Why are we not built for cold weather?

[stuvian]

It is becoming crystal clear that our roster is not built for winning in cold weather. We can neither run the football nor stop the run.

 

Both of these are hallmarks of a successful cold weather football strategy. I just don't understand how we are expecting to be successful in the post season without being built to maximize our home field advantages. 

 

Ed Oliver is MIA as is Star. Tired of being a turnstile and tired of losing games we should win

[Momma Pecoraro]

Weather is irrelevant. Lines possess zero explosion, zero dynamic heft. Feature slow motion rbs with weak business plans or fast fumblers. 

[Doc Brown]

When it's just as comfortable for them, it's just right for us.

[PromoTheRobot]

Because for all the seasons we had a cold weather team we wished for a franchise QB and a modern NFL passing attack. Now we have one and we want the other thing.

Edited December 15, 2021 by PromoTheRobot

[Nextmanup]

Can we give this crap a rest?

We are built exactly the way we were built last year, and that was good enough to get us 2 home playoff wins in January and a berth in the AFC championship game.

 

The team doesn't need to be rebuilt wholesale, FFS.

 

 

 

[Richard Noggin]

7 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Can we give this crap a rest?

We are built exactly the way we were built last year, and that was good enough to get us 2 home playoff wins in January and a berth in the AFC championship game.

 

The team doesn't need to be rebuilt wholesale, FFS.

 

 

 

But maybe last year was a bit of a novelty? In that the NFL wasn't calling offensive holding, so our line looked serviceable, and that defenses were generally behind overall and especially behind with respect to pass-heavy, spread-out offenses? 

 

Last year Allen solved the zero-blitz that had plagued him the year before.

 

Has he, or the offense overall, solved the NFL's defensive adjustments this year?

 

I often say that if you TRULY want to solve ANY problem in the world today, pay all 32 NFL defensive coordinators (and their staffs) to solve it within a predetermined timeline. Dynamic QBs shredding man coverage schemes? Vic Fangio to the rescue. Pandemic still not under control? Steve Spagnuolo saves the day. Unrest in the Middle East? Bill Belichick with the sideline adjustments.

[Jauronimo]

2 hours ago, stuvian said:

It is becoming crystal clear that our roster is not built for winning in cold weather. We can neither run the football nor stop the run.

 

Both of these are hallmarks of a successful cold weather football strategy. I just don't understand how we are expecting to be successful in the post season without being built to maximize our home field advantages. 

 

Ed Oliver is MIA as is Star. Tired of being a turnstile and tired of losing games we should win

Do you think Jonathan Taylor wouldn't have run for 300 yards against us in a dome?

[US Egg]

8 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Do you think Jonathan Taylor wouldn't have run for 300 yards against us in a dome?

.....that day, would've romped all over the Bills in a phone booth.

[Billznut]

3 hours ago, stuvian said:

It is becoming crystal clear that our roster is not built for winning in cold weather. We can neither run the football nor stop the run.

 

Both of these are hallmarks of a successful cold weather football strategy. I just don't understand how we are expecting to be successful in the post season without being built to maximize our home field advantages. 

 

Ed Oliver is MIA as is Star. Tired of being a turnstile and tired of losing games we should win

Boy someone should make a thread about weather. Or five or ten or a hundred. 

[QCity]

3 hours ago, stuvian said:

It is becoming crystal clear that our roster is not built for winning in cold weather. We can neither run the football nor stop the run.

 

Both of these are hallmarks of a successful cold weather football strategy. I just don't understand how we are expecting to be successful in the post season without being built to maximize our home field advantages. 

 

Ed Oliver is MIA as is Star. Tired of being a turnstile and tired of losing games we should win

 

We just lost in Tampa, yeah that weather was brutal. Almost as bad as the Jacksonville game. Not quite as bad as the Steelers opener when it got down into the 60's.

[ChrisWatson#21]

When you can't run the ball in windy cold conditions then your passing advantage gets nerfed because of predictability and most importantly the elements become an extra defensive back for your QB to account for.  It doesn't help either that Dabol has been underwhelming with his first down play selection all season  especially in the red zone.

[Thurman#1]

4 hours ago, stuvian said:

It is becoming crystal clear that our roster is not built for winning in cold weather. We can neither run the football nor stop the run.

 

Both of these are hallmarks of a successful cold weather football strategy. I just don't understand how we are expecting to be successful in the post season without being built to maximize our home field advantages. 

 

Ed Oliver is MIA as is Star. Tired of being a turnstile and tired of losing games we should win

 

 

Ed and Star are both fine. Ed is considerably better than that.

