A Few Thoughts About The Game

[Orton's Arm]

The difference between today's Trent and other games' Trent was that the 'Phins were dropping everyone into coverage, and making our WRs and Trent beat them with precise, "stick" throws. They couldn't get it done. Part of the problem was the failure to utilize the backs in the passing game enough (they used them, but not creatively, and not as primary options save the dropped screen). That, and not having a starting-caliber tight end (when oh when will this team decide to get one?) is what killed us against the cover-8.

I agree with your point, and I'd like to add to it. Even with all the people the Dolphins were dropping back into coverage they still did an excellent job of applying pressure on the QB. Edwards' second fumble resulted because the offensive line barely even made Joey Porter break stride on a three man rush. Overall, the Dolphins' defense did a very good job of making our offensive line look like a bunch of guys who should be cut in the off-season--especially when it came to pass protection.

 

Another thing they did which worked was to attack our receivers. A lot of the times you'd see Trent put the ball right where it needed to be, only for the receiver to get nailed as the ball arrived. Or the defender would make an aggressive move to swat the ball away, preventing the catch. Overall it was a very aggressive, "don't give them a thing" approach by the Dolphins' secondary--pretty much the opposite of the philosophical approach our own secondary had in the Cardinals game.

[YOOOOOO]

He didn't play so well overall, but I refuse to back the "excuse truck" into the loading dock.

 

Believe it or not, I thought that he had more zip on some of his throws today but again, a couple of them were late.

 

At his experience level, he is more than entitled to an off day. Trent Edwards is truly the least of the Bufalo Bills Football Team's worries.

 

 

 

The worst pass for Edwards today was the overthrow/out of bounds when Hardy had a couple steps on his guy....That was an easy 6 points...but Edwards just made a god awful throw....

[KOKBILLS]

Here's mine...

 

1) When Your last 5 possessions go 3 and Out, INT, Fumble, Safety, Fumble...You lose...

[truth on hold]

1) Say what you will about Elison, but he was all over the field. In fact, I would think he was our best defender today.

 

2) Get well #94. The pass rush was a literal disgrace.

 

3) Peters did give up the sack, but overall, the blind side was pretty well protected. Even on the sack, Dockery was sleeping. Btw, Dockery never played a worse game as a member of the Buffalo Bills. He was absolutely brutal to watch.

 

4) A disaster like this is exactly what made the San Diego win so important. See.....there is some good news.

 

5) I understand why they started Mcgee, I really do. You hate to start a rookie on the road, in a divisional game. OK.....I get it. But, at some point you need to get him off of the field when he is getting absolutely f ing murdered on virtually every play. I mean....WTF!!?? Oh yeah, Jauron was out-coached today.

 

6) Robert Royal is playing his way off of this team. Not this year mind you, but I will be shocked to see him in Buffalo next year. Forgive me if I shed no tears.

 

7) McKelvin is killing me on kickoff returns. He either trots, or runs smack into a defender.

 

8) Trent looked a bit late on a few of his passes today, but I think that he threw pretty well overall.

 

9) Hard to tell, but I thought that Marshawn had an open field, or at least a ton of room when he dropped the pass in stride, right in his hands.

 

10) Before Whitner was flattened by Chad Pennington, he did a good job of stringing out the play. I hope he is pissed off, embarrassed, and has a great game next week. We need him to take over a game.

 

11) Losing Josh Reed really hurts. Hardy needs more work, and Parrish is more of a gimmick player than a legit #2 wideout. Sorry, it's the truth.

 

12) Yeah, this sucked, but a win next week would go far to erase this nightmare.

 

GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with all those specific points. But reality is there's a more general over riding theme: we're just not a good road team ... 3 & 0 at home, 2 & 2 on road. The reason why is we're not a dominant team; we don't win physical matchups on either side of the line ... and without consistent performance from the TE and all of our starting WRs being small, we don't have any in the secondary either. when you're on the road and your game plan is more basic, and your ability to audible less, you win by dominating physical matchups. We're miles away from being that kind of team right now. It's the essential difference between us and the perpetual elites like steelers and giants.

[BuffaloWings]

Jauron going for the field goal on the first possession was a weasel call.

