l< j Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 So what did we learn today? I really don't know what we have in the 2008 vintage. What could today's game mean? That the Bills aren't good enough to overlook anyone in the parity-rich NFL? That the falloff from the Bills A game to their B game is huge? (Or was that their C-/D+ game?) That the Bills are good enough to overcome 3+ quarters of bad play? That the Bills are bad enough to execute poorly for 3+ quarters? That the Raiders are better than the line, the pundits, and the board thought? That the Bills are worse than the line, the pundits, and the board thought? kj
Corp000085 Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Upon final analysis, the bills defense was one TD reception from being totally non existent. If I had to choose a weakness today, it would have to be the kickoff coverage and the turnovers. Evans really looked out of sync today. Shore up the mistakes today and the bills would have won by 30. Not their best effort, but they put it together when it counted. A win is a win, no matter who it's against or by how much. The bills clearly can play far better football throughout the game, but i don't think they can play much better than they did in the 4th quarter.
Dan Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 So what did we learn today? kj 3-0 looks darn good!
DrFishfinder Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 So what did we learn today? I really don't know what we have in the 2008 vintage. What could today's game mean? That the Bills aren't good enough to overlook anyone in the parity-rich NFL? That the falloff from the Bills A game to their B game is huge? (Or was that their C-/D+ game?) That the Bills are good enough to overcome 3+ quarters of bad play? That the Bills are bad enough to execute poorly for 3+ quarters? That the Raiders are better than the line, the pundits, and the board thought? That the Bills are worse than the line, the pundits, and the board thought? kj That on any Sunday, even a bad team with a couple of good players and nothing to lose can give any team fits. Certainly cover the line. That this team can do something that has been missing since the days of Kelly, Reed, Thomas, Smith and Talley; refuse to lose.
JStranger76 Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Glad we got the win, but what I already knew was shown again today. We are barely average at run blocking, and barely average at rushing the passer without blitzing. These two factors will be the main reasons our season will end.
3cheesenacho Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 I think the number one thing that we learned is that this team can play bad and STILL WIN. Nothing went the Bills way in this game, they looked terrible for 3.5 quarters, the o-line wasnt getting it done, but they STILL WON. A Win is a Win. A mark of a good team is still being able to win on your bad days
Andrew in CA Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 We learned- don't believe the hype, we might need to wait until after the bye week to see Peters at his old form, Marshawn Lynch knows how to play (maybe I already knew that one), and don't walk into the end zone in front of Donte Whitner!
PromoTheRobot Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 We aren't that good. We can't run. The pass rush disappeared. But we do come up big when the game is on the line. PTR
BuffaloWings Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 I think the number one thing that we learned is that this team can play bad and STILL WIN. Nothing went the Bills way in this game, they looked terrible for 3.5 quarters, the o-line wasnt getting it done, but they STILL WON. A Win is a Win. A mark of a good team is still being able to win on your bad days Let's just hope we don't have bad days against better teams.
MDH Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 We learned- don't believe the hype, we might need to wait until after the bye week to see Peters at his old form, Marshawn Lynch knows how to play (maybe I already knew that one), and don't walk into the end zone in front of Donte Whitner! Every team in the league will have games where they just don't play well - no matter how good they are. The biggest thing to take from this game is that the Bills found a way to win even when they played very poorly most of the game. That's what good teams do and this team is begining to look like a good team. If they make a habbit of playing games like today then I'll worry, for now I'll just enjoy the victory.
BillZerk Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Glad we got the win, but what I already knew was shown again today. We are barely average at run blocking, and barely average at rushing the passer without blitzing. These two factors will be the main reasons our season will end. Good points and that certainly was evident today. It was dissappointing to see the O-line struggles. Especially on pass protection. The fact that they stepped up at the end reveals some character and the capacity is there to play at that level. Even in the kelly era, we had games where everyone seemed out of synch. Its still a young team and a young season. This game will give the coaches game material to try to shore up on our weaknesses. I am just glad we could expose our weaknesses and still come out with a win. Peters obviously needs some more work to maintain a high level through 4 quarters. It is exciting though to see the team wim again in the 4th quarter. It builds that mentality that you are never out of a game. It has been a long time since I felt that way.
