Random observations from the game.

[Kelly the Dog]

1. J.P. looked okay to me again. Certainly not great, and certainly not terrible. He does some things very well, and the one thing he has been clearly suspect at, his accuracy, can be fixed. He is not known for being a inaccurate thrower. His stats were lousy but he had at least three drops on passes right in the receivers hands, and I thought the only ball he threw downfield was a very nice pass and could have hit Evans in stride if Lee wasn't tangled up and accidentally tripped by the DB. He didn't have any stupid throws, or INTs, and he really made only one bad play, the fumble, which he looked rotten on. I still contend that he will be more than fine without putting up gaudy numbers. For example, on 3-10, he scrambled and ran out of bounds for 9 yards which allowed us to go on 4th and 1 on the lone TD drive. It doesn't show up much on the stat sheet but it was a very good play. His ball-handling and escapability is very good already. For his first start, he was about what should have been expected.

 

2. That was really a terrible game. The penalties were ridiculous on the Bills, and I'm sure Mularkey is going to ream them for it. The first D and ST obviously looked in mid-season form.

 

3. Ron Edwards looks like he is not going to let the D slack off without Phat Pat. he looks huge out there and made several nice plays. Right now he is playing better than I thought he would but it is only pre-season. Who knows.

 

4. Coy Wire as everyone knows, officially stinks. He couldn't even do the one thing he is supposed to be able to do.

 

5. ReShard Lee may not make the team. Shaud is a lock for the "breather" back-up to Willis. And right now I think Gates looks better than Lee for the #3 and workhorse back if Willis goes down. Although it would likely be RB by committee with Shaud, who is a lot more impressive this year. I would hate to see us have to play without Willis though, he is already the MVP of the team because we're lost without him.

 

6. Josh continues to suck. I think if I were the coaches I may keep Drew Haddad over him. But Parrish getting hurt throws a little wrench into things. I am now convinced Aiken will make the team because of ST and his blocking. Josh is probably fighting Fast Freddie for a roster spot, and FF didn't have a stellar game either.

 

7. All three of those back-up LBs continue to shine. Back-ups two years ago were a complete question mark. Last year they stopped being a worry. This year they are a clear strength. We even got a glimpse of the madman Ezekial last night who will likely be on the PS.

 

8. Terrence McGee was very good as a CB last night, the best I have seen him play. He didn't give much up and continually was in great position and knocked the ball down.

 

9. We do leave our middle wide open for TEs down the seams and we're going to get torched by it unless they make some minor adjustments. I don't know why teams don't do it a lot more against us.

 

10. The WRs really had a bad day all around. Too many dropped balls on very catchable passes. None of the back-ups stood out except Haddad, who had a couple very nice plays.

 

11. Gandy seemed to hold up for the second straight game. Our biggest question mark in my mind has accounted himself pretty well. All I am looking from him is not to not get flat out beat and he hasn't yet.

 

12. Overall, however, the O-line play was lousy. A few nice holes in the running game but a lot of penalties and mistakes and not a lot of time for Losman or the other QBs to throw. I still think, however, when the real bullets fly, a healthy Willis, and the first offense, good coaching, and Moulds/Evans/Parrish will be able to move the ball.

 

13. I really love the Bills coaches attitude this year. They aren't scared of anything. They come after you the entire game on defense, no matter who is playing. They mix up the run and pass well. They do onside kicks after a penalty (which really should have worked). This is going to be a fun team to watch this year, albeit a little frustrating at times.

 

14. We have more depth on this team than probably any Bills team in the last ten years. The offensive line is the exception, and we better hope we make it through the year without a lot of injuries so Preston and Peters can be solid back-ups next year if not starters.

[Smoker2Buffalo]

I think I have to agree with everything you said. Good analysis.

[eventualchamps]

Excellent analysis. Saw bits ans pieces on NFL network.

What was your assesment of King and Greer?

[Kelly the Dog]

Excellent analysis.  Saw bits ans pieces on NFL network.

What was your assesment of King and Greer?

407083[/snapback]

Oh, thanks for reminding me. Eric King was very, very impressive throughout the game. He is a lock for the #5 CB. We are in very good shape with Greer and King and Thomas when he gets back. King looks like a veteran out there, and played well against the pass and run, too. Greer was fine, made a couple little mistakes but more than made up for it with a tremendous INT that I think led to our touchdown drive.

[Bill from NYC]

Thanks! I want to see how well Gandy holds up against starters, but I am glad that he did OK last night.

[LabattBlue]

3. Ron Edwards looks like he is not going to let the D slack off without Phat Pat. he looks huge out there and made several nice plays. Right now he is playing better than I thought he would but it is only pre-season. Who knows.

407065[/snapback]

The sequence of plays where Edwards was involved during the first quarter was very impressive. One play was stopping the RB for a loss, the next flushing the QB out of the pocket and the third was making the tackle on a WR screen(showed great hustle).

[Sound_n_Fury]

The sequence of plays where Edwards was involved during the first quarter was very impressive.  One play was stopping the RB for a loss, the next flushing the QB out of the pocket and the third was making the tackle on a WR screen(showed great hustle).

