Not using James Cook on final drive a head scratcher

[Returntoglory]

One of the more head-scratching decisions was that when the Bills got the ball back with 3:33 left in the game to try to win it, Cook was nowhere to be found. Even if the first play wasn't designed for him, the running back didn't take the field the entire final drive. 

 

Cooks  stats vs Chiefs

 

13 carries

85 rushing yards

2 rushing TDs

3 receptions

3 targets

49 yards

 

Cook was Buffalo's leading rusher in the game. He averaged 6.5 yards per carry, and his longest run was for 33 yds.

 

So please, someone explain to me why he was not used?

[Johnnycage46]

1 minute ago, streetkings01 said:

Do a search on the name Cook….this has been talked about during and after the game.

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Brady choked. He kept letting Allen run QB sneaks when simple runs woukd have worked just as well.

The whole season we screamed for more play action and he never delivered.

 

Remember the narrative before the season on Cook?? Could we get a 2nd? He can't catch? He can't break tackles? 

 

People on this board look a bit foolishness now...but they will never own up to it

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Having cook on the field those last four plays likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game. 

[Sojourner]

18 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Having cook on the field those last four plays likely wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game. 

You’re right. We’d have scored a TD then the abysmal D would have let KC march for 6. 
 

Saved a few minutes early I guess?

[PromoTheRobot]

You conveniently forget how Cook got blown up trying to block for Allen. That's why he wasn't playing there. Ty Johnson is the better blocker.

Edited 15 hours ago by PromoTheRobot

[NewEra]

3 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You conveniently forget how Cook got blown up trying to block for Allen. That's why he wasn't playing there. Ty Johnson is the better blocker.

He’s not asking why he wasn’t pass blocking.  He’s asking why he wasn’t used. I agree.  We throw the ball to Samuel on 2nd and 10.  Meh.  Cook should’ve been involved a lot more than he was.  I agree 💯.  He’s a stud and we let KC off easy by not using him enough 

[transient]

3 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You conveniently forget how Cook got blown up trying to block for Allen. That's why he wasn't playing there. Ty Johnson is the better blocker.

They had to kill 3 1/2 minutes… maybe they should have been blocking for Cook? 🤔

[Sojourner]

7 minutes ago, NewEra said:

He’s not asking why he wasn’t pass blocking.  He’s asking why he wasn’t used. I agree.  We throw the ball to Samuel on 2nd and 10.  Meh.  Cook should’ve been involved a lot more than he was.  I agree 💯.  He’s a stud and we let KC off easy by not using him enough 

He’s just highlighting why Ty was in there and as I’m sure you’re aware, I don’t think @PromoTheRobot is actually saying he’d rather Cook be on the sideline. 
 

The worst part about it all is that more often than not you can gauge that we are likely to pass when Ty is in.
 

Worse still is why he was split wide on the 4th down. 
 

Atrocious when you actually start with a toss play, something I don’t think was run all game, with Ty Johnson. If you’re going to run the ball at any point on that drive, you use Cook unless you’ve worn down the opposition some. 
 

The more I think about that series of events, the sicker I get. Absolute head scratchers indeed. 
 

😔

Edited 14 hours ago by Sojourner

[Livinginthepast]

27 minutes ago, Sojourner said:

You’re right. We’d have scored a TD then the abysmal D would have let KC march for 6. 
 

Saved a few minutes early I guess?

LOL!

[Pete]

Cook blew his blocking assignment and got Josh clobbered.  Ty is a much better pass blocker, and KC was bringing heavy pressure.  That’s why The Cook was not playing 

[NewEra]

2 minutes ago, Pete said:

Cook blew his blocking assignment and got Josh clobbered.  Ty is a much better pass blocker, and KC was bringing heavy pressure.  That’s why The Cook was not playing 

He’s asking why he was “used”- as in why aren’t we giving him the dam ball.  He shouldn’t have been out there to pass block-  correct.  But we should’ve ran him.  He was our best player in the run game and our 2nd best player in the pass game.  Last drive of the game- he doesn’t get a touch.  

