Ramblings from the game

[CosmicBills]

I just got home from my first trip to the Ralph of the year. Having season tickets but living in LA makes it tough to get to every game. Obviously it's a frustrating loss, so allow me to ramble here and pontificate about the game and the state of the team.

 

1. Dick Jauron showed once again why he will never be a winning coach in the NFL. He coaches scared. The failure to go for it on 4th and 1 was unbelievable. His response in the press conference (paraphrasing) "I'm fine with that decision ... " is inexcusable. The Bills will never have a winning record as long as Dick is the head coach.

 

2. AVP had a horrible day today. I know our tackles were miserable -- but Fred Jackson was GASHING the New Orleans defense for 4 plus yards a pop running the ball. The fact that AVP didn't run the ball down their throat in the 2nd half was confusing to say the least.

 

3. After the first drive of the game, I was convinced the Defense was going to give up 50 points. There were 3 WRs open EVERY play during that drive. The fact that the defense then turned around and played FANTASTICALLY for the rest of the game was impressive. It's even better when you factor in the massive injuries the secondary suffered during the course of the game (Leodis, Donte, Scott). Give credit to Fewell for the adjustments he made during the course of the game.

 

4. Despite how well the defense played, Ellison was a liability in coverage today. He made some nice plays today for sure, but he also got abused. He is one of the worst starting LBs in the league. I'm sorry, but he's a high effort player but can't cover anyone to save his life (which, with his speed shouldn't be the issue).

 

5. I find it incredible that the offense can't find a way to get TO and Evans the ball. Every team that TO has gone to has found the way to get him the ball a half a dozen times a game ... but the Bills can't? Why? There were three times today (that I counted) where TO was NOT covered by a deep safety AND matched up with either a nickle back OR a LB (yes, a LB) and Trent never LOOKED at him.

 

6. Trent NEEDS to make that throw to TO. I've read on here that TO dogged it on that play. That's simply not true. TO had TWO men beat deep and Trent threw a TERRIBLE ball. To quote KTFABD, every QB has a bad day in this league, but the good ones MAKE that throw even when they're having bad days. I'm not anti Trent at all. In fact, I'm a fan. But today he was not only making bad reads he was just anxious.

 

7. The Bills special teams, once the backbone of this team, are just not that good this year. The TD was great, but they are playing sloppy in nearly every phase. Too many penalties, Roscoe is pressing too hard and they are just not what they used to be.

 

8. I got to be on the field for warm-ups thanks to my brother hooking me up. It was a lot of fun and kudos to the great Ralph Wilson staff for making it so fun.

 

9. Not to beat a dead horse ... but Jauron was horrible today. Forget the 4th and 1, his mishandling of the Time Outs and the wasted time used at the end of the first half when the Bills had a chance to take the lead or tie was typical Jauron. I felt like crying.

 

10. The team has played better than I expected this year, the defense today was great. However, with DJ coaching and the difficult schedule that lies ahead, I don't see any way for this team to win more than 7 games. I think another 7-9 season is almost assured. Which, when you really think about it, is pretty impressive to have 4 straight 7-9 seasons. Yay!

[CosmicBills]

Also, it should be noted, trying to make a 6am flight after a 4pm game SUCKS. Especially when the line for security at the Rochester airport was longer than I've ever seen it before (over a 2 hour wait).

[Chandler#81]

1. Dick Jauron showed once again why he will never be a winning coach in the NFL. He coaches scared. The failure to go for it on 4th and 1 was unbelievable. His response in the press conference (paraphrasing) "I'm fine with that decision ... " is inexcusable. The Bills will never have a winning record as long as Dick is the head coach. Sadly, I completely agree. I had hoped against hope that we could turn it around as we have taken 3 years to get the type of players needed to play the schemes. If Jauron goes, Fewell, AVP, Kugler & likely April do as well. If we get a known, good coach, he'll want to do it his way and we're back to square one with players that don't fit a scheme.. If it's going to happen (Boot Jauron) it should happen soon and give the new guy some time with the current roster to see what can be done with the talent on board-ala Bullough-Levy.

