the last time a bills' OL registered back-to-back

[eball]

1993. that's an unbelievable stat, considering it includes several years of the kelly era (admittedly, the down side) and all of the flutie era.

 

it's also only the 2nd time in bledsoe's career he has gone back-to-back games w/o a sack or INT.

 

these stats are indicative of the fact that buffalo has started to establish an identity and the players are "drinking the kool aid" as mouse mcnally puts it.

 

there's absolutely no reason why the bills should not be "in" the game sunday night. their three units are all functioning at a high level, simultaneously, in consecutive games, for the first time since....well, i can't remember when the last time was.

 

it's really hard to get over the 0-4 start, mularkey's insistence on playing henry early on, the debacle in baltimore, etc. but we're starting to get the sense that these boys really believe they can keep the roll going and get themselves back in the hunt.

 

i'm excited about this week's game. sorry if this thread isn't pessimistic enough for the typical bills' fan.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

The proposal of moving MW to LG which started a few weeks ago (seeingly based on a passing attitude adjustment threat by JMac) is looking sillier and sillier.

 

1. The concept of MW being too slow for the position always struck me as a miswatching of the situation as MW seemed to show bigger mental problems in his work as he was called upon as a second year player to carry along first year player Pacillo.

 

2. His problem seemed to be the less than professional way he dealt with the human loss of a death in his family rather than a physical issue beyond the weight gain he put on skipping the voluntary practices this off-season. In fact after JMac and others sent him a message he was a bit too hardcore in trying to peel the pounds and suffered a setback early to overtraining trying to lose weight.

 

3. Complaints about his lack of agility as a big man making him vulnerable to speed rushes also seemed counter to reality to me as the Bills sack weakness was actually up the gut as he miscoordinated with Pacillo and Teague would occaisionally get bowled over when he had difficulty mult-tasking doing line call adjustments, makibng an accurate snap and also getting the proper leverage for lighter man to be effective against the growing bulkier DTs. Like all OL players he got beat on occaision but his outside agility was not his major issue or a consistent problem last year, not this year as 3of 8 games so far were actually sack free even with fleet footed Bledsoe.

 

4. Even MW's bad penalty in the Ravens game which backed us up 5 on second and goal was MW's first penalty of the season.

 

5. The only real rationale for moving MW to LG which made sense was not MWs play but actually to find a started at LG who was not a UDFA on the Ravens practice squad last year. The move MW to LG proposal created openings at RT, and back-up tackle if you moved Price to fil the RT slot, Such a move is particularly serious business since Jennings has had such an injury plague career (and now it is MW who gets dinged. Rather than moving Teague to fill a hole at tackle whe he healed to keep Tucker at C, it makes far more sense to play Tucker at LG and move Smith to a back-up slot more appropriate to him and still a big move in terms of improvement.

 

There's still much to do an improve with the OL chemistry and work. I think the Jumbo Package may well have a relatively short shelf life as it is already hitting the wall as its success has given tape on the few redzone plays Bannan can run and it was a mismatch between the play call and the personnel which cost the Bills a shot at 4 point just before the end of the first half Sunday (when the Jumbo Package failed to lead the rusher into the endzone for the first time Sunday it turned out to be a mismatch of personnel and the second play called in the hurry-up huddle).

 

In terms of limited redzone practice time, I'd rather they devote it to working to make Tucker a full time LG after a great performance in the bulk of the game Sunday rather than forcefeeding more plays to Bannan to keep some necessay surprise in the Jumbo or the even worse idea of trying to turn him into an offensive player this year.

 

I like where we are with the OL.