BY DAN BEGNOCHE
As we've recently covered, the Buffalo Bills offense has a much bigger arsenal of weapons at its disposal than a year ago, and that includes its highly productive running back corps.
Following a season where the team amassed more than 2,300 combined yards in the running game, Buffalo continued to bolster its ground game with the addition of backs Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown, with the hopes of branching out and turning a one-dimensional attack into a two-dimensional one.
Both have shown the ability to make waves in the passing game, an area the team's top two backs -- Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller -- saw a bit of a drop last season. Despite a nearly equal amount of opportunities, the two averaged around only seven yards per attempt, a decrease from the two years prior.
The second year in coach Nate Hackett's system will be different than the unit's inaugural one, though; it will be much cleaner. At least that's what Spiller thinks.
"You're going to see a more efficient offense," the former Clemson star told Sirius XM NFL Radio. "Obviously, Year one everybody was getting used to it. The new terminology, new coaching staff getting a feel for each other. Year two, now it's time for us to take that next step.
"We can't make the same mistakes we made last year if we want to have a good football team and a good offensive unit. We have to be able to minimize those mistakes, capitalize on each part, because I believe our defense is going to give us a ton of chances to go out there and put up points."
The crux of those mistakes came on third down, a main focal point for the team coming into 2014. After converting on only 34 percent of their chances on offense -- only 29 percent on the ground between three and seven yards out -- the running backs will be working to do their part to keep drives going and help improve productivity in the red zone.
"It's going to come down to us to go out there and do it, and the biggest part is our third downs," Spiller said. "We've got to be able to stay on the field. If we can do that, we can have a scary offense. I know we don't have the glamorous names at a lot of positions, but I think we have a lot of talent where we can be right up there among some of the best offensive units in the NFL."
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