Trent Dilfer said it best this morning on ESPN

[zow2]

He wasn't talking about the Bills, but he might as well have. He said with Miami's power running game, they must have a "chunk" yardage passing game to complement it and Chad Henne ran it to perfection last night. He said you can't have a power running game and a dink and dunk type passing attack. They don't mesh. You need to chip away with the runs, and then hit the mid-range pass.

I've always said this about the Jauron offense and it's also an indictment of Trent Edwards. You cannot in the NFL expect to run between the tackles and dink/dunk your way down the field too often. Too many bad things happen as the drives get longer and longer (i.e. fumble, INT, sack, penalty, failed 3rd down conversion, dropped pass, etc..) The good teams in the NFL pick up "chunk" yardage with some consistency. The Bills think they are good enough to complete 10-12 play drives with no mistakes which is a huge joke. I hated JP with a passion, but i'd rather have him back there winging a 60 yard bomb for 3 straight plays. We were bound to have better results than this,

[vegas55]

excellent post - analysis is spot on

[Cotton Fitzsimmons]

The good teams in the NFL pick up "chunk" yardage with some consistency. The Bills think they are good enough to complete 10-12 play drives with no mistakes which is a huge joke.

 

Then you don't want to be facing Ye Ole' on Madden 10, sporting the Chargers playbook. Cuz it's gonna be 12 play drive, everytime, and I'm going to bust the "Ye Ole' Bench Switch" the "Ye Ole' Inside Cross" the "Ye Ole' quick toss" and the "Ye Ole' HB Dive" allll day boyeeeeee. That's how Ye Ole' operates. 4 yds per play and ain't nothin you can do to stop it, rinse and repeat. It's like death by paper cut. I think it admirable that our staff also likes such a check down offense, conservative gameplan, as it much work in real football as well, because if it's in the game... it's in the game... boyeeeeee

 

P.S. sometimes Ye Ole' runs the Ye Ole' Stick Route as well... for posterity sake of course

[dante23x]

He wasn't talking about the Bills, but he might as well have. He said with Miami's power running game, they must have a "chunk" yardage passing game to complement it and Chad Henne ran it to perfection last night. He said you can't have a power running game and a dink and dunk type passing attack. They don't mesh. You need to chip away with the runs, and then hit the mid-range pass.

I've always said this about the Jauron offense and it's also an indictment of Trent Edwards. You cannot in the NFL expect to run between the tackles and dink/dunk your way down the field too often. Too many bad things happen as the drives get longer and longer (i.e. fumble, INT, sack, penalty, failed 3rd down conversion, dropped pass, etc..) The good teams in the NFL pick up "chunk" yardage with some consistency. The Bills think they are good enough to complete 10-12 play drives with no mistakes which is a huge joke. I hated JP with a passion, but i'd rather have him back there winging a 60 yard bomb for 3 straight plays. We were bound to have better results than this,

 

Unfortunately, Edwards can't hit a midrange or long pass. He's got the arm for it I think, and some alleged accuracy.

[Pirate Angel]

He wasn't talking about the Bills, but he might as well have. He said with Miami's power running game, they must have a "chunk" yardage passing game to complement it and Chad Henne ran it to perfection last night. He said you can't have a power running game and a dink and dunk type passing attack. They don't mesh. You need to chip away with the runs, and then hit the mid-range pass.

I've always said this about the Jauron offense and it's also an indictment of Trent Edwards. You cannot in the NFL expect to run between the tackles and dink/dunk your way down the field too often. Too many bad things happen as the drives get longer and longer (i.e. fumble, INT, sack, penalty, failed 3rd down conversion, dropped pass, etc..) The good teams in the NFL pick up "chunk" yardage with some consistency. The Bills think they are good enough to complete 10-12 play drives with no mistakes which is a huge joke. I hated JP with a passion, but i'd rather have him back there winging a 60 yard bomb for 3 straight plays. We were bound to have better results than this,

The OLine is getting man handled, Trent hardly has time to get the snap count out of his mouth let alone take a five step drop.

