Ransom observations on the game

[Kelly the Dog]

1. Obviously, any win is a great win, but we still kinda stink. I'll take it though, and could easily imagine 9-7 winning the division.

 

2. Holcomb, to me, is the equivalent of a starting pitcher in baseball with a 2-0 record and a 5.99 ERA. We gotta keep riding him but he really is a back-up for good reason. There are a few things he does quite well and he's done all he can do and has engineered two wins. So he needs to play. He has a rag for an arm, and I think he;s lost some velocity in the last year or two. He makes some really stupid plays that a 10 year vet should not make. For the second game in a row he threw a backwards idiotic pass and blew a handoff for a fumble, which ties an NFL record I believe. And in two games he''s thrown one pass more than ten yards in the air that has been good. This one, to Campbell, was a beaut. Neither of the TDs were great plays or throws, and neither should have been TDs, but they were and they count and again, he needs to play. He's doing exactly what he can do and needs to do and we can probably stay in the hunt with him. He is not an answer at all, however.

 

3. Terrence McGee is simply incredible and maybe getting better.

 

4. Shaud had a terrific small role and game today and is a really good change of pace for Willis. At first I really didnt like Willis out on third downs but draw plays are the kind of plays that SW can run effectively because he is such a shifty and quick mofo.

 

5. Jonathan Smith has some pretty decent talent and can make plays. I really don't know what to do with him but he needs to get the ball a couple times a game.

 

6. Josh and Aiken really do block pretty well.

 

7. I can't wait until Kevin Everett gets back just so we can get rid of Ryan Neufeld.

 

8. Nate continues to make bonehead plays on a one per game basis but he's so damn good he's the most frustrating guy on the team.

 

9. Clements called a decent game, if only because Willis had so many good runs early that he couldn't stop calling that number but I still hated a lot of that nonsense they ran.

 

10. Crowell had been getting killed IMO but obviously came up big with the INT, which was the biggest play of the game. The jets were right back in it and about to tie it without that. We cannot trust this defense to stop anyone at any time. They came up enough times today to win but it's scary every time out there.

 

11. I may be in the minority, and it's impossible to say, but I still think we win both of these games with JP at quarterback. If we ran Willis and had success and got turnovers and great field position and didnt put him in terrible positions, he would have fared a lot better. KH does several things that JP can't do yet that may have been difference makers, and seemed to make a pass when he had to, but he makes as many mistakes as Losman. I do think we need to play KH until he loses though, it's like going with a hot goaltender in hockey.

 

12. Willis looks to me like he almost has his speed back but not quite. What he can't do as good as he used to is cut on a dime and make a guy miss without hitting him solid in the open field. he can bulldoze players and he can break tackles and carry defenders but when he breaks through the line and there is one guy to beat that guy gets a good shot at him. Still, I expect him to start breaking some soon.

[Simon]

Willis looks to me like he almost has his speed back but not quite. What he can't do as good as he used to is cut on a dime and make a guy miss without hitting him solid in the open field. he can bulldoze players and he can break tackles and carry defenders but when he breaks through the line and there is one guy to beat that guy gets a good shot at him. Still, I expect him to start breaking some soon.

I'm not reu if he was every really that elusive; and it oges without saying that making the kind of guys on UM's schedule miss is a hell of a lot different than making pro defenders miss. Personally I think Willis is at his best when he's not trying to make guys miss and he's just jamming it up in there and taking what the D gives him, like he's been doing since Mularkey "called him out".

 

Good post but I think with the underrated/stated Holcomb at the helm, that the Bills might be a little bit more of a well-rounded team than you give them credit for.

Cya

 

P.S. Which play did you give Nate the bonehead for? He played arguably his worse game as a Bill but I'm going to guess the PI in the endzone looked the most egregious?

 

P.S.S. Is there a bit of Freud at work in your title?-)

[Dan Gross]

P.S.S. Is there a bit of Freud at work in your title?-)

477519[/snapback]

 

Second week in a row he's done that...I'd consider it not a coincidence...

 

Agree with many of your points, as usual, K-Dog. Thanks for helping the WNYTBDGPS make this win possible.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

10. Crowell had been getting killed IMO but obviously came up big with the INT, which was the biggest play of the game. The jets were right back in it and about to tie it without that. We cannot trust this defense to stop anyone at any time. They came up enough times today to win but it's scary every time out there.

