My Meaningless Opinion

[R. Rich]

Yes, it is finally here: football season!!! Gotta love this time of year! And, man, what a start to the season! I was just in awe of what the Bills were able to do. I watched the game @ home w/ a good friend and fellow Bills fan who (stupidly) moved to Baltihell and knew I had the Ticket, so we made our own Bills Central. We were both thinking: is this a dream? If so, I hope it continues for another few months.

 

Well, let's get into it, shall we? Here we go...

 

 

I'll start by sayin' that Ryan Fitzpatrick had a very solid outing in his first opener as the Bills' starter. Sure, he had a few miscues (poor throw on quick slant to Stevie Johnson @ the 6:54 mark of the second quarter, threw to a heavily covered Donald Jones @ the 5:47 mark of the second quarter when Brandon Flowers had good coverage down the sideline and they had safety help over top), but those plays were far outweighed by all the good things he did. Here's a few:

 

1. His 35 yard completion to David Nelson @ the 1:50 mark of the first quarter was sweet!

 

2. His 27 yard TD to Johnson @ the 1:02 mark of the first quarter was also nice; put it high where Stevie could grab it but to the outside shoulder where the DB had no play on it w/out interfering based on Johnson's body positioning.

 

3. His 13 yard quick strike to Johnson @ the 0:57 mark of the second quarter to beat the blitz was very nice as well.

 

4. His 17 yard toss to David Nelson on the first play of the third quarter was very good. Right over the shoulder, and the receiver caught it in stride.

 

5. One of my favorite throws of the day: his 4 yard bullet to Jones for the TD @ the 0:19 mark of the third quarter. He put great zip on it, as he had to for that kind of quick route in the end zone. It was a hint (JUST a hint!) of Favre, Elway kinda touch.

 

 

What a game for Fred Jackson! He had some truly insipring runs in that game. Looks like someone was makin' a statement to management 'bout his true worth to the team!! He does owe his offensive line major props (we will address this later), but he had plenty of times where his effort was the difference in the play, too. He had a beauty of a cutback run on the first drive (14:16 mark of the first quarter) and exploded through a nice hole made by a great block by guard Kraig Urbik (10:28 mark of the first quarter). The second half was his time to shine, as he had a great 14 yard run early in the third quarter (14:30 mark) and had perhaps his second best run of the day in my (meaningless) opinion @ the 10:11 mark of the third quarter on a play that featured a series of excellent blocks (more later). Why the second best, you say? Well, I say that 'cause I believe his best run was late in the second quarter, @ the 0:48 mark. W/ the Bills needin' one yard, Jackson got hit two yards deep in the backfield by Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson, but he recovered, shook off another tackle attempt, and then carried Flowers on his back in order to get the yard needed for the first down. It reminded me of the effort Marshawn Lynch made to get a couple yards in the home opener vs Denver a few years ago. It was sweet to watch! In addition to Jackson's efforts, there were some good plays by rookie Jonny White (nice run for 13 yards @ the 9:30 mark of the fourth quarter) and FB Corey McIntire (forced the fumble on the opening kickoff, had a beautiful chip block on Chiefs LB Tamba Hali on Fitzpatrick's TD pass to Johnson @ the 1:02 mark of the first quarter).

 

 

The receivers made some stellar plays in this one, too. Johnson's leaping TD catch, Nelson's previously mentioned 35 yard completion, and Jones' 4 yard TD catch all were nice plays by this young and talented unit, but by far the biggest surprise and best showing came from TE Scott Chandler! What a game! A Bills TE w/ not only catches, but a 13 yard per catch average AND a pair of TDs??? Wow!! His catch @ the 11:46 mark of the second quarter showed he has soft hands and good body control. He also showed his prowess as a blocker, making some solid blocks highlighted by a lead block on S Jon McGraw on Jackson's 24 yard run in the third quarter (10:11 mark). I hope this was just the beginning of Chandler's contributions to the offense.

