NFL Executive Comments on the Flaw of Bills Roster Construction & Game Play

[JohnNord]

Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote a long piece on yesterday’s games including the Bills.  He said that throwing as much as the Bills do is not sustainable.

 

As much as people want to grill McDermott about “balance,” there’s actually good reason establishing a running game including the coverage that Buffalo has gotten this season.  Sadly, the problem is with the talent at OL and RB and you can’t fix this in Week 14 of the season.

 

But passing frequently because a team cannot run with any success is a losing proposition over time. Passing too frequently puts stress on quarterbacks and linemen. Risks increase when defenses know where they can find the quarterback play after play. Returns become diminishing.

 

“The only reason why you would not hand the ball off to a running back (for a full half) is if you just do not trust them to make the plays,” an exec from another team said. “As long as you are are a threat to run or pass, you are in good shape. That is where Buffalo is really hurting themselves with their team construction and maybe with their play calling when it is that extreme.”

 

IMO the offensive line this season was a huge oversight.  And arguably a big reason why the Bills have lost almost every game this season. 
 

Whether it’s McDermott, Beane, or Daboll, there were serious flaws in the offense this team put on the field 

 

https://theathletic.com/3010688/2021/12/13/whats-different-about-cowboys-what-bills-could-change-and-real-reason-packers-own-bears-mike-sandos-pick-six/?source=user_shared_article

Edited December 13, 2021 by JohnNord

[racketmaster]

I don't mind Singletary as a complimentary back but that is all he is. Breida is overrated as he was considered a savior showing how bad the rb room is and Moss has been a complete bust. RB should have been one of the easiest spots to draft and find in free agency and they have whiffed. We have Singletary as a scat back but we lack any power runner or a back with good speed to power combination. I'd take Jordan Howard at this point just to avoid having to use Allen as much on short yardage situations as he was available in free agency. At a bare bones minimum we needed a power back. It hurt us last year when Moss was out in the playoffs as he was the only back resembling that. Moss has shown a few flashes but is very limited and a bust for where we drafted him. Bills are so desperate for that type of back they were rumored to be in on Adrian Peterson a few weeks back. We don't have enough dynamic wrs to just pass all day as almost no team can do this. There is so much pressure put on Allen and the wrs and defenses are playing the pass almost exclusively. 

[Steptide]

Oh ya, throwing that much is not sustainable, yet the bucs, who won the superbowl, throw it just as much or more. Please 

[HOUSE]

The People at the Athletic hide behind their snobbish paywall hoping for extra holiday cash

 

 

 

.

Edited December 13, 2021 by HOUSE

[BuffaloBillyG]

7 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote a long piece on yesterday’s games including the Bills.  He said that throwing as much as the Bills do is not sustainable.

 

As much as people want to grill McDermott about “balance,” there’s actually good reason establishing a running game including the coverage that Buffalo has gotten this season.  Sadly, the problem is with the talent at OL and RB and you can’t fix this in Week 14 of the season.

 

But passing frequently because a team cannot run with any success is a losing proposition over time. Passing too frequently puts stress on quarterbacks and linemen. Risks increase when defenses know where they can find the quarterback play after play. Returns become diminishing.

 

“The only reason why you would not hand the ball off to a running back (for a full half) is if you just do not trust them to make the plays,” an exec from another team said. “As long as you are are a threat to run or pass, you are in good shape. That is where Buffalo is really hurting themselves with their team construction and maybe with their play calling when it is that extreme.”

 

IMO the offensive line this season was a huge oversight.  And arguably a big reason why the Bills have lost almost every game this season. 
 

Whether it’s McDermott, Beane, or Daboll, there were serious flaws in the offense this team put on the field 

 

https://theathletic.com/3010688/2021/12/13/whats-different-about-cowboys-what-bills-could-change-and-real-reason-packers-own-bears-mike-sandos-pick-six/?source=user_shared_article

The narrative that the Bills can't run is slightly overblown. They can...they just almost refuse to do so.

 

Singletary has been good with opportunities. Not just yesterday, but most of the season. Coaches have just insisted that our RB position needs to be a rotation.

 

Most teams that have a RBBC approach will get their RBs involved early and if someone shows they have the "hot hand" will feed them for the rest of the game. Not Buffalo. Games where we do see Singletary do well early they switch him out for Breida or Moss or Allen called runs or they will just turn to the pass. That's a flaw in coaching philosophy. Be it McD or Daboll that wants it that way it needs to end.

[Dr. K]

The most important factor to me is that expecting Josh Allen to play this way is not sustainable. He can do astonishing things, carry the offense on his back they way he did in the second half yesterday FOR A WHILE. But not indefinitely. No quarterback can take that kind of beating without it taking a toll. He'll end up like Cam Newton or RGIII or any number of phenoms who got worn out.

