To Run or Not To Run

[Wizard]

With a top shelf passing game and a solid defense (only going to get better when the CB's and DT's) get healthy, there are no complaints whatsoever about scoring 28-40 points a game with Allen at the helm running a pass heavy offense.

 

I am curious about the vision the team has for the running game though.

 

Is there an ideal split for carries? Do the Bills plan on having three or four capable backs and churning over new ones every few years for salary to be used on other positions while Allen is a top 3 QB the next decade? Do we have 4-5 passing options each down and keep doing that until a team learns to slow the offense a bit?

 

I think it is awesome that the Bills barely utilize a running game. Other than Singletary having  like two big games last year to get over 800 yards, our RB's have averaged like 500-600 yards the past 5 years  when you take away Allen's running skills.

 

I wonder if the Bills will have a bell cow back again, or if RB is likely the 4th option on most plays.

 

Thoughts?  Would you like to see anything different or are you indifferent like me as long as we win?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Wizard

[scuba guy]

Well this has been mentioned before but I believe in the not to distant future we will see a game that the bills just run the ball and sit on the clock. Maybe week 6 but who knows and you are going to see gill as fb and extra ol and tes in the game with delayed handoffs. And dorsey will say to the nfl see if you can stop a 2 headed beast. 🙄 

Than you put our defense out there and get 1 or 2 turnovers the opponent's offense has maybe 4 drives. If we use up 8 plus minutes per drive running the ball.  

[Don Otreply]

We only have to run effectively, when we choose to run, with a good helping of showing we can run when we want to…, 

 

Go Bills!!!

[JoPoy88]

14 minutes ago, Wizard said:

With a top shelf passing game and a solid defense (only going to get better when the CB's and DT's) get healthy, there are no complaints whatsoever about scoring 28-40 points a game with Allen at the helm running a pass heavy offense.

 

I am curious about the vision the team has for the running game though.

 

Is there an ideal split for carries? Do the Bills plan on having three or four capable backs and churning over new ones every few years for salary to be used on other positions while Allen is a top 3 QB the next decade? Do we have 4-5 passing options each down and keep doing that until a team learns to slow the offense a bit?

 

I think it is awesome that the Bills barely utilize a running game. Other than Singletary having  like two big games last year to get over 800 yards, our RB's have averaged like 500-600 yards the past 5 years  when you take away Allen's running skills.

 

I wonder if the Bills will have a bell cow back again, or if RB is likely the 4th option on most plays.

 

Thoughts?  Would you like to see anything different or are you indifferent like me as long as we win?

 

 

 

 

 

 

passing is more efficient and effective. With the QB the Bills have the running game should be a compliment to the passing game, nothing more.

[Greg S]

I would like to see Allen do less running and put more of it on Singletary, but the offense revolves around Josh throwing it all over the place anyway. So as long as we win that is all that matters. I do think Beane will address the OL in the upcoming draft. If there was one area where I think the offense could be improved its the OL. We are pretty much set at the skill positions.

[uninja]

I like that we run just enough when its effective to force teams to respect it. It's not a focal point of our offense or the most explosive part of it but its there when we need it.

 

 

 

 

[mjt328]

The Bills just want a running game that can keep defenses honest.

 

Where we ran into trouble last season, was when teams dropped 7-8 defenders... but we still couldn't generate more than 2-3 yards per carry.

[H2o]

Sling the rock. Put up 50 if you can. In all seriousness, hopefully it mirrors the Tennessee game. We pull our starters then run the ball the last quarter and a half to burn the clock.

[colin]

it would be nice if we could run effectively when we wanted to, but we really aren't a good running team.  if cook can come along and be what i was thinking he was going to be, then he and motor are a sick 1 2 punch and we have a FB and TE who can both block and be passing threats, so that on paper should make us a good running team.

 

i'll believe it when i see it tho.

[HOUSE]

Moss gets alot of disrespect around here, you will be sorry later. 

