Film review of Green Bay game

[Simon]

Monkeyed with the clicker for a while this morning and came up with these:

 

 

>Ron Edwards sin't creating much push or penetration upfield, but he's moving laterallly better than I've ever seen him.

 

>EKing is the starting dimebacker for now, but is playing some nervous ball. He's so worried about giving up downfield completions that guys are working him underneath. This will be a problem since he's usually seeing the field only on 3rddown where he needs to protect the sticks, not the deep ball.

 

>Saw the Bills using a little of what they used to call the Ruby package; the 3 safeties on teh field were Milloy, Vincent and Baker.

 

>Tim Anderson didn't look nearly as effective vs teh Pack as he did vs the Colts. Both Denney and Bannon did look pretty good against the Green Bay reserves.

 

>Coy Wire special of the night: He commited a flagrant clip on the puntreturn Haddad fumbled, which could have wiped out the penalty that bailed us out. Even worse, when he hit the guy from behind he blocked him directly into Haddad which was what actually forced the fumble. I like ya' Coy but you might be in some trouble when the Turk rolls around.

 

>Bennie Anderson looks absolutely awful. If he doesn't show significant improvement very quickly I hope the Bills kick Duke Preston over to LG and give him some snaps with the starting unit as he's looked very good.

 

>On the plus side it's a real treat to watch Teague and Vilarial working together; they are putting on a great show. Props also to Campbell whose work in the groundgame was very good: props also to the Bills staff for recognizing and hiding players' weaknesses as they didn't ask Campbell to passprotect at all last night, an areea in which he's really struggled.

 

>I like Lee Evans' game, but if he wants to be a complete WR in this league, he must block. Maybe he's saving it for when the games count, which is fine, but he'll hurt this offense in the regular season if he doesn't put forth a more concerted effort.

 

>A couple plays before JP's TD, McGahee took a vicious shot on the knee from the Packer strongside 'backer; one of those AWinfield style :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: tackles. If I had been watching live it would have scared the crap out of me, but Willis got right up.

 

>A nod to Daimon SHelton who appears to have picked up right where he left off. No slow start for him this year.

 

>Also a nod to Reshard Lee who in addition to the return and some good running, also flashed some agressive blocking and some heads up work on a broken play that JP took for a positive gain.

 

>Speaking of JP, he looked a little more skittish out there than he did vs the Colts. I won't harp on it because he got results but he is looking way too eager to leve the pocket, even at times when his OLine has put together a solid one for him. I do like what I'm seeing in the red zone and think the Bills can be far more efficient there than they were with Bledsoe. Also still impressed with his ability to feel pressure without seeing it and for the most part move to open space while keeping his head downfield; this maybe a result of all the practice he had doing at Tulane. Another thing I liked is that both times his receivers had drops (Evans and Reed) he went right back to them for first downs on the very next play; that's veteran football. On the negative side he really hung Moulds out to dry and owes him a sincere apology; that was an awful decision and somebody needs to make him aware of it. And I'm not agreeing with all this talk about him needing to learn to slide. He did get caught once in the COlts game where he should have gone down but in the Green Bay game I had no problem with his decisions. The one time he got licked it was third down and if he's have slid he'd have been short and the Bills TD drive would have ended in a FG attempt. The other time was in the 2:00 drill when he was just trying to get OB and came up a couple inches short; neither of those instance is a situation where he neesd to be laying down early.

 

>Really liked what I saw of Aaron Schobel defending the groundgame; he was a definite force at the POA. On the other side Kelsay struggled a bit and was generally inefective all night.

 

>Found it interesting that Mularkey yanked Holcomb in the middle of a drive, immediately following the play when he took off upfield and tried to thrwo a block. We know you want to play Kelly, but save it for when we need it.

 

>I'm a little worried about Nate Clements this year for a couple reasons. One is that he is attacking the run so aggresively that he's leaving space between him and the sidelines and he's trying to kill everybody he sees, which is fine 'til he hurts himself attacking a 320lb guard. The other reason is that I'm praying that his great effort last year hasn't made him overconfident. Favre abused him with a miniscule pumpfake and I wonder if Nate might want the ball so bad that he's going to start jumping way too many first moves. If he wants to stay as consistent as he was last year he really needs to pick his spots.

