My Meaningless Opinion

[R. Rich]

Another tough loss, eh? Hey, the Bills showed some heart this week, only to lose down the stretch. Why does this sound familiar? Hmm...

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick had a solid outing. He did have nearly 300 passing yards and showed the willingness to go down the field, which I presume is the reason he was named the starter over Trent Edwards. He still is not accurate (his first INT was a horribly overthrown ball), and was lucky to have just one pick in the game, but it's still nice to see someone taking shots down the field, especially when you have receivers who can pose some sort of threat in the vertical passing game.

 

If you were grading the running backs from this game, you'd probably give 'em an incomplete. Marshawn Lynch had a costly fumble and left the game w/ a shoulder injury, but didn't do much before then. Might he have done better? I dunno. Fred Jackson did okay in limited usage (9 rushes, 35 yards, 4 catches, 20 yards), but neither guy was a factor. Considering how the team had the football for only 'bout 7 minutes of the second half, that may have been a slight error on the Bills' part.

 

Terrell Owens had a huge game this week; props to him. That said, I don't want to see images of Owens whining and complaining when he doesn't get the ball. They made an incredible effort to get the ball in your hands, sometimes to a fault as Fitzpatrick had a few near misses in terms of INTs due to forcing the ball Owens' way. Be glad and just work to get more of those opportunities. Lee Evans didn't do much in terms of yardage (1 grab for 15 yards), but was robbed of a TD due to a penalty. He made a couple good blocks down the field too. Maybe Lee is finally putting in the work to become a more complete receiver instead of the guy who can only run straight down the field. Hope so. Shawn Nelson made a nice grab in the 2nd quarter, but his chop block penalty was not only unneccsary (Jackson was already past him and on his way to a TD), but very costly, as the point differential (7 points instead of the 3 they ended up w/) would've won the game in theory.

 

The offensieve line continues to struggle in terms of run blocking, but also had some key gaffes in pass protection. Jonathan Scott's hands to the face penalty wiped out Lee Evans' TD bomb and he added another false start penalty to the Bills' stockpile for the season. Andy Levitre continues to look bad. He has trouble moving down the line to get blocks and also getting to the second level (one play in particular went for a big loss on a toss to the right side). In pass protection, he still lets guys get into his chest and gain leverage to get by him. Overall though, even w/ the injuries (get better soon, Eric Wood), the line wasn't horrible in pass protection. Jermon Meredith, Seth McKinney (before he went out w/ an injury), and Scott didn't dominate, but didn't get embarrASSed either.

 

The defensive line did an okay job. Aaron Schobel was pretty good on the right side, but Chris Kelsay left a lot to be desired on the left. As for the interior guys, welcome back Kyle Williams. You may be a favorite whipping boy of TBD, but your absence was certainly felt. The guy who occupied your spot, Spencer Johnson, is too easily blocked out of plays and cannot stand up @ the point of attack. Williams had a beautiful hit on David Garrard, and did his best to clog up the rush lanes all day. Considering they were w/out Marcus Stroud, I thought they did a fine job against the run and limited Maurice Jones-Drew's effectiveness (66 rushing yards and only 2.6 yards per), though Jones-Drew (tough running and big 3rd down conversion) and Garrard (gutsy effort on 2 point conversion) did show their stuff on their game-winning drive.

 

I thought the linebackers played well as a unit in this one. Paul Posluszny actually made some nice plays in this one, including forcing a fumble and creating pressure w/ his blitz up the middle. He finished w/ 11 tackles but also had a costly face mask penalty where he tried to make Jones-Drew look like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Bryan Scott made a very timely play on the INT by knocking the pass up in the air and giving George Wilson the opportunity to bring it in. He had 9 tackles and did a nice job in coverage too (knocking down the 3rd quarter pass to force a punt). I was thrilled to see Perry Fewell give Ashlee Palmer a shot @ some playing time, and what a nice play Palmer had in stopping Jones-Drew behind the line of scrimmage. Young guys who display the kind of athleticism that can only help this defense, like Palmer and Nic Harris, need to get the reps and develop instead of sitting down and watching, as Dick Jauron seemed to like to do (much like Marv Levy's "last year's rookies" theory). Hopefully, we'll start to see the Bills' LBs do even more damage in the coming weeks.

 

The secondary had their share of hits (Whitner nearly making the pick, Wilson actually making the pick) and misses (Reggie Corner being abused by Mike Sims-Walker on the TD, Jairus Byrd missing a tackle on Jones-Drew and looking every bit like a guy suffering a nagging injury). I thought Drayton Florence did a pretty decent job in coverage. Ellis Lankster got some good playing time (again going w/ the 'give the young guys more reps' theme) and wasn't too shabby. Considering the way the front seven was able to pressure Garrard, you'd have liked to see more in the way of turnovers from these guys.

