Bills offense compared to 2020 by the numbers, and they may shock you.

[HOUSE]

13 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Idk, the Cardinals game was a pretty similar situation. Josh Allen drives the length of the field to score the go ahead TD, and then the defense pukes all over itself.

 

Good point

[GunnerBill]

21 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Every team targets the 1 seed though, not sure how that changes anything.  We weren’t the 1 seed last year either.

 

No but we were the two, on a longer run if victories, offense humming and winning all sorts of ways. Close games and blowouts. My concern this year was we were not winning close games. And like Brandon Beane always says..  the way your season ends is normally the way it went. The story of the 2021 Bills was being in position to win a close game and not getting it done. 

 

I don't think you are crazy to have been more confident this year or anything. But I was certainly more confident heading into the post-season in 2020. We played better once in the post season this year, but that is hindsight. I can only go off how I felt at the end of the regular season.

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

No but we were the two, on a longer run if victories, offense humming and winning all sorts of ways. Close games and blowouts. My concern this year was we were not winning close games. And like Brandon Beane always says..  the way your season ends is normally the way it went. The story of the 2021 Bills was being in position to win a close game and not getting it done. 

 

I don't think you are crazy to have been more confident this year or anything. But I was certainly more confident heading into the post-season in 2020. We played better once in the post season this year, but that is hindsight. I can only go off how I felt at the end of the regular season.

 

Yep a lot of people definitely forget the general perspective they had heading into the playoffs this year.

 

Perspective can change FAST.

 

After the Bills lost that Monday night game to NE people were furious and many felt all was lost.

 

At our post game tailgate that night I detailed how it was going to go from there..........the Bills would win in NE and grind out the division title and meet the Patriots at home in the wild card game and it would be glorious to exact that revenge in those games and be 1-0 all time against NE in the playoffs.  

 

At that time a lot of fans thought the team would miss the playoffs entirely.........and even when that scenario played out A LOT of fans were worried stiff about losing that game to NE and how they would feel if they lose that game etc.........confidence was not sky high.......only in hindsight is NE now viewed as a cupcake opponent in the WC round and that a lost season of SB destiny occurred in KC.

[ganesh]

5 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Perspective can change FAST.

 

That is why the NFL is called Not For Long !!!!

[Nextmanup]

47 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

Perspective can change FAST.

 

After the Bills lost that Monday night game to NE people were furious and many felt all was lost.

Are you kidding?  The memory of this board is usually about 1 game long.

 

After the Tampa loss, spirits were really down and a lot of brilliant posters were calling for a total rebuild of the team, focusing on more "toughness" and they were asking why were not built to win in the cold.

 

In the post game thread, I said "no big deal...we are still in good shape...and I expect us to win out and win the division."  And I got laughing icons on my post, like I'm the idiot...

 

Of course, we did win out and win the division, and were 13 seconds away from probably a SB appearance, once we finished off the Bengals.

 

Funny thing is, you don't see a lot of threads now calling for a total team rebuild and asking why we are not built for winning in cold weather.

 

 

 

[Alphadawg7]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

No but we were the two, on a longer run if victories, offense humming and winning all sorts of ways. Close games and blowouts. My concern this year was we were not winning close games. And like Brandon Beane always says..  the way your season ends is normally the way it went. The story of the 2021 Bills was being in position to win a close game and not getting it done. 

 

I don't think you are crazy to have been more confident this year or anything. But I was certainly more confident heading into the post-season in 2020. We played better once in the post season this year, but that is hindsight. I can only go off how I felt at the end of the regular season.

But I didn’t say heading into the postseason, I think that’s the disconnect here.  I said what team you would take to win a game right now if we could be back in the playoffs.  I’ll take the one that we just witnessed in these playoffs hands down.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Alphadawg7

[GunnerBill]

33 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

But I didn’t say heading into the postseason, I think that’s the disconnect here.  I said what team you would take to win a game right now if we could be back in the playoffs.  I’ll take the one that we just witnessed in these playoffs hands down.

 

You said "the entered the playoffs" that means heading in. This year's team played better in the playoffs. That has never been disputed. Certainly not by me and I don't believe by @FireChans either. 

