JDG

Yeah, those two games caught my eye too. I seem to remember that the wind in the Titans game was even worse - but I could be wrong. The bottom line though, is I don't believe that it is about trusting JP and not Trent. I think the coaches do trust Trent. I also think that Lindell has gotten better since then, and they have more trust in him. I think the coaches just didn't think it through - didn't think through how risky the field goal, and also didn't think through that we couldn't run out the clock anyways.

And I have to say - There is nothing more infuriating that seeing a team *settle* for a really long field goal with the game on the line. 47 yards against the wind! What - a few more yards couldn't have helped us there? I am so mad that I could spit!

The story of the Bills since our last playoff appearance… 2008 SEASON 11/18/08 – BROWNS 29 BILLS 27 – The Bills overcome four turnovers, including three Trent Edwards’ interceptions thanks to Marshawn Lynch’s first 100 yard rushing day of the season (119 yards rushing and 1 TD, 10 catches for 58 yards receiving and 1 TD). McKelvin returns his first kickoff for a TD, and the Bills average a whopping 35 yards on seven returns. The Bills trail most of the game, and finally take a one point lead with 2:35 left. On the ensuing drive, Reggie Corner complete misses Brady Quinn after being unblocked on a blitz, Leodis McKelvin drops a difficult interception, and Phil Dawson kicks a 56-yarder with the wind with 1:44 left. The Bills drive down the field, but upon reaching the Cleveland 34 with one minute left, inexplicably run three times – for minimal gain. The ensuing 47 yard field goal against the wind is wide right. 2007 SEASON 10/08/07 - COWBOYS 25 BILLS 24 - Bills turn over Tony Romo 6 times, return 2 INTs and a kickoff for touchdowns, stop a last-ditch two point conversion, and then lose when Dallas recovers an onsides kick with 20 seconds left and kicks a 50+ yard field goal with two seconds left 09/09/07 - BRONCOS 15 BILLS 14 - In a game in which the Bills never trailed, they lose on a "fire drill" field goal with one second left. 2006 SEASON 12/24/06 - TITANS 30 BILLS 20 - In Orchard Park, Vince Young runs wild, the Titans kick a field goal with 2:10 left to take a one point lead. The game ends when JP Losman throwing an INT on 4th and 5 from the Tennessee 28 yard line with one minute left, after the Bills forego the 43 yard field goal attempt due to wind. 12/12/06 - COLTS 17 BILLS 16 - Down one to the Colts in Indy, Rian Lindell misses a 41 yard field with 6:30 left. Peyton Manning never gives the Bills the ball back and runs out the clock. 09/10/06 - PATRIOTS 19 BILLS 17 - On the road to open the season, the Bills return a Brady INT for a TD on first play of game, and lead for most of the game. Then the Patriots take the lead on a *safety* by sacking Losman with six minutes left. After the free kick, Donte Whitner records an INT on the first play. The Bills proceed to go three-and-out from their own 44, punt with 6:20 to go and never see the ball again. 2005 SEASON 01/01/06 - JETS 30 BILLS 26 - In a meaningless game at home, the Jets score on a Kelly Holcomb INT for a TD and then take the lead with a Justin Miller KR for a TD with 6 minutes left. Holcomb takes Bills to the Jets 34 with with 3 minutes left before being sacked on 4th and 10. Holcomb then throws an INT on the desperation drive with 50 seconds left. 12/04/05 - DOLPHINS 24 BILLS 23 - In Miami, Lee Evans scores 3 TDs in the first quarter. Losman only completes one more pass to Lee Evans for the rest of the game. Chris Chambers catches 15 passes for 238 yards, including the game-winning TD as Sage Rosenfels in relief for Gus Frerotte takes the Fish 73 yards with 1:51 left. 11/27/05 - PANTHERS 13 BILLS 9 - Bills take a 9-6 lead at home with 5 minutes left. Future Buffalo Bill