

I saw some people mention it in post game threads: This was the best game the OL has played thus far. I thought that watching it live and confirmed it on my rewatch. Obviously it wasn't perfect, and it always hurts to lose, but I came away from this game high on our OL and am hoping this is a sign for further improved play as the season progresses.

As always: I'm not the most knowledgeable on the subject so I may be wrong at times. I played a little and use what I learned from those days to analyze the film. If you see anything wrong or would like to corroborate my point, I appreciate any and all comments.

Explanation of the grades: I'm just looking to see if any guys made a glaring error that leads to ruining the play or said player just clearly misses their block. If they do that, they get a "0" on the play. If not, they get a "1," which get added together and are then divided by the total number of plays said player plays. I can't get too deep into knocking everyone on the line for certain mistakes because I do not know what the coaches are asking for on a given play.

Grades

Bolles:

Game: Total: 65/71 (91.55%) Run: 21/22 (95.45%) Pass: 44/49 (89.8%)

1st Quarter: Total: 23/23 (100%) Run: 9/9 (100%) Pass 14/14 (100%)

2nd Quarter: Total: 12/15 (80%) Run: 2/3 (66.66%) Pass: 10/12 (83.33%)

3rd Quarter: Total: 17/18 (94.44%) Run: 9/9 (100%) Pass: 8/9 (88.89%)

4th Quarter: Total: 13/15 (86.67%) Run: 1/1 (100%) Pass: 12/14 (85.71%)

Garcia:

Game: Total: 34/38 (89.47%) Run: 8/10 (80%) Pass: 26/28 (92.86%)

1st Quarter: Total: 14/16 (87.5%) Run: 5/6 (83.33%) Pass: 9/10 (90%)

2nd Quarter: Total: 10/11 (90.90%) Run: 1/1 (100%) Pass: 9/10 (90%)

3rd Quarter: Total: 2/3 (66.67%) Run: 1/2 (50%) Pass: 1/1 (100%)

4th Quarter: Total: 8/8 (100%) Run: 1/1 (100%) Pass: 7/7 (100%)

Barbre:

Game: Total: 32/33 (96.97%) Run: 12/12 (100%) Pass: 20/21 (95.24%)

1st Quarter: Total: 7/7 (100%) Run: 3/3 (100%) Pass: 4/4 (100%)

2nd Quarter: Total: 4/4 (100%) Run: 2/2 (100%) Pass: 2/2 (100%)

3rd Quarter: Total: 14/15 (93.33%) Run: 7/7 (100%) Pass: 7/8 (87.5%)

4th Quarter: Total: 7/7 (100%) Run: 0/0 Pass: 7/7 (100%)

Paradis:

Game: Total: 71/71 (100%) Run: 22/22 (100%) Pass: 49/49 (100%)

1st Quarter: Total: 23/23 (100%) Run: 9/9 (100%) Pass: 14/14 (100%)

2nd Quarter: Total: 15/15 (100%) Run: 3/3 (100%) Pass: 12/12 (100%)

3rd Quarter: Total: 18/18 (100%) Run: 9/9 (100%) Pass: 9/9 (100%)

4th Quarter: Total: 15/15 (100%) Run: 1/1 (100%) Pass: 14/14 (100%)

Leary:

Game: Total: 68/71 (95.77%) Run: 19/22 (86.36%) Pass: 49/49 (100%)

1st Quarter: Total: 22/23 (95.65%) Run: 8/9 (88.89%) Pass: 14/14 (100%)

2nd Quarter: Total: 15/15 (100%) Run: 3/3 (100%) Pass: 12/12 (100%)

3rd Quarter: Total: 16/18 (88.89%) Run: 7/9 (77.78%) Pass: 9/9 (100%)

4th Quarter: Total: 15/15 (100%) Run: 1/1 (100%) Pass: 14/14 (100%)

Watson:

Game: Total: 67/71 (94.36%) Run: 20/22 (90.90%) Pass: 47/49 (95.92%)

1st Quarter: Total: 23/23 (100%) Run: 9/9 (100%) Pass: 14/14 (100%)

2nd Quarter: Total: 15/15 (100%) Run: 3/3 (100%) Pass: 12/12 (100%)

3rd Quarter: Total: 14/18 (77.78%) Run: 7/9 (77.78%) Pass: 7/9 (77.78%)

4th Quarter: Total: 15/15 (100%) Run: 1/1 (100%) Pass: 14/14 (100%)

Analysis

-Paradis' grade will obviously draw attention, deservedly so. He didn't make any poor blocks from my eyes on the day. As always, he was effective in getting on his man and preventing him from making a play, which is the name of the game for the O-line. The Center position can be the hardest to evaluate (positively or negatively) in real time, given how they can easily get lost from the sideline angle in the middle of multiple 300 pounders, but on the rewatch is was clear to see how well Paradis played.

-One of the flaws of my grading system is that it's black and white, meaning you either mess up or you don't. There's no in-between, and it doesn't take into account the difference between a decent block and a great block for the "1's" I give out. Leary is one of the ones who suffered in my system for it. I knocked him for a couple plays, but he more then made up for it with some great blocks on others. Both CJ's long run and Charles' TD can easily be credited to Leary working up to the 2nd level and absolutely neutralizing LB's. And like Paradis, he thrived in providing a wall of interior protection for Siemian.

-One of the plays Leary got a "0" for was a double team with Watson/working up to the 2nd level, where the LB he attempts to block makes the play at the line (1st Q, 8:35). I knocked Leary on the same run play Watson doesn't block Williams on, as it seemed like Watson was expecting some help from Leary that he never got (3rd Q, 10:02). The final "0" Leary gets in this contest was in the same quarter where he gets rightfully called for a hold (3rd Q, 6:20).

