A Few Thougts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[Bill from NYC]

1) I want to sing big time praises to Aaron Williams. Not only were his numbers good (9 tackles/5 assists), but he gave everything he had. He sacrificed his body on a tackle late in the 2nd quarter and came back. Kudos to you Mr. Williams.

 

2) If Spiller could see a hole ala Thurman, he would be an all time great. I mean this. There was a play in the 2nd quarter where he had a decent gain on a reception and he went the wrong way. With good vision, he could have been gone for a TD.

 

3) The second quarter was awful, no? EJ missed Watkins who was wide open and might have gone in for a TD. More to come on EJ.....

 

4) Dareus played his ass off today, better than anyone else on the DL. I loved his pursuit, and he never looked gassed, despite the defense being on the short end of Time of Possession once again.

 

5) Nobody on the OL played well today. That's right, nobody, including Cordy Glenn. Pears was particularly awful from what I could see (along with Wood), but having said that, EJ took WAY too much time to make decisions.

 

6) Shaking in the garden, the fear within you grows.

Here there may be roses, to punch you in the nose.

Twist their arms around you, slap you till you cry,

Wrap you in their sweet perfume and love you till you die,

When push comes to shove,

you're afraid of love.

 

7) I can't say enough good things about Fred Jackson. The 3rd quarter TD pass was a sight to behold (as were his stiff arms throughout the football game), and btw, Watkins threw a really nice block on that TD.

 

8) Hey, was I seeing things? Did Gilmore get a facemask penalty AND get injured on the same play? Seriously, he was a liability today vs. the pass and even the run. At one point I was hoping they would take him out. It is way, WAY more important for the Buffalo Bills to win football games than it is to pretend that Gilmore is good, let alone a "shutdown corner," which is laughable.

 

9) I am not going to say that Mario provided much pass pressure because he did not. But, he did very well against the run.

 

10) The bottom line is that EJ sucked today. He waited to long to throw, AND to take off and run.

 

11) Am I the only one who is sick of these plays where the Bills gain yards and come up a yard or so short of a first down? SOB, that happens WAY too often and pises me off!!!!!

 

12) EJ goes down just a bit too easy for someone his size, especially on running plays.

 

13) 11 penalties for 101 yds, is totally unacceptable.

 

14) This post is not about throwing in the towel. I don't throw in f%#(&^g towels, but this was a very poor outing and we need to get WAY better in order to compete.

 

15) GO BILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited September 21, 2014 by Bill from NYC

[Coach Tuesday]

Gilmore is barely a football player at this point.

[Big C]

Agreed about AW. He was lights out today and I saw him ripping into his fellows DBs after bailing them out. Please stay healthy, AW. I thought Duke looked good subbing in for Searcy too.

 

Gilmore was brutal today.

 

Glad you noticed Mario's run d; it's always an underrated skill of his.

[Greybeard]

I was really surpised the Bills were within striking distance at half time. Looked like the kind of game you could steal.

 

Anyone else wish Frank Reich was our OC?

[PearlHowardman]

-1

[truth on hold]

Its unfair to pin this all on Gilmore. Mckelvin and robey didnt have great outings either. Defense plan was to stop gates, which they did. But that left a lot of man on their 3 quality wideouts. And with an experienced QB with time to throw, most secondaries will be vulnerable.

 

And ditto on Mario's run defense ... that guy covers a lot of space with that wingspan and his ability to stay on his feet.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Joe_the_6_pack

[boyst]

4) We rushed 4 guys for probably 90-95% of the offensive snaps. That they generated any pressure at all was impressive. SD had a back or TE stay home and block probably around half the time. Every TE releasing chipped the defender. To say the DL had a bad game, as many have said, is flat out wrong.

 

5) Wood had a few nice blocks and got around a little but it was a lousy half ass, no heart game.

 

8) You saw right, and furthermore there was a lot of grabs, granted they were small, by Chargers WR's. Floyd is very good at putting his hands on defenders and moving.

 

9) 4 guys can't get much pressure by themselves on a guy that is quick to throw. I don't know how you stop Rivers without premier DB's.

 

11) The penalties were a misnomer, I would like to believe. An anomaly. I do not think it represents the type of team we are. But, it's early and we'll see...

 

 

...that's just it. Lets see how we do after a loss. Time to step up.

 

-1

brilliant. care to stand behind your cheap shot?

[Heels20X6]

I was really surpised the Bills were within striking distance at half time. Looked like the kind of game you could steal.

 

Anyone else wish Frank Reich was our OC?

 

I wish Chan Gailey was our OC. No one could mask a QB's inefficiences better than him. He'd be much better for EJ than Hackett is with his ultra conservative playcalling.

[PS 56]

What was obvious to me was the play of EJ vs Rivers. EJ has a long, long way to go to be a great quarterback in this league.

[Greybeard]

I wish Chan Gailey was our OC. No one could mask a QB's inefficiences better than him. He'd be much better for EJ than Hackett is with his ultra conservative playcalling.

 

True. I should have said rather than Hackett.

