Joe Buscaglia Shares The Root Cause of The Bills Struggles and Why It’s a Major Issue

[The Firebaugh Kid]

Why is 19 not more involved? You wanna fix the running game, you get creative. I've seen zero jet sweeps from 19 this year. Kid was good for 3-4 a game last year, and good yardage. 

[JohnNord]

18 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

could it be Allen can’t find the cover 2 holes  and get the ball there? Does it seem like some of the anticipation throw we saw coming on last year have vanished? 
 

Also, if a defense can do a cover2 shell near its end zone because you can’t run, good luck getting touchdowns in the red zone. 

Right which is why Buffalo is in the lower-middle of the pack when it comes to redzone TD percentage.  
 

I tend to think Josh needs more time to pass

[NewEra]

It’s exactly what we knew was the problem last year:
 

My offseason plan on O-  

Retool the IOL. They can’t run block for ****.  

Add speed @ RB.  Our RBs can’t make anyone pay.  
 

Add another TE that will allow us to be effective running and passing out of 2TE sets.  We need to become more multidimensional and throw our different looks because opposing Ds are just going focus on stopping the pass. 
 

-the only thing we addressed is speed @ rb with a player that will never be active.  Literally did nothing to help the O except get Manny Sands.  He’s a big upgrade, don’t get me wrong…..but he wasn’t enough.  
 

No one is afraid of our run and we can’t make defenses pay when they sell out to stop the pass. Until that changes, we’re likely to come up short.

[ngbills]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

It’s exactly what we knew was the problem last year:
 

My offseason plan on O-  

Retool the IOL. They can’t run block for ****.  

Add speed @ RB.  Our RBs can’t make anyone pay.  
 

Add another TE that will allow us to be effective running and passing out of 2TE sets.  We need to become more multidimensional and throw our different looks because opposing Ds are just going focus on stopping the pass. 
 

-the only thing we addressed is speed @ rb with a player that will never be active.  Literally did nothing to help the O except get Manny Sands.  He’s a big upgrade, don’t get me wrong…..but he wasn’t enough.  
 

No one is afraid of our run and we can’t make defenses pay when they sell out to stop the pass. Until that changes, we’re likely to come up short.

This was a lot of peoples plan. But we were told how the O was one of the best in the league and will only get better...

[mbs]

Why is Summertime Sweatshirt guy getting a pass here? When we took basically the same personnel from the Chair Tossing Kiddie Puncher to the Popcorn and Movies guy they absolutely face-planted. Sure a power blocking offense is the only one my fool eyes can follow, so I'm biased, but maybe it's more than talent here. We hired a rookie line coach and our line stinks way too much for it to be laid all at the feet of Morse, Williams, Dawkins and any two randomly selected scrubs.

[HappyDays]

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Very accurate description of our issues. The answer to me is a uptempo short passing game.

 

I might also add we need to get over settling for field goals. We seem to have this mindset that getting three is failure. That cost us the game.

 

 

 

Off topic, but this isn't just a Bills thing. Analytics has taken the league by storm and I see a lot of teams going too far in the aggressive direction. Teams go for it on 4th down more than they should, pass up easy FGs, etc. And if you look at the scoreboard at the end it is still one score separating the winner from the loser in most games. If you're playing the Chiefs or the Rams, sure maybe you need to play more aggressive. Against a team like the Jaguars we can afford to be conservative and play the FG/field position game. If our offense isn't clicking it makes no sense to have a TD or bust mindset.

Edited November 8, 2021 by HappyDays

[appoo]

There’s not really an adjustment for not having pass blocking. Well there is it’s to force the other team into man coverages so you have some quick throws available.

 

But as long teams zone the bills, and as long as the bills are allowing quick pressure, there’s nothing you can do as a play caller. 

[hjnick]

Until the Oline gets fixed we will continue to struggle run amd pass.

 

the only RB that could run w this OLine is Sanders…. Barry Sanders.

[Blank Stare]

What is it with most of these midday callers on WGR sounding like they are Jeff the Drunk? Brutal to listen to. 

[CSBill]

4 minutes ago, hjnick said:

Until the Oline gets fixed we will continue to struggle run amd pass.

 

the only RB that could run w this OLine is Sanders…. Barry Sanders.

 
And Barry Sanders’ teams never won much. 

[Greg S]

5 minutes ago, hjnick said:

Until the Oline gets fixed we will continue to struggle run amd pass.