[zow2]

The OLine is getting man handled, Trent hardly has time to get the snap count out of his mouth let alone take a five step drop.

 

Yes, maybe so....but he's not making any solid decisions back there whatsoever to bail them out. Evens guys like Romo or Schaub would make some plays and get the ball down the field a bit. I liked Edwards, but he is taking the over-the-top conservative approach and he's not even hitting on the short stuff with any consistency.

[Dan]

He wasn't talking about the Bills, but he might as well have. He said with Miami's power running game, they must have a "chunk" yardage passing game to complement it and Chad Henne ran it to perfection last night. He said you can't have a power running game and a dink and dunk type passing attack. They don't mesh. You need to chip away with the runs, and then hit the mid-range pass.

I've always said this about the Jauron offense and it's also an indictment of Trent Edwards. You cannot in the NFL expect to run between the tackles and dink/dunk your way down the field too often. Too many bad things happen as the drives get longer and longer (i.e. fumble, INT, sack, penalty, failed 3rd down conversion, dropped pass, etc..) The good teams in the NFL pick up "chunk" yardage with some consistency. The Bills think they are good enough to complete 10-12 play drives with no mistakes which is a huge joke. I hated JP with a passion, but i'd rather have him back there winging a 60 yard bomb for 3 straight plays. We were bound to have better results than this,

I would agree completely. The problem is simple, really. The Bills allow the defense to play the entire game within 10-15 yards of the LOS. With nothing but runs and dump passes, they never back the defense off.

 

The first 2 games, the Pats* and Bucs backed off the line a little because - rightly so - they thought with TO and Evans, they had to worry about the long pass. But, it didn't take long for everyone to realize that Trent is nearsighted and cannot see a receiver 10 yards beyond the LOS. Because he just won't make the throw.

 

So, everyone plays up and takes away all the underneath stuff and run game. Even with defenses almost begging him to try a long pass to a single covered WR, Trent will only do it 1-2 times per game. Essentially, the offense has to operate to perfection to be successful. Those 1-2 deep balls have to be perfect, all the underneath stuff has to be perfect, no penalities, and so on. Well guess what... they're not perfect and end up going no where.

 

Until Trent grows a set or gets a pair of glasses and throws deep repeatedly, this offense will look as pathetic as it has. It's really as simple as that.

[truth on hold]

i agree, thats why i said henne's stronger arm will make that team better versus chad's dink and dunk style

[SouthGeorgiaBillsFan]

I would agree completely. The problem is simple, really. The Bills allow the defense to play the entire game within 10-15 yards of the LOS. With nothing but runs and dump passes, they never back the defense off.

 

The first 2 games, the Pats* and Bucs backed off the line a little because - rightly so - they thought with TO and Evans, they had to worry about the long pass. But, it didn't take long for everyone to realize that Trent is nearsighted and cannot see a receiver 10 yards beyond the LOS. Because he just won't make the throw.

 

So, everyone plays up and takes away all the underneath stuff and run game. Even with defenses almost begging him to try a long pass to a single covered WR, Trent will only do it 1-2 times per game. Essentially, the offense has to operate to perfection to be successful. Those 1-2 deep balls have to be perfect, all the underneath stuff has to be perfect, no penalities, and so on. Well guess what... they're not perfect and end up going no where.

 

Until Trent grows a set or gets a pair of glasses and throws deep repeatedly, this offense will look as pathetic as it has. It's really as simple as that.

 

Well that sounds like a wonderful theory if you are a piano prodigy. The simple truth of it is we have no where near the blocking required to consistently make legitimate throws down field. Regardless to whether or not Trent can get it done, the fact is that NOBODY could do what you expect Trent to do behind this line. Period.

[bills_fan]

I would agree completely. The problem is simple, really. The Bills allow the defense to play the entire game within 10-15 yards of the LOS. With nothing but runs and dump passes, they never back the defense off.

