How about Bell putting the glove on T. Hali!

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

I told my family that Bell was the biggest surprise of the afternoon for me, on a day bursting with pleasant surprises. As many have said, you didn't hear much from Hali despite Bell being isolated on him quite a bit. The even BIGGER surprise than that was seeing the way Demetrius went to work in the running game, observed him multiple times controlling his man and throwing key blocks to spring Captain Jackson. Even saw him get to the second level more than once and take LBs out of the play. An impressive performance from a guy I thought was a weak link-- lets hope he can maintain this level of play.

 

Still concerned some with the right side of the line, though there was room for The Captain on the ground today, and he was spot on. I don't know how he (Freddy) spent the offseason but he is significantly better this year than last, and I hope he gets more recognition around the league.

 

It's a good thing Gailey knows how to scheme around so-so pass pro and that the Amish One understands what needs to be done. But overall a much better performance from the guys up front than was expected!

[billsfan89]

Bell got a lot of help BUT there were a few instances of one on one match-ups where Bell more than held his own. I am very bi-polar on Bell this off-season. Going into the off-season I was very high on Bell, I thought that in 2009 he was the NFL's worst LT, but his 2010 season was actually decent and that remarkable improvement from one of the worst starters in the NFL to a decent starter was made more impressive because he was coming off of a serious injury.

 

I thought going into the off-season that he would only stand to improve being further removed from a serious injury and getting a full 16 games of experience behind him (Bell barely played in college and didn't play high school football the more experience the better). But then Bell looks very bad in pre-season and I was like where the hell did the guy who played decently last season go?

 

After today's good play I am starting to think Bell will be a pretty decent NFL LT but its just too hard to get a reed on the guy after just one game.

[tombstone56]

i did see one play in particular where bell drove hali back ontop of another chief piling both up

[ganesh]

he looked pretty damn good

Coach Gailey has never felt that Bell couldn't play. The issue that has been troubling Bell has been CONSISTENCY. Now the question is, can he bring the same A game to Ralph Wilson Stadium next week.

[shibuya]

sad part is we knew he was an OK player and he has had success... it was his consistency that many questioned... and of course the 1st 2 preseason games this year put a lot of us in to "Oh no here we go again" mode.

 

 

Just imagine what would have happened if the Bills FO and coaches panicked and started bringing in Dockery's and Walker's to appease the fan base

Edited September 12, 2011 by shibuya

[cage]

Coach Gailey has never felt that Bell couldn't play. The issue that has been troubling Bell has been CONSISTENCY. Now the question is, can he bring the same A game to Ralph Wilson Stadium next week.

 

Hopefully he and the OL will find their consistency this year. They're all very young players, if they can stay consistent our OL can perhaps by set for a number of years.

 

Last week somebody posted a YouTube clip of the 25th anniversary of Jim Kelly's debut with the Bills. In the opening of the game they flashed up the "mediocre" OL that Kelly may have to "struggle" behind... the punch line was that the linemen were Will Wilford (rookie), Kent Hull, Mike Devlin, Jim Richter and Ken Jones. Hysterical characterization in hindsight. Hopefully we'll be able to say the same about this OL in a few years.