A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[truth on hold]

Gilmore is getting picked on because hes a rookie and hes more than holding his own. Isn't a DB in the league doesn't give up TDs. And I have no idea where he was ".... was taken out on several running plays" comes from. Browns ran 13x, 33 yards total, 2.5 avg. I hope he gets 'taken out" every week if we give up those kind of #'s on run defense

[jimmy10]

GMAFB.

 

Good Morning America Football?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

It's a double standard when Player A has two Super Bowl rings and is regarded universally around the league as a franchise QB when Player B has no Super Bowl rings or playoff appearances or winning seasons and is not regarded as as franchise QB?

 

When evaluating a current weeks performance, yes, I think a double standard is exactly what it is. I believe it was said of the championship Steelers teams "take that ring off and put it on the shelf, boys, it won't help you this year". Same as when former high draft picks get a pass for a performance that would get a late round draft pick sent to the woodshed. Double standard.

 

It also is what it is. We can understand the basis, but it's still annoying.

Edited September 24, 2012 by Hopeful

[Juror#8]

Great thoughts as always Bill.

 

I'll also use this as an opportunity to insert my obligatory plug for playmakers. CJ going down highlighted why we need them so desperately. We were a well oiled machine with a world class playmaker and a good defense.

 

We were limping along sans the playmaker but with everything else in tact. You can't overestimate how important a home run hitter is to every phase of the team. It inspires confidence that fuels both sides of the ball.

[Dorkington]

Re Fitz:

 

I have no problem with the way he played, considering how sloppy the weather was. It's not like the ball slips out of his hand normally, so I assume it was slippery all game long.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

7) But it's just a box of rain...

 

 

"Believe it if you need it, or leave it if you dare…"

 

I really do not understand why people cannot understand what Nix has done and will do. He says it flat out all the time and there is nothing he has done that would indicate anything else. He is not ignoring the QB position in any way. Andrew Luck is the sole reason the Bills do not have Cam Newton on the team as the franchise QB. Nix and Gailey, rightfully, like Fitz and think they can win with him. I do, too. If there were a QB they thought would help the team more than a guy that was also available, they would have taken him in a second. If Luck declared after his junior year (knowing he would be the #1 and with his coach leaving, like 90% of college players would have) we would have taken Newton #3 over Darius (unless Denver took him which was unlikely at that point). They do not ignore the QB position at all.

 

However the fact remains that the Bills coached both Christian Ponder and Andrew Dalton in the Senior Bowl, had an opportunity to draft each of them, and opted not to and BTW how did those guys look yesterday?

 

Also those who criticize the Bills for not drafting a QB (except for Levi) state that when you are looking at QBs that you often have to be overly-aggressive in order to secure them… thus the criticism that they waited too long on numerous QBs including Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, the aforementioned, and a few others who were available in the last 3 drafts.

Edited September 24, 2012 by San Jose Bills Fan

[BilLions]

 

 

The guy hits on 63% of his passes, has a QB rating of 108, throws 3 TDs, no interceptions, puts up 24 points in a game that is half rain storm, hasn't been sacked all year and right now leads the league in TD passes and you say he needs to be better. Really? What do you people want? You are uneffingbelievable. WTF!

 

His inaccuracy does really scare me at times. BUT your post is hard to argue with. Makes me think of Jim Kelly days when I never fully appreciated what we had, if he wasn't 100% perfect. Thanks for the hard facts here. Go Fitz!

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Also, the Bills young linebackers rewarded the faith that the coaches had in them.

 

Both Shep and Moats looked better in their run fits particularly than I've ever seen them. And Shep seems to have a natural instinct with regards to timing and choosing lanes on his blitzes… he really has a knack for getting to the QB.

 

Also neither is getting exploited in coverage although the Cheatriots*** will be the real test.

[stony]

Nice post as usual, Bill... my thoughts are...

 

1] I don't see how anyone can have a problem with Fitz in this game. I see that he is inaccurate at times, I see that we havent gone downfield. But you don't play for stats, you don't play for throwing downfield, you play for winning the game. He threw three TDs with no interceptions. And with Spiller, this was likely a blowout.

 

2] I was very disappointed that Wanny didnt put pressure on the rookie and blitzed more. But I hate to say it worked. Ultimately, the Browns pass game did not kill us and we won by ten points. I don't like the rushing of three guys on third and long but it worked all day. I don't know what I think about that.

 

3] The Bills OL is getting very good. They no longer can only hold out for 2-3 seconds. It is now 3-5 seconds, and that is a huge difference. The OL still played good when CJ went down. Choice getting 91 yards in three quarters is ridiculous.

 

4] AWilliams finally made some plays and I'm thrilled with it but he still looks shaky. Gilmore had a decent game but was HORRIBLE on that TD pass. McGee does not have game legs.

 

5] Sheppard had his best game as a Bill IMO. That is encouraging. I like him but I do not think he has played well until today.

 

6] Moorman was terrible. I don't get it. he had three bad punts, which is not acceptable.

 

7] Byrd and Wilson are very good overall. Byrd should have had his second INT except for a terrible call.

