Lothar Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Beautiful city, wonderful music festival (Bumbershoot) but I did make time to catch the Hawk pre-season finale last week. Interesting to see the local TV announcers play down the Bills as the Hawks first opponent - something to the effect of "we're lucky to be playing the Bills in week 1 - they finished 31st in offense and 31st in defense last year." Umm ok. I know we all put homerville glasses on when we praise the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of our team but sheesh, that's just lazy reporting to not know what's transpired in the offseason or look at records. My analysis of this matchup: When Seahawks have the ball ----------------------------------- Their offense is pretty beat up. Both in terms of the QB and wideouts. Hasselback is a smart and savvy QB but he's been hurting for three works with a back issue. He did start practicing today so he will be playing, albeit rusty, on Sunday. Their RB situation has gone from a strength to a liability - Julius Jones, TJ Duckett and Maurice Morris are an adequate group but clearly not among the elite. In fact, the smallish Justin Forsett may be the best of the bunch based on preseason outings. They have a corps of uber-young wideouts who performed well in preseason but it remains to be seen just how they adapt to real bullets flying. Nate Burleson (good special teamer, mediocre receiver), Courtney Taylor and Ben Obamanu are the top three wideouts and I don't see them posing huge problems for our own revamped secondary. That said, their short passing game is the bread and butter of the WCO and Holmgren's tweak off it is to use the tight end down the middle more often. However, the TEs on their roster currently are really no better than the ones we have (rookie Carlson appears to have beat out Putzier for the starter's role) so it's hard to see them being a huge threat right now. In Buffalo, their inexperienced wideouts and Hasselback's rust combined with the crowd noise WILL result in at least a couple turnovers. When Bills have the ball ---------------------------- The Hawks return all eleven starters from a solid defense. They fit the adage attributed to earlier Sabres teams, however, in that they play Ruff at home and Lindy on the road - all due respect, I do love our Sabres. They nearly set the franchise record for giving up the fewest points in their history last year. Patrick Kerney, Darryl Tapp and their first rounder from USC make for a formidable group of defensive ends. But the strength of the Hawk defense is now their linebacking corps - Lofa Totupu and Julian Peterson as well as an up and comer in Leroy Hill on the other side. Their starting DT just got suspended for the first game so there will be holes to be had in the middle of their line. Given these issues, it does seem to me that we should pound them as much as possible to get into manageable 3rd down situations. Trufant is a good corner but RCB Jennings is definitely the weak link of a strong secondary. Deion Grant and Brian Russell are solid, if not spectacular. Edwards' own lack of playing time in the preseason combined with Peters' absence will make scoring on this defense tougher than we might expect. Again, though, opening at home against a banged up team may be all that's needed to score 2 touchdowns and a couple of field goals. In the main, I really do like the matchup of our defense against their offense. Plus I believe our special teams will have a couple nice surprises for the opener. Early turnovers from our D and this could become what we all want for an opener. But our own issues on offense will make this closer than it should. I think Buffalo wins 23-13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Edwards' own lack of playing time in the preseason combined with Peters' absence will make scoring on this defense tougher than we might expect. Great Seahawks info, thanks. But I can't believe you are already making excuses for Edwards based on his minimal PT in the preseason. I hope Jauron doesn't feel that way - that would beg the question of why TE didn't play more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Why wouldn't they play us down? The Bills have done nothing to prove they are better yet. It's all speculation how improved they will be. I'm encouraged by what I see but I've been a Bills fan too long to buy into all the hype just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasBB Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Why wouldn't they play us down? The Bills have done nothing to prove they are better yet. It's all speculation how improved they will be. I'm encouraged by what I see but I've been a Bills fan too long to buy into all the hype just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasBB Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 This game reminds me of the home opener in 1988 against the Minnesota Vikings. We knew the Bills were better, but they hadn't proven it yet. Losing had become such a bad habit and we knew they just had to go out and PROVE they were indeed better. Well, they DID. They beat the Vikings that day 13-10 and went on to a 12-4 finish atop the division and started a lengthy era of winning football! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 This game reminds me of the home opener in 1988 against the Minnesota Vikings. We knew the Bills were better, but they hadn't proven it yet. Losing had become such a bad habit and we knew they just had to go out and PROVE they were indeed better. Well, they DID. They beat the Vikings that day 13-10 and went on to a 12-4 finish atop the division and started a lengthy era of winning football! I certainly hope history repeats itself. But, I think for the time being we're all going to have to get used to the bolded sentence from the national media and opposing teams analysts. On the surface... the Bills are coming off 2 consecutive 7-9 seasons, finished at the bottom of the league on Offense and Defense, have a young unproven QB, a new unproven OC, and a host of other question marks. So, yes, I could easily see other teams and the media expecting the Bills to lose. It's going to be really fun proving them all wrong. I figure a nice 3-1 start and we'll finally start to get a little respect.. but just a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 The city with the best food festivals in the nation(Buffalo) will kick the music festival city's(Seattle) arse!