BisonMan Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Is everyone but Chan Gailey completely frustrated by the Bills' lack of commitment to running the ball? CJ carried just 12 time for 88 yards this week (7.3 YPA). Most frustrating is the lack of commitment to running the ball on 3rd and short. Fitz lines up alone in the backfield on 3rd and short and consistently either misfires on short passes or, if blitzed, tries to throw a deep sideline ball. BTW, he's 0 for 1,000 on those throws as far as I can tell. Run the freakin' ball with the two horses you have. Spiller can break an 80 yard run at any moment and Fred is no slouch. This week, the run/pass ratio was around 50%. That's way too low for a team with such limited talent at QB, especially when they are facing a team with even less offensive power than they have. Oh, safety tip: when you are ahead with less than 3:30 left in the game in the other team's end of the field, don't send your 3rd string QB out to throw a bomb with two receivers in the same area. :wallbash: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 No kidding. Chan did everything he could to give that game away. He is such a great game coach when Fitz is playing well, but he gets stubborn and has way too much confidence in Fitz even after the guy throws crappy balls all day. That wide open miss of Freddie at the end was Chan's fault as much as Fitz. We never should have called a single pass play once we got to the 35. its like Chan thinks a light is going to come on and Fitz will magically be accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Nicely done OP. Perfectly said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjjr Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Agreed, give it to CJ. I have no idea what he was thinking late in that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrules Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Nicely done OP. Perfectly said +1 :thumbsup: Putting it on a t-shirt "RUN THE FREAKIN' BALL" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 And feed CJ more...not Fred. No offense, they make a great 1-2 combo but CJ needs to be the 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 And feed CJ more...not Fred. No offense, they make a great 1-2 combo but CJ needs to be the 1. This X a Bazillion!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 When CJ started to run well, the Cards brought their safeties up in the box to stop him, and suddenly the match-ups and play calls that got CJ the running room were no longer there. So Gailey called more pass plays. He said it flat out after the game, and he wanted to run the ball more, too. I wish we would run or throw to CJ a little more as well, but just a couple times. You cannot say that if they would have run the ball more the same result would likely have happened. It very likely wouldn't have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slipkid Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Oh, safety tip: when you are ahead with less than 3:30 left in the game in the other team's end of the field, don't send your 3rd string QB out to throw a bomb with two receivers in the same area. :wallbash: I'll need to check the depth chart, but I hope Smith is the fourth string QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Why run the Ball when Spiller is only averaging 7.6 YPC.... Lets keep putting the game in the hands of the back up QB who remains the starter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BisonMan Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 When CJ started to run well, the Cards brought their safeties up in the box to stop him, and suddenly the match-ups and play calls that got CJ the running room were no longer there. So Gailey called more pass plays. He said it flat out after the game, and he wanted to run the ball more, too. I wish we would run or throw to CJ a little more as well, but just a couple times. You cannot say that if they would have run the ball more the same result would likely have happened. It very likely wouldn't have. I agree that in some personnel packages, they should pass. However, they were committed to passing on third and short on multiple occasions. The defense has the last substitution so the Bills personnel packages are always going to be countered by the defense. The coaches just have no confidence that the running game can get 1-3 yards on third down. I found myself screaming at the TV, "just run the ball in this situation!!". I'll need to check the depth chart, but I hope Smith is the fourth string QB. With Jackson inactive, Smith is 3rd on the depth chart, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 When CJ started to run well, the Cards brought their safeties up in the box to stop him, and suddenly the match-ups and play calls that got CJ the running room were no longer there. So Gailey called more pass plays. He said it flat out after the game, and he wanted to run the ball more, too. I wish we would run or throw to CJ a little more as well, but just a couple times. You cannot say that if they would have run the ball more the same result would likely have happened. It very likely wouldn't have. The problem with this is that there's no proof that if they kept running it wouldn't have worked. All we can say is that the lanes were taken away. Doesn't mean we wouldn't have been able to continue to run on them. And the other point..... Who the F$&K cares?!?!? We know Fitz couldn't hit a $2 hooker if he tried. What makes you comfortable with him throwing anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 (edited) I agree that in some personnel packages, they should pass. However, they were committed to passing on third and short on multiple occasions. The defense has the last substitution so the Bills personnel packages are always going to be countered by the defense. The coaches just have no confidence that the running game can get 1-3 yards on third down. I found myself screaming at the TV, "just run the ball in this situation!!". The couple times we did run short yardage we were hard pressed to gain a yard. I think we should have run more, too. But again, maybe two more times than we did. The more we run, the less effective it becomes. I HATE when Gailey has an empty backfield in 3-2. Hate it hate it hate it. He surely deserves criticism for that, IMO. The problem with this is that there's no proof that if they kept running it wouldn't have worked. All we can say is that the lanes were taken away. Doesn't mean we wouldn't have been able to continue to run on them. And the other point..... Who the F$&K cares?!?!? We know Fitz couldn't hit a $2 hooker if he tried. What makes you comfortable with him throwing anything? Because we won the game and he completed 18 passes with I think two drops (that last drop by TJ was terrible). I think Fitz sucked today, but I also think people sound