 

>Geisinger and Jerman are both absolutely horrible and neither one of them can play in this league. I'm gettting a little worried about the Bills depth on the OLine.

 

>The Packers run as many picks on offense as anybody around. But they're really good at it and will likely get away with all year.

 

>When Donahoe/Modrak came on board I was really excited because I watched them work in Pburgh and figured they would get rid of any of the Bills shrinking violets (Price, Carpenter, etc). They did but there's still one guy out there driving me nuts and that continues to be Posey. It's bad enough when he's coming unblocked and then whiffing on 40yrold QB's twice (right before they throw TD's) or that rookie ARodgers can make him look like EddieRobinson, but I can't take much more of watching him run away from contact. For gawd's sakes he's turning his back on rookie TE's instead of taking them on and tip-toeing through the wash instead of busting people up. The guy does next to nothing for this defense and like to see somebody else at least get a shot. I'm not convinced Stamer is the answer and am not particular liking what I'm seeing from Haggan; I'd have no problem if the Bills kicked Crowell out to the strongside just to see what he could do there.

 

>Another thing I wish this staff would do is let us see what Ritzman looks like against NFL starters. Not only are they giveing Schobel waaayyy more snaps than he needs, but they've got Gause in front of him on the depth chart even though Ritzman does nothing but make plays every time he gets on the field. Against GB he didn't even see the field 'til late and only got to play 2 drives yet still managed to get his hands on Packer QB's no less than 5 different times. Give this kid a look earlier coach.....please!

 

>I'm not convinced Reed dropped that fleaflicker, as the DB was diving for the ball before it came in and had an arm fully extended right in front of Josh. If he got a fingertip on it (which is entirely possible) I can't fault Reed for not pulling in a ball that was deflected directly in front of him. I know he's got the dropsies bad the last couple years, but he was by far the best blocking WR on the field last night and can be really effective converting 3rddowns. Between college and his rookie season I've seen enough that I'm not giving up on the kid yet.

 

 

A couple general thoughts:

 

Those complaining about the Bills rungame thusfar are out in left field as far as I'm concerned. Aside from Anderson, everybody looks good up front and Willis is averagn almost 4yrds/carry while barely even getting out of the 1stqrtr. A good ground attack always gets better as the game progresses and if we average 4yrds/pop during the 1st qrtr we could be mangling people late.

 

It doesn't matter what unit it is, or who's playing on it. Our ST's look absolutely dominant in all phases of the game. What a spectacular job by the Bills staff and front office. They might win us a couple games this year on thier own.

[34-78-83]

Nice read Simon, thanks.

I have been surprised thus far at the O-line's ability to pass protect. They're well ahead of where I had them figured for at this point and as you say even held up well on a few plays where JP could have stayed home longer. Anderson did make a very nice kickout on Willis's TD but you are right overall about him, and he should be more dominant in the run game than he is right now.

[The_Real]

Monkeyed with the clicker for a while this morning and came up with these:

 

>Ron Edwards sin't creating much push or penetration upfield, but he's moving laterallly better than I've ever seen him.

>EKing is the starting dimebacker for now, but is playing some nervous ball. He's so worried about giving up downfield completions that guys are working him underneath. This will be a problem since he's usually seeing the field only on 3rddown where he needs to protect the sticks, not the deep ball.

>Saw the Bills using a little of what they used to call the Ruby package; the 3 safeties on teh field were Milloy, Vincent and Baker.

>Tim Anderson didn't look nearly as effective vs teh Pack as he did vs the Colts. Both Denney and Bannon did look pretty good against the Green Bay reserves.

>Coy Wire special of the night: He commited a flagrant clip on the puntreturn Haddad fumbled, which could have wiped out the penalty that bailed us out. Even worse, when he hit the guy from behind he blocked him directly into Haddad which was what actually forced the fumble. I like ya' Coy but you might be in some trouble when the Turk rolls around.

>Bennie Anderson looks absolutely awful. If he doesn't show significant improvement very quickly I hope the Bills kick Duke Preston over to LG and give him some snaps with the starting unit as he's looked very good.

>On the plus side it's a real treat to watch Teague and Vilarial working together; they are putting on a great show. Props also to Campbell whose work in the groundgame was very good: props also to the Bills staff for recognizing and hiding players' weaknesses as they didn't ask Campbell to passprotect at all last night, an areea in which he's really struggled.

