Latest / Disguised Coverage / Inside Bills vs Chargers: Preview, Schematics, X's & O's, & more | DC

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Inside Bills vs Chargers: Preview, Schematics, X's & O's, & more | DC · Disguised Coverage

• 0:00
  It's thirty eight. All bills can win In here, Wake puts it down,
• 0:03
  the kick is on the way and dock m the bell good one?
• 0:07
  How the hell that one home? How one? They were a party one
• 0:14
  not party way? Incredible? Why not combat by my bell? Jacksonville's perfect
• 0:21
  record on the line right here, quick kicking, look excited? Touchdown Kyle
• 0:43
  Williams touchdound amazing, unbelievable. They puttied william who's hats to full back and
• 0:56
  he scores a touchdown. It's wealthier to face tackle. What's good? Folks,
• 1:17
  Family, friends, loved ones, enemies, friend of Meies, Wizards
• 1:19
  which is Muggles, mud bloods, people of Middle Earth to another episode of
• 1:23
  disguised coverage, the only podcast in existence that gives you an equal amount of
• 1:26
  blueberries in each muffin and is presented by the best pizza in Buffalo, New
• 1:30
  York that is One PI Pizza. Finally online menu in the episode show notes
• 1:34
  w what They're here on YouTube or whichever podcasting app and or platform you are
• 1:37
  listening to this show on. I'm your host, Anthony Prohaska. Find me
• 1:41
  on Twitter at pro Underscore Underscore and In tonight's episode of disguised coverage. We'll
• 1:47
  do a little bit of a different feel than what we normally do on these
• 1:49
  in season episodes. This comment's awesome, uh kam Moore already saying fleeing from
• 1:55
  the Sabers game. My guest is doing the exact same thing. I am
• 1:57
  doing the same thing a little bit as well, say dumpster fire. We
• 2:00
  really could just do like a Sabers kind of group therapy session if anybody wants
• 2:04
  to jump in. So feel free, feel free, But in tonight's episode,
• 2:07
  a little bit of a different feel back end of the episode, we're
• 2:09
  going to dive into some bills, Chargers specifics, some advanced metrics, some
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  details that kind of paint who and what they are. Aside from you know,
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  how wounded and reeling of a team they are in uh lieu of or
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  in light of, you know, getting waxed by the Raiders last week and
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  then firing you know, their GM Tom Telesco, their head coach Brandon Staley
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  and all that. There are some interesting pieces and intricacies to that Chargers team.
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  We're going to dive into that on the back end of the episode,
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  but in the forefront and in the main opening portion of this episode, we're
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  gonna do a little bit of a Buffalo Bill's post check. There's been a
• 2:42
  lot of things that have been going on with this team recently in terms of,
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  you know, kind of clawing their way back into the playoff picture the
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  pieces with Sean McDermott, the change and offensive coordinator, and you know,
• 2:53
  kind of rise of the offense a little bit. So for the beginning of
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  this episode and the main portion to open the show, we're gonna do a
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  little bit of a Alfalo Bill's pulse check. And to do that, I'm
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  joined by mister Alex Rasky, sports editor Batavia Daily News and editor of Bill's
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  Die Just Alex, I appreciate you taking the time to join me, and
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  you know, actor, maybe you should thank me for me giving you shelter
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  from the Sabers. I don't know where the thank you should go, but
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  either way, I appreciate you taking the time. Welcome to the show.
• 3:20
  Yeah, as we discussed off air, certainly taking refuge from the latest Savers
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  destruction, this one coming at the hands of I believe the twenty eighth team
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  in the league, the Columbus Blue Jackets. So really the roller coaster ride
• 3:32
  continues and something's got to give. But I see Kyle Poso just scored.
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  It's it's now I think seven to two. Oh boy. But it's like
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  throwing a deck chair off the Titanic and then hoping it doesn't sink. Yeah,
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  that's just there's just and I think that this is where that joke always
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  comes in. Like there's like some law where like the Bills and Sabers can
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  never be good at the same time, and like if one starts to turn
• 3:53
  positive, the other one has to immediately like dovetail and like start to spiral
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  out. Then, you know, for Bills fans or for people who geared
• 4:00
  themselves more towards the Buffalo Bills, the Savers falling apart, and if you
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  believe, you know, in that kind of theory a little bit means the
• 4:06
  Buffalo Bills are trending upwards, and they have been these past couple of weeks,
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  you know, coming out of the by at six and six, they
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  have a good victory against kid the Kansas City Chiefs, you know, depending
• 4:15
  on how you view that team, and then a very strong victory against one
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  of the best teams in football, the Dallas Cowboys, and they go into
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  Week sixteen against the Chargers, sitting there at eight and six. But Alex,
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  you know, like I said before I brought you on, you know,
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  I wanted to get your thoughts here on this team and kind of just
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  you know, the pulse check of this Bills team because so much has happened,
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  and you know, as a person with you know, the connections to
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  the team and the insider access that you have, I thought it was awesome
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  to bring you on. So the first question I want to get into with
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  you. You know, you had a quote from Sean McDermott regarding the change
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  and offensive coordinator, you know, the firing of Ken Dorsey and shift to
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  Joe Brady, And it was a real simple quote. You know, you
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  just had him as quote, there's a different energy more than anything. And
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  that was Sean McDermott in reference to Joe Brady. And again, with you
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  being a person who was around this team and in person with this team,
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  that different kind of energy is that something you can tangibly see or feel like
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  is that something that's like a real aspect to you with this team. Yeah,
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  I believe it was Matt Pirno who generated that quote. It was a
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  good question from him to lead off Sean McDermott's press conference yesterday. But absolutely,
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  I believe it's been tangible over the past several weeks, ever since they
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  relieved Ken Dorsey of his duties, brought in Joe Brady, or elevated him
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  into this interim OC role. His energy is palpable just out there on the
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  practice field. I posted a photo. I believe it was Brady's first practice
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  out there in front of the media, and just seeing him interact with the
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  players and really break things down on an individual drill to drill or play to
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  play basis was something you hadn't seen from Ken Dorsey throughout the course of the
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  season. And that's not to say Dorsey wasn't doing good work during the practices
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  and doing it in his own way. I was a proponent of Dorsey's throughout
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  the early portions of the season. I didn't believe that all the blame for
• 6:02
  the Bills offensive woes should have fallen on his shoulders. But nonetheless he was
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  let go and Brady has come in and really elevated this group and namely elevated
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  Josh Allen back to the happy, go lucky Josh Allen that we saw throughout
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  the majority of his career. I think his excitement and just his his kid
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  like mentality is back game in and game out, and I think you're seeing
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  it play out on the field every game, you know you and I remember
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  you posting that photo of Brady early in his you know again like ascension to
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  OC and you know you mentioned that kind of like how he is in juxtaposition
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  with Ken Dorsey, whether for better or for worse. But you know,
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  could you expand upon that a little bit, like what was you know,
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  Ken Dorsey like, you know, kind of behind the scenes in a practice
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  environment to you, like from an energy standpoint or just kind of like inner
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  workings type of feel for him. Yeah, the best way I could say
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  it, I think Brady is a little bit more hands on, a little
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  bit more regularly throughout the practice. It's not like Dorsey wasn't there contributing,
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  talking to his receivers, talking to Josh Allen, working things out. But
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  I think Brady's really made it a point to up that part of his coaching
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  style and really really make it make it a point to to go out there
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  and and bring the energy every practice and bring that extra communication with those receivers
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  and Josh Allen, and you've heard him say numerous times, if Josh Allen
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  doesn't like a play, take it out of the game plan. And I
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  think he's doing all he can to kind of determine what best fits his quarterback
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  and what best best fits this team. And like I said, not to
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  say Ken Dorsey wasn't doing that. I just think Brady's going about it,
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  maybe know a bit more hands on, energetic way than we saw from Dorsey
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  over the course of his time here in Buffalo. I was in a similar
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  boat, you know, with you with with with the struggles you know,
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  under Ken Dorsey this year. I didn't think everything really deserved to be put
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  on his shoulders or laid at his feet. You look at all the things
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  from you know, the play of Josh Shalon, and I do recognize the
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  notion of you know, things starting at the top and Dorsey setting him up
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  for success in YadA YadA. But you know, some of the decision making
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  and throws from Allen, some of the poor turnoverlook and all these things you
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  know, kind of get rightfully or wrongly, we're laid at the feet of
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  Ken Dorsey. But when you look at what this offense has done. Again,
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  small sample size, and you know what, the league not really knowing
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  what to expect from Joe Brady, there's been tangible results in this turnaround.
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  And you know, I'm very x's and o's based and on the field and
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  schematics and this concept for its this coverage and so on and so forth,
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  But I think there is something to be said for the energy piece of it,
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  like you say, because I think what gets lost and I have said
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  this on the show and on the film room that you know we do on
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  the channel with Eric, like these coordinator jobs and head coach jobs. For
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  as much as it is about like football and x's and o's and schematics,
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  it is very much like a you're you're a people manager, Like as much
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  as you are as you're just like a manager and you work in a warehouse
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  and you have a team, like a regular nine to five or something like
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  that. You're a people manager and you have to manage all these personalities and
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  energy levels and skill levels. And added on top of all of that,
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  you're managing these people who make millions and millions of dollars and you're trying to
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  get all those personalities to gel and get it all to fit on one page.
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  And do you think for Joe Brady, do you think with how he's
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  operated thus far, like, do you see that as being a sustainable model,
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  like the type of energy he brings. And again small sample size and
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  what we've seen thus far, but kind of your projection for how sustainable like
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  the way he runs that ship is going forward? Yeah, you always hear
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  that NFL head coaches are much like CEOs of major corporations, the amount of
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  people that they have to manage, the decisions that they have to make,
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  and it really just filters on down to the assistant coach level. And each
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  time we've spoken with Joe Brady over Zoom following a game, it really seems
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  like he either didn't sleep a lot the night before or or he just left
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  it all out there on game day. I'm sure the latter is is more
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  so the case. But to answer your question, if it's sustainable, I
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  would say yes, just because that's how these guys are wired. They've been
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  built their entire lives in this profession to leave it all out there each week,
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  and and and to take the extra hours, and and and to work
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  the extra time and figuring out the game plan and and deciphering any little little
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  intricate uh factor in that game plan that can outdo the opponent. And and
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  and I think Joe Brady's just a guy with a with a ball fill full
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  of energy every morning that he wakes up. He said, uh the other
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  day that there there is a little caffeine involved, but but it's just natural,
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  he said. He loves this game. He goes out there every day
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  and does what he loves to do. And I think that's a major part
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  of it. When you when when you're doing what you love to do,
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  the extra hours and and all that energy that you that you put into it,
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  it really doesn't seem like it at the end of the day because,
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  like I said, you're you're fulfilling your passion and you're out there living uh
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  exactly how you want to. Very well said, very Well said, let's
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  pivot to the other side of the ball. While technically the other side of
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  the ball, but more so the head coach, you know, Sean McDermott.
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  We know the story that came out during Chiefs Week and you know,
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  however anybody feels about that. But you know, after that game, we
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  saw and we heard the responses from the players in the locker room, you
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  know, the whole like we got your back, coach. We saw what
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  Brandon Bean said and the feeling and the energy. We saw a couple of
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  you know, individual presser pieces from at Oliver after the game mich A high
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  leading into that game, and you know, I've joked about it, and
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  I know some other people who joked about it, but like after the Bills
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  won that game, that that kind of was the joke of, like that
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  piece came out and like little things of like oh McDermott like wanted that piece
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  to come out, and he was all the sources so that way it would
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  like bring the team together and give them both more material. All those little
• 11:50
  jokes and things like that. But do you think, you know, given
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  again small sample size, what we've seen in these past two weeks, what
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  we heard and have seen from players and Band and Bean and you know,
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  interviews and pressers and all this kind of stuff, do do you think that
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  piece that came out had like any real type of galvanization towards this team or
• 12:11
  bringing this team together and kind of fueling them going forward. It certainly seemed
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  like that, huh, ever since that piece came out and the support you
• 12:20
  mentioned you heard from Ed Oliver, I think was was was most over the
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  top and his support calling those sources cowards and going anonymous and really attacking Sean
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  McDermott's character in that piece. And I think it was really a case of
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  I think we've all kind of been in this situation when you have problems with
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  somebody that you're close with, or you work for, or you work with,
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  it's kind of okay for you to go at them, but it's not
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  okay for an outside source ye to come in and attack then, if you
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  know what I mean, it's like it's like that's our guy. It's okay
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  for us to go ad them, but not for you too. And I
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  think that's kind of a sense of what the Bills are dealing with right now.
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  Just when you have that level of respect for somebody and they've done so
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  much for you over the course of your career, as a lot of these
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  guys have alluded to over the past several years, even if you don't like
• 13:09
  everything that that coach has to bring to the table, you have that level
• 13:13
  of respect, and I think you've seen that shine through with these players in
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  their response to that article. And if you have any sort of empathy whatsoever
• 13:22
  as a human being, and you have that respect for Sean McDermott, you're
• 13:26
  going to go out there. You're going to try to play your ass off
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  for a guy who who really, like I said, it was kind of
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  a character assassination and that type done piece with all those anonymous sources and really
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  going beyond the football field, going really attacking his character and his personal decision
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  making. And I just thought it was a little bit much, And I
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  think a lot of the players felt that way as well, and you've seen
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  them respond on the field and maybe use that as a bit of a galvanizing
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  force. Were you surprised at all by kind of like the you know,
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  you don't have to speak directly to the piece, but like the character assassination
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  aspect of it, because I've always understood the tactical criticisms of Sean McDermott,
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  Like I get the game management things and challenges, or you know, certain
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  aspects in terms of like run verse pass and calls on defense, soft coverages
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  versus like wenda blitz and so on and so forth. I've understood the on
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  field criticisms, But I've always seen him as this, you know, in
• 14:22
  if he has a little bit cringey behind the scenes with what he uses and
• 14:26
  what he says, you know, that's a completely different piece. But I've
• 14:28
  always seen him as this good leader and this guy who built this culture,
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  and you know, we've seen it throughout the years. Like even though I
• 14:35
  remember the comment immediately when Emmanuel Sanders came in and talked about what the organization
• 14:39
  was like and what the building was like, and he talked about that being
• 14:41
  an extension of Sean McDermott and von Miller, you know, echoed similar sentiments
• 14:45
  when he came in. Were you surprised at all to see, like,
• 14:48
  I guess Sean McDermott's like character coming into question more so than like his on
• 14:52
  field game management aspects. Certainly, I think it caught a lot of people
• 14:58
  by surprise. And obviously with the comments about the nine to eleven terrorist attacks,
• 15:01
  that that criticism is warranted certainly a slip up and and and McDermott has
• 15:07
  addressed that multiple times, reportedly with the team, and and and now with
• 15:11
  the media. Uh. But but yeah, I think it caught a lot
• 15:15
  of people by surprise and listen, ty Dunn has been in this business a
• 15:18
  lot longer than I have. He has a lot of support within the bills
• 15:22
  beat writer community, so there's a lot of respect there for for Tye Dunn.
• 15:26
  I don't think this is necessarily a in all encompassing statement against against his
• 15:33
  ability as a writer or anything. I just had a problem with this individual
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  piece and the way that it went after McDermott and and really the one thing
• 15:41
  that stood out to me was the anecdote of McDermott claiming that he stayed late
• 15:46
  or slept in the office or something and an assistant coach basically called him a
• 15:50
  liar. I don't understand where the uh what what you got out of that
• 15:58
  anecdote other than to attack his character and, like I said, make him
• 16:02
  come out to be a liar. So I think when you're covering these teams,
• 16:06
  I think it's important to keep the personal aspect in mind, and I
• 16:10
  think that kind of went out the window here. And I think it's been
• 16:12
  said by numerous people. If ty was working for let's say a newspaper or
• 16:18
  an online publication, I'm not so sure that that story would have been published
• 16:22
  the way it was with all those anonymous sources, him working for himself independently
• 16:26
  certainly played to his advantage in that respect. Well, that's a good point
• 16:30
  too, like, and that's something I considered. But like as a person
• 16:33
  who's not in the media and on the bea kind of like you are,
• 16:36
  like I don't fully know that side, but that's a good point too.
