marauderswr80 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Dont get me wrong Chicago is a good team, they are tough as nails and very well coached on all sides of the ball. But......every team has a down game, could this be the game for the Bears to have a down game? I think so. They are coming off a big win against a strong Seattle team in a primetime game. They might still have a hangover from that win and might struggle to get things going, and that could be when Buffalo strikes. I know the Bears are going to be tough to beat in Chicago, right now they are ranked #1 in the NFL by multiple sports writers as they should be, however, there is a part of me that thinks they have yet to be tested....truely tested. Buffalo has a respected offense, and the defense flies around the ball. I see alot of matches that can go in Buffalos favor. I smell an upset in the air. If Buffalo can some how win this game, they WILL grab the entire leagues attention and will be recongnized from here on out! This is a statement game for the Buffalo Bills, if they come out and play competitive they are going to build from this game, if they win....this is the tone setter for the rest of the year. I want nothing more then this team from opening kickoff to march up and down the field and knock Chicago in the mouth win or lose let the Bears know they were in a football game! I smell upset in the making!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1TN Bills Fan Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 You have a good point, and I agree with you that this could be an upset. However, let's not forget that they probably have the BEST defense in the league. Even though Losman has been superb the last few games, I don't know if the O-line will be able to give him enough time to find the open receivers. If this happens, we will become one-dimensional. I also think that in order to win this game, when we do get in the red zone, we can't just run it three times up the gut, and then kick a FG like we did last week. We have to play the ENTIRE game to win, not to lose! GO BUFFALO!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Specifically, what matches do you see in the Bills favor? Both teams seem to have healthy Offensive and Defensive lines. On Defense the Bills are down a starting LB (Spikes) and Strong Safety (Bowen). The Bears Offense is still missing one WR (Bradley) but Moose, Berrian, and Davis are doing OK without his help right now. On Offense, the Bills look healthy, as does da Bears Defense. So on the injuries front, the only difference would appear to be that the Bills D seems to have a slight disadvantage against da Bears O. Da Bears Offense has finally started rolling. Our WRs have the speed to get separation and the TEs have good hands to catch the dump-off passes when the WRS are covered up. Surprisingly, the weak spot is our running game. But that hasn't really hurt us yet. No one has been able to shut down our passing game yet, but sooner or later someone will. It's just a matter of the right team having enough game film to study. So our running game has to become a priority again. Our Defense is lights-out. Very fast. They REALLY fly around the field. But that means that they can be worn out by an opponent that manages to control the clock, as the Bills have been doing this season. Under the cover-2, they'll give up small gains but prevent the big play that keeps a drive going. They're also good at takeaways with 4 INTs and 6 recovered fumbles so far this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5 Wide Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Specifically, what matches do you see in the Bills favor? Both teams seem to have healthy Offensive and Defensive lines. On Defense the Bills are down a starting LB (Spikes) and Strong Safety (Bowen). The Bears Offense is still missing one WR (Bradley) but Moose, Berrian, and Davis are doing OK without his help right now. On Offense, the Bills look healthy, as does da Bears Defense. So on the injuries front, the only difference would appear to be that the Bills D seems to have a slight disadvantage against da Bears O. Da Bears Offense has finally started rolling. Our WRs have the speed to get separation and the TEs have good hands to catch the dump-off passes when the WRS are covered up. Surprisingly, the weak spot is our running game. But that hasn't really hurt us yet. No one has been able to shut down our passing game yet, but sooner or later someone will. It's just a matter of the right team having enough game film to study. So our running game has to become a priority again. Our Defense is lights-out. Very fast. They REALLY fly around the field. But that means that they can be worn out by an opponent that manages to control the clock, as the Bills have been doing this season. Under the cover-2, they'll give up small gains but prevent the big play that keeps a drive going. They're also good at takeaways with 4 INTs and 6 recovered fumbles so far this season. 