Bills played "grab bag" football Sunday

[Coach Sal]

I know this post is a bit late, so I apologize. But I'm going to just throw out there exactly what I said on my live postgame show right after the game for those who didn't come by and see/hear it.

My biggest frustration with what happened Sunday was what looked like the lack of a clear game plan (offensively) and how that then turned into playing "grab bag" football.

"Grab bag" football is what some coaches call it when they or other coaches just seem to reach into a bag and pull out a play to run. No rhyme or reason. No intent behind it - other than to "see if it works."

Teams like Indy, Green Bay, New England, they can actually get away with playing "grab bag" football once in a while because their offesnes are so good that if something goes wrong they can often recover fairly well on the next couple plays. Obviously the Bills can't do that.

But even they know it's not smart. Almost everything Manning, Rodgers, Brady, and their coaches do is FOR A REASON. No one can tell me for what reason the Bills did anything on offense Sunday.

They ran a lot of different formations. That's fine to keep a defense off-balance and thinking, but it's not fine if you want to see how they react to what you're doing and design something to adjust to that and counter it.

It just seemed to me that Chan was more concerned with throwing different stuff out there than he was with setting something up, going back to it, and then using it to his advantage.

You don't just stay away from something because it didn't work the first time. You can go back to it, but make a change to something about it to give it to better chance to succeed.

That's called a game plan. At the very least, it's called a "plan." It's not what they did, which was "grab bag" football.

I hope things change Sunday.

[OpIv37]

well at least it wasn't "grab-ass" football. We'll leave that to the Dolphins.

[Stewie]

I know this post is a bit late, so I apologize. But I'm going to just throw out there exactly what I said on my live postgame show right after the game for those who didn't come by and see/hear it.

My biggest frustration with what happened Sunday was what looked like the lack of a clear game plan (offensively) and how that then turned into playing "grab bag" football.

"Grab bag" football is what some coaches call it when they or other coaches just seem to reach into a bag and pull out a play to run. No rhyme or reason. No intent behind it - other than to "see if it works."

Teams like Indy, Green Bay, New England, they can actually get away with playing "grab bag" football once in a while because their offesnes are so good that if something goes wrong they can often recover fairly well on the next couple plays. Obviously the Bills can't do that.

But even they know it's not smart. Almost everything Manning, Rodgers, Brady, and their coaches do is FOR A REASON. No one can tell me for what reason the Bills did anything on offense Sunday.

They ran a lot of different formations. That's fine to keep a defense off-balance and thinking, but it's not fine if you want to see how they react to what you're doing and design something to adjust to that and counter it.

It just seemed to me that Chan was more concerned with throwing different stuff out there than he was with setting something up, going back to it, and then using it to his advantage.

You don't just stay away from something because it didn't work the first time. You can go back to it, but make a change to something about it to give it to better chance to succeed.

That's called a game plan. At the very least, it's called a "plan." It's not what they did, which was "grab bag" football.

I hope things change Sunday.

Don't know how you can say the bills didn't have a good gameplan when the offense couldn't sustain any drives until the end of the game.

Every play sets up another play... but it's hard to set up your other plays (execute the game plan) when your first half drives are mostly three an outs.

[OpIv37]

on a serious note, is it possible that they had a plan but the Dolphins shut it down, so they resorted to "grab-bag" football? Or do you really think they just came in with the intent of trying different sets until they found one that worked?

[Stewie]

well at least it wasn't "grab-ass" football. We'll leave that to the Dolphins.

FYI - tried to reply to this post and accidentally edited it instead. oopsie, maybe I should get back to work :D

[Luisito23]

He needs to stop all those crazy formations and just commit to winning possession time...We're not good enough to win, just make the time go faster. :negrep:

[Beebe's Kid]

on a serious note, is it possible that they had a plan but the Dolphins shut it down, so they resorted to "grab-bag" football? Or do you really think they just came in with the intent of trying different sets until they found one that worked?

I think Chan panicked. I think he tried to make adjustments, and when he saw the results he went to the "bag."

The Dolphins D didn't do anything different to shut us down than they did last year. To exploit Edwards they put pressure on him, and lot's of it. This also happens to be a good way to stop the run. When we tried to go down field, it was a ****ing disaster, which the Dolphins had banked on. If we execute down field, we are singing Shout all afternoon.

To his credit, I bet Chan thought he had coached Edwards around the corner. He's been coddling him, and Edwards had been doing and saying the right things...then the game starts.

I bet that the only thing more frustrating than watching the weekly collapse of Trent's confidence is trying to adjust a well thought out game plan, after it has been rendered completely worthless on the first 2 series.

Like I have said in other posts...we weren't out of this game, which makes taking radical chances less likely. It is just impossible for the fans to handle watching the same **** we have for years. We wanted radical and a win, Chan tried to stretch the field and Edwards was dangerously close to turning he ball over, and a pick 6 ends the story.

I hope we see more hurry up.

[justasportsfan]

Here is a question that always seems to come back to us. Does Gailey standing on the sidelines affect his playcalling?

