Give me a sampling

[Indy Dave]

Let's say we knocked the ball down on the final play and won 10-6. That's the only play I'm talking about changing. The game was exactly the same, only we knocked down the ball on the last play.

For those of you who were at the stadium or watched it on TV, what would have been your impressions? About Drew? About the conservative passing plays? About our defense? About Travis and Willis' 106 yards?

I know there is a ton of negativity because we lost, but what positive things would you have said, and what negative things would you still have said, had we won?

[Alaska Darin]

Let's say we knocked the ball down on the final play and won 10-6. That's the only play I'm talking about changing. The game was exactly the same, only we knocked down the ball on the last play.

For those of you who were at the stadium or watched it on TV, what would have been your impressions? About Drew? About the conservative passing plays? About our defense? About Travis and Willis' 106 yards?

I know there is a ton of negativity because we lost, but what positive things would you have said, and what negative things would you still have said, had we won?

29229[/snapback]

The same people who are falling on their swords would be acting like Jenna Jameson at the end of an orgy scene.

[USMCBillsFan]

The same people who are falling on their swords would be acting like Jenna Jameson at the end of an orgy scene.

29244[/snapback]

 

[gantrules]

I like Mularkey's game plan. He didn't chuck the ball down the field against a good D line. Chances are with the long pass it could have resulted in a sack or an INT. I think he's trying to work on Drew's confidence with the short game.

 

Even on that TD to Eric he seemed to hesitate until he was 100% sure he was open. Which is fine and will build confidence.

 

I think there were some bad play calls but there were an equal number of great ones. The draw on 3rd and 10 to Travis. The screen to McGahee. The quick out to Moulds (the one that worked).

 

Yes, there were some ones that fell apart. But, they set up other plays. Such as the crappy reverse set up a fake reverse to Travis for a good gain.

 

I think these calls can be built upon. I really thought the game plan was good.

 

I like Mike.

 

The D was tough the entire game until the meltdown.

[Cobra]

I feel good about this team and coaching staff. Had we won, everyone would be feeling great. But, we lost! So everyone is negative! Let's wait until we have played several games before we launch the "DOOM AND GLOOM."

[Thailog80]

It would've sent the message to the team....Hey we can WIN these kind of games!!!

 

We need to finish teams off not let them lay in wait til the end and then get us.

 

Thanks AD for the jenna visual......

[VABills]

Actually I think I have been one of the positive people today. I posted on Shoebal and Sam Adams playing well. I complimented Travis on catching the ball in stride twice. I have not posted any really negative posts. That is usually how I am. However if we had won, I would have posted some of the mistakes and recommendation for correction. I tend not to focus on the negatives after a lose since you guys tend to do that already.

[YOOOOOO]

Just the overall way we controled the game....The gameplan was there...I think MM came into the game thinking it would be a low scoring affiar....and he stuck to his gameplan...and it would of worked accept for a horribly timed holding penalty costing us the game....

[stevestojan]

well, this was my response to Mike's doomsday thread.... it works here:

 

Man, I am as negative as anyone else (or more), but the funny thing is, is if that last catch had been tipped, not caught, caught out of bounds, intercepted, etc, etc, there would be no mention of a lack of enthusiasm.

 

I was watching at a bar in south florida, and one drive, the jags were in the red zone (or close to it) and Leftwich obviously couldnt hear a damn thing. He stood up and called a timout. I immediatly thought of the fans i know that were at the game (you all, EZC, and others). Sure, its not 1990-94. But then again, last season we were 6-10, so that is to be expected.

 

If anything other than the miracle play for Jax had happened, I think all the posts around here would be "wow, the defense looked great!", "bledsoe, only sacked once, and no picks - great", "moorman (and more suprisingly our kick coverage) looked stellar", etc.

 

Don't get me wrong. After that catch, I had to leave the bar i was at, because i couldnt force myself to be happy or have fun anymore. For being a regular season game, I was thinking it was just as bad as "homerun throwback" or at least close. But come on, its monday, Oakland game is Sunday, and without that one magical catch (and not magical in a good way), this talk would be non existant.

 

With the level of defensive battle going on (the #6 and #2 defenses in the league) you can't expect 75000 people to stay that loud that long.

 

So, dooomsday thinking will have to wait for me. I thought it was a good game for the Bills.

[eSJayDee]

Well, I'd be happy 'cuz when the game was on the line, the Dee would have come through.

That was one thing that was lacking last year. Too many times, when it was important to stop someone, they failed.

