← Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Bills OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES, level of concern + Patriots and AFC East eye test
00:45:39
What's wrong with the Bills offense?
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Transcript159 lines
- [00:00]
A
If you want to look at the big picture and say, look at what this Bill's offense is. They're great. You know, they're second in the league in points. Take a look at that. And I'm not talking about an eye test. I'm talking about actually look at the numbers and say, well, when you score 38, 37 and 48, the numbers will be skewed a little bit.
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B
Dan Fates came with receipts.
- [00:31]
C
This is the Buffalo plus plus podcast.
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A
Brought to you by Connors and Ferris.
- [00:35]
B
All right, welcome back to the Buffalo plus podcast, presented by Connors and Ferris, Mike Catalana, Dan Fates, I am Jenna Castro. We're going to be talking about our level of concern for this Bill's offense. Is Josh Allen getting a wee bit defensive as well as this Bills Patriots AFC matchup and where Buffalo stacks up in the division and where the Patriots are at now as well. Please be sure to like, comment and subscribe to the channel if you have not already. Share with friends as well. Bill's getting ready for Foxborough this upcoming weekend, Mike. And a lot left to be desired by the offense these last couple of games. And I, I posed the question before we started recording, what is your level of concern now heading into where we're at in the season and ahead?
- [01:25]
C
All right, first of all, I'm going to start by saying I'm cranky today. I'm cranky like Josh Allen has been. Mine is a. Is a software issue with our good friends at Apple. And by the way, everybody's telling me you're having WI FI issues. No, no, it's a computer issue. And I will get to the bottom of it. Okay, man. The best part of my day is seeing you two right now. So that's good. So. So I get to see you, too, and get to vent.
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B
That's also. That's got to be a lie. Well, I hope your day gets better than that.
- [01:59]
C
Well, it will, but I, I was like, God, cranky. And then I'm like, all right, let me get this done. And it will get fixed. That's the way the Bill should be describing this offense. Okay, be a little cranky. Be. But find out the issue and what. I'll use my analogy again. I have tried every other part. And you know what I got to do? I got to reboot the whole thing. Now, I'm not saying they need to start from ground zero, but I'm sorry, when they're defending what's going on with the offense and I get Josh sticking up for his coach because that's what a pro does in that way. But I hope that's just for our benefit and the fans benefit. It's kind of like I don't know what you're talking about. There's a problem. There's a problem. You're getting shot out in the fourth quarter at home by the Giants. I'll give you London as an aberration because of the travel and everything else. Dan, you come back home and that's what you put on the field. Be defensive all you want, but internally they better be figuring out what's wrong.
- [03:03]
A
Okay, there a couple things that people the narrative is like the offense is fine, it'll be fine, don't worry. All of these things, they'll figure it out. What we heard yesterday as we record this podcast on Thursday morning was Sean McDermott calling out the offense. Ken Dorsey in that as much as Sean McDermott will ever call somebody out, Sean is always big picture. We all have to get better individually. It was the offense needs to figure it out. We're in week seven. Figure it out. Like if that's not. I think Jen and I joked around about the post practice recap. It was like shots fired. And this thought, Mike, where you're saying the Jags game is an aberration, I'm not really sure. And we kind of nitpick the national media when they helicopter in or parachute in and say like the Bills are bad and they don't know what they're talking about. But now there's also the narrative of like the Bills offense is great. Why is everybody complaining about the offense? Like look at where they are. They're second in this percentage and second in this percentage of the offense. And why is Ken Dorsey being talked about in Buffalo as this? You know the problem. Well, here you go for you. Because I was looking yesterday and I go the fact of the matter is I still don't know what this Bill's offense is. I don't know if they're good or if they're not like to some respects now they're still got Josh Allen, so they will always be fine and competitive. But they played six games. Three of them they have looked flawless, outstanding in those three games. The other three games they have been bottom 10 in the NFL in offensive numbers. And that's just not one game, guys. That's three, okay? And they were early in the season and they were late in the season. The jets game, the Jags game and the Giants game. If you take just those three games, they average 16.7 points per game, that would be good enough for 28th in the NFL in points per game. That's not one game. That's three. Their yards per game, 330 in those three games. That would be 15th in the NFL. And they had eight turnovers in those three games. Which would be the most in the NFL? Most giveaways or. Sorry, that would be the fifth most giveaways in the NFL. And the other games, they were phenomenal. The Raiders Commanders, Dolphins, 41 points per game, first in the NFL. 416 yards, second in the NFL. One turnover in those games. Which team are they? Because we can no longer say, well, the jets game was just an aberration. The jets game. It was just one jets game. Because now all of a sudden, the Jags aren't a stellar defense. The Giants aren't a stellar defense. Like, where are they? What team? Where are they offensively? I don't know. So the fact of if you want to look at the big picture and say, look at what this Bill's offense is, they're great. You know, they're second in the league in points. Take a look at that. And I'm not talking about an eye test. I'm talking about actually look at the numbers and say, well, when he scores 38, 37 and 48, the numbers will be skewed a little bit.
