Mark VI Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 The only way the Bills can stay in the games this year is to stick to the plan of pounding the ball. I saw glimpses of good run blocking the last few weeks. The pass blocking is still subpar. Play to the strength of your team. If your line is better at run blocking...RUN THE BALL. 2 WR set. TE. FB or H-Back to lead block for Henry. It can set up the occasional play action pass downfield. Otherwise , keep the other throws short and RUN,RUN and RUN some more. Once Bledsoe started going to the pass frequently on Saturday, the expected results happened. Heavy pressure, sacks, rushed throws. I realize the regular OL starters were not all present. Still, DB is not mobile and we must NOW protect him at all costs, if we have any hope of staying in the game with our opponents. The gadget plays only work with an athletic QB. Toss all that garbage away and start tightening up this offense. We have 3 pretty quick HB's in Henry, Simonton and Williams. One HB who is much larger and still can be a force in Short Yardage and Goal Line situations.( MaGahee ). I think Nuefeld should be in the backfield on every play, lead blocking for Henry. Plus, he has soft hands for the short pass. ( Not sold on Shelton ). Here is one fan that hopes Mularkey pars down this Offense and sticks to the plan of pounding the ball and running clock. If we see Bledsoe attempting 35-40 passes a game, I don't foresee too many victories. It may result in " Winning Ugly ", such as 17-14, 20-17 etc. Still beats losing and looking sloppy. The Defense is still pretty good. The Offense needs to work clock and move the chains. I still remember his press conference when hired. He talked about " Tough guys " and " Pounding the Ball ". I'm hoping he still has that same mindset, if we are to win in 2004. Don't get cute and change the playcalling, like GW and "Gilblind"... Stick to the plan..
Gavin in Va Beach Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Absolutely right. The offense needs to run the ball and the defense needs to pressure the QB and get turnovers. We do that and we can hang with anybody.
Beerball Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Following your perscription is the only course for this team. We will win and lose ugly at least through the first half of the year. Pound the ball, throw in some play action, screens, end arounds etc. Mularkey may love gadget plays, but not just yet. The QBOTF will be able to pull them off, but not Drew.
ch19079 Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 i DO want to run the ball, but WHY THE HELL would you go in a 1 WR, 2TE set, on first and 10???? on our own 20???? on the first 2 plays of the game!!!!!! im all for running, but leave 2 WRs in so we have the threat of a pass. i was NOT surprised that McGahee only got 1 yard on those 2 plays.
CoachChuckDickerson Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 You cannot run the ball in the NFL if the D has 8 men in the box. Until the Bills can give Bledsoe 4 seconds to get rid of the ball and burn some guys, they will continue to stack the line. Could be a long season.
Beerball Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 You cannot run the ball in the NFL if the D has 8 men in the box. Until the Bills can give Bledsoe 4 seconds to get rid of the ball and burn some guys, they will continue to stack the line. Could be a long season. 11511[/snapback] Tell that to the Ravens. Maybe they didn't win the SB?
ganesh Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Following your perscription is the only course for this team. We will win and lose ugly at least through the first half of the year. Pound the ball, throw in some play action, screens, end arounds etc. Mularkey may love gadget plays, but not just yet. The QBOTF will be able to pull them off, but not Drew. 11501[/snapback] Who said MM is not doing it. He is actually doing Just that. At about end of the 3rd quarter (before Zolman came in), we had something like 20 passes to 26 running plays..... What I was happy to see was us not throwing the ball often on 3-2 and 3-3.. Yesterday I think we were in a lots of 3rd and long situations and hence some throws there.
zow2 Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 I'm all for pounding the ball but you have to throw it some on obvious running plays. Some of the people on this board get all crazy if we attempt a pass or a gadget play. Gadget plays get run successfully all the time in the NFL and they are huge plays. Sometimes I don't mind pulling one out even if it doesn't work. I hope they committ to the run but not to the point that we only score FG's all the time.
ch19079 Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 i like running the ball too, and after a few runs the playaction really looked good, but bledsoe needs to work on his acting skills. after the first playaction noone baught it the next few times. he jsut goes through the motion, he doesnt sell it like manning. and im still wondering why it was run on first down, run on second, and pass on 3rd and 3?? bledsoe is sacked, and we go for a fieldgoal....
Guest Guest Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Maybe MM thinks the team needs to work on the pass more (being that he sees the run game set), so he is using the pre-season to practice the weak spots. I personally think every aspect of the offense needs a lot of practice.
