Bills OL best in the NFL?

[1960Pats]

Historically, especially through Brady's best years, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better protected QB...dude had all day back there. This may no longer be the case, or so it seems, and we may be beginning to see the results. I'd say at least half of the Patriots' success rests on their ability to protect Brady.

I think all teams' success rests on the ability to protect the QB. However, Brady is not one the most protected QBs at all, though we hear that all the time. I know that because I used to hear the same thing from Indy fans, even though Manning is one of those who was sacked less than Brady. I think it's Brady's pretty boy image that makes people believe that, but the truth is there are plenty of QBs that have been protected better than Brady.

 

[102 Pat]

I agree with your major point...I'd add that what we DO know is that the O play calling by McD has been weird the past two games. If we are punching them in the mouth up there and he goes with a delayed draw or an end around that gets slaughtered, I may be looking for a new HD TV.

I've got a drinking game planned out for tomorrow. Take a drink everytime there is a delayed draw to Woodhead. I might be drunk by halftime.

 

[Christopher Patriot]

I agree that delayed draw to Woodhead has to go, the terrible end around play they tried against Baltimore has to go.
I'd like to spot a Vareen sighting tomorrow, and see a screen play set up to let him use his elusiveness in the open field, more carries for Bolden.
I'd like to see Slater one or two plays maybe just a bomb to him to see why we keep him on the team.
Improved special team play since our special teams has been a let down in big moments.
Little to no penalties especially on third down, I'd like to see Ras I on Stevie boy, Like to see more Ebner on the field things seem to happen when hes out there let him blitz for god sakes.
Cunningham and Jones moved around the line and more snaps for Scott at the expense of Ninchovich do these things and we win by at least 10 in my opinion.

 

[goheels22002]

I'm not impressed. The Bills pass offense sucks (26th in the NFL with under 200 yards/game) and the Jest, Chiefs and Browns all went into their Buffalo games to stop the run and let Fitzpatrick beat them. Fitzpatrick is averaging one Interception per game.

If teams aren't blitzing, they're not going to get sacks.

Last week against the Ravens, it mattered for the Patriots to get a pass rush - the Patriots did not. This week it's about taking away the run game and playing aggressive with the receivers.

How worried are we about Stevie Johnson, Donald Jones and Scott Chandler?

How many of you said, "Who?"

Precisely.

 

[Boomer B]

I thought these numbers were interesting.

Tom Brady in 10 full seasons plus 3 games sacked 283 times

Drew Brees in about 9 seasons plus 4 or so games sacked 215 times

Peyton Manning in 13 full seasons plus 3 games sacked 239 times

Dan Marino in about 16 seasons, sacked 270 times

NFL Career Sacked Leaders - Pro-Football-Reference.com

I think that the QB has just as much impact on taking sacks as the O-Line. The reason Brady hasn't taken as many sacks as others is that he has a very quick release, is great at reading defenses (pre and post snap) and although a slow guy he's great at moving in the pocket (not so much anymore).

Marino was very similar, slow guy but great at moving in the pocket and had a quick release.

In 2007 Tom Brady took 21 sacks and in 2009 when he came back from injury he took 16 sacks. In 2008 when Matt Cassel filled in for Brady he took 47 sacks. Same line, different QB.

 

[MP-Logick]

Having a quarterback with a very quick release and multiple receivers running short routes always makes an O-line look a lot better than it is.

 

[Ring 6]

In all fairness, jets secondary with revis is much better than what we have.

Revis is much better than what we have, but your statement is incorrect.

 

[Fball]

Having a quarterback with a very quick release and multiple receivers running short routes always makes an O-line look a lot better than it is.

Fitz doesn't have a great release, but he is a decent scrambler, which helps.

However, I would say that the Bills finally have a good O-line, which could be great. Cordy Glenn was a steal in the draft, and has played like a vet at the LT position. Also, they have been without Wood for most of the past 2 seasons, and he is back & healthy. Great center.

 

[Ring 6]

Fitz doesn't have a great release, but he is a decent scrambler, which helps.

However, I would say that the Bills finally have a good O-line, which could be great. Cordy Glenn was a steal in the draft, and has played like a vet at the LT position. Also, they have been without Wood for most of the past 2 seasons, and he is back & healthy. Great center.

You haven't exactly faced any great front 7s yet though.

 

[Insomniac99]

You haven't exactly faced any great front 7s yet though.

