Evans was missed today

[The Big Cat]

Evans was missed today.

 

Plain and simple. Two routes to the endzone, one to Jones, one to Roosevelt are BOTH caught by Evans, of this I'm sure. On Fitz's second pick Roosevelt randomly ran away from his spot just as Fitz pulled back to throw.

 

The young guns made some nice plays today, they're definitely scrappy, but even against a suspect pass D they couldn't get it done, couldn't get the separation deep, and did nothing to spread the D.

 

The middle of the field was an absolute minefield today (any word on Nelson?).

 

They don't seem to be on the same mental page as Fitz, yet. And Lee's veteran presence was sorely missing today.

 

I said last week--quite adamantly--that the young fellas showcased some promise. Today, they took a step back.

 

As of today, we definitely still need Evans on this roster.

[mike oxhurtz]

Evans was missed today.

 

Plain and simple. Two routes to the endzone, one to Jones, one to Roosevelt are BOTH caught by Evans, of this I'm sure. On Fitz's second pick Roosevelt randomly ran away from his spot just as Fitz pulled back to throw.

 

The young guns made some nice plays today, they're definitely scrappy, but even against a suspect pass D they couldn't get it done, couldn't get the separation deep, and did nothing to spread the D.

 

The middle of the field was an absolute minefield today (any word on Nelson?).

 

They don't seem to be on the same mental page as Fitz, yet. And Lee's veteran presence was sorely missing today.

 

I said last week--quite adamantly--that the young fellas showcased some promise. Today, they took a step back.

 

As of today, we definitely still need Evans on this roster.

 

It's hard to say what the Bills would have done if Evans was in there today. One thing is for sure, D. Nelson's injury really affected the offense. Nelson has made some great catches over the middle this year and is a red zone threat. Without him and our TE's non-existent in the passing game, the Bills offense was really shackled.

[mikey98277]

I was waiting for someone to say something like this, Are you sure maybe it was the -7 turnover ratio, If having evans around would not have done us any good, he has been here for the last 13 loses, so your stats dont back it up, and saying he would have not gave up on a route means you have not been watching him play this year also.

[Kkspike]

We missed lee today . In the fourth quarter he would of made his first grab of the day for a first down.

[Jerry Jabber]

We missed lee today . In the fourth quarter he would of made his first grab of the day for a first down.

 

Sounds about right.

 

I'm wait for Kelly the Fair to come in to talk up & defend Evans and say what a huge difference the Bills would have made if he was playing (regardless of the 7 turnovers).

[The Big Cat]

I was waiting for someone to say something like this, Are you sure maybe it was the -7 turnover ratio, If having evans around would not have done us any good, he has been here for the last 13 loses, so your stats dont back it up, and saying he would have not gave up on a route means you have not been watching him play this year also.

 

Roosevelt didn't "give up." He just ran away. But your point is taken.

 

We had to adjust the offense to find a guy who could effectively run the go route. And Fitz looked hesitant throwing it up, largely because nobody could get a step.

 

The Pats were giving it up. Something they NEVER would have done if Lee played.

 

Because they left themselves vulnerable deep (to little consequence) they were able to patrol the middle of the field, and disrupt the timing and flow of the rest of the offense.

 

So yes, he was missed.

[Nostradamus]

Roosevelt didn't "give up." He just ran away. But your point is taken.

 

We had to adjust the offense to find a guy who could effectively run the go route. And Fitz looked hesitant throwing it up, largely because nobody could get a step.

 

The Pats were giving it up. Something they NEVER would have done if Lee played.

 

Because they left themselves vulnerable deep (to little consequence) they were able to patrol the middle of the field, and disrupt the timing and flow of the rest of the offense.

 

So yes, he was missed.

 

Jones, Roosevelt, and Johnson did have steps on their defensive backs. For whatever reason, Fitzpatrick just could not deliver the ball accurately today. To say that Evans, who routinely disappears against New England, would have blown by their backs for touchdowns today is guesswork at best. If anything, I thought the play of the wideouts was the lone bright spot of the day.

