Buffalo spent a king's ransom on its offensive line in the offseason and doing so has panned out decently in pass protection; however, the run blocking simply hasn't been there. When Lynch has run to the left behind the Bills' much-ballyhooed left side of tackle Jason Peters and $49 million guard Derrick Dockery, lanes haven't always been there. When he's run to the middle behind center Melvin Fowler or to the right behind guard Brad Butler and $25 million tackle Langston Walker, there hasn't consistently been a sizable hole.
That's the reason why Lynch, despite all his skills, hasn't amassed a 100-yard game this season. Instead, he's been forced to settle for contests of 90, 64, 74, 79, 66 and 84 yards. Those numbers are far from terrible, especially against the elite run defenses -- Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas and Baltimore -- the Bills have faced, but you'd like to see more production given that they spent so much to revamp their upfront blocking.
Most troubling is the line's lack of push on short-yardage plays, which was a big problem during the McGahee era. Take a small sample from Buffalo's win over the Ravens, for instance. In the fourth quarter, when the Bills were trying to run the block out and keep Baltimore's offense away from the field, Lynch was handed the ball nine times. How many yards did he accumulate, you ask? A whopping 11. First downs gained? Zero.
That's the reason why Lynch, despite all his skills, hasn't amassed a 100-yard game this season. Instead, he's been forced to settle for contests of 90, 64, 74, 79, 66 and 84 yards. Those numbers are far from terrible, especially against the elite run defenses -- Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas and Baltimore -- the Bills have faced, but you'd like to see more production given that they spent so much to revamp their upfront blocking.
Most troubling is the line's lack of push on short-yardage plays, which was a big problem during the McGahee era. Take a small sample from Buffalo's win over the Ravens, for instance. In the fourth quarter, when the Bills were trying to run the block out and keep Baltimore's offense away from the field, Lynch was handed the ball nine times. How many yards did he accumulate, you ask? A whopping 11. First downs gained? Zero.
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