Again, they allowed the least amount of sacks last season and looked good doing it. They were called a fluke then too. You can't say they havnt faced a good front 7.

 

[Ivan]

And that's not even a legit sack they gave up. The ball slipped out of Fitzpatricks hand when he went to throw it, they ruled it a fumble, and somehow that's a sack even though no Browns playerever actually touched him.

In actuality the Bills O-Line still hasn't given up a sack.

These guys are good. SCARY good.

Best team Evah!

 

[convertedpatsfan]

The Bills offensive line gave up the fewest sacks in the league last year with 23. I think it's pretty easy to surmise that they have a solid offensive line and it wasn't due to the refs like you want to assume. Cordy Glenn, while a rookie, has been a monster in there. He's huge.

I don't think you can measure an OL's quality just by the number of sacks they give up. Sure, Fitzpatrick took fewer sacks last season, but if you look at QB hits, Fitzpatrick got hit 69 times compared to Brady's 71, with Brady getting 42 more pass attempts.

Sure, Fitzpatrick is pretty mobile and helps avoid some of those potential sacks, but how many times have we seen Fitzpatrick throw up a ball he should have just ate? Those INTs hurt a lot more than sacks.

There are a ton of different factors involved. The Bills rely on a quick passing game out of the spread and get rid of the ball quickly. That reduces the amount of time for the pass rushers. One could look at the numbers and say the OL is great. One might wonder if a big part of that approach in the passing game is because the line can't hold up.

Tom Brady was the 13th-most sacked QB in 2011 behind a high-quality OL that featured former Pro Bowlers at tackle and current Pro Bowlers at guard. He also averaged over 1.75 yards more per attempt than Fitzpatrick, so while Brady only had 42 more attempts, he threw for over 1,400 more yards. The Pats OL had to maintain protection a lot longer on those pass routes.

In 2012, Fitzpatrick has only been sacked once, and hit only 8 times. But the Bills have also changed their game plan. He's 27th in pass attempts after having the 6th-most attempts in 2011. He's thrown less than all the rookie starters except for Russell Wilson. He's done better with the fewer opportunities, and the Bills OL does look improved from last season, but they've also played the Jets (who have only 3 sacks so far, good for 30th in the league), the Chiefs WITHOUT Tamba Hali, and the Browns, who they beat with an extremely short passing game (averaged under 6 yards per attempt). To put that into perspective, only two teams allow fewer yards per attempt.

The Bills were precise enough to win, but it doesn't mean their OL is amazing. They are relying on the run and the short passing game. Whether that's due to their receivers, their lack of trust in Fitzpatrick, the inexperience at OL, or a combination of those things, it's clear we're not comparing apples to apples here, and I'm certainly not preparing to vote for the Bills OL for the Pro Bowl just yet...

 

[Insomniac99]

I don't think you can measure an OL's quality just by the number of sacks they give up. Sure, Fitzpatrick took fewer sacks last season, but if you look at QB hits, Fitzpatrick got hit 69 times compared to Brady's 71, with Brady getting 42 more pass attempts.

Sure, Fitzpatrick is pretty mobile and helps avoid some of those potential sacks, but how many times have we seen Fitzpatrick throw up a ball he should have just ate? Those INTs hurt a lot more than sacks.

There are a ton of different factors involved. The Bills rely on a quick passing game out of the spread and get rid of the ball quickly. That reduces the amount of time for the pass rushers. One could look at the numbers and say the OL is great. One might wonder if a big part of that approach in the passing game is because the line can't hold up.

Tom Brady was the 13th-most sacked QB in 2011 behind a high-quality OL that featured former Pro Bowlers at tackle and current Pro Bowlers at guard. He also averaged over 1.75 yards more per attempt than Fitzpatrick, so while Brady only had 42 more attempts, he threw for over 1,400 more yards. The Pats OL had to maintain protection a lot longer on those pass routes.

In 2012, Fitzpatrick has only been sacked once, and hit only 8 times. But the Bills have also changed their game plan. He's 27th in pass attempts after having the 6th-most attempts in 2011. He's thrown less than all the rookie starters except for Russell Wilson. He's done better with the fewer opportunities, and the Bills OL does look improved from last season, but they've also played the Jets (who have only 3 sacks so far, good for 30th in the league), the Chiefs WITHOUT Tamba Hali, and the Browns, who they beat with an extremely short passing game (averaged under 6 yards per attempt). To put that into perspective, only two teams allow fewer yards per attempt.

