Bills at Jets • 4:15 p.m. • Ch. 4 • 96.9 FM
Bills' offense suffering from oversimplification
Published: October 18, 2009, 2:26 am
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Buffalo Bills are expected to unveil a huddle at least some of the time today.
The bigger question for the Bills' offense, however, is what kind of changes will accompany the huddling?
So far the Bills have been about as simple as an NFL team can get in terms of offensive formations.
The results have been a disaster.
Buffalo (1-4) ranks 25th in the NFL in yardage and has produced just one offensive touchdown in the past three games.
The Bills face a huge challenge today against a New York Jets defense that ranks ninth and boasts one of the more complex schemes in the league.
The Bills' success may depend on how much variation they have added to the attack in the past week.
Week Six Preview: Bills at Jets
Through five games, the Bills have relied on two basic formations.
They have lined up with three receivers, with one wideout in the slot, one runner in the backfield and the tight end in the traditional spot on 43.5 percent of their plays through five games, according to News statistics.
They have lined up with one back and two tight ends lined up in a tight formation (next to each of the tackles or both outside one of the tackles) on 43.9 percent of the plays.
The problems with such a lack of multiplicity:
• They almost never use motion before the snap, so the defense does not have to make any changes. The defense doesn't even have to communicate before the snap much of the time.
• Lee Evans never leaves the "X" position, outside to the weak side (opposite the tight end side). If a defense is double-teaming him, it never has to adjust its coverage.
• Running back Fred Jackson rarely has been shifted out to a slot or wide receiver position. The Bills did it twice xleg
out of a two-back set against Tampa Bay. They ran empty backfield plays eight times against Tampa and four against New Orleans, but not since.
• The tight end rarely has lined up split out from the offensive line, in a slot position. The Bills did this against Tampa on a TD pass to Evans, but not since.
• The four-wide set has been used on only six plays all year. The Bills have two good slot receivers in Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish, and they have a promising young guy in Steve Johnson. But the double slot-receiver look has been absent.
Why so basic?
The big reason is coach Dick Jauron has demanded a simplified attack so that the Bills might more effectively run the no-huddle at a fast pace. The no-huddle can't run fast if there is a big package of plays and formations. It's too hard to communicate.
If a team has great weapons, gets good quarterbacking and operates efficiently, the benefits of the no-huddle can outweigh its inherent restrictions. Indianapolis runs most plays out of the same personnel grouping with QB Peyton Manning.
The Bills, however, have been anything but efficient, and the no-huddle gamble has been a bust.
"We'll look at different things, we'll look at different formations and we'll see what we can do to help our guys perform on Sunday," Jauron said in a national radio interview last week.
"But clearly we've got to score points. We're just not scoring any points, not giving ourselves a chance to win games."
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was asked Wednesday about the coaches' main message to the offensive players this week. It didn't sound like major schematic changes were coming.
"The things we talked about this morning were to simplify, execute and make the plays when they're there," Van Pelt said.
Asked if the Bills would put Evans and Terrell Owens in motion or leave them in their spots before the snap, Van Pelt said:
"It's what we're doing right now. We're stagnant. We're standing there right now. Is it something down the road we can maybe get to as we grow in the system? Possibly, yeah."
The Bills' offensive line situation has played a factor in restricting empty-backfield sets, four-wide sets and even the shifting of a tight end to the slot in a two-tight end alignment. The Bills have been forced to keep an extra blocker or two in on pass plays to help the offensive line protect quarterback Trent Edwards.
That situation may not improve this week. Right tackle Jonathan Scott is out with a sore ankle. Rookie Jamon Meredith, plucked off the Green Bay practice squad four weeks ago, will make his NFL debut as the starting right tackle.
So the Bills will start four offensive linemen who never had taken an NFL snap before this season.
The group faces a Jets defense that has been revitalized under coach Rex Ryan. New York ranked 16th on defense last season. This year they added Pro Bowl linebacker Bart Scott, veteran cornerback Lito Sheppard, starting defensive end Marques Douglas and starting strong safety Jim Leonhard. Pro Bowler Kris Jenkins, their mammoth defensive tackle, anchors the
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