Archives for December 30, 2008

‘It is, and what’s worse is there really isn’t anything you can truly look at and say, ‘Yes, this is going to be better.’ The defense improved this year, so did the offense, and special teams were pretty much the same, which is to say good. And what did it get them? Nothing. In fact, they fell two spots in the standings all the way to dead last in the AFC East.’

‘”A team always needs to keep improving and trying to find the right pieces,” linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. “I think we’re pretty good with the players we have already. But we can be better.”‘

‘Coaching: D-minus — The Bills coaching staff has been criticized often this year for its game-management weaknesses, and there was another classic blunder at the end of the first half. With no timeouts and 22 seconds left, the Bills had a third-and-5 at the Pats 12. A run to Fred Jackson was called, and the thinking was he’d get the first down, the Bills would spike the ball to stop the clock and then kick a field goal. If he didn’t get the first down, coach Dick Jauron though he’d have enough time to run the field-goal unit out. It backfired when the Patriots got away with stalling and the Bills never even got lined up, costing themselves three points. The run was horrible because first down or not, it was cutting it close. Turk Schonert’s choice of outside passes on a windy day was also lame.’

‘WR Lee Evans signed a rich new contract during the season, but despite the fact that he crawled past the 1,000-yard barrier against New England and finished with 1,017, it was not a great year for the Bills’ primary receiver. He finished with 63 catches and just three TDs and in too many games was taken out of the plan by strong defensive strategies. “I guess on an individual level, it’s something to be proud of and a lot of accolades go to my teammates,” Evans said of his second 1,000-yard season in five years in the league. “Trent (Edwards) and the offensive line and all of my fellow receivers. It’s not just me — it’s a representation of the whole offense.”‘

‘But when it was over on Sunday afternoon, it was still SOB … Same Old Bills.’

‘The reality is, the running play reaffirms the major criticism of Jauron, that he’s consistently guilty of egregious game-day decisions.’

‘”I think the players gave us all they had,” he said. “I respect this group of guys immensely. They’ve worked hard, they’ve put up with me all year and they fought through a lot of adversity.’

‘Sunday’s games locked in the 2009 opponents for NFL teams. Next year, at home, the Bills will host the division foe Pats, Jets and Dolphins plus the Texans, Colts, Saints, Buccaneers and Browns(?) Road games will be at the AFC East plus Jacksonville, Tennessee, Atlanta, Carolina and Kansas City.’

‘"In our day and age of instant gratification, making switches and pulling pieces apart, I don’t know if that’s the best way to do it all the time," Preston said, as he and his teammates met for the final time and cleaned out their lockers a day after a season-ending 13-0 loss to New England. "If you keep jumping pieces and hoping that it’s just going to stick, I don’t know. For coach Jauron and his staff, and the work that we put in, I really think it’s close."’

‘Again, the feeling by many that firing the head coach is “the answer”, is over simplistic to the max. There are too many other questions as well. To me, the Bills TOP priority in the off-season, is to beef up their pass rush. Yes, having Aaron Schobel healthy is a given, but even that isn’t nearly enough to make the difference needed to make the Bills a playoff-contending defense. Whether through free agency, or the draft, or both, the Bills need an outside linebacker with pass rushing skills as well as a defensive end opposite Schobel.’