 

>I like Lee Evans' game, but if he wants to be a complete WR in this league, he must block. Maybe he's saving it for when the games count, which is fine, but he'll hurt this offense in the regular season if he doesn't put forth a more concerted effort.

>A couple plays before JP's TD, McGahee took a vicious shot on the knee from the Packer strongside 'backer; one of those AWinfield style :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: tackles. If I had been watching live it would have scared the crap out of me, but Willis got right up.

>A nod to Daimon SHelton who appears to have picked up right where he left off. No slow start for him this year.

>Also a nod to Reshard Lee who in addition to the return and some good running, also flashed some agressive blocking and some heads up work on a broken play that JP took for a positive gain.

>Speaking of JP, he looked a little more skittish out there than he did vs the Colts. I won't harp on it because he got results but he is looking way too eager to leve the pocket, even at times when his OLine has put together a solid one for him. I do like what I'm seeing in the red zone and think the Bills can be far more efficient there than they were with Bledsoe. Also still impressed with his ability to feel pressure without seeing it and for the most part move to open space while keeping his head downfield; this maybe a result of all the practice he had doing at Tulane. Another thing I liked is that both times his receivers had drops (Evans and Reed) he went right back to them for first downs on the very next play; that's veteran football. On the negative side he really hung Moulds out to dry and owes him a sincere apology; that was an awful decision and somebody needs to make him aware of it. And I'm not agreeing with all this talk about him needing to learn to slide. He did get caught once in the COlts game where he should have gone down but in the Green Bay game I had no problem with his decisions. The one time he got licked it was third down and if he's have slid he'd have been short and the Bills TD drive would have ended in a FG attempt. The other time was in the 2:00 drill when he was just trying to get OB and came up a couple inches short; neither of those instance is a situation where he neesd to be laying down early.

>Really liked what I saw of Aaron Schobel defending the groundgame; he was a definite force at the POA. On the other side Kelsay struggled a bit and was generally inefective all night.

>Found it interesting that Mularkey yanked Holcomb in the middle of a drive, immediately following the play when he took off upfield and tried to thrwo a block. We know you want to play Kelly, but save it for when we need it.

>I'm a little worried about Nate Clements this year for a couple reasons. One is that he is attacking the run so aggresively that he's leaving space between him and the sidelines and he's trying to kill everybody he sees, which is fine 'til he hurts himself attacking a 320lb guard. The other reason is that I'm praying that his great effort last year hasn't made him overconfident. Favre abused him with a miniscule pumpfake and I wonder if Nate might want the ball so bad that he's going to start jumping way too many first moves. If he wants to stay as consistent as he was last year he really needs to pick his spots.

>Geisinger and Jerman are both absolutely horrible and neither one of them can play in this league. I'm gettting a little worried about the Bills depth on the OLine.

>The Packers run as many picks on offense as anybody around. But they're really good at it and will likely get away with all year.

>When Donahoe/Modrak came on board I was really excited because I watched them work in Pburgh and figured they would get rid of any of the Bills shrinking violets (Price, Carpenter, etc). They did but there's still one guy out there driving me nuts and that continues to be Posey. It's bad enough when he's coming unblocked and then whiffing on 40yrold QB's twice (right before they throw TD's) or that rookie ARodgers can make him look like EddieRobinson, but I can't take much more of watching him run away from contact. For gawd's sakes he's turning his back on rookie TE's instead of taking them on and tip-toeing through the wash instead of busting people up. The guy does next to nothing for this defense and like to see somebody else at least get a shot. I'm not convinced Stamer is the answer and am not particular liking what I'm seeing from Haggan; I'd have no problem if the Bills kicked Crowell out to the strongside just to see what he could do there.

>Another thing I wish this staff would do is let us see what Ritzman looks like against NFL starters. Not only are they giveing Schobel waaayyy more snaps than he needs, but they've got Gause in front of him on the depth chart even though Ritzman does nothing but make plays every time he gets on the field. Against GB he didn't even see the field 'til late and only got to play 2 drives yet still managed to get his hands on Packer QB's no less  than 5 different times. Give this kid a look earlier coach.....please!

