An Offensive Coaching decision that really put the Bills behind in the First Half....

[Special K]

As dreadful as the Defense was in this game, did anyone else notice that in the first half that aside from a few QB sneaks Josh did not scramble or run the ball at all in the first half. In fact, there were a few plays where he could have easily run for 10+ yards and he threw an errant pass or threw the ball away. I am not blaming JA for this, it seemed like a concerted decision by the coaching staff to keep him from running.....and the offense looked stale and out of whack because of it.

 

In the second half when the Bills were behind by 17 points, it looked like the coaching staff took the shackles off Josh, and he started running....picking up huge chunks of yards, in fact......then all of a sudden the passing game came to life and the Bills began to move the ball at will and almost pulled off an improbable comeback.

 

Were the coaches trying to play it safe since the Bills already have the Division locked up, and didn't want to risk injury?? If so, I hope they learned their lesson that the Offense will not run smoothly if the opposing D doesn't have to account for the threat of Josh running.....it opens up everything else.

 

The contrast of the first and second halves is clear proof of that, IMO.

 

Thoughts??

[Dr.Sack]

Hero mode works best when the Bills have given up on any actual designed offense.

[Doc Brown]

I think there were a few plays in the second half too where he could've ran the ball for an easy first down but chose to launch it down the field.  He knows he can always slide too so I think he was just big play hunting.  

 

All I can say is losing sucks.

[Big Turk]

That 4th down punt near midfield on 4th and 2 right before the half drive me nuts.

[NickelCity]

1 minute ago, Big Turk said:

That 4th down punt near midfield on 4th and 2 right before the half drive me nuts.

 

That was a tough one. I don't think I would have had the stones to go for it, especially getting the ball back after half. 

[BillMafia716ix]

I think the gameplan to start the game was poor. They abandoned the run game after the 1Q. Granted they weren’t having much success when they did try to run but they normally stick with it. Bills are best when they have balance. It was if the Bills were excited they weren’t playing in snow anymore and wanted to throw the ball across the yard.

 

James Cook couldn’t get into any kind of flow and Ray Davis didn’t get a single carry after a solid game last week.  

[Einstein]

2 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

That 4th down punt near midfield on 4th and 2 right before the half drive me nuts.

 

McD is so up and down with those sort of things.

 

Last year he went for 4th and 1 at around the 30 yard line in a 1 score game. This year, he punts from 10 yards further.

[Sojourner]

2 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

That 4th down punt near midfield on 4th and 2 right before the half drive me nuts.

 

1 minute ago, NickelCity said:

 

That was a tough one. I don't think I would have had the stones to go for it, especially getting the ball back after half. 

Agreed. I think if it’s not a 10 point deficit on that drive that they might be more inclined to go for it. 
 

I get bottling out of it even if I personally would have liked them to have the cojones to take control of the game at the end of the half by double dipping. 

[SCBills]

4 minutes ago, BillMafia716ix said:

I think the gameplan to start the game was poor. They abandoned the run game after the 1Q. Granted they weren’t having much success when they did try to run but they normally stick with it. Bills are best when they have balance. It was if the Bills were excited they weren’t playing in snow anymore and wanted to throw the ball across the yard.

 

James Cook couldn’t get into any kind of flow and Ray Davis didn’t get a single carry after a solid game last week.  

Bills offense went nuclear when they stopped trying to run the ball. 
 

If anything, we should’ve given up on it faster. 

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, Special K said:

As dreadful as the Defense was in this game, did anyone else notice that in the first half that aside from a few QB sneaks Josh did not scramble or run the ball at all in the first half. In fact, there were a few plays where he could have easily run for 10+ yards and he threw an errant pass or threw the ball away. I am not blaming JA for this, it seemed like a concerted decision by the coaching staff to keep him from running.....and the offense looked stale and out of whack because of it.

 

In the second half when the Bills were behind by 17 points, it looked like the coaching staff took the shackles off Josh, and he started running....picking up huge chunks of yards, in fact......then all of a sudden the passing game came to life and the Bills began to move the ball at will and almost pulled off an improbable comeback.

 

Were the coaches trying to play it safe since the Bills already have the Division locked up, and didn't want to risk injury?? If so, I hope they learned their lesson that the Offense will not run smoothly if the opposing D doesn't have to account for the threat of Josh running.....it opens up everything else.

 

The contrast of the first and second halves is clear proof of that, IMO.

 

Thoughts??

So I guess our coaches had no desire to go after the 1 seed. They strategized to tap out.

[transplantbillsfan]

Not the playoffs yet

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

Bills offense went nuclear when they stopped trying to run the ball. 
 