[The Big Cat]

I was really surpised the Bills were within striking distance at half time. Looked like the kind of game you could steal.

 

Anyone else wish Frank Reich was our OC?

 

If he comes with Rivers, sure.

[SouthernBuffaloBill]

Anyone else wish Frank Reich was our OC?

 

Me!

[Green Lightning]

Top 5 reasons we lost today:

 

1) EJ

2) EJ

3) OL

4) CB's

5) EJ

Edited September 21, 2014 by Green Lightning

[John Adams]

EJ was terrible. Worst play of the day was 4th quarter, Jackson gets the Bills to a 3rd and 1 situation and has to leave slightly shook up. So they bring in Spiller... AND PUT EJ IN THE SHOTGUN.

 

Then hand the ball to Spiller with zero momentum going forward and 4 yards behind the line. The play call was so stunningly awful that I wonder what kind of offensive coaching EJ gets. The right call was at least to hand off to a RB moving forward. Of course, EJ tucked it in to Spiller and they lost 4 yards. Then EJ threw the 4th and 4 to no one in particular.

Edited September 21, 2014 by John Adams

[PearlHowardman]

brilliant. care to stand behind your cheap shot?

I don't listen to the game-day opinions of Bills "fans" who live outside of WNY/CNY. I watched the game with a lot of other Buffalo Bills fans here in Syracuse.

[KRT88]

Reasons we lost

 

1. Offensive game plan, too conservative

2. EJ is too indecisive, plays scared to make mistakes

3. Defense committed too many penalties, and made NO big plays

Edited September 21, 2014 by KRT88

[Nervous Guy]

EJ was terrible. Worst play of the day was 4th quarter, Jackson gets the Bills to a 3rd and 1 situation and has to leave slightly shook up. So they bring in Spiller... AND PUT EJ IN THE SHOTGUN.

 

Then hand the ball to Spiller with zero momentum going forward and 4 yards behind the line. The play call was so stunningly awful that I wonder what kind of offensive coaching EJ gets. The right call was at least to hand off to a RB moving forward. Of course, EJ tucked it in to Spiller and they lost 4 yards. Then EJ threw the 4th and 4 to no one in particular.

This is my top concern...

[Gray Beard]

No comments on the play calling?

Run, run, pass, punt.

I wonder how much freedom EJ has to change the play? Are these the plays that are called from the sidelines, or does EJ change them at the line?

[MikeSpeed]

Penalties killed us today. Seemed like every big play we had was cancelled by a flag.

[thewildrabbit]

What was obvious to me was the play of EJ vs Rivers. EJ has a long, long way to go to be a great quarterback in this league.

What was obvious to me was the play of the Bills O line vs the Chargers O line. The Chargers have a solid line, and should be in the playoffs again this year

 

The Chargers run, run, and Rivers finds a way to move the chains on third down. Run, run, and Rivers finds a way to move the chains on 3rd down, over, and over, and over until they score.

 

Buffalo run, run, EJ hurried. Hackett calls a bad play, and its on to a punt. EJ is no where near as good as Rivers, and he needs his run game to make first downs.

Edited September 21, 2014 by FeartheLosing

[Green Lightning]

 

I don't listen to the game-day opinions of Bills "fans" who live outside of WNY/CNY. I watched the game with a lot of other Buffalo Bills fans here in Syracuse.

 

That's just stupid. So 150 mils down the T'Way has validity but 400 miles does not? B in NYC has cred in spades and your characterization is i insulting to this board. You want to disagree argue, don't insult.

[boyst]

So, wait. No one is blaming CJ today? Dude had 25 yards. He is a starting RB and only got 25 yards. Total he had 62 yards from scrimmage? If he was not CJ Spiller he might be a backup on any other team.

 

He isn't even in the top 25 backs for the season.

 

If he is supposed to be this great back, why isn't he running like one?

[JC2002]

No comments on the play calling?

Run, run, pass, punt.

I wonder how much freedom EJ has to change the play? Are these the plays that are called from the sidelines, or does EJ change them at the line?

 

You wonder how much freedom EJN has to change the play but after watching this game I wonder how much EJ is limiting what the OC can actually call. . There is only so much you can call when the QB cannot make throws ala Tebow .

[stevewin]

Was at the game today. Few thoughts

 

- the defense looked really lost a lot of the time today. Duke Williams was especially vocal and agitated all say, screaming at teammates and looking very upset before and after the play on multiple occssions. One series in the 4th with SD pinned deep Brad ham ran off and schwartz was screaming at him and I swear they ran the play with only 10 defenders on the field

 

- got to give SD credit. They came in and controlled the game from the beginning and suck ed the life right out of the crowd. They came in from the west coast into an initially hostile environment with bills having all the emotuon and momentum going into the game, and they kicked our assess

 

- would like to see spikes' snap count this game. He was off the field a lot

 

- this was a bad game for sammy from what I saw. One 3rd down it looked like he ran the wrong route (woods was talking to him about it as they walked off), that one low throw over the middle was an extremely difficult throw, but a ball thay could be caught with a great play, and him one arming the one pass late in a game did not reflect good on him imo

 

- kept waiting for Schwartz to do something to have an answer on d, or for someone to make a play. Think SD offense slowing down in the 2nd was more them getting more conservative than our d stepping up

 

- Was impressed how noodle armed rivers was able to whip the ball around in the wind. Never really liked him, but he was the difference today with the way he managed the game and made plays when they needed to be made

 

- Another blown birthday bills outing for my dad. Happy 80th Dad

[boyst]

I don't listen to the game-day opinions of Bills "fans" who live outside of WNY/CNY. I watched the game with a lot of other Buffalo Bills fans here in Syracuse.

ok, then your viewpoint is even more important. please, share it. you obviosuly have seen a bunch more then bill, being so close.

