Buffalo Bills – 2014: 4-3-0 – Next: Oct 26 at Jets

[Myllz]

Next couple weeks are going to be tough without Jackson, regardless of who the opponent is. With no Jackson and Spiller, teams are going to gang-rush the QB and force him to beat them. Neither Orton or Manuel are capable of doing that. Unless the defense comes up with some ridiculous performances, they may not win again until Fred gets back.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Next couple weeks are going to be tough without Jackson, regardless of who the opponent is. With no Jackson and Spiller, teams are going to gang-rush the QB and force him to beat them. Neither Orton or Manuel are capable of doing that. Unless the defense comes up with some ridiculous performances, they may not win again until Fred gets back.

With the way the OL is blocking, no RB is going to have great success. Bryce Brown and Boobie Dixon will do pretty well. The Bills will be forced to put more emphasis on the passing game given the ineffectiveness of the OL in the run game.

@RapSheet

Not all injury news is bad for #Bills: worst-case for RB Fred Jackson (groin) is to miss 4 weeks, I’m told. He has his eyes on 11/6 vs KC

 

[Myllz]

With the way the OL is blocking, no RB is going to have great success. Bryce Brown and Boobie Dixon will do pretty well. The Bills will be forced to put more emphasis on the passing game given the ineffectiveness of the OL in the run game.

That's the point. Fred is good at making something out of nothing, so he was capable of gaining yards even if the blocking was sub-par. Dixon and Bryce aren't going to be doing that. There's also a downgrade in their blocking, which is already terrible.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

That's the point. Fred is good at making something out of nothing, so he was capable of gaining yards even if the blocking was sub-par. Dixon and Bryce aren't going to be doing that. There's also a downgrade in their blocking, which is already terrible.

Dixon seems to be decent at pass pro and is a good enough runner. You might be surprised at how well Bryce Brown plays. We'll see starting next Sunday against the stout NYJ DL.

 

[Takeo]

Dixon seems to be decent at pass pro and is a good enough runner. You might be surprised at how well Bryce Brown plays. We'll see starting next Sunday against the stout NYJ DL.

That's going to be a really tough game to win. Jets are due for a win and coming off extra rest. First game with Percy Harvin. And Bills have dropped 5 of 6 @Jets as it is.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

That's going to be a really tough game to win. Jets are due for a win and coming off extra rest. First game with Percy Harvin. And Bills have dropped 5 of 6 @Jets as it is.

Certainly will not be easy. I expect Ryan to have the Jets ready to play. Can't say the same thing with any confidence with regard to Marrone and the Bills' staff.

 

[Husko]

That's the point. Fred is good at making something out of nothing, so he was capable of gaining yards even if the blocking was sub-par. Dixon and Bryce aren't going to be doing that. There's also a downgrade in their blocking, which is already terrible.

Dixon has done well with his limited reps. He, like Jackson, is perfectly capable of putting his head down and turning a 2-3 yard run into a 4-6 yard run by moving the pile. I'm confident he'll keep playing well. Brown's a wildcard.

 

[Husko]

Spiller is out for the season (according to Mike Florio)

Last time we've seen Spiller as a Bill?

The one silver lining of him not being great the last season and a half is he's not going to cash in big, especially with him ending this season on IR. Re-signing him to a one year show us what you've got deal wouldn't be a bad move.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

The one silver lining of him not being great the last season and a half is he's not going to cash in big, especially with him ending this season on IR. Re-signing him to a one year show us what you've got deal wouldn't be a bad move.

IIRC, Spiller has a player option for a 5th year on his rookie deal. I wonder if he opts in given his pending trip to IR and relatively poor performance this season.

 

[Husko]

IIRC, Spiller has a player option for a 5th year on his rookie deal. I wonder if he opts in given his pending trip to IR and relatively poor performance this season.

Great memory!

From rotoworld:

8/6/2010: Signed a six-year, $39.3 million contract. The deal contains $20.8 million guaranteed. Another $12.5 million is available through incentives, roughly $12 million of which are available in the final year. Spiller is eligible for an annual $250,000 workout bonus throughout the contract's life. 2014: $1,748,750, 2015: $2,196,663 (Player Option), 2016: Free Agent

I'm not sure. I think he could probably get more than $2 million more if the cards fell right for him as a UFA. Or, if things work out wrong, he could end up taking backup money. He may be best served to just opt in and prove he can do it where he knows he'll have a shot at starting.

EDIT: Also, now that I see the incentives part, which is underlined, opting in might be his best best to really make some money.

 

[Paxon]

IIRC, Spiller has a player option for a 5th year on his rookie deal. I wonder if he opts in given his pending trip to IR and relatively poor performance this season.

I wouldn't be surprised one bit. It'd give him another season to try and build some value up. I doubt he can demand the kind of deal he wants this offseason, not with the lack of production and injuries. I'm sure he and teams give Spiller some credit for playing on a bad team but that doesn't explain away all his issues.

That's going to be a really tough game to win. Jets are due for a win and coming off extra rest. First game with Percy Harvin. And Bills have dropped 5 of 6 @Jets as it is.

It's hard to imagine our offense having success against the Jets at this point but I think both teams will be in it late.

 

[Myllz]

Dixon has done well with his limited reps. He, like Jackson, is perfectly capable of putting his head down and turning a 2-3 yard run into a 4-6 yard run by moving the pile. I'm confident he'll keep playing well. Brown's a wildcard.

The unlimited optimism some of you have is mind-boggling.

