Random observations from the game.

[nodnarb]

My observations from the game:

 

1. It's clear that coy wire has finally hit his own personal ceiling. He's a great athlete but a mediocre football player. I won't be surprised if he's cut but it would be nice if TD could get a low pick for him in a trade to the skins, where Greggg might want him for depth. I'd rather see Jim Leonard make the team because he's a good football player and we don't know where his ceiling is.

 

2. Gandy is looking just fine at LT. Jason Peters has looked promising against the scrubs.

 

3. I don't believe JReed would make this team if Roscoe hadn't been injured. He's invisible, and he seems to always be in on negative plays or broken plays. It'd be nice if TD could get a low round pick for him in a trade to his old coach Saban. If they have an injury at WR, I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen.

 

4. Our secondary is impressing me. Even the new guys look like they get it. Jabari Greer was a complete steal as a UFA.

 

5. I don't like what I see from R. Lee. He looks clueless in blitz pickup and doesn't seem to run with much purpose and energy. Yet I'd hate to think that Joe Burns is still a running back for this team, being as slow and unproductive as he is.

 

6. JP looks like he's in the process of getting comfortable. I'm not concerned.

[TigerJ]

My one major disappointment in the game was the penalties. Everything else was easily fixable and most of it will come with more reps.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

My one major disappointment in the game was the penalties.  Everything else was easily fixable and most of it will come with more reps.

407550[/snapback]

 

Even the penalties you can swallow--if you look at the box scores from around the league, a lot of teams racked up 10+ penalties in their first pre-season action. Not an excuse, but just shows you that it's got to get better!

 

For me, my biggest disappointment was the play of the WR's. Too many dropped passes--the WR's weren't helping JP out at all. Even I've got to admit that Reed--whom I've been a big defender of the last two years-- is on his way out. I'd rather take Fast Freddy than Reed.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Aggreed on your analysis. Thanks for it.

 

The two points I would add are:

 

Woodbury continues to be interesting and they are clearly looking for a slot for him. I'm not sure what that is as the spot he seems to excel at in terms of his play is that he is best suited at QB but we are not going to use him there.

 

There was nothing extraordinary to note in his performance, but after his last game in against Pitts where he missed a chip shot, being merely adequate is not good enough for us but is far better than he has been.

[canbuffan34]

1. J.P. looked okay to me again. Certainly not great, and certainly not terrible. He does some things very well, and the one thing he has been clearly suspect at, his accuracy, can be fixed. He is not known for being a inaccurate thrower. His stats were lousy but he had at least three drops on passes right in the receivers hands, and I thought the only ball he threw downfield was a very nice pass and could have hit Evans in stride if Lee wasn't tangled up and accidentally tripped by the DB. He didn't have any stupid throws, or INTs, and he really made only one bad play, the fumble, which he looked rotten on. I still contend that he will be more than fine without putting up gaudy numbers. For example, on 3-10, he scrambled and ran out of bounds for 9 yards which allowed us to go on 4th and 1 on the lone TD drive. It doesn't show up much on the stat sheet but it was a very good play. His ball-handling and escapability is very good already. For his first start, he was about what should have been expected.

 

2. That was really a terrible game. The penalties were ridiculous on the Bills, and I'm sure Mularkey is going to ream them for it. The first D and ST obviously looked in mid-season form.

 

3. Ron Edwards looks like he is not going to let the D slack off without Phat Pat. he looks huge out there and made several nice plays. Right now he is playing better than I thought he would but it is only pre-season. Who knows.

 

4. Coy Wire as everyone knows, officially stinks. He couldn't even do the one thing he is supposed to be able to do.

 

5. ReShard Lee may not make the team. Shaud is a lock for the "breather" back-up to Willis. And right now I think Gates looks better than Lee for the #3 and workhorse back if Willis goes down. Although it would likely be RB by committee with Shaud, who is a lot more impressive this year. I would hate to see us have to play without Willis though, he is already the MVP of the team because we're lost without him.

 

6. Josh continues to suck. I think if I were the coaches I may keep Drew Haddad over him. But Parrish getting hurt throws a little wrench into things. I am now convinced Aiken will make the team because of ST and his blocking. Josh is probably fighting Fast Freddie for a roster spot, and FF didn't have a stellar game either.

 

7. All three of those back-up LBs continue to shine. Back-ups two years ago were a complete question mark. Last year they stopped being a worry. This year they are a clear strength. We even got a glimpse of the madman Ezekial last night who will likely be on the PS.

 

8. Terrence McGee was very good as a CB last night, the best I have seen him play. He didn't give much up and continually was in great position and knocked the ball down.

 

9. We do leave our middle wide open for TEs down the seams and we're going to get torched by it unless they make some minor adjustments. I don't know why teams don't do it a lot more against us.

 

10. The WRs really had a bad day all around. Too many dropped balls on very catchable passes. None of the back-ups stood out except Haddad, who had a couple very nice plays.

 

11. Gandy seemed to hold up for the second straight game. Our biggest question mark in my mind has accounted himself pretty well. All I am looking from him is not to not get flat out beat and he hasn't yet.

 

12. Overall, however, the O-line play was lousy. A few nice holes in the running game but a lot of penalties and mistakes and not a lot of time for Losman or the other QBs to throw. I still think, however, when the real bullets fly, a healthy Willis, and the first offense, good coaching, and Moulds/Evans/Parrish will be able to move the ball.

 

13. I really love the Bills coaches attitude this year. They aren't scared of anything. They come after you the entire game on defense, no matter who is playing. They mix up the run and pass well. They do onside kicks after a penalty (which really should have worked). This is going to be a fun team to watch this year, albeit a little frustrating at times.