- [06:19]
B
Dan Fates came with receipts. That's going to be the name of this podcast.
- [06:25]
C
Hey, Jenna, just remember I start out by saying I'm the cranky one today.
- [06:32]
B
Okay? Dan, to your point, it's definitely what is it? Jacqueline Hyde, like how one week it can be this high flying offensive explosion and another week it can be what we've seen and the struggles that are well documented that we've talked about. And I think why there's my level of concern is high is just because we've seen this almost last year too. And I talked about this in the other video we posted of like this sample size of not really knowing what the identity of this Bill's offense is. And when we're in week seven and Sean McDermott is talking about having to have other players involved and figuring out what other guys, Deontay Hardy, Trent Sherfield, Khalil Shakir, like what they do well and what they can add to this offense, that is where my antenna goes up and it's like, yeah, why is their usage been so low? Is it because the player is not good enough or is it because the scheme is not good enough, or is it probably a mixture of both? But at the Same point. What do you do now to address those things, Mike? Because we know this team, these numbers are so skewed in one way because Josh Allen is fantastic. But at the same point, to be seeing like the, the. The tea leaves of that same struggle the Bills had offensively last year, I think that's what stands out the most to me is that fear. It's like, yeah, last year they won a lot of games, but we all know that they were really ugly, A. And B, it's not a sustainable way to win in this league.
- [08:10]
C
Janet. I wish they had an excuse for the Bills about injuries, but on the offensive side of the ball, this is their team. Yes, they didn't have Dalton Kincaid, okay? But he has been a relatively, relatively minor part of the offense. And I think you can look at that realistically and say he's a rookie. And they're trying to incorporate that into it. But I will, I will also say one other thing, that numbers are down around the league. That's true, and it really is. And it's like, you look at, you know, the Chiefs haven't looked great, the Eagles haven't looked great. Even the Niners looked very human in their last game. And that may be Brown's defense, but the overall numbers around the league, for whatever reason this year are down. But the Bills has been, have been so. It's been just so different between good and bad. And you made the good point without Josh Allen being Josh Allen. I mean, if Kyle Allen was playing in that Giants game, they don't score. I mean, they don't. I mean, Allen made tremendous plays to say, yeah, and, and I look at their offense and I go, okay. I actually think the offensive lines played okay. Like, I have not looked at it like, oh, my God, they've been terrible. I think they've gotten pretty good play. So you're saying to yourself, what is it? And Dan, they keep going back to this rhythm thing. You know, they need a rhythm. And I think that comes from a multitude of things, including confidence, knowing who you are, where you are, stepping up to that line. You know, I'm gonna go to Dan Fates route here and go golf. You hit a few good drives, you step up to that next tee, you're not thinking of anything else. You jump up there and swing the club and go. They're not swinging the club. It's like they're ready to snap the ball and you just don't feel it. And that's why I love when they play with pace, because when they're doing that Janet, it feels like they all know what's going on. And there are times today, today, this recent time, when you're like, I don't know what's happening when they snap the ball other than getting the ball to 14. And then I got to hear everybody say, well, he's getting all the numbers because there's nobody else. Well, yeah. So maybe that's the only thing that's working. So if you're them, if you're Josh, you're like, I'm gonna throw it to 14 because we need points because we got to win the game. So you're trying to work on these things, but there is. There is no confidence level, it appears to me, in these last couple games.
- [10:41]
B
Question for you both. We talk so much about Ken Dorsey, but where is your level of blame is too strong of a word. But how much does Josh have to do with this as well? The offensive struggles?
- [10:57]
A
Very little.
- [10:58]
C
I. I was gonna say, usually, you know, the jets game, and we've seen the way the jets have played. Like, Dan was making the point about those three games. I think the jets have a outstanding defense. I think the Jags is pretty good, and I think the Giants are bad. So all three levels, they've done it poorly.
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B
I.
- [11:16]
C
Honestly, outside of that jets game, when he made some bad decisions, I. I think Josh has been really good and great at times. It's not like you're like, what's Josh doing? What's he doing? He had the one game where he did that. The rest of the time, I'm sorry, I don't. It'd be easy to pin it on the quarterback and then everybody. Or like, in this case, but Dan, I don't. I don't see it. I don't see Josh being a problem at all.
