Bills Offense: This Is Why We've Been Figured Out

[Direhard Fan]

All these comments have value to a degree. 1st Offesive play Ware lays Fitz down gentlely. Very nice of him. Writing was on the wall. 3rd down another sack. That is unbelievable. Game plan? Fred had 114 yards. Was anybody paying attention that running was there. 21 to nothing and we were in panic mode. Spiller trips over his own feet and one post says he is not a receiver. Please. We can play alot better. We can be coached alot better. When did you say the new DC was coming? Where is Whinnie? Hiding in the press box. Never hear his name. Is he still with us? He is the next DC. Hope.

[Big Turk]

To quote Nick Mendola, "Bills first four drives: Punt, missed FG, TD, punt.

Cowboys first four drives: TD, TD, TD, TD."

 

Where's the defense? Where's the pass rush?

 

On offense, Fred Jackson has been almost unstoppable and he gets only 13 carries. This is bad coaching. The Bills have a bad defensive coordinator and mediocre head coach.

 

Yeah, the D is making things very difficult with their inability to stop anyone or gain some momentum for the offense. Sometimes the offense needs the D to make a few stops and keep them in the game for a little while, but when the D turns around and its 14-0 before you can blink an eye, it makes it pretty difficult to run your gameplan. Now you end up having to do things you really don't want to do because you have to play catch up and can't afford to go behind anymore. More chances, more risks, more passes, less runs...

 

How can Gailey run anymore than he did when he was trailing by 20+ points most of the game?

[Mickey]

The word is out on how to beat this team, and defenses are shutting down Ryan Fitzpatrick:

 

Blitz happy teams (Jets, Cowboys, Bengals, Giants) can force Fitzpatrick to make quick decisions on short routes, and will give us ZERO time for longer passes to develop. If you fluster our QB he makes poor decisions, and is erratic with his accuracy. This forces interceptions and inaccurate passes that force 3 and outs.

 

So, how do you combat this?

 

You run the ball until they respect the run. POUND the ball in their face. And I'm not talking about simple run up the gut plays. Rex Ryan said it himself, we only run a handful of different running plays. That's unacceptable. We have two very talented running backs. We need to mix up our running playbook. Get CJ Spiller in the game and get more creative. Run change of direction plays, run reverses, whatever it takes.

 

The Bills average 32 passes from Fitzpatrick a game. Freddy Jackson only averages 18 runs a game. And he's the only back touching the ball for us. In games where Fred Jackson runs the ball 20 or more times, the Bills have won their most decisive victories. Freddy averaged 4.6 yards per carry against the Jets, and 8.8 against the Cowboys. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what we need to do against them next time.

 

In order for this offense to succeed, we can't continue to come out with the same philosophy every week. We need to adapt. If they want to blitz us, we have to be able to run the ball. If teams start respecting the run and give Fitzpatrick time, we can get the ball in the air. It's not that difficult to understand.

 

Take a look at what the Pats did to the Jets last night. They ran the ball 28 times, and used 4 different running backs. They didn't gain a ton of yards, but they forced the defense to defend both. You have to be creative, and you have to run the ball to beat these blitz happy teams.

Running the football doesn't win games, running the football successfully does.

[Fitzyflakes67]

I love how everyone here has all the answers. Perhaps if we replaced Gailey and staff with some Two Bills Drive posters we'd be winning these games....

 

Running the ball when your down 3 touchdowns just ain't gonna happen.

[Got_Wood]

All these comments have value to a degree. 1st Offesive play Ware lays Fitz down gentlely. Very nice of him. Writing was on the wall. 3rd down another sack. That is unbelievable. Game plan? Fred had 114 yards. Was anybody paying attention that running was there. 21 to nothing and we were in panic mode. Spiller trips over his own feet and one post says he is not a receiver. Please. We can play alot better. We can be coached alot better. When did you say the new DC was coming? Where is Whinnie? Hiding in the press box. Never hear his name. Is he still with us? He is the next DC. Hope.

 

You're right, the defense needs to be better.

 

BUT, this stands out to me... Buffalo had 3 offensive possessions that ended in 3 and outs. On ALL THREE of these possessions we dropped back to pass on ALL THREE downs. On every other drive when we used Freddy in the first 2 downs, we successfully made it to the red zone every time, and missed a field goal on one possession at the Dallas 34 yard line. So we were able to get into scoring position every time Freddy ran the ball within the first two downs. I think that's worth noting.

[CardinalScotts]

wow guys were off the mark a bit on this one. Take Fitz out of your arguements we have WR depth is the killer on Offense. Jones is not an NFL wide out, Stevie is a true number two who been injured on top of it. They have even tried to force a RB as wide out. Defensively we have no depth with a couple of injuries has crippled us

[JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS]

You're right, the defense needs to be better.

 

BUT, this stands out to me... Buffalo had 3 offensive possessions that ended in 3 and outs. On ALL THREE of these possessions we dropped back to pass on ALL THREE downs. On every other drive when we used Freddy in the first 2 downs, we successfully made it to the red zone every time, and missed a field goal on one possession at the Dallas 34 yard line. So we were able to get into scoring position every time Freddy ran the ball within the first two downs. I think that's worth noting.

+1

I noticed that too in the Dallas game. Getting Freddo the ball doesn't solve all our problems, but it is a good start.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Great breakdown Hopeful. Thanks for clearing that up. I really hope Chan takes a hard look at his philosophy so far this year, and makes some serious changes.

 

Of course, the posts pointing out that the "run it at them" philosophy works best when we aren't down by 28 points in the first half have merit.

To which I say: our offense has GOT to figure out how to stay on the field - stay on the field a lot - because it really does seem like our D couldn't stop a nosebleed and with all the injuries, I don't see it getting better.

 

Running the football doesn't win games, running the football successfully does.

 

You know, here's the wierd thing. If you look at the stats, the Patses didn't run very successfully against the Jets. Only 60 net yards rushing.

Yet all but one of the Pats successful scoring drives were an even mixture of run and pass.

Somehow the threat to run, and the fact that some of the runs were successful, seemed to "cool the Jets".

[mjt328]

The problem is not running the ball.

The problem is that we can't complete a downfield pass to save our lives.

 

This offense is DESIGNED for Fitzpatrick to make quick decisions on short routes. We haven't been FORCED into it by the blitz.

 

What has changed is that teams are jamming our receivers and crowding the line of scrimmage - taking away the run, short slants and screens.

 

 

The way to combat this is to make some big passes downfield and force the defense to back up. Chan and Fitz KNOW this already, and it's clear by the playcalling that they are trying to make more big pass plays. Unfortunately:

1. Our receivers can't beat 1-on-1 coverage downfield

2. Fitzpatrick is inaccurate on long throws

3. Our offensive line can't hold the pass rush long enough for deep throws to develop

[Pete]

[Dr. Fong]

It all boils down to talent. There isn't a position on the team that the player would be the recognized best at that position in the division. Maybe with the exception of Fred Jackson at RB, but that's a position that is highly dependent on others for their success. You can't win many games like that. It's starting to show.