Typical TBD Guy Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 We discovered that our Bills defense can be almost invincible when they bring a consistent, though varied and unpredictable, blitz. The only bad drive of the game was the final one where we played too conservative with a 3-4 man rush. So in the future, and especially against the younger QB's of the NFL, Gray's unit will do fine if they continue to aggressively send more LB's and DB's from all different directions to the backfield. Our offense was a little too conservative and only netted 10 points - all of them off defensive turnovers that drastically shortened the field. However, I like how Mularkey stuck to running the ball, even off of the #2 NFL overall run defense. We ran the ball for just under 60% of the total offensive plays. The problem lies in how we spent the other 40% of the plays. I believe that we really need to stretch the field more when we do decide to pass. Bledsoe's strength is his cannon of an arm. Sunday's game showed us that Drew is also capable of improving his short-passing game and releasing the ball quickly; however, his bread and butter will continue to be the deep ball and this is why we pay him the big bucks (otherwise, why not just cut Drew, use that money elsewhere, and start Shane Matthews to run the same game plan we had against the Jags?). If we do a better job of mixing in a more vertical/downfield attack for the 40% pass plays, then I think the 10 offensive points shoots up to the mid-twenties on average - clearly enough points to win a lot of games with this year's defense. So in conclusion, the 2004 Bills are all about AGGRESSION and not CONSERVATISM. Mularkey needs to take from Sunday's game what worked - lots of blitzing - and change what didn't - not enough deep passes. If he does this, and manages to keep the team and key veterans upbeat at the same time, we should stand a good fighting chance at finishing the season 10-5 (the standard minimum to make the playoffs and to declare the 2004 season a success). A full day after that heart-wrenching loss, and I'm already starting to feel a little more optimistic about our chances this Sunday in Oakland and beyond. Now somebody please pinch me, or at least remove me from these Ricky herbs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 You know, when Greggo took over this team, I was pretty excited when I found out that he went back ten years with Jeff Fisher, and Jeff Fisher was an understudy to the guy I still consider the best defensive mind of all time - one Buddy Ryan. I remember watching the Oilers back toward the early 90's when Buddy was their defensive coordinator. I remember watching that Oiler team wreak havoc on opposing offenses. I heard Buddy talk about how his theory was to constantly send one more guy than the offense could account for. Up until the day they met Joe Montana and the KC Chiefs in the playoffs and lost to them, I literally feared for the teams who played this Oiler team. I thought it was that kind of fear that our own defense was going to be creating when Greggo came and took over. I think Jerry Gray needs to call up ol' Buddy, invite him to dinner, and get an education on how to obliterate the opponent. Buddy Ryan defenses - whether it be the Bears, the Birds, the Oilers, or the Cards - are scary. They are intimidating. They are high risk, high reward, and they are AWESOME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 The problem lies in how we spent the other 40% of the plays. I believe that we really need to stretch the field more when we do decide to pass. Bledsoe's strength is his cannon of an arm. Sunday's game showed us that Drew is also capable of improving his short-passing game and releasing the ball quickly; however, his bread and butter will continue to be the deep ball and this is why we pay him the big bucks (otherwise, why not just cut Drew, use that money elsewhere, and start Shane Matthews to run the same game plan we had against the Jags?). 29613[/snapback] I don't care the dink and dunk variety if each down results in 4-5 yards.... We not only will get the 1st downs, we will also be chewing the play clock and shortening the game and keeping the opposing defense on the field for 3 downs instead of a big down the field shot.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 The thing about this Offense that scares the crap out of me is when you Run a Ball Control, short Pass, 3-yards and a cloud of dust type Offense, the margin for error in a Game is reduced considerably on Offense and Defense. And if there is one thing about this current bunch of Players I've learned over the last Season and a half is the fact that they are WAY too error prone. Plus they have a Kicker who is completely inconsistant from 40 plus yards out. Penalties, fumbles, dropped Passes, missed assignments, missed blocks, missed FG's, etc., etc., etc.... I don't know...It's easy to say the Offense will get better because A) everyone knows it will...and B) how can it get much worse than 10 Points at Home, especially when Defensive TO's led to all 10 of the points... So what I'm saying is, without cutting down on the mistakes this Team has now become know for, this Offense can get a lot better and the Bills could still lose a lot of Games. I know that's an obvious statement, but it is what it is. And how many times do we have to hear the Stars and Coaches on this Team talk about eliminating the mistakes, bad plays, mental errors, etc...I'll tell you this much, MM, Clements, Gray, and Wyche have their work cut out for them with this bunch. The philosophy on Offense is going to call for precision, and this is a Team with too many players prone to mistakes for whatever reason, and a FG Kicker who is WAY too inconsistant... Good luck and God's speed Mike...I'll be Praying your system can turn this trend around... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 The thing about this Offense that scares the crap out of me is when you Run a Ball Control, short Pass, 3-yards and a cloud of dust type Offense, the margin for error in a Game is reduced considerably on Offense and Defense. And if there is one thing about this current bunch of Players I've learned over the last Season and a half is the fact that they are WAY too error prone. 29826[/snapback] Yup, that's EXACTLY my point. We need to play to our offensive strengths - a good running game and a big-armed QB. Enough of this West Coast-eque passing stevestojan. This team is incapable of playing precision football like the previous Super Bowl winners of the last 4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_BiB_ Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I, for one take some heart in that the 10 points came off defensive turnovers. Didn't see much of that last year, remember? I also just have the feeling that this game was in a way the final pre-season game. I don't think we've seen Felix's full bag of tricks. If it weren't for some extremely boneheaded plays by the team "stars", this would be a W with a very vanilla gameplan. I've posted before that maybe we should reserve full judgement until game 5. There's 15 to go. I have a lot of optimism. Anyone else think that the D got complacent at the end, and were shell shocked by that last drive? Especially after the fourth and Pennsylvania? It's possible that this could be what they needed. If Nate and others don't get the ego's put in check after this embarrassment, my fairly high opinion of the coaching changes is going to suffer a setback. No way should they have lost to the Jags at home opener, and they know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtGodel77 Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 The main problem with going deep is that our offensive line won't be functional for a few more weeks. If you go deep without an offensive line, the result is league-leading sack totals like what we've seen from Bledsoe last year and Johnson in years past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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