Sully is right on this one

[rockpile]

Trent Edwards is Trent Edwards.

 

They should just go wild cat with two or three RB's.

 

To be fair, on the only TD scoring drive, the no huddle worked very well and they had Miami on their heels.

The Dolphins called a time out to regroup and THEN the MF network did a commercial break!

 

It seemed like they got a five minute breather, and as an infamous HC would say "it took the sail out of Buffalo's wind".

 

I do not know how ANY NFL exec can justify giving the Fish a double timeout in the middle of an effective drive.

 

This type of BS seems to happen every time Buffalo is playing Miami and this is why I will ALWAYS hate the Dolphins!!!!

[Rico]

Sully is right as usual.

 

I don't think Chan will stand for Trent's play much longer, he only has one pre-season tied to him, any real coach will make a switch sooner than later.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Bingo. Gailey even said as much in his press conference. "You have to be able to throw the ball to get them out of that." You can't fault Gailey for not running the ball if every defender is within 5 yards of the LOS. The disrespect for TrINT was so apparent, that the Miami DB didn't even bother following Roscoe down the seam on the TD throw. Why defend players that run down the field if the QB has thrown nothing but 2-5 yd passes ALL game? Nix sees what we see, Gailey sees what we see, and we see what we've seen the previous 3 years: TrINT just doesn't have it. Rest assured, Gailey WILL NOT continue to blame himself for the lack of offensive execution. At some point, if TrINT's ineptitude continues, you will see QB2 step onto the field.

Not so sure about that. Trent is starting after all and as Sully said the "open" competition wasn't.

[LABills08]

If Trent doesn't rebound soon he is done. The funny thing about Edwards is that throughout his entire career, he never really has won. And, he never really has made big throws down the field. Those are two things we are expecting him to do, yet he has never done them in this many seasons (including college)? I'm starting to realize that he is not going to be taught those things, there is no developing a gameplan around his skill set. I hate to say it, but the guy is done. He might string together a few good games or so, but I really can't see how he is in Buffalo beyond this year.

 

Anyways, real quick on Evans, its a real shame the Bills have never fully utilized this guy. I know, I know, it can't be entirely on the QB. True enough, but Lee is a great WR. He runs terrific routes, is fast in the open field and he has great hands. Oh yea, and he can block...something that goes unnoticed. I think people in Buffalo view him as an underachiever, someone with the talent who never puts it together. I strongly disagree. I don't know how much longer the Bills have him under contract for and he'll be 30 (!) next season, but I hope he gets the chance to win.

 

Quick Note:...I thought he was 27 or 28...but 30! Sheeeet, we better hope Easley is back and ready to play next season. We are extremely weak at WR going forward.

[finknottle]

Does anyone else get the idea that this was Trent's "open audition" with the team? Like Gailey basically said: "I'm going to make him throw to see if he's got it" to which Edwards failed miserably.

 

Edwards has maybe two games left as the starter. His days are numbered.

 

There may be something subtle behind this madness.

 

Suppose Gailey truely understands that this really is a rebuilding year. Then forget preseason, and forget this season as well. He wants to see his qb's in real games, under his tuturledge, before burning a high first rounder on cap-eating qb draftee next year.

 

So - keep all three qb's. Let Edwards have a fresh start as the undisputed leader. Let him go for 5 games. If he isn't the answer, switch. Repeat as neccessary. By the end of the season, he will have (hopefully) set the defense on the right path, and know where we stand with our qb's and our young OL going into the draft.

[Cynical]

What you are forgetting is that Miami was putting 7 or 8 in the box and not playing their safetyis off the line of scrimmage much. Basically their message to the Bills was we are not going to let you run on us and we dare you to win with Edwards arm. We all saw how that went.

 

Correct.

 

And for all the griping about Gailey and his "alleged" failure, here's what Gailey had to say (found in the D&C article link the OP posted):

 

"Gailey said part of the running problems had to do with Miami not respecting Buffalo's passing game, because there wasn't one to respect.

 

"Well, you have to be able to throw it effectively to get them out of that," Gailey said of crowding the line to stop the run. "You have to be able to throw the football. I think if we can throw it effectively, it helps your running game."

 

And if you listened to Nix's Monday morning press conference, he acknowledges Trent became gun shy.

 

Trent did what he does best. He looked good in practice, and fooled the coaching staff into believing he was "the guy".

