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

[26CornerBlitz]

CJ Killer? What is he doing here? https://vine.co/v/OqB9YQxv31M

[All_Pro_Bills]

The officiating has been awful in just about every Bills game this season and for years against the Patriots. When will it change?

 

This team is better passing with Orton but the running game has suffered. With EJ at least giving the threat of running, it just allows the Spiller and Fred more space. This is a running team that needs better guard play but is also getting away from what it is offensively. I know I'm in the minority here but still feel EJ gives the Bills the best chance to win...

Those two offensive PI calls on Watkins and Woods were really soft and I hate pointing out the ref's because the Bills did more than enough to lose the game on their own. But those calls were momentum killers when the Bills were driving to make the game interesting. Later, Gronk clearly pushed the defender off to catch the TD that was called back but for offensive line holding not PI. No consistency in the game and watching the muggings they let go in other games around the league yesterday (like Dallas/Seattle) the consistency is terrible.

 

I've had enough of Spiller. He'll make an occasional great play but that fumble was unacceptable. The one thing you can't do there. Rather than do what he typically does, which is run out of bounds to stop the clock (especially when they are trying to kill the clock) he stays in bounds to get a few more yards rather than doing the smart thing and go out of bounds to stop the clock and save a timeout. Not resigning him will be addition by subtraction.

 

Shwartz not bringing any pressure, and going to a 3 man rush in certain situations was the wrong approach. Bill in NY is right here on his OP. Pettine knows the Pats and would have come up with a better plan. Brady had too much time and that isn't what you want to do with him. With a bum ankle they should have brought more pressure.

 

The Bills o-line needs to step it up. What I thought would be a strength this season is so far a disappointment and the weakest link. We're always blaming the lack of quality guard play Wood is at fault too.

[Agent 91]

 

 

Good post mate, and thanks for citing the LaCanfora link- yes indeed there is reason for hope.....I like the idea of this: " If the Bills do decide to make changes, Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich, an increasingly hot coaching candidate who is a beloved former quarterback in Buffalo, could quickly emerge as a frontrunner."

 

Im torn. Reich would be intriguing but I am kind of sick of coaches in their first head coaching gig here. I wish there was someone established. I want to see someone who can develop young talent. And I dont know id Reich is that guy. He would certainly be a good evaluator for EJ but other than that?

 

Hogan? His drop was beyond bad and he totally lucked out it was not a drive stopper. You cannot build anything with players that drop the ball like that.

 

So you talk about Hogan? A 6th wr who outplayed all wrs not named Woods? Yes he dropped the ball. But so did Chandler right before him. Hogan also made a diving grab that was pretty impressive. He was definitely not a problem.

 

 

 

Good post.

 

The Bills' running game was ineffective. Period. The main problem there isn't the running backs. It's the offensive line.

 

Speaking of the offensive line, I expected the interior to play poorly; so I wasn't that surprised by what I saw. I was surprised by Glenn getting owned on the strip/sack. I also get the impression that Henderson is too large/immobile to handle speed rushers. (At least that's what he looked like today.) Even a good player is allowed to have an occasional bad day, so I'm willing to give Glenn a mulligan. But other than him and possibly Wood, I can't think of any long-term answers on that line. The lack of a good line has mostly snuffed out the running game, and is greatly impeding the passing attack.

 

It was hard to tell from my television screen, but the announcers said that Watkins was well-covered by Revis pretty much the whole game. That makes me miss a WR we used to have who could get open against Revis. (And who was traded for a fourth round pick.) Other than Chandler, it doesn't seem like the Bills' receiving threats did a good job of getting open.

 

But as bad as all that was, our real problems were on defense. To its credit, the defense played well in the second half. During the first half, the Bills were 0-3 in the turnover battle. Being down by 13-7 at the end of the half is not bad at all, considering that turnover margin. I felt that if they played like that in the second half--except without the turnovers--they had an excellent chance of winning. Instead, the Patriots scored on every drive of the second half. The closest thing the defense had to a second half success was holding the Patriots to a FG. But there was only one second half Patriots drive like that. All the other drives were touchdowns. The Bills very obviously don't have the defense I thought they had.

 

With no second half defense whatever, and no running game, the only thing we had going for us was the passing attack. That passing attack isn't going to be enough to carry the team.

 

What wr ever could you say owns revis... I have never seen such things. But seriously. I think Henderson can do it. I believe in Seantrel.

