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Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets: Three Keys to the Game

By DJ Eberle

Nov 12, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA;The New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills line up in the second half at MetLife Stadium. The Bills defeated the Jets 22-17 Mandatory Credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA;The New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills line up in the second half at MetLife Stadium. The Bills defeated the Jets 22-17 Mandatory Credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 11, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25) carries during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens won 13-7. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 11, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25) carries during the third quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens won 13-7. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

Run the Ball

Last week I noted that the Bills had to feed LeSean McCoy the football. And while they did that, for the most part, offensive coordinator Greg Roman didn’t get McCoy the ball in creative ways.

By game’s end, McCoy got 20 touches but was only able to muster up 70 yards of offense. Now, while 20 touches isn’t terrible, ideally he should get more. The star running back wasn’t used correctly.

McCoy wasn’t often given the ball in space and the offense became predictable, allowing the Ravens to key in on him and take him out of the game. He was often forced to make cutbacks that weren’t there because the offensive line didn’t give him enough running lanes. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus, none of Buffalo’s six offensive linemen that saw serious playing time graded out above a score of 76.1, which was Jordan Mills score.

Thursday night has to be different.

Buffalo needs to run the ball more than 24 times if they want to be successful. And it’s not just McCoy either. Tyrod Taylor needs to carry the ball, too. For a guy who was so successful as a runner last year, the fact that Taylor carried the ball just five times, and not often on a designed run, is a bit surprising. Not to mention, Taylor only kept the ball once on a designed run, according to Pro Football Focus.

Taylor’s running ability will open up the offense for the Bills and will allow McCoy to get more chunks of yards at a time. McCoy’s longest run Sunday was 16 yards, and he has much more in the tank than that.

With fullback Jerome Felton back into the fold, expect the Bills to gain more than 65 yards on the ground.

Next: Better Offensive Line Play

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