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They're Using Spiller Correctly...


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While it seems nearly every Bills fan is calling for CJ Spiller to get massively more touches, his chance comes this Thursday.

 

Spiller is clearly an elite NFL talent. His speed and explosiveness set him apart from a league filled with world class athletes. The obvious conclusion would be that you give him the ball tons of times per game.

 

IMO, however, Chan Gailey has been using him correctly.

 

When Spiller is in the game, the defense is so keyed in on him, that if you use him traditionally, his effectiveness would decrease. Because the Bills offense has shown they are not consistently capable of beating you with passes downfield, when a running weapon like Spiller is on the field, he is far and away the focal point for the defensive players. I've seen it every Sunday. The second Fitz gets into the I-Form and hands it to him, the defense is swarming to Spiller. While I would like to see more play action out of this, it is one of my only critiques of how he has been used. Because of this extreme keying in by the defense, you can't run him like a traditional back. You can't ground and pound 25 times a game. You have to find unique ways to get him the ball in space. Because you can't come up with 25 unique ways per week to get him the ball (your entire offense would be gimmick based), he gets 12-15 touches. You can rest assured he affects more plays as a decoy though as well.

 

Jerry Sullivan today, wrote something to the effect of "Spiller is averaging 7+ yards per carry. When are they going to determine that this is a trend and not an exception?"

 

Well Jerry and others, you get your chance this Thursday. While I expect a talent like Spiller to have a big game, I think his effectiveness per touch will drop with more touches.

 

Chan has been using him correctly.

CJ had a good night and is clearly a beast but to the point:

 

He was the feature back tonight. He got over 20 carries and was used more traditionally. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry. When catching the ball he had 3 receptions (not being used traditionally) for 39 yards. One point to the quoted argument.

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I thought it was odd when he first came out he seemed to have such a chip on his shoulder - then he seemed to relax and have more fun after that

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CJ had a good night and is clearly a beast but to the point:

 

He was the feature back tonight. He got over 20 carries and was used more traditionally. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry. When catching the ball he had 3 receptions (not being used traditionally) for 39 yards. One point to the quoted argument.

Against the 5th ranked Miami rush defense...the less Ryan Fitzpatrick throws the more chances the Bills have to actually win a game. The end of the Miami game the Bills ran it 3 times and didn't get a first down, But they also didn't throw an INT like they did last week.

 

I'm done arguing this point as Spiller himself proved he can handle the load, 22 rushes 91 yards against a top 5 run defense.

 

The head coach himself stated both backs should get 30-40 touches a game! What don't some of you get about that statement? The HC even acknowledged that he should give Spiller more touches. When the Bills don't go pass happy all game they tend to win.

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these arent mistakes by Spiller but mistakes in either play calls or Fitz passing decisions.

 

Tonight i saw late in the first quarter when 10-7 on a third down. Spiller was out as a WR and the CB was more than 5 yds off of him. This is where you improvize and snap and throw the ball to him and let him take on a DB 1 on 1...he likely gets the first down if not more.

 

Last play against the Patriots Fitz looks to him and sees they could run a slant throw to him and he walks into the end zone.

 

There are more plays like this.

 

 

I liked one play they ran that seems to be tailored where you had Spiller and Johnson run routes on the same side of the field. The D-man bit and went up to Spiller which left Johnson open. Had the D-man stay back Spiller would have been open.

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