 

Sammy was open plenty. From the stands it was maddening that Orton didn't have enough time to hit him. Or awareness

 

He can get off. I was screaming at the TV. I went as far as to call Marone Hackett and Orton gutless. We invest 2 firsts and a 4th on this guy and dont utilize him. Its maddening. We have the number 4 overall pick on this team a weapon who should be assumed to be able to get open... and they dont even look his way? Revis is but a man. A man who as another poster mentioned was beaten every time by a certain ex-bill. It can be done. And I believe Watkins is up for the task.

 

Spiller..... Ugh. Guy just doesn't have the mind for pro ball... Bounce it out, loss of 4.

 

Orton- come on is this really better? Bad picks, a statue in th pocket, crappy inaccurate passes. No deep ball, and can't find his WRs. Great.... 300 yards accumulated in garbage time. This season is totally phuqued.

 

Guys who earned their check today:

Freddie (always)

Woods fought his arse off every play

Hughes- dear god extend this guy now

Bradham- guy was everywhere

Spikes- literally is a one man run defense

Hogan- holy chittt. You can actually play ball?

Mario- shows up every week

 

That's it.

 

Mcluvin, orton, dookie, spiller, otero much every offensive play numbering 59 to 79 and searcy, you sucked camel nuts.

 

Wasnt garbage time as much as he had a lot of YAC yards. There is so little EJ has to do to get on that level. He needs confidence. He needs to learn to lead his receivers and he needs to get the ball down field. He does those things and he will be inserted in the lineup again.

 

Robert Woods is a honey badger

Orton makes throws EJ cant, or won't

I HATE how Brady always seems to have ALL day to pass on the Bills

Eye on big picture, Bills get another chance week 17 and hopefully with alot on the line

 

I know EJ can... but he wont. Maybe he is scared. Maybe the coaches told him dont. But thats neither here nor there. We are who we are atleast for now. And Orton is the guy we at moving forward with. Dont like it. But hey.

[Solomon Grundy]

CJ Killer? What is he doing here? https://vine.co/v/OqB9YQxv31M

 

He looks at a block by Chandler, sees the pursuit coming to close the hole everyone else sees and think he can bounce outside because Chandler appears to have outside leverage until he throws Chandler out of the way

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

my random thoughts .....

 

Was that a deer I saw frozen in headlights?

 

Two INT's in two consecutive games in the 1st QRT?

 

Did the Ghost of RJ posses KO or was it the Ghost of Trent E?

 

THE REFS SUCKED and didn't help the Bills at all.

[Solomon Grundy]

If you continue to watch the play Gragg and Richardson couldn't seal off at the second level which allowed pursuit to seal the hole

 

Spiller..... Ugh. Guy just doesn't have the mind for pro ball... Bounce it out, loss of 4.

 

Orton- come on is this really better? Bad picks, a statue in th pocket, crappy inaccurate passes. No deep ball, and can't find his WRs. Great.... 300 yards accumulated in garbage time. This season is totally phuqued.

 

Guys who earned their check today:

Freddie (always)

Woods fought his arse off every play

Hughes- dear god extend this guy now

Bradham- guy was everywhere

Spikes- literally is a one man run defense

Hogan- holy chittt. You can actually play ball?

Mario- shows up every week

 

That's it.

 

Mcluvin, orton, dookie, spiller, otero much every offensive play numbering 59 to 79 and searcy, you sucked camel nuts.

 

Nailed it!! I still would've loved to have seen Mike Williams in the Hogan role though!

 

 

 

Im torn. Reich would be intriguing but I am kind of sick of coaches in their first head coaching gig here. I wish there was someone established. I want to see someone who can develop young talent. And I dont know id Reich is that guy. He would certainly be a good evaluator for EJ but other than that?

 

 

 

So you talk about Hogan? A 6th wr who outplayed all wrs not named Woods? Yes he dropped the ball. But so did Chandler right before him. Hogan also made a diving grab that was pretty impressive. He was definitely not a problem.

 

 

 

What wr ever could you say owns revis... I have never seen such things. But seriously. I think Henderson can do it. I believe in Seantrel.

 

 

 

He can get off. I was screaming at the TV. I went as far as to call Marone Hackett and Orton gutless. We invest 2 firsts and a 4th on this guy and dont utilize him. Its maddening. We have the number 4 overall pick on this team a weapon who should be assumed to be able to get open... and they dont even look his way? Revis is but a man. A man who as another poster mentioned was beaten every time by a certain ex-bill. It can be done. And I believe Watkins is up for the task.

