Yes the passing game sucked BUT

[mattsox]

Yeah, bad game all around. Not sure about this team. Very disappointing. Seems its the players not the coaches. We've drafted bad for years and it shows. I doubt if you cut half this team, anyone would get picked up. It's just not a team that can compete against the upper teams of the league. This team is far away from the 90s teams that went to the superbowl.

[Alphadawg7]

I realize we're all busy talking about how much Trent sucks and how bad a QB is but lets not overlook the dismal effort yesterday on the ground.

 

We had FIFTY FREAKING YARDS rushing the ball. Our QB had twice as many yards rushing as our starting running back who also happened to be our #1 draft pick. That my friends is just dismal.

 

We can survive a season with Edwards being a dismal QB, we can't survive if we can't gain more that fifty measly freaking yards on the ground.

 

You answered your own question in your thread title...The passing game literally did not exist on any level. With ZERO threat of a pass beyond 5 yards, its pretty easy to stop the run. I cant understand why that is so difficult for people to understand who seem to claim to know about football (not directed at you).

 

I sat here watching the game with my friend who was a Dolphin fan. I literally sat here and told him pre snap that the ball would not travel in the air more than "x" number of yards (or not at all) on many different plays, mostly our 3rd and long, 2nd and long, etc plays. I never chose a distance longer than 7 measly yards...my range on calls was from 4 to 7 yards and on every one of them the team needed at min 10 yards for a first.

 

Guess how many times I was wrong? Once...and it was the Roscoe TD.

 

When your QB plays like that, I promise you that you wont be finding many running lanes as there will be 9 up front to stop the run and short pass. There is literally not a single QB in the NFL that is easier to defend than Trent. I challenge someone to please find a starting QB in the league right now easier to defend than Trent...just one.

[SouthGeorgiaBillsFan]

You answered your own question in your thread title...The passing game literally did not exist on any level. With ZERO threat of a pass beyond 5 yards, its pretty easy to stop the run. I cant understand why that is so difficult for people to understand who seem to claim to know about football (not directed at you).

 

I sat here watching the game with my friend who was a Dolphin fan. I literally sat here and told him pre snap that the ball would not travel in the air more than "x" number of yards (or not at all) on many different plays, mostly our 3rd and long, 2nd and long, etc plays. I never chose a distance longer than 7 measly yards...my range on calls was from 4 to 7 yards and on every one of them the team needed at min 10 yards for a first.

 

Guess how many times I was wrong? Once...and it was the Roscoe TD.

 

When your QB plays like that, I promise you that you wont be finding many running lanes as there will be 9 up front to stop the run and short pass. There is literally not a single QB in the NFL that is easier to defend than Trent. I challenge someone to please find a starting QB in the league right now easier to defend than Trent...just one.

 

Well let's see Alphadawg. There was a time when the forward pass was not legal and all you could do was run the ball, and guess what - every team did it. So there goes that theory. The fact that we threw the ball twice as often as we ran the ball (almost exclusively on short routes that don't take time to develop) is an iron clad indication that the coaching staff has zero confidence in the line's ability. Trust me - Chan Gailey, Trent Edwards, and pretty much everyone else in the Bills organization know more about football than you do. So just put a sock in it.

Edited September 14, 2010 by SouthGeorgiaBillsFan

[Giant Teenager]

We didn't even try to run with trent under center

[WordByrd]

People are just gonna respond that its because trent didnt set up the running game.

 

+1

 

The anti-Trent sentiment is so old. Chan called a HORRIBLE game. 41/52 plays out of shotgun!? You'll never have success passing when you never line up under center and run between the tackles.

[BobChalmers]

The only positive from yesterday is that Washington got a victory over Dallas with a new quality HC and A quality experienced QB disproving all this .."well we need to develop" and "we're a couple seasons away". All we needed was something we didn't get...something we put up billboards to convey. But what the hell do we know, we're just the piss poor fans of this BS franchise.

 

Oh yes - because the Shanahan/McNabb-led Redskins offense put up a whopping 6 points against the Cowboys and he was 15/32. Awesome - sure wish we had that kind of firepower!

 

 

EIGHT OTHER NFL TEAMS SCORED EQUAL OR FEWER POINTS ON OFFENSE THAN THE BILLS!!

