Buffalo Bills Over/Under: 3,250 team passing yards
By Ryan Brennan
In this edition of Over/Under, BuffaLowDown takes a look at how many yards the Buffalo Bills gained through the air last season.
Last season, the Buffalo Bills totaled 3,250 passing yards on the season — 3,023 of those yards coming from Tyrod Taylor. With 46 sacks (4th highest in the league) and 214 yards lost from those sacks, Buffalo ended with 3,036 passing yards in total.
That ranked the Bills 30th in the league.
Here’s a quick look at who contributed to that number:
Tyrod Taylor: 3,023 yards
EJ Manuel: 131 yards
Cardale Jones: 96 yards
The question stands, will the 2017 Buffalo Bills surpass last year’s disappointment of just 3,250 yards through the air? In my opinion, yes.
Believe it or not, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about the Bills’ passing attack this season. Not only is the new offense a better fit for pretty much everyone involved, but the few question marks on that side of the ball will turn out to be the difference makers this season.
Truth is, 3,250 yards passing is a terrible number. Granted, the Bills are a run-first team that finished first in the league the past two seasons. Either way, more is expected from the quarterback in terms of yards gained.
In order to surpass that disappointing number this season, a few things will need to happen:
Healthy
Last season, injuries to key players like Cordy Glenn, Eric Wood, Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin severely limited Buffalo’s passing attack. The first three — Glenn, Wood, Watkins — will be returning to the team and will absolutely NEED to remain healthy all season long. As for the other two — Woods, Goodwin — they are off to different teams in 2017, which opens the door for the next key.
Zay Jones/Andre Holmes
Zay Jones and Andre Holmes will be replacing Woods and Goodwin this season. Keeping them healthy will be important, but they will also need to prove that they can deliver as hot targets for Tyrod Taylor. Coaches have been impressed by Holmes and there’s a lot of hope in Zay Jones, so everything seems to be on the right track.
WR Depth
When the wide receiver corps was suffering from injuries, the Buffalo Bills didn’t have anyone to turn to for production. Ideally, Watkins, Jones and Holmes remain healthy all season long. Preparing for the worst, though, it’s important to have playmakers behind those three. That’s where players like Philly Brown, Rod Streater, Dezmin Lewis, Daikiel Shorts and others will come in. They will all be competing for backup roles this training camp, so keep a watch out.
Charles Clay
Clay will be important to the passing game in 2017. Tight ends are very important in Rick Dennison’s offenses. Most of the time, tight ends excel in his style of offense and with a player like Charles Clay, that should mean big things from him this season. Tyrod Taylor needs to find a way to get him involved to better open up the field for the other receivers. Keeping Clay healthy will also be important.
QB Consistency
My final key to beating that 3,250-yard number turns to the quarterback — Tyrod Taylor. Given all the factors that went into that low number, a quarterback is still expected to figure it out and get the job done. It’s what we see from Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, etc. It doesn’t matter what talent surrounds them, great quarterbacks will always make them better.
Final Take
With Rick Dennison’s offense being familiar to Tyrod Taylor and everyone on track to having a healthy season, I see no reason why the Buffalo Bills can’t surpass 3,250 yards through the air. I believe Tyrod Taylor can do it alone if all of the keys listed above remain in tact.
To break it down, the Buffalo Bills would need to average 204 yards per game to beat last year’s number. If that doesn’t seem do-able, then I don’t know what will.
Ultimately, I see the team finishing with 3,630 yards — before taking away the yards lost from sacks.
Next: 5 reasons the Buffalo Bills will have a top-10 defense
Do you think the Buffalo Bills will surpass 3,250 yards through the air in 2017? Leave your thoughts below!