>I'm not convinced Reed dropped that fleaflicker, as the DB was diving for the ball before it came in and had an arm fully extended right in front of Josh. If he got a fingertip on it (which is entirely possible) I can't fault Reed for not pulling in a ball that was deflected directly in front of him. I know he's got the dropsies bad the last couple years, but he was by far the best blocking WR on the field last night and can be really effective converting 3rddowns. Between college and his rookie season I've seen enough that I'm not giving up on the kid yet.

A couple general thoughts:

Those complaining about the Bills rungame thusfar are out in left field as far as I'm concerned. Aside from Anderson, everybody looks good up front and Willis is averagn almost 4yrds/carry while barely even getting out of the 1stqrtr. A good ground attack always gets better as the game progresses and if we average 4yrds/pop during the 1st qrtr we could be mangling people late.

It doesn't matter what unit it is, or who's playing on it. Our ST's look absolutely dominant in all phases of the game. What a spectacular job by the Bills staff and front office. They might win us a couple games this year on thier own.

414971[/snapback]

 

 

Great review. Tell me why you aren't sold on Stamer. I watched him and thought he imposed his will fairly well out there.

 

t-r

 

Oh yeah, you couldn't be more correct about Ritzzman. That kid looks fantastic and I'd like to see him against even second stringers.

[Wiz]

Thanks for the analysis.

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

I'm fairly convinced Ritzmann is invisible because nobody even tried to block him on that final "drive".

[eball]

i don't necessarily agree with everything you said, but that's a heluva post nonetheless. thanks for the in-depth analysis.

 

one point i need to stress -- and it pains me to say this -- is that josh reed is giving 100% effort out there. he is by far the best blocking WR the bills have, and i just wish there was a way to get his confidence back in his hands. the guy is trying so damn hard and it's painful to watch him drop balls.

[34-78-83]

i don't necessarily agree with everything you said, but that's a heluva post nonetheless.  thanks for the in-depth analysis.

 

one point i need to stress -- and it pains me to say this -- is that josh reed is giving 100% effort out there.  he is by far the best blocking WR the bills have, and i just wish there was a way to get his confidence back in his hands.  the guy is trying so damn hard and it's painful to watch him drop balls.

414991[/snapback]

 

You can rest assured that the Bill's staff saw him hold on for those two timely third down conversions. Both solid grabs with one including dragging the man for an extra yard or two to get the FD. Like you guys said, his blocking at the position is second to none on the team.

[Simon]

Anderson did make a very nice kickout on Willis's TD

It's wierd. The one thing I was worried about was his ability to move at that size. But the only time he even looked adequate was the couple of times they asked him to pull.

 

Tell me why you aren't sold on Stamer. I watched him and thought he imposed his will fairly well out there.

Yeah he's stout and wildly agressive and I like th fact that he'll actually hold the POA as opposed to our current Sam who won't. But I don't think he moves laterally very well and I'm worried that he'd be a real liability in coverage. Of course I don't think Posey could cover me so maybe it's not that big of an issue.

 

I'm fairly convinced Ritzmann is invisible because nobody even tried to block him on that final "drive".

Yeah, that one sack the LT crashed down for some reason and Ritzmann just walked in. That definitely produced a double take. But on the other sack plus the other three times he got his hands on the QB he had to beat the Tackle (and once a blocking back as well) to get there. Maybe he can't play in this league and the staff knows it from what they're seeing in practice. But I just want to see it once for myself so I can shut the hell up about it.

[34-78-83]

Maybe he can't play in this league and the staff knows it from what they're seeing in practice. But I just want to see it once for myself so I can shut the hell up about it. 

414995[/snapback]

 

It's his ability vs. the run that holds him back on the chart right now. That came right from Mularkey's mouth last week at camp.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Many thanks for some detailed and often sage observations.

 

Outside of including the usual rants on Posey that include no examples of anybody he had responsibility for or directly took on scoring a TD or even getting a bid gain these observations look pretty solid. When I look at the tape again I will keep an eye out for Rodgers making Posey look like Eddie Robinson as this is the most measurable indictment you make which is not just a complaint that this pro is observed by an amateur turning the wrong way but fortunately no one scored or got a big gain due to the Posey faux pas.

