A Few Thoughts About The Game

[JohnC]

The best player on the field was Cincinatti's receiver, Green. He has Dez Bryant talent with a high degree of maturity. He was very impressive. The player for the Bills I am starting to have concern with is Merriman. It appears that that injuries have take a toll on him. I see little explosiveness in his game. He seems to be easily handled by a blocker with little help from another player. That is a quite different level of play than from his early impact years at San Diego.

 

When watching Darius play it is very apparent that opposing teams gear their strategy to bottling him up with multiple players. He is a stud player whose performance can't be judged by stats. He is the anchor on the line. As NYC Bill noted Kelsay is playing well. He was very active yesterday.

 

McKelvin is a physical talent who has little instinct for defense. He has no feel for the game and loses sight of the ball. Our safeties are smart but very limited. They are a tad too slow and vulnerable to the big play (as someone else keenly noted).

 

I'm not going to get carried away as most others are with the Bills good start. What I'm looking for is improvement and a sense that the organization is moving in the right direction. From that standpooint I am more than satisfied. Many fans see Fitz as a stud qb. I don't. In my view he is a very smart qb with limitations. I consider him to be a lower-mid-range qb at best. You can have a respectable team with him but not a serious contending team with him at the hellm.

[atlbillsfan1975]

This game was what many of us were worried about.

The Bills seemed to get over confident, or weren't as focused.

Gailey did seem to call a very vanille/basic offense. I remember once on a second and one the Bills tried to run the ball straight up the middle and got shut down, even lost 2 yards. I thought to myself 'Chan is better then that'.

2 and 1 go for a play action and take a shot deep. it was while the Bills were up already, and could have been the dagger.

Oh well, Bills are still 3-1 and headed home to play the Eagles. This will be another good test for our Oline and Dline.

The Bengals showed that our Oline still has some more growing to do. And The Eagles play a very tough physical game.

[Jerry Jabber]

I didn't know the Bills had to play the Bengals and the refs yesterday?

 

1. I hate the "Tuck Rule". I thought the Raiders got screwed against the Pats in the AFC Championship game, and the Bills got screwed out of a TD yesterday.

2. How in the hell was Stevie's catch ruled incomplete? Even on the replay, it looked liked he had possession the entire way through. That took the Bills from 1st down in Bengals territory, to 4th down.

3. I saw at least 2 pass interference calls that weren't called against the Bengals D.

4. Our secondary sucks!!! McKelvin can't handle bigger WR's or TE's. The Bills need to upgrade the secondary big time in the offseason.

5. While the pass rush showed some life, it's still nowhere near it needs to be. The Bills need some dominating OLB's to get pressure on the QB.

6. Even though Donald Jones had a better week last week, I'm still not impressed with him. I know he is learning as this is his first real season of playing time, but he needs to get better. If not, then we'll need a better option at the #2 WR position.

 

Even though the Bills didn't look as good as their first 3 weeks, I thought they played well enough to win. It sucks to have officiating altering the game. If the Bills can go 4-2 at the bye, then we'll still be in good shape.

[taglientep]

Spilled actually had a few key plays yesterday.

 

Spiller that is...

 

 

Im really shocked that he was not more involved in swing passes and screens this game i knew his number was called on the sack play when he was covered. I dont have a ruling on him yet. I was not a fan of our gameplan this game.

 

I would have loved to see more short yardage throws and let our guys make plays on their secondary rather than trying to get the key one on one matchup.

 

That would have eventually have come

[Green Lightning]

In my opinion Gailey called a conservative game as well. It was like last week he knew the Pats were the better team so he took some chances both with his play calling and situations. Against the Pats he went for it, and against the Bengals he did not. Yesterday it looked to me like he thought the Bills were the better team and figured that eventually the cream would rise to the top so he didn't take the risks. Unfortunately it did not work out.

 

 

Chan probably had a reasonable expectation that our defense would not puke up yards in bunches to a rook QB. He probably thought we would tackle on runs and not give up 10-15 yards every pass. He likely thought that McLuvin may actually win just one jump ball. Maybe he thought we could now cover a TE. So far we have made Dalton and Campbell look like Brady and made Brady look average....I can't figure it.

[Bill from NYC]

Many fans see Fitz as a stud qb. I don't. In my view he is a very smart qb with limitations. I consider him to be a lower-mid-range qb at best. You can have a respectable team with him but not a serious contending team with him at the hellm.

 

Team have gone a long way with QBs who are not as good as Fitz. The Chiefs and Cassell come to mind as just one example.