 

They have to find another way to win games. Maybe they can win these last four, and make the playoffs this season, but the clock is ticking on this offensive strategy, if you can even call it that. He's the most valuable player on the team, and they are going to destroy him. 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Dr. K

[Big Turk]

27 minutes ago, No Place To Hyde said:

The narrative that the Bills can't run is slightly overblown. They can...they just almost refuse to do so.

 

Singletary has been good with opportunities. Not just yesterday, but most of the season. Coaches have just insisted that our RB position needs to be a rotation.

 

Most teams that have a RBBC approach will get their RBs involved early and if someone shows they have the "hot hand" will feed them for the rest of the game. Not Buffalo. Games where we do see Singletary do well early they switch him out for Breida or Moss or Allen called runs or they will just turn to the pass. That's a flaw in coaching philosophy. Be it McD or Daboll that wants it that way it needs to end.

 

The way they ran yesterday with plays to the edges they can be good with.

 

The issue is they like trying to run the ball up the middle where we get no push and the DL is usually in the backfield before our player gets the ball...

 

Not sure why the run game is so predictable...it's almost like McDermott is determined to show everyone they are tough up front even tho they aren't and are wasting chances to move the ball to do so.

 

Look at how the 49ers use Deebo Samuel...dude is all over the place...almost every week he has a long run.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Big Turk

[Hapless Bills Fan]

32 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

The People at the Athletic hide behind their snobbish paywall hoping for extra holiday cash

 

 

House goes to a grocery store: "The People at Wegmans hide behind their snobbish cash registers hoping for extra holiday cash"

House goes to a gas station: "The People at Exxon hide behind their snobbish cash registers hoping for extra holiday cash"

House needs a plumber: "The People at Planit Plumbing hide behind their snobbish invoices hoping for extra holiday cash"

 

Yeah, Bro, everyone in your life ought to comp you.  Grow Up.  They're selling a product.  Buy it or don't buy it, but people deserve to be paid for their work.  And if that was supposed to be a joke, add Humor next time.

 

 

[JackKemp]

42 minutes ago, racketmaster said:

I don't mind Singletary as a complimentary back but that is all he is. Breida is overrated as he was considered a savior showing how bad the rb room is and Moss has been a complete bust. RB should have been one of the easiest spots to draft and find in free agency and they have whiffed. We have Singletary as a scat back but we lack any power runner or a back with good speed to power combination. I'd take Jordan Howard at this point just to avoid having to use Allen as much on short yardage situations as he was available in free agency. At a bare bones minimum we needed a power back. It hurt us last year when Moss was out in the playoffs as he was the only back resembling that. Moss has shown a few flashes but is very limited and a bust for where we drafted him. Bills are so desperate for that type of back they were rumored to be in on Adrian Peterson a few weeks back. We don't have enough dynamic wrs to just pass all day as almost no team can do this. There is so much pressure put on Allen and the wrs and defenses are playing the pass almost exclusively. 

I can't like this enough. The OL has been inconsistent, but the lack of the right talent at RB is a bigger issue.

Edited December 13, 2021 by JackKemp

[BuffaloRebound]

2 minutes ago, JackKemp said:

I can't like this enough. The OL has been inconsistent, but I the lack of the right talent at RB is a bigger issue.

Not surprising.  Our highest paid RB is a special teams player who never sees the field on offense.  

And Beane sat back and let most of the good RB’s in the draft get selected before pulling the trigger on a couple of RB’s who lacked power and speed.  

Edited December 13, 2021 by BuffaloRebound

[Thriftygamer83]

Pr talk to dodge around officiating.

[Alphadawg7]

48 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote a long piece on yesterday’s games including the Bills.  He said that throwing as much as the Bills do is not sustainable.

 

As much as people want to grill McDermott about “balance,” there’s actually good reason establishing a running game including the coverage that Buffalo has gotten this season.  Sadly, the problem is with the talent at OL and RB and you can’t fix this in Week 14 of the season.

 

But passing frequently because a team cannot run with any success is a losing proposition over time. Passing too frequently puts stress on quarterbacks and linemen. Risks increase when defenses know where they can find the quarterback play after play. Returns become diminishing.

 

“The only reason why you would not hand the ball off to a running back (for a full half) is if you just do not trust them to make the plays,” an exec from another team said. “As long as you are are a threat to run or pass, you are in good shape. That is where Buffalo is really hurting themselves with their team construction and maybe with their play calling when it is that extreme.”

 

IMO the offensive line this season was a huge oversight.  And arguably a big reason why the Bills have lost almost every game this season. 
 

