BiggieScooby

Since the Eagles have not directly played a team we’ve yet to face I was left using a common opponent. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Bengals 13-8 in Cincinnati two weeks ago then made camp in nearby Youngstown, Ohio in preparation for their game in Philadelphia. Last Sunday in the 49ers overcame a 23-3 3rd Quarter deficit to pull off a stunning 24-23 come-from-behind victory. The 49ers were greatly assisted by two 2nd half field goal misses by Eagles kicker Alex Henery. The key to the 49ers victory was 3 second half touchdown drives of 80, 77 & 77 yards. The Eagles melted down in the second half on defense giving up big pass plays of the first 2 drives, and were unable to stop the run on the last drive, and were unable to stop the run as the 49ers were able to run-out-the clock. Offensively the Eagles the second half started with a promising field goal drive, but that was followed by a punt, missing consecutive fields, and ended with a Jason Avant fumble. The 49ers rushed 25 times for 164 yards against a suspect Eagles defense that seems to be built for edge rushing, but lack interior force against the rush. Two weeks ago the 49ers hard hitting defense picked off Bengals QB Andy Dalton twice on the Bengals final 2 drives to end any hope for a comeback. The 49ers found out just how hard it is to run on the Bengals rushing 29 times for only 50 yards. They punted on their first 6 drives and 7 for their first 8 drives. With the game tied 3-3 with under 11 minutes in the 4th quarter the Bengals blew a golden opportunity after recovering a fumble on the 49ers 16 yard line and were forced to settle for a field goal to take a 6-3 lead. The 49ers promptly took the ensuing kickoff and drove 10 plays and 72 yards for the deciding touchdown to take a 10-6 lead. After an Andy Dalton pick the 49ers converted a field goal to go up 13-6 and sealed the victory. The Buffalo Bills should take a page out of the 49ers book and stay committed to the run. The Eagles are #30 against the run giving up 139.5 yards per game so the Bills best bet is to find a way to get Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller involved early in this game. Michael Vick has the Eagles going up and down the field racking up lots of yards, but has failed in consistently finishing drives. The Eagles have scored 10 touchdowns offensively but have settled for 11 field goal attempts converting only 8. The Eagles have scored 101 points and given up an equal number. Vick has passed for 6 touchdowns, and LeSean McCoy has rushed for 4 touchdowns. The Eagles have only 2 interceptions and have yet to bring Nnamdi Asomugha up to full speed in their defensive scheme that is heavy in zone vs. man defense. I expect Chan Gailey adds a new wrinkle to our offense this week. With a forecast for sunny skies and a high a 76 degrees I expect the passing game to be in full-swing, but something tells me Gailey will adjust his strategy to his opponent. The Eagles defense has been porous against the run between the tackles and they have struggled in tackling in the secondary after receptions. The Eagles are fighting to stay relevant after an offseason that saw them outspend the smaller market Bills 2 to 1 in free agency. I expect this to be a lower scoring game than people expect, filled with lots of penalties due to both teams starting Left Tackles being out with injury. The over/under is 48.5. The Eagles are 3.0 point favorite in what is sure to be a do or die game for them so early in the season. The Bills need to prove that last week’s game at the #1 defense in the NFL in terms of yards against was an aberration. Michael Vick has shown he is a passing QB since his return to the NFL, but he remains the top rushing threat even in a league with Cam Newton. Vick has been hampered so far this season with injuries and a defense that hasn’t lived up to the hype. The Eagles on paper should win 7 out of 10 games, but the Bills have shown they should not be underestimated. I expect the Bills offensive line wins the battle upfront and opens lanes in the running game. Coach Gailey needs to show many of us Bills fans that he is committed to run, and defensive coordinator George Edwards needs to impress with his game plan to contain Vick, McCoy, and DeSean Jackson. The Bills pass rush has been a non-factor, yet for some reason I believe Vick is a QB they will contain. Last week’s quarterback sneak by Andy Dalton should serve notice that Vick is a threat to run on any down. I expect the Bills will blitz his left side to force him to throw to his weaker right side. The Bills defensive front 7 edge will need to contain Vick, but also be ready to clamp down on McCoy. Andy Reid is one of the longest tenured coaches in the NFL and always has a good game plan for his team. Expect him to challenge the Bills defense and go after Leodis McKelvin with DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant. Tight end Brent Celek is an X-factor who may get more looks against Bills after being torched by Rob Gronkowski and Jermaine Gresham the previous two weeks. The Bills X-factor will be Leodis McKelvin who is certain to hear boo’s on virtually every reception that is completed his direction. Expect a close scoring game, Buffalo 23 Philadelphia 20.

