R. Rich

Here we go w/ the piling on Sanchez. Did anyone happen to watch his second half performance last night? He looked pretty good to me. This is his second year and we've seen him play fairly well (on the road, no less) in the postseason each year. He has his faults (started off strong in the regular season, then hit a major slump), but nobody's perfect. I'm sure his teammates respect what he does for 'em though. I don't believe he's one of the elite QBs, but I also don't think he sucks. He appears to be a guy who is still learning the nuances of the game and is improving.

While I do think a team needs to be strong vs the run on defense, especially in the playoffs, it's more that a team needs good balance to win than anything else. Being able to both run and stop the run is great, but it doesn't guarantee anything. There were only 3 teams that finished the regular season in the league's top 10 in both rushing offense and rushing defense. Of those three teams, only one made it to the postseason, that being the NY Jets, who finished 4th in rush offense and 3rd in rush defense. The other teams? NY Giants and Minnesota. Green Bay made it to the Super Bowl w/ a team featuring the league's 24th ranked rush offense and 18th ranked rush defense. But, they also have Aaron Rodgers playing as well as any QB right now and a defense that is also playing very well. Run and stop the run? Absolutely, but also be able to produce in terms of the passing game, pass defense, and also on special teams. Balance will get the Bills back to respectability.

If the Bills decide to continue to build a 3-4 defense, then I think this isn't a bad way to go @ all.

Professional sports officials. I mean, @ least you can comment on the job an NFL ANALyst does.

Is anyone's?

Drafting bad players is what has helped to make the Bills bad. Drafting better players will not only "get players who will be good", but will also get players that can "contribute immediately and make the team better". Win-win.

More so than drafting a certain position, the Bills need to draft PLAYERS that contribute immediately and make the team better. The Bills probably don't need a safety the most, but would anyone here complain if they drafted a guy and he played as well as an Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu? Come to think of it, someone will complain no matter what happens. Anyhoo, I am more tired of seeing the Bills whiff on major picks, even on need positions (Mike Williams, JP Losman, John McCargo) than anything.

I'll let you in on a little secret: every team has those kind of fans. Yep, even our own Buffalo Bills. The Stillers do not have a monopoly on 'em. I grew up in a household of Stiller fans and none of 'em resemble your description. I also have some good friends who are Stiller fans who allow me to take my wife, also a Stiller fan, to a game @ Heinz Field (they have season tickets) every year. How arrogant of 'em, huh? I'll be rooting for a good game. If the Stillers win, that's okay w/ me. If the Jets win, that's fine also.

Bart, I have been ridiculously busy over the past year, so busy that I've barely been able to keep up w/ moderating these forums let alone posting new stuff. I am working on some draft profiles that I will post when done, as well as some other stuff. We will also do our annual TBD Mock Draft in a few months, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I will try to post some relevant materials in terms of links to news stories or other things related to college football and/or the NFL Draft here. During the season, college football/draft information should be moved to this forum. Since we're in the offseason, it's no big deal to post stuff on the main board.

Nah. The officials did. There were some absolutely atrocious calls in that game and most of 'em went against the Rams. And didn't everyone cry that the poor Seahawks got jobbed by the refs in their Super Bowl loss to the Stillers? If ya can't beat 'em, I 'spose.

Sorry to again be MIA last week, but someone (not mentioning any names Psycho Ward 86) accidentally erased the game on me last week, and I didn't want to do a write-up w/out having the chance to once again review the game and pick up the finer points. I will say that I did like a lot of the throws that Ryan Fitzpatrick made in that game, even though he didn't throw for a bunch of yards. He showed some nice touch on his passes and really put the ball in some tight spots where only the receiver had a shot @ it. Good job. But... Man, did Fitzpatrick struggle in this one! Five turnovers is just awful, no excuses. He also had some throws where he was just not in sync w/ his receiver: he was late on an out route to Naaman Roosevelt @ the 5:47 mark of the first quarter on a play where Pats corner Darius Butler was able to recover and knock the ball down. He also was just a bit off on an attempt @ the 11:05 mark of the first quarter and later on a third and 5 pass @ the 10:18 mark of the first quarter where he "justmissed" hooking up w/ Steve Johnson for a TD. The throws that were intercepted were all awful throws that appeared to be intended for the NE defenders and the fumbles were a classic case of someone trying to do too much and, instead, costing his team a valuable possession by turning it over. There were a few bright spots though. His big 41 yard completion to CJ Spiller @ the 3:40 mark of the first quarter was a nice throw and a beautiful catch by Spiller. He also threw a nice underneath pass to Roosevelt to pick up a first down @ the 10:57 mark of the second quarter. I thought he also threw nice passes that were dropped: one by Fred Jackson (who appeared to hear footsteps and didn't concentrate on catching the ball) @ the 5:51 mark of the first quarter and a failed fourth down attempt @ the 7:32 mark of the second quarter where Johnson couldn't hold on to the ball after a big hit from Jarod Mayo (imagine that; a linebacker making big hits and forcing incomplete passes). Still, there were far more negatives in this game than positives for Fitzpatrick. I like the guy's heart and all; I just think he's limited in potential. But, as others have mentioned, I believe he can keep things going 'til the Bills find their franchise QB to lead 'em back to being contenders. The Bills are certainly not in as bad a shape as they had been in terms of the QB position. They just need an upgrade to get over the hump. Fred Jackson had a wonderful start to the game. The running on that opening drive was sweet. It started out w/ a nice 27 yard gain (good block by Chad Rinehart on that one) and featured a few tough runs to keep the chains moving and to keep the Pats' offense off the field. Things were looking pretty solid......'til the Bills failed to come up w/ the third down conversion that would've given 'em a 7-0 lead instead of the 3-0 lead they ended up w/. From that point on, the Bills found fewer holes on the inside to exploit. Belichick moved Kyle Love from the nose to end and put Vince Wilfork in @ the nose to anchor the middle and to shut down rush lanes....and it worked. Smart move, but would you expect anything else? Jackson's drop of the pass @ the 5:51 mark of the first quarter (seems like he's good for one of those a game; usually on a flare pattern) stymied a drive. Jackson did benefit from Chan Gailey's decision to stick w/ the running game, as the Bills continued to mix in running plays in the attempt to keep the Pats off balance so that they wouldn't just tee off on Fitzpatrick. The more the game got away from 'em, though, the tougher that became. Jackson did end up w/ 81 yards on the ground, but more than half of 'em came on the initial drive. Spiller added another 30 yards on 5 carries, but had a couple of awful fumbles that shut down drives. I did like the way he was able to bounce a play to the outside after Andy Levitre couldn't hold his block and the play broke down @ the point of attack (14:24 mark of first quarter), turning a potential no gain or loss play into a 7 yard gain. His 41 yard catch, mentioned earlier, was sweet as well. Outside of that, there wasn't much out of the RBs. Corey McIntire is usually a reliable lead blocker, but was really off in this one. On Fitzpatrick's first fumble @ the 2:01 mark of the first quarter, it was McIntire who whiffed on his lead block, and then, after Fitzpatrick fumbled, he failed to come up w/ the ball (was the closest Bill to the ball and just barely missed recovering it). Outside of Roosevelt's breakthrough game of 4 catches and 74 yards (nice route running on his third down conversion catch @ the 10:57 mark of the first quarter!), not much to talk 'bout w/ the receivers. Johnson had a couple nice grabs but also came up short on the big third down play early and did drop the fourth down conversion pass after a big hit by Mayo. David Nelson sustained an injury after another big hit by Mayo. Donald