Yoho Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 I'm all for pounding the ball but you have to throw it some on obvious running plays. Some of the people on this board get all crazy if we attempt a pass or a gadget play. Gadget plays get run successfully all the time in the NFL and they are huge plays. Sometimes I don't mind pulling one out even if it doesn't work. I hope they committ to the run but not to the point that we only score FG's all the time. 11549[/snapback] I am only for using gadget plays when they work. We shouldn't run the plays that don't work. I want to run, run, run the ball. Unless we go out 3 and out then we should have passed the ball more. I only want to run pass plays that do not result in sacks. If Bledsoe gets sacked then it was a bad play. I want to blitz and be aggressive. Send them flying. But I don't want to use blitzes that could end up in long pass plays against us. See, that was easy.
LabattBlue Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 I don't really care if they run or pass as long as the chains keep moving. The problem last year was that they couldn't execute a pass play if their life depended on it(combination of poor QB'ing, bad OL and non existant WR play). I really believe you have to mix it up and keep the defense off balance which means the occassional pass on running downs and vice versa. We don't have the dominant OL where we can say..."We are going to run the ball, you know it and you can't stop us."
Rico Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 I want to see what the passing attack looks like in the regular season first... When you have a great weapon like a healthy Eric Moulds, you've got to find a way to get him the ball. I'd start out with a 50% run-50% pass mix. Then, if our passing game is still a disaster when the games count, I'd revert to 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
MattyT Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 I am only for using gadget plays when they work. We shouldn't run the plays that don't work. I want to run, run, run the ball. Unless we go out 3 and out then we should have passed the ball more. I only want to run pass plays that do not result in sacks. If Bledsoe gets sacked then it was a bad play. I want to blitz and be aggressive. Send them flying. But I don't want to use blitzes that could end up in long pass plays against us. See, that was easy. 11572[/snapback] Interesting post. Let me add....I only want to call the plays that will give us a win. But not if they make us lose.
stuckincincy Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 I want to see what the passing attack looks like in the regular season first... When you have a great weapon like a healthy Eric Moulds, you've got to find a way to get him the ball. I'd start out with a 50% run-50% pass mix. Then, if our passing game is still a disaster when the games count, I'd revert to 3 yards and a cloud of dust. 11595[/snapback] If the NFL decides that all receivers are to be untouchable virgins this season, why bother to run at all? ...The Revenge of the Gilbride.
Billzfan23 Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Who said MM is not doing it. He is actually doing Just that. At about end ofthe 3rd quarter (before Zolman came in), we had something like 20 passes to 26 running plays..... What I was happy to see was us not throwing the ball often on 3-2 and 3-3.. Yesterday I think we were in a lots of 3rd and long situations and hence some throws there. 11526[/snapback] That's exactly right, running it in the short yardage situations is key. In Saturday's game, it was third and 4, and a long 4 at that, and we ran the ball. Didn't get the first down, but ran it anyway. Much better than the negative plays that happened in short yardage last year. On fourth down, we pinned the colts to the 13 with an unspectacular, but efficient enough 25 yard punt.
CoachChuckDickerson Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Tell that to the Ravens. Maybe they didn't win the SB? 11515[/snapback] We have a 2,000 yard rusher and the best offensive line in football? Did I miss something? Didn't they only win 2 more games than us last year? Yes I stand by my original statement.
Beerball Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 We have a 2,000 yard rusher and the best offensive line in football? Did I miss something? Didn't they only win 2 more games than us last year? Yes I stand by my original statement. 11611[/snapback] You stated that it couldn't be done. I know we don't have the best line in the league, Ravens don't either, IMO, good but not the best. As for what we can expect from Travis 1300-1700 yards. The rest of the backfield I would project at 400-800.
Dan Gross Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 What I was happy to see was us not throwing the ball often on 3-2 and 3-3.. Yesterday I think we were in a lots of 3rd and long situations and hence some throws there. 11526[/snapback] Actually, the first string had one 3rd and 3 scenario...pass play...sack. We ran on the other "short" scenario (3rd and 4), all others were 6 yards or better. That was part of the problem with moving it, is we were stuck with a lot of 3rd and 10+. Mark, in the pre-season they've have been keeping to your "prescription," to the point of frustration watching it at times. I think others have said it best in that we can't let defenses predict whether we are running or passing based on the personnel we have in. I actually end up feeling sorry for the receivers who have been trying to make the team, since we're not putting it up in the air enough for them to show what they can do. Though I like the way they interspersed starters/2nd stringers in the beginning of the 3rd Q.
tatonka12 Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 You cannot run the ball in the NFL if the D has 8 men in the box. Until the Bills can give Bledsoe 4 seconds to get rid of the ball and burn some guys, they will continue to stack the line. Could be a long season. 11511[/snapback] as much as i hate saying it, ricky williams did (that is ran with 8 in the box)
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