- [11:45]
A
No, that Giants game, they lose, if it's not for Josh Allen, because that play to Quentin Morris, it's. It's not a touchdown. Like, that was a bad play call. There's nothing there, and Josh makes something out of nothing. So, like, Ken Dorsey doesn't get a tip of the cap for that touchdown drive. In my. In my opinion, like, that's just Josh Allen being, like I said, putting out a cape in the phone booth and coming out as Superman like that. That saved the game. And again, the Giants defense stinks. I can't stress it enough. I was on. We did the Buffalo plus live. I said they shouldn't punt. Like, they gave up 31 points to Miami and forced three turnovers in that game. Like, that is how Bad they are. And Mike, to your point, finishing the analogy, take you talk about golf and I don't care how good your good shots are. I don't. I care about how good are your bad shots. And right now, the Bill's bad shots are pretty bad. Every golfer's good shots are good. I want to know how bad are your bad shots? Do you duff it or are you. Or is your bad shot? Like when I'm playing golf with Brandon Bean and he's throwing his club because his is. His shot is 12ft to the right, pin high. Like, that's when Bean's upset at his shot. Right now the Bills. And that's why I get why McDermott is upset about consistency. What team is going to show up against the Patriots? Like, do you guys have any confidence that like, hey, everything's going to be fine. It's like, well, things haven't been fine. And again, you talk about Jenna, where your level of concern blame is. I go back to the playoff game. Like, again, this isn't. This isn't a new system. This isn't a new play caller. This isn't a new coordinator. And I remember saying in that Bengals game, Dorsey should be is coaching for his job. And things haven't gone really easy since then. And I'm not the one. I find it very interesting. Here's a hot take for you that I don't have one.
- [13:46]
B
Oh, let's mark the time.
- [13:49]
A
I'm going to take the Jenna route here. And I've talked to you about this, Jenna. The way that everybody is so split on Dorsey, there is the group of people that think Ken is great, better than Dable, the offense is great. Why is everybody. Why is anybody critiquing Dorsey? And then there's the crowd of people. I think Ken Dorsey literally is the worst coach in the NFL and that he should be fired today. And while I can be critical of Dorsey, I actually land somewhere in the middle. Like, I land the fact of he is what you have right now. He's been in the building. He should know things. He can. He has to make changes. Like this thought of just banging your head against the wall hoping something's going to be different is crazy to me. But like there has to be a middle ground in the in where Kendor see it. He deserves some of the blame and some of it, yeah, they things got to get better. But I'm not basing this just off the six games and I'm not basing them just off the three bad games. I'm basing them off the grand scale of what we have seen over the last year in six games. And that's where my level of concern is.
- [14:57]
B
Yeah, that's very fair. I think I like your analogy of like, we know what the ceiling is and how high it can be, but the floor seems like some weeks it may. We're finding a new low.
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C
Yeah. How about the elite level name drop that Dan threw in there? When I'm playing golf with Brandon, be love it. Michael Wilbon level name dropping right there.
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B
Sprinkling it in. I'm golfing with my good pal Brandon Bean.
- [15:31]
A
Won the Bills media golf tournament. Again, no big deal. But yeah, like, Bean is like, ah, come on. And I'm sitting there, it's like, if I would have hit that shot, I would have been so happy, I would have twirled my club and, and skipped back to the cart. And beans, Beans kick in the dirt.
- [15:45]
C
Well, you're like, because, hey, let's use it. That's. That's where the expectations are. And Jenny, you said how much blame for Josh. I'll give you the blame. He picked him. He picked Dorsey. Josh was all in, and he's still all in. And I agree with the idea of. He's his coach. He says, I'll say friend. Right? I think he is. I mean, we talk about the way he is with Dable. This is Josh, like, when he's all in, he's all in. But he needs to have. He needs to have that. All right, I just got to tell you something. Moment with his friend where the truth comes out. I've been on the receiving end of those where it's like, okay, here we go. Let's, let's, let's hash this out. And maybe they've had. I don't know, but Josh is a very coachable guy for an elite level player. He is. I think he is. He will listen and it might take a little while for some stuff, but I don't believe he sits there and goes, you know, it's all on you. But he picked. When I say he picked him. But come on, Janet, if he didn't want Dorsey, Dorsey would not be.
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B
Yeah, yeah, he, he threw his support behind Dorsey, and that is what led the Bills to have confidence in their decision. And we saw Dan, I mean, we were in Mortar park yesterday. We saw how much he was standing up for Dorsey. Talking about the fact that there's a lot of offensive coordinators. Josh was on the couch.
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A
Love it.
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B
A lot of quarterbacks in the stands. He walked back the Comment, because I think he. He kind of swallowed what he said, because I don't think Josh wanted to make waves in that way. But I mean, Mike, we. We heard him say, like, yeah, well, yeah.
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C
How did he walk it back? What did he say?
