Jeff Wright's Mullet Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 I know we won and I'm glad we did but our Special Teams have been terrible all season long. Today it was a stupid penalty on 4th down and later Josh Reed makes a bone head play that causes a turnover. Take away Leodis's opener blunder and Roscoe's two key fumbles this season and we are 4-2 instead of 2-4. Bobby April needs to put his genius hat back on and straighten the Special Teams out. Glad to see this team fight through all the injuries they have had this season and pull out an ugly divisional win on the road.
Peter Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 The STs have been horrible for the most part. The penalties also have not helped at all.
3cheesenacho Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 I think are special teams are still solid despite the obvious major mistakes... Bobby April can't go on the field and stop those two plays from happening. Those were two bonehead plays and the players don't need April to tell them that
billsfan714 Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Yeah Bobby doesnt need to make sure to tell Mckelvin not to get stood with just over 2 minutes to go, doesnt need to tell him to get on the ground or when to not even run it out with an onsides kick return team on the field. Doesnt need to do anything. Just let them play. Pfffffffft. Thats exactly what a coach is supposed to do during the game. Bobby April has benefited from having a great punter and the Bills drafting some pretty good returners. As a coach i dont think he deserves any genius label. Its little things that can win and lose games, and as Jeff Wright(the poster above) said about being 4-2. As bad as this team has looked at times, it is amazing how close we were to being 4-2 if it wasnt for 2 absolute boneheaded special teams plays.
Malazan Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 There's a certain demeanor of acceptability that comes from a bit higher up than April. Do you think McKelvin wasn't made aware of his responsibility? He ignored because *he* could make something happen..these players don't fear consequences and that comes from a paygrade higher than Bobby April.
billsfan714 Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Actually no, I dont think Leodis was told, hey watch out, their going to try to stand you up and strip the ball. As soon as someone gets near you get down. I think this because he didnt do any of those and was returning kicks the next week.
playman Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 imho, april has problems adjusting to the new rules too. for what ive seen so far, teams try to trick more on returns, such as reverse or fake reverse, in an effort to spread the coverage more to make up for the lost wedge. havent seen that from the bills. it still looks like wedge-returns but without the wedge. otoh, not many bills games are broadcasted here. got to thank the pats* for blowing out the titans b/c at halftime they switched to the bills-jets game. although freddy looked pretty good returning that game
Chandler#81 Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Our Punter and PK are always among the league's best. Our KR's have been stellar for years and F. Jackson is no slouch. Our KO/Punt coverage is better than most teams. I disagree with all the knee-jerk critisim directed at April. The new wedge rules level the overall playing field, we've had a few ball handling blunders and we have new players earning their way through ST duty that have had penalties called for being too agressive, trying to help. All this is correctable and I believe will be fixed. IMO, April is a great asset as ST coach and I don't want him leaving the Bills. McKelvin's fumble just made the inevitable less dramatic. This is the least area of concern on the team.
MRM33064 Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 April has escaped a lot of criticism this season because the frame of reference is Jauron. More than one fan has even suggested April be moved up to head coach, despite coaching a unit that has made all sorts of key mistakes. April shows some emotion, true enough, but he's not exactly fielding a team-leading squad. Actually, he's got a little case of the Fitzes ... as in Fitzpatrick's very shaky performance yesterday (aside from one very well-executed play) is being viewed (by some) as favorable because the frame of reference is Trent. If it's not abysmal, it somehow seems tolerable.
BillsfaninFl Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 There's a certain demeanor of acceptability that comes from a bit higher up than April. Do you think McKelvin wasn't made aware of his responsibility? He ignored because *he* could make something happen..these players don't fear consequences and that comes from a paygrade higher than Bobby April. An excellent point. IMO there are two psychologies that influence what is happening on the field with this team: 1. Your point about the acceptability of failure throughout the organization. 2. The fact that when losing occurs so often, players lose confidence in winning. As a result, they do not play with passion, and either are afraid to take risks (i.e. Trent Edwards) or take unneccessary risks (McKelvin) to try to make something spectacular happen.
Beerball Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 I think are special teams are still solid despite the obvious major mistakes... Bobby April can't go on the field and stop those two plays from happening. Those were two bonehead plays and the players don't need April to tell them that I'm not sure whether they still do, but...they were leading the league in penalties. Bonehead penalties and being out of position penalties you can't have. That's coaching. Effort penalties...the block in the back by Nelson...you can live with that (though I would prefer he not throw up his hands and go through the whole "who me? They must be kidding, I never touched the guy!" Replay doesn't lie #89.) Guys handling or not handling punts is coaching. The wrong # of players on the field is coaching. If the players don't need April to tell them that, what exactly do they need him for?
Red Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 I posted this thread earlier yesterday at halftime.
BillsfaninFl Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Our Punter and PK are always among the league's best. Our KR's have been stellar for years and F. Jackson is no slouch. Our KO/Punt coverage is better than most teams. I disagree with all the knee-jerk critisim directed at April. The new wedge rules level the overall playing field, we've had a few ball handling blunders and we have new players earning their way through ST duty that have had penalties called for being too agressive, trying to help. All this is correctable and I believe will be fixed. IMO, April is a great asset as ST coach and I don't want him leaving the Bills. McKelvin's fumble just made the inevitable less dramatic. This is the least area of concern on the team. Agreed. If you look at the overall record of Bobby April as a Bills coach, you see that he has had one of the best special teams records in the league when allowed to keep players together. His groups falter when they are torn apart by the movement of players through the system (i.e. because of injuries or youth movements). Do you honestly expect a squad with a high turnover of players to be any good?
BuffaloRebound Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 I would be shocked if the Bills don't lead the League in special teams penalties. It seems like a penalty is called on our punting unit 30-40% of the time. How many voluntarily running out of bounds penalties have we taken? More than 1 is unacceptable. Or blocking out of bounds. I know there are some rookies out there, but what are the coaches teaching them? Too many men penalties are unacceptable. April has been abysmal this year.
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