An Analysis of the Problems the Bills Encountered in the Chiefs Game

[Arm of Harm]

Good writeup as always Virgil! 🙂

 

Normally I'd post the below content in a new thread. But for whatever reason I'm not seeing the option to create new threads, so I'll post it here instead. This is an analysis of the problems the Bills encountered in the Chiefs game. Many of these problems were also present in the regular season.

 

Problem: Injured WRs.

Solution: Hope the WRs are healthier this postseason than last.

 

Problem: Bad or inconsistent run blocking by the OL.

Solution: Not much was done to address this in the offseason, unless one of the draft picks takes a starting tackle spot with Williams kicking inside.

 

Problem: inconsistent pass protection by the interior OL

Solution: See above

 

Problem: RBs were decent but not great.

Solution: The solution was supposed to be signing Breida, but it looks as though improvement by Singetary might actually make more of a difference.
 

Problem: disappointing production from the TE position.

Solution: swap out Kroft for Hollister. I think Hollister will be an upgrade. Speaking of which . . . if Hollister were to enter a shopping mall, which store would he visit first?

 

Problem: lack of pass rush during regular season (no one had more than 4.5 sacks) and in postseason.

Solution: Signed Obada (a young player with 5.5 sacks last year), drafted Rousseau and Basham. Of those Rousseau has looked significantly better in preseason than the other two.

 

Problem: The Bills' defensive coaching staff got totally roasted/destroyed by KC's offensive coaches. During the regular season the Bills' defensive coaching was also predictable and uninspired.

Solution: Hope the defensive coaches come up with something better this year.

[Figster]

12 hours ago, Arm of Harm said:

Good writeup as always Virgil! 🙂

 

Normally I'd post the below content in a new thread. But for whatever reason I'm not seeing the option to create new threads, so I'll post it here instead. This is an analysis of the problems the Bills encountered in the Chiefs game. Many of these problems were also present in the regular season.

 

Problem: Injured WRs.

Solution: Hope the WRs are healthier this postseason than last.

 

Problem: Bad or inconsistent run blocking by the OL.

Solution: Not much was done to address this in the offseason, unless one of the draft picks takes a starting tackle spot with Williams kicking inside.

 

Problem: inconsistent pass protection by the interior OL

Solution: See above

 

Problem: RBs were decent but not great.

Solution: The solution was supposed to be signing Breida, but it looks as though improvement by Singetary might actually make more of a difference.
 

Problem: disappointing production from the TE position.

Solution: swap out Kroft for Hollister. I think Hollister will be an upgrade. Speaking of which . . . if Hollister were to enter a shopping mall, which store would he visit first?

 

Problem: lack of pass rush during regular season (no one had more than 4.5 sacks) and in postseason.

Solution: Signed Obada (a young player with 5.5 sacks last year), drafted Rousseau and Basham. Of those Rousseau has looked significantly better in preseason than the other two.

 

Problem: The Bills' defensive coaching staff got totally roasted/destroyed by KC's offensive coaches. During the regular season the Bills' defensive coaching was also predictable and uninspired.

Solution: Hope the defensive coaches come up with something better this year.

I've tried not to dwell to much on the AFC Championship game/KC. Buffalo for the most part has become a finesse O IMO. Getting the TE's and RB's more involved helps change how they can be defended successfully IMO. Become more physical. I agree with much of what you have posted with the possible exception of Brieda brought in to be a big difference maker. He went undrafted originally and has not been able to establish himself anywhere. Good speed though, kid can run. Myself personally, the Buffalo Bills have a very young, talented football team and McD is banking on scheme, gameplan adjustments and player maturity in the process to help carry them to the next level IMO.

 

Thanks for the good posting

 

A special thanks to Virgil, thoughts in no particular order, in the house!!! I love it!!! I normally concur with all of Virgils thoughts because there his thoughts, not mine.  ;  ) 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Figster

[Foxx]

6 hours ago, Arm of Harm said:

Normally I'd post the below content in a new thread. But for whatever reason I'm not seeing the option to create new threads

I moved your post to a new thread.

 

After your next post, you should see that ability.

 

[Ann]

7 hours ago, Figster said:

I've tried not to dwell to much on the AFC Championship game/KC. Buffalo for the most part has become a finesse O IMO. Getting the TE's and RB's more involved helps change how they can be defended successfully IMO. Become more physical. I agree with much of what you have posted with the possible exception of Brieda brought in to be a big difference maker. He went undrafted originally and has not been able to establish himself anywhere. Good speed though, kid can run. Myself personally, the Buffalo Bills have a very young, talented football and McD is banking on scheme, gameplan adjustments and player maturity in the process to help carry them to the next level IMO.

 

Thanks for the good posting

Yes.  I agree with a lot of what you said, @Arm of Harm. Like @Figster, I don't think Breida is a solution, although I certainly hope he can be. I am hopefully they use Singletary better than they did last year. Was it a sophomore slump? Or was it the play calling? Or both?