 

The coaching? Well, it was different. More emotion from the sidelines, which is something many a Bills fan (myself included) wanted to see. But, there were the same old issues: poor use of timeouts, head scratching decisions (what was w/ that waste of the final 26 seconds of the first half???), and lack of discipline in terms of penalties (only 6 this time, but two of 'em wiped out TDs in a 3 point loss). While I appreciate the effort the team put in this week in order to get a win for their new coach, I still believe this franchise is best served by an experienced, established coach coming in and doing what is necessary to get the team back on track.

 

So, the Bills fall to 3-7 and now must face a couple division foes in Miami and the NY Jets. Then, they must go to Arrowhead to face a Kansas City team that has to be riding high after upsetting Pittsburgh before coming back home to deal w/ New England, hitting the road to square off w/ Atlanta, and ending up w/ a home game vs the still unbeaten Colts. It is going to take a lot of work to come out of this w/ some wins, but if they continue to build on the effort they displayed this week, maybe the Bills can shock a few of these teams. We'll see.

[Chandler#81]

True, the offensieve line wasn't terrible but the Jags pass rush is among the leagues' worst. Wood had already become our best lineman and he's lost for the rest of the year.- Best wishes, Eric!

The Fish, Jets, Pats*, Falcons and Colts have no such problem. We've likely seen the last productive effort this offense can muster..

 

Hope not, but think so.

 

The defense played very well, from front to back. Garrard is under-rated. He just made plays when he had to, and has a strong offense. As our D players get healthier, this may continue.

 

Hope so, but think not.

[Beerball]

Thanks R. R.

 

Things I think I think I saw that I think I liked:

Overall 'mood' of the defense was different. Could be they wanted to show something special for the 'new guy'. I'm sure that played into their performance. But I think Coach Perry was happy to be free of the jaurontastic shackles that he's been held by for the past 3.5 (it's always 3.5 isn't it?) seasons. The d-line was more aggressive, Williams had several really dominant plays inside. That hit he put on Gerrard would have snapped many a QB in two, but because of Gerrard's size he was able to absorb it and continue. Denney is Denney...caught inside on the end around AGAIN. Schobel had a couple nice plays. It was the LB and DB play that showed the real difference though. Instead of playing safe, protecting out of position starters they brought it all day long. That was different. That was good. The result was the same, a late score saddled the team with yet another loss, but...I like what I saw from an unfettered Fewell on the defensive side of the ball.

 

Offense left a lot of plays on the field because of Fitzpatrick's inaccuracy. Even on the last drive the plays were there if he throws an accurate ball. People will say he sucked. People may say we would have won the game with Edwards, but we at least saw an offense that challenged the defense rather than always 'taking what the defense gives us' BS. Nelson showed something again. One really nice grab and another where he played defense and ruined a potential pick. Keep finding ways to get him the ball.

 

Game/clock management was atrocious. Some of Van P's decisions (assuming the run at the end of the half was his call, the end around to Rock Parrish deep in our end) were head scratchers.

 

Regarding Rock Parrish...can we all agree finally...leave his butt inactive each remaining game! He is nothing in the return game and is a liability on offense.

[Bill from NYC]

The game was just another microcosm of the Buffalo Bills. Little first round defensive backs get hurt and are replaced with quality players such as Corner and Drayton. A seventh round pick OL and/or a castoff goes down? The Bills throw in Jonathan Scott and lose the game. Was there an OL penalty before Scott took the field? I'm gonna go with no. How long did they have the football in the 2nd half? I don't have the numbers but my guess is not very long. The results? Another loss.

I know that I'm preaching to the choir, but a team with this kind of garbage up front cannot and will not win.

 

Lynch once again pissed me off. He has been dropping passes since his arrival. Couple this with his off field antics and my patience for him is rapidly dwindling.

 

It was an easier loss to endure because the coach looked as if he had a pulse but we saw the rersults of the same long term idiocy that has hurt this franchise for more than a decade. Nothing short of a complete change of philosophy will reverse things. I just hope that it happens before they toss away the draft.

[stuckincincy]

Then, they must go to Arrowhead to face a Kansas City team that has to be riding high after upsetting Pittsburgh before coming back home to deal w/ New England,

 

 

re: PGH

 

The refs gave both KC and OAK a free Get-Out-Of-Jail card....IMO.

 

The KC club (2 - 6) suffered 4 penalties - 2 of four (1 of the 4 was the ubiquitous ones that happen on kick returns - block in the back) by their offense. PGH was assesed 8.

 

2 - 6 OAK had 3 total - none assessed against their offense with a new QB at the helm. All 3 were in the 3rd.

 

I watched the CIN game. They stunk, no doubt. However, OAK was holding and interfering constantly. I have old eyes, I see what's going down. No flags.

 

CIN's offensive play calls stunk. They had their errors - 3 fumbles that cost them. Even so - and not wanting to toss out sour grapes - one of the hottest defenses gets zero sacks and one QB hit and no hurries??

 

 

Didn't see the PGH game save the few OT minutes until the feed went to the 4:15 gamre.

[IDBillzFan]

While I know it consistently sucks to be a Bills fan on Monday, I can't help but wonder which fans feels worse on this Monday in particular: a Steelers fan or a Bengals fan.

 

Weird day yesterday.