 

477514[/snapback]

 

I felt that on a lot of those big run plays by Curtis Martin, Crowell was either totally enveloped by a blocker or caught out of position. I'd like to hear from someone who studies the game film--as my observation is based only on a few plays--but is Crowell partially to blame for our terrible run defense?

[Mikie2times]

I think those observations are spot on.

 

Holcomb at times looks like he's a decent QB, but he is not close to being a game changing player. I also thought JP might be able to win the last two given the ground game, and turnovers. But you can't completely discredit what Holcomb brings to this offense, and that’s the ability to create third and short, and pick up yardage threw the air via his west coast style passes.

 

Terrance IMO is the games best return man, and that includes Daunte Hall. He's just unreal to watch and reminds me a little of Barry Sanders with the way he runs. He doesn't possess Barry's agility, no player ever has, but he runs with the same shiftiness in his shoulders that Barry used to.

[Simon]

I felt that on a lot of those big run plays by Curtis Martin, Crowell was either totally enveloped by a blocker or caught out of position.

That was my initial instinct as well, but until I see a replay I'd be hesitant to come right out and say it.

[Kelly the Dog]

I'm not reu if he was every really that elusive; and it oges without saying that making the kind of guys on UM's schedule miss is a hell of a lot different than making pro defenders miss. Personally I think Willis is at his best when he's not trying to make guys miss and he's just jamming it up in there and taking what the D gives him, like he's been doing since Mularkey "called him out".

 

Good post but I think with the underrated/stated Holcomb at the helm, that the Bills might be a little bit more of a well-rounded team than you give them credit for.

Cya

 

P.S. Which play did you give Nate the bonehead for? He played arguably his worse game as a Bill but I'm going to guess the PI in the endzone looked the most egregious?

 

P.S.S. Is there a bit of Freud at work in your title?-)

477519[/snapback]

I misstyped the last time I tried to type random so i thought i'd do it again.

 

What I meant about Willis was not really juking or making moves but making that one cut and leaving guys in the dust. You're right that it's a lot harder here than in college but he used to be great at that and broke a lot of plays for long runs by breaking through the line, making one cut and he's gone. The play today that he broke through the line he cut a little but the DB had a great shot at him and he busted through the tackle and picked up five more yards but before the injury he may have been able to just make one cut be gone. Still, he's plenty good and much stronger than he was before.

 

Yes, the interference call, to me, was just so unneccessary. He seemed to be in decent position and he just didnt have to do it. And it's not like one you think you can sneak by someone.

 

I like a lot of the little things Holcomb is doing, don't get me wrong. He is making some plays when he has to. He makes some terrific 3 and 5 yard passes to WRs hands. But I am very disappointed in the mistakes he's making, the rag arm, the botched hand offs, especially the ill-advised backwards throws, etc. I also think he's benefitting from so many things that JP wasnt given, and he's only mildly producing. But I did say I think he should play.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

Holcomb is still very new to the offense and didn't get much time with the starters until now. I still think he'll get better.

[gmac17]

One thing I noticed today about Holcomb- despite his mediocrity, is that he made moulds look like the old moulds several times. There were a few times today when moulds had a catch across the middle in traffic that he hadn't had at all this season and into last season.

[GG]

I like a lot of the little things Holcomb is doing, don't get me wrong. He is making some plays when he has to. He makes some terrific 3 and 5 yard passes to WRs hands. But I am very disappointed in the mistakes he's making, the rag arm, the botched hand offs, especially the ill-advised backwards throws, etc. I also think he's benefitting from so many things that JP wasnt given, and he's only mildly producing. But I did say I think he should play.

477529[/snapback]

 

And that, in a nutshell, is Trent Dilfer. At this point, I'll take it.

 

I'm one of the doubters that thinks that JP wouldn't have delivered both Ws in the last two weeks. For the simple reason that I don't think that the run would have been as effective, nor would Bills have converted as many 3rd downs to keep the drives alive to get all those runs to Willis.

 

He's made some poor decisions out there, but much more often than not, he's got a good command of where the receivers are on the field, and gets the ball there. Another efficient game from Holcomb.

