Dan Orlovsky: “I Think This Offense Can Score 30 On Just About Anybody”

Dan Orlovsky: “I Think This Offense Can Score 30 On Just About Anybody”

We welcome in now our weekly guest on Tuesdays. It’s ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovski whose appearances on One Bills Live are presented by Caesar Sportsbook, an official mobile sports betting partner of the Buffalo Bills. And uh man, it was a wild one here on Sunday. A shootout that I think many of us thought certainly had the potential to happen. And sure enough, it did. Uh and in the end, the the Bills defense gets the requisite stops needed to kind of turn that game around for Buffalo as they were chasing the game right from the jump. But uh something that we’ve been discussing, Dan, uh and you’ve been discussing probably for the better part of the last two years is the use of underenter play action for the Bills offense. And they got to it very early. First play of the game, 32 yds to Dawson Knox. And off they went after that. Yeah, I loved it. Um, it was the most they used it this season. It was the most yardage they had out of it. It was the most touchdowns they had out of it. It was the most completions they had out of it. And so, um, Chris, I think it’s something that, um, when you take a look back in your obviously heart of December playoff run and you go, really, who are we or who who can we be if we need to be our best? And I think that this past Sunday was the the Polaroid of that. They the perimeter players, the wide receivers are who they are. Can you win with them? I think the body of work says yes. Is there a very specific way that you have to win with them? Yes. You’re not going to line up like Cincinnati and call pass plays, one-on-one routes, and consistently, you know, win on the perimeter. Um, but I think that putting the quarterback under center because they do in their run game that they don’t really have the gun run game as much as they did last year. This year’s a more under center run game. and utilizing not only play action, but I also had the the complaint that the playaction passes were kind of one of two things. And we saw more different versions of play action this past weekend, which I like. The first play you’re talking about is the power pass. We saw the play action with 22 personnel when it’s that threeman concept and not necessarily over the ball. We saw the gun play action where they become a flood to one side and bring four people to a side of the ball. So, not only that, but the variety of the play action passes and the different schemes that they utilized and protections I was a fan of. And I think it incorporates everybody on their offense. It protects it allows the tight ends and the backs to be the focal point of the pass game while also not ignoring the wide receivers. And um you know if I had to pick kind of what is the game plan have to be on this final month and for Buffalo fans hopefully into the playoffs it’s something that looks very similar to Sunday. How does the confidence of the defense because you say play action pass because the defense you want to make the defense think it’s a run and if you can do that doesn’t and I hate to go into this this kind of esoteric kind of you know thought process but if the defense is really confident they can stop your run doesn’t it make it easier for them to stop your playaction pass because they don’t feel like they got to dive dive into the line of scrimmage and and how does the defense’s ability to stop your run affect the play action because you know this Patriot defense is no slouch. It’s going to be a little different game on on Sunday than it was this last Sunday. Yeah, it’s a great question that’s got layers to it. Houston is the perfect example defensively. I have said this when I watch Houston’s defense, I’m always going everybody in their defense ball gets at is downhill. Backers fill, safeties fill. And so my natural reaction is go, “Okay, well, you kill him in play action.” And then you watch him defend the play action, you’re like, “How how how are you so good at both of those things?” Um, I’ve always believed in this, Steve. Number one, most defensive players grow up always from the first time they start playing football to the present moment hearing got to stop the run, got to stop the run, got to stop the run. They that’s just how they grow up being taught. And so I always believe that defensive players are going to be intrinsically motivated or wired or taught go get the football no matter what it looks like. And so you don’t necessarily have to dominate in the run game to have a effective play action game has always been my thought. Now I have to have the play action look like my runs though. That that that’s the big thing. No matter if a defense is good at defending run or not, your run has to look or your play action has to look like your run. So, do the formations look the same? Does the action of the quarterback and the tailback look the same? Does the feel of the offensive line? And that’s the area that I would tell you is probably the the biggest difference between a good play action team offensively and one that’s not good. What does the offensive line feel like at the snap? Defenses are smart. If you’re not showing some form of that first step or two run where your your pads are a little bit lower, you’re popping off the ball, your helmet’s down, this looks like run, those guys are going to get coached up well to say, “Okay, no matter what’s going on, if that offensive lineer, if that tackle immediately stands up and his helmet goes up, you don’t have to worry about that being a run. That’s going to be a play action.” And so, I think that’s a really big part of it. Um, obviously the better you run it, the more the defense is going to be committed to trying stopping it, either by action or numbers. Uh, and New England’s a really good defense. I think that New England’s defense, um, you know, as has as big bodies in the middle, uh, linebackers that are very active. Uh, they set the edge at an incredibly high level. Uh, but you you if you’re taught well offensively, you can be a good play action team without being the best run team in football. uh a second layer of that playaction passing game. It was hard to ignore the production of the tight ends when the game was over. 11 catches for the three of them combined. 