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<\/a><\/p>\nI crossed out the defense since we\u2019re focusing on the offense here, but it\u2019s legible still if you\u2019re curious. On offense, while the Bills were the second-highest yards-per-play rushing the ball this season, that\u2019s not true in all areas of the field.<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t call anyone out by name (and I\u2019ve thought the same thing myself at times), but I\u2019ve seen it questioned why the Bills like running it up the middle so often. First, I want to point out that the \u201cso often\u201d perception is indeed accurate. The Bills have run 140 runs up the middle, nearly twice as many times as any other play direction.<\/p>\n
As to the \u201cwhy\u201d part of the question, it\u2019s because no one does it better. I want to put things into perspective on how preposterously high 5.35 yards per attempt is against NFL defenses. From one side of the coin, it\u2019s almost exactly one yard higher than the league\u2019s overall average yards per carry. It\u2019s also not a far cry from 5.6 yards per play, which is what the New York Jets averaged on PASSING attempts. That\u2019s right. Running the ball straight up the gut, Buffalo\u2019s rushing offense is within striking distance of the league\u2019s worst passing attack. Best to worst might not sound like it\u2019s that impressive, but remember we call it a passing league for a reason.<\/p>\n
How did James Cook III do against the Jaguars? Let\u2019s find out.<\/p>\n
Yikes! The first reaction you have is likely the lack of five-plus-yard carries. The next is that I look like I\u2019m full of crap, as the Bills still clearly tried running the ball up the middle a lot. That\u2019s true, but consider these facts about the run game.<\/p>\n The Bills asked James Cook to run up the middle six times in the first half. That dropped to four in the second half, and two of those were the first drive after halftime. It makes sense to start the game trying to work with an obvious strength for your team. It might not be as quickly as it could have been, but Buffalo adjusted when it wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n Further, Cook carried the ball in all directions twice as often in the first half compared to the second (10 rushes compared to five). The Bills, a run-first team that has dominated in the middle of the formation, mostly abandoned these things against a Jaguars team that was well prepared for it.<\/p>\n Against their usual tendencies, Buffalo\u2019s offense passed the ball 35 times (and one sack) compared to 26 rushing attempts. I bring this up because the drop in rushing attempts in the second half was not a result of having fewer plays. As a matter of fact, they had 34 plays in the second half, four more than the first. The Bills deliberately had a more pass-oriented offense, and in the running game they moved away from what they typically do better than anyone else.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a quick look at the passing game too.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n