My Observations Today and some thoughts

[Big Turk]

What a horribly ugly game by the Bills. D kept them in it, but maddeningly kept giving up short out routes all day and never seemed to get in position to jump a route.

Offense...ugggh...what can we say.

 

THE GOOD:

 

1) Chris Ellis looks like he could be a pretty good player for us with some more experience. Looks infinitely better than Chris Kelsay. Looking pretty promising. Gailey said he was the worst player on the field when he first got there trying to adapt and has improved immensely to the point he can actually play. Looks like he was right, manhandled ernon Carey on that sack, and had a few other nice pressures as well.

 

2) Aaron Maybin: Still nothing great for a first round pick, but at least he was on the field and made some plays, getting a nice pressure and making a nice 3rd down stop with pursuit. Bonehead play to give them an offside on 4th and 7, luckily it didn't give an automatic first down. Much better than last year already.

 

3) Leodis McKelvin: Yeah he got smoked on that fake by Edwards which luckily didn't hurt them because the ball was under thrown and he dropped it, but he was all over his receivers, making several nice pass breakups.

 

3) DB Coverage: Were very good in forcing Henne to dump balls down, prevent the big play(thanks to Marshall dropping a sure 50 yard TD on a blown coverage by Whitner), and causing coverage sacks because he had nowhere to throw the ball. They are definitely as good as advertised.

 

4) "D" in general: 1st game in a new scheme with a new coordinator, and they kept the Bills in the game, even forcing a late punt to give the inept offense one more chance. Only gave up one big run by Brown, and generally kept Miami in check pretty well, especially after making some nice halftime adjustments. Held Dolphins to 4.1 yards per play, and under 300 yards of total offense. Can't ask for much more than that with the way our offense was completely inept and the lack of a pass rush.

 

5)Fred Jackson: He didn't play much, but Jackson just produces when he is in. Rushing, receiving, wildcat, whatever he does, the guy gets yards. Sad that the Bills moved the ball better with Jackson in the wildcat than with Edwards most of the day.

 

6)David Nelson: Easy to see why Hardy was expendable...beautiful seam catch for 25-30 yards called back on holding penalty, made a few nice catches. Gonna be a good one I think.

 

7) Rian Lindell: Dude is just money...was on target for the 63 yarder, but a little short. Drilled a 51 yarder that left no doubt from the moment he kicked it that it was good.

 

THE BAD:

 

1) Our Pass Rush: Couldn't generate any pressure for the most part, even when the secondary forced Henne to hold the ball because noone was open. A few nice blitzes got to Henne, and a nice rush by Ellis, but other than that, he had all day as we got stonewalled at the line.

 

2) CJ Spiller: Hard to break a game open when you only get 7 carries, but with the Dolphins showing absolutely no respect to our pass game, the box was loaded all day. Gonna need to get him some room to operate if we want to see some magic.

 

3) Lee Evans: When is this guy gonna make some plays for this offense that aren't 75 yard TD bombs?

 

4) Chris Kelsay: Looks horribly out of place and just way too slow to play LB, especially OLB. Got sucked in by a move by Brown on one play, had the angle to make the play and Brown blew by him like he was standing still. Look for him to be on the bench in short order once our LB situation improves.

 

THE UGLY

 

1) Trent Edwards X 3: I don't even know what to say. Scared of the rush even when he has a little time(not very often tho), won't throw the ball more than 5 yards, telegraphs his throws and should have had 2 returned for pick 6's, one of the ugliest QB performances I have seen from him, and that says a lot as last year he threw the kitchen sink at ugly performances. Obviously his struggles with a 3-4 defense aren't being helped by playing against it every day in practice. Want to beat the Bills? Switch to a 3-4 defense just for the game and stifle our offense.

 

2) OLine X 2: Simply dreadful. When you cannot protect well on simple 3 and 4 man rushes, you have little chance of doing much of anything well. Teams will not rush much, drop lots of players into underneath coverage because they know Edwards isn't throwing deep, and they will be playing 8 in the box all day long to stuff the run. Result? Can't run, can't throw, look horrible. Until we can force teams to have to consistently rush more than 3 or 4 players to get to the QB, this offense will do nothing, because they will be smothered, and Edwards exacerbates this because of his indecisiveness, holding the ball, and short throws.

 

3) Tight Ends: Wait a minute---we have tight ends on this team? Did anyone notice them for any reason today?

 

4) Cornell Green and Demetrius Bell: They were so bad, they get an extra ugly on top of the OLine in general. Green was getting turnstiled all day long. Bell could have sprung Spiller for a nice gain with a very easily executed block where you push the DE past the RB, and instead he gives him a lazy shove right into Spiller and was lucky he didn't take the handoff instead. Its like cmon guys...this is the NFL, not high school.

 

 

 

Other observations today:

 

-Chris Ellis is gonna be a real player for us by the end of the year.

 

-Aaron Maybin is gonna at least be a useful player for us by the end of the year---a huge step forward considering what he did last year and in the preseason.

 

-We would have a fearsome defense with the addition of 1 good pass rusher. Secondary is off the chain, they would be getting pass break ups and int's like crazy with some pressure on the QB. Forced numerous coverage sacks and pressures and kept everything short.

 

-David Nelson is gonna be the #2 receiver by the bye week...guy is a big body and just gets open...

