mjt328

Aaron Williams was burned on that play for a TD. Pressure and a bad throw saved him.

Worst kick of the day. Worst possible time.

33 seconds.

We need at least one more 1st down. Otherwise, we are looking at a 2 point lead with some time left for the Dolphins.

FRED JACKSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We desperately need a first down to lock this game down. We won't get 3 straight runs up the middle. Will we?

Mario, then Kiko. That's what we needed!

Gilmore is a liability with that club. He can't jam, which is his style of play.

Exactly. In the NFL, every down is important. When you run up the middle into 7-8 in the box on 90% of first downs, that will consistently result in 3rd and long.

No more excuses. Hackett is getting pretty good play out of his 3rd string QB. He's getting a tough performance out of Fred Jackson. But he keeps putting the offense in a hole with his ridiculous, predictable play-calling. Too many 3 and outs. Not enough sustained drives.

Pettine has been just as bad the last 2 weeks.

I don't understand Hackett's fascination with the read-option and this bunched-shotgun crap. We killed the Ravens out of the I-Formation and haven't seen it since.

Every short yardage situation, and we are in shotgun. I don't care what "statistics" tell us about Hackett. He sucks.

Terrible series saved by Stevie.

I know the tackling has been awful today. But where is the PRESSURE???? Miami was on pace to set records for sacks. We've managed none - and hardly any pressure.

Our defense bites EVERY time on misdirection plays. All the offense has to do is start the play one direction - watch the Bills run that direction - and make a cutback. That responsibility has to fall on the inside linebackers and safeties.

Terrible, Terrible, Terrible Tackling!!!!!

This is the difference in EJ to Thad right now. Both seem to have issues with accuracy, but EJ gets rid of the ball quicker.

Should have called timeout.

This is what I mean with Hackett. Great call, catching them off guard with Summers. Then he wastes 1st down doing it again.

Looks like poor tackling from everyone.

That's on Pettine. I noticed this last week against the Bengals. The Bills Defense doesn't even seem to be in position to make a play. Three WRs on the right side of the line. We have two CBs, a safety back about 10-15 yards, and nobody. Impossible to stop that play.

He's played well as a safety. He's played terrible as a cornerback. Even the Baltimore game he got burned by Torrey Smith on a deep pass. The plan is to keep him at safety once our other corners are healthy. Probably as a backup to Byrd at free safety or starting over Searcy at the strong spot. If Byrd is traded or let go in the offseason, he will probably be our starting free safety. If not, he is still great depth.

The Bills sucking as a team doesn't mean Kyle Williams does. He's got 10 other players on the field playing defense. He can't make plays for them. Not to mention the coaching staff. He's not the only "constant" over the last several years. We've also had crappy linebackers since Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher left town. The guy plays DT. That's a non-glamorous position. He isn't going to rack up a lot of tackles or sacks. Focus on Kyle Williams during games. He's probably our most consistent player on defense. He commands a lot of double teams. You rarely see him getting pushed backwards or pancaked. He's often pushing into the backfield. At worst, he's caught in a stalemate with his blocker. If he's shooting his gap and/or occupying two o-linemen, and the running back still gets a nice gain on the defense - it's probably the guys behind him that aren't doing their job. I think Dareus is a solid player. The mistake was taking him over players like AJ Green and JJ Watt.

From my vantage point, Kyle Williams is not the problem. Not to say he never gets beat, but he's certainly not the biggest cause for lapses in the running game. On most plays, Kyle Williams is responsible for one of the "A" Gaps (between the center and the guard). Probably 99 percent of the time, he's the first guy off the ball and filling that gap. Many times he is also facing a double team. The majority of big runs against us are through one of the "B" Gaps (between the guard and tackle) - usually be handled by an ILB or SS ... or an outside run where one of our players fails to keep contain - usually a DE or OLB. I haven't noticed too many big runs right up the gut. In my opinion, our run defense is significantly better than last season - even if it doesn't show on all of the stat sheets yet. I think a lot of that improvement is due to Kiko Alonso being a massive upgrade over Kelvin Sheppard at MLB. He's quick and always around the ball. Still, I've seen Alonso caught over-pursuing and out of position quite a few times. As he gets experience, I think the big runs will come less and less often. I also think it would be smart to find an upgrade over Arthur Moats/Nigel Bradham in the offseason.