5 strategies you can expect from Bills offense in 2015

[pbanach]

http://nysportsbiz.com/2015/03/26/buffalo-bills-what-to-expect-on-offense-in-2015/

 

A look at what kind of formations, plays and overall strategies OC Greg Roman will probably use with this speedy Bills offense.

[eball]

Good find. Thx.

[machine gun kelly]

Thanks for the link. That was a nice article. I wonder even more if Tyrod Taylor has what it takes between the ears to make this offense work. Everyone assumes Cassel as EJ most likely will not be able to handle all of these pre-snap reads, motion, etc. I hope I'm wrong as I don't hate EJ, and wish he improves. I just have never seen a QB dramtically improving that much at reading defenses, quick accurate decisions, and throws, when he was that sloppy. Maybe the line didn't help him, but he could have done better.

 

Nothing would make me happier as i want to root for Manuel to just perform as good as David Carr in Oakland, but ahven't seen that since his rookie year against the Pats, Ravens, and Panthers. He went downhill afterwards.

[eball]

Thanks for the link. That was a nice article. I wonder even more if Tyrod Taylor has what it takes between the ears to make this offense work. Everyone assumes Cassel as EJ most likely will not be able to handle all of these pre-snap reads, motion, etc. I hope I'm wrong as I don't hate EJ, and wish he improves. I just have never seen a QB dramtically improving that much at reading defenses, quick accurate decisions, and throws, when he was that sloppy. Maybe the line didn't help him, but he could have done better.

 

Nothing would make me happier as i want to root for Manuel to just perform as good as David Carr in Oakland, but ahven't seen that since his rookie year against the Pats, Ravens, and Panthers. He went downhill afterwards.

 

Late in the year against Atlanta and Jacksonville he looked pretty good as well. What burns me up is what happened last season -- when it appears Marrone essentially looked at his top 5 defense and then instituted a "take no chances" approach with the offense that stifled EJ's development. He panicked after four games and in an effort to save his job went to Orton. Perhaps Marrone didn't/doesn't believe in EJ, and perhaps EJ will never become a solid NFL starter, but the guy absolutely brought EJ's development to a grinding halt last year.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing how EJ shows in practice.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Thanks for the link. That was a nice article. I wonder even more if Tyrod Taylor has what it takes between the ears to make this offense work. Everyone assumes Cassel as EJ most likely will not be able to handle all of these pre-snap reads, motion, etc. I hope I'm wrong as I don't hate EJ, and wish he improves. I just have never seen a QB dramtically improving that much at reading defenses, quick accurate decisions, and throws, when he was that sloppy. Maybe the line didn't help him, but he could have done better.

 

Nothing would make me happier as i want to root for Manuel to just perform as good as David Carr in Oakland, but ahven't seen that since his rookie year against the Pats, Ravens, and Panthers. He went downhill afterwards.

 

Agreed, nice article, thanks OP!

 

I think the Bills have tried (as best available) to do what the Seahawks did the year they drafted Wilson, signed Flynn as the FA dark-horse, and kept TJax who had played serviceably for them the prev. season albeit with a torn pec (speaking in terms of categories of players, not comparability of skill set). We have Taylor as the FA dark horse, EJ as the "rookie" (14 games) and Cassel as the serviceable vet.

 

The problem with EJ isn't that he "went downhill" after Pats, Ravens, and Panthers. In fact, EJ had a crappy game against the Ravens (45% completions, 2 INTs) and some good games later in the season, notably against the Jets (2nd game) and Jax (game 14). He also had some putrid games, such as game 13 against Tampa. The problem with EJ is that he was inconsistent. This is often a problem with rookies/young players.