Jones finished w/ 54 yards on his 5 catches. Didn't see much in terms of blocking or receiving out of the tight ends. Shocking, huh? The offensive line could've done more to open up holes in the running game. Yeah, yeah, Belichick and the Pats made adjustments after the first drive to shore up their interior. Guess that whole adjustment thingy is a one way street, huh? (More later) Levitre lost his block on Spiller's 7 yard gain early in the first quarter and really didn't have the kinda impact that I've seen plenty of times this year from 'em. No impressive pulls to lead on power runs to the outside and no mauling drive blocks other than a sweet double team w/ Eric Wood to open up the middle for another 7 yard run for Spiller @ the 12:32 mark of the first quarter. Levitre did pick up a false start penalty. One of these days, the Bills' O line will stop killing drives w/ penalties. Not sure when, but some day. Speaking of Wood, he did miss a block on Mayo that would've cleared the way for Jackson to get a big gain (3:13 mark of the second quarter) on what turned out to be a gain of only 2 yards. I mention this 'cause these are the type of plays that work for big gains when done to the Bills' defense (more later). Overall, Wood seems to be regressing the more I see him @ center. He started out like a beast, but the performances appear to be getting progressively worse since then. This was a bad one, as Wilfork and Love were able to collapse the pocket from the middle often. Rinehart did make a beautiful down block on Jackson's 27 yard run where he just caved the play inside and created quite a hole. I thought the tackles both did okay in pass protection. Nothing special; just okay. Mansfield Wrotto did commit a holding penalty that wiped out a Favre-ish shovel pass by Fitzpatrick to Jackson that went for 17 yards. The defensieve line was beaten. Often. Then again, the entire front seven struggled mightily in this one. There was a stretch play the Pats ran to the right side (9:18 mark of first quarter) where Marcus Stroud was not able to come off his block to prevent BenJarvus Green-Ellis from getting to the outside. On that same play, Rob Gronkowski just mauled Chris Kelsay to set the edge. Kyle Williams had a few plays where he did what he's good @ doing: shooting the gap and getting to the backfield. Unfortunately, he shot it too deep of the action (1:21 mark of first quarter) and the ball carrier went right past 'em. He had another time (1:31 of second quarter) where he shot through again and got past the line, but could not hold his position and was blocked down on a third and 3 play that the Pats successfully converted. Williams also was blasted off the ball on Danny Woodhead's 7 yard run late in the third quarter (2:00 mark). Spencer Johnson spent most of the game being either neutralized @ the point of attack or being driven off the ball and away from the play. He did finish w/ 5 tackles, but really didn't have any impact plays. A woeful performance by the linebackers. Remember this phrase: couldn't shed (get off) their blocks. It is, alas, a phrase that you can use far too often to describe the Buffalo Bills' linebacking corps. Paul Posluszny was constantly blocked (usually by tackle Todd Light, who got to the second level way too easily) and when he wasn't, he and the other LBs took some poor pursuit angles and either overshot the play, or wound up running into another blocker. I did find it amusing @ the 7:29 mark in the first quarter when Kevin Harlan, doing the play by play for CBS, said that Posluszny was in on a tackle on a second and 7 play. Well, actually, Posluszny got engulfed by Pats guard Logan Mankins on that play. Oops. Akin Ayodele had a ton of tackles (17), but was also guilty of taking some really poor pursuit angles, including on the play where Posluszny was (wasn't) in on the tackle according to Harlan. Ayodele also took a bad angle on the play prior to that one (8:00 mark) and on a third and 3 that the Pats converted @ the 1:31 mark of the second quarter. Chris Kelsay did get the sack (yeah, I too got a laugh out of Solomon Weelcots' ASSertion that Kelsay was one of the better pass rushers in the league), but also had problems setting the edge on plays and playing contain (9:18 mark of first quarter; Gronkowski crushed 'em) and also had issues shedding blocks in pursuit (Matt Light neutralized 'em on a 2nd and 7 play @ the 8:00 mark of the first quarter; got taken out by Gronkowski on Danny Woodhead's 29 yard TD run @ the 3:52 mark of the first quarter). Arthur Moats was also guilty of taking a bad pursuit angle on the play @ the 1:31 mark of the second quarter and allowed the cutback that went for a first down. He provided some pressure from the outside, but not enough to force any bad throws from Tom Brady or to get the pick (Ha! Join the club). And this was just the run defense. Should we go on to the awful pass coverage? Gronkowski owned whoever the Bills put on 'em, and Posluszny got beat for a TD by the slowest receiving threat the Pats have in Alge Crumpler. Suffice to say it was a terrible display of pass coverage as well. The secondary? Well, they were busy in run support as safeties Jairus Byrd (8 tackles) and Donte Whitner (12) had to come up to stop the ball carriers as the front seven couldn't stop 'em many times. Whitner also had a nice breakup of a pass intended for Gronkowski (6:41 mark of the first quarter), but also got beat on the near perfect pass from Brady that was caught by Gronkowski for a first down @ the 13:38 mark of the second quarter. Drayton Florence picked up a defensive holding penalty that kept a Pats drive alive, but he also was in on three pass breakups, including one near the goal line @ the 0:43 mark of the second quarter (two plays before Crumpler's TD catch). Leodis McKelvin also had a pass breakup, but he really needs to stop celebrating each and every stop he makes. Just act like you've been there. Or, is that the problem??? As for special teams, Brian Moorman's two punts were nothing special. No big booming kicks and none to realy pin the Pats deep in their own end. Rian Lindell was called on to hit the 26 yarder when the initial drive stalled (I think not picking up the TD was a huge deal, as their momentum was basically stopped right there) and that was it. The coverage units didn't allow things to get too crazy, but none of the kicks were let alone by the elements (wind) anyway, so there wasn't much for the return men for either team to do. Roosevelt had 31 yards on his two returns and Spiller got 84 on 5 returns. Kinda bland day for these guys. Coaching wise, I have to say that this is where I was most disappointed. Not that Gailey is some sort of wunderkind coach, but @ least he has more diversity than Dick Jauron, so I thought that as long as they didn't give the game away w/ stupid mistakes, they would be in it 'til the end. Well, maybe not. Sure, the Bills (Fiztpatrick, Spiller) racked up the turnovers, but the playcalling was still not much better than what we've seen in the Jauron years. The question still remains: why do the Bills not find ways to take advantage of having Spiller and Jackson on the field @ the same time? Jackson as the primary, w/ Spiller split wide, or in motion to confuse the defensive scheme? When Spiller goes in, Jackson goes out, and vice versa. I don't understand. I mean, the Saints found ways to utilize both Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush, and all it did was force teams to re-think how they were gonna defend 'em. Imagine that. Maybe the Bills will figure that part out. We'll see. All I know is that even w/ Gailey @ the helm, the Buffalo Bills were horribly outcoached by the Patriots. Again. Okay, so it's on to the season finale. A win over the Jets would kinda help matters as the Bills go off into another postseason sunset. It would give 'em their second division win of the year and spoil any chance they have of making the playoffs. Of course, the Jets will be very focused and determined to win this game for just that reason, and the fact that they are every bit as reeling this season as they were rolling @ the end of last season. [EDIT: Dammit! They're in, regardless of what happens on Sunday. Ah well...] But, the Bills have a decent shot. Mark Sanchez is still inconsistent. The Jets' running game isn't nearly as dominant as toward the end of last season. And it's their defense, in particular the opposite corner (Antonio Cromartie) that is giving this team trouble. There are things the Bills can exploit. I will hope that the coaching staff brings their A game this week.....and don't leave it in the locker room this time. Last, but not least, I would like to wish all my TBD friends and family a very happy holiday season. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and hope nothing but good things for you in the new year. See ya in 2011!

