Steps taken to solve last year's problems

[Arm of Harm]

The Bills had a historic season last year, making it to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in decades. While the team was very good overall, there was still room for improvement.

 

Problem: The OL did not run block well during the regular season. During the postseason it neither run blocked nor pass protected well. The decline during the postseason was caused in large part because some guys were playing hurt. To me that says either a) the backups were hurt also, or b) the coaches thought an injured starter would be better than a healthy backup.

 

Solution: The Bills worked to improve the depth of their OL, using 3rd and 5th round picks on offensive tackles. They also signed Lamp, and took an OG in the 7th. These steps should hopefully improve the depth on the OL, making it less likely they'll be forced to play injured starters. If the light bulb comes on for Lamp, he could challenge for a starting position.

 

Evaluation: the Bills have addressed their depth on the OL, but it's not clear how much they've done to address their problems with run blocking.

 

Problem: Defenses didn't respect the running game.

 

Solution: the Bills brought in Breida to be a home run threat.

 

Evaluation: The problems with the running game were caused in large part by play design, blocking schemes, or the offensive linemen themselves, more so than the RBs. Breida's presence should help, but adding him needs to be part of a larger solution.

 

Problem: lack of pass rush. To the best of my knowledge none of the Bills defensive linemen had 5 or more sacks last season. As usual Jerry Hughes did much better achieving pressures than sacks.

 

Solution: The Bills signed Obada (5.5 sacks last season), a young international player who may not yet have reached his ceiling. They used their first and second round picks on defensive linemen. Star is coming back, and Harrison Phillips will should be healthy, so in theory you'll have guys to play the 1 tech.

 

Evaluation: At least on paper, the Bills have done a rock solid job of upgrading their pass rush.

 

Problem: Lack of pass coverage, especially in the KC playoff game. One of the problems in that game was Edmunds getting fooled too often. Tre White also did not play well that game.

 

Solution: The Bills did not necessarily add any new starters to their linebacker corps or defensive secondary. Maybe the solution lies in more effectively using the players they already have? If Edmunds has great physical tools but gets fooled too easily, maybe the defensive scheme could be modified to simplify his role. 

 

Evaluation: TBD

 

Overall

 

This team has seemingly taken a step forward this year, especially on the defensive line/pass rush. Some of the team's problems are with coaching/scheme, especially the problems involving running plays and pass coverage. It will be interesting to see what solutions the coaching staff will come up with.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 minutes ago, Arm of Harm said:

The Bills had a historic season last year, making it to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in decades. While the team was very good overall, there was still room for improvement.

 

Problem: The OL did not run block well during the regular season. During the postseason it neither run blocked nor pass protected well. The decline during the postseason was caused in large part because some guys were playing hurt. To me that says either a) the backups were hurt also, or b) the coaches thought an injured starter would be better than a healthy backup.

 

Solution: The Bills worked to improve the depth of their OL, using 3rd and 5th round picks on offensive tackles. They also signed Lamp, and took an OG in the 7th. These steps should hopefully improve the depth on the OL, making it less likely they'll be forced to play injured starters. If the light bulb comes on for Lamp, he could challenge for a starting position.

 

Poor Jamil Douglas.  No one can even remember the Bills signed him, and yet he's started 11 of the 46 NFL games he's played.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/04/02/bills-sign-jamil-douglas/

 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

 

The bill for Beane's bad financial decisions.......especially early in his tenure.......basically came due this offseason.    Every team took the same hit on the salary cap but those bad decisions in 2017-2018 really limited their options for improving the team relative to the rest of the league.

 

But I think they had their most efficient offseason.........managed to improve the team on-the-cheap in UFA, IMO....... and drafted smartly. 

 

It may not be enough to improve the teams record or finish but I do think the team is improved.......and are at least on a more sustainable trajectory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by BADOLBILZ

[Thurman#1]

42 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

The bill for Beane's bad financial decisions.......especially early in his tenure.......basically came due this offseason.    Every team took the same hit on the salary cap but those bad decisions in 2017-2018 really limited their options for improving the team relative to the rest of the league.

 

But I think they had their most efficient offseason.........managed to improve the team on-the-cheap in UFA, IMO....... and drafted smartly. 

 

It may not be enough to improve the teams record or finish but I do think the team is improved.......and at least on a more sustainable trajectory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nonsense.

 

Early in his career here he made terrific financial decisions. He cleared up the Whaley cap problems as quickly as was reasonably possible, and by his third year he'd gone from big cap problems to large amounts of space. This has been a tower of strength in his term. He's been brilliant financially. Only a very few questionable moves, none much worse than questionable. Not a single awful financial decision.