 

I'm not exactly sure what you're rooting for when you want "Manuel to perform just as good as David Carr in Oakland". In his rookie season, Derek (not David) Carr showed some flashes on a bad team, but his 5.5 y/a isn't exactly inspiring of confidence in his ability to throw downfield and not just dump off (which is complained of with Manuel and his 6.4 y/a), and Carr's 58% completions is actually lower than Manuels 58.6%. And for those who judge QB by the team's W/L record (edit: please note I'm not one), what's in 3-13 to assess that the QB "played good"? Looking under the hood, Carr was inconsistent - one game >60% completions, another game <50% completions. One game 3 TD and 0 INT, the next 0 TD and 2 INT.

 

I think if Manuel played this season like Carr last seasons, fans in B'lo would be calling for "the Hook". (Which is one reason I get a chuckle out of blogwriters/sportswriters who say we have the worst QB sitch in the league)

Edited May 24, 2015 by Hopeful

[CountryCletus]

 

Late in the year against Atlanta and Jacksonville he looked pretty good as well. What burns me up is what happened last season -- when it appears Marrone essentially looked at his top 5 defense and then instituted a "take no chances" approach with the offense that stifled EJ's development. He panicked after four games and in an effort to save his job went to Orton. Perhaps Marrone didn't/doesn't believe in EJ, and perhaps EJ will never become a solid NFL starter, but the guy absolutely brought EJ's development to a grinding halt last year.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing how EJ shows in practice.

I've said it before somewhere on here- and I will say it again.... Look at the games where EJ's headset wasn't working and he called his own plays and take a peak at his 2 minute drills.... When they take the leash off of him you can tell he is more confident and executes better. I hope this is an approach this regime utilizes

[GG]

Flynn wasn't signed as the dark horse. He was signed to be the starter, but Wilson blew everyone out at camp.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

 

Late in the year against Atlanta and Jacksonville he looked pretty good as well. What burns me up is what happened last season -- when it appears Marrone essentially looked at his top 5 defense and then instituted a "take no chances" approach with the offense that stifled EJ's development. He panicked after four games and in an effort to save his job went to Orton. Perhaps Marrone didn't/doesn't believe in EJ, and perhaps EJ will never become a solid NFL starter, but the guy absolutely brought EJ's development to a grinding halt last year.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing how EJ shows in practice.

 

I don't know how EJ was coached on offense. What I do know is there's an argument to be made that the OL was trashed by Marrone's insistence on playing OL out of the positions where they'd been serviceable the previous year, instituting a zone blocking scheme whilst lining up big hulking behemoths not suited to it, and predictability on play calling. (How much of that was OL coach or Hackett is unknown, but as Marrone was HC and involved with offense/OL "buck stops there". Paraphrasing Nix on Glenn, with regard to Pears: "Hell, no, he's not a guard!".

 

I'm glad he benched EJ because 1) you don't know if it's the QB or the line until you change the QB - we changed the QB, it was the line 2) I didn't want EJ to become gunshy and pick up bad habits behind that porous line. Going further back, the previous seasons judgement on QB (Kolb > Fitzpatrick, extending TJax then dumping him) was Keystone-Cops-esque and one wonders how much of that was Nix/Whaley and how much was Marrone's insistance on a QB steeped in WCO (Kolb).

 

I don't know how much coaching impacted EJ, since none of us knows exactly how he was coached, but other coaching and player personnel decisions that are available to the public eye, were certainly questionable.

Flynn wasn't signed as the dark horse. He was signed to be the starter, but Wilson blew everyone out at camp.

 

I understand, but Flynn was a "dark horse" in that there was little NFL action to judge him by - 2 games in 4 years, one hot, one "not".

 

The point isn't to directly compare the QB (you can note differences between Cassel and TJax as well, and note that EJ is not a rookie and has played 14 games vs freshly drafted Wilson), but to compare the overall strategy - not to be content with saying "Flynn is our man and we'll pick up some some UDFA", but rather that the Seahawks hedged bets by tapping different sources for potential QB and letting them have-at-it in camp.

 

 

 

The Bills really haven't done that before,

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Nice. Good read.

