Why do people we ALWAYS blame our O-Line?

[Inetpub]

Why do we constantly blame the O-Line or say they are "Spotty"? Its not like the coaches would just put players in there with no skill. They put who they think are the best suit for the team but year after year we blame the O-Line. Why not the QB, RB, Defense or Special teams(thats absolutely silly as we have an awesome Special Teams)? Its not like we cant blame others. We just use the O-Line excuse too often here.

Give me your thoughts.

[DynaPaul]

Maybe because our O-line really isn't that great and top teams have solid lines?

[OpIv37]

Why do we constantly blame the O-Line or say they are "Spotty"? Its not like the coaches would just put players in there with no skill. They put who they think are the best suit for the team but year after year we blame the O-Line. Why not the QB, RB, Defense or Special teams(thats absolutely silly as we have an awesome Special Teams)? Its not like we cant blame others. We just use the O-Line excuse too often here.

Give me your thoughts.

I half agree. At some point each player needs to take responsibility for his own performance.

But there have been plenty of times over the last 2-3 years especially when the RB would get handed the ball with 3 defenders already in his face, or our QB would take a three step drop, look up, and have to run for his life.

If JP sets up, looks downfield, looks some more, tries to run, and gets sacked, chances are it's his fault.

But if JP looks up to pass and immediately has to tuck the ball to avoid a fumble as he gets hit, it's the OL's fault.

[gil]

we've also been near the bottom of the league in sacks allowed for the past few years - while that may be partially a reflection on the QB, it isn't a promising sign for the O-Line.

[Mudflap1]

Our offensive line has stunk for years, this is not a hard concept to comprehend. It's basically that simple.

Jon

[Mr B]

Why do we constantly blame the O-Line or say they are "Spotty"? Its not like the coaches would just put players in there with no skill. They put who they think are the best suit for the team but year after year we blame the O-Line. Why not the QB, RB, Defense or Special teams(thats absolutely silly as we have an awesome Special Teams)? Its not like we cant blame others. We just use the O-Line excuse too often here.

Give me your thoughts.

Watch how long Tom Brady has to throw the ball, or the huge holes Larry Johnson get to run through.Then watch the Bills offense- and you will blame the offensive line.

[bigbub2352]

O- line is the most important part of the offense everything revovles around them no matter what kinda offense u run, Tre Teague, John Fina, Joe Panos, Corbin Lacina, Corey Hulsey, Marcus Spriggs, MIKE WILLIAMS, Bennie Anderson, Dusty Zeigler, Robert Hicks, Jamie Nails, Mike Gandy, Chris Villereal, Overatted Ruben Brown, Lawerence Smith, Corey Louchey, Jerry Crafts, Jerry Ostroyski, are some of the reasons why maybe our oline scouts are to blame, these are guys we tried to pass as starters in this league, with the exception of Ruben and John Fina they were all horrible and Overatted, i am sure there are others to add to this list but these are the guys that came to me right off the bat, a far cry from our glory days of Will Wolford, House Ballard, Jim Ritcher, Kent Hull, John Davis, and Glen Parker

[Mitchy moo]

O- line is the most important part of the offense everything revovles around them no matter what kinda offense u run, Tre Teague, John Fina, Joe Panos, Corbin Lacina, Corey Hulsey, Marcus Spriggs, MIKE WILLIAMS, Bennie Anderson, Dusty Zeigler, Robert Hicks, Jamie Nails, Mike Gandy, Chris Villereal, Overatted Ruben Brown, Lawerence Smith, Corey Louchey, Jerry Crafts, Jerry Ostroyski, are some of the reasons why maybe our oline scouts are to blame, these are guys we tried to pass as starters in this league, with the exception of Ruben and John Fina they were all horrible and Overatted, i am sure there are others to add to this list but these are the guys that came to me right off the bat, a far cry from our glory days of Will Wolford, House Ballard, Jim Ritcher, Kent Hull, John Davis, and Glen Parker

Your right, we HAD a stud line. Maybe the new boys can pull it together.

[ICE74129]

Why do we constantly blame the O-Line .

Becuase it sucks

[Inetpub]

Oh I know they suck. Thats not what this post is about. Trust me. I think they suck too. This post is about where blame should also be laid. I think we put too much emphasis on blaming 1 part of the team when Im sure others are to blame too...
like coaching (which has been appalling).

The reason why I posted this topic was because I find it odd that the coaches would not do thier best to get the best out of our O-Line or get better people. Do the coaches think we have a good enough O-Line and they think the fans are blind? Are the coaches blind? Why have we had so many aweful years at O-Line and still not done anything about it?

Thats what I guess I should have asked.

[pats-were-right]

Watch how long Tom Brady has to throw the ball, or the huge holes Larry Johnson get to run through.Then watch the Bills offense- and you will blame the offensive line.

Yeah but a lot of it is good pocket presence (QB) or style (RB). Brady has excellent pocket movement. He doesn't have all-pros protecting him or 7 seconds to throw but he buys time. Losman is supposed to be so mobile yet he's not good at buying time.

Now running backs - B. Sanders and C. Martin some seasons would have absolute crap for lines but their vision, movement, and reaction time were phenomenal. McGahee was supposed to be part of this same shifty / "quick mover" class of RB's (versus the downhill style of a Johnson or Emmitt Smith) yet you're saying he needs a hole-busting OL to succeed?

Bottom line - the particular individual profiles your team is supposed to have at the skill positions should compensate for an average to middling O line.

[Mudflap1]

Average quarterbacks and average skill position players can and will succeed with a good offensive line. With a bad offensive line, they will not. Good players will struggle with a mediocre or bad offensive line. That's just the way it goes.