[EmotionallyUnstable]

35 minutes ago, NewEra said:

He’s not asking why he wasn’t pass blocking.  He’s asking why he wasn’t used. I agree.  We throw the ball to Samuel on 2nd and 10.  Meh.  Cook should’ve been involved a lot more than he was.  I agree 💯.  He’s a stud and we let KC off easy by not using him enough 

I am not in disagreement about play selection but the fact of the matter is that if cook were on the field for those six snaps on the last drive, the results would have been the same. 
 

It’s less to me about which RB was on the field and more about what strategy you use to attack them.

 

My guess is that they wanted to try and grind the clock to zero. They ran the ball the first play and got blown up, and then after Allen bailed us out with a fresh set of downs, they knew KC was coming. We had no counter to that. 

[MJS]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Brady choked. He kept letting Allen run QB sneaks when simple runs woukd have worked just as well.

The whole season we screamed for more play action and he never delivered.

 

Remember the narrative before the season on Cook?? Could we get a 2nd? He can't catch? He can't break tackles? 

 

People on this board look a bit foolishness now...but they will never own up to it

Thanks for saying "QB Sneaks" instead of "Tush Push" or similar variants. I'm getting sick of that terminology.

[NewEra]

2 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I am not in disagreement about play selection but the fact of the matter is that if cook were on the field for those six snaps on the last drive, the results would have been the same. 
 

It’s less to me about which RB was on the field and more about what strategy you use to attack them.

 

My guess is that they wanted to try and grind the clock to zero. They ran the ball the first play and got blown up, and then after Allen bailed us out with a fresh set of downs, they knew KC was coming. We had no counter to that. 

The result was going to be the same if we ran different plays?  Huh?  Maybe…. But to pretend to know that?  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

Cook was killing it and should’ve been to focal point of our offense vs KC imo.  Our run game has been the catalyst to our offensive success this season imo. When we ran a vs KC, we had success.  Season on the line- abandon it.  🤷🏻‍♂️ I wasn’t a fan of not using him enough with the game on the line

[Comebackkid]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

The result was going to be the same if we ran different plays?  Huh?  Maybe…. But to pretend to know that?  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

Cook was killing it and should’ve been to focal point of our offense vs KC imo.  Our run game has been the catalyst to our offensive success this season imo. When we ran a vs KC, we had success.  Season on the line- abandon it.  🤷🏻‍♂️ I wasn’t a fan of not using him enough with the game on the line

What i hate is u run him, and have some success so then you run him every down untill it dont work..because its become totally obvious thats

what your doing...and then after  it doesnt work because you have repeatedly done it every single time u abandon it.   

I just hope some how brady develops an imagination when it comes to playcalling over the offseason.

 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

9 minutes ago, NewEra said:

The result was going to be the same if we ran different plays?  Huh?  Maybe…. But to pretend to know that?  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

Cook was killing it and should’ve been to focal point of our offense vs KC imo.  Our run game has been the catalyst to our offensive success this season imo. When we ran a vs KC, we had success.  Season on the line- abandon it.  🤷🏻‍♂️ I wasn’t a fan of not using him enough with the game on the line

I’m saying the result would be the same if they ran the same plays, regardless of who the RB was. 
 

They got away from the run that final drive likely because their first and 10 run was blown up and it became clear that Kc was in pressure looks.

 

This is again an example of over scrutinizing decisions. Ty Johnson has been excellent in that role. No one was upset about it in the weeks before when he was scoring TDs. 

[colin]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You conveniently forget how Cook got blown up trying to block for Allen. That's why he wasn't playing there. Ty Johnson is the better blocker.

 

Very true. Ironically, they ran w ty and then passed w Cook in to block.  They had our best runner block, and our best blocker run.

 

Once again outsmarting themselves

[NewEra]

5 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I’m saying the result would be the same if they ran the same plays, regardless of who the RB was. 
 

They got away from the run that final drive likely because their first and 10 run was blown up and it became clear that Kc was in pressure looks.

 

This is again an example of over scrutinizing decisions. Ty Johnson has been excellent in that role. No one was upset about it in the weeks before when he was scoring TDs. 

And the question he posed in this thread is why wasn’t he “used”?  IMO- he’s asking why didn’t we give him the dam ball.  So the story of running the same plays goes out the window

[26TrapDraw]

Literally post of the year. Brady is a good O coordinator but not using cook was a panic move when he’s won match ups all year and all game. I just don’t get it.

Brady outsmarted himself. We were set up to win the game 3:30 and 3 timeouts.