I worry a lot less about Fitz than I do a couple of early first round draft picks that make big bucks and produce little.

[John Adams]

There you go.

Fitz was not himself, espscially early in the game. For instance, on one of his completions (I'm thinking it was to Chandler), the receiver was open and if Fitz would have lead him, there would have been a big gain.

On another play, he was standing tall in the pocket and threw a pass with virtually no zip. Plus, he had all of 5 yards rushing which is also telling imo. I was thinking that a called qb run would have worked.

 

You know, I read these post during the week about the Bills having the best OL in the leage, etc. The truth is that a healthy Fitz makes these guys appear to be better than they are.

 

Again, I am pretty sure that the injury to his throwing hand really affected Fitz a great deal. Jmo.

 

In an early part of the game, they showed Fitz on the sideline looking at photos and flexing his hand, wincing. I noticed it at the time but didn't really think about it once he came back. You were right though: He was off. Not so bad that he was Losman or anything, but just off enough that it hurt them. Hopefully it was just a bruise or jammed finger and nothing more. Look for reports this week.

 

Where did Moats go? Did he get off the juice? He was a playmaker last year and he's hardly on the field this season? OLBs have been invisible so far.

Edited October 3, 2011 by John Adams

[Coach Tuesday]

Team have gone a long way with QBs who are not as good as Fitz. The Chiefs and Cassell come to mind as just one example.

I worry a lot less about Fitz than I do a couple of early first round draft picks that make big bucks and produce little.

 

Jake Freaking Delhomme made it to a Superbowl.

[tennesseeboy]

Chan probably had a reasonable expectation that our defense would not puke up yards in bunches to a rook QB. He probably thought we would tackle on runs and not give up 10-15 yards every pass. He likely thought that McLuvin may actually win just one jump ball. Maybe he thought we could now cover a TE. So far we have made Dalton and Campbell look like Brady and made Brady look average....I can't figure it.

Probably not a good idea to plan based on such assumptions. I was surprised that Brad Smith wasn't used and that we did not seem to emphasizing the tight ends very much. I think our pass rush is a little suspect, but we'll have to work on that. Fine tuning. We'll be okay.

[UConn James]

We lost to a friggin' ginger.

 

And a ginger who's a rookie, at that.

[Bill from NYC]

In an early part of the game, they showed Fitz on the sideline looking at photos and flexing his hand, wincing. I noticed it at the time but didn't really think about it once he came back. You were right though: He was off. Not so bad that he was Losman or anything, but just off enough that it hurt them. Hopefully it was just a bruise or jammed finger and nothing more. Look for reports this week.

 

Fitz, as much as I like him, doesn't have arm strength to spare. If he is OK, we can beat the Eagles on Sunday. At least this season we go into games having a chance.

[BuffaninATL]

"7) I understand that we needed more pass rush, especially against a rookie. That said, McKelvin is to the secondary what JP Losman is to the QB position. McKelvin has all the speed in the world, but he caught out of position and picked on by a rookie. He will make a play here and there because of his talent but that's not enough. It would be nice to be able to count on him. "

 

Bill, I think this is a very mild assessment of McToast's liabilities....he has zero, I mean ZERO ball skills and even worse awareness. I was literally screaming at the TV while the ball was in the air to Green for McKelvin to TURN AROUND. He has no sense of timing and no body control, such that he literally throws himself at the receiver (or in some other direction) after the catch is being made.

 

I think this nightmare of a CB is going to be a wet dream for all opposing OCs this year..........

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

McGee and Williams can't get healthy soon enough. McKelvin does have this problem with the ball in the air which is causing some posters to overlook the instances where he's beat cleanly. It happened on yet another deep ball today, but Dalton overthrew Green. Useless McKelvin will be off this roster by opening day 2012.

Edited October 3, 2011 by Big Bad Boone

[John from Riverside]

I thought that the Bengals ability to stop our run game played a big part in this game.........

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

There was a LOT of UGLY across the board on many games yesterday. Both the Bungles nd the Bills were horrid in the 1st QTR.

 

And my final 2 cents Stevie J caught that pass PERIOD.

[Orton's Arm]

You were far more positive than I thought you would be. IMO McLuvin is at best a third corner and has no business starting. If anything his play has regressed and it is obvious that other teams see it. Like you, Gailey does not need my opinion but it was frustrating to note the Bills hardly tried to establish any presence in the run game.