[FireChans]

Just now, GunnerBill said:

 

You said "the entered the playoffs" that means heading in. This year's team played better in the playoffs. That has never been disputed. Certainly not by me and I don't believe by @FireChans either. 

They are trying to drag me unfairly! 

[FireChans]

56 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

But I didn’t say heading into the postseason, I think that’s the disconnect here.  I said what team you would take to win a game right now if we could be back in the playoffs.  I’ll take the one that we just witnessed in these playoffs hands down.

You legitimately never said anything close to this.

18 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Still disagree.  Our OL was an issue until it was finally healthy and stabilized, especially when Bates entered the starting lineup.  
 

Down the stretch and playoffs this offense was definitely better. 
 

I’ll take the team that entered the playoffs THIS year over LAST years team 100% of the time.  And you know you would too if you’re being honest about it.  
 

 

[YattaOkasan]

9 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

5 trips to the RZ and 2 TD, plus an INT deep in our own territory leading to a TENN TD

Sure but he has lumped it in with Jax and Indy which were really bad offensive games.  We were inefficient in the RZ but those other two we struggled to move the ball.  

9 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I wasn't trying to say the offense sucked or finger them for the loss or anything.  The OP I was responding to asked "what was wrong with the offense in the Tennessee game" and I answered: poor red zone efficiency and a pick in our own red zone, that's what.

Sorry I was responding to another guy that had tenn as bad offense like jax and Indy. I don’t think you agree with that. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 minutes ago, YattaOkasan said:

Sure but he has lumped it in with Jax and Indy which were really bad offensive games.  We were inefficient in the RZ but those other two we struggled to move the ball.  

Sorry I was responding to another guy that had tenn as bad offense like jax and Indy. I don’t think you agree with that. 

 

Certainly scored points in Tenn game and made fewer errors.

 

We actually moved the ball OK in the Jax game.  336 yds.  Dumbass penalties and 3 offensive turnovers doomed us.

Similar story in Indy, 319 yds, moved the ball at times but 4 turnovers way too much against a decent team.

 

Anyway, yes I would agree that Indy was our worst offensive game of the season, followed by Jax, and both worse than Tenn.

 

 

[ngbills]

Do you mean this post to positive? I agree with everything. Amazing job and great analysis.

Do you mean this post to be negative? This is terrible and useless information. It means nothing and clearly shows the opposite actually of what your saying. 

[hondo in seattle]

12 hours ago, Ayjent said:

The line play was the biggest issue not Josh, and they finally got it straight at the end of the season.  The play calling was inconsistent as well, and the offense was clearly frustrated at times during the season.   The only bell cow on the team was Allen doing amazing things through the air with his legs. I thought that there was stubbornness in coaching that almost cost them the AFC East.  I think Daboll should be given credit for the success in developing Allen and good to great game plans from time to time, but it may be best for the long term health of Allen and the team to be moving on from him and get more balance and physicality to compliment the toughest mofo in the league. 

 

While I agree with you generally...  I would still keep Allen's running game in reserve as a weapon.  It wouldn't be a weapon I'd employ every game.  I'd save it for when we most need it.  

[Alphadawg7]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

You said "the entered the playoffs" that means heading in. This year's team played better in the playoffs. That has never been disputed. Certainly not by me and I don't believe by @FireChans either. 

Yes but I meant based on what we know now.  Not how you were feeling before you saw this team in the playoffs.  

6 hours ago, FireChans said:

You legitimately never said anything close to this.

 

But I’m saying that based on what we know now

[Nihilarian]

Lies, damned lies and statistics!

 

Just looking at the defensive numbers this season and them being ranked #1 overall against the pass you'd think the Bills were a great defense or had a great pass rush. Newp, not even close to being great! The KC playoff game proved that by giving up 552 yards of offense.

 

The Bills beat up on some bad backup scrub QBs 5x and played rookie QBs 3x, along with "stick a fork in him", Cam Newton. 

 

 

Anyway, the two games that stand out to me for the regular season in 2021... as in seared in my memory forever!! Are the week 9 loss to the 2-6 Jacksonville Jaguars with the 30th ranked defense. One of the very worst teams in the NFL the past few years. In 2020, 1-15 and the Jags again get the first pick of the 2022 NFL draft. 

