Buffalo Bills’ Red-Zone Offense Leaves A Lot To Be Desired

With how effective he was last week in Miami, it seemed like Taylor could overcome the previously established blueprint. “There’s not that enthusiasm on first and second down”. Ryan said the problem can be fixed and it will need to if his team is going to be known for anything other than putting up a fight this season. He came out Sunday vs. the Bills after just one play, but re-entered last in the first quarter and stayed in for the remainder of the game.

On the Giants’ next possession, Manning engineered a 10-play, 76-yard drive which he capped with an 11 yard pass over the middle to Randle.

The offensive line has done a good job of keeping Manning clean. They made them look like one of those vintage 7-9 Dick Jauron squads.

“But the one thing is we got heart, and at least I know we got that and that’ll line it up regardless of the stuff that we take, negative-wise”. The Giants defense did made this day very frustrating for Buffalo. “All the penalties, all the fighting, everything that was going on”.

– The offense wasn’t just to blame for the slow start.

“He’s super-fast and he’s smart-he’s not just making one read and then taking off and running like a lot of diverse quarterbacks do”, Ayers said.

On the positive side the defense did limit the Giants to 3-of-15 on third down, but they gave up 303 yards and 4.2 yards per carry to Jennings and Shane Vereen on 14 carries. The defense has shown “elite” tendencies at times, but sorely lacks the consistency.

But Buffalo’s vaunted defense failed to keep the Bills within striking distance. They’re not missing many tackles, and a big reason is the emphasis on gang-tackling. Without Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy, their offense looked mediocre at best. He and his staff, especially defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, schooled Ryan and his coaches. The Bills managed to overcome that miscue by driving to within field goal range, but kicker Dan Carpenter’s struggles continued as he hooked a 30-yard field goal attempt. The Bills marched the ball down the field and took six minutes off the clock in the third quarter. Getting their first win was no easy task, as they stopped the run and force Kirk Cousins to make key mistakes. The Giants had not missed an extra point since October. 21, 2007, when Lawrence Tynes was wide left on an extra point try vs. the 49ers.

Ryan and a few defenders were anything but apologetic afterward. His longest completion was 13 yards. The Giants didn’t have anyone that could cover Charles Clay, and he took advantage in the second half. A second-year player out of Florida State, he had not done much in his first two games.

The win-loss cycle might continue for a while, with a visit to the Tennessee Titans followed by a home game against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals and a trip to the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, it was apparent very early on that the Bills were not ready to play in this game. That’s the popular storyline, and the media sticks to it. It’s routine to target the quarterback in the blame game.

On the season, the New York Giants average 253.3 yards in passing and 93.3 yards in rushing. In fact, the veteran of 129 National Football League games never has posted two double-digit games in any season. The Bills are still a talented team and have the right pieces. After losing the first seven games in which they deferred, the Giants have won two in a row. But beyond Taylor, the Bills have also succeeded because of strong play by two rookies and two reclamation projects. Johnson’s career falling off a cliff following the 2006 season may have played a factor in the change in strategy.