Well I sure was glad to see the Bills win a game where they kept control for most of it. I saw plenty of good things in this one from several units. I also saw a lot of empty seats unfortunately, including my two, as I couldn't get 'em sold. One more home game to go and it will probably be as empty too, seeing how it is the day after Christmas. I haven't sold those either, so if anyone wants 'em, send me a PM. I am willing to part w/ 'em cheap. Now, on to the game... I thought Ryan Fitzpatrick made some nice decisions in this one. He knew when to tuck and run, and did well in picking up big yardage when he did. He also made a few impressive throws, too. He hit Steve Johnson w/ a nice sideline pass to get a first down on second and 4 @ the 6 minute mark in the first quarter. He also hit Johnson on a second and 8 play @ the 12 minute mark in the second quarter that went for another first down. But, once again, I did see the Terrible Trio show up again: 1. Overthrow: Badly missed Johnson @ the 7:11 mark of the first quarter on a play where the pass protection was very good. 2. Underthrow: This one worked out for the Bills, as he underthrew Johnathan Stupar, but Browns safety TJ Ward misjudged the play when he attemped to jump the route. It ended up going for a 36 yard gain. We'll put an asteik on this one; bad decision, good results. 3. Pass that never should've been thrown: He attempted to get the ball downfield to Johnson, and it was nearly picked off by Sheldon Brown. Okay, we'll give 'em the Stupar play, but let's hope he doesn't try to force that throw into coverage again. Fitzpatrick also made some nice yards by running the ball. He looked decisive and showed good speed to get to the edge. The QB draw call nearly worked for a TD (more later). All in all, not a bad effort for Fitzpatrick. He led the offense, and they led the way by maintaining drives and eating up clock. Props to Fred Jackson for some tough running in this one. Of course, it helps when you get a bit of daylight to operate from (more later), but Jackson does deserve his props. There weren't a lot of highlight reel runs, but there was a lot of effort. He had a nice 4 yard gain @ the 13:36 mark of the second quarter where he just followed a nice lead block by center Eric Wood. C.J. Spiller had a nice 8 yard run off a block by Wood (we'll get to his game later), and Corey McIntire really had some nice blocks in this one. He also had a nice blitz pickup on the second and 8 play to Johnson where he stopped LB Chris Gocong dead in his tracks. Of course, he also got away w/ a major hold of LB Matt Roth on a Fitzpatrick run of 13 yards late in the first quarter. Still, McIntire's good points far outweighed his bad ones in this game. Okay, so the wideouts weren't a major factor in this game, but they did come up big when called upon. Donald Jones had a nice underneath catch on a crossing route late in the first quarter on a third and 2 play. Jones also made a great open field tackle on a punt return after the Bills were backup up on a penalty. Jones' tackle prevented a big gain on that play. He did have a few not so good moments, like forgetting to line up on a play that resulted in a costly delay of game penalty in the red zone and cutting off a route short of the first down marker on a third and 3 play @ the 11:24 mark of the third quarter. It appeared that Fitzpatrick threw the ball to where Jones would've been had he run past the sticks, and it was incomplete. David Nelson made a beautiful catch and ran a terrific route on his TD catch @ the 9:33 mark of the second quarter. Johnson made a few nice catches for first downs and showed good awareness on the second and 5 play in the third quarter, where he caught the tipped pass to save possession for the Bills (Fitzpatrick's pass was tipped) and pick up a couple yards. He did fail to sustain a block on Sheldon Brown @ the 9:52 mark of the fourth quarter that allowed Brown to stop Jackson for no gain on a running play in the red zone. I saw some good blocks in this game by David Martin (really!!), two of 'em coming on the drive where the Bills killed the clock to end the game. He also made a nice catch on a bootleg play @ the 6:52 mark of the third quarter. Stupar made the nice 36 yard catch and also threw a nice block on the fourth and 1 conversion @ the 0:10 mark of the fourth quarter that allowed the Bills to kill the clock. He did miss a block on Derrick Robinson (held 'em, too)on Fitzpatrick's 12 yard scramble @ the start of the second quarter. The guy I watched carefully in this game was Eric Wood. Seeing that he was playing center, and seeing how many feel he should move inside to that position permanently, I wanted to see how he'd fare in his first outing there. Well, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised w/ how well he handled it. He looked more like the tough, fiesty interior blocker the Bills told us fans he was when they drafted 'em. Here's a few of his nice plays: 1. He and Levitre cleared out the middle on a 5 yard run by Spiller @ the 9:19 mark of the first quarter. 2. He had a impressive block on Ahtyba Rubin on a play where Rubin actually got better leverage but was still knocked 3 yards backwards by Wood on a 3 yard Jackson run @ the 8:00 mark of the first quarter. 3. He had a nice backside block on a play @ the 2:03 mark of the first quarter where Jackson gained 4 yards (Gocong made the tackle after being unblocked). 4. He drove Rubin 'bout 4 yards off the ball on the aforementioned 4 yard run by Jackson @ the 13:36 mark of the second quarter. 5. He and Levitre had nice blocks on a 4 yard Jackson run @ the 14:55 mark of the third quarter. Now, the only real bad play I saw was on the QB draw where Fitzpatrick nearly scored. Wood and Levitre both blocked down on David Bowens when Wood should've let Levitre have Bowens and go after TJ Ward. Had Wood taken Ward out, Fitzpatrick would've had the TD. Still, considering all the good plays I saw from him, this is minor in relation. Great effort! Keep it up, 'cause I hope that this is just the beginning of something really special and not just a fluke game. I think Wood has the skills to be pretty good in the pivot. As I mentioned before, I thought Levitre had some nice blocks as well, usually when he pulls and leads on outside running plays. But, I also saw a few plays where he just drove the guy in front of 'em off the ball and gave the running back a lane to run through. Just another reason why I have said I think Levitre has been the Bills' best offensive lineman this year and, to me, it hasn't been close. He did appear to hit Fitzpatrick on the play where his pass got tipped and nearly intercepted before Johnson came up w/ it, but aside from that, played a really clean game. Demetrius Bell had some rough plays, such as the play late in the first half where Shaun Rogers just bull rushed Bell and got the sack and the play in the first quarter (7:11 mark) where Gocong just beat 'em off the ball and forced a fumble. But, Bell did have some good plays in pass protection (gave Fitzpatrick a nice pocket to throw from @ the 9:33 mark of the second quarter on Nelson's TD pass). Chad Rinehart didn't look as good in drive blocking, but he did have a couple nice plays in the first half where he pulled and lead on running plays. Mansfield Wrotto and Cordaro Howard had quite games from my view, but also didn't make any boneheaded plays to cost the team. The D line didn't have a banner game. There were a few bright spots. Spencer Johnson got pressure on a passing play and forced Jake Delhomme to throw an incomplete pass @ the 4:06 mark of the first quarter. Johnson and Chris Kelsay ran a nice stunt off the right side 2 the 11:17 mark of the third quarter, but Joe Thomas picked it up and Delhomme hit Ben Watson for an 8 yard gain. There was another in/out stunt that had Kelsay loop inside and Stroud go outside on a play @ the 9:14 mark of the third quarter where Marcus Stroud was able to get pressure on Delhomme and force an incomplete pass. Kyle Williams broke through up the middle @ the 1:21 mark of the third quarter and helped to force the play, an end 'round by Josh Cribbs, wide, which resulted in a forced fumble. But, the fumble was not recovered by Kelsay (who forced it), Alex Carrington (who fell right next to the ball), nor Johnson (who was right next to Carrington) and Cribbs was able to recover it. Yikes. Williams also recovered the fumble that Jairus Byrd forced in the first quarter. Stroud and Johnson were both taken out of a play where Peyton Hillis ran for 4 yards on first down (14:47 mark of first quarter). Both players were again knocked off the ball later (11:17 mark of the third quarter) on a short Hillis run for a first down. Not very many plays in the backfield for these guys. The linebackers had a pretty good game. Akin Ayodele had 10 tackles, including a nice third down stop @ the 10:56 mark of the first quarter (w/ help from Paul Posluszny) that helped force a Cleveland FG instead of a TD. He also slowed Hillis down on the third quarter (3:58 mark) play where Posluszny shot the gap but just missed Hillis. He did get taken out on a play @ the 9:54 mark of the third quarter by Alex Mack (Hillis got 7 yards on that play), but overall he had a solid outing. He also got away w/ a late hit on Hillis; the ref waived the flag saying the hit was @ the line of scrimmage. Sure, if the line was moved 3 yards downfield. Ah well; how many of those kinda calls go aganst the Bills, so I guess we should be grateful. Posluszny really had some nice plays in the beginning of the game. He filled the gap and forced a short gain by Hillis on first down (the goal to go where the Bills held and forced the FG), stuffed the second down play for a 2 yard gain, and combined w/ Ayodele on the third down stop. He played the pass very well, closing quickly on a fourth quarter (4:32 mark) pass play to stop Hillis for a 2 yard gain. He did get driven off the ball by Floyd Womack on the play mentioned earlier where Hillis gained 7 yards in the third quarter and did get taken out of the play in the first quarter (13:18 mark) by.....get this....Robert Royal! Still, a good effort by Posluszny. Arthur Moats was able to provide pressure in this one. In the third quarter (11:17 mark), he came off the left side strong, but just missed Delhomme, who connected w/ Watson for 8 yards. He also beat Joe Thomas, one of the best left tackles in the game in my (meaningless) opinion, on a nice move @ the 11:13 mark of the fourth quarter where he also forced a fumble. He's getting better; gotta love that. Kelsay was able to provide nice pressure off the edge when rushing as a down lineman. He got held by John St. Clair on a play where he couldn't set the edge (wonder why) and stop the play from going wide (5:08 mark of the second quarter). He also got past Thomas (wow!) and pressured Delhomme to throw an incomplete pass on the play where Ayodele "didn't" hit Hillis late and had that nice stunt w/ Stroud that forced another incomplete pass @ the 9:14 mark of the third quarter. The secondary did not allow Delhomme to get into any sort of rhythm. They kept the gains short w/ a few exceptions. Terrence McGee got beat by Mohammed Massaquoi for 34 yards where Jairus Byrd got to the play late. Brian Robiskie had a big gain of 15 yards to get a first down. That was 'bout it. Remember; Delhomme was kept to just 86 yards passing on the game! Byrd had the nice forced fumbles, but also did well in run support. His open field tackle on Cribbs @ the beginning of the fourth quarter was sweet! He stopped 'em for 7 yards on third and 16. Donte Whitner helped to force a fumble also and was in on 5 tackles. Bryan Scott wuz robbed, I tell ya, robbed on the play in the fourth quarter (11:13 mark) where he recovered the fumble and ran it back for a score. Thanks to the early whistle, he did not get the TD. He also had a nice open field tackle on third and 8 @ the 3:21 mark of the first quarter for a 1 yard gain. Scott also got good pressure late in the fourth quarter (3:54 mark) and forced the INT by Leodis McKelvin. Speaking of, he made a really nice hit that broke up a pass on the play prior to his INT! He also had a nice open field tackle (seems to be a trend this week) on Massaquoi late in the third quarter (0:32 mark) on a second and 21 play that went for just 5 yards. Brian Moorman had a decent enough game, but he was outplayed by Cleveland punter Reggie Hodges. That guy had a couple really nice ones over 50 yards and put a pair inside the 20. He had good hang time and didn't seem to mind dealing w/ the notorious RICH Stadium winds. Rian Lindell wasn't called on much, but answered the call each time. Spiller had a nice 33 yard punt return early in the fourth quarter, which was the highlight of the return game. Jones added a couple 30 plus yard returns and made a nice tackle on the fourth quarter return where Jon Corto got the penalty and backed Moorman up deep in Bills territory. Jones' tackle kept the return minimal. Considering the Browns ended up getting the ball near midfield even w/ the tackle, that was good. In terms of the coaching, I think overall they were solid. They focused on the running game and ran hard 'tween the tackles. The move to put Wood @ center paid nice dividends. I personally liked the call to go for it on fourth and 1. Yeah it didn't work, but it was gutsy and w/ the wind and all, was Lindell gonna make a 53 yarder? I would've liked to see a few more runs by Spiller, but there appears to be a plan to work him into the offense, and I like that. And so, the Bills get win #3. You happy? Another win is another week of not having to B word 'bout not winning. Unhappy? Are the Bills ruining their draft stock and getting further and further away from that franchise QB/DL/LB/whoever the angry mob wants? Here's my take: I'm always happy to see my team win. As for the draft, I just have to trust that they can figure it out. Honestly, if people think the organization blows it in regard to the draft, who's to say they won't blow it w/ the #1, 2, or 3 overall pick instead of the 8th-10th? Sure, my team is just 3-10, but they also have won 3 of their last 5. Considering how dreadful the first half of the year was, I'll take it.

