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Its really about 90% play calling, as far as the run game goes. They went into the bye week running more stretch plays than anyone else in the NFL. And it wasn't working. Shady came out and mentioned that during the bye week they were going to implement more of the things they did last year. And they did. You saw a lot more of Glenn and Incognito pulling into the secondary, often in tandem..you saw more misdirection, more options, more creativity. And it worked. 173 yards against the Bucs, 167 against the Raiders...the highest run totals either has given up this year. And we happened to score at least 30 on each. I won't speak about the Jets game, but I put myself through re-watching the Saints game, at least the run plays. In the first series, the Shady run was an option that caught the some of the secondary and LB's going the other way and others frozen. Once he got past the LOS, he had a lot of open space. IT was followed up by a 13 yd designed run up the middle when the inside LB's were cleared outside in coverage. The next series, they were caught for a loss on a reverse that didn't work. But after that...the running plays went back to the stretch play, or some other play that didn't do anything to get the D going the other way or freeze anyone. IDK...they might have panicked after falling behind...but they weren't doing same thing after the 1st series. Dennison's bread and butter play..the Shanahan zone block outside stretch..basically has guys like Glenn, Incognito and Wood diving at a guy's ankles. These guys like to pound people, whether through pulling or straight up mano-a-mano. And it has worked over the past 2 years...and when they've actually used that method this year. But having them cut a guy play side isn't their strength. And it is worse when the play is called far too often and the D knows its coming. The D has a jump on the play and gets through the gap before the OL can complete their cut blocks. All in all...he's no better calling a run game than Nate Hackett was when he was here. And the sad thing is, he was handed more than Hackett was, plus the playbook that showed how to succeed.

In 1967, Lamonica and wide receiver Glenn Bass were traded to the Oakland Raiders for wide receiver Art Powell and quarterback Tom Flores. Lamonica recalled, “Art Powell said to me, ‘I am probably the culprit, because I wanted to get back to Canada. I probably instigated that.’ Whether that is true or not, I don’t know.” Lamonica continued, “There were no agents back then. I got to talk to both Ralph Wilson Junior and Senior the night before I was traded. Mr. Wilson Sr. said, ‘You will be our starting quarterback coming back this year.’ I was so fired up I could run through a brick wall. Eight hours later, I was traded. I still don’t know. Mr. Wilson has never explained it to me, why he traded me.” However, Lamonica did not find out about the trade from traditional channels. Lamonica recalled, “I was talking to somebody and he said, ‘Hey, you have been traded to the Raiders!’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, right. No way.’ I had to call the Fresno Bee, my hometown paper, to find out that I was traded. I called my mom and she said that Al Davis had called and wanted me to call.” http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/where-are-they-now-daryle-lamonica/

Before the NE game in week 1, people were questioning whether the Chiefs had the weapons to stay with the Pats. They are by no means stacked in talent at the skill positions. They have an explosive WR and pretty good/very good TE. Kareem Hunt is a 3rd round pick that ran a 4.6 + 40 at the combine. That doesn't make him a bad back, because he has some lateral movement and tackle breaking ability, but not a guy you'd expect to lead the league in 20+ yard runs. Andy Reid is showing again, that he knows how to call a game. When Tyreek Hill ends up in single coverage, its by design. Reid creates situations to force a D into that situation, much like the plays to get Kelce on a LB are by design. Several of Hunt's long runs were situations where the D was going one way or was frozen, and he had a huge hole to run through. Some of the runs reminded me of the 2015-16 Bills, when Karlos Williams and Gillisee were getting huge holes with no one around them in the defensive backfield. Ah..for the good old days. Against the Saints, McCoy's big run on the first drive came on an option/fake bootleg..a few plays later it was a designed run/pass option up the middle for TT. On the next series, they tried a reverse that failed due to a missed assignment/block. After that...the options, bootlegs, rollouts, misdirection and sweeps disappeared. The stretch play left returned for an ugly appearance. If there is any reason besides TT to stack the box, it is that play. After the bye, they started using more of the 2015-16 plays against Tampa and the Raiders...and it showed. And I had a smile on my face. But except for a brief appearance, it disappeared.

