To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

[Stewie]

It's not Trent (although he sucks)
It's not CJ
It's not the playcalling
... and surprisingly, it's not the defense (although the pass rush sucks)

It's the OL getting manhandled. It's your best offensive lineman (Wood) getting thrown backwards towardsthe QB, forcing him to sidestep and get the pass deflected. It's making a CFL player look like a 1991 Bruce Smith. It's making your running backs have to juke defenders in the backfield.

All that said... one or two plays go differently in the first half, and it's a completely different ball game. The counter-right with CJ running the ball sticks in my head. The defense bit hard left, everyone was blocked except the strong safety, who did an excellent job reading the play, quickly getting to the line, taking away the outside, and making the tackle. CJ seemed angry he didn't get by him; there was no one else left between him and the endzone, the CB had been blocked out and the guards hit the linebackers.

Anyway, my game conclusions:

Our OL is terrible
Miami did not play well
We played even worse
Buffalo and Miami are more or less evenly sucky, each team should be happy wiht a .500 record.

[better days]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

The O-Line played poorly, but they were not helped by the fact that the defense stacked the line to pressure Trent because they knew he would not pass down field.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

It's not Trent (although he sucks)
It's not CJ
It's not the playcalling
... and surprisingly, it's not the defense (although the pass rush sucks)

It's the OL getting manhandled. It's your best offensive lineman (Wood) getting thrown backwards towardsthe QB, forcing him to sidestep and get the pass deflected. It's making a CFL player look like a 1991 Bruce Smith. It's making your running backs have to juke defenders in the backfield.

All that said... one or two plays go differently in the first half, and it's a completely different ball game. The counter-right with CJ running the ball sticks in my head. The defense bit hard left, everyone was blocked except the strong safety, who did an excellent job reading the play, quickly getting to the line, taking away the outside, and making the tackle. CJ seemed angry he didn't get by him; there was no one else left between him and the endzone, the CB had been blocked out and the guards hit the linebackers.

Anyway, my game conclusions:

Our OL is terrible
Miami did not play well
We played even worse
Buffalo and Miami are more or less evenly sucky, each team should be happy wiht a .500 record.

Great post. That play was a game changer. CJ gets past him and it's a whole different game.

Wood got dominated yesterday so I'm sick of hearing how great he is. Still take Jason peters.

[Philagape]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

There is no reason to believe Trent would play better with a better line.

Or that defenses will respect him any more, which means no more room for Spiller.

So it all comes back to Trent. He's holding the offense back.

A good QB can make a poor line look better.

[Mahdi]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

I simply don't agree. I don't think our OL is All-Pro but they are serviceable and it really is just Trent making everyone around him look bad.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

a good qb can make a bad oline look decent.... its the qb!

there was plenty of times where trent had time to throw and he didnt do it...

[ddaryl]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

It's Trent more so then the OL.... He had plenty of opportunity to get rid of the bal quicker and make a play or 3 but didn't.

Yes the OL needs help.... but a solid QB recognizes pressure and gets rid of the ball or even steps up in the pocket buys some time and makes a pay..

Watch Trent he doesn't feel pressure and doesn't adjust. He has no quick slant passes, doesn't read the 3-4 well at all, and rarely makes any plays himself, and I still think he can't hit a moving target with any consistency.. Even wehn Roscoe blew open that coverage Trent Still under threw him and Roscoe had to adjust...

[billz83]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

This Oline is Garbage absolutely terrible..and with onna the worst Qbz in the NFL behind one of the WORST OLINES in the NFL gives u the results the bills have had for the past decade..hey lets upgrade the tackle position with ****** GREEN(THE BACKUP TO WALKER WHO WE LET GO)!! the a****** who was behind this genius move should be FIRED ON THE SPOT!

[Michael82]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

Trent Edwards makes the OL look worse and our running game couldn't get going because Edwards didn't make the Dolphins respect the passing game. If he would have thrown it down the field a couple times (more than 5 yards), the Dolphins would have stopped focusing on the running game so much.

[DraftBoy]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

You win the game by controlling the LOS, that starts with the line on both sides.

You run to set up the pass not the other way around.

[Stewie]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

You win the game by controlling the LOS, that starts with the line on both sides.

You run to set up the pass not the other way around.

Yeah that's the old maxim, but you also do what your opponent least expects. Which is why I have no problem with throwing three plays in a row to start the game. They should be high percentage throws. The first play is to your best offensive player from last year, my man Fred Jackson. DL makes a play, OL doesn't sell the screen at all. Then your OL gets blown up and another short high percentage play gets batted down. Now what, a buffalo bills draw special on 3rd down?

[Mahdi]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

You win the game by controlling the LOS, that starts with the line on both sides.

You run to set up the pass not the other way around.

That's simply not true. It's not a rule that you run to set up the pass. You set up whatever the defense is not giving you. If the defense is loading up the box to stop your run game you pass to set up the run, if the defense is playing loose to defend the pass you set up the pass game by running the football.

Yes everything starts up front but after it starts something has to happen in the backfield, i.e. the QB making a forward pass.

[TacklingDummy]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

All that said... one or two plays go differently in the first half, and it's a completely different ball game. The counter-right with CJ running the ball sticks in my head. The defense bit hard left, everyone was blocked except the strong safety, who did an excellent job reading the play, quickly getting to the line, taking away the outside, and making the tackle. CJ seemed angry he didn't get by him; there was no one else left between him and the endzone, the CB had been blocked out and the guards hit the linebackers.

Anyway, my game conclusions:

You could also say if Henne didn't underthrow Marshall the fins would have had another TD or if the fins defenders didn't drop 2 other TD passes.

The Bills are lucky the score wasn't 34-10. Miami was trying to give the Bills the game but they just wouldn't capitalize on it.

[DraftBoy]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

Yeah that's the old maxim, but you also do what your opponent least expects. Which is why I have no problem with throwing three plays in a row to start the game. They should be high percentage throws. The first play is to your best offensive player from last year, my man Fred Jackson. DL makes a play, OL doesn't sell the screen at all. Then your OL gets blown up and another short high percentage play gets batted down. Now what, a buffalo bills draw special on 3rd down?

Its the old maxim because it works. Im not saying you should be straight forward (especially with our OL) but for a coach who many perceive to be an "innovative offensive genius" he should have no problem thinking up new ways to confuse and keep our opponent on their toes.

[TacklingDummy]

Re: To borrow a phrase.. IT'S THE OL, STUPID

Yes everything starts up front but after it starts something has to happen in the backfield, i.e. the QB making a forward pass.

Everything starts and ends with the QB. If you don't have one then you will struggle for 11 years, example...see Buffalo.