 

My one take away: the offense will look nothing at all like what we've seen from them the past two seasons. I think that's great

[Manther]

Nice. Good read.

 

My one take away: the offense will look nothing at all like what we've seen from them the past two seasons. I think that's great

Soooo excited for it!

[Garion]

Thanks for posting!

[3rdand12]

http://nysportsbiz.com/2015/03/26/buffalo-bills-what-to-expect-on-offense-in-2015/

 

A look at what kind of formations, plays and overall strategies OC Greg Roman will probably use with this speedy Bills offense.

Great article , thanks for the hook up ,

pbanach

 

exciting times, we have REAL LIVE NFL Coaches !

[3rdand12]

Thanks for the link. That was a nice article. I wonder even more if Tyrod Taylor has what it takes between the ears to make this offense work. Everyone assumes Cassel as EJ most likely will not be able to handle all of these pre-snap reads, motion, etc. I hope I'm wrong as I don't hate EJ, and wish he improves. I just have never seen a QB dramtically improving that much at reading defenses, quick accurate decisions, and throws, when he was that sloppy. Maybe the line didn't help him, but he could have done better.

 

Nothing would make me happier as i want to root for Manuel to just perform as good as David Carr in Oakland, but ahven't seen that since his rookie year against the Pats, Ravens, and Panthers. He went downhill afterwards.

Why would we think Tyrod is not keen enough?

I have no idea. What i do like about him , is he has not played enough to get tape on. And he has backed up one of the better QB in a solid system for years.

if he was dim bulb then i would guess the Ravens would have moved on after 4 years.

just a thought M G Kelly.

I hope either EJ or Tyrod step into the role. Because it opens up the offense.

 

Nice. Good read.

 

My one take away: the offense will look nothing at all like what we've seen from them the past two seasons. I think that's great

yep!

Thats an advantage to the Bills btw. No one knows what the hell we are doing. except the coaches.

which is the opposite of last years offense

[Bob Malooga]

Just some interesting stuff I have found on Roman...opinions seem to be all over the place. I find it interesting this article calls for quick passes and screens, when Roman's offense doesn't really do that, especially screens.

 

In 2013, Roman's offense had 5 (FIVE) screen passes through 13 (THIRTEEN) games!!!

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/screens-dont-fit-part-49ers-power-game

 

Here is a more recent article talking about...

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2015/01/12/greg-roman-goes-buffalo-ending-term-egregiously-scapegoated-49ers-assistant-years/

 

"Roman had overall offensive responsibility with the 49ers, but again he was largely presumed to base everything on the power run game, which is one reason the 49ers so rarely called screen passes or general misdirection. Screens and misdirection are set up for quicker, mobile linemen and more finesse-style offenses that get defenses flowing one way or the other, then counter that with the misdirection."

 

Here he talks about the screen game and how it might not work because of Kap's athleticism, maybe with Cassel/EJ it's different?

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/7/26/5940543/greg-roman-talks-screen-passes

 

Now...I think a lot of it had to do with his personnel. He didn't have a RB like McCoy, or a weapon like Harvin. As good as Crabtree and Boldin were at times, they are not Watkins and Woods, especially in the screen game. It also makes me wonder, as I have been one who didn't like the John Miller pick due to his size, if that is why they got him because he can move, giving them a pulling guard to set-up screens, unlike Iupati, who was a big mauler and did not exactly fit that "finesse" type of game.

 

I think Roman learned a lot from that experience, and that is why the offense is being built differently...here's to hoping it works!

 

On offense - I am extremely excited to see how Karlos Williams develops, he's just as big, but faster and stronger than Carlos Hyde, who looked very good IMO. I am also excited about the WR/TE group, as I don't remember the last time we had that much talent.

 

(On defense - I am really looking forward to seeing how guys like Randell Johnson, Cedric Reed, Ross Cockrell and the safety group turn out. I think there is a lot of good, young talent there...and I think Johnson could be a stud in this defense. Reed too.)