 

 

Now on to our unsung heroes of the day: the offensive line. A much beleaguered line, for sure. These guys have been bagged on by many (myself included) and have seen little love on TBD. Well, they get plenty of love for their effort in this one. Overall, this was a very good performance by the line. It wasn't perfect, but we'll take it. I will point out that I wasn't overly thrilled by the game RT Erik Pears had. He wasn't awful, but he had some gaffes. For example, he did get driven back 'bout 4 yards by Chiefs DE Tyson Jackson @ the 10:28 mark of the first quarter (***BUT*** Jackson was able to get yards due to a great block by Urbik) and he had a play in the second quarter (11:01 mark) where he actually whiffed on not one, not two, but THREE blocks! Here's how it went down: First, he missed a double team block w/ Urbik on DE Allen Bailey, then he went after Johnson and totally missed 'em, and finally, he went for a crackback block on S Sabby Piscatelli, missed 'em, and allowed Piscatelli to make the tackle. Seriously. Of course, he also gave up the sack to Hali @ the 12:20 mark of the third quarter. Now, that said, Pears wasn't w/out his successes, too. On the very next play after the triple whiff (10:20 mark of second quarter), he made a nice kickout block of LB Cameron Sheffield and he also stopped Jackson cold on Fitzpatrick's 16 yard throw to Chandler @ the 7:29 mark of the third quarter. How 'bout his counterpart on the other side, the very much beleaguered LT Demetrius Bell? I saw plenty of good stuff from 'em. Start off w/ the fact that he pretty much held Hali, who had 14.5 sacks last season and destroyed the Bills on Halloween, in check. From there, he showed some impressive stuff in RUN blocking too! For instance, he threw a great kickout block on a 2nd and goal play @ the 13:04 mark of the first quarter. A few plays before that (14:16 mark of first quarter), he took DE Glenn Dorsey out to allow a nice 7 yard cutback run by Jackson. On the Bills' first play (14:50 mark of first quarter), Bell threw a great kickout block on Hali that, combined w/ Andy Levitre's blocking, created a hole big enough for Jackson to pick up 9 yards on. Great stuff. I hope Bell continues to improve in this area. Speaking of Levitre, what a game he had! Here's a few highlight plays he had:

 

1. He had a play @ the 14:30 mark of the third quarter where he took out Dorsey and Johnson, clearing a path for Jackson to run for 14 yards. It was very impressive.

 

2. He walled off Dorsey (@ the 10:11 mark of the third quarter) while Bell kicked out Johnson, Urbik pulled to take out Hali, and Chandler pulled to throw the nice lead block on McGraw.

 

3. He pulled to make a great lead block on Piscatelli (9:39 mark of third quarter) as Jackson gained another 9 yards.

 

Besides Levitre, Urbik also made some nice plays. He had the one mentioned earlier, but also did well in pass protection like the rest of 'em. Wood seemed to be settled in @ center and held his own. He and Levitre cleared a nice path for a 4 yard gain on 2nd and goal @ the 13:04 mark of the first quarter. He did get beat by Johnson @ the 2:35 mark of the first quarter on a play that forced WR Brad Smith to reverse field on a Wildcat running play that was stuffed. Still, a very good overall performance by this entire unit.

 

 

The defensive line? Outstanding as well! I think the difference was the play of rookie DL Marcell Dareus. Man, did he look very good out there! Here's a few of his highlights:

 

1. He actually was double teamed early on in the game. It was @ the 11:13 mark of the first quarter where I saw Chiefs C Casey Wiegmann actually come off his guy to help out and double team Dareus. The guy he was blocking? Kyle Williams! That was ridiculous.

 

2. Just one play later, @ the 11:08 mark of the first quarter, Dareus pressured Chiefs QB Matt Cassel and forced 'em into a sack.

 

3. He made a brilliant stop @ the 13:52 mark of the second quarter on a play that gained just one yard.

 

4. He shed his blocker and dropped RB Jamaal Charles for just a 2 yard gain on a play @ the 5:28 mark of the second quarter.

