Bills' offensive line is jelling

[Don't Panic]

http://democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/SPORTS03/711080341/tbd/


Pass protection has been good all year as the Bills rank 16th in the league in sacks allowed with 16, and probably a third of those can be attributed to blown assignments by running backs. As for run blocking, there have been times when the Bills have struggled to move the ball on the ground, particularly in the red zone. In the four games prior to facing the woeful Cincinnati defense, the Bills averaged just 3.1 yards per rush. For the season it's 3.8 yards per attempt, 22nd in the league.
However, respected offensive line coach Jim McNally, who has come under fire during his first three years in Buffalo because he hasn't had much success molding a strong line, argued with that perception.
"I don't read anything, but I think a lot of people have been very critical," said McNally. "People don't realize that there a lot of times where there's eight guys down in the box and it's hard to run the ball. There's a lot of line stunting and tricking going on. They're good, they're getting better, and they're on track."


I still think we could get more yards per carry if we were crafting in our play calling, but the one thing you have to give credit to is the fact that both QBs have had good time to throw. JP and Trent have not faced a ton of pressure and that has helped us slowly progress into a more confident offense and, in turn, opened up opportunities for Lynch. I bet Lynch has a much better ypc in the 2nd half than he did in the first, and a jelled O line and more aggressive play calling will be the reason for that. All that being said, I still think we're one lineman away from being where we need to be, and that this area should be a priority in the offseason.

[camelcowboy]

I would love to see a new center, but other then that im happy with their play.

[Don't Panic]

The right side still has me a little concerned. I'd like to see us move Walker to RG and get either a RT or LT (moving Peters to RT). The jury's still out on Fowler IMO.

[Jan Reimers]

It looks like we're getting better at run blocking, but I'll be interested to see how we do against better teams, e.g., New England.

[justasportsfan]

Thats why we need JP in there. Teams can't handle Lee 1 on 1 when they stack the line.

[mybills]

Trent and JP have been getting a lot of time in the pocket against good and bad teams. :up:
I think they do that much better than opening holes for Lynch. How 'bout making it backfire when they're "stunting and "tricking"? Other teams seem to be able to.

[Don't Panic]

At this point, I'd rather have good pass blocking than run blocking. JP and Trent need to have time to be effective (especially JP), and Lynch is pretty adept and making a lot out of a little. If you call plays like we have these past couple of weeks, we'll be fine in the run game. You're right Jan... NE will be a good test. Let's hope we're smiling this Sunday night before we cross that bridge.

[Mitchy moo]

Trent and JP have been getting a lot of time in the pocket against good and bad teams. :up:
I think they do that much better than opening holes for Lynch. How 'bout making it backfire when they're "stunting and "tricking"?

We need to punish teams for doing that.

[Bills4Life83]

I am really glad to see this paying off. I know that this is Marv's main focus :bf1:

[Mahdi]

The right side still has me a little concerned. I'd like to see us move Walker to RG and get either a RT or LT (moving Peters to RT). The jury's still out on Fowler IMO.
What is it about the right side that has you concerned?

[Don't Panic]

Well, a couple of times I've seen Walker get beat by a speed rusher, and I just think he would be more suited at RG. Butler I don't have as clean a read on, but I've noticed that we're getting stuffed at the line on run plays a lot more on the right side. That could be Butler or Fowler, or even Walker for that matter. Bookend tackles make for a great line, and although I think Walker is acceptable (he's going to have to be for what we doled out), I'd rather see someone who was able to move in space a little better man the position. I really liked Peters over there... it would seem to balance the line as it stands now. Of course, none of this gets dealt with til the offseason (which I guess means they have 8 games to prove that the status quo is the best plan).

Mahdi... are you content with the line as it is? Just curious.

[Mahdi]

Well, a couple of times I've seen Walker get beat by a speed rusher, and I just think he would be more suited at RG. Butler I don't have as clean a read on, but I've noticed that we're getting stuffed at the line on run plays a lot more on the right side. That could be Butler or Fowler, or even Walker for that matter. Bookend tackles make for a great line, and although I think Walker is acceptable (he's going to have to be for what we doled out), I'd rather see someone who was able to move in space a little better man the position. I really liked Peters over there... it would seem to balance the line as it stands now. Of course, none of this gets dealt with til the offseason (which I guess means they have 8 games to prove that the status quo is the best plan).