Disagree.

 

It's the right call because you want something out of your first drive once you get into the red zone. How would you have felt if they went for the TD on 4th down and didn't get it....already being behind 7-0?

[John Adams]

Trent had a bad game. It happens. Even before the 2 fumbles, he was a little off (though Royal had 2 drops and Lynch another).

 

He really missed Reed in the 2nd half. Reed is a great blocker and a nice receiver. Hardy is neither. Parrish can't do that stuff either. The Miami D just clamped down on Evans and the offense was toast.

 

I lay some of the blame on Schonert too. He abandoned the run right after a drive where the Bills ran it down the Dolphins throats.

[Lofton80]

Cannot agree BuffaloWing. I understand that theory if you are a struggling team needing a boost. A first place team playing a rebuilding Dolphin team should be able to get a yard. Leaves the Dolphins with 99 yards to go at the least. Parcells and Belichek go for it all day there.

[Steely Dan]

1) Say what you will about Elison, but he was all over the field. In fact, I would think he was our best defender today.

 

2) Get well #94. The pass rush was a literal disgrace.

 

3) Peters did give up the sack, but overall, the blind side was pretty well protected. Even on the sack, Dockery was sleeping. Btw, Dockery never played a worse game as a member of the Buffalo Bills. He was absolutely brutal to watch.

 

4) A disaster like this is exactly what made the San Diego win so important. See.....there is some good news.

 

5) I understand why they started Mcgee, I really do. You hate to start a rookie on the road, in a divisional game. OK.....I get it. But, at some point you need to get him off of the field when he is getting absolutely f ing murdered on virtually every play. I mean....WTF!!?? Oh yeah, Jauron was out-coached today.

 

6) Robert Royal is playing his way off of this team. Not this year mind you, but I will be shocked to see him in Buffalo next year. Forgive me if I shed no tears.

 

7) McKelvin is killing me on kickoff returns. He either trots, or runs smack into a defender.

 

8) Trent looked a bit late on a few of his passes today, but I think that he threw pretty well overall.

 

9) Hard to tell, but I thought that Marshawn had an open field, or at least a ton of room when he dropped the pass in stride, right in his hands.

 

10) Before Whitner was flattened by Chad Pennington, he did a good job of stringing out the play. I hope he is pissed off, embarrassed, and has a great game next week. We need him to take over a game.

 

11) Losing Josh Reed really hurts. Hardy needs more work, and Parrish is more of a gimmick player than a legit #2 wideout. Sorry, it's the truth.

 

12) Yeah, this sucked, but a win next week would go far to erase this nightmare.

 

GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What he said.

 

Everything mentioned above is irrelevant.

 

When your last four offensive possessions = 2 Fumbles, 1 int, and 1 safety, you're not putting yourself in any position to win. None of these mis-haps were a result of bad coaching. Rather, they are factors in the game which make just about every other statistic moot.

 

Turnovers change every game.

 

You are 100% right but the Jauron bashers have too much fun blaming him.

 

 

He didn't play so well overall, but I refuse to back the "excuse truck" into the loading dock.

 

Believe it or not, I thought that he had more zip on some of his throws today but again, a couple of them were late.

 

At his experience level, he is more than entitled to an off day. Trent Edwards is truly the least of the Bufalo Bills Football Team's worries.

 

What he said too.

 

 

This was exactly the kind of game where having a real Beast in the backfield could have swung the game in our favor.

Cant rely on Trent to win them all for us. ML never has and I am beginning to think never will be able to carry a game for us.

 

 

I'm hoping his struggles this year are due to a sophmore slump. Before todays game he was on pace for 1,100 yards but he doesn't seem to be the Marshawn of last year.

[Steely Dan]

I agree with all those specific points. But reality is there's a more general over riding theme: we're just not a good road team ... 3 & 0 at home, 2 & 2 on road. The reason why is we're not a dominant team; we don't win physical matchups on either side of the line ... and without consistent performance from the TE and all of our starting WRs being small, we don't have any in the secondary either. when you're on the road and your game plan is more basic, and your ability to audible less, you win by dominating physical matchups. We're miles away from being that kind of team right now. It's the essential difference between us and the perpetual elites like steelers and giants.