 

-Trent Edwards will be lucky to make it to the bye week as the starting QB...showing exactly what happened last year---afraid of playing when the chips are down.

 

-CJ Spiller is gonna bust loose sooner rather than later.

 

-We will never beat a team that plays a 3-4 defense while Edwards is the QB

 

-Cornell Green just sucks, how is this guy a starter on an NFL team?

 

-Leodis McKelvin is gonna take Florence's starting CB job by mid-season.

 

Looking forward to the impending slaughters at Green Bay and New England.

[Rico]

I like Ellis too. Don't know what happens with Torbor when he's ready to play, but please get Kelsay's monkey ass off the field and play CE.

[thebug]

The 3 worst players I noticed today:

 

Trent Edwards - Do I really need to say anything.

 

Chris Kelsay - Oh my, this guy was out of position and when he wasn't he was too slow or too weak to make the tackle.

 

Donte Whitner - just no clue. can't cover...love how he stands over the guy and yells at him after the guy gets 12 and a first down. If this guy was drafted in the 4th round, I would still be disappointed.

[Wagon Circler]

The 3 worst players I noticed today:

 

Trent Edwards - Do I really need to say anything.

 

Chris Kelsay - Oh my, this guy was out of position and when he wasn't he was too slow or too weak to make the tackle.

 

Donte Whitner - just no clue. can't cover...love how he stands over the guy and yells at him after the guy gets 12 and a first down. If this guy was drafted in the 4th round, I would still be disappointed.

I have always liked Whitner. Hard to defend what he showed today.Awful performance.

[Big Turk]

I have always liked Whitner. Hard to defend what he showed today.Awful performance.

 

He is part of a secondary that had to cover receivers forever and gave up very few if any big plays(thanks to a drop and blown coverage by the aforementioned Whitner), thanks to a poor pass rush. I agree he didn't do anything great, but with the secondary playing that well, he HAS to be doing something good back there...

[bouds]

I like Ellis too. Don't know what happens with Torbor when he's ready to play, but please get Kelsay's monkey ass off the field and play CE.

 

Yeah, I'm sick of seeing Kelsay and Cornell Green.

[Red]

Kelsay, for the money he's making has got to be a better performer.

 

He's absolutely terrible.

 

I agree that Ellis looks like he might turn his career around. Spiller will break soon; providing the offensive line can get a hand on somebody, I like Nelson alot. I'm excited to have Parrish in the mix again. I kept hoping for a homecoming, thriller of a punt return to win the game in the end, but alas, I remain unfulfilled.

 

I also like the game management by Gailey at the end. The offense got 2 chances in the last 5 minutes to put some points on the board for a win. Nice managment with taking the safety, whereas Jauron would have surely found a way to bungle the game at the end with something ridiculous.

 

The 3 worst players I noticed today:

 

Trent Edwards - Do I really need to say anything.

 

Chris Kelsay - Oh my, this guy was out of position and when he wasn't he was too slow or too weak to make the tackle.

 

Donte Whitner - just no clue. can't cover...love how he stands over the guy and yells at him after the guy gets 12 and a first down. If this guy was drafted in the 4th round, I would still be disappointed.

 

You know, I never understood the whole garbage talk thing, anyways. And you are so right. The guy just caught a ball IN FRONT OF YOU and made respectable yards on the catch. What is there to talk about?

 

Donte Whitner reminds me of how awful our drafts have been with Modrak, Levy, Williams, Guy, Mularkey, etc. When Haloti Ngata was sitting right there...and we took Whitner...Ngata.....

 

How much different of a team would we be if we had selected Ngata instead of Whitner, and Oher/ Orakpo instead of Maybin?

Edited September 12, 2010 by Red

[RuntheDamnBall]

The Dolphins knew Chris Kelsay was a liability for the Bills, because they were attacking him all day. I started watching him every play from the middle of the first quarter and it was just amazing how often he would be in good position and then cut in to take a bad angle, removing himself from the play. He is just not a good athlete by NFL OLB standards. I couldn't tell if he was worse dropping back in coverage or in the "pass rush" - quotes used to emphasize distance from the actual act of "pass rushing." He was neutralized and abused all day. Maybin and Ellis might make more mistakes as the starters but they would certainly make more plays than this bozo (note: I'm sure he has a family and is a great person, I just don't want him as a captain or starting OLB for my football team).

[Bflojohn]

Just wondering, but I didn't see Jairus Byrd AT ALL in coverage. Sometimes the camera's lie, but I sat through the entire game thinking that a game changing play in the secondary was coming. At times, the coverages were extremely tight, but Miami got to more passes than our group, even with the notion I have that our guys are better. They have to be sharp next week, or Aaron Rodgers will carve them up! Nothing awe inspiring, unfortunately!!

[Mark Vader]

Just wondering, but I didn't see Jairus Byrd AT ALL in coverage. Sometimes the camera's lie, but I sat through the entire game thinking that a game changing play in the secondary was coming. At times, the coverages were extremely tight, but Miami got to more passes than our group, even with the notion I have that our guys are better. They have to be sharp next week, or Aaron Rodgers will carve them up! Nothing awe inspiring, unfortunately!!

You did'nt see Byrd today because Henne did not throw deep.