Maybe Maybin spent some times eating hot dogs with the "Sanchize" and gained 25lbs the past month. No idea how a guy can't gain weight - good if you are a male model bad if you are a pass rusher.

I'm going to make an early prediction that they wanted this guy, so we can groom him to be the Denarious Moore & Wes Welker Stopper. 4.3-4.4 speed wow!

Being a Bills fan is an unconditional love, just like the love you have for your child. No matter how upset they make you, you will never give up loving them.

Good article, we deserve a winner just like Green Bay deserves. Now let's go win the Super Bowl.

Scrappy, Uncle Scooby is heading to the Cincy game to help the Bills avoid the "trap game". I'm still thinking 24-17 Cincy. I'm gonna be chewing on em early to get their head's in the game.

Scrappy, I'm glad Chan put in the 2nd and 3rd team. You'd hate to see Fitz or Freddy go down with an ACL in 41-7 blowout.

I'm coming up for a second consecutive game (flew up to blo for new england game). First time 2 weeks in a row since I was a kid in the early 90s. I'm bringing my in-laws from Canton, Ohio who've I've converted from Browns to Bills fans! you shouldn't have a hard time buying tix from a scalper, last week the stadium was 30% empty.

Jets are about to be 2-3.

The Bills seem to be inviting the pass and ganging up on the run. It appears to me that we are the worst in the NFL in sacks because we are trying to create turnovers by playing heavy zone coverage. I'm interested in seeing how our team matches up against a Cincy offense who on paper should be less of a challenge than any opponent we've faced so far. This will be interesting.

PTR Many unknowns remain, I'm enjoying the ride. If the Bills take care of the Bengals they will be off to an unpredictable 4-0 start. The biggest game on our schedule in my opinion is the Bengals on Sunday.

I did.

Bengals 24 Bills 17...see my "Beware of the Bengals" post for my reasoning. To summarize Top 5 offense (Bills) vs. Top 5 defense (Bengals) somethings got to give.

Baseball pitchers are always dealing with accuracy and measuring it. I am shocked that with all the money spent on football there is no internal rating system other than completion percentage that goes into what we determine is accuracy. Tom Brady has made a career throwing passes that travel through the air less than 10 yards, but its because he is so deadly accurate that he has separated himself from other passers.

Heard Ralph wanted a toy car named Spiller rather than a Tonka truck named Bulaga. Our oline has been great, Fitz has been awesome and the offensive play calling equally impressive. I am interested in seeing how our Oline matches up against the Bengals front 7 who is a top 5 defense and IMO one of the best in the NFL.

Consider my OP more of a challenge than doubt. I want the Bills to win, but I have grave concern about this game and how tough the Bengals are on defense. The Bills are a 3 point road favorite according to Vegas, would you bet on that? Hey I'm the Bills biggest fan, but it isn't blind loyalty. I am not "fanatic" as Colin Cowherd would say. I want to be a realist on this season. The Bengals defense will be a tough matchup and the first true matchup for our offense. I am interested to see our our top 5 offense matches up against a real top 5 defense.

So far the Bills have played against these defenses: 32nd New England 28th Oakland 23rd Kansas City I went to the game Sunday traveled 1500 miles to see it. I was damn impressed and proud of the way we fought back. I feel that Cincy will play a good game and they got a damn good defense. 1. College stats matter in context of proving that: A) this isn't a guy who hasn't played since high school a la Matt Cassel, B) they have played in big games on a big stage and won 2. Jerry Rice did say Green was the man, I brought up Julio Jones because look at all the picks Atlanta gave up just to get the clear number 2 receiver in the draft. AJ Green runs great routes and has great hands, its only a matter of time before he and Dalton look like all the other great QB/WR combos.