Nope...but it is the way the Raiders-Chiefs used to play, a long long time ago. At the time, the Raiders actually earned their rep as bullies who played dirty. But when they played the Chiefs, the Chiefs would have none of it. The way they built up the "hate" angle in the pregame tonight, the whole brawl almost looked...staged. eh, it beats throwback uni's.

And yet, their offense scored 2X the number of TD's (14 vs.7) as the Bills' high tech, 21st century offense. Maybe if we score 7 Td's against Tampa, we can catch them.

"Adequate" is one way to describe it.. Last year's O scored 46 TD's (not including defensive or ST TD's). The 2015 O scored 42 TD's. The 2 years prior to that, under Marrone, the O scored around 30-31 TD's. A few of the Gailey teams scored TD's in the mid to high 30's, but also gave up a great deal of turnovers. (Fitz threw 24 Ints one year). I don't think a Jauron Era offense scored 30 TD's in a season, in at least 2, they scored TD's in the low 20's. The 2002 team was close, but that lasted 8 games. One year in the Flutie Era, they were close. 2 of the SB teams of the K Gun Era scored less TD's. It scored more points than 6 of last year's playoff teams, and tied with the Steelers in points scored. As an extra added bonus, the offense that scored more TD's in recent memory also set a franchise record for the fewest turnovers. And for the first time in recent memory, it finished in the top 10 in Redzone scoring. But in logic only a Bills' fan can understand, the guy who increased the offense production from 30 TD's to 42 TD's gets fired, to cover up for an extremely . And the offense that produces 46 TD's and few turnovers gets replaced by a 40 year old passing offense and a 20 year old, 3 play running game. And contrary to popular belief, the "Gary Kubiak" offense doesn't really score more points than were produced last year. In its good years, it averages slightly less than what the Bills did last year. In bad years, it scores substantially less. And that's with Gary Kubiak calling the plays. But you got your wish. Right now, the Dennison offense is on track to score 22 TD's. He has a ton of work to do to just get to "adequate".

If adding one or two running plays is "changing the scheme". He pulls the backside guard (usually Incognito) more now He ran a reverse once He's up to about running plays in his playbook now.

Mhmm He had very few drops in college despite the number of balls thrown at him..I think he dropped 6 his senior year. Rookie jitters, confidence, whatever, it happens, and sometimes to some very good players. I remember Jordy Nelson dropping some balls his rookie year, And his hands were as good as any coming out of college. And even more surprising, Jerry Rice went through the same thing his rookie year. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough/2006/too-deep-zone-jerry-rice-rookie-bust It can happen to the best of them.

This is an area in which Buffalo led the league last year, but led by a wide margin. In 2016, it was 2.88 yards per attempt. Another area that dropped dramatically is long runs. Last year, the Bills had 27 runs of over 20 yards. This year, after 5 games, it is 3. As someone else pointed out, Baltimore's run game has improved dramatically this year under Greg Roman. They went from 28th to 5th. Denver went from 27th last year to 3rd this year. Buffalo went from 1st last year to 16th this year. Those are some substantial swings in production. Is the outside zone/stretch play an outmoded form of running the ball? No. Is it outmoded to use it on fully 1/2 of your running plays? Yeah...probably. This is where Anthony Lynn was smart, and why he became a HC. He saw what was successful, and improved it, he didn;t replace it. I've said before, my hope is that here in the bye week, someone puts a copy of last year's run game playbook on Dennison's desk. And I hope that he studies it. And uses it. The OL already knows it. Dennison's supposed to be a smart guy, he should be able to pick it up quickly.

