eball Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Setting aside for a moment the fact that backups are generally not as talented as starters, IMO a bigger issue this week is the likelihood that Jacksonville must "dumb down" any exotic play calls because they've got players who have not practiced together being thrust into the spotlight. That means a minimum of coordinated pulling plays, and the probability of more confusion and mistakes when switching or helping on blocks. This is, quite simply, setting up to be a colossal mismatch in the Bills' favor. If the Buffalo "O" can do anything, I really like the team's chances to make this another yawner by the 4th Q. I'm not suggesting they should be overconfident -- but they should certainly go into this one with a plan to be aggressive and take advantage of the opportunity. Discuss.
Bill from NYC Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 An article on the home page says that Reyes was working last year as a loan officer for a bank. One would hope that all of the tackles would be able to exploit 3 missing starters. I hope to see them keep 1 player focussed on Garrard for the entire game; we don't want him to gain big yardage on scrambles or qb draws.
bg17 Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Things have seemingly changed, but he was probably licking his chops for this game too: http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=261015008 Lions going in - 0-5, OL decimated by injury. The entire coaching staff should have been fired right then and there.
VOR Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Things have seemingly changed, but he was probably licking his chops for this game too: http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=261015008 Lions going in - 0-5, OL decimated by injury. The entire coaching staff should have been fired right then and there. The talent level on defense between that squad and this year's isn't even close.
OCinBuffalo Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 The stats might be misleading, especially due to the "tacks"(titans) D line, but 33 rushing yards? 156 passing yards? That's pretty bad, and that was with their starters in there. We should make this easy: study the Titans game film and do exactly what they did. If Matt Hasslebeck couldn't figure out the pressure at the line, and Mike Holmgren couldn't make the adjustments to our D, I highly doubt that David Garrard and whoever they have calling plays can. Moreover, even if we ignore the likely talent drop-off, and even the lack of continuity, they still have to deal with Stroud. Not a good plan for them. It's not like he needs extra motivation, but there's no doubt the circle on this game is firmly on his calendar. And, we get the benefit of him working with our coaches, going over every single thing he learned about their O while he was there. All in all, the only thing I really worry about: screen passes. We can easily fall into over-pursuing traps and Garrard and Jones-Drew can both run well. We've got to be careful with those. I have a lot of faith in our secondary these days(Nate Clements who? 80 million what?). It will be a good test to see if they can cover a good WR in Matt Jones as well. The other way of looking at it: we may not even need to blitz them. With such a mess at O line, our front 4 will probably be able to put plenty of pressure on Garrard. I'd make sure we stop the run, shut off the screen, basically take Jones-Drew out of the game, and only blitz once in a while. Sit back in zone and wait for Garrard to start hitting our D backs in the chest and/or get a whole lot of coverage sacks. If O line is their problem, let's isolate their O line against our D line, and make sure it stays a problem. There's no reason to help them out by taking players away from pass coverage and giving Garrard more opportunity to get the ball out faster.
bg17 Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 The talent level on defense between that squad and this year's isn't even close. And the 2006 Lions weren't the Jags. I think Fewell and the Bills will succeed. However, the cautionary tale comes from less than two years ago.
Beerball Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Be aggressive on defense, force the Jags into passing downs and then throw everything you have at Gerrard. Offensively be patient. The Jags strength is their defence, don't get greedy, don't turn the ball over. If the game comes down to ST...rejoice.
eball Posted September 10, 2008 Author Posted September 10, 2008 Things have seemingly changed, but he was probably licking his chops for this game too: http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=261015008 Lions going in - 0-5, OL decimated by injury. The entire coaching staff should have been fired right then and there. Talent matters. I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face. Those Bills didn't deserve to be considered a favorite against anyone, and the defensive personnel now vs. then is like night vs. day.
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Talent matters. I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face. Those Bills didn't deserve to be considered a favorite against anyone, and the defensive personnel now vs. then is like night vs. day. Night and day? Its only the difference between Tim Anderson and Marcus Stroud, E. Don't get carried away.
Lt. Dan's Revenge Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 The stats might be misleading, especially due to the "tacks"(titans) D line, but 33 rushing yards? 156 passing yards? That's pretty bad, and that was with their starters in there. We should make this easy: study the Titans game film and do exactly what they did. If Matt Hasslebeck couldn't figure out the pressure at the line, and Mike Holmgren couldn't make the adjustments to our D, I highly doubt that David Garrard and whoever they have calling plays can. Moreover, even if we ignore the likely talent drop-off, and even the lack of continuity, they still have to deal with Stroud. Not a good plan for them. It's not like he needs extra motivation, but there's no doubt the circle on this game is firmly on his calendar. And, we get the benefit of him working with our coaches, going over every single thing he learned about their O while he was there. All in all, the only thing I really worry about: screen passes. We can easily fall into over-pursuing traps and Garrard and Jones-Drew can both run well. We've got to be careful with those. I have a lot of faith in our secondary these days(Nate Clements who? 80 million what?). It will be a good test to see if they can cover a good WR in Matt Jones as well. The other way of looking at it: we may not even need to blitz them. With such a mess at O line, our front 4 will probably be able to put plenty of pressure on Garrard. I'd make sure we stop the run, shut off the screen, basically take Jones-Drew out of the game, and only blitz once in a while. Sit back in zone and wait for Garrard to start hitting our D backs in the chest and/or get a whole lot of coverage sacks. If O line is their problem, let's isolate their O line against our D line, and make sure it stays a problem. There's no reason to help them out by taking players away from pass coverage and giving Garrard more opportunity to get the ball out faster. I agree with much of what you said here, particularly the importance of shutting down their screen plays. But, Matt Jones a good wide receiver? You've got to be kidding.