-Another flaw in my system is that it doesn't take into account what each player is asked to do, in terms of difficulty. That was apparent when comparing Bolles' and Watson's grades.

-Bolles was clearly the superior tackle. He was left on an island much of the game and allowed McCoy to scheme more help over to Watson. After a flawless 1st Quarter, I knocked Bolles on a chop block that barely altered his man's path (2nd Q, 10:36), a backside seal block on zone where his man helped tackle CJ for a minimal gain (2nd Q, 6:36), and then the final offensive play in the first half, where he was slow to react to Kyle Williams rushing the edge off of an X stunt (2nd Q, 0:53).

-A near flawless 3rd Quarter was only marred by allowing Hughes to beat him to the edge with a path to Trevor, but luckily was noticed and the ball got out quickly (3rd Q, 8:04).

-In the 4th, I knocked him for allowing his man to beat him to the edge, and a possible holding call prevented allowing his QB to get hit (4th Q, 3:09). I considered not knocking him for it since Trevor gets the ball off unhindered, but the block was not what you want to see. The final knock Bolles got was for not getting a hand on his man (4th Q, 2:37) forcing Trevor to step escape the pocket right into Barbre's man.

-Watson's grade is higher, but there's no way I can say he was better then Bolles. Bolles played well enough on an island, which allowed McCoy to funnel help to Watson. But I also want to stress it wasn't as if he had help the whole game. He did well enough on his own in most instances they left him alone. He had a good game collectively but had a really poor 3rd quarter.

-I knocked him for having a free path to the 2nd level on a run play and never getting a hand on anybody (3rd Q, 12:12). A few plays later, he doesn't cut off an edge rusher's path to the QB and gets his hands knocked down before he can engage, but Trevor gets the ball out quick to avoid disaster(3rd Q, 10:35). On the next play, he's tasked with down blocking Kyle Williams, but takes a poor angle and can never get on his man (3rd Q, 10:02). His final "0" was the same 3rd quarter play Bolles was knocked for, where both OT's give up the edge to their man (3rd Q, 8:04). It may have been how the play was designed, but for this grading system I had to knock them both.

-This was definitely Watson's best game in pass pro thus far. I don't think he's as bad in pass pro as some make him out to be, but I do think he's not good enough to leave him on an island all game. If Bolles can continue to man the blindside with less help, McCoy can continue to shift some chips/help blocks Watson's way. Not only will this help Watson on the plays where the assistance is there, but it will make pass rushers hesitant to sell out for the edge even when it's not, and keep their heads on swivels looking for that extra blocker.

-Barbre turned in a pretty solid performance in Buffalo. I only knocked him on the same play I gave Watson a "0" on in the 3rd. He ends up being matched on Hughes, but doesn't see this in time and Hughes gets past him with ease (3rd Q, 10:35). He gets credited with a sack in the 4th, but as I mentioned in the Bolles' section, Bolles losing his man forces Siemian to run right into Barbre's, who had effectively blocked his man. Because of this, I ended up giving him a "1" for the play.

-Garcia on the other hand struggled in this matchup. On the 3rd play of the game, he gets spun on on a draw (1st Q, 13:33). The LB who got there first would have made the play alone, but letting your man help swallow CJ up is just salt in the wound. Later in the same quarter, Garcia gives Bolles some help, but gets caught watching who he should have blocked have an easy path to the QB (1st Q, 1:36).

-The 2nd Quarter "0" was the sack we all saw Garcia let up to Alexander (2nd Q. 1:18), and luckily Siemian was able to fall forward to the line of scrimmage, making the sack negligible. Garcia's final error in the game came when he blocks down with Paradis pulling outside of him, and he doesn't get an effective block and his man brings CJ down in the backfield (3rd Q, 5:58).

-In my opinion, this was the best game yet for this OL. You hate to see it be wasted in a losing affair, but against a talent front 7, this gives me hope this OL is improving and will continue to get better throughout the season. If Bolles can continue to develop into a great edge blocker as he is showing, thereby allowing us to give more help to the right, We might be looking at a really good pass blocking OL.

Random Notes

-On my initial watch, I was disappointed we ran the ball so little. However, watching the replay, I saw the Bills bring a lot of defenders into the box throughout the game. Against those looks, we wisely threw the ball. We just need to have better execution from our QB/WR's/TE's. The protection throughout the day was solid, so I'm not going to put the blame on the big guys (as a lot of people here often do!)

-I didn't accumulate data on the TE's/FB blocking, but I felt they struggled throughout the day. Jano in particular had a pretty big whiff when he was lined up as a TE. If we're going to have success running out of heavy looks, these guys are going to have to step up.

-Having said that, I was pretty harsh on Derby's blocking last week. He didn't exactly thrive this week as a blocker, but he looked much improved. I'm hoping to see him build on this performance.

-The false start penalties are not ideal, but understandable given this was our first road game. I'll be keeping an eye on it for future road games, but I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet.

Parting Words

-I'm a little nervous for this pass rusher/OT matchup coming up. Mack has built his career on abusing Denver RT's, and Watson has the looks of the next RT he will put out to pasture. My key in this game will be for Bolles to hold up his end and allow protection to be focused on covering up Watson. It's a tall task for a rookie, but if last week is any indication, he's up to it.

-I'm also hoping the Raiders don't stack the box like Buffalo did to allow us to run the ball more. This team, and this OL in particular, thrive when we can effectively run, and then pass off of that. If the Raiders do opt for the Bills defensive game plan, let's hope the QB and his receivers execute better this week and the protection holds up as well as it did last week.

-I know I promised pictures with play breakdowns this week, but I'm going out of town and am too busy to do that. On that note, I won't be back to my computer until next week, so the Week 4 Analysis might be a couple days late.

-As always, any and all critiques and comments are welcome!