We are going to take shots downfield

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Which is an irony because we ran Gilbride out of Buffalo two years ago.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/SPORTS03/604110329

Having said that I don't believe Fairchild is Gilbride, though he has certainly learned from the master first hand in Buffalo. But he has an interesting mix of knowledge - ran run attack himself in Buffalo, learned downfield attack from Martz and Gilbride.

If you look the kind of receivers the Bills acquired this off season - all have/had downfield speed to burn, you have to wonder what kind of characteristics this offense is going to be.

Martz is known for forcing the defense to defend the entire field. Right off the bat, he needs two receivers that can speed towards the end corners. He had Faulk who can pound the ball or catch the ball in the middle. McGahee so far has not proved to us that he can catch and run effectively.

Then the element that really makes the whole thing work, a QB who, like Warner in his heyday, can digest the whole picture quickly and deliver the ball. Anyone on Bills roster?

Reading Fairchild's comment on JP, I get the impression that they are not impressed with JP's mental capability from studying last year's film.

[Throne Logic]

My big concern relates to who Fairchild is planning to send across the middle. I guess Josh Reed might be able to fill that roll - note I said "might".

Evans and Price are strictly down the field, deep post, and out-route guys.

I would really like to see a big physical WR to take on the big physical CB's. Especially for those toss ups in the End Zone.

[ICE74129]

Which is an irony because we ran Gilbride out of Buffalo two years ago.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/SPORTS03/604110329

Having said that I don't believe Fairchild is Gilbride, though he has certainly learned from the master first hand in Buffalo. But he has an interesting mix of knowledge - ran run attack himself in Buffalo, learned downfield attack from Martz and Gilbride.

If you look the kind of receivers the Bills acquired this off season - all have/had downfield speed to burn, you have to wonder what kind of characteristics this offense is going to be.

Martz is known for forcing the defense to defend the entire field. Right off the bat, he needs two receivers that can speed towards the end corners. He had Faulk who can pound the ball or catch the ball in the middle. McGahee so far has not proved to us that he can catch and run effectively.

Then the element that really makes the whole thing work, a QB who, like Warner in his heyday, can digest the whole picture quickly and deliver the ball. Anyone on Bills roster?

Reading Fairchild's comment on JP, I get the impression that they are not impressed with JP's mental capability from studying last year's film.

It doesn't matter if they play holcomb as the QB. He doesn't have the arm and when push comes to shove will ALWAYS dump the ball off instead of taking a chance. You MUST be willing to sling that ball into where angels dare tread to be a successful QB in the NFL

[Don't Panic]

I hate to say it, but if the current stock of receivers is what we're dealing with come opening day, then Reed is the key guy. He is going to have to become a weapon underneath in order to properly stretch a defense. Parrish can do somehings as the 4th WR, but we can't bank on much from him. I don't see Andre Davis turning into a solid possession receiver. And, as was previously stated, Evans and Price are stretch it out guys. That leaves Reed... scary as it sounds.

[madness]

Which is an irony because we ran Gilbride out of Buffalo two years ago.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/SPORTS03/604110329

Having said that I don't believe Fairchild is Gilbride, though he has certainly learned from the master first hand in Buffalo. But he has an interesting mix of knowledge - ran run attack himself in Buffalo, learned downfield attack from Martz and Gilbride.


Gilbride set up the pass to pass. Martz and hopefully Fairchild will set up the pass to run. Steven Jackson's ypc was something crazy like 4.4 yards because of this. I believe Willis is the same type of RB and Shaud will be playing the role of the older less utilized pass catching Faulk.

[madness]

It doesn't matter if they play holcomb as the QB. He doesn't have the arm and when push comes to shove will ALWAYS dump the ball off instead of taking a chance. You MUST be willing to sling that ball into where angels dare tread to be a successful QB in the N:bullseye: FL

:deadhorse:

[ICE74129]

:deadhorse: And I will say it again, and again and again as long as that POS is on this team.

[ICE74129]

Gilbride set up the pass to pass. Martz and hopefully Fairchild will set up the pass to run. Steven Jackson's ypc was something crazy like 4.4 yards because of this. I believe Willis is the same type of RB and Shaud will be playing the role of the older less utilized pass catching Faulk.

someone else said we should, and most likely would use the pass to set up the run. Not sure who that was....

and BTW it is still the best way to run an offense. Hell, we only went to 4 superbowls with it and San Fran won something like 5 doing the same thing.

[McBFLO]

He had Faulk who can pound the ball or catch the ball in the middle. McGahee so far has not proved to us that he can catch and run effectively.
He hasn't proven that he can't yet either. He was never given a chance to be a receiving threat with Mularkey as coach.

[ICE74129]

He hasn't proven that he can't yet either. He was never given a chance to be a receiving threat with Mularkey as coach.

Agreed! AND Jackson in St.Louis didn't catch that much. Mostly screens etc. I am sure willis will get more than his opportunity to do so

[madness]

Agreed! AND Jackson in St.Louis didn't catch that much. Mostly screens etc. I am sure willis will get more than his opportunity to do so

I agree. Willis is going to fully utilized this year, 3rd downs and all.

