JDG

Its not the defensive system - its the utter lack of a pass rush outside of sending a monster blitz. The Bills' defense is quite sound, and there is a lot to be said about designing a defensive system around trying to prevent big plays that break your back - and instead bide your time and try and get the opposing offense into situations that favor your defense. JDG

Trent Edwards gets no kudos for being shut out by San Francisco in the first half - but we also know now that he was playing hurt with a bad injury, so I'm not going to throw him under the bus for it. It is not JP's fault alone that we lost. JP Losman, however, bears a significant portion of blame for only managing 3 points in two quarters of work (in the scond half) in a game we absolutely had to have. The stats are only eerily similar if you haven't watched both QB's play and if you gloss over Losman's most-damning stats. Edwards worst days as a pro came as a rookie in blizzard conditions at Cleveland and swirling winds vs. the Giants. Losman's worst days as a pro came as a second-year player starting in Tampa, home vs. Atlanta in September, and in San Antonio against a Saints team that would have 50+ points hung on them the very next week. But yeah, "eerily similar stats" - I guess if you don't watch the games. And why on earth would you discount sacks taken? Losman has been sacked 1 time out of every 9 attempts! You don't think that plays a role in Losman's futility? By comparison, Edwards has been sacked only once every 18.5 attempts. Negative plays are a caller, and JP Losman produces them at about twice Edwards' rate. Add in Losman's 34 fumbles (17 lost) to Edwards' 11 fumbles (4 lost) and there starts to be a lot less eerie similarity at all. JDG

I think the improved play of Leodis McKelvin is another example of how players and teams can get better as the season goes on. Another great example is the Philadelphia Eagles: at 5-5-1 they had just had a *tie* with the Cincinnati Bengals and been blown out by the Baltimore Ravens. Now they're the team that nobody wants to play. JDG

With regards to the Cleveland game, if Reggie Corner makes that sack, McKelvin makes that pick, or Lindell makes that kick we would have been talking about Edwards' growing maturity to overcome mistakes and pull out a win. We'll never know of the KC game was just a blip, or an example of Edwards turning the corner, since he managed to get hurt at some point at the end of that game or the start of the next one. I will point out, though, its not like the Chiefs are or were giving up 50 points a game. In fact, in the previous four weeks the Chiefs had taken the Jets to the wire in New York (lost by 4, game ended with the Chiefs turning it over on downs in Jets territory), taken the Tampa Bay Bucs to overtime, and lost to the Chargers in San Diego by going for 2 at the end (and failing) instead of kicking the PAT. JDG

Uhhh..... the Bills were 6-5 when Trent Edwards got hurt. And 6-5 teams get better and make the playoffs all the time. Look at the improvement in our running game the last two weeks. I also believe that the KC game showed that Edwards was getting better as well (at least until he got hurt.) I won't say that "all was fine and dandy", but 6-5 isn't out of it either - unless of course you are either someone trying to whitewash JP Losman's abysmal performance as our #2 QB this season, or else Wade Phillips. ;-) JDG

Great post. I agree that Ralph is likely to keep Jauron. I don't think the extension is necessarily the biggest obstacle to removing him, since our liability would be limited by the difference in salary with whatever Jauron would earn next year as a coordinator somewhere. Rather I think that even this year notwithstanding, Ralph Wilson knows that the long-term history is that continuity is often a better path success than blowing things up and rebuilding yet again. I think Ralph's comment about talent strongly hinted at that. So I think all signs do point towards a shake-up in the front office, and bringing in a football guy to be GM (like we should have done last year.) I could also see Schonert being scapegoated and bringing in a veteran OC to turn around the offense. Obviously, there's no reason to dump April or Fewell. I think you also make great points about Trent Edwards. I completely agree that the concussion was not his fault and was just the result of a vicious hit - but I think we can't overlook the role that deciding to deliver the pass rather than to "duck and take the sack" played in that hit. Part of Edwards' decision making, long-term, will be about what hits to take - and that may have been one that he shouldn't have taken. Really though, I think the groin injury is more disconcerting than the concussion, as an indicator of Edwards' long-term durability - especially coming a week after he made some questionable decisions to take off and run the ball (like that one at the end of the half where he was very fortunate to score.) And thanks for pointing out the likely role that Derek Fine looks to play in our long-term plans - he should be ready for full-time duty next season. For sure, a big problem with this team is the utter lack of a pass rush - pass rushers, in my mind, are the #2 difference maker in football after the QB. Getting Schobel back will help a lot, but the Bills have serious needs for improvement in the pass rush department. JDG

