Anybody surprised at the lack of running thus far?

[DCofNC]

I really thought the Bills would be running more early in the year, 2 young backs, a lot of good run blockers on the line, yet it’s been a lot more passing.  Obviously, it’s been working for the most part.  It looked like Miami could not stop the run yesterday, yet they went away from it.  Allen obviously had a good day, so no complaints on the end result.  Both Singletary and Moss were averaging about 5 per carry (Singletary’s average was way more legit consistency).  I am a little surprised this has been the trend so far.  It’s not like the Phins really lined up and told Josh to beat them.  The Jets have a good run D and they tried more there.  What do you expect to see going forward?

[NobesBLO13]

They’re rolling with what’s working, and Josh is white hot right now.

[Chaos]

I am surprised. But when I compare our RBs to the top 20 or so RBs in the league, I realized it is a huge weak spot on the team. So I am no longer suprised. 

 

[716er]

Just now, Chaos said:

I am surprised. But when I compare our RBs to the top 20 or so RBs in the league, I realized it is a huge weak spot on the team. So I am no longer suprised. 

 

 

Singletary ran extremely well yesterday. Not his fault he only got 10 carries. He bulldozed a LB at one point.

[SCBills]

Can't really argue with the results...   They ran just fine yesterday.  Singletary was over 5 ypc and Moss over 4 ypc.  

 

I've watched QB's like Mahomes and Watson use the running game as a simple change of pace for a couple years....  I'm glad we're taking that same stance with Allen.

[Chaos]

1 minute ago, 716er said:

 

Singletary ran extremely well yesterday. Not his fault he only got 10 carries. He bulldozed a LB at one point.

He is a functional RB. Definitely NFL level. No team in the NFL needs to modify their defensive game plan to account for Singletary.  Nor Moss.  From a team perspective that is not necessarily a bad thing.  NFL teams don't worry too much about the Patriots, Seahawks, Green Bay or Baltimore running backs.   Teams that rely on their running attacks much more than the Bills are right now, generally have RBs that are teams need to specifically worry about. Singletary/Moss are very generic NFL RBs.  

Also it is far easier to have a high yard per carry on ten carries than it is on 20 or 25, generally speaking.   

[TroutDog]

2 minutes ago, Chaos said:

He is a functional RB. Definitely NFL level. No team in the NFL needs to modify their defensive game plan to account for Singletary.  Nor Moss.  From a team perspective that is not necessarily a bad thing.  NFL teams don't worry too much about the Patriots, Seahawks, Green Bay or Baltimore running backs.   Teams that rely on their running attacks much more than the Bills are right now, generally have RBs that are teams need to specifically worry about. Singletary/Moss are very generic NFL RBs.  

Also it is far easier to have a high yard per carry on ten carries than it is on 20 or 25, generally speaking.   

Those are all fine points but have you watched Singletary? The kid is special and if you’re not willing to see that, that’s fine. He is a special RB, though. 
 

In fact he has already had some incredible plays this year. 

[Brennan Huff]

1 minute ago, TroutDog said:

Those are all fine points but have you watched Singletary? The kid is special and if you’re not willing to see that, that’s fine. He is a special RB, though. 
 

In fact he has already had some incredible plays this year. 

He is absolutely a stud. Check out his highlights from last season. I definitely say some Barry Sanders-esque moves from him. Not saying he’s a future hall of Famer or anything but he’s exciting to watch 

[Seasons1992]

16 minutes ago, Chaos said:

I am surprised. But when I compare our RBs to the top 20 or so RBs in the league, I realized it is a huge weak spot on the team. So I am no longer suprised. 

 

 

Patience, grasshopper. 

Just wait till the winter comes, and you'll see (if we're healthy) that our RB's, short passing game, and D will all be super-valuable. Let's win through the air for now. The confidence that Josh must have, and must be giving the team right now, has to be outstanding.

[Green Lightning]

We're going to need a good ground game against some of the quality teams we're going to see this year - particularly the Pats.  BB is going to pull that cover zero and blitz Josh from a dozen different angles, which has been effective against Josh. He won't have forever and day to pass like he did the last two weeks. Constant pressure makes any QB look ordinary ( as we've seen with Brady) so I'd like to see Motor get going. In the meanwhile, watching JA sling the rock and dropping dimes as has been uber satisfying. Can't say enough about Diggs. Wow. 

[aristocrat]

not concerned as we aren't hammering the ball right now but we do have effective running.  nice ypc and all that but i would like to see us impose our will at times. 

[Motor26]

Well yesterday they were losing and then trying to put the game away. So they passed the ball. They still put up 111 yards rushing yesterday. 

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

At some point in the season we will need to lean on the running game. Allen will still be passing it 30 times a game but the RB’s will get more involved as the season wears on. I think they should stay with this passing attack and get the RB’s more involved in the passing game. Allen is red hot right now passing the football, keep passing it until Allen’s arm falls off.