• 16:38
  Like there's that when you are working for a you know, public publication,
• 16:44
  open intended, like there is that kind of system of checks and balances with
• 16:47
  how your work gets put out. So that's very very interesting point. But
• 16:49
  you know, again, regardless, I think there's liability concerns also when you're
• 16:53
  part of a figure organization using all those anonymous sources to to cite things like
• 17:00
  that of that nature, I think there would be concerns in that regard as
• 17:03
  well, in in things like that like this isn't bills related, but like
• 17:07
  how how many like on like how many anonymous sources? Is there like a
• 17:14
  rule or like is like a type of regulation or type of like general like
• 17:18
  structure rule of thumb, Like I've never seen something where it's like we have
• 17:21
  all our sources are anonymous, and it's a lot Yeah, Like I said,
• 17:25
  we're getting a little deep in here, and and I haven't been on
• 17:29
  the beat long enough or dealt in anonymous sources long enough to really give you
• 17:33
  an education on this. But but I just go based on what I've learned
• 17:37
  and what I've read from from people who have been on the beat longer than
• 17:41
  I have, and namely Chuck Pollack who used to work for the oly End
• 17:44
  Times Harold who Tie was an intern for. And Chuck wrote in support of
• 17:48
  Tie, but within his support he did mention how he didn't believe how that
• 17:52
  story would have been published if Tai had been working for a newspaper or something.
• 17:56
  So I'm not sure of the rule of thumb when comes dealing with anonymous
• 18:00
  sources. I think there's there's better sources for lack of a better term to
• 18:04
  ask than me kind of a neophyt in this business. But in the same
• 18:11
  vein, I think I do know well enough that I'm just not sure I
• 18:15
  would have been comfortable with something like that. Very fair, and again,
• 18:18
  you know, the bills have kind of you know, turned the corner potentially
• 18:21
  positively coming out of you know, that Chief's week again with that win against
• 18:25
  the Chiefs and this win this past week against Dallas, and you know that
• 18:29
  that Chief's week with that story. In addition to everything they've gone through this
• 18:32
  year, like the firing of kendor Cy, the injuries that they've had on
• 18:36
  the defensive side of the ball, there's been a multitude of kind of like
• 18:37
  trials and tribulations that this team has gone through. Do you think with what
• 18:41
  they've gone through this year on and off the field, even going back to
• 18:45
  the off season with you know, Stefan Diggs not reporting that first day in
• 18:48
  the stories and everything kind of starting from there, even maybe potentially going back
• 18:52
  further in the off season when they lost to the Bengals and little grumblings coming
• 18:56
  out about Diggs and Allen and those pieces. It seems like from entire offseason
• 19:00
  through now, there's been a lot of hurdles and challenges for this team.
• 19:03
  And again, like with all the trials and tribulations this team has gone through,
• 19:07
  do you think you know they're potentially a more dangerous team for opponents down
• 19:11
  the stretch than they were in past years. Maybe there's a little more like
• 19:15
  baptism by fire type of thing with this twenty twenty three Bills team. Yeah,
• 19:19
  I think it's tough to say that they're a better team without let's say,
• 19:22
  Matt Mulanos. Yeah, a Trenevious White, a fully healthy Micah High,
• 19:27
  Dai, Karin Jones on the mend, Jordan Phillips now missing. So
• 19:30
  it's tough to say that they're a better team, but more battle tested and
• 19:36
  perhaps better serve to have gone through that adversity and potentially come out the other
• 19:41
  side. Yeah, I think there's something to be said for that, but
• 19:42
  that remains to be seen if they're able to wrap up these last three wins,
• 19:48
  which it seems like they're gonna need all three of to advance of the
• 19:51
  postseason. I know that two and one they still have a chance, but
• 19:55
  it really is seeming more and more that they're gonna need all three of those
• 19:57
  wins. But without those players, it's tough to say that they're better.
• 20:02
  But guys like Tyrrell Dodson Christian Benford has taken another step, and they've also
• 20:07
  added firepower with the trade for Roswell Douglass, which I don't think would have
• 20:11
  happened without the injury to Trudevious White. So yeah, there's been some positive
• 20:17
  to come along the way with all the trials and tribulations, as you said,
• 20:21
  in the roller coaster ride that's been this season. But I think it's
• 20:23
  all gonna prove itself over the over the next few weeks, and if they
• 20:27
  are to advance to the tournament with all that battle tested nature that they've developed
• 20:32
  over the course of the past several months and even dating back to last season,
• 20:36
  with all the adversity that they've faced, yeah, yeah, I think
• 20:38
  there is something to be said for that. And I think when it comes
• 20:41
  down to championship winning season, the teams that have gone through that and like
• 20:45
  I said, come out the other side are typically the ones that we see
• 20:48
  hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year. I really like foolishly
• 20:52
  forgot everything that happened towards the back end of like twenty twenty two, and
• 20:56
  if you put it like into perspective, like the DeMar Hamlin pieces, even
• 21:00
  everything with like the weather and the change and travel schedule and playing the you
• 21:04
  know, the double games in Detroit and all of these things, Like I
• 21:08
  don't like, man, that's just so much from like a calendar year perspective,
• 21:12
  that's so much for a team to go through and I love the battle
• 21:17
  tested element, like and that's kind of what I was hoping, you know,
• 21:19
  you'd kind of go to there, like, cause it is there's no
• 21:22
  way you're a better team with the injuries that you've you know, accrued and
• 21:26
  who's off the field, But there is something to be said for that,
• 21:29
  that kind of resolve element and that battle tested piece. And again, as
• 21:32
  this team moves towards the playoffs, potentially it's such an interesting juxtaposition knowing that
• 21:37
  you know, from an on the field roster standpoint, you're not a better
• 21:41
  team, but from I don't like a confidence or emotional standpoint or battle tested
• 21:45
  element, you potentially are. And how does that kind of you know,
• 21:48
  tip the scales potentially in your favor, balance things out. Yeah, And
• 21:51
  going back to that that galvanizing conversation we had regarding the Sean McDermott situation,
• 21:57
  We've seen this team year after year grasp onto any sort of criticism or slight
• 22:04
  and use it as motivation. And this year they were entering this year that
• 22:11
  they were supposed to be one of the top teams in the league, and
• 22:14
  to crash and burn the way that they have, I think they needed something
• 22:18
  to hold on to, and perhaps going back to that conversation, maybe that
• 22:21
  was the turning point they needed and now all systems go for the Bills moving
• 22:25
  forward. Yeah, I need a little piece to kind of hang their hat
• 22:27
  on as far as motivation and us against the world mentality, which we know,
• 22:32
  Sean McDermott, the team kind of loves to kind of champion and bang
• 22:34
  the drum for you know, you mentioned a couple of players a minute ago
• 22:37
  in terms of you know, Tyrell Dots and Christian Benford, guys that you
• 22:41
  know have stepped up and played well in their roles this year. Is there
• 22:45
  a particular player for you? It could be multiple if you haven't, but
• 22:48
  you know, any particular player or players for you that have exceeded your expectations
• 22:52
  this year? Or is there somebody that stands head and shoulders above the rest,
• 22:56
  like who for you has kind of exceeded your expectations this year for the
• 23:00
  team? Yeah, Spencer Brown at right tackle. I think his improvement along
• 23:06
  the offensive line has really helped that unit as a whole. Bringing in Connor
• 23:10
  mcgovernor has certainly helped Dion Dawkins having perhaps his best season as a pro Mitch
• 23:15
  Morris as solid as ever on the inside as well. So a lot has
• 23:19
  gone right for this unit, but I think it's really all started with Spencer
• 23:22
  Brown taking a huge step forward and really helping eliminate some of the top pass
• 23:26
  rushers in the league this season. You saw him earlier this season do a
• 23:30
  great job against Max Crosby with a little bit of help from scheming from Ken
• 23:33
  Dorsey, and then this past week, I thought he did a great job
• 23:37
  against Michaeh Parsons And I haven't really dove into what Joe Brady may have done
• 23:41
  to help him out in that situation, but I'm expecting a little bit of
• 23:45
  the same. But yeah, Spencer Brown has done a phenomenal job this season
• 23:48
  and his step forward protecting Josh Allen and really limiting that pressure from his side,
• 23:55
  and just bringing confidence to that position moving forward in the future and not
• 24:00
  going into the offseason now thinking that, oh, are we going to have
• 24:03
  to draft a player to fill that position or we're going to have to look
• 24:07
  on the free agent market. He's really solidified that position this year, and
• 24:12
  I think moving into the future, the offensive line has been such a nice
• 24:17
  positive this year as a whole, like in the addition of Connor McGovern,
• 24:21
  the drafting of Osiris Torrance, and then yeah, like Spencer Brown reducing he
• 24:26
  For me, he was always such a roller coaster of a player, and
• 24:29
  like he would have these awesome, like high highs, but these disastrously low
• 24:33
  lows. And he started to even out a little bit, and he's reduced
• 24:36
  the frequency of those low lows. And when you get that consistency at that
• 24:40
  position, a premier position, you know, the bookend opposite of Dion Dawkins,
• 24:44
  that goes such a long way. But then the addition of Torrents and
• 24:47
  he and Torrns have played well together. They've had some issues at times,
• 24:49
  you know, with two man games of things in Spurts, but yeah,
• 24:52
  that this offensive line has really been overall such an improved unit, especially in
• 24:59
  past Protech, but you know in the run game as well, especially coming
• 25:03
  off the heels of a dominating run performance against the Cowboys. Like, it's
• 25:07
  a really interesting mix of athleticism and physicality and what they've been able to lean
• 25:11
  into. So that's a great pick with Spencer Brown, and yeah, I
• 25:14
  think it also highlights just again how well this offensive line has done this year
• 25:17
  and the difference that it's made. Last question for you, Alex, and
• 25:19
  then we'll get you out of here so you can go back and enjoy the
• 25:22
  Sabers. You might put on a Hallmark Christmas movie or something nice, nice
• 25:27
  and nice. I like that. Going forward. You know, we've talked
• 25:32
  about some positives and the galvanization aspect of this team. Battle tested pieces,
• 25:36
  but there are some words for this team. You know, if you're looking
• 25:38
  at the Bills, what concerns you the most in regards to this team potentially
• 25:44
  holding them back from making the run of the playoffs or maybe even getting to
• 25:47
  the playoffs. You know, just what what's in your brain? It could
• 25:51
  be one thing, could be multiple. What concerns you the most though,
• 25:52
  in terms of holding this team back? Yeah, the defense, specifically the
• 25:57
  run defense with Tai Kwan still not back from injury and now Jordan Phillips being
• 26:03
  lost on that interior defensive line. I know he's not a stout run stuffer
• 26:07
  as much as a Di Kwon Jones or a Linvald Joseph, but to lose
• 26:12
  more firepower inside certainly not a good sign. And the Bills have done well
• 26:18
  defensively over the past couple of games and give credit to Sean McDermott to really
• 26:22
  settle things in there, and especially in the second half, doing a great
• 26:27
  job against the Chiefs, letting that first drive of the second half go right
• 26:32
  down the field for a touchdown. But since then they've really done a phenomenal
• 26:34
  job and give McDermott a lot of credit for that. But yeah, with
• 26:38
  all the injuries they still face on defense and really mounting with Phillips going out
• 26:44
  hide in that Pineza trying to work their way back this week, and he
• 26:47
  saw their injury report looking more like a grocery list this afternoon. So certainly
• 26:53
  on the defensive side, that's where my concern lies. But over the past
• 26:56
  couple of games they've shown no signs off up, so positive moving forward,
• 27:02
  but there is a lingering concern there on the defensive side of the ball.
• 27:07
  Yeah, that's very well said. I think they've they've performed admirably, especially
• 27:11
  in spurts, Like considering when Dake One Jones went out, I felt like
• 27:15
  he was playing in an all pro level. Matt Milano was already in all
• 27:18
  pro. Trey White I think was starting to round back into that form.
• 27:22
  You know, another year removed from that ACL injury, and you lose three
• 27:26
  tremendous players at each level of the defense. And then you add in on
• 27:30
  top of that, you know Greg Russeau playing banged up through a majority of
• 27:33
  the year and the injuries you know that hide his head and just what you've
• 27:37
  had kind of at those positions again at all three levels of the defense,
• 27:41
  and they performed admirably. But I'm always just kind of waiting, like for
• 27:44
  the other shoe to drop a little bit, even when there are these good
• 27:47
  performances. But I'm also super paranoid and kind of pessimistic, So that might
• 27:51
  just be me. Alex. I appreciate you taking the time and joining me
• 27:53
  and kind of, you know, giving a pulse check on this team with
• 27:56
  your insight and your access. Appreciate the hell out of you. For those
• 28:00
  of you you know, watching listening who don't know, Alex, floor is
• 28:03
  yours. Tell everybody who you are, what you do, where they can
• 28:07
  find your work, anything and everything. The floor is yours. Yeah,
• 28:10
  just follow me at Alex Braski. You can log onto the Daily Newsonline dot
• 28:14
  com. That's where my weekly coverage for the Bills resides. It's the Potavio
• 28:18
  Daily News website. Also Bill's digests coming out at the end of the season
• 28:22
  or if the Bills are to advance of the playoffs, we'll have preview editions
• 28:26
  available digitally, so a lot going on this time of year and really hoping
• 28:30
  that this team can can advance the second season. Boy, that would be
• 28:34
  exciting because they're looking like one of the hottest teams in football. Is my
• 28:38
  automatic light here in the office keeps shutting off. I guess it's my cue.
• 28:42
  I was gonna say, I hope that's not like an ominous like foreshadowing.
• 28:45
  You're like, yeah, they're looking really good, and then the lights
• 28:48
  go off, Like that made my heart. See, my desk in the
• 28:52
  office is around a corner and the sensor for the automatic light is around that
• 28:56
  corner, so I'll be sitting here and you have to jog around for it
• 29:03
  to move. So if things fall apart, I'm extremely superstitious, So if
• 29:07
  anything goes wrong, in the back of my mind, I'm gonna be like
• 29:10
  the light in Alex's office, like it knew, like it just sensed what
• 29:12
  was gonna go. Light has gone out on the Bills season, man,
• 29:15
  and that would just oh, my god, it'd be so fortuitous, but
• 29:18
  in a bad way. Alex again, I appreciate the hell idea. Thank
• 29:22
  you for taking the time, Thank you for your insight. Goy go,
• 29:25
  goy go. Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday night, Merry Christmas, Happy
• 29:27
  Holidays, and I'll see you in the Twitter verse. Thanks for having me
• 29:30
  talk soon to have a go one tremendous guest, mister Alex Braski again,
• 29:37
  sports editor Batavia Daily News and editor of Bill's Digest. I always enjoyed chopping
• 29:41
  it up with Alex. We had him on, oh when I think myself
• 29:47
  and Eric had him on in the film room earlier this offseason. I'm just
• 29:51
  a good dude, you know, kind of doesn't pull any punches, just
• 29:52
  real straightforward with anything and everything to do with the Buffalo Bill. So he's
• 29:57
  an awesome follow. Give him a follow on Twitter again at Alex Braski.
• 30:00
  Awesome, awesome, awesome. Now let's pivot the conversation. Like I mentioned
• 30:04
  in the intro. For those who didn't see the intro or joined a little
• 30:07
  late pit, a little bit of a pivot in this week's episode, A
• 30:10
  little bit of behind the Curtain had some chargers guests lined up, but with
• 30:14
  all the chaos of the Chargers situation when organization standpoints and things went a little
• 30:19
  haywire from a scheduling perspective, From a scheduling perspective, so pivoted a little
• 30:22
  bit, brought Alex in in the first half of the episode too, again
• 30:26
  give that pulse check on the bills, which I thought was really insightful,
• 30:29
  especially considering just all the chaos this team has been through this year. If
• 30:33
  they do go on to win a Super Bowl, potentially man like the thirty
• 30:37
  for thirty on this team, not just this season, but like, like
• 30:40
  Alex and I talked about even going back to you know, twenty twenty two
• 30:42
  and the DeMar Hamlin pieces in the snowstorm and just then how the season ended,
• 30:48
  and tying it all together. You could probably lump thirteen seconds into that
• 30:51
  somehow in some way, Like there's just a multitude of, you know,
• 30:56
  trial and tribulation stories that make for a great like Super Bowl documentary or thirty
• 31:00
  for thirty on a team, and it's been it's been a wild ride just
• 31:03
  solely focusing on the twenty twenty three season, whether you're including the offseason,
• 31:07
  what you're focusing just whether you're focusing just on the regular season. So it
• 31:11
  was awesome bring you know, somebody of his you know, his work and
• 31:15
  his line of work into the show to kind of give that pulse check as
• 31:18
  we enter a very important time heading into Week sixteen against the Chargers, but
• 31:21
  really continuing this playoff push for the Bills. And it's one that, like
• 31:26
  Alex said, is is every you can get in potentially if they go to
• 31:32
  and one down the stretch, but every single win counts you need it,
• 31:33
  especially if Miami falters a little bit. Then it sets up that Week eighteen
• 31:37
  battle for the AFC's Division title in Miami. I would imagine that game probably
• 31:41
  gets flexed to a Sunday night, But so that a little piece behind the
• 31:45
  curtain pivoted a little bit awesome of Alex to kind of jump in and give
• 31:48
  us that insight in the beginning of the episode. And now this back halp
• 31:52
  will get our regular, you know, inside matchup piece between the Bills and
• 31:56
  the Los Angeles Chargers like we normally do. In the front half of the
• 31:57
  episode, Metrics and peace is in film study aspect and all of that.
