Is the ball control offensive approach mostly to protect the defense?

[zow2]

I know it's popular to say the conservative approach is to play it safe on O and limit mistakes/turnovers.  Punt if you have to and live to play another series.

 

But it sure feels like after the LA Rams and Detroit games, McD and staff sat down and reassessed everything (as he said he would after the loss).  It's reasonable to look at the defensive stats in those games and come to the conclusions that McD realized there's no way in hell "we" are winning the AFC or the Super Bowl getting gash on D.  In those two games combined they gave up:

 

86 points

58 First downs allowed

21 for 32  3rd and 4th downs allowed

793 passing yds allowed

185 rushing yds allowed

61 for 89 completions

4  Rushing TD's

7  Passing TD's

 

We just watched Detroit and their high octane offense and leaky banged up defense get boat raced.  I think the Bills really studied Andy Reid and the KC style of winning again and decided to commit to it.  Since then it's worked well to use the Oline to control the ball and try to hang on to possession. Nothing too dangerous or risky in the passing game.  The Ravens stuffed us in the 3rd Qtr and almost blew up the plan.,,  Thankfully the D forced 3 turnovers and the big drop.   My main concern is that Kansas City's defense is better than ours.

 

I think the offense will do their part this week.  We just need one more huge effort from the D to hang on for dear life.. if they can get even one takeaway that would be massive.

 

[Steve Billieve]

They've been wanting to run all year, even built their roster around the idea. Sometimes things happen. We have 8 turnovers on the year. I don't think they changed what it is they want to do other than adjustments on a week to week basis based on the matchup.

[strive_for_five_guy]

It’s the complementary football McD has always envisioned.  Limit turnovers, control the time of possession, wear the other team down and keep them off the field.  That’s why the Bills lost Super Bowl XXV, in spite of having the more prolific offense.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

I think consistently watching all our WRs get held in the playoffs for years because that’s just how playoff football goes had us make a huge effort to improve the running game and now that is the strength of the team..  the way Baltimore was playing on defense even in the peak bills passing /mediocre rushing offense days I think we would’ve had a pretty terrible time moving the ball through the air on Sunday.  The running game gave us a chance. 

 

whether he should or not is a different story 😂, but a lot of decisions mcd makes point to him trusting the defense imo 

[Cheektowaga Chad]

The bills play aggressive until they don't need to

 

Once they get a lead they just consume clock

 

[Virgil]

I think the offensive gameplan against the Ravens is under a little too much scrutiny (not directed at OP) than it should be.  The Ravens defense is arguably the best in the league and they blew up a lot of plays with great performances.  How many times have you seen our WR screens and Shakir get tackled for losses in open field?  I think a lot of our plays go for more yardage typically.  

 

Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the defense.

 

Against the Chiefs, it should be a different ball game.  The Chiefs almost feel like a division rival at this point, in that we know each other so well.  The Chiefs passing game is way more effective and they rely on short passes, with the option of some trickery and deep shots.  I think the Bills will play more of their "keep the ball in front of us and wait for mistakes" defense, while the offense will pry be similar to what we saw in the Broncos game.

 

I'm the most worried about Special Teams.  This isn't a dig against Bass, as much as a compliment to how well the Chiefs special teams have been playing.  They are blocking FG's at a higher than average rate.  

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

14 minutes ago, zow2 said:

I know it's popular to say the conservative approach is to play it safe on O and limit mistakes/turnovers.  Punt if you have to and live to play another series.

 

But it sure feels like after the LA Rams and Detroit games, McD and staff sat down and reassessed everything (as he said he would after the loss).  It's reasonable to look at the defensive stats in those games and come to the conclusions that McD realized there's no way in hell "we" are winning the AFC or the Super Bowl getting gash on D.  In those two games combined they gave up:

 

86 points

58 First downs allowed

21 for 32  3rd and 4th downs allowed

793 passing yds allowed

185 rushing yds allowed

61 for 89 completions

4  Rushing TD's

7  Passing TD's

 

We just watched Detroit and their high octane offense and leaky banged up defense get boat raced.  I think the Bills really studied Andy Reid and the KC style of winning again and decided to commit to it.  Since then it's worked well to use the Oline to control the ball and try to hang on to possession. Nothing too dangerous or risky in the passing game.  The Ravens stuffed us in the 3rd Qtr and almost blew up the plan.,,  Thankfully the D forced 3 turnovers and the big drop.   My main concern is that Kansas City's defense is better than ours.

 

I think the offense will do their part this week.  We just need one more huge effort from the D to hang on for dear life.. if they can get even one takeaway that would be massive.

 

 

It's hard to compare dome games to outdoor games in buffalo in january.  They require different strategies.  The dorsey and daboll pass first strategies worked well here, but they also put the team behind the sticks quite often which kills you come playoff time.  

 

Time of possession is a big advantage that dorsey and daboll didn't have as a priority.  The long drive at the end of this game was this close to just ending the game up 12 with 330 left. 

 

Those teams turned the ball over considerably more as well.  This season buffalo is top 5 in drive starts for both the offense and defense.  We needed fewer yards to score points, and teams had fewer possessions to match.  

[pi2000]

I fully expect Josh to come our firing the ball Sunday.  KC will be preparing all week to stop their rushing attack.

 

Try to catch them in running sets early on, using the pass to setup the running game later on and grind them down.

[Sweats]

It reminds me of when Dallas drafted Elliot so high and even saying, " we need a solid RB to help our D" and at the time i didn't get it cause obviously the RB plays O and what the hell does that have to do with the D?

