Just Caught The First Half

[Chandler#81]

I don't generally. But in this case it does serve two purposes:

1) Take the pressure off of the "standard" offense to always have to perform well.

 

2) Gives us a chance to see how creative Gailey is. That is, what things he can come up with all season to surprise defenses beyond standard wildcat.

 

 

I don't, generally, either. But if pre-season game #1 is any indication, I'll embrace anything that keeps the chains moving after 3rd down. IMO, the outlandish amount of 3 & outs last year were more contributing to our terrible rush defense than perceived lack of talent. At one point the other night, we converted 3-5 3rd downs. Didn't look at all like the team from last year. Of course, the uni's may have blinded my vision..

[C.Biscuit97]

I don't, generally, either. But if pre-season game #1 is any indication, I'll embrace anything that keeps the chains moving after 3rd down. IMO, the outlandish amount of 3 & outs last year were more contributing to our terrible rush defense than perceived lack of talent. At one point the other night, we converted 3-5 3rd downs. Didn't look at all like the team from last year. Of course, the uni's may have blinded my vision..

 

I watched the game with a friend who is a huge Jets fan. Obviously, he is a horrible person but he us beyond pissed about losing Smith (probably because he would be the best qb on the Jets). Smith is money in short yardage situations and the fact can legitimately throw the ball us going to drive defenses crazy. Smith is going to help us win some games this year.

[BEAST MODE BABY!]

Heard stepped up on my radar. I hope they keep Jasper but somehow, now I want them to keep developing both of these big guys.

 

A few times, they had Jasper and Heard lined up together as DT's. THat's a lot of man right there. Jasper gets great push, but (like someone pointed out) he's not good at disengaging from blocks yet. Then again, Troup wasn't last year either. And like others pointed out, Heard impressed me too. He shot off the ball and beat the guard on his sack. That was impressive.

 

There was one play where Jasper followed the runner on play action and could have leveled the quarterback if he had sniffed it out. Jasper was held/hands to the face on the Williams interception. Once Jasper improves his technique and stops thinking/starts reacting, he could be very, very good.

[DrDawkinstein]

NO! No, no no no no no no!

 

This is NOT the kind of dink and dunk offense Trent would have thrived in. Do not equate short passes with dink and dunk. Trent excelled at throwing short passes to STATIONARY receivers. The short passes you saw from Fitz on Saturday were short, TIMING routes thrown to guys RUNNING to an open spot on the field.

 

Getting guys open in space. It's no !@#$ing mystery. Gailey has been saying it THE ENTIRE TIME HE'S BEEN IN BUFFALO. IT'S WHY HE LOVES ROSCOE, IT'S WHY HE DRAFTED SPILLER.

 

Edwards was doomed to fail in Gailey's offense because it requires the quarteback AND the receivers to identify the open area and get the ball there. Not run there, stop wait for the ball, catch it and hope you don't get creamed by the four defensive players barreling in on you.

 

YES!

 

Watching Fitz back there is pretty encouraging. He is very deliberate and delivers the ball right out of his drop.

 

It's 1-2-3-THROW. And he's throwing to a spot he knows the WR should be at. THAT is what we missed for so long.

 

Edwards/Losman were more like: 1-2-3-Look Downfield-Where are my guys?-Uh oh, here comes the rush-Scramble around-Look for a WIDE OPEN guy-Pat the ball-Ok, dump to my RB...

Edited August 15, 2011 by DrDareustein

[Spiderweb]

I thought Merriman looked more power than speed. Whatever, it was a big improvement.Barnett looked a little rusty. Kelsay tries but misses alot on plays to his side. He just has NO lateral movement. He needs to add more weight and go back to d-end ,even if he is alittle small.

 

My observation on Merriman as well. Yet I do hope that with more PT and confidence, his burst will also return to near what it once was.

[Mark Vader]

Wow, no love for Fred Jackson? I thought he looked great in limited action, he needs to touch the ball at least 20 times a game! 20 touches and he'll open up the passing game for Fitz, who also looked good in a vanilla offensive game plan...

I thought Jackson looked like he was ready for the regular season to start right now. It is vital that we get Jackson into a rhythm. I know the O-Line has it's issues, but Jackson has always been a patient RB and he finds ways to make a play.

 

I know that Gailey loves to pass, but we need to get more consistency out of the running game this year in order to open up the offense even more. As for the rest of the game, I was very impressed with how both our first team offense & defense looked.

 

Fitzpatrick looked very comfortable and I think he will build on what he did last year.

 

I'd like to see Scott Chandler get more passes thrown his way, he might just be the Tight End the Bills have needed for a long time.

 

The O-Line did a good job overall. Not much to criticize about.

 

The WR's look good. Still need to see something from Easley, and Buster Davis is showing me nothing so far.

