Rubes

A lot of this has been said before, so my apologies, but... After the first quarter of the season was over and we were sitting at 2-2, there was a lot of talk about how we were a young, improving team on the rise. One of the problems, though, is that we were basically a new team. We had a new offensive and defensive coordinator, and mostly new strategies on both sides of the ball. It takes time for opposing teams to figure out what you're doing and to find the weaknesses. I've always believed that the first four games are generally your time to take advantage of the fact that other teams don't have enough film on you to really get a handle on what you're doing. So it's of course disappointing that we've now dropped three straight. Teams seem to have figured us out pretty easily. Hell, most of us have known what our weakness are for weeks now, but it's safe to say that other teams really have a handle on how to best attack our offense and defense, and we're essentially powerless to stop it. Although I feel like I know a lot about football, one thing I definitely don't know much about is strategy. And for the life of me, I just can't figure out why we are doing the things we do, so I just chalk it up to my lack of knowledge. But perhaps others smarter than me can help. On offense, I just don't get it. The times when JP has looked most comfortable are the times when we call quick passes. 3- and 5-step drops. Short patterns, quick slants, swing passes, short comeback routes. It seems to work well. Hell, the Pats still do this with regularity. So why don't we do more of this? I am dumbfounded at the number of times Fairchild calls deep, 7-step drops. We can't do this. We don't have the offensive line to keep doing this on a regular basis. People talk about how the short, quick passing game works well at slowing down a pass rush. Isn't that what we need? A healthy dose of the short passing game to set up the occasional deep drop. Build JP's confidence. Build the line's confidence. And it allows other people to actually run routes...people like Willis and the tight ends, rather than staying in to block every time because our five linemen can't handle a four-man rush. How many times have we used a five receiver set? A four receiver set? Three might be asking too much with this group. It's not an exciting style...in fact, it's Kelly Holcomb-type boring. But isn't it what you need with a young QB and a piss-poor offensive line? Do I just not get it? On defense, I profess to know even less. But I do know what I see. I see, game after game, opposing team's wide receivers running around our secondary in large gaping holes, no defenders anywhere near them as they make one easy catch after another. But on the other side, it's a rarity to see our receivers without a defender on their back as soon as the ball arrives. It's a frustrating thing to watch, and I just don't understand it. It's part of the defensive philosophy, I guess. One thing I do know, however, is that we just don't have the horses on either line. Merz was pressed into action and I think the best thing I can say is that he didn't get a penalty. Villarial's best attribute is that he has the uncanny ability to stay on his feet and not do anything while the rest of his line is scattered on the ground like the remnants of a hurricane. Peters has his moments, but that's about the best it gets. We have five guys who can't reliably handle four defensive linemen. And on defense, our four man rush is rarely able to do much against a talented line, and they are just too easy to push around. I'm not convinced that we're headed in the wrong direction defensively, but to have to watch this disaster on both sides of the ball is almost too much.

I really don't see how anyone can defend the Kelsay penalty. There is no way he was in the process of tackling Brady. Brady sat down and waited for the defenders to touch him. That was probably the biggest bonehead play I have seen in years. Kelsay should have been torn a new you-know-what.

I was into The Source and CompuServe back in the day. I still have some e-mails from my dad that I saved from back in 87 and 88 when I was in college. He did the same thing and pimped a University of Buffalo VAX account from a friend. By the way, I really appreciated that link to those old Computer Gaming World magazines. Brought back some great memories.

Who are those guys in blue?

I remember once saying the same thing about Bennie Anderson. Oh, how wrong I was.

He should have just done the easy thing and sold some autographed footballs with "I'm sorry I slashed my wife" on them.

Damn...it only took six weeks for Joe to stop taking his meds again.

Philadelphia Flyers = Miami Dolphins. Kicking the crap out of them just never gets old.

Cool, that means RJ was 1-0 for us in the playoffs.

Oh cool. Now we have four defensive ends who play much better when they're uncontested. Let's see how Fewell designs our defense to let these guys rush uncontested at Brady.

Congratulations! Nice to hear some good news around here for a change.

...why the hell I put myself through this every week?

In contrast, I think the coaching staff sh-- the bed this week.

