Dick Jauron Must Trust His Coordinators for Buffalo Bills to Succeed

It’s week 15, the Bills lead the Jets 27-24 at the two minute warning.  Buffalo is a short yardage play away from winning their first divisional game of the season. Marshawn Lynch has 127 yards on the day.

The ball is snapped, JP Losman rolls out only to get t-boned by Abram Elam as Shaun Ellis recovers the fumble and scores.

Jets win 31-24.

Bills nation collectively exploded with a string of expletives that would make Red Fox blush.

Coach Dick Jauron would later admit that he overrode the call made by offensive coordinator Turk Schonert and cost them the game. Jauron’s confession did not soften the blow by any means.

In 2009, the Bills staff will look for more consistency in their playbook in order to avoid another year of 7-9 mediocrity.

The play calling starts and ends with Jauron.

For one, he needs to trust Schonert.  At this point most Bills fans would welcome the Marty Schottenheimer approach of a head coach not wearing head phones and leaving his staff to their own devices.

The Bills highest offensive rankings were in the rushing categories, so clearly the passing game is what needs work.

In case you hadn’t heard already, the Bills signed Terrell Owens to a one year deal.

The Bills have lacked a big play threat for years and were 22nd in passing last year; with TO they go from paupers to princes in a flash.

“Owens is a guy who has produced and always gotten into the end zone. There's no doubt about it, we've got to get in the end zone more. We've got to be more explosive. We need guys who threaten people down the field. Guys who can catch it, make people miss, and go a long way,” Schonert recently told Sports Illustrated.

Owens is the active leader in touchdowns and consistently puts up solid yards after catch numbers.  Barring a massive Jauron interference, there’s no way Schonert can’t make the passing game better.

With Lee Evans breaking the sound barrier on the other side of Owens, the Bills would do well to spread defenses out with two and three receiver sets.

Lynch missed time last season but the Bills rushing offense still finished above Minnesota and Adrian Peterson in rushing touchdowns. They ranked anywhere from 11th-14th in all rushing categories.  Not bad, but not great.

The Bills obviously need to stick to the run on third and short like the Jets game, but the TO addition will open the playbook as any defensive coordinator that leaves TO open will be part of the unemployment statistics.

As with any offense, it starts at the line.  Right now the line is a patchwork of rookies and veterans.  Langston Walker now plays left tackle.

Offensive line coach Sean Kugler is in his second year and will no doubt have the spotlight on him.  It will be Kugler’s job to make sure Trent Edwards has enough time to get the ball to his new weapon.

The Bills allowed 18 sacks total last year, a number that simply must improve if they Bills wish to finish above .500.

On the other side of the ball, the Bills enjoyed improvement across the board.

Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell took the Bills from 24th overall to 9th in 3rd down conversions in just one year.  Surprisingly, the Bills finished just behind Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Indianapolis in red zone defense.

The Bills main problem on defense was their lack of takeaways and consistent pass rushing, but they will look to first round pick DE Aaron Maybin for the latter.

Since there is no play call for interceptions, Fewell’s playbook should remain similar to 2008.  The Bills defense is a few lucky bounces away from becoming a top unit.

The Bills offense will drive the car that is their '09 season.  If Jauron takes the Ronald Reagan delegation approach and allows his staff to breathe, then there is no reason they can’t be on the road to the playoffs.