Game observations

[Kelly the Dog]

1. We suck. We sucked. We're doomed. Our starters were rocked. Okay, got that over with.

 

2. I liked the plays that Fairchild ran, even though they were fairly generic. He called a pretty decent game. For the MOST part, excluding one glaring error on third and short when JP got a delay of game, he got the plays in very fast. They had a couple to the TE and several swing passes to the backs which picked up 3-6 yards a clip. These serve as running plays when your line is getting beat and it was incomprehensible that we haven't seen much of it in the last few years. Except, of course, on 3rd and 11.

 

3. Whitner looked pretty good. Bowen is a solid back-up. Whitner is going to be a fan favorite for a long time, IMO and people are going to say it was a good to great draft pick. He really looks like a player. Fast, hits hard, covers a lot of ground, always around the ball.

 

4. Terrence McGee was just awful but luckily he is one guy we know is actually pretty good. So I am not worrying about him and him getting torched on one drive against a very good team too much.

 

5. Gates looked very good. And not just on his TD run, which was awesome. He ran hard all night and looked good doing it. He's a decent back-up in this league and better make the team.

 

6.As others said, Kyle Williams had a terrific first game. He already looks stronger than Tim Anderson. I didn't see much out of McCargo.

 

7. Okay, JP: I also thought there really wasn't and isn't a QB competition and this was proved again. He looked terrible on at least five passes, and he held onto the ball too long 2-3 times. Other than that, he played pretty decent. I am not OVERLY concerned about his accuracy, however, because it surely looks to me that it is his personality more than his talent that makes him inaccurate. He just needs to settle down, and that will come with experience. He's a pretty accurate, if not very accurate quarterback when he's comfortable, and you could see it in his game yesterday. He fired more very accurate rockets than misfires.

 

He looked a lot more decisive and in control than he did last year. Plus, his errant abysmal throws are almost always in the dirt, and are simply incompletions. His worst play of the game was the missed TD to Aikens. He really needs to make that throw and he should have. That was a bad mistake because he had been in rhythm by then, had the time and just blew the pass. He must make that play if he is going to be good in this league. I think he will after the game slows down for him.

 

He mostly made the right reads. He threw a lot of different kinds of passes, including some touch throws that he looked good on and some on the run that got to the man. Not a great game, because he started slow and was clearly jittery at the beginning. This guy is going to be VERY good IF he learns to control his emotions. And by that it doesn't mean he has to change as a guy, or not getting excited ot mad at himself. It means ONLY that from the time the ball is snapped until the whistle blows, his adrenaline is 100% zeroed in on making the play and not something out of Wile E. Coyote.

 

8. After the terrible start, and despite the lousy OL play (which, granted, are huge and could truncate the entire season) the team settled down and played pretty decent. The D hits hard and plays hard. They attack the ball and cause turnovers. I really think the DBs are going to be special. I liked Ko Simpson alot, he's big and fast. Greer and King looked solid. Youboty looked a little lost but has some talent.

 

9. Jauron looked pretty much in control. His team fought for him, although I realize it's only pre-season. I would have preferred he let JP in to see if he could win the game, and I would have gone for the first down late in the first half (being pre-season and not the regular season) but he looked decent. Although he wasn't faced with a lot of tough calls.

 

10. Sam Aiken was the best Bill out there tonight. If he can hang onto the ball like he did, he may finally realize his potential. I am not betting on it but the guy is big, can block, can get open, is a stud on ST, and even showed a little speed. Last night he showed very good hands and we have been told he has been catching everything. He probably just secured a roster spot with that game.

[LabattBlue]

1. Peters looked terrible. He went to the inside on one play(mental error??) and Peppers went in untouched on KH. On the next series, he dragged down Peppers and got called for holding(referee called out the wrong number). The signing was a good one, but he has a long way to go.

 

2. K. Williams made some very good plays and I also thought Denney looked good. I still believe there is a chance that Denney could end up starting in place of Kelsay.

 

3. McGee did not look good, but if memory serves me right, he was picked on at times last year also. He can make the big play, but appears to need to develop some consistency to his game.