Two reasons come to mind as to why the Bills didn't run the ball more:

 

1) They generally didn't achieve all that much when they did try to run the ball. Turning first and 10 into 3rd and 7 puts too much pressure on the passing game.

 

2) Chan's philosophical approach to offense does not seek to run the ball as an end objective. Instead, his philosophy is to spread the defense out--preferably with a lot of weapons--and to exploit whatever defensive weaknesses this creates. Running the football is one of several tools at his disposal for exploiting said weaknesses. But only under certain circumstances is it the right tool.

 

Chan wants to run the ball when and only when the defensive formation is weak against the run, or at very least weak against a particular kind of run. (Such as a run to the outside.)

 

For Chan's style of offense to work, the offense has to be able to exploit whatever weaknesses the defense offers up. The Bengals' defense didn't offer up many weaknesses, and Fitz played well below the level of the first three games. That meant the Bills couldn't use their passing game to punish the Bengals for being in good anti-run formations on first and second downs. The Bills' offense doesn't have the talent to run the ball successfully against a defense like the Bengals--at least not when the Bengals are in the right formation to stop the run.

[thewildrabbit]

Pretty calm thoughts Bill, considering the poor play of the Bills and the questionable officiating.

 

If we do not block better there will never be opportunity to get touches for Smith, Spiller and Freddy.

 

Fitz was off. Cinci got to him early with pressure and a few late hits on the first two drives.

 

Our OL lost the battle of the trenches to their DL and that was as much a factor as anything yesterday.

This is the biggest problem in my view, games are won and lost in the trenches.

 

 

It really is too bad that another regime is going to go down with everyone thinking its the QB, its the RB, its the receivers...

[Mike in Syracuse]

Two reasons come to mind as to why the Bills didn't run the ball more:

 

1) They generally didn't achieve all that much when they did try to run the ball. Turning first and 10 into 3rd and 7 puts too much pressure on the passing game.

 

2) Chan's philosophical approach to offense does not seek to run the ball as an end objective. Instead, his philosophy is to spread the defense out--preferably with a lot of weapons--and to exploit whatever defensive weaknesses this creates. Running the football is one of several tools at his disposal for exploiting said weaknesses. But only under certain circumstances is it the right tool.

 

Chan wants to run the ball when and only when the defensive formation is weak against the run, or at very least weak against a particular kind of run. (Such as a run to the outside.)

 

For Chan's style of offense to work, the offense has to be able to exploit whatever weaknesses the defense offers up. The Bengals' defense didn't offer up many weaknesses, and Fitz played well below the level of the first three games. That meant the Bills couldn't use their passing game to punish the Bengals for being in good anti-run formations on first and second downs. The Bills' offense doesn't have the talent to run the ball successfully against a defense like the Bengals--at least not when the Bengals are in the right formation to stop the run.

 

It might also have something to do with the fact that our OL was being blown off the ball and there were 3 Bengals DL and an LB in our backfield most of the day.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

. Many fans see Fitz as a stud qb. I don't. In my view he is a very smart qb with limitations. I consider him to be a lower-mid-range qb at best.

 

 

 

What is the obvious deficiency? Is it arm strength? Is it accuracy? Consistency? Too Small? I see it in the results; the missed plays, dropped balls failure to hit the open guy, but I am never quite sure how to distinguish between bad throws and WR skill on many of those throws. If you look at AJ Greens plays he wasn’t the benefactor of perfectly placed balls, he beat guys to go get it. Danorris Moore, is sort of the same.

 

 

 

 

 

So what is the thing that makes Fitz Mediocre? What kept him on the bench behind all those guys he backed up before? Has anyone ever seen a breakdown of the deficits?

 

 

 

 

[Fan in San Diego]

"7) I understand that we needed more pass rush, especially against a rookie. That said, McKelvin is to the secondary what JP Losman is to the QB position. McKelvin has all the speed in the world, but he caught out of position and picked on by a rookie. He will make a play here and there because of his talent but that's not enough. It would be nice to be able to count on him. "

 

Bill, I think this is a very mild assessment of McToast's liabilities....he has zero, I mean ZERO ball skills and even worse awareness. I was literally screaming at the TV while the ball was in the air to Green for McKelvin to TURN AROUND. He has no sense of timing and no body control, such that he literally throws himself at the receiver (or in some other direction) after the catch is being made.

 

I think this nightmare of a CB is going to be a wet dream for all opposing OCs this year..........

 

I agree completely. He got beat like a rented mule yesterday.