Game Planning Is the Biggest Problem

[Mark VI]

The Pats could see how we won our 3 games in the last month. Pound Willis and let DB throw half the norm.

 

So they keyed on Willis and ran a zone against Drew, who didn't see much pressure the whole game. The problem was, he couldn't see the coverage 10 feet in front of him and kept making huge mistakes, his trademark on the road. The Pats Defense forced DB to be the focal point of our attack and showed why that's always a failure for the Bills. Brilliant on their part. So it's up to the Staff to figure out a new plan and adjust. They failed.

 

Defensively, we didn't adjust to the outside sweep or the crossing patterns the Pats kept calling. Mularkey can walk over to Gray and ask him for something different. He didn't.

 

" We just didn't execute " ( I hate that phrase ) was indeed a big problem but other than throwing Losman to the wolves, the Bills never made any real changes in the game plan that was failing.

 

DB drove a final nail into his own Starting QB career last night but it hardly was all his fault. Now the Bills need to look towards the future and develop a game plan for Losman and also the Defense.

 

The Bills aren't an A team by any stretch but the game plans have been so predictable without any backup plan. Once again , the Bills were exposed in Prime time, so get used to the doubters in the National press. It's up to Mularkey to identify his players for 2005 and make improvements in obvious areas ( OL, Free Safety, CB etc. ).

 

Most important of all, Mularkey himself must learn to adjust during the game, when plan A isn't working. Most 1st year coaches struggle with that, so it's hardly a surprise. Time will tell whether he learns.

 

Go ahead and flame away. I'd expect nothing less.

[Thailog80]

Flame? Thats a thing of beauty Mark. BB and Co took us out behind the woodshed....again.

[nick in* england]

I totally agree....

 

One flaw of the game planning that stood out to me was with Travis Henry. Travis and Willis TOGETHER in the backfield is not something any team has seen so far this season. Last night would have been perfect. Even using Travis to between the tackles may have helped, cos Willis looked like a rabbit in the headlights at times, not helped by the OL of course.

 

I saw Travis on maybe 5 plays. Mainly to block on passing downs, and one draw play (his first) that fooled no-one. I think we could have used way more 2 TE sets, more Bunch formations, motions out of the backfields, a simple screen would have been nice.

 

We rely WAY to heavily on a featured back and our star WR. The game plan revolves around those 2 elements. If you neutralise that, you give Drew no room to manoever. It's not that we plan and use Drew wrongly, we use his supporting cast in a formulaic, predictable way...

[RunTheBall]

The game plan for BB was hilariously simple: stop the run and Bledsoe will self destruct. That's exactly what happened. The plays were there to be made, Drew just couldn't make them. He didn't get a heck of a lot of help from his WRs, but the main problem was Drew.

 

When a team stacks the line and takes away the run, you have man coverage on a wideout. We couldn't beat man coverage on a frickin wide receiver playing corner and a rookie free agent. PATHETIC.

 

Offensive coordinators game plan to get single coverages on WR or backs. Belichick GAVE US that. He gave it to us! Why? Because he knew Drew couldn't do it. And he didn't.

 

There is no Pan B that will work if you can't get the ball to players in single coverage. It's simple. We didn't have the talent to make plays against scrubs in their secondary. Horrible.

 

RunTheBall

[Beerball]

As disappointed as I am in the team's offensive output last night, the defense was worse. I 'expected' us to struggle on offense. I did not expect what I saw on defense. Dillon is good, but 80 yards in the first quarter? JG was outcoached in a big way last night. It started early and you are right Mark, he never friggin adjusted. Pathetic performance on both sides of the ball and pathetic coaching.

[Mark VI]

The Pats were dropping the LB's off into coverage. Rarely did Bledsoe see any jailbreak blitzes but he failed to see the LB's underneath or the Safeties. It wasn't a case of not being able to beat simple man coverage, as previously implied.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

As disappointed as I am in the team's offensive output last night, the defense was worse.  I 'expected' us to struggle on offense.  I did not expect what I saw on defense.  Dillon is good, but 80 yards in the first quarter?  JG was outcoached in a big way last night.  It started early and you are right Mark, he never friggin adjusted.  Pathetic performance on both sides of the ball and pathetic coaching.

117743[/snapback]

 

 

Charlie Weis: yet ANOTHER guy we could have had as a HC. No, we got Mularkey.

[Golden Wheels]

The Bills aren't an A team by any stretch but the game plans have been so predictable without any backup plan.

 

BINGO

 

But I also think the Bills coaches gave up on the run too soon, and put the game in Bledsoe's hands. That's asking for disaster.

 

Drew never learned in his pro career that just because you can throw a ball reall hard, it doesn't mean you always should.

 

Even the three stooges in the ESPN booth could tell he was looking for Moulds and no one else; how hard is it for the Patriots or anyone else to figure out what this mouthbreather is going to do?

[nick in* england]

Drew never learned in his pro career that just because you can throw a ball reall hard, it doesn't mean you always should.

Welcome to the problem we face with Losman

[PhilsBills]

 

We rely WAY to heavily on a featured back and our star WR. The game plan revolves around those 2 elements. If you neutralise that, you give Drew to room to manoever. It's not that we plan and use Drew wrongly, we use his supporting cast in a formulaic, predictable way...

117696[/snapback]

 

This sums it up perectly... What a horrible game.

[Yard Monkey]

The Pats were dropping the LB's off into coverage. Rarely did Bledsoe see any jailbreak blitzes but he failed to see the LB's underneath or the Safeties. It wasn't a case of not being able to beat simple man coverage, as previously implied.

117761[/snapback]

Right they were not blitzing that much and just played different zones - cover 2, cover 3, and cover 5. You need time and patience to pick the zone apart. The unreliable OL did not give time for either, plus Drew read the coverage wrong multiple times. He took a deep shot on double coverage when he should have checked down. On another he read man and the linebacker dropped in a zone and picked it off

[nick in* england]

Right they were not blitzing that much and just played different zones - cover 2, cover 3, and cover 5.  You need time and patience to pick the zone apart.  The unreliable OL did not give time for either, plus Drew read the coverage wrong multiple times.  He took a deep shot on double coverage when he should have checked down.  On another he read man and the linebacker dropped in a zone and picked it off

117851[/snapback]

And this is in large part down to the effective game planning by BB. He managed to confuse Drew plain and simple.

 

The coverages were masked a lot of the time making it hard to work out exactly what was happening. However, at times, when it was obvious what was going on Drew just made bad choices.