 

IMHO, this game put the coaching staff microscope squarely on him. They will not be fooled by 'practice Trent' again. If he fails to improve in the next few games, I expect Trent to be benched.

[starrymessenger]

Miami showed so little respect for Edwards that they loaded the box with up to 9 players at times. No one is running against that type of defense. When the other team basically laughs at the QB you have in there and dares him to throw the ball more than 5 yards, and he doesn't even try to do it, you have a problem...

 

This will likely continue until Edwards throws some deep balls to force teams out of it, or he gets pulled, at which time, Fitzpatrick will definitely let it fly. Many times 10 yards over the head of the intended receivers, 5 yards to either side of him, or 4 yards out of bounds on an out pattern, but at least he will throw the ball.

Right, and with so many defenders playing on or close to the LOS checkdowns and the short passing game are not going to work either (Fins left 14 easy points on the table from short passes they should have intercepted)- so what's left to do? Cant run, cant throw long, cant throw short, cant check down. Wonderful.

Unless you have an unstopable rungame, and we don't mainly because of our O-Line, you need to take your chances and throw the ball downfield.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

Miami showed so little respect for Edwards that they loaded the box with up to 9 players at times. No one is running against that type of defense. When the other team basically laughs at the QB you have in there and dares him to throw the ball more than 5 yards, and he doesn't even try to do it, you have a problem...

 

This will likely continue until Edwards throws some deep balls to force teams out of it, or he gets pulled, at which time, Fitzpatrick will definitely let it fly. Many times 10 yards over the head of the intended receivers, 5 yards to either side of him, or 4 yards out of bounds on an out pattern, but at least he will throw the ball.

 

 

well to be fair, they had little respect for edwards, little respect for the receivers he was throwing too, and apparently little respect for the line that was supposed to pass protect for the un-respected qb throing to the un-respected receivers. turns out they were apparently on to something.

[BobChalmers]

But, what these people are over looking is at least they tried to play the position. Sanchez for all his suckiness tried to throw the ball, he just happened to be facing the Ravens D. Trent, on the other hand, doesn't even try. You can't be an NFL QB and be afraid to throw the ball.

 

 

Oh really? What game did you watch last night?

 

The media has been all over Sanchez for "looking scared", "checking down too soon", "not looking downfield", etc.

 

IE - All the same stuff we complain - right or wrong - about Edwards.

 

Sanchez may have been up against the Ravens' D, but that defense was very suspect in the secondary, and he was playing behind a MUCH better OL than the Bill.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

Trent Edwards is Trent Edwards.

 

They should just go wild cat with two or three RB's.

 

To be fair, on the only TD scoring drive, the no huddle worked very well and they had Miami on their heels.

The Dolphins called a time out to regroup and THEN the MF network did a commercial break!

 

It seemed like they got a five minute breather, and as an infamous HC would say "it took the sail out of Buffalo's wind".

 

I do not know how ANY NFL exec can justify giving the Fish a double timeout in the middle of an effective drive.

 

This type of BS seems to happen every time Buffalo is playing Miami and this is why I will ALWAYS hate the Dolphins!!!!

 

yeah, that was odd. i'm a conspiracy buff, kinda sorta, but that was just idiotic. time out! no time out! no one called a time out! meanwhile, seems like 2 minutes went by.

[PromoTheRobot]

You can't expect Trent to improve if coach won't give him the keys to the car. Unfortunately Trent didn't take the car out of first gear his first game out. Chan has to figure out a new plan or go with Fitz or Brohm.

 

PTR

[Cynical]

Not so sure about that. Trent is starting after all and as Sully said the "open" competition wasn't.

 

Prior to the regular season, Nix/Gailey were pointing the finger of blame at the previous regime.

 

Now that the season has started, that finger is finding new targets. Both Nix and Gailey acknowledged that Trent failed.

 

JMO, I do believe 'Trentative' is now working under a microscope.

[Heels20X6]

You can't expect Trent to improve if coach won't give him the keys to the car. Unfortunately Trent didn't take the car out of first gear his first game out. Chan has to figure out a new plan or go with Fitz or Brohm.

 

PTR

 

That's the point I was trying to make....it seems like Chan basically handed Trent the keys with his playcalling and said: "Impress me" to which, unless you're a Trent apologist who solely lays the blame on his O-line, Trent backed the car out of the driveway, ran over his own bike and then ran up to his room, jumped under the covers and had a good cry because of he just broke his bike.