 

Agreed on the defense - they probably scare me more than they scare the opposition. I don't know if it's only Crowell that's getting blown up, but there are always big holes created by Sam shooting up the gap, and Anderson getting easily ridden out of the play leaving the RB a wide open middle.

[Simon]

The play today that he broke through the line he cut a little but the DB had a great shot at him and he busted through the tackle and picked up five more yards but before the injury he may have been able to just make one cut be gone

Was that a play over Vilarial where he came through the first wave clean and then the safety Coleman tried to take him on and Willis just flat out ran over him before he got tangled up in Coleman's flailing legs?

If so that's the kind of "take what they give you" that I'm liking. Maybe a few weeks ago Willis doesn't accelerate into the collision and instead tries to make another cut and ends up slwoing up enough that the DT or a 'backer recovers in time to drag him down on the spot for a 4-5yrd gain because he was looking for a 40-50yrdr. But when he runs agressively, being willing to just take 7-8yrds, he often gets them and a few more after contact; plus, had Coleman bounced a little more off to the side when Willis mowed him, he might not have tripped him up and McGahee goes for a monster gain.

It's like a fighter looking for a knockout versus one who's just hammmering away at what's available. When you look for the knockout (cut for the big gainer) you rarely get one, but when you just keep hammering (take what they give you) you're often surprised at what you find.

 

 

But I am very disappointed in the mistakes he's making, the rag arm, the botched hand offs, especially the ill-advised backwards throws, etc.

I'm always disappointed in mistakes, but I think he's making so few right now that it's not really an issue. I didn't see him with another "lateral" today, except for the designed one to Willis and a couple pitches, but when he hit that 'backer inside his own 20 late I admit I was cussing him like a pack of fishwives. He's too old for that horseshlt.

I'll be patient for a while though wiht the fumbled hand-offs as neither guy has ever worked with the other. I have a reasonable hope that it will clean itself up sooner rather than later.

Cya

[BuffOrange]

I also think he's benefitting from so many things that JP wasnt given, and he's only mildly producing. But I did say I think he should play.

477529[/snapback]

 

Like what? As key as the 3 turnovers were today, none of them really helped us score points. One was an int at our own 18 yard line, the other 2 were at a point where we're trying to run out the clock.

JP had a running game and field position via turnovers plus a horsecrap 3rd string secondary vs. Atlanta and he couldn't do squat.

[Kelly the Dog]

Like what?  As key as the 3 turnovers were today, none of them really helped us score points.  One was an int at our own 18 yard line, the other 2 were at a point where we're trying to run out the clock. 

JP had a running game and field position via turnovers plus a horsecrap 3rd string secondary vs. Atlanta and he couldn't do squat.

477538[/snapback]

Like the defense stopping teams early on in the game so the offense would get the ball in good field position. Like having the first string OL together today. Like having the Dolphins commit 18 penalties last week. Like having great KO returns that start drives at the 40 instead of having the average start the entire game at your own 18 (although some of it was his fault), like having an OC that calls for runs for Willis after he gains first downs running the ball, like having your OC call safe passes and quick passes so you're not killed by Greg Jerman's man and Trey Teague's man coming in virtually unblocked, like having defenders fall down or block each other out on the passes you do complete which allow players to walk into the endzone when they should have been tackled for 4 yard completions, like calling WR screens and shot dump passes to Willis instead of dropping back and throwing it way down the field, like having 8 turnovers in the last two games, like playing two pretty crappy teams at home instead of one pretty crappy team and one pretty good one on the road.

[BuffOrange]

Like the defense stopping teams early on in the game so the offense would get the ball in good field position. Like having the first string OL together today. Like having the Dolphins commit 18 penalties last week. Like having great KO returns that start drives at the 40 instead of having the average start the entire game at your own 18 (although some of it was his fault), like having an OC that calls for runs for Willis after he gains first downs running the ball, like having your OC call safe passes and quick passes so you're not killed by Greg Jerman's man and Trey Teague's man coming in virtually unblocked, like having defenders fall down or block each other out on the passes you do complete which allow players to walk into the endzone when they should have been tackled for 4 yard completions, like calling WR screens and shot dump passes to Willis instead of dropping back and throwing it way down the field, like having 8 turnovers in the last two games, like playing two pretty crappy teams at home instead of one pretty crappy team and one pretty good one on the road.

