jad1

I think one of the causes of the Bills problems today is that they didn't end the Jauron reign of error earlier. Really, how much better would the team be right now if after two years, Ralph would have said, enough. Enough with the Tampa 2 undersize defense, enough with the clueless offensive schemes, enough with the tin-man leadership. Nix has failed to impress during his time as GM. He has some successes, but the best players on the team (Jackson, Fitz, Johnson, Wilson), were aquired under Levy, which is evidence that a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. Through drafts and FA, Nix has had the opportunity to bring in 25 or so players over his first two seasons. That means he could have staffed two defensive rosters. And despite his aquisitons, the defense is nowhere close to being able to stop the run, and they are shakey at best against the pass. They can't set the edge; they can't rush the passer; they can't cover the middle; and they can't cover downfield. Even worse, despite working with George Edwards for two seasons, the personnel is not aligned with the schemes they are running. When the team lines a backup DT at OLB in a 3/4 scheme, you have to wonder what the hell the GM is doing.

It's amazing how Chan can turn a bunch of 7th rounders and UDFAs into one of the best offenses in the NFL, but Edwards can't figure out how to do anything with a bunch of high picks and free agents.

Actually, I'm not, and the stats and results against common opponents (Raiders and Pats) back me up. Oh and then there's the whole win/loss thing. It's been pointed out to you several times that the strength of oppoentns and their gameplans have not favored Williams racking up a whole lot of stats, but you continue to ignore those comments.

Yeah, the Jets are 2-3. Too bad the Bills have such a garbage defense, and not an awesome one like the Jets.

I agree with you, but also want to add that the Bills have had some pretty damn good players attacking the edge of their defense this season. Charles, McFadden, McCoy, Vick, and even Brady throwing those screens and short outside passes are not easy players to stop.

The Bills beat offenses led by Tom Brady and Mike Vick their last two home games. Honestly, what was the expectation for the Bills defense these two games? Did we really expect them to sack these guys 4 or 5 times? Did we expect them to hold them to 200 passing yards? It's funny how the fan perception values sacks over interceptions. Sacks show you're a dominant defense. Interceptions show that you are a lucky defense. But ask any QB at any level of football if they rather take a sack or throw an interception and what do you think the overwhelming number of them would answer?

Um, judging by this response, no.

I saw the Falcons bite on this against the Bucs, as mentioned above, earlier this year. The fact that the Bills gashed the Eagles on the run all day long also might have made the DL jumpy.

Well then you realize that the Eagles had most of their success attacking the edges of the defense, rolling Vick away from Williams and Dareus most of the game. You also realize that McCoy gained most of his yards, not up the middle, but running away from Williams, again attacking the edges of the defense. But since Williams is an All-Pro tackle, most fans "in-the-know" do expect him to have 4.2 speed, with the ability to shed tacklers in a split second to stop plays that head to the sideline.

In the Super Bowl last season, the Packers gave up 387 total yards to the Steelers. Their vaunted offense was out-gained by the Steelers by 50 yards. The difference in the game was 3 Steeler turnovers vs none for the Packers. This is a new era of offensive football. Defenses are not getting the holding calls they used to, and the officials are doing all they can to protect WRs and QBs. Good defense is being re-defined in the NFL.

That's not what I meant.

He put up good numbers against Pittsburgh and Baltimore last season, so I don't think that's true. He's an excellent QB when he doesn't force passes, and uses his ability to read defenses to find the open guy. The Bills were hell-bent on forcing the ball down the field today, even if it meant going deep to their 3rd string QB on 3rd and medium. I think they learned their lesson today. Fitzpatrick will return to form next week.

You guys know that the Eagles are 1-3, right? They lost to Alex Smith at home today. I don't doubt it's going to be a tough game, but it's not like the Bills are playing the Brady-led Patriots next week.

I like the matchup between the Bills offense and the Eagles defense. The Eagles are misplaying their CBs in zone coverages, and they couldn't contain Gore today, whose game is a lot like Freddies. The Eagles are especially weak over the middle, where their LBs and safeties are sub-par. Forgetting today's game, that's where the Bills like to attack. This game is going to be a shootout.

He could be the fastest LB in the history of the NFL, if the scheme calls for him to bull-rush the LT the entire game, while being run over trying to set the edge against the run, he's not going to be effective. Play him over the shoulder of a DE, and take his hand off the ground, and his production will increase. I would love to see the Bills run some stunts, and some overload and zone blitzes. I understand why they didn't call them the last two weeks. I don't understand what happened today.

I think the offensive gameplans up to the Cinci game were good. I thought the Raiders defensive gameplan wasn't that bad, seeing how they contained McFadden, but Campbell had the game of his life. I thought the Pats defensive gameplan was more of an exercise of surviving the Brady onslaught, so it was okay. Today's gameplans on both sides of the ball were terrible. The offensive gameplan was too aggressive, while the defensive gameplan was not agressive enough. Of the offense and defense, the offense should be all right. I'm more worried about the defense.

They're playing him like a 4-3 defensive end. That's not his strength. He's being misused.

I think that Fitz was forcing the ball downfield today due to the gameplan of attacking Cinci's blitz. It was a bad gameplan, as Buffalo doesn't necessarily have wide receivers who can take advantage of 1:1 coverage on the outside (some of those passes were to Brad Smith). If the Bills go back to what they do well, attacking the short middle, running the offense through Jackson, and then working to the outside, Fitz should be all right.

They played a 4-3, and had the personnel to do so. The could apply pressure with their front 4. The Bills are playing a 3-4 with a 4-3 pass rush. There are no zone or overload blitzes in the Bills playbook, and those are the things that make the 3-4 effective.

I think the Bills were too aggressive in attacking the Bengals blitz, trying to go deep against 1:1 coverage. It caused Fitz to hold the ball longer, and took the ball out of Jackson's hands much of the 1st half. The defense, despite two turnovers and a score, managed to blow a 14 point lead to a rookie QB. I've never seen a 3-4 where the rush comes from the same place every down. They play it like a 4-3; it's almost as if they've turned Merriman into a DE. There's no blitzing scheme whatsoever. It looks like Edwards is out of his league here. It's time to turn things over to the guy coached his defense to a couple of SB titles.

I agree that the refs sucked, but even with that, the Bills should have been able to protect a 14 point halftime lead. I get that the defense had to protect against Oakland's run game and got beat through the air, and that they had to take their lumps against Brady and the Pats, but there's no excuse for taking the gaspipe against a rookie QB. I've seen enough of Edwards from last season and it's carrying over to this season. Give the job to Wannstedt.

Bill Cowher picked the Bills as his upset special on the CBS pregame show.

You'll see one next week. You might not see one against the Eagles if Vick is playing.

So when is the next game they'll play a passing combination like Brady/Welker? When's the next time they'll play a running game as good as Oakland's? Perspective is understanding that NFL matchups change from week-to-week so strategy also changes. Perspective is understanding that some players are so good that you cannot completely stop them. Perspective is also understanding that just because a team doesn't win like you think they should, doesn't mean that the team isn't good. If Dalton and Green look as good as Brady and Welker next week, I'll share your concern.

Whether you think it was good or not, the Bills scored 24 points off of Brady's turnovers. Let's see, 3 or 4 sacks or 24 points off of turnovers? Yeah, I know which one I'd choose. Drop 7 or 8 back into coverage all day long.