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I wouldn't sleep on Nate Burleson. He had 9 touchdowns and a 13.9 yard-per-catch average last year, and he's probably the one weapon left in that offense who can really hurt us. Also, I'm not so sure pounding the ball as much as possible is the best move here. This is a young team thats missing its left tackle, has a young quarterback and a rock solid half back. That personnel combined with what we showed last year equates to the opposition expecting us to come out running the ball. I'd love to see Turk come out, spread out the D and let Trent do what he does best: utilize the short and intermediate routes. This will loosen up the defense and open up the running game, and it may not be whats expected of us. I hope above all that Turk is willing to throw the ball on 1st and 10, something Fairchild seemed dead set against. Thanks for posting. Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt. Dan's Revenge Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Beautiful city, wonderful music festival (Bumbershoot) but I did make time to catch the Hawk pre-season finale last week. Interesting to see the local TV announcers play down the Bills as the Hawks first opponent - something to the effect of "we're lucky to be playing the Bills in week 1 - they finished 31st in offense and 31st in defense last year." Umm ok. I know we all put homerville glasses on when we praise the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of our team but sheesh, that's just lazy reporting to not know what's transpired in the offseason or look at records. My analysis of this matchup: When Seahawks have the ball ----------------------------------- Their offense is pretty beat up. Both in terms of the QB and wideouts. Hasselback is a smart and savvy QB but he's been hurting for three works with a back issue. He did start practicing today so he will be playing, albeit rusty, on Sunday. Their RB situation has gone from a strength to a liability - Julius Jones, TJ Duckett and Maurice Morris are an adequate group but clearly not among the elite. In fact, the smallish Justin Forsett may be the best of the bunch based on preseason outings. They have a corps of uber-young wideouts who performed well in preseason but it remains to be seen just how they adapt to real bullets flying. Nate Burleson (good special teamer, mediocre receiver), Courtney Taylor and Ben Obamanu are the top three wideouts and I don't see them posing huge problems for our own revamped secondary. That said, their short passing game is the bread and butter of the WCO and Holmgren's tweak off it is to use the tight end down the middle more often. However, the TEs on their roster currently are really no better than the ones we have (rookie Carlson appears to have beat out Putzier for the starter's role) so it's hard to see them being a huge threat right now. In Buffalo, their inexperienced wideouts and Hasselback's rust combined with the crowd noise WILL result in at least a couple turnovers. When Bills have the ball ---------------------------- The Hawks return all eleven starters from a solid defense. They fit the adage attributed to earlier Sabres teams, however, in that they play Ruff at home and Lindy on the road - all due respect, I do love our Sabres. They nearly set the franchise record for giving up the fewest points in their history last year. Patrick Kerney, Darryl Tapp and their first rounder from USC make for a formidable group of defensive ends. But the strength of the Hawk defense is now their linebacking corps - Lofa Totupu and Julian Peterson as well as an up and comer in Leroy Hill on the other side. Their starting DT just got suspended for the first game so there will be holes to be had in the middle of their line. Given these issues, it does seem to me that we should pound them as much as possible to get into manageable 3rd down situations. Trufant is a good corner but RCB Jennings is definitely the weak link of a strong secondary. Deion Grant and Brian Russell are solid, if not spectacular. Edwards' own lack of playing time in the preseason combined with Peters' absence will make scoring on this defense tougher than we might expect. Again, though, opening at home against a banged up team may be all that's needed to score 2 touchdowns and a couple of field goals. In the main, I really do like the matchup of our defense against their offense. Plus I believe our special teams will have a couple nice surprises for the opener. Early turnovers from our D and this could become what we all want for an opener. But our own issues on offense will make this closer than it should. I think Buffalo wins 23-13. Nice report, thanks. Just to let you know, Ben Obamanu is injured and not playing for at least a few weeks, let alone Sunday. Which is another plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazykat Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 In the main, I really do like the matchup of our defense against their offense. Plus I believe our special teams will have a couple nice surprises for the opener. Early turnovers from our D and this could become what we all want for an opener. But our own issues on offense will make this closer than it should. I think Buffalo wins 23-13. That's pretty bold since we didn't score more than 20 points in 12 of 16 games last year. Seattle has no real WRs this weekend and