[The Big Cat]

Jones, Roosevelt, and Johnson did have steps on their defensive backs. For whatever reason, Fitzpatrick just could not deliver the ball accurately today. To say that Evans, who routinely disappears against New England, would have blown by their backs for touchdowns today is guesswork at best. If anything, I thought the play of the wideouts was the lone bright spot of the day.

 

Also true. Fitz didn't seem to have the confidence to let it fly. The balls we did come down with "deep" did not hit the receivers in stride.

 

Roosevelt looked for the ball too early on the "overthrow" to the endzone, though. And Jones is significantly slower than Evans. So I maintain that Fitz doesn't overthrow Evans on either of those plays. And I still believe that he heaves his a bit harder knowing that Lee can run down some of those other balls down the sideline that came up short.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Jones, Roosevelt, and Johnson did have steps on their defensive backs. For whatever reason, Fitzpatrick just could not deliver the ball accurately today. To say that Evans, who routinely disappears against New England, would have blown by their backs for touchdowns today is guesswork at best. If anything, I thought the play of the wideouts was the lone bright spot of the day.

 

+1

 

Same here; thought the young WR's played very well. Fitz was off; plain and simple; the Pats' uncalled grabbing also didn't help on the timing.

 

I thought Steve Johnson, if any of the WR's, was the weakest link. His inability to stay in bounds on the first possession near TD, and then the drop on 4th down early were huge plays. Tough plays to make; but had he made them, we're talking about potentially a 14-14 game early.

[boyst]

Evans did not play today, there is no way to say how he would have done. The only thing no one can deny is that when the offense is missing their #1 WR who has never missed a game they are definately going to have to adjust. His effectiveness is up for debate but saying he was not missed is foolish.

/thread.

[Nostradamus]

Also true. Fitz didn't seem to have the confidence to let it fly. The balls we did come down with "deep" did not hit the receivers in stride.

 

Roosevelt looked for the ball too early on the "overthrow" to the endzone, though. And Jones is significantly slower than Evans. So I maintain that Fitz doesn't overthrow Evans on either of those plays. And I still believe that he heaves his a bit harder knowing that Lee can run down some of those other balls down the sideline that came up short.

 

True... but you are assuming Evans would have gotten off the line as well as the other receivers did, or that New England would have been playing the same coverage against Evans. They probably wouldn't have. The corner would probably have been playing off of Evans so that he could turn and run with him once Evans began to go deep.

 

Belichick has never had any difficulty taking Evans out of the game. Again, to think it would have been any different today is dubious. These young receivers are flashing a lot of potential. They all seem to share the ability to get open, a skill that, despite Evans world class speed, seems to have eluded him over the past two seasons.

[The Big Cat]

True... but you are assuming Evans would have gotten off the line as well as the other receivers did, or that New England would have been playing the same coverage against Evans. They probably wouldn't have. The corner would probably have been playing off of Evans so that he could turn and run with him once Evans began to go deep.

 

Belichick has never had any difficulty taking Evans out of the game. Again, to think it would have been any different today is dubious. These young receivers are flashing a lot of potential. They all seem to share the ability to get open, a skill that, despite Evans world class speed, seems to have eluded him over the past two seasons.

 

I'm making the Kelly the Dog argument here.

 

I'm not saying he would have had a major statistical impact, or any statistical impact for that matter.

 

But it did seem as though The Cheatriots were able to key on other aspects of our passing game not having to shift any focus to a deep threat. To Chan's credit, and to Fitz's they kept going to the deep well, just with less success. They did a nice job mixing Spiller into that shuffle, etc., but Fitz was unable to deliver.

 

Hitting that go route is one area I really hope Fitz works on improving in the offseason.

[Ray]

For those at the game watching it Evans WAS missed. I like the yound guys but there is no speed as a threat whatsoever with the other guys. They rolled Merriweather repeatedly to S Johnson's side. The WRs did not have seaparation on the go routes Fitz just threw them and they had to make a play. They are a scarppy bunch but for those who say the team does not need Lee they are delusional. Even if he has 40-50 catches he draws respect of the other defenses as they know he can beat them on any play. His cap figure is about 4M next year for and provides you a very good WR as a 2nd WR. You are not going to get good value in a trade. If you watched the game you could see they missed a legitimate number 2 today.

