OK, armchair analysts: How do we fix this offense?

[finn]

7 hours ago, Simon said:

Williams, Feliciano and Dawkins all regressed badly, Ford didn't progress and Beane didn't keep enough rabbits in the hat to overcome all 4 setbacks.

In the spirit of "What now?" you have to just hope that Dawkins returns to form, Feliciano is at least adequate, and Dawkins does ok a guard. The reserves just aren't playoff quality. 

[Southern Bills Fan]

Both times we had first and goal in the fourth quarter I said “ok here comes the Josh Allen sweep”. I thought we would run it at least 5 times last night. 

[zow2]

I'm still stunned that the Bills got deep into the red zone twice late 4th Qtr and got zippy points.  I mean the Pats D is really tough but that's brutal and I imagine most good NFL teams would have found a way to win the game in that scenario.

[finn]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

Replace the IOL

 

cut Moss and Breida.  
 

Add a TE2 that is worthy of an NFL roster.  
(watching Sweeney get manhandled and pushed back into 17 was maddening.  

I wouldn't cut Breida yet. But Moss... not sure what's happened to him. At this point, I would bench him for Antonio Williams, who runs with energy and determination. Moss seems slow and uninstintive. But, yes, please cut Sweeney. He's a poor blocker from what I've seen and a poor pass catcher. 

[NewEra]

4 minutes ago, finn said:

I wouldn't cut Breida yet. But Moss... not sure what's happened to him. At this point, I would bench him for Antonio Williams, who runs with energy and determination. Moss seems slow and uninstintive. But, yes, please cut Sweeney. He's a poor blocker from what I've seen and a poor pass catcher. 

Breida is a brittle jag with speed. I wouldn’t be upset if we kept him, as long as we add a RB that can pass block, catch and run with some speed and make you miss/break tackle ability.

[Just in Atlanta]

7 hours ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

I would like to see some more quick passing and misdirection. All our passing plays are long developing

 

 

I agree with that. It did seem Josh had an OK amount of time last night and took a long time to release the ball. The play design overall seems vanilla, which is odd, because fans often say Daboll tries to outsmart everyone.

[Just in Atlanta]

8 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I think we’re too reverent to Beasley and Sanders.

 

I think those two have faded down the stretch here, and need Davis and McKenzie rotating in half the time and taking snaps away from them.

 

We have no presnap motion, no jet sweeps, no misdirection, no two backs in the backfield, we don’t roll the pocket.

 

We don’t seem to have a good hot read for blitzes. There is never a dump off available. 

 

We can’t call a slant to save our lives even with Diggs. 
 

We don’t run the ball straight forward, instead it’s always some delayed handoff or gimmick formation.

 

We have no NFL caliber Tight End outside of Knox. 
 

Allen presses a lot and he took a horrible sack in the red zone that cost the Bills. He had time tonight.

 

We don’t control the tempo at all, speed up or slow down. How are we getting plays off with 0-1 seconds left on the play clock?

 

Why is Zack Moss STILL GETTING red zone work? Why the hell is he still on this team? 

 

 

Pre-snap motion: I agree, at least about last night. The play calling seemed incredibly straightforward, with an offense not designed for it.
Running the ball straight: Don't think we can TBH. 
Allen: I agree, its my one knock on him. Our plays take take too long to develop. We have the receivers for quicker release plays. 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

3 new offensive lineman.

[Just in Atlanta]

8 hours ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

We can do literally one thing with Moss - run up the middle for two yards. If he bounces outside, he's got a TD there. He needs to go. 

 

Singletary isn't great but he has shown he can rip off decent runs. 

 

Daboll needs to be fired. There's no reason to be running out this bland, vanilla offense every single week and expecting to get by on sheer talent. No motion, no sweeps, no play action, nothing. 

And, yet, if you look at threads of past, people complain that he tries to "outsmart" everyone. This "vanilla" offense was definitely true for last night. Not sure it is for other games this year. 

[SoCal Deek]

Morse has got to go. He was a mess last night. He simply can’t move anyone off the line anymore… if he ever could. He’s just too small.

[Just in Atlanta]

7 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

Dress Antonio Williams and Brieda cut the the one between Singletary and Moss that pass protects the worst.   

 

Throw more to Diggs

 

Don't leave Tommy Sweeney 1 on 1 with Matt Judon. 

  

Diggs is so fun to watch. I agree we should utilize him more. I'd like to see quicker passes to him. 

[pocoboy]

Here's a not-so-expert opinion on "the offense":

 

- I think Daboll completely changed the offensive scheme to accentuate Allen's development as a passer.

- I think Allen's development didn't progress this offseason, and may never progress further unless he takes the steps needed.