• 32:01
  I want to grab a couple of the comments that I saw coming through coming
• 32:07
  here from Shaun Say and really hope they're able to hold on to Brady for
• 32:10
  next year. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see. My biggest thing with
• 32:13
  Joe Brady is I'm wondering. And I had the same concern with Ken Dorsey
• 32:19
  because the bills often started out good last year and the whole piece was any
• 32:22
  get myself and Eric said in the film were multiple times you know what happens
• 32:27
  when opponents start to kind of get that sample size of who and what you
• 32:32
  are on tape, and so you know what we're seeing from Joe Brady.
• 32:36
  Is it a honeymoon phase or is it you know, kind of kind of
• 32:38
  built to go a little longer. And if it is the honeymoon phase,
• 32:44
  when does the other shoe drop a little bit? Because with Dorsey in his
• 32:45
  first year last year, we saw how things started out and then you saw
• 32:50
  things start to get a little more tough or a little tougher as you got
• 32:52
  through the rest of the fall and into the winter. But now if the
• 32:57
  other shoe drops, it's more severe because the other If the other shoe drops
• 33:00
  and people start to figure out a little bit, it's the wildcard round or
• 33:04
  the divisional round and then it's so one and done. You know, kind
• 33:07
  of what does that look like? How does that springboard Brady into the potential
• 33:09
  offensive coordinator position permanently going into next year. Yeah, I'm interested in kind
• 33:14
  of his character arc and personal trajectory going forward for this team. Royce says,
• 33:20
  so far, so good with Brady, hoping over the long haul it
• 33:23
  stays that way. I think that's coming here from Steve, Steve saying special
• 33:27
  teams needs an energy boost. Martin is not punning well block field goals should
• 33:30
  have had a pump block. Twelve men on the field and untimely returns.
• 33:34
  They make me nervous. This is an underrated comment from Steve. Usually,
• 33:37
  year in and year out, the Buffalo Bills are one of the better special
• 33:40
  teams teams in the entire NFL. We know Sean McDermott values all three phases.
• 33:45
  We know special teams plays a pivotal role. There's a reason that you
• 33:49
  know Saran Neil and Tyler Metakevitch and those guys like continuously get roster spots.
• 33:53
  Taiwan Jones in years past, like he believes in, you know, curating
• 33:58
  special teams as an actual unit, and yeah, they've been a little bit
• 34:00
  lackluster and some kick return coverage, some punt return coverage pieces Sam Martin has
• 34:06
  been, yeah, inconsistent. As you mentioned here, we've had the block
• 34:08
  field goals, the two twelve men on the field. Yeah, it's been
• 34:13
  inconsistent and sloppy on that special team side of the ball. And I worry
• 34:17
  for things like that because again, sometimes you know, a kind of huge,
• 34:22
  huge snaff foo in that phase of the game can be the difference between
• 34:25
  you winning a big game or losing a big game. You know, a
• 34:29
  kick return here, a shank putt here, a block field goal here,
• 34:31
  poor kick coverage or punt coverage here. I mean, look at the look
• 34:36
  at the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the Eagles. That Kadarius Tony punt
• 34:38
  return is one of Again, there were a couple, but that went a
• 34:43
  very long way towards securing that game for the kinsas City Chiefs and allowing them
• 34:46
  to win their second Super Bowl in the Mahomes Reed era. So you know,
• 34:50
  yeah, special teams absolutely one hundred and one thousand percent matter. This
• 34:53
  is an underrated comment here from Steve. I like it. I like Pete
• 34:57
  confessing that he was an anonymous source. I like that. I like this
• 35:00
  from John. It just continued foods. He gives the plot twist and he
• 35:02
  says, the main anonymous source of the WWE's Higher Power it was me McDermott.
• 35:07
  It was me all along. Nice Vince McMahon reference. That was one
• 35:09
  of the most disappointing culminations to a storyline I've ever experienced in wrestling, Like
• 35:15
  that whole Higher Power thing and the Undertaker storyline in Austin and all of it
• 35:20
  and how it wove together. You had some great moments, and for it
• 35:22
  all to be like Vince McMahon at the end, like, I was extremely
• 35:24
  disappointed. He was extremely disappointed. What else? What else? Oh Pete?
• 35:30
  Following up on Alex's comment on Spencer Brown, Pete saying Brown even had
• 35:35
  a rough September, his turnaround has been otherworldly. Yeah, I think he's
• 35:37
  had a good year. I don't think he's I know what the metrics say,
• 35:43
  and again he's gotten help. Even Alex mentioned that as well. I
• 35:45
  like the season that he's having. I think he has reduced the amount of
• 35:49
  lows on that roller coaster that he's been and you're still seeing the plus athleticism.
• 35:53
  You're still seeing what he can do in the run game, his ability
• 35:57
  to pull, and then again, his athleticism has been stremely helpful towards one
• 36:00
  of their most successful run concepts, which they ran like a million times against
• 36:04
  the Cowboys this past week, that dark concept, that tackle wrap tackle pole
• 36:07
  concept. What you can do with Dawkins and Spencer Brown, you know,
• 36:10
  because of their ability to work out in space and get on the move.
• 36:14
  I think Brown has been integral towards the success of the run game, and
• 36:16
  I think his past pro has improved. I still think there are concerns for
• 36:21
  him, but again, you know, he's still he's still raw. He's
• 36:23
  still kind of behind schedule, given we've said in a million times the eight
• 36:28
  on eight football or whatever in high school and then playing for Northern Iowa and
• 36:31
  then opting out for the COVID year, and then the injuries that he's had,
• 36:34
  all of these things that have kind of stunted his growth and trajectory and
• 36:37
  so on and so forth. But yeah, I think he's been a positive
• 36:39
  and a plus. I don't I don't think he's been a world beater as
• 36:44
  summer making him out to be, But again, I think he's added consistency
• 36:47
  to his game, and the offensive line as a whole has been a real
• 36:52
  joy to watch, especially somebody who is a fan of running the ball,
• 36:54
  like I still am. I love what this offensive line has done this year.
• 36:59
  The comment from Roy talking about the old line saying they've improved in past
• 37:01
  pro but definitely more room for growth there. Yeah, I think you can
• 37:05
  say that, and I think there is room for growth naturally on that arc.
• 37:08
  You know, Cyrus Torrens is a rookie. Spencer Brown will continue to
• 37:12
  grow, should continue to develop. I think the big question is what happens
• 37:15
  with Mitch Morse going forward, Like is he looks older but he's really not
• 37:20
  still like in his early Actually I always forget what his actual age is.
• 37:27
  I want to say it's like thirty, but oh yeah, he's thirty one.
• 37:32
  I'll be thirty two this upcoming April. I love Mitch Morse so well.
• 37:37
  See what like he means for that center position. The addition of Connor
• 37:39
  McGovern again solid, Like this offensive line is just solid, Like there really
• 37:44
  aren't holes, there aren't vulnerabilities or deficiencies. I was going to say something
• 37:49
  else about them, but I don't want to jinx them, so I'm not
• 37:51
  going to say that at all. But yeah, they've been a nice turnaround.
• 37:53
  Oh. I love this comment from Johnson and Alex is absolutely one of
• 37:57
  my favorite Bills related follows on Twitter. Great insight and commentary. Yeah,
• 38:00
  I was pumped message Alex he was able to do the show. Love the
• 38:02
  insight. Pete saying thirteen seconds would be the beginning of any thirty for thirty
• 38:07
  on this team. Oh, absolutely, like the the the intro would be
• 38:12
  like a voiceover or a narrator talking, and then you would hear like the
• 38:15
  radio play by play or like the Jim Nance call on CBS being like touchdown
• 38:21
  to Davis, ah blah blah, and then like they cut in like oh
• 38:23
  the Chiefs only have thirteen seconds, and they'd splice in like Alan and everybody
• 38:28
  hugging on the sidelines, making you think like, oh man, the Bills
• 38:30
  are gonna win it. Oh, brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal,
• 38:34
  brutal Royce as I'm not ready for super Bowl talk. We have to get
• 38:37
  the playoffs first, that's fair. This is a good one from Pete saying
• 38:39
  Miami isn't beating both Dallas and Baltimore. I'd like to think that they're not.
• 38:45
  I'm really hoping Dallas wants to rebound in a big way and wants to
• 38:53
  make a statement going into Miami this week. The only thing that I think
• 38:55
  potentially hurts Baltimore is they play San Francisco this week Monday night, and then
• 39:00
  they're on a short week going you know again, They're at home, but
• 39:04
  then playing against Miami. They're banged up a little bit on defense. Marcus
• 39:07
  Williams hurt is growing again this past week. Kyle Hamilton isn't one hundred percent
• 39:12
  I do. I don't expect them to beat both Dallas and Baltimore, but
• 39:15
  if they did beat them both, I wouldn't be one hundred percent surprised.
• 39:20
  The Baltimore's old line is banged up again. Like we know, Dallas can
• 39:23
  be beat, especially away from Dallas. I do think they match up better
• 39:27
  with Miami than they do the Bills, but the Tyreek hillpiece is a huge
• 39:30
  wildcard. But Baltimore's banged up on both sides of the ball. If Baltimore
• 39:34
  is healthy, and I guess you could really say this about any team,
• 39:36
  but Baltimore year in and year out. I've continue to say it if Baltimore
• 39:39
  is healthy, like they are one of the best teams in football and like
• 39:43
  a Super Bowl favorite year in a year out. Of the problem is they
• 39:45
  just get hurt like every single year to start the season in terms of quantity
• 39:51
  and quality, and you never really get to see their full potential come to
• 39:54
  fruition. And they're starting to get a little bit with that now, like
• 39:58
  as they they've been largely healthy for the year, Keith Mitchell toward his ACL
• 40:02
  last week or on Sunday against the Jags, Like, so, I again,
• 40:07
  I don't think Miami's beating both Dallas in Baltimore, but I don't think
• 40:10
  it would be unheard of if they did, especially with how Baltimore is starting
• 40:14
  to pick up these injuries and all these pieces. O good comment from Pizza
• 40:21
  and yeah, special teams has been awful multiple things. Every week. We
• 40:22
  still have guys running on late for field goals. What else? What Royce
• 40:31
  saying, would you say special teams is the week link of all three phases?
• 40:35
  Maybe potentially if you're just talking about overall play. Yeah, like compared
• 40:39
  to sample size and everything, I still I still do have worries about the
• 40:43
  defense, just wondering kind of when the depth and talent piece is going to
• 40:49
  kind of rear its ugly ahead a little bit. But what's interesting, I
• 40:52
  may be potentially helpful but also annoying the AFC this year is like you don't
• 41:00
  know who the best team in the AFC is. Like I would still if
• 41:02
  I had to hang my head on somebody, I would hang my hand on
• 41:06
  Kansas City because I think their defense is really good. I believe in Steve
• 41:07
  Spagnolo, and I believe in Andy Andy Mahomes. I believe in Andy Reid
• 41:12
  and Pat Mahomes. But I really like what Baltimore can do. I'm not
• 41:15
  a big a believer into Miami, but if they're healthy and with what McDaniels
• 41:21
  does like or McDaniel does like, you can make a case for Miami.
• 41:23
  You can make a case for Kansas City, you can make a case for
• 41:25
  Baltimore. You can make a case for the Bills. And that's what I
• 41:30
  think what also makes this season annoying, Like of course the season where the
• 41:34
  Bills are faltering a little bit and have injuries and all of these pieces.
• 41:37
  Of course, it's the year where the AFC looks like wide open and it
• 41:42
  can be anybody's year coming out of the AFC. Of course, that's the
• 41:45
  year with all this parody and Kansas City having five losses and faltering, and
• 41:51
  all the injuries that all these teams have had. Of course, the Bills
• 41:53
  have become susceptible to that, and they also have injuries and have had inconsistency
• 41:58
  play or inconsistent play so annoying. I know that I don't even know how
• 42:01
  I got to this point from Roy's question here, but oh yeah, that's
• 42:05
  my question. As you start to go forward in the playoffs, these teams
• 42:07
  that you are going to play, I do worry about the defense a little
• 42:12
  bit, you know, going up against the Baltimore I'm very interested to see
• 42:15
  what happens with the Bills defense against Miami in Week eighteen, like if that
• 42:20
  game matters and you know how Miami comes out. The game plan earlier in
• 42:25
  the year, and I said this on Twitter, the game plan earlier in
• 42:30
  the year against Miami when the Bills won in Buffalo, defensively was beautiful.
• 42:35
  After Miami scored their fourteen I think started roughly started the second quarter, you
• 42:38
  really started to see a marriage and a merging of the pass rush plan and
• 42:43
  the coverage aspect on the back end, similar to what we saw in this
• 42:45
  game against Dallas. The performance against Dallas and the performance against Miami are the
• 42:49
  two best defensive performances from the Bills defense all year, considering what they did
• 42:53
  from a game plan and execution standpoint, also putting into perspective like the caliber
• 43:00
  opponent that they faced. So what you saw in that Miami game again just
• 43:05
  a beautiful marriage of coverage and what was going on in the front, the
• 43:08
  front and the back end, pass rush coverage, the marriage of all of
• 43:12
  it, the game plan, but also within that you had this fully healthy
• 43:15
  squad. You had Daikwon Jones, you had Mat Milano, you had Trey
• 43:19
  White form the majority of the game. This team is a much different team
• 43:22
  from a defensive perspective now than they were then. I worry about how they
• 43:28
  hang with the big boys from a defensive standpoint. That Eagles game and that
• 43:31
  Eagles performance is still fresh in my mind. It was just, you know,
• 43:35
  several weeks ago. You know, I would like to believe that coming
• 43:37
  out of the bye, they course corrected and changed things. I'm a big
• 43:42
  believer in good teams, super Bowl caliber teams, playoff caliber teams, super
• 43:46
  Bowl contenders. They used that bye week as a real opportunity to self scout,
• 43:52
  course correct and alter their path and their trajectory for the season. The
• 43:55
  Lions did it last year. I don't have the numbers offhand, but if
• 43:59
  you look at who and what the net Lions were from a statistical and metrics
• 44:01
  standpoint, even from a tape standpoint as well, although it's hard to cipher
• 44:05
  unless you know what you're looking for, the Lions came out of the bye
• 44:08
  week gunning, and that's the reason they had that strong run to end the
• 44:13
  season. They used that by week to self scout course correct. The Bills
• 44:15
  are a good team at that usually, and I would really like to believe
• 44:20
  that they figured some things out defensively coming out of that bye week, and
• 44:22
  what we've seen from the defense against Kansas City and against Dallas is what will
• 44:27
  continue to see going forward. But that Weeklink conversation, it probably is a
• 44:32
  special teams overall. But like Alex said, I do worry about the defense
• 44:36
  a little bit. I believe in Sean McDermott is a defensive coordinator, and
• 44:38
  I believe in the players they have, but man, it's just it's just
• 44:44
  a little worrisome to think, like, can they continue to do this with
• 44:46
  the injuries that they've had? Can they continue to patch together? Can they
• 44:51
  continue to expect guys to step up and play at this level like they've had?
• 44:53
  Like is it sustainable? How sustainable is it? That's a bit of
• 44:58
  concern for me. But again, I'm paranoid and kind of pessimistic and overly
• 45:00
  objective at times to a fault. So we'll see. With that piece question
• 45:07
  here from Jay, I like all these questions, we'll do a lot of
• 45:09
  questions and things from the live chat before we get into the matchup pieces.
• 45:13
  Question is here from Jay saying, any chance Josh starts to throw it all
• 45:15
  over the yard turnover free like we've seen him do in twenty twenty one,
• 45:20
  now that he feels like it's not all on his shoulders, potentially, I
• 45:23
  personally hope not. I love HyG variance Josh Allen and I've talked about in
• 45:30
  the show a bunch the whole yin and yang of Josh Allen, like the
• 45:32
  thing that makes him throw stupid throws into nonsense coverages and turn the ball over
• 45:38
  is the same thing that makes him run over a linebacker and run through a
• 45:42
  dude's face like that aspect of his game is awesome. That unicorn alien nature,
• 45:46
  the high variance plays, it's awesome. I think there's a chance you
• 45:51
  could see that based on matchup. But I want to see I don't want
• 45:55
  to see him. I don't want to see the yin and yang of Josh
• 45:59
  Allen kind of go through his arm. I want to see it more through
• 46:00
  the runs, through him scrambling and design runs. I think, and again
• 46:05
  it's not me just saying it. Coming on the heels of that Cowboys game,
• 46:07
  I think the Bills have something real with this run game. And I'm
• 46:12
  not saying they should become a run first team, but they have an opportunity
• 46:15
  to just kind of press a bunch of easy buttons with this run game for
• 46:19
  the offense and then allow that run game to kind of jump start and funnel
• 46:22
  through and flow with Josh. So I want to see this establish the run
• 46:28
  aspect of the offense flowing into the RPO game and the play action game,
• 46:31
  and have that kind of just provide easy buttons for Josh Allen left and right
• 46:37
  where we don't need to see him throw it all over the yard because the
• 46:39
  run games work in and let's run an RPO and DIGS is wide open on
• 46:44
  a glance, or the run games work in and we go play action and
• 46:46
  gave Davis is wide open on and over like those pieces. I want to
• 46:50
  see that those easy buttons continue to be present and continue to be pushed and
• 46:54
  pressed. But I definitely think there is a chance, like if the run
• 46:58
  game struggling and things aren't work, I could see a point where it's just
• 47:00
  like, all right, cool, let's put the ball in one of the
• 47:04
  best players in the NFL's hands. I don't know how to word that properly.
