Rubes Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Although I'm sickened at this loss, isn't the JAX defense one of the best in the league? These guys have some great stats from last year, and although their secondary and defensive ends are supposedly suspect, I still think that we have to realize that this is possibly one of the toughest defenses we will face this year. And yet, we stuck with the plan to run the ball, despite our problems with it. They are obviously a difficult team to run the ball against, but we kept with it. And on that final drive, it really did look like our offensive line was really wearing them down. That first down run by McGahee would have put the game away, afer we had run the ball time after time in a situation where the Jags knew it was coming. Yes, we only scored 10 points, and I'm very disappointed in that. We made too many mistakes. But at the same time, this was a very good defense, it was our first game with a new offensive system, and it often does take time to adjust to a new offense. All things considered, perhaps we are all being a bit too rough on the offense. I'll give them another game or two to work things out, but I'm expecting better output against lesser defenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 What are you smoking? That argument might hold some water if the Bills were playing Syracuse next week. Unfortunately we have some good NFL defenses in our division. The Jags D may not be horrible, but they're nowhere close to the best we'll face this year. They might be on par with the Jets & Raiders - nowhere close to New England, Miami, or Baltimore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 What are you smoking? That argument might hold some water if the Bills were playing Syracuse next week. Unfortunately we have some good NFL defenses in our division. The Jags D may not be horrible, but they're nowhere close to the best we'll face this year. They might be on par with the Jets & Raiders - nowhere close to New England, Miami, or Baltimore. 29111[/snapback] Well, going only by last year's stats (since all we have are one game's worth this year), the Jax D is the highest rank of all of this year's opponents, at 6th. The next best is New England at 7th. It's not a stretch to give their defense credit. It's where they were strong last year and what won them the 5 games they won... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 Well, going only by last year's stats (since all we have are one game's worth this year), the Jax D is the highest rank of all of this year's opponents, at 6th. The next best is New England at 7th. It's not a stretch to give their defense credit. It's where they were strong last year and what won them the 5 games they won... 29126[/snapback] Exactly, that's what I'm smoking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Exactly, that's what I'm smoking. 29203[/snapback] Is that only available by prescription? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I know there are 11 guys on the unit, but when they cut their two starting DE's(Brackens & Douglas) in pre-season and replace them with two no names, you should be able to exploit them on the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Buff...JAX is real solid up the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Well, going only by last year's stats (since all we have are one game's worth this year), the Jax D is the highest rank of all of this year's opponents, at 6th. 29126[/snapback] Right....and the Bills had the 2nd best defense last year. I'll wager anything that NE, Miami, and Baltimore give up fewer points than Jax this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I know there are 11 guys on the unit, but when they cut their two starting DE's(Brackens & Douglas) in pre-season and replace them with two no names, you should be able to exploit them on the edge. 29218[/snapback] Agreed. Paul Spicer looked damn good, how surprising. But I was very impressed with their D as a whole. If Jax gets their O together, they can be a playoff team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 There is a real dynamic here between two different approaches to the same issue. Was the Jax D good or was the Bills O not good enough? Both are actually true based on the results. I think it does little good to argue which is right but to try to focus on this in terms of getting better. What can we improve in order to make our O better? My answers are: Kicking- This was the #1 demonstrable and potentially fixable shortcoming in our point production yesterday. We failed to get 6 points yesterday (Lindell's 42 yard miss, our inability to go for a 50 yarder with the wind) which should be makeabl;e points with adequate place-kicking. The dumbest thing which TD has said in his career with the Bills was that good placekickers were a dime a dozen. This has continuously proven not be trues with the cut of Christie (who apparently hit a long one yesterday), with the failed experiment with Ariens, with the borted move to Graham, the briefly working but failed effort with Hollis and now with Lindell. Either meke it work with Lindell so the coaches have confidence in him or move on to waiver wire. The return game is also part of the offensive production and McGee showed marginal judgment at best against the lon kicks of Scobee. He deserves a chance toimprove here, but if not then Shaud Williams or Reed deserv a shot. As far as PR, having a starting corner do this is still a risk. OL- A nice job by McNally and the crew given how bad the OL was last year, how many changes have been made, the MW issues and the lack of playing time for this crew. The penalty on Villarial was unacceptable and the failure of this unit to dominate was unacceptable. Yet, they did hold their own and move the ball against a very tough D (particularly against the run) so these unacceptable results are both worse than they should be for a winning team, but better than they were last year when the QB was sacked 49 times. I think time and more working together and finally having anadult as a position coach will improve this unit. RBs- Henry and WM show great promise so I would also give them time with this OL. Shelton at FB needs to show me something. If the running game becomes dominant fine, but if not I am uncertain whether he is enough of a pass catcher to be a weapon and problems with our running game may because Shelton is not a good enough blocker in the Sam-Gash tradition if the running game does not develop. WRs- Moulds needs time with the Jugs machine. I'm not worried as he has little history as a fumbler, but his drops and Campbells fumble were concerns. This unit was marginally productive, but the biggest factor seemed to be playcalling as we lacked a downfield game. it goes on the watch list because perhaps this problem is solved with a different opponent and game plan. QB- I saved him for last because I think Bledsoe's play is a problem but it by far is not the main problem with lack of production from this O and folks focus on him because they have bought into the hype that focuses on the QB. The position is important because he handles the ball on each play, but so does the center and just as this position deserves intense focus because of its importance, it isn't necessarily the key to improved production for the O. As far as it goes, Bledsoe (somewhat surprisingly to me) has remade his game at this late stage in his career and is getting rid of it far faster than he did in the kenin Killdrive offense. We see this in the drop in sacks to one and even that one was a