DON’T GET ME STARTED yells out – “Are You Ready For Some Football? The Chargers were ready – the Bills weren’t.
Art Wander
Frank Reich, the former popular backup to Jim Kelly in those good old days and the quarterback who engineered the greatest comeback in NFL history came back to Buffalo as the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers and the sold out crowd probably wishes he was on the Bills sideline calling plays.
Meanwhile, the Bills and EJ Manuel replayed a tune of so many of these type games……taking one step forward and two steps back. The 22-10 loss reflected a two step back scenario.
I wonder if offensive coordinator Nate Hackett learned some play calling techniques watching Reich make the winning calls; and that EJ Manuel learned something from an efficient Phil Rivers moving the chains when they needed to be moved.
Reich, who was known as an extremely intelligent guy, engineered a game plan against the Bills that completely throttled Buffalo in a 22-10 Charger win.
Once Chargers QB Phil Rivers got the 2nd play of the Chargers opening drive from Reich, the result was an ominous sign that this would be a long day. Rivers lofted a bomb of almost 50 yards leading to the game’s first touchdown and a lead San Diego would never surrender.
Watching Rivers execute the Reich calls, fans in the crowd were probably saying, “Why can’t our offense play that way.” It was no contest in the first half as the Chargers took a 13-3 lead that saw Rivers complete 12 of 15 for 183 yards and a TD while EJ Manual connected on 8 of 12 but only for 79 yards. For all intents and purposes, the game was over. For the game Rivers was 18 of 25 for 256 yards and two touchdowns while EJ Manuel hit on 23 of 39 for 238 yards. Notice that Rivers completion % was 72% while Manuel’s was 58%.
How was the offense going for the Bills? Get this – for 3 quarters, Buffalo managed only 11 first downs. That isn’t going to win many games.
While Hackett tried many plays running up the middle, the Bolts stopped em. Fred Jackson carried 6 times for 34 yards.
The coaches are really going to have to zero in on something that is becoming a big negative. That is the number of penalties being taken by the Bills. Buffalo was penalized 11 times for 101 yards. That has to stop. There were times when the Bills broke some big plays only to retreat due to the yellow flag being thrown.
Aha – there is a positive. Going into next week’s game in Houston against Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills are tied for first place in the AFC East.
There’s work to be done and perhaps getting a game plan that will get more than one offensive touchdown a game will help the Bills psyche, especially Manuel’s. There were some possession in the 4th quarter that had people scratching their coconuts wondering what in the world was happening and why the ball was being thrown where it was. The last Buffalo possession brought out the word “ugly.”
This non-productive effort will require the coaches to ask the same question fans are asking, “Why do the Bills follow the 1 step forward – 2 step back approach and can’t come up with some consistent winning game plans and play calling on Don’t Get Me Started.
Filed under: Don't Get Me Started
Tagged with: Art Wander, Frank reich, Nate Hackett
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