I like him

[Lost]

Bills should only run on 1st and 2nd down because aside from the Allen RPO they are hot garbage when running on 3rd and short.  

[Marvin]

IMHO, power football is the best way to clinch a game as a gift to your defence for a job well done so that they take a bit less punishment before the next game.

 

I remember how much fun it was en route to the 4 Super Bowls that the Bills could get the ball with several minutes left, huddle, line up, announce to the universe the play was counter-trey right, let the play clock run down to 1, snap the ball, run the counter, and just demoralise the opposition with an inexorable drive to clinch the game.

 

I want to see this team do THAT before I can really believe in a chance to win a Super Bowl.  I need them to close out tough wins with authority.

[John from Riverside]

There is going to come a time in this season where we’re going to have to run the ball I don’t know when it’s coming but it is

[Rc2catch]

 Buffalo seems to struggle to run effectively, however they rarely have enough real attempts to gauge if it’s effective. 
Moss gets all this hate but it’s not like he’s getting a ton of touches. He’s the perfect kinda back to soften a defense up. We will probably never find out what he’s fully capable of because he’ll probably never see 20 real carries in a game. 
Motor, dude makes the first person miss like 95% of the time. He runs hard, I don’t know how they keep taking him off the field. He’s effective everytime he touches the ball. Once again though he rarely has enough attempts to make any impact. 
Allen is clearly playing at an MVP level, they look unstoppable. I fully understand slinging the ball all over the place and keeping the ball in your best players hand,  but it also doesn’t use much clock. As the season goes on and weather begins to turn, there’s going to need to be some balance. They will need a run game to milk a little clock against top tiered teams or the defense will be gassed out by the 3rd quarter even with the rotations. With the way the NFL is played, it’s not a terrible thing to milk a final drive 5-6 minutes to put a game away instead of all this last minute back and forth where defenses can’t stop anything. 

[mushypeaches]

I am pretty much satisfied with the amount of running that the Bills have done the past 2+ seasons. 

Could we perform better on the runs that we call?  Yes

Do we need to call more RB carries?  No

 

They're consistently winning with the current approach, and with Josh effectively utilizing check downs and RPO's as needed, many times that replaces the traditional running game, especially in the 1st half when the game is still being decided.

 

Additionally, by having 2-3 quality RB's on the team that all bring different skill sets, we can customize our approach to game situations and our opponents.  This makes our offense that more effective rather than the old days of thinking you have to win with a one-size-fits-all bell cow RB like Lesean McCoy

[Greg S]

3 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

There is going to come a time in this season where we’re going to have to run the ball I don’t know when it’s coming but it is

 

Yup. Its nice to blow teams out the same way Alabama does against an unranked opponent but the Bills will find themselves in close games from time to time. If we are leading in a one score game and have the ball with 5-6 minutes left in the 4th quarter will we run it? As much as I like watching Josh throw you also want to be able to run the clock down at some point and that involves running. Don't want to risk stopping the clock with an incomplete pass.

[SoCal Deek]

Or…we could just sit Moss down! He brings nothing to this offense and the opposing teams clearly don’t fear him. I loved what they were doing with Singletary during the playoffs, using him a check down safety valve for Josh late over the short middle. He was wide open play after play after play…and reminded me of how Kelly used Thurman. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Never should have let Christian Wade get away...😇

[Freddie's Dead]

If the Bills ran Motor 80-90% of the time, instead of Moss getting the majority of the carries, that would solve their issues in the run game.

[KDIGGZ]

Watch the 90's Bills games. They set up in shotgun (k-gun) every play so it looked like every play was a pass. The only running play they had was run left or run right and they were very effective running the ball of course as Thurman was league MVP. I think they are trying to do too much in our current offense. If you are a great passing team then why even line up in certain "strong" running sets/personnel? You are announcing to everyone that you are running. I think more zone runs is the answer. If they think you are passing then that should be a free 5 yards every time you run