How Bills can alter their 'everyone eats' mantra to be effective

We heard all summer long, "everyone eats" and through Buffalo's first three games, it worked. The last two weeks, however, the offense has been stuck in neutral.

Ronnie Eastham | 3 Hours Ago

Sep 23, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel (1) runs against the Jacksonville Jaguars / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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A few years ago, many doubted the Kansas City Chiefs without Tyreek Hill. What we underestimated wasn't the ability of Patrick Mahomes, but the elite level of playcalling and offensive design of head coach Andy Reid.

I was watching the Chiefs game last week and realized it's so easy for Mahomes because his receivers always seem wide open, that's play design folks. Seeing players like Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster make impactful plays for the Chiefs can be frustrating when watching the Bills attempt similar feats.

Before this season began, I was on board with what the Buffalo Bills were saying, "Everyone eats" and thought it would work. I also, however, envisioned a passing attack with Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid at its core. I'm all for spreading the ball around, but when I think about everyone eating, I wasn't envisioning Mack Hollins and Marques Valdez-Scantling sitting at the dinner table regularly. Allen has 131 pass attempts, with Shakir and Kincaid receiving 42 of those targets. That's 32 percent of the target share. The problem is that Valdez-Scantling, Hollins, and Curtis Samuel combined for 38 targets.

We've heard for years the Bills staff talk about getting the best 11 on the field. If that is the case, why are Hollins and MVS getting on the field as much as they do, and even more importantly, why are they being targeted so much? "Everyone eats" is fine, as long as we're talking about the best four or five offensive weapons, which includes Shakir, Kincaid, James Cook, Keon Coleman and Dawson Knox. Looking at that group, you would think the Bills' offense should be fine. Yet, in the last two games, the offense has been far from satisfactory. That's largely due to the inclusion of MVS and Hollins in this offense. The coaching staff needs to be better about scheming players open as Coach Reid does in Kansas City.

If the Bills receiving corps continues to struggle to get separation, offensive coordinator Joe Brady needs to find a way to help get them open, making for easy throws for Josh Allen. In short, if you want to get everyone involved in the offense, it simply won't work. There is a reason that Valdez-Scantling and Hollins have been on eight different teams, and it's not because they can play. Here's a crazy stat for you. MVS and Hollins had 618 career targets between them, which has resulted in only 325 receptions.

Recipe to improve Bills passing attack

Oct 6, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates with wide receiver Keon Coleman (0) after a touchdown during the third quarter against the Houston Texans. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

If the Bills want to improve their passing attack, Hollins needs to stay exclusively on special teams and MVS can run an occasional deep route to keep safeties back. Also, allow Curtis Samuel to be a receiver (he's actually a solid receiver), and stop trying to make him Isaiah McKenzie 2.0. Lastly, those vacated targets from Hollins, need to go to Coleman. He's done enough to show that he is more than capable of making plays, it's time to give him more opportunities.

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