Time management, end of 2Q yesterday...discuss...

[I'm Spartacus]

Some people are never happy, even with a win.....

Like Jerry Sullivan? Mr. Negative just wrote another crappy article in today's Bflo News. When does it end???

[plenzmd1]

I thought it was perfect, and could not understand Gannon's criticism. In that instance, the very first thing one cannot do is give the ball back to the other team with time to score. We did that in the 2nd Pats game last year and essentiallt Pats score 14 in a row and it was game over.

 

This a little different in that we were getting the ball to start the 2nd half, but i was happy with the prospect of 10 straight...course if i knew they were going 3 and out may change my mind

 

BTW, i think getting the ball to start 2nd is such a huge advantage...i think to even it out each home team should just get to choose what they want to do...hate the flip of a coin actually matters in an NFL game

[Freddie's Dead]

Just watched the replay. I thought urgency was good, they were getting plays off in about 20 seconds. Bobby's drop was huge, as was Tie-rod running OB instead of throwing it away. Those plays cost us a shot at the EZ. Considering we didn't even have a 2-minute offense three weeks ago, not too bad.

[Kelly the Dog]

Normally the two minute drive and points are a pretty good sign. I would have taken a shot or two at the endzone but the pass game was conservative. The real problem with the drive was the absolutely terrible drop by Woods on a good pass with no one near him. Then the next play Woods was wide open again and an absolutely terrible pass by Tyrod. Woods made a terrific diving catch then got up and picked up for yards but he should have been able to catch it and run. Bad pass. Other than that the two minute offense was pretty good.

[Alaska Darin]

Some people are never happy, even with a win.....

It's not that at all. Even when the team wins, there are mistakes. The great teams make the least number of them. The Patriots are one of the very best teams at limiting mistakes and getting everything out of late half/late game drives. If you want to beat the best, you have to learn from and limit your mistakes.

 

I do think we wasted a good amount of time in the hurry up. I think Rex and company may be a little gun shy after watching TT barf up a couple of chances last season to win games late.

[GottaRun]

1 - The season is still young

2 - The Bills fired the Offensive Coordinator after week 2, maybe time management was a problem they knew needed fixing?

3 - Tyrod is still a learning QB

4 - I'm glad LA didn't get the ball back with time on the clock, AND we came away with points

 

I was in the "season's over" camp after week 2, I'm walking on sunshine right now and I want to enjoy it for another week.

[Freddie's Dead]

OK, the REAL time management issue in this game. 4thQTR, Bills have ball with 5:51.

1 - 5:51 McCoy 4 yards, 40 second clock starts at 5:43. Bills line up at 5:17 with 14 on the play clock

2 - 5:11 Ball snapped with 8 seconds on the play clock, Tyrod 3 yards and lands JUST inbounds, 40 second clock starts at 5:02.

INJURY to Rams player at 4:57 with 35 seconds on play clock.

3 - 4:57 Bills come out lined up immediately. Ball snapped at 4:47 with 25 seconds on the play clock. Slant to JCP broken up, incomplete. Clocked stopped at 4:43. Bills burned a grand total of 1:08, and left at least 30 seconds on the clock.

 

The smart play on 3rd and 3 would be to run the ball with the guy who had 150 yards rushing on the day, but no. We throw to JCP for the first time all day. I'm just glad this didn't cost us the game, but we cannot be this colossally stupid against a good team. Good play clock management should have had the Rams down to like 3:35 after this series, or they burn a TO. Luckily it's the Rams. Give Marcia a minute or an extra TO? You're dead.

[OhDozeBills]

Yeah it could of been better, but I also think they realized how important it was to at least get three points going into the half and they accomplished that. To me the bigger issue was when they had the ball with a little over 4 minutes to go. I believe there was an injury so the clock stopped, and then re-started with the full 35 seconds on the play clock. We snapped the ball with like 30 seconds left. Why they wouldn't take the play clock down while winning late in the 4th made no sense to me.

[eball]

I started this thread to promote discussion on the end of the 1st half drive but I agree, the Bills need to find their "four-minute" offense because protecting a lead late is just as important.

 

Getting back to the FG drive, it's hard to be critical of a 10-play, 70-yard drive in less than 2:00, but with a bit more urgency/smarts by Tyrod I do think they'd have been able to take a couple of shots at the TD.

[Rubes]

OK, the REAL time management issue in this game. 4thQTR, Bills have ball with 5:51.

1 - 5:51 McCoy 4 yards, 40 second clock starts at 5:43. Bills line up at 5:17 with 14 on the play clock

2 - 5:11 Ball snapped with 8 seconds on the play clock, Tyrod 3 yards and lands JUST inbounds, 40 second clock starts at 5:02.

INJURY to Rams player at 4:57 with 35 seconds on play clock.

3 - 4:57 Bills come out lined up immediately. Ball snapped at 4:47 with 25 seconds on the play clock. Slant to JCP broken up, incomplete. Clocked stopped at 4:43. Bills burned a grand total of 1:08, and left at least 30 seconds on the clock.

 

The smart play on 3rd and 3 would be to run the ball with the guy who had 150 yards rushing on the day, but no. We throw to JCP for the first time all day. I'm just glad this didn't cost us the game, but we cannot be this colossally stupid against a good team. Good play clock management should have had the Rams down to like 3:35 after this series, or they burn a TO. Luckily it's the Rams. Give Marcia a minute or an extra TO? You're dead.

 

Totally agree with this. I thought the clock management at the end of the first half was pretty good. What you describe above had me shaking my head.

 

Of all the times the Bills do a great job getting the play in and getting to the line of scrimmage quickly, they had to do it there.

[Freddie's Dead]

I started this thread to promote discussion on the end of the 1st half drive but I agree, the Bills need to find their "four-minute" offense because protecting a lead late is just as important.