Whether it’s McDermott, Beane, or Daboll, there were serious flaws in the offense this team put on the field 

 

https://theathletic.com/3010688/2021/12/13/whats-different-about-cowboys-what-bills-could-change-and-real-reason-packers-own-bears-mike-sandos-pick-six/?source=user_shared_article

 

They drafted two OL, so this notion we ignored the OL this offseason is just not accurate.  

 

Its not like we have endless cap space to pay the best OL in FA or have 6 picks in the first 2 rounds to get premium draft picks at every position of need.  One of those 2 OL we drafted has been one of our best OL this year in Brown.  

 

Sorry, but nothing is more inaccurate than this false blanket statement we "ignored" it when we did not.  Our pass rush was a major achilles heal ALSO.  We had several things we needed to address, cant fix it all in one draft or offseason.  

 

I mean this was essentially the third year of an entire rebuild where it was completely torn down and built back up.  Almost every starter is new, and every backup.  We went from the bottom of the AFC to the AFCCG in essentially Beanes 2nd year of rebuilding (first year he just tore the old stuff down before building back up).  

 

Now this offseason, there is zero doubt OL will almost certainly be the main priority this off season.  I expect they will look to address DT given Star has not been able to stay on the field consistently and he and his size are too important to our run defense and possibly a RB.  But our run game issues are NOT our RB's as much as it is our OL and most importantly, run blocking scheme.  

 

Other changes I believe will happen...Bobby Johnson fired and if Daboll doesn't take another job, I think he could be fired too.  Because quite honestly, I dont think talent wise our OL is as bad as its been playing.  I think it has a LOT to do with Daboll and his system/scheme.  Look at the 2nd half yesterday...soon as we start running the ball, the OL doesn't look nearly as bad as it did in the first half.  This has been true several times this year.  So my personal opinion, DABOLL is our biggest achilles heal overall right now.  

 

This reminds me when everyone was crying we didn't address WR while completely lacking the context of state of the team, cap, and all the other positions we had to address first.  Then, once that was set, we went and over hauled the WR room too.  Next up...the OL situation...be it player or coach over haul or both.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Breida missed a blitz pickup BAD yesterday.  I doubt he played much after that, and its kind of why he's never been a starter.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

14 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

The way they ran yesterday with plays to the edges they can be good with.

 

The issue is they like trying to run the ball up the middle where we get no push and the DL is usually in the backfield before our player gets the ball...

 

Not sure why the run game is so predictable...it's almost like McDermott is determined to show everyone they are tough up front even tho they aren't and are wasting chances to move the ball to do so.

 

Look at how the 49ers use Deebo Samuel...dude is all over the place...almost every week he has a long run.

Problem there is we have no Deebo. Outside of Allen and Diggs we have zero big play guys. I think Gabe Davis could be but they had to sign Sanders and limit Davis (who also had an early season ankle injury).

 

As far as McD...he needs to show people HE'S tough. Teams often pick up on what a coach is and who he is as a person. As much as I hate Mike Vrabel, the dude is tough and his team feeds off of it. He shows more confidence in Ryan Tannehill than McD shows in Josh Allen to pick up 3 yards on a big spot. This team will continue to shrink in big moments until McD grows some balls and starts believing in his players. And in his 5th year coaching this team if he still doesn't have players the can believe in then there are some really big issues that need to be addressed IMO.

[TheFunPolice]

Singletary was the guy who "could make you miss in a phone booth" as a rookie and used to make nice plays his rookie year when he was used more. Then they drafted Moss for that "one foot and a cloud of dust" factor and Singletary has been an afterthought ever since. 

 

Yesterday he made some plays on offense. Now, I'm not saying he is a feature back or that he is a gamebreaker. But we know he CAN make plays because we've seen it here, in this offense, for this team. 

 

When you get 3 touches a game you're not going to get into any type of rhythm. 

[TheBrownBear]

Yesterday's game was an outlier as we rarely ask Josh to pass that often.  You'd think that based on that article and this thread, we'd lead the NFL in passing attempts.  We are 6th in passing attempts (18th in rushing attempts).  And our offense is still ranked in the top-10 overall (8th in yards, 4th in scoring).  The two big issues we have is our inability to stop power rushing teams on D and an inability to score in the redzone.  We are going through a rough patch these past two weeks and it seems as if the sky is falling, but we lost one score games to two of the top-4 or 5 teams in the entire league, almost entirely because of the two issues noted above.  If we can make some tweaks and show some modest improvement in those areas over the soft schedule these next four weeks, we can enter the playoffs as a threat to make some noise.

 

But yes, the O and D lines are serious issues from a personnel standpoint and we need to address them in the offseason.