Jon

[bigbub2352]

Maybe dare i say it Jim McNally is overratted, i will also add Marques Sullivan to the list of bums, Dylan McFalrand, Kris Farris, Ben Sobieski, these are guys we have signed and or drafted to try and start them, doesnt anyone see the trend, We wish to fill our oline full of guys that most of the time are cheap fill ins, think about this:

Our GM's may it be John Butler, TD or Now Marv had tried to use stop gap fillers as real heavy duty OLineman, they spend all the big money in skill players, even when we purged in FA we signed guys like Lawyer Milloy, Sam Adams, TKO, London Fletcher, Troy Vincent, Jeff Posey, Robert Royal, Larry Triplett, Matt Bowen, Dave Moore, Bryce Paup, Ted Washington, Nate Clemtents who we drafted as well as Angelo Crowell, Terrance Mcgee, JP Losman Lee Evans, John McCargo, Donte Whitner, Willis McGahee, Roscoe Parrish, Jason Gildon, notice a trend the only three OLINEMAN we spent money on were Ruben Brown when he intially became a FA, John Fina same thing and in my opinion very subpar Olineman, then there was Fat williams, and really the otherguys they signed were over the hill bums Chris Villereal, Marcus Price serviceable backup, Greg Jerman, Matt morgan, Joe Panos, awful, and Tre teague who was awful and out of position,

Anyways what i am trying to say in a nutshell, is while i dont dispute some of the FA signings non of them has brought us a Super Bowl, and it is alot of money comitted to guys that u can regarly draft every year or go after in FA, that is why Olineman like Steve Hutchinson get paid 7 miliion a season to play guard, Our GM's for whatever reason for the last 12 years have not put together a solid Oline and it is because we are not drafting the right guys and not bringing in solid Olineman FA, McNally has yet to produce a solid player, and in my opinion with all the hype i watched Peters get burned by Peppers 2 and i hope it is just first game jitters, but fact of the matter is we have not comiited to a style of offense to build the proper oline around since the no huddle,our current line lists as follows Mike Gandy cut by the Bears often injured and released in mid season starting at LT, Tutan Reyes LG a player the a team making the run at a Super Bowl didnt even think to resign even though he was part of there starting tema last year, Melvin Fowler C a bench warmer for much of his career traded by the team who drafted him and then the team that did trade for him didnt want to retain his service either, Chris Villereal RG Bears did not want to resign him after starting there for 5 years, and then an undrafted rookie FA TE at LT, who could develop into a star luckily he replaces the biggest bust in Bills history,

If that is commitment i dont no what is, just look at the guys we tried to plug in then you wonder why we havent done anything since 1994

[Mr. Cynical]

Maybe because our O-line really isn't that great and top teams have solid lines?

:up:

[Mr. Cynical]

Oh I know they suck. Thats not what this post is about. Trust me. I think they suck too. This post is about where blame should also be laid. I think we put too much emphasis on blaming 1 part of the team when Im sure others are to blame too...
like coaching (which has been appalling).

The reason why I posted this topic was because I find it odd that the coaches would not do thier best to get the best out of our O-Line or get better people. Do the coaches think we have a good enough O-Line and they think the fans are blind? Are the coaches blind? Why have we had so many aweful years at O-Line and still not done anything about it?

Thats what I guess I should have asked.

That's why I put alot of the blame on RW. Ultimately he hires the GM, who in turn drafts the players and hires the HC, who then decides who starts.

Owner -> GM -> HC. The oline is the result of a bad FO chain. So in reality you can't blame the oline directly.

[mybills]

For years (decades) they've been getting Arm Only QB's, and decent deffensive players, and ignoring the OL. Now we have a mobile QB with JP, and he's still getting sacked. Yup, I blame the OL, and the people who picked them.

[SquishDaFish]

Because ever since the SB years our OLINE has been Crappy and not attended to by the powers above. Our OLINE has SUCKED for years now.

[BillsFever21]

We say they suck because they do suck. Sure they are good players or they wouldn't be where they're at today but they're not as good as other OL in the NFL or the DL they have to face every Sunday.

All these guys were probably one of the best players on their High School team and in college were probably the best OL on their team or one of the best. They all have skill but not enough skill at the NFL level.

If these guys were in the CFL or Arena League they would be one of the best in the league. It doesn't work that way in the NFL though.

[ICE74129]

Come on guys, every time you read the header on this thread you wanna say 'Becuase they suck'.

[TacklingDummy]

Over the years the Bills line hasn't been great but it hasn't been bad either. One of the main reason's its looked so bad since Jim kelly retired is because they have had O-line killing QBs like Robosack, Blewsoe, and Lossman.

[Michael82]

Watch how long Tom Brady has to throw the ball, or the huge holes Larry Johnson get to run through.Then watch the Bills offense- and you will blame the offensive line.
:bf1:

[J-Dog]

The O-Line we have now is the best we have had in almost 10 years, so let's give them a chance. They have already shown that they can block this year. Yes, the sacks that we have given up in pre-season have been mostly the QB's holding the ball to long. The run blocking has been very good 158yds Vs. the Bengals. If we put up those numbers every week in the run game the oposing D-Line will not be so aggresive in coming after the QB. Just have faith that Marv and D-Juron will pull it together this season.

[SABURZFAN]

Why do we constantly blame the O-Line or say they are "Spotty"? Its not like the coaches would just put players in there with no skill. They put who they think are the best suit for the team but year after year we blame the O-Line. Why not the QB, RB, Defense or Special teams(thats absolutely silly as we have an awesome Special Teams)? Its not like we cant blame others. We just use the O-Line excuse too often here.

Give me your thoughts.



like john madden said a long time ago.everything starts in the trenches.if you can control the trenches on both sides of the ball,you're gonna win a lot of games.