• 47:07
  Let's put into Allen's hands and see what he can do. So I
• 47:09
  think it's possible. But given the success that the run game has had and
• 47:13
  how this O line is built, I think you'll see more of this direct,
• 47:15
  controlled type of offense, which can also lead to explosives and put up
• 47:20
  thirty points in the blink of an eye. Ooh, question from Paul.
• 47:25
  If you were Dallas, how would you have adjusted to the bills? So
• 47:28
  that's actually a really good question. I was very surprised at two things from
• 47:32
  Dallas. Offensively, I was surprised they didn't stick to the ground more or
• 47:37
  use more of the run game. They were successful on the ground in this
• 47:40
  game. I want to tweet on it yesterday, but their success number,
• 47:45
  their success rate on the ground was actually really good against the Bills this past
• 47:47
  week. Their overall EPA to play and their passing numbers were not so much,
• 47:52
  but they were successful on the ground. And with what the Bills were
• 47:54
  trying to do from a takeaway the middle of the field and seeing perspect with
• 48:00
  coverage from a man coverage standpoint, from a two high shelf structure standpoint,
• 48:04
  disguising looks and all that kind of stuff, I thought it kind of just
• 48:07
  made sense for the Cowboys to pivot more towards the run game. Even when
• 48:10
  Zach Martin went down, I just kept waiting for them to get the ground
• 48:15
  game more involved. Tony Pollard had burst, he had juice. I was
• 48:19
  expecting more of a commitment to the game, so offensively, I would have
• 48:22
  adjusted by going more towards the ground game. Like the Bills went into that
• 48:25
  game wanting to take away Cede Lamb and wanting to disrupt the timing for dak
• 48:30
  and when once that happened and started actually coming to fruishing, I'm surprised they
• 48:34
  didn't pivot more to that run game a little bit. Defensively, it was
• 48:38
  always going to be tough for Dallas in this game. We talked about it
• 48:40
  last week on the show. Their natural way of operating on defense is a
• 48:46
  nickel or dime based defense. And so you have a nickel or dime based
• 48:51
  defense, meaning you have more DB's on the field. And on top of
• 48:53
  that, Marcus Bell number fourteen, one of their starting linebackers, is two
• 48:58
  hundred and five bound pounds, and then you also have Clark number thirty three.
• 49:00
  I think he's like two thirty high tow twenties, low two thirties,
• 49:04
  which is fine, but still on the smaller ish side for a linebacker,
• 49:07
  especially knowing that that's your bigger thumber type of linebacker. When pairing him with
• 49:12
  Bell how they like to play, I'm surprised teams don't run on them more.
• 49:16
  When I had Jpacosta on last week, he had the great point of
• 49:20
  Philly started to establish that run against Dallas and use that use their run game
• 49:23
  to kind of pound Dallas a little bit. But the problem was they just
• 49:27
  turned the ball over and then Dallas scored, and it kind of took them
• 49:30
  out of that run game. The game script kind of worked against them in
• 49:32
  that way. So I always thought it was going to be tougher for Dallas
• 49:37
  to deal with the Bills offense if the Bills offense could run. That being
• 49:40
  said, Dallas just didn't adjust to the Bill's Dart run concept. I talk
• 49:46
  about it all this time on the show. I've showed it on this show,
• 49:50
  Eric and I talked about on the film all the time. I talk
• 49:51
  about it on Twitter. It's just that basic play now where you know for
• 49:55
  linemen basically down block or work kind of double teams than Deon Dawkins either pull
• 50:00
  or Spencer Brown either poll. So Dart is just tackle rap or tackle poll,
• 50:02
  depending on how you want to label it. Dallas just didn't adjust at
• 50:07
  all. They like their adjustment was to, Okay, instead of trying to
• 50:12
  box it or force it in, let's just make our edge guy, you
• 50:14
  know, kind of go inside and try and force it out. And then
• 50:15
  James Coke was like, all right, cool, I'm just gonna bounce it
• 50:17
  for ten yards outside. Like there was no adjustment to really the only Bills
• 50:22
  run concept. They worked in some duo and they worked in some mid zone,
• 50:27
  but they really were just spamming tackle, rap and dart over and over
• 50:30
  and over, similar to actually what the Bills did last year in Buffalo on
• 50:35
  the Saturday night game against Miami and the Snow They closed that game out by
• 50:38
  just leaning into that same concept against Miami. But this was just like egregious,
• 50:45
  Like Brady just kept pushing this button. And I think he said it
• 50:47
  in a press or a piece. He said, like, if it's not
• 50:50
  broken, don't fix it, And that's really what it was. I'm surprised
• 50:52
  Dallas didn't adjust to that from either a personnel or from a front standpoint.
• 50:55
  Again, if they did, the Bills had some answers and counters built into
• 50:59
  it. But there were just no adjustments to this core run. And that's
• 51:02
  not a surprising concept for the Bills. Like that is a core run concept
• 51:06
  for the Bills. It was for them last year, it was this year
• 51:08
  under Ken Dorsey, it's continued to be under Joe Brady. So the fact
• 51:12
  that the Cowboys didn't have that scouted and or didn't adjust to it at the
• 51:16
  second level, and with what their fronts were doing. I was very surprised
• 51:21
  so that in addition to not, you know, pivoting to the run game
• 51:22
  on the offensive side of the ball. Oh, Jordan says, did you
• 51:29
  get a chance to see whether the Bills had Babylon Spector in for some plays?
• 51:31
  One? Jordan, I love that you call them Babylon. I appreciate
• 51:34
  the hell out of you for it too. Yeah. I think it was
• 51:36
  just Dallas was a heavier personnel, so the Bills matched with heavier personnel.
• 51:39
  I think it was just they wanted three linebackers on the field, and so
• 51:44
  they went with three linebackers. I think the more interesting conversation is why they
• 51:47
  went with Spector instead of going with Dorian Williams. That's a whole other conversation.
• 51:52
  But as far as why Spector was on the field, I think it
• 51:55
  was just they wanted three linebackers and he was the third linebacker to be on
• 51:59
  the field. Steve saying, the AFC has become a battle of attrition and
• 52:04
  who has the best depth. I like our chances. I don't remember this
• 52:07
  many injuries ever. Yeah, it's just man, it's just wild, wild,
• 52:10
  wild, wild wild. There's a random comment Aiden says Aunt, what's
• 52:17
  your favorite cereal frosted flakes? I think it's tough frust flakes. Yeah,
• 52:24
  even though it terrible for you. A good question, well has come here
• 52:28
  from RC three, says one hundred and thirty three watching smash those legs.
• 52:30
  Yes, yes, yes, we actually have more now up into the one
• 52:32
  forties. Please please, please and thank you. If you folks have not
• 52:35
  already dropped a like on this video, please do so, whether you're watching
• 52:38
  live live now or watching you know, post live later after this has been
• 52:44
  uploaded. The likes go a sincerely long way, or it's helping myself in
• 52:45
  the entire team to track and trend in front of more eyes and ears.
• 52:49
  The likes are the lifeblood of these live streams, so you can find it
• 52:52
  in your heart. Please, please, please, and thank you. Drop
• 52:54
  alke on this video. It goes a sincerely long way. Oh no,
• 52:58
  I forgot that one, good job, Aiden, Aiden says, I was
• 53:00
  just eating some cinnamon toast crunch, so I had to ask that's my favorite
• 53:02
  cereal. I am embarrassed and angry at myself for forgetting it. Cinnamon toast
• 53:08
  crunch is my favorite cereal. I also, when I was a kid.
• 53:10
  Cookie Crisp was really up there, but they changed it back when Cookie Crips
• 53:15
  used to be like the commercial with like the two Robbers and they would get
• 53:17
  nabbed every time. Cookie Crisp was legit. But cinnamon toast crunch is my
• 53:22
  favorite. And then all the cinnamon sugar like mixes into the milk. It's
• 53:24
  just fantastic. Yeah, cinnamon sugar all day. Yeah, hell yeah,
• 53:29
  hell yeah. And I appreciate you. That's what I was trying to go
• 53:30
  through all these cereals in my head. From a healthy cereal standpoint, I
• 53:35
  like cheerios and I like Special K, but if I have to eat cereal
• 53:37
  and not care the health aspect, cinnamon toast crunch is my go to all
• 53:40
  day, all day, all day. Oh. Coming here from ruffleson Senior
• 53:45
  saying Dallas fielded a flag football defense, A bunch of lightweights in the box
• 53:49
  without a prayer. That's the way they like to play. They like to
• 53:52
  play fast, they want to get you behind the sticks, rely on that
• 53:55
  pass rush. And again I think also part of what hurt them, you
• 53:59
  know, not having Jonathan Hankins at defensive tackle. He is I'm not saying
• 54:02
  he's you know, a Daikwon Jones clone or replica, but he is their
• 54:07
  Dai Kwon Jones. So Hankin's getting hurt the week before against Philly. I
• 54:10
  think it was against Philly. It was a game and I was watching.
• 54:13
  I'm pretty sure it's a Philly game. Hankin's not being in there went a
• 54:15
  long way towards them not being able to defend the run with their light boxes
• 54:21
  and you know, also lighter personnel, so that hurt them as well.
• 54:24
  But yeah, that's how they like to play. They like to and honestly
• 54:28
  it works a bunch, you know, to their credit. Having Malee Cooker
• 54:31
  not being in the game as will also hurt them. But when they are
• 54:35
  healthy, granted you could say this about a bunch of teams, but them
• 54:37
  specifically, when they are healthy and they have Malee Cooker and Donovan Wilson and
• 54:40
  jay Ron Curse and these safeties that can mix in with Clark and Bell,
• 54:45
  it becomes this really interesting mix of Okay, what coverage are they playing?
• 54:50
  Is it man or is its zone? It's probably going to be man,
• 54:52
  But who's manning up as anybody blitzing? Is it too high as a single
• 54:55
  like all of these games that they can play because they have these high brid
• 55:00
  defenders in the back seven allows them to do some really creative things and some
• 55:05
  fun things. But if you get up against the team who can just play
• 55:07
  smash mouth football, run it down your throat to your point, you're gonna
• 55:10
  be in trouble because those hybrid defenders are still on the lighter side of things,
• 55:15
  and you can play fast all day. But if you when you're playing
• 55:17
  fast, if you're not playing fast and accurate within your gap integrity, you're
• 55:22
  done. And that's what happened. But I like that. I like that
• 55:27
  question here from Sam. We're actually going to get into this in a little
• 55:29
  bit, but Sam says, saw Keenan Allen on the injury port. Is
• 55:30
  he going to play? He's got a heel injury, didn't practice today at
• 55:34
  all. We're going to talk about it. But that's a huge potential missing
• 55:36
  piece for the Chargers now they're coming here from Jay saying, does our lack
• 55:43
  of perceived wide receiver depth make it even more of a reason to lean into
• 55:46
  the run game in order to get easy throws? I think I always think
• 55:52
  it makes sense to lean into the run game in order to get easy throws
• 55:55
  even if your wide receiver depth is crazy. But also, yes, I
• 56:00
  like what Gabe Davis does, though I do recognize like the limitations of his
• 56:04
  skill set and who he is as a player, although I do not think
• 56:07
  he's anywhere near as bad as people make him out to be, and I
• 56:08
  don't think he's as bad as the lack of targets and receptions and yards and
• 56:12
  everything have been three out of the four games under Brady. But yeah,
• 56:16
  I think that makes even more sense, like having more depth at the tight
• 56:21
  end position and more potential mismatch opportunities with the tight ends. It speaks to
• 56:27
  wanting to run the ball, so you're getting into those heavier personnel groupings and
• 56:30
  knowing that you can run the ball out of those groupings or pass the ball
• 56:34
  out of those groupings, depending on what the defense chooses to do. Yeah,
• 56:38
  I just think it makes sense. I think it makes sense to lean
• 56:40
  in the run game in general. Like I said, like I am a
• 56:43
  huge proponent, I recognize the nature of today's NFL, and it's a passing
• 56:49
  league and the majority of the rules are in favor of the offense, and
• 56:52
  they skew towards passing the football right, like even just in general, in
• 56:55
  terms of like you have the advanced metrics and the analytics that talk about,
• 56:59
  you know the advantages of the passing the football and being a pass first type
• 57:01
  of team, but then even more so, the rules also cater to it.
• 57:04
  But at the end of the day, still defenses and how they set
• 57:10
  themselves in terms of coverages is all dependent upon how they fit the run.
• 57:15
  So what they do from a pass perspective on the back end is still even
• 57:20
  in a pass first league, is still dependent upon how they are able to
• 57:23
  fit the run. If you can't fit the run with six and seven and
• 57:28
  you have to bring you a safety down into the box consistently, or you
• 57:30
  have to worry about your run fits in that regard and run integrity, it
• 57:34
  limits what you can do on the back end. So I am always a
• 57:37
  huge proponent of establishing the run and having a good ground game just in general,
• 57:42
  let alone going up against a lot of teams that are built to stop
• 57:45
  the pass, being a little bit lighter on the interior or lighter in the
• 57:47
  spine. If you get a bad weather game and you need to be able
• 57:51
  to run the football, because passing it isn't an option. I'm a huge
• 57:54
  proponent of leaning into the run game for those pieces, but also because of
• 57:58
  what it does for the pass gamely with Josh Allen, with a mobile quarterback,
• 58:02
  a dual threat quarterback like Allen, it not only opens up the play
• 58:07
  action game, which yes, you don't need to have a good run game
• 58:10
  in order to have a good play action game, but it most definitely helps.
• 58:14
  But in the case of the Bills, having that good run game opens
• 58:16
  up avenues for their RPO game and potential quarterback keepers off of you know,
• 58:22
  kind of the modern day triple option piece where Allen can have that mesh action
• 58:25
  in the backfield with a running back and depending on what the edge does,
• 58:30
  he can either hand it off to the running back, he can keep it
• 58:32
  himself, or he could pass out of it. That you know, again,
• 58:36
  three options modern day a triple option football. I just think that run
• 58:39
  game opens up so much for you So given what the Bills have a receiver,
• 58:45
  I think it does make even more sense don't lean to the run game
• 58:47
  in order to get easy throws. But I would be a proponent of that
• 58:50
  even if the Bills had tremendous wide receiver depth. It just adds another element
• 58:54
  that defenses have to account for that puts them into a buying makes them have
• 58:59
  to make tough decisions and live in a world that is not easy to live
• 59:04
  in. Jack says that the Texans win this week, we just need to
• 59:09
  win out and we are in. I'll be honest, I haven't looked at
• 59:13
  any of the playoff scenario predictors, just because I don't want to go down
• 59:15
  that rabbit hole. But I'm still focused on the big one. Like Pete
• 59:20
  mentioned earlier in the comments, I think Miami loses one of their two games
• 59:24
  against Dallas or Baltimore or even potentially both, and I really don't want to
• 59:30
  jinx it, but I see Week eighteen against Miami as being a battle for
• 59:34
  the division title. So I'm focused solely on the AFC East title. Whatever
• 59:37
  happens from a wild card standpoint, you know, go and let God to
• 59:42
  sort that out. I haven't even gone down that rabbit hole. But you
• 59:45
  know, if you're saying that if the Texans win this week, we just
• 59:47
  need to win out and we are in, I kind of trust you based
• 59:51
  on tiebreakers and all those pieces, So that's fair. Roy saying in my
• 59:53
  younger days, grape nuts was my go to. I've never had grape nuts
• 59:57
  with milk. I've eaten them out of the box with my hand like savage.
• 1:00:00
  But I respect him. What else? What else? What else?
• 1:00:07
  Oh? Billy says Mooney to Buffalo next year, number two? Not after
• 1:00:10
  he dropped that hail Mary against Cleveland. He had a bunch of drops in
• 1:00:15
  that game. I was on the Mooney bandwagon back in twenty twenty one.
• 1:00:19
  I had him on my fantasy team and he did some good things for me.
