Simon Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Forced fumbles on kickoffs. I love that the staff is showing the faith and confidence in Lindell to drop quite a few of his kickoffs into that short corner. He'll eventually miscue and knock one OB (and I hope nobody screams at him for it 'cuz that's just the cost of doing business) but he's been perfect so far. Dropping that ball well outside the hashes and just inside the goalline compels a returner to bring it out, where he is inevitably met by a pack of swarming, stripping Bills who've had ample time to get downfield because of the height of the kick and the "new" starting position of the kickoff. The fact that teams are not likely putting a whole lot of practice time into kick returns should only serve to increase the chance of mistake and lost fumbles as well. And even factoring out turnovers, we're still regularly stopping teams around the 15 or better and taking a little psychological edge and some advantage in field position as well. There's no other team for which I see almost every single kickoff, but just watching a lot other games around the league I'm not seeing this from anybody else. I'm sure some other folks are doing it (or will be soon after watching some Bills tape) but I don't believe anybody is doing it with the frequency which the Bills are. We've only got one so far, but increased opportunities will ultimately lead to increased rewards; and the reward of stealing a possession and putting points on the board off a turnover is a significant one. I don't think the Bungles have allowed many points this year, and as a result haven't returned a lot of kicks. If it's not t0o windy in Cincinnatus I wouldn't be surprised to see Lindell be given a few more opportunities and for us knock one of those loose today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Amen brother. Very few have been returned past the 20. And I laugh at the morons who sit behind me who give him grief for not kicking thru the end zone, thinking he can't kick it that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsObserver Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Love this post. Excellent point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Forced fumbles on kickoffs. I love that the staff is showing the faith and confidence in Lindell to drop quite a few of his kickoffs into that short corner. He'll eventually miscue and knock one OB (and I hope nobody screams at him for it 'cuz that's just the cost of doing business) but he's been perfect so far. Dropping that ball well outside the hashes and just inside the goalline compels a returner to bring it out, where he is inevitably met by a pack of swarming, stripping Bills who've had ample time to get downfield because of the height of the kick and the "new" starting position of the kickoff. The fact that teams are not likely putting a whole lot of practice time into kick returns should only serve to increase the chance of mistake and lost fumbles as well. And even factoring out turnovers, we're still regularly stopping teams around the 15 or better and taking a little psychological edge and some advantage in field position as well. There's no other team for which I see almost every single kickoff, but just watching a lot other games around the league I'm not seeing this from anybody else. I'm sure some other folks are doing it (or will be soon after watching some Bills tape) but I don't believe anybody is doing it with the frequency which the Bills are. We've only got one so far, but increased opportunities will ultimately lead to increased rewards; and the reward of stealing a possession and putting points on the board off a turnover is a significant one. I don't think the Bungles have allowed many points this year, and as a result haven't returned a lot of kicks. If it's not to windy on Cincinnatus I wouldn't be surprised to see Lindell be given a few more opportunities and for us knock one of those loose today. I'm glad somebody else realizes how good Lindell has been this season. You're right about the cost of doing business...at least once this season he'll kick it OB and at least once there will be a breakdown and the other team will break off a huge return, possibly for 6 points. Every other team seems to be acquiescing to the new 35-yard line rule and just blasting the ball out of the end zone. The Bills are the first team to adapt and try to use the rule to their advantage, for which I give tons of credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Forced fumbles on kickoffs. I love that the staff is showing the faith and confidence in Lindell to drop quite a few of his kickoffs into that short corner. He'll eventually miscue and knock one OB (and I hope nobody screams at him for it 'cuz that's just the cost of doing business) but he's been perfect so far. Dropping that ball well outside the hashes and just inside the goalline compels a returner to bring it out, where he is inevitably met by a pack of swarming, stripping Bills who've had ample time to get downfield because of the height of the kick and the "new" starting position of the kickoff. The fact that teams are not likely putting a whole lot of practice time into kick returns should only serve to increase the chance of mistake and lost fumbles as well. And even factoring out turnovers, we're still regularly stopping teams around the 15 or better and taking a little psychological edge and some advantage in field position as well. There's no other team for which I see almost every single kickoff, but just watching a lot other games around the league I'm not seeing this from anybody else. I'm sure some other folks are doing it (or will be soon after watching some Bills tape) but I don't believe anybody is doing it with the frequency which the Bills are. We've only got one so far, but increased opportunities will ultimately