 

IMO, Trent looks defeated. There's nothing about the way he carries himself that says he'll be the QB we hoped he'd become in that first game against NE.

[Doc]

It's not as bad for Gailey as it is for Andy Reid. He traded McNabb thinking Kolb was the future, and Kolb spit the bed before getting hurt.

[thewildrabbit]

I'm not usually one to agree with Sully on anything but I think he might be touching on a bigger issue here. In the article he mentions that when the QB switch was made last year no one had Edwards back.

 

On Sunday during the game I noticed something that I thought was particularly odd. When Edwards gets hit, knocked down or sacked there never seems to be anyone around him helping him up. He also took a couple of high shots, perhaps borderline cheap yet not one of the Bills players retaliated.

 

Is it possible that the players on the offensive side of the ball just don't like Trent?

Then why vote the guy captain?

 

I think it speaks more about the team mentality...

 

This team was totally unprepared to play the Dolphins offensively. the blocking that I saw was downright horrid and very reminiscent of last season's horrid play.

[tennesseeboy]

Trent Edwards may be good and may be bad. Spiller, Jackson and Lynch may be good or bad. Evans may be good or bad. LISTEN. It all starts with the offensive line. Until that is fixed we won't know. Edwards sucks with this offensive line. Spiller sucks with this offensive line. Evans sucks with this offensive line. Nix and Gailey, assuming they know what they are doing...knew this the day they came to the Bills organization. They had lots of opportunities to address it, and chose not to.

 

Nine wins or out for both of them.

[CodeMonkey]

I don't think Chan will stand for Trent's play much longer, he only has one pre-season tied to him, any real coach will make a switch sooner than later.

Switch to what? To Fitz would be a Jauron move (try not to lose too badly). To Brohm probably doesn't make sense because Gailey has him 3rd on the depth chart and had to fight it out with Levi for that even. Gailey can't think that much of his abilities. The time to switch, if Gailey/Nix was inclined to, was picking up someone in the off season. That ship has sailed now.

 

Give Trent a true chance for at least half a season (though with this stacked schedule the first half is a killer) then maybe give Brohm a chance for the hell of it if Trent continues to unimpress.

 

It's almost certainly going to be a tough season with a bad record. We need to deal with that.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Prior to the regular season, Nix/Gailey were pointing the finger of blame at the previous regime.

 

Now that the season has started, that finger is finding new targets. Both Nix and Gailey acknowledged that Trent failed.

 

JMO, I do believe 'Trentative' is now working under a microscope.

It's most likely just a matter of time before Gailey figures out what Perry Fewell knew and Dick Jauron refused to admit. Despite the "Trent did some good things" feel-good PR fluff, these guys have said they take no responsibility for what happened the last 10 years before they got here. In other words, everyone is/should be under the microscope: produce or find your life's work. (We'll just have to see if they are as good as their word.)

[tonyd19]

Perhaps somebody with better insight knows, but I can't...for the life of me, understand Gailey's game plan for Miami. Throughout his career, *prior* to the Tyler Thigpen experiment in KC during the later part of the 08 season, Gailey was all about run, run, and run some more. But yet, this last Sunday, the scheme was very much pass oriented and put on Edwards' shoulders.

 

The Bills need the passing game to open up the run. Think about it. Other teams know we have three very good backs, and an unproven QB. So, they key on the running game and force the QB to beat them. I think Gailey figured we will start by establishing the passing game to set upm the running game. the problem was they converted 3 first downs all day and could never get either established. Bottom line, just a bad performance by everyone on offense.

 

If Edwards can keep the defense honest (IE complete some mid range and long range passes and keep 8 or 9 guys of the line of scrimmage) than we will be successful. If not, it is going to be a long season.

[ganesh]

Exactly. Why? With 3 supposed top tier backs, we only run 17 times? Gailey needs to figure out pretty quick where the stregth of this team is... and it's not at the QB position.

 

 

I think you need to get over this. The running game was not working. And when you go 3 and out, you are not going to get much chances to run or pass the ball. Actually, the passing offense was pretty good with 8 for 8 completion on the TD drive. What makes the # of running plays and passing plays out of sync is that we tried to pass 7 straight times at the end of the game. That was expected considering that we did not have any time left to do anything else.