Rob: Running with your theory , here... Why wasn't a good running back drafted/signed through free agency? ( present tense, past tense. lead in here..) Kelly was wonderful, in the day. The game plan.. was never quite right ,in championship levels. The man, could gameplay...
They've had some good running backs over the past decade. Lynch (ran out of town with a weapons charge), Spiller, Jackson. They could run the ball, they could pass play. Getting McCoy and letting Spiller go was a mistake in my opinion as he was a good fit for the offense.
The quarterbacks, though... two games a season against the Pats who are good at making the most out of bad plays need to be able to keep up in high scoring games. Fine, if you want to play defense and run the ball, good old fashioned hard nosed football, but you have to be able to run and gun with the best of them when the situation calls for it. With that, letting two of your top receivers go in the past two seasons and not having a stable quarterback isn't going to get the job done.
A re imagining of the Jets two play offs runs aren't going to get the job done.
I'm all for letting Manuel mature. I watched Kelly's first couple of seasons with the Bills, when it seemed like he was throwing to the opposing players more than to his own.
Put in a few key pieces... a quarterback with the ability to hit the deep threat (Lofton), a receiver who was able to go across the middle without fear (12+83=7), and a utility receiver who could go deep or take the short pass for yardage (Beebe) as well as a running back who was probably the most versatile player of his era and you had an offense that could put points on the board in a hurry.
Today's game, though, calls for replacing the crossing receiver with a TE that can roll over linebackers and DB. The Bills had a solid TE who could pass play as well as block and let him go in the offseason. And I'm not sure they have a quarterback who can hit the deep threat.
That leaves defenses being able to key in on the RB. Using the play action is big step. The problem is, do they have the skills positions to run off of that? Not every play can be a screen.