 

8] TJ looks pretty decent. He made about three very nice plays. Donald Jones quietly made a couple good ones as well.

 

He blew up a critical 3rd down screen to T.Richardson. Big time play to get off his block on slow down the RB.

 

He's also turning into a pretty solid blitzing LB. He times his runs well and was able to get some pressure late. Encouraging performance.

[C.Biscuit97]

"Believe it if you need it, or leave it if you dare…"

 

 

 

However the fact remains that the Bills coached both Christian Ponder and Andrew Dalton in the Senior Bowl, had an opportunity to draft each of them, and opted not to and BTW how did those guys look yesterday?

 

Also those who criticize the Bills for not drafting a QB (except for Levi) state that when you are looking at QBs that you often have to be overly-aggressive in order to secure them… thus the criticism that they waited too long on numerous QBs including Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, the aforementioned, and a few others who were available in the last 3 drafts.

 

Well, Ponder went crazy high. No one expected that. And I will say he is much better than I thought he would be. And Dalton is a very solid QB. At the same time, I personally don't think they are really much of an upgrade over Fitz and would rather hold out for an elite type talent than settle for a guy. That's how you end up with JP Losman. And how funny is it that we as Bills fans can complain about a guy leading the NFL in touchdowns passes?

 

Also, the Bills young linebackers rewarded the faith that the coaches had in them.

 

Both Shep and Moats looked better in their run fits particularly than I've ever seen them. And Shep seems to have a natural instinct with regards to timing and choosing lanes on his blitzes… he really has a knack for getting to the QB.

 

Also neither is getting exploited in coverage although the Cheatriots*** will be the real test.

 

Great point and it got overlooked. I was very impressed with our LBs because they had looked like the weakest group on the team. Richardson is going to be a really good back and they completely shut him down. They did the same thing with Charles, who just had 230+ yards. Very encouraging.

 

Also, maybe we can once and for all stop complaining about the drafting of rbs. You need 2 good backs in this league. And Choice played admirably but the dropoff from him to Spiller is tremedous. Spiller is an elite talent and very worthy of his draft selection.

[Orton's Arm]

Well, Ponder went crazy high. No one expected that. And I will say he is much better than I thought he would be. And Dalton is a very solid QB. At the same time, I personally don't think they are really much of an upgrade over Fitz and would rather hold out for an elite type talent than settle for a guy. That's how you end up with JP Losman. And how funny is it that we as Bills fans can complain about a guy leading the NFL in touchdowns passes?

 

 

 

Great point and it got overlooked. I was very impressed with our LBs because they had looked like the weakest group on the team. Richardson is going to be a really good back and they completely shut him down. They did the same thing with Charles, who just had 230+ yards. Very encouraging.

 

Also, maybe we can once and for all stop complaining about the drafting of rbs. You need 2 good backs in this league. And Choice played admirably but the dropoff from him to Spiller is tremedous. Spiller is an elite talent and very worthy of his draft selection.

There's a difference between using a first round pick on a RB who's expected to be a truly special player, versus using a first round pick on a RB who's merely expected to be solid. Thus far Spiller has played like a special player. Leading up to the 2010 draft, a number of draft experts felt he was the best player in that draft. Despite my preference to eschew the RB position in the first round, I was willing to take a wait-and-see approach with Spiller.

 

Over the last 40 years, the Bills have used 25% of their first picks of the draft on RBs: 10 RBs were chosen during that time. Most of those RBs were nothing special: Antowain Smith, Willis McGahee, and Marshawn Lynch are recent examples of this.

 

A team shouldn't a take a RB in the first round, unless said RB convinces you he's a significantly better football player than alternatives at other positions. Over the years, the Bills seem to have had the opposite bias: a preference for taking RBs and DBs unless a player at some other position was clearly better. (And sometimes they'd take RBs and DBs even then.) That preference for RBs (short careers) and DBs (first-contract-and-out) is one of the reasons why, over the last 40 years, the Bills have so often failed to build a core of talented players.

[eball]

I see other comments about the play of Shep, and I thought he looked very strong in coverage. While his man caught a few passes, he was always right there and made the immediate tackle. He really seems to be picking it up at a rapid pace now.

[NewEra]

 

 

The guy hits on 63% of his passes, has a QB rating of 108, throws 3 TDs, no interceptions, puts up 24 points in a game that is half rain storm, hasn't been sacked all year and right now leads the league in TD passes and you say he needs to be better. Really? What do you people want? You are uneffingbelievable. WTF!

 

If he plays like he did today vs the Pats, we lose. Too many batted down passes and a stretch where we didn't convert 7 straight 3rd downs. He was playing against a terrible defense without their best CB. Did he play terrible today? No. Did he play great today? No. You can look at stats all you want, but he was not great. He played a pretty good game and I'm happy with his performance vs a bad defense. I'm happy because he didn't suck. Lets see what he does the next 3 weeks vs the Pats, @sf and @ Arizona. I'm rooting for the guy.