[Larry Playfair]

>Bennie Anderson looks absolutely awful. If he doesn't show significant improvement very quickly I hope the Bills kick Duke Preston over to LG and give him some snaps with the starting unit as he's looked very good.

 

414971[/snapback]

 

 

I agree, I was watching Gandy and replying the tape, but he did great. What i did notice is that Bennie cant hold a block for more than a second b/c he's too slow/fat to move with the D-lineman moving towards the ball.

[Alaska Darin]

Thanks Simon. I'm glad someone else is driven as nuts by Posey as I am. Weight room Adonis who plays like he's got somewhere else to be.

[Thailog80]

I agree, I was watching Gandy and replying the tape, but he did great. What i did notice is that Bennie cant hold a block for more than a second b/c he's too slow/fat to move with the D-lineman moving towards the ball.

415003[/snapback]

 

At least he isn't Puccilo.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

I watched the first half. My thoughts:

 

-Tasker and Levy said the Bills were playing simple defense on that first drive. They only blitzed on the last 2 plays and Favre made a great play to get that TD.

-The holding call on Greer to extend the Packs' 1st drive was bogus and was more the receiver running into him (the defender has a right to stand his ground) and he was within the 5-yard chuck-zone.

-IMHO JP was sensing the pocket collapsing pretty well most times he scrambled, as I usually saw a defender ready to come in and clean his clock. I really liked how he looked, and close the the middle of the 2nd quarter, I thought I was watching Brett Favre in his younger days.

-The safety play was a bad one for both JP and Gandy, as Gandy needs to finish his blocks, and JP needs to NOT run backwards, or at least be decisive when he starts to scramble. He had a wide open left side of the field, but could have heard a voice inside his head saying "don't run" and was trying to pass it first. Who knows, but it didn't end up hurting the team since there was a penalty, and it's a learning point. But Gandy played well most of the night.

-Even though they weren't perfect passes, Moulds (on the play he got hurt), Evans, and Reed (on the flea-flicker, and the defender was too far behind him and falling down) should have come-up with those receptions. That's what they're paid to do.

-On the first incompletion to Aiken, there was pass interference.

-On the second incompletion to Aiken, JP expected him to be one place but Aiken was in another. Don't know who was at fault, but when JP was coming off the field, he was shaking his head. On prior plays when he screwed-up he'd be barking at himself. So I think that one was on Aiken. But if it was on JP, I can live with that.

-On the first throwaway (where JP had something like 13 seconds), Lee wasn't paying attention to the (draw) handoff after the fake-pump.

-On the 2nd throwaway, JP might have gotten away with grounding. He rolled-out to his left, but I didn't think he got outside of the LT enough. I can't say for sure.

[Simon]

Outside of including the usual rants on Posey that include no examples of anybody he had responsibility for or directly took on scoring a TD.....

The play where he came free into the backfield and whiffed twice on Favre the Pack scored a TD because he didn't do his job.

 

.....or even getting a big gain .

The play where he was falling all over himself rookie Rogers ran right up his lane for a big gain.

I beleive one of the times I saw him turn his back and abandoned the POA, the Pack ran over him for a first down but Spikes came over and made the tackle downfield.

 

I'm glad someone else is driven as nuts by Posey as I am. Weight room Adonis who plays like he's got somewhere else to be.

I wish we had somebody who could legitimately push him. I just want to see what a different player "looks" like in that position in Gray's D. At this point I don't even care who it is. Hell plug Ezekial in there; he'll get pounded but at least he'll engage and hold..... and maybe bite a chunk out of somebody.

[Sound_n_Fury]

I'm fairly convinced Ritzmann is invisible because nobody even tried to block him on that final "drive".

414990[/snapback]

 

 

You're right...two successive unabated runs at the QB. Couldn't believe the OT did the exact same thing twice in a row.

[Simon]

The safety play was a bad one for both JP and Gandy,

I didn't have any problem with Gandy's work on that play. You can only expect a guy to hold a block for so long and Gandy held it plenty long enough for JP to shlt or get off the pot. He also took KGB outside far enough eventually that if JP had stayed in the pocket he'd have probably been all right. Instead he turned around and ran straight backwards and Gandy had no idea he couldn't ride the End out and up that far cuz he never imagined his QB would turn around and run straight to the goalline.