793900[/snapback] Bowen's not our starting Safety. The loss of TKO hurts but he has to be close to returning now. The defenses look to be a carbon copy of eachother with the Bears getting a slight edge with having Urlacher (although a healthy Spikes would make it a wash). Tommy Harris is a stud in the middle and will present a challenge to the line. However, the Bills have a smallish athletic o-line which matches up with what the Bears try to do up front. I think this will be a tight game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boltuprite Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 sorry, but I just can't see the Bills putting more than 10 points on the board. Hope I'm wrong but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Bowen's not our starting Safety. The loss of TKO hurts but he has to be close to returning now. The defenses look to be a carbon copy of eachother with the Bears getting a slight edge with having Urlacher (although a healthy Spikes would make it a wash). Tommy Harris is a stud in the middle and will present a challenge to the line. However, the Bills have a smallish athletic o-line which matches up with what the Bears try to do up front. I think this will be a tight game. 793907[/snapback] Bowen shows as the starter on the Depth Chart @ nfl.com, but I won't argue - you know your team, I don't. Both teams are more-or-less healthy and at full strength. We got a break with Seattle. No, not Alexander - I think we could have contained him regardless. The Seahawks line was beat-up, particularly on the left side. We were able to go thru that side pretty well and get into their backfield to break up the pass all day. Since the Defenses are "carbon copies of each other," I assume that Buffalo plays out of a Cover-2 shell on most everything as well. In that case, I have to give da Bears the edge, since effective Cover-2 takes time to learn to play well. It's easy to blow a coverage. Remember that Grossman and the Offense practice against da Bears D all week long, so if Buffalo's copying our D, so we'll know how to handle it. Since you say your O-line is "smallish" and athletic I expect da Bears to pound it all day long, even platooning our linemen to stay fresh and keep up the pressure. An undersized line can be worn out by a relentless attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5 Wide Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Bowen shows as the starter on the Depth Chart @ nfl.com, but I won't argue - you know your team, I don't. Both teams are more-or-less healthy and at full strength. We got a break with Seattle. No, not Alexander - I think we could have contained him regardless. The Seahawks line was beat-up, particularly on the left side. We were able to go thru that side pretty well and get into their backfield to break up the pass all day. Since the Defenses are "carbon copies of each other," I assume that Buffalo plays out of a Cover-2 shell on most everything as well. In that case, I have to give da Bears the edge, since effective Cover-2 takes time to learn to play well. It's easy to blow a coverage. Remember that Grossman and the Offense practice against da Bears D all week long, so if Buffalo's copying our D, so we'll know how to handle it. Since you say your O-line is "smallish" and athletic I expect da Bears to pound it all day long, even platooning our linemen to stay fresh and keep up the pressure. An undersized line can be worn out by a relentless attack. 793926[/snapback] We have Perry Fewell as our D-Coordinator who brought the cover 2 system you have in Chicago. As far as pounding our O-line...you are built the same exact way as our d-line. You have a bunch of 300 pound interior linemen and 265 lb ends with a good staple of backers. The interior of our o-line is susceptible to being pounded by the likes of Pat Williams, Ted Washington, Wilfork etc. With that being said, our O-line still averages 310 up front. Cover 2 front 4's don't "pound" the o-line, they go around them and shoot gaps. Likewise, Losman and the Bills have been practicing against Fewells D since camp so they have seen plenty of 2 deep as well. These are two teams built exactly the same. The question lays in who has the better playmakers? Losman vs Grossman McGahee vs Jones Evans, Price, Reed, Parrish vs Muhammad, Berrian, Davis. McGee & Clements vs Tillman & Vasher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 You have a good point, and I agree with you that this could be an upset. However, let's not forget that they probably have the BEST defense in the league. Even though Losman has been superb the last few games, I don't know if the O-line will be able to give him enough time to find the open receivers. If this happens, we will become one-dimensional. I also think that in order to win this game, when we do get in the red zone, we can't just run it three times up the gut, and then kick a FG like we did last week. We have to play the ENTIRE game to win, not to lose! GO BUFFALO!! 793867[/snapback] Don't forget that Grossman is a real rookie ! He hasn't had the kind of pressure and defensive disguises like the Bills are going to throw at him. Brad Johnson, a seasoned vet had a hard time with this defense. Imagine a rookie? I see at least 4 pics this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The question lays in who has the better playmakers? Losman vs Grossman McGahee vs Jones Evans, Price, Reed, Parrish vs Muhammad, Berrian, Davis. McGee & Clements vs Tillman & Vasher 793971[/snapback] I don't think this is the question at all. The question(s) should be, "who wins the matchups of the lines." Our DL against their OL. I say the Bears OL. Our OL against their DL. I say their DL. If the Bills can't control the trenches it doesn't matter who the "playmakers" are. The Bills need to play turnover free ball and somehow shut down the run and force Grossman to beat them. If they can manage those two things they have a chance to win. If they don't it'll be a blowout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizell Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 minnesota made grossman look horrible. he was lucky to get out of there with only 2 (or was it 3?) interceptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I see the bills trying to make this a low scoring defensive battle.... I know that our D Line can play against goo OL's because the vikes had a good one..... Turnovers will decide the game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5 Wide Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I don't think this is the question at all. The question(s) should be, "who wins the matchups of the lines." Our DL against their OL. I say the Bears OL. Our OL against their DL. I say their DL. If the Bills can't control the trenches it doesn't matter who the "playmakers" are. The Bills need to play turnover free ball and somehow shut down the run and force Grossman to beat them. If they can manage those two things they have a chance to win. If they don't it'll be a blowout. 