Thanks...you know, I don't really expect the Bills to be executing perfectly at this point. We're trying to implement new offensive and defensive schemes, and much of that with new players. It will take time for these guys to get it right. The problem is that we should be seeing progression, not regression. I can't think of one position on this team where we've actually shown improvement over the course of the year. Except maybe Lindell and Moorman.

This game was a complete failure across the board, from the players to the coaches. But one thing was painfully clear: as much as it pains me to say it, Jerry Sullivan was 100% dead on this morning in his column. This game, not the Chicago game, was the game to show what this team is made of. The answer, of course, is not a whole lot. There aren't many places to begin; I can't really think of anyone except maybe Lindell and Moorman who really did their job well. But what's really disturbing is that our philosophies, on both offense and defense, are just plain crap. Whether that's due to preparation, execution, or decision-making, I don't know. Is it because we lack the talent to implement these strategies? Or is it because these strategies just don't work well? I don't know. Does it really matter? Our offense seems to be predicated on running the ball and throwing medium and deep passes. Problem is, you really need an offensive line to do either of those. Willis being the leading rusher in the league at any point this season has to be the #1 most misleading stat. We can't run the ball, and we certainly can't run the ball when we need to. And even more disturbing is that Fairchild just seems to want nothing more than to have JP do 7-step drops. Guess what? We suck as pass blocking. Our five guys can't handle four pass rushers. Hell, even an extra running back or tight end can't handle that. When did JP look most comfortable and successful? When we did 3-step drops and quick passes. We moved down the field effectively doing that on one drive. Then when we get within sniffing distance of the goal line, Fairchild throws that plan out the window. Too often Fairchild tries to be cute instead of keeping the chains moving. How about trying to fool them with the shotgun formation on 2nd and 2? That was a good one. On defense, I don't even know what to say. I'm tired of hearing the same excuses over and over. Everybody in the world knows we really can't stop the run when an opponent decides to stick to it, and it's just embarrassing. This was a team missing most of its starting offensive linemen, and they made it look easy. How is it that this strategy is supposed to work again? Is it just poor discipline, or a real lack of ability? Either way, this is a really crappy strategy to implement if these are the tools we have to work with. And as for our secondary, it really is a complete embarrassment that our two most senior members are crapping the bed. McGee should just have a big target painted on his chest. Roy Williams is eating up the secondary...what does Fewell do about it? Anything? Anybody? Maybe put Clements on him once in a while? Double cover him? Does anyone have an answer for this, or are we just crossing our fingers and hoping that McGee will figure out how to play corner? Do any of our corners except for Greer even *try* to knock the receivers at the line? The Lions receivers wandered around our defensive backfield all day unimpaired, yet every time our receivers catch a ball they have a defender on their back. Hmm, maybe we should give that a try? The most painful thing about this loss is not the loss. It's the wake-up call. The first quarter of the season was just a temporary blip while the rest of the league, even the doormats, got a chance to figure out that all you have to do is take advantage of our weaknesses and you'll be fine. I've been saying all along that this is a rebuilding year, and it will be another year or two before this team really shows if it's arrived. But I fully expect a promising team to be better than this. I didn't think we had a whole lot farther to go to be good, but this loss just proves that I was terribly wrong about that.

You have to wonder what those schmoes think of Rothlisberger at this point. If they just started watching football this year, they'd think he sucks a lot worse than JP.

Always thought he did a great job on a limited budget. He was a big reason for the success of Hanna-Barbera. I didn't realize he worked with Tex Avery before H-B. Might explain it...Tex is one of the greats. Flintstones animator Ed Benedict dies

Makes me miss living in Chicago... Great story! My brother-in-law is a Bears season tix holder and he tells me how sick he is of the whole "time-out" chant. FWIW.

There's an opponent that is sub-par to Tim Anderson?

This proves, once and for all, how disastrous Levy is in the GM position. He is way too old for this league. [/sarcasm]

I was really hoping we'd just do a QB sneak on 2nd and inches. Get the first down, keep the ball, three more plays. Ah well, what do I know.

I still don't understand how CV was the only guy standing up after Willis dove for that touchdown. It'd be nice to have CV in there for such a big game, but I'm fine with seeing what the kid has to offer.

If Willis can get over 100 yards, I'd say we have a good chance. One, or even two turnovers by the Bears is important, but probably not enough.

Let's just hope the Bears are thinking the same thing come Monday.

At the game. Freaking out. I remember being able to hear so very clearly the sound of the football against Fred's hand.