Archives for October 2004

‘Came to play…Bills RB Willis McGahee: Now was that so hard?’

‘Coaching: Mike Mularkey did a good job regrouping his team after falling behind 13-0 in the third quarter and wisely turned to young guys McGahee and Evans for a spark. Defense had no answer for Pennington on winning field goal drive. B-‘

‘"We got two, three – sometimes more than two or three – hats on the ball every play," said DE Shaun Ellis. "We played like a team."’

‘"I don’t know how they haven’t won a game," Wayne Chrebet said.’

‘"That (stopping Henry) was our main goal," Jets nose tackle Jason Ferguson said. Said LB Victor Hobson: "That was definitely a focus. We felt if we stopped the run, we would be in a great position to win. Obviously, they hit a couple of pass plays on us and we’ll try to correct that this week."’

‘Prioleau is a third-string safety on the Bills’ depth chart. But Lawyer Milloy – Buffalo’s starting strong safety – and backup Coy Wire were both inactive yesterday due to injuries. That put Prioleau in the starting lineup. "We went at him a little bit," Jets coach Herman Edwards said. "I thought Paul (Hackett, the offensive coordinator) did a good job trying to attack him."’

‘The Bills offensive line was awful as a group. They never opened holes for Henry. The two McGahee long gains were on misdirection pitches. The only time Bledsoe had adequate time was in the two touchdown drives when he went six of eight for 97 yards and two scores with no sacks. The rest of the time he was 10 of 21 for 100 yards with no touchdowns, one interception and four sacks. Ross Tucker was called for a chincy tripping penalty, but he did skip a shotgun snap back to Bledsoe for an aborted play that caused a punt. He really wasn’t any better or worse than Trey Teague who’s injured. Chris Villarrial came advertised as a great run blocker, but it hasn’t materialized yet. Lawrence Smith is a better pass blocker, but that doesn’t help the feeble running game. Shelton has not impressed me with his blocking either.’

‘There are 12 games left, and the Bills coaching staff can’t wait until the 4th quarter, or select 3rd down situations anymore. The Bills need to get Willis McGahee more involved. They’d be crazy not to.’

‘Buffalo (0-4) host Miami (0-5) next Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘The Bills are now taking a lot more chances down the field and are connecting with at least one big play per game. Bledsoe took a shot downfield to Moulds early in the first quarter against New York and just barely overthrew him. The offensive line is doing a decent job of giving Bledsoe the time to examine the field and look for the big play. They picked up the blitz to allow Bledsoe to get the ball to Evans.’

‘The timing of Abraham’s stops on Sunday is what made them so special. The first came in the opening stanza with Bledsoe and company facing a 2nd and 7 from the Jets 26-yard line. He dropped Bledsoe for a loss of eight that essentially put them out of field goal range and forced a punt two plays later. The second came on 2nd and 11 at the Buffalo 28. Abraham came around the corner and found Bledsoe standing in the pocket, dropping him for a loss of seven. After an incompletion on third down, the Bills were forced to punt, giving the ball back to the Jets with enough time to get in range for a 37-yard Doug Brien field goal before the half.’

This game was eerily similar to the other three. The Bills had a chance to win it in the final minutes but once again failed to finish the game and are now 0-4 on the season after the 16-14 loss to the Jets.

The defense and offense couldn’t put it all together at the same time. Here are our position by position grades:

‘But Pennington responded. The Jets took over with 6:03 left in the final quarter, and New York’s star signal caller marched his troops down the field, and with 1:03 left in the contest, Brien hit a 38-yard field goal to give the Jets’ a lead 16-13 lead that they would not relinquish. Terrell Buckley intercepted Bledsoe’s Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the game, and the Jets improved to 4-0 on the season.’