 

Mr. Duncan. Why do you have a hard on for men's assess?

[dave mcbride]

I find it amusing that a rookie HC and former OL coach outcoached DJ. The latter gets his extension, and promptly goes out and lays an egg. Guess Parcells does know what he's doing with a HC.

 

I can't get over running three plays near the goal line in the first half. So much for that imaginative WCO that Schonert talked about. How does the 27th ranked pass defense play that well against us? Or is it scheme?

 

The (Edit: secondary) with all those draft picks and inheriting Greer and McGee, plain stunk. DJ obviously will not start rookies in Corner and McKelvin even with an injured CB in McGee. We draft a guy in the first and fourth, yet they're not ready to play half way through the season.

 

Overall, the conservative gameplan mindset is alive and well. We've learned that no matter what, DJ will not adjust, but rather try to out-execute other teams. He lives and dies by it, and in his career it's proven more of the latter.

The Bills are 5-2. Were you expecting 15-1?

[dave mcbride]

Anyone who thinks the offense was the problem today didn't watch the game.This is now three weeks in a row that they've been absolutely shredded -- shredded -- on pass defense. Warner, Rivers, and now Pennington all had huge numbers. The thing is, their ability to stop the pass was overestimated because they played an ancient Trent Green (immediately benched after the Bills game), a wretched Jamarcus Russell, Garrard (who still had a decent game), and a QB with no starting receivers (Hasselback). With McGee hurt, their secondary is terrible -- did you say any Bill CB cover like the no-names for the Dolphins today? It seemed everyone was wide open all game long, and the only time Pennington was stopped was on a blitz (Scott) or a basically lucky blocked pass.

 

I don't meant to dismiss the fact that the defensive line is not good at rushing the passer, but the secondary is really weak.

 

On a related point, McKelvin appears to be a terrible kick returner - slow without any deciveness or explosiveness. Hopefully he improves, but to be honest, Fred Jackson seems like a better option to me. He can at least make a cut and run forward without thinking twice about it.

[nmas3]

One of the problems I had was in the 4th while we were up by 6 we kept throwing the ball and Lynch and Jackson were running all over the place, I would have like to see more running plays!

[dave mcbride]

The difference between today's Trent and other games' Trent was that the 'Phins were dropping everyone into coverage, and making our WRs and Trent beat them with precise, "stick" throws. They couldn't get it done. Part of the problem was the failure to utilize the backs in the passing game enough (they used them, but not creatively, and not as primary options save the dropped screen). That, and not having a starting-caliber tight end (when oh when will this team decide to get one?) is what killed us against the cover-8.

Disagree to a point - he was fine until Reed went out. Reed gets open; Hardy doesn't. In fact, Hardy seems constitutionally incapable at this point in his career of separating from defenders. Reed going out was a huge loss, as was Parrish's weak performance. The only guy he could depend on was Evans and perhaps Lynch as an outlet (and even he dropped an easy one). Royal, Hardy, and Parrish were very weak.

[TheChimp]

Watching out tripping on your own Dick. You obviously are expert on it.

Not sure I should feel insulted about that one. It is pretty long. But seriously, I apologize if some of you got so offended at my anger towards the Bills today. I didn't say what I said to get you all bunged up. I expected a much better effort than I watched, that's all. Go !@#$ yourselves now.

[Dan]

Anyone who thinks the offense was the problem today didn't watch the game.This is now three weeks in a row that they've been absolutely shredded -- shredded -- on pass defense. Warner, Rivers, and now Pennington all had huge numbers. The thing is, their ability to stop the pass was overestimated because they played an ancient Trent Green (immediately benched after the Bills game), a wretched Jamarcus Russell, Garrard (who still had a decent game), and a QB with no starting receivers (Hasselback). With McGee hurt, their secondary is terrible -- did you say any Bill CB cover like the no-names for the Dolphins today? It seemed everyone was wide open all game long, and the only time Pennington was stopped was on a blitz (Scott) or a basically lucky blocked pass.

 

I don't meant to dismiss the fact that the defensive line is not good at rushing the passer, but the secondary is really weak.

 

On a related point, McKelvin appears to be a terrible kick returner - slow without any deciveness or explosiveness. Hopefully he improves, but to be honest, Fred Jackson seems like a better option to me. He can at least make a cut and run forward without thinking twice about it.

Not that our pass defense was good today, but Rivers had his worst game of the season, if I recall correctly. 2 of the last 3 games we got shredded would be more accurate.

[BillsVet]

The Bills are 5-2. Were you expecting 15-1?

 

This is the same tired refrain used after every loss. Next loss will be, "did you think they'd go 14-2", etc.

 

Today's loss was eerily similar to the Arizona one. A Bills staff very much out-coached by their opponent. I'd add that Sparano is 3-4 in his first season as a HC with what I believe is sub-par talent. Jauron's been a HC for 120 games and 7.5 seasons. Who today had his team prepared to play?

 

Apparently, we'll use this "you were expecting" excuse until things get out of hand. Apparently you don't realize Buffalo lined up against a team one season removed from going 1-15.

[Andrew in CA]

One of the problems I had was in the 4th while we were up by 6 we kept throwing the ball and Lynch and Jackson were running all over the place, I would have like to see more running plays!

Ye,s, Yes, Yes. Couldn't agree more. They seemed to abandon the run right at the moment the run was most effective. Plus, why the F use Jackson on 3rd and Goal from the 1 in the 1st quarter?! Lynch is a much better short yardage back. So perplexing, so many boneheaded calls in this game.

[dave mcbride]

This is the same tired refrain used after every loss. Next loss will be, "did you think they'd go 14-2", etc.

 

Today's loss was eerily similar to the Arizona one. A Bills staff very much out-coached by their opponent. I'd add that Sparano is 3-4 in his first season as a HC with what I believe is sub-par talent. Jauron's been a HC for 120 games and 7.5 seasons. Who today had his team prepared to play?

 

Apparently, we'll use this "you were expecting" excuse until things get out of hand. Apparently you don't realize Buffalo lined up against a team one season removed from going 1-15.

Bills Vet, get serious. You should be thrilled if the Bills go 11-5, because like many other NFL teams, they're flawed. If they go 5-2 in their next seven, that puts them at 10-4. Btw, if they didn't turn the ball over today, they probably would have won against a team that played well.

 

Finally, what sort of coaching mishaps are you referring to? The fact that their CBs can't cover because they're not good enough given that McGee isn't 100%? The fact that their DE corp minus Schoebel can't rush the passer?

 

P.S. If you really think the Dolphins are the same team as last year, then you need to watch more of them. They're an entirely different team, and they're a helluva lot better.

[Andrew in CA]

Bills Vet, get serious. You should be thrilled if the Bills go 11-5, because like many other NFL teams, they're flawed. If they go 5-2 in their next seven, that puts them at 10-4.

That is irrelevant. The Bills lost a fully winnable game today. It is upsetting and should not be tolerated or tossed aside b/c they are "on pace" for an imaginary record. This is the NFL. Dropping games in which you are dominating the line of scrimmage and momentum halfway through the 3rd quarter are unacceptable. This loss is so much worse than the AZ loss in my mind, b/c it was imminently winnable and the Bills tanked it at the most pivotal moments. Save your platitudes about imaginary records for after deserved losses, it provides no relief now.

[Dan]

Bills Vet, get serious. You should be thrilled if the Bills go 11-5, because like many other NFL teams, they're flawed. If they go 5-2 in their next seven, that puts them at 10-4. Btw, if they didn't turn the ball over today, they probably would have won against a team that played well.

 

Finally, what sort of coaching mishaps are you referring to? The fact that their CBs can't cover because they're not good enough given that McGee isn't 100%? The fact that their DE corp minus Schoebel can't rush the passer?

 

P.S. If you really think the Dolphins are the same team as last year, then you need to watch more of them. They're an entirely different team, and they're a helluva lot better.

I find it interesting that most people will readily state that the Bills will be anywhere from 10-6 to 13-3 at the end of the year. Yet, somehow they think the Bills can achieve that record without losing any games.