Actually, I see McMichael as the possible 'offensive key' to todays' game. Although Buffalo has different personnel, Randy was left wide open so many times against the Bills last year. Lucas missed Randy countless times when he had no one within ten yards of him. One of Clements INTs came when Lucas underthrew a wide open Randy Mac by ten to fifteen yards.
Anyway, while last year is history, IMHO RM is still the key, for a few reasons:-
>Play action is going to be a major tactic
>Chambers will recieve so much focus (bearing in mind that Thompson isn't scaring anyone)
>Randy seems to have Buffalo's number
>With Chambers probably drawing a lot of coverage, Randy is probably the guy that Jay feels most comfortable with.
Obviously, Derrius Thompson can change the whole perspective of this matchup by taking advantage of the double coverage on Chambers. However, as a tactic to take into the game, Randy Mac will be the offensive focus.
The offensive identity of this team is slowly forming. Two things need to happen initially. For example, why was Dallas so efficient:-
>Irvin had to be doubled
>Teams would have to bring extra players to the line to stop Smith
This would allow:-
>Harper to get free deep
>Novacek to dominate the middle of the field
Ricky has shown that he can succeed even with teams geared to stop him. Chambers now needs to continue to produce with multiple players covering him. The next logical step is for Randy and Derrius to start punishing teams for concentrating on Chris and Randy. Now I know that it basic football 101, but sometimes we do forget the fundamentals.
It make take a few weeks, but I see this offense taking shape. Todays game is arguably the one where Chambers will recieve the most attention so far, and Ricky will be as much in the defenses focus as ever. So lets see whether Randy (and Derrius) can step up and punish the defenses' lack of attention.
