BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 They dominated the Jags, caused TO's and shut them down. Too many blown opportunties by the offense. If you let a team hang around until they are desparate and have nothing to lose but to go for it on fourth down and throw jump balls, occasionally they are going to make a play or two. Sure Clements was out-fought for that ball, but it was a great play by a wiley veteran receiver and it was a great throw to boot. And as for the TD pass, it was also a great throw and catch. The fact is, the defense should never have been in the position they were in in the first place. The most critical mistake made by the offense the entire game was the holding call on Villarial with McGahee having made the first down, It not only negated a first down, after which we would have surely forced the Jags to use their TO's and had a shot at a medium range field goal at the least. Instead, it forced us into a third and long which was not converted. That play in my mind was the turning point in the game, because that gave the Jags the ball back with two minutes, two TO's and nothing to lose but to keep throwing it up until something good could happen. Of course, the missed field goal, the poor Moorman punt prior to the last Jags drive, the Moulds fumble in the red zone and the failure to put the ball in the end zone after the Reese INT were also crucial mistakes, but clearly the holding penalty was the most eggregious and most ill-timed. I can only comfort myself with a few facts: 1) that this is an entirely new offense, new O coordinator etc, and that it will take some time for everyone to get comfortable (especially the O-line); 2) that Drew has really bought into the getting rid of the ball quickly philosophy which is critical to the Bills future success; 3) that we are truly blessed to have two good RBs so that when Travis gets hurt we still have a threat there; 4) that Lee Evans is going to be a playa (he made some nice heads-up plays); and 5) our defense is not only dominant at the LOS, but they will truly be creating TO's for us this season. Oh yeah, and Neufeld needs to sit his butt down, as he not only dropped passes that he should have caught but he missed several blocking asignments that led to losses on running plays in the backfield.
jarthur31 Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 True, the offense played horribly! However, how can you sugar coat 3 straight 4th down completions in the last 2 minutes? That boggles the mind!!!! BTW, you give the Jags offense too much credit! Don't believe all the hype, you will be disappointed.
BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Author Posted September 12, 2004 True, the offense played horribly! However, how can you sugar coat 3 straight 4th down completions in the last 2 minutes? That boggles the mind!!!! BTW, you give the Jags offense too much credit! Don't believe all the hype, you will be disappointed. 27863[/snapback] Ummm, I don't think I gave the Jag's offensive hardly any credit at all. Jimmy Smith just made a great play on that ball. I thought he jostled Clements to get into position, but the fact is he made a great jump and catch. Secondly, as I said before, it is not easy for a defense to defend against a team that has nothing to lose except to throw the thing up for four downs. This ain't sugar coating. It is fact. Christ, they had four chances from the like 8 yard line to put the ball in the end zone. You don't think the advantage is with the offense there? I sure do! Even the Bills' offense could have completed one out of those four! The defense played great all game and were put in a lousy position at the end. When you think about it, the Jags made like 3 plays out of at least 12 that they ran. At that rate, you don't get much dones during the normal part of the game. When youy have nothing to lose, sometimes hitting only 25% of your plays is enough.
ajzepp Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 Imagine Bledsoe going 22/30 for 225 yds and two TDs for the first 58 mins of the game......then in the remaining two mins, with the Bills ahead in the game, he throws a bad pass that the other team intercepts and runs back for a score. I'm pretty sure in this scenario we'd be blaming Bledsoe. The offense had issues.....but the D lost us this game.
KOKBILLS Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 Imagine Bledsoe going 22/30 for 225 yds and two TDs for the first 58 mins of the game......then in the remaining two mins, with the Bills ahead in the game, he throws a bad pass that the other team intercepts and runs back for a score. I'm pretty sure in this scenario we'd be blaming Bledsoe. The offense had issues.....but the D lost us this game. 27896[/snapback] Well...I hear what you're saying, but there is just no excuse for only scoring 10 points at Home. It's never one play or one drive that decides a Game, and the Bills are looking at the same problem that plagued them for the better part of last Season. They can't score enough to win...plain and simple... Still you're right about that last Drive...And I can hear the ESPN guys already screaming...JUST KNOCK THE BALL DOWN!!!! Even Clements said it in the Post Game comments. He said he saw the Ball and went for the INT (on the 4th and Long play), when he should have just knocked the ball away...Oh well Nate, hindsight pretty much sucks at this point...
BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Author Posted September 12, 2004 Imagine Bledsoe going 22/30 for 225 yds and two TDs for the first 58 mins of the game......then in the remaining two mins, with the Bills ahead in the game, he throws a bad pass that the other team intercepts and runs back for a score. I'm pretty sure in this scenario we'd be blaming Bledsoe. The offense had issues.....but the D lost us this game. 27896[/snapback] I think there is a huge difference between a QB making a bad decision and throwing a pick he shouldn't have, and a defense giving up just 3 well-made plays out of 12 by the other team when they had nothing to lose and could play 4 downs without consequence. The reality is, the defesne never made an error in that drive. They were always in position, and a few players made huge plays for the Jags that were otherwise about as well-defensed as they could have been. Nope, sorry. That analogy just doesn't work. The offense lost this game, not the defense.
BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Author Posted September 12, 2004 Well...I hear what you're saying, but there is just no excuse for only scoring 10 points at Home. It's never one play or one drive that decides a Game, and the Bills are looking at the same problem that plagued them for the better part of last Season. They can't score enough to win...plain and simple... Still you're right about that last Drive...And I can hear the ESPN guys already screaming...JUST KNOCK THE BALL DOWN!!!! Even Clements said it in the Post Game comments. He said he saw the Ball and went for the INT (on the 4th and Long play), when he should have just knocked the ball away...Oh well Nate, hindsight pretty much sucks at this point... 27913[/snapback] Maybe Nate should have tried to knock the ball down instead, but there is still no guarantee that Smith would not have caught that. Any defense that holds a team to six points until they are playing 4 down desperation football and 13 overall and still loses is a defense that got screwed by their offense big time.
ajzepp Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 I think there is a huge difference between a QB making a bad decision and throwing a pick he shouldn't have, and a defense giving up just 3 well-made plays out of 12 by the other team when they had nothing to lose and could play 4 downs without consequence. The reality is, the defesne never made an error in that drive. They were always in position, and a few players made huge plays for the Jags that were otherwise about as well-defensed as they could have been. Nope, sorry. That analogy just doesn't work. The offense lost this game, not the defense. 27915[/snapback] There would be NO excuse for a QB throwing a pick in the last two mins of a game they were leading......and there is no exucse for the defense allowing an 80 yd drive in the last two mins to this team today. When you have the other team beat, you put the game away. They didn't do it. I understand about ten points, but the fact is that SHOULD have been enough to win today.
jarthur31 Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 I've already said in other threads that the O killed us! Please check them. The D had the lead but couldn't keep it in the end. Sorry but allowing all those 4th down completions is utter rot! Most teams don't have three 4th down completions in a season!!!!!!!!! Let alone in one game and in one quarter!
ajzepp Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 I've already said in other threads that the O killed us! Please check them. The D had the lead but couldn't keep it in the end. Sorry but allowing all those 4th down completions is utter rot! Most teams don't have three 4th down completions in a season!!!!!!!!! Let alone in one game and in one quarter! 27928[/snapback] Especially with a young QB and a ROOKIE receiver (on the TD catch)!!!!!
GG Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 When you have the other team beat, you put the game away. They didn't do it. I understand about ten points, but the fact is that SHOULD have been enough to win today. 27926[/snapback] I'm glad you used these words. You put an NFL team away by piling up points on them. I don't know how old you are, but leaving a 4 point margin with over 2 minutes to go does not constitute "putting the team away" in the NFL. Bottom line is, defense held an opponent to 13 points. I'll take that output any day.
BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Author Posted September 12, 2004 There would be NO excuse for a QB throwing a pick in the last two mins of a game they were leading......and there is no exucse for the defense allowing an 80 yd drive in the last two mins to this team today. When you have the other team beat, you put the game away. They didn't do it. I understand about ten points, but the fact is that SHOULD have been enough to win today. 27926[/snapback] Sorry, the analogy still doesn't work. A single player making a single bad play that he has complete control over making or not without regard to what the defense is doing is NOT the same thing as forcing a defense to defend a desparate offense that can now play with four downs running plays it has no control over. A defense gives up plays over the course of an entire game and there is only so much you can expect of them as a team. Sometimes the offense hasn't done squat the whole game and finally makes a few good plays because they have extra downs to work with. Had the defense given up this exact sequence of plays at the end of the first half instead of the second, and the score remained the same, we wouldn't be even having this conversation. The offense blew this game and wasted a fantastic defensive effort.