• 1:00:22
  Man, And I know one game is not indicative of who he is,
• 1:00:25
  but man, after he dropped that hail Mary, I cannot. I
• 1:00:28
  cannot co sign Darnell Mooney. Love right now, Billy, but I appreciate
• 1:00:31
  you for uh kind of banging the drum for him. Roy says, let
• 1:00:36
  Gabe walk draft wide receiver. The wide receiver class this year is absolutely loaded.
• 1:00:39
  I would not be opposed to drafting a wide receiver at all. Jordan,
• 1:00:44
  Why you gotta do this? Jordan says, Sometimes I dream about the
• 1:00:46
  Bills drafting Khalil Mack and not Sammy Watkins. I really thought when they traded
• 1:00:52
  up it was gonna be Khalil Mack. They had the need. Rex Ryan
• 1:00:55
  was a defensive coach, Like everything just screamed Khalil Mack. And I know
• 1:01:00
  he probably didn't care about him coming from U B, but I was just
• 1:01:02
  like, it just all lined up, like, oh my God, like
• 1:01:07
  Khalil Mack, Khalil Mack, and they took Sammy Watkins. And I wasn't
• 1:01:09
  disappointed because Sammy Watkins was a beast. Like there were a multitude of people
• 1:01:13
  that thought Sammy Watkins was gonna be like a generational talent and wide receiver and
• 1:01:16
  maybe if his you know, off the field aspect was a little more sound,
• 1:01:22
  he could have potentially been. So I wasn't disappointed at the Sammy pick.
• 1:01:24
  In hindsight, obviously we all are, but yeah, I really thought
• 1:01:28
  it was gonna be for Khalil Mack. I really really really thought when they
• 1:01:31
  traded up, it was gonna be for Khalil Mack. And I was greatly
• 1:01:35
  disappointed, not too disapointed, because again I was like, well, Sammy
• 1:01:37
  Watkins is still sweet, but obviously sitting here in hindsight, yeah man sucks.
• 1:01:42
  Oh yeah, Piz says. I love Mike Evans and I've done this
• 1:01:45
  so much that I've forgotten, like they could have just said and not traded
• 1:01:47
  up at all, and I think they still could have gotten Mike Evans,
• 1:01:50
  or they could have gotten Aaron Donald, Like there's all the death Draft that
• 1:01:52
  was really great in the top like twenty. I really like Mike Evans,
• 1:01:55
  like, yeah, it was man and especially too like they traded up for
• 1:01:59
  Sammy and then knowing what like Mike Evans was behind him, Odell was behind
• 1:02:02
  him even though you know Odell like flew too close to the sun and burn
• 1:02:06
  fast and burn bright, but man, like, yeah, they could have
• 1:02:08
  just stood pat and also gotten a really great player. Man, that one
• 1:02:12
  really gets me. It gets me every time. Oh good times. But
• 1:02:15
  enough, Actually, no more questions, thoughts, comments, concerns, anything,
• 1:02:17
  you folks got, keep putting them up into the chat. I will
• 1:02:20
  bring them up as we go forward. Starting to have this conversation about the
• 1:02:23
  Buffalo Bills versus Los Angeles Chargers matchup inside week sixteen. For those of you
• 1:02:29
  playing at home, feel free to start a counter for how many times I
• 1:02:31
  say San Diego Chargers, because it will happen at some point. The only
• 1:02:36
  reason I said Los Angeles now is because I'm literally looking at the graphic.
• 1:02:37
  But I will forget at some point, just like I always call the Raiders
• 1:02:42
  Oakland instead of Vegas. It will be hard for me to forever get used
• 1:02:45
  to that. But like I mentioned in the intro, and we've been talking
• 1:02:49
  a bit through this episode at a bit with Alex, you know, I
• 1:02:52
  know this Chargers team is a dumpster fire right now, especially with that loss
• 1:02:59
  that they against the Raiders, like going down at one point I stopped watching
• 1:03:05
  it at I paused it and then got like kind of a spoiler with it.
• 1:03:08
  But I mean just at one point being down forty nine to nothing,
• 1:03:12
  being down forty two nothing at the start of the second half, just an
• 1:03:17
  absolute brutal way to go out if you are Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco and
• 1:03:22
  that whole you know crew there that's been running the Chargers for years. But
• 1:03:25
  you know, nonetheless, I know, I'm assuming most people don't have a
• 1:03:29
  high view of this team or see them as a threat or see this as
• 1:03:32
  a game that you know, should threaten the Bills in any way, shape
• 1:03:35
  or form. But this is still a matchup that we have to talk about,
• 1:03:38
  and I still think it isn't the team that you should be looked past
• 1:03:40
  given some of the talent that they do have and what they potentially be.
• 1:03:44
  But nonetheless, let's dive into this matchup for the Buffalo Bills versus the Los
• 1:03:47
  Angeles Chargers. So the first piece wanted to bring up saw this common here
• 1:03:52
  from Roy saying easton stick. Yeah, we're gonna talk about Chargers' offense first,
• 1:03:57
  because there are some numbers from that Week fifteen game that just nuts and
• 1:04:02
  it when this is where like, so I look at the advanced metrics and
• 1:04:05
  then go and watch the tape to kind of put things into perspective or kind
• 1:04:10
  of be able to put the breadcrumbs together to form the big puzzle piece.
• 1:04:13
  Sometimes I do the opposite, right Like, sometimes I watch film and then
• 1:04:15
  go look at the metrics, and the metrics confirm what I saw with my
• 1:04:18
  eyes. Sometimes I do the opposite, like what I did here, which
• 1:04:20
  is look at the advanced metrics and some of the charts and things and then
• 1:04:25
  go into the film knowing what happened and then being able to diagnose it schematically.
• 1:04:31
  And so some numbers here for the Chargers offense in Week fifteen. Again,
• 1:04:34
  first full game under back of quarterback Easton Stick. He got some week
• 1:04:39
  week. He got some work the week before against Dever Denver when Herbert went
• 1:04:43
  down, but this was his first official start for the year. So the
• 1:04:46
  Chargers offense in Week fifteen against the Las Vegas Raiders thirty first in EPA per
• 1:04:53
  play at negative zero point thirty nine six, so almost close to being like
• 1:04:59
  and it had average EPA per play basis close to losing a half point per
• 1:05:02
  play like that is just absolutely brutal. And I'm also going to give you
• 1:05:05
  the numbers in this game versus what they were weeks one through fourteen, So
• 1:05:11
  week fifteen thirty first and EPA per play previous weeks seventeenth, nineteenth in success
• 1:05:17
  rate offensively, also nineteenth weeks one through fourteen, thirteenth in passing success rate
• 1:05:23
  in week fifteen twelve on the year prior to that, twenty second in rushing
• 1:05:29
  success rate in week fifteen, thirty first weeks one through fourteen. Now,
• 1:05:31
  granted to add some context to that, a bunch of this came when the
• 1:05:35
  game was done again. They were down forty nine nothing to start the third
• 1:05:40
  quarter, so there was a little bit of garbage Timey aspect. Granted,
• 1:05:45
  the Raiders were playing their dude and still trying, but being up forty nine
• 1:05:48
  to nothing in the third quarter and kind of the right and being on the
• 1:05:50
  wall I think changes things a little bit. On the year, this Chargers
• 1:05:56
  offense as a whole is seventeenth in DBOA, fifteenth in the past, thirtieth
• 1:06:00
  in the run, their run game on the year absolutely brutal, thirtieth and
• 1:06:04
  EPA per attempt again, like I mentioned, their run game is thirtieth in
• 1:06:06
  DVOA, and then their EPA per attempt on the year thirtieth, ninth in
• 1:06:13
  terms of hit at the line percentage ninth in a good way, meaning they
• 1:06:15
  don't have a lot of runs where they're running backs are contacted at the line
• 1:06:17
  of scrimmage and they're eighteenth and stuff percentage. Stuff percentage again being the amount
• 1:06:23
  of runs going for zero or fewer yards. So they're kind of middle of
• 1:06:27
  the pack for that aspect, so not bad, not great, middle of
• 1:06:30
  the pack man, but their run game hasn't been consistent. A lot of
• 1:06:32
  that has been due to the injury pieces for Austin Eckler. Even though he's
• 1:06:36
  not really a run first running back, he's more of a scap back that
• 1:06:40
  can do everything. But their run game has not been good. And even
• 1:06:44
  with Herbert, this was you know, this was supposed to be the year
• 1:06:47
  for the Chargers where they kind of made that jump. You know, Kellen
• 1:06:51
  Moore comes in, Joe Lombardi is out. There's supposed to be no more
• 1:06:57
  like quick game just being the only option and no more or just short five
• 1:07:00
  and six yard throws. It was supposed to be about tapping into, you
• 1:07:03
  know, the arm power and the athleticism and the talent of Justin Herbert and
• 1:07:06
  kind of putting all of that together. And they they've had injuries again.
• 1:07:12
  You know, Mike Williams continues to get hurt year after year, Keenan Allen
• 1:07:15
  gets injuries, their offensive line gets banged up, Austin Eckler, like these
• 1:07:17
  pieces that just can never seem I just feel like they're cursed as an organization.
• 1:07:21
  Like every year it just seems like they should be better than they are
• 1:07:24
  and they just do not happen to be. Like the Chips never fallow their
• 1:07:29
  way, whether because of what they're doing or just the football gods hating them
• 1:07:33
  so again, even if you're not looking at them, because if you're looking
• 1:07:35
  at them from a Justin Herbert complete standpoint on the year again seventeenth and dboa
• 1:07:41
  fifteenth, in the past thirtieth, in the run seventeenth and EPA per play
• 1:07:45
  nineteenth and success rate twelfth and passing success rate thirty first and rushing success rate.
• 1:07:49
  So the run game has not been good and the passing offense with Herbert
• 1:07:54
  definitely it's been all right, but nowhere near what the potential could have been
• 1:07:59
  or what the ex dictations where they're coming into this season. And when you
• 1:08:02
  look, yeah, great comment here from David saying chargers be charging. Absolutely,
• 1:08:06
  Chargers going to charger. That's the way it is when you look at
• 1:08:11
  Eastern Stick versus the Raiders in week fifteen. So I'm gonna pull up let
• 1:08:15
  me share my screen here. I want to bring up Eastern Stick's passing chart
• 1:08:24
  courtesy of and next Gen Stats. So here is Eastern Sticks passing chart against
• 1:08:30
  the Raiders in week fifteen, and let me sharing my screen. Bum.
• 1:08:39
  Okay, but there we go, courtesy Next Gen Stats. Now when you
• 1:08:42
  look at it, it's just nuts. So I'll let you kind of drink
• 1:08:45
  this graphic in while I read some advanced metrics. His average depth of target
• 1:08:50
  in this game was five point four, so his average throw was five point
• 1:08:58
  four yards past the line of scrimmage. When he was kept clean, so
• 1:09:00
  a clean pocket, no pressure, his average depth of target was four point
• 1:09:05
  three and his time to throw was two point one to two. So we
• 1:09:09
  saw a little bit of a reverting back to quick game when things when they
• 1:09:13
  were not blitz when they were not pressured, we saw a lot of quick
• 1:09:15
  game and a lot of screens. We saw a lot of running back screens,
• 1:09:21
  slant flats with wide receivers and also slant flats with the flat route being
• 1:09:25
  the running back out of the backfield. We saw stick we saw sit routes,
• 1:09:29
  we saw checkdowns, just a lot. Forty point six percent of his
• 1:09:32
  passes against the Raiders were between zero and nine yards. And if you look
• 1:09:38
  on this chart right here, let's just count them out there together, how
• 1:09:42
  many passes were above ten yards? One, two, three, four,
• 1:09:47
  five, six, seven. Only seven of his thirty two attempts came above
• 1:09:54
  ten yards. And you're looking at all the chicken pox there for the green
• 1:09:58
  and the white again, white is income, green is complete. But you
• 1:10:00
  look at everything there and again to go over it from a conceptual standpoint to
• 1:10:03
  put it together with what you're looking at it from this chart. When you
• 1:10:06
  watch the film, yeah, you're just seeing a lot of quick game,
• 1:10:11
  all those passes in and around the line of scrimmage and behind the line of
• 1:10:14
  scrimmage or either checkdowns or swing passes. But they're running a lot of running
• 1:10:16
  back screens, which makes sense. You have Austin Eckler, you want to
• 1:10:20
  invite that rush, get into Eckler's hands, use your athletic offensive line to
• 1:10:24
  get out in space. But again, a ton of running back screens,
• 1:10:28
  slant flats, and slant flats literally meaning like outside receiver runs a slant,
• 1:10:32
  inside receiver runs a flat route, or they'll run into the single receiver side
• 1:10:36
  where the receiver runs the slant, the running back runs the flat route out
• 1:10:40
  of the backfield, sit route, stick stuff over the ball. Stuff in
• 1:10:45
  that five yard range. Again, his average depth of target overall was five
• 1:10:50
  point four and when kept clean, his average up the target was four point
• 1:10:54
  three. So just absolutely wild. I love these passing charts from next Jenks.
• 1:10:58
  I think it really puts into perspective of like what a quarterback was doing
• 1:11:01
  and how an offense kind of works a little bit. And again just looking
• 1:11:05
  at it, there only seven attempts above ten yards. So when you're looking
• 1:11:09
  at easton Stick and this Charger's passing offense, you're playing top down. You
• 1:11:13
  don't even necessarily need to keep everything in front of you. And even that
• 1:11:15
  one deep shot, that one deep Tuddy that's around the thirty yard marker on
• 1:11:19
  the left side, that was a blown coverage that they touched down to Palmer.
• 1:11:23
  I think that was the that was their first touchdown of the game that
• 1:11:25
  made it forty nine to seven. But yeah, you're just looking at what
• 1:11:30
  they are from a passing charge standpoint. I like to come here from Roy
• 1:11:33
  saying how did he get a pick ten yards behind the line of scrimmage?
• 1:11:36
  So Jack Jones blitzed. Oh yeah, Imar, I said it right here
• 1:11:41
  saying Jack Jones jumped in like a missile. Jack Jones blitzed. And if
• 1:11:45
  you're looking at it, so where that little red interception marker is? He
• 1:11:48
  blitzes and if actually, Roy, if you haven't seen it, you need
• 1:11:53
  to go watch it and see it. Jack Jones blitzes and gets up field
• 1:11:58
  and Stick tries to throw it inside of him. Jack Jones jumps up and
• 1:12:02
  literally one hand snatches it out of the air, brings it down and then
• 1:12:08
  houses it for a touchdown. It's one of the best that Yeah, Charles
• 1:12:10
  says it right now, one handed. It's one of the best interceptions and
• 1:12:13
  one of the best football players I've ever seen in my life. Like not
• 1:12:16
  now, Roy, because you want to be watching disguy's coverage right now,
• 1:12:18
  but when we're done here, or if you have another electronic device, feel
• 1:12:20
  free to go and watch it right now. It's one of the best interceptions
• 1:12:24
  and best football players I've ever seen in my life. It was absolutely nuts.
• 1:12:28
  But again, looking at this offense and this is where the chart you
• 1:12:30
  know, with the film and with the numbers all puts it in again.
• 1:12:33
  I went and watched the tape against that against the Raiders for East and sticking
• 1:12:38
  again small sample size, like it's his first start of this year. Maybe
• 1:12:41
  there'll be something different this year. But given his arm strength, given the
• 1:12:44
  rest of the pieces on the offense, we're going to talk about. This
• 1:12:46
  is what you're looking at from a passing concept standpoint. You are looking at
• 1:12:49
  a lot of quick game. You are looking at screens, you are looking
• 1:12:53
  at anything and everything that will lead to a completion around or behind the line
• 1:12:58
  of scrimmage. So you have to play top down. This is going to
• 1:13:00
  be a game that probably stresses your linebackers at the second level. Maybe you're
• 1:13:03
  playing a little bit more Cover three if you are the Bills, to try
• 1:13:06
  and make sure you have proper run integrity because you're not gonna be threatened on
• 1:13:11
  the outside by the wide receivers. We're going to talk about the moment,
• 1:13:14
  so flood you know, the box and make life difficult for Easton stick,
• 1:13:18
  make him try and push the ball downfield, stop the run game. Then
• 1:13:21
  those pieces there, so again that passing tart put in with the number is
• 1:13:25
  absolutely wild. Again, average depth of target of five point four and when
• 1:13:29
  he was kept clean, kept clean meaning no pressure just like Ladi da like
• 1:13:33
  kind of figuring out where he wants to go is average depth of target was
• 1:13:35
  four point three, but again the time to throw with that was two point
• 1:13:40
  one two, which points to a lot of quick game. So just man,
• 1:13:44
  I don't think I've ever seen a man I'm sure I have at some
• 1:13:46
  point, but an average depth of target overall a five point four is crazy
• 1:13:49
  low. I cannot remember seeing one that low at some point. Also of
• 1:13:56
  note for this Chargers offense in week fifteen against the Raiders, they struggled significantly,
• 1:14:00
  while I should say Eastern Sticks struggled significantly when under pressure and when blitzed.
