A Few Thoughts About The Game

[Doc]

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/135061-congratulations-bills-fan-great-win/

 

He and Chronic each posted with congrats, haven't seen Bump though.

Bump was in the Shoutbox during the game, especially at the end, and gave the Bills and us props for winning. I was impressed by their classiness, given their rep and how other opposing fans have behaved.

 

And I hope that they get the pass D figured out. If they do, this is going to be a really good team.

[OvrOfficiousJerk]

We played two of the top rushing teams in the league. Our entire MO was to stop the run. Say what you will about Merriman's performance, but stop the run we did.

 

Let's see what type of pass rush we can generate when it is top priority, coming up this week!

 

I didn't see much of the first half and a good chunk of the third (and, for that matter, not in a good mental state for the balance of the game). Have we been blitzing at all? I wouldn't be surprised if Chan-stachedt didn't want to show anything that Belicheat could gameplan against.

[Beerball]

I didn't see much of the first half and a good chunk of the third (and, for that matter, not in a good mental state for the balance of the game). Have we been blitzing at all? I wouldn't be surprised if Chan-stachedt didn't want to show anything that Belicheat could gameplan against.

I do think that we will see a very different scheme against NE. I am expecting (hoping for) a strong push up the middle from Williams with LBs rushing off him. The ends have to get up field a bit and squeeze the pocket, but the pressure has to come into brady*s face.

 

I'm more concerned about whether we can do something different on offense. Unless we show some ability to stretch the field I see the pats* rushing 3-4 and clamping down on the short zones.

[Captain Hindsight]

The defense could have played better, especially the secondary. The offense, well, after Freddy's TD, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind we were going to win. I knew it, My whole section knew and the Bills knew it.

 

Oakland knew it too. Watch their body language after we took the lead the first time in the 4th. That D knew they couldnt stop us. It was beautiful really

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Bump was in the Shoutbox during the game, especially at the end, and gave the Bills and us props for winning. I was impressed by their classiness, given their rep and how other opposing fans have behaved.

 

And I hope that they get the pass D figured out. If they do, this is going to be a really good team.

 

All 3 of our Raiders "guests showed classy, Bump during and Chronic & RaiderJoe after.

 

I didn't see much of the first half and a good chunk of the third (and, for that matter, not in a good mental state for the balance of the game). Have we been blitzing at all? I wouldn't be surprised if Chan-stachedt didn't want to show anything that Belicheat could gameplan against.

 

Negative, no blitzing. We were very focused on the run. We pressured, but not enough. Campbell had time to order pizza from the backfield. And have it delivered. And eat a slice.

 

Give Brady that much time and .... at least we'll get the ball back quickly.

[Bill from NYC]

I stll can't believe we ended up with the best big man in the draft. And Kyle seems to be getting even quicker off of the ball, somehow. Those two cause a lot of problems. It's the edges where we struggle. We need an OLB.

 

Did you see the way he pursues? He made a sideline tackle upfield! I watched him as close as I could and he never appeared to be winded or tired.

Watch what happens if we get people like this on the offensive front.

[JohnC]

1) Here is the bottom line.....there are no better fans than us. It isn't close. Make no mistake, people know this. Fans from other teams look at us and know what we go through. There were fans laughing today when the situation looked grim. But tell me, how f&^%$&*g great was it to wind up on top against a team with some talent and a smug coach? These people stopped laughing.

 

2) Sorry to say this, but the Raiders were running succesfully against Merriman. There is no point in denying this. That said, I think that he is going to be a dominant LB on this football team. How great is that?

 

3) Very disappointing play by McKelvin on the first play of the second quarter when the receiver just took the football from him. At some point, the Levy/Jauron cancer (and yes, I am calling McKelvin a Buffalo Bills cancer) will be chopped off.

 

4) Go ahead.....compare Poz to Barnett. There is no logical comparison. Wow, this man can play football! I would take him on my football team any day of the week.

 

5) Here is the thing about my man Dareus.....The kid bit on a couple of screens. I understand this. He is a rookie and this is to be expected. My point is that without him, we would hve been slaughtered. I love the way this kid plays football. PLEASE forget the stats.