Michael Gaines scores the GW TD with 2:21 left. With 47 seconds left, on 3rd and 10 from the Carolina 43, JP Losman throws a game-ending INT. 10/30/05 - PATRIOTS 21 BILLS 16 - On the road in Foxboro, the Bills take a 16-7 lead with ten minutes left. The Patriots take just two minutes and 11 seconds to score a TD to pull within two points. On the next drive, Holcomb fumbles, and the Patriots need just one play to take the lead. With two minutes left, on 4th and 8 from the from the New England 40, a pass to Moulds gets no gain. 10/02/05 – SAINTS 16 BILLS 7 - In San Antonio, thanks to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans kicks a field goal to go up 13 to 7 with 13 second left in the first half. Terrence McGee returns the ensuing kickoff 82 yards before being tripped up on a weak tackle attempt at the New Orleans three yard line after the clock had expired. Late in the game, Willis McGahee is stuffed on 4th and inches, JP Losman finishes the day 7 of 15 for 75 yards and an INT with four sacks. Kelly Holcomb adds a lost fumble on 3 of 6 passing for 28 yards in a day of complete offensive futility. That Saints team would go on to finish 3-13, and would lose next week to the tune of 52-3 in Green Bay. 2004 SEASON 01/02/05 - STEELERS 29 BILLS 24 - In a home game to secure a playoff birth, the Steelers played their backups, and some guy named Willie Parker ran 19 times for 102 yards. The Bills never even come close to winning. 10/10/04 - JETS 16 BILLS 14 - On the road in New York, the Bills score 14 4th Quarter points to take the lead with 6 minutes left. The Jets' Doug Brien kicks a 38 yard field goal with 1 minute left. The game ends with Drew Bledsoe's Hail Mary being intercepted in a game that ultimately cost the Bills a playoff spot. 10/03/04 - PATRIOTS 31 BILLS 17 - At home and down 7 with three minutes left, the Bills are driving at the New England 17, when Drew Bledsoe is sacked and the Patriots return the fumble for a TD in a game that ultimately costs the Bills a playoff spot. 09/12/04 - JAGUARS 13 BILLS 10 - At home and up 4 points with two minutes left, the Bills give the Jaguars get the ball at their own 20 with one time out. On 4th and Goal from the 7 with four seconds left, Byron Leftwich hits Ernest Wilford in the back of the end zone - who somehow hangs on to the GW TD in a game that ultimately cost the Bills a playoff spot. 2003 SEASON 12/14/03 - TITANS 28 BILLS 26 - Billy Volek has a big game in Nashville. Drew Bledsoe hits Mark Campbell for a TD with 26 seconds left, but the two-point conversion fails and the Titans recover the onsides kick. This ends the playoff hopes in a season that began with the 31-0 thumping of the Patriots in the Lawyer Milloy Bowl. 11/23/03 - COLTS 17 BILLS 14 - Bills take a 14-3 lead into the 4th quarter in Orchard Park. The Bills stuff the Colts on three plays after first-and-goal from the 3. Colts punch it in on 4th and Goal from the 1 with 1:42 left and convert the two-point conversion for a three point lead. From the Buffalo 46, Drew Bledsoe throws an INT with 42 seconds left. Their third crushing loss in three weeks, their second at home. 11/16/03 - TEXANS 12 BILLS 10 - In Orchard Park, the Texans take a 12-8 lead with 3:28 left. On the first play after the two minute warning, the Bills have 1st and 10 from the Houston 31. Drew Bledsoe is sacked and fumbles. The Texans take an intentional safety to end the game, giving the Bills two safeties in the game. 11/09/03 - COWBOYS 10 BILLS 3 - In Dallas, Quincy Carter takes a four point lead into the 4th quarter. With four minutes left, the Cowboys' kicker pooch punts the ball into the end zone from the Buffalo 32 for a 12 yard net punt. The Bills proceed to go three-and-out, including an own-recovered Travis Henry fumble. Getting the ball with 2:50 to play, Adrian Murrell runs the ball down