The Bills' abject lack of a deep middle passing game

[3rdand12]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Well, I agree a #1 ceiling would be nice, but if Diggs returns to form, not necessary.   I've become convinced that the stud #1 isn't necessary and is, in fact, a distraction.   Both the Niners and the Chiefs do it without a stud #1.  Lions, Eagles, do it with very good receivers but without Chase, Jefferson, Lamb, or one of a handful of others.  Two studs, the Miami and Cinci model, isn't sustainable for cap reasons.   Hill is a unique combination of a good route runner and world-class speed; give him just Diggs speed, and Hill would still be a very good receiver.  

 

What seems to be working now against the defenses that smother the deep ball is having multiple talented route runners on the field.  Good one on one guys, for sure, but not necessarily stud burners.   They have to know how to run the routes and read the options correctly.  If you have a QB who can read the options, then you're good.   That's what the Chiefs and the Niners do.  

 

I can't even name the Chiefs wideouts, but every one of them will hurt you at some point in the game.   

 

And that's why Shakir has been successful.  A tad small, so far as I'm concerned, but a good, smart route runner who makes himself available to catch the ball often enough that he's a factor.  

Need an outside burner with hands.

For Josh , do it for Josh

[sven233]

3 hours ago, starrymessenger said:

They seemed to take a step back against KC. Kincaid had 5 receptions on 5 targets but only for around 50 yards.

 

I haven't had the heart to go back and watch the All-22 film of that game yet to see how he was used.  Obviously there were no big plays to speak of, but I am not sure if he was running those routes and they were just covered or if they didn't have him working that part of the field for some reason.  Someday I'll review that tape, but it still hurts.  I 100% believe with my heart that if we didn't lose Bernard and Benford the week before, we would have won that game.  Still should have won it without them.

[QLBillsFan]

Virtually every team plays 2 high Safeties so it’s not surprising. Occasionally one pops but it’s smart not to force it which everybody says Josh can’t do. Turns out he’s pretty hood at taking what is given, particularly in the playoffs. 

[Warriorspikes51]

Troy Franklin seems like the most realistic best case scenario for us at 28

 

He has the height at 6’3. Elite speed. Good diverse route runner and very dangerous vertically. Plus he developed great chemistry with his QB on “ad lib” scramble plays. He’s good at finding open spots friendly for the QB

[hjnick]

On 2/2/2024 at 11:04 AM, dave mcbride said:

It's now starting to make sense why the Steelers didn't cover Kincaid on his TD in the playoff game and why Shakir ran free on the second-down play on the Bills final possession in the divisional round game. The Bills proved all season that they're terrible at connecting on deep middle throws. The only success they had was the Kincaid catch in the playoff game! In the regular season, they were an unbelievable 0 for 15.

 

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2024/1/31/24055184/2023-bills-season-analysis-buffalos-deep-middle-passing-game

Why only short and deep categories?   There should be 3 categories for depth of throw, short (0-10yds), intermediate (10-25 yds), and deep (25+ yds).

 

With one of the best QBs in the game AND his cannon of an arm, the Bills should be attacking the intermediate are ALL THE TIME.  With a QB like Josh, I really don't care about YAC that much bc he can deliver the ball down the field.

 

Last season, IMO, we threw SO much very short passes we got into a rut and thats all we did. 

 

Why are we throttling back Josh?  Let the man throw the ball around the yard.

[White Linen]

If we could have had the deep ball in our offense,  I bet we could have won our division and been the 2 seed.