obie_wan
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Posts posted by obie_wan
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The something seriously wrong with the running game comes down to one simple fact: defensive fronts ROUTINELY outnumbered us at the POA with 8 or 9 in the box. You can't zone block that. You can't man block that. Period. We were simply outnumbered by more guys to block than there were to block them. What did that do? Well, it took away any reasonable running room for one and two, if the D read pass, it's an easy front to blitz from. Did we or did we not see that over and over and over again last season?
Why? Simple. Lack of ANY viable receiving option other than Evans who was EASILY taken away with numerous double teams, etc. Ds DARED us to beat the single coverage on Reed, Roscoe, or Royal (who was also basically taken away as a receiver because he had to block against those crowded fronts far to often). Consequence? Nobody to spread the defense and MAKE them loosen up.
The few times we DID use spread formations we were a GREAT running team. Problem was we couldn't use them often enough because it makes an offense very vulnerable at the edges and, again, our other receivers just couldn't get beat single coverage often enough. And it's asking a lot of your QB as well.
If our Oline is to have ANY chance we will have to force defenses to spread out. The question is can we hurt them often enough in both pass and run to make it work consistently. I won't be convinced until I see a viable #2 WR that can take pressure off Evans, a TE that can command respect in the middle of the field, and a QB who can recognize what a defense gives you in that formation. If we WERE to be successful with a spread formation you'd see Reed flourish as a slot receiver like he did with Moulds, Price, and Bledsoe. You'd see Roscoe play in the slot more as well. Neither is a wideout. Especially Parrish.
I think your point about Lynch is a good one. He was often undisciplined in selecting holes (but flourished in a spread formation) and I too wonder if that undisciplined style didn't worry coaches about using him more as a receiver where being disciplined is even more important. We'll see.
GO BILLS!!!
The thing I question is how does Lynch generate 4 YPC and Jackson 5.2 YPC with 8 or 9 guys in the box all the time.
Those averages are not bad.
Run 3 times and get a 1st down.
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Im on the fence with Jason Peters.........
The guy deserves his money no doubt!
But he did agree on his current contract. I might be wrong when I say this but he had more then 2 years left on his current contract? If he waits until he has a year or so left I dont have an issue with it.
But really both sides need one another. Jason Peters deserves his money, Buffalo needs a Pro Bowl LT.
Is he healthy?
maybe the ploy to get a big spanking new contract BEFORE camp is because he is more seriously hurt than the public realizzes.
Since he missed all of the off-season activities, whether he recovered from his serious groin injury can not be confirmed
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I see what you're saying, but some players are clearly more suceptible to injury than others. Peyton Manning and Brett Favre are examples of players who, for whatever reason, don't get hurt. Even players who suck and play on lousy teams that get knocked around can be tough and seemingly uninjurable. Look at David Carr when he was in Houston.
You should be more worried about the health of Jason Peters.
He has not shown to be recovered from a serious groin injury (gee- maybe why the Bills are stalling on the contract)
He missed all of the off-season team workouts- making him more susceptible to additional injury.
He may miss the start of training camp -- making him more susceptible to additional injury.
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I cant believe we are talking about a rookie QB like he is supposed to come in and far and away outplay a veteran.
Lets see what Edwards does this year.......
Both guys moved the ball between the 20's......IMHO the sissy playcalling and lack of big targets is what did us in when we got to the red zone.
Also....our defense couldn't get the ball back last year and so every offensive possession just became too critical. Lets hope this will change with improvements at the DT, LB, and improving the depth of the corner position.
The size of the target was not a factor in scroring TDs last year. This is a easy cop-out excuse.
The complete failure to even attempt passes towards the end zone is why they did not scorre TDs.
They should have been attacking the end zone from the 25 yard line, BEFORE they got into the red zone -
If they throw to the end zone from the 25, they will score and will not need the jolly green giant
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Our's was dead even with the lip of the pool... so you could stand with your heels on the deck and toes on the pool edge and not even notice a change.
Concrete footers were also used.
This may be true year 1.
However, it is likely something will heave during the winter and throw things out of whack.
May be better to have the deck over the pool. Prevents kids from pushing off the pool sides when jumping in as well. Leave room for the winter cover.
The deck overhang also provides good anchor for a ladder
Also be carefull with concrete and posts.
Don;t use pressure treated posts with concrete poured around the post. The wood will shrink and create gaps. If using a concrete footer, you need to anchor the post to the concrate with bolts and not just rest it on the footer. Since kids will jump off the deck in to the pool, there will horizontal and upwards foces on the posts.
