I am sure that there will be people who read this and say “stop complaining about an offensive coordinator who put up 30 points 8 out of 11 games this year and in all of the past five”. I’ve been back and forth on Brady all year. First three games he was tremendous. Next two he was brutal. Seemed like he’d gotten less predictable in the second half against the Titans and that carried over for a couple of games. In spite of putting up 30 points against the Colts, Brady’s offense went back to the predictable nature which caused serious issues earlier in the year. You want facts and not opinion? Well here it goes:
Colts Game: On 1st and 10 the Bills ran the ball 17 times. In the first half. the Bills ran the ball 7 times and gained a total of 19 yards. Runs of 3, 1, 4, 5, -1, 6 and 1 yard. On first down they averaged 2.7 yards per carry. Remember we were down 13-10 to this Colts team until late in the second quarter.
In the second half things did not change. Runs of 4, 1, 16, 9, 0, 5, 2, 0, 4 and 0. 41 yards on 10 carries. But for the two runs of 16 and 9 yards the Bills ran the ball for 16 yards on 8 first down carries.
The result: On 10/17 first downs Josh was left with second and long.
Chiefs Game: The Bills ran the ball on first and ten 12 times. In the first half their first and ten rushes went as follows: 0, 3, 2, -1, 1 and 6 yards. That’s 10 yards on 6 1st down situations. Each time they ran the ball on first and ten in the first half of the Chiefs game Josh faced a second and long situation. That’s not a good situation to put any quarterback in.
In the second half it didn’t change, in fact it was worse. Runs of 2, 1, 1, 2, 0 and -1. On six first and ten situations in the second half of the Chief’s game the Bills gained a total of 5 yards. But for one 6 yard run in the first half, the other ten times the Bills ran the ball on 1st and 10 Josh was put into a second and long situation.
So in the last two games, predictable Joe has run the ball on 1st and 10 a total of 29 times. 21/29 times Josh was put into a second and long situation. That is poor game planning and play calling. In addition, thin about the type of run and lack of variety involved. I don’t recall a single pitch/toss in an attempt to get outside. Every run seemed designed to go between the tackles, a place where both the Colts and Chiefs are very strong. Where is the variety?
How about throwing the ball to the Bills RBs out of the backfield? It has been horrendous. In the past six games, James Cook has been targeted 18 times, has 14 catches for a total of 59 yards. That comes to 3.27 yards per attempt and 4.2 yards per reception. In the past two weeks he’s been targeted 9 times for a total of 12 yards. Sunday v the Chiefs he was targeted 6 times and caught five of those six targets for SEVEN YARDS. Johnson and Davis haven’t faired much better. Other than a game against the Colts when he caught 3 passes for 22 yards, Johnson has been invisible as a pass catcher. The same with Davis. Remember Davis? The guy with the 69 yard TD reception against the Dolphins? The same guy who caught a 52 yarder on a broken play against the Jets? Remember him? We Brady sure forgot him. He has 10 targets all year and zero targets in three of the past four games. After coming off the Dolphins game he hasn’t even been targeted once.
Cook has 25 catches on 31 targets in 11 games. The first three games of the season he had 8 catches for 97 yards. In the last 8 games he has 17 catches for 85 yards. Johnson has 4 catches in the last eight games. Davis has 3 receptions in the past five games. When was the last time the Bills had a successful screen pass? Where are the easy dump offs to running backs that gain 5-10 yards?
One might say So What, the Bills are winning. While that is true, it’s due almost exclusively due to the play of Josh Allen and in spite of the play selection. If we want to be a Super Bowl winner we need to figure out how to succeed on 1st down so as to limit second and long situations. we need to figure out how to get our running backs involved in the passing game. Doing those two things would almost make this team unstoppable. Brady’s had a full year to figure out this team. He’s had a full year to learn how to make this offense tick. Too many times it’s been Josh being Josh that has bailed the Bills out. Thank God we have him but for heaven’s sake give him some help Joe!!!