 

the only RB that could run w this OLine is Sanders…. Barry Sanders.

 And Walter Payton. He was a one man gang on some bad Bears teams in the 70's.

[John from Riverside]

So basically its the offensive line

[appoo]

11 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

So basically its the offensive line

 

yes. You don't actually need a great OLine to win in the NFL. Just a not crap one. The Bills JV line just ain't it. It's exactly what caused the Chiefs offense to look so pathetic in the SB

[appoo]

I have my issues with the RBs, but that's a moo point if you can't run on the weak side of a defense that has basically 3 guys against your 4-5. 

 

I haven't seen Josh run around like that since he was a rookie. That probably wasn't something he wanted to do, or the game plan called for. 

 

I do think this is a bit fixable once Mongo and Brown come back, but I'd like to see some experimentation with Ryan Bates. I don't think he could be all that worse than Ford. 

 

Last point - we saw this when COVID ripped through the Liverpool lockeroom, so have some evidence. That disease has lasting impacts on athletes, and Dawkins is simply not right. You lose capacity and endurance and he's CLEARLY a shadow of his former self. The problem is that the Bills have nothing to replace him with, so they just have to struggle with him. 

 

If you have a finesse offense - which the Bills do - then the MOST important position (after the QB of course) are your tackles.  

[Fan in Chicago]

1 hour ago, ngbills said:

Moss is a good back. Singletary is meant to be a a horse but not your lead back. We signed Brieda...has he ever been active? "

I won't be surprised if Singletary is inactive for the Jets game and Brieda plays. Moss is a no brainer and needs to play.

Tough to see positives but Allen has been using RBs in the passing game more than before. 

[wvbillsfan]

We’ve lost games when we haven’t been able to protect against a four man rush

Getting Brown healthy solves two spots because we kick Williams inside and that has looked ok

 

Dont really care for our zone running scheme. We run better when we pull someone. 
 

Still had a top 5 offense before the jags game. 

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

 

Problem is RB'S are not that good.....

 

Yep this is a bigger problem than people want to admit. Not just in the run game. As pass catchers they are pathetic because they can't accelerate fast enough to take advantage of open space. We're running the New England offense which used to kill people with swing passes to James White. Instead of White we have 2 RBs with their feet stuck in the mud. I believe a dynamic RB would cover up some of the pass protection issues and attack the schemes we're seeing where they are weak. Beane needed to make it a priority in the offseason but didn't. Hopefully he won't make the same mistake again next year.

Edited November 8, 2021 by HappyDays

[Nextmanup]

5 hours ago, Nitro said:

Change up the scheme and personnel.   Traditional two back sets would be an option.  The O line is what it is.  

You want to watch those backs run into a brick wall at the line?

 

Our OL cannot open holes.  Barry Sanders wouldn't run well on this team.

 

 

[zow2]

It's big trouble for the O since they are no longer an explosive passing attack coupled with a negligible running game and a not-so physical O-line. 

 

I hate them but it's another reason why i have liked the Browns (since game 1) to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.  They have a strong line, very good RB's, and a solid passing game and QB/WR's, along with a good D.

[hondo in seattle]

2 hours ago, NewEra said:

It’s exactly what we knew was the problem last year:
 

My offseason plan on O-  

Retool the IOL. They can’t run block for ****.  

Add speed @ RB.  Our RBs can’t make anyone pay.  
 

Add another TE that will allow us to be effective running and passing out of 2TE sets.  We need to become more multidimensional and throw our different looks because opposing Ds are just going focus on stopping the pass. 
 

-the only thing we addressed is speed @ rb with a player that will never be active.  Literally did nothing to help the O except get Manny Sands.  He’s a big upgrade, don’t get me wrong…..but he wasn’t enough.  
 

No one is afraid of our run and we can’t make defenses pay when they sell out to stop the pass. Until that changes, we’re likely to come up short.

 

Yep.  Remember the AFC Championship game.  The Chiefs had 5, 6 backs in the game all day long - made it hard for receivers to get open.  They only rushed four.  Dared us to run.

 

But we're a one dimensional offense.  Passing is all we're good at.  We can't run effectively against light defenses.  And our OL can't even protect our QB when the D only rushes 4.  

 

I don't have a major beef with Joe's B's analysis but my first thought when reading it was: In other breaking news, President Kennedy was shot in Dallas.