Buffalo Bills Over/Under: 17 total passing touchdowns
By Ryan Brennan
The Buffalo Bills only scored 17 touchdowns through the air in 2016 and will no doubt have to improve that number in 2017.
If it’s the playoffs the Buffalo Bills hope to reach in 2017, they need to understand that 17 passing touchdowns isn’t going to get them there. It’s as simple as that.
When looking at total touchdowns last year, the Bills ranked very well tied for 6th on the list at 49 touchdowns. Of course, 29 of those came on the ground — which led the league last season. Unfortunately, the passing game didn’t see the same kind of success and the 17 touchdowns ranked 27th in the league.
The Bills also added 3 defensive touchdowns, which ranked tied for 8th in the league.
My point is, with a better passing attack, the Buffalo Bills would’ve had a top-three scoring offense and could’ve competed with the Atlanta Falcons, who had the most complete scoring offense in the league (20 rushing TD, 38 passing TD, 5 defensive TD). They led the league in total touchdowns by 8.
Several things are going to need to happen if the Bills are going to improve on their passing touchdown total last season. Let’s take a look.
Consistency
Tyrod Taylor had a tough time staying consistent last season. He showed glimpses of what is needed to be a franchise quarterback, but it just wasn’t shown often enough. He had 5 games where he failed to score a passing touchdown and included 5 more where he only scored one.
That left only 5 games where he had multiple touchdowns in a game and they came in Week 2, 5 6, 13 and 15.
Deep Ball
This will be a lot easier with Sammy Watkins on the field. Tyrod Taylor has one of the sweetest deep balls in the NFL and it will be important that the team utilizes that skill in 2017. When you add in players like Philly Brown and Jeremy Butler, the Buffalo Bills should have no problem finding ways to take shots down the field.
All T-Mobile will have to do is hit his target.
Red Zone
The red zone is where the Buffalo Bills struggled last season. Tyrod Taylor had just 11 passing touchdowns inside the 20, which ranked tied for 23rd — with Cam Newton, Brock Osweiler, Alex Smith and Ryan Tannehill. 7 of those touchdowns came inside the 10.
That’s a big chunk of his touchdown total from the season, meaning not much was done inside or outside the red zone. Both those areas will need improvement and players like Andre Holmes, Zay Jones, Patrick DiMarco and Charles Clay will help make it happen.
Trust the WR
Tyrod Taylor had a tough time trusting any of his wide receivers last season. If he can give them opportunities to make plays and trust that they’ll make it, this offense will see better results eventually. It’s hard to build chemistry with your teammates when you aren’t trusting them every play.
With a healthy group and much more experienced receivers, it should make things easier for T-Mobile on the field.
Find Balance
One thing the Buffalo Bills lacked last season was balance between the run-game and pass-game. The run-game was prospering, but the passing game was holding the team back from greatness. If the Bills can let the run-game control the passing game, results will show.
Those constant jabs in boxing help keep your opponent honest, while the uppercuts are what do the most damage. Let the run-game ware out the defense and then catch them slipping with the passing game.
Related Story: 5 players that will surprise everyone in 2017
Final Take
I think improving on 17 total passing touchdowns next season will be a breeze for Tyrod Taylor and company. That number is way too low for a quarterback and for one that is fighting for a job beyond the 2017 season, it should be declared as a state of emergency — get more passing touchdowns!
Think about it, there’s 16 games in a season — getting one touchdown per game will almost get you there and that’s not asking for much. Ideally — and in my opinion — Tyrod Taylor should have no problem getting at least 22 touchdowns through the air this season.
If everyone stays healthy, I can see Sammy Watkins finishing with 11 touchdowns, Zay Jones finishing with 5 touchdowns and Charles Clay finishing with 5 touchdowns. That’s a total of 21 right there, not including all the other players that will contribute.
It’s time for Tyrod Taylor to help his receivers find the endzone in 2017.
Make sure you check out the rest of the ‘Over/Under‘ series, brought to you by BuffaLowDown:
Over/Under: 3,250 passing yards
Over/Under: 29 rushing touchdowns
Over/Under: 12 team interceptions
Next: Analyzing the first four games of the 2017 season
Do you think the Buffalo Bills will improve on their 17 passing touchdowns total from 2016? Leave your thoughts below!