[DEIZALNUNCIO]

People can say what they want but we really missed Lee and Roscoe today, the young guys did a good job but the middle was really tight today our only deep threat was cj, the int on Stevie probably wouldnt have happen etc not saying that the score would have been different but the coverage damn sure would have...Ps what is it with chan not giving the ball to fred he could have had 150 easy, fred is our only patriot killer give him the ball. thoughts?

 

[The Big Cat]

People can say what they want but we really missed Lee and Roscoe today, the young guys did a good job but the middle was really tight today our only deep threat was cj, the int on Stevie probably wouldnt have happen etc not saying that the score would have been different but the coverage damn sure would have...Ps what is it with chan not giving the ball to fred he could have had 150 easy, fred is our only patriot killer give him the ball. thoughts?

 

 

Chan and Fitz both said that from the second possession on, the Patriots came out lined-up with personnel and formations designed to squash the run.

 

Take it for what it's worth.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Evans is an experienced WR unlike the kids playing much of the game today, but the difference in this game was clearly a lot more than the 2-3 touches Lee averages a game. (Lee does nothing really to help the defense, which seemed almost helpless to stop the Patriots at times.) Don't undersell Belichick in this equation either. Playing inexperienced players against his defense is obviously not a favorable matchup, but it's not like Lee Evans mere presence would completely flip that equation on its head either despite what some of his ardent supporters would wish. But as far as still needing Evans, the real problem is that Evans is just not the sort of WR that Chan Gailey prefers. Again, it would not surprise me all that much if Gailey/Nix brings in a bigger and more physical WR that fits his offense better and tries to deal his aged 9 route specialist. After all, we have to have patience and experience the pain.

[TPS]

Evans was missed today.

 

Plain and simple. Two routes to the endzone, one to Jones, one to Roosevelt are BOTH caught by Evans, of this I'm sure. On Fitz's second pick Roosevelt randomly ran away from his spot just as Fitz pulled back to throw.

 

The young guns made some nice plays today, they're definitely scrappy, but even against a suspect pass D they couldn't get it done, couldn't get the separation deep, and did nothing to spread the D.

 

The middle of the field was an absolute minefield today (any word on Nelson?).

 

They don't seem to be on the same mental page as Fitz, yet. And Lee's veteran presence was sorely missing today.

 

I said last week--quite adamantly--that the young fellas showcased some promise. Today, they took a step back.

 

As of today, we definitely still need Evans on this roster.

I would also add Parrish. Against average teams, you can get away with the no-names, not against the Pats. The Bills need as many weapons as they can get to compete with the Pats, especially a TE.

[GG]

After Pats switched up their D after Bills' opening drive it was all over. Without anyone who can stretch the field, this offense resembled a Trent Edwards redux. People can knock Evans all they want, but the trouble this offense had in moving the ball today can be traced directly to his absence.

Edited December 27, 2010 by GG

[Sisyphean Bills]

After Pats switched up their D after Bills' opening drive it was all over. Without anyone who can stretch the field, this offense resembled a Trent Edwards redux. People can knock Evans all they want, but the trouble this offense had in moving the ball today can be traced directly to his absence.

Do you really think Belichick wasn't going to make an adjustment to stop a running game that was torching them at the start? Or that Belichick hasn't coached defense against Lee Evans before and been able to make him disappear? For that matter, wasn't cutting Randy Moss supposed to be a mistake for the Patriots because they wouldn't be able to do anything without a deep threat to stretch the field?

 

Don't get me wrong. I'd rather have Lee out there than Naaman Roosevelt any day of the week. But, I don't see Lee Evans as being our Peyton Manning, the one guy that if he goes down the entire offense necessarily must fall apart. If that were true, then explain last week. The Bills played an extremely well coached defense today, and they were confused and largely ineffective as a unit. Maybe they learned something from the ass kicking they received.

[jumbalaya]

let's pick teams. i go first. i will take roosevelt, you can have evans. i get more production and 6.7mm dollars in my pocket. i win as many or more games than you. evans is washed up.