Did Gailey and Fitz make the Oline look better than it is?

[Chimp]

yes

+1.

 

I think the quick release spread style hid deficiencies in both the run and pass blocking abilities of this O Line.

[ALF]

3rd year with the Bills (before he was let go with Chan)

 

Joe D Alessandris is entering his third season with the Buffalo Bills as the team;s offensive line coach and oversees a group that rose to the top of the NFL in 2011 by allowing the fewest sacks in the league (23). Below is a list of the offensive line accomplishments under D Alessandris; guidance:

Despite eight different offensive line starting lineups in 2011, D Alessandris; line held their opponents to an NFL-best 23 sacks - third-fewest in a Bills 16-game season

 

Buffalo;s offensive line helped pave the way for an AFC-best 4.9 rushing yards per carry in 2011 - the fourth-best average in team history and the highest since 1975

 

The Bills offensive line opened the running lanes for seven individual 100-yard rushing performances in 2011 - third-most in the NFL.

 

The offensive line also helped produce the first season in Bills history in 2011 to feature two running backs that posted a 5.0 yards per carry average or better (Fred Jackson - 5.5 and C.J. Spiller - 5.2)

 

The Bills featured seven different offensive line combinations in 2010

 

In 2010, the line was instrumental in helping the rushing offense rank tied for sixth in the AFC with 4.3 rushing yards per carry average.

 

Line allowed just 34 sacks in 2010 to rank 15th in the NFL, 12 less than the 2009 total

 

http://www.buffalobills.com/team/coaches/joe-dalessandris/688adbac-4dd4-49d8-be7c-98463346bf27

Edited August 9, 2013 by independent

[hondo in seattle]

Fitz was a below average QB who looked good after the Edwards'Losman debacle. I would have liked to see Gaileys offense work with a above average QB.

 

And an above average receiving corps.

 

But the ship named Gailey has sailed away and I'm glad. Whatever strengths he had as an OC were ruined by his weakness as a Head Coach. He failed to find a good DC and failed to build a winning culture. But, yeah, as the acting OC he did pretty well with the limited talent he had to work with.

[Big Turk]

 

 

You're reading the data wrong.

 

Fitz, on average, would get rid of the ball in 2.5 secs. Yes thats the 4th fastest time. That stat alone tells you nothing. A QB could get rid of the ball very fast for a variety of reasons. Maybe they run an uptempo, quick strike offense. That doesn't mean the offensive line can't block. If you read on, you see that average time to sack tells you more. The Bills average sack time was 3.61 seconds, meaning FItz had a full second more, on average, to get rid of the ball. Meaning the line was holding their blocks longer than required for him to get rid of the ball.

 

Look at the other end of the spectrum. Roethisberger, on average gets rid of the ball in 2.76 secs, whereas his line, when its a sack only, holds there block for 2.43 seconds, on average. They aren't holding they're blocks long enough.

 

Probably explains why Roethlesberger is always high on the list of most sacked QBs every year along with Rodgers...

[3rdand12]

with 12 men in the box ya gotta throw fast ya gotta read fast and ya gotta run like hell.

This season...

and now for something completely different.

Ps i loved Joe D. worked magic imho and was sad to see him go wish him well.

New sheriff sure has his work cut out for him i think. thank gosh we have some serious RBs to lean on this year.

[reddogblitz]

Either Spiller is the next Barry Sanders, or the O-line did a hell of a job.

Agreed. Our OLine is very good at run blocking. However, pass blocking is a different thing. Our Olines have been way better at run blocking than pass blocking for years. Even before Coach Gailey arrived at OBD. Yet, our coaches dating back to Turk Schonert and Alex Van Pelt and most recently Coach Gailey, have tried to shoehorn us into a passing team.

 

While our Oline was not horrible at pass blocking, they weren't great either IMHO. Fitz' quick decision making coupled with Coach Gailey's short passing attack helped our OLine look better. If our new QBs hold onto the football longer, it could be a different story.

 

I expect our new offense to be pass happy as well, so we will see. I hope I'm wrong but from what I hear from Coach Hackett it sure sounds like it. Spread 'em out, bunch packages, no huddle, etc.

 

I would say yes to the original question.

[CardinalScotts]

of course you would have to be football ignorant to not pick that up

[8-8 Forever?]

I think the quick release, dink and dunk offense hid deficiencies in the oline. Deficiencies like Glenn's inability to pass block speed rushers etc. I am concerned without Levitre and with an offense that wants to throw downfield (farther than Fitz threw) we will see many QB sacks and pressures. Last year we did mostly 3 and 5 step drops. This covers up pass blocking deficiencies.

We are about to find out.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

 

I think this sums up my feelings exactly. No way does Spiller come close to 6 yards/carry this year. I think the Defense will be much improved, but the offense could take a step back with a rookie QB and the loss of Levitre.

6ypc is a lofty # for sure ..... but IF the Bills speedy receivers get open often and EJ drops some beauties in their hands you can bet that CJ gets a good average above 5.5 ypc

[thebandit27]

Only on TSW can a head coach that never won more than 6 games with this team get so much credit for offensive genius.