 

The great QB's who were outscored this week by the Edwards-led Bills:

 

Mark Sanchez

Brett Favre

Donavan McNabb

Matt Ryan

Aaron Smith

Tony Romo

Joe Flacco (matched us at 10)

Dennis Dixon (pitt) (9pts in regulation - they did get a 50 yard TD run to add another 6 in OT)

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are there not THREE former overall #1 draft picks on that list, and FOUR first-rounders total??

Edited September 15, 2010 by BobChalmers

[reddogblitz]

I was at the game and just got back home. I'm still in shock as to what I saw in the way of play calling in that game. We got the ball and I thought we'd see some running the football. We saw none of that. The first drive was 3 passes. There were 8 passes out of the first 12 plays. Our run game was bad in part because we didn't use it. We left it in the locker room.

 

ML got in and got stuffed on his first carry. Then the next time he got the ball he ripped off a 16 yard run. Never to be seen again.

 

Then on 3rd and 4 I think it was TE went out and we went to the wildbill. Fred picked up 6 yards and a first down. Then the next play he gets 5 or 6 again but there's a holding call. 1st and 20 and we put TE back in. OK, but why didn't we go back to the wildbill later? It seemed to be working.

 

When somethings working, you gotta keep doing until they can stop it.

 

The play calling looked like another case of Dick/Gregg Williams over-thinking. Run the freakin' football!

 

Granted you need good blocking to get a running game going, but we didn't even try.

 

I don't get it.

 

Oh yes - because the Shanahan/McNabb-led Redskins offense put up a whopping 6 points against the Cowboys and he was 15/32. Awesome - sure wish we had that kind of firepower!

 

 

EIGHT OTHER NFL TEAMS SCORED EQUAL OR FEWER POINTS ON OFFENSE THAN THE BILLS!!

 

The great QB's who were outscored this week by the Edwards-led Bills:

 

Mark Sanchez

Brett Favre

Donavan McNabb

Matt Ryan

Aaron Smith

Tony Romo

Joe Flacco (matched us at 10)

Dennis Dixon (pitt) (9pts in regulation - they did get a 50 yard TD run to add another 6 in OT)

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are there not THREE former overall #1 draft picks on that list, and FOUR first-rounders total??

I don't see Jake Delhomme on that list. We could have had him.

[CosmicBills]

Oh yes - because the Shanahan/McNabb-led Redskins offense put up a whopping 6 points against the Cowboys and he was 15/32. Awesome - sure wish we had that kind of firepower!

 

 

EIGHT OTHER NFL TEAMS SCORED EQUAL OR FEWER POINTS ON OFFENSE THAN THE BILLS!!

 

... But 23 teams scored more. That's like saying, "So sorry I killed that hooker, Officer. But at Billy Joe and Gunther down the road killed three hookers last night. So we're cool right?"

 

You can't condone a bad team by pointing out other bad teams. That's loser mentality. 24 teams out performed the Bills on Sunday; not the Bills out performed 8 teams.

[bowery4]

. As for Ralph I have it on good authority that the team has already been sold and the binding factor is Ralph must assume room temperature. Low salaries help keep profits up to make the team more appealling. It's not about winning to the owners...it's about money. Ralph already has it and when he dies the Bills will be playing in one of the three NFL style stadiums being built right now as we speak. Two on the west coast and one in mid west.

you can not say that crap and not say more. call bs unless you do

 

 

 

We didn't even try to run with trent under center

 

this

 

+1

 

The anti-Trent sentiment is so old. Chan called a HORRIBLE game. 41/52 plays out of shotgun!? You'll never have success passing when you never line up under center and run between the tackles.

 

this esply!!

[Benjamin Barker]

Da Big Man -

 

I like your style.

[BillsPhan]

I realize we're all busy talking about how much Trent sucks and how bad a QB is but lets not overlook the dismal effort yesterday on the ground.

 

We had FIFTY FREAKING YARDS rushing the ball. Our QB had twice as many yards rushing as our starting running back who also happened to be our #1 draft pick. That my friends is just dismal.

 

We can survive a season with Edwards being a dismal QB, we can't survive if we can't gain more that fifty measly freaking yards on the ground.