137 yards and two touchdowns against a defense that has been rather porous in defending tight ends, the worst in the league, as a matter of fact, in Cincinnati. Would you consider the explosion in production at the tight end position by the Bills a one-off based largely on opponent? Or do you think they may have been reminded, oh, you know what, it doesn’t just have to be concaid all the time. We might be able to fan out our tight end usage going forward in the passing game. Yeah, I mean, it starts with Dalton. Dton’s health is a big deal because of all the different things you can do in your offense with him. Formation, motion, action, and then the attention that he he gathers. Dawson Knox has been a good player for years in Buffalo. I is he as a high level of player as Dalton one-on-one matchup? Probably not. That doesn’t mean that he’s not a really good player. And so, yeah, I think Chris, you we for a couple weeks now, it’s been this trend of there’s this giant question mark at wide receiver and are they good enough and Homeman’s bench and Shakir and Shavers and you know, Gabe Davis has come in and brought some nice moments and I think over the past month that that’s why you sit there and go you start to really maybe it’s a little bit late than than desire, but you’re really figuring out who you are in your past game. And yeah, their pass game should be at least the focal point should be those backs and tight ends as pass catchers. And so does that mean that I don’t I’m not impressed with some of the stuff the receivers have done? Not at all. I just mentioned I think Gabe has done some nice stuff. Gabe obviously in the broken plays has got a good understanding of what Josh wants to do. Same with Shakir. Shoot. It’s Shavers has done some nice stuff. He’s good in the run game. He won one-on-one on the perimeter and a contested catch. And so I think you have to be encouraged by some of those guys. But yeah, I I believe that um you you guys know where I stand when it comes to this offense. If this offense has Dalton Concade healthy and obviously the line, I think this offense can score 30 about on about anybody. Um specifically if they’re home and so yes, the Bengals are not a good defensive team, but they did exactly what they should do to a bad defensive team. So, I guess we shouldn’t get too deep into this before we ask you about your thoughts on the way Josh played this last weekend. Um, I mean, it’s just another one. Uh, you can throw this on a stack of a lot of games that look like this and some say some think it’s too many and I get that he’s doing too much. U, but once again and and you know, he is the engine and he revved on the get higher, he gets better every time. Yeah. So, he revved his engine against a bad football team and it showed. I mean, the guy was unbelievable. If you had asked me eight weeks ago, six weeks ago, Josh in the MVP conversation, I would have said, “No, he’s just not playing good enough.” If you would have asked me maybe four or three weeks ago, is Josh in the MVP conversation? I would have said, “Nah, just not good enough this year. Not consistent enough this year.” And then in the last two or three weeks, he’s played himself very much so into the MVP conversation. I was surprised because Josh has had a a down year. And I’m not saying that negatively, Steve. I just want to be honest, especially if we’ve seen some of the seasons he’s had. He’s second in the NFL in touchdowns. Matthew Stafford, who I would probably put at at 1B in the MVP race, is first in the NFL with 35 touchdowns. Josh Allen is second in the NFL with 34 touchdowns. In a year where he’s not dominating, maybe in the way that we grew accustomed to a month left, is it far-fetched for Josh to have another 45 touchdown season? No. And I would argue that it’s more than likely. And so I think that um to your guys point, he’s starting to play his best football uh coming off of a game in against Houston where there’s a lot of variables where you don’t play well and hopefully people can watch the Chiefs and one of the great quarterbacks of all time struggle and go, okay, maybe maybe Buffalo isn’t as bad as uh it looked for stretches. I just thought um obviously the play action pass game, but Steve, you just go down the notes and I call them above the X’s and O’s plus plays. I got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 plays where you go. That’s not coaching. That’s not a great design or scheme. That’s the quarterback doing something above the play call that becomes a very high-end play, a highly productive and/or explosive play. So, um, it’s good to see that out of him. And and, uh, is he doing too much? Sure. But the sun is going to rise tomorrow as well, so that’s a duh. you know, it’s it’s Josh Allen, it’s the Buffalo Bills. Yeah. Um, flipping it over to the defense, obviously the Bills have had a manpower