[Bangarang]

Moss looks slow. I know he’s not a speed guy but I keep saying this dude has a lot runs like his feet are made of cinder blocks.

[hondo in seattle]

When Daboll was in New England, he was helping to coach one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history.  I gotta imagine that made an impression on him and helped shaped his coaching philosophy.

 

Belichick likes to attack whatever mismatches he sees, whether through the air or on the ground.  He also tries not to be predictable and show up with the game plan you expected from him.  

 

I think Daboll is emulating that approach.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

1 minute ago, Bangarang said:

Moss looks slow. I know he’s not a speed guy but I keep saying this dude has a lot runs like his feet are made of cinder blocks.

Looks more like he doesn't let blocks develop, poor vision. Way too early. I think he'll be fine.

[DCofNC]

16 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Moss looks slow. I know he’s not a speed guy but I keep saying this dude has a lot runs like his feet are made of cinder blocks.

 

12 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Looks more like he doesn't let blocks develop, poor vision. Way too early. I think he'll be fine.

I’m going to guess it’s more to do with adjusting to the league, remember, no preseason to see the difference.  Moss has enough speed and burst.  He was better this week than last, though he hasn’t really hit his stride yet.  I college he ran more like a Le’veon Bell, slow take off and then smash the hole, that could be what you are seeing in his slow take off.  If/when he adjusts it will be an asset.

[billsfan89]

Not really, the running game hasn't been successful the first two games. It started to get going in the second half a bit against the Fins so I am optimistic that it will get going. But overall Josh has just been that much more effective throwing the ball and it is what the playcalling is and should be leaning into. 

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

We should be a pass first team. The strength of our team is our Wr core coupled with the fact Josh running factor. I’d still like to get the screen game going, or Devin coming out of the backfield. it worked  pretty well in week one. Our running game if anything is more complimentary.

 

Josh seems to excel when he finds his rythym. Run, run and then need to throw I think kinda throws him off. Get him going then open up the run game.

[ProcessAccepted]

I think we're just taking advantage of the odd off season and rustiness of defenses. Josh is feasting right now and they're giving teams a lot to prepare for. Two very different offenses week one and week 2.

 

Daboll is making specific game plans for the next opponent. When we face someone he wants to run on Motor will get more than 10 carries. Finally something in 2020 that I'm enjoying 😀

[jethro_tull]

not surprised- the OL needs to work on their run blocking.  

[maryland-bills-fan]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

Can't really argue with the results...   They ran just fine yesterday.  Singletary was over 5 ypc and Moss over 4 ypc.  

 

I've watched QB's like Mahomes and Watson use the running game as a simple change of pace for a couple years....  I'm glad we're taking that same stance with Allen.

They were change of pace yards.

 

[BubbaT]

No. The Bills best weapons are their receivers. The backs are complimentary. The best teams beat you to death throwing the ball and can run when they have to and need to. The Bills have joined the 21st century for which I am extremely grateful and happy.

[billsfan89]

3 hours ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

We should be a pass first team. The strength of our team is our Wr core coupled with the fact Josh running factor. I’d still like to get the screen game going, or Devin coming out of the backfield. it worked  pretty well in week one. Our running game if anything is more complimentary.

 

Josh seems to excel when he finds his rythym. Run, run and then need to throw I think kinda throws him off. Get him going then open up the run game.

 

This team should be passing to set up the run. I also think this team should feature Singletary more in the ground game. I think he is simply the more effective back, that's not a knock on Moss who should get a share of touches and carries but rookies are having a rough start all around the league.

[PromoTheRobot]

4 hours ago, DCofNC said:

I really thought the Bills would be running more early in the year, 2 young backs, a lot of good run blockers on the line, yet it’s been a lot more passing.  Obviously, it’s been working for the most part.  It looked like Miami could not stop the run yesterday, yet they went away from it.  Allen obviously had a good day, so no complaints on the end result.  Both Singletary and Moss were averaging about 5 per carry (Singletary’s average was way more legit consistency).  I am a little surprised this has been the trend so far.  It’s not like the Phins really lined up and told Josh to beat them.  The Jets have a good run D and they tried more there.  What do you expect to see going forward?

 

Kind of hard to run for 250 yards when you're passing for 400. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

Why the hell would you even want to run when your QB and WR corp are tearing through a secondary.🤣

[1ManRaid]

To answer the title, no.

 

Let our young RBs develop while "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies.

[QB Bills]

Only two games in, but Moss lacks speed, can't change direction quickly and he's not nearly as tough to tackle as we were led to believe. He actually looks way too much like Gore from last year.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

I said as much in another thread 

 

 

You play the hand you are dealt 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

4 hours ago, DCofNC said:

I really thought the Bills would be running more early in the year, 2 young backs, a lot of good run blockers on the line, yet it’s been a lot more passing.  Obviously, it’s been working for the most part.  It looked like Miami could not stop the run yesterday, yet they went away from it.  Allen obviously had a good day, so no complaints on the end result.  Both Singletary and Moss were averaging about 5 per carry (Singletary’s average was way more legit consistency).  I am a little surprised this has been the trend so far.  It’s not like the Phins really lined up and told Josh to beat them.  The Jets have a good run D and they tried more there.  What do you expect to see going forward?

