Bills won't run "Rams East" offense

[ChevyVanMiller]

The AP writer of this piece: Bills Story

 

states that, "The Greatest Show on Turf might work in the wild NFC West and the controlled environment of the Rams' indoor stadium. But this is Buffalo where, come late November, the snow falls, the winds blow and the mercury takes a nosedive."

 

A wonderful observation except for the fact that the K-Gun existed and thrived despite those same weather conditions. The 51-3 pasting of the Raiders was a Jim Kelly aerial masterpiece painted in the face of howling January winds.

 

I'm not saying that the current Bills can pull off that type of offense, but to say that they won't try because of the weather is a foolish statement - and one that is disproved by history. Talent - not weather - will keep the Bills from a high-octane offense this year.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

The AP writer of this piece: Bills Story

 

states that, "The Greatest Show on Turf might work in the wild NFC West and the controlled environment of the Rams' indoor stadium. But this is Buffalo where, come late November, the snow falls, the winds blow and the mercury takes a nosedive."

 

A wonderful observation except for the fact that the K-Gun existed and thrived despite those same weather conditions. The 51-3 pasting of the Raiders was a Jim Kelly aerial masterpiece painted in the face of howling January winds.

 

I'm not saying that the current Bills can pull off that type of offense, but to say that they won't try because of the weather is a foolish statement - and one that is disproved by history. Talent - not weather - will keep the Bills from a high-octane offense this year.

735460[/snapback]

 

Excellent point. Most of all, that kind of comment shows that the average historical knowledge of most sports writers, especially AP stringers, does not extend back more then five years. It is scandalous that people do not bother to learn anything about their sport...

[Phlegm Alley]

I agree that if we incorporated a no-huddle, hurry-up offense we could be effective. IIRC, JP seemed to have most of his success with this type of offense.

[5 Wide]

I don't think you can really compare the K-Gun to the Greatest show on turf. The K gun was actually named for Keith McKellar, not Kelly slinging it all over the field. The K gun was predicated on high tempo, not necessarily high risk high yardage plays. I think it's a good call to say that a "Rams East" type of approach wouldn't work well here, especially with the bulk of the home schedule happening later in the year. However, I do like Fairchilds approach to open it up more than the last several years here and his desire to use Willis on 3rd down, 2:00 offense, and as more than just a checkdown in the passing game.

[RayFinkle]

I agree that if we incorporated a no-huddle, hurry-up offense we could be effective.  IIRC, JP seemed to have most of his success with this type of offense.

735466[/snapback]

The success of the "hurry up" had a lot more to do with Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas and a plethera of all pro lineman than it did with actually "hurrying up".

[MartyBall4Buffalo]

I Think a couple of you completly missed the point of that article. It's stating while we cant use Martz's air it out philosophy its a good thing to be exposed to that predicated on running the football, but having big play potential. Kind of Similar Im hoping anyway to the way Al Saunders ran that offense in KC

 

"The run game is crucial," he said during training camp in suburban Rochester. "(Martz) is very, very aggressive and really stretches the field. I felt that was good to be exposed to that. But we're not trying to emulate the St. Louis Rams.

 

However this doesnt mean we wont pass the football

 

Despite his emphasis on running the ball in Buffalo, he is very familiar with the passing game. A former quarterback, Fairchild's connections with Martz date to college when Martz was his quarterbacks coach at San Diego Mesa Community College in the 1970s.

 

As Rams offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Fairchild helped quarterback Marc Bulger earn his first Pro Bowl selection in 2003. He also oversaw a St. Louis offense that finished second in the NFC last season, averaging 252.3 yards passing a game.

 

All I get out of that article is we will be a run first offense who will stretch the field with need be. Truth be told thats the way it should be. Especialy with our quaterback situation as well as teams that can run the football are the teams that generaly have the most success.

[ganesh]

Excellent point. Most of all, that kind of comment shows that the average historical knowledge of most sports writers, especially AP stringers, does not extend back more then five years. It is scanadalous that people do not bother to learn anything about their sport...

735464[/snapback]

 

 

I agree except for the last statement. I think it is ok to compare yourself to

the most recent trend as you are more associated with your more recent

past or the present rather than eons ago.....

 

The last 5 years, it has been a dog fight in the AFC East, which was devoid

of good QBs until Tom Brady has mastered being a excellent QB to throw

long balls until last year. Other than TB, all we have had has been

mediocrity in Pennington, Gust Frerotte, Jay Fiedler etc...

[ganesh]

I agree that if we incorporated a no-huddle, hurry-up offense we could be effective.  IIRC, JP seemed to have most of his success with this type of offense.

735466[/snapback]

 

In fact last year JP was most effective in the no-huddle offense, and of course

Mularkey decides that it is not working and takes him out of the no-huddle

offense....go figure....

[Pyrite Gal]

I don't think you can really compare the K-Gun to the Greatest show on turf.  The K gun was actually named for Keith McKellar, not Kelly slinging it all over the field.  The K gun was predicated on high tempo, not necessarily high risk high yardage plays.  I think it's a good call to say that a "Rams East" type of approach wouldn't work well here, especially with the bulk of the home schedule happening later in the year.  However, I do like Fairchilds approach  to open it up more than the last several years here and his desire to use Willis on 3rd down, 2:00 offense, and as more than just a checkdown in the passing game.