their running game is also questionable generally speaking. We'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNW_Bills_Fan Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 That's pretty bold since we didn't score more than 20 points in 12 of 16 games last year. Seattle has no real WRs this weekend and their running game is also questionable generally speaking. We'll see. Ben O is out for the game. Nate B is going to be his primary receiver, but Nate B has never panned out as good as Fans were expecting. He can catch, but there are games where he is a non factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I've seen all 4 of the Seahawks pre season games and was also at the game against "the Raidahs". Te Seahawks receiving corps is weak weak weak this year. Being as pass happy as the Walrus is, I cna't believe he's really going into the season with the WRs on the on the roster. The Seahawks have a long team history of dropping passes. Expect that to continue this year. The Seahawk defense is also weak. I disagree on Russell. I thought he was going to be good when the Seahawks first got him, no more. Lofa is awesome as is Petersen. But there are a lot holes. The Seahawks also moan and complain about having to travel all the way to the East Coast and play a 1:00 game which is 10:00 Seattle time. They've not had a lot of success doing this. If the Bills play well and the offense looks like it did in the 3rd pre season game, we'll win by 10. I think our defense can hold 'em down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NFLBighits Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I've seen all 4 of the Seahawks pre season games and was also at the game against "the Raidahs". Te Seahawks receiving corps is weak weak weak this year. Being as pass happy as the Walrus is, I cna't believe he's really going into the season with the WRs on the on the roster. The Seahawks have a long team history of dropping passes. Expect that to continue this year. The Seahawk defense is also weak. I disagree on Russell. I thought he was going to be good when the Seahawks first got him, no more. Lofa is awesome as is Petersen. But there are a lot holes. The Seahawks also moan and complain about having to travel all the way to the East Coast and play a 1:00 game which is 10:00 Seattle time. They've not had a lot of success doing this. If the Bills play well and the offense looks like it did in the 3rd pre season game, we'll win by 10. I think our defense can hold 'em down. I hope so because i'm starting the Bills ST/defense and sitting the Vikings defense in my fantasy football league this week!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 This game reminds me of the home opener in 1988 against the Minnesota Vikings. We knew the Bills were better, but they hadn't proven it yet. Losing had become such a bad habit and we knew they just had to go out and PROVE they were indeed better. Well, they DID. They beat the Vikings that day 13-10 and went on to a 12-4 finish atop the division and started a lengthy era of winning football! I'd REALLY like to think we're on the verge of a 1988-forward type of run, but obviously the proof will be in the pudding. There are some nice pieces in place -- a young, talented QB/RB/WR triumvirate, a defense that looks like it has a few playmakers, great special teams -- and a maligned head coach some believe shouldn't be at the helm. Indeed, many similarities to the '88 squad exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webtoe Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 This game reminds me of the home opener in 1988 against the Minnesota Vikings. Great analogy!! I still remember Hal Garner crawling to get that sack. Hopefully this is a case of history repeating itself. Another similarity...the Bills won despite being without there one of their best players for the first four games that year - Bruce Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Great analogy!! I still remember Hal Garner crawling to get that sack. Hopefully this is a case of history repeating itself. Another similarity...the Bills won despite being without there one of their best players for the first four games that year - Bruce Smith That's a bit eerie. And cool. I'm sure many fans at the time (and certainly a boatload around here now) would have argued Bruce was the best player on that team, and the rest of the defense "couldn't" play well without him. They might have even criticized Marv for failing to have a starting-caliber DE ready to step in. Let's go, Buffalo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasBB Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I certainly hope history repeats itself. But, I think for the time being we're all going to have to get used to the bolded sentence from the national media and opposing teams analysts. On the surface... the Bills are coming off 2 consecutive 7-9 seasons, finished at the bottom of the league on Offense and Defense, have a young unproven QB, a new unproven OC, and a host of other question marks. So, yes, I could easily see other teams and the media expecting the Bills to lose. It's going to be really fun proving them all wrong. I figure a nice 3-1 start and we'll finally start to get a little respect.. but just a little. I agree. We are not going to get any love from the media. Of course, we were coming off a 7-win season in 1987, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I hope so because i'm starting the Bills ST/defense and sitting the Vikings defense in my fantasy football league this week!! Well geez, I didn't know that. Now I really hope the Bills win... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 They might have even criticized Marv for failing to have a starting-caliber DE ready to step in. Are you kidding me? Don't dis Leon Seals, baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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