Let's Talk Weapons

[Logical Reasoning]

I look at a weapon as an offensive ball handler who can beat another guy one on one on almost every occasion. With Spiller being able to got the distance with his speed and his elusiveness, the Bills are not without weapons relative to speed and quickness.

 

Jackson and Lynch are great backs and when you running dives or sweeps or end arounds and the defense does not know which of the three is coming, defending either of those and a possible pass is really tough. Our line is better built for running and it looks like we need to have that be our focus the way the Jets did during the final run of the season last year and the trickle down effect can be pretty positive.

[DDD]

I look at a weapon as an offensive ball handler who can beat another guy one on one on almost every occasion. With Spiller being able to got the distance with his speed and his elusiveness, the Bills are not without weapons relative to speed and quickness.

 

Jackson and Lynch are great backs and when you running dives or sweeps or end arounds and the defense does not know which of the three is coming, defending either of those and a possible pass is really tough. Our line is better built for running and it looks like we need to have that be our focus the way the Jets did during the final run of the season last year and the trickle down effect can be pretty positive.

 

Great weapons but no QB to throw them the ball and no O-line to open holes. 3-13.

[Thoner7]

I look at a weapon as an offensive ball handler who can beat another guy one on one on almost every occasion. With Spiller being able to got the distance with his speed and his elusiveness, the Bills are not without weapons relative to speed and quickness.

 

Jackson and Lynch are great backs and when you running dives or sweeps or end arounds and the defense does not know which of the three is coming, defending either of those and a possible pass is really tough. Our line is better built for running and it looks like we need to have that be our focus the way the Jets did during the final run of the season last year and the trickle down effect can be pretty positive.

 

Last I checked there were 11 defenders. Let me know when that changes, because of right now, with our OL, he is gonna need to be 11 guys, not 1.

[saundena]

Great weapons but no QB to throw them the ball and no O-line to open holes. 3-13.

I'm sorry, but your outta your gorde. As I (and many others on TSW) have said, we had the perfect **** storm working against us last year (Jauron, bad luck, injuries, fired OC) and still managed 6 wins. Considering the NE and CLE games, we easily are 8-8.

 

 

There is no way that we finish worse than we did last year. NO WAY. I actually have faith in Nix and Chan. Maybe we won't have the best O line in the league, but I have to believe that they think our O line is good enough to keep us in games. Spiller will mask a lot of our woes.

[Cash]

I'm sorry, but your outta your gorde. As I (and many others on TSW) have said, we had the perfect **** storm working against us last year (Jauron, bad luck, injuries, fired OC) and still managed 6 wins. Considering the NE and CLE games, we easily are 8-8.

 

 

There is no way that we finish worse than we did last year. NO WAY. I actually have faith in Nix and Chan. Maybe we won't have the best O line in the league, but I have to believe that they think our O line is good enough to keep us in games. Spiller will mask a lot of our woes.

 

Defense is switching schemes & formations - every defensive front 7 holdover has to learn a new defense and a new position. New DC's resume is less impressive than Fewell's, so a possible downgrade on that front.

 

Bell is coming off an ACL tear, and thus likely to be even less effective than last year.

 

With Cornell Green's penchant for penalties, there's a decent chance that he's actually a downgrade from the turd sandwich we had at RT last year.

 

This year's schedule may wind up being tougher than last year's.

 

You want to give us credit for close losses, but then you need to also take away credit for close wins. The Jets threw 6 INTs and we still only barely beat them in OT.

 

Jauron's no-balls style was very bad at winning games, but it did have one merit: it made it very tough to lose games. By not taking chances, playing as conservatively as possible, playing bend but don't break on D, etc., Jauron put the team in a position where it was usually a close game at some point in the 4th quarter, even though we were usually getting outplayed. When the other team screwed up, Jauron-ball often led to wins. A more aggressive (which would be better, don't get me wrong) style, where the team played to win instead of just playing not to lose, is also riskier, in that you're more likely to get beat badly, even if the opponent makes some mistakes. A steady diet of checkdowns and runs up the gut won't lead to a lot of points on either end. Actually trying to move the chains and score touchdowns can lead to a lot more turnovers.

[spartacus]

I'm sorry, but your outta your gorde. As I (and many others on TSW) have said, we had the perfect **** storm working against us last year (Jauron, bad luck, injuries, fired OC) and still managed 6 wins. Considering the NE and CLE games, we easily are 8-8.

 

 

There is no way that we finish worse than we did last year. NO WAY. I actually have faith in Nix and Chan. Maybe we won't have the best O line in the league, but I have to believe that they think our O line is good enough to keep us in games. Spiller will mask a lot of our woes.

sounds like the blather from last pre-season after we signed TO and immediately had the most weapons in the league on an unstoppable offense

 

that worked out well - primarily because the OL was so good

and it started out with more talent than what they have now

[Logical Reasoning]

sounds like the blather from last pre-season after we signed TO and immediately had the most weapons in the league on an unstoppable offense

 

that worked out well - primarily because the OL was so good

and it started out with more talent than what they have now

 

 

I am assuming that Chan Gailey is a better offensive coordinator than Alex Van Pelt which is a safe assumption coming from a guy who took his teams to the playoffs with Kordell Stewart and Quincy Carter as quarterback. Ignorance is bliss at this point for mostly everybody but Spiller is someone that coordinators have to watch.