 

To me, it looks like they've run a remedial offense, giving Allen hot reads knowing he can't read defenses. Last year they incorporated a lot more read-option, jets, and other option-friendly plays (i.e. good for QB's that struggle to read coverages). I'm guessing they started going to town on more elaborate route trees, and at some point - maybe as early as the Steeler game - they realized he's not actually reading the defense, and as soon as Read #1 is neutralized he's lost and scrambling for his life.

 

This was a game they needed to have. It was a clear game where you didn't have to have any concern about the Tre White injury beating them. Instead Daboll played right into the Patriots hands with a 60% run scheme, compounded with some massive drops (especially from Knox, but if Diggs could have somehow hauled in the bomb the whole game changes entirely).

Edited December 7, 2021 by pocoboy

[NewEra]

2 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Morse has got to go. He was a mess last night. He simply can’t move anyone off the line anymore… if he ever could. He’s just too small.

Never could.  Only getting weaker with time.  

[Just in Atlanta]

5 hours ago, Paulus said:

1) Bench Knox for at least 2 games

2) Use Mckenzie in the run game, more. Use his speed to widen defenses. Basically, get back to basics.

3) Limit Sanders targets, and put Beasley back in that #2 spot. 

4) Use and know homefield advantage.

5) Use motion and play action, even if just as window dressing to disguise plays, more.

6) Just pick a random game from last year and run the exact same plays, this year (lol, jk).

 

 

Bench Knox and replace with him with ____? No thanks. The one drop wasn't his fault btw. Just a good defensive play. 

[BigBuff423]

Build a dome. Yup, I said as I've been saying it for years. The Bills, much to the delight of many posters on this board including me, have finally built a 21st Century NFL Offense, but our weather doesn't support it for the long-term. Build a dome and let the Greatest Show on Turf 2.0 be revealed. It's that simple. Going back two years, the Bills' best Offensive out-puts are generally in either good weather or domes. 

 

Build a dome, bring home the Lombardi. 

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

Where is the screen game? It doesn’t matter to whom or where on the field. One thing that the Patriots did last night really well was play great team offense. They don’t rely on any ONE player, but all of them. That’s so cliche, but 6 Super Bowls and a wing in Canton, says different. Too much of this offense relies on Josh Allen. That’s not sustainable at all. Obviously a better run game would change that, however, there isn’t one. So go with what you do best, which is throw the ball around, in rhythm and open up passing lanes. This game was there, like others, and the lack of creativity in the offense (how can this EVEN be a thing still) lost this game. 
 

[Hebert19]

8 hours ago, ClemsonBills said:

Can’t run the ball. Balance is crucial. Makes it harder to game plan 

This.  Just find a way for teams to have to respect the run.  That's all. 

[RunTheBall]

4 minutes ago, pocoboy said:

Here's a not-so-expert opinion on "the offense":

 

- I think Daboll completely changed the offensive scheme to accentuate Allen's development as a passer.

- I think Allen's development didn't progress this offseason, and may never progress further unless he takes the steps needed.

 

To me, it looks like they've run a remedial offense, giving Allen hot reads knowing he can't read defenses.

 

This is garbage. Allen is reading defenses fine, he's not getting confused, he knows where to go with the ball. 

 

His problem is that he rightfully doesn't trust his offensive line. He's been getting pressured instantly since the first game of the season.

 

What's happened is that his internal clock has sped up yet he's holding the ball longer because Dabolls offense has a lot of intermediate to deep routes and is often read deep to shallow. 

 

Idk if that can be fixed this year. What I'd do is try more heavy/max protect schemes with 3 routes. 1 deep, 1 intermediate and one shallow/outlet. Give him a few games where he's not dodging guys after 1 second and let him get his groove back. 

[pocoboy]

As far as fixing the offense - at this point Breida is the only guy who is finding the holes this pedestrian line is opening (when he hangs onto the ball). I think you need to give serious thought to trialing other backs (either off PS, another team's PS, or FA) at this point. Breida's ability to find those holes indicates it's not impossible, but you're forcing yourself to rely on two guys who are NOT getting the job done consistently.

1 minute ago, RunTheBall said:

His problem is that he rightfully doesn't trust his offensive line. He's been getting pressured instantly since the first game of the season.

 

 

Very much so. Maybe in the 2022 Draft they can go out and get 2-3 more defensive linemen to help with this problem...

[Brandon]

It seems to me to be relatively straightforward.  They're one dimensional.  The front office lost their gamble on the RBs stepping up this year,  and at the same time,  an average interior OL from last year has regressed significantly this season.  They keep trying to establish the run on first down and their inability to do so is putting Allen and the passing game in unfavorable down and distance situations.  Several first down runs by Moss were particularly ineffective last night and it took the Bills far too long to realize it.  

 

There's not much they can do about it for the rest of this season,  except to substitute short passes and screens for a running game. In the off-season,  they need to make major investments in the guards and RBs.