[Alphadawg7]

49 minutes ago, racketmaster said:

I don't mind Singletary as a complimentary back but that is all he is. Breida is overrated as he was considered a savior showing how bad the rb room is and Moss has been a complete bust. RB should have been one of the easiest spots to draft and find in free agency and they have whiffed. We have Singletary as a scat back but we lack any power runner or a back with good speed to power combination. I'd take Jordan Howard at this point just to avoid having to use Allen as much on short yardage situations as he was available in free agency. At a bare bones minimum we needed a power back. It hurt us last year when Moss was out in the playoffs as he was the only back resembling that. Moss has shown a few flashes but is very limited and a bust for where we drafted him. Bills are so desperate for that type of back they were rumored to be in on Adrian Peterson a few weeks back. We don't have enough dynamic wrs to just pass all day as almost no team can do this. There is so much pressure put on Allen and the wrs and defenses are playing the pass almost exclusively. 

 

RB is not our biggest issue.  Could they be upgraded, sure, and have no problem with that.  But Daboll, the OL, and our run blocking scheme is a way bigger reason as to why our run game is lacking.  

[MJS]

24 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

The way they ran yesterday with plays to the edges they can be good with.

 

The issue is they like trying to run the ball up the middle where we get no push and the DL is usually in the backfield before our player gets the ball...

 

Not sure why the run game is so predictable...it's almost like McDermott is determined to show everyone they are tough up front even tho they aren't and are wasting chances to move the ball to do so.

 

Look at how the 49ers use Deebo Samuel...dude is all over the place...almost every week he has a long run.

McDermott doesn't call plays on offense. It is Daboll.

 

Daboll is deficient in the run game, both in scheme and in play calling. I'd also say he is deficient in the red zone.

 

Daboll has a lot going for him, but until he improves in those areas, this team will struggle.

 

I do think the oline is not great, and our running backs are not great either, but he should be able to scheme up some plays to cover some of those deficiencies. Singletary is more than capable. He just gets less than 10 carries a game.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

25 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

 

House goes to a grocery store: "The People at Wegmans hide behind their snobbish cash registers hoping for extra holiday cash"

House goes to a gas station: "The People at Exxon hide behind their snobbish cash registers hoping for extra holiday cash"

House needs a plumber: "The People at Planit Plumbing hide behind their snobbish invoices hoping for extra holiday cash"

 

Yeah, Bro, everyone in your life ought to comp you.  Grow Up.  They're selling a product.  Buy it or don't buy it, but people deserve to be paid for their work.  And if that was supposed to be a joke, add Humor next time.

 

 

Yikes. 
 

Don’t do this!   When we turn on each other, the officials win.  It’s what they want.  
 

i thought it was kinda funny.  

[Niagara Dude]

55 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote a long piece on yesterday’s games including the Bills.  He said that throwing as much as the Bills do is not sustainable.

 

As much as people want to grill McDermott about “balance,” there’s actually good reason establishing a running game including the coverage that Buffalo has gotten this season.  Sadly, the problem is with the talent at OL and RB and you can’t fix this in Week 14 of the season.

 

But passing frequently because a team cannot run with any success is a losing proposition over time. Passing too frequently puts stress on quarterbacks and linemen. Risks increase when defenses know where they can find the quarterback play after play. Returns become diminishing.

 

“The only reason why you would not hand the ball off to a running back (for a full half) is if you just do not trust them to make the plays,” an exec from another team said. “As long as you are are a threat to run or pass, you are in good shape. That is where Buffalo is really hurting themselves with their team construction and maybe with their play calling when it is that extreme.”

 

IMO the offensive line this season was a huge oversight.  And arguably a big reason why the Bills have lost almost every game this season. 
 

Whether it’s McDermott, Beane, or Daboll, there were serious flaws in the offense this team put on the field 

 

https://theathletic.com/3010688/2021/12/13/whats-different-about-cowboys-what-bills-could-change-and-real-reason-packers-own-bears-mike-sandos-pick-six/?source=user_shared_article

RB position was not addressed in the offseason because Beanne was too busy enjoying his award and did not want to admit he blew it drafting both Moss & Singetary in the the 3d round.  Singletary is maybe a 4th or 5th rounder at best and Moss is more like a 7th rounder or undrafted free agent.  Beane has missed bad on many picks and free agent signing/  Morse/Star/Addison/Butler/Klein,  all paid good to very good money and have produced very little.  Like has Butler even made a play this season and Star seems to always let his teammate down

 

Only reason why this team is still a playoff contender is because Josh Allen,  so fans need to stop just blaming Sean because Beanne is just as much to blame if not more.  I challenge anyone to review his free agent signings and show anyone other then Beasley and maybe Sanders who has paid off and considered good value.  Draft pick Espensa looks like a undersized slow DE and other picks like Ford/Moss look like complete busts.  Just blindly resigned his offensive line from last season and they get blow up week after week and Josh is usuallly ruuning for his life.  Changes are needed and we may need cut guys even if it means having dead money so we can sign quality and not just quanity of free agents.