunch from watching that last play; notice in that one post I asked "what if...".  I'm giving Frazier the benefit of the doubt that he did not assign Edmunds to cover Perriman, that is a huge mismatch.  Jackson and Wallace were typically man coverage on Evans and Godwin, leaving Johnson on the WR3.  Edmunds or Milano would typically cover the TE and the other is free.  So knowing that, I **think/guess** that Taron might have missed his assignment and Edmunds saw that, where Taron ended up double covering Godwin or Evans.

 

I don't know for sure and there is no data or media analyst confirmation backing that up.  Edmunds, regardless of not being the greatest MLB, is a standup guy and did not throw Taron under the bus.  Of course McD and Frazier wouldn't do that, either.  

 

Regarding Edmunds, it seems that he is being put in a tough position by Frazier's system.  I still think he could shine as an OLB, but it seems possible that Frazier isn't doing his guys any justice with the nickel and contain rush consistently applied regardless of who they're facing.  As another poster pointed out, there are times when the nickel and/or contain rush is appropriate (Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray) and there are times it is not (Brady, Mac Jones, Tannehill, etc).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Core Four said:

As another poster pointed out, there are times when the nickel and/or contain rush is appropriate (Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray) and there are times it is not (Brady, Mac Jones, Tannehill, etc).


Sunday’s game was replayed last night.  The contain rush worked very well against Brady from the end of the first half through the end of the game. The drive near the end of the first half that resulted in Brady’s rushing TD was kept alive by that absolute prayer/throw away ball that Evans caught at the 2 yard line.  Brady was about to get crushed. He was throwing the ball away and couldn’t get enough on it for it to go out of bounds. 
 

Other than that, I agree with you that the scheme should change for the opponent. The Bills’ coaches rarely do that. And even so, this defense is second(?) in points allowed and eighth(?) in yards per game.  I would have signed up for that at the beginning of the year.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, snafu said:


Sunday’s game was replayed last night.  The contain rush worked very well against Brady from the end of the first half through the end of the game. The drive near the end of the first half that resulted in Brady’s rushing TD was kept alive by that absolute prayer/throw away ball that Evans caught at the 2 yard line.  Brady was about to get crushed. He was throwing the ball away and couldn’t get enough on it for it to go out of bounds. 
 

Other than that, I agree with you that the scheme should change for the opponent. The Bills’ coaches rarely do that. And even so, this defense is second(?) in points allowed and eighth(?) in yards per game.  I would have signed up for that at the beginning of the year.

 

 

For everything that is wrong with this team, outside of the running game, there is really nothing that can't be fixed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, snafu said:

Other than that, I agree with you that the scheme should change for the opponent. The Bills’ coaches rarely do that. And even so, this defense is second(?) in points allowed and eighth(?) in yards per game.  I would have signed up for that at the beginning of the year.

 

 

Careful with relying on stats to give credence to how good this defense supposedly is.  A lot of those stats are padded against the very bad teams we played in NYJ, Miami (at the time), Houston, NO.  I prefer to look at how the D did against the better teams we faced - Tenn, Indy, NE, Pitt, KC (which they did well).  I don't think this defense has been playing that good, and a lot of that is coaching and scheme.

 

It seems McD may have got involved more than usual when he saw the game was starting to get away from them.  Leslie doesn't adjust pretty much ever, and it's frustrating.  This team is better than its record, just that the coordinators won't let that show.  Note that Frazier started in zone coverage against Brady...wtf.  Brady eats zone coverage like he eats blitzes.  It's like Frazier never played Brady, though he is now 0-7 against him as the Bills DC.  The way to beat Brady is sending pressure up the middle, which the Bills didn't do, but maybe if you can effectively collapse the pocket Brady doesn't like that either.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue., Guidelines