The Bills were competitive against NE

[jahnyc]

Not feeling terrible after the loss, because there were some hopeful signs for the future:

 

1. Whitner was a factor. Other rookies made contributions.

2. Offensive game calling was better.

3. No turnovers.

4. The Bills seemed like a well coached team (not outcoached to the same degree as in prior years against the Pats).

 

The not so good:

 

1. Poor rush defense. Same problem as last year. I saw many huge holes today for the Pats. This will doom the Bills in '06 if it is not corrected.

2. JP played better, but his stats (less than two hundred yards passing) and no tds are familiar. He needs to show the team that he can engineer a comeback and a victory.

3. Is it our oline or JP? Still not sure. Same with McGahee.

4. Depth was already tested on defense. The Bills will have problems if there are any injuries to our oline. There is no depth (of all things, this is hardest thing for me to understand about the current makeup of the team-- how do you not have a capable back-up at tackle?)

[generaLee83]

Good post.

 

1. The running defense looked abysmal, absolutely horrible at times. Huge holes, very poor tackling by the CB's, (Nate Dogg misses as did others). This will lose a game for any team, every single time.

 

2. Play calling was very decent until Jauron started to become conservative to protect the lead, although I was in favor of kicking the FG on 4th and 1 I would have called a different play if I was forced to go for it. It seemed as if Jaurons marble sack dissapeared at times, there were a few plays that I would have challenged if for any reason only to stifle the Pats momentum a bit.

 

3. The Safeties were solid, Whitner came up with an INT which was nice but unfortunately he did give up some deep plays. Ko Simpson played well and I have a feeling he's going to start from now on as Grampy Vincent was out after the 1st series wearing that hilarious thing on his leg. Oh and how about Coy Wire, he looked awful as usual.

 

4. JP played well, the passing game concerned me a bit for a few reasons. Either the Pats secondary was excellent and had PP and Evans covered very well or JP was a bit afraid to air it out to them. It's nice that there were no interceptions but I wonder if the running game would have been a bit more successful in the 2nd half if JP had attempted a bomb to either Evans or Price in an effort to spread the defense.

 

5. Injuries were tough, I didn't like seeing Keith Ellison or Mario Haggan in the game, both played terribly but probably didn't expect any playing time at all.

 

6. I fare thee well Mr. Clements. Nate is not a top 5 CB and anyone who thinks so may need a mental health evaluation. His tackling ability alone keeps him from being elite, instead of attempting to tackle at the waist he almost always seems to go for the shoe lace tackles, even when it's not necessary. I'm excited to see how Youboty will play when he returns. Nate isn't worth half of the 7 million he's getting paid.

 

7. Kick/Punt returns was a bit under par. I hold my breath every time Parrish is deep for a PR. The fact that the ball bounced off his facemask, while hilarious is quite sad. McGee had 1 great return but I would question his desire to take it out of the endzone on some of his returns. He is still the man however and if he feels comfortable taking it out then I say let him.

 

All in all it was quite a surprise today to see the Bills play well, given a new coach, new system and 21 new players. It was a bummer though because that same ominous feeling returned when the Bills failed to convert the 4th and 1 from the red zone. You just knew at that point that the tides had turned and the Bills were going to lose.

 

I look forward to next game and I will stick with the Bills going 8-8 this year.

[Fan in San Diego]

.

3.  Is it our oline or JP?  Still not sure.  Same with McGahee.

4.  Depth was already tested on defense.  The Bills will have problems if there are any injuries to our oline.  There is no depth (of all things, this is hardest thing for me to understand about the current makeup of the team-- how do you not have a capable back-up at tackle?)

768967[/snapback]

 

How do we not have an adequate STARTING left tackle is the bigger question ?

[Mile High]

Deep threat? Where was it with all the speed we have now? I kept waiting for the home run.

[I 90]

1.  Poor rush defense.  Same problem as last year.  I saw many huge holes today for the Pats.  This will doom the Bills in '06 if it is not corrected.

768967[/snapback]

 

 

Deep threat?  Where was it with all the speed we have now?  I kept waiting for the home run.

769061[/snapback]

 

Not at ALL feeling terrible after the loss.

 

Did anyone keep track of the D-Line rotation ? I was sure that the 4th quarter would not be a problem if everyone stayed on the bit. I expected some 2nd and twelves, some tough third downs if they were fresh and active.

 

And I expected the (long) pass to set up the run. But who knew what they were going to do ? Certainly not Belichick for nearly 40 minutes.

 

Best news of all is that that Patriots team is going to get beat some. The worst part of the loss might be falling behind in the playoff tie-breakers.

 

.