THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Welcome to the NFL

[Shaw66]

This being Taylor's third OC in as many seasons, and the Bills still being at or near the bottom of the league in passing attempts, I'm going to guess it's not a coincidence.

Good point. Hard to argue with this. If Taylor looked like Aaron Rodgers in practice, they'd have him throwing more.

[GoBills808]

Good point. Hard to argue with this. If Taylor looked like Aaron Rodgers in practice, they'd have him throwing more.

Where I'm at with the QB position...look, we've been a run-first team for the last few seasons, mostly by necessity. It CERTAINLY helps make the case with a back like McCoy. I don't necessarily think it's the best way of winning football games on a consistent basis and the results seem to bear that out, but that's life with a terrific RB and a limited QB. It's neither an ideal situation nor the end of the world, and in all likelihood they'll be looking to upgrade the quarterback position in the near future.

 

What I can't get on board with is people who think there's some ulterior reason behind the fact that we aren't a good passing team: simply put, it's because we don't have a good passing quarterback. Yes, the scheme informs how we approach the game offensively...that's because your scheme is built around your QB. Laying blame on the WRs not being good enough or the OC not dialing up the right plays is just ignoring the fact that the coaches have decided (multiple staffs, mind you, not just this one) that Taylor throwing the football in any meaningful way is not a formula for success.

[HappyDays]

Good point. Hard to argue with this. If Taylor looked like Aaron Rodgers in practice, they'd have him throwing more.

But Tyrod has looked good in games with a lot of pass attempts. Miami and Seattle last year come to mind. He was playing with receivers worse than what he has now and throwing 35+ times. He only threw 1 pick between the 2 games. He was throwing the ball down the field no problem in both of them. He had a 118.4 passer rating against Miami and a 90.8 passer rating against the Seahawks.

 

So I can't believe the coaches have just decided he can't throw the ball a lot, because he has before and been successful. We're going to come into most games running first, I get it. We have Shady and a team built to run. I just wish Dennison would abandon it sooner when it obviously isn't working. 3 opening drives with no run game, time to move on. If Tyrod fails throwing it a lot then he fails. I just think we have a better chance doing it that way. At least when we're up against a front 7 like we just saw and will see again this Sunday. When we go against the average defenses run the ball all day, it will work. But if it isn't working move on and call some freaking pass plays on 1st down.

[Shaw66]

But Tyrod has looked good in games with a lot of pass attempts. Miami and Seattle last year come to mind. He was playing with receivers worse than what he has now and throwing 35+ times. He only threw 1 pick between the 2 games. He was throwing the ball down the field no problem in both of them. He had a 118.4 passer rating against Miami and a 90.8 passer rating against the Seahawks.

 

So I can't believe the coaches have just decided he can't throw the ball a lot, because he has before and been successful. We're going to come into most games running first, I get it. We have Shady and a team built to run. I just wish Dennison would abandon it sooner when it obviously isn't working. 3 opening drives with no run game, time to move on. If Tyrod fails throwing it a lot then he fails. I just think we have a better chance doing it that way. At least when we're up against a front 7 like we just saw and will see again this Sunday. When we go against the average defenses run the ball all day, it will work. But if it isn't working move on and call some freaking pass plays on 1st down.

What you say makes a sense except we are now into the third season of coaches not putting the ball in Taylor's hands when when running game falters. Yes you can cite a game here or there but most teams are prepared to abandon the run when necessary; Bills aren't. Maybe it will be different in the coming weeks. If Taylor doesnt start throwing it more I don't see how you can conclude anything else.

[HappyDays]

What you say makes a sense except we are now into the third season of coaches not putting the ball in Taylor's hands when when running game falters. Yes you can cite a game here or there but most teams are prepared to abandon the run when necessary; Bills aren't. Maybe it will be different in the coming weeks. If Taylor doesnt start throwing it more I don't see how you can conclude anything else.

What I'm saying is even if you have the worst passer in the league you need to abandon the run at some point. Anthony Lynn actually did abandon the run when he needed to. That was the difference between him and Roman. When the Seahawks and Dolphins got ahead we immediately started throwing the ball down field, and Tyrod was connecting pretty well. On the last 2 minute drive of the Panthers game we had a screen play to Jordan Matthews. That is inexcusable. I don't care who the QB is. And Tyrod isn't hot garbage, he made good plays in this game too. He completed throws down field when he had a pocket, and receivers getting open. He made a couple good scrambles to sustain drives.

 

But like you said it's just one game. I don't think Dennison is like Roman, I think he will adjust and come up with a better plan for Denver. The Panthers game was a wake up call for him, I hope.

[Scott7975]

McDermott said everyone starts with a clean slate. He doesn't care about the history.

