As I watched the Bills lose 21-9 to the Texans last week, I started to wonder if I was stuck in the movie “Groundhog Day,” but Bill Murray never made his entrance. Yes, sometimes in life a “Groundhog Day” event is preferred, such as President Barack Obama winning his second presidential term.
In the case of the Buffalo Bills, I am tired of seeing the same problems with little improvement each week. Here are some of the Bills’ major flubs.
- Inability to produce touchdowns in the red zone
- Ryan Fitzpatrick missing receivers
- Defense exhibiting mediocre/bad pass rush
- Numero Uno: Forcing the West Coast Offense (WCO)
The West Coast Offense
Originally devised by Paul Brown, the WCO was perfected by the San Francisco 49ers. The WCO focuses on shorter passes with an array of wide receivers spread all over the field. Implemented to make defenses slip up and give up the long pass play, the WCO pushes the running game to the back burner. The big rushing plays are reserved for later in the game.
So, what is the problem with Bills using the WCO? We have two incredible rushers in C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson. It is pretty simple. Use them or lose points. They need to come out charging and rack up some ground yardage. We settled on three field goals against the Texans; Fitzpatrick’s touchdown rate is dismal.
Lets face facts here. Ryan Fitzpatrick is no Joe Montana who has the ability to throw a football through the window of a moving car (I am not making that up). Yes, Fitzpatrick has some impressive moments and slides into a solid passing rhythm at times, but the Bills need to run and hammer away at defenses. Spiller’s legwork and ability to untangle himself from defenders makes my eyes cross. If you save the rushes until later, when the Bills are already a few scores behind, the clock becomes a negative factor. By that point, you are backed into a tight corner and Fitzpatrick is forced to pass more. Relieve Fitzpatrick of some comeback pressure and the Bills will see some wins.
Chan Gailey
So, how does Chan Gailey feel about the offensive play calling against the Texans?
“I wish we could’ve run it more the other day, but it was one of those situations where we thought it best to throw the football.” said Gailey, as stated on www.washingtonpost.com. “And it didn’t work.”
Ryan Reacts
Sharing his thoughts on the Bills offensive game plan, Ryan Fitzpatrick said in his Postgame Press Conference, “We felt like we had a better chance of getting the ball into the air a little bit, trying to go against some of those one-on-one match-ups. And I mean, the story of the day for us is we’ve gotta get C.J. more touches and I think everybody knows that. We gotta find ways to do that, um, but really the story for us was just our inability to score touchdowns.”
So, there you have it folks, straight from the horse’s mouth. The Bills QB knows that rushing and more touchdowns are the keys to win. Can the Bills run against the Pats or will they kick our a##? Four days and counting. . .