issue on that side of the ball virtually the entire season due largely to injuries, you know, and all you got to do is look at last week and Joe Burrow until they decided to start heating him up with blitzes had all day to pick and choose where he wanted to go with the football. Um, but you have no Ed Oliver, Michael Hoy done for the season, and you don’t have Joey Bosa because of a hamstring injury. That’s your three best pass rushers not a part of the equation. So, they had to turn to sending more guys. And boy, has it been fruitful when they blitz Christian Benford off the corner the last two weeks. Uh, uncanny. Not just takeaways, but defensive touchdowns. Um, what is what do you think is realistic for this defense down the stretch here? Because I I’m of the belief that all you need to ask this defense to do conceivably when Josh is playing a quarterback of comparable ability, and this would be an example of that this week, just get him three or four stops. You don’t even need takeaways necessarily. get four stops in this game and you should conceivably as long as you’re not turning the ball over have a chance to win the game. Yeah, I I would agree. It’s three or four stops, three or four different times you get the g ball back for for Josh and this offense specifically at home. I know I’m probably in the minority here. I actually thought there was some good stuff from the defense. I really did. I thought the defense played better statistically or better than the stats would show. I thought Walker was really good at times both in the run and the pass game. Um I thought coverage like five or six times if I was Bobby Babage, I would sit there and Shawn McDerm go, I can’t necessarily ask you to cover it better. You just got beat by a great throw. And you got to give credit to Burrow and the receivers at time. I I really believe that a lot of times I’m sitting there going, gosh, it’s a 25 yard game, but the guy’s in his back pocket, his arm is in between the receivers’s hands, and the ball just gets completed. Um, do I think that there there were moments when they were too reactive to stuff, and that’s been the case for this year when it comes to some of their eye discipline? Yes. You mentioned the lack of pass rush. Yes. But I was more encouraged after watching the tape than going, “Oh my gosh, they gave up 34 points and got absolutely shredded.” Um, I think that there is a little bit of reality where you’re not going to face a pass game that is as clinical as the one that they saw on Sunday. And if they keep covering that way, strategic pressures, guy steps here and steps up here and there, I think they’ll be okay. Joey’s got to get healthy and they’re going to have to like if I was a def or an on offense going in, you’re going to get 30 snaps of misdirection, whether it’s a run or a pass. And they I really would like to see their defense solidify and clean that up. They did they did make both these offenses the last two weeks on one-dimensional. I mean, they held both of them to under 75 yards rushing. The run defense has been better. Walker was really good this game in the run game for me. Like, I thought holding the point. I thought getting skinny at times. I thought getting down the line of scrimmage with some runs. I I I I really think that the run game um the the the discipline, the integrity, the not wanting to go make the play and run myself out of gap um has been much improved over the last two weeks. All right, we get let’s as we get down to this last month of the season. Bill, right now the Bills are the six seed. They got leaprogged by the Chargers yesterday on their on their win against Philly. Um, we talk about home and road games. Buffalo is, and we’ve talked about this in your past visits with us. It’s hard for Buffalo, particularly like in that Houston game, in the Atlanta game where you go into a stadium where you need to communicate pre- snap, shift, motion, do all that. Um, it’s really tough for Buffalo to be as efficient on the road as it is now. and you’ve said that here on the show before. Um, how about a team like Houston or Denver? Those teams on the road are a little bit better off, particularly like in a playoff atmosphere where their defense is kind of the engine of what what makes things run, right? And they can communicate and still do what they want to do um on a road environment. So, how much of that uh may or may not affect, you know, this tournament coming up, wide openen AFC, um teams in the play, we don’t even know who they’re going to be, but you know, we we we expect the Bills to be a part of that. They’re going to have to go on the road the way it looks. Yeah. I mean, this game, this coming Sunday is obviously the game. If if they find a way to go to New England and win, they got a chance to to have people come to their place. If they don’t find a way to win this game, obviously you’re still sitting there with a question mark on the playoffs, even though you would still believe find a way to win one more game and get in, but then it’s also going on the road. Um, big picture view, Steve. Patrick doesn’t feel like he’s getting in. Lamar just doesn’t feel like he’s going to get in. They’re still in the conversation, but Lamar doesn’t look like Lamar. Burrow’s not getting in. It’ll be the easiest path Josh Allen when it comes to having to go knock off one of those great great Hall of Fame trending quarterbacks, easiest path he’s ever had. So maybe not the best team that he’s had in trying to do that, but not having to beat those guys, it puts added expectation and pressure on it. I think if this offense is healthy and I look at matchups, can they go on the road and beat an Indie in Indie? Yes. Can they go on the road and beat a Jacksonville? Yes, I would tell you they match up well versus Denver because to throw the ball against Denver, you got to have backs and tight ends and that’s the focus point. So, can they go on the road and beat a Denver? Yes. Can they go on the road and beat a Chargers? Absolutely. The Chargers offensive line is just decimated by injuries. Houston would be the one that would give me a high level of caution. Could they on go on the road and beat Pittsburgh? 