 

I'm with him. If I were a head coach, I'd do everything I could to get a player of Dareus's caliber to stick with my program.

 

And I don't see how you can call Dareus a non-factor on a day when the Bills more or less completely stopped a good running game and collapsed the pocket around Newton all day long. Just because you don't see Dareus doesn't mean he wasn't a factor.

Dareus had pretty much nothing to do with that since he went out the first drive, came back late in the first half, and only played in 17 snaps.

This is crazy. So if one of those field goals had been a TD and they'd given up 13 points instead of 9, that would have been breaking? I stand by what I said before: they didn't bend, or break, or whatever. They played defense about as well as you can ask.

They played great but what happened was pretty much the textbook definition of bend but don't break. There is nothing wrong or insulting about bend but don't break.

But Tyrod has looked good in games with a lot of pass attempts. Miami and Seattle last year come to mind. He was playing with receivers worse than what he has now and throwing 35+ times. He only threw 1 pick between the 2 games. He was throwing the ball down the field no problem in both of them. He had a 118.4 passer rating against Miami and a 90.8 passer rating against the Seahawks.

 

So I can't believe the coaches have just decided he can't throw the ball a lot, because he has before and been successful. We're going to come into most games running first, I get it. We have Shady and a team built to run. I just wish Dennison would abandon it sooner when it obviously isn't working. 3 opening drives with no run game, time to move on. If Tyrod fails throwing it a lot then he fails. I just think we have a better chance doing it that way. At least when we're up against a front 7 like we just saw and will see again this Sunday. When we go against the average defenses run the ball all day, it will work. But if it isn't working move on and call some freaking pass plays on 1st down.

I am with you on this. Taylor may fail if they ask him to throw a lot, but when its obvious the run game is shut down they need to throw to open it a little. Tyrod barely has a chance to get into a rhythm because they don't throw a lot. He isn't a great QB, but I would rather they try. There was a drive where he was throwing and they were moving the ball and then they went 3 straight plays to Tolbert with either run or short swing pass.

 

I like the OC, and I know Tyrod is average at best, but don't wait until the end of the game to open the offense up. Let him throw. I don't care if he fails. It beats failing running McCoy into a brick wall.

[Shaw66]

What I'm saying is even if you have the worst passer in the league you need to abandon the run at some point. Anthony Lynn actually did abandon the run when he needed to. That was the difference between him and Roman. When the Seahawks and Dolphins got ahead we immediately started throwing the ball down field, and Tyrod was connecting pretty well. On the last 2 minute drive of the Panthers game we had a screen play to Jordan Matthews. That is inexcusable. I don't care who the QB is. And Tyrod isn't hot garbage, he made good plays in this game too. He completed throws down field when he had a pocket, and receivers getting open. He made a couple good scrambles to sustain drives.

 

But like you said it's just one game. I don't think Dennison is like Roman, I think he will adjust and come up with a better plan for Denver. The Panthers game was a wake up call for him, I hope.

I understand and it seems logical, so the question is why do coaches stubbornly keep running? Why not at least give Taylor a shot at carrying the team with his arm? The only reason would seem to be that theyre quite confident he cant do it.

[BuffaloHokie13]

[HappyDays]

I understand and it seems logical, so the question is why do coaches stubbornly keep running? Why not at least give Taylor a shot at carrying the team with his arm? The only reason would seem to be that theyre quite confident he cant do it.

Cover1 pointed out on Twitter the Bills only ran 4 play action plays the whole game. I mean that should be something we use all the time. I think it is much simpler than "the coaches have decided Tyrod can't throw a lot." I think we had a poor game plan and Dennison never adjusted because we were within one score. From the coaches perspective we were never out of this game. So they figure just keep going with what they planned. I think that was a mistake. I know that Denver fans were happy to see Dennison leave, they thought his offenses were predictable and boring.

 

The nice thing about discussions like these early in the season is they will start to resolve themselves.

[HappyDays]

This post from CanadianFan shows what Denver fans think of Dennison:

 

https://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/196380-rick-dennison/page-8?do=findComment&comment=4545737

[Shaw66]

What I'm saying is even if you have the worst passer in the league you need to abandon the run at some point. Anthony Lynn actually did abandon the run when he needed to. That was the difference between him and Roman. When the Seahawks and Dolphins got ahead we immediately started throwing the ball down field, and Tyrod was connecting pretty well. On the last 2 minute drive of the Panthers game we had a screen play to Jordan Matthews. That is inexcusable. I don't care who the QB is. And Tyrod isn't hot garbage, he made good plays in this game too. He completed throws down field when he had a pocket, and receivers getting open. He made a couple good scrambles to sustain drives.