 

5. He blew into the backfield @ the 10:44 mark of the third quarter and forced Cassel to get rid of the ball on a quick throw to TE Leonard Pope that lost 2 yards.

 

He did have the one gaffe in the fourth quarter (14:25 mark) that cost the team a stop on third down, but other than that, it was a standout debut by the big guy. Kyle Williams was able to pressure the QB for most of the game and they also got good inside pressure from Spencer Johnson. Johnson and Williams teamed up to come up w/ a sack @ the 12:16 mark of the second quarter and put the Chiefs in long FG range (Ryan Succop missed) after they nearly got a TD from Pope that was overturned on review. Alex Carrington did have a few bad plays on running downs, as he seemed to have trouble settin' the edge. He got sucked inside twice on plays that went for big yards: the first one @ the 0:55 mark of the first quarter on a 22 yard Charles run and the second one was @ the 3:56 mark of the second quarter on a 23 yard run by Dexter McCluster. He did provide the pressure that led to Cassel throwing the pick to Drayton Florence @ the 14:12 mark of the fourth quarter though.

 

 

If there was a unit that you could say had a "decent" showing, it would be the linebackers. Not that they didn't contribute anything to this one, but overall as a unit, they weren't quite as solid as the DL or DBs. Nick Barnett was the guy the cameras caught chasin' Charles on the 22 yard run (0:55 mark of the first quarter), but he was comin' from the hash mark, as the only person on that edge was Carrington. Barnett got chipped, which allowed Charles to slip past 'em. Where was the OLB on that one? Barnett did get beat on a 3rd and 4 play @ the 14:23 mark of the second quarter when Chiefs TE Jake O'Connell slipped into the middle after Barnett got caught peekin' into the backfield. O'Connell gained 15 yards on that play. There weren't many embarrASSing plays by this unit, but there also weren't many eye catchin' "Wow!" plays, either. Chris Kelsay was better than I expected, especially against the run. No examples come to mind, but he wasn't a liability and actually held his ground well. It seemed the only few times the Chiefs had success runnin' @ the Bills was when the Bills had their "rush lineup" in, where Batten and Merriman were down linemen w/ Johnson and Carrington as rush linemen (this is where Carrington was sucked inside w/ no help outside).

 

 

The play of the secondary can be summed up by the fact that the Chiefs passing game was no factor in this one. Also, the big surprise was the marked improvement in tackling by this unit! In particular, safety Jairus Byrd, who was a glaring liability in run support last year. Not in this game, he wasn't! Byrd had a great open field tackle @ the 7:43 mark of the first quarter, stopping a play for 6 yards that could've easily been 36. He had another one @ the 2:55 mark of the second quarter after Charles beat Spencer Johnson on a cutback run. Bryan Scott also had some nice open field tackles, one @ the 4:27 mark of the second quarter to limit the run to 4 yards and an impressive one @ the 3:55 mark of the third quarter for a one yard loss. George Wilson did have a bad missed tackle on Pope's 18 yard catch @ the 12:09 mark of the first quarter, but he did have that forced fumble on a big hit @ the 6:37 mark of the second quarter and had a play where he got pressure and knocked the Cassel pass back to Cassel for a 4 yard loss @ the 11:16 mark of the third quarter. Leodis McKelvin was a busy man, as he had to keep Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe from becoming a factor. Well, mission accomplished! He had a play @ the 5:31 mark of the first quarter where he made a great open field tackle on Bowe, limiting the catch to a gain of 2 yards. He nearly made a nice catch for a pick @ the 5:32 mark of the second quarter w/ an excellent break on the ball. Florence had the nice pick @ the 14:12 mark of the fourth quarter and nearly had a pick while blanketin' Chiefs WR Jerheme Urban on a deep route @ the 0:02 mark of the third quarter. Rookie Aaron Williams got caught gamblin' on the Charles TD @ the 1:51 mark of the second quarter. Gotta either go full out to get there to make the pick/break up the pass or get ready to knock Charles silly to get that ball out. It'll come, rook.