our throats to end the game. 09/21/03 - DOLPHINS 17 BILLS 7 - In Miami, the Bills are down 10 to 3 with 6:43 to play. Getting the ball at their own 34, they run for two yards, have a false start, and a Drew Bledsoe sack. On 3rd and 19, the pass is incomplete. Miami then rips off a three minute drive, when the Bills appear to stuff Ricky Williams on 3rd and Goal from the 1 on the first play after the two minute warning. A booth review is called, and Miami is given the TD and a 10 point lead. Down 10 with 1:48 to play from their own 20 with one timeout, Drew Bledsoe manages to drive to the Miami 24. 2002 SEASON 11/17/02 - CHIEFS 17 BILLS 16 - In Kansas City, the Chiefs take a one point lead with five minutes to go. Five plays later, the Bills have 2nd and 10 at the KC 40 when Drew Bledsoe throws an INT on a deep pass towards the end zone. The Chiefs take the ball with 4:15 to play and proceed to run out the clock. 09/08/02 - JETS 37 BILLS 31 - The Bills tie the season-opener at home with a Bledsoe-to-Moulds TD pass with 26 seconds left. They lose in OT as Chad Morton takes the opening kickoff of overtime for a touchdown, his second kickoff return for a TD of the day. 2001 SEASON 12/16/01 - PATRIOTS 12 BILL 9 - In one of the great ironies of football history, a Bills team that will finish 3-13 takes a Patriots team that will win the Super Bowl to the wire at home, ending up holding Tom Brady to 19 of 35 passing. The Patriots tie the game with 2:50 left. Alex Van Pelt proceeds to lead the Bills on a three-and-out. With 1:50 left, the Patriots get the ball at their own 13. They get to their own 45 with one minute left. The Bills sniff out a screen for -2, nearly get an interception, and finally Schobel sacks Brady to end the threat. With 22 seconds left at their own 16, the Bills unwisely try to make something happen. Alex Van Pelt fumbles, and the Bills recover to thankfully get to OT. In OT, the Bills advance to their own 48, and throw an incomplete pass on 3rd and 2, and punt. With 10 minutes left in OT, the Patriots are at their own 46 when David Patten catches a pass, is knocked silly by Keion Carpenter, and fumbles. Nate Clements recovers, and advances the ball into Patriots territory. On replay review, David Patten’s head rolls out of bounds while his body is touching the football. By rule, the ball is out-of-bounds and New England retains possession. Two plays later, NE kicks the winning FG. Had the Bills won, New England would not have made the playoffs, Bill Belichick would have been a lifetime .500 football Head Coach, and the world would have been a very different place. 11/25/01 - DOLPHINS 34 BILLS 27 - In Buffalo, the Fish score 24 points in the 4th Quarter. The Fish score a TD with 4:15 left, and the Bills proceed to go three-and-out, with an incomplete pass on 2nd down, and a completed pass short to Larry Centers on third down. Olindo Mare kicks a 39 yarder with 1:17 left, and Nate Clements fumbles the ensuing kickoff. Three plays later, the Fish have a seven point lead. Alex Van Pelt gets the ball with 43 seconds and two timeouts, but is unable to seriously threaten. 11/11/01 - PATRIOTS 21 BILLS 11 - Antowain Smith ices the game with a 42-yard TD run with three minutes left. 10/28/01 - CHARGERS 27 BILLS 24 - Doug Flutie scores on a GW 13 yard TD run with one minute left. 2000 SEASON 12/17/00 - PATRIOTS 13 BILLS 10 (OT) - In Foxboro, the Patriots kick the game-winner with 19 seconds left in OT. The Patriots finish 5-11, the Bills finish 8-8. 12/11/00 - COLTS 44 BILLS 20 - In Indy, with both teams at 7-6 with three games left, Wade Phillips says that "both teams are basically out of it." The Colts win their last three and make the playoffs. 10/01/00 - COLTS 18 BILLS 16 - In Buffalo, Mike Vanderjagt hits a 45-yard gamewinner as time expires. 1999 SEASON 01/08/00 - TITANS 22 BILLS 16