 

 

 

His personnel decisions have also been good, but not at such a high level of consistency as his financial decisions. Nor could they be, really.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Thurman#1

[Chandler#81]

wtf is this? 🤦‍♂️

[JaBu]

29 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

wtf is this? 🤦‍♂️

 

LOL, my thoughts exactly.

 

My best guess is - we drafted some OL and DL and hope we've improved.

 

 

[Aussie Joe]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

wtf is this? 🤦‍♂️

Peak offseason 

[Arm of Harm]

2 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Nonsense.

 

Early in his career here he made terrific financial decisions. He cleared up the Whaley cap problems as quickly as was reasonably possible, and by his third year he'd gone from big cap problems to large amounts of space. This has been a tower of strength in his term. He's been brilliant financially. Only a very few questionable moves, none much worse than questionable. Not a single awful financial decision.

 

 

 

His personnel decisions have also been good, but not at such a high level of consistency as his financial decisions. Nor could they be, really.

 

 

 

There have been cases where Beane has overpaid players, with the defensive line being an excellent example of that. Trent Murphy and Addison come to mind as some guys who didn't necessarily earn what the Bills have paid them. Jerry Hughes is also making more money than he probably could on the open market, but at least he's been more productive than those other two. From a cap management standpoint is Beane a major upgrade over Whaley? Absolutely! Can you find overpaid players on just about any team? No question. I think in a case like the Bills, the overpaid players stick out a little more for two reasons. 1) Beane had come close to maxing out the cap, presumably in hopes of a Super Bowl run while Allen was still on his rookie contract. 2) While the Corona-related salary cap reduction was equal for all teams, those teams harmed the most were the ones closest to the cap, such as the Bills.

 

[Chandler#81]

 This is a troll job, right?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

3 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

 This is a troll job, right?

Answering the thread's topic question, I have decided to drink less alcoholic beverages.  Does that legitimize it at all? 😁

Edited May 11, 2021 by Ridgewaycynic2013
I think I had the possessive wrong...🤔

[Draconator]

7 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Answering the thread topic's question, I have decided to drink less alcoholic beverages.  Does that legitimize it at all? 😁

I have read through the main points of this thread.

 

In conclusion, at 6:30 am, I am going into the freezer for Fireball.

[JGMcD2]

48 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Think the offensive line problems in the playoffs had more to do with quality of opponent. Not injuries.... Indy and KC have some good lineman upfront and they had their way at times with the Bills OL.... specifically Chris Jones in the AFC Champ game. 

Would have been quite interesting to see what would have happened had the refs seen Jones punch Feliciano... 

[HOUSE]

We did sign a new punter, Hawk-eye

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by HOUSE

[ganesh]

We lost the AFC Championship game because:

* Their OL man handled our DL giving all the time for Mahomes to get to the receivers 

* Their DL man handled our OL making Josh run around for his life, taking bad sacks. 

* Our OL provided no help to the running game to shorten the game and take the pressure of Josh

* Our DL provided no help in keeping the QB (a hurt one) under check. 

 

I think the Bills saw the issue and shored up both the lines.   Their theory - Improving the lines will help fix their weakness in the Run game and getting after the QB

[scuba guy]

The reason  for this board is that everyone is and can make there own opinions. And the op makes a good one. In three years will will see how good this draft class really is and how well we really do.

But all in all this draft class lacked depth at several positions and it was very hard to evaluate players.

With that said if a team like kc has a rash of injuries like in the afccg will the nfl change there stance on players dressed on game day. 17 games is a lot on there bodies and kc lost both starting tackles. If you dress 8 ol there was only 1 healthy guard left on the bench.

I think it was the Houston game years ago with Kelly we had 3 ol go down in that game and finished the game with,zero subs on the bench.

Last year we had Morse and Ford go out in the same game.

 

Ok that is all I got no jinx here

Edited May 11, 2021 by scuba guy
Typo

[Ethan in Cleveland]

I don’t recall any injuries on the OL in the playoffs. The issue was the top 5 guys never played a single snap together last season as Feliciano was out at the beginning of the season and Ford got hurt just as Feliciano was ready to come back.  They have a solid group of O-linemen. There is probably not a single all-pro on the line but there are no bad players either. Just a solid group that pass blocks extremely well. The draft will do nothing for 2021 except be depth for injury. Maybe Brown will see a few snaps in a heavy package as an extra tackle. 
Beame made the decision to keep his own and not spend much on free agents. His free agent spending has been muddled at best to date - great moves like Brown, Williams and Beasley mixed with terrible contracts like Murphy, Star, and several others.  
Last year was all on Allen. This year it is all on McD. He was out coached by Reid twice and probably by Reich as well. The rest of the AFC East, Cleveland, the Chargers, and maybe even KC got better. Steelers and Ravens look like they have peaked and Houston is imploding. Colts have a massive question mark at QB. Barring injury Bills should win 11+ games, win the AFC, and will need to go on the road to beat Cleveland or KC in the Championship game.

