R. Rich Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Bills play the Patriots, the Bills lose to the Patriots. The sun rises in the east... Let's start off w/ the QB. Ryan Fitzpatrick laid yet another egg of a game. Sure he completed his fair share of throws, but none of any significance and ended up w/ just over 100 yards before he was benched for Trent Edwards. Yikes. Edwards did nothing, getting sacked twice in four plays and being knocked out of the game. Fitzpatrick came back into the game and led the Bills on their only TD drive that was a case of far too little, far too late. The Bills are kidding themselves if they feel that the answer to their QB issues is currently on their roster. Fred Jackson had a very good game running the ball. I really like the way he can hit the hole strong and make someone miss while picking up extra yards. If only Marshawn Lynch, who has improved as a 'tween the tackles runner in my (meaningless) opinion, could do more of this. That's when these guys will be lethal. Outside of Lee Evans' TD catch on a fade route after coming up just short shortly before, the Bills receivers did little to distinguish themselves. Josh Reed dropped a ball that would've gone for a huge conversion and may have put the Bills in position to score a TD that could've made things tighter. Earlier, he made a big fourth down conversion, so I guess that makes him even. Terrell Owens looked more like Randy Moss from the Carolina game w/ a performance that was seemingly mailed in. A pair of catches for 20 yards and no big plays, other than a false start, but that was big for the wrong reasons. Jackson made the heads up catch on a play that was intended for Johnathan Stupar, who knocked the ball up in the air while attempting to catch it. It wasn't the best thrown pass, but really what do you expect from an inaccurate QB who is being chased out of the pocket? Shawn Nelson wasn't able to provide help down the seam, but did make 4 catches in the game, albeit for 17 yards. Here's the most sobering stat of this contest: the Bills gave up 6 sacks to a pass rush that was generating 'em @ a whopping rate of 1.7 per game coming into the contest! That is the defensive Achilles heel of New England, and most football observers know this. Yet, they got to play, "the cure for what ails your team," and viola! They can rush the passer. Kirk Chambers was just outclassed by guys like Tully Banta-Cain (a decent rusher) and Mike Wright (a journeyman). Jonathan Scott continues to show that he's a liability vs edge rushers. ANY edge rushers. As for the interior guys, I think there was some good things (Geoff Hangartner actually had a good overall game vs Ron Brace, moving him 'round and letting the RBs get to the 2nd level) but plenty of bad things (Hangartner's holding penalty, Chambers and Scott's edge deficiencies, Andre Ramsey's ill advised penalty @ the 2 yard line). RICHie Incognito had a couple bad penalties in his Bills debut, but also showed flashes of potential. Unfortunately, this team and this unit in particular needs MUCH more than flashes right now. I know this line has been decimated by injuries, but this season has illustrated just how poorly the Bills' personnel guys have been in evaluating the talent needed to round out an NFL roster. You don't need to have a ton of all stars, but you should have guys you feel somewhat confident 'bout when they are called upon in a pinch. Witness the play of Mike Wright and Johnathan Wilhite from yesterday, and you'll see that it is possible to have guys as reserves who can be counted on. The defensive line went yesterday as far as Aaron Schobel took 'em. He did a solid job of providing pressure on Brady for most of the game, even though he didn't bring Brady down. Must be that high motor, huh? As for the rest of this group, well, we're still waiting. Chris Kelsay was once again a non factor, but did manage to come up w/ 3 solo and 3 ASSisted tackles. Marcus Stroud, on the eve of fan voting for the Pro Bowl, made sure people would disregard his name w/ another lackluster performance. He did bat down a Brady pass, but he also was blown off the ball several times, allowing for big gains up the gut. Where was Kyle Williams' pressure and penchant for getting into the backfield to disrupt plays? Nowhere to be seen yesterday, that's for sure. The reserves, Spencer Johnson, John McCargo, Ryan Denney, and Aaron Maybin (stay onside on onside kicks!) showed up to collect a check, but nothing more. Paul Posluszny has put together a nice string of games here lately. He was all over the field, disrupting passes, getting a pick, and making tackles in the Patriot backfield. A stellar game from a guy who needs to show this type of consistency. As for Bryan Scott, he gives a game effort, but like many of the guys on the defense, is far too small to hold up. Laurence Maroney was able to break off big gains while either going past pursuing defenders or simply running through 'em. They're not too bad in terms of flying to the ball, as they do have good speed as a unit. Problem is, when they flow to the ball, they get knocked off it. When it comes to the linebacker unit, the Bills need to realize one thing: size matters. Terrence McGee gave it a go, but got hurt (arm) and had to leave. I thought he had sound coverage for the most part, and that pass breakup for the bomb intended for Sam Aiken was a thing of beauty. Meanwhile, Drayton Florence, who usually is pretty reliable, had more than