Indeed, the Bills rank 22nd in the NFL with only 102 rushing yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry. Our biggest, heaviest offensive line in the game just isn't getting it done right now. JDG

Dave, While I, too, am concerned about our defense - particularly our sieve-like pass defense, I think you overstate the case. Miscues on the offensive side of the ball cost us as much as anything in this game. And remember that the defense (and Brian Moorman) bailed us out from snapping the ball over the punter's head. But failing to score a TD on 1st and goal from the 5, fumbling on a QB sneak, and giving up a strip-sack for a safety on a three-man rush from our own end is just disastrous. You mentioned elsewhere what I think is the unheralded story of this game - that this offense was lost without Josh Reed. Once Josh Reed went down, the Fish stuck two defenders firmly to Lee Evans - and we had no other weapons. Parrish and Hardy can't get open even against single coverage, or else Edwards was forced to just try and chuck it to Evans. Oh yeah, or he could dump it to Lynch for him to drop it, or to Royal for him to fumble it. I've not been a Josh Reed fan over the years, but boy did he prove his worth today. As an interesting note, Justin Jenkins was inactive today to allow Chris Ellis and Derek Fine to be activated. I wonder if Jauron might have wished to have the extra WR available late in the game with Reed out and needing to pass on every down. JDG

As a matter of fact there was a sack, and five tackles for a loss on running plays. There were at least a couple incompletions forced by QB pressure. Obviously, we need better pass rush - I'm not saying that our pass rush was great. But it wasn't invisible. One thing that did disappoint me, is that I had some hopes that once Chris Ellis made it onto the active roster, that he might be able to spark some serious pass rush as a pass rush specialist. That didn't materialize today, hopefully it will as the season goes on. Amen, Dan. JDG

Its funny, but it was about somewhere in the 3rd quarter that I thought to myself "it seems like we've done a good job of running to the left side and not having much pressure from that side - we seem to be getting more of it from the right. Then there was that horrible, horrible, safety. Letting someone get in basically unblocked for a safety as part of a three-man rush? That is basically bush league in my book, and really overshadows anything else that you do for a day. Its important to remember a couple things: - It is always hard to win on the road in the NFL... a basic formula is to win at home and split on the road to get to 12-4 - which usually means a home playoff game - Everyone in the division has one divisional loss. The Bills and Pats have both lost to Miami - and the Pats already lost to Miami at home, that puts us a nose ahead of the Pats in my book. - Considering all of the boneheaded mistakes the Bills made in this game: not scoring a TD on 1st and goal from the 5, snapping the ball over the punter's head into the end zone, fumbling on a QB sneak after getting a first down, giving up a safety on a three-man rush, and finally fumbling after converting a third-and-twenty - its actually kind of amazing how much into this game we really were. In defense of Jauron, I think the difference is that while Ginn killed McGee moving the chains, I have the sense that McKelvin would have just been burnt toast as Ginn scored several big-play Touchdowns on us. Jauron constantly preaches the importance of big plays on the outcome of a game, and I think that he wanted to guy he could trust to not get completely burnt on Ginn. With that being said, several of us at my bar wondered why Jauron didn't stick Greer on Ginn, given that Miami has no other WR's worthy of the name and Greer was clearly our best CB. In Jauron's defense, it is typically a much more radical shift in your defensive scheme than it sounds to simply assign a CB as a "shadow" to a specific WR for the whole game For example, it also takes you out of a lot of the things (such as certain blitzes) that you would typically like to do out of a zone defense. Completely agree. The coaches have shown little patience for fumblers on this team (See: Wright, Dwayne). Royal is supposed to be the trusty veteran, not the Royal Mistake waiting to happen. With that being said, Fine is clearly a long ways away from being a replacement for Royal, if ever. Damn Tony G. for not wanting to come to Buffalo! Ain't that the truth! Its almost like he has a magnet that attracts him to the opposing team's defenders. JDG

Parrish didn't have a return today, so I think its hard to tell. The fumble at the end was just the capper on a day in which this team screwed up just about everything.... JDG