Okay, so the Bills had the kinda game this week that I thought they'd have against the Stillers: a rough one. Man, was that tough to watch. Even tougher to watch again. Hey, I'm a glutton for punishment. For starters, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Not a great performance, to be sure, but he did make a few nice throws later on after a dreadful start. But, as I mention every week, there were those three things he did yet again: 1. Overthrown pass (to Lee Evans w/ 'bout 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter; could've gone for a score w/ a little more touch) 2. Underthrown pass (missed Donald Jones on a 2nd down play 'bout 2 minutes into the 1st quarter) 3. Pass that never should've left his hand (his 2nd quarter pass to Antoine Winfield for a 42 yard INT return) Another game, another appearance from the Terrible Trio. Every game. But, as I said, he did make some very nice throws later on. He had a nice one 'round the 6 minute mark of the 3rd quarter where he shook off a potential sack from Brian Robison and hit David Nelson for a 12 yard gain on 3rd and 7. He also hit Evans for a couple nice big gains in the early 4th quarter. I think that's what's so crazy 'bout Fitzpatrick. It isn't that he's an inaccurate passer (absolutely BEAUTIFUL throw to Steve Johnson w/ 'bout 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter!!); he just can't seem to put it all together and develop any consistency. Good backup to have, though. The one thing I was impressed w/ (can't say there was a whole lot to be impressed w/ from this one) was the blocking by Fred Jackson. I mistakenly blamed the Bills for leaving Demetrius Bell out there on the island w/ Jared Allen, one of the league's most ferocious pass rushers. But, once I took another look @ the game, here's a few gems I saw from Fred: 1. Jackson chipped on Allen to allow Fitzpatrick to hit Nelson on the aforementioned 3rd and 7 conversion. 2. Jackson made a very impressive block on C.J. Spiller's 4 yard run @ the 4 minute mark of the 3rd quarter. 3. Jackson made another nice kickout block on Allen which helped to spring Spiller for 11 yards early in the 4th quarter. There was also a nice chip block by Quinton Ganther, but it just so happened to be on Fitzpatrick's INT throw to Winfield. Jackson didn't have nearly as much success running w/ the ball as he did in blocking, finishing up w/ just 42 yards on the ground. Corey McIntire had a nice chip block (as did Spiller) on Evans' 26 yard catch in the 4th quarter, but also had the costly fumble after being hit in the 3rd quarter. Props to Spiller for having a couple nice running plays, but unfortunately, they were too few to be of consequence. The receivers did make some big catches late, but the game was already out of hand then. And, unlike in games w/ Baltimore and Cincinnati, the Vikings had no intention of allowing the Bills to creep back into the game w/ poor decisions and lack of composure. Evans finished w/ 75 yards, but was virtually nonexistent in the first half. Nelson continues to find ways to get open when the Bills need 'em to, like on 3rd downs. Jones did make a catch, but also was underthrown on an early throw and also got caught for a loss on an end 'round play just prior to the underthrown pass when David Martin (here comes a shocker) badly missed a block. He tried to block Chad Greenway, who blew the play up, instead of going after safety Husain Abdullah and letting Kraig Urbik take Greenway. Ah well. Just more evidence that the Bills need a major upgrade @ the TE position. When giving this game another look, I took the advice of my good friend William and watched closely the play of Demetrius Bell. Yeah, the kid had one brutal outing, giving up a sack and a pair of forced fumbles, not to mention other pressures that forced bad throws. But, he also had his moments, such as: 1. A nice block on a 6 yard gain by Jackson in the first quarter 2. A solid down block on Kevin Williams (put the All Pro DT on his butt!) on a 3 yard Jackson run on the next play 3. A good block in pass protection on the next play, a 3rd and 1 that was converted by a pass to Steve Johnson For a guy who gets knocked for being too weak, he really had some nice blocks in the running game. Unfortunately, he got abused by Allen in pass protection often. Strange; I wouldn't expect a guy like Allen to have that kinda success. Go figure. Andy Levitre also had some nice run blocks. The Bills seem to love that power play to the right side, and I see why. When they pull Levitre and then have a TE (even Martin) follow behind to seal block, they seem to have good results. It worked well on a play where Spiller broke free for 20 yards in the 3rd quarter. So, of course, they tried it again on the next play, this time to the left side. Not so good there, as Levitre missed the block and it only went for 3 yards. Injuries kicked this unit in the tail, but man did they have some awful outings from Mansfield Wrotto and Urbik. Wrotto had the false start that turned a 3rd and 3 play in the 3rd quarter to a 3rd and 8 (and, eventually, out), plus he struggled to stop Robison all game. He missed a few blocks (missed Greenway on a QB draw in the 2nd quarter, missed Robison twice on plays where Fitzpatrick got hit: the Nelson 12 yard catch and an incomplete pass) and looked a step slow throughout this game. Urbik had issues w/ the snap, resulting in a near fumble that Fitzpatrick jumped on to retain possession. Levitre also had issues w/ the snap, and the Bills lost a fumble @ the 1 'cause of it. This is one of the few times this year where Kyle Williams wasn't much of a factor. He got blocked well by the Minnesota O line (got totally blown off the ball late in the 2nd quarter by center John Sullivan) and when he did get past their line, he couldn't finish the play (missed a tackle on Adrian Peterson on a play that went for 13 yards in the 2nd quarter). He did run a nice twist move w/ George Wilson where he went to the outside behind Arthur Moats, Wilson went inside and they forced Brett Favre to roll to his right and eventually get hit by Moats and throw the INT. Spencer Johnson also struggled to fight off blocks (got driven off the ball late in the 1st quarter by Bryant McKinnie on a 6 yard run by Peterson and was double teamed and driven 3 yards off the ball by Sullivan and guard Chris DeGeare on a 3rd quarter run by Peterson that went for 6 yards and a first down). Marcus Stroud didn't fare much better, picking up an offsides penalty in the 1st quarter on a play where Leodis McKelvin got beat deep (imagine that) by Sidney Rice. Stroud also got handled @ the point of attack by Phil Loadholt on a 2nd quarter play where Tarvaris Jackson scrambled and picked up 13 yards. Perhaps his worst showing was on Peterson's 43 yard TD run early in the 4th quarter. Stroud was knocked off the ball, setting a chain of events into motion (we'll get to that) that put everyone out of position to catch AD. Not a game to write home 'bout for these guys. In addition to spotlighting Bell's play, I also took care to watch the play of Paul Posluszny. I came up w/ more notes on his play than any other Bills player. It wasn't all bleak though. It was Posluszny who helped redirect Favre into the Moats hit that forced the INT and put Favre out of the game. He also got excellent pressure on the sack @ the 10:30 mark in the 1st quarter (props to Moats for helping to finish that play off w/ a nice hit). He also had a really nice hit on Peterson on a 1st and goal play to stop it cold and made a couple terrific tackles on Toby Gerhart: one in the late 1st quarter on a 2nd and 3 run where he hit 'em and dropped 'em like a stone and one in the late 2nd quarter pass on 3rd and 8 that was stopped for a 2 yard loss. These are the kinds of plays I wish we saw more from him. Unfortunately, I saw plenty of bad stuff too: 1. He left the middle of the field uncovered on a scramble by Jackson for 9 yards 2. He went to help out Drayton Florence on a pass play early in the 2nd quarter, but was burned by Visanthe Shiancoe for a 15 yard gain in the process 3. He lost Greg Camarillo on a 2nd quarter crossing route that went for a 20 yard gain 4. He took a horrible pursuit angle in the 3rd quarter on a 6 yard run by Peterson (same play where Spencer Johnson was driven 3 yards off the ball) 5. He was too late to get to Jim Kleinsasser on a 3rd and 6 play in the 4th quarter that went for 7 yards and a first down I still see too many coverage issues w/ Posluszny, he still struggles to get off blocks (the majority of my notes were concerning this issue), and the pursuit angles still need work. Believe me, I root harder for this guy to make it in the LB corps than anyone, as he is living my dream: played LB for my favorite college team and was drafted by and starts as LB for my favorite pro team! That said, I call 'em as I see 'em, and while Posluszny may be in on a lot of tackles, there aren't nearly as many "splash plays" as I'd like to see. Okay, there were other LBs out there, and I did check 'em out as well. Chris Kelsay had a pair of nice plays vs the run in the early 1st quarter: he held the edge very well on the Favre INT and he also shut down a run by Peterson after just a 2 yard gain. He had a great stack 'n shed play in the 2nd quarter where he just threw Loadholt to the side and tackled Peterson after another 2 yard gain and he did a great job of pressuring Jackson on the INT to Whitner in the 3rd quarter. But, he also had times where he rushed too deep and allowed the QB to escape (on Jackson's 9 yard scramble) and also struggled to get off blocks @ times (like on Peterson's 43 yard TD in the 4th quarter, where Shiancoe kicked 'em out nicely). Akin Ayodele must know Peterson's shoe size well, as he probably still has cleat marks on his forehead from being run over TWICE in the 2nd quarter on TD runs by AD. He also lost Kleinsasser on a 12 yard underneath route in the 2nd quarter. He did finish w/ 10 tackles though. Moats made the big pressure on Favre, which resulted in Florence's first INT. He also did well in pressuring from McKinnie's side, something I did not expect. The more I see Moats in there, the more I like what he can become. The secondary did okay. Florence came up w/ a pair of early picks, including the one where he read Jackson perfectly, jumped the route, and took of for the Bills' first TD. McKelvin did have a nice diving INT of his own, but boy did he take it on the chin in this one. He allowed Sidney Rice to snatch an INT right from 'em AND score in the process. Then, not settling for that, he fumbled the ensuing kick return right back to the Vikings to allow 'em to get a stranglehold on the game. He would add an ill timed pass interference call for added measure. He's certainly played better. On Rice's TD snatch from McKelvin, the Bills could've used a more decisive move to get to the play by Donte Whitner. Whitner also picked up a personal foul for hitting Jackson as he went into a slide after a nice scramble for 13 yards. Don't know if I'd call that, as it was right as Jackson began the slide and not seconds later. Ah well. Whitner also was robbed on Peterson's 4th quarter TD run, as Bernard Berrian clearly held Whitner as he tried to get to the outside to stop AD from breaking it long. Whitner also had a nice open field tackle of Gerhart on a 3rd down play that went for 4 yards. Bryan Scott took a horrible angle on the very next play and allowed Gerhart to run free for 13 yards and a first down. Jairus Byrd had a quiet game. I noticed one tackle in run support, but not much else. The special teams had some nice moments. Brian Moorman did well on his punts, especially one in the 2nd quarter where Naaman Roosevelt made a nice tackle and another in the 3rd quarter where Moats had a really nice hit to bring the ballcarrier down. But, they also had some awful moments in kick coverage (including the opening kickoff) and Rian Lindell was a nonfactor due to the Bills offense's lack of....everything. As for coaching, well we know the team made a ton of mistakes and penalties. That's certainly on Chan Gailey and his staff. As for strategy, they had some good ideas and moved the ball some, but the turnovers (5 of 'em) crushed 'em. There was a play that I took some issue w/: why, in the 2nd quarter, did the offense bring Spiller in motion to the left side, but then waited 3 seconds after the motion to snap the ball? If the motion was done to alter the defensive scheme, they had plenty of time to adjust to it. The play ended up being a screen pass to Spiller and, whadda ya know, it was snuffed out for a 3 yard loss by E.J. Henderson. Who woulda thunk it? And so, the Bills had the kinda "exposed as a team that still has a way to go" type game I thought they'd have against Pittsburgh. They just had it a week later. This was just an awful performance, and w/ a team that still has issues in various areas, I guess you could expect to have a game or two like this one. Sucks, but it's time to move on to the next one. Cleveland has played some very good football this year, but they've also played some pretty atrocious games as well. Depending on their mindset on game day, the Bills could win in a rout or struggle to keep it close. What they need to do is just come out strong for these last few weeks and @ least make the statement that they will not quit. We kinda figure that, as we've seen this team take numerous good teams to overtime (only to lose, but I digress). They have it in 'em to play hard and give everyone a good game. Now, it's time to erase this putrid peformance from the memory banks and start anew w/ a win over the Cleve Brownies.