 

4. Aiken was the only receiver to make his presence known in the battle for the 3,4 & 5 spots on the depth chart.

 

5. Holcomb is just pitiful. Assuming JP will be the starter and if Nall can show anything before the final cutdown, I'd seriously consider cutting Holcomb and bringing in a young QB as the #3. THERE IS NO UPSIDE IN HOLCOMB'S GAME!.

 

6. WTF was Losman doing in the game with a bunch of OL who won't even be on the roster come the start of the season. He was lucky not to be seriously hurt. Not very smart Jauron.

 

7. Gates looked good and Thomas was okay. Assuming WM can handle being the 3rd down back, Shaud Williams may not make it.

 

8. Ricard and Shelton should be an interesting battle. I've never been a big Shelton fan and I think his blocking is very overrated. Ricard showed some nice hands last night and I don't think it would take much for him to win the job.

 

9. Greer made a couple of nice plays and will continue to be either the nickel or dime back.

 

10. Whitner looked okay considering he has only been in camp for a week and missed almost all of the OTA's. His hitting ability seems to be up to par for a NFL SS. I didn't notice much out of McCargo except to see him chasing after the play several times.

[roscoeparrishfan]

one thing that really stood out to me was ko simpsons speed.

our secondary is going to be really good for a long time.

[buffaloboyinATL]

1.  Peters looked terrible.  He went to the inside on one play(mental error??) and Peppers went in untouched on KH.  On the next series, he dragged down Peppers and got called for holding(referee called out the wrong number).  The signing was a good one, but he has a long way to go.

 

He released off of Peppers to block another Panther but he should have stuck with Peppers, the running back was preparing to block the player that Peters went after, the RB didn't have time to get to Peppers.  Bad decision by Peters.

 

 

8.  Ricard and Shelton should be an interesting battle.  I've never been a big Shelton fan and I think his blocking is very overrated.  Ricard showed some nice hands last night and I don't think it would take much for him to win the job.

 

Odd that Ricard and Rob Lee each had number 39 on in this game.  I didn't think that was legal.  Can't be a good sign for Rob Lee's chances of making the team.

742249[/snapback]

[Lurker]

6. WTF was Losman doing in the game with a bunch of OL who won't even be on the roster come the start of the season.  He was lucky not to be seriously hurt.  Not very smart Jauron. 

742249[/snapback]

 

It's time to stop treating JP with kid gloves, IMO. I liked the decision to give him a lot of reps, and the fact he seemed to improve as he got more work.

 

It does no good to protect him if he doesn't get enough experience to get comfortable. That's what he needed last year, and the fact that this staff seems to have enough confidence to leave him in for an extended period was encouraging.

[Lurker]

one thing that really stood out to me was ko simpsons speed.

our secondary is going to be really good for a long time.

742254[/snapback]

Better be if the pass rush doesn't get any stonger...

[LabattBlue]

It's time to stop treating JP with kid gloves, IMO.  I liked the decision to give him a lot of reps, and the fact he seemed to improve as he got more work. 

 

It does no good to protect him if he doesn't get enough experience to get comfortable.  That's what he needed last year, and the fact that this staff seems to have enough confidence to leave him in for an extended period was encouraging.

742273[/snapback]

I have no problem with leaving JP in the game for an extended period, but at least put in OL who are going to be on the roster this year.

[Mickey]

1. We suck. We sucked. We're doomed. Our starters were rocked. Okay, got that over with.

 

2. I liked the plays that Fairchild ran, even though they were fairly generic. He called a pretty decent game. For the MOST part, excluding one glaring error on third and short when JP got a delay of game, he got the plays in very fast. They had a couple to the TE and several swing passes to the backs which picked up 3-6 yards a clip. These serve as running plays when your line is getting beat and it was incomprehensible that we haven't seen much of it in the last few years. Except, of course, on 3rd and 11.

 

3. Whitner looked pretty good. Bowen is a solid back-up. Whitner is going to be a fan favorite for a long time, IMO and people are going to say it was a good to great draft pick. He really looks like a player. Fast, hits hard, covers a lot of ground, always around the ball.

 

4. Terrence McGee was just awful but luckily he is one guy we know is actually pretty good. So I am not worrying about him and him getting torched on one drive against a very good team too much.

