Posted by Chris Brown on November 7, 2013 – 10:17 am

Buffalo hasn’t been a bad red zone offense all season, it’s just been the last three games where they’ve slipped down the league rankings to their current spot of 31st. Goal line execution is part of the problem along with quarterback decision making.

The Bills over their past three games have converted just two of their eight red zone opportunities into touchdowns (25%). That’s what has dragged down their red zone touchdown percentage to its current mark of 42.3%. Here are some of the trouble spots.

Buffalo’s collective passer rating inside the opponent’s 30-yard line ranks 27th in the league (77.7) almost 15 points below the league average. Plugging Thad Lewis and Jeff Tuel into the lineup over the past month has affected the continuity of the pass game. The Bills third down percentage in the red zone has also been subpar as Buffalo ranks 26th with a conversion rate of just under 29 percent (28.6%).

“We’ve left a lot of yardage out there,” said Marrone. “There are some things we’re doing well. There are some situations like the red zone touchdowns—we’ve obviously went back and did some more studying on how other teams have been successful in the red zone. How we’re going to do something different, how we’re going to get over that hump. Because obviously if we’re doing the same things we’re not going to get any different results.”

Still, the Bills yardage gained in the red zone ranks in the middle of the pack. They’re tied for 16th in the league at 2.83 yards per play, which isn’t bad down in the tight quarters of the red zone. Eric Wood is all for making some changes.

“I think we’re going to address our plan down there,” said Wood. “I think guys are going to look at themselves to see who they’ve executed individually down there and just try to fix what we’ve been doing. Whether that’s different schemes, you personally improving. I think it’ll all contribute.”

The Steelers rank 15th in the league in red zone defense allowing touchdowns more than 55 percent of the time (55.6%).

Tags: Doug Marrone Posted in Inside the Bills