ricojes Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/24/bills-subtract-analytics-staff/ What's the opposite of robust? A long-running joke about the Buffalo Bills has been about their much-heralded "robust football analytics operation," a phrase used by Russ Brandon in 2013 to indicate grand plans to bring a progressive and aggressive approach to football. Five years later, the Bills have blown it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 (edited) Sounds Iike an overdue move. Hopefully they actually bring one in for football purposes now instead of ticket sales analysis Edited January 24, 2018 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Jesus Christ, just hire me. I'll be glad to tell them when to challenge a call, when to go for it on 4th down, when to call time out, and when to break their tendencies. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co_springs_billsfan Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Ralph is so cheap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptide Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 32 minutes ago, eball said: Jesus Christ, just hire me. I'll be glad to tell them when to challenge a call, when to go for it on 4th down, when to call time out, and when to break their tendencies. It is incredible how much nfl teams overthink certain things. I think analytics has a benefit though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 14 minutes ago, Steptide said: It is incredible how much nfl teams overthink certain things. I think analytics has a benefit though do these gormless nerds actually go up to a defensive lineman and start quoting stats to the thousandth decimal point to try to teach them something about how to play the game? or approach Mike Trout to advise him how to make better contact based on a stat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 There is a lot of overthinking in football these days. Here is a legend out of the past, Big Daddy Lipscomb, with his "analytics" on defense: "You just keep picking up guys and throwing them away until you find the guy with the ball. Him you keep." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baskingridgebillsfan Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 for some reason nobody analyzed that the qb can't play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoradoBills Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 3 hours ago, ricojes said: http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/24/bills-subtract-analytics-staff/ What's the opposite of robust? A long-running joke about the Buffalo Bills has been about their much-heralded "robust football analytics operation," a phrase used by Russ Brandon in 2013 to indicate grand plans to bring a progressive and aggressive approach to football. Five years later, the Bills have blown it up. Could you paste the article? I would like to read it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadingpain Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 2 hours ago, row_33 said: do these gormless nerds actually go up to a defensive lineman and start quoting stats to the thousandth decimal point to try to teach them something about how to play the game? or approach Mike Trout to advise him how to make better contact based on a stat? No. Your understanding of analytics, how it works, and its benefit to a football team is rather poor. Analytics does things like show you, with statistical analysis, that you have a much better chance of winning a game with 2 minutes left if you go for it on 4th and 1 from your opponent's 47 yard line, as opposed to punting and trying to get the ball back again. It's mostly based on analysis of countless football games and scenarios over a large period of time and studying what works and what doesn't work based on probability. You then go with the highest possible probability of success. Most NFL teams are still clueless about this stuff, including the Bills. McDummy showed us all that multiple times this year. This is because most NFL coaches are glorified gym teachers and would never be confused for brain surgeons, hedge fund managers, or physics professors. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 5 minutes ago, Fadingpain said: No. Your understanding of analytics, how it works, and its benefit to a football team is rather poor. Analytics does things like show you, with statistical analysis, that you have a much better chance of winning a game with 2 minutes left if you go for it on 4th and 1 from your opponent's 47 yard line, as opposed to punting and trying to get the ball back again. It's mostly based on analysis of countless football games and scenarios over a large period of time and studying what works and what doesn't work based on probability. You then go with the highest possible probability of success. Most NFL teams are still clueless about this stuff, including the Bills. McDummy showed us all that multiple times this year. This is because most NFL coaches are glorified gym teachers and would never be confused for brain surgeons, hedge fund managers, or physics professors. you are speaking to the jacksonville game? or speaking of Jacksonville vs the Patsies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince88 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 3 hours ago, eball said: Jesus Christ, just hire me. I'll be glad to tell them when to challenge a call, when to go for it on 4th down, when to call time out, and when to break their tendencies. Jesus Christ is in charge of the hiring process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwai San Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, eball said: Jesus Christ, just hire me. I'll be glad to tell them when to challenge a call, when to go for it on 4th down, when to call time out, and when to break their tendencies. A whole damn lotta people standing in line for the job E-Ball!! They seriously need help in those areas at times......hoping another year of McDermott and full year of Bean and the new OC will fix some of those issues..... Gormless nerds......beautiful! GO BILLS!! 1 hour ago, ColoradoBills said: Could you paste the article? I would like to read it. Yeah me too......yeah I am cheep. Edited January 25, 2018 by Kwai San Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 I'm sure Rex was only interested in foot size analytics, so 'robust' was always going to be a misnomer.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sven233 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, eball said: Jesus Christ, just hire me. I'll be glad to tell them when to challenge a call, when to go for it on 4th down, when to call time out, and when to break their tendencies. Yup.....there are a ton of us "casual fans" that know more about clock management, game situations, etc. than these coaches in the NFL. It is really shocking just how bad these "smart football people" are at the basics. Could I sit down and design an entire offense from scratch? Maybe over time, but it would be difficult for sure. Knowing whether or not to call a timeout, punt, or go for it in certain situations is not. These coaches make it a lot more difficult than it needs to be. Edited January 25, 2018 by sven233 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoradoBills Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 8 minutes ago, sven233 said: Yup.....there are a ton of us "casual fans" that know more about clock management, game situations, etc. that these coaches in the NFL. It is really shocking just how bad these "smart football people" are at the basics. Could I sit down and design an entire offense from scratch? Maybe over time, but it would be difficult for sure. Knowing whether or not to call a timeout, punt, or go for it in certain situations is not. These coaches make it a lot more difficult than it needs to be. BB's teams seem pretty good at it. I'm hoping Daboll can help with that, at least on the offensive side of the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndirish1978 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 There is zero point in posting an article that is located behind a paywall and then briefly alluding to what the article is about. I'll get a subscription to that newspaper when they get rid of 2/3 of their writers, so that's not happening anytime soon. Might as well retitle this thread "here's my take on a story a large portion of you won't ever read." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 11 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said: There is zero point in posting an article that is located behind a paywall and then briefly alluding to what the article is about. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Key Notes... ***General Manager Brandon Beane will hire replacements, although the next department's structure isn't clear. ***Buffalo's first attempt to establish its department will be viewed as a failure. ***As expected, the Bills never would divulge how Lyons or Linton (the 2 people in the analytics department) crunched the numbers. But Russ Brandon gave a glimpse into their approach for a June 2016 story in The Buffalo News. Brandon conceded it's fair to say Lyons' work pertained more to the Bills' ticket pricing than with X's and O's. "We look at it from a holistic perspective," Brandon said. "We hired Michael to oversee all of our business analytics as well. He is a crucial part of the mix between marketing and content and the decisions we make in all platforms of our business. "Most people assume the analytics person is driving data and running it down the hall to the GM. But it's a lot bigger than that." In a quote from Brandon's interview that didn't make it into the story, he noted Lyons' role in generating football data was predicated on the direction given. "With Jim Monos and the player personnel department and with Rex and his coordinators and [contract negotiator] Jim Overdorf and his department," Brandon said, "Michael is able to provide information that is almost custom to what they may or may not be looking for." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 10 hours ago, ndirish1978 said: There is zero point in posting an article that is located behind a paywall and then briefly alluding to what the article is about. I'll get a subscription to that newspaper when they get rid of 2/3 of their writers, so that's not happening anytime soon. Might as well retitle this thread "here's my take on a story a large portion of you won't ever read." I assume a lot of people do subscribe, though. So why not discuss the article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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