Mahdi... are you content with the line as it is? Just curious.
Im content with everything except C. Walker has done an excellent job in pass pro and actually if you think back, a lot of Marshawn's long runs are around RT. Baltimore and Cincinnati are examples.

To go back to Walker in pass pro, I havent seen anyone get the best of him for more than one play. Most of our sacks have come up the middle on blitzes. Butler has wiffed a couple times but thats fine he's still learning. But Walker has been dominant. Can you think of one game where he was owned or beat more than once? And keep in mind we have played 3-4 teams in all but 2 games. 3-4 defenses will automatically get at least 2 sacks a game no matter which OL they go up against.

[patmoran2006]

It looks like we're getting better at run blocking, but I'll be interested to see how we do against better teams, e.g., New England.
I agree for the most part. The run blocking is slowly getting better, though Lynch is ripping off far too many yards totally on his own (dragging defenders). The pass blocking has been pretty decent the entire season and really good the past few weeks.

But I'd like to see them go against NE again and Jacksonville after that before saying the unit is "jelling"

[justasportsfan]

Baltimore and Cincinnati are examples.

.
you serious? You can't count Cincy's TD. Two defenders went unblocked right at Lynch. Lynch was just able to break the tackles. That was all Lynch.

[Don't Panic]

Yeah, he just did a great job of keeping his balance on that one... no line help there. He did break one right in the Ravens game though, you are right there. I just seem to remember the stuffs, and many of them seem to be on the right side. I'll do a beeter job of watching the details from now on.

[mysticsoto]

Im content with everything except C. Walker has done an excellent job in pass pro and actually if you think back, a lot of Marshawn's long runs are around RT. Baltimore and Cincinnati are examples.

To go back to Walker in pass pro, I havent seen anyone get the best of him for more than one play. Most of our sacks have come up the middle on blitzes. Butler has wiffed a couple times but thats fine he's still learning. But Walker has been dominant. Can you think of one game where he was owned or beat more than once? And keep in mind we have played 3-4 teams in all but 2 games. 3-4 defenses will automatically get at least 2 sacks a game no matter which OL they go up against.

Agreed on all counts. Walker has been a surprise. I didn't know how he would fare but wanted to give him a chance since McNally seemed to think highly of him and he has come through. In pass plays the entire line has played well. I still wish for more on run plays, but that's still a step up from previous years. I do wish the left side was more dominant where Lynch could run up some years behind Peters and Dockery. But I do understand that we have been playing mostly 3-4 teams and that their blitzing will cause us some trouble...

It'll be interesting to see how we fare against Miami's hybrid 3-4...Zach Thomas being out hurts Miami a great deal!

[patmoran2006]

Fowler is a weak link..

And so is Butler, but he should get more slack becuase he's basically a rookie. Still, I dont think he's a long term starter in this league.

[Mahdi]

Agreed on all counts. Walker has been a surprise. I didn't know how he would fare but wanted to give him a chance since McNally seemed to think highly of him and he has come through. In pass plays the entire line has played well. I still wish for more on run plays, but that's still a step up from previous years. I do wish the left side was more dominant where Lynch could run up some years behind Peters and Dockery. But I do understand that we have been playing mostly 3-4 teams and that their blitzing will cause us some trouble...

It'll be interesting to see how we fare against Miami's hybrid 3-4...Zach Thomas being out hurts Miami a great deal!
I think Miami will have to play more 4-3 on sunday and that will play in our favour big time.

[Mahdi]

Fowler is a weak link..

And so is Butler, but he should get more slack becuase he's basically a rookie. Still, I dont think he's a long term starter in this league.
I dont know bout that,,, sure Butler has made a couple of errors but he is great at pulling and is very good at pass pro. Since we are a left-handed running team having a good puller at RG is essential. Butler will improve and should be solid moving forward.

[John Doe]

Fowler is a weak link..

And so is Butler, but he should get more slack becuase he's basically a rookie. Still, I dont think he's a long term starter in this league.

A few things about Butler: He barely got any reps in preseason. He was hurt most of the time and won the job on the basis of the final preseason game. To my knowledge, he played tackle for most if not all of his college career so he is still learning the position.

[Don't Panic]

Fowler is a weak link..

And so is Butler, but he should get more slack becuase he's basically a rookie. Still, I dont think he's a long term starter in this league.

I have my doubts, too.