 

The D-Line should definitely improve. I know it's only 1 preseason game, but they did a nice job. Dareus is not just a bull rusher he has some great technique. Spencer Johnson & Dwan Edwards added pressure and look good. I'd love to see Carrington get more playing time.

 

Shawne Merriman was the big "?" coming into the season and it looks like everything will pay off. I know he got his sacks on Hanie, but he did apply pressure when Cutler was out there. He looks reborn to me. I have been a big critic of Andra Davis, but I must admit that he looked very good. Barnett looked a bit lost a couple of times, but I'm not concerned about him.

 

The secondary did not show that much to me good or bad. Aside from Florence's glaring poor tackling. I'll need to see more to have a better assessment.

 

As for the back-up players, well there is a reason why they are backup's.

 

The O-Line backup's were putrid, nothing more needs to be said.

 

I am liking the addition of Brad Smith even more now. If he gets more chances like he did in this game, he can do wonders for our offense.

 

Danny Batten made some plays and should get more of an opportunity.

 

I think that Arthur Moats should be moved back to OLB, because he was invisible in this game.

 

Aaron Williams got a learning curve and will need a lot more practice time. Still, I loved his concentration on the interception.

 

Johnny White did a good job considering he was in the game with the porous backup O-Line.

 

Tyler Thigpen was ok, but I think he would do fine if he was playing with the starting O-Line.

 

Jon Corto was in on some plays and looks like a good backup at safety.

 

Kellen Heard looked good, Torell Troup was decent & Michael Jasper was ok, he's definitely a project player.

 

Another important part of the game: No Injuries.

 

There was a lot to take from this game, now lets see how they do against Denver.

[RuntheDamnBall]

I am not one to chastise disgruntled fans. Coach Tuesday makes an excellent point in this thread. Many are frustrated not just because of losing. Losing for the same reasons is tough to take for almost 2 decades.

That said, the defense looks like it will be a strong one if they can stay healthy. I hope the offense can keep the ball and give them a rest.

No doubt, Bill, but his insults to fans genuinely excited about the Merriman signing, or even those who thought it was a good low-risk, high-reward move, wore pretty thin on me.

[Bill from NYC]

Didn't watch the game, only the highlights. If the O-line is as bad as everyone says it is, that's a pretty big indictment of the Nix regime, I have to say. It also might be time for everyone to re-evaluate their Eric Wood/Andy Levitre man crush. I know that you said Levitre is the best out of everyone, but I've also seen him get absolutely blown up in running plays, just the same as Urbik. Personally, I don't mind that the Bills didn't spend big bucks on the big name FA's out there, though I think Clabo was worth going all out for (especially given a the "cost reductions" that happened today (Maybin) and happened last week (Evans)). But its completely defenseless that they didn't take a few more shots on O-lineman during the draft. And even more defenseless that they didn't add veteran depth via free agency. They didn't need to sign a 50 million dollar guy, but why not take a shot on a few cast offs? I don't get it.

 

I agree with almost every word of this post. Wood was seriously injured, and it's hard to say if he will ever play up to being a first round pick who we traded away our best player for.

 

Before that particular draft, I didn't know much about Wood and would have been fine with the Bills taking Levitre at #28. He played LT in college; this explains his agility. He reminds me of Eric Steinbach in terms of balance and versatility. He isn't a bruiser but I'm perfectly OK with him at LG.

 

In terms of the 2011 draft, I feel your pain. Like the Senator says in this thread, Mallett was there to be taken. I like Fitz, but not grabbing Mallett will haunt us for many years imo. But even at that, a corner with the 2nd selection of round 2? It was also weird that a corner was taken 1 pick ahead of him by NE. Yes, I think that they should have either went for an OT at that spot (and might have been able to get one AND trade down), or offered Clabo enough guaranteed cash that he couldn't say no.

 

Still, I was thrilled by what I saw from Dareus, and most of all Merriman, who was a flat out beast. We have a chance to be a good defensive team this season. Seriously.

[The Big Cat]

I respectfully disagree. Evans didn't run the timing routes as well as some of the other receivers. He could run a mean deep route, but the short to intermediate timing routes weren't his forte. That's all Roscoe, and now Jones. Roosevelt, IMO, showed some decent route running, and Stevie still has a lot of upside...again IMO.

 

I thought the offense looked ok, but needs a little more gelling time. The line was ok...at least they are better than the Bears starting OL.

 

Defense looks very promising right now. I can't wait to get another look this Saturday.

 

IIRC, there were at least two plays where we had guys from our first string slip thanks to those awesome field conditions at Soldier.

