My Meaningless Opinion

[R. Rich]

Well, the game didn't end the way we would've liked, but I did enjoy the week off and my trip back home to visit w/ family and friends.

 

As for the game itself, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected this Stiller game to be more along the lines of the '04 Stiller game: a game where the Bills were exposed as being less ready for prime time than we all thought. But, they showed the same heart and fire that they had in other recent games. Props to the Bills for giving the fans another solid effort.

 

Ryan Fitzpatrick had an okay game. Sure, he got hot in the second half and put up some yards and a TD. But, as I say each week, there was another appearance from the "Terrible Trio": overthrown passes, underthrown passes, passes that shouldn't have been thrown that can (and often times do) get picked off. In one sequence in the first half, he did these things back to back to back. Every game I watch and every game he does these three things. You'd think that someone would improve w/ more playing time, but these are constant behaviors from Fitz. The news isn't all bad, though: I loved his attempt to block Troy Polamalu on a nice run by Fred Jackson (we'll get to that in a bit). I love the guy's heart, but he is limited. This is why I feel he is a good backup to have, but the Bills need to get a good young prospect if they truly intend on becoming a contender of any kind in this league.

 

Fred Jackson had a nice overall game. The 65 yard TD catch n' run was inspiring. He also gutted out some very nice runs in this game. The one where Fitz threw the chip block on Polamalu also featured nice blocks by Geoff Hangartner (on James Farrior) and Kraig Urbik (on Ziggy Hood). That play went for 9 yards. He had another 6 yard run late in the second quarter that may have gone for more w/ a better block (we'll get to that). I would've loved to see more crushing blocks from Corey McIntire in this one. Still, Jackson did well w/ his limited (12) carries. Quinton Ganther also got a few reps but provided little. This game was all 'bout Jackson's toughness, as none of what he got came easy. Considering they were playing the best run defense in the game, I'd expect nothing less.

 

There's no getting 'round it, this was a horrible outing from the wideouts. Be it Lee Evans' costly drop in the third quarter or the rough go that Steve Johnson had (nearly as many drops as catches, including the potential game winner in OT), there was little to celebrate. I will give David Nelson props for making a few big catches late in the game (he's becoming quite a decent option, particularly on third downs), but that's 'bout it. The tight ends were missing in action again. The Bills HAVE to do something 'bout this once the season is over. Whether they attempt to sign a free agent, draft a good young prospect, or even pull off a trade, they need to bring in a quality receiving option to further stretch defenses who can also aid in the running game (David Martin's blocking is abysmal). Back to Johnson. No, I won't bash 'em for being the goat this week. I'm sure plenty of others will. I will say that while he seems to have a wealth of potential, he does need to work on focusing more on his craft @ times. His route running is good, and he doesn't shy away from running the tough routes, but man does he have those lapses where he can't seem to catch anything. More attention to detail will probably correct this. He seemed to understand that by his comments after the game. We'll see if there's a noticeable difference from here on out.

 

How many of you all figured Fitzpatrick would be torn apart by the vaunted Stiller pass rush? I was one who definitely was concerned 'bout this. I know how he sometimes struggles when being pressured and I thought the Stillers would exploit this. But, I have to say, the O line did a pretty good job of protecting their QB this week. I thought Demetrius Bell and Mansfield Wrotto held their own for the most part. Considering they had to take on the best pair of pass rushing linebackers in the league, I'd say that's high praise. The interior guys also did well in not allowing Pittsburgh to run amok w/ their pass rush. Props to Kraig Urbik for another pretty good game. It wasn't perfect, as he did miss a block on Jackson's 6 yard run in the second quarter that may have prevented the play from going for a lot more. But, he had a great block on Jackson's big 65 yard TD catch 'n run and also made a terrific block on a 9 yard run by Jackson in the third quarter. Wrotto got beat by Farrior on a short pass play to Quinton Ganther and picked up a false start penalty. Hangartner had the aforementioned good block on Jackson's 9 yard run (took Farrior right outta the play). Andy Levitre did miss his block (badly) on a third quarter sack by James Harrison, but overall had an okay performance. Not many of his impressive lead blocks on traps this time, but you can't show off like that all the time. Speaking of showing off, Pittsburgh rookie center Maurkice Pouncey looked absolutely brilliant in the first half, in particular the first quarter. It's scary to think that he's playing as well as any center in the game-Nick Mangold included-only 12 games into his career! I look forward to seeing his progress in years to come.