794004[/snapback] My point was that with both the Bills and Bears having identical makeups as far as scheme and players, whoever executes better wins, whoever has the better players that day wins. It's not a matter of "well we played well but we didn't match up with their personnnel". These teams mirror eachother, and the one that makes the plays will win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 This game will be a good measuring stick for the Bills. Playing a team as good as teh Bears on the road will be tough and on paper should be a loss. The lack of depth at OL, the inexperience of the QB and the offense in general matched up against the best D in the league spells trouble. However...anything is possible. With the Bills going in 2-2 rather than 1-3, a loss to the Bears wouldn't dash their season. Of course a win would make a powerful statement -- but even a loss with a good effort on both sides of the ball can give this young Bills team confidence. Either way, this weekend should be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAMMER07 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Specifically, what matches do you see in the Bills favor? Both teams seem to have healthy Offensive and Defensive lines. On Defense the Bills are down a starting LB (Spikes) and Strong Safety (Bowen). The Bears Offense is still missing one WR (Bradley) but Moose, Berrian, and Davis are doing OK without his help right now. On Offense, the Bills look healthy, as does da Bears Defense. So on the injuries front, the only difference would appear to be that the Bills D seems to have a slight disadvantage against da Bears O. Da Bears Offense has finally started rolling. Our WRs have the speed to get separation and the TEs have good hands to catch the dump-off passes when the WRS are covered up. Surprisingly, the weak spot is our running game. But that hasn't really hurt us yet. No one has been able to shut down our passing game yet, but sooner or later someone will. It's just a matter of the right team having enough game film to study. So our running game has to become a priority again. Our Defense is lights-out. Very fast. They REALLY fly around the field. But that means that they can be worn out by an opponent that manages to control the clock, as the Bills have been doing this season. Under the cover-2, they'll give up small gains but prevent the big play that keeps a drive going. They're also good at takeaways with 4 INTs and 6 recovered fumbles so far this season. 793900[/snapback] The weak spot is our running game? McGahee leads the league! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The weak spot is our running game? McGahee leads the league! 794034[/snapback] Our Rushing O is 9th in the league and ranks 15th in YPA. While it's not a weakness I wouldn't exactly call it spectacular either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lothar Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The weak spot is our running game? McGahee leads the league! 794034[/snapback] that's a Bears fan talking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawgg Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The Bills D, while pretty good in their own right, can't hold a candle to the Bears defense. The defenses look to be a carbon copy of eachother with the Bears getting a slight edge with having Urlacher (although a healthy Spikes would make it a wash). Tommy Harris is a stud in the middle and will present a challenge to the line. 793907[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 How come no one has include Special Teams in the picture. They after all form 1/3 of the total game. May be the bills STs come up with some big plays and they can account for the differences between the two D's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 The Bills D, while pretty good in their own right, can't hold a candle to the Bears defense. 794051[/snapback] Da Bears have allowed only 7.2 points per game (lowest in the NFL), while scoring 29.0 points per game (#4 in the NFL). The Bills are allowing 16.2 points per game (#9 in the NFL) while scoring only 17.5 points per game (#19 in the NFL). Notice the difference? Da Bears are on average scoring over 4 times as many points as they allow. That speaks of a team that is very hard to beat. The Bills are almost breaking even in points scored vs. points allowed. That's a team that's still struggling to find ways to win. In any case, I hope that you can enjoy beating up on Detroit and Green Bay as we did.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ1 Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 Hoping that the unconscious minds of the players have written us off. It doesn't matter what the conscious mind thinks; it's the background mindset that is in control. That's why teams that are supposed to roll over and play dead rarely do, especially when the better team's last game was a dominent victory over a touted opponent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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