• 1:14:06
  So Eastern Stick was under pressure on eleven drop backs against the Raiders.
• 1:14:11
  Of those eleven dropbacks, he tried to throw the ball seven times, so
• 1:14:15
  he had seven attempts. Again under pressure on eleven drop backs, he was
• 1:14:17
  four of seven for twenty four yards and averaged up the target of nine point
• 1:14:23
  eight. He was sacked three times. He had a pressure to sack percentage
• 1:14:27
  of twenty seven point three percent, which is not good. That means the
• 1:14:30
  percentage of sacks that resulted from the pressures that he had. So if you
• 1:14:34
  get pressured four times and you get sacked twice, you have a pressure to
• 1:14:38
  sack percentage of fifty percent, a time to throw when under pressure of three
• 1:14:43
  point eighty one, and a rating of sixty four. When he was getting
• 1:14:46
  pressured, he was holding onto the ball, he was trying to make a
• 1:14:49
  play. He was getting it a little bit, you know, around the
• 1:14:51
  sticks or pass the sticks, but not getting a ton of opportunity you saw
• 1:14:55
  the little bit of And again some of this is understandable, right, given
• 1:14:58
  how that game went and given where he is and what the weapons are like
• 1:15:00
  on the outside, just looking flustered when under pressured, as most qbs are.
• 1:15:04
  But if you can get him under pressure, you will see success for
• 1:15:08
  your defense. But more importantly, I think, aside from the pressure,
• 1:15:12
  because that's still on you, you still have to execute, you know,
• 1:15:15
  and under pressure doesn't mean they blitzed. It just means they got pressured.
• 1:15:17
  You could have ran, You could have rushed four or three or two or
• 1:15:19
  one and gotten pressure. That's how he was performing when he was pressured.
• 1:15:24
  But the blitz numbers are also very very interesting. So Easton Stick was blitzed
• 1:15:29
  on nine drop backs against the Raiders, also four of seven like he was
• 1:15:35
  when pressured, but this time he was four of seven for twenty nine yards.
• 1:15:39
  This average depth of target is nuts. So again he was blitzed on
• 1:15:42
  nine dropbacks, it's four to seven for twenty nine yards. His average depth
• 1:15:45
  of target when blitzed was one point one. He was sacked two times,
• 1:15:50
  a pressure to sack percentage of fifty percent a time to throw a two point
• 1:15:56
  eighty three and a rating of twenty seven point four. So big, big
• 1:16:01
  highlight takeaways from that game. When Easton Stick was blitzed, he was blitzed
• 1:16:06
  on nine dropbacks. He had an average depth of target of one point one
• 1:16:11
  and a rating of twenty seven. So I know the Bills are not a
• 1:16:15
  blitz first team, and most teams don't want to be if they don't have
• 1:16:18
  to. Like, if you can just rush for and get pressure with your
• 1:16:21
  standard front four and play coverage like, that's an option that a lot of
• 1:16:25
  coaches and teams would like to go for. But if there was ever a
• 1:16:28
  game where you potentially want to kind of crank up the blitz meter a little
• 1:16:31
  bit, it would be in this game. Because those numbers are absolutely nuts.
• 1:16:33
  And again, the Raiders what they did, first of all, they
• 1:16:36
  were they were really taking advantage of the Chargers protection rules. I don't watch
• 1:16:41
  a ton of Chargers tapes, So for me to sit here and say,
• 1:16:44
  like normally what they do against this type of front and against this type of
• 1:16:46
  pressure, is this, this, and this, I don't necessarily know.
• 1:16:48
  So I'm going off of general football knowledge and know how in terms of what
• 1:16:54
  you are supposed to do normally with your rules. But I look at what
• 1:17:00
  they were doing and it was just, oh, this is good coming here
• 1:17:05
  from Mario saying charger centers on IR. Now, if I remember correctly,
• 1:17:09
  I don't know if Lindsley is on IR. I know he's out. I
• 1:17:15
  don't know if he's on IR yet. But he's a huge piece of offense.
• 1:17:18
  He keeps the offensive line together, he sets protections. He had just
• 1:17:23
  what you saw in this game was there were free runners coming through. There's
• 1:17:27
  a blitz. In my mind particularly they think it's a six man pressure.
• 1:17:31
  They keep Austin Eckler in to protect. So you've got the five offensive lineman
• 1:17:34
  plus Austin Eckler and it's an overload. Like there's four rushers to the offense
• 1:17:42
  is right, there's one edge player to the left, and then Robert Splane
• 1:17:45
  also blitzes from the middle. And it just seemed like an easy piece.
• 1:17:48
  Just slide to the right to pick up the four and they have Austin Eckler
• 1:17:51
  insert and pick up Robert Splane. But for some reason, they they set
• 1:17:58
  one of the overload players free, and I think it's like the three tech
• 1:18:01
  or the four I and he just beats his man inside and gets an immediate
• 1:18:05
  pressure and sack and hit on East and stick and it was just like what
• 1:18:09
  are you doing in setting your protection? So they were gaming up the Chargers
• 1:18:14
  protection, and then you just had individual execution issues. Left tackle Rashaun Slater,
• 1:18:17
  who I've liked, real bad game, just poor hands, slash,
• 1:18:23
  poor punching. He was getting beat around the arc like you were just seeing
• 1:18:27
  him kind of like throw his hands, not really setting and punching and getting
• 1:18:30
  control. No real pop or force or shock in his hands, no real
• 1:18:34
  control established even if he won first touch, which he necessarily didn't, but
• 1:18:39
  even when he would, there was no real control established. And overall the
• 1:18:43
  offensive line there was a lack of displacement created in the run game as well,
• 1:18:46
  while also giving up penetration. So the old line had a rough day
• 1:18:49
  against the Raiders, who are not a thorough group up front. It's really
• 1:18:54
  just Max Crosby and almost no one else. Malcolm Koons had himself a day
• 1:18:59
  for the Raiders in that game, and actually, if I pull up the
• 1:19:02
  box score for that one, I think Malcolm Coon's had I want to say
• 1:19:09
  three sacks based off the tape, but I could be wrong. Let me
• 1:19:14
  pull up that box score. Malcolm Coons had two sacks I'm sorry and force
• 1:19:20
  funnel that resulted in a turnover. Yeah, just to watch them get gamed
• 1:19:25
  up and beat individually, like the offensive line did not execute well in between
• 1:19:29
  Easton sticks kind of like mental, the mental flurries that he goes through when
• 1:19:35
  he gets blitzed and seeing those numbers again, like when he was getting blitzed,
• 1:19:40
  he was getting pressured almost right away, which is why you see that
• 1:19:44
  a dot of one point one. But he was able to evade and escape
• 1:19:46
  and make them and try to make some place, which is why his overall
• 1:19:49
  time to throw was two point eight three, almost a full three seconds,
• 1:19:53
  which is a lot. But when he would evade, scramble drill wasn't working
• 1:19:57
  out, Guys weren't uncovering. It was just a dumpster fire. Anytime there
• 1:20:00
  was a blitz from the raiders, like if they picked it up, guys
• 1:20:02
  weren't getting open. But usually they weren't picking it up. There were problems
• 1:20:05
  from Easton Stick and diagnosing who to go to. It was just a mess.
• 1:20:10
  So again, if there was a game where the Bills were going to
• 1:20:12
  dial up more pressure it would be this one. I would get into Easton
• 1:20:15
  Stick's face early, get into his head early, attack him, play on
• 1:20:18
  that front foot, come downhill. Part of the reason I want to do
• 1:20:23
  that as well. Oh, this is awesome. Appreciate you Joe, Joe
• 1:20:26
  coming in and saying you should all blitz that. I can't say that word
• 1:20:29
  that MF like button. Appreciate you Joe stopping by. And also, if
• 1:20:31
  you folks haven't already, check out Joe's show that goes live every Tuesday right
• 1:20:34
  before mine called under Review. Joe does a lot of good work for the
• 1:20:39
  brands. We appreciate the hell out of him for that. So go check
• 1:20:42
  out Joe show after the show, of course, but appreciate you Joe,
• 1:20:45
  and be like Joe. If you haven't already, again, please please please
• 1:20:46
  think you drop ake on this video. It goes a sincerely long way towards
• 1:20:50
  helping myself in the entire team. Appreciate you folks for that. So again,
• 1:20:55
  Eastern Stick horrible against the blitz, against the Raiders the Bills. You
• 1:20:59
  should dial up some more blitzes because Easton Stick is bad against the blitz,
• 1:21:01
  but also the lack of weapons on the outside. I know we had that
• 1:21:06
  question earlier in terms of if Keenan Allen is going to play or not.
• 1:21:12
  I don't know. He's questionable right now. He's got a heel injury,
• 1:21:15
  did not practice today. Mike Williams is already on IR. There's a very
• 1:21:19
  realistic chance that the wide receiver one and wide receiver two for the Chargers in
• 1:21:24
  this game are Quentin Johnson and Joshua Palmer and Quentin Johnson being the rookie wide
• 1:21:29
  receiver from tc You and if you like Quentin Johnson or didn't, or you
• 1:21:33
  scouted him coming out of TCU, or you've never heard of him, here's
• 1:21:36
  a little breakdown on him. But long story short, he still has that
• 1:21:41
  limited route tree that he had at TCU. Everything that Quentin Johnston does,
• 1:21:45
  for the most part, good or bad, is based off of a vertical
• 1:21:49
  route tree STEM. So and I say vertical stem, I mean routes that
• 1:21:54
  have breaks off of like a vertical stem. So it could be a go
• 1:21:57
  route where you're literally just running straight down the field, or it could be
• 1:22:00
  hook where you run straight down the field, break down and turn around.
• 1:22:02
  You'll get some posts, but a lot of things are goes. Posts hooks,
• 1:22:09
  comebacks. It's all from a very vertical route tree, and that routree
• 1:22:14
  is still limited. He'll run some out from time and time too, maybe
• 1:22:16
  a drag or like a cross over the middle of the field, but a
• 1:22:19
  lot of those routes are again in a limited routree, in that vertical based
• 1:22:24
  stem, and he still looks like the guy. Again. I've watched a
• 1:22:27
  ton of Quentin Johnson tape this year, So if I am way out of
• 1:22:30
  pocket and somebody wants to, you know, call me out, feel free.
• 1:22:34
  But he still looks like the same TCU wide receiver, just in a
• 1:22:40
  Los Angeles Chargers Jersey. Now, I think some of that is to be
• 1:22:43
  expected. Like I wondered what his trajectory would be in the NFL because of
• 1:22:47
  that limited routree at TCU. I wonder how long it would take to refine
• 1:22:53
  his game and polish him up a little bit. I thought playing with somebody
• 1:22:56
  like Keenan Allen, who's one of the best wide receivers in football, maybe
• 1:22:58
  that would potentially speed up development in his trajectory. But you still have that
• 1:23:02
  limited routetreat and then you have Josh Palmer who give you some of that vertical
• 1:23:06
  option from time to time, but is more suited to be a wide receiver
• 1:23:11
  three wide receiver four. So having those guys in terms of being your wide
• 1:23:15
  receiver one and wide receiver two, I don't find it threatening. I think
• 1:23:19
  we're Seuill. Douglas matches up very well with Quentin Johnston. I even think
• 1:23:24
  Benford does as well. If he gets physical and gets in his kitchen like
• 1:23:26
  he did against Brandon Cooks on multiple reps against Dallas, Johnson can fly.
• 1:23:30
  He's got really good long speed, vertical speed, like low four fours.
• 1:23:32
  I don't think he ran the forty or maybe did run the four. I
• 1:23:34
  think it's like four four to seven, a bit underwhelming or low four fives.
• 1:23:38
  Now I gotta go and look it up. Quinton Johnston forty time,
• 1:23:45
  I thought it was underwhelming. Oh that's right, Yeah, he ran a
• 1:23:47
  four or five two. He plays faster than a four or five two.
• 1:23:51
  But official time forty time for Quentin Johnson is a four or five to two
• 1:23:56
  back During this past offseason, I think the Bill's corners again Benford and Douglas,
• 1:24:00
  who are playing well. I think they match up well with Palmer and
• 1:24:01
  Johnston. I'm not feeling threatened by them. I'm not feeling too threatened by
• 1:24:08
  ever. At tight end, Eckler is their best weapon. You'll see what
• 1:24:12
  he's doing out of the backfield. In terms of just he's legitimate. Austin
• 1:24:15
  Eckler is awesome, Like I think he's one of the best running backs in
• 1:24:19
  the NFL, but his value is really gonna come into if Easton Stick can
• 1:24:26
  find him, if he has to time to get to him. The biggest
• 1:24:28
  thing I'm worried about with this offense is their screen game. Overall, the
• 1:24:30
  Bills have been susceptible to screens throughout the entirety of the year, Like multiple
• 1:24:36
  teams have gotten them with screens, smoke screens, quick screens, but really
• 1:24:40
  it's those running back screens that'll get you. So the Chargers are a prime
• 1:24:44
  candidate for that, unless they're gouging the Bills with quick screens. And that's
• 1:24:46
  where the blitzing can kind of bite you in the ass a little bit.
• 1:24:49
  Like if you send the house and they call the screen and they time it
• 1:24:51
  right and get into Eckler's hands, like he can get a good chunk play,
• 1:24:57
  he can house one in the blink of an eye. Good at setting
• 1:25:00
  things up in space. He's good at reading his blockers and using his blockers
• 1:25:03
  and you know, creating vulnerabilities in the defense as an overall ball carrier and
• 1:25:08
  pass catcher, but especially in the screen game. So I worry about that
• 1:25:11
  a little bit if you are going to blitz them. But yeah, this
• 1:25:15
  offense is banged up. They're wounded. They're not playing great again, even
• 1:25:18
  in the run game, lack of displacement in the run game while also giving
• 1:25:21
  up penetration. They were losing schematically, losing individually. I think there is
• 1:25:27
  something potentially to be said for you know, maybe they play a bit better
• 1:25:30
  at home, Maybe they play a bit better coming off of the firings of
• 1:25:35
  their head coach and GM. Maybe there is some uptick in performance or a
• 1:25:40
  kind of kick in the butt to kind of get everybody on the same page,
• 1:25:44
  or a little more sense of urgency. Also just with how bad they
• 1:25:46
  played against the Raiders, Like that was awful, being down forty nine to
• 1:25:49
  nothing to start the third quarter, being down forty two to nothing to end
• 1:25:54
  a half like the end the first half, that is absolutely brutal. Like
• 1:25:57
  I don't expect to see that bad of a charge team again. But that
• 1:26:01
  being said, they are wounded, they are reeling. They do have some
• 1:26:05
  deficiencies that can be exposed on that offensive side of the ball and the defensive
• 1:26:09
  side, which's going to talk about in a minute. But that game plan.
• 1:26:12
  I'm watching out for the screen. I'm keing on Austin Eckler and not
• 1:26:15
  letting him beat us. That's the only way you lose this game. Don't
• 1:26:17
  let Austin Eckler beat you in the run or in the past. Don't let
• 1:26:19
  him beat you in the route distribution. Don't let him beat you in the
• 1:26:23
  screen. Game Heat up easton stick. If you can do it with four
• 1:26:27
  amazing. But I am I'm sending the house. I am blitzing him regularly.
• 1:26:31
  I'm throwing simulated and creepers his way. I am testing their protection rules.
• 1:26:35
  I'm sending five and six man pressures. And then when I am you
• 1:26:40
  know, maybe I'll play some three to three behind it, you know,
• 1:26:42
  do some fire zone stuff. But really I got no problem sending cover one
• 1:26:45
  blitzes at them and playing man coverage on their weapons on the outside, because
• 1:26:49
  I don't think they can regularly separate and beat Benford and Douglas. I think
• 1:26:54
  the Bills defense matches up well with the Chargers offense, especially without and really
• 1:26:59
  again a lot of this injury based, like it's just no disrespect to who
• 1:27:01
  they have, but Herbert, Mike Williams and Keenan Allen would change the face
• 1:27:08
  of any offense in the NFL. All three of those dudes are out,
• 1:27:12
  So anybody's going to be, you know, significantly, you know, worse
• 1:27:16
  off when you have all three of the guys of that caliber at those positions.