ajzepp Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 I'm glad you used these words. You put an NFL team away by piling up points on them. I don't know how old you are, but leaving a 4 point margin with over 2 minutes to go does not constitute "putting the team away" in the NFL. Bottom line is, defense held an opponent to 13 points. I'll take that output any day. 27941[/snapback] You don't know how old I am? WTF? lol You guys can rationalize it all you want to. What matters is the W. Shoulda, coulda, woulda doesn't make any difference if you lose. With two minutes to go against an inferior opponent starting from THEIR 20 yard line and NEEDING a TD, there is no excuse for not putting this game away. Our defense is the strengh of our team, and they need to be able to finish out a game when we are ahead. I don't care if we're ahead 2-0! The game was ours for the taking and the D let them steal it.
ajzepp Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 Sorry, the analogy still doesn't work. A single player making a single bad play that he has complete control over making or not without regard to what the defense is doing is NOT the same thing as forcing a defense to defend a desparate offense that can now play with four downs running plays it has no control over. A defense gives up plays over the course of an entire game and there is only so much you can expect of them as a team. Sometimes the offense hasn't done squat the whole game and finally makes a few good plays because they have extra downs to work with. Had the defense given up this exact sequence of plays at the end of the first half instead of the second, and the score remained the same, we wouldn't be even having this conversation. The offense blew this game and wasted a fantastic defensive effort. 27943[/snapback] Well, Bob....we just see it differently. If you are content with a defense that gives up THREE 4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS in the last TWO MINS of a game, then so be it lol....I think it's ridiculous, myself.
BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Author Posted September 12, 2004 I've already said in other threads that the O killed us! Please check them. The D had the lead but couldn't keep it in the end. Sorry but allowing all those 4th down completions is utter rot! Most teams don't have three 4th down completions in a season!!!!!!!!! Let alone in one game and in one quarter! 27928[/snapback] When they made ALL THOSE (= 3) completeions is irrelevant. What if they had made them on first or second or third down. The reality is that when you can play 4 down football, it places that much more pressure on the defense because whether you like it or not, the more chances you have to make a play, the more likely it is you will make one. The offense has the major advantage in these situations. They KNOW what they are going to do, and if they have 12 shots at it rather than 9, that makes their advantage even bigger. Sure, I would have liked to see the D finish this win, but I am not going to blame them for the loss because they couldn't stop 3 out of 12 plays after shutting them down virtually the entire game. Those three plays were good plays by some good players, It wasn't like they blew the coverage, or didn't try, or were out of position. That TD throw was perfectly thrown between three defenders and that was a great catch. The defense should have never been in a positon where holding them to a 25% success rate still meant a loss for the team.
ajzepp Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 Those three plays were good plays by some good players, It wasn't like they blew the coverage, or didn't try, or were out of position. That TD throw was perfectly thrown between three defenders and that was a great catch. 27957[/snapback] Bob, the TD catch was a ROOKIE......and Leftwich is no John Elway!
KOKBILLS Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 Any defense that holds a team to six points until they are playing 4 down desperation football and 13 overall and still loses is a defense that got screwed by their offense big time. 27924[/snapback] Tough to argue that point... And again I ask, does this problem (Offensive output, or lack thereof) sound familiar? Sorry, but it makes me want to puke...
BuffaloBob Posted September 12, 2004 Author Posted September 12, 2004 Well, Bob....we just see it differently. If you are content with a defense that gives up THREE 4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS in the last TWO MINS of a game, then so be it lol....I think it's ridiculous, myself. 27956[/snapback] That was three 4th down conversions, not four. And given that those 3 were virtually the only successful plays they made out of their last 12 attempts, I would say that the persentages were damn good. Hey the Jags made 4 good plays that drive out of 15 total. Normally they wouldn't get those extra shots except in desparation time. The defense played great, and they were let down by their offense.
justnzane Posted September 12, 2004 Posted September 12, 2004 Be happy the D played so well man. They played their asses off and came out on the bad end of a few questionable calls and the outcome was not helped much by the Bills offense.
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