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B
Well, he just said, I'm trying to think. I only use the first part of his bite where he's like, yeah, there's a. There's a lot. But even the tone in which he says it is very. I don't want to say monotoned, but it's very even so, it doesn't even have the inflection of sounding like it's in. It's like a baiting comment. It's. To me, it's like, well, there's a lot of. There's a lot of offensive coordinators.
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C
All pro offensive coordinators.
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B
All pro offensive coordinators. At first I thought he was going to look for Dan Fates. And then he said, it's a joke, Dan. And then he said, there's a lot of quarterbacks in the stands. I need to listen to the full bite.
- [18:13]
A
And then he says, I have been. I have been on here saying that one of the hardest things to do in all professional sports is call plays. Like. Like, again, we all sit there and it's like, I played Madden and I won the super bowl when I was in college with this team that I built. It's like, you did cool, dude.
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C
Like, hey, I got one for you. I'm gonna go another analogy for you. And this one Jenna will appreciate. I'm no chef. Never be a chef. Can't cook anything right. You go to a restaurant, you can taste it, feel it, sense it, whatever it is, you don't like it, but then you got somebody the saying, listen, you guys don't know what it takes. We have an elite chef, okay? We're looking at the result. So is every other offensive coordinator out there. And maybe you would say, hey, how about lightening up on the seasoning? Or, this was bland, or whatever. You're looking at the result. It's not anybody else's job to figure out the minutia. That's their job. The result is zero points in the fourth quarter against the Giants. Okay? So I'm sorry, you keep telling points.
- [19:23]
A
Heading into the fourth quarter against the Jags.
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C
Yeah, you keep telling me it's okay. But in the NFL, it is a results driven operation. And I may not know why. You may not know why. All these offensive coordinators that are in the stands may not know why, except they keep score in The NFL and the offense. I'm telling you, you can be the biggest diehard in the world. You're worried about this team's offense right now.
- [19:52]
B
The team feels tired and like it's not fun from my observations. And I know that might sound like, well, Jenna, it's their job, all that stuff. Do you.
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A
I don't get that.
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B
This is my. You don't think that it's. I feel like this part of the schedule has been a slog for them after coming back from London. The Giants game, I think for right now, like, this team has a lot of juice, but I feel like right now they're kind of depleted on that. And maybe this is the game where that switch is then flipped because things start going well, all that stuff. But my interpretation is it feels like the energy level is a bit low. And I think that's the after effects of playing some tough, grinded out games. The schedule, where they're at and just in terms of, you know, there's still a lot of games left before the buy.
- [20:45]
A
Winning and succeeding is fun. And that provides energy.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And so when this team goes 3 and out 3 and out 3 and out 4 and out punt, there's no energy. Like it's. It's the baseball team that goes 1, 2, 3, the first three innings and it's like, well, how come they're not into the game? And it's like, because they haven't hit the ball out of the infield and it's not a lot of fun. But like, you look at the Dolphins game, they couldn't have any more fun, like six. And that's. And that's part of. Sean talked about getting the first first down, converting the first third down. The importance of that. That's what they have preached all week. That's something that'll be very interesting to see to me on Sunday because every player, when I talk to Dawson, Knox, Trent Sherfield, Mitch Morris, all of those things, they're like, hey, Sean's been preaching this week, like, you got to convert that first third down. Like, it's massive. And on the other side, he talks about it also defensively getting off the field on that first third down, like what that does for your team. And I always, I another baseball analogy. Like, I feel like it was different when like the Yankees were really humming. And it's like Jeter gets a hit in the first inning and like everybody settles down. And Jeter would come back to the dugout and be like, guys got nothing. And it's like, okay, like, the rest of the lineup can take a breath to be like, we're good. We're gonna, you know, we can do this. So, my, my. You're also putting in a lot of pressure on that opening drive. And that's, that's a scripted drive that you're. You're hoping that, that Ken calls his best plays. So it's a lot that's going to go into this.
- [22:24]
C
Hey, Jenna, how about a couple of things? One, I. He keep hearing from people. Maybe you guys do too. And it's anecdotal. It's just people looking. They. They tell me you talk about having fun. They go, josh doesn't look like he's into it now. Have you heard people say that to you? I get it all the time. And I'm like, well, he's focused. Like, they talk about shots of him on the sidelines, shots of him on the bench. It seems different. And I would say, I always say to them, listen, the guy's got a million things going through his head. I don't mean celebrating a touchdown. He looks like Josh. I'm talking about the rest of the game, especially when it's tight, like. And they are looking for that. And to Dan's point, about getting that going. You know, maybe they need to switch up some stuff a little bit. How about Sunday? You win the toss, take the ball, let's get going, get the offense on the field. I understand that whole idea, the double dipping and all that kind of stuff.
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A
Now change it up.