 

14. We have more depth on this team than probably any Bills team in the last ten years. The offensive line is the exception, and we better hope we make it through the year without a lot of injuries so Preston and Peters can be solid back-ups next year if not starters.

407065[/snapback]

Good analysis! My only thought on the game (I only got to see tidbits from NFL Network on Sat. ) is JPL has a damn cannon for an arm!!!

[Lori]

Some more random thoughts:

 

I saw about what I expected from Losman. Some good, some not-so-good; he's still got some work to do. One trait he apparently shares with his role model, Brett Favre, is the tendency to get so pumped for the beginning of the game that he starts off wild - once he settled down, he played OK.

This from Chuck Pollock's column yesterday (sadly, not on the TH website):

"Quarterback J. P. Losman had a good news-bad news first half, but his perfectly-placed touchdown pass to Lee Evans showed why the Bills opted to release Drew Bledsoe and hand the former Tulane star the starting job during the off-season."

Yeah, what he said. That play left me imagining good things this season...

 

Disappointed in the O-line. I didn't really see the nasty, mauling runblocking I expected from a veteran line going up against a bunch of backups. And far too many penalties....

 

As I expected, the D started blitzing as soon as they got off the bus. I can just imagine what Tony Dungy was thinking, watching Spikes level Manning. (Something along the lines of, "Okay, that'll be enough of THAT - Peyton, you're done for the night.")

 

King/Greer: If/when Kevin Thomas is re-activated, he's going to have some work to do to retake the #3 CB slot.

[LabattBlue]

King/Greer: If/when Kevin Thomas is re-activated, he's going to have some work to do to retake the #3 CB slot.

407823[/snapback]

At least from a tackling standpoint, King reminded of a lot of Winfield. Small guy, but great technique.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

6. Josh continues to suck. I think if I were the coaches I may keep Drew Haddad over him. But Parrish getting hurt throws a little wrench into things. I am now convinced Aiken will make the team because of ST and his blocking. Josh is probably fighting Fast Freddie for a roster spot, and FF didn't have a stellar game either.

 

Well so much for drafting a 5'-nuthin, 160 lb. guy to play WR.

 

 

[finhater]

can anyone tell me if gudmundsen played in the game and also how did he do? he's from my home town and there isn't much in the paper about how he's doing at camp in general

thanks

[Kelly the Dog]

On my second viewing of the game, J.P. was still okay. He was a little worse on a couple throws than I first thought and a little better on a couple. I counted three really poor passes when he had a little time and just threw the bad nowhere where the receiver could catch it. The one pass I thought that Fast Freddie dropped was tipped by the DB and was not a drop. However, the first two passes to Evans that fell incomplete were very good throws. The first was low and away but very catchable and the only place to put it. It would have been a first down and the receiver should catch that ball. The second incompletion was his only throw downfield and it looked like a perfect pass. A good spiral that was leading Evans who would likely have caught it on the full run but he was tripped up (accidentally) by the DB so it fell incomplete. That was an easy first down and may have been a TD. Campbell dropped one right in his hands and Reed dropped a first down that he should have caught. He lucked out on a bad pass over the middle that was tipped but bounced to Haddad for a completion.

 

J.P. also threw a couple of rockets on long outs that were right on target, and the TD was simply an excellent toss that not a lot of guys can make. It is one thing to hit a player while rolling out that is wide open. But Evans was covered and JP threw a rope while running full speed that hit Evans in stride in the only place he could have caught it and scored. He also avoided sacks a couple times to throw 2-3 yard passes to Goldsberry. Those are 7 yard losses last year but 3 yard gains this year.

[Bill from NYC]

Some more random thoughts:

 

I saw about what I expected from Losman. Some good, some not-so-good; he's still got some work to do. One trait he apparently shares with his role model, Brett Favre, is the tendency to get so pumped for the beginning of the game that he starts off wild - once he settled down, he played OK.

This from Chuck Pollock's column yesterday (sadly, not on the TH website):

 

Yeah, what he said. That play left me imagining good things this season...

 

Disappointed in the O-line. I didn't really see the nasty, mauling runblocking I expected from a veteran line going up against a bunch of backups. And far too many penalties....

 

As I expected, the D started blitzing as soon as they got off the bus. I can just imagine what Tony Dungy was thinking, watching Spikes level Manning. (Something along the lines of, "Okay, that'll be enough of THAT - Peyton, you're done for the night.")

 

King/Greer: If/when Kevin Thomas is re-activated, he's going to have some work to do to retake the #3 CB slot.

407823[/snapback]

 

I agree with all points. Having now seen the game, here are a few comments on Losman:

1) I don't see the "cannon" which many describe, but he has an extremely CRISP arm, which is probably just as important.

2) He is smart and a gifted athlete.

3) Alaska Darin will be mad, but he still reminds me of Joe Theisman. This is a compliment, not an insult.

 

Other random comments....

1) I loved what I saw at DE. The Bills are probably one of the deepest teams around at arguably one of the 3 hardest positions to fill. I wish that they could keep #63 and #91.

2) Lee Evans is a bright kid, and he is going to be literally great imo.

3) His name escapes me, but our round 7 running back is big and has some speed. I am ready to proclaim that he is better than Travis.

4) Anderson moved better than I thought based on watching him the little he played last season.

5) I already knew that Edwards was good. Call me crazy, but losing PW might even be an upgrade. At the very least, I am not worried.

6) I don't want Spikes to play too much. He was flying all over the field, and we just can't afford to see him hurt.

7) No comment on Gandy until he plays a starting DL.

GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!