 

 

Brian Moorman was boomin' his punts again. His first went for 63 yards and he added a 59 yarder later on. Hopefully, this means he's back to form and not anglin' kicks which cost him and the Bills dearly last season. Rian Lindell wasn't called upon often, but when he was, he nailed the kicks. The coverage units were very good, coming up w/ the turnover on the opening kickoff and generally keepin' the Chiefs in poor field position all game. The return game had some hits and misses. Roscoe Parrish had a nice return in the third quarter where he just fielded the punt and made people miss on the fly. This is what made guys like Mel Gray and Vai Sikahema great return guys in their day. Keep it up, Roscoe.

 

 

Coaching wise, you gotta give props to Chan Gailey and whoever else decided to use Scott Chandler in the passing game. Man, has it been ages since we've seen a Bills tight end be a factor in a game. Lovin' it! Also, George Edwards can take a bow as well. The defense played w/ attitude and, more importantly, w/ better fundamentals. There were so many great open field tackles and so many times where guys were just in their corect position. It was refreshing to see. I do kinda take 'em to task for the decision to shut it down @ the end of the first half, right after Jackson made such a brilliant play to get the first down and w/ the Bills havin' a pair of time outs to use. Oh, and that's another thing: the Bills didn't squander timeouts???????

 

 

Okay, so it's on to the Home Opener!!! The Raidahs can run, so it will be a stern test for the Bills defensive front. Keep doin' what you did on Sunday and we'll see similar results. I am excited for the future of Bills football. Looks like these guys are pointed in the right direction. I know it can get derailed w/ a heartbreaking loss in the opener, followed by a beatdown by the Pats, so no need to go on that tangent. Let's just enjoy what we saw: a game where the Bills excelled in nearly every facet of the game and gave their fans hope. Only 5 more days, folks. I'll see you @ "Home"!

[bills44]

Good stuff, R Rich!

[Fitz's Beard]

Okay, so it's on to the Home Opener!!! The Raidahs can run, so it will be a stern test for the Bills defensive front. Keep doin' what you did on Sunday and we'll see similar results. I am excited for the future of Bills football. Looks like these guys are pointed in the right direction. I know it can get derailed w/ a heartbreaking loss in the opener, followed by a beatdown by the Pats, so no need to go on that tangent. Let's just enjoy what we saw: a game where the Bills excelled in nearly every facet of the game and gave their fans hope. Only 5 more days, folks. I'll see you @ "Home"!

 

That was a great writeup! Thanks for that!

[eball]

Nice. Can't wait to get to the stadium Sunday!

[richNjoisy]

Great review Big Guy. Maybe you should have called it "Bills Central South?" BC is already spoken for in Central NJ as you well know!

 

Lisa and I will be in the Mud Lot just to the right of the Fieldhouse this Sunday. Yep, I'll be cooking some wings!

 

Go Bills!

[TPS]

Excellent!

Glad to see a little more detail on those "controversial" (much debate here about the extent of the D's improvement) big runs. I attributed them to Carrington's inexperience. From my "untrained eye," it looks like he has difficulty disengaging from blockers. Seems he needs to work on improving his hand "defense."

Appreciate the detail on the O-line too. I think it's possible we'll see Hairston at RT at some point this season?

Go Bills!

[BillsFanM.D.]

I've been flooded out for days (though not as bad as many in my area) so I didn't even see the game. Now I have a better sense of it. thanks for your effort here. I "really" appreciate it.

[yungmack]

Great review.

[D521646]

Yes, it is finally here: football season!!! Gotta love this time of year! And, man, what a start to the season! I was just in awe of what the Bills were able to do. I watched the game @ home w/ a good friend and fellow Bills fan who (stupidly) moved to Baltihell and knew I had the Ticket, so we made our own Bills Central. We were both thinking: is this a dream? If so, I hope it continues for another few months.