 

 

 

Wasnt garbage time as much as he had a lot of YAC yards. There is so little EJ has to do to get on that level. He needs confidence. He needs to learn to lead his receivers and he needs to get the ball down field. He does those things and he will be inserted in the lineup again.

 

 

 

I know EJ can... but he wont. Maybe he is scared. Maybe the coaches told him dont. But thats neither here nor there. We are who we are atleast for now. And Orton is the guy we at moving forward with. Dont like it. But hey.

 

I'd love to see Harbaugh work with EJ! Look what he's done with Alex Smith and Kaepernick. I know one receiver who has land on Revis Island, SJ13! Would have loved to see Mike Williams in Hogan's role yesterday. I'm with you on EJ and Orton. Hoping EJ will take off the "training wheels" and play when he's re-inserted.

[Moose]

I always enjoy your observations, in no particular order, Bill. As usual, they are all dead on. I am so sick of watching the same mediocre Bills team, year after year, especially when they play the Patriots. The last time the Bills made the playoffs I was living in Elmira... and I do plan to move back when I retire, but it won't be for several more years.

 

 

 

My most meaningful observation of the game is how much Gronkowski resembles Alice the Goon.

 

 

[Dan]

Here's a few of my thoughts...

 

Too many people want to ignore the youth and inexperience on this team. It hurts us. Young players make mistakes at critical times; they always have. But that doesn't mean they're garbage.

 

We don't have the coaching staff to overcome this youth and inexperience. Marrone and Hackett think this is college and they can line up and play one on one and just beat guys. It's not working and they have no clue when it comes to making adjustments in a game plan for the other team, or for our players.

 

Shwartz fell into the old trap that infuriates me! He didn't put any pressure on Brady and dropped everyone into coverage. That game plan hasn't worked ever against the Pats! Why in the f#%d don't our coaches understand this!!?

 

I see all these posts about Spiller, just like we had dozens of posts about EJ's ineffective play. Well, here we are now and Orton is only playing minimally better than EJ (and if not for an epically bad day for a Lions' kicker would be winless). The problem on this team isn't the players. It's the coaching! They flat out suck. Why do we always start a game with 2 runs up the middle for no gain, then a pass on 3rd... followed by a punt? Maybe Marrone just doesn't like getting the ball first?

 

We were outcoached in the game, horribly outcoached. And it was evident all day, especially after the half when the Pats made all the right right adjustments and we made none.

 

The officiating in the league is making the game unwatchable. In most every game, they pick a drive or two (usually in the second half) and completely take over the game, typically in favor of one team over the other. Phantom calls, non calls, picked up flags, you name it! The announcers don't even know what they're calling any more. It's pathetic and makes me turn off games every weekend. I knew our game was over in the third quarter, mostly due to the way the flags were flying.

 

 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

With Pettine as DC, we would have won this game. Not going after a QB like Brady was a joke. Unless you can seven DBs at once (and that might not help as we have hardly any that can really play), pressuring an exceptional QB should be a no brainer.

[thebandit27]

Sammy was open plenty. From the stands it was maddening that Orton didn't have enough time to hit him. Or awareness

 

Yes...yes he was. He wasn't (as Bill put it after the Miami game) "college open" all day, but he was in position to make a play on the ball ~90% of the time. I was watching him probably every 3 offensive snaps. He's open...and many times, he's very open.

 

In fact, the first time Orton threw him the ball (in the 3rd Q), he didn't come open until after the ball was in the air...news flash Kyle (and Nate Hackett): THROW HIM THE BALL ANYWAY.

 

CJ Killer? What is he doing here? https://vine.co/v/OqB9YQxv31M

 

Watching from the stands, it's incredible how often he just misses a hole. I think he expects to see a gaping crevasse in the defense--that's not how it works in the NFL. You look for creases between the big bodies, hit it up there, and get your 3-5 yards. If you do that twice, you're in 3rd and manageable; that's how the chains get moved.

 

Spiller just can't do that right now, and it's time they stopped asking him to.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

You have to appreciate Hackett's consistency: never pass on first down; until it finally works, keep trying to get Spiller outside; and don't pass to Spiller in the open field. Oh yes, and what's a screen pass or draw play?

[thebandit27]

You have to appreciate Hackett's consistency: never pass on first down; until it finally works, keep trying to get Spiller outside; and don't pass to Spiller in the open field. Oh yes, and what's a screen pass or draw play?