The Cincinnati Bengals appear to the average flyby fan to be the next in line to get a drubbing similar to the one we put on Kansas City in week 1; however I wouldn't be too quick to chalk this one up in the win column just yet. To the casual fan the Bengals are a mess: Carson Palmer retired rather than having to play another down for them, leading wide receiver Jerome Simpson had a 2.5lbs package of marijuana randomly show up at his home that the Feds happened to be tracking. They are starting an inconsistent rookie second round quarterback, an ACL injury claimed promising second year receiver Jordan Shipley's season, and dependable tight end Bo Scaife who signed after 6 productive seasons with Tennessee was also lost to IR. To make matters worse leading rusher Cedric Benson may face disciplinary action for his past transgressions during the lockout and may be suspended for a few games. Now let me tell why the Bengals are a threat and here's why: Defense, Defense, and Defense. After pulling off a mild upset in week 1 on the road against rival Cleveland Browns, the Bengals lost a hard fought game in the closing seconds at Denver 22-24, and battled a similar offensively challenged but defensively talented squad in the San Francisco 49ers in a 8-13 loss. The Bengals are two seasons removed from what was considered a surprising 10-6 2009 campaign. Andy Dalton is an underrated rookie QB who played lights out in college at TCU and upset Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl capping a 13-0 season. Dalton started all 4 years and went 42-8 in college as a starter including 34-3 in his final 3 seasons. The Bengals also boast what could be the best sure-fire receiver in the past decade in AJ Green a player whom Jerry Rice said he'd prefer over Julio Jones from Alabama. The Bengals are built to grind you down and stay in the game. Their defense is solid blended with veteran corners like Nate Clements and Leon Hall and younger studs like middle linebacker Rey Maualuga and a solid front 4. To make matters worse the Bengals are tied for 5th in the league with 9 sacks, the 5th rated pass defense at only 188.3 ypg, and the 5th rate run defense at 88.0 ypg. Cincy also has yielded the 6th fewest points per game at 18.0. Altogether the Bengals have the number 3 defense in all of football. Offensively the Bengals boast the worst 3rd down conversion rate in the NFL at a lowly 23.7%, but they offer a balanced attack averaging 96.7 yards on the ground and 204.7 yards through the air. To recap we are going up against a tough opponent who will find ways to slow down our attack with a top 5 defense. We are going against a QB who could be lights out, and a WR who is talented enough to challenge double coverage. Also the Bengals have a good tight end weapon in Jermaine Gresham who is sure to get Rob Gronkowski type looks. We also find ourselves in the same cleats we found ourselves last week, as the Bills have had the Bengals number in recent years racking off 10 wins in a row. I expect this to be a close game where turnovers decide the game. The longer the Bengals stay in this game, the more confidence their young offensive duo in Dalton and Green will have. Sorry guys but I think our Bills start slowly again and fall victim to the Bengals defense…Bengals 24 Bills 17.

I love stats and I am a student of the game.

I was harping on this all week and used this as the reason why we didn't want to get in a shootout against New England, Tom Brady was 61-2 when scoring over 30 points with the only losses coming against Peyton Manning and Indy. Now we can add Fitzpatrick and the Bills to the list! Did not see this coming!

Looks like Braveheart, give that man a horse.

I didn't travel over the Appalachians cross the Mason Dixon swim across countless rivers and lakes not to kill me some Nazi's! Boys you can kill any Cheatriot, I got dibs on General Belichick!

I'll take dirty or clean hits. Ask JP Losman if Wilfork's hit on his knee was clean.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4703820/source-garay-fined-15k-for-brady-hit More evidence Tom Brady gets preferential treatment.

renogotiate and give him 10 million guaranteed, and extend his deal thru 2015 when he's 34. The guy is a gamer and won't slow down.