[IDBillzFan]

Thanks for the post, and welcome to the board.

 

As to your last point, 'hope' isn't much of a plan, but I think Groot was brought in specifically for the Patrick Mahomes-type quarterbacks, and as I've mentioned a few times here watching preseason games, our defense is faster than I can ever remember. Speed and size should help them improve.

 

Oh, and what is this strange and curious thing you call "a shopping mall?"

[Nanker]

37 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said:

Thanks for the post, and welcome to the board.

 

Oh, and what is this strange and curious thing you call "a shopping mall?"

I think it was a typo. I’ll bet he meant shopping maul: 

 

[Figster]

3 hours ago, Ann said:

Yes.  I agree with a lot of what you said, @Arm of Harm. Like @Figster, I don't think Breida is a solution, although I certainly hope he can be. I am hopefully they use Singletary better than they did last year. Was it a sophomore slump? Or was it the play calling? Or both?

I think it was both. Josh Allen might be the best passing QB the Bills have ever had IMO. It doesn't surprise me the run game was neglected. Part of the problem was Singletary and the Oline as arm of harm mentioned was not making the most of their opportunities IMO.

 

Early on that does not appear to be the case. So far through the preseason Singletary has practically turned every time he has touched the ball into a positive play. 

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

23 hours ago, Figster said:

I think it was both. Josh Allen might be the best passing QB the Bills have ever had IMO. It doesn't surprise me the run game was neglected. Part of the problem was Singletary and the Oline as arm of harm mentioned was not making the most of their opportunities IMO.

 

Early on that does not appear to be the case. So far through the preseason Singletary has practically turned every time he has touched the ball into a positive play. 

 

A lot more of the lack of rushing production last season was due to blocking than most realize.  I rewatched all the games a few weeks ago, and Singletary's running was sound, but he wasn't getting much in the way of holes.  It's as though the OL's preparation was more focused on pass blocking than run blocking...which I would consider a sound focus, given the talent at QB and WR.

 

I would also expect that the coaching staff would put more focus on run blocking preparation this preseason, given the obvious weakness of and need for a stronger run game this season.  So far, although it's hard to tell from backups, I think my expectation has been borne out, based on the first two preseason games.

[GG1]

40 minutes ago, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

 So far, although it's hard to tell from backups, I think my expectation has been borne out, based on the first two preseason games.

 

Considering that Daboll dialed up maybe 5 passing plays more than 3 yards beyond the LOS through three quarters of the Lions game, supports this point. 

[Arm of Harm]

On 8/26/2021 at 10:11 AM, IDBillzFan said:

Thanks for the post, and welcome to the board.

 

As to your last point, 'hope' isn't much of a plan, but I think Groot was brought in specifically for the Patrick Mahomes-type quarterbacks, and as I've mentioned a few times here watching preseason games, our defense is faster than I can ever remember. Speed and size should help them improve.

 

Oh, and what is this strange and curious thing you call "a shopping mall?"

I agree that hope is not a plan. But with WR you essentially have two options. Either a) you label the guys you have as “injury prone” and try to replace them with WRs who don’t have that label. Or b) stick with the guys you have and hope they don’t get injured this postseason. If there are no data to suggest the Bills WRs are any more injury prone than anyone else’s, then a) would mostly be shuffling things around for the sake of it. 

 

As for hoping that the Bills’ defensive staff can do a much better job this year than the job they did in the AFC Championship Game, that’s something we as fans have no real control over. I think the best job this defensive staff did was in that one game against Tom B and the New England football team. Their offense virtually ground to a halt. Of course they won anyway due to the fact the Bills’ offense managed to be even more ineffective. The AFCCG ranks as one of the very worst performances of this defensive staff. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Arm of Harm

[Arm of Harm]

On 8/27/2021 at 11:05 AM, Crap Throwing Monkey said:

 

A lot more of the lack of rushing production last season was due to blocking than most realize.  I rewatched all the games a few weeks ago, and Singletary's running was sound, but he wasn't getting much in the way of holes.  It's as though the OL's preparation was more focused on pass blocking than run blocking...which I would consider a sound focus, given the talent at QB and WR.

 

I would also expect that the coaching staff would put more focus on run blocking preparation this preseason, given the obvious weakness of and need for a stronger run game this season.  So far, although it's hard to tell from backups, I think my expectation has been borne out, based on the first two preseason games.

I agree completely about the run blocking.

 

I read an article which stated that after Singletary’s rookie year the Bills changed the run blocking scheme. The change harmed Singletary (who’d never played in that scheme before) while helping the rookie Moss (who’d spent his college years in that scheme).  Their goal may not have been to help Moss at the expense of Singletary, so much as to simplify the run blocking scheme so they could focus more attention on pass protection. 
 

Of course any blocking scheme is destined to fail if the OL don’t make their blocks. A number of interior OL, such as Cody Ford, lost more than their fair share of battles while attempting to run block. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Arm of Harm