 

The defensive line was very good in this one! Kyle Williams had a slow start (I see he went from lining up over Pouncey to lining up over guard Chris Kemoeatu), but once he found his rhythm, he was all over the place. Particularly sweet was a play w/ 5 minutes to go, when Williams got the sack by shooting straight up the A gap and splitting a double team from Kemoeatu and Pouncey (shedded the rook w/ a nice arm rip!). Marcus Stroud also had a good performance; maybe his best of the season? He did get blown off the ball once in the third (on a 5 yard run by Rashard Mendenhall), but he also was in on a pair of sacks and really helped to pressure Ben Roethlisberger from the interior all game. A pleasant surprise was the play of Alex Carrington. Wow! I've been touting getting this guy more reps, and he showed some of the potential he has. He had a great shed of a block by Stiller tight end David Johnson (that guy may be as poor a blocker as David Martin is for the Bills) in the first quarter, got pressure by beating Kemoeatu on a play in the second quarter that allowed Stroud to get credit for a sack (on a play where Pouncey originally neutralized 'em but Stroud kept @ it), and got past former Bill and current Stiller starter Jonathan Scott, forcing Scott to hold 'em and negating a big pass play in the second quarter. Hopefully there's a lot more that on the horizon from Carrington.

 

The linebackers actually didn't have a horrible game; more of a so-so game. Akin Ayodele just flat out blew it on Mendenhall's first quarter TD run by forgetting to fill his gap and, instead, overpursuing and allowing a huge hole for Mendenhall to jog in through, virtually untouched. Needing more of the same, Ayodele did the same thing again 'bout halfway through the third quarter and allowed Mendenhall to get 10 yards right after the Evans fumble. The big one, though, was the third quarter pass from Roethlisberger to Hines Ward, a 24 yard gain. On that play, the Bills gave a zone look in coverage, but someone let Ward all alone! Ayodele and Stroud (?) covered Heath Miller and Paul Posluszny followed Mike Wallace. Uh, anyone want to cover the Stillers' all time leading receiver? Chris Kelsay had an up and down game: he had a nice play early in the first quarter where he...get this...actually stayed home (!) on a misdirection play and forced the action to the other side. That said, he also overshot Roethlisberger on the big fourth quarter scramble to convert a key third down and again looked lost in coverage. He clearly looks better coming off the line out of his three point stance than trying to play the edge @ OLB. Paul Posluszny did have 8 tackles, but didn't have any impact plays. There was a play midway through the first quarter where he just couldn't get to the action on a third and short play. Had he shed the block (Haha!! Yeah, right) and got to the action, he could've prevented the conversion. I see this a lot from Poz. He just seems to get caught in the traffic too often and boy does he struggle coming off blocks. Antonio Coleman got in there and did very little, other than being called offsides and giving the Stiller yet another third down conversion. I'd like to see more of him and Arthur Moats. We gotta see if these guys can provide something for this group. They need all the something they can get.

 

The secondary got in the mix when it came to run support. How 'bout Jairus Byrd forcing that fumble (aka stealing the ball) from Mendenhall, huh? I didn't realize 'til looking @ the stat sheet that he had 11 tackles. Leodis McKelvin did a decent job in coverage as well as run support. Drayton Florence, the most consistent performer for the secondary this year in my (meaningless) opinion, held up well in coverage w/ the exception of being beat twice in the middle of the field for third down coversions. Donte Whitner had a bunch of tackles (18) and many of 'em weren't the "hold onto the guy and get dragged for 7 yards" types of tackles that others on the team have become so good @ coming up w/ on a regular basis. Reggie Corner, Bryan Scott, and George Wilson had off games this week. Wilson, who was so prominent in the Cincy game, was nearly the invisible man this week.