He's not used to being there and as an OC he's usually up in the booth where he has a birds eyeview and can see matchups or weaknesses in our O. :idunno:

[Forward_Lateral]

it seemed that anytime the Offense found some sort of rhythm, it was killed by holding penalties. When FJ was running the wild cat, it worked, but a holding call killed the second run, and the drive was then ruined by another holding call that wiped out a nice completion to Nelson (I think). This team can't afford to shoot itself in the foot with penalties. It's not good enough to over come a 2nd and 20, or 1st and 20 for that matter.

I liked what Gailey did in the second half, especially going no-huddle in the 4th quarter, which caught Miami off guard, and had their D running around like chickens with their proverbial heads cut off. I thought if Trent did one thing well on Sunday, it was directing the no-huddle offense. I really think Gailey needs to consider using it more often. I'm not talking about that bull crap "no huddle" they ran last year either. I'm talking about a hurry-up offense like they ran Sunday.

[Coach Sal]

Every play sets up another play....

That's my point. That's what it's SUPPOSED to do. But with the Bills Sunday, it didn't.


but it's hard to set up your other plays (execute the game plan) when your first half drives are mostly three an outs

Again, the whole point of setting up somethihng else for later is that even if it may not work the 1st time, you still do that, but with an adjustment.

What you're saying is exactly what my issue is. You don't just abandon the plan to go back to something (with an adjustment) because of 3 and outs the first time.

Every offense has 3 and outs. If every team had that philosophy, they'd all play grab bag.

I'm not saying to continually try the same things over and over again. I'm saying a loss - or a 3and out series is still valuable to you later in the game if you see how/why it didn't work, go back to it later, make it look the same, but throw in something new or tweek it.

Just throwing your hands up in the air and saying, "oh, that didn't work" is exactly what you can't do. I felt like they were drawing formations and plays in the Ralph Wilson FieldTurf at one point......making them up as they went along.

[WeAreArthurMoates]

I really think that Chan thought he design this unique game plan cause he felt Trent and the O could handle more. Cleary they couldn't, he said it himself they will go back to the basics and that means more running of the football. I expect a much better offense next sunday.

[DraftBoy]

I know this post is a bit late, so I apologize. But I'm going to just throw out there exactly what I said on my live postgame show right after the game for those who didn't come by and see/hear it.

My biggest frustration with what happened Sunday was what looked like the lack of a clear game plan (offensively) and how that then turned into playing "grab bag" football.

"Grab bag" football is what some coaches call it when they or other coaches just seem to reach into a bag and pull out a play to run. No rhyme or reason. No intent behind it - other than to "see if it works."

Teams like Indy, Green Bay, New England, they can actually get away with playing "grab bag" football once in a while because their offesnes are so good that if something goes wrong they can often recover fairly well on the next couple plays. Obviously the Bills can't do that.

But even they know it's not smart. Almost everything Manning, Rodgers, Brady, and their coaches do is FOR A REASON. No one can tell me for what reason the Bills did anything on offense Sunday.

They ran a lot of different formations. That's fine to keep a defense off-balance and thinking, but it's not fine if you want to see how they react to what you're doing and design something to adjust to that and counter it.

It just seemed to me that Chan was more concerned with throwing different stuff out there than he was with setting something up, going back to it, and then using it to his advantage.

You don't just stay away from something because it didn't work the first time. You can go back to it, but make a change to something about it to give it to better chance to succeed.

That's called a game plan. At the very least, it's called a "plan." It's not what they did, which was "grab bag" football.

I hope things change Sunday.

Great post and right on the money, our plan looked completely lost and convaluted. I cant for the life of me understand why we didnt do more on the outside in the running game. At least make the Miami defense chase you some.

[Dr. Lecter]

FYI - tried to reply to this post and accidentally edited it instead. oopsie, maybe I should get back to work :D


And hitting the "cancel" button is difficult to do.

And we have you on staff as the computer guy?????? I told them to bring the chimp on board, but they did not listen.....

[Stewie]

And hitting the "cancel" button is difficult to do.

And we have you on staff as the computer guy?????? I told them to bring the chimp on board, but they did not listen.....

pffft

alls I got to say is

up 197 days, 15:20, 2 users, load average: 0.06, 0.13, 0.15

this means: i am the greatest server admin in the history of the billszone. up yours log!

[pintonick96]

I agree with Coach Sal, while watching the game we noticed there's no identity with the offense. They're not a running team, passing team, anything. They just go out and pray something happens. Just awful offense.

Defense didn't look awful. I thought Pos was always around the ball, and Whiter was looking to deliver a big hit every time.

[better days]

I think Chan panicked. I think he tried to make adjustments, and when he saw the results he went to the "bag."

The Dolphins D didn't do anything different to shut us down than they did last year. To exploit Edwards they put pressure on him, and lot's of it. This also happens to be a good way to stop the run. When we tried to go down field, it was a ****ing disaster, which the Dolphins had banked on. If we execute down field, we are singing Shout all afternoon.

To his credit, I bet Chan thought he had coached Edwards around the corner. He's been coddling him, and Edwards had been doing and saying the right things...then the game starts.

I bet that the only thing more frustrating than watching the weekly collapse of Trent's confidence is trying to adjust a well thought out game plan, after it has been rendered completely worthless on the first 2 series.