 

[Husko]

The unlimited optimism some of you have is mind-boggling.

Unlimited optimism because I think it's possible that a running back who's averaging about 3.75 yards per carry while getting around 10 runs a game can do the same when it increases to 15? Alright dude. Dixon's a big back, he'll get his small chunks of yards per carry without having any big ones. It's what he does.

If you think I'm an optimist when it comes to the Bills you really don't know me at all

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Ugh I really don't want Spiller back.

 

[Husko]

Ugh I really don't want Spiller back.

Say what you want about his lack of productivity, but our offense needs home run hitters. For a long while we didn't have any. Then he was our only one. Then we got Sammy. I'd love to see what Spiller could do behind a competent oline with a big play receiver like SW getting all the attention.

Spiller for one year on an incentive based deal, splitting reps with other backs, behind a (hopefully) revamped oline? I'll take it

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Wow they caught a break on Jackson. If you count it happening today with a bye week in he gets about 3 weeks of rest for the 3-4 week deal. You want him against KC and the rest of the year. Missing the Jets game is fine. That team struggles to score. Will be a low scoring game. The only thing is neither team will likely run well. The screen game may have been huge. Not a big deal the other 2 can do it but I'm not sure how their block skills are. That's one big thing Fred does that I haven't seen the other guys do.

 

[Myllz]

Unlimited optimism because I think it's possible that a running back who's averaging about 3.75 yards per carry while getting around 10 runs a game can do the same when it increases to 15? Alright dude. Dixon's a big back, he'll get his small chunks of yards per carry without having any big ones. It's what he does.

If you think I'm an optimist when it comes to the Bills you really don't know me at all

3.75 per carry isn't doing well. It's below average for a starting back. Fred was averaging 4.4. Fred was also averaging 5 receptions per game, Dixon isn't going to pick those up. Between CJ and Fred they had almost 45 receptions so far this year. That's a whole lot of slack to pick up, and the Bills were BARELY putting up enough offense with them. Hell, Dixon was completely winded even in his limited time as a starter today.

 

[jBuds]

Wow they caught a break on Jackson. If you count it happening today with a bye week in he gets about 3 weeks of rest for the 3-4 week deal. You want him against KC and the rest of the year. Missing the Jets game is fine. That team struggles to score. Will be a low scoring game. The only thing is neither team will likely run well. The screen game may have been huge. Not a big deal the other 2 can do it but I'm not sure how their block skills are. That's one big thing Fred does that I haven't seen the other guys do.

Johnson and Ivory both ran well against New England. I wouldn't look past them

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Johnson and Ivory both ran well against New England. I wouldn't look past them

True but NE isn't a great D. Geno had a good game. They didn't punt much and not at all the first half.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Say what you want about his lack of productivity, but our offense needs home run hitters. For a long while we didn't have any. Then he was our only one. Then we got Sammy. I'd love to see what Spiller could do behind a competent oline with a big play receiver like SW getting all the attention.

Spiller for one year on an incentive based deal, splitting reps with other backs, behind a (hopefully) revamped oline? I'll take it

Soiller has an option so no deal would need to be signed. But its his option to take. Brown has a home run hitter capability but a fumbling problem. Spiller is heading toward that age where he won't be able to do what he used to. He's close to the lifespan of a number 1 back in this league. He would really need an even workload. I guess by committee isn't bad but I wouldn't resign him a new deal either. He hasn't done much lately. Could be Moron and his coaching staff though too. Was he benched against NE after that fumble?

 

[Shoey]

Next couple weeks are going to be tough without Jackson, regardless of who the opponent is. With no Jackson and Spiller, teams are going to gang-rush the QB and force him to beat them. Neither Orton or Manuel are capable of doing that. Unless the defense comes up with some ridiculous performances, they may not win again until Fred gets back.

I think Bryce Brown will be just as effective as Spiller and Jackson have been this season. He's a running back in the NFL, after all.

 

[BowieSabresFan]

I think Bryce Brown will be just as effective as Spiller and Jackson have been this season. He's a running back in the NFL, after all.

Brown is behind on the depth chart for a reason, and Jackson's been pretty good this year. Jackson also blocks very well.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

@buffalobills

.@Fred22Jackson: Injury is typically 4 weeks, "but I like to think of myself as someone who can come back faster than typical" #inFREDible

.@Fred22Jackson: No surgery required to repair groin injury. Focus now turns to rehab.

.@Fred22Jackson: Watching the rest of the game "was the first thing I told them I had to do" when carted into the locker room.

.@Fred22Jackson on @CJSPILLER: "I saw him as soon as he came in. I gave him a big hug and let him know I was with him"

.@Fred22Jackson's reaction to the end of the #Bills game, while en route to an MRI: "My teammates are amazing"

.@Fred22Jackson on @BryceBrown_34: "He's an every-down back. He can do it all. We won't miss a beat"

 

[Zip15]

Brown is behind on the depth chart for a reason, and Jackson's been pretty good this year. Jackson also blocks very well.

Probably ball security. I'm a Giants fan, and I was impressed with Brown in limited action with the Eagles. If he's worked on his fumbleitis, he can be as good as any of the other guys in Buffalo's RB stable.

 

[BowieSabresFan]

Probably ball security. I'm a Giants fan, and I was impressed with Brown in limited action with the Eagles. If he's worked on his fumbleitis, he can be as good as any of the other guys in Buffalo's RB stable.

*nods* Let's hope so.