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C
Let's change something up. Say to yourself, no, look, you may. You would almost say to yourself, we guarantee we're getting the ball because they're going to defer, because every coach seems to defer. But you kind of say, let's do it. Something. And one thing we haven't really talked about, I mentioned the O line, who's stepping up for them. Diggs has been awesome. I tweeted out his numbers. He's on. And I'm not a big on pace guy, but we're a third of the way through the season and he's at the top of his game, right?
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B
Yeah.
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C
Gabe had a few moments. Nothing since then. You know, he made a couple nice catches in the Jags game, especially late. I will give them that. But even that, beyond that, nothing, you know, so it also is incumbent on these other guys who they've given it to. Not that it's not on Dorsey, but would be nice if somebody, you know, stepped up or they bring somebody in because they, you know, they're Hurting on offense. And Dan, maybe you need to go a little more all in on, on offense because your defense is banged up.
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A
But the defense isn't the problem.
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C
No, no, no.
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B
That's what he's saying.
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C
That's what I'm saying is like the.
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B
Offense, like you go all in on.
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C
The offense now because your defense, I think will maybe not be as dominant as it has been in times, but you might need to score 45 points. Yeah.
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A
Wouldn't that be nice? I guess that like the one piece that really stood out to me and it's a guy that I've liked for a long time. I don't know what's happened. I don't follow the Raiders a ton, but Hunter Renfro seems like a guy that would be a perfect fit in, in that position. But you had all off season with Trent Sherfield, which Ken Dorsey pretty much gave glowing reviews and he's had two catches and Deontay Hardy plays 10 snaps a game. Like at what? I, I get it, bringing somebody in offensively, running back, even like something. But do you have any faith that. Remember when they brought in Naim Hines and he couldn't pick up the playbook, but Hines was really smart. Like, I have no faith that they could bring in somebody at the trade deadline that'll make an impact offensively.
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C
None. Well, and Sherfield had an impact for the Dolphins playing behind Hill and Waddle.
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B
Yeah, yeah, right.
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C
And he's again, I'm not trying to.
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A
Sound, I'm not trying to sound, and I'm not trying to sound like negative Nancy here, like, but the fact of the matter is, is like I would love Hunter Renfro to come here. I think he fits perfectly. He had a thousand yard season two years ago, great possession receiver, all of those things. But I just have zero faith thinking that during the season they'll get him up to speed. When they had guys with off season Minicamps, OTAs and training camps and we still don't know. We're now week seven and Shawn McDermott is open. He defended Hines. Remember we kept asking last year, we kept asking, hey, when is Heinz gonna get involved? And he's like, well, you know, we're still learning some things now this year. He's like, we need to figure this out. Like, we brought these guys in, not during the trade deadline. We brought them in. They had an all off. They had an entire offseason with us. Figure it out.
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B
Yeah. And even Trent Sherfield, we talked so much in the off season because Stefan Diggs was not there. That Trenfield. Trenfield. Sherfield's getting a bunch of these quality reps during mini camps, things like that, because Diggs was absent. So I get it, Dan. It's like, at what point is that stuff going to translate on the field? And if not, what. What are you doing? What are you doing? Remedy that situation.
- [27:02]
A
But, hey, guys, they're four and two and, you know, the offense is number two in offensive success rate or some stat that I don't understand how it gets calculated, but they're really good in it. So, like, why are we even critiquing anything about this offense?
- [27:16]
C
How about the 11 and a half personnel now? And not just there, but where's injuries a little bit. No, but tight ends have gone down in their effectiveness. Not up.
- [27:31]
A
Yep.
- [27:32]
C
I mean, Quinton Morris made a play that's great.
- [27:35]
B
On one ankle.
- [27:36]
C
Yeah. On one ankle. And he makes the play. But tight end has not been. It's been very mediocre so far. So it's kind of like you're sitting there going, where's it coming from? So, look, the constant has been Dorsey in this case, and it's probably not all on him, but he's got to get this going. He's. He's got to figure it out. That's. That's when coaching Jenna, when we'll hear them say, we got to put these guys in a better position. Some of that is bs, but some of that is true. And scheme them up a little bit, make it a little easier. The perfect example is that of that was the. The Hardy touchdown. It looks so easy, and it's like.
- [28:23]
B
You look and you're fun.
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C
That's what we're talking about.
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B
Yeah.
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C
And. And give them credit. That was great, Dan. There just hasn't been anywhere near enough of that where you look like you schemed them into something.
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A
I slept pretty well. And, like, we're doing this podcast and I was like, I. Like, I didn't expect to be, like, angry Dan. Like, I feel started that. Yeah, I. I think so. But, like, this is. We're sitting here and we're. Yeah, well, we're sitting here, we're talking. It's like, hasn't the offensive line performed above our expectations?
- [28:56]
B
Yes.