 

5. Gates looked very good. And not just on his TD run, which was awesome. He ran hard all night and looked good doing it. He's a decent back-up in this league and better make the team.

 

6.As others said, Kyle Williams had a terrific first game. He already looks stronger than Tim Anderson. I didn't see much out of McCargo.

 

7. Okay, JP: I also thought there really wasn't and isn't a QB competition and this was proved again. He looked terrible on at least five passes, and he held onto the ball too long 2-3 times. Other than that, he played pretty decent. I am not OVERLY concerned about his accuracy, however, because it surely looks to me that it is his personality more than his talent that makes him inaccurate. He just needs to settle down, and that will come with experience. He's a pretty accurate, if not very accurate quarterback when he's comfortable, and you could see it in his game yesterday. He fired more very accurate rockets than misfires.

 

He looked a lot more decisive and in control than he did last year. Plus, his errant abysmal throws are almost always in the dirt, and are simply incompletions. His worst play of the game was the missed TD to Aikens. He really needs to make that throw and he should have. That was a bad mistake because he had been in rhythm by then, had the time and just blew the pass. He must make that play if he is going to be good in this league. I think he will after the game slows down for him.

 

He mostly made the right reads. He threw a lot of different kinds of passes, including some touch throws that he looked good on and some on the run that got to the man. Not a great game, because he started slow and was clearly jittery at the beginning. This guy is going to be VERY good IF he learns to control his emotions. And by that it doesn't mean he has to change as a guy, or not getting excited ot mad at himself. It means ONLY that from the time the ball is snapped until the whistle blows, his adrenaline is 100% zeroed in on making the play and not something out of Wile E. Coyote.

 

8. After the terrible start, and despite the lousy OL play (which, granted, are huge and could truncate the entire season) the team settled down and played pretty decent. The D hits hard and plays hard. They attack the ball and cause turnovers. I really think the DBs are going to be special. I liked Ko Simpson alot, he's big and fast. Greer and King looked solid. Youboty looked a little lost but has some talent.

 

9. Jauron looked pretty much in control. His team fought for him, although I realize it's only pre-season. I would have preferred he let JP in to see if he could win the game, and I would have gone for the first down late in the first half (being pre-season and not the regular season) but he looked decent. Although he wasn't faced with a lot of tough calls.

 

10. Sam Aiken was the best Bill out there tonight. If he can hang onto the ball like he did, he may finally realize his potential. I am not betting on it but the guy is big, can block, can get open, is a stud on ST, and even showed a little speed. Last night he showed very good hands and we have been told he has been catching everything. He probably just secured a roster spot with that game.

742218[/snapback]

I agree with most of that and would just make the following comments:

 

I don't think we "settled down" as the game progressed but instead, simply fared better against their back ups.

 

JP was still hurt by inaccuracy and whether its physical, mental or whatever, it needs to end. Missing wide open people is inexcusable. Some of those were passes most NFL starters could make in their sleep. That said, he played pretty well last night in most other aspects of the game. I am a little perplexed as to why so many balls went to Aiken. Was JP glued on him or was he just the open guy? On TV, you can't see the rest of the secondary so it was impossible to tell.

I'm hoping Aiken was just getting open.

 

The offensive line, when it was first team vs. first team, got their clocks cleaned. No holes for the running game and sacks on the inevitable third and long. That is a too familiar tune for this team.

 

Holcomb might lose the No. 2 job to Nall with another preformance like that.

 

I agree that Gates looked good but he has some holes against the back ups. I don't think Jim Brown in his prime could have done much with the "holes" opened up by the first team.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

That was a tough first test for the Bills' patched-up OL, going against a GREAT DL that has been together for many years. Also with Holcomb in there, there was little in the way of the threat of a long pass or scramble.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2. I liked the plays that Fairchild ran, even though they were fairly generic. He called a pretty decent game. For the MOST part, excluding one glaring error on third and short when JP got a delay of game, he got the plays in very fast. They had a couple to the TE and several swing passes to the backs which picked up 3-6 yards a clip. These serve as running plays when your line is getting beat and it was incomprehensible that we haven't seen much of it in the last few years. Except, of course, on 3rd and 11.

