Lori Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 MIAMI DOLPHINS (2-1) AT BUFFALO BILLS (1-3) SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2005 - 1:00 P.M. EDT RALPH WILSON STADIUM, ORCHARD PARK, NY CBS: Kevin Harlan / Randy Cross REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Miami leads, 48-29-1 PLAYOFF RECORD: Buffalo leads, 3-1 LAST MEETING: December 5, 2004 – Bills 42, Dolphins 32 One of Drew Bledsoe’s best games as a Bill – he threw 4 touchdown passes in the win, including two to Lee Evans. Fish QB A.J. Feeley tossed four TDs as well; too bad for him one of them was also his fifth INT of the day, returned 20 yards by big Pat Williams for Buffalo’s game-clinching score. “He didn’t want to hit me. He didn’t want none of these pounds, so he slacked off.” LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: October 17, 2004 – Bills 20, Dolphins 13 The ‘Hawk’ made an early-season appearance in Orchard Park; with temperatures in the mid-forties and a steady 25-mph breeze off Lake Erie, the only points into the scoreboard end zone were from Rian Lindell’s just-barely-good 20-yard fourth-quarter FG. It was a day of firsts for the Bills – the first win of the season and of Mike Mularkey’s head-coaching career, Takeo Spikes’ 11-yard INT return for his first TD as a Bill, and Willis McGahee’s first 100-yard game in his first career start. OVERVIEW OFFENSE: The Miami running game was putrid in 2004, ranking 31st in yards/game and dead last in yards/carry. You wouldn’t know that by watching the games against Buffalo, though – Sammy Morris averaged over five yards/carry (18-91) in his return to the Ralph, while Travis Minor carried 20 times for 82 yards (4.1 average) in the rematch. Since Ricky Williams’ status was still up in the air (up in smoke?) at draft time, new head coach Nick Saban used the #2 overall pick on Auburn RB Ronnie Brown. Brown was underwhelming in his first two starts, but bounced back nicely with a 132-yard performance vs. Carolina. Look up “journeyman quarterback” in the dictionary, and you might find a picture of Gus Frerotte. Miami is the sixth stop in the eleventh-year veteran’s tour of the league; he’s 29-37-1 in 67 career starts. His only previous visit to Rich Stadium as a starter ended badly, with the Bills trouncing his Redskins 38-13 back in 1996. (Washington was 7-1 and leading their division coming into that game, but collapsed to 9-7 and missed the playoffs…) Saban is asking Frerotte to manage the game and not turn the ball over, which would be a vast improvement over the Fiedler/Feeley/Rosenfels trifecta of last year – they combined to throw 26 INTs, including 8 that were returned for touchdowns. One of Saban’s better offseason moves may have been hiring respected OL coach Hudson Houck, who was in Los Angeles for Eric Dickerson’s 2,105-yard season in 1984, and on the Dallas staff for their last two Super Bowl titles. Houck wasn’t given much to work with – 2004 #1 pick Vernon Carey (RT) is the only different starter from a mediocre group that gave up 52 sacks a year ago - but Frerotte has only been taken down twice in the first three games. Talented WR Chris Chambers and TE Randy McMichael have been waiting a long time for a QB who can consistently get them the ball; if Frerotte is that guy, McMichael could end up being one of the best in the league. Marty Booker is the other starter, with special-teams standout Wes Welker getting most of the reps at #3 and David Boston seeing some time at Booker's spot. Weird factoid of the week: the Bills have run back an INT for a touchdown in four of the last six games vs. Miami, including two by Nate Clements. DEFENSE: Although their depth chart still shows a base 4-3 set, one of Saban’s first moves as head coach was to install plenty of 3-4 packages. Kevin Carter and Vonnie Holliday (who can both play end or tackle) and NT Keith Traylor were signed as free agents, with Pro Bowl DE Jason Taylor moving into more of a hybrid DE/OLB role. Rookie LB Channing Crowder has bypassed 2003 second-round pick Eddie Moore in the lineup; holdovers Zach Thomas and Junior Seau are the other two starters. Seau has been bothered by a calf injury since training camp, though, and tweaked it again vs. Carolina. If he doesn’t suit up, Donnie Spragan will fill in at SLB. Patrick Surtain was traded to Kansas City and both safeties were released in the offseason, so Sam Madison is the only starting DB left from 2004. Rookie Travis Daniels, a fourth-round pick from LSU, inherited the other CB spot after previous starter Reggie Howard was torched against the Jets; Howard is now the nickel DB. Lance Schulters (a salary-cap casualty in Tennessee) and Tebucky Jones are the new safeties, with former Bills second-rounder Travares Tillman in reserve. SPECIAL TEAMS: Olindo Mare isn’t as dependable as he used to be; he’s missed 8 FGs inside the 40 since the beginning of the 2002 season. He seems to have regained some of his leg strength, though, with 5 touchbacks out of 14 kickoffs so far this year. Donnie Jones is the new punter; he’s placed 6 of his 16 kicks inside the 20 and carries an impressive 39.5-yard net average. This