My Meaningless Opinion

[Dan]

Are you losing it, and you say this happened in this thread and it wasn't you that brought this up.

Post #43, bizell brings it up.

 

Post #46, you stated TE had the game in the bag.

 

Post #47, I refuted that he had it in the bag based on his stats from the game.

 

So by my count (granted I didn't use a calculator to do the math), I was the 3rd person to bring TE's performance in that game into the discussion.

[Guest dog14787]

Post #43, bizell brings it up.

 

Post #46, you stated TE had the game in the bag.

 

Post #47, I refuted that he had it in the bag based on his stats from the game.

 

So by my count (granted I didn't use a calculator to do the math), I was the 3rd person to bring TE's performance in that game into the discussion.

 

 

OK, I see what your saying, i thought you brought it up, my bad.

 

and you know what, now I have a buzz, the defense played well yesterday...

[Guest dog14787]

Ok. Since you actually watched the game and still arrived at your conclusion, then my name calling was justified.

 

 

Fair enough... lets give some credit where credit is due I suppose...

 

I've been successfully tranquilized, beat down and subdued.( for now)

[Fan in Chicago]

I'm fixing to be.

 

The Saints defense stopped what In my opinion is allot of offensive fire power, whats so hard to understand.

 

[Guest dog14787]

 

 

Let me guess, you expected our offense to be scoreless.

[Cookiemonster]

The good thing was I got to watch the game @ Jimmy's Tavern in Herndon VA w/ over 300 rabid Bills fans. I got to meet Scott Norwood and Charley Taylor (Redskins WR, Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of '84, former NFL all time leading receiver); both were very pleasant and took the time to chat w/ anyone.

 

The bad thing was that I got to watch the game. Ugh! I give the Saints props for balancing out their offense to the point where they were able to pull away from the Bills late in the game by wearing down the defense. A lot of that wearing down was due to the inept offense. Alex Van Pelt just had no answer for Gregg Williams' defense in this one. Trent Edwards started off okay, doing a decent job of rolling out to avoid the rush and actually having a few moments where he read the defense pre snap and adjusted. But, as the game wore on, his performance just tanked. He forced passes into tight coverage (as he did on the INT), overthrew a wide open Terrell Owens on a play that probably would've gone for a score, and regressed back to his old self, looking to check down far too often.

 

My big question for Van Pelt would be why did you not do more to get Fred Jackson going in this game, especially when the game's outcome was still in question and he was doing a good job of picking up tough yards? No, instead, you wait 'til after the defense wears down to get Jackson more carries. Sigh. What fun this week is going to be for the coaches, huh? I am reminded of a tune from Prince, actually it's the title of his 4th album........Controversy.

 

I think the Bills were a bit too worried 'bout establishing some sort of passing game and also trying to get the wideouts more involved. Well, Josh Reed did make some gutsy plays, but the outside guys just didn't get it done. Lee Evans had another bad experience over the middle (maybe the Bills should just resign to keeping him to the outside to run his beloved "9" routes) while Terrell Owens missed the opportunity to come up w/ the catch that became an INT. Now, on that one, grant you, Edwards threw a bad pass. But that is still one Owens can come up w/ and has come up w/ in the past. Is it time now for the drama that everyone from some Bills fans to most of the media is craving for? I hope not, but I'm sure that people will work hard to engineer it.

 

The offensive line. You ain't kiddin', "offensive"! What a putrid performance by all. Eric Wood looked awful; it was almost like that was a hazing instead of a game. Andy Levitre also looked bad (Sedrick Ellis made him look particularly bad on the one play that resulted in a sack). The tackles? Well, Jon Scott wasn't as bad as Demetrius Bell, but niether guy could be proud of their performance. Too many penalties and not enough protection. Granted, they did have to face a very good pair of pass rushers in Charles Grant and Will Smith, so for that reason I am not going to condemn either guy. Let's just say they got worked over by some very good players yesterday.

 

I thought the D line played well. Ryan Denney and Chris Kelsay had some nice plays in this game, and that's not to mention the solid performance of Aaron Schobel. Inside, I thought Kyle Williams continued to show that he's not as bad as many on this board claim he is while Marcus Stroud was good also. One thing w/ Stroud that I've noticed though is the fact that he can be taken out on plays going away from him. Stretch runs, misdirection plays, any of the stuff that calls for him to be doubled and kicked to a particular side, he has problems beating those double teams. When they try to double him on runs going inside, he eats that up like candy. The outside stuff is a problem though, and it allows for the O linemen to get to the 2nd level and make the blocks to spring the RBs. On Thomas' first TD run in the 4th, the block that FB Heath Evans (he had a very good game) made was certainly key to Thomas getting sprung, but the way Stroud was doubled allowed for the Saints line to get on the LBs, so that when Evans made his block, Thomas had a gaping hole to hit.

 

I thought the linebackers struggled in terms of getting to the outside to stop the run, but also showed the usual deficiencies in terms of pass coverage (Jeremy Shockey got the better of Kawika Mitchell on a play that went for a big gain). W/ the D line eventually wearing down late, the LBs just got manhandled as the Saints guys got to 'em to clear the way for the running game.

 

As for the secondary, Leodis McKelvin got hurt early and didn't return, but Drayton Florence did a very good job of replacing him. Also, Terrence McGee did a good job after being beat deep on the Saints' opening TD drive. Was that Donte Whitner coming over to knock down a potential TD play later in the game? Really? Whitner??? Also, those of you who blasted the drafting of Reggie Corner last year, you should be grateful that he's in the lineup. He provided some nice coverage out there, and was a big part of why Drew Brees was held to under 200 yards passing for the first time in 23 games. Take a bow, secondary. You earned it.

 

Special teams came up w/ the play of the game for the Bills in Denney's TD on the fake. But, there were also the penalties that are becoming far too common w/ this group in 2009. Bobby April needs to light a fire under the special teams and get this stuff corrected. Now.

 

Last but certainly not least, the coaching. Aaaaaaargh!! Not only do you not challenge the Josh Reed play, but then you PUNT on the next play instead of going for 4th and 1? It seems like there's a critical point in many Bills games where the tide turns, usually due in part to a poor coaching decision. This could have been the point yesterday. You showed no faith in your offense, and you put your defense, which by then was exhausted, right back on the field. And, the Bills are still having to waste timeouts. How many more years does Jauron need to get the team to the point where they can run the offense in clutch situations w/out the need to waste timeouts? Sad thing is, he'll probably get as many of those years as he needs.

 

Okay, so the Bills now sit @ 1-2. As G. Host said to me @ the end of the game yesterday, "does that mean we're as good as the Steelers?" I don't know if I'd go that far, but both teams have the same record @ this point in the year. Things can continue to slide downward, or they can go upward. It's up to the coaches to right the ship. Good luck, and Go Bills!

We have exactly the same record, and we lost a division game on the road, and that my freinds, is where the

comparison ends.