 

But like you said it's just one game. I don't think Dennison is like Roman, I think he will adjust and come up with a better plan for Denver. The Panthers game was a wake up call for him, I hope.

I understand and it seems logical, so the question is why do coaches stubbornly keep running? Why not at least give Taylor a shot at carrying the team with his arm? The only reason would seem to be that theyre quite confident he cant do it.

[Scott7975]

I understand and it seems logical, so the question is why do coaches stubbornly keep running? Why not at least give Taylor a shot at carrying the team with his arm? The only reason would seem to be that theyre quite confident he cant do it.

What difference does that make when they can see the running game can't pick up a yard either?

[Shaw66]

What difference does that make when they can see the running game can't pick up a yard either?

I agree. If you can't run, you should pass. Can't hurt.

 

But the point I was responding to is that this is the third offensive coordinator who seems to be keeping the ball out of Tyrod's hands, unless he's running with it.

 

So the question is why would THREE OCs in a row do that? Why wouldn't at least one of them done what seems so obvious, which is if you can't run, pass. What I'm saying is that there aren't many explanations for that, other than they've decided that Tyrod passing is so hopeless that you're still better off running McCoy into a brick wall and hoping something will break.

 

I think, by the way, that Happy Days is probably right about what happened in the last game. I'd guess, as he did, that so long as the Bills were within one score, they were going to stick to their game plan. Run the ball, run the ball, pass as a change of pace, but when you pass it, throw to your running backs. The last possession was the only time they opened up the passing game, and even that was pretty conservative.

 

But even that brings me back to the same conclusion. We're now into the third season when Tyrod has performed pretty well on called on to pass more. Up until now, even though he's passed pretty well when he throws over 30 times in a game, coaches don't let him throw more. Why? Well maybe all three OCs are over-committed to the run. Roman was, and Happy's link to the reports about Dennison suggest that he may be over-committed, too. Lynn also was pretty run-oriented. So maybe it's just three conservative OCs in a row. But it's also possible that all three decided they can't trust Tyrod in the pocket.

 

I don't know the answer, but we all agree that it's well past time to let Tyrod air it out and see what he can do. This isn't a bad week to do it. Von Miller is going to eat Mills alive, so why not take advantage of aggressiveness by calling a lot of passes and letting Tyrod scramble. If those great DBs are going to play man to man, fine, Tyrod can have a 100-yard rushing day off his scrambles. If they're going to play zone, fine, let's see if Tyrod can pick it apart while outside the pocket. One thing seems likely - if the Bills are going to insist on running, the Broncos are going to load up, stop the run and dare the Bills to pass. Why not come out throwing and, for once, let the pass set up the run?

 

I'm not sure pass-first is in Dennison's DNA.

[Scott7975]

I agree. If you can't run, you should pass. Can't hurt.

 

But the point I was responding to is that this is the third offensive coordinator who seems to be keeping the ball out of Tyrod's hands, unless he's running with it.

 

So the question is why would THREE OCs in a row do that? Why wouldn't at least one of them done what seems so obvious, which is if you can't run, pass. What I'm saying is that there aren't many explanations for that, other than they've decided that Tyrod passing is so hopeless that you're still better off running McCoy into a brick wall and hoping something will break.

 

I think, by the way, that Happy Days is probably right about what happened in the last game. I'd guess, as he did, that so long as the Bills were within one score, they were going to stick to their game plan. Run the ball, run the ball, pass as a change of pace, but when you pass it, throw to your running backs. The last possession was the only time they opened up the passing game, and even that was pretty conservative.

 

But even that brings me back to the same conclusion. We're now into the third season when Tyrod has performed pretty well on called on to pass more. Up until now, even though he's passed pretty well when he throws over 30 times in a game, coaches don't let him throw more. Why? Well maybe all three OCs are over-committed to the run. Roman was, and Happy's link to the reports about Dennison suggest that he may be over-committed, too. Lynn also was pretty run-oriented. So maybe it's just three conservative OCs in a row. But it's also possible that all three decided they can't trust Tyrod in the pocket.

 

I don't know the answer, but we all agree that it's well past time to let Tyrod air it out and see what he can do. This isn't a bad week to do it. Von Miller is going to eat Mills alive, so why not take advantage of aggressiveness by calling a lot of passes and letting Tyrod scramble. If those great DBs are going to play man to man, fine, Tyrod can have a 100-yard rushing day off his scrambles. If they're going to play zone, fine, let's see if Tyrod can pick it apart while outside the pocket. One thing seems likely - if the Bills are going to insist on running, the Broncos are going to load up, stop the run and dare the Bills to pass. Why not come out throwing and, for once, let the pass set up the run?

 

I'm not sure pass-first is in Dennison's DNA.

Great post man.