Well, yeah, that's pretty much everyone's goal. And it comes back to my original question....why Dennison? You've got this attitude that all we have to do is sacrifice a year and play it out...and there will be this light at the end of the tunnel. If the person brought in has shown the ability to create an explosive offense (Shanahan), or with a proven track record in a quality offense (say...if Andy Reid was fired and brought in), or someone with the proven ability to adapt and get results (McCoy), or even someone who is innovative (Chip Kelly)....I'd be more than willing to agree with you. But if you're going to tear down a facet of the game that was working (the run game and the points/game), in favor of some long term benefit, I need a little more than an assumption that it will be somehow better.

I'm still having trouble with this "long term benefit" thingy, beyond the fact that Dennison's abilities as an OC are questionable. If your plan goes as planned... -the QB of the future isn't on the team; -the way things are going, Cordy Glenn is probably gone; -Incognito may or may not be here, either due to retirement or "not fitting the scheme" -Vlad and Mills have no business being here; -the receiving corps, with the exception of Zay Jones and possibly Matthews..are gone. -I'm pretty sure Shady can pick up on a different system...if they don't trade him. So the long term benefit is for ...4 or 5 guys? If its to see "what Tyrod's got"...they already know that..or should know that. If its to tank for draft position...well, I'm not big on tanking, but that's just me. What I see..especially the way the AFCE is shaping up...is wasting a really good opportunity at finally breaking the playoff drought. I just don't see this "long term benefit" as a given, or even a good probability. There's no long term benefit if most of the starters are going to be gone anyway.

The "for years" part is a clue. There's really nothing new or innovative any more. But the answer is far more than that. It isn't just scheme..its who is running the scheme. A quote earlier this year by CJ Anderson sums up my thoughts best... "In the other scheme, it was, 'we're gonna run what we run,'" Anderson said of Kubiak's system. "This one is, 'we're gonna put our athletes in the best position to make plays.'" http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000847373/article/mike-mccoys-offensive-makeover-on-display-in-broncos-win Read what the players are saying and why they like McCoy...not so much the McCoy system because he doesn't have a single "system"...but McCoy as an OC play caller. He looks to attack. He looks to exploit a weakness. He looks to out scheme He looks to keep a D off balance He looks to put his players in a position to succeed He DOESN'T look to "run what we run" Denver had a few upgrades to their O line..but is basically the same offensive personnel as last year. But their offense is completely different. Because the attitude is completely different. If you take a look at the Chiefs...you can see what a little imagination does for a team. This is a team that has a QB who was considered smart, with some running ability, but with a limited arm and a limited medium to deep game. They cut their best WR and lost their best RB in the preseason. They had one viable deep threat. Yet they are blowing away the NFL with their offense. Their 3rd round rb..who has a 40 time north of 4.6, already has 7 runs of more than 20 yards and 3 of more than 40. Why? Because Andy Reid is sending in plays that are constantly keeping D's off balance and on their heels. In a large way, the Bills running game of '15 and '16 did that. Off balance formations, misdirection, options, forcing a team to move in one direction while hitting them with a counter...it worked. Its been replaced by "stretch play left" and with predictable results. I don't see "running what we run" as much of a rallying cry, or short term benefit OR long term benefit. I have 0 problems with implementing a pass game to exploit the talents of your franchise QB ...WHEN you have your franchise QB. Until then...running your system because its what you do ...is basically throwing up a white flag. And I wouldn't want a player, or a coach, that wants to throw up a white flag.

No, it is a matter of running an offense that actually showed some success UNTIL you get your franchise QB.

It is a long term benefit to build the offense through....Rick Dennison? Denver created a long term AND short term benefit to their franchise by not retaining him. If you're sacrificing short term success for some nebulous long term benefit...you do it with someone with a proven track record OR in some cases, take a chance on a young mind with new ideas. For the life of me, I don't see how it is of any benefit, short or long term, to build a Dick Jauron offense. Only a Buffalo fan, or maybe a hardcore Browns fan, would think that going from 10th in scoring to 25th in scoring...or a running game that averaged 5.6 ypc to one that averages 3.4 ypc as a good thing.