 

We're built for cold weather OK, but not great. Not every cold weather team is run-based. Allen can pass really well in cold weather.

 

And we ARE stopping the run pretty well overall. Not consistently? Yeah, fair enough, but it's not just that teams can kill us on the ground when they want. It's here and there we allow big plays. Look at how well we stopped the run in the second half against the Bucs.

 

The offensive run game not hitting on four cylinders? Yeah, again, fair enough. Need to work on the OL in the offseason. They will.

 

Not good enough to win in the postseason this year? I'm beginning to think so. They could prove us wrong, but it does begin to look that way. They just don't seem able to play consistently.

[HOUSE]

Plan B is to throw snow balls . We can do this...

[GETTOTHE50]

Josh is built for cold weather. Hes built for everything.

 

His team doesnt share his competitive nature. They dont work for him like he does for them (asides from maybe Diggs, Hyde, Poyer, and Tre- but H. Phillips has been coming around as of late).

 

Being built for cold weather takes physicality, character, and competitiveness. A lot of players don't have it in them like the aforementioned players do.

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by GETTOTHE50

[PonyBoy]

20 minutes ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Josh is built for cold weather. Hes built for everything.

 

His team doesnt share his competitive nature. They dont work for him like he does for them (asides from maybe Diggs, Hyde, Poyer, and Tre- but H. Phillips has been coming around as of late).

 

Being built for cold weather takes physicality, character, and competitiveness. A lot of players don't have it in them like the aforementioned players do.

 

 

I think Milano belongs in your aforementioned. 

[Bill from NYC]

7 hours ago, stuvian said:

It is becoming crystal clear that our roster is not built for winning in cold weather. We can neither run the football nor stop the run.

 

Both of these are hallmarks of a successful cold weather football strategy. I just don't understand how we are expecting to be successful in the post season without being built to maximize our home field advantages. 

 

Ed Oliver is MIA as is Star. Tired of being a turnstile and tired of losing games we should win

Really, how long has it been since were were built for cold, inclement weather? Or, were we ever? 

 

Levy concentrated on defensive backs. Others focused on running backs with poor blocking in front of them. Even TD traded down to draft Clements when Hutchinson was sitting there and wound up a GREAT guard. Admittedly, that wasn't the worst trade but it was indicative of the theme of your post imo. 

 

We had HOF LT Jason Peters (one of the best all time Bills players) and traded him for a box of donuts. Did they hang onto Big Ted or Pat Williams? 

 

The sad point I am attempting to make is that even when running and stopping the run were much more important factors in winning than they are now, the Bills went after primarily defensive backs, gadget players like Spiller, and other running backs with horrible blocking. McDermott lucked out big time with Josh Allen, but indeed followed the trend by saying no thanks to 2 great QB prospects and grabbing what? That's right.....a defensive back.

 

Disclaimer: I am NOT trying to say that some of the players we drafted were not "good" players. Tre White for instance is very good. That isn't my point. The OP is about building a team for cold weather, and as I said before, it probably doesn't matter as much as it used to. Until it does.

[hondo in seattle]

How many cold weather games do we actually play?

 

While I'm frustrated by our struggles running and stopping the run, it's obvious what Beane and McD have done.  You only have so many draft picks and so much cap money, so you have to make some hard choices.   Since the NFL is more-and-more a passing league, they built the team to succeed at passing and stopping the pass.  That was their priority.

 

Even there, the build isn't perfect.  Our OL, for instance, isn't good at pass pro.

 

But they had to have a plan.  They had to take this team that was pretty mediocre in all areas and create areas of excellence.   They chose to start, offensively and defensively, with the pass.

So, yeah, this team wasn't built for cold weather.  It was built for the modern NFL.

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by hondo in seattle

[Greg S]

4 hours ago, QCity said:

 

We just lost in Tampa, yeah that weather was brutal. Almost as bad as the Jacksonville game. Not quite as bad as the Steelers opener when it got down into the 60's.

 

We lost to the Jags and that was pathetic. We lost to the Steelers and that was disappointing. We beat the Bucs but lost to the refs and that sucked because we are 7-6 when we should be 8-5. I can handle losing to the other team but when we lose on a horrific obvious non-call then I have a problem The Bills didn't lose Sunday the refs won the game for Tampa. Nothing can be done about it now except beat the living crap out of Carolina.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

According to a national geo special on grehouse effect, Buffalo won’t need to be a cold weather team by 2050

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

The wind games are the problem.  Otherwise, we can play okay in bad weather.