Tyrod Taylor looked as comfortable in the passing game as he has all season in New England last Sunday. A big reason why was a new offensive approach devised by OC Anthony Lynn.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
It’s no secret that Tyrod Taylor’s performance the first two weeks of the season were not up to his or anyone’s standards on Buffalo’s offensive staff. In the wake of the change made at offensive coordinator however, the Bills quarterback has taken on a new approach in operating the offense. It has provided Taylor with a sense of comfort as he makes split second decisions on game day.
Heading into Sunday’s game against the Patriots, Taylor had a new method in determining where he was going with the football. Offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn encouraged Taylor to focus more on the matchups he was surveying pre-snap, rather than the progression he’d have to go through with his reads on the play. The results were noticeably better in Week 4.
“I think that helped a lot,” said Taylor of the new approach. “Our offense as far as the passing game is definitely a matchup based attack and we did a good job of winning those matchups and I was able to give the ball to those guys.”
Taylor completed almost 70 percent of his passes and the offense converted almost half of their third downs (47%) en route to their shutout victory in New England.
“The way the plan was set up there were certain reads that we wanted,” Rex Ryan told Buffalobills.com. “If we got a certain look we were going to get the ball to this guy or that guy. So he was confident. We were getting the ball out. Tyrod did a great job recognizing the coverage, and then he knew exactly where he was going with the ball.”
Taylor looked more decisive for long stretches of the game, and in instances where he wasn’t he bought time with his legs.
“He’s probably too humble to admit it, but the other thing Tyrod can do is improvise and buy time in the pocket, which very few quarterbacks can do,” said Ryan.
This method in no way reduces Taylor’s options it just provides a more direct path to getting the ball to some of Buffalo’s best playmakers in the passing game. Through the first three games of the season Charles Clay had 12 targets and seven receptions. On Sunday he was targeted seven times and had five catches.
“It plays hand in hand with him trying to target Clay in a mismatch,” Ryan said. “He has to get the right coverage before he can do that. So he saw it and he stood back there and made plays.”
That wasn’t the case for Taylor in the two games against the Patriots last season. In those two matchups Clay was targeted just eight times and had four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.
“Matchup wise the two times that we played them last year I didn’t do as well of a job as I would’ve liked to get Clay the ball,” Taylor admitted. “He wins pretty much a lot against safeties and linebackers and the matchups that we had with him on the field, we liked those going into the game. We just tried to move the pocket as well as some of those scramble plays and schemed up some plays to get him the ball.”
Lynn also wanted Taylor to focus on getting more first downs rather than the lower percentage home run shots for touchdowns.
“Last year we went down the field a lot in certain situations and we had success throwing it down the field, but you also have to take the ‘gimmes’ to stay on the field,” said Lynn. “Get the first down and not make the big play because over the long haul that makes a big difference.”
That approach also helped Taylor find Robert Woods more often, whose specialty is working the underneath and intermediate routes.
“It was very good to get Robert going – he definitely stepped up to the plate as we knew he would and he went out there and made some plays,” Taylor said. “I spent a lot of time this offseason in OTAs just working with Robert because of Sammy’s absence. I’m confident in Robert’s ability and he’s confident in the things he can do. [I’m] looking forward to him making more plays and continuing to keep growing the chemistry with him.”
Woods turned in a season-high seven catches for 89 yards and helped the offense move the chains. He was a big reason why Buffalo won the time of possession battle by almost 13 minutes with better than 36 minutes of possession time in the win.
Lynn also scripts the opening set of plays on offense, with the aim of getting Taylor going early.
“You get the quarterback in rhythm early and see what happens for the rest of the game,” he said. “That’s on me. Finding drive starters and the first 15 (plays) and get him going.”
That came to fruition as well as Taylor went 5-6 passing for 51 yards on the opening touchdown drive including the seven-yard touchdown pass to LeSean McCoy.
“I definitely felt confident with our approach and game plan going into this game,” said Taylor. “I think we had the right plan as far as matchups and getting guys the football. I think the guys did a good job of winning their matchups and it made my job easier. As far as me being in control it was a collective thing. The offensive line blocked their butts off and the receivers did a good job of creating pass plays for me to be able to go out there and make throws.”