The Dee was as stout as last year and even managed a couple of turnovers. Still they would have had 1 bonehead screw-up (the 45 yd bomb, thanks Nate).

The offense did what was advertised. Played smash-mouth football & managed to not lose it for us. They stayed committed to the run game even against a superb run Dee.

[MattyT]

Impressions regardless of outcome....

 

Positive:

- TH looked like his regular season self...bowling over defenders and breaking tackles

- McGahee IS CLOSE. He showed the patience and then burst of speed that made him deadly at UofM.

- Josh Reed caught his first pass (and others). We will not be having any sort of mental block with him.

- Evans showed good hands on his catches and awareness to clean up Campbell's mess.

- Offensive line looked about as good as I hoped and will only get better (barring injuries)

- IZELL!!! No big deal, but interceptions are hard to come by in this secondary.

- Exceptional run coverage for the most part by the defense.

- Spikes absolutely mauled the rookie WR who had been jabbering away all day at the Buffalo D. He'll think twice next week.

- Clement's had exceptional coverage all day as far as I could see. On the 4th and 14 he was on Smith like mold. Smith is a great reciever and a good catch is a good catch. Bills fans need to accept that.

 

Negative:

- Coy Wire playing too close to the line of scrimmage. He bites on the playfakes too hard. I thought Milloy was aggressive, but Wire bites beyond recovery. I've been a fan of his since he got here, but I am starting to lean towards keeping him on ST and giving Baker a shot at backing up Lawyer.

- Too much Steve Spurrier...not enough Joe Gibbs. Too many throw away plays (offense). Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think we played conservative enough. I still have a lingering fear of Mularkey's gadget plays from back in Pitt, which I honestly feel is what held the Steelers back from further success (that and the Steeler secondary).

- Bobby Shaw still runs his mouth too much on the field (more of a pet peeve)

- Shelton. I didn't really see good or bad from him. As a matter of fact I didn't notice him much at all. I doubt that is a good thing.

- TEs were almost a non-factor. It's a wonder that we were able to run a short yardage "conservative" offense without significant contribution from the TEs.

- We should have taken a couple of shots downfield. IMO this isn't contrary to a conservative offense...its just good common sense.

- EDIT: I had to also add that I thought that Mike Williams was worn down by the 4th quarter and didn't look too sharp once his energy had left him.

 

That's it for now...

[Lori]

I was watching at a bar in south florida, and one drive, the jags were in the red zone (or close to it) and Leftwich obviously couldnt hear a damn thing. He stood up and called a timout. I immediatly thought of the fans i know that were at the game (you all, EZC, and others). Sure, its not 1990-94. But then again, last season we were 6-10, so that is to be expected.

29322[/snapback]

I was going to respond to this in that other thread, but as long as this one's right on top.....

 

IMO, Leftwich called that TO not because of crowd noise (it was loud, but not THAT loud), but because he thought the play clock was messed up. Haven't had a chance to watch the tape yet, but here's how I remember it: Leftwich points to the clock a couple of times, looks towards the ref, then calls the TO and walks over to the ref complaining and again pointing to the clock. Then, after the end of that series (probably during a commercial break?) Del Rio was all the way down to the 20-yd line, presumably b*tching about the same thing.

 

Dunno, maybe the rebuild (and losing 7K seats in the process) really did make that much of a difference, but I can't remember the last time that stadium was truly, mindblowingly, teeth-rattlingly LOUD. Maybe the Flutie Jax game, and that was before the dugout suites went in.....

...or maybe some of those guys have a point? Stadium-wide, perhaps the "12th Man" isn't quite what it was back when we had a Super Bowl-quality team to cheer for.

[KOKBILLS]

Let's say we knocked the ball down on the final play and won 10-6. That's the only play I'm talking about changing. The game was exactly the same, only we knocked down the ball on the last play.

For those of you who were at the stadium or watched it on TV, what would have been your impressions? About Drew? About the conservative passing plays? About our defense? About Travis and Willis' 106 yards?

I know there is a ton of negativity because we lost, but what positive things would you have said, and what negative things would you still have said, had we won?

29229[/snapback]

 

Well admittedly I'm a negative MF'er, but had they won obviously the D would get MAJOR props for holding J-Ville to 6 points. Any time you hold a Team to 6 points over 4 quarters of Football it's impressive...

 

But like I said, I'm a negative bastard, and I also would have pointed out that we dodged a MAJOR bullet by only scoring 10 points at Home, and that the Offense will have to improve in order for the Bills to be a Playoff contender...

 

But it would have been nice to squeek out a close one simply because I think this Offense will improve...And after all, a Win is a Win... B)