 

Well, let's get into it, shall we? Here we go...

 

 

I'll start by sayin' that Ryan Fitzpatrick had a very solid outing in his first opener as the Bills' starter. Sure, he had a few miscues (poor throw on quick slant to Stevie Johnson @ the 6:54 mark of the second quarter, threw to a heavily covered Donald Jones @ the 5:47 mark of the second quarter when Brandon Flowers had good coverage down the sideline and they had safety help over top), but those plays were far outweighed by all the good things he did. Here's a few:

 

1. His 35 yard completion to David Nelson @ the 1:50 mark of the first quarter was sweet!

 

2. His 27 yard TD to Johnson @ the 1:02 mark of the first quarter was also nice; put it high where Stevie could grab it but to the outside shoulder where the DB had no play on it w/out interfering based on Johnson's body positioning.

 

3. His 13 yard quick strike to Johnson @ the 0:57 mark of the second quarter to beat the blitz was very nice as well.

 

4. His 17 yard toss to David Nelson on the first play of the third quarter was very good. Right over the shoulder, and the receiver caught it in stride.

 

5. One of my favorite throws of the day: his 4 yard bullet to Jones for the TD @ the 0:19 mark of the third quarter. He put great zip on it, as he had to for that kind of quick route in the end zone. It was a hint (JUST a hint!) of Favre, Elway kinda touch.

 

 

What a game for Fred Jackson! He had some truly insipring runs in that game. Looks like someone was makin' a statement to management 'bout his true worth to the team!! He does owe his offensive line major props (we will address this later), but he had plenty of times where his effort was the difference in the play, too. He had a beauty of a cutback run on the first drive (14:16 mark of the first quarter) and exploded through a nice hole made by a great block by guard Kraig Urbik (10:28 mark of the first quarter). The second half was his time to shine, as he had a great 14 yard run early in the third quarter (14:30 mark) and had perhaps his second best run of the day in my (meaningless) opinion @ the 10:11 mark of the third quarter on a play that featured a series of excellent blocks (more later). Why the second best, you say? Well, I say that 'cause I believe his best run was late in the second quarter, @ the 0:48 mark. W/ the Bills needin' one yard, Jackson got hit two yards deep in the backfield by Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson, but he recovered, shook off another tackle attempt, and then carried Flowers on his back in order to get the yard needed for the first down. It reminded me of the effort Marshawn Lynch made to get a couple yards in the home opener vs Denver a few years ago. It was sweet to watch! In addition to Jackson's efforts, there were some good plays by rookie Jonny White (nice run for 13 yards @ the 9:30 mark of the fourth quarter) and FB Corey McIntire (forced the fumble on the opening kickoff, had a beautiful chip block on Chiefs LB Tamba Hali on Fitzpatrick's TD pass to Johnson @ the 1:02 mark of the first quarter).

 

 

The receivers made some stellar plays in this one, too. Johnson's leaping TD catch, Nelson's previously mentioned 35 yard completion, and Jones' 4 yard TD catch all were nice plays by this young and talented unit, but by far the biggest surprise and best showing came from TE Scott Chandler! What a game! A Bills TE w/ not only catches, but a 13 yard per catch average AND a pair of TDs??? Wow!! His catch @ the 11:46 mark of the second quarter showed he has soft hands and good body control. He also showed his prowess as a blocker, making some solid blocks highlighted by a lead block on S Jon McGraw on Jackson's 24 yard run in the third quarter (10:11 mark). I hope this was just the beginning of Chandler's contributions to the offense.