 

Getting back to the FG drive, it's hard to be critical of a 10-play, 70-yard drive in less than 2:00, but with a bit more urgency/smarts by Tyrod I do think they'd have been able to take a couple of shots at the TD.

Agree with everything here. Sorry to hijack the thread, but if I started another clock management thread, I'm sure the mods would have chloroformed it.

[Estelle Getty]

It was bad. You would expect better from an nfl head coach.

[Direhard Fan]

Cool, calm and collected and not make mistakes. Nothing wrong with that drive. I think Lynn was running the show and he called the time outs. Rex seems to be letting the OC and DC run their own programs more and keeping his imput to a minium during the game. I'm sure his input is huge during the prep.

[MAJBobby]

Here's the play-by-play of the Bills' FG drive at the end of the 1st half yesterday:

1. Buffalo Bills at 01:56
2. 4-G.Zuerlein kicks 65 yards from LA 35 to end zone, Touchback.
3. 1-10-BUF 25(1:56) (Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor pass short right to 25-L.McCoy to BUF 30 for 5 yards (26-M.Barron).
4. 2-5-BUF 30(1:33) (Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor pass short right to 10-R.Woods to BUF 39 for 9 yards (22-T.Johnson).
5. 1-10-BUF 39(1:09) (Shotgun) 25-L.McCoy right tackle to BUF 48 for 9 yards (20-L.Joyner).
6. Timeout #1 by BUF at 01:01.
7. 2-1-BUF 48(1:01) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor pass incomplete short left to 10-R.Woods.
8. 3-1-BUF 48(:57) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor pass short left to 10-R.Woods to LA 35 for 17 yards (31-M.Alexander).
9. 1-10-LA 35(:30) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor sacked at LA 40 for -5 yards (93-E.Westbrooks).
10. Timeout #2 by BUF at 00:24.
11. 2-15-LA 40(:24) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 25-L.McCoy up the middle ran ob at LA 23 for 17 yards (25-T.McDonald).
12. 1-10-LA 23(:16) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor scrambles left end to LA 19 for 4 yards (52-A.Ogletree).
13. 2-6-LA 19(:09) (Shotgun) 5-T.Taylor pass short left to 85-C.Clay to LA 5 for 14 yards (33-E.Gaines).
14. Timeout #3 by BUF at 00:03.
15. 1-5-LA 5(:03) 2-D.Carpenter 23 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-65-G.Sanborn, Holder-6-C.Schmidt.
16. BUF 16 LA 13 Plays: 10 Possession: 1:56

 

Was this poor clock management or not? During the broadcast Gannon was pretty tough on the Bills. I think there was just one poor decision -- not calling TO after the Woods completion that gave them 1st down at the 35. Could have saved enough time to allow a shot at the EZ after the Clay completion.

 

Thoughts?

Better clock management than alot of past Bills coaches.

 

I was not as upset about the TO usage there but more concerned with their pace getting lined up and such when no TO was called. Either way 70 Yards in less than two minutes and points going into the half with getting ball coming out of half.

 

I am more concerned with the trend of going 3 and out after half

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Yeah it could of been better, but I also think they realized how important it was to at least get three points going into the half and they accomplished that. To me the bigger issue was when they had the ball with a little over 4 minutes to go. I believe there was an injury so the clock stopped, and then re-started with the full 35 seconds on the play clock. We snapped the ball with like 30 seconds left. Why they wouldn't take the play clock down while winning late in the 4th made no sense to me.

 

I don't hate it - sometimes you catch a defense off guard. Powell should have caught that pass as well.

As for the end of half - i would've called a timeout after the woods play. You get a fresh play call in - and TT may not get coverage sacked right after. Either that or clock it since it was first down.

Edited October 10, 2016 by dneveu

[DrDawkinstein]

Sure, we can second guess a small move or two that might have given them 1 shot at the end zone. But...

 

IMO, "scoring before halftime" is a big deal. Good teams do it. And in a tie game, getting the ball back with 2 minutes left, the "typical Bills" move would have been a drive that goes no where and they settle for going in tied and getting the ball back after the half.

 

This team marched down the field and got points so they went into halftime with the lead AND getting the ball in the 2nd half. And this isnt the first time this year they put up points right before halftime. It's good to see.

[MAJBobby]

The other thing is most teams are going to go a little slower until they cross the 50 because they dont want to leave the other team any time if they are stopped

[jwhit34]

The plays where the clock did not stop had between 23 and 27 seconds in between. Keep in mind the play itself takes 6-7 seconds, then figure another 3-4 seconds for everyone to get up to the line of scrimmage on the correct side of the ball. That means they were getting plays off in about 12-17 seconds. That's not too bad.

[Tenhigh]

 

I don't hate it - sometimes you catch a defense off guard. Powell should have caught that pass as well.

As for the end of half - i would've called a timeout after the woods play. You get a fresh play call in - and TT may not get coverage sacked right after. Either that or clock it since it was first down.

I would agree with you here if the Bills were the sort of team that ran the clock down to nothing when they have a late lead. But we often tend to hurry up when we're winning and slowly get plays off when we're losing or otherwise short on time. I really would like to see Taylor working on setting the pace of the game, and I also wish Anthony Lynn was in his ear reminding him of this when he calls his play. Nothing wrong with him calling "12 Spinner, but don't say hike with more than 2 seconds on the clock".

[Boatdrinks]

Tyrod chose to scramble on play 12 netting just 4 yards and using 9 seconds instead of a quick throwaway and and extra shot at the TD. Also , if he leads Clay the right way with his throw Clay likely bulls into the EZ. Tyrod did waste enough time for at least an extra shot to the end zone. Could have displayed more " killer instinct" there.