- [28:57]
A
Like, it hasn't the offensive line shout out Spencer Brown. I mean, there were people in that Steelers preseason game that said he shouldn't get back on the bus. Like, the fact of how bad it was. He has been phenomenal. Dion has been playing at a really high level.
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B
Yeah.
- [29:14]
A
The offensive line has been great. So the fact that this offense has struggled to get things involved, it's like you're sitting here and I get it. I would like to make excuses for, for why the offense has looked not like themselves for half of the season. Not one game, not one bad week, half the season. And it's like, the offensive line is great. They're healthy, they've got, you know, their first round draft pick for the most part, minus one game where he missed. And you're like, I'm trying to see, like, if I'm Sean McDermott, I'm like, I got guys off. I, I got rookies playing all over the place. I'm, I'm, I'm losing all pros left and right, and I'm still calling a hell of a game and confusing def. Confusing offenses. Ken, what, what's going on? Like, again, you talk about putting players in position because I'm sitting here and it's like, well, we can't say that the offensive line hasn't been good. We can't say that Sivan Diggs hasn't been good. We can't say like, that Gabe Davis has been injured. All those things. Everything has gone pretty swimmingly for the offense while Sean McDermott is putting this defense together with rubber bands and bubblegum, and it's still playing at an extremely high level. And I think that's part of why Sean said at the, at the press conference, like, you need to figure it out. Like, I figured it out. I'm figuring it out. I got Dorian Williams flying around the.
- [30:39]
C
Field in the past. Sean called out D. Absolutely. And he responded.
- [30:46]
A
He's called out Josh, he's called out other guys to, yeah, that they need to step up. Like, he's called out. I called out Isaiah McKenzie, like, he's called out. Guys. It's just few and far between, especially when it's what seeming is the offensive coordinator who's been there for now six years, and he's been in charge for a year and a third.
- [31:12]
B
A lot to. A lot to rest on that.
- [31:14]
C
And, and look there. There is evidence of the opposite, like we said. I mean, there's three great games where it looked like it figured out. So there, that is a positive here because they've shown it. They've shown the ability to do it. It's just. No, no, no, wait a minute. We've seen it. A few weeks ago, they scored 48 against the Dolphins. Go ahead, go ahead.
- [31:42]
A
Yep. Life's easy when everything's perfect. Like, that's and like I get that Josh did that was part of what Josh said at his press conference was we're learning how when things get tough to make things happen. Because as the season goes on, things get tougher. That's fair. Yeah, but what if they didn't pull out that touchdown against the Giants and all of a sudden it's like you're not finding ways to get things done. So like this thought of like when everything's perfect and every play you're hitting is the right play. Things are very easy in the NFL. We said that Dorsey for those three games were like, he is at an unreal level. It's the in game adjustments. It's when you go three and out three and out three. Now are you able to switch even though you say all week we're going to game plan this way and then all of a sudden the defense is matched up and prepared for that. Okay, change plans now we're going to go to plan B. Right guys, this is what we're going to do. I'm not seeing those changes. I'm not seeing the in game adjustments coming out of halftime dialed in. That's where I'm worried.
- [32:47]
C
Okay, but, but you have to be fair and say in recent weeks we have seen them at an elite level offensively. So it has been there. And I agree with you. The, the thing is this is the NFL. When you get to the playoffs, there's your shot, right? It's a game, you got to win that game. So you don't have the ability to say, well we'll get them game two, game three. That's not the way it works. But I would say this, it's just been so hit or miss with them. I would say if they did not have those three games, you'd be like, is this even possible? Well, it is. And look, they started out poorly in that Raiders game, couple of drives and then boom, they just turned it on and blew them out. And the Dolphins game was you just want to package it. So it, it's in there somewhere. The ability. But the idea is can you find it? And it wasn't opponent based. That's the frustrating part. At least I don't think so. It wasn't like, you know, we can say all we want. How Dable knows their offense. Well, that's great. I mean I love him, but his offense hasn't scored in 220 minutes. He doesn't have the guys and they still almost beat him. So it, that's why I'm saying is it was it's not like they only had one moment, Jenna. They had three full games where their offense played at a great level.
- [34:12]
B
Yeah.
- [34:12]
C
So the job is. Yeah.
- [34:14]
B
What is it that exists?
- [34:15]
C
Yes. The floor has got to be a lot higher than it's been. Great. When the ceiling's high, get that floor up.
- [34:21]
B
That's exactly what I was saying. Just you want to see where the floor is consistently. And it feels like in some weeks you're finding new lows.
- [34:28]
C
Yeah.