 

 

Now on to our unsung heroes of the day: the offensive line. A much beleaguered line, for sure. These guys have been bagged on by many (myself included) and have seen little love on TBD. Well, they get plenty of love for their effort in this one. Overall, this was a very good performance by the line. It wasn't perfect, but we'll take it. I will point out that I wasn't overly thrilled by the game RT Erik Pears had. He wasn't awful, but he had some gaffes. For example, he did get driven back 'bout 4 yards by Chiefs DE Tyson Jackson @ the 10:28 mark of the first quarter (***BUT*** Jackson was able to get yards due to a great block by Urbik) and he had a play in the second quarter (11:01 mark) where he actually whiffed on not one, not two, but THREE blocks! Here's how it went down: First, he missed a double team block w/ Urbik on DE Allen Bailey, then he went after Johnson and totally missed 'em, and finally, he went for a crackback block on S Sabby Piscatelli, missed 'em, and allowed Piscatelli to make the tackle. Seriously. Of course, he also gave up the sack to Hali @ the 12:20 mark of the third quarter. Now, that said, Pears wasn't w/out his successes, too. On the very next play after the triple whiff (10:20 mark of second quarter), he made a nice kickout block of LB Cameron Sheffield and he also stopped Jackson cold on Fitzpatrick's 16 yard throw to Chandler @ the 7:29 mark of the third quarter. How 'bout his counterpart on the other side, the very much beleaguered LT Demetrius Bell? I saw plenty of good stuff from 'em. Start off w/ the fact that he pretty much held Hali, who had 14.5 sacks last season and destroyed the Bills on Halloween, in check. From there, he showed some impressive stuff in RUN blocking too! For instance, he threw a great kickout block on a 2nd and goal play @ the 13:04 mark of the first quarter. A few plays before that (14:16 mark of first quarter), he took DE Glenn Dorsey out to allow a nice 7 yard cutback run by Jackson. On the Bills' first play (14:50 mark of first quarter), Bell threw a great kickout block on Hali that, combined w/ Andy Levitre's blocking, created a hole big enough for Jackson to pick up 9 yards on. Great stuff. I hope Bell continues to improve in this area. Speaking of Levitre, what a game he had! Here's a few highlight plays he had:

 

1. He had a play @ the 14:30 mark of the third quarter where he took out Dorsey and Johnson, clearing a path for Jackson to run for 14 yards. It was very impressive.

 

2. He walled off Dorsey (@ the 10:11 mark of the third quarter) while Bell kicked out Johnson, Urbik pulled to take out Hali, and Chandler pulled to throw the nice lead block on McGraw.

 

3. He pulled to make a great lead block on Piscatelli (9:39 mark of third quarter) as Jackson gained another 9 yards.

 

Besides Levitre, Urbik also made some nice plays. He had the one mentioned earlier, but also did well in pass protection like the rest of 'em. Wood seemed to be settled in @ center and held his own. He and Levitre cleared a nice path for a 4 yard gain on 2nd and goal @ the 13:04 mark of the first quarter. He did get beat by Johnson @ the 2:35 mark of the first quarter on a play that forced WR Brad Smith to reverse field on a Wildcat running play that was stuffed. Still, a very good overall performance by this entire unit.

 

 

The defensive line? Outstanding as well! I think the difference was the play of rookie DL Marcell Dareus. Man, did he look very good out there! Here's a few of his highlights:

 

1. He actually was double teamed early on in the game. It was @ the 11:13 mark of the first quarter where I saw Chiefs C Casey Wiegmann actually come off his guy to help out and double team Dareus. The guy he was blocking? Kyle Williams! That was ridiculous.

 

2. Just one play later, @ the 11:08 mark of the first quarter, Dareus pressured Chiefs QB Matt Cassel and forced 'em into a sack.

 

3. He made a brilliant stop @ the 13:52 mark of the second quarter on a play that gained just one yard.

 

4. He shed his blocker and dropped RB Jamaal Charles for just a 2 yard gain on a play @ the 5:28 mark of the second quarter.

 

5. He blew into the backfield @ the 10:44 mark of the third quarter and forced Cassel to get rid of the ball on a quick throw to TE Leonard Pope that lost 2 yards.