Well, the game didn't end the way we would've liked, but I did enjoy the week off and my trip back home to visit w/ family and friends. As for the game itself, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected this Stiller game to be more along the lines of the '04 Stiller game: a game where the Bills were exposed as being less ready for prime time than we all thought. But, they showed the same heart and fire that they had in other recent games. Props to the Bills for giving the fans another solid effort. Ryan Fitzpatrick had an okay game. Sure, he got hot in the second half and put up some yards and a TD. But, as I say each week, there was another appearance from the "Terrible Trio": overthrown passes, underthrown passes, passes that shouldn't have been thrown that can (and often times do) get picked off. In one sequence in the first half, he did these things back to back to back. Every game I watch and every game he does these three things. You'd think that someone would improve w/ more playing time, but these are constant behaviors from Fitz. The news isn't all bad, though: I loved his attempt to block Troy Polamalu on a nice run by Fred Jackson (we'll get to that in a bit). I love the guy's heart, but he is limited. This is why I feel he is a good backup to have, but the Bills need to get a good young prospect if they truly intend on becoming a contender of any kind in this league. Fred Jackson had a nice overall game. The 65 yard TD catch n' run was inspiring. He also gutted out some very nice runs in this game. The one where Fitz threw the chip block on Polamalu also featured nice blocks by Geoff Hangartner (on James Farrior) and Kraig Urbik (on Ziggy Hood). That play went for 9 yards. He had another 6 yard run late in the second quarter that may have gone for more w/ a better block (we'll get to that). I would've loved to see more crushing blocks from Corey McIntire in this one. Still, Jackson did well w/ his limited (12) carries. Quinton Ganther also got a few reps but provided little. This game was all 'bout Jackson's toughness, as none of what he got came easy. Considering they were playing the best run defense in the game, I'd expect nothing less. There's no getting 'round it, this was a horrible outing from the wideouts. Be it Lee Evans' costly drop in the third quarter or the rough go that Steve Johnson had (nearly as many drops as catches, including the potential game winner in OT), there was little to celebrate. I will give David Nelson props for making a few big catches late in the game (he's becoming quite a decent option, particularly on third downs), but that's 'bout it. The tight ends were missing in action again. The Bills HAVE to do something 'bout this once the season is over. Whether they attempt to sign a free agent, draft a good young prospect, or even pull off a trade, they need to bring in a quality receiving option to further stretch defenses who can also aid in the running game (David Martin's blocking is abysmal). Back to Johnson. No, I won't bash 'em for being the goat this week. I'm sure plenty of others will. I will say that while he seems to have a wealth of potential, he does need to work on focusing more on his craft @ times. His route running is good, and he doesn't shy away from running the tough routes, but man does he have those lapses where he can't seem to catch anything. More attention to detail will probably correct this. He seemed to understand that by his comments after the game. We'll see if there's a noticeable difference from here on out. How many of you all figured Fitzpatrick would be torn apart by the vaunted Stiller pass rush? I was one who definitely was concerned 'bout this. I know how he sometimes struggles when being pressured and I thought the Stillers would exploit this. But, I have to say, the O line did a pretty good job of protecting their QB this week. I thought Demetrius Bell and Mansfield Wrotto held their own for the most part. Considering they had to take on the best pair of pass rushing linebackers in the league, I'd say that's high praise. The interior guys also did well in not allowing Pittsburgh to run amok w/ their pass rush. Props to Kraig Urbik for another pretty good game. It wasn't perfect, as he did miss a block on Jackson's 6 yard run in the second quarter that may have prevented the play from going for a lot more. But, he had a great block on Jackson's big 65 yard TD catch 'n run and also made a terrific block on a 9 yard run by Jackson in the third quarter. Wrotto got beat by Farrior on a short pass play to Quinton Ganther and picked up a false start penalty. Hangartner had the aforementioned good block on Jackson's 9 yard run (took Farrior right outta the play). Andy Levitre did miss his block (badly) on a third quarter sack by James Harrison, but overall had an okay performance. Not many of his impressive lead blocks on traps this time, but you can't show off like that all the time. Speaking of showing off, Pittsburgh rookie center Maurkice Pouncey looked absolutely brilliant in the first half, in particular the first quarter. It's scary to think that he's playing as well as any center in the game-Nick Mangold included-only 12 games into his career! I look forward to seeing his progress in years to come. The defensive line was very good in this one! Kyle Williams had a slow start (I see he went from lining up over Pouncey to lining up over guard Chris Kemoeatu), but once he found his rhythm, he was all over the place. Particularly sweet was a play w/ 5 minutes to go, when Williams got the sack by shooting straight up the A gap and splitting a double team from Kemoeatu and Pouncey (shedded the rook w/ a nice arm rip!). Marcus Stroud also had a good performance; maybe his best of the season? He did get blown off the ball once in the third (on a 5 yard run by Rashard Mendenhall), but he also was in on a pair of sacks and really helped to pressure Ben Roethlisberger from the interior all game. A pleasant surprise was the play of Alex Carrington. Wow! I've been touting getting this guy more reps, and he showed some of the potential he has. He had a great shed of a block by Stiller tight end David Johnson (that guy may be as poor a blocker as David Martin is for the Bills) in the first quarter, got pressure by beating Kemoeatu on a play in the second quarter that allowed Stroud to get credit for a sack (on a play where Pouncey originally neutralized 'em but Stroud kept @ it), and got past former Bill and current Stiller starter Jonathan Scott, forcing Scott to hold 'em and negating a big pass play in the second quarter. Hopefully there's a lot more that on the horizon from Carrington. The linebackers actually didn't have a horrible game; more of a so-so game. Akin Ayodele just flat out blew it on Mendenhall's first quarter TD run by forgetting to fill his gap and, instead, overpursuing and allowing a huge hole for Mendenhall to jog in through, virtually untouched. Needing more of the same, Ayodele did the same thing again 'bout halfway through the third quarter and allowed Mendenhall to get 10 yards right after the Evans fumble. The big one, though, was the third quarter pass from Roethlisberger to Hines Ward, a 24 yard gain. On that play, the Bills gave a zone look in coverage, but someone let Ward all alone! Ayodele and Stroud (?) covered Heath Miller and Paul Posluszny followed Mike Wallace. Uh, anyone want to cover the Stillers' all time leading receiver? Chris Kelsay had an up and down game: he had a nice play early in the first quarter where he...get this...actually stayed home (!) on a misdirection play and forced the action to the other side. That said, he also overshot Roethlisberger on the big fourth quarter scramble to convert a key third down and again looked lost in coverage. He clearly looks better coming off the line out of his three point stance than trying to play the edge @ OLB. Paul Posluszny did have 8 tackles, but didn't have any impact plays. There was a play midway through the first quarter where he just couldn't get to the action on a third and short play. Had he shed the block (Haha!! Yeah, right) and got to the action, he could've prevented the conversion. I see this a lot from Poz. He just seems to get caught in the traffic too often and boy does he struggle coming off blocks. Antonio Coleman got in there and did very little, other than being called offsides and giving the Stiller yet another third down conversion. I'd like to see more of him and Arthur Moats. We gotta see if these guys can provide something for this group. They need all the something they can get. The secondary got in the mix when it came to run support. How 'bout Jairus Byrd forcing that fumble (aka stealing the ball) from Mendenhall, huh? I didn't realize 'til looking @ the stat sheet that he had 11 tackles. Leodis McKelvin did a decent job in coverage as well as run support. Drayton Florence, the most consistent performer for the secondary this year in my (meaningless) opinion, held up well in coverage w/ the exception of being beat twice in the middle of the field for third down coversions. Donte Whitner had a bunch of tackles (18) and many of 'em weren't the "hold onto the guy and get dragged for 7 yards" types of tackles that others on the team have become so good @ coming up w/ on a regular basis. Reggie Corner, Bryan Scott, and George Wilson had off games this week. Wilson, who was so prominent in the Cincy game, was nearly the invisible man this week. The special teams did a good job, too. Rian Lindell connected on all 3 of his FG tries, including the 49 yarder to send the game to overtime. Welcome back, Rian.....we hope. Brian Moorman had a shaky game from a yard average standpoint (29.4 yards per as a net?), but man did he come through w/ the coffin corner that went out @ the 4 yard line in overtime, a big factor in what would become the second of the Three Failed Opportunities in just over 4 minutes of overtime (more later). The coverage units didn't embarrASS themselves this week and didn't allow the typical momentum-killing returns after scores that the Bills have turned into an art form in recent years. Now, on to coaching. I give props to Chan Gailey for righting the ship in the second half, but there were some head scratchers in this one. Here's a few: 1. Why, in the first quarter in a 3rd down situation for the defense, did the Bills not blitz or rush ANYONE up the A gap? I saw Pouncey snap the ball, and then spend the rest of the play looking for someone to block. Really? Man, I wish the Bills' opponents were similarly as generous w/ their lack of creating pressure right up the middle of the field. 2. Why, in antother first quarter play toward the end of the quarter, were there FOUR Bills receivers w/in 10 yards of each other in their pass routes? The thing to do w/ a defense like the Stillers is to spread 'em out and attack 'em w/ the pass. That's what the Patriots did so well in a Monday night game years ago and what both the Pats and the Saints did in wins over Pittsburgh this year. So, why do the Bills want to pack all the receiving options into such a small space when the Stillers have shown weakness @ the cornerback position? 3. Back to the third quarter play w/ 6:58 to go. Ward beats the zone coverage for a 24 yard gain. Why was Ayodle and Stroud covering a tight end, leaving Poz to cover the fastest wideout on the field (and the one w/ the most yards per in the NFL), and leaving Ward, notorious for finding the open spots of zones in his career, all alone? Was that really the way it was designed, George Edwards? And now, for the Three Failed Opportunities. In a span of 4 and a half minutes, there were three chances for the Bills to take the Stillers out and get a win: 1. McKelvin's kick return, where he ran into Moats instead of being patient enough to set up that block and either run into FG range or score the game winner (remember when the Jets did that to us in '02?). 2. The Moorman coffin corner, that the defense turned into a three and out (nice sack and near fumble recovery by Kelsay). Had McKelvin not fumbled away 20 plus yards of field position, the Bills could've used the short passing game or the running game to get into Lindell's range (remember, he was on target in this one-big time!) or score the game winning TD. 3. The world famous drop by Johnson. Fitz threw a terrific deep ball (right over the shoulder where only the receiver had a play on it; sweet!), Johnson ran under it beautifully......and then let it slip through his hands. Literally. So, how do the Bills respond? Well, they have a tough one coming up against the Vikings on the road. This team can play defense (their front seven is good; the secondary is beat up but serviceable) and Leslie Frazier (my Bills coach in Madden 10 and 11) is going back to using Adrian Peterson more. The Bills struggle to stop anyone from running the ball, so this could be a serious issue to overcome. But, overcoming serious issues is what must be on the menu for this team from here on out. Bon apetit! Sorry this is late, folks. We were out of town 'til Tuesday evening, then I had to work and also try to get my wife's birthday present (tickets to the Stillers @ Ravens game) all set up. Mission accomplished, but not w/out the usual stress and strife. Anyhoo, I will post my report for Week 13 tomorrow. 'Til then, let me know what 'cha think of this one. I appreciate all comments, good and bad.