 

[Nitro]

I think the Bills will start the season as a run first, pass second offense. This will give the Offensive line time to gel and EJ Manual time to get his feet under him. I don't see them in a long ball attack until the second half of the season. Then again Fitz and the O line lead last years team to 6 wins and could have 2 more if last minute interceptions were not dropped.

[BADOLBILZ]

Yes, Gailey's system and Fitzpatrick's quick decision making and refusal to take a sack made the pass blocking look better than it probably would have been in an offense that pushed the ball downfield.

 

Anyone who thinks otherwise has a short memory of what the pass blocking looked like prior to Fitzpatrick taking over.

 

One of the advantages of what EJ Manuel brings to the table though is his ability to move the pocket and tuck it and run for big gains.

 

Big plays against pressure tend to take the starch out of a pass rush.

 

That was what Flutie did for the woefully unathletic Jerry Ostroski lines of 1998 and 1999.

 

Manuel isn't as agile as Flutie but what he does have that Doug didn't is the stature and arm to make plays from the pocket when defenses back off.

 

So while I would say that I am certainly not sold on a line that features three starters that were released outright by other teams at one time, I think the threat of big plays in the run game from BOTH the RB and QB could make teams more reluctant to cut loose on the pass rush.

Edited August 11, 2013 by BADOLBEELZ

[Max997]

The Bills line was never as good as the people who only looked at the numbers of sacks allowed thought it was

 

I don't like Pears or Urbik and was hoping Hairston would have won the RT spot last year but he appeared to regress

Edited August 11, 2013 by Max997

[Arkady Renko]

I find it kind of funny how analysts covering the Bills now remember Gailey's offense. I hear talk as if Gailey was a traditionalist running some sort of vanilla offense unlike the new young star, Hackett. Gailey was by no means perfect as a play-caller, but he knew how to scheme to his team's strengths. The way he used the spread and the screen game to create favorable match-ups and play to Fitzpatrick's quick decision-making and accuracy put Fitzpatrick on pace for an MVP-like season for a stretch. People are selling him way too short.

[Best Player Available]

I find it kind of funny how analysts covering the Bills now remember Gailey's offense. I hear talk as if Gailey was a traditionalist running some sort of vanilla offense unlike the new young star, Hackett. Gailey was by no means perfect as a play-caller, but he knew how to scheme to his team's strengths. The way he used the spread and the screen game to create favorable match-ups and play to Fitzpatrick's quick decision-making and accuracy put Fitzpatrick on pace for an MVP-like season for a stretch. People are selling him way too short.

Gailey hitched his wagon to a career backup. He had no judge of talent, and with the true talent he did have (Spiller) he was clueless on how to exploit him. Gailey best year was a 6 win season. No one sells him short. He sucked.Fitz sucked.

 

People should stop defending below mediocre product. The Bills have sucked for 13 years straight. here's to hoping the new guys get it right.

[Pirate Angel]

Marrone was Offensive Coordinator of the Saints awhile back and they where a fast paced offence....maybe it will carry over

[thebandit27]

Once again, my take: when the OL is the team's biggest area of concern, they'll be competing for a playoff spot

[Nanker]

Who gives a good god damn who and what made anybody look like in the past?

The question we should be asking is "Will EJ and Maronne make The Bills BE better than they have been?"

 

Appearances are for beauty pageants. It's results that I'm interested in.

[machine gun kelly]

To that point on the past, if Marrone has a run first offense as stated above, and now you have a very experienced route runner in SJ going over the middle with lots of yac, fast outside receivers to stretch the field fast, and a pistol package with Manuel and Spiller, you could see some nice production.

 

Forget about Fitz/Gailey as it's over (thank god).

 

Go Bills! I can't wait for today.

[Just in Atlanta]

Good question, and I think it did. Fitz had one of the quickest releases in football. This line was built to open holes, and the O was built to create horizontal space quickly.

 

Losing Levitre makes it even worse. EJ/Kolb/Tuel will be under a lot of pressure this year I think. Maybe Hacket's no huddle uptempo O will also mask deficiencies. We can hope.

 

I find it kind of funny how analysts covering the Bills now remember Gailey's offense. I hear talk as if Gailey was a traditionalist running some sort of vanilla offense unlike the new young star, Hackett. Gailey was by no means perfect as a play-caller, but he knew how to scheme to his team's strengths. The way he used the spread and the screen game to create favorable match-ups and play to Fitzpatrick's quick decision-making and accuracy put Fitzpatrick on pace for an MVP-like season for a stretch. People are selling him way too short.

Agree. His offense the past two years was exciting. It seemed as if we were constantly moving the chains, even though our TDs were average, and our No. 2-4 WRs were below average.

 

The big flaw obviously was Fitz' inability to throw deep and Wanny's vanilla schemes. I guess you could also fault him on under-using CJ, but I think the offense performed pretty well last year.