 

The Bills could not run the ball because our new head coach decided to pass the ball. It is really that simple. Unless Chan thought his starting OL were Kent Hull, John Davis, Jim Richter, House Ballard and Will Wolford, because he came out in the freakin' "K-Gun" formation and tried to run out if it like Thurman used to. Unfortunately, Chan's real OL wasn't quite good enough to run block from a half-stance "shot gun" formation. I bet it looked real nice in practice though.

 

With this talent-challenged OL, Chan will have to put away his fancy shot gun spread formations, put the guys in regular three point stances for leverage, and use the TE and FB as much as possible before they will ever be able to run the football with any success.

 

And oh by the way, even if the Bills had run better out of the "Chan-Gun", they would have had to average an eye popping 9 yards per carry to equal the Dolphins' 130 total rushing yards, because Gailey only called 14 lousy running plays to begin with. Most great running teams today have 14 carries by half time.

[shakar]

Was listening to the Cowterd show yesterday and he was making every excuse about Sanchez checking down, because he was running for his life. People can say what they want about Trent sucking, but he had zero time, he had numerous balls batted down, and was running for his life. We need to fix the O-line. Plus it's hard to run the ball when the defender is there with the hand off.

Edited September 15, 2010 by shakar

[Original Byrd Man]

I realize we're all busy talking about how much Trent sucks and how bad a QB is but lets not overlook the dismal effort yesterday on the ground.

 

We had FIFTY FREAKING YARDS rushing the ball. Our QB had twice as many yards rushing as our starting running back who also happened to be our #1 draft pick. That my friends is just dismal.

 

We can survive a season with Edwards being a dismal QB, we can't survive if we can't gain more that fifty measly freaking yards on the ground.

No you can't survive with a QB afraid to take shots down the field on a consistant basis because the D plays run first and stuff's the box, out numbering your blockers for one thing, and also you need to sustain drives to build some momentum, to get into a rhythm.

 

Mike it is due to a weak offensive line and good game planning by the fins. They stacked the box like all us of knew teams would do. Heck, it has been working for years against us. There is no secret on how to beat this team. Gailey doesn't have the players and he didn't have an effective game plan to counter the box being stacked. The nightmare continued yesterday. In retrospect, we as fans shouldn't be surprised as to what happened. You can make all the excuses you want, the fact is this regime failed to address two very critical components to winning football games which is the QB and OL positions. Nothing was more evident than that yesterday. Gailey has gotten the benefit of doubt with many posters here. Many of you have talked him up to be some great offensive minded coach. Well, I didn't even see a remote kernel of truth of that yesterday. I dare to say it was a "DJ like" performance from a coaching and play calling and game planning effort. I never did jump on the bandwagon but I was starting to believe maybe we found the "diamond in the rough." After one game the benefit of doubt has shifted and now this coach must prove to me he is able to deliver some wins to us the deserving fans. Yesterday was utterly disappointing...

We're not privy to what the play calls or game plan was, but Evans is and he said deep patterns were called but for some reason didn't materalise that often. It's time for the TE experiment to come to an end. Bring on Fitz or Brohm and give either a shot.

[Gugny]

Here's a theory ... it was the first flippin' game of the year under an entirely new coaching regime.

 

Most teams sucked in week 1; even most of the winning teams.

[SwampD]

Here's a theory ... it was the first flippin' game of the year under an entirely new coaching regime.

 

Most teams sucked in week 1; even most of the winning teams.

I like this theory.

 

Although,.. when there is only one play left in the game,.. and you need a touchdown to win,.. how in the world do you justify a checkdown pass.

[xsoldier54]

I realize we're all busy talking about how much Trent sucks and how bad a QB is but lets not overlook the dismal effort yesterday on the ground.

 

We had FIFTY FREAKING YARDS rushing the ball. Our QB had twice as many yards rushing as our starting running back who also happened to be our #1 draft pick. That my friends is just dismal.

 

We can survive a season with Edwards being a dismal QB, we can't survive if we can't gain more that fifty measly freaking yards on the ground.

Not to be redundant, but the reason we couldn't run the ball was also because of Trent Edwards. Miami was stacking the box and daring him to beat them with his arm and he just isn't capable of doing that. Other teams know this and you can look for more of the same this coming Sunday. Until and unless TE learns to check down when there are 8 0r 9 men in the box and go to a three step drop with a slant over the middle, that is what we are going to get. After three years, he still hasn't figured this out. You can't run the ball when the defense is taking away the run. If you can't throw it in those situations, you are doomed to failure.