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He might be consistent and the best blocker, but he is in no way irreplaceable if hypothetically, the Bills needed to trade away one of their top 4 WR's. Personally, I wouldn't deal him away (or any of the 4) because he does have value to the team, but out of the 4, he would bring the lowest return and out of the 4 has been given the most chances to move up and has not been able to secure himself a high spot then a #3/#4.
Obviously they would be stupid to let any of their WR's go until Hardy proves he is up to the challenge over the course of the year, and even then, Hardy is already pretty much penciled in as the #2, above Reed on the depth chart.
We will see.
My bet is that Reed will be on the field more than Hardy in 2008.
Hardy may start in game #1 to save face, but Reed will get significantly more snaps.
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I'm hopeful that Turk Schonert can get this group playing better. That doesn't mean I am completely certain or even expect that it is going to happen. My optimism is based solely on the belief that the Bills have some good offensive players and that those players, hopefully, come to work in 08 and their coaches have a better plan. Continuity is about all that's left to hang your hat on, but that is a double edged sword. Continuity would usher in optimistic feelings if the offense had shown steadily improved play over the course of 07. But, it did not. So, continuity could just mean more of the same decline and poor execution. And, I'm not so quick to suspend my disbelief and assume that the only problem in 07 was Steve Fairchild.
I would agree its not all Fairchild.
There is something seriously wrong with the run game.
It's not all the OL either. For as bad as the tewam looked running the ball, the OL did work together fairly well in pass protection. While the low sack total is a bogus measuring tool, what was missing in 2007 were the constant jailbreaks from prior years. To me, this indicates the OL had some ability to work together and communicate.
But if they could do this for the more complicated pass protection, why couldn't they do it for run blocking.
My guess is something else is seriously wrong.
- Part of it might have been not understanding what McNally was trying to do - was it zone blocking, was is drive blocking, did anybody, including the OL, know what they were doing?
- Another potentially bigger concern is that the run game problems lie with our highly touted RB. Although he was a warrior and fought for the tough yards, were those yards so tough because he missed the designed hole?
I got the impression that the OL was getting frustrated that Lynch was not where he was supposed to be. It seemed there were plays where during the play, a OL would siimply disengage, standup and seem to be looking around to see where Lynch was. Maybe I am imagining this, but something unexplained is going on with the run game - and it is much more serious than Fairchild callled a lot of bad plays.
Is Fred Jackson a better RB to have a muchg yard per carry than Lynch?
If Lynch was unable to fully grasp the running game, it may be a big reason why they did not trust him at all in the passing game.
Simply replacing Fairchild won't solve this problem by itself.
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Ah, ok, you were basing it mostly on what kind of return you could get for them. Thats understandable then. I was thinking of it more on who is the most expendable to the offence
Going by what you could get in return
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Reed - He is a decent 3rd/4th WR and is a tough player, but I don't know if he will ever amount to much more then that and would probably bring in very little in return
Reed - Letting him go would hurt a little because he is good depth, but he is no way untouchable
[.
Reed is the Bills most consistent WR and best blocker.
They would be stupid to let him go until Hardy proves over the course of a season that he is up to the challenge.
Even if figures out how to beat the jam, run better patterns and pick up the hot reads on blitzes - he still can't block.
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This is what happens when a team waits to unload its unwanted talent.
Istead of running around giving away vets in contract years too early and at bargain basement prices, you stay patient until the demand goes up due to an injury.
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But what does this have to do with Dick Jauron? Where is his fault, other than hiring Fairchild? If Belihick committed an error in hiring an inept offensive coordinator as Jauron did, he wouldn't have any answers mid-season either. Because they don't know anything about offense.
Everything you've listed is on Fairchild, not on Jauron. DJ gets some blame spilled over, no doubt, for his part in Fairchild's hiring...but the particulars that caused the offense to be so ineffective can't be put on him, unless you can somehow prove Jauron isn't as laissez-faire with his offense as we believe.
He does not know anything about offense - that's your excuse for Jauron??!!
Jauron is the HC.
He does not live in a cave.
He is an Ivy league grad for pete's sake.
He can handle understanding a few things about how an offense runs - especially since he defensed them all of his life.
If teh team does not have audibles and are consistently getting stuffed, especially on 3rd down - then he is at fault for not mandating that teh OC institute an audible system, as simple as it may need to be.
There is no excuse for incompetence due to stupidity on his watch.
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Glad to know Jauron is my buddy
Where are you getting two missed blocks by Lynch- he had more than that. A lot more than that.
As far as it being pathetic not having an audible system....try telling that to Norv Turner, one of the most successful coaches of this generation. He doesn't use audibles.
Our line isn't good. We have 1 great lineman, 1 good one, one developing one, one below average, and one terrible one. Until that changes, we will not have much of an offense. You don't have to like it, but thats how it is.
Norv didn't need much in the way of audibles when Aikman's biggest job was to hand the ball to Emmit Smith.