He was never coming to Buffalo, or anywhere else. He made that clear, that Denver was really his only choice. And he was contacted by something like 7 different teams when he was fired by the Chargers. He had options. But for the point of discussion..the theme of the article can't be emphasized enough. McCoy is a coveted coordinator because 1) he knows how game plan to defeat a defense and 2) he can, and will adapt to the players he has. People want to just accept that an OC..or a DC, will run "their" system, that the players must adapt to that system, or an entire squad of new players must be brought in who "fit" that system. It is a bad way to coach and a bad way to run an organization. This is especially true when the coordinator is questionable at best. I will say that I thought he showed a little promise after the Carolina game. He implemented some PA and some bootlegs in the pass game to add a little misdirection. But his continuous use of the stretch play in the run game reminds me of Hackett continuously running the read option with a QB (Manuel), who had little desire to carry the ball. I'd consider firing him if there was a good alternative, I just don't know who would be available. At the very least, this two weeks is a really good time to look back at the 2015-2016 game film and playbook and start putting things in that worked. If you're going to be a run heavy team, which they are...make it a productive run heavy team. This is what is most frustrating...in 2015-16, the Bills finally had some semblance of an offense. But we watched a coach married to a scheme who ruined a high quality D. And for those 2 years, we missed the playoffs because the coach was married to a scheme. Now, the D is back. There is really no reason to miss the playoffs again because a coach is married to a scheme. Go back to what works.

Not even the Heller case made that determination. We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those “in common use at the time.” 307 U. S., at 179. We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of “dangerous and unusual weapons.” See 4 Blackstone 148–149 (1769); 3 B. Wilson, Works of the Honourable James Wilson 79 (1804); J. Dunlap, The New-York Justice 8 (1815); C. Humphreys, A Compendium of the Common Law in Force in Kentucky 482 (1822); 1 W. Russell, A Treatise on Crimes and Indictable Misdemeanors 271–272 (1831); H. Stephen, Summary of the Criminal Law 48 (1840); E. Lewis, An Abridgment of the Criminal Law of the United States 64 (1847); F. Wharton, A Treatise on the Criminal Law of the United States 726 (1852). See also State v. Langford, 10 N. C. 381, 383–384 (1824); O’Neill v. State, 16Ala. 65, 67 (1849); English v. State, 35Tex. 473, 476 (1871); State v. Lanier, 71 N. C. 288, 289 (1874). It may be objected that if weapons that are most useful in military service—M-16 rifles and the like—may be banned, then the Second Amendment right is completely detached from the prefatory clause. But as we have said, the conception of the militia at the time of the Second Amendment ’s ratification was the body of all citizens capable of military service, who would bring the sorts of lawful weapons that they possessed at home to militia duty. It may well be true today that a militia, to be as effective as militias in the 18th century, would require sophisticated arms that are highly unusual in society at large. Indeed, it may be true that no amount of small arms could be useful against modern-day bombers and tanks. But the fact that modern developments have limited the degree of fit between the prefatory clause and the protected right cannot change our interpretation of the right. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html Since that time, both the Second and the Fourth Circuits have upheld bans on "assault style" weapons. Last year, the SC declined to grant cert. for the Second Cirtcuit case.

In light of last weekend's kneeling protests....Public Enemy would be a little much?

It has as much..if not more to do with the OC and how willing they are to allow the QB to audible, than it does the QB.

They scored 24 or more points in 11 of 16 games last year. They scored 21 or more points in 11 of 16 games in 2015. I don't remember the last time that's happened for a Bills' O. The offense of the past 2 years wasn't perfect, the pass game certainly needed some work, but the run game was far from predictable, audibles or no audibles. The run game plan did an excellent job of moving a defense a certain way, setting up blocks, opening up a cutback lane where the D didn't expect it..etc. Most NFL run games these days are kind of vanilla, but I enjoyed watching this one...it showed imagination and innovation. 29 runs of more than 20 yards didn't happen by accident. Unfortunately, people believe "just give it to Shady" is about all that you need to do. It would be nice if it were that simple. He's going to get some plays, like the screen against the Jets, where he is going to get a lot of yards through his own improv. But he's going to lose many opportunities by a play not being set up. He's also going to lose more opportunities by the D knowing where he's going before the snap.