[xsoldier54]

I realize we're all busy talking about how much Trent sucks and how bad a QB is but lets not overlook the dismal effort yesterday on the ground.

 

We had FIFTY FREAKING YARDS rushing the ball. Our QB had twice as many yards rushing as our starting running back who also happened to be our #1 draft pick. That my friends is just dismal.

 

We can survive a season with Edwards being a dismal QB, we can't survive if we can't gain more that fifty measly freaking yards on the ground.

Not to be redundant, but the reason we couldn't run the ball was also because of Trent Edwards. Miami was stacking the box and daring him to beat them with his arm and he just isn't capable of doing that. Other teams know this and you can look for more of the same this coming Sunday. Until and unless TE learns to check down when there are 8 0r 9 men in the box and go to a three step drop with a slant over the middle, that is what we are going to get. After three years, he still hasn't figured this out. You can't run the ball when the defense is taking away the run. If you can't throw it in those situations, you are doomed to failure.

[Gugny]

I like this theory.

 

Although,.. when there is only one play left in the game,.. and you need a touchdown to win,.. how in the world do you justify a checkdown pass.

Ummm ... Dick Jauron??? Kidding. Hopefully, it's something that can improve in subsequent games. I just haven't given up on Trent yet.

[transient]

Why are so many so black and white on this issue? It was TE... no it was the playcalling... this... that... no this... no that.

 

TE looked similar to last year. That being said, I don't care how wide open receivers were down field, he's not Favre, and he's not going to get the ball downfield without setting up to throw. We know that... he probably does too.

 

Regarding the run, I still don't understand why we started the game with Spiller. Miami was stacking the line... why not hammer ML into it for a bit to try to soften up the defense, then try to utilize CJ's speed as a change of pace... or throw FJ in there to sort his way through it for a few first downs, then throw CJ in there. I can only assume that part of it is that ML and FJ aren't back to 100%.

 

As for setting up the run with the pass or vice-versa, one can exist without the other. In fact, at times it becomes a necessity. But you don't abandon one or the other. Abandoning the run makes a bad offense easier to defend.

 

Gotta say, though, I agree with Gailey, this one's largely on him for putting together a bad gameplan. I expect that it was in part due to not knowing what this team was going to look like under fire. Hopefully he can adjust to his team's strengths and better disguise their weaknesses as the season moves along, or it's going to look a lot like last year.

 

It's the first game of his tenure, and bad teams don't go to the playoffs the next season in the first game. Give him some time. Hey, at least the defense looked respectable... that in itself is a revelation worth talking about.

 

I like this theory.

 

Although,.. when there is only one play left in the game,.. and you need a touchdown to win,.. how in the world do you justify a checkdown pass.

 

How do you justify the pocket collapsing with only a 3 or 4 man rush? Normally QBs have all the time in the world in that situation to stare at all of their receivers covered downfield before heaving it to the one with the fewest guys hanging on him.

Edited September 15, 2010 by transient

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Exactly. Who heard of Adrianne Foster before yesterday? We had good enough RB's this year, couldn't afford the luxury pick in the first round. The Bills front office has things backasswards, they want the neat toys instead of the grinders who let the toys work properly. I knew this season was shot when Nix ignored the QB and OT positions all offseason. I called it in July and said Nix failed miserably his first season by not addressing the teams 2 biggest needs. I was chastised by all the Spiller lovers and Best player available proponents, well you guys got your wish. How does that turd sandwich taste now? You CANNOT win in the NFL with 2 terrible OT's and a horrible QB....Period!

I've been watching the Bills for over 30 years. It is frustrating to think that I could run the team better. Give me control over personnel for 1 year and we're in the playoffs. I would do whatever it took to get a top rank QB and a LT, we have enough talent for a playoff run with upgrades at 2 positions. I cannot believe that the idiots at OBD screwed up again by going into the season with the worst OT's and QB in the NFL. But you know what, we're still buying the product so they have no reason to improve. An empty Ralph might initiate change. I wish I could stop being a fan but after 30 years I'm stuck in this dysfunctional relationship.

 

OK Mr GM, who is the top ranked QB you get?