 

2. AVP had a horrible day today. I know our tackles were miserable -- but Fred Jackson was GASHING the New Orleans defense for 4 plus yards a pop running the ball. The fact that AVP didn't run the ball down their throat in the 2nd half was confusing to say the least. Butler is a huge loss. Now Bell tore his -um-groin. To compete the rest of the year, we HAVE to bring in a couple Vets!! Our rooks need vetern guidence

3. After the first drive of the game, I was convinced the Defense was going to give up 50 points. There were 3 WRs open EVERY play during that drive. The fact that the defense then turned around and played FANTASTICALLY for the rest of the game was impressive. It's even better when you factor in the massive injuries the secondary suffered during the course of the game (Leodis, Donte, Scott). Give credit to Fewell for the adjustments he made during the course of the game. I thought the D-Line played great vs. the pass. IMO, too much emphasis was given to deep middle seams and when a runner broke the LOS, there was daylight. Is any DB NOT hurt already??

4. Despite how well the defense played, Ellison was a liability in coverage today. He made some nice plays today for sure, but he also got abused. He is one of the worst starting LBs in the league. I'm sorry, but he's a high effort player but can't cover anyone to save his life (which, with his speed shouldn't be the issue).

 

5. I find it incredible that the offense can't find a way to get TO and Evans the ball. Every team that TO has gone to has found the way to get him the ball a half a dozen times a game ... but the Bills can't? Why? There were three times today (that I counted) where TO was NOT covered by a deep safety AND matched up with either a nickle back OR a LB (yes, a LB) and Trent never LOOKED at him. Pass rush makes cowards of all QB's. Even Tommy Terrific* looks bad when he's getting pressure. What irked me most, was when Trent rolled out by design to offset the rush, he still never seemed to look past the LOS..

 

6. Trent NEEDS to make that throw to TO. I've read on here that TO dogged it on that play. That's simply not true. TO had TWO men beat deep and Trent threw a TERRIBLE ball. To quote KTFABD, every QB has a bad day in this league, but the good ones MAKE that throw even when they're having bad days. I'm not anti Trent at all. In fact, I'm a fan. But today he was not only making bad reads he was just anxious.

 

7. The Bills special teams, once the backbone of this team, are just not that good this year. The TD was great, but they are playing sloppy in nearly every phase. Too many penalties, Roscoe is pressing too hard and they are just not what they used to be. I disagree for the most part here. Punting and punt/K-O coverage was very good. Yes, many penalties- but this can be corrected. Roscoe's career is all but over, IMO.

8. I got to be on the field for warm-ups thanks to my brother hooking me up. It was a lot of fun and kudos to the great Ralph Wilson staff for making it so fun.

 

9. Not to beat a dead horse ... but Jauron was horrible today. Forget the 4th and 1, his mishandling of the Time Outs and the wasted time used at the end of the first half when the Bills had a chance to take the lead or tie was typical Jauron. I felt like crying. I was sick to my stomach. 23 seconds ticked off while the Bills were running a Chinese fire drill, THEN took a T-O. Just terrible!

10. The team has played better than I expected this year, the defense today was great. However, with DJ coaching and the difficult schedule that lies ahead, I don't see any way for this team to win more than 7 games. I think another 7-9 season is almost assured. Which, when you really think about it, is pretty impressive to have 4 straight 7-9 seasons. Yay! Is this like losing 4 straight -nevermind..

[Coach Tuesday]

9. Not to beat a dead horse ... but Jauron was horrible today. Forget the 4th and 1, his mishandling of the Time Outs and the wasted time used at the end of the first half when the Bills had a chance to take the lead or tie was typical Jauron. I felt like crying.

 

Hold on there with the time out complaint. That was typical Roscoe, not typical Jauron. The timeout was wasted because Roscoe - once again - had no idea where to line up. The entire offense was yelling at him, and finally (and frustratingly) they had to call time. Remember Peter King's preseason writeup on the Bills, when he said he noticed Roscoe not knowing where to line up on a quarter of the Bills' practice plays? I think it needs to be asked, Is Roscoe mentally disabled? He certainly seems to be a liability on offense, and he's not even giving us the punt returns this year to make up for his brainlessness. In fact, he might have cost us the game today. Gotta bench him, fast.