bisonbrigade Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The Key to the 2014 season is not Sammy Watkins, EJ Manuel or the Defense, it's the Offensive line. Marrone is an old Offensive lineman, and old Offensive line coach and a good one at that. RT Cyrus Kouandjio, RG Chris Williams, , C Eric Wood, LG Chris Hairston, LT Cordy Glenn. Throw in Cyril Richardson, SeanTrel Henderson as back ups. They have the size and musle to dominate the line of scrimmage. To let CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson and crew run all people taking pressure off EJ Manuel and the defense. Yes the Bills ran well last year, but not on the key downs. Remember the KC game when they couldn't punch it over the goal line. This crew should dominate and this team lead the league in rushing and time of possession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryCletus Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The Key to the 2014 season is not Sammy Watkins, EJ Manuel or the Defense, it's the Offensive line. Marrone is an old Offensive lineman, and old Offensive line coach and a good one at that. RT Cyrus Kouandjio, RG Chris Williams, , C Eric Wood, LG Chris Hairston, LT Cordy Glenn. Throw in Cyril Richardson, SeanTrel Henderson as back ups. They have the size and musle to dominate the line of scrimmage. To let CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson and crew run all people taking pressure off EJ Manuel and the defense. Yes the Bills ran well last year, but not on the key downs. Remember the KC game when they couldn't punch it over the goal line. This crew should dominate and this team lead the league in rushing and time of possession. Unfortunately, the OL won't be throwing the ball to the pass catchers... EJ's progression is a huge part of how this team will fair, the OL is also a large piece... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Unfortunately, the OL won't be throwing the ball to the pass catchers... EJ's progression is a huge part of how this team will fair, the OL is also a large piece... The bills added this play to their playbook so it could happen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10SQpkayc3s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voodoo poonani Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Run run run! I think improving the run game so that EJ can throw short over the middle (where he has his highest completion percentage) will go a long way to sustainable drives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I just don't agree with this at all...the key is EJ Manuel. If their offense showed nothing else, Seattle demonstrated that solid skill position players can overcome a terrible OL (yes, their OL was horrible last year) to produce. If the OL mattered as much as some claim (no offense to the OP), the Raiders and Redskins would've been playoff teams last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 in no particular order the keys to this season are EJ, the run defense, and the coaching on offense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisonbrigade Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Unfortunately, the OL won't be throwing the ball to the pass catchers... EJ's progression is a huge part of how this team will fair, the OL is also a large piece... If you pound the ball and draw the safeties up to the line of scrimmage,1. It makes a defense easier to read. 2. Our tight Ends will be covered by linebackers. 3. No deep help on long balls to Watkins and goodwin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I personally think one of the main keys to success is how well we run on first down........or if our OC gets away from the "Spiller up the middle" on 1st down philosophy? People just dont understand how down and distance has this huge affect on what you can do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryCletus Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 If you pound the ball and draw the safeties up to the line of scrimmage, 1. It makes a defense easier to read. 2. Our tight Ends will be covered by linebackers. 3. No deep help on long balls to Watkins and goodwin. I agree that OL is very important, but I don't think it's fair to say that it's more important than a competent QB... Throughout the 14 year drought, most certainly the last 8 years or so, we've had some pretty dark good O lines, but didn't have other pieces, that one piece that everyone demanded was QB... Now that we have one that has shown a little and needs to stay healthy and progress, we are back to the OL... It's a vicious cycle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#34fan Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 "The key" to The Bills being in ANY of this season's games will be offense. Period. Moving the chains. Red zone efficiency. Unfortunately EJ Manuel is only a QB and did not create the current playbook. Make NO mistake... This entire #!*&ing season is Nat Hackett's baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The key it's winning more and losing less. Book it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I personally think one of the main keys to success is how well we run on first down........or if our OC gets away from the "Spiller up the middle" on 1st down philosophy? People just dont understand how down and distance has this huge affect on what you can do I wanted to provide some meat for this particular thought process, so I did the unthinkable and actually charted all of Buffalo's 1st down carries for the 2013 season. I broke down the 1st down YPC by game, and then for the whole season. It's worth noting, at this point, that several different analytical references consider 4 yards to be the "success point" on first down. vs. NE - 16 car, 66 yds (4.125 avg) L vs. Car - 16 car, 81 yds (5.06 avg) W @ NYJ - 