 

6)The TD run by Fred Jackson was about as nice a run as I have ever seen by a Buffalo Bills football player not named OJ.

 

7) I am going to make a statement. D. Nelson is going to be a great

receiver. I like his potential more than that of Stevie Johnson, or at least as much.

 

8) I will do it. Props go out to Spiller. He went down WAY too easy more than once, but he played well today.

 

9) I will also concede that Bell played well today. So did Levitre. They were quite the pair. Even when Fitz threw the pick, they played their positions played well. That bad pass was all on Fitz.

 

10) Speaking of Fitz, consider me of the opinion that here is no qb better suited for this particular football team right now. This man can play football, and I really appreciate this.

 

11) I want to say more bad things about McKelvin, but I'm not going to ruin a beautiful day of being a fan of the Buffalo Bills football team.

 

12) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Many of your points I agree with and some I don't. There is a crescendo of criticism building against McKelvin, it is unfair. In this game he was around the ball. On the big Moore reception down the middle McKelvin had very good coverage. The receiver made a great play on the ball. If anyone was to be blamed it should have been the safety, Scott, who should have been behind the play. The rules against the DBs are handicuffing them in coverage. If you look at the passing stats where qbs are throwing for 500 yds and a lot of 400 yds you will see how the non-conact rules against the receivers are hindering the dbs. The same rules that affected our dbs affected the Raiders dbs.

 

There is no doubt that McKelvin doesn't have the greatest instincts as a defensive player. His supreme physical abilities trump his mental abilities. I'm hoping with more experience and good coaching he can become more disciplined and focused. What he doesn't need right now is to be negatively labeled and have the fans and media etc. create an undeserved bandwagon that will add more pressure on him. McKelvin is playing one of the toughtest positions in the game. There is a learning process that goes along with it. When he first came to the Bills he was extremely raw. Slowly but steadily I see some progress to his game.

 

I have been harping on the Spiller issue since he was drafted. As you know I have readily accepted his drafting while a lot of people were frustrated (understandably so) with the pick. In this game CJ showed glimpses of what he can do. The run around the end was exceptional. Here again, as with McKelvin, good coaching and patience will enhance his development. The coaching staff is trying to instill discipline and decisiveness to his running style. He has got to learn that the pro game is demonstrably different than the college game. I see him evolving and understanding that he can't dance around, that he needs to take what is there. If CJ is able to make some big plays he will be a worthy pick. If he doesn't then his drafting will have been a mistake. I''m still in the column that it was a reasonable pick.

 

Where I absolutely agree with you is that Dareus is a stud. You can't judge his contribution by the stats. In my view he is the anchor of the defense.

 

One thing that bothered me by this game is the neutralization of Merriman. He seems to have lost his explosion. In both games he seemed to be bottled up. I'm hoping that he was simply responsibly playing his position and making sure that no one got wide on him. But his efforts in the pass rush were not effective.

[Bill from NYC]

Bill are you advocating a CB early in the draft? lol, kind of sounds that way.

 

LOL No! Not until they are rock solid up front. And, I remind you that Leodis was a #11.

[truth on hold]

The rules against the DBs are handicuffing them in coverage.

unless your last name is Revis. Rules don't apply on his island.

[Doc]

I do think that we will see a very different scheme against NE. I am expecting (hoping for) a strong push up the middle from Williams with LBs rushing off him. The ends have to get up field a bit and squeeze the pocket, but the pressure has to come into brady*s face.

 

I'm more concerned about whether we can do something different on offense. Unless we show some ability to stretch the field I see the pats* rushing 3-4 and clamping down on the short zones.

The Pats are playing a 4-3 now, meaning 1 less LB in coverage. There will be guys open.

[TPS]

I think a lot of the criticism of the D is better attributed to HJ's excellent play-calling for the Raiders. Big screen passes that caught a hard-charging Buffalo D off-guard at least 3 times on 3rd down. Long passes on first downs, like Moore's last TD catch. These are things that are easily fixable.

 

For me, this game tells me the Bills are now physical enough to match the Jets, which was going to be my gauge for this team. A physical team like the Jets is how you beat the Pats. I think we can take this game.