Like I have said in other posts...we weren't out of this game, which makes taking radical chances less likely. It is just impossible for the fans to handle watching the same **** we have for years. We wanted radical and a win, Chan tried to stretch the field and Edwards was dangerously close to turning he ball over, and a pick 6 ends the story.

I hope we see more hurry up.

Yeah, I think Chan panicked when he realized Trent can't execute a simple screen play. Now we know why the Bills have not used it much in the past.

[OpIv37]

I agree with Coach Sal, while watching the game we noticed there's no identity with the offense. They're not a running team, passing team, anything. They just go out and pray something happens. Just awful offense.

Defense didn't look awful. I thought Pos was always around the ball, and Whiter was looking to deliver a big hit every time.

Whitner's been looking to deliver a big hit ever since he's been drafted. But looking to do it and actually doing it are two totally different things.

[Stewie]

That's my point. That's what it's SUPPOSED to do. But with the Bills Sunday, it didn't.



Again, the whole point of setting up somethihng else for later is that even if it may not work the 1st time, you still do that, but with an adjustment.

What you're saying is exactly what my issue is. You don't just abandon the plan to go back to something (with an adjustment) because of 3 and outs the first time.

Every offense has 3 and outs. If every team had that philosophy, they'd all play grab bag.

I'm not saying to continually try the same things over and over again. I'm saying a loss - or a 3and out series is still valuable to you later in the game if you see how/why it didn't work, go back to it later, make it look the same, but throw in something new or tweek it.

Just throwing your hands up in the air and saying, "oh, that didn't work" is exactly what you can't do. I felt like they were drawing formations and plays in the Ralph Wilson FieldTurf at one point......making them up as they went along.
I hope their sloppy execution and overmatched players led you to that gut feeling. I would be very surprised if Chan operated like that.

Our OL and QB were overmatched. I'd honestly rather watch people brought down from the stands to throw bombs every play. I bet they'd get rid of the ball.

[Coach Sal]

I hope their sloppy execution and overmatched players led you to that gut feeling. I would be very surprised if Chan operated like that.

I hope so, too, and agree completely.

Everything I've read and heard about Chan from former players, coaches, etc., is the exact opposite of what I saw Sunday.

That's why I'm confused.

But I'm not going to judge him on one game. He may have overestimated his own players and I also like the things he said in the Monday presser about this and taking accountability.

[psubills62]

I hope so, too, and agree completely.

Everything I've read and heard about Chan from former players, coaches, etc., is the exact opposite of what I saw Sunday.

That's why I'm confused.

But I'm not going to judge him on one game. He may have overestimated his own players and I also like the things he said in the Monday presser about this and taking accountability.

That's the key. It's just one game. He's been out of the NFL for how long? It took him one preseason game to get used to playcalling against vanilla defenses (sorry, shelby). If the gameplan shows no improvement by the bye week, then I'll be concerned.

[DraftBoy]

I hope so, too, and agree completely.

Everything I've read and heard about Chan from former players, coaches, etc., is the exact opposite of what I saw Sunday.

That's why I'm confused.

But I'm not going to judge him on one game. He may have overestimated his own players and I also like the things he said in the Monday presser about this and taking accountability.

Talk to people connected at Tech and you'll hear plenty similar about what we saw on Sunday and how he coached at Tech.

[Ingtar33]

Talk to people connected at Tech and you'll hear plenty similar about what we saw on Sunday and how he coached at Tech.

yep.

I'll ditto this.

It was his job at GT that appauled me about this hire.

One of these days i'll dig up my reaction to the Gailey hire... I wish he'd prove me wrong and give me a glimmer of hope; but i don't think he's the guy to do it.

[DraftBoy]

Keep in mind Gailey when he coached at Tech had players like Tashard Choice and Calvin Johnson who here frequently misused (especially Johnson).

Let's not even get into his QB coaching ability and the Reggie Ball debacle that cost Tech more games than he ever won.

[Patti120]

Talk to people connected at Tech and you'll hear plenty similar about what we saw on Sunday and how he coached at Tech.


:puke:

[Thief]

I thought the game plan was pretty clear. It was to slow their rush with a couple of screens. Then when they consistantly put all their guys close to the line, we were going to try and back them up with the pass....... only Trents sucks, so there was zero execution.

[yomommabilly]

Chan and Nix are playing SEC college football. I told you guys both of them suc. Chan believes in keeping the defense off balance to an extent his offense is confusing, even to the players. Same ol Chan same ol result, bad.

[yomommabilly]

Keep in mind Gailey when he coached at Tech had players like Tashard Choice and Calvin Johnson who here frequently misused (especially Johnson).

Let's not even get into his QB coaching ability and the Reggie Ball debacle that cost Tech more games than he ever won.

Bingo, This is Chan Gailey and he now has a coheart, Nix, Father Time will fire both of them at the end of the 4 win season.

[Historian]

Take Sal's "grab bag" coaching approach...add a dash of Edward's "deer in the headlights" quarterbacking....splashed with a few dropped passes, and what do you have?

A 15-10 loss to the fish.

Terrible team effort, all around.