Yes..he is known for tailoring his scheme to talent..(I know..a crazy idea). But he wasn't coming here anyway. More than a half dozen teams reached out to him, but he said he was only going to Denver. But I will say..the Bronco players are giddy at having him. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000847373/article/mike-mccoys-offensive-makeover-on-display-in-broncos-win And a lot of the comments from the players are comparing and contrasting his style with last year's coaching. It is as much an indictment of Dennison as it is praise for McCoy. "Mike is super aggressive. He knows how to outscheme people, and he's trying to put up as many points as he can. He wants the players to come to him during the game and tell him what we think will work. If we bring it to him and he sees it, he'll try it." "As soon as we hired Mike McCoy, I knew it was over. He's all about matchups, and he'll find a weak link and attack that person. You never know who's going to make the play, who's gonna score the touchdown, because it all comes down to matchups. And he's gonna change it up every week. That's why we love him." "We just needed a new scheme, man," Harris said. "In the other scheme, it was, 'we're gonna run what we run,'" Anderson said of Kubiak's system. "This one is, 'we're gonna put our athletes in the best position to make plays.'" ********************* You have 2 offenses heading in 2 different directions now. They most certainly don't have more talent on their offense, except at WR . They did some upgrades to their OL..but nothing earth shattering.. Last year, Buffalo's O put up 75 or so more points than Denver's..and a full 15 more TD's. This year, those figures could be reversed. It isn't talent in this case, its a difference in OC's.

Too bad Dennison couldn't keep them in the game..or better yet, do something to win it. Well, at least the players in Denver are happy he's gone.

The Jets believe it or not, had the 11th ranked run D in the NFL last year. We put up 31 on them..but they scored more. Arizona had the 9th ranked run D last year...we put up 33 on them. Seattle had the 7th ranked run defense, we put up 25 on them. They scored more. The Pats had the 3rd ranked run D last year. Beat them once and scored 25 on them the second game...they scored more. In both games, they put up around 375 yards. In 2015 The Pats had the 9th ranked run D, we scored 32 in the first meeting..they scored more. The Jets in 2015 had the 2nd ranked run D, we scored 22 each time and swept the season The Chiefs had the 8th ranked run D. We scored 22 and put up over 400 yards..they scored more The Texans had the 10th ranked run D. We scored 30 and put up nearly 400 yards of O.

It isn't just being a "running team" vs. a "passing team" to me. For instance, The Marrone-Hackett Brain Trust wanted to be a running team, but their game plan for running the ball was about as blah as can be. Its not the fact that you run, its how you run. Greg Roman showed what a running game with a little innovation can look like and Lynn adopted it. Unbalanced formations selective use of the option misdirection.. it is rare to have a running game in the NFL these days that keeps a defense guessing. But it did. And it worked Do Shady and the O line have a role in how well the offense ran the ball? Oh yeah... But did the play calling help put them in the right position? Better believe it. I always though it would be great to be a run blocking OL in that system... get a DL going one way...just to cream him when he figures out the run is going the opposite way. But I think those days are gone..

I seriously doubt A Lynn was a disciple of Greg Roman..but he used a hell of a lot of Roman's concepts, those that worked. And I only saw a little of the Chargers last week, but he doesn't run the same offense in LA as he did in Buffalo, because he has Rivers. There's a reason he's a head coach now.

Or take away what the offense had been doing best ....and have worse results... just so people can B word about the QB. That's a pretty pathetic way to run a football team, IMO...especially when the team didn't bother to try and replace the QB..