I suspect the problem is that since only a small percentage of these Wildcat plays have involved Pennington, putting two of your best defenders on him is basically taking them out of the play. I think that its also hard to lay clean, hard, block on somebody in space - Pennington could always just pull an 'ole move on the block, right? And its not like QB's don't take hard hits when they are sacked anyways. Miami might very well take the hit in exchange for a mismatch on the other side of the field. I guess there's a reason why Ginn has struggled in the NFL. That looks like Exhibit A, actually... I'm with you on this. I couldn't understand why Jackson and not Lynch got the "tough yard" carry at the end of the Chargers game. I also hated plunging Jackson into the line on 3rd and Goal - he just doesn't seem to have the size to plow through people for that kind of carry - but given that Lynch didn't have a carry on that drive, I hope that's because he was dinged. But on the case of the QB sneak, my recollection is that it was a quick-snap situation - designed to get a cheap yard before the defense was set. The Patriots run that play like their bread-and-butter. I have no problem whatsoever with that call. I have a real problem with not protecting the ball in that situation.... Inexcusable, and hopefully Trent now knows better. JDG

Sounds good to me. Dropping the remaining vestiges of the Rivals.com era can only be a good thing... Although I do miss Mike Doser... ;-) JDG

I have to slightly quibble with this. Its probably not fair to blame the "team" for the Adrian Wilson hit. At worst, it was a matter of 1, maybe 2 players missing their blocking assignment on a single play. I'd argue that Hardy (a member of the team) played pretty well on that play. Up on the TBD website there is an article that has some extended quotes from Donte Whitner on this subject. http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/11047927 The relevant nuggets are: Trent Edwards then added this nugget: I think Trent's comment is true the other way around as well. When the offense is playing well, the defense may not press as much - and that may produce better results. I think that's only human - and I disagree that its a character flaw in the team. With that being said, Whitner added this little firstarter: My own assessment is that while Trent Edwards would have helped during Arizona (I think he would have avoided at least one of those two strip-sacks if nothing else), the way our defense and running game played in that game, the net effect would have been to just make the score a little closer. If Kurt Warner got his hands on the ball with a chance to win in that game, you just had the sense that he would have made it happen on that day against that day's Bills defense - pressing or not pressing. JDG

In my mind it doesn't matter. The Bills had already established that they were in "run the clock" mode (even if you couldn't figure it out on your own) by running down the playclock the play before. Once you get in "run the clock" mode, as a RB, you should be thinking "stay in bounds." There is no way you should be thinking, "oh, we started 'run the clock mode' with more than five minutes left in the half, so the clock will keep running even if I go out of bounds. JDG

By my watch of the play, it looked like it was designed to be an off-tackle type play that Lynch bounced to the outside. Yes, Lynch was pushed out of bounds. However, a slight difference between a great runner and a very good runner, is that in that situation a great runner makes sure to go down in bounds and keep that clock running. It certainly was a completely defensible call, although for all of Fred Jackson's numerous abilities, I have not been impressed by his ability to make tough carries in "logjam" type situations like 3rd-and-short. I personally thought that this was a great opportunity to throw a pass (which would surely have gotten Jauron excoriated around here had that failed). The Bills had just taken a 6 point lead, and then stopped the Chargers. I really thought this was a drive to take control of the game - the Bills have not generated good running game push all season, and had not done so today. My second choice would have been to give it to Lynch for a tough yard, and my third choice would have been to give it to Jackson on a toss or stretch type play. Giving it to Jackson for a tough yard would have been my fourth option in that situation, albeit still a defensible one. The ball was snapped at 4:57. Again, a great running back needs to know the situation, and how to help his team with little details. That's part of the reason why they study film all week. The Bills had just run down the play clock from the previous play, so Lynch should have known what was going on. JDG

There's no such thing as a "first ballot hall of famer." There are simply "Hall of Famers." JDG

Actually not. Lynch's run out-of-bounds at 4:57 in the fourth quarter stopped the clock. Fortunately we won anyways - but again, this has been a reoccurring problem for Lynch in his career. Running out of town? I just criticized Jauron for giving a certain critical carry to Jackson instead of Lynch.... JDG

I thought it was very interesting how many carries Fred Jackson got late in the game. Normally you are going to you best back in crunch time and when you need to run out the clock. Clearly the coaches have a ton of faith in Fred Jackson at this point - perhaps even moreso than Marshawn Lynch. It also ended up not mattering, but Marshawn Lynch *still* needs to learn how to stay inbounds when we are running out the clock. This has been a significant weakness in Lynch's game from Day 1, IMHO. With that being said, on the 3rd and 1, I wanted to Bills to through the ball in this particular game in the particular situation. Failing that, I absolutely agree that you gotta give the ball to Lynch to try and get the super-tough yard. He's got that "Beast Mode" for a reason... JDG

And Ray Guy wasn't even that good!