742218[/snapback]

 

This was my number one reason for a glimmer of hope: The playcalling MADE SENSE!

 

i.e. they RAN from the three yard line instead of passing.

 

Perhaps with a-half-cogent gameplan, the Bills may at least be competitive.

 

Now, if there's a God, Kelly Holcomb has a pink slip in his locker on Monday.

[Bflojohn]

The one comment about Terrance McGee that I have is that he demonstrated the point that Nate Clements better stay because the Bills will be WITHOUT a #1 cornerback if Nate leaves!! The truth is that McGee will bounce back and have a pretty solid year, IMO, but some type of pass rush would be a good thing. I do agree that Ryan Denney played well last night. He is a whipping boy for Bills fans, generally, but he's strong and definately hard to throw over at 6' 7". Chris Kelsay should still start, but his game left questions initially. Jason Peters had a test with Julius Peppers and I like that! This is why this sham of a competition at QB should end.... Losman needs ALL the reps to get ready for opening day in New England. I, too, think that Craig Nall could jump right back into a "position" to claim the #2 job. It's not out of the question that he could beat out Kelly Holcomb. If that happens, then it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Bills might send Holcomb down the road for a younger option. Overall, I'm pleased with the way the Bills hung in against what I thought was the distinct possibility that a "Super Bowl Parade" could have broken out at any minute last night.

[Chilly]

Howd' Youboty do? I haven't seen anyone mention him.

[OCinBuffalo]

Kelley is right on the money as usual. However, I wanted to talk about this "competition" thing. It has been stated elsewhere, and here, that the QB competition is a "sham". I agree - but not for the reasons I have heard so far.

 

Reverse the thinking - what if DJ had come out and stated that JP was the starter again? What if we hadn't signed Nall?

 

Right now we'd have a bunch of posters on this board talking about how KH needs to get a fair shot, brains over athletic ability, experience over youth, etc.

 

But wait: we already had that for the the last 3 months!

 

Now, what can they say? Give KH another chance? That was only one game? No - they will attempt to spin and obfuscate with things like: "they both sucked, bad o line, receivers, etc." Some of this has already started - we are sure to hear more this week.

 

Bottom Line: they got what they wanted in KH starting and so did we(the JP "homers" )

 

Even if this was a sham, it doesn't really matter. DJ gets to look fair and balanced and the answers for us this year come from play on the field - not hubris. By making this a competition he also gets to hit the "unhappy veterans" like Vincent(he was invisible again last night - get Ko in there now!) and others right between the eyes with just how bad KH is. I think this will effectively kill the locker room grumblings as well. For my money, even if it was a sham, I'd like to hear someone put forward a decent alternative to this "competition".

 

Now it appears that KH is not only not going to be starting, but may have trouble making this team, due to Nall being here - if that was what Marv was thinking all along then we have a great, nm good, GM. Hard to have a QB conterversy during this season when one of the two principals involved isn't on the team

 

If it was a sham, it was done with professionalism that we haven't seen around here since Marv was the coach. I said earlier that KH would get the start, and I was right, because they wanted to test the running game against a premier D. Now that I think about it though, it also seems like a bit of a set up as well. When a coach, or any leader for that matter, has a tough decision to make, it's a hell of a lot easier to move the focus off of him/her making the decision and onto the factors that contribute to that decision, one way or the other. In this case, it's a hell of a lot easier to redirect the fans attention onto plays made/not made on the field rather than DJ himself and his decision making ability.

 

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this but I gotta say, I am encouraged by DJ's handling of this so far. You can accuse him of being passive agressive all you want, but again, even if this was a sham, what would be your alternative?

 

Plus, the side effect is that JP, assuming he "wins" the competition, gets to feel like he earned something this year due to his play on the field - not being handed something due to being the coaches' favorite. If nothing else, the respect of his teammates will come if he continues to improve. This can only help us.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Kelly the Dog]

Kelley is right on the money as usual. However, I wanted to talk about this "competition" thing. It has been stated elsewhere, and here, that the QB competition is a "sham". I agree - but not for the reasons I have heard so far.

 

Reverse the thinking - what if DJ had come out and stated that JP was the starter again? What if we hadn't signed Nall?