his share of problems dealing w/ Moss. But, who wouldn't? George Wilson came up w/ some solid stops, including one @ the line of scrimmage and another that went for a loss. He finished w/ 7 tackles, 4 solos. Both Reggie Corner and Donte Whitner were victimized by the long ball w/ interference calls and Jairus Byrd reacted way too late on the TD to Moss (a heck of a catch by him!). They were able to minimize Brady's effectiveness, as he had just 5 completions in the first half and threw for only 115 yards, but they also had an offensieve line-like day in terms of penalties. Again, special teams could've made a difference and did not. Aaron Maybin......stay onsides!!!! I don't know if the Bills would've done to New England what they did to the Bills on opening night, but I sure would've liked to see 'em try. What was up w/ Brian Moorman's punting? As for Lindell's miss, it wasn't a gimme, although he did have the distance and just shanked it. Why was Josh Reed returning punts? Have things gotten that bad in terms of the return game? Get well soon, Leodis. As for Perry Fewell, I really was looking forward to him coaching this game as "the unknown" and giving the Bills a shot in this one. Problem was, there were a bunch of head scratching play calls and some decisions in terms of usage of personnel that were puzzling as well. Not to mention the rash of penalties, including the drive killers courtesy of Ramsey and Maybin. Any of that stuff sound familiar to you? It does to me, and I'm sure it did to Bill Belichick. And so the streak continues. Oh well. As they say, the Bills are what their record says they are. Unfortunately for us die-hard fans, it's another team that builds up your hopes only to rip out your heart. They didn't have a whole lot left to play for, but FINALLY beating the Patriots would've been nice. Sorta akin to how Browns fans had to feel 'bout stopping their losing streak to the Stillers (which, like the Bills' streak to the Patriots before yesterday, was 12 straight). But, like a possible division championship (or more), a postseason appearance, or even a .500 record, it will have to do what it's had to do for quite a while: wait 'til next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 ... As for Perry Fewell, I really was looking forward to him coaching this game as "the unknown" and giving the Bills a shot in this one. Problem was, there were a bunch of head scratching play calls and some decisions in terms of usage of personnel that were puzzling as well. Not to mention the rash of penalties, including the drive killers courtesy of Ramsey and Maybin. Any of that stuff sound familiar to you? It does to me, and I'm sure it did to Bill Belichick. And so the streak continues. ... That's what got me. We ran the ball quite effectively on that first drive and then seemed to get away from it. I don't understand why. Then of course, they'd get a penalty and be in 1 and 20, or 2 and long and run up the middle. Why? Then on 3rd and 15, they try the screen that's designed to get 10 yards? Why not do that on first down, then get back into more favorable 2nd and 3rd downs? The playcalling just made no sense to me after that first drive. Penalties. There's really not much you can say about that. Yeah, I expect more penalties when we play the Pats* - conspiracy or not, we always seem to rack up the penalties when we play them. But, wow, we gave up psomething like 150ish penalty yards. Entirely too many mistakes. At some point, Fewell needed to call the players to the sideline and chew them out. He also needed to call AVP over and tell him to stop getting cute and just run the damn ball. I'll give him some credit for pulling Fitzy. He was looking absolutely horrible out there. I would have done it sooner. Not that I expected more from Trent; but, you have to tell the players that this piss poor play is going to get you benched. It probably would have been better to go with Jackson as the QB and just run the wildcat-type formations all 4th quarter. It certainly couldn't have been worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthICE Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Rich....you and I both know....nothing changes till 'he who shall not be named' is no longer running this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gflande1 Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 All I know, is that if we have a top 10 pick in the draft, it is going to be awfully tough to decide what hole to fill first. I agree. Thats why we need to make a move for a GM now. Someone that will come in with proven player evaluators. Modrak and Guy need to go now! As far as a top 10 pick, I would almost look to trade out of the pick and pickup as many picks as we can. Start dumping some of the players on this team for picks, even if they are 3 or 4th rounders. We have too many holes to fill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Even Pos is a bit of a tweener when compared to a beast like Jerod Mayo. According to what I found, both are 6'1" and Mayo weighs 7 lbs more than Poz (245 vs. 238). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartacus Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 According to what I found, both are 6'1" and Mayo weighs 7 lbs more than Poz (245 vs. 238). Poz weighs 238 just like Maybin weighs 250 a little artistic license with the playbook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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