Posted by Chris Brown on October 13, 2014 – 4:56 pm

By no means is it the only part of their game they’re looking to improve, but Buffalo’s ground game has found yards hard to come by the last three weeks. That’s why head coach Doug Marrone and his staff are going to do an in depth analysis as to just what is slowing down the identity of their offense.

“The major concern which was addressed in the team meeting, we talked about the run game. This is the third week in a row now, this isn’t the first time,” said Marrone in reference to the lack of production in the run game. “What happens is you start focusing and trying to make plays that aren’t there and that’s what we can’t do, from C.J. to Fred to (Boobie) Dixon. Up front, we’ve got to do a better job of finishing, getting on those players, not having a lot of color show where it’s showing. And that means we’ve got to be quicker going to the second level and things like that. Those things are correctable but we’ve got to put the work in to correct it.”

As Fred Jackson sees it, the miscues with turnovers and penalties kept them from running more, but he didn’t argue that their production was subpar.

“We’ve got to be better than that to win games and beat good teams,” said Jackson. “When you’re eliminating possessions that you have with turnovers and a lot of penalties and putting yourself behind the sticks that’s going to deter from what you can do in the run game. That’s something that we’ve got to get better at as an offensive unit. We can’t have penalties and fumble the ball and throw interceptions. It’s on us as an offense collectively and look at ourselves and be harsh critics and figure out what we have to get better at doing.”

Buffalo’s run game was ranked sixth in the league after Week 2 in rushing. This week on the heels of their loss to New England they’re ranked 22nd, with their average going from 153 yards per game to 101.

Marrone says it will be a group effort to get back to their typical level of production.

“It’s not one individual. It’s easy when it’s one individual, you just pull one out and put somebody else in,” He said. “But it’s up front, it’s hitting the holes, it’s believing and trusting in the scheme, the perimeter. We’ve got to go back and get this thing again. You put so much emphasis on the other stuff, and you improve, and then it goes down. That’s what you can’t have. That’s what happens when you become inconsistent.

“Really we just have to go back, get ourselves on track and work hard from me to the coaches to the players. That’s really what I spoke to them about today in the team meeting.”

Tags: Doug Marrone Posted in Inside the Bills