• 1:27:20
  On top of it, like, not only are they great players,
• 1:27:23
  but they play priority premium positions. The only wildcard really is, you know
• 1:27:28
  what is the change in coach? Kind of mean from a non field perspective,
• 1:27:31
  So we'll see, we'll see. But again, just Chargers going to
• 1:27:35
  Charger and it's happening offensively, really brutal for them. Now we're gonna switch
• 1:27:40
  the conversation to the defensive side of the ball. Before I do that,
• 1:27:43
  I want to show some love for the sponsor mentioned in the beginning of the
• 1:27:45
  episode one Pi Pizza, the best pizza in Buffalo, New York. I
• 1:27:47
  don't say that because they sponsor the show. They sponsor the show because I
• 1:27:51
  think they are the best pizza in Buffalo, New York, tremendous sweet Sauce,
• 1:27:55
  pie cup and chart Pepperoni. They also have a pizza that they named
• 1:27:58
  after Cover One. It is called the Cover One Alan Goat. It is
• 1:28:01
  amazing. I don't even want to say what the ingredients are. I just
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  got it over the weekend. Actually I got it Sunday for the Bills game.
• 1:28:08
  It was delicious. They make their own homemade blue cheese, which is
• 1:28:10
  amazing. They started getting into the breakfast pizza world. Now they're also starting
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  to do some catering things like. They're absolutely phenomenal in every way, shape
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  and form. They're online menu can be found in the episode show notes,
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  whether here on YouTube or whichever podcasting app or platform you are listening to this
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  show on. They just finished up their Toys for Tots Drive. That's another
• 1:28:29
  thing I love about them. They're very community focused and city focused in terms
• 1:28:31
  of giving back and trying to help. So go get yourself some one pie
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  pizza. You will not be dispoint ted. Let's go back to that conversation
• 1:28:40
  inside a week sixteen Buffalo Bills versus Los Angeles Chargers. Let me take a
• 1:28:44
  drink of water. Let's move to the defensive side of the ball. So
• 1:28:50
  Chargers defense, this is the one that's always gotten me under Brandon Staley.
• 1:28:55
  I I truly believed in Brandon Staley coming out of him being defensive coordinator for
• 1:29:02
  the Rams. I didn't think it was just like, oh, well he
• 1:29:05
  had Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald and all these other guys that like help make
• 1:29:11
  things work. Like I believed in the tight front and what they were doing
• 1:29:14
  schematically and him coming from the Fangio tree and what he did and all these
• 1:29:17
  pieces. And you know that first year was rough under Stale, but he
• 1:29:21
  didn't have his pieces, and you just year one was like marred by the
• 1:29:29
  supposed lack of pieces needed to run Staley's scheme. And it was just like,
• 1:29:31
  well, he inherited this roster. Once he's able to kind of get
• 1:29:35
  his fingerprints on this roster a little bit more, it'll be able to take
• 1:29:40
  shape. He'll be able to play a scheme and system. But with each
• 1:29:42
  subsequent year, the defense just continued to be leaky and fail in execution.
• 1:29:46
  They've also had a ton of poor injury luck on the defense side of the
• 1:29:49
  bal Bosa gets hurt what seems like every year Derwin James gets hurt, what
• 1:29:53
  seems like every single year, like they can't stay healthy. They signed J
• 1:29:57
  C. Jackson, he gets hurt. He wasn't playing good even when he
• 1:29:59
  was healthy. Like all these things just have not seemed to work out in
• 1:30:02
  the daily tenure. Again, he has now gone, but the point still
• 1:30:08
  stands like this defense just has not clicked, and they have good players and
• 1:30:12
  they've tried to reinforce that side of the ball and it just has not worked
• 1:30:15
  out. And looking at this defense what they did in Week fifteen against the
• 1:30:19
  Raiders versus what they did weeks one through fourteen, So week fifteen twenty ninth
• 1:30:24
  in EPA per play on the year twenty fifth and EPA per play twenty sixth,
• 1:30:29
  and success rate against the Raiders in week fifteen, twenty ninth and success
• 1:30:32
  rate on the year, So their defensive performance against the Raiders was actually better
• 1:30:38
  in terms of success rate in terms of ranking than when what they are on
• 1:30:41
  the year twenty eighth in passing success rate against the Raiders twenty seventh on the
• 1:30:45
  year, twenty first in rushing success rate against the Raiders twenty first on the
• 1:30:48
  year. Again, granted a bunch of these numbers are influenced by the garbage
• 1:30:51
  time and when the game was kind of done, when the way we're down
• 1:30:56
  already. On the year, Chargers defense it's twenty eighth and dvaway twenty eighth
• 1:31:02
  versus the past twenty fifth versus the run. Their past defense is twenty seventh
• 1:31:08
  in EPA per play. They're one of only seven teams that are giving up
• 1:31:12
  a positive average for EPA per play for opposing offenses. Their run defense twenty
• 1:31:16
  fourth in EPA per tempt. But they're tenth in stuff percentage in a good
• 1:31:21
  way. Just again, the pieces that they brought in not fitting. They
• 1:31:26
  continue to be poor schematically and from an execution standpoint. This is the big
• 1:31:30
  conversation that I think came from that presser from Brandon Staley towards the end or
• 1:31:34
  middle of November. What loss was it? What maybe the Packers loss or
• 1:31:39
  the week before the Packers lost, something like that. But the question was
• 1:31:42
  kind of posed to him, like what's going wrong? And he just kind
• 1:31:45
  of denied everything, like it's not a player issue, it's not a schematic
• 1:31:50
  or not that it's not a player issue. It's not a schematic issue.
• 1:31:53
  It's not a play calling issue. It's not a sequencing issue. It's not
• 1:31:55
  this, it's not that, it's like all just execution and like this guy
• 1:31:58
  messing up or this happening wrong here and things not working out and and honestly
• 1:32:02
  right, he may have a point like their execution, especially from a run
• 1:32:05
  fit standpoint and a run gap integrity standpoint, has really not been there.
• 1:32:10
  They blow coverages. The communication is not there. On the back end.
• 1:32:14
  You've got guys that you've got safeties who seem like they're running cover four and
• 1:32:19
  corners who seem like they're running cover too, and they expect help over the
• 1:32:23
  top that they're not getting. There. Just seems to be a disconnect continuously
• 1:32:28
  for this defense, or in the Brandon Stalely era, despite you know,
• 1:32:31
  the reinforcements that they brought in in the additions that they've made. Now again
• 1:32:34
  Brandon Stalely's out. Will see what happens for this defense, but I would
• 1:32:39
  expect similar, similar disconnect or maybe the opposite. Maybe they rally the troops
• 1:32:44
  and it's a bit of a you know, kicking the pants with Staley getting
• 1:32:48
  fired and the changes being made and the defense finally realizes their potential, but
• 1:32:54
  they've got holes on that side of the ball. They have some good guys
• 1:32:58
  as well. Again to two Ley two. Polo two, who they drafted
• 1:33:00
  out of USC has flash at times this year, but they needed to rely
• 1:33:05
  on him more now that Joey Bosa is on IR. Tuey Polo two was
• 1:33:11
  a nice like third piece at the edge opposite of you know, Mac and
• 1:33:16
  Bosavo. With Bosa going down, he's been thrust into a starting role.
• 1:33:19
  Eric Kendricks has been a fine addition, but man Kenneth Murray is still up
• 1:33:25
  and down. And then in the secondary, Derwin James is still awesome,
• 1:33:29
  but he plays everywhere, and he plays he plays everywhere to a point that
• 1:33:35
  almost makes you question if it's to his overall detriment. I think it's awesome
• 1:33:41
  that he can play everywhere, but also like should he and like maybe that's
• 1:33:45
  a problem a little bit. He wears so many hats. I looked up
• 1:33:47
  at snaps by position this year. This year forty eight defensive line snaps,
• 1:33:53
  two hundred and fifty nine snaps in the box, one hundred and eighty two
• 1:33:57
  snaps as the slot defender or apex defender sixteen snaps as outside corner and three
• 1:34:02
  hundred and twenty nine snaps as you know, deep field safety. So he
• 1:34:08
  playing, He's playing everywhere, And part of that is his versatility, like
• 1:34:11
  what you can use him for, like you can use him to trying to
• 1:34:14
  erase a tight end or help down against the run, or play deep,
• 1:34:16
  like he can do so many things. But also part of that is the
• 1:34:21
  Chargers seemingly always experimenting in the secondary with who is playing and who's playing where
• 1:34:28
  and how much they're playing. It almost seems like there has been a constant
• 1:34:30
  rotation on the back end during Staley's tenure. Like again, it is Mike
• 1:34:36
  Davis gonna be corner number one? Is it Sante Samuel corner number one?
• 1:34:41
  Is it j C. Jackson? Okay? Who's corner number two? Okay?
• 1:34:44
  Where are they playing? Just Sir Taylor? Okay? Who's the nickel?
• 1:34:46
  Who's the other safety? Like it's Derwin James and it's a Lohie Gilman,
• 1:34:49
  like Dean Marlowe gets worked into their shout out to Dean Marlowe, who
• 1:34:54
  we love here at cover one. It just seems like they, between health
• 1:34:59
  and performance, they've never been able to stand pat with a constant rotation on
• 1:35:05
  the back end, and I think that's contributed to the inconsistencies we see in
• 1:35:11
  Derwin James's game and also where he has to be used, because they try
• 1:35:14
  to use him as this jack of all trades stopper or racer type, which
• 1:35:18
  he can be. He's got this amazing skill set and frame and size and
• 1:35:24
  like traits, like he's a real tools up trades plus skill set guy.
• 1:35:28
  But I think at times he wears too many hats to the point that it
• 1:35:30
  comes at his detriment or maybe even the detriment of the defense. But again,
• 1:35:33
  I think they try to have him wear all those hats because of the
• 1:35:38
  inconsistencies they have with other players at those positions in the secondary and overall,
• 1:35:42
  especially at the second level, like Kenneth Murray is okay at times, but
• 1:35:45
  also not really like you look at just the holes that they've had at different
• 1:35:50
  times in the back seven like man, and I think that's contributed to where
• 1:35:56
  White Derwin James has been kind of all over the place. An interesting piece
• 1:36:00
  for this defense Khalil Mack, who we talked about earlier on the show.
• 1:36:03
  In that draft where the Bills took Sammy Watkins instead of Khalil Mack. Khalil
• 1:36:06
  Mack is tied for third in sacks with fifteen, but they have come in
• 1:36:13
  significant bunches for him. So he's played in all fourteen games for the Chargers
• 1:36:16
  this year. In eight of those games he had no sacks. He had
• 1:36:21
  four games with two sacks, one game with one sack, and then he
• 1:36:26
  had one game with six sacks. That was the matchup against the Raiders in
• 1:36:30
  Week four, he had six sacks in one game. So you remove that
• 1:36:33
  Raiders game, he's still having a fine year. If you remove that Raiders
• 1:36:36
  game, He's got nine sacks in thirteen games, so he's still performing well.
• 1:36:41
  He can still run through dudes, he still has that bowl rush and
• 1:36:44
  some speed to power, and Jewe still plays the run and sets the edge
• 1:36:46
  a little bit. I know, he's getting a bunch of flak for kind
• 1:36:50
  of getting pancaked by Michael Mayer the tight end for the Raiders in this past
• 1:36:55
  week. He still presents a threat on that outside. Maybe not as much
• 1:36:58
  as he used to be, and maybe even less now that Bosa isn't rushing
• 1:37:01
  on the opposite edge of him, but really interesting to see again overall,
• 1:37:05
  you look at his numbers and man, he's got fifteen sacks and fourteen games,
• 1:37:10
  but they have come in big time bunches. Again, He's in eight
• 1:37:13
  of his fourteen games, he's had no sacks, four games with two sacks,
• 1:37:16
  one game with one, and one game with six. When you look
• 1:37:19
  at this defensive coverage scheme, I want to pull up another chart from you
• 1:37:28
  guessed it next, Jen the Stats. Let's pull up Aiden O'Connell's passing chart
• 1:37:34
  from week fifteen versus the Raiders, versus the Raiders, versus the Chargers,
• 1:37:41
  get it together, Anthony Boom. Let's pull it up. So a bit
• 1:37:47
  more balanced than mister Easton's stick in terms of getting the ball past ten yards,
• 1:37:50
  but you can see the majority of where they were trying to attack in
• 1:37:56
  that game. Oh, actually, let me move let's screen up there a
• 1:38:00
  little bit so you see that better. Boom. Okay, cool, there
• 1:38:02
  we go. So again, a little more balanced than easton stick, like
• 1:38:05
  pushing the ball a little bit more downfield, but really attack in the middle
• 1:38:11
  of the field, really attacking Kendricks and Murray in pass coverage in that spine
• 1:38:15
  in between the hashes and right outside the hashes O'Connell throwing a ton of the
• 1:38:19
  right, Like I don't think that's necessarily a thing that is, you know,
• 1:38:23
  attack them to the right, attack them to the right. But this
• 1:38:26
  Chargers defense. I love a Sante Samuel Junior. I would still take him
• 1:38:31
  on my team. But he is kind of a boomer Bus player at times,
• 1:38:34
  like you will see inconsistency. He's he's a big game hunter. Actually,
• 1:38:38
  he kind of falls into like the pattern that his dad fell into when
• 1:38:42
  he was a corner with the Pats and especially with the Eagles. Like a
• 1:38:44
  Sante Samuel is trying to go for picks. He will make those big plays,
• 1:38:48
  he will jump routes, he will try and time things up, he
• 1:38:54
  will try and bake quarterbacks. He's a risk reward type of guy, boomer
• 1:38:58
  Bus guy. And so that's why you have games for us Samuel where he
• 1:39:00
  has like two pecks or three pecks, and then you also have games sometimes
• 1:39:03
  in that same game where he gets burned really bad for a touchdown. Like
• 1:39:06
  he's a risk reward type of corner. Maybe that changes a little bit again
• 1:39:11
  with new leadership and play calling on the defensive side, now that Brandon Staley
• 1:39:14
  is out. But you've got that boomer bus type of player in a Sante
• 1:39:17
  Samuel, which potentially could work against Josh Hallen. You know, Josh Allen
• 1:39:21
  likes to take risks himselves. Himself, will see if Sante Samuel is able
• 1:39:27
  to get an interception, bait him into some things, you know, present
• 1:39:29
  him a look, and then try and take advantage of it. But you're
• 1:39:32
  looking at this team and again like you've got a Sante Samuel at one corner,
• 1:39:35
  and then what are you looking at? Is it Michael Davis? You
• 1:39:39
  know, it's just Serh Taylor going to be the nickel corner? Like are
• 1:39:41
  they playing big nickel in this game? Are they playing traditional nickel? Like
• 1:39:44
  what are they going to do? You look at again what Aidan O'Connell did
• 1:39:48
  against their defense and just really again pepper in the middle of the field and
• 1:39:54
  was able to really spread the ball around. Again, someth of this is
• 1:39:56
  skewed by the game itself, like maybe this passing chart looks different if they
• 1:40:02
  aren't just rolling and aren't up like forty two to nothing and thirty five to
• 1:40:05
  nothing and twenty eight to nothing and so on and so forth, Like maybe
• 1:40:08
  they attack differently maybe they work the ball differently, maybe they try some different
• 1:40:12
  things. So some of these numbers are skewed by that game script that they
• 1:40:16
  had, but this Chargers defense can be had. My big thing with the
• 1:40:20
  Chargers defense, I am treating them like the Cowboys defense. And now from
• 1:40:26
  the perspective of they're the same defense or same alignment or same personnel or anything
• 1:40:29
  like that, but I'm running the ball down their throats. If I'm the
• 1:40:30
  Buffalo Bills, i am running right at them. I am running tackle rap,
• 1:40:33
  you know, slashing dart. I'm running that at them until they prove
• 1:40:36
  they can stop it. I'll run mid zone, I'll run duo. I
• 1:40:42
  will attack them through the spine over and over and over and over again.
• 1:40:48
  I am running right at them. I do not care. I'm running at
• 1:40:51
  Sebastian Joseph Day and Austin Johnson and Morgan Fox like I'm running at that crew.
• 1:40:56
  I'm running on the interior. I'm making tweet Polo two have to play
• 1:41:00
  run defense. I'm probably running it to a pull out to a bunch.
• 1:41:02
  I still think Khalil Mack has something in the tank overall, but especially from
• 1:41:05
  a run defense standpoint, and I'd rather not test it if I don't have
• 1:41:09
  to, so I'll go away from him, although I do think he can
• 1:41:12
  be had. But I'm running it right down their throat. Establish the run
• 1:41:15
  early, get physical with them. Take their soul. I say it all
• 1:41:19
  the time, like when you have the ball run down your throat. It
• 1:41:23
  is so demoralizing for a defense, and it it takes your soul. It
• 1:41:27
  makes you feel like absolute crap. And so, knowing how the Chargers lost
• 1:41:30
  in that game against the Raiders, knowing the firings that happened to Stali and
• 1:41:33
  Telesco after that game, I'm trying to do whatever I can to get them
• 1:41:38
  into negative feelings and negative vibes right off rip and I'm running it down their
• 1:41:42
  throat. Run it down their throat. Then tie in your RPOs and your
• 1:41:45
  pass tags, tie in the play action game, so on and so forth.