In-A-Gadda-Levitre Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Night and day? Its only the difference between Tim Anderson and Marcus Stroud, E. Don't get carried away. well, I assume you were being sarcastic, but factor in Spencer Johnson, Stroud tying up multiple blockers, which frees up our DEs, Mitchell and Poz, improved secondary and we have a much mo betta D
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 well, I assume you were being sarcastic
BillsWatch Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 The stats might be misleading, especially due to the "tacks"(titans) D line, but 33 rushing yards? 156 passing yards? That's pretty bad, and that was with their starters in there. We should make this easy: study the Titans game film and do exactly what they did. If Matt Hasslebeck couldn't figure out the pressure at the line, and Mike Holmgren couldn't make the adjustments to our D, I highly doubt that David Garrard and whoever they have calling plays can. At least three of the Seahawks offense woes were due to crowd noise and they took a few timeouts as well due to crowd noise so everything can not be duplicated. Surprise also goes so far and the Bills played such a vanilla preseason it was hard for Seahawks to prepare. This will be a much harder game for Bills.
Rubes Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 One other thing to keep in mind: last week we were at home, the Jags were on the road. Next week it's the reverse. Don't underestimate the impact of that, especially on things like the advantage the home-team linemen have on both sides of the ball. I expect the Jags offense to be better than last week, depending on how the O-line backups play. I also expect our offense to struggle badly at times. The one thing I think we really have in our favor is special teams. The Jags ST are good, but I've never seen a ST group have such a tremendous impact on the outcome of a game as ours. Seriously, two TDs and a kickoff fumble recovery in one game is just ridiculous. If we can get even a fraction of that on a weekly basis, that takes so much pressure off the offense and defense. I have the feeling that, if our ST continues on this torrid pace, the league is going to wake up and realize just how important a killer ST unit can be.
Max Fischer Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 I hope to see them keep 1 player focussed on Garrard for the entire game; we don't want him to gain big yardage on scrambles or qb draws. Agreed. I wonder if Fewell would play Whitner up near the line as a 4th linebacker to keep extra pressure on the O-line and spy Garrard. May be a modified version of the 46 defense.
John from Riverside Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 My take: - With the lack of wideouts and missing starters on the OL......the jags are going to play smashmouth running offense......the bills have to be prepared for that.....in this game we need DT's and LB's on the field.....not Ashton Youboty (who played very well for us last game) - Tuten Reyes weakness is exposed.....he can pass protect but he cant run block.....this will go against the jags plan above - There are chinks in the jags armour....but the bills still have to exploit it. - Or OL has to open up holes and protect the QB - Our receivers have to CATCH balls that hit them in the hands and make plays on balls even when they are not perfectly thrown - I really hope DJ doesn't allow the team to take the jags lightly because of injuries....getting off to a good start this season is going to be SOOOO important. If we lose the jags game it could very well come back to haunt us later on as a game we needed to win.
eball Posted September 10, 2008 Author Posted September 10, 2008 Night and day? Its only the difference between Tim Anderson and Marcus Stroud, E. Don't get carried away. Nice.
eball Posted September 10, 2008 Author Posted September 10, 2008 My take: - With the lack of wideouts and missing starters on the OL......the jags are going to play smashmouth running offense ...with three guys in the middle of their line who were bagging groceries a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, that should work well. Saying you want to do something is different than being able to do it. Folks can try and spin this game many different ways, but the way I see it playing out is that the Bills' defense should enjoy an incredible mismatch on Sunday. I'm willing to give the Jacksonville D a slight edge over the Bills' O -- and of course we know how the STs line up. That gives Buffalo the edge in two of three phases.
lets_go_bills Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 I expect Garrard to be laying on the turf all day. If we can get out to an early lead, the Jags may be forced to abandon their running game, which is their strength, in order to play catch up. That said, I think the key to the game will be, can we: a) put up some points quickly to get out to an early lead and; b) stop the run, forcing the Jags into 3rd and long passing situations and playing from behind. Our ST should allow us to have great field position and give the Jags poor field position. I also expect our Offence to use short, quick strikes in the pass game, setting up bigger throws, as well as a healthy does of Lynch to wear them out. I'll be looking to see Hardy get in the game, at least when red zone scoring opportunites arise.
gordong Posted September 10, 2008 Posted September 10, 2008 Night and day? Its only the difference between Tim Anderson and Marcus Stroud, E. Don't get carried away. NOT even CLOSE my friend. D. Whitner 8 0 6 T. McGee 7 0 7 L. Fletcher-Baker 7 1 C Kelsey 6 1 3 K. Williams 5 0 3 A. Schobel 4 1 4 N. Clements 4 0 3 K. Simpson 4 0 3 A. Crowell 4 0 3 T. Spikes 4 0 3 R. Denney 2 0 1 L. Tripplett 2 0 0 K. Thomas 1 0 1 J. Stamer 1 0 1
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