Bills' Play Calling

[Future]

Haven't seen this mentioned anywhere but...

I thought the Bills really gave this one to us, not just from bad play, but their playcalling I thought was atrocious. The first call that I thought was bad was the FG attempt towards the end of the first half, they had a two score lead and should have taken that into the half...especially since our offense would put up more than 7 points in the second half. Instead, they missed the FG and we were only down 7, a 6 point swing.

The second one that I thought was stupid was the pass that Newman picked off. If they run the ball, they take another 30ish seconds off the clock and make it a two score game with under 4 min remaining. Stupid, stupid playcall.

 

[JerryFan]

I couldn't agree more and actually started a thread last night after the game saying the same thing. I was blown away when they tried to kick that field goal at the end of the half. Same goes for the play calling at the end. That to me where the easiest calls of the night and they blew it big time. I'm happy they did, but jeez ole Jauron has got to look at himself in the mirror this morning and know he cost his team the game. They did everything they could possibly do to win that game, and everything was going there way. Why do something stupid?

 

[superpunk]

It's like they wanted us to win the game. The fellas on the radio were saying the same thing - some of the worst decisions ever by the Bills coaching staff.

It's like they wwent in thinking "We need to go balls out" and never got the "They're handing us the game - play conservative" memo that we sent out.

 

[WV Cowboy]

They were desperate I think, they were trying everything.

The fake punt at the beginning worked, I know, but to me it was still stupid to try something that dangerous had it not worked.

The reward was that they had the ball some 60 yds away from scoring.

The risk was giving us the ball at their 30, to quote Jimmy ... duu .. uumb.

But like I said, they were desperate.

 

[thekavorka]

TMQ mentions this on ESPN Page 2

You've probably heard that Tony Romo threw five interceptions despite facing Buffalo's injury-depleted secondary -- the Bills' secondary has so many injuries it should be called a tertiary -- but Dallas rallied to win on a long field goal on the game's final snap. Buffalo was plus-5 in takeaways, and had three touchdowns on returns, yet still managed to lose. You have to work very hard to blow a game when you're plus-5 in the takeaway column and score three times on interceptions and kickoffs. Work hard to lose Buffalo did, and central to the collapse was coaching error, not player error.


Leading 24-16, the Bills faced third-and-8 on the Cowboys' 11 with 6:21 remaining. Buffalo had been using a simplistic, high-school-style offense of runs up the middle and hitch passes. The Bills threw down the field exactly once while throwing sideways or ultrashort 30 times, and ran outside twice (for a 5.5-yard average) while running straight up the middle 22 times (for a 3.1-yard average). Owing to turnovers, Buffalo took possession in Dallas territory three times on the night, but owing to the Bills' predictable offensive game plan, they netted only one field goal. Nevertheless, the Bills found themselves with an eight-point lead and deep in Cowboys' territory with 6:21 remaining.


Had Buffalo simply run up the middle for no gain, then kicked a field goal, the Bills almost certainly would have won -- they would have held an 11-point lead and kept the clock moving, and Dallas didn't score to pull within an onside kick of victory until 20 ticks remained on the clock. Instead, Buffalo offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild called a pass that was intercepted, ending the team's chance for a secure lead -- and it wasn't even a decent gamble because the Bills' ultrashort passes to that point were netting 4.6 yards per attempt. There were at least 20 coaches on the Buffalo sideline and in the press box. Somebody is supposed to stay on top of evolving stats like net passing -- on well-coached teams such as New England and Indianapolis, you'd better believe the guy making the calls gets evolving stats during the game. But with a secure lead just one snap away, Buffalo needlessly put the ball into the air, and needless to say, it was intercepted.

 

[Juke99]

I think the idea was out of the Jimmy Johnson book of "If you're fighting a gorilla, you get his attention by punching him in the mouth"

BUT...it's one thing to take a gamble...another to be reckless. Those two play calls were awful.

Thankfully.

 

[RomoIsBack]

another one was when they went for it on 4 and 1

 

[TX_Yid]

I was just waiting for our defense to make a play and turn the ball over. The way the Bills were running on the drive it looked like it was going to have to be a strip at some point if it was going to happen, then out of the blue Edwards winds up and throws Newmans way. I couldn't believe our luck... and then a minute or so later I couldn't believe Romo added another Int to his name.

But yeah, the play calling to throw at that point of the game and give us a way back. DUMB.

 

[miamicowboy21]

They should have never thrown the ball on 3rd and 8. Run the ball, kick the field goal. That puts you up by 11 with 6 minutes left. I f they kick the field goal that dooms dallas. Buffalo sports radio are already calling for jauron's head. He's a clueless clown.