 

But a good RB can chunk their way down the field, chewing up the clock, which allows the D a longer period of time to rest.

Ah, now i get it and it makes sense.

 

It kind of feels like we're doing the same strategy this year.

[Big Turk]

Makes sense considering the way their D has played in most playoff runs.

[GASabresIUFan]

Ball control helps the defense.  Ball control also wears down the opposition and hopefully helps put games away.  Not sure why it has to be one or the other.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

The Bills still scored 27 points against what I believe is the best defense in the NFL.

 

What they do works.

[Nephilim17]

I think the ball control aspect helps us be multiple and harder to defend on O. Given our win total and franchise records for points and TDs this year — despite not having an elite receiver — I'd say it's working.

[ganesh]

30 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

It’s the complementary football McD has always envisioned.  Limit turnovers, control the time of possession, wear the other team down and keep them off the field.  That’s why the Bills lost Super Bowl XXV, in spite of having the more prolific offense.

Against denver our TOP was somehting similar to SB XXV....42 vs 18 minutes 

Against Ravens we still had the TOP advantage (lesser extent) - 33 - 27 minutes...

 

The more our offense can stay on field and have long drives...that keeps Mahomes and company off the field.....This is our best winning strategy... Go Bills !!!

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, Cheektowaga Chad said:

The bills play aggressive until they don't need to

 

Once they get a lead they just consume clock

 

 

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

I think the offensive gameplan against the Ravens is under a little too much scrutiny (not directed at OP) than it should be.  The Ravens defense is arguably the best in the league and they blew up a lot of plays with great performances.  How many times have you seen our WR screens and Shakir get tackled for losses in open field?  I think a lot of our plays go for more yardage typically.  

 

Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the defense.

 

Against the Chiefs, it should be a different ball game.  The Chiefs almost feel like a division rival at this point, in that we know each other so well.  The Chiefs passing game is way more effective and they rely on short passes, with the option of some trickery and deep shots.  I think the Bills will play more of their "keep the ball in front of us and wait for mistakes" defense, while the offense will pry be similar to what we saw in the Broncos game.

 

I'm the most worried about Special Teams.  This isn't a dig against Bass, as much as a compliment to how well the Chiefs special teams have been playing.  They are blocking FG's at a higher than average rate.  

 

Exactly!  They had an early lead, also seeing many passes,(mostly by Ravens) being dropped due to cold, add to that going up against one of the best defenses and likely Henry scared the hell out of them.  So once they got the lead went conservative, probably a little too much in hindsight.  But no idea if had been more aggressive would have worked any better, and likely burnt less time off clock.

 

I don't think this means they will do that again this week, unless again they get a decent early lead.  Also will depend on how run game is doing overall, does seem like last few weeks O-line is really hitting their peak so that may also factor in.

[MJS]

It's just the way offense is played in the NFL today. The teams with strong run games, mobile QBs, and multiple ways to win on offense, while staying efficient and limiting mistakes, are the teams who win. Defenses are taking away big plays, so offenses had to adjust. It is no longer just a passing, vertical offense league. Teams have bigger personnel, are getting backs and TEs involved a lot more in the passing game, and running the ball.

 

Defenses have basically said, if you want to score on us, you'll have to string together long drives and stay efficient and patient. So, teams are doing that. Not just the Bills. 

[Ya Digg?]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

I know it's popular to say the conservative approach is to play it safe on O and limit mistakes/turnovers.  Punt if you have to and live to play another series.

 

But it sure feels like after the LA Rams and Detroit games, McD and staff sat down and reassessed everything (as he said he would after the loss).  It's reasonable to look at the defensive stats in those games and come to the conclusions that McD realized there's no way in hell "we" are winning the AFC or the Super Bowl getting gash on D.  In those two games combined they gave up:

 

86 points

58 First downs allowed

21 for 32  3rd and 4th downs allowed

793 passing yds allowed

185 rushing yds allowed

61 for 89 completions

4  Rushing TD's

7  Passing TD's

 

We just watched Detroit and their high octane offense and leaky banged up defense get boat raced.  I think the Bills really studied Andy Reid and the KC style of winning again and decided to commit to it.  Since then it's worked well to use the Oline to control the ball and try to hang on to possession. Nothing too dangerous or risky in the passing game.  The Ravens stuffed us in the 3rd Qtr and almost blew up the plan.,,  Thankfully the D forced 3 turnovers and the big drop.   My main concern is that Kansas City's defense is better than ours.

 

I think the offense will do their part this week.  We just need one more huge effort from the D to hang on for dear life.. if they can get even one takeaway that would be massive.

 

Perhaps if the Bills had turned the ball over in those games I might agree with you, but I don't think these games made them change anything.  Yes the defense did not do well, but I honestly don't think they changed much up in terms of "ball control" philosophy

[Fan boy '92]

It's not as much fun to watch, but it's adult football at the right time.

[T.E.]

It works until it doesn't. There were a lot of Marty Schottenheimer teams that won 12, 13, 14 regular season games and then went ultra-conservative in the playoffs only to get clipped at the end.

 

You have the best player in the league at QB. Don't neuter his ability to make plays, and for the love of God, don't get so in his head about limiting turnovers that you're making him unnecessarily tense.

[BillytheKid]

I know Spags main message to the Chiefs defense this week at practice is getting off the field on third downs after watching some Chiefs channel.
 

Buffalo needs to be good at converting on 3rd down again this game, which is a big part of ball control.