If anything, we should’ve given up on it faster. 

I wasn't surprised Brady abandoned the run as quickly as he did.  Brady does an excellent job of "reading the room" when calling plays.  He knew what kind of game this was.  You don't handcuff your all world talented QB who is on a heater.  Especially when your defense can't cover a stationary wall with paint.  I'm sure there's many owners licking their chops hoping to hire him as head coach this off-season.  

Edited December 9 by Doc Brown

[Matt_In_NH]

Yea the staff wants him to limit runnning but we know Josh has not always listened to that.  He has this year and it shows a maturing.  I believe all the decisions yesterday were his.  My take is he was not accurate on a couple throws in those situations but guys were open.   In the second half he just did what he is best at.  
 

still this is nit picking.  The offense scored 42 points with no turnovers.  The problem was not on offense.  

Edited December 9 by Matt_In_NH

[KCNC]

5 hours ago, BillMafia716ix said:

I think the gameplan to start the game was poor. They abandoned the run game after the 1Q. Granted they weren’t having much success when they did try to run but they normally stick with it. Bills are best when they have balance. It was if the Bills were excited they weren’t playing in snow anymore and wanted to throw the ball across the yard.

 

James Cook couldn’t get into any kind of flow and Ray Davis didn’t get a single carry after a solid game last week.  

I agree with this.  Neither Johnson or Davis getting a carry was curious. Maybe they knew it would be a shootout.

[Scott7975]

5 hours ago, Big Turk said:

That 4th down punt near midfield on 4th and 2 right before the half drive me nuts.

this. I was pissed they punted. He did it in other big games that we lost too. Down two scores defense couldn’t stop a nose bleed, you don’t punt on 4th and 2 from mid field. 

5 hours ago, BillMafia716ix said:

I think the gameplan to start the game was poor. They abandoned the run game after the 1Q. Granted they weren’t having much success when they did try to run but they normally stick with it. Bills are best when they have balance. It was if the Bills were excited they weren’t playing in snow anymore and wanted to throw the ball across the yard.

 

James Cook couldn’t get into any kind of flow and Ray Davis didn’t get a single carry after a solid game last week.  

we scored 6 touchdowns and no turnovers. Offense was not the problem. 

Edited December 9 by Scott7975

[BananaB]

3 long time consuming drives by the Rams and a blocked FG put the team behind in the first half. 

[Sweats]

We seem to have the best production from Cook when he is running to the outside edges, but why we continue to run him up the gut for 1 yard is beyond belief.

 

Our D was a sieve all day long. We kept Kupp in check and let Nacua run all over the field and sit in the soft zones and did nothing to address it.

 

Zero pressure on Stafford, even behind one of the most suspect Olines in the NFL.

 

..........disgusting

[dayman]

1 minute ago, Sweats said:

We seem to have the best production from Cook when he is running to the outside edges, but why we continue to run him up the gut for 1 yard is beyond belief.

 

Our D was a sieve all day long. We kept Kupp in check and let Nacua run all over the field and sit in the soft zones and did nothing to address it.

 

Zero pressure on Stafford, even behind one of the most suspect Olines in the NFL.

 

..........disgusting

It really was disgusting

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

6 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

I think there were a few plays in the second half too where he could've ran the ball for an easy first down but chose to launch it down the field.  He knows he can always slide too so I think he was just big play hunting.  

 

All I can say is losing sucks.

Losing sucks 

 

Losing when you score 42 sucks donkey 

[Billzgobowlin]

7 hours ago, Special K said:

As dreadful as the Defense was in this game, did anyone else notice that in the first half that aside from a few QB sneaks Josh did not scramble or run the ball at all in the first half. In fact, there were a few plays where he could have easily run for 10+ yards and he threw an errant pass or threw the ball away. I am not blaming JA for this, it seemed like a concerted decision by the coaching staff to keep him from running.....and the offense looked stale and out of whack because of it.

 

In the second half when the Bills were behind by 17 points, it looked like the coaching staff took the shackles off Josh, and he started running....picking up huge chunks of yards, in fact......then all of a sudden the passing game came to life and the Bills began to move the ball at will and almost pulled off an improbable comeback.

 

Were the coaches trying to play it safe since the Bills already have the Division locked up, and didn't want to risk injury?? If so, I hope they learned their lesson that the Offense will not run smoothly if the opposing D doesn't have to account for the threat of Josh running.....it opens up everything else.

 

The contrast of the first and second halves is clear proof of that, IMO.

 

Thoughts??

I think most of his yards came from where there weren't plays downfield.  I think the more telling point is they stopped focusing on Cooper and balanced it out with Hollins and Shakir.