11 car, 26 yds (2.36 avg) L vs. Bal - 25 car, 133 yds (5.32 avg) W @ Cle - 20 car, 98 yds (4.9 avg) L vs. Cin - 12 car, 38 yds (3.17 avg) L @ Mia - 18 car, 59 yds (3.28 avg) W @ NO - 15 car, 38 yds (2.53 avg) L vs. KC - 23 car, 148 yds (6.43 avg) L @ Pit - 12 car, 55 yds (4.48 avg) L vs. NYJ - 20 car, 19 yds (0.95 avg) W vs Atl (TO) - 16 car, 53 yds (3.31 avg) L @ TB - 12 car, 44 yds (3.67 avg) L @ Jax - 25 car, 100 yds (4.0 avg) W vs. Mia - 23 car, 113 yds (4.91 avg) W @ NE - 17 car, 70 yds (4.11 avg) L Season total for 1st down rushes: 281 car, 1141 yds (4.06 avg) A few things these data tell me: 1) There isn't a marked correlation between 1st down YPC and win percentage; at least not for the Bills. The best performance was a loss, the worst was a win, and everything in between was a mish-mash. 2) QB matters, to a degree. Teams didn't seem to respect Thad Lewis at all early on, and it showed on 1st down. In his first 3 starts, the team failed to hit the success mark of 4.0 YPC. By contrast, in Manuel's first 3 starts, they hit the mark 2 out of 3 times (the lone outlier being the Jets, the NFL's top run defense). Jeff Tuel was the blip on the radar, as the team achieved its highest YPC on 1st down all season in his lone start. Why? Because the Chiefs' run D is putrid. 3) Quantity seems to beget quality for the Bills. 4 of the 5 games in which the team ran the ball 20 or more times on 1st down, they hit the success mark in terms of YPA. Once again the lone outlier was the Jets. Feel free to discuss, and sorry for any threadjack on the OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) Unfortunately EJ Manuel is only a QB and did not create the current playbook. Make NO mistake... This entire #!*&ing season is Nat Hackett's baby. I agree with this. I put the critical element on the season to be on the coaching staff. Coach Marrone has to be a better leader and make better decisions. Schwartz has to somehow figure out how to stop the run. "Coach" Crossman needs to get the kicking teams back in order. And of course Junior Hackett needs to pick up his game big time. Our QB play although not stellar in 2013 was not the reason we lost. It was the defense and kicking teams mostly. The last Patsies game. The Bungles games. Cleveland game with 1 punt return for a TD and another really long one. The Chiefs game. The coach can tell a rookie QB over the headset NOT TO USE THE PASS OPTION and run no matter what and take the FG. This was a coaching screw up. I don't think you can really pin it on any one guy or position. The WHOLE TEAM needs to step up. Edited July 8, 2014 by reddogblitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigK14094 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Have to throw the long ball sometime.....haven't seen EJ make those throws yet. Thad Lewis had a better deep arm than EJ, I saw that last year. If his long throws are not better this year, we will be having another taste of Fitz like performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanOverChin Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The three keys to the Bills having a winning season this year (in no particular order): 1. Manuel 2. Manuel 3. Manuel. The QB position is that important. If T. Brady were the starting QB for the Bills then the Bills would be winning the division almost every year with a 25-2 record vs the Pats instead of the other way around. Even with all of the improvements that the Bills have made (Watkins/Kouandjio/Spikes/etc.), and they are significant, the Bills still don't command much respect around the league. Why????? It's because nobody truly knows how well Manuel will perform. Manuel doesn't have to be all-world for the Bills to make the playoffs this year, but he does have to be pretty darn good (and much better than he was last year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Have to throw the long ball sometime.....haven't seen EJ make those throws yet. Thad Lewis had a better deep arm than EJ, I saw that last year. If his long throws are not better this year, we will be having another taste of Fitz like performance. EJ's lack of deep throws seems more an issue of confidence and timing than anything else. He had both going in the second Jets game, and made two of his best deep throws in back-to-back plays in the 3rd quarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryCletus Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Have to throw the long ball sometime.....haven't seen EJ make those throws yet. Thad Lewis had a better deep arm than EJ, I saw that last year. If his long throws are not better this year, we will be having another taste of Fitz like performance. I noticed that Tuel and Thad took more ***** down field... I don't know if that was a coaching decision (play calling) or what... Was it due to lack of trust in EJ? Did EJ check out of those calls due to reading something in the D? As the season progressed, we saw more shots downfield from EJ... This season should be fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I noticed that Tuel and Thad took more ***** down field... I don't know if that was a coaching decision (play calling) or what... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I think we are solid on the OL. I was very pleased with our draft picks. I think they can all step in and play this year. As an OL coach, I would expect Marrone to make sure we are good there. It's going to be more up to Hackett to create the schemes to give the offense a chance. If they are going to run that "EJ in the shotgun, here take this ball" to the RB 20 times a game like last season then we are in trouble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryCletus Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Sometimes autocorrect truly is a correction!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts