nodnarb Posted October 24, 2004 Posted October 24, 2004 The #1 reason we stink: The OLine doesn't win their battles. THe #2 reason: Drew Bledsoe The #3 reason: the performance of our WRs. Moulds can't do it all every week. It can't be all Drew when this little truth is staring us in the face: No rushing TDs in *37* quarters. This might be an NFL record, folks. It's unheard of. It's not because our backs aren't good. It's because the OLine isn't winning in el trencho. But they're not as bad as they seem to be. Lemme splain. Drew makes the line look worse than it is, in the same way Kyle Boller makes the great Ravens' Oline appear to be not as good as they really are. In the same way the Raiders OLine looks better with Gannon than it does with Collins. Boller and Bledsoe both lock onto receivers, they both make ill-advised throws, and they're both inaccurate too often. But Bledsoe takes these problems even deeper, because there are too many things that defenses don't have to worry about. This allows them to focus on fewer things, fewer reads, etc. They don't have to worry about Drew rolling left after drawing out a rush to execute a 20 yard out pass. It won't ever happen. Things like this make it easier for defenses to key on what they know he CAN do. Drew is simply too easy to defend. Defenses can pin their ears back and rush to a certain place on the field. Drew will be there. This makes our OLine look worse than it really is. But even with ample time to throw, Drew made many, many inaccurate throws today. Like the Raiders game, he also missed some open receivers because he didn't see them. He made two throws that any bench QB knows you can't make. Drew makes 3 or 4 great throws every game, but those throws only serve to seduce some people into believing that he can take a team the distance. He can't. Man, I wish he could...on some level you kinda think he deserves to be more talented than he is. That's Drew Bledsoe to me. If we see Losman, watch what happens. The entire offense will run more efficiently because the defense will have to defend more of the field. The Biggest mistake the Bills have made in this decade is Drew, and the continued belief that he has "It", which he has NEVER had. Or the continued belief that he has "Enough". He once did have enough. He doesn't anymore. If Sam Wyche can't turn this man around, nobody can. If the Bills don't start Losman within two weeks, Mularkey will have a lot of different questions to answer. I'm sure he's frustrated 10x more than all of us together. I'm curious to see where his frustration is *aimed*. HOpefully we'll know soon. Sing with me... There's always tomorrow....
Greg de'Ville Posted October 24, 2004 Posted October 24, 2004 The pathetic part is, the brainrust has absolutely zero confidence in this OL's ability inside the Dead Zone, that's why they never score via the run. 37 quarters. Over nine games without a rushing TD. None this year. That is ABSOLUTELY SICKENING!!!
nodnarb Posted October 24, 2004 Author Posted October 24, 2004 The pathetic part is, the brainrust has absolutely zero confidence in this OL's ability inside the Dead Zone, that's why they never score via the run. 37 quarters. Over nine games without a rushing TD. None this year. That is ABSOLUTELY SICKENING!!! 83302[/snapback] The thing that is making many fans feel so angry is that we had come to believe that last year's coaching staff didn't know how to use our personnel correctly. Maybe this is still true, but many people are now concluding that this coaching staff is no better than last years. It IS better. But we're in a unique situation where we have the wrong QB for the OLine we have, or the wrong OLine for the QB we have. Whichever way you see it, it's essentially the same problem.
Rubes Posted October 24, 2004 Posted October 24, 2004 You know, I agree with you for the most part. I think a lot of people here are dogging the offensive line a bit too much. I think our line is definitely not filled with Pro Bowlers by any stretch, but I really don't think they are as bad as people think. A few times this year -- against JAX, NYJ, MIA, and now BAL -- the offensive line has shown significant improvement from the first half to the second. In each of those games, it looked like the line (and McGahee, as well) was doing a great job of wearing down the defense. I could sense in today's game during the second half that the offensive line was really starting to win their battles and wear down the defense, and it's exactly what they did last week against Miami, another very good defense. It was the same against Jacksonville, when only a bogus holding call prevented us from doing the same thing against another very good defense. It does take too long, perhaps, for this line to start taking over a game, but we're talking about some really good defenses here, and it sometimes does take three or more quarters to start seeing the tide shift against teams like that. The fact that they are doing it -- with McGahee, I would add -- really does mean something to me. I think you are correct in saying that Bledsoe does some little things to make this line look worse than it is.
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