If Norv did not use audibles, then he is more stupid than I thought. You don't voluntarily hamstring your offense by not using a valuable tool like an audible.
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(6) WCO has to be able to run the football. I think this will mean more zone blocking for the OL, and using Lynch as the centerpiece of the offense. Watch for Jackson to come in on occasion and do the same thing.
Running the football.
This is where the offense falls apart.
I don 't think our OL is capable of mastering zone blocking.
Waay too many times last year, linemen did not sustain blocks and move to the next level. Toomany times they wewre standing around to see who to block and to see where Lynch went. (probably the wrong hole) There may have been issues with McNally in implementing his scheme. Maybe our OL may not be up to the mental challenge of anything other than drive blocking the guy in front of them.
We shall see - but a power running mentality is a necessity to making the offense be effective.
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If you paid attention, some of us have been saying that Hardy's presence, if nothing else, will draw attention away from Evans. You simply cannot ignore a guy who is 6'5" 220#, runs a 4.45, is agile, and has a 37" vertical jump, or even put a LB'er on him.
you can - until he proves he can beat you by making plays.
His mere presence will not change anything on the field in regard to Evans.
Same way teams will continue to stack the box until Edwards actually hit big plays to force them off the line.
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One field goal miss?? sheesh.The guy has been one of the best in the league.--And the below 80 IQers who put any blame on him for that Pittsburgh loss...u just have to laugh. Like our giving up 200 + yards on the ground to their second string had nothing to do with it.
in retrospect, Willie Parker turned out to be much better than an afterthought
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Our special teams are the BEST in the league......period
not last year
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Ikegwuono was nowhere NEAR a 1st round prospect. And keep professing your brilliance by reading the stat sheet.
having this guy be a scrub and still able to shut down Hardy does not help your argument that Hardy can beat the jam.
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The mechanics and quick release, especially when compared to the unpolished play of JPL, are a big factor in the "poise" argument. He's just so fluid, he's got to be a good QB.
Not much changed when Edwards got to the pros -- how good a pro he'll end up being is still uncertain, and some suggest the fault lies with the other 10 guys on the offense (or the illogical notion that the problem is the backup QB's fault).
Well, one way to keep a brittle QB on the field is to not let him get hit. How did the Bills do that? They leaned on the running game (built around another rookie and a geriatric) and ultra short passing game. Edwards quick release and reliance on pre-snap reads fit well in an aerial game designed to stretch the backfield horizontally. The Bills offense had almost no vertical passing game (IIRC, it was less than 20 plays) to speak of and certainly were no threat to stretch, making Fairchild's comments that they "couldn't get teams to back off" not exactly profound. Does this address Edwards decision making? His INT% of 3.0 isn't horrible, but it wasn't fantastic either (8 INTs/7 TDs). Considering the passing system employed, one could make the argument that a 3.0 is poor for a QB that took so few chances down the field and sacks. The "decision making" is further muddled by the heavy reliance on pre-snap reads and quick, minimal routes. Edwards just wasn't asked to stand in the pocket and go through his progression and try to make plays in the defensive secondary. Was that because he was a rookie? Was it to keep him healthy? Was it because the Bills receivers suck? Was it because the line sucked? Was it because Edwards wasn't ready and didn't know the offense well enough?
Let's go back to Fairchild's comment. "We can't get them to back off of us." Superficially, this comment is profoundly dumb. Fairchild is calling conservative plays, runs and very short passes. How did a guy that can't put the cause and effect together here get a job as an NFL football coach? Are we to believe that the Bills hired a knuckle-walking drooler such as that to outsmart Bill Belichick?!? Is there any other reason for Fairchild to so baldly state the supremely obvious and even implicate his own role?
You would think the head coach would offer a little helpful advice.
He is, after all, responsibile
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and what are our returners? Chopped liver?
Hester is insane....I would take our ST's over anybody in the league OVERALL any day of the week.....
Moorman and Lindell are money
Parrish is almost impossible to tackle in the open field
MgGee is one of the best if not THE best in the league
Now we also have McKelvin
chopped liver?
not for the punt returners
- but Bills kickoff return team is living off past glory since its 2007 actual performance was pretty poor.
Bills ranked 28th on kickoff returns with an average 20.7 yds/ return.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?arc...amp;Submit=Find
I guess there was a reason for cutting loose those special teams "stars"
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If the Bills end up with a losing record, will Jauron be fired? Who would be a quality replacement?
a little early for replacement talk
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I think that he saw what he said he saw. You see not everything is black and white. There are many shades of grey when drafting a player, those are a players intangibles and those don't show up on the stat sheets all the time. Hardy scored 36 TD's in 33 games, I don't care if he gets great separation all the time or even some of the time, at 6'6 and a vert of 42 in. he should be fine with most db's being around him. That's his greatest value. If there are times that he can get separation and get down the field then great, at least that is something that can be learned. His potential is in those intangibles I mentioned above and sometimes they translate better when watching a player often as opposed to seeing him from time to time.