At least from what I remember.

 

Moulds (on the play he got hurt), Evans, and Reed (on the flea-flicker, and the defender was too far behind him and falling down) should have come-up with those receptions. That's what they're paid to do.

Even if Moulds should have caught it, it was still a terrible throw as he was going to get expose himself terribly and then get busted hard.

Agreed on Evans' misplay. It wasn't a perfect throw but it was good enough that Evans should have gathered it in easily. I agree that Reed should have caught that ball, but not because it was a drop. I thought he failed to attack the ball with his hands (a habit for him lately) and it allowed the DB the extra bit of time and space he needed to influence the play.

 

On the first incompletion to Aiken, there was pass interference

I thought there was when I saw it live. But after I watched it again, it was so close I' think stripes did the right thing keeping it in his pants and letting them play.

 

On the first throwaway (where JP had something like 13 seconds), Lee wasn't paying attention to the (draw) handoff after the fake-pump.

Was that the play where they tried to run the inside delayed draw with the reach-around handoff? If so, I didn't fault Lee or Losman, their timing on a complicated play was just a hair off. I did give Lee credit for turning around and throwing a damned good block the second he realized the play was broken.

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

You guys will be happy to know that in positional work at tonight's practice the WRs were working on blocking - helmet in the chest, head up, arms inside, driving with legs and throwing to one side after a count. Tolbert had them really being aggressive.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

I didn't have any problem with Gandy's work on that play. You can only expect a guy to hold a block for so long and Gandy held it plenty long enough for JP to shlt or get off the pot. He also took KGB outside far enough eventually that if JP had stayed in the pocket he'd have probably been all right. Instead he turned around and ran straight backwards and Gandy had no idea he couldn't ride the End out and up that far cuz he never imagined his QB would turn around and run straight to the goalline.

At least from what I remember.

I like Gandy a lot. But I thought he could have stayed with the play a little better. True he rode KGB far enough outside, though. And as for the safety, I thought the QB had to have both feet in the EZ for it to be one? JP had one foot on the field when he was tackled.

Even if Moulds should have caught it, it was still a terrible throw as he was going to get expose himself terribly and then get busted hard.

True. But as they say, if you're going to get hit, might as well make the catch. And again, it's what they're paid to do. Moulds should have just ignored the pass altogether though, if he wasn't interested in getting blasted. I could have lived with that.

Agreed on Evans' misplay. It wasn't a perfect throw but it was good enough that Evans should have gathered it in easily. I agree that Reed should have caught that ball, but not because it was a drop. I thought he failed to attack the ball with his hands (a habit for him lately) and it allowed the DB the extra bit of time and space he needed to influence the play.

Reed could have attacked the ball, but when I replayed the ball getting to him, I saw the defender a step behind him and falling down, so that his arms were at best going to contact his waist. It just looks like Reed muffed the catch, like he did the flea-flicker in the season opener against the Pats in 2003. But I will say that what I saw was enough for me to want the Bills to keep Reed around. But without anymore flea-flickers his way.

I thought there was when I saw it live. But after I watched it again, it was so close I' think stripes did the right thing keeping it in his pants and letting them play.

The DB got there WAY early. It wasn't even close in my eyes.

Was that the play where they tried to run the inside delayed draw with the reach-around handoff? If so, I didn't fault Lee or Losman, their timing on a complicated play was just a hair off. I did give Lee credit for turning around and throwing a damned good block the second he realized the play was broken.

Yeah, that was the play. I watched and saw JP extend the ball to Lee, who did a "oh, there it is" kind of move like he wasn't paying attention, and it was too late and JP took off. The onus is on Lee to get/be aware of the handoff.

[Simon]

I watched and saw JP extend the ball to Lee, who did a "oh, there it is" kind of move like he wasn't paying attention, and it was too late and JP took off. The onus is on Lee to get/be aware of the handoff.

Actually part of the subterfuge is for it to look like a passplay so Lee should not be looking like he's trying to take a handoff, his head should be upfield where it was. And in the QB/RB exchange the RB's only responsibility is to have his hands in the proper cradle position to accept the handoff; the real onus is on the QB to watch his target and jam it in there tight so the back can keep his eyes upfield and watch the flow developing.