metzelaars_lives Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) The last two games EJ played he was required to throw the ball over 35 times and we barely ran for anything significant. If we keep EJ under 25 attempts a game he has proven to be an effective game manager with the ability to win a game on the final drive here and there. The EJ critics repeat ad nauseam the Houston game. Hackett had him throw 44 times while we ran it less than 25 times. That will not happen this year. EJ has the best chance to win the starting job currently. Two things. a) I think he CAN be an effective game manager- especially with the personnel he has now. I just think that's the best we can hope for out of him. And b) He was every bit as bad in the San Diego game as he was in the Houston game. Edited March 20, 2015 by metzelaars_lives
Prickly Pete Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 As a laker fan I rebut this Yes....those players were assembled...two of them past their primes Take a look at the ages of the young people coming in that will be relied upon to make plays for the bills......it makes the Clay signing make even more sense. Yes those Lakers had age against them, one kind of problem. These new Bills have different problems. Harvin has all kinds of troubles. Felton has been suspended. McCoy can be a pain in the ass. Incognito...yea. Don't know much about Clay. And of course, none of the QB's are very good. There is only one ball, and keeping all these guys happy might not be easy, especially with bad QB play. New system, new faces, big contracts, blah,blah,blah. The point is, I see these kinds of player lists often ("look at these guys, unstoppable'), whether it's defenses or offenses, or baseball ("look at this bullpen!"), football, any team sport, and it's never what it seems. People were making these kinds of lists when the Bills signed Mario Williams...there is more to a team playing well. It's more than just the sum of it's parts.
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) Wait, there is actually football being discussed here? To the question, I agree the heavy nickel would be the best option. I'd see dropping a player like Seacry into the box to keep track of Clay and to act as run support against Shady and Harvin's jet sweep. Then, keep the other two safeties in zone coverage to try to make EJ and Cassel correctly read the zone and deliver the ball accurately on intermediate throws. Jam receivers off the line to prevent quick slants. Of course, the downside to this, as others have pointed out, is that it requires having a deep, diverse and talented secondary to pull it off, and subbing a LB, (usually a SAM, think Lawson or Preston) means that you lose a bit on run support, especially if you take away the containing edge on the strong side. I don't know if we have the O-line necessary to pound the ball down their throat with 8 men in the box, which is why I hope at least one pick in rounds 2-3 is OL. Edited March 20, 2015 by Whitewalker Merriman
Rockinon Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 We all know that any D is going to attack our perceived weakness. Bottom line....every D we face is going to try to confuse, disrupt, get after our QB. Solution.....make them respect the run. Make them think we can't pass and then drop the bomb on them.
billsfan89 Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Assuming the team drafts a guard to play LG and the team gets capable play along the O-line (Which is an if but I think Marrone stunted the growth of the O-line and it regressed). Teams will stuff the box and dare Cassel/EJ to win the game with his arm down the field. Harvin, Watkins, and Woods are capable players to stretch the field but can the O-line protect and can the QB deliver? I think the results on both will be mixed.
klos63 Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) Yup, they'll have 8 in the box. I hope the defenses put 8 in the box. Even with just 3 WR in play in man coverage, at least one will get open. More than 3, someone definitely open. Defenses usually will try to stop the run first, no matter what, so I think that will be the choice against us. Hopefully, our defense will get us a couple short field opportunities that will result in points and more pressure on the other offense to open it up, which is what we want. Edited March 20, 2015 by klos63
Mr. WEO Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Or a few before when we might be the best d ever with Mario, and Anderson joining and DW taking over at coordinator..... But it does legit seem like we should be effective with this group, just not unstoppable like some think. That was when we "won the offseason"!
thebandit27 Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 That was when we "won the offseason"! I really don't see anyone saying that the team has won the offseason...surely you'd agree that the offense has more talent than it did last year at this time?