I saw a stat somewhere that last year there about 38 passes in the red zone to players over 6'-'5".
Only 16 were completed.
Hardy needs to be more than tall to be productive in the NFL.
He has 2 major flaws in his game which is why he dropped out of the 1st round.
In addition to making the normal transition to teh NFL which takes 3 years, he has additional work to do.
odds are that Hardy won;t contribute consistently in 2008.
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trwding a WR would be a typical Bills move.
They are not exactly overloaded with talent at WR- but trade away what we do have to create another hole on which to divert resources to.
Probably should trade a couple of the WRs to really make a mess
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There are several tests at the Combine that measure raw arm strength and I do not remember the exact numbers for amount of weight or number of reps Edwards was able to do. However, when a player (particularly a QB) comes up short or does much less than the norm on these tests then the prospect draws the label of weak armed and tends to plummet in the draft ratings and guesses.
Edwards was generally seen as a possible but unlikely 1st round choice but a definite by the 2nd round pick. When the Bills 3rd round choice came around the Bills pick was seen as a surprise. In part this was because after an improving near the end of the 07 season Losman was seen as our definite QB, but also because it was generally agreed that Edwards would be gone by round 3.
From what I have seen Edwards problems are not due to a weak arm (actually to some extent a problem which can be mitigated through careful weight training is needed as increased muscles can throw off mechanics) but due to poor footwork which does not allow him to get his full "arm" behind a throw. This mechanical technique problem can also be improced through work.
I think the weak armed Edwards complaint is a myth.
being able to throw effectively down the field is dependant on a strong core, not so much just a strong arm.
just like a pitcher, power is generated from teh legs and body, not just the arm
Edwards will be fine.
With the arn he has, he is able to deliver the ball to WRs in a position for them to generate yards after the catch.
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The front office is working on it. They're in constant discussion every day
so what's the deal?
It is critical the Bills have their rookies in camp from day 1 to have any hope of getting production in 2008 - especially Hardy.
I don't understand why the wait until the last minute
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Ostroski's promotion from rotational depth to the starting lineup at RT was the harbinger of the Fall of the Golden Age for the Buffalo Bills. I think he was an average player. While he had limited athleticism, he worked hard and usually played smart. It's hard to say he wasn't willing to go the extra mile for the team; putting him out at RT and then at C where some god awful coaching decisions and bouncing around the line didn't allow him to focus on and improve at a single position. To be fair, the Bills just didn't help themselves out any. Butler claimed that a good OL was "easy to put together; just get a bunch of fat guys." Marv Levy claimed that OL play was going to become a commodity position, where teams had 7 or 8 fat guys and just cycled them in and out at various positions to keep everyone fresh. Tom Bresnahan fell in love with the idea of drafting OL for size on the goofy premise, "it takes longer to run around a bigger guy." The Bills went away from what got them into the Golden Age -- exceptional athletes at the OL that could literally sprint up and down the field in the hurry-up offense and kick the defender's asses play after play. They started going for fat guys like Marcus "Jabba" Spriggs, Jamie "I got winded getting out of bed" Nails, Robert "Huge" Hicks, Victor "He can't play but he's big" Allotey, ...
Don't remember those specfic quotes, but since Polian left, the Bills have had no one in the organization who recognizes and understands what makes a good NFL offensive lineman. Maybe they got confused and took offensive literally because we have had a lot of those.
The overriding philosophy of the last 15 years has been a misguided belief that they can save cap dollars on the OL by finding cheap diamonds in the rough.
The irony is this policy has consistently backfired and forced them to consistently overspend on marginal players to just field a team.
It goes back to severely overspending for players like Fina, Brown on the downside of their careers and Ostrowski because they ignored drafting replacements and now the current $75 million collection of under-producing free agents. The latest abortion driven directly by the team's refusal to draft quality OL over the last 10 years ( 3 picks in top 4 rounds over last 10 years (44 picks) . and zero by the dynamic due of Jauron and Levy.
It is clear that the front office has a huge problem in evaluating OL talent - it seems unfortunate that the problem won't be fixed until Modrack Guy and the gang are replaced. Maybe if Modrack spent a few days in Buffalo at his employer he could get up to speed on this issue.
If the Packers had an owner...
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
When Sherman was there, he cowtowed to Brett regarding personnel decisions.
Now Thompson is not letting Brett play GM and he is pissed.
Wherever Favre plays this year, he will add to his career interception record.