- [34:28]
B
That is not the way to. And like last week, obviously they did pick up the wind, Dan. But you're right, it took Josh Allen putting on the superhero cape and coming out making some big time plays and big moments. And that is what great players do. But at the same point, it shouldn't be as hard as it has looked over these last couple of games. Games. All right, well, coming up ahead, though, Patriots. And we have talked for years about the Patriots, New England, Bill Belichick, obviously, when Tom Brady was there, what this team did in the division, in the league, and how Bill's fans would have this matchup circled on their calendars because it was like, all right, maybe this year they can contend. And obviously the last couple of seasons mean the Bills, especially in that playoff game, a perfect game against the Patriots, like the Bills have dominated New England. Mike, for this team now, going into this weekend, like, two things. One, isn't it wild to see how the division has flipped so much in these last couple of years? And then also, too, is this a perfect moment for kind of a get right game for the Bills because of where this Patriots team is at?
- [35:43]
C
Well, a couple of things on that one, we thought last week was going to be a get right. We were.
- [35:47]
B
I did not. I did not.
- [35:51]
C
Okay, Jenna, taking credit, you're right, it wasn't. But it certainly was available to them coming off that game. And the Giants being bad and it didn't happen, was Only what, the 21 season when the Patriots beat the Bills in that game. And New England reporters were not all of them, but a few. Like the Crown wasn't on the Bills for very long and they're done. And you know, Mac Jones and all this kind of stuff. Look, it may be the Dolphins, the Jets look like they got a lot, but I can tell you one thing it is, is that it's not the Patriots. That is a bad football roster right now. And whatever Mac Jones could have been, he's not. He has no confidence even with another OC and he's got no weapons and they're a Mess doesn't mean they can't play the Bills. Tough. Doesn't mean they couldn't win the game. Right. Because this is the NFL. But that is. That is without question the fourth team in the AFC East. And the Bills got a lot to work on on their own, but they're in a different stratosphere because of 17 and a lot of guys on this roster compared to what they're going to see in Foxborough. And this may be. This may be the last time the Bills go to Foxborough with Bill Belichick as the head coach of the Patriots.
- [37:19]
B
What a statement.
- [37:22]
A
Patriots stink. Like, they're just. They're just really bad. Wonder what Sun Tzu is thinking about the Patriots team right now because they're not very good. And I thought actually having an offensive coordinator would help, but when you don't have any offensive players, that's kind of. Is that a problem?
- [37:47]
B
Is that.
- [37:47]
A
Yeah. And they've. They've made every wrong move roster wise. Jacoby Myers has been pretty solid with the Raiders. Devonte Parker has been awful for New England, and they picked him over Jacoby Myers. They're just not good. Again, I wish I could say it, like, I wish I would learn my lesson, but, like, this should be another blowout game. Like, this should be another get right game. And we learned last week that that is so insulting to say to another NFL team that it's a get right game. Like it's a. Like it's a JV scrimmage. But like, these two teams are on. They're in completely different weight classes. I mean, this is. And again, for how great of a coach you are, you. You need to have players, too. And this is kind of this thing. Same thing of. You know, I still really like Brian Dable. I think he coached a hell of a game. I think he made a couple of mistakes, but, like, you just don't got dudes. You don't got. You need dudes. And the. The Patriots do not have dudes. And it is very weird, despite what Von Miller will say about. They're the same Patriots as when they had Brady.
- [39:05]
B
Just like Brady and Gronk, Mac Jones and Kaseki.
- [39:12]
A
Yeah. So Vaughn's been in the league about 13 years. I don't know if you guys knew that. And he likes to just. He just says. He just says things. But yeah, his Patriots seems really bad. And like, we went in. Jenna, we were up there yesterday.
- [39:28]
C
Yeah.
- [39:29]
A
Sean McDermott, I think, was probably asked about a dozen questions. There was one about New England.
- [39:34]
B
Yeah.
- [39:35]
A
One.
- [39:36]
C
Yeah, that.
- [39:37]
A
That is where this team is. We. The fact that we used to go, like, how are you gonna stop Brady? And how do you deal with Belichick? And he's, you know, playing 3D chess while everybody's playing checkers. And now it's like, yeah, we're just. We're just talking about the Bill's offense. It's all we did.
- [39:53]
C
Yeah.
- [39:54]
A
Because, yeah, that is how little that is, how uninteresting the Patriots are, how boring they are, how bad they are that it's like, we don't even how bad Mac Jones is. Like, there's just nothing to do. Like, he used to be like, hey, like, Mac Jones, up and coming guy. Like, hey, like, how do you handle this? All these things. Nothing.
- [40:15]
C
Jenna, they're a Sunday one o' clock team. That's what I said.
- [40:18]
B
Well, that's why, I mean, this is a Sunday 1 o' clock game. And when they play again, isn't it a Sunday one o' clock game?
- [40:26]
C
Yeah.
- [40:26]
B
And that's essentially the last Sunday one o' clock game on the schedule. It just goes to show you even how the NFL feels. Bills are prime time. Patriots are Sunday at 1.