NoSaint Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 I really don't see anyone saying that the team has won the offseason...surely you'd agree that the offense has more talent than it did last year at this time? Bills win the offseason? Was an espn topic last night, and you'll see several posting as if our units not just upgraded but near impossible to stop - it reminded me a little of the "how will the qb even get to his third step" comments we sometimes saw that year. We are definitely a step up but not sure how big the step will be. I'm guessing middle of the lack is realistic and frankly enough for the playoffs
John from Riverside Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Yes those Lakers had age against them, one kind of problem. These new Bills have different problems. Harvin has all kinds of troubles. Felton has been suspended. McCoy can be a pain in the ass. Incognito...yea. Don't know much about Clay. And of course, none of the QB's are very good. There is only one ball, and keeping all these guys happy might not be easy, especially with bad QB play. New system, new faces, big contracts, blah,blah,blah. The point is, I see these kinds of player lists often ("look at these guys, unstoppable'), whether it's defenses or offenses, or baseball ("look at this bullpen!"), football, any team sport, and it's never what it seems. People were making these kinds of lists when the Bills signed Mario Williams...there is more to a team playing well. It's more than just the sum of it's parts. So...in other words...doomed? Its always gonna be something if a few of you guys....
Mr. WEO Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 I really don't see anyone saying that the team has won the offseason...surely you'd agree that the offense has more talent than it did last year at this time? We are definitely better--as soon as Spiller left and McCoy came we were at least an order of magnitude better. Just saying these themes repeat themselves each year in the off season. See: "how will D's defend this offense?" thread. Same stuff was posted last pre-season.
cage Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 This is getting a little tired, isn't it? It's March, we don't have a first round pick. Our QBs are what they are, why not try to support them and look at it in a positive light until, I don't know, say we lose a game because of poor QB play. We have surrounded whoever it is with some significant weapons. Some of you guys act like these guys are Middle School Intramural QBs. They are still good enough to make the freaking NFL for heaven's sake. Last time I checked, that wasn't a very easy thing to do being that only 75 or so people in the entire world can say that at the moment. Not to mention, we don't have tweedledee and tweedledum coaching the offense anymore. Can't you just try to be a happy Bills fan for a few months? AMEN!
Kelly the Dog Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Not for nothing, But I'm positive I heard this same thing before last season: how will they cover CJ, Freddy, Watkins, Woods and Chandler? We shall see.. Marrone fixed that problem by not playing Lee Smith instead of them, and not throwing the ball to them.
Prickly Pete Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 So...in other words...doomed? Its always gonna be something if a few of you guys.... I'm encouraged. I definitely believe they will be better this season.
Virgil Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 I would expect to see maybe one safety deep, possibly none. They will stack the field within the first 5-10 yards and make us prove we can make a pass downfield. Sadly, it will probably work
YoloinOhio Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) It will be different than anything we saw here with Hackett and anything we saw with roman in SF because of the personnel. Roman never had YAC WRs in SF. Felton will open up lanes and Buffalo can spread teams out with Sammy/Woods/Harvin and get McCoy the ball. This will open things up downfield and our WRs are really fast and can beat coverage. Not to mention Clay on the play action TE seam route - I like EJ's skill set in this offense but if they could get Cardale jones next year he would be filthy in this scheme. Edited March 20, 2015 by YoloinOhio
Kelly the Dog Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 It will be different than anything we saw here with Hackett and anything we saw with roman in SF because of the personnel. Roman never had YAC WRs in SF. Felton will open up lanes and Buffalo can spread teams out with Sammy/Woods/Harvin and get McCoy the ball. This will open things up downfield and our WRs are really fast and can beat coverage. Not to mention Clay on the play action TE seam route - I like EJ's skill set in this offense but if they could get Cardale jones next year he would be filthy in this scheme. We won 9 games last year, our offense was terrible, and our offensive coaching and philosophy was terrible.
Magox Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Matt Cassel is not a good QB. He was benched for Brady Quinn and never got the job back. He is for sure in the NFL's bottom five of starting QBs if he's our starter. The 2015 offense hinges on either Manuel, Taylor or maybe even the QB we pick at #50 if they do that. Cassel is an "emergency backup QB only" IMO. No way will I believe that it was Greg Roman's master plan to have Matt Cassel run his 2015 offense for a whole year. Cassel was essentially replaced by Roman's rejected QB Alex Smith. That's pure speculation. Let's put it this way, Cassel has shown the ability to have a season that produced 22 TD.'s, 7 int's, a playoff appearance with a trip to the pro bowl. Obviously his ceiling is higher than bottom 5. I'm hoping that there is a good honest QB competition between the three and may the best man win. Go Bills.
Dorkington Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Like everyone else says, this offense is weakest at QB... Stack the box and force the QB to beat you. Blitz all day, stop the run, ignore the WRs until the QB can prove he can handle it.
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