 

Right now we'd have a bunch of posters on this board talking about how KH needs to get a fair shot, brains over athletic ability, experience over youth, etc.

 

But wait: we already had that for the the last 3 months! 

 

Now, what can they say? Give KH another chance? That was only one game? No - they will attempt to spin and obfuscate with things like: "they both sucked, bad o line, receivers, etc." Some of this has already started - we are sure to hear more this week. 

 

Bottom Line: they got what they wanted in KH starting and so did we(the JP "homers" )

 

Even if this was a sham, it doesn't really matter. DJ gets to look fair and balanced and the answers for us this year come from play on the field - not hubris. By making this a competition he also gets to hit the "unhappy veterans" like Vincent(he was invisible again last night - get Ko in there now!) and others right between the eyes with just how bad KH is. I think this will effectively kill the locker room grumblings as well. For my money, even if it was a sham, I'd like to hear someone put forward a decent alternative to this "competition".

 

Now it appears that KH is not only not going to be starting, but may have trouble making this team, due to Nall being here - if that was what Marv was thinking all along then we have a great, nm good, GM. Hard to have a QB conterversy during this season when one of the two principals involved isn't on the team

 

If it was a sham, it was done with professionalism that we haven't seen around here since Marv was the coach. I said earlier that KH would get the start, and I was right, because they wanted to test the running game against a premier D. Now that I think about it though, it also seems like a bit of a set up as well. When a coach, or any leader for that matter, has a tough decision to make, it's a hell of a lot easier to move the focus off of him/her making the decision and onto the factors that contribute to that decision, one way or the other. In this case, it's a hell of a lot easier to redirect the fans attention onto plays made/not made on the field rather than DJ himself and his decision making ability.

 

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this but I gotta say, I am encouraged by DJ's handling of this so far. You can accuse him of being passive agressive all you want, but again, even if this was a sham, what would be your alternative?

 

Plus, the side effect is that JP, assuming he "wins" the competition, gets to feel like he earned something this year due to his play on the field - not being handed something due to being the coaches' favorite. If nothing else, the respect of his teammates will come if he continues to improve. This can only help us.

 

GO BILLS!!!

742384[/snapback]

Good post. I don't know about anyone else, but when I personally call the QB competition " a sham", I only mean that it is already decided, and there really isn't an open competition, and not that it is worthless or shouldn't be done. I think it helps JP a little to "win" the job in front of his teammates, and to have to fight for his starter job, and to say to everyone on the team you have to battle to keep or hold a position under the new regime. I think these things are calculated by Marv and Jauron. And they're probably willing to sacrifice the number of reps for the advantage he may get in fighting, winning it, nd earning the respect of his teammates. It may or may not be a good trade off, and there is zero way of anyone knowing for sure, but I understand it.

[Kelly the Dog]

Howd' Youboty do?  I haven't seen anyone mention him.

742352[/snapback]

Youboty looked okay. I think he had a penalty on him for interference, which he looked bad on. On another pass, he played it terrific, closed on the ball, cut in front of the receiver and then dropped the INT. Still, it was a nice play. Like all three of the rookies in the defensive backfield, they all looked like they were NFL caliber players. Again, I really liked what I saw out of Simpson and Whitner in such short a period of time on the team. Simpson is big and has some wheels.

[Ray]

In regards to the Peppers sack. He came on a delay. Peters had him and then took the guy coming inside which he is supposed to do. You ALWAYS protect from the inside out. If you watch the play (if you have the game taped) you'll see that Peppers comes on a delay and the space that he vacates leaves a Bills receiver WIDE OPEN at the first down marker. It is Holcomb's responsibility to recognize that. He makes that pass and it's a first down and the chains move. So remember, things aren't always as they seem and everybody has to make split second decisions for a play to go well. That should have been a first down play had it been read correctly. Of course it's much easier analyzing a play in slow-mo.

[jarthur31]

742255[/snapback]

 

Call the number police!

[faderphreak]

Kelley is right on the money as usual. However, I wanted to talk about this "competition" thing. It has been stated elsewhere, and here, that the QB competition is a "sham". I agree - but not for the reasons I have heard so far.

 

Reverse the thinking - what if DJ had come out and stated that JP was the starter again? What if we hadn't signed Nall?