good sack for him to take given that the wheels had fallen off of the playcall as the sole option provided on that red zone play, a pass to Shelton had not materialized. If Bledsoe keeps playing with this style, the Bills may well be fine if other facets of the O get their act together. The most likely cause of failure is actually if Bledsoe is called upon or tries to do things he is incapable of doing late in his career. This problem is exactly what those who demand a focus on Bledsoe are calling for as neither he is likely to produce if he is asked to do more, nor will Shane Matthews, norcan Losman for 6-10 games nor will he be able to when this rookie comes back, nor can any of the scrubs on the waiver wire. If you want to see improvement in the Bills play at QB this will not come from replacing him with any of the credible options nor from asking him to do more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I know there are 11 guys on the unit, but when they cut their two starting DE's(Brackens & Douglas) in pre-season and replace them with two no names, you should be able to exploit them on the edge. 29218[/snapback] Judging from his production last year, Douglas wasn't much of a loss. And whoever they replaced them with looked pretty damned good. They were showing some pretty good speed at the ends. Overall, and when compared to performances we've seen in the past three years, I was pleasantly surprised at the o-line's play against the Jags front 7. And regardless of the lack of "names", I believe that's a pretty solid front 7 that shouldn't be sold short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary M Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Well will have to follow this. Baltimore gave up 20 New England 24 Miami 17 Jax 10 (scores set up by the turnovers) Right....and the Bills had the 2nd best defense last year. I'll wager anything that NE, Miami, and Baltimore give up fewer points than Jax this year. 29222[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I know there are 11 guys on the unit, but when they cut their two starting DE's(Brackens & Douglas) in pre-season and replace them with two no names, you should be able to exploit them on the edge. 29218[/snapback] Of you mean "over-the-hill" Douglas (blaming the fans for his lack of performance) and "6 sack" brackens? It's not like they cut Ogluneye and Taylor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Although I'm sickened at this loss, isn't the JAX defense one of the best in the league? These guys have some great stats from last year, and although their secondary and defensive ends are supposedly suspect, I still think that we have to realize that this is possibly one of the toughest defenses we will face this year. And yet, we stuck with the plan to run the ball, despite our problems with it. They are obviously a difficult team to run the ball against, but we kept with it. And on that final drive, it really did look like our offensive line was really wearing them down. That first down run by McGahee would have put the game away, afer we had run the ball time after time in a situation where the Jags knew it was coming. Yes, we only scored 10 points, and I'm very disappointed in that. We made too many mistakes. But at the same time, this was a very good defense, it was our first game with a new offensive system, and it often does take time to adjust to a new offense. All things considered, perhaps we are all being a bit too rough on the offense. I'll give them another game or two to work things out, but I'm expecting better output against lesser defenses. 29090[/snapback] No doubt J-Ville has a stout D...well an especially stout Run D, but we ran the Ball pretty well yesterday....anyway... I hate to oversimplify this thing because obviously there were other determining factors to the loss...But if we are going to bottom line the Offense in this Game the fact remains that 10 points at Home vs. any Defense is just not good enough. There are a million reasons, and a million excuses, but to me the net of the situation is we still have the exact same problem we had last year...We can't put the Ball in the Endzone with any frequency, and that is a MAJOR concern... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 No doubt J-Ville has a stout D...well an especially stout Run D, but we ran the Ball pretty well yesterday....anyway... I hate to oversimplify this thing because obviously there were other determining factors to the loss...But if we are going to bottom line the Offense in this Game the fact remains that 10 points at Home vs. any Defense is just not good enough. There are a million reasons, and a million excuses, but to me the net of the situation is we still have the exact same problem we had last year...We can't put the Ball in the Endzone with any frequency, and that is a MAJOR concern... 29257[/snapback] I agree with you for the most part, but let's face it: this Buffalo team has yet to find themselves offensively, and starting off against one of the stronger defenses in the league is a real challenge, especially this early in the season. There will definitely be games where the offense fails to score more than 10 points, particularly against strong defenses. Is that good enough to win? Not usually, but when you defense is this good, it can be. Should we be able to score more than 10 against anybody? I sure hope we could, but at this point (in the season and in the development of this offense) that might be asking a bit too much. I'm expecting more from this offense later in the season, so we'll have to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 I'm expecting more from this offense later in the season, so we'll have to see. 29426[/snapback] Well...you and me both Brother...you and me both... B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Of you mean "over-the-hill" Douglas (blaming the fans for his lack of performance) and "6 sack" brackens? It's not like they cut Ogluneye and Taylor... 29248[/snapback] Are you saying that there no-names can actually play unlike our no-name Ryan "Why is the front of my jersey clean and the back covered with turf stains" Denney! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Although I'm sickened at this loss, isn't the JAX defense one of the best in the league? These guys have some great stats from last year, and although their secondary and defensive ends are supposedly suspect, I still think that we have to realize that this is possibly one of the toughest defenses we will face this year. And yet, we stuck with the plan to run the ball, despite our problems with it. They are obviously a difficult team to run the ball against, but we kept with it. And on that final drive, it really did look like our offensive line was really wearing them down. That first down run by McGahee would have put the game away, afer we had run the ball time after time in a situation where the Jags knew it was coming. Yes, we only scored 10 points, and I'm very disappointed in that. We made too many mistakes. But at the same time, this was a very good defense, it was our first game with a new offensive system, and it often does take time to adjust to a new offense. All things considered, perhaps we are all being a bit too rough on the offense. I'll give them another game or two to work things out, but I'm expecting better output against lesser defenses. 29090[/snapback] Yep...in this day of changing rules to pump up scoring, the Jax defenders relinquished 10 points. Not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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