 

The first 2 games, the Pats* and Bucs backed off the line a little because - rightly so - they thought with TO and Evans, they had to worry about the long pass. But, it didn't take long for everyone to realize that Trent is nearsighted and cannot see a receiver 10 yards beyond the LOS. Because he just won't make the throw.

 

So, everyone plays up and takes away all the underneath stuff and run game. Even with defenses almost begging him to try a long pass to a single covered WR, Trent will only do it 1-2 times per game. Essentially, the offense has to operate to perfection to be successful. Those 1-2 deep balls have to be perfect, all the underneath stuff has to be perfect, no penalities, and so on. Well guess what... they're not perfect and end up going no where.

 

Until Trent grows a set or gets a pair of glasses and throws deep repeatedly, this offense will look as pathetic as it has. It's really as simple as that.

 

 

We haven't had the mid-range passing game in years. We can generally run the ball, the screens worked very well against NE to counter their aggressiveness and we will try to hit the homerun on occasion, but the consistent mid-range game has been missing. 10-30 yard plays are winning NFL football. You don't need to hit that many, but a few per game is enough to back off the safeties.

[zow2]

I would agree completely. The problem is simple, really. The Bills allow the defense to play the entire game within 10-15 yards of the LOS. With nothing but runs and dump passes, they never back the defense off.

 

The first 2 games, the Pats* and Bucs backed off the line a little because - rightly so - they thought with TO and Evans, they had to worry about the long pass. But, it didn't take long for everyone to realize that Trent is nearsighted and cannot see a receiver 10 yards beyond the LOS. Because he just won't make the throw.

 

So, everyone plays up and takes away all the underneath stuff and run game. Even with defenses almost begging him to try a long pass to a single covered WR, Trent will only do it 1-2 times per game. Essentially, the offense has to operate to perfection to be successful. Those 1-2 deep balls have to be perfect, all the underneath stuff has to be perfect, no penalities, and so on. Well guess what... they're not perfect and end up going no where.

 

Until Trent grows a set or gets a pair of glasses and throws deep repeatedly, this offense will look as pathetic as it has. It's really as simple as that.

 

That's a quality analysis. It only took about a game and a half for the book to be written on how to stop the Bills O. Trent is very easy to defend against, and the young O-linemen are starting to get exposed by experienced defenders. Those guys are learning on the fly. Trent certainly doesn't have the moxy or capability to bail them out. The opponents just love when the Bills try to execute a 12 play drive. They know it's next to impossible for Buffalo to pull off an error free long TD drive.

[Dan]

Well that sounds like a wonderful theory if you are a piano prodigy. The simple truth of it is we have no where near the blocking required to consistently make legitimate throws down field. Regardless to whether or not Trent can get it done, the fact is that NOBODY could do what you expect Trent to do behind this line. Period.

I completely disagree. Watch any marginally competent QB and compare his play to Trent. Trent drops back, looks, looks, pats, looks, tries to throw (or runs somewhere). If he did what all marginal QBs do; he would be much more successful. Drop back, look, throw (occassionally - look, look, throw).

 

He's not decisive enough. That's his problem.

 

I agree. His line is not going to give him 5 seconds to stand there and wait for a 50 yard route to develop. But, that's exactly why he needs to drop back and throw and stop all this looking around trying to figure out who's the most open guy out there. His line isn't giving him time to survey the field and think. So why is he trying to do it? Just throw the ball!

 

If the receivers are running too deep; then that's on them. But, I refuse to believe that all the receivers are running 40-60 yard fly patterns on every play. He's had oppurtunities to go down field 20 yards or so, but isn't taking advantage of them for whatever reason. Either the coaches have beaten into his head to go through all his reads first then go back and throw to the best one; or he's doing it on his own. But either way, he needs to stop and just throw the ball.