Uh let's see, JP Losman put together six quarters of football against the Niners and Dolphins with a whopping two FG's to show for them, he then got a 3 point lead in the Meadowlands against the Jets with 2:10 left and then managed to produce not one, not two, but *three* turnovers before the game ended. But oh no, its not *JP's* bad play that we are 6-8 and are missing the playoffs. Far from it! You gotta be kidding me. O.k. obviously the Bills may still well have missed the playoffs this year had JP never played this year - but it is *inarguable* (except perhaps to the most devoted JP Losman fanatics) that JP deserves a heaping pile of blame for the last three losses.... three losses which dropped us from 6-5 and in it to 6-8 and out of it. JDG

Again, with 2 minutes and 6 seconds left, you do have a great opportunity to call for a pass to catch the defense off guard and without running the risk of losing control of the clock. JDG

Some additional thoughts: 1) I have to disagree with you on your opinion of the playcall on 2nd and 5. While it is not the playcall I would have made, for the reasons I am sure you will mention (Lynch has been running wild all game, Losman has been completely unreliable), the call isn’t as indefensible as you imagine. The call was made with 2:06 on the clock, so long as the play takes 6 seconds to develop (or ends in a completion or a tackle), then it runs just as much clock as running play to Lynch. The called play was actually a rollout, which makes sense, since it runs some time off the clock, and also gives JP an option to run to keep the clock rolling as well. With everyone on the Jets expecting a run, it was definitely an opportunity to catch the defense off guard and get a first down that would virtually end the game (whereas the Jets would still be very much in it if they could stop the Bills on two consecutive runs.) 2) Some mention needs to be made of the heroic effort by Marshawn Lynch today. The way he ran today was a performance of the ages - especially considering that it came against a tough Jets defense that had absolutely stymied us in the game at Orchard Park earlier this season. And then Fred Jackson started channeling Lynch on that touchdown run - which was one of the toughest runs by a backup Bills RB since Darrick Holmes carried half the Redskins defense with him down the field. 3) Also important to mention today is that while the Bills have had great special teams for years now, Bobby April's personal demon has always been Jets special teams coach Mike Westhof. Well, Bobby April clearly got the better of Westhof today what with the fake punt, two punts downed inside the five, Parrish's 56 yard return, and McKelvin's return for a TD (and despite what Dierdorf says, that penalty looked ticky-tack to me.) JDG

Bill, I think you are dead wrong on Marv Levy. I think that Marv was a very necessary salve to the Donahoe era, and as bad as things are right now, I think that they would have been much much worse (i.e. Detroit or Oakland bad) without his influence. JDG

I also think its worth noting that Turk Schonert was a huge gamble as an OC - even if it wasn't portrayed as such. The guy had been a QB Coach in this League for 15 years and as near as I can tell this was the first sniff that he's gotten of an offensive coordinator position. So its not like this guy was the proverbial "hot young assistant". Right now the entire offense is self-destructing, and I think that makes every aspect of it, the talent, the play-calling, you name it look bad. But I think the bottom line conclusion has to be that it is a systemic failure - and not any one trouble spot that can be easily corrected. JDG

The cheapest prices in the NFL helps a lot - and the prices are even cheaper when you consider that you only had to pay for one meaningless preseason game this year instead of two in the season ticket packages. JDG

I mean you just look at what Kevin Gilbride is doing in New York these days and it makes you sick. Heck, Dan Henning has had tons of success since leaving Buffalo - most recently now with Miami. JDG

To be clear, this is an Associated Press article, not an NFL.com article...

