Rubes Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 - How sweet was it to see the Bills actually control the ball in the 4th quarter? We started the quarter with a 15 point lead, and that's when you need an offense to stick it to the defense by running it up the gut and get a bunch of first downs. I could hardly believe it. When we kicked the field goal to make it a 3 score game, I actually thought it was a textbook performance by the coaches and the offense. And on the road? Against a team desperate for a win? - Kudos to April for negating the Jet's dangerous kickoff return team. They stung us on that 42-yard return early in the game, but after that April and the kickoff crew switched to short, high kickoffs near the sidelines, away from their return guy. It gave them decent field position, but it negated the big, game-changing play. Lindell is proving to be as masterful at kickoff placement as Moorman is with punts. - McNally's quote from the Buff News today says a lot: The Bills ran on nine of 10 plays on a clock-eating, 6:48 march to a field goal in the third quarter. Six of the runs were behind Peters. "Obviously, we've got Jason Peters over there," McNally said. "And Gandy does a good job. He's a good guard. So we run left. And occasionally we run right." (Buff News was incorrect; it was the fourth quarter drive.) McNally likes Gandy at guard; he doesn't often throw around praise, even words like "good". And it pretty much shows how careful he is being with the right side. It would be great to pick his brain at the end of the season to see if he is high on either Preston or Pennington. If he is, then we might be in decent shape, needing only one solid offensive lineman for next season. My guess is we spring for a guard and keep Pennington, unless he screws the pooch in the last three games. - Fewell really seems to like Youboty. Granted, he has been reluctant to put him out there until now, but it sounds like he's doing a good job. If we can re-sign Nate, our defensive backfield is going to be solid for a long time. Even if we can't, we might be in good shape if Thomas continues to play as well as he has. I wouldn't want to count on that, though. - Price made a great sideline catch. Too bad we didn't review it, but I can understand why with it being so close. - Did we blitz at all in that game? We had great pressure on Pennington most of the time, but I don't recall seeing any linebackers or safeties gunning for him. That kind of pressure from the front four is critical to the success of this defense.
ganesh Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 863121[/snapback] McNally might have saved his own job after fixing the OL at least on the left side. We still need to draft OL to build depth. Some of these current players might have overachieved in the last 4 weeks. We need Kelsay to be re-signed.
NCDAWG Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 Also the coaches learned how to make second half adjustments. What a difference that has made the last 6 games.
Alaska Darin Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 McNally might have saved his own job after fixing the OL at least on the left side. 863139[/snapback] You mean because so much of the talent he's had to work with has gone on to other NFL cities and flourished? I seriously doubt Marv Levy would fire Jim McNally for issues that CLEARLY are not his fault.
ganesh Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 You mean because so much of the talent he's had to work with has gone on to other NFL cities and flourished? I seriously doubt Marv Levy would fire Jim McNally for issues that CLEARLY are not his fault. 863256[/snapback] My point was about accountability. The guy has been here for 4+ years and has not built a consistently good line. With the way we staggered out of the gates during the 1st part of the season, it looked like he might not be able to build a successful line. Just like a HC takes the fall for not getting his team into the playoffs after given enough time, McNally was under that of microscope (at least to the media and fans) to succeed.
jarthur31 Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 - Did we blitz at all in that game? We had great pressure on Pennington most of the time, but I don't recall seeing any linebackers or safeties gunning for him. That kind of pressure from the front four is critical to the success of this defense. 863121[/snapback] Reading today's news articles, they say we didn't blitz at all. The LB's played the slants and curls, etc and took out the short passing game which frustrated Pennington. Even London in his post-game interview said they had contain the on the short/intermediate routes.
ganesh Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 Reading today's news articles, they say we didn't blitz at all. The LB's played the slants and curls, etc and took out the short passing game which frustrated Pennington. Even London in his post-game interview said they had contain the on the short/intermediate routes. 863426[/snapback] I think they learnt their lesson from their previous outing with the Jets. In that game Pennington made us pay for the blitzes we tried on him without much success. Yesterday, it was a different ball game.
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