Have a fantastic day, which you will since you're still on vacation.

As things start to return to normalcy in my household (reason why I was MIA for Week 10), I am glad to see the Bills embark on a 2 game winning streak to begin the second half of the season. It certainly was a positive in a week that was chock full of negatives for me. Way to go, Bills! Ryan Fitzpatrick had another game full of monster numbers (over 300 yards, 4 TDs). Props to him, especially for bouncing back from what was an absolute disastrous first half. Problem is, as I have mentioned before, I still see the same things out of Fitzpatrick every game: poorly overthrown passes, poorly underthrown passes, and passes that never should've been thrown in the first place (usually into heavy coverage). These are things that should be corrected w/ more playing time, yet they are a constant. His throws on the out patterns are to the inside shoulder, where the defense can break on it and either break it up or pick it off. He has not adjusted and put those throws to the outside, where it is usually either incomplete or a catch. Weird thing is, it's not that Fitzpatrick is totally inaccurate. He had several really nice throws to Steve Johnson in the third and fourth quarter (some for first down conversions and TDs) and the read that he and Johnson had on the third TD hookup was something you hope for in a starting QB/WR combo. But, for whatever reason, he has those lapses in his game where he completes his "Terrible Trio" (overthrows, underthrows, poor throws into coverage that usually is picked off). This happens weekly, which is a big concern and the reason why I still believe the Bills need to acquire a quality QB to lead the team in the future. Luckily, he and the team were able to bounce back, but how much of that was due to the level of competiton? Could this comeback have happened against the Jets, Patriots, or the next opponent (later)? I'd rather not see the Bills in the position where they'd have to find out. Fred Jackson found tough going early in the game, but was there when the Bills needed 'em late. It was reminiscient of last year, when the Saints needed to close the deal on the Bills and relied on Pierre Thomas to get it done. His 30 yarder was the final nail in Cincy's coffin. Jackson also ran tough in this one. He had a particularly impressive 26 yard run late in the fourth quarter where he fought hard to get past the sticks and to keep getting extra yards after contact. Quinton Ganther got some minutes and had a really nice 9 yard run (great block by Kraig Urbik on that one; more later). Corey McIntire gave a solid lead block on an 8 yard Jackson run early in the third quarter. The receivers were okay as a unit, but this game was really all 'bout Steve Johnson. He had several plays where he came up w/ catches to continue drives (one in the early fourth quarter was on a pass that was beautifully thrown by Fitzpatrick) and, of course, on his scores. The one he had in the early part of the third quarter was a work of art. It was a nice throw from Fitpatrick, he made an excellent open field move to break free and get the score, and Andy Levitre made a great block to give Fitzpatrick a pocket to throw in. Donald Jones made a couple really nice third down catches and was impressive on his 28 yard TD catch. Lee Evans didn't have a ton of yards and only made a pair of catches, but one was a 54 yarder and the other was a terrific catch he made IN TRAFFIC! Very nice, as I've always been critical of any route by Evans that wasn't a "9" or "go" route (deep fly pattern). Still not much in the passing game out of the tight ends. Shawn Nelson made one catch and David Martin still has major issues when it comes to blocking. The offensive line, like the quarterback, got off to a slow start, but boy did they get it together later on. Props to young Kraig Urbik, who filled in for the injured Eric Wood and actually performed better. Wood got juked badly by Bengal DT Pat Sims on a play that wound up a sack for Sims. He still also does not show that fire and toughness off the snap that we had all hoped for. Too many times, I see the ball snapped and see Wood standing straight up w/ no leverage. Fire out and knock your guy off the ball, man. Urbik, though, made some very nice plays. On Ganther's 9 yard run, it was Urbik who cleared the path and he also showed good awareness in pass protection. He did miss a key block on a running play that appeared to be well designed (nice misdirection play that worked earlier in the game) and allowed Sims to break through to bust it up for a loss. Still, the kid came in and held his own. Geoff Hangartner had a terrific backside seal block on Jackson's 26 yard run in the fourth quarter. Levitre had another impressive lead block on an early Jackson run and made a terrific block to neutralize the interior rush on Johnson's 36 yard score in the third quarter. I thought the tackles also held their own. Demetrius Bell had his hands full w/ Michael Johnson on the left side, but forced 'em into a couple early penalties and did a solid job of keeping Fitzpatrick clean. Mansfield Wrotto backed the team up w/ a false start penalty in the red zone and also had a bad whiff of a block early on that allowed Domata Peko to get in the backfield to disrupt a play. That said, he still held up well in this game. Considering how well Peko has played over the past year or so, the fact that he was nearly a non-factor in this game speaks volumes for how well these guys help up in pass protection. Defensive line play was a bit spotty, as there were holes for most of the game that Cedric Benson exploited. Kyle Williams had a great game though. He was able to get into the backfield almost @ will and was responsible for a pair of great stops on Cincy's late first half drive down by the goal line. Marcus Stroud was also very good. On Cincy's last rush attempt on that drive, it was Stroud who clogged the run @ the point of attack, allowing Williams to knife in to make the tackle. Stroud also had a knockdown of a 3rd and short pass attempt by Carson Palmer and forced a key fumble right after the Bills' first TD of the second half that was turned into another TD. I saw a couple times where Bills D linemen were downfield making plays, too: one by Torell Troup, who made a tackle of Benson downfield after being blocked initially and another by Dwan Edwards. Alex Carrington and Kyle Williams combined to get pressure on Cincy's TD throw to Terrell Owens late, and it was this pressure that forced Andrew Whitworth to hold (take down) Williams and negate what was an excellent catch by Owens. On that stunt, Carrington looked good going 'cross the face of Whitworth to get inside. Sure wish they'd give him more reps. The linebackers were actually decent against the run in this game. Really. They still, as a unit, need to do better in shedding blocks, Paul Posluszny in particular. Too many times I saw someone engage Pos on a play, then remove 'em from the point of attack. He also still has coverage issues. Brian Leonard beat him for a third down conversion and he was clearly caught off guard on the pass interference call. To his credit, though, he was able to chase plays all over, including one where he came from the backside to run down Benson and limit the play to a 2 yard gain where it could've gone for much more. Reggie Torbor also has issues shedding blocks, but did a decent job of roaming from sideline to sideline and not letting things get too crazy. Props to this unit for doing one thing: maintaining the edge. There were a few breakdowns, including one where Torbor got caught going down the line and allowed Jermaine Gresham to get open for a big catch, but overall, they did a good job of not allowing big plays to the outside. Chris Kelsay blew a sack of Palmer late in the third quarter, but did get his brother down later on and had other plays where he broke through to force early throws. I saw some good things also from Arthur Moats and Antonio Coleman in limited action. These guys need more reps for sure. Continuing the trend of bouncing back, props to the secondary for putting the clamps on things in the second half. They did give up a couple long drives, but they were able to respond w/ big plays to shut down the drives. Terrence McGee did get beat on a third down pass, but seems to be rounding into form. Bryan Scott had his issues in coverage (Jordan Shipley beat 'em bad on the big throw @ the end of the first half that got Cincy into the red zone), but he also provided pressure on the QB (got a sack). Reggie Corner had the tough task of trying to stay w/ Shipley and got beaten a few times for first downs. Corner also had one pass interference call that probably shouldn't have been made and another earlier one that the refs clearly missed. Drayton Florence got beat a couple times, but overall covered well and had a terrific fumble return for a TD. Donte Whitner laid a terrific, clean hit on Shipley late in the game that forced an incompletion. Not a great game for either Leodis McKelvin or Jairus Byrd. McKelvin was victimized early on by Palmer, especially on Cincy's late first quarter drive where he gave up a 50 yard catch and was beaten for the TD. Byrd didn't react quickly enough to get into position on Owens' TD and looked a step slow to react for most of the game. Props to George Wilson for making what I felt was the play of the game: his INT in the end zone, which he returned 56 yards. Talk 'bout a swing of momentum! Cincy was looking to regain control of the game and ended up losing their lead for good. Wilson also had a great breakup of a pass to Owens early in the fourth quarter. Special teams? Not really. I think Coleman's two special teams tackles (one highlighted by an impressive hit) was the best part. The return game wasn't much as there were only 3 kicks returned for a less than 20 yard average and no punts were returned (one fair catch). Rian Lindell missed a kick inside of 40 yards. What's up w/ him lately? The coverage units did a decent job but did give up a late 34 yard kick return. Coaching wise, Chan Gailey adapted to Cincy's rush by doing more bootleg and misdirection plays to get Fitzpatrick out of the pocket so that he wasn't a sitting duck. It worked. They also focused on Cincy's backup defensive backs and exploited 'em. Defensively, there's still some issues (Shipley worked 'em to death w/ those quck outs, middle of the D line got pressure but gave up big yards early on), but there is also progress (defensive backs got turnovers and kept Owens and Chad in check for the most part). Ah, progress. Been a while. And so, our beloved Bills are on a two game winning streak! Woo hoo!! Hey, seriously; it's a good thing. The next opponent cannot say the same. Then again, the next opponent is... Pittsburgh. Time for Civil War in the R. Rich household. Psycho Ward 86, along w/ R. Rich's Mother and brother, all are a part of the Stiller Nation, so I will be badly outgunned when I go home this wekeend to visit w/ family before going to RICH to see the game. Ah well; I wouldn't have it any other way. Our team is on a roll and there looks to be some real improvement from these guys. I hope for more improvement and maybe, just maybe, the Bills can surprise some folks w/ some upsets. Sunday is as good a time to start as any.