[Jan Reimers]

We can only take shots downfield with JP. Neither Holcomb nor Nall have the arm to get it done.

When Holcomb throws it more than 20 yards, his receiver has to call a fair catch.

[Bill Brasky]

Davis, Evans, Parrish, Price all have the size to go over the middle and make physical plays.

[ICE74129]

We can only take shots downfield with JP. Neither Holcomb nor Nall have the arm to get it done.

When Holcomb throws it more than 20 yards, his receiver has to call a fair catch.

Nall has a downfield arm and accurate at that, but JP has the best arm on the team.

[G. Host]

Davis, Evans, Parrish, Price all have the size to go over the middle and make physical plays.

Parrish does not have the size to take on the Jills!

[ICE74129]

Parrish does not have the size to take on the Jills! Bingo

[X-Era]

We can only take shots downfield with JP. Neither Holcomb nor Nall have the arm to get it done.

When Holcomb throws it more than 20 yards, his receiver has to call a fair catch.

Thank you for stating the "ought to be" obvious. Why people dont get it, I will never know.

[Turf]

I don't Shaud should be on this team. He's just too small for a NFL position at RB.

[patmoran2006]

My big concern relates to who Fairchild is planning to send across the middle. I guess Josh Reed might be able to fill that roll - note I said "might".

Evans and Price are strictly down the field, deep post, and out-route guys.

I would really like to see a big physical WR to take on the big physical CB's. Especially for those toss ups in the End Zone.
He has someone he plans on sending over the middle, he wore #18 in college for Maryland...

And I dont even know what to think of this offense yet.. NOt saying I hate it, not saying I like it.. I think what they're doing is "weird"

[patmoran2006]

Let me elaborate.

I "expected" us to go after a bunch of bruisers and play smashmouth football.
1- Jauron as coach is known for it
2- Pounding Willis I thought was our strength.

Too early to judge the O til it plays, but this is very weird to me.

[Kerr]

Nall has a downfield arm and accurate at that, but JP has the best arm on the team.

Chris Brown's blog:
*Craig Nall doesn't look like he has a rocket for an arm. It might just be his throwing motion, but he seems to muscle the ball in there sometimes where J.P.'s motion looks more effortless. Coach Fairchild has been telling Nall to throw his passes flatter. So he might be getting too much air under the ball and to make it flatter Nall might be trying to throw it harder. Just how it looks to me.


hmmm...

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Let me elaborate.

I "expected" us to go after a bunch of bruisers and play smashmouth football.
1- Jauron as coach is known for it
2- Pounding Willis I thought was our strength.

Too early to judge the O til it plays, but this is very weird to me.

Right now I think that they are sending out mixed signals about what kind of offense it is going to be, but the signings of Price and A.Davis are an indication that they looking to use speed at the WR spots to stretch and threaten the opposing defenses deep.

They can utilize that speed one of three ways: if the defense does not respect their deep speed, they can go pass first and use the pass to set up the run--somewhat in the way that the Bills' offense did when they had Kelly, Lofton, Beebe and Reed, with T.Thomas in the backfield--or, if the defense backs off to keep from getting beat deep, they give the ball to Willis and let him find the open spaces--like a bigger T.Thomas; or they could play a very old-fashioned offense that really emphasizes the running game--but mixes up the runs and is not confined to running between the tackles--and takes only a few deep shots down the field after the opposition has been lulled into looking for the run and pulled up to the line of scrimmage, counting on speed to turn those shots into scores.

To be successful in any of those three ways, you need to have a QB who is accurate with his passes--something that Levy and DJ have mentioned a lot when talking about what they want from a QB--because, in the first, the QB's accuracy allows the offense to keep possession and, in the other two, the QB has to hit his receivers and make the defense pay before they adjust. That might also explain why they are so high on Nall, because of his accuracy, and not so high on Losman, because he hasn't shown that he can be consistently accurate yet.

The other thing that is a major key, particularly in the first two, is having a RB who can block for the QB while the WRs are using their speed to get deep. If you recall, Thurman Thomas was a superb blocker, even though he was quite small. M.Faulk could block as well, although he wasn't called on to do it as much in the Rams' offense as Thomas was in the Bills' offense. And, with Willis McGahee, that's actually a bigger question than whether he can catch the ball. Willis hasn't been called on to block that much and hasn't been all that good a blocker when he has, so that remains a question-mark....

As for catching the ball, Willis actually caught the ball a fair amount and pretty well his last year at Miami. If I'm not mistaken, he was their leading receiver in the game against Ohio State before he got injured. And, when they have thrown him the ball, he has not been a bad receiver out the backfield for the Bills. IMHO it's something that MM never really gave him enough opportunities to do. At this point, I'd be more concerned about Willis' blocking than his ability to catch and run with the ball.