You're probably right - I probably thinking of the 2002 game. Unfortunately, we may have witnessed a rerun of a different 2003 game this week - the 12-10 loss to the Houston Texans that sent us spiraling to a 6-10 finish after an 8-8 year, that really spelled the end of Gregg Williams' tenure here. If the Bills finish 8-8 or worse this year and Jauron is fired at season's end, this will be the game that did it.... JDG

I think it was the 2003 season when Miami cam up here on a snowy day in December, and someone pointed out to me - you know, the ironic thing is that Miami might be better equipped to win a cold-weather game than the Bills are. Sure enough, our Drew Bledsoe pass-first offense struggled to get anything going in the snow, while Ricky Williams ran all over us for a big win by the Fish. I think we're in a similar situation right now. The Bills with Trent Edwards are a pass-first, good-weather team. The Miami Dolphins with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams as well as Chad Pennington are a run-first smash-mouth football team. Sad to say it, but I think that wind and snow would be a decided advantage for Miami in this one - so I think we got a lucky draw of the schedule to have this game in a Dome.... JDG

Today's D&C suggests that I may not be completely off base in my interpretation: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/articl...338/1007/SPORTS JDG

Amen. I was as aghast as anyone at the coaching decisions made on that last drive - but Jauron is hardly the only NFL coach that would have made the same mistake. And again, the Bills are building a good nucleus here - you can't just panic and go back to square one and potentially hire the next Gregg Williams or Mike Mularkey to replace him. JDG

Oh yeah, and if Edwards is benched in the middle of the game and Losman *does* provide that spark and leads the Bills to the win would have had zero chance of impacting how starts next week, right? Uh huh. Hindsight is 20-20. The defense and special teams provided a spark. Edwards made the throw to Royal. Maybe Losman makes all the same throws as Edwards, including the throw to Royal, and then maybe Lindell makes that kick - there would certainly be howls for Losman to start inorder to "save the playoffs for this season" and "provide a spark." JDG

In this game, the defense and special teams provided the spark, so this is a moot point.... And I am stunned that you can argue that Edwards should have been benched yesterday, but still claim that Losman was "screwed over by previous coaching staffs by yanking him in and out of the lineup." So why would benching Edwards yesterday have not "screwed" him, just like Losman? JDG

I wonder what Trent Edwards' interception rate has been on throws directed towards James Hardy this season? I can think of at least two such interceptions in recent games, and scant few catches. This suggests to me that Hardy may be running very poor routes, and as such is a huge liability at this point. But yeah, Hardy was very clearly benched in favor of Steve Johnson yesterday. I think the early pick in the direction of Hardy may have been the last time that I saw him on the field all game...

O.k. let me be clear here - Trent Edwards was terrible for most of the game last night. There is no question that after throwing three picks in his first 6 passes that he turned into a complete deer in headlights, and just didn't have the confidence to take even normal risks throwing the football. Clearly, the collapse of Trent's confidence crippled our offense for most of the game. However, once Trent Edwards was forced by circumstances to make throws down the field he responded with the strike to Royal. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have hit a few more passes had they only been called. And if he hits another pass and Lindell makes that field goal - we're probably not having this conversation right now. JDG

Sorry, you don't play well and get to 14 of 36 with a rash of drops. Edwards played good enough to win last night - we shouldn't lose sight of that....

Oh yeah, that one definitely deserves to be on the list... the game that forced us to bench Losman. I'd also point out that that Saints team ultimately finished 3-13, and went on to lose the very next week by a score of 52-3 in Green Bay. When I did this last year, there were a number of other additions, but I couldn't find those in the Stadium Wall Archives.... JDG

Oh Yeah, Brady Quinn really outplayed Edwards tonight - to the tune of 14 for 36 (39%) for 185 yards! He tried to bring his team back, and couldn't get them any closer than a miracle 56 yard field goal. Yes, Edwards was pretty bad tonight - but he fought through it, and he made the throw to get us into field goal range, and I'm absolutely convinced he would have made the next throw if only it had been called..... JDG