 

He did have the one gaffe in the fourth quarter (14:25 mark) that cost the team a stop on third down, but other than that, it was a standout debut by the big guy. Kyle Williams was able to pressure the QB for most of the game and they also got good inside pressure from Spencer Johnson. Johnson and Williams teamed up to come up w/ a sack @ the 12:16 mark of the second quarter and put the Chiefs in long FG range (Ryan Succop missed) after they nearly got a TD from Pope that was overturned on review. Alex Carrington did have a few bad plays on running downs, as he seemed to have trouble settin' the edge. He got sucked inside twice on plays that went for big yards: the first one @ the 0:55 mark of the first quarter on a 22 yard Charles run and the second one was @ the 3:56 mark of the second quarter on a 23 yard run by Dexter McCluster. He did provide the pressure that led to Cassel throwing the pick to Drayton Florence @ the 14:12 mark of the fourth quarter though.

 

 

If there was a unit that you could say had a "decent" showing, it would be the linebackers. Not that they didn't contribute anything to this one, but overall as a unit, they weren't quite as solid as the DL or DBs. Nick Barnett was the guy the cameras caught chasin' Charles on the 22 yard run (0:55 mark of the first quarter), but he was comin' from the hash mark, as the only person on that edge was Carrington. Barnett got chipped, which allowed Charles to slip past 'em. Where was the OLB on that one? Barnett did get beat on a 3rd and 4 play @ the 14:23 mark of the second quarter when Chiefs TE Jake O'Connell slipped into the middle after Barnett got caught peekin' into the backfield. O'Connell gained 15 yards on that play. There weren't many embarrASSing plays by this unit, but there also weren't many eye catchin' "Wow!" plays, either. Chris Kelsay was better than I expected, especially against the run. No examples come to mind, but he wasn't a liability and actually held his ground well. It seemed the only few times the Chiefs had success runnin' @ the Bills was when the Bills had their "rush lineup" in, where Batten and Merriman were down linemen w/ Johnson and Carrington as rush linemen (this is where Carrington was sucked inside w/ no help outside).

 

 

The play of the secondary can be summed up by the fact that the Chiefs passing game was no factor in this one. Also, the big surprise was the marked improvement in tackling by this unit! In particular, safety Jairus Byrd, who was a glaring liability in run support last year. Not in this game, he wasn't! Byrd had a great open field tackle @ the 7:43 mark of the first quarter, stopping a play for 6 yards that could've easily been 36. He had another one @ the 2:55 mark of the second quarter after Charles beat Spencer Johnson on a cutback run. Bryan Scott also had some nice open field tackles, one @ the 4:27 mark of the second quarter to limit the run to 4 yards and an impressive one @ the 3:55 mark of the third quarter for a one yard loss. George Wilson did have a bad missed tackle on Pope's 18 yard catch @ the 12:09 mark of the first quarter, but he did have that forced fumble on a big hit @ the 6:37 mark of the second quarter and had a play where he got pressure and knocked the Cassel pass back to Cassel for a 4 yard loss @ the 11:16 mark of the third quarter. Leodis McKelvin was a busy man, as he had to keep Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe from becoming a factor. Well, mission accomplished! He had a play @ the 5:31 mark of the first quarter where he made a great open field tackle on Bowe, limiting the catch to a gain of 2 yards. He nearly made a nice catch for a pick @ the 5:32 mark of the second quarter w/ an excellent break on the ball. Florence had the nice pick @ the 14:12 mark of the fourth quarter and nearly had a pick while blanketin' Chiefs WR Jerheme Urban on a deep route @ the 0:02 mark of the third quarter. Rookie Aaron Williams got caught gamblin' on the Charles TD @ the 1:51 mark of the second quarter. Gotta either go full out to get there to make the pick/break up the pass or get ready to knock Charles silly to get that ball out. It'll come, rook.