 

I'd like to see how our little water bugs do in space when they can actually get some footing. Then I'll assess what the preseason has to show.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Didn't watch the game, only the highlights. If the O-line is as bad as everyone says it is, that's a pretty big indictment of the Nix regime, I have to say. It also might be time for everyone to re-evaluate their Eric Wood/Andy Levitre man crush. I know that you said Levitre is the best out of everyone, but I've also seen him get absolutely blown up in running plays, just the same as Urbik. Personally, I don't mind that the Bills didn't spend big bucks on the big name FA's out there, though I think Clabo was worth going all out for (especially given a the "cost reductions" that happened today (Maybin) and happened last week (Evans)). But its completely defenseless that they didn't take a few more shots on O-lineman during the draft. And even more defenseless that they didn't add veteran depth via free agency. They didn't need to sign a 50 million dollar guy, but why not take a shot on a few cast offs? I don't get it.

 

I don't get it either. Take a flyer on Gaither, for example. Is Max Starks still floating around?

 

I think there's a sense that we have to re-build this team solely through the draft, and it will take 3 years. You can't afford to spend one year rebuilding defense, then another year rebuilding offense, and then think it will all come together in year 3. Most teams can rebuild in one off-season now, even primarily through the draft.

[JohnC]

5) I don't like gadget players, but our best one is going to be Brad Smith imo. That's right, better than Spiller. We shall see.

 

GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If Spiller becomes a big play player can I say "I told you so"? I promise I won't say it in such a way that it will annoy you. It will be done with class and dignity. I also see Brad Smith being creatively used by the HC. Whether a player is labled a gadget player or not doesn't bother me. Making plays is what it is all about.

 

What makes me nervous are the paltry backups for our starting OTs? If Bell goes down the offense is sunk. The team was in a similar situation after Jason Peters was traded.

Edited August 15, 2011 by JohnC

[Bill from NYC]

If Spiller becomes a big play player can I say "I told you so"? I promise I won't say it in such a way that it will annoy you. It will be done with class and dignity. I also see Brad Smith being creatively used by the HC. Whether a player is labled a gadget player or not doesn't bother me. Making plays is what it is all about.

 

What makes me nervous are the paltry backups for our starting OTs? If Bell goes down the offense is sunk. The team was in a similar situation after Jason Peters was traded.

 

By all means. I will be happy if you do so because it will mean he is good. Btw, I expect him to break a long one soon and get us all excited. You might want to wait until he does something that counts.

[JohnC]

By all means. I will be happy if you do so because it will mean he is good. Btw, I expect him to break a long one soon and get us all excited. You might want to wait until he does something that counts.

 

If the line can give him a little space it will happen on more than a few occasions. If it doesn't then don't expect any miracles. I think this year he is going to be catching more swing passes and other types of passes just to get the ball in his hands more.

 

As you have noted for years the OL is still one of the major vulnerabilities on this team. I hope Nix/Gailey/Whaley are still searching for more help on the line, even if it is just for depth.

Edited August 15, 2011 by JohnC

[Kelly the Dog]

This may not be the right thread for this, but the Saints just released Jon Stinchcomb. He's coming off a knee injury but he is still solid, depending on what the Bills docs would say if they brought him in for a look. At least he would be valuable veteran insurance in case Pears went down or sucked.

 

If we cannot get a solid starter, and there aren't many or any to be had as far as I know, what we really need is a guy like Marcus Price, a veteran swing tackle back-up who could fill in on either side. Price wasn't thought of very highly but he filled in quite well when he had to when he was with the Bills.

[hammie65]

Agree with all points made, except I'll add that Wrotto doesn't confuse me - he is simply terrible. Urbik also looked clearly out of his league.

 

Agreed. Wrotto and Urbik won't make the roster IMO. Torbor as well.

[Dorkington]

I'm liking the way White runs. Reminds me of Lynch's first couple seasons, his legs don't stop moving, and imo, that's really important to pick up an extra yard or two at the end of a play.

[C.Biscuit97]

By all means. I will be happy if you do so because it will mean he is good. Btw, I expect him to break a long one soon and get us all excited. You might want to wait until he does something that counts.

 

 

Maybe you could take a little of your own advice and wait more than a season before calling him a bust then.

[Coach Tuesday]

Maybe you could take a little of your own advice and wait more than a season before calling him a bust then.

 

I could be wrong but I don't think he's calling him a "bust." He's saying it was a blown pick. Difference.

[Bill from NYC]

I could be wrong but I don't think he's calling him a "bust." He's saying it was a blown pick. Difference.

 

It appears to me to have been a senseless pick.

I like reading C-Mans posts but he is angry at me for not liking the duo of Levy/Jauron, so he lashes out at me once a month or so.

It's all cool.

[JohnC]

It appears to me to have been a senseless pick.

I like reading C-Mans posts but he is angry at me for not liking the duo of Levy/Jauron, so he lashes out at me once a month or so.

It's all cool.

 

That is not true. The lashes coming from him come out with a greater degree of frequency. Your back should be totally scarred by now. LOL

 

His posts and your posts are in the tight pack of posters I always consider---not always agreeing with (mostly do) but do mull over the well stated points.