R. Rich Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 First off, I missed the Week 4 game w/ Miami due to not tivo'ing the correct station (forgot you had to pay a few more bucks to add the HD channels for Sunday Ticket....d'oh!), but in hindsight, that's probably a good thing. I only saw a few highlights (or lowlights) shortly after we boarded our ship last week for our anniversary cruise (it was awesome!!!!!). Didn't look too pretty. And now, on to Week 5... Yuck! I think that's as good a way to start this one. Another solid defensive effort wasted by a totally inept offense. Sure glad we raced home after debarking the ship so that I could witness that one. Riiiight. Trent Edwards is still skittish in terms of looking down the field. But, to his defense, he has precious little time to go through any sort of progression. The offensive (or is it offensieve?) line still has issues on the edge (Demetrius Bell may be athletic, but he needs more bulk, as he is being overpowered by edge rushers far too often) and, despite using 2 early picks to correct things, in giving the QB a solid wall up the middle. We're still seeing the interior guys being walked back into the QB, either rushing a throw or just collapsing the pocket and getting the sack. Then there's the penalties. Way too many false start calls (8) on this line. They have got to get it together, and fast. Marshawn Lynch appeared @ times to hit the hole and surge forward instead of dancing 'round looking for the sweet spot. I guess he's paid enough attention to how Fred Jackson has done it while he was out. This could give the Bills a very healthy RB situation. Now, if only they could sort out a passing game of any kind. It's good that they're looking to get Terrell Owens more involved, but to force the ball to him isn't the way. Edwards' pick by Eric Wright was an example of what not to do, and was not long after Wright was victimized by a costly penalty. A bit of payback for him, I suppose. Josh Reed continues to do the dirty work and Lee Evans still hasn't lived up to his tremendous potential. Derek Fine did what he could out there (game effort on the 3rd down play to spin and pick up more yards), but it's just not enough. Sigh. Another decent job by Kyle Williams. Too bad it was wasted yet again. He appears to be showing all of us that he's not as bad as many of us thought. People may bag on the way he and Marcus Stroud were handled by the Browns' interior linemen, but they were doubled out w/ no good support from the LBs. There were times that they flowed to the line, yet did absolutely nothing when they got there. They just sat there and caught their blockers and were led out of the RBs' way. It was eerily reminiscient of Walt Corey's read and react fiasco. Yikes. The LBs definitely had their share of misfortune, as Kawika Mitchell and Marcus Buggs were knocked out of the game. That said, they still did little in run support. A lot may be due to their lack of size, but I still believe the scheme has a lot to do w/ it. A bit more of an attacking scheme by the LBs could certainly help on those plays where the opposing OL kick the DTs outside of the play. When that happens, you hope your LBs can fill that gap and either shut the play down or force it outside for the pursuit to stop it. I didn't see much of either scenario yesterday. Much, much work to be done by these guys. Perhaps the best job of the day was done by the Bills' secondary. Not only did they make Derek Anderson a non factor (he completed just 2 passes on the day), but they took Braylon Edwards out of it as well. Props to Terrence McGee and Drayton Florence on the outside and also to safety George Wilson for his solid run support and his decent work in coverage. Rookie Jairus Byrd also made a few solid plays in coverage. He looks to be a good one. And now we get to the goat of the week: one Mr Roscoe Parrish. A horrible job w/ returns, indeed, but let's not let him have the spotlight to himself. What's w/ the penalties Bobby (special teams coach supreme) April? All season long, this unit has looked lackluster not only w/ the penalties, but the coverage isn't quite what it was. This is 'bout as bad as I've seen the Bills' special teams look in a long time. Oh, and then there's the coaching. Lemme see: the Bills had the tendency to waste timeouts before Jauron was hired, and they still are doing so now (those 2 blown timeouts in the 2nd half may have come in handy on Cleveland's last drive). The Bills had a knack of committing drive killing penalties before Jauron was hired, and man, do they do it now. The Bills either found ways to lose games they were winning or came up short in games they could've won before Jauron was hired, and continue to do the same now. So, I wonder, just how has this team improved in areas where coaching can directly impact improvement (as the factors I mention)? Anyone? Bueller? This is probably a good time for the doom and gloomers on the board. The team is mired in another disappointing season and there doesn't seem to be anything tangent to point to that says good times are on the horizon. I don't like to join the angry mob, but I will say this. It is getting VERY hard to debate the argument that the Buffalo Bills are, all factors considered, the worst organization in the NFL. In terms of management, coaching, and in the on-field play, this is a woeful period for the Bills, to say the least. Again, as a diehard fan, all I can do is hope for the best. Let's hope for the return to health of many of our key players and also hope that the coaching staff realizes that they have some serious issues that need to be corrected instead of trying to convince themselves and others that they can turn things 'round doing exactly what they've been doing. It isn't time to give up all hope, but it isn't time to bury our heads in the sand and think that "all is well" (think of Kevin Bacon in Animal House) or that it's "just a flesh wound" (as the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail might say). Get to work, folks. Fix the problems. Get the ship (pun intended) right. Go Bills!
CodeMonkey Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Nice job as usual. I only disagree with the Bills secondary paragraph. 1) Braylon Edwards was traded to the Jets last week 2) Anderson is a long ball thrower, not all that great in the short game. And with that wind he couldn't go long effectively. Not so much great secondary play as helpful Buffalo weather.
aussiew Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Good post Rich. And so glad you both enjoyed your anniversary cruise!
R. Rich Posted October 12, 2009 Author Posted October 12, 2009 Nice job as usual. I only disagree with the Bills secondary paragraph. You weren't impressed w/ the secondary play? Geesh; tough crowd. Sure it was windy, but even when the Cleve Brownies had the wind, they couldn't do jack. There was two plays, I believe, where receivers got open and dropped what would've been long plays. Other than that, they were blanketed. 1) Braylon Edwards was traded to the Jets last week D'oh!! That's what happens when you're cut off from civilization for a week! I sure wish I was cut off from civilization for another week....or 19.
Ray Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Trent is terrible b/c Trent is terrible. He has had time to throw...granted not all the time but the vast majority of time he drops back to pass he has time to make a play. He has missed open receivers repeatedly and on #rd and 15, 4th and long he would prefer to throw a 5 yard dump off to a RB. He has lost it...not the OL's fault. Secondary was great yesterday...defense was great yesterday despite the injuries. Giving up 6 points and you lose....obviously ST and offenses' fault
nmas3 Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 Well I wished I would have missed the game. I actually drove up from Virginia to see the game. One thing I noticed watching the game was that Trent would stare down his receivers, only a few times did I see him look someone off. I think that is an issue. I am really starting to wonder if he can break down a defense. As far as the Browns I think Anderson would have had more yards passing but his recievers had a ton of drops! I think trading Edwards was a bad move, but the way they are going they will be able to draft one in the top 5 next year. Nice write-up.
CodeMonkey Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 You weren't impressed w/ the secondary play? Geesh; tough crowd. Sure it was windy, but even when the Cleve Brownies had the wind, they couldn't do jack. There was two plays, I believe, where receivers got open and dropped what would've been long plays. Other than that, they were blanketed. Actually thinking about it more, there were a lot of balls that hit the receivers in the hands that they dropped. I believe one of the announcers made the comment once they they must have sprayed "ball be gone" on their gloves they were dropping so many. Not due to good secondary play on our part ... except for the INT from byrd. That was a thing of beauty.
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted October 12, 2009 Posted October 12, 2009 R Rich call DTV superfan is being rebated back to folks
Recommended Posts