I also think the Pats will lose to the Raiders. They are a good team.

[LabattBlue]

Good

 

Fitz

Jackson

Nelson

Run Defense

OL

FINDING A WAY TO WIN A CLOSE GAME

 

Bad

 

McKelvin

Gailey not going for it on 4th down in the 1st half

Merriman - It is only two games in, but sooner or later the Bills have to generate a pass rush

Brad Smith - I hope they have more in mind for him than a few touches a game

 

 

Ugly

 

Pass defense getting torched

If the refs had come out 10 minutes after the game had ended and declared Oakland the winner...

Edited September 19, 2011 by LabattBlue

[CodeMonkey]

If the refs had come out 10 minutes after the game had ended and declared Oakland the winner...

I thought there was a real possibility of this. It had to be reviewed because it could have been a TD for the Raiders. If the Raider WR had joint possession at any time with Searcy while in the endzone, its a TD (as a tie goes to the offense). Based on how long the decision took to be made, it was obviously a VERY close call. Someone better tell Searcy (and probably all the DBs) F your personal interception stat, on a hail mary you spike that B word to the ground!

[FLFan]

1) Here is the bottom line.....there are no better fans than us. It isn't close. Make no mistake, people know this. Fans from other teams look at us and know what we go through. There were fans laughing today when the situation looked grim. But tell me, how f&^%$&*g great was it to wind up on top against a team with some talent and a smug coach? These people stopped laughing.

 

2) Sorry to say this, but the Raiders were running succesfully against Merriman. There is no point in denying this. That said, I think that he is going to be a dominant LB on this football team. How great is that?

 

3) Very disappointing play by McKelvin on the first play of the second quarter when the receiver just took the football from him. At some point, the Levy/Jauron cancer (and yes, I am calling McKelvin a Buffalo Bills cancer) will be chopped off.

 

4) Go ahead.....compare Poz to Barnett. There is no logical comparison. Wow, this man can play football! I would take him on my football team any day of the week.

 

5) Here is the thing about my man Dareus.....The kid bit on a couple of screens. I understand this. He is a rookie and this is to be expected. My point is that without him, we would hve been slaughtered. I love the way this kid plays football. PLEASE forget the stats.

 

6)The TD run by Fred Jackson was about as nice a run as I have ever seen by a Buffalo Bills football player not named OJ.

 

7) I am going to make a statement. D. Nelson is going to be a great

receiver. I like his potential more than that of Stevie Johnson, or at least as much.

 

8) I will do it. Props go out to Spiller. He went down WAY too easy more than once, but he played well today.

 

9) I will also concede that Bell played well today. So did Levitre. They were quite the pair. Even when Fitz threw the pick, they played their positions played well. That bad pass was all on Fitz.

 

10) Speaking of Fitz, consider me of the opinion that here is no qb better suited for this particular football team right now. This man can play football, and I really appreciate this.

 

11) I want to say more bad things about McKelvin, but I'm not going to ruin a beautiful day of being a fan of the Buffalo Bills football team.

 

12) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent points as usual, Bill. I thought the O Line played well all day, especially on the run, but Fitz had time when he needed it as well. Dareus is a stud. Did you ntoice that after getting burned on screens earlier in the game, he actually came off his block and came across the formation to make the tackle on screen to the other side in the 4th quarter? I totally agree on Nelson. I was very impressed with Spiller in the way he read blocks and exploded to the hole. He is definitely not a pile driver, but his speed and quickness are unquestionable. Definitely getting there.

 

Merriman had a tougher day today, and the lack of rush is troubling, but he has defintiely made a difference on this defense and I think he will continue to improve - he has essentially been out for over two years. McKelvin had a tough day. I thought he played that deep ball really well but it was certainly disappointing he could not outfight the WR for it. The DBs are going to have to play better as a group, especially next week.

 

The best thing about this game is the way they came out after a poor first half and took control of the game. No quit in this team - love it. Fitz is a great leader and they absolutely believe in him. Gailey gets a lot of criticism around here, but he has this team believing in themselves and playing hard for one another which is great to see and a night and day difference in attitude from the lost years of Jauron, Mularky, and Williams. I love his play calling - they are fun to watch. Tighten up the D next week, and I see no reason they can not hang in there against New England.