100%. So, you know, Houston, yes. All that like that would be and I think Steve, a lot of teams in the ASC don’t want to go to Houston. I don’t think anybody’s like, “Sign me up to play that defense home or away.” And so, um, yeah, I think that th this Sunday’s game is going to go a long long way to determine how confident, but make no mistake about it, if they’re at home, if they find a way to win Sunday and win the division, they should go to Santa Clara. Um, if they got to go on the road, they can. All right. So, Dan, quickly on the Patriots, where do you think they are most improved now from where they were in week five when they last played Buffalo? Yeah. Um, from an offensive perspective, the amount of information they’re giving Drake May at the line of scrimmage, it’s like he’s a five-year veteran. they are calling three or four plays per huddle and you’re going to see these motions and shifts and he’s going to get them in and out of plays that are ideal versus the look that you’re presenting him. So, one, the different ways that they can get in and out of plays. Two, the different personnels that they’re throwing out there, utilization of the two tight ends, utilization of the two backs. Um, Booty’s be stepped up and become a big-time player. Uh the pocket movement of the quarterback has really grown this year. He very rarely hangs in the same place. He’s constantly avoiding pressure. His understanding of how the rush is matched with coverage. He doesn’t take a lot of sacks. Um and so like there’s there’s been this is a good offense. This is an offense that’s humming. Obviously the left tackle who’s been a outstanding player um is out. They’re constantly committing to protecting the quarterback. you’re going to see double edges chipped all the time. And so you live in this world, Chris, you’re just mentioning the pressures. Is that something you really want to get into? Because New England’s like, we’re going to make sure your pressure at least doesn’t get get a starting point from the defensive perspective. They’re healthy on the back end. They set the edge in the run game. Fantastic. And um I’ve been outspoken. New England fans don’t like me. If you’re going to play nickel defense as much as they do, this is a Gilliam game. This is a Jackson Haw game. You You got to stop my run with five defensive backs on the field on a consistent basis. Yeah. All right. Uh very quickly, uh I know you had a little fun with the telecast. Um the Funday telecast with uh you had a character. I mean, you were turned into a cartoon. Yeah. With Monsters, Inc. there. What was what was that whole thing like? And did you have say on what you were going to look like? because that’s a that’s a heck of a caricature. No say in what I was going to look like. Uh that that’s that what was presented to me. Uh Chris, it’s a lot of fun. You know, I have kids who kind of grew up I have 13-year-old sons and a 10-year-old daughter. They grew up in the Monsters Inc. world. They love Pixar and um Disney movies. My one son, Madden, is autistic. His love and superpower is animation and character creation. So, he was the happiest person on the planet. So, when I got presented the opportunity to do it, it was an easy yes for me strictly for Madden. If Madden enjoyed it, you know, it was worth it. I love doing it. I think it’s a cool way to watch football. I think it’s a different We watch football all the time in America. Every single day there’s a football game on. They’re presented the same way, you know, and so it’s just a different way to present it. Um different way to watch it with your kids. And and um he was the happiest kid on the planet waking up this morning. So, it was it was a fun experience for me. I’ll do it again. What was Madden’s review of your character look? What did he think of it? Would he have drawn it that way, you think? Cuz he’s probably drawn you a few times. Yeah, he would probably have me something looking like that. He’s um he he liked it. He he loved it more than the other two. Like the other two 13-year-old boys are a little bit more mature than him. They’re a little bit too cool school too cool for school for him. So teenage. He was like I I my wife sent me videos all night of just him watching it, him interacting with it. So yeah, my character, if he had drawn my character, there was probably going to be some similarity for sure. Okay, good stuff, Dan. Thanks, man. It’s good seeing you. Great to see you guys. Enjoy this weekend. All right. All right. All right, we’ll catch up with you next

ESPN NFL Analyst Dan Orlovsky joined One Bills Live. He shared his thoughts on the Bills win over the Bengals, highlighted by the offensive production using play action and the effectiveness with the tight ends. He went on to discuss this weekend’s matchup with the Patriots, Josh Allen’s big play ability, and the expectations for Buffalo’s defense. He then took a look at the playoff picture and his confidence in the Bills playing on the road if need be.

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