may strike some of you as heresy, but Wes Welker reminds me a little bit of a pretty good special-teamer who used to play here in Buffalo. He does it all – returns both kicks and punts, plays on the coverage teams, and even booted a 29-yard FG and an extra point after Mare was injured last season. I’m not saying he’s at Tasker’s level, mind you, but I wouldn’t mind having him on my team… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLOOK: Let’s see here… the Bills have a young quarterback whose head is obviously spinning right now, a mediocre OL better at runblocking than passblocking, and an RB who has averaged almost 5.3 yards/carry in the two games since he was taken to task by Mike Mularkey for “dancing” vs. Tampa Bay. Will the rumored QB switch to Kelly Holcomb be an improvement, if it happens? Probably, at least in the short term… but it won’t matter who’s taking the snaps if Willis McGahee doesn’t start getting the ball more often. No expert analysis needed to figure that out - we were yelling it before halftime at the game Sunday, and I’m sure many of you were typing similar thoughts here on the Wall: “RUN THE ^#&!ING BALL !!!” On the other side of the line, here’s all you need to know about the Buffalo defense’s performance in the first four games: four out of the top five tacklers are DBs. The front seven wasn’t stopping the run even before Takeo Spikes got hurt, and the blitz hasn’t been getting to the opposing QB. That has to change, and soon, or the Bills will be out of the playoff race before Thanksgiving (if not Halloween). See you in Lot 1 on Sunday, and Go Bills. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Links: NFL.com injury report NFL.com Dolphins depth chart NFL.com Dolphins team stats Ourlads.com – Dolphins depth chart MiamiDolphins.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark VI Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Chambers and Brown could give the Bills trouble. We have to prove we can stop the run with Brown and Chambers is very talented at WR. Their D has been playing much better than expected. I have no idea what we'll try on Offense anymore. I guess we just sit back and watch. If our D goes blitz happy again, they'll get toasted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill in Livonia Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Run the %#*^ in Ball!! GO BILLS! DESTROY THE DOLPHINS!! See you Sunday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granitestatebillsbackers Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 If you listen carefully on Sunday, you will hear a group of us screaming "RUN THE *&^$ BALL!" from 450 miles to the east in the heart of Patriots country. GO BILLS! SQUISH THE FISH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiew Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Once again - amazing job Lori. See you Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 Chambers and Brown could give the Bills trouble. We have to prove we can stop the run with Brown and Chambers is very talented at WR. Their D has been playing much better than expected. I'd be less concerned about Chambers if I hadn't been there in person to see our Pro Bowl CB flash-fried by Donte' freakin' Stallworth. As for their D... used to be we could count on Wanny to screw something up, but I'm afraid we don't have that luxury with Saban. I have no idea what we'll try on Offense anymore. I guess we just sit back and watch. You 'n me both. Dunno if Clements has the opposing D guessing, but he's sure got me confused.... If our D goes blitz happy again, they'll get toasted. 467482[/snapback] Live by the blitz, die by the blitz. Like I said - it hasn't been getting there in time lately, and we're paying the price. You'd think playing against an oldster like Gus F., behind an OL that spent a good chunk of last year scraping their QBs up off the turf, would be a recipe for success... but said OL has also been better than expected so far. I realize the Panthers miss Kris Jenkins, but I'm still having a hard time comprehending the idea that they couldn't get even one sack vs. Frerotte... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udonkey Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 If you listen carefully on Sunday, you will hear a group of us screaming "RUN THE *&^$ BALL!" from 450 miles to the east in the heart of Patriots country. GO BILLS! SQUISH THE FISH! 468832[/snapback] With an echo coming from SW Ohio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 You'd think playing against an oldster like Gus F., behind an OL that spent a good chunk of last year scraping their QBs up off the turf, would be a recipe for success... but said OL has also been better than expected so far. I realize the Panthers miss Kris Jenkins, but I'm still having a hard time comprehending the idea that they couldn't get even one sack vs. Frerotte... 469817[/snapback] I read somewhere while surfing last week that Miami blitzed Carolina about 70% of the time. Can anyone confirm this? see you tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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