Close, but not quite. Looks like this is becoming a theme for the 2010 Buffalo Bills. They showed heart, but once again could not come up w/ the win. This was another one of those "up for grabs" games that Chicago just grabbed. Keep workin', fellas. You're getting close. Ryan Fitzpatrick? Well, he did look sharp on the late 2nd quarter TD drive (the TD throw to Roscoe Parrish was sweet), and he also made a great read on the long pass to Steve Johnson in the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, he had more of those poorly under (pass to David Nelson in the 4th) and over (1st quarter pass to Lee Evans; 4th quarter pass to Parrish) throws that seem to be a weekly staple. He also had a reallly bad throw into 'bout 4 defenders late in the first quarter and the two awful INT throws in the 4th quarter. Neither of those passes should've been thrown, as the receivers were blanketed. I love the toughness (looking to throw a block...nice!) and the spirit, but he is just limited in certain areas. He has not improved on his accuracy and he still makes some just flat out awful decisions, which usually are turnovers. I still think he's a good backup, but the Bills should work to find a starter that can get them to a level where they can not only play w/ teams and make games close, but come out on the winning end more often than not. Fred Jackson had a very rough outing. Some of it was directly attributed to his play (the dropped flare pass in the 3rd quarter; half a** rush attempt and fumble, also in 3rd quarter) and for some of it, the line played a part in it (run blocking was brutal for most of the game). The guy who really had a rough one was C.J. Spiller. He would end up w/ just 20 yards on 7 carries, but before you're quick to label Spiller as the goat (William), here's a few things to ponder: 1. In the 2nd quarter, TE David Martin whiffed on a block that allowed Spiller to get dropped for a 4 yard loss by Julius Peppers. 2. In the third quarter, Martin missed another block (on Brian Urlacher) and Spiller got dropped again. 3. In the fourth quarter, Spiller got 5 yards on a play that may have been a big gainer had he not been caught from behind by Bears DL Israel Idonije. The guy who "blocked" Idonije on that play? You guessed it: Martin. 4. Spiller gained 75% of his rushing total on one play, a 15 yard run off the right side w/ solid blocks by Andy Levitre and Corey McIntire. They ran this play in the 2nd quarter, and Urlacher ate it up (beat a block by Mansfield Wrotto). Note: they ran this play to the opposite side of Martin. So, maybe Spiller isn't so horrible after all. I do know that his blocking sure was. Also, props to McIntire for a solid game of lead blocking and for getting the TD. Nice to see a team let the blocking back run one in after putting in the work to help get a team down there in the first place. What a great game from Parrish and Steve Johnson! Roscoe made some excellent catches (the 2nd down catch in the first quarter and the TD catch were both really nice) and works to make grabs that guys much bigger than he is (James Hardy?) wouldn't. He's come a long way as a wideout. Johnson was very good @ finding the open spots on the field and that catch and run he had in the third quarter was outstanding. David Nelson had a nice third down conversion and would've had an even nicer catch in the fourth had Fitzpatrick delivered the ball to 'em. Lee Evans didn't have a very good game. He missed one late in the first half on the TD drive and only caught 3 for the game. Then again, Fitzpatrick badly missed a throw to Evans @ 'bout the halfway point in the quarter. As for the tight ends....not much. Props to Jonathan Stupar for a good lead block on McIntire's TD run, but Martin's woes (see RB breakdown above) were just too often and glaring. The O line didn't let Fitzpatrick get killed, but they weren't stellar either. Geoff Hangartner was okay in pass protection, but had a few plays where he looked weak in run blocking. He also let Anthony Adams blow up a screen play in the beginning of the fourth quarter that may have gotten Jackson going. Cordaro Howard? Didn't see much good from 'em: a typical penalty to make a third down play longer, but he didn't really distinguish himself. Wrotto did a little more...just a little. He did get beat bad by Idonije on an incomplete pass play where Fitzpatrick got drilled. He also, as mentioned earlier, missed a block that would've helped to spring Spiller. Eric Wood? Yeah, I guess he was out there. Again, not much to report. Demetrius Bell? He took his lumps a few times, but he was going against some guy named Peppers (two plays in a row in the first quarter were especially tough), and I hear that guy is pretty good. No excuse for the penalty on the fourth down try though. I really thought Levitre had a nice outing. Watching that guy get out on blocks is impressive. He's almost Steeler-like in his ability to pull and lead down the line. Gotta get more stout in pass protection, but he's the best lineman the Bills have in run blocking in my (meaningless) opinion. The D line had a so-so game. Kyle Williams put in some work, didn't he? Gotta love the effort. I didn't see much this time from Torell Troup in the 4 man packages. Same w/ Dwan Edwards who made one tackle and was nearly invisible. Spencer Johnson had a sack, forced a fumble, and recovered a fumble in this one. Nice impact. He did get blown off the ball on Chester Taylor's TD run though. Once he was taken out, that play was over and Taylor walked in. Didn't see much from Marcus Stroud either. There was one play where he helped string it out to the sideline, but the play broke down once it got there (not his fault, was it LBs?). There was some good stuff from the linebackers, but also some awful stuff. I liked the play in the beginning of the second quarter where Moats sniffed out the screen play and ran it down. Too bad his moment was crushed by a defensive holding call on Reggie Corner. Chris Kelsay still has problems containing plays. One led to a big scramble by Jay Cutler. When he charges down the line, the play goes 'round 'em. When he bursts upfield, the play goes inside of 'em. I dunno what it will take to fix it. He also needs better depth on his dropbacks. One in particular was the Cutler to Knox completion that went for 24 yards. Kelsay dropped back, but still gave too much of a cushion and Cutler was able to get the ball in to Knox. Paul Posluszny made a really nice tackle early on to stuff a third down play and finished w/ 10, but really wasn't a difference maker. Akin Ayodele's best play was probably the big hit he had covering a punt. That leaves the guy I tried to spotlight this week: Reggie Torbor. Sure, he made some tackles (6) and he had a great, diving pass breakup in the fourth quarter. That said, here's some of the things I saw that I didn't like: 1. He missed Matt Forte on a running play in the first quarter. Had 'em in the backfield, but let 'em spin away. So, the potential loss of 4 turned out to be a gain of 1. 2. He missed Chester Taylor in the backfield in a similar fashion, also in the first quarter. 3. This one ins't as bad. He made a tackle on Forte after a 6 yard gain, but watching the play, I just feel he could've arrived there earlier (he kinda hesitated after the throw) and w/ more urgency (go THROUGH the ballcarrier, don't just drag 'em down!!). 4. He got sucked in on a misdirection run in the third quarter instead of setting the edge and containing the play. Less than a minute later, he again could not contain a play to the outside and Forte bounced it his way, got to the edge, and ran for 22 yards. He doesn't suck, as evidenced by the great pass breakup in the fourth and the fact that he continued to chase plays down all game. He just needs to be more aggressive and decisive. Considering the lack of sacks in this game (really, no good pressure on Jay Cutler????), I think the defensive backs held their own for the most part. There were some bad points though. Leodis McKelvin did blow an open field tackle attempt on Taylor in the second and should've kept to the outside and let Donte Whitner take the inside on Earl Bennett's fourth quarter score. Drayton Florence did not miss a chance to make a big tackle, as he cut Devin Hester down on an end 'round for a small loss. Whitner had the big pass interference call in the fourth quarter and it sucked. But honestly, I could've seen that one called either way. Not gonna whine and complain 'bout that one. More damaging were the TWO missed chances for INTs by Bryan Scott: one in the second quarter and the other (and more damning) one in the fourth. Jairus Byrd made plenty of tackles, but I would've loved to see 'em get to the Bennett completion in the first quarter earlier (hesitated too much once Cutler dropped back). Special teams? Not so special. Rian Lindell missed his first career PAT (it was blocked by...who else?....Idonije), Brian Moorman kept the Bears pinned inside the 20 but had less than 30 yards on average, and the return game was nonexistent. Props to the coverage unit for not allowing Hester to explode on 'em. I guess that's a huge plus for 'em. Otherwise, it was a fair effort overall. Coaching wise, one of the problems I had w/ this was why they put no pressure on Cutler on the third down conversion late in the game? He was given 6.39 seconds to throw the ball!!! Unless you have Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, Mel Blount, Michael Haynes, and Night Train Lane as your secondary, you're in trouble allowing ANY signal caller that much time to throw. Also, there was a series in the first quarter where the Bills ran that bubble screen to Parrish twice in a row. Really? And no LB to shadow the QB on the keeper in the second quarter? Cutler just ran wild and picked up the first down. To be fair, the coaches deserve props for a bold fourth down call late in the first half on the first TD drive. And so we can adjust the counter to 8, as in 0-8 now. The halfway point, if you're so inclined to root for a perfect(ly sorry) record. Still, the team is able to move the ball and put up points, so that's improvement. They also play w/ heart. There are some things to remain positive 'bout. That said, we are still talking 'bout a winless team and a team that could go winless all year. This Detroit team the Bills are preparing to face is much like the Bills: they play hard and they can give teams a run for their money also. This will be an interesting game to see how they fare. They can win this one, but they have to find a way to come up on the right end of these situations they can't seem to overcome. Considering how hard each team plays and the fact that both teams have come up short so often this season, it would be fitting for the Bills to get their first win this week. I sure hope that's what happens.

