Jerry Jabber Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I’ve read in all the articles today (as well as on WGR last night) about the Bills red zone woes as they struggle to score touchdowns. I’m not sure why Hackett is so conservative when it comes to the red zone? It seems once the Bills get in the red zone, the offense runs two run plays (usually on 1st and 2nd down), then passes on 3rd down. I only saw Mike Williams targeted once in the end zone and didn’t see Scott Chandler targeted at all in the end zone all game long. It would be nice to see Hackett call some more pass plays to his bigger targets in the end zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 All they need is to consistently get the 3 and the occasional TD and let the defense take care of the rest. Hackett is allowing Manuel to play within himself and manage the game. I do not think he is being too conservative at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 (edited) All they need is to consistently get the 3 and the occasional TD and let the defense take care of the rest. Hackett is allowing Manuel to play within himself and manage the game. I do not think he is being too conservative at all. It was fine for this game, but what happens when they are down 14 points in the 2nd half, or are in a shootout and all they can do is "consistently get the 3". Hopefully the red zone success will improve in coming weeks along with the running game which outside of Spillers's 47 yard run and Jackson's 11 yard run... averaged 1.77 YPC on 31 attempts. GO BILLS! Edited September 15, 2014 by LabattBlue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Caveman Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I expect they'll open things up more as the season goes on, and as they face tougher opponents. I think they knew yesterday was going to be a low scoring day, and the minimal risk approach made sense. It would be nice if they would make better use of Mike Williams and the TEs in the red zone, it would add one more angle that the opponent has to defend against (maybe opening more room for the run / screen calls they seem to love in the red zone so far.) It is very encouraging that the Bills were able to sustain drives all day yesterday, with only 1 3 and out (at least prior to the 4th quarter when they were just running clock.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 All they need is to consistently get the 3 and the occasional TD and let the defense take care of the rest. Hackett is allowing Manuel to play within himself and manage the game. I do not think he is being too conservative at all. I would say we need to consistently get the TD and occasionally get the 3. At least that's what teams with a winning record tend to do more often than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 he's holding back game film from their opponents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipers Hair Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Said this walking out of the Ralph yesterday - I think Hackett is our weak link. Just a feeling, but I think he is out of his league in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 We won by 19 points. The Dolphins played pretty good run defense, and we stuck with running the ball to ensure that they don't key in on the pass too often. I'm ok with it. We had our shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog69 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I would like to see them actually throw into the end zone when they get down close to the redzone. Take a few more shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsoldier54 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 If I remember correctly, EJ missed a couple of throws early in the game that could have resulted in TD's instead of FG's. I don't think it was necessarily the play calling, but execution that cost them in the red zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I would like to see them actually throw into the end zone when they get down close to the redzone. Take a few more shots. We have the big receivers to do it too. A jump ball to either Watkins or Mike Williams against a smaller corner-- I like our chances. I know EJ missed on that fade to Mike Williams yesterday on 3rd down. But if you run that same play on 1st down, then 2nd down, then 3rd down-- that's gotta work and be really hard to defend, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Landing Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 We were certainly being conservative. But were we being too conservative? It's much harder to get open in such a short field, and Manuel (or was it Hackett?) was being very careful not to turn the ball over. And we didn't. We're OK with this now. Had we lost the game, we sure as hell would NOT be OK with it. We need to get more creative in the red zone, and I suspect we will. Give it time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prickly Pete Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I have ZERO complaints about Hackett. The offense has a great mix of plays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristocrat Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 You know you can really screw up a game throwing a pick in the red zone. I think maybe they were being conservative but its playing not to lose and not to win. They've gotta work on that for sure. I'd like to see maybe some more screens inside there. Safer kind of play and give our guys a chance to run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBuff423 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 The Red Zone woes are certainly note worthy....but as others have said, I'm not certain it all lays on Hackett's shoulders. I think the BILLS Offensive unit is still gaining a chemistry component while gaining experience, and as the season goes on, I do think they will actually improve, i.e. Red Zone TDs vs. field goals...EJ is gathering confidence and gaining some chemistry with WRs while the Offensive line is doing the same...so, all in all I take it as they're still growing but the Red Zone may be an issue at some point and certainly needs to be addressed in practice this week, IMHO, as a focus and not just the standard amount of practice and focus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 We aren't every good on first and second down. Not sure what the stat is, but last week we averaged 3rd and 7 and change. We really put our young QB in a tough spot doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Schick Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 You know you can really screw up a game throwing a pick in the red zone. I think maybe they were being conservative but its playing not to lose and not to win. They've gotta work on that for sure. I'd like to see maybe some more screens inside there. Safer kind of play and give our guys a chance to run See: Tuel pass in KC game last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 a lot of it has to do with not being able to run the ball mainly due to the O-line not opening holes Hackett is conservative then likes to call low percentage plays on third down like the fade to Williams which i dont think EJ has ever actually completed and half the time doesnt even give receiver chance to catch it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Jabber Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 The offense did a good job of scoring 22 points yesterday. They faced a good Dolphins defense which held our run gam in check for most of the game. It just seemed that you knew what Hackett was going to do after a while in the red zone, run it on 1st and 2nd down and then throw it on 3rd down. I understand what Hackett is doing with Manuel by calling a conservative game plan to limit Manuel’s mistakes, but he should try and mix up the play calling a little better in the red zone as it’s too predictable and too conservative at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsoldier54 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 We aren't every good on first and second down. Not sure what the stat is, but last week we averaged 3rd and 7 and change. We really put our young QB in a tough spot doing that. Teams are trying to make EJ throw to beat them. Playing the run heavily on first and second downs and it is working. Time to start throwing a bit more on first and second down instead of waiting for third and long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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