[Doc]

Trent is hindered by 2 things: lack of arm strength and an inability to read 3-4 defenses. Granted, those are 2 HUGE things.

 

And I looked at the highlights of other games this weekend. Lots of QB's had protection breaking-down quickly and they still managed to get the ball to their playmakers. Get Fitz in there and then Hamdan. The Trent experiment is OVER.

[Dan]

We haven't had the mid-range passing game in years. We can generally run the ball, the screens worked very well against NE to counter their aggressiveness and we will try to hit the homerun on occasion, but the consistent mid-range game has been missing. 10-30 yard plays are winning NFL football. You don't need to hit that many, but a few per game is enough to back off the safeties.

 

That's a quality analysis. It only took about a game and a half for the book to be written on how to stop the Bills O. Trent is very easy to defend against, and the young O-linemen are starting to get exposed by experienced defenders. Those guys are learning on the fly. Trent certainly doesn't have the moxy or capability to bail them out. The opponents just love when the Bills try to execute a 12 play drive. They know it's next to impossible for Buffalo to pull off an error free long TD drive.

Completely agree.

 

It's similar to preseason when the 1st string offense looked so horrible. Then suddenly, Fitz and Chroise come in and start throwing 20+ yard passes. As though suddenly the clouds opened and the defense parted. No, the starting QB just changed.

[zow2]

Completely agree.

 

It's similar to preseason when the 1st string offense looked so horrible. Then suddenly, Fitz and Chroise come in and start throwing 20+ yard passes. As though suddenly the clouds opened and the defense parted. No, the starting QB just changed.

 

 

It's funny how people forget that Fitz had some really nice, quick medium range completions down the middle of the field (during preseason). I took note and compared the two. You can tell he processes the info quicker during his drop back. His physical tools are not any better than Trent's but the ability to read, react and throw are better. It's a shame Jauron is too stubborn to make a change on the fly during a game. That Cleveland game was a certain win if Fitz was given the 2nd half. It may have been only 9-6 but it would not have ended 6-3. he would have led them on a couple more drives in that game....or even converted a couple more 3rd downs so Cleveland would not have been in such good field position to punt and pin us back inside the 5 so many times.

[reddogblitz]

Well that sounds like a wonderful theory if you are a piano prodigy. The simple truth of it is we have no where near the blocking required to consistently make legitimate throws down field. Regardless to whether or not Trent can get it done, the fact is that NOBODY could do what you expect Trent to do behind this line. Period.

 

I'm not buying this either. We're talking 10 - 15 yard passes, not zig out and in post patterns. How long does it take Lee or TO to run 12 yards and cut in? About as long as it takes Trent to drop back. I don't get the drop back and look look look thing. We don't have time for that. Maybe it's Alex, but have Trent know that he's throwing to To on 12 yard and in. Drop back and throw it as he makes his cut. We've got plenty of time for that. Trent's starting to remind me of Rob Johnson. Alex is starting to remind me of Fairchild.

[reddogblitz]

I've always said this about the Jauron offense and it's also an indictment of Trent Edwards. You cannot in the NFL expect to run between the tackles and dink/dunk your way down the field too often. Too many bad things happen as the drives get longer and longer (i.e. fumble, INT, sack, penalty, failed 3rd down conversion, dropped pass, etc..) The good teams in the NFL pick up "chunk" yardage with some consistency. The Bills think they are good enough to complete 10-12 play drives with no mistakes which is a huge joke. I hated JP with a passion, but i'd rather have him back there winging a 60 yard bomb for 3 straight plays. We were bound to have better results than this,

 

I've always said this too. In preseason I saw a sideline interview with Jason Campbell. The interviewer noted that they were taking some shots down the field and asked if they planned to do that all season. He said yes. You can't dink and dunk your way down the field and expect to score a lot in this league, he said. You'd think Dick would have figured that out by now. No one's saying you gotta be the mad bomber, but you gotta be able to pick some 20 yard gains. Opens up the running game too.