Bills’ No-Huddle Terrorizing the NFL Defenses

As NFL resumes go, Ted Marchibroda’s is fairly typical -- a few special seasons mixed with a lot of time spent just trying to keep his head above water with a variety of mediocre teams. This is the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator’s 30th season in the league, and while he always has been well-respected as a teacher of the passing game, there was nothing to suggest Marchibroda was anything other than an orthodox thinker until last season.

An idea that had been rattling around in Marchibroda’s brain for some time suddenly came to fruition in the form of the Bills’ no-huddle offense. In the interest of historical accuracy, Cincinnati head coach Sam Wyche gets credit for being the first to use a no-huddle attack as part of his regular offense, but Marchibroda has developed the concept the way Werner von Braun developed the rocket.

In the 10 games since the no-huddle effectively became Buffalo’s base offense, the Bills have averaged 30.7 points per game, with an 8-2 record in that period. They became the first team in NFL history to open the season with back-to-back 500-yard games while scoring 87 points and totaling 1,119 yards in victories over Miami and Pittsburgh the past two weeks. The Bills will try to pad their statistics against the Jets Sunday at Giants Stadium.

Marchibroda traces the genesis of his current success to a conversation that took place 30 years ago. “I was driving to work with Bill McPeak and Abe Gibron, and somebody said, ‘One day, all the plays will be called at the line of scrimmage; there won’t be a huddle,”’ Marchibroda recalled Thursday from Buffalo. “It all came together after 30 years. All the pieces of the puzzle fit.

“It’s a simple, sound, basic offense. It’s simple to call at the line of scrimmage. The verbiage is minimal. That’s one reason for our success. The defense doesn’t have much time to make its calls.

“We’ve had a good run the last 10 games. We’re not going to score 40 points every game, but so far, it’s been a success.”

The Bills dabbled with the no-huddle offense throughout 1989 and most of last season before making a stong commitment to it in a 30-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 2. The only way to slow it down is to keep the ball away, as the New York Giants did for more than 40 mmnutes of their 20-19 triumph in Super Bowl XXV. Even then, the Bills had a shot to win on a last-second field-goal attempt.

“The no-huddle was in its infancy last season,” Marchibroda said. “We had a limited number of plays. Certainly, it was enough to win, but it wasn’t the whole offense. This year, we expanded so that almost all of our plays can be run out of the no-huddle.”

A year ago, the Bills ran the no-huddle with basically the same personnel out of one primary formation. Now, they change personnel and run it out of three or four different formations. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who had the top-ranked defense in the NFL last season, saw the full complement of plays and personnel in a 52-34 loss.

It got to the point where Jim Kelly was altering the pass routes of third wide receiver Don Beebe at the line of scrimmage just for the sake of variety. Beebe caught four of Kelly’s six touchdown passes.

“I tried to think of something else because I ran every play two or three times,” Kelly said. “You don’t want to run the same thing over and over so (opposing defenses) catch on. It’s a matter of trying to stay one step ahead. ... Each year, we take it one step further. If I was a spectator, I’d enjoy watching us, too.”

Both Kelly and backup quarterback Frank Reich are allowed to contribute to the game plan and make adjustments as they go along in a game. “Our quarterbacks are free to express themselves,” Marchibroda said. “Jim and Frank talk a lot of football. I think Frank helps Jim even on the sidelines. We’re all in it.”

Beebe’s emergence as the slot receiver against the Steelers adds another layer of terror to the Bills’ attack. Kelly often found him in single coverage because the Steelers were concentrating on stopping wideouts Andre Reed and James Lofton and running back Thurman Thomas. Tight end Keith McKeller also is a threat.

“On my first two touchdowns, Jim told me to run a different route from the one called as we were going to the line,” Beebe said. “He knew the defense, saw the cornerback and thought I could beat him. It’s nice to have a quarterback with the versatility to do that. There was no panic. We were all in a relaxed mode.”

That last thought is a scary one for the rest of the league. Panic is the operative emotion for defenders faced with the job of stopping the no-huddle. The Bills have grown comfortable and confident in what Marchibroda visualized 30 years ago as the NFL offense of the future. And the future is now.