- [40:39]
C
Yeah. And look, you know, they've had moments and you know, you know, they, they can play like any other team in this league. Like, you know, if you get the right scheme.
- [40:50]
B
That get paid, too.
- [40:51]
C
They get paid. They get paid, too. We hear about all that. But, you know, it's the narrow. It's flipped for Josh, too. And it'll be interesting post game. Remember we used to think about McDermott's handshakes with.
- [41:08]
B
Yeah.
- [41:09]
C
With Belichick. They are a loving embrace compared to what we saw Sunday in Orchard Park.
- [41:16]
B
Yeah, it's very quick handshake day ball.
- [41:19]
C
And. And McDermott was a passing. Yeah. So we'll. We'll see what happens. But the reason I say that about Belichick is I think it's probably going to get to the point where he doesn't want to stay. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it'll be a. I've agreed to part ways. We thank him for all this and he's going to go coach somewhere else because he's going to get the all time record for wins. And I'm telling you, I don't think it's happening in Foxborough.
- [41:47]
B
Wow. That's just a wild. Like, I totally hear what you're saying. I just can't picture Bill Belichick. Not in New England.
- [41:56]
C
Yeah.
- [41:56]
B
I mean, I know obviously he wasn't there his entire career. But what he is meant to do. Yeah, it does.
- [42:02]
C
Yeah.
- [42:03]
B
Him wearing a different color, like, I don't know, it's just weird to think about he's got to cut his. Like, can you picture him on, like, the Charger sideline? Like. No, it just looks weird.
- [42:14]
C
Yeah, that's actually. It's funny you say that. It's funny you say that because the Chargers would be one of the places I could see him.
- [42:24]
B
Yeah.
- [42:26]
C
But there's not a lot I went through.
- [42:27]
B
So la. Are you kidding me?
- [42:29]
C
He is. But I went through the whole league and I'm like, I'm gonna have a tough time finding a place for him with ownership and everything. That's their issue. That's their issue going forward.
- [42:39]
A
It's an ownership thing, too. Yeah. Bill Belichick come in and then also have, you know, a gm, like, he runs. He runs your whole organization. He. He's earned that.
- [42:49]
B
Him and his dog.
- [42:51]
C
He can pick bad wide receivers non stop. So.
- [42:55]
A
Yep. Like, he ain't coming to work for somebody. He's like, I. I'm coming to run your franchise, like, whatever you want. That's it.
- [43:03]
C
Yeah. Okay.
- [43:05]
B
Anything else? I feel like this was a. What is. What is that called on Seinfeld therapy section. Festivus Grievances.
- [43:13]
C
Yeah. And I, I. Dan, I'm sorry. You were probably in a good mood. I started out. This is the. This is the other MacBook man, Apple. It's not their fault.
- [43:27]
B
No, make it be their fault.
- [43:28]
A
So they pay user air.
- [43:30]
C
Yeah. Yeah.
- [43:34]
B
It's okay.
- [43:35]
C
Yeah.
- [43:35]
B
All right, guys, thanks for joining us. Please be sure to, like, comment and subscribe to the channel. Share with Friends. If you enjoy our work, check out the buffalo plus store. Buffaloplusstore.com. yeah, you can get your mugs, sweatshirts, 26k. 26k. Yeah, we love that. Also, you get free shipping at the store for any orders over 25.
- [43:59]
C
And Dan, later in the week, Dan's gonna have a interview with our buddy.
- [44:06]
A
Wait. Oh, we've been teasing it.
- [44:10]
B
It was a tease.
- [44:13]
C
Well, it's happening.
- [44:16]
A
Well, yeah, but we were pumping it up. He's. He's the OG Buffalo plus guest.
- [44:21]
C
Yeah, he is. Doesn't matter what he's on the mountain.
- [44:24]
B
It might.
- [44:25]
A
Actually, Buffalo plus is just. Is just four Mike Giardi heads. That. That's it. That's what it is.
- [44:33]
C
Wow, that's. You really? You're pumping them up there.
- [44:37]
B
I mean, who else would it be?
- [44:40]
C
No, but, I mean, you didn't give him one. You gave them all four. You didn't give them the first four. All four.
- [44:45]
A
All four.
- [44:45]
C
Wow. G R D E G R D really struggle.
- [44:53]
A
MIKE GIRARDI. Oh, no.
- [44:56]
C
Well, it's, don't put that out there.
- [44:59]
B
GRD okay.
- [45:00]
C
All right.
- [45:00]
A
All right.
- [45:01]
B
Thank you for joining us. For Mike and Dan, I'm Jenna. We'll catch you next time here on the Buffalo plus channel, presented by Connors and Ferris.
- [45:08]
D
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