 

Buffalo, 14 1/2 point favorites in this game. The Jags held that vaunted high powered 2020-2021 Buffalo Bills offense to just 2 FGs and won 6-9. Josh Allen sacked 4x, 29 pressures, 21 hurries, 8 QB hits. Meanwhile, Buffalo 47 pass attempts vs 9 rush attempts by Bills RBs.

Pass game isn't working...just keep throwing.

 

The other game was the humiliating loss to the Colts 15-41. Beaten down by a run first team with a scrub at QB. Carson Wentz 11 of 20 for 106, 1 TD. RB Jonathan Taylor 32 rushes for 185 yards, 4 TDs. Tough to watch the interviews in the Colts locker room after the game...with them laughing about how bad Buffalo was...

 

Bills DC Leslie Frazier asked about keeping the defense in dime coverage. He stated that the Bills should be able to stop the run with the same players by stacking the box. Clearly not!

This changed later in the season as the defense did sub in bigger players to stop the run.

 

Since the Tampa bay second half the Buffalo offense found that running the ball with the RBs  does wonders for the offense. That, along with Josh Allen forcing his will to win helped Buffalo to a 5 game win steak.

 

Two nearly perfect playoff games by the Buffalo QB...until, he was unfortunately unable to save the team from a disastrous defensive scheme with 13 seconds remaining. The Bills ST's coach seems to have taken the heat from that loss. Yet, that kick itself was irrelevant in my view.

 

I'm thinking the 2022 Bills offense should be similar to what we watched in the last five games. JMHO.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Nihilarian

[Richard Noggin]

16 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Yes, I honestly did...I'm not trying to say they sucked, but they missed a lot of opportunities that would have put the game away.  It was a story of our offense most of the season that we struggled in the Red Zone.  The stats you quote are one reason I feel stats don't tell the whole story.

 

Of course, I was more disappointed in the defense, but "other than that Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play?" other than the long Henry run they did a decent job on Henry, actually.

Our offense converting their opportunities into points...or not...felt like the determining factor most of the season. Forget the defense. Getting scored ON just isn't/wasn't a reason to be concerned; failing TO score, however, was. Every time we lost, you could point to squandered offensive chances to put the game away (or at least force the opposition into being more one-dimensional offensively). 

 

Even if you agree that the Bills offense is to blame for every regular season loss (maybe minus the Colts debacle), most or all of you disagree that the Bills offense is to blame for the Chiefs playoff loss. We all know the Bills D was gashed. And so was the Chiefs D.

 

But think of the Bills offensive drives in the 1st-3rd quarters before Allen and Davis became historically unstoppable: the only successful 3rd and 4th down conversions came on plays where Allen ran it or threw it (where he kept it/did NOT handoff). On the contrary, a 3rd-and-2 handoff to Singletary (in KC territory) got stuffed, and a 3rd-and-1 to McKenzie got strung out. Both of those drive stops came on consecutive unsuccessful (2nd and 3rd down) running plays. That's unacceptably misguided play-calling, taking the ball out of your best weapon's hands. That is a self-inflicted failure to potentially score 3-14 more points. 

[Ayjent]

11 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

While I agree with you generally...  I would still keep Allen's running game in reserve as a weapon.  It wouldn't be a weapon I'd employ every game.  I'd save it for when we most need it.  

Well hopefully we don’t need it as much and it is more of an improvised thing than having several designed runs per game.  I agree it can be very effective, but it’s not something that should be a staple in the years to come.  That’s why they need a versatile pounding back that has a nose for the endzone.  Moss looks for contact too much and doesn’t have great vision. Singletary is a good back, but it’s nice to have a compliment that has some thud and vision.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Ayjent

[FireChans]

7 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Yes but I meant based on what we know now.  Not how you were feeling before you saw this team in the playoffs.  

But I’m saying that based on what we know now

This was a discussion of the differences of the regular season statistics. 
 

We all agree the 2021 Bills absolutely played better than the 2020 version in the postseason. 
 

But in the regular season, that 2020 team was HOT, particularly at the end of the season. They were blowing teams out. The 2021 team was a lot more inconsistent, even towards the end. The numbers bear all of this out.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

I think looking at 19 total games played by the offense and Allen in 2020 vs 2021 both were nearly identical. That is certainly one way to look at it whether one agrees or not.