Mini Max Anderson Fan Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Read 2 articles this morning that, taken together, show 2 big reasons our beloved Bills are in a long playoff slump.... This article discusses our new 3-4 D and the inability to create turnovers in the first game this year and, more importantly, get that big play on 3rd down to get off the field and give the offense the ball back. The second point is so crucial to winning (imo) and shows the lack of play makers overall on our D. I have seen the lack of getting off the field on 3rd down from the defense for years (or a lifetime it seems ). http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100913/SPORTS03/9130313/1021/Bills--new-3-4-defense-OK- The second article discusses the futility of our offense's 3rd down conversion rate last year and in the first game this year (I bet it has been low for years, too lazy to do the research ). Maybe futile doesn't fully describe the conversion rate last year, as they became only the 32nd team to have a conversion rate lower then 30% since the NFL went to the 16 game schedule in 1978. Also, only 2 teams have had winning records with a rate <30% since 1978. http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100917/PKR07/100917115/tbd IMO the Bills will not become consistent winners until they can improve the statistics of these 2 crucial categories. Improvement in either category, on either side of the ball, would seem to indicate to me that Chan has the Bills on the right path in a short period of time and would go a long way towards changing the culture of losing surrounding the Bills. Thanks for reading GO BILLS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brand J Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Read 2 articles this morning that, taken together, show 2 big reasons our beloved Bills are in a long playoff slump.... This article discusses our new 3-4 D and the inability to create turnovers in the first game this year and, more importantly, get that big play on 3rd down to get off the field and give the offense the ball back. The second point is so crucial to winning (imo) and shows the lack of play makers overall on our D. I have seen the lack of getting off the field on 3rd down from the defense for years (or a lifetime it seems ). http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100913/SPORTS03/9130313/1021/Bills--new-3-4-defense-OK- The second article discusses the futility of our offense's 3rd down conversion rate last year and in the first game this year (I bet it has been low for years, too lazy to do the research ). Maybe futile doesn't fully describe the conversion rate last year, as they became only the 32nd team to have a conversion rate lower then 30% since the NFL went to the 16 game schedule in 1978. Also, only 2 teams have had winning records with a rate <30% since 1978. http://packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100917/PKR07/100917115/tbd IMO the Bills will not become consistent winners until they can improve the statistics of these 2 crucial categories. Improvement in either category, on either side of the ball, would seem to indicate to me that Chan has the Bills on the right path in a short period of time and would go a long way towards changing the culture of losing surrounding the Bills. Thanks for reading GO BILLS! I remember Brohm converting 3rd and long situations in the preseason. One of them, a beautiful pass to a Chad Jackson who is no longer with this team. I remembered thinking, "so that's what 3rd and long conversions look like." Chan, you KNOW what kind of players TrINT and Fitz are when the lights come on, find out what Brohm has!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 (edited) The Bills do not have enough talent on offense to be able to consistently convert these third-and-longs. I think part of the failure is how miserable they look on FIRST down. Last week, I could not believe my eyes how often they were LOSING yardage on first down. Whether they ran or passed the ball, they seemed to lose 2 yards every time. Then throw a false start or holding penalty in there and you have no chance. To have any chance of moving the chains they absolutely need to find a way do get some positive results on first down. I consider an incomplete pass down the field a positive result compared to a checkdown pass in the backfield that loses a yard or barely gets back to the line of scrimmage. Edited September 18, 2010 by gringo starr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 The Bills do not have enough talent on offense to be able to consistently convert these third-and-longs. I think part of the failure is how miserable they look on FIRST down. Last week, I could not believe my eyes how often they were LOSING yardage on first down. Whether they ran or passed the ball, they seemed to lose 2 yards every time. Then throw a false start or holding penalty in there and you have no chance. To have any chance of moving the chains they absolutely need to find a way do get some positive results on first down. I consider an incomplete pass down the field a positive result compared to a checkdown pass in the backfield that loses a yard or barely gets back to the line of scrimmage. Good point. To understand poor 3rd down conversions, look at what is going on on 1st and 2nd down. 3rd and 1 or 2 is a different place than (what seems to me all too frequent) 3rd and 15+. Too often our opponents are in the 1st situation and we are in the 2nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoner7 Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 (edited) This all comes back to the FO. Our drafting sucks. Our resigning of good players sucks. The OP says we dont have any play makers on D. Well, thats because we passed on drafting Ngata (Maybe the best "big" D lineman in the NFL) and Orakpo, and we didn't make a move to trade up for superstar LB P Willis, who everyone knew the 49ers were going to take (bc he worked out 1v1 with Singltray during the off season while he was at Ole Miss). They had the ammo to move up (they eventually traded up for Poz). But then they passed on Jon Beason for another average RB. All the while letting PB players leave like Winfield Pat Williams T SPikes and L Fletcher. Not to mention other quality guys who contribute to WINNING football teams like J Leonard, J Greer, and Tony Hargrove. Holy Crap, look at the roster I just named. RDE: Ngata NT: Williams LDE Hargrove OLB:Orakpo MLB: Beason or Willis MLB: Fletcher OLB: Spikes CB: Greer FS:Leonard SS: ?? CB: Winfield THATS BETTER AND HAS FEWER HOLES THAN OUR CURRENT *&^%ING DEFENSE!!!!!!!!! Edited September 19, 2010 by Thoner7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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