 

Not sure I agree with that part--they ran 3 screens yesterday, and all 3 were blown up well before the RB got the ball. NE has, for a very long time, been a tough team to screen against.

 

Also, the majority of Spiller's runs are draws.

[JohnC]

 

Not so sure about the above. The DL put pressure on Brady but not enough, and at times they rushed 3. When Brady is on, he will find open receivers given time, and time is exactly what Schwartz handed him. They should have blitzed and kept hitting him.

 

The Bills didn't do well in the past with passive defenses. This game was more of the same and makes one long for the days of Pettine.

 

Bill, The scheme that Schwartz runs is the same scheme he has always run. His philosophy is diametrically opposite of Pettine's mad blitz scheme. When you bring in an OC who runs a west coast offense you get a west coast offense. In other words you get what you buy. There shouldn't be any surprise as to what defense Schwatz is going to run because it matches his philosophical approach to playing defense.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

With Pettine as DC, we would have won this game. Not going after a QB like Brady was a joke. Unless you can seven DBs at once (and that might not help as we have hardly any that can really play), pressuring an exceptional QB should be a no brainer.

No they would not have.. The Putz would have rushed for 150 yds and still won by 14+ points

 

until Brady is gone the Bills stand little chance of defeating the Putz

[FireChan]

CJ Killer? What is he doing here? https://vine.co/v/OqB9YQxv31M

 

Oh boy. That's brutal.

[thebandit27]

Oh boy. That's brutal.

 

Agreed ChanFuego...that is the very play on which Spiller lost my support as a primary back.

 

If anyone wants to see what Spiller needs to be doing in this offense, go watch how Atlanta is using Antone Smith--a former UDFA that Atlanta picked up off the street. For the season, he has 23 touches for 346 yards and 5 TDs--all of which have come from more than 40 yards out.

[FireChan]

Agreed ChanFuego...that is the very play on which Spiller lost my support as a primary back.

 

If anyone wants to see what Spiller needs to be doing in this offense, go watch how Atlanta is using Antone Smith--a former UDFA that Atlanta picked up off the street. For the season, he has 23 touches for 346 yards and 5 TDs--all of which have come from more than 40 yards out.

 

You think someone will take him off our hands if we give them a 7th too?

[26CornerBlitz]

Agreed ChanFuego...that is the very play on which Spiller lost my support as a primary back.

 

If anyone wants to see what Spiller needs to be doing in this offense, go watch how Atlanta is using Antone Smith--a former UDFA that Atlanta picked up off the street. For the season, he has 23 touches for 346 yards and 5 TDs--all of which have come from more than 40 yards out.

 

 

@JaySkurski

C.J. Spiller played 12 offensive snaps yesterday. Seems like we're about to watch his final 10 games in a #Bills uniform.

 

Can't rely on CJ to set up blocks or hit holes to get whatever yards are available. His instincts and basic football awareness are poor. He's absolutely horrid in pass pro. Other than that he's pretty good.

Edited October 13, 2014 by 26CornerBlitz

[Fan in Chicago]

- I normally just mildly complain about officiating but yesterday I was ready to throw by coffee mug into the screen. Not only were the calls bad, but their timing was impeccable if you are the Pats* . Every time the Bills seem to gather momentum, out came a flag. I am not saying the outcome of the game would have changed for sure but momentum means a lot in football. Also, strategy on both sides of the ball changes depending on the score and flow of the game. Who knows how things would have turned out if the Bills had scored in the 2nd or 3rd quarter. Brady doesn't need help in dissecting the Bills secondary. All I ask is to let the Bills have a level playing field.

- The above calls and turnovers are what killed us IMHO. We can point to the D, justifiably for their second half performance. However, the turnovers just made the outcome inevitable.

 

Can't rely on CJ to set up blocks or hit holes to get whatever yards are available. His instincts and basic football awareness are poor. He's absolutely horrid in pass pro. Other than that he's pretty good.

 

[Bill from NYC]

Bill, The scheme that Schwartz runs is the same scheme he has always run. His philosophy is diametrically opposite of Pettine's mad blitz scheme. When you bring in an OC who runs a west coast offense you get a west coast offense. In other words you get what you buy. There shouldn't be any surprise as to what defense Schwatz is going to run because it matches his philosophical approach to playing defense.

It might interest you to know that I heard Marrone say on Sirius Radio that it was HE who called Schwartz to ask him if he was interested in the job. He also said that he named the talented players on the roster as a selling point.

 

No hidden message above. I however was a bit surprised.