Darrick Holmes had an amazing run in that game in which it seemed like he carried half the Washington defense down the field with him.... I hope its on YouTube somewhere...

All very true. Marshawn Lynch continues to show flashes of brilliant, but I still feel like our running game is just lacking a little something in the consistency department. With that being said, I think there is no denying what a night-and-day difference there was between Edwards and Derek Anderson in the Cleveland game last year. I'm willing to dismiss any one gameas a fluke (this is football after all), but at this point I'm starting to see the disturbing beginnings of a trend - which would suggest that that night-and-day difference wasn't at all all fluke. JDG

Some additional thoughts that I haven't seen mentioned yet: 1) For all the great Special Teams plays we had yesterday - we still had a blocked kick. UGH! It reminds me of losing a game to the Jets (who have a pretty good ST coach/consultant of their own in Mike Westhoff) a ways back on a special teams return. 2) Props to Trent Edwards for turning around an ugly start, but what really concerns me is the appearance from the TV feed that his turn-around also coincided with an easing of the severe weather. Based on the end of last season, it is very disconcerting that Edwards might not be able to handle severe weather. 3) A win is a win - but by the middle of the third quarter, Seattle was missing each of its top four WR's. It almost felt like it wasn't a fair fight.... JDG

It depends. I don't think that you have to be a "bandwagon jumper" to admit that it is a hell of a lot more fun to watch your team (particularly in person at the Stadium) playing well and winning than to watch your team playing poorly and losing. How much money are *you* willing to spend to watch your team, win or lose? Would you really pay $120 per game for Bills Season Tickets? $200 per game? The truth of the matter is that football tickets are a business - and you may love your team, but we also all have other things to spend our hard-earned money on. JDG

In fairness to all the Pats fans - the *average* ticket price in that Stadium is $118 - up 30% from last year. That figure is also more than twice (130%!) the average ticket for a Bills game and 62% higher than the NFL Average. I know that if I had spent those kind of bucks and suddenly found out that I was going to be watching Matt Cassell instead of Tom Brady, I know that I'd want to get some of many money back too... JDG

I dunno - how excited can you get about a team that was playing their 5th, 6th, and 7th-string WR's for the last quarter and a half? Heck, and that was starting the game with *Nate Burleson* as their best WR! Hey, bravo to the Bills and their Special Teams for taking care of business - but it was just one game. If the Bills can send the Jaguars to 2-0 on their homefield, then there'll be plenty of attention.... JDG

I have a hard time finding proof for it, but I suspect that a major factor is that Buffalo and New York State in general still has the government bureaucracy established to run the place when it was almost twice the size about 50 years ago. I do know that New York regularly tops the Nation's most-taxed lists, and that makes it hard to entract not just businesses, but entrepreneurs as well. While politicians don't build the economy - they lay the foundation for it. Keeping taxes competitive with other jurisdictions, and streamlining the bureacracy for entrepreneurs who want to start new businesses. The proof seems to be in the pudding that New York has singularly failed to do that. I refuse to believe that Upstate New Yorkers are somehow naturally less-entrepreneurial than those of other places - they just seem to go elsewhere to do it. JDG

The other thing about MSA's is that they are tied to County boundaries, which can produce lots of strange results. For example, the Los Angeles MSA extends all the way to Nevada because of the crazy county boundaries in California. Urbanized Area (UZA) boundaries have their own oddities, but in general, I tend to like them better. Any way you cut it, though, the Buffalo market has a small core than the Indianpolis market, and a poorer one. JDG