All I can say is, when a wideout has 74 catches, 1,211 yards (a 16.4 per average), and 17 touchdowns in a season, it is impressive no matter when they do it. But, then think of having those kinda numbers in 1942, and it's beyond impressive. It's all relative. Guys like Baugh and Hutson were terrific athletes (as shown by their all round play; Baugh as a punter, Hutson as a defensive back) and, if they played in this era, would train THE SAME WAY TODAY'S ATHLETES TRAIN. People always blast these guys for not going up against the kinda size/speed that today's athlete does. Well, for their era, that's exactly what they did. You think that if Jim Brown had access to the kinda training advances of today that he wouldn't be even better? That's scary, considering the guy won EIGHT rushing titles in his nine year career. Conversely, the athletes of today would not only be w/out the current training advances, but would also be privy to the same rules (leg whipping, practically beating up receivers ALL THE WAY DOWN THE FIELD, etc.) were they to have played back in those days. It's really tough to say what would happen if we took the athletes out of one era and put 'em into another.

Oh, I get it. Twelve months ago, Jim Brown was the best player of all time. I guess Jerry made a nice late push. But Kenneth, I guess we do have to give 'em credit for a few things: 1. Including Hein on the list. I was sure he'd be a victim of Generation ESPN. 2. Putting Hutson in the Top 10. We are in agreement on his merits. 3. Having Unitas and Graham in the Top 20, though we both know they should be higher (no, we won't go there...) than where they ended up. That's 'bout all I can come up w/ in terms of things to credit 'em for. Should we begin the laundry list of bad moves?

I guess, in your anger, you failed to see the thread titled, "NFL's Top 100 Players". Had you seen/opened it, you would've seen that it was discussing this very topic.

Yup. It's garbage.

Ozzie Newsome

The Colts re-acquired John Unitas?

Another overtime loss. Wow. As Don Johnson's character said to Kevin Costner's character in the movie Tin Cup: "I gotta hand it to you. When you go down, you go down in flames." This very well could be the one thing the Bills are the best in the league @ doing: finding ways to lose games. First off, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Sure, he did a good job of leading the Bills down the field to tie the game up. Good job on that. Still, there were the typical overthrows (the Spiller play comes to mind; how's that for a Halloween scare?) and the customary, "Why the **#! did I throw that pass?" interception. Okay, that one did slip out of his hand Garo Ypremian-style. Still, there were others that were boneheaded throws that the Chiefs failed to come up w/ but were thrown right to 'em. Those cannot be blamed on a "slip." He has to show better judgment when looking down the field. He also needs to be more composed in the face of a rush. This, folks, was the difference 'tween the Ravens' strategy last week and the Chiefs' strategy this week. While Baltimore, for some stupid reason, chose not to pressure Fitzpatrick, the Chiefs let 'em have it. And Fitz failed to handle the situation w/ composure. It's as I have been saying; the guy has tons of heart and is a good backup, but the Bills need to have more from the QB position in terms of a starter. Fred Jackson ran hard 2 times, but also ran not-so-smart other times (overshot his blockers on a play to the left side that appeared to have been one where they would've had a nice gain). All he needs is just a little patience (that sounds nice; I should write a song w/ those lyrics) in those circumstances and let the big guys do their job. C.J. Spiller had limited action (again; uh, Chan?) and did little. I would love to see him used more w/ Jackson as a flanker type ala Reggie Bush. This could create those mismatches that the Bills could benefit from, especially w/ the production they are getting from the wideouts of late. If this guy has the ability to create the sort of offensive spark that the Bills organization said he could when they drafted 'em, then it's up to these guys to put him in position to do more. What they're getting from Spiller is simply not cutting it. Let's put the plan in motion, coaches. The receivers didn't play as well as they had against the Ravens, but w/ the constant pressure the Chiefs were bringing, it was tough for any passing game to get established. David Nelson made some nice catches as the Bills attempted to get the passing game going late by spreading the Chiefs out to neutralize the rush. Steve Johnson, last week's big hero of this unit, did make a TD catch, but was kept in check for most of the game otherwise. Same w/ Lee Evans, who did make some noise on the game tying drive and in OT. The guy I was impressed w/ was Roscoe Parrish, who has really done a good job of coming up w/ tough catches and finding ways to get open to sustain drives. Still nothing from the tight end position. This has got to be addressed this offseason. Whether they go after a franchise QB in the draft or stick w/ Fitzpatrick, a dependable receiving option and capable blocker @ the tight end position should be a high priority for the Bills. Looks like a big step back for the offensieve line. Cordaro Howard looked every bit as bad this week as he looked promising last week. Three sacks given up? Yikes. The motion penalty sucked, but this was a nip 'n tuck game being played @ Arrowhead, so I can see where it may get loud enough for someone to screw up the snap count. But his run blocking also looked bad. Andy Studebaker looked like Clay Matthews coming off the left side! Ugh. Howard and Demetrius Bell got handled by Tamba Hali, who was just disruptive all game long. The Bills had no answer for the guy. His constant pressure allowed the Chiefs front seven to keep the pressure on Fitzpatrick all game long. The middle of the line, in terms of pass protection, didn't look quite as horrible as Howard, but wasn't stellar either. Geoff Hangartner had his hands full w/ Ron Edwards (yes, the same Ron Edwards the Bills jettisoned years ago) while Wallace Gilberry had his way w/ Bell and Eric Wood. Oh yeah, Gilberry was making his FIRST career start on Sunday. Wow. Wood has looked pretty timid for a guy who was drafted to give this O line the kind of fiesty bada** they have lacked in recent years. He's certainly no John Davis, that's for sure. Talk 'bout a bada** guard coming back from a major injury! I sure miss those days. The defensive line wasn't great, but they had their moments. What do I mean? Well, there was one play in the 2nd quarter where Dwan Edwards was left hanging. I'll explain: it was a running play to the left side. Edwards strung the blocker out wide, forcing the action back to the inside, where the linebackers were playing the gaps (instead of being wider than the DE, they lined up inside of the DE). That should've meant a bone crushing tackle once the cutback was made, right? Uh....no. The linebacker was nowhere to be found, as he was engulfed by a block that was far from impressive. It was a waste of a great effort by Edwards to neutralize the play. Kyle Williams may need surgery, as he seemed to play his guts out all over the field. As I've said numerous times; he's all heart. Imagine his tenacity coupled w/ Albert Haynesworth's talent......scary! Williams came up w/ a sack and worked to make plays @ or behind the line of scrimmage, something I had thought was a lost art w/ the Bills' front seven. Props for a great game. Marcus Stroud actually had a decent game too. Not nearly as many of those, "blast 'em off the line and out of the play" type plays from Stroud this week. Torell Troup got some time in but didn't really do much damage. I still would love to see more reps from Troup to develop 'em into a lane clogging NT. Considering the huge rush total the Chiefs had, it's easy to say these guys just flat out sucked. Looking more into it, though, that's not entirely the case. They need so much more in terms of support from... Again, the linebackers were putrid. Remember the play I mentioned where Edwards strung the play out but the linebacker couldn't close it? The linebacker in question was one Reggie Torbor. On that play, he looked confused off the snap, took off to the inside, realized it was going outside, and then ran right into a timid block....that he couldn't shed!!!! Paul Posluszny, a TBD whipping boy, was the top performer of this group, but that's not a ringing endorsement these days. Still, he did look a bit better in his pursuit and did help shut down a third and short play. He also was better in his pass coverage. Really, he was! As for the rest of 'em.....awful. Akin Ayodele, Andra Davis, Torbor, and Chris Kelsay in particular were non factors in defending the run. Did you see the gigantic rush lanes to the outside? They also came up short in defending the short pass (again). Especially in overtime, when rookie Chiefs TE Tony Moeaki was able to get open and make the defense pay. He had 15 yards per catch and really impressed me as a blocker too. He looks to be a good one. I think this is going to be the case 'til the Bills upgrade the talent in the LB unit. We have 9 more games of, "same as it ever was" to look forward to outta these guys, it seems. The secondary represented a bit better this week. Thank goodness. Leodis McKelvin looked better in run support (didn't he, Matt Cassel?) and also held his own in coverage. Donte Whitner, another TBD whipping boy, was okay. Still no splash plays, but this guy isn't Troy Polamalu or even Eric Berry, who looks to be a star on the rise. He's solid but not spectacular, as he was on Sunday. George Wilson got some run and missed a pick six. Drayton Florence got beat for another score (when Bowe caught the one yarder), but was okay in coverage for the most part. Bryan Scott and Jairus Byrd also helped keep things in check coverage wise. Byrd is improving in run support, but still has plenty of room to improve. The kicking game was okay overall. Brian Moorman's punt were short for most of the day, but he was mostly going to pin the Chiefs inside the 20. I thought the decision to punt toward the sideline and not let the Chiefs return it in overtime was a good decision, but a bad punt (a 26 yarder). Rian Lindell's second attempt @ the game winner was oh so close, but no good. As bad as that wind was kicking up, the fact that he got a pair of 53 yard kicks up and had the accuracy too was impressive. Parrish's return late looked to be just what the doctor ordered (and what has victimized the Bills in games past): a great start to set the Bills up w/ good field position. But, Fitzpatrick threw the pick to Berry and that squashed it. Spiller couldn't find any room to get clear on kick returns. Something for Bruce DeHaven to work on? Hey Chan, could you please find a way to get Spiller on the field more? Please?! Also, you may have wanted to run the ball a bit more. Could've taken pressure off of Fitzpatrick, who had Tamba Hali draped all over 'em, and the O line. And what's w/ the defensive flip flopping? If the 3-4 isn't working, stick w/ the 4-3. If you think you can get something done w/ the 3-4, then work to put the guys in the right spots for this to happen. But make a decision either way. And so, the Bills are now 0-7. I want to believe they won't go winless, but I am waiting for the scenario to take place where they can get a win. Other team playing poorly while you're playing well? Nah, didn't work last week. Get a bunch of turnovers early? Uh uh; blew the Jacksonville game that started just that way. Play well enough to be in a close game late to where you can make a few plays and come up w/ a win? Well, that was this week, and they couldn't do it. I will remain ever so faithful that the Bills will figure it out. But if they don't...

Hightower in the fourth round??????