735468[/snapback]

 

I really do not know a lot about the details of the Ram offense to say whether the Rams East moniker will fit, but from what I hear it will fit because I expect this Bills O to qualify as being pass-happy. However, my understanding of the Rams O is that it eas not pass happy because the QB was throwing it downfield 30 yards or more on every play.

 

It was pass-happy because he passed a lot even though they may only be 8 yard tosses and the expectation and successful execution was to see a lot of yard picked up through run after the catch (RAC) rather than on long bombs.

 

The use of the K-Gun as an example is a good one. It did not have a bunch of plays and the plays were not very complex. However, whether they were gonna run or pass on a play the personnel could do both well enough so they did not have to make substitutions. The plays and demeanor of the players looked the same whether it was one of the few plays that went deep or one of the few plays which went short and expected RAC.

 

Because the plays looked the same so defenders did not know whether to drop back or pinch in and because opposing teams could not sub guys to give their players a blow or to put in run speciailists on running downs or pass coverage specialists on passing downs, they ran the table until opponents developed responses to what the Bills did well.

 

One of the reasons why I do not think that selection and the quality beyond adequacy is going to be a big factor for the Bills in whether the O is effective or not, is because the QB in an offense which if we are lucky and good will be a productive as the Rams O is not going to be called upon to lead this team with great physical skills.

 

Instead, I think that productive QB play for the Bills is going to come down to making good reads of the opposing D to know which WR has single coverage and knowing when to bail quickly on the primary play call and instead checkdown to a short dumpoff to WM who turns it into a 5 yard gain or makes the first man miss and gets a big gain.

 

It does not mater a ton that the Buffalo weather is bad to effectively run a pass-happy version of our O which could reasonably be called Rams East as long as like the K-Gun the significant number of passes are 8 yard flares with only the occaisional long bomb to keep the D on their heels for fear this is going to be the one play where Evans, Peerless or Parrish goes on a fly pattern and runs under a long pass from the QB. If the D is in their version of s cover 2 with the receiver doubled by a safety we will get stopped. However, if the opposing D is doing press or single coverage, i like our chances with very speedy guys in the WR positions.

 

A key to this (particularly since our OL has historically been so weak we need the TE to play as a 6th OL player) is for our RB (meaning WM) o be an effective checkdown option in the Marshall Faulk role.

 

I like the players we have acquired and the potential plans as I can really see this working well.

 

WR- We are simply loaded with very fast WRs who have shown at least adequate hands (except for Reed who is still a droppsie guy until he has a more productive seaon than his rookie year to prove otherwise, but his smarts to pick apart zones other teams should be forced into by our speed and his theoretical RAC ability from being a college RB makes him a very good choice as #4 WR for us).

 

RB- Its going to gonna come down to how effectivea reciever WM is. He has shown some good ability in this area in college and in his brief use as a receiver as a pro. However, he was such a srong runner and TC went away from the outside game with his playcalls and use of WM last year, this is still and unproven area for him. If he remains healthy and is productive as a reciever he may well be simply outstanding this year. FB will be interesting as I see them primarily useful in goaline situations or when we are burning clock in the 4th quarter.

 

OL- The probable starters this year are simply flat out better performers than the starters last year. However, we look pretty threadbare in terms of back-ups for the OL. I expect we will actually get off to a surprisingly successful statt. but as the nicks that occur to all NFL players over the course of a season mount up. we need to get some quality back-up minutes from Preston, Gibson and likely Butler or likely we have some big problems. One of the other likely benefits from going to a short pass RAC oriented pass-happy style is that the OL will not have to hold blocks very long as the QB will need to get rid of it fast to an open receiver, a checkdown, or OB or we are in trouble.

 

QB- JP will be interesting to watch. The kwy to him being a successful QB for us IMHO is not going to be his running skills, escapability or ability to improvise and make plays, but instead the game slowing down for him to make good effective reads.

 

I think he is far more talented that KH, but as a 10 year vetwith a weak arm, KH may well be much better suited to be effective running our O than JP may be. We'll see.

[/dev/null]

Talent - not weather - will keep the Bills from a high-octane offense this year.

735460[/snapback]

Bingo

 

The Bills don't have the right Offensive Line for it. Not trying to beat a dead horse on how our OLine sucks (cuz it does). But talent level aside there aren't really any OLine on the roster whose style would fit the K-Gun (quick, agile, able to keep pace without a huddle)

 

As previously stated the K-Gun was actually named for Keith McKellar...a tight end. Everett might have what it takes but he's essentially a rookie coming off a major injury and is therefore a big ? Nobody else on the roster could hold McKellar or Metzellaar's jock

 

Willis < Thurman. Thurman was a great all around threat. Willis is a great RB but doesn't scare anyone catching a pass out of the backfield

 

Definitely don't have the right QB for it. Maybe if we could transplant Holcomb's brain into JPs body. But otherwise Holcomb doesn't have the physical skills and JP has neither the brain power to call his own plays at the line nor the ability to read an NFL defense. Not to mention JPs leadership skills make Bill Lumberg look like Winston Churchill

[Rico]

But talent level aside there aren't really any OLine on the roster whose style would fit the K-Gun (quick, agile, able to keep pace without a huddle)

735974[/snapback]

Jason Peters could do it IMO.

[bluenews]

I think Willis McGahee will be to centerpoint of the gameplan. He rushed for over 1200 yards and wasn't even part of the gameplan last year.

 

Run will set up the pass.......Malarky tried to force to pass and failed!! Can't wait to face his offense twice this year.