The Bills got destroyed at home against the Patriots in a game that was only close for a few minutes. Like most games, Tom Brady had his way with the Bills defense and Gronk made history. Halfway through the season and the Bills have already given up on winning the division and the Wildcard is almost out of reach too, thus the cycle continues.
Where Did the Secondary Go
Before this season the Bills secondary was supposed to be the strength of the defense. Stephon Gilmore and Ronald Darby were considered a very solid duo and the safety position will hopefully have a Aaron Williams who isn’t afraid of being paralyzed. The secondary so far has been very inconsistent . Gilmore and Darby have taken a slight step back in coverage and the safety play is always a disaster when Duke Williams is out there. Against the Patriots miscommunication reared its ugly head again as players were out of position and had no idea where they were supposed to be. Also the droppoff from Aaron is steep as Meeks cost the Bills as he didn’t provide the safety help he was supposed to on the long TD to Hogan. Then there was also the horrible schemes such as having Robey-Coleman cover Gronk, who ever thought that was a great idea should be coaching Pee Wee. With the safeties not doing their job (Meeks cost them two TDs) the corners had to play a little more passive which allowed Brady to make some big completions as the Bills corners were forced to play slightly off to avoid the big play. The secondary played like it did week two the past two years and it ended up costing them as Brady shredded them time and time again.
There was a silver lining as the front seven did their job pretty well. The run game was pretty much shut down and the Bills were able to generate some pressure and Shaq Lawson was able to get his first sack. Too bad the secondary didn’t do its job or else the Bills might have actually had a chance in this game.
The 1950s Offense
The Bills offensive philosophy during their four game winning streak was pretty simple. Run the ball like its going out of style and hope the defense plays lights out. This is a perfect philosophy when you want to hide your QB and not rely on him to win the game. This works great against 3rd string QBs and some of the worse teams in the NFL (I’m looking at you LA Rams and San Francisco 49ers) or when the defense forces five turnovers but it is not a good offensive identity against teams with HOF QBs or teams that are stout against the run.
Against the Pats this old school offense backfired as the Bills needed to move down the field…..not go 3 and out. The run game was great as TD Mike showed why he should be getting more than 12 carries a game. The offensive line also played pretty well opening up running lanes and giving Tyrod a reasonable amount of time in the pocket. Against most teams the run game and offensive line playing exceptionally well would have been enough to keep the Bills in the game as they would have controlled the clock but against the Pats that isn’t the case which is why the reason for the offensive ineptitude yet again was due to the….
Passing Game. The past two years the passing game has been a major hindrance in this offense as time and time again if the deep ball wasn’t there the offense sputtered. Thankfully this year the offense hasn’t reached deep ball or bust levels but it is still pretty horrendous. Like I said previously, the way this offense is designed is to hide the QB as much as possible and not rely on him to win the game, pretty much just not screw up and let the run game and defense dominate. However the past two games when the passing game was needed, it was nowhere to be found. Today was probably the worse I’ve seen the passing game all year. Tyrod was wildly inaccurate, missing receivers high, low, left or right, anywhere but right at their chest. He also never throws with anticipation which after watching the coaches film saw a bunch of throws thrown way late which allowed the defenders to close in and whack the receiver or disrupt the catch. The lack of throwing with anticipation has severely limited the passing game as it really limits what the offense can actually do as a receiver either has to have already finished his break on the route or be a go route. It also doesn’t help that the WR corp is nicked up as without Sammy Watkins or a real deep threat, Tyrod is Blaine Gabbert terrible. So far after 22 starts with the Bills, the conclusion has been if the Bills need Tyrod to win a game with his arm, you might as well call it a loss which shows that the Bills answer at QB is not on the roster and they need to look elsewhere (just not Brad Kaaya, dude is Ryan Tannehill).
In conclusion the last two weeks have shown what the team looks like when the defense is not playing lights and needs the offense to pick up some slack. Rex has yet again shown he has no clue what he’s doing on defense as the safety play gave up at least two TDs. This also shows the Bills offensive identity doesn’t fit this modern NFL as you can’t hide your QB and expect to beat the good teams or even average teams like the Dolphins and this old school offense doesn’t work. The four game winning streak was a mirage, that was not the real Bills team and these past two weeks have shown what the Bills actually are with Rex Ryan; an 8-8 team that can never get over the hump. Pretty much Rex Ryan is the Bills version of Joe Philbin. Man I hope we clean house this offseason.
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