 

I thought there was a real possibility of this. It had to be reviewed because it could have been a TD for the Raiders. If the Raider WR had joint possession at any time with Searcy while in the endzone, its a TD (as a tie goes to the offense). Based on how long the decision took to be made, it was obviously a VERY close call. Someone better tell Searcy (and probably all the DBs) F your personal interception stat, on a hail mary you spike that B word to the ground!

I was really scared over this call - it could have gone the other way. I am sure Searcy will receive some "personal instruction" on this point today. Rookie mistake that he got away with thankfully. How depressing would that have been?

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Best game I've seen from him. He was effective in spelling Jackson and had some nice plays.

 

I mentioned it elsewhere, but I'll put it here too. I loved the design of our final offensive play. The fact that it was 4th & 1 made the Raiders have to play honest. We had 1 timeout left and could have just as easily run as throw. Spiller did his job on that play very well. He ended up triple covered while nobody went with Nelson. A really well designed play that was executed perfectly.

I do believe we were out of timeouts here, Beerball. We had burned one needlessly when the clock was already stopped, and we used the final one after the third down completion to Nelson.

[section122]

I was really scared over this call - it could have gone the other way. I am sure Searcy will receive some "personal instruction" on this point today. Rookie mistake that he got away with thankfully. How depressing would that have been?

After the ref made the ruling all of my friends were jumping up and down and I was frozen. One of my friends asked what I was doing. I said its the bills tell me the nfl won't overturn this and call it a td for the raiders. I didn't move until I had confirmed all the players were leaving the field... pavlovs dog has nothing on me lol

 

I would like to add though this is a new bills team. Down 18 at half? Game would have been over... 2 4th down conversions? There was a thread last week about greatest moment as a bills fan - this game ranks right up there for me!

[Orton's Arm]

I thought there was a real possibility of this. It had to be reviewed because it could have been a TD for the Raiders. If the Raider WR had joint possession at any time with Searcy while in the endzone, its a TD (as a tie goes to the offense). Based on how long the decision took to be made, it was obviously a VERY close call. Someone better tell Searcy (and probably all the DBs) F your personal interception stat, on a hail mary you spike that B word to the ground!

Normally a DB should spike the ball in that situation. In this case, there was a pile of guys right where the ball was. If you're going to spike the ball in that situation, you have to be reasonably sure that some random hand isn't going to reach out and grab the ball on its way to the ground. If Searcy was focused on the location of the ball (which he clearly was) he may have lost track of the exact whereabouts of the WRs around him. With a crowd like that, all it takes is just one WR who's fallen to the ground to turn a batted down ball into a completion.

[Dan]

I do believe we were out of timeouts here, Beerball. We had burned one needlessly when the clock was already stopped, and we used the final one after the third down completion to Nelson.

I was miffed at the use of timeouts at the end of the game as well. But, if that's what it took to make sure they were on the same page and had the right play called; I'm all for it. Given the gravity of the situation and overall inexperience of the team, it was probably the right decision to take the time out and make sure they had it all figured out.

 

I had similar thoughts about the FG near the end of the first half. I wanted to go for the first down.. .then the TD. But, sometimes, it's important to just get something positive on the scoreboard. Had they not gotten a first down; it may have completely deflated the team. Given, the outcome of the game, it obviously all worked out. My only summation is that Chan knows what the team needs to keep them winning and as long as we're winning more than losing... I guess he's right.

[BuffaloBill]

Its stunning that McKelvin who has the physical skills just can't get the job done. Teams will continue to exploit the situation until he shows he can respond. He will likely be a nickle CB and that's a shame given where he was selected.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Darius is incredibe. a 340 LB'er chasing down RB's on screen plays. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? He makes the whole D better.

 

McKelvin and Wilson clearly had bulls-eyes on their backs. The irony of the fomrally abysmal run defense was the oft unchallenged secondary appeared to be a strength. Now that Chix added big strong men in the trenches, reality is the 2 DB (willaims & Searcey) picks look remarkably on target to address the next areas of concern on D. Hoping both grow into increased play time and soon.