[profile]

There's no real way to predict what will happen this upcoming season other than with new schemes on both sides of the ball, there will tend to be a lot of breakdowns in execution of game-plan simply due to unfamiliarity. With that said, I still contest that even with these mistakes and growing pains, this team is without a doubt better coached this year, and you can't argue the snooze-fest that was Dick Jauron and his no-touchdown offense no longer around, that this team has at least a fighting chance to win games now. I'm not proclaiming Chan Gailey a savior, but he has a far better record than his predecessor.

 

You don't need a top performing QB to win 8-9 games, look at what the Jets did with Sanchez, the Steelers did with Rapelisbagger in '04, and the Bears of '06 with Rex Losman...err Grossman.

 

So we have Trent/Fitz/Brohm/Brown as Qb's, and the Williamsville toll barrier as an offensive line, but I'm banking on the departure of T.O. and Jauron as the 2 most important moves of the offseason that made this team better, and have a bit of optomism that the team will win a few more games than last year.

 

And as always, I still would have loved to see Cowher here as a coach, but it is what it is, and we have no choice but to give the regime a chance to succeed.

[Thurman#1]

I'm sorry, but your outta your gorde. As I (and many others on TSW) have said, we had the perfect **** storm working against us last year (Jauron, bad luck, injuries, fired OC) and still managed 6 wins. Considering the NE and CLE games, we easily are 8-8.

 

 

There is no way that we finish worse than we did last year. NO WAY. I actually have faith in Nix and Chan. Maybe we won't have the best O line in the league, but I have to believe that they think our O line is good enough to keep us in games. Spiller will mask a lot of our woes.

 

 

 

Why would you "consider" the NE and CLE games? We lost them. Because we were a worse team.

 

We were a six-win team for a reason and the reason was that we weren't good. And a lot of the reason for that was that our QBs weren't good and our OL wasn't good, particularly the tackles, and none of that has changed.

 

You don't "have to believe that they think our O line is good enough to keep us in games. " You're making a choice to believe it, you certainly don't have to. And frankly, if you do beleive it, you're distorting reality.

[Beerball]

I look at a weapon as an offensive ball handler who can beat another guy one on one on almost every occasion. With Spiller being able to got the distance with his speed and his elusiveness, the Bills are not without weapons relative to speed and quickness.

 

Jackson and Lynch are great backs and when you running dives or sweeps or end arounds and the defense does not know which of the three is coming, defending either of those and a possible pass is really tough. Our line is better built for running and it looks like we need to have that be our focus the way the Jets did during the final run of the season last year and the trickle down effect can be pretty positive.

On average how much do we expect Spiller to be on the field? Maybe 30% of our offensive plays?

[metzelaars_lives]

On average how much do we expect Spiller to be on the field? Maybe 30% of our offensive plays?

 

Not sure where you're getting that from. Why would our starting RB be on the field for 30% of our plays? You don't think we drafted someone ninth overall to not be our starting RB, do you? I would guess 70% of plays.

[Mr. WEO]

I am assuming that Chan Gailey is a better offensive coordinator than Alex Van Pelt which is a safe assumption coming from a guy who took his teams to the playoffs with Kordell Stewart and Quincy Carter as quarterback. Ignorance is bliss at this point for mostly everybody but Spiller is someone that coordinators have to watch.

Here's CG's resume as OC:

 

In Pitts '96---15th overall offense/27th passing offense. In '97---17th ranked offense, 26th in passing. His tenure as OC fortuitously happened to overlap with Bettis's best seasons. He used Stewart as an option QB.

 

In Miami '00---26th ranked offense/27th in passing. In '01---21st offense/19th in passing.

 

His passing game in Dallas didn't completely suck because he had a still-breathing Aikman.

 

Unless Carter was a stowaway on a bus, CG never took Carter to the playoffs with him. Maybe you're confusing Gailey with Bill Parcells. I'm sure you're the first to do so.

 

When it comes to the legend of "CG--QB guru", for many (certainly not "mostly everybody", I hope), "Ignorance is bliss at this point".

[Beerball]

Not sure where you're getting that from. Why would our starting RB be on the field for 30% of our plays? You don't think we drafted someone ninth overall to not be our starting RB, do you? I would guess 70% of plays.

No chance at least in 2010 (IMO).

 

I see situational use, mainly 3rd down.

[DarthICE]

Great weapons but no QB to throw them the ball and no O-line to open holes. 3-13.

 

 

Funny I thought this OL opened enough holes to produce a 1000 yard rusher out of an undrafted guy? I also thought that we were 16th in rushing.

 

Some of you clowns really want to make me

[BillsVet]

I am assuming that Chan Gailey is a better offensive coordinator than Alex Van Pelt which is a safe assumption coming from a guy who took his teams to the playoffs with Kordell Stewart and Quincy Carter as quarterback. Ignorance is bliss at this point for mostly everybody but Spiller is someone that coordinators have to watch.

 

Gailey has more experience, and I'd assume he's better than Schonert and Van Pelt. I'd even go so far as to say he's not going to hamstring the offense with unimaginative play-calling like Jauron demanded of Fairchild, Schonert, and Van Pelt.

 

That said, he has one proven WR, a crowded backfield, a QB who couldn't keep the job in 2009, and finally, a very bad OL that is particularly weak at OT. I would expect to see a lot of three step drops, a heavy dose of running behind the interior OL, and a fair amount of Spiller.