 

Yesterday was pretty much 40/60 run/pass split.  Last week vs the Jets was 41/59 run/pass split, with most of the running provided by Josh Allen.

18 carries split between Moss and Motor for 93 yds, 4 carries for Josh (pretty sure 2 of those were the kneeldowns at the end).

Jets have a better run defense: Moss and Motor still split 18 carries, but only contributed 41 yds.

 

I don't think there are a "lot of good run blockers on the line".  We haven't, IMO, had good run blocking since 2017.  I believe Daboll and Bobby Johnson think so too.  Evidence is that they were switching around the line some (unless that was due to unheralded injury) - see "Ford Benched" thread, which really seems like "Ford moved around on the line" thread.  I think they're experimenting to get more "push" with the run blocking.

 

I think yesterday may represent what Daboll wants to do this year, perhaps shifting to something like a 45/55 run/pass split, mostly runs by Motor and Moss. Time will tell.

 

 

[Gen2]

I wasn't surprised the first game. The Jets strength on their defense is their front seven, I believe they ended up as one of the top teams in the league last year against the run. I was a bit surprised the second game because the Dolphins defense is stronger on the back end than they are up front. For those saying Singletary needs to develop ... didn't he average somewhere in the 5 yards per carry neighborhood last year ... what do you want him to develop into?  

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 hour ago, Gen2 said:

I wasn't surprised the first game. The Jets strength on their defense is their front seven, I believe they ended up as one of the top teams in the league last year against the run. I was a bit surprised the second game because the Dolphins defense is stronger on the back end than they are up front. For those saying Singletary needs to develop ... didn't he average somewhere in the 5 yards per carry neighborhood last year ... what do you want him to develop into?  

 

Better pass pro, better playmaking in the passing game.

[3rdand12]

5 hours ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

We should be a pass first team. The strength of our team is our Wr core coupled with the fact Josh running factor. I’d still like to get the screen game going, or Devin coming out of the backfield. it worked  pretty well in week one. Our running game if anything is more complimentary.

 

Josh seems to excel when he finds his rythym. Run, run and then need to throw I think kinda throws him off. Get him going then open up the run game.

It seems we can be a pass 1st offense.

 The right side of the line is new. I feel strongly the running game will come as the season goes. Second half i would hope Daboll can call anything  to match up against defenses.

This offense is going to be very very good by years end if not sooner, and great time to peak is near the playoffs !!

 Go Bills

[GETTOTHE50]

athe jets and fish D dared Josh and the Bills to throw it. They wanted to stop the run. The running game will start opening up here slowly, but surely

[LABILLBACKER]

They didn't give up all that draft capital to turn Diggs into a RB. Josh is on fire and keep feeding those two. Devin and Zack will just have to make the most of their split 20 touches.

[947]

Our OL actually seems to be better at pass blocking than run blocking now. Also, Passing 60% is pretty typical of a modern NFL offense. I know there are a few teams built around the Run, but they're in the minority. I think we have the right balance based on talent, though I would like to see our RBs more involved in the passing game.

 

[SirAndrew]

We’re finally seeing a modern NFL offense where the run game compliments the passing game. The run game looked much improved in Miami from the previous week. I couldn’t ask for more from the offense at this point, especially the way Allen and Diggs are playing. We have more than enough talent with Singletary to maintain a run game that won’t hold us back. Moss has been a slight disappointment on that side of the ball though. He’s two games into his career, so we can’t judge who he is as a player yet, but I’m underwhelmed by what I’ve seen. He’s struggled reading his blockers, shows absolutely zero burst or quickness, and almost runs like Frank Gore late in his career. 

Edited September 21, 2020 by SirAndrew

[billsbackto81]

18 carries for 93 yards is struggling? 5.6 and 4.6 respectively. It's not their fault the D couldn't hold Miami at bay so they could eat more. Josh was dealing so sit back and enjoy the show.

[artmalibu]

Im starting to think that the last 2 game plans are a setup for this upcoming stretch. 

 

Week one lots of QB run and not much RB runs. 

Week 2 lots of passing.

Week 3 will be the week of the hand-offs.  

 

I would not be sleeping well if I were the Rams D-coordinator.  

[Mark Vader]

6 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Looks more like he doesn't let blocks develop, poor vision. Way too early. I think he'll be fine.

I agree with your analysis.

 

Moss has only played two games, so it might be a bit much to expect him to be at the same level as other NFL RB's.

 

I will say that I am surprised by how good he has looked as a receiver. I wasn't expecting that.