477547[/snapback]

 

You're a fine poster but you can get ridiculously defensive and stubborn at times.

Some of that is true, some of it is bull. Yeah, the Dolphins helped us win last week.

I could've sworn Tampa didn't do much vs. our defense in the 1st Qtr and I'm not sure what field position has to do with going 3 & out all the time.

Thinking that the play-calling was any better today than it was in any other game is incredible results-oriented hindsight thinking.

Again, the turnovers had nothing to do with scoring 27 points today.

It is possible that we called some short passes with JP in there and he didn't execute them as well, unless I was imagining all of those 5 yard outs that looked like they were intended for a cheerleader. For a WR to turn a 4 yard completion into a TD, somebody still has to get him the ball first.

[Buftex]

11. I may be in the minority, and it's impossible to say, but I still think we win both of these games with JP at quarterback. If we ran Willis and had success and got turnovers and great field position and didnt put him in terrible positions, he would have fared a lot better. KH does several things that JP can't do yet that may have been difference makers, and seemed to make a pass when he had to, but he makes as many mistakes as Losman. I do think we need to play KH until he loses though, it's like going with a hot goaltender in hockey.

 

 

477514[/snapback]

 

 

K-dog, you know you are truly one of my favorite regulars here. I agree with most of your ransom observations, but I think you have your heart too set on Losman. Do you really think it is that coincidental that the offense is starting to move the ball, now that Holcomb is in there? You can argue that the play calling has been better, the O-line has played better, etc etc., but you don't believe that Holcomb is at least partially responsible for some of these things falling into place. You may argue that the Bills would have won these last two games with JP, and I would argue that the Bills could have beaten both the Falcons and Saints with any kind of competent QB play at all.

 

I am not , by any means, writing off Losman, but I think it was pretty apparent that he is much more raw a talent than we, or possibly the Bills braintrust, ever imagined. It is true that Holcomb has a mediocre arm, and has not been spectacular. But that only illustrates, even more, how little JP was bringing to the Bills offense. It is also a fact that as bad as the play calling had been in the last two losses (with JP), JP had ample opportunities to make the same "unspectacular" plays that Holcomb has been making to extend drives. JP's game was not only devoid of big plays, but of little plays as well. I think it is a pretty big stretch to assume that the Bills would have beaten the Dolphins and Jets with JP behind center.

 

Also, you are correct in saying that the defense shoulders some of the blame for the poor start. It has been nowhere near the dominant unit that everyone assumed it would be. However, don't overlook the fact that that same crappy defense kept the even crappier offense of weeks 2-4 in games, right up until very late in the games.

[jarthur31]

JP wouldn't have won these past two games. NO is a friggen joke! GB annihilated them and they don't have nearly the D that we do. We could not move the ball against them.

[John from Riverside]

11. I may be in the minority, and it's impossible to say, but I still think we win both of these games with JP at quarterback. If we ran Willis and had success and got turnovers and great field position and didnt put him in terrible positions, he would have fared a lot better. KH does several things that JP can't do yet that may have been difference makers, and seemed to make a pass when he had to, but he makes as many mistakes as Losman. I do think we need to play KH until he loses though, it's like going with a hot goaltender in hockey.

477514[/snapback]

K-dog, you know you are truly one of my favorite regulars here. I agree with most of your ransom observations, but I think you have your heart too set on Losman. Do you really think it is that coincidental that the offense is starting to move the ball, now that Holcomb is in there? You can argue that the play calling has been better, the O-line has played better, etc etc., but you don't believe that Holcomb is at least partially responsible for some of these things falling into place. You may argue that the Bills would have won these last two games with JP, and I would argue that the Bills could have beaten both the Falcons and Saints with any kind of competent QB play at all.

 

 

 

What Bufftex said.......

I am not , by any means, writing off Losman, but I think it was pretty apparent that he is much more raw a talent than we, or possibly the Bills braintrust, ever imagined. It is true that Holcomb has a mediocre arm, and has not been spectacular. But that only illustrates, even more, how little JP was bringing to the Bills offense. It is also a fact that as bad as the play calling had been in the last two losses (with JP), JP had ample opportunities to make the same "unspectacular" plays that Holcomb has been making to extend drives. JP's game was not only devoid of big plays, but of little plays as well. I think it is a pretty big stretch to assume that the Bills would have beaten the Dolphins and Jets with JP behind center.