[Big C]

^they did run a play with 10 men.

[Nervous Guy]

What was obvious to me was the play of EJ vs Rivers. EJ has a long, long way to go to be a great quarterback in this league.

It took 4 years for Rivers to reach the level he's at now...2 years as a back up and another 2 as a starter. His fifth year was great and he sustained it.

[boyst]

 

- Another blown birthday bills outing for my dad. Happy 80th Dad

sorry they didn't win, but at least you got to spend time with him.

 

happy birthday to him!

[ThrowingFitz]

The defensive line was getting off the ball quickly and providing pressure when the ball wasn't out of River's hand in less than a second. For the past two weeks you could see the secondary seemingly playing catch up with opposing receivers. Im thinking this is the defense's weakness this year. Gilmore looked outright foolish today.

 

Jackson came up with a big play when needed like usual. +++

EJ was forced to throw the ball more exposing (not really) accuracy issues. Lets hope more of our receivers don't get laid out like Goodwin did today.

 

Way to many penalties. Some of them seemed to be good calls others not so much.

[boyst]

^they did run a play with 10 men.

they ran 4 plays, iirc. two on defense, two on special teams.

[Gray Beard]

You wonder how much freedom EJN has to change the play but after watching this game I wonder how much EJ is limiting what the OC can actually call. . There is only so much you can call when the QB cannot make throws ala Tebow .

I hadn't thought about it from that viewpoint. If they don't trust EJ to make some "routine" throws at this point, that is pretty scary.

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

EJ was terrible. Worst play of the day was 4th quarter, Jackson gets the Bills to a 3rd and 1 situation and has to leave slightly shook up. So they bring in Spiller... AND PUT EJ IN THE SHOTGUN.

 

Then hand the ball to Spiller with zero momentum going forward and 4 yards behind the line. The play call was so stunningly awful that I wonder what kind of offensive coaching EJ gets. The right call was at least to hand off to a RB moving forward. Of course, EJ tucked it in to Spiller and they lost 4 yards. Then EJ threw the 4th and 4 to no one in particular.

right call would be a QB sneak within our 6ft 5 in. 245 lb QB

[chef4131]

stat of the game EJ was 7 for 21 on passes to WRs cant blame play calling EJ needs to be better

[MarkAF43]

stat of the game EJ was 7 for 21 on passes to WRs cant blame play calling EJ needs to be better

 

So now we're going to cherry pick stats? CJ had what? 25 yards rushing? It's difficult for ANY qb to pass well when there isn't a solid rushing game to count on.

 

Call me whatever you want, but this ridiculous mob mentality and crusade against our QB because he had a bad game is just some of the dumbest nonsense I've ever heard.

[The Big Cat]

 

 

So now we're going to cherry pick stats? CJ had what? 25 yards rushing? It's difficult for ANY qb to pass well when there isn't a solid rushing game to count on.

 

Call me whatever you want, but this ridiculous mob mentality and crusade against our QB because he had a bad game is just some of the dumbest nonsense I've ever heard.

 

Well, he had a bad game.

 

I challenge anyone to comb through this board's archives to find me the fans who expected him to be perfect.

[truth on hold]

Overall its not as bleak as people think. Chargers probably best team in AFC, and bills with a better effort could have beaten them

[juno999]

The o line did suck today. So much, that I think their play was a big reason for the loss. Too much pressure on EJ early on led to EJ throwing the ball too soon later in the game. Receivers were getting open but the ball wasn't where it needed to be. Too many frickin penalties. Gilmore is about as average as you can get. The play where he got the facemask penalty was brutal in so many ways. He lost outside containment, gets flagged, and gets hurt.

[Captain Hindsight]

The whole team played poorly. Plain and simple

 

 

[Nervous Guy]

So now we're going to cherry pick stats? CJ had what? 25 yards rushing? It's difficult for ANY qb to pass well when there isn't a solid rushing game to count on.

 

Call me whatever you want, but this ridiculous mob mentality and crusade against our QB because he had a bad game is just some of the dumbest nonsense I've ever heard.

he's repeated that stat in three different threads now, it must be important.

[Big C]

The whole team played poorly. Plain and simple

 

We live and die as a team, sure, but they didn't look as focused and intense as the weeks prior. I think some of our guys played at the same level as weeks 1-2 and the rest really let those guys down.