407107[/snapback]

 

Yep, he looked good. But I believe Indy was playing its Left Guard at Center (in place of Jeff Saturday) and the guy looked a little shaky... might not be a good test of Edward's progress, unfortunately.

[KRT88]

Are we showing too much on defense?

 

Its preseason, what's with all the blitz packages.

 

Seems like this will make it easier to prepare for us the first few games.

[Astrobot]

Just more difficult to gameplan for.

[Kelly the Dog]

Are we showing too much on defense?

 

Its preseason, what's with all the blitz packages.

 

Seems like this will make it easier to prepare for us the first few games.

407124[/snapback]

Actually, I like it. I may normally agree with you that a team doesn't like to show too much during the pre-season but this team is a little different for a couple reasons: The team is virtually the same as last year, with 10 starters and the same coaches and system and philosophy. The league has all the film they need on us and we aren't changing much, so there is really little to hide. I like the fact that we are just saying to the rest of the league we are coming after you and we plan on dominating.

[rjwjr21668]

"How bout Constantine Ritzman" In all seriousness, I know that it is only a pre-season game, however, anytime I see this guy play he seems to go all out and is always around the action.

[Realist]

Great analysis. I listened to the game on Sirius and what you said pretty much confirms what I was hearing. I am very concerned with the number of penalties. Hopefully they get better at that. Over all I thought they played decent but not great. A lot of room for improvement, not bad for a first preseason game.

[EC-Bills]

1. J.P. looked okay to me again. Certainly not great, and certainly not terrible. He

...

407065[/snapback]

 

Thanks for the analysis. I am looking forward to catching the replay on NFL Network Monday.

[Kelly the Dog]

"How bout Constantine Ritzman"  In all seriousness, I know that it is only a pre-season game, however, anytime I see this guy play he seems to go all out and is always around the action.

407133[/snapback]

Ritzman again looked pretty good. His two sacks boded pretty well but I would say that both of them were wiped out by his ridiculous and unnecessary roughing the passer penalty. That was just plain stupid. I think he is still fighting it out with Gause for our #4 DE.

[Beerball]

Ritzman again looked pretty good. His two sacks boded pretty well but I would say that both of them were wiped out by his ridiculous and unnecessary roughing the passer penalty. That was just plain stupid. I think he is still fighting it out with Gause for our #4 DE.

407154[/snapback]

Thanks for posting, any thoughts on Leonhard?

[Bob in SC]

Thanks - very useful. Did you form any impressions of Gause?

[Buffalo Wing]

I have to agree on all points. Couple extra points - no pun intended:

 

(1) I watched Gandy as much as I could and I have to say that he was solid...not great, but not horrible either...I do want to temper my relief though as he was matched up against an average defensive line last night. I'll be curious to see how he continues to look in the next couple preason games.

 

(2) I thought Kelsay had a solid game last night. He had several good moves and brought some nice heat into the Indy backfield.

[Kelly the Dog]

Thanks for posting, any thoughts on Leonhard?

407300[/snapback]

Leonhard looked good. Almost impossible not to like the guy. I have him marked for the practice squad. He looked like he belonged and played as advertised. He's very quick and always around the ball. He had an INT and good return on a tipped pass but it was called back. He had a very nifty punt return, too, where he went back and back and back but then outran everyone to the corner and picked up a lot of yards. He sure doesn't look like he lacks speed as on both returns he looked quite fast.

[Kelly the Dog]

Thanks - very useful. Did you form any impressions of Gause?

407307[/snapback]

Gause didn't do a lot, although he had one very fine play which was a sack. He looks pretty strong to me, and that he belongs in the NFL, and I think he will push Ritzman and maybe even bounce him from the roster. Ritzman, however, seems to make a lot of plays, although he had a totally inexcusable Roughing the Passer penalty.

[Live&DieBillsFootball]

Leonhard looked good. Almost impossible not to like the guy. I have him marked for the practice squad. He looked like he belonged and played as advertised. He's very quick and always around the ball. He had an INT and good return on a tipped pass but it was called back. He had a very nifty punt return, too, where he went back and back and back but then outran everyone to the corner and picked up a lot of yards. He sure doesn't look like he lacks speed as on both returns he looked quite fast.

407335[/snapback]

 

I think that Leonhard showed a lot more in one game than I have seen from "ST Ace" Wire in 3 years.

 

Some other points:

 

1. Reshaud Lee looks like a long shot to make the team. Shaud Williams and Lionel "Train" Gates both looked good.

 

2. Edwards looked good but so did Tim Anderson. He dropped a back for a loss and also batted down a pass. He was playing against scrubs but at least he was dominant on a few plays.

 

3. Peters did a good job and buried his man on one pass play. But, it still makes me worry about the depth at OT should Gandy or Big Mike get hurt.

 

4. Sape...what more can you say. Who had Sape in the pool for the first Bill to score a TD this year?

 

5. JP didn't have a great game but it was good to see his mobility on the sprint out and roll out plays. It didn't help that he had a lot of 2nd and 20's to deal with after penalties.

 

6. Eric King and Jabari Greer will both make the team at CB. Greer made a great INT and King did well in coverage and run support.

 

7. Backup linebackers - Stamer and Haggins could both start for a lot of teams in this league.