• 1:41:47
  I don't think this is a game. You can spread the Chargers out
• 1:41:51
  and pass on them if you want to. I just don't think you need
• 1:41:56
  to. I think you can operate in twelve personnel and work in you know,
• 1:42:00
  some twenty two, work in some jumbo, work in some eleven,
• 1:42:03
  and still maintain your run game out of those personnel groupings and alignments. You
• 1:42:08
  can use condensed looks. You can go full spread. You can run dart
• 1:42:11
  with kincaid or knocks attached to the formation. You can run it out of
• 1:42:15
  a traditional two by two gun look with a little more spread to it.
• 1:42:17
  I think you can get to a lot of the menu with this bills offense
• 1:42:23
  in general, but especially against the defense like the Chargers that has not been
• 1:42:26
  sound in their run fits that has not been sound in their run integrity,
• 1:42:30
  and it gets confused on the back end from a coverage standpoint. But again,
• 1:42:32
  for me, everything against this defense starts with their run defense, which
• 1:42:38
  has been bad all year. Again, but where's my DVA numbers? Oh
• 1:42:44
  yeah, twenty eighth and DVA twenty eight versus the past twenty fifth Against the
• 1:42:47
  run, their run defense gives up their twenty fourth and EPA per attempt,
• 1:42:53
  and their past defense is twenty seventh in EPA per attempt. So it's kind
• 1:42:56
  of, you know, pick your poison in terms of what you want to
• 1:42:59
  operate with and go with. But I'm running with a similar formula against Dallas.
• 1:43:02
  I'm establishing the run early, I'm trying to take them out of this
• 1:43:05
  game mentally and physically take their soul early, make them not want to play
• 1:43:10
  this game and just want to pack it up and pack it in and go
• 1:43:13
  home. It's Christmas weekend, it's the twenty third, They're home already.
• 1:43:16
  Take their soul early with the run game out, physical them, run it
• 1:43:20
  down their throat, get downhill, create this placement which you can do,
• 1:43:26
  and just make it an easy game for Josh Allen. Provide him some easy
• 1:43:29
  buttons, and make the charges feel like, you know what, this sucks,
• 1:43:31
  like our coach got fired, our GM got fired. It's the twenty
• 1:43:35
  third, tomorrow's Christmas Eve, whatever like, or just make them feel like
• 1:43:39
  they're behind the eight ball again. I'm starting out against this defense running the
• 1:43:42
  football and then again tying in that RPO game. A lot of what they
• 1:43:45
  did against Dallas, which is a winning recipe going forward for this Bills offense
• 1:43:49
  and something I want to talk about what they did against Dallas. Myself and
• 1:43:54
  Eric are gonna be doing full film video breakdown tomorrow night in the film room.
• 1:43:57
  I actually wanted to do. There were certain pieces is I wanted to
• 1:44:00
  do from a film perspective on this guy's coverage tonight, but Eric and I
• 1:44:04
  are saving a bunch of them for tomorrow in the film room, So make
• 1:44:06
  sure you tune in Tomorrow Night Live Wednesday, December twentieth, seven pm Eastern
• 1:44:12
  for the Film Room. But what Joe Brady did, man like the run
• 1:44:16
  game pieces, and these run game pieces were present before Joe Brady, I
• 1:44:19
  want to get that out of the way out and I'm gonna say tomorrow and
• 1:44:21
  in the film room too, like Dart is a run concept that Ken Dorsey
• 1:44:26
  ran a ton last year and ran a ton this year, But Brady really
• 1:44:30
  just leaning into it and spamming the hell out of it against Dallas and Dallas
• 1:44:33
  not adjusting was beautiful, and he said it like, if it's not broken,
• 1:44:38
  don't fix it. We had a different game plan, but you know,
• 1:44:41
  we adjusted to this because of how it was working. What's nice with
• 1:44:44
  that? And I'm gonna be tweeting a bunch of the offensive clips tomorrow and
• 1:44:48
  Thursday as well, and again you'll see in the film room with myself and
• 1:44:50
  Eric tomorrow. But what's nice with this Bill's run game and with these concepts
• 1:44:56
  working out of shotgun? Right? Everybody was talking about under center runs and
• 1:45:00
  under center runs and under center and under centered under center, which is fine,
• 1:45:02
  right, those can work in their own right. But what Brady has
• 1:45:04
  started to do now is by incorporating more of Josh Allen's legs into the shotgun
• 1:45:10
  game. Josh Allen now becomes a threat to run out of shotgun when you
• 1:45:15
  have these RPO looks or these pass tag looks. And you saw it a
• 1:45:19
  bunch in the Dallas game. Saw oft the week before too, but the
• 1:45:21
  Dallas game there was so many like Allen's handed the ball off to James Cook
• 1:45:26
  and he moves like he's trying to threaten the outside, and it holds that
• 1:45:30
  backside edge defender. And when you have that, Allen basically accounts for that
• 1:45:34
  defender. So you take that defender out of the run fit. Say Dallas
• 1:45:40
  had a six man box, right, and you've got your five offensive linemen
• 1:45:43
  and a tight end. It's six on six. Okay, cool, That's
• 1:45:45
  still advantage for the offense because there's one more gap than the defense can cover.
• 1:45:49
  But now say Josh Allen hands it off to Cook and he's a threat
• 1:45:55
  to run. He makes a little move after the mesh, you hold that
• 1:45:59
  backside defender. Now that backside defender is out of the run fit. And
• 1:46:01
  it was already six on six advantage offense now with six on five because you
• 1:46:05
  just held that backside defender. Now he's not crashing down the line to make
• 1:46:10
  a tackle or be involved in the runfit at all, and now you created
• 1:46:13
  another advantage. Joe Brady just leaned into that tackle wrap dart concept in a
• 1:46:17
  multitude of ways, out of different alignments, condensed, spread, tight end,
• 1:46:20
  detached, you know, eleven personnel, twelve personnel, twenty one,
• 1:46:27
  twenty two, jumbo, all these pieces. It was a really nice job
• 1:46:32
  from him leaning into an aspect that worked and just spamming the hell out of
• 1:46:36
  it. Sometimes it's just as easy as, oh, well this thing is
• 1:46:41
  working. Let's see if they're going to stop it. Oh they haven't stopped
• 1:46:43
  there, Let's just keep going to it again. They would have ran tackle
• 1:46:45
  wrap dart like they would have continued to run that anyway, because it is
• 1:46:49
  a core run concept for them and one of their better ones that fits James
• 1:46:54
  Cook's running style and fits you know, Spencer Brown and Deon Dawkins and they're
• 1:46:59
  line up front, you know, Cyrus Torrens being able to climb and been
• 1:47:01
  pin guys down and McGovern's athleticism, being able to turn and seal, Mitch
• 1:47:05
  Morse's intelligence being able to climb, turn and seal and work in space,
• 1:47:10
  all these things. So they would have ran it in general a bunch in
• 1:47:13
  that game if they wanted to commit to the run, But just keeping the
• 1:47:15
  foot on the throat with that concept was absolutely beautiful. And I'm looking for
• 1:47:20
  a similar game plan against the Chargers because I would look for that game plan
• 1:47:25
  on a weekly basis from the Bills if the Bills have a legitimate run game,
• 1:47:29
  which they do. The Bills have one of the best run games in
• 1:47:31
  the entire NFL from a running back carry standpoint. I've talked about it all
• 1:47:34
  year. They've been like top two and top three weekend and week out for
• 1:47:38
  the majority of the year with just running back carries. Only if you have
• 1:47:42
  a legitimately threatening run game with James Cook and how good this offensive line is
• 1:47:46
  at run blocking. Their second in adjusted lineyards, which means the offensive line
• 1:47:50
  is cooking and doing work up front. It's the reason you know, Cook,
• 1:47:55
  Murray, Ty Johnson like they're all seeing success because the offensive line is
• 1:47:59
  moving and grew even when it comes to the run game, they found concepts
• 1:48:01
  that work, they execute them at a high level. They've got a good
• 1:48:03
  run game plan. If the Bills, I've said it for years, if
• 1:48:08
  the Bills have a legitimately threatening run game, you pair that with Josh Allen.
• 1:48:13
  How do you defend this offense? How? Because you know, at
• 1:48:16
  any point they can just put you in spread. They can go three by
• 1:48:19
  two, or they can go into a four strong, or they can go
• 1:48:21
  into a two by two gun and they can do it out of ten personnel
• 1:48:26
  or eleven, or it can be you know, twelve personnel, but they
• 1:48:29
  can split out Kincaid and Knox. And then if you've matched with heavier personnel,
• 1:48:32
  now those bigger dudes have to cover in space against these athletic tight ends.
• 1:48:35
  Like you know that they still have that fastball element to their offense,
• 1:48:41
  Like you know they can spread you out and take advantage of you with Josh
• 1:48:45
  Allen whenever they want. And if you're really trying to focus on the weapons,
• 1:48:47
  Josh Allen can scramble and create something off script, or he can run
• 1:48:50
  in that scramble and gain yards on the ground. And then you add in
• 1:48:55
  the design Josh Allen run game and what that does. But when you've got
• 1:48:59
  the Church ditional running back run game working, just how do you defend this
• 1:49:03
  Bill's offense? Like, again, what I've continued to talk about, Like,
• 1:49:06
  they have that fastball that's there, but now they have a legitimately killer
• 1:49:12
  secondary pitch, whether you want to call it a change up, curveball,
• 1:49:15
  slider, breaking ball, off speed stuff, whatever. You know, the
• 1:49:18
  fastball is still present, but now they have a secondary pitch that is also
• 1:49:24
  extremely dangerous, to the point where they can just throw the secondary pitch and
• 1:49:28
  still get you out at the plate. That secondary pitch isn't so much of
• 1:49:31
  you know, we got to throw it just to keep you honest. But
• 1:49:34
  the real stuff is the fastball. No, Like, that secondary pitch is
• 1:49:39
  legitimate and you have to respect it, and if you don't, they'll catch
• 1:49:43
  you with it. They can paint the black with that secondary pitch. They
• 1:49:45
  can throw it and confuse the hell out of you. Like it's just it's
• 1:49:48
  a real nice pivot that they have. And they're not just throwing it.
• 1:49:53
  Again, They're not just throwing it to keep you honest. They're not just
• 1:49:56
  throwing it so you're you're not just sitting on fastball throwing it because it works.
• 1:50:01
  So how do you defend that? If you're a defense just in preparation
• 1:50:04
  and in game execution, then all the pieces that you can stack on top
• 1:50:08
  of it, with the RPOs and the pass tags and the play action and
• 1:50:13
  it's just a lot for a defense to have to deal with. And that's
• 1:50:15
  why you know, again it's going to be a core It's going to be
• 1:50:19
  a core idea and a core aspect to establish weekend and week out, regardless
• 1:50:24
  of the opponent, but especially in this matchup against the Chargers who have struggled
• 1:50:29
  with run fits and struggled with run integrity and gap discipline and all that kind
• 1:50:31
  of stuff. Run it down their throats, you know, take advantage schematically,
• 1:50:35
  but also kind of plant the seeds mentally of another here we go type
• 1:50:39
  of week, take their soul early, make it an easy easy trip to
• 1:50:43
  La, get in, get the dub, get home for Christmas. I
• 1:50:46
  anticipate that kind of piece, like that's just that's just what you need to
• 1:50:50
  do against this Chargers defense. There's other ways to beat them as well.
• 1:50:53
  I'm going to be diving into more tape to get a proper sample size,
• 1:50:55
  but knowing who they are and watching them a bunch already and again seeing the
• 1:50:59
  metrics run down their throat, take their soul early, take them out of
• 1:51:01
  the game early. Get yourself the opportunity to kind of sit and rest mentally
• 1:51:05
  and physically on the back end of this game and get out with a win
• 1:51:09
  and then go home and get ready for New England at home, and then
• 1:51:12
  get ready for the Miami Dolphins. Coming out of that, I'm gonna throw
• 1:51:16
  up the ban and that says tootles, folks, as we are about to
• 1:51:19
  get out of here again before anybody leaves, please please, please thank you.
• 1:51:21
  If you haven't already, drop alike on this video. Again it goes
• 1:51:25
  as sincerely long way to or telling myself and the entire team to track and
• 1:51:29
  trend in front of more eyes and ears. I know it's corny to ask
• 1:51:31
  for those likes and corny to kind of shill out for it at times,
• 1:51:34
  but again they do mean a lot to myself and the entire team. So
• 1:51:38
  if you haven't already, please drop alike on this video. If you're listening
• 1:51:41
  to one of the podcasting apps or platforms that's cool too, Please rate and
• 1:51:44
  review, and subscribe to Disguised Coverage and subscribe to Disguy's coverage while you're hereing
• 1:51:49
  on YouTube as well. In addition to the Cover one channel as a whole,
• 1:51:53
  we have we covered every single day of the week with Buffalo Bills.
• 1:51:55
  Coverage depends on, you know, whatever level of depth or entertainment you're looking
• 1:52:00
  for. There's a variety of shows to fit whatever you're looking for, anything
• 1:52:03
  and everything Buffalo Bills and football related. Thank you very much to everybody who
• 1:52:06
  rode with me live here on this episode tonight. I know it's a holiday
• 1:52:10
  week and against the team that people are kind of just feeling like, eh,
• 1:52:14
  whatever, So I appreciate everybody joining in. I had really good attendance
• 1:52:16
  tonight. So thank you folks very much for tuning in live into this episode.
• 1:52:19
  Thank you very much for the kind words and everything coming in in the
• 1:52:24
  chat there. I see it all and I recognize it, and I appreciate
• 1:52:26
  you folks. Thank you very much for the kind words. Thank you very
• 1:52:28
  much to mister Alex Braski for joining me in the front portion of this episode
• 1:52:31
  with that Buffalo Bills pulse check coming out of the chaos from really since Dorsey
• 1:52:35
  was fired, but really all year and just kind of getting a pulse on,
• 1:52:39
  you know, and a beat on where this team is, what they
• 1:52:42
  are right now, and who they could be going forward, giving the road
• 1:52:45
  that they are on and the road that they have to travel. So thank
• 1:52:47
  you very much to mister Alex BRASKI. Thank you very much to you folks
• 1:52:51
  for riding with me live on this episode. If you didn't ride with me
• 1:52:56
  live, that's cool too. Thank you very much for your post live listen,
• 1:52:58
  view, download, whatever have you. If you enjoyed this episode,
• 1:53:01
  tell your family, friends and loved ones about it, if they're a Bills
• 1:53:04
  fan or even just a general football fan. Word of mouth is always a
• 1:53:06
  tremendous help to myself in the entire brand. So please tell your family and
• 1:53:11
  friends and loved ones about the show. If you shot, If you shot,
• 1:53:14
  if you thought this show was terrible, that's cool too. Tell your
• 1:53:17
  enemies about the show and try and ruin their day with this show. I,
• 1:53:21
  you know, appreciate the pettiness. Any press is good press. I
• 1:53:26
  hope you and your family and friends and loved ones are all doing well and
• 1:53:30
  being safe. Be kind to one another, take care of one another.
• 1:53:33
  I love Christmas, and I hope you folks all have a tremendous Christmas or
• 1:53:36
  tremendous holiday, whatever you celebrate, whatever you recognize. I always think the
• 1:53:42
  holidays are a really special time potentially for people. So I hope you and
• 1:53:45
  your family and friends and loved ones have a tremendous holiday. And if you're
• 1:53:50
  not having a tremendous holiday, or if you have the opportunity to help others
• 1:53:54
  who are not having a tremendous holiday, I suggest you do so. Again
• 1:53:58
  it's it's I love Christmas time. I love this time of year, but
• 1:54:01
  I also recognize that sometimes it's not a great time for people. So whatever
• 1:54:05
  you can do to bring some joy to people, I think that's awesome if
• 1:54:10
  you can do so. But regardless of that, appreciate you folks. Be
• 1:54:13
  kind to one another, enjoy the holidays with your family, Enjoy the food,
• 1:54:17
  enjoy the presence the lights. If you live in somewhere where it snows,
• 1:54:20
  hopefully you get a white Christmas. If you're not into a white Christmas,
• 1:54:24
  that's fine. Enjoy your green Christmas or whatever you got. I will
• 1:54:26
  see you folks tomorrow, Wednesday, seven pm Eastern December twentieth for another episode
• 1:54:33
  of the Cover one Film Room with Eric Turner. So join us live tomorrow
• 1:54:35
  night, Wednesday December twentieth, seven pm Eastern, and then next week Tuesday,
• 1:54:41
  December twenty six, nine pm Eastern for another episode of Disguised Coverage.
• 1:54:45
  I appreciate you folks more than you will possibly know. Again, take care,
• 1:54:48
  happy holidays, godspeed, and as always go Bills