really dumb when they say he cannot complete a pass, or what makes you comfortable throwing anything. He was 18 of 32. That's 56%. The drop would have made it 59%. And he had a terrible, terrible game. Lanes weren't taken away, tacklers were right in front of the OL when they were not there before. Edited October 15, 2012 by Kelly the Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BisonMan Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 The couple times we did run short yardage we were hard pressed to gain a yard. I think we should have run more, too. But again, maybe two more times than we did. The more we run, the less effective it becomes. I HATE when Gailey has an empty backfield in 3-2. Hate it hate it hate it. He surely deserves criticism for that, IMO. Exactly. There is no threat of the run with the empty set unless Fitz goes all QB-draw on them (watch, Chan will stick that in next week ). Showing a commitment to the run in those situations would help with the passing game especially late in the game when you can call play-action and rack up 20+ yards on a short throw that Fitz can actually complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan714 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 I would watch the game and just dream of Lou Holtz talking about smash mouth football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 When CJ started to run well, the Cards brought their safeties up in the box to stop him, and suddenly the match-ups and play calls that got CJ the running room were no longer there. So Gailey called more pass plays. He said it flat out after the game, and he wanted to run the ball more, too. I wish we would run or throw to CJ a little more as well, but just a couple times. You cannot say that if they would have run the ball more the same result would likely have happened. It very likely wouldn't have. This is exactly why the spread formation works so well in allowing big gains in run plays, if they stack the box and Spiller breaks a tackle he is gone. Gailey just loves his empty backfield spread sets tho, he looks at Fitz and visualizes Tom Brady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Is everyone but Chan Gailey completely frustrated by the Bills' lack of commitment to running the ball? CJ carried just 12 time for 88 yards this week (7.3 YPA). Most frustrating is the lack of commitment to running the ball on 3rd and short. Fitz lines up alone in the backfield on 3rd and short and consistently either misfires on short passes or, if blitzed, tries to throw a deep sideline ball. BTW, he's 0 for 1,000 on those throws as far as I can tell. Run the freakin' ball with the two horses you have. Spiller can break an 80 yard run at any moment and Fred is no slouch. This week, the run/pass ratio was around 50%. That's way too low for a team with such limited talent at QB, especially when they are facing a team with even less offensive power than they have. Oh, safety tip: when you are ahead with less than 3:30 left in the game in the other team's end of the field, don't send your 3rd string QB out to throw a bomb with two receivers in the same area. :wallbash: Couldn't have said it better myself. In both of the blow-out losses, there have been several 3rd and short where two TE, a fullback, and a RB could likely have gotten it done - you know, like they did against KC and against the Browns. If Chan is calling those plays, he needs to have someone smack him upside the haid. If Fitz is audibling to those plays, he needs to have his credit card revoked and be told "just hand it off, bub." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 This is exactly why the spread formation works so well in allowing big gains in run plays, if they stack the box and Spiller breaks a tackle he is gone. Gailey just loves his empty backfield spread sets tho, he looks at Fitz and visualizes Tom Brady No, if he breaks that safety's tackle he is gone anyway, whether the guy is up or back. The difference is, if he doesn't break the tackle when the safety is back it is an 7-8 yard gain, and if he is up it is a 2-3 yard gain. That's why you run better when he is back and not as good when he is up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 The problem with this is that there's no proof that if they kept running it wouldn't have worked. All we can say is that the lanes were taken away. Doesn't mean we wouldn't have been able to continue to run on them. And the other point..... Who the F$&K cares?!?!? We know Fitz couldn't hit a $2 hooker if he tried. What makes you comfortable with him throwing anything? Look, Fitz has not been playing well. He didn't have a good game today. But this talk is stupidly exaggerated in another direction. Whether or not Fitz could hit a $2 hooker is a moot point - that doesn't move the chains in the NFL. 6 players caught 18 passes and Fitz was the one who threw them. A bunch of "name" QB had worse weeks than Fitz including Ryan, Schaub (whom I really like, but he looked BAAaaaaad tonight, and I don't mean that in a good way), I don't think most of us really watch other teams play with as critical an eye. There are a whole bunch of "name" guys who rank lower than Fitz for completion percentage right now, including Cutler, Freeman, Sanchez and yes, Luck - and they didn't wind up there by hitting wide open receivers on every pass play. (For the comprehension challenged, let me help: this isn't to say Fitz is playing well. This is to say that the kind of talk to be read in mrags and other posts is wildly exaggerated, and represents lack of awareness of how other non-elite QB on other teams are performing this year). That said, I "get it" that Chan likes to use the pass to open up running lanes, and after a while that didn't work. But even Green Bay unveiled a power run game, and we showed that we had one against KC. Isn't that worth a try, Chan? Fear the Beard has it right - Chan looks at Fitz and visualizes Tom Brady. Note to Chan: not even close, even in a good year on a good day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 No, if he breaks that safety's tackle he is gone anyway, whether the guy is up or back. The difference is, if he doesn't break the tackle when the safety is back it is an 7-8 yard gain, and if he is up it is a 2-3 yard gain. That's why you run better when he is back and not as good when he is up. A 2-3 yard gain is not so bad when you consider letting Fitz throw it all over and he can't hit anyone past 10 yards. Then considering Spiller has a 7.6 YPC I would think it would be imperative to hand the ball off every chance you can! Why run 4-5 WR empty backfield sets when you only have one good WR? Plus, taking either Jackson or Spiller off the field for the Bills 3rd- 4th -5th WR is moronic, even if one is playing WR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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