StupidNation Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Evans is above average but not elite, the same for Peters, Whitner and Marshawn. The only elite player we have is Edwards. The question is can we win against very good teams with above average players who are not elite. Fans may not want to admit this, but we have a serious problem with our #1 WR position. Evans is a 1b, and not a 1a player. That to me is a big problem, especially against better teams. He's on pace to have about 65 receptions and we need a good 90 reception type receiver, especially if he wants money like a guy who catches 100 catches. The only caveat is if we play like the O of the Pats* 03-04' teams with spreading the ball around and there is no dominant #1. If that's the case we don't need to splurge on Evans contract, just like the Cheatriots didn't splurge on Branch. The question is can the D step up for this team with turn-overs as it's our only chance against elite teams. I think we are consistent and deep enough to make the playoffs in a parity rich NFL, but Hardy needs to step up for us to have a real chance to win it all. Edwards has shown us that he's a pro-bowl caliber QB and certainly a leader. He demeanor is so quietly intense it's like watching a bull do his thing with a raging fire in his eyes. We play tough and that will lead to wins almost by itself with our overall talent and depth. If Edwards has a Brady 2003 or 2004 season where he just spreads the ball around enough to keep the offense scoring, and our D steps up we have a real shot and it feels great. Love the team, and I love winning. It feels great.
JujuFish Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Upon final analysis, the bills defense was one TD reception from being totally non existent. To add to that, take away the 84 yard TD pass and the Raiders didn't have a SINGLE drive over 27 yards. Twenty seven yards. I think our D did pretty damned good.
Andrew in CA Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Every team in the league will have games where they just don't play well - no matter how good they are. The biggest thing to take from this game is that the Bills found a way to win even when they played very poorly most of the game. That's what good teams do and this team is begining to look like a good team. If they make a habbit of playing games like today then I'll worry, for now I'll just enjoy the victory. FTW, dude! Right on, for all the mistakes and bad play, the Bills got the W!
JStranger76 Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Which makes for a great story and a great time on Sunday, which is way better than what we've seen lately, and I'm happy about it. Just saying I think we need to be better in a couple areas to win that championship!
colin Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 i learned that the raiders have some serious monster talent. the cb's are great, asminwhatever is HUGE and awesome, might really be the best. huff is v good. tardel sands, kelly, and burgess are monster d linemen. they have a ton of high picks on the o line who can really get on their guy quickly. higgens is a speedy monster on ST and that one catch, and the raiders have best punter and strongest legged kicker in the nfl. russell has a wicked arm but obviously has a lot of weaknesses. oh and the raiders back field is loaded. still, inspite of all that and bad plays (3 turnovers, UG) by our best players on O (evans and peters) we came out and won.
Captain Hindsight Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Upon final analysis, the bills defense was one TD reception from being totally non existent. If I had to choose a weakness today, it would have to be the kickoff coverage and the turnovers. Evans really looked out of sync today. Shore up the mistakes today and the bills would have won by 30. Not their best effort, but they put it together when it counted. A win is a win, no matter who it's against or by how much. The bills clearly can play far better football throughout the game, but i don't think they can play much better than they did in the 4th quarter. Agree it was a mistake filled day that the D was able to cover up. We wont be as lucky against a good team, the raiders are closer than we thought and played inspired until the fourth when it looked like they were done We dont turn the ball over 3 times and we dont need heroics
San-O Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Glad we got the win, but what I already knew was shown again today. We are barely average at run blocking, and barely average at rushing the passer without blitzing. These two factors will be the main reasons our season will end. Yeah, I've got to be honest: 1. Run blocking still an issue. 2. Pass rush not getting much done. 3. Special Teams look up and down. They MUST stop fielding those kicks inside the 10. 3 - 0 feels pretty good right now.
ganesh Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Every team in the league will have games where they just don't play well - no matter how good they are. The biggest thing to take from this game is that the Bills found a way to win even when they played very poorly most of the game. That's what good teams do and this team is begining to look like a good team. If they make a habbit of playing games like today then I'll worry, for now I'll just enjoy the victory. Agreed. Even the regular season unbeaten Patriots were on the verge of losing games to Baltimore, Philadelphia and the NY giants in the last 4 games late last season and yet found something deep within themselves to pull out wins. What matters is the W-L column at the end of the game and we were 1 and the Raiders were 0. The last ten years there were many a times, when the Bills won the battle on all counts except the one that counted. For a young team to believe in itself and make those plays at the end of the game it was fantastic to see. If remember even those early years of Big Ben or Brady, they were winning close games......The truth was that those teams believed in themselves and in their QB to lead them to victory. I think the Bills have something special similar in Edwards....I think Edwards respect in that locker room and in the huddle went up a notch after that performance in the 4th quarter. The defense also just did not give up and had that crucial 3rd and out on the Raiders to give the Offense one final chance. All in all a fantastic win on a day when nothing went right for 3/4th of the game.
BEAST MODE BABY! Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Jason Peters has looked nothing but average against speed rushers IMO.
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