[SoCal Deek]

48 minutes ago, ganesh said:

We lost the AFC Championship game because:

* Their OL man handled our DL giving all the time for Mahomes to get to the receivers 

* Their DL man handled our OL making Josh run around for his life, taking bad sacks. 

* Our OL provided no help to the running game to shorten the game and take the pressure of Josh

* Our DL provided no help in keeping the QB (a hurt one) under check. 

 

I think the Bills saw the issue and shored up both the lines.   Their theory - Improving the lines will help fix their weakness in the Run game and getting after the QB

Very well said! Looking back on the draft this point’s been glossed over by the oddity of Beane taking two players at the same position with successive picks ..not once but twice. But the big picture is that they spent virtually their entire draft capital in the trenches. Has that ever happened before? 

[JimKellyTryouts]

9 hours ago, Arm of Harm said:

If the light bulb comes on for Lamp

 

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, Arm of Harm said:

The Bills had a historic season last year, making it to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in decades. While the team was very good overall, there was still room for improvement.

 

Problem: The OL did not run block well during the regular season. During the postseason it neither run blocked nor pass protected well. The decline during the postseason was caused in large part because some guys were playing hurt. To me that says either a) the backups were hurt also, or b) the coaches thought an injured starter would be better than a healthy backup.

 

Solution: The Bills worked to improve the depth of their OL, using 3rd and 5th round picks on offensive tackles. They also signed Lamp, and took an OG in the 7th. These steps should hopefully improve the depth on the OL, making it less likely they'll be forced to play injured starters. If the light bulb comes on for Lamp, he could challenge for a starting position.

 

Evaluation: the Bills have addressed their depth on the OL, but it's not clear how much they've done to address their problems with run blocking.

 

Problem: Defenses didn't respect the running game.

 

Solution: the Bills brought in Breida to be a home run threat.

 

Evaluation: The problems with the running game were caused in large part by play design, blocking schemes, or the offensive linemen themselves, more so than the RBs. Breida's presence should help, but adding him needs to be part of a larger solution.

 

Problem: lack of pass rush. To the best of my knowledge none of the Bills defensive linemen had 5 or more sacks last season. As usual Jerry Hughes did much better achieving pressures than sacks.

 

Solution: The Bills signed Obada (5.5 sacks last season), a young international player who may not yet have reached his ceiling. They used their first and second round picks on defensive linemen. Star is coming back, and Harrison Phillips will should be healthy, so in theory you'll have guys to play the 1 tech.

 

Evaluation: At least on paper, the Bills have done a rock solid job of upgrading their pass rush.

 

Problem: Lack of pass coverage, especially in the KC playoff game. One of the problems in that game was Edmunds getting fooled too often. Tre White also did not play well that game.

 

Solution: The Bills did not necessarily add any new starters to their linebacker corps or defensive secondary. Maybe the solution lies in more effectively using the players they already have? If Edmunds has great physical tools but gets fooled too easily, maybe the defensive scheme could be modified to simplify his role. 

 

Evaluation: TBD

 

Overall

 

This team has seemingly taken a step forward this year, especially on the defensive line/pass rush. Some of the team's problems are with coaching/scheme, especially the problems involving running plays and pass coverage. It will be interesting to see what solutions the coaching staff will come up with.

Arm -

 

Nice summary.   I have a couple of reactions.   One is that the solutions are long-term, not short-term.   The Bills probably will get some help from the new people they've added, but the real impact of those people in the problem areas is likely not to be seen for a couple of seasons.  The edge rushers probably will see the field in 2021 but like Epenesa, they will be expected to be large contributors in 2022.  Anything more than that is a bonus.  Same with the three offensive linemen - not likely to be impact players in year on.  

 

As I've said in other places, I think your analysis of Edmunds is incorrect.  Edmunds wasn't regularly getting "fooled" in pass coverage.  Edmunds was getting optioned.  Teams began developing route trees that left Edmunds with two guys to cover over the middle - when he chose one, the QB threw the other way.  It wasn't an Edmunds weakness; it was a defensive design weakness.  It will be addressed in coaching - how well remains to be seen.  Edmunds has his weaknesses, but he is pretty consistent in executing his assignment.  He isn't Superman - he can't be in two places at one time.  

[TheBeaneBandit]

While "for the future" was absolutely the theme, it was HUGE getting youth in at DE as that position costs a s***ton in free agency. Spencer Brown could save solid cash at RT in the future as well which will lessen the Allen megabucks sting some. After this year, hopefully bye bye to the Klein, Star, and Addison contracts too. If the Bills can nail 4 positions next offseason: WR, CB, 1T, and C/interior, the outlook is very bright.