[Dopey]

That is just not true, IMO. The first bad one was from the 39 and went 27 yards. OB at the 12 is not a good punt in that situation, there is no chance Cribbs would be returning it. The second one was 36 yards and OB at the 20, a terrible punt. The third one was from the Bills 27 and traveled 30 yards and OB, just a terrible punt.

The third one, I'll give you, but did you just say that OB at the 12 and OB at the 20 were not good punts?!?!?! Tell me what you would have prefered, downed at the 1? Me too, but come on man, OB at the 12 and OB at the 20 sound like ideal punts to me.Especially with Cribbs back there.

[yungmack]

Totally agree, we were killing it with the straight up runs up the middle and Chan kept calling plays out of the shotgun and wasting downs on outside handoffs to Choice that were obviously meant for Spiller.

You might be right but then again, Fitz might be changing the call that Gailey gave him. He does have that option and apparently often uses it.

[FreakPop]

If he plays like he did today vs the Pats, we lose. Too many batted down passes and a stretch where we didn't convert 7 straight 3rd downs. He was playing against a terrible defense without their best CB. Did he play terrible today? No. Did he play great today? No. You can look at stats all you want, but he was not great. He played a pretty good game and I'm happy with his performance vs a bad defense. I'm happy because he didn't suck. Lets see what he does the next 3 weeks vs the Pats, @sf and @ Arizona. I'm rooting for the guy.

 

What does he have to do then? And who says the Browns D is terrible, you? They are middle of the pack. They didn't have their top CB, so that is an excuse against Fitz well, i'll give and excuse for Fitz, Fitz didn't have his #2 WR, #1 RB and his #2RB and he still won and looked good doing it.

[JPS]

The guy hits on 63% of his passes, has a QB rating of 108, throws 3 TDs, no interceptions, puts up 24 points in a game that is half rain storm, hasn't been sacked all year and right now leads the league in TD passes and you say he needs to be better. Really? What do you people want? You are uneffingbelievable. WTF!

I'm with Bill and his excellent recap. Did you see the empty hand fumble? Did you see the other passes that coulda been picked? They good thing is: Fitz worries people. The bad thing is: some of those people are ours.

[yungmack]

What does he have to do then? And who says the Browns D is terrible, you? They are middle of the pack. They didn't have their top CB, so that is an excuse against Fitz well, i'll give and excuse for Fitz, Fitz didn't have his #2 WR, #1 RB and his #2RB and he still won and looked good doing it.

 

There you go, being rational. That's no way to play the "Fitz Sucks" game.

[Orton's Arm]

If he plays like he did today vs the Pats, we lose. Too many batted down passes and a stretch where we didn't convert 7 straight 3rd downs. He was playing against a terrible defense without their best CB. Did he play terrible today? No. Did he play great today? No. You can look at stats all you want, but he was not great. He played a pretty good game and I'm happy with his performance vs a bad defense. I'm happy because he didn't suck. Lets see what he does the next 3 weeks vs the Pats, @sf and @ Arizona. I'm rooting for the guy.

I'll agree with this. Fitz played a pretty good game, but was far from elite.

[Bill from NYC]

Good post!

 

I'd like to further discuss one of your points:

 

> 9) Two incomplete passes with 2:12 to go in the 1st half, a 7 point lead, and getting the ball in the second half???

 

If Jauron was the coach, the play call would have been run, run, run, punt. Or at most run, run, pass, punt. Jauron would have played cautiously. He would have played to protect the lead.

 

Gailey was trying to take a little lead and turn it into a bigger lead. That may or may not have been overly aggressive of him. But if a coach is going to err, I'd rather him err on the side of being too aggressive; as opposed to not aggressive enough.

 

If the Patriots' offense had had the ball with two minutes to go before the end of the half, would Belichick have contented himself with run, run, run, punt? Or would he have tried to go for the jugular?

 

You could point out that the Patriots have a better offense than the Bills, which is perfectly true. The better you are, the more aggressive you can afford to be. But the way to become good is to stop thinking defensively, and to start thinking in terms of dictating to the other team. The Bills' offensive players need to get it in their heads that if they get the ball with a reasonable amount of time left in the half, they are expected to drive down the field and score.

 

EA, by now, I think that you know that I value your opinion. I will even tip the scales of trite and tell you that TBD is doing well to have you post here. That said, I could not disagree more with some of your comments above.

 

If the Bills ran just once on the series about which I am speaking, they would have either taken it to the deuce, or forced Cleve to use a time out. Who knows, they might have even gained yardage. Please refresh my memory.....did they keep possession due to a lucky pass interference penalty?

If Cleveland would have scored before the half, at home, the momentum might really have changed the outcome of this football game. Look, you, Badolbilz, KTD, and many others were ahead of me wrt the rule changes, and the impact it would have on this sport. I have tried to catch up, and I think that I've made progress lol. But I do say that there will always be a place for "traditional" football. This Bills team might actually prove my point. Where would they be sans the running game this season?

 

If the Bills defense was the original, "Steel Curtain," fine, do as you will. But we had given up lots of points vs. the jets. This, imo, was not the time to get chesty, but it did work.

 

In any event, I, as always, do appreciate the dialogue.