 

 

Brian Moorman was boomin' his punts again. His first went for 63 yards and he added a 59 yarder later on. Hopefully, this means he's back to form and not anglin' kicks which cost him and the Bills dearly last season. Rian Lindell wasn't called upon often, but when he was, he nailed the kicks. The coverage units were very good, coming up w/ the turnover on the opening kickoff and generally keepin' the Chiefs in poor field position all game. The return game had some hits and misses. Roscoe Parrish had a nice return in the third quarter where he just fielded the punt and made people miss on the fly. This is what made guys like Mel Gray and Vai Sikahema great return guys in their day. Keep it up, Roscoe.

 

 

Coaching wise, you gotta give props to Chan Gailey and whoever else decided to use Scott Chandler in the passing game. Man, has it been ages since we've seen a Bills tight end be a factor in a game. Lovin' it! Also, George Edwards can take a bow as well. The defense played w/ attitude and, more importantly, w/ better fundamentals. There were so many great open field tackles and so many times where guys were just in their corect position. It was refreshing to see. I do kinda take 'em to task for the decision to shut it down @ the end of the first half, right after Jackson made such a brilliant play to get the first down and w/ the Bills havin' a pair of time outs to use. Oh, and that's another thing: the Bills didn't squander timeouts???????

 

 

Okay, so it's on to the Home Opener!!! The Raidahs can run, so it will be a stern test for the Bills defensive front. Keep doin' what you did on Sunday and we'll see similar results. I am excited for the future of Bills football. Looks like these guys are pointed in the right direction. I know it can get derailed w/ a heartbreaking loss in the opener, followed by a beatdown by the Pats, so no need to go on that tangent. Let's just enjoy what we saw: a game where the Bills excelled in nearly every facet of the game and gave their fans hope. Only 5 more days, folks. I'll see you @ "Home"!

 

 

I agree, and the only thing I would add is that I was impressed with their dicipline. Penalties were not costly, and I think they had only 4 or 5 all game. Penalties, and turnovers have killed us in past years, and if they can just keep this to a minimum that alone would be a big improvement.

 

Tim-

[The Big Cat]

Thank you Edited September 13, 2011 by The Big Cat

[qdawg in philly]

Excellent review as always. The only thing I can say in Carrington's defense is if the let him play the position they drafted him for, perhaps these type of mistakes wouldn't happen. Did he have more reps at rusholb or his natural position de?

[Bill from NYC]

Nice stuff Rich. It was a very unusal game for the Bills. Gailey deserves a ton of credit for knowing when to be conservative and when to be daring. Pretty much everything he called seemed to work.

 

This was a game where stats meant little. For instance, Brad Smith made key first downs. Dareus and Kelsay didn't show up big on paper, but there was constant pressure. And remember, Gailey actually removed many starters, which I thought was an extremely smart move. Guys like Batten and the rookie running back need some reps. The stat that mattered most (besides the score) was T.O.P. We dominated the clock. It was a thing of beauty.

 

As a Bills Fan it is always hard to know what to expect, but I sure am happy now, and think/hope that we can put away the Raiders and be 2-0.

[Defend Greece]

Holy **** I started reading it,

Then went back to my

Other novel

[ajzepp]

Wow, it's like Fake Fat Sunny and Bill from NYC combined in one!

 

Great post, my Erie brother!

[Kelly the Dog]

Wow, it's like Fake Fat Sunny and Bill from NYC combined in one!

Whatever happened to Fake Fat Sunny? I can only imagine that he started responding to a post in 2009 and hasn't finished yet.

[towelie]

I just have to say I love posts like this. It's the reason I keep coming back.

Great stuff R. Rich, much appreciated.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Love that in-depth analysis Rich, there are few places a Bills fan can find this kind of thing. I found the Dareus commentary especially helpful, thank you!

[mead107]

Thanks.

You are the man. See you at the opener.

 

 

[EC-Bills]

Nobody can write meaningless opinions like you Rich!

[justnzane]

Rich, it is a shame I am cash strapped this year and won't be attending the opener/TBD tailgate. But man, that was beautiful enough that I would have brought you a case of the finest brew in the state.