lead to increased rewards; and the reward of stealing a possession and putting points on the board off a turnover is a significant one. I don't think the Bungles have allowed many points this year, and as a result haven't returned a lot of kicks. If it's not to windy on Cincinnatus I wouldn't be surprised to see Lindell be given a few more opportunities and for us knock one of those loose today. Good point. The increase opportunites for a forced fumble also increases opportunities for a long run back too. This play will get very tricky once the cold weather and wind sets in. We could see kicks going out of bounds (bad), or more forced funbles (good). I like the aggressiveness but we need to call it at the right time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 Amen brother. Very few have been returned past the 20. And I laugh at the morons who sit behind me who give him grief for not kicking thru the end zone, thinking he can't kick it that far. Are they the kind of morons who could learn if you slowly explained it to them? Or are they kind of morons who already know everything? - ) I'm glad somebody else realizes how good Lindell has been this season. You're right about the cost of doing business...at least once this season he'll kick it OB and at least once there will be a breakdown and the other team will break off a huge return, possibly for 6 points. Every other team seems to be acquiescing to the new 35-yard line rule and just blasting the ball out of the end zone. The Bills are the first team to adapt and try to use the rule to their advantage, for which I give tons of credit. I agree that kicks OB are a troublesome downside but I'm really not worried at all about anybody breaking one. With the numbers the Bills have converging into that short corner, the sideline being a 12th defender and the ease with which you can cut off any backside escape when coming from a really advantageous angle, I just don't see big returns as being a problematic factor at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I read something about this a few weeks ago. The Bills intentionally did this because they knew that while Lindell doesn't have the strongest leg in the league as far as distance goes, he kicks the ball higher than most kickers. So the KO team would have more time to get down there than other teams. And they started practicing to have him kick to a corner, and try to trap the return team before the 20. It seems to be working quite well, and we have a couple hard hitters on our ST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_franchise Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 That was my first thought when the rule change was made. If you've got the guys that can and will make plays for you on your coverage team, then let them do it, and give the opposition horrible field position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 I read something about this a few weeks ago. The Bills intentionally did this because they knew that while Lindell doesn't have the strongest leg in the league as far as distance goes, he kicks the ball higher than most kickers. So the KO team would have more time to get down there than other teams. And they started practicing to have him kick to a corner, and try to trap the return team before the 20. It seems to be working quite well, and we have a couple hard hitters on our ST. Do you happen to remember where you read it? I haven't seen it talked about at all and would like to see it if somebody did a write-up on it that casts a little light on the nuts and bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Do you happen to remember where you read it? I haven't seen it talked about at all and would like to see it if somebody did a write-up on it that casts a little light on the nuts and bolts. I can't really recall. It might have been on GR. This is some of it though, from a Jerry Sullivan article. http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/jerry-sullivan/article560955.ece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 I can't really recall. It might have been on GR. This is some of it though, from a Jerry Sullivan article. http://www.buffalone...ticle560955.ece No wonder I didn't see it. And still probably won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSBill Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Love this post. Excellent point. totally agree, excellent points I really like what the Bills are doing with their kick-offs. Its a risk reward proposition, and as pointed out, the new rules, a capable kicker, and a solid ST coach all conspire to the Bills advantage in taking this risks. I can put up with a few that may go out of bounds, but the the real risk is in someone taking one to the house--and it may happen this season, but I still like the longterm rewards of this strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I agree that kicks OB are a troublesome downside but I'm really not worried at all about anybody breaking one. With the numbers the Bills have converging into that short corner, the sideline being a 12th defender and the ease with which you can cut off any backside escape when coming from a really advantageous angle, I just don't see big returns as being a problematic factor at all. We'll see. Sideline or not, it takes a couple missed tackles and one big block to spring one. It's a low risk maneuver, but I'd still estimate that expected value dictates it happens once. But don't get me wrong...the average gain of kicking high to the corner outweighs the average loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 … and we have a couple hard hitters on our ST. OMG, Corey McIntyre and Chris White (unfortunately out today) are hammers on kick coverage. Talk about reckless abandon… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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