I think they will give Josh Reed a chance to show if he can be an Andre Reed type of receiver, but I'm not sure that he can do it: I don't know if he is fast enough to get open in the 2 WR sets or to exploit the seams in the coverage like Andre did in the 3+ WR sets. I like Josh Reed, but, after the way he struggled when Price left, and with his history of drops, I just don't know. I can see Price, Parrish and Davis pushing him well down on the depth chart if he doesn't get open and catch the ball early and often.

It's tough, though, because we really don't know exactly what they intend to do with the offense, yet....

[acehole]

It doesn't matter if they play holcomb as the QB. He doesn't have the arm and when push comes to shove will ALWAYS dump the ball off instead of taking a chance. You MUST be willing to sling that ball into where angels dare tread to be a successful QB in the NFL

Not really you can hit the speedsters at 5 yards out and they can make it happen in the open field. Thats what make them good punt returners. I agree Holcomb can't throw the long ball constantly...but he can do it 1-3 times a game. All he need to to is connect twice....and the safties will be forced to play back a bit...opening up the 3-5 step drop and the run. I dont think Holcombs problem is his arm.....it is his descisions.

[acehole]

My big concern relates to who Fairchild is planning to send across the middle. I guess Josh Reed might be able to fill that roll - note I said "might".

Evans and Price are strictly down the field, deep post, and out-route guys.

I would really like to see a big physical WR to take on the big physical CB's. Especially for those toss ups in the End Zone.

I would say the middle would have to be tight end material.....

Rb run.

Speedsters run (All day).

Te attack the middle.

To each his own.

I bet lots of power formations.

Lots of 3-4 wr sets.

Lots of motion.

Take what they give us.

[GarnOFreak]

LBF, I have to disagree about Willis, insofar as his picking up the blitz. I really remember him doing an excellent job of blitz pick up, even as far back as his first year (on the field...not in rehab). The problem is that the rest of the line was swiss cheese and he can only hit 1 guy at a time.

I do agree that they have not thrown to Willis much, but when they have, I haven't noticed a lot of drops...

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The difference between Gilbride and Martz.

Do you remember the article Sullivan wrote about him on BNews the year Gilbride was fired from the Bills? I still remember to this day in which Sullivan wrote that Gilbride told him the reason he went for downfield plays so much is that there are too many things that can go wrong on any play: someone missing a block, wrong formation, wrong route, mental mistakes, penalties, etc. to generate consistent offense to move the chains. To him, hitting a big shot is the solution because it puts you immediately in scoring position. He'll run some, calling some short passing plays, but they are all part of the plan to bait the defense to allow him hitting a big one.

Does anyone know how often you plan on hitting a lottery. No wonder Gilbride's offense can vary dramatically from one season to another.

I saw a segment after the 2nd Rams superbowl year that detailed Martz offense. His basic philosophy is to having his receivers run to open areas ASAP, close range, downfield, whatever and he designs routes that his receivers don't run into the same space. The QB would have several pockets of open areas to throw to. Now if your receivers and QB are on the same page, the ball goes to an open area whereas one of your receivers just cuts over there. That's why he's known to forcing defenders defend the entire field.

Obviously the biggest open area is usually deep, so the receivers need speed.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

LBF, I have to disagree about Willis, insofar as his picking up the blitz. I really remember him doing an excellent job of blitz pick up, even as far back as his first year (on the field...not in rehab). The problem is that the rest of the line was swiss cheese and he can only hit 1 guy at a time.

I do agree that they have not thrown to Willis much, but when they have, I haven't noticed a lot of drops...

Personally, I think you are right about Willis' blocking--I didn't think he did that bad of a job, either--but, apparently, last year's set of coaches didn't agree because they used that as their reason for taking Willis out on 3rd downs. Now, I know that most of us don't place much credence in anything that last year's coaching staff did or said, but I also know that coaches do pay attention to what other coaches say and that, as a result, Willis may have that rap on him right now and will probably have to prove to the new coaches that he can pass-block. (Your comment about the offensive line was right on the mark, too!)

[Luisito23]

We could, but another ? at QB going in may mean another season like last..:puke:



GO BILLS

[mysticsoto]

Personally, I think you are right about Willis' blocking--I didn't think he did that bad of a job, either--but, apparently, last year's set of coaches didn't agree because they used that as their reason for taking Willis out on 3rd downs. Now, I know that most of us don't place much credence in anything that last year's coaching staff did or said, but I also know that coaches do pay attention to what other coaches say and that, as a result, Willis may have that rap on him right now and will probably have to prove to the new coaches that he can pass-block. (Your comment about the offensive line was right on the mark, too!)

Well, I can't say I agree at all. I frequently remember Willis doing a piss poor job at blocking. So much so, that Mularkey had to invent an excuse to take him out on 3rd down and put Shaud Williams in - who in turn did a much better job at picking up the blitz. I thought Willis was horrendous, and it has disappointed me that such a big guy - who has the nerve to call himself the best RB, is so poor at one essential facet of what it comprises to be a RB!!!