 

The special teams did a good job, too. Rian Lindell connected on all 3 of his FG tries, including the 49 yarder to send the game to overtime. Welcome back, Rian.....we hope. Brian Moorman had a shaky game from a yard average standpoint (29.4 yards per as a net?), but man did he come through w/ the coffin corner that went out @ the 4 yard line in overtime, a big factor in what would become the second of the Three Failed Opportunities in just over 4 minutes of overtime (more later). The coverage units didn't embarrASS themselves this week and didn't allow the typical momentum-killing returns after scores that the Bills have turned into an art form in recent years.

 

Now, on to coaching. I give props to Chan Gailey for righting the ship in the second half, but there were some head scratchers in this one. Here's a few:

 

1. Why, in the first quarter in a 3rd down situation for the defense, did the Bills not blitz or rush ANYONE up the A gap? I saw Pouncey snap the ball, and then spend the rest of the play looking for someone to block. Really? Man, I wish the Bills' opponents were similarly as generous w/ their lack of creating pressure right up the middle of the field.

 

2. Why, in antother first quarter play toward the end of the quarter, were there FOUR Bills receivers w/in 10 yards of each other in their pass routes? The thing to do w/ a defense like the Stillers is to spread 'em out and attack 'em w/ the pass. That's what the Patriots did so well in a Monday night game years ago and what both the Pats and the Saints did in wins over Pittsburgh this year. So, why do the Bills want to pack all the receiving options into such a small space when the Stillers have shown weakness @ the cornerback position?

 

3. Back to the third quarter play w/ 6:58 to go. Ward beats the zone coverage for a 24 yard gain. Why was Ayodle and Stroud covering a tight end, leaving Poz to cover the fastest wideout on the field (and the one w/ the most yards per in the NFL), and leaving Ward, notorious for finding the open spots of zones in his career, all alone? Was that really the way it was designed, George Edwards?

 

And now, for the Three Failed Opportunities. In a span of 4 and a half minutes, there were three chances for the Bills to take the Stillers out and get a win:

 

1. McKelvin's kick return, where he ran into Moats instead of being patient enough to set up that block and either run into FG range or score the game winner (remember when the Jets did that to us in '02?).

 

2. The Moorman coffin corner, that the defense turned into a three and out (nice sack and near fumble recovery by Kelsay). Had McKelvin not fumbled away 20 plus yards of field position, the Bills could've used the short passing game or the running game to get into Lindell's range (remember, he was on target in this one-big time!) or score the game winning TD.

 

3. The world famous drop by Johnson. Fitz threw a terrific deep ball (right over the shoulder where only the receiver had a play on it; sweet!), Johnson ran under it beautifully......and then let it slip through his hands. Literally.

 

So, how do the Bills respond? Well, they have a tough one coming up against the Vikings on the road. This team can play defense (their front seven is good; the secondary is beat up but serviceable) and Leslie Frazier (my Bills coach in Madden 10 and 11) is going back to using Adrian Peterson more. The Bills struggle to stop anyone from running the ball, so this could be a serious issue to overcome. But, overcoming serious issues is what must be on the menu for this team from here on out. Bon apetit!

 

 

Sorry this is late, folks. We were out of town 'til Tuesday evening, then I had to work and also try to get my wife's birthday present (tickets to the Stillers @ Ravens game) all set up. Mission accomplished, but not w/out the usual stress and strife. Anyhoo, I will post my report for Week 13 tomorrow. 'Til then, let me know what 'cha think of this one. I appreciate all comments, good and bad.

[GG]

Sorry this is late, folks. We were out of town 'til Tuesday evening, then I had to work and also try to get my wife's birthday present (tickets to the Stillers @ Ravens game) all set up. Mission accomplished, but not w/out the usual stress and strife. Anyhoo, I will post my report for Week 13 tomorrow. 'Til then, let me know what 'cha think of this one. I appreciate all comments, good and bad.

 

I think this explains the pi$$ poor outing yesterday. Bills didn't get a chance to read this, so they were clueless on the field.

 

Shape up and file these on time next time. Not everyone is gunning for the top pick.