 

Also, you are correct in saying that the defense shoulders some of the blame for the poor start. It has been nowhere near the dominant unit that everyone assumed it would be. However, don't overlook the fact that that same crappy defense kept the even crappier offense of weeks 2-4 in games, right up until very late in the games.

477575[/snapback]

[Larry Playfair]

I believe that having our regular O-line together again today (it hasnt been since week 1 vs the texans) makes a huge difference for whoever is playing QB.

 

JP looked pretty good behind that line in week 1, and Holcomb looked OK behind it today.

 

I guess we will see how this plays out.

 

Will Oaktown be fired up, or will they just be demoralized and pack it in b/c there are just about out of the playoffs in week 7?

[Kelly the Dog]

11. I may be in the minority, and it's impossible to say, but I still think we win both of these games with JP at quarterback. If we ran Willis and had success and got turnovers and great field position and didnt put him in terrible positions, he would have fared a lot better. KH does several things that JP can't do yet that may have been difference makers, and seemed to make a pass when he had to, but he makes as many mistakes as Losman. I do think we need to play KH until he loses though, it's like going with a hot goaltender in hockey.

477514[/snapback]

K-dog, you know you are truly one of my favorite regulars here. I agree with most of your ransom observations, but I think you have your heart too set on Losman. Do you really think it is that coincidental that the offense is starting to move the ball, now that Holcomb is in there? You can argue that the play calling has been better, the O-line has played better, etc etc., but you don't believe that Holcomb is at least partially responsible for some of these things falling into place. You may argue that the Bills would have won these last two games with JP, and I would argue that the Bills could have beaten both the Falcons and Saints with any kind of competent QB play at all.

 

I am not , by any means, writing off Losman, but I think it was pretty apparent that he is much more raw a talent than we, or possibly the Bills braintrust, ever imagined. It is true that Holcomb has a mediocre arm, and has not been spectacular. But that only illustrates, even more, how little JP was bringing to the Bills offense. It is also a fact that as bad as the play calling had been in the last two losses (with JP), JP had ample opportunities to make the same "unspectacular" plays that Holcomb has been making to extend drives. JP's game was not only devoid of big plays, but of little plays as well. I think it is a pretty big stretch to assume that the Bills would have beaten the Dolphins and Jets with JP behind center.

 

Also, you are correct in saying that the defense shoulders some of the blame for the poor start. It has been nowhere near the dominant unit that everyone assumed it would be. However, don't overlook the fact that that same crappy defense kept the even crappier offense of weeks 2-4 in games, right up until very late in the games.

477575[/snapback]

It's impossible to say. People arguing against JP just completely forget that he was rather efficient at home in his first game against Houston. He was on target with a lot of his passes. He led the team down the field 5 times in a row and scored 22 points. And yet KH's first game, against Miami, which was rather similar, is just treated as though that is great and JP's first game didnt exist.

 

And I am not discounting what KH did. I am pretty happy with what he can do, very happy that he is on the team, and extremely happy with the two wins. I understood the move, although I wouldnt have done it, and I definitely would keep KH in there now, which I said all along after last week and this one.

 

Yes, I think the offense moved better and performed efficiently the last two weeks, but frankly, I think if KH played in the Atlanta and Tampa Bay games and got the defense and the blocking and the play calls (abandoning Willis too early and often even if it meant only a difference of 5-8 carries) he would have trouble on the road too. He would have done certain things better than JP, that is a given and self-evident. He's also turned the ball over in two games I think more than JP did in four. What I am saying is that he has benefitted from a lot of things and he took advantage of them. But we're not going very far with him, IMO. And I don't think the coaches either in game planning, or play calling or in the game decisions put Jp in a good position to succeed. They screwed him as much as he screwed them and us.

 

It's also impossible to say and just an opinion.

[Buftex]

Will Oaktown be fired up, or will they just be demoralized and pack it in b/c there are just about out of the playoffs in week 7?

477589[/snapback]

 

 

It kind of scares me, they are saying Randy Moss may not play next Sunday. Why is it that whenever the deck seems stacked in the Bills favor, it makes me a little nervous? Particularly on the west coast.....