 

Right now we'd have a bunch of posters on this board talking about how KH needs to get a fair shot, brains over athletic ability, experience over youth, etc.

 

But wait: we already had that for the the last 3 months! 

 

Now, what can they say? Give KH another chance? That was only one game? No - they will attempt to spin and obfuscate with things like: "they both sucked, bad o line, receivers, etc." Some of this has already started - we are sure to hear more this week. 

 

Bottom Line: they got what they wanted in KH starting and so did we(the JP "homers" )

 

Even if this was a sham, it doesn't really matter. DJ gets to look fair and balanced and the answers for us this year come from play on the field - not hubris. By making this a competition he also gets to hit the "unhappy veterans" like Vincent(he was invisible again last night - get Ko in there now!) and others right between the eyes with just how bad KH is. I think this will effectively kill the locker room grumblings as well. For my money, even if it was a sham, I'd like to hear someone put forward a decent alternative to this "competition".

 

Now it appears that KH is not only not going to be starting, but may have trouble making this team, due to Nall being here - if that was what Marv was thinking all along then we have a great, nm good, GM. Hard to have a QB conterversy during this season when one of the two principals involved isn't on the team

 

If it was a sham, it was done with professionalism that we haven't seen around here since Marv was the coach. I said earlier that KH would get the start, and I was right, because they wanted to test the running game against a premier D. Now that I think about it though, it also seems like a bit of a set up as well. When a coach, or any leader for that matter, has a tough decision to make, it's a hell of a lot easier to move the focus off of him/her making the decision and onto the factors that contribute to that decision, one way or the other. In this case, it's a hell of a lot easier to redirect the fans attention onto plays made/not made on the field rather than DJ himself and his decision making ability.

 

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this but I gotta say, I am encouraged by DJ's handling of this so far. You can accuse him of being passive agressive all you want, but again, even if this was a sham, what would be your alternative?

 

Plus, the side effect is that JP, assuming he "wins" the competition, gets to feel like he earned something this year due to his play on the field - not being handed something due to being the coaches' favorite. If nothing else, the respect of his teammates will come if he continues to improve. This can only help us.

 

GO BILLS!!!

742384[/snapback]

 

 

I wouldn't have used the word sham because I believe had KH been able to separate himself he would have won the job. That said I like the fact that they don't appear ready to annoint JP just yet since he has not yet earned it. I did think that the move to start KH was orchestrated to get JP extra reps against some of the Carolina seconds in order to build confidence.

 

In any case I still think JP has potential. he just needs to play to find it. If it takes orchestration to pull it off, so be it.

[Nanker]

Does the winner of this competition get a trophy at the end of training camp?

That'd be a nice idea. I just hope they don't do something cheezy like using a figure in the Heisman stance on a fluted column and base. Maybe they will just give him a 6-pack of Labatts and a case of motor oil.

 

Holcomb was brought in to be a backup. That he actually made it to be a starter was an accident. It was never the intention, it was the "fall-back position", a safety valve. The only way he'll be the starter again this year is if JP gets maimed. Drew Bledsoe is twice the quarterback that Holcomb is and the starter job was taken from Drew (and not so it could be given to KH). KH starting has zero upside for The Bills. JP may not be the answer, but KH is definitely the wrong answer.

[LabattBlue]

In regards to the Peppers sack.  He came on a delay.  Peters had him and then took the guy coming inside which he is supposed to do.  You ALWAYS protect from the inside out.  If you watch the play (if you have the game taped) you'll see that Peppers comes on a delay and the space that he vacates leaves a Bills receiver WIDE OPEN at the first down marker.  It is Holcomb's responsibility to recognize that.  He makes that pass and it's a first down and the chains move.  So remember, things aren't always as they seem and everybody has to make split second decisions for a play to go well.  That should have been a first down play had it been read correctly.  Of course it's much easier analyzing a play in slow-mo.

742419[/snapback]

Peppers was covering a WR? I dont' care if Peppers stood there and picked his nose for 3 seconds, when he takes off for the QB, somebody better be there to block him. There should never be a scenario where the opposing teams best pass rusher goes unblocked. If there is, we better throw that play out of the playbook!