The Bills were precise enough to win, but it doesn't mean their OL is amazing. They are relying on the run and the short passing game. Whether that's due to their receivers, their lack of trust in Fitzpatrick, the inexperience at OL, or a combination of those things, it's clear we're not comparing apples to apples here, and I'm certainly not preparing to vote for the Bills OL for the Pro Bowl just yet...

It's not just sacks, they've been running all over teams. To have a good running game, the o-line has to be good. They make the holes. Hell they even made Choice look pretty decent last game. And btw, Fitz hasn't been sacked yet this season. He has one in the stat book because of BS call the replacement refs made when he passed the ball and it slipped out of his hands. No Browns' player touched it and they called it a fumble.

 

[Ring 6]

Again, they allowed the least amount of sacks last season and looked good doing it. They were called a fluke then too. You can't say they havnt faced a good front 7.

Of course I can, because they haven't

 

[patsfan-1982]

i think the pats D line will have a harder time tackleing Ryan Fitzpatrick then they will beating the bills OL he is kind of a mobile QB who can throw on the move

 

[convertedpatsfan]

It's not just sacks, they've been running all over teams. To have a good running game, the o-line has to be good. They make the holes. Hell they even made Choice look pretty decent last game. And btw, Fitz hasn't been sacked yet this season. He has one in the stat book because of BS call the replacement refs made when he passed the ball and it slipped out of his hands. No Browns' player touched it and they called it a fumble.

The Bills finished in the top 5 in YPC last season too when they gave up all those hits to Fitzpatrick. Didn't mean they were a top OL last season. This season, they're #1. #2 and #3 have both given up double-digit sacks (KC, San Fran), so one doesn't guarantee the other.

The Bills OL has done a good job in both pass protection and run protection so far, but I'm not convinced it is based on their superior talent on the OL. They've changed their game plan to reduce the number of throws for Fitzpatrick and kept it to a very short passing game to the point that Ryan Tannehill is throwing for more yards per game. Kudos to them for beating some really weak teams but let's not break out the Pro Bowl votes just yet.

 

[Rob0729]

It's not just sacks, they've been running all over teams. To have a good running game, the o-line has to be good. They make the holes. Hell they even made Choice look pretty decent last game. And btw, Fitz hasn't been sacked yet this season. He has one in the stat book because of BS call the replacement refs made when he passed the ball and it slipped out of his hands. No Browns' player touched it and they called it a fumble.

That's a little misleading too. The Jets, Cleveland, and KC all have bad run defenses. The Jets are particularly bad run defense (if they didn't face the Steelers who have absolutely no running game, they would have the worst run defense in the league statistically).

The Pats are the best run defense that the Bills have faced this season thus far. The Pats were dominant on run defense for most of 2 1/2 games. What killed them in the second half vs. the Ravens was the Ravens had the receiving weapons to spread the Pats out and take away the center of the field a bit (along with some bad tackling by the Pats). I don't think the Bills have the receiving weapons to do that because beyond Johnson and Chandler, they don't have much.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Dear Bills OL fans,

Would like to remind you to not start sucking each other's...

 

[mgteich]

............

while our ol is struggling to keep starters in the lineup,the bills ol has only allowed 1 sack in 3 games on fitzpatrick and fitz has used some of that protection to toss a league high 8 tds (tied with a few other qbs)

i don't know what plans this d will have in terms of pressure,but it's scary to think that last week they couldn't get to a qb who has been sacked a league high 9 times in 4 games,and now this team goes to play a qb who has only been sent to the turf just once in 3 games.

If the pats are going to win this game they need to do something that kc,the jets and cleveland have yet to do......pressure fitzpatrick or it could be tough to win this game.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Can you please make a post like this praising Denver's OL so you can jinx them to hell for next week's game? LOL

While our OL is struggling to keep starters in the lineup,the Bills OL has only allowed 1 sack in 3 games on Fitzpatrick and Fitz has used some of that protection to toss a league high 8 TDs (tied with a few other QBs)

I don't know what plans this D will have in terms of pressure,but it's scary to think that last week they couldn't get to a QB who has been sacked a league high 9 times in 4 games,and now this team goes to play a QB who has only been sent to the turf just once in 3 games.

If the Pats are going to win this game they need to do something that KC,the Jets and Cleveland have yet to do......pressure Fitzpatrick or it could be tough to win this game.