I typed it last week and I'll type it again: life is better when the Bills win. It wasn't close to pretty and it didn't inspire too much new faith in the offense, but Buffalo's 3-4 with a chance to hit the bye week at .500 with a home win over a wildly inconsistent Texans team.
My weekend has been a weekend fighting a pretty bad flu, so thanks Bills for finishing that one off in the 'W' column.
On with the show...
-- The discussion this week regarding quarterbacks is going to be a good one. Let's pretend Trent Edwards is healthy and ready for next week against Houston. Do you want him back in there because he completes more passes, or do you want to stick with the guy who is 2-0 this year? I imagine we'll see some vintage NFL deception this week from the Bills coaching staff. Even if Edwards is ready, I suspect they'd give him another two weeks off from getting hit in the head by whoever Demetrius Bell is supposed to be blocking.
-- The one strong indictment of Edwards that's come from watching Ryan Fitzpatrick quarterback the Bills is that he's been sacked twice in two weeks, while Edwards was sacked 19 times in six weeks. Fitzpatrick was inaccurate, but he made himself time in the pocket, something that Edwards has failed to do consistently.
-- The defense looked better against the run, but it's the pass defense that needs to be lauded. Those 300-plus yards were a large number, but it's another week limiting the opponent to very few points. The Bills have nine interceptions in two weeks, and are getting to the quarterback at a better rate than we've seen in years.
By the way, I'm still looking for the "Schobel's washed-up" people to come back out of the woodwork. His four sacks don't tell the whole story, as Chris Kelsay's three sacks are a nice bonus.
-- For a couple years we wanted Edwards' head on J.P. Losman's body, but things have a funny way of working out. If you could put Fitzpatrick's fearless-to-the-point-of-foolhardy head to work with Edwards' arm, I'd feel a whole lot better about the Bills chances the rest of the way. Fitzpatrick would've had two deep touchdowns if he had the strength to reach Terrell Owens and Lee Evans in stride on fly routes.
-- I'm not sure I can put into words how pleased I am to see Jairus Byrd making plays at the safety position. Isn't this what we wanted to see from Donte Whitner for so long. George Wilson now has two picks in two weeks, and it makes you wonder if the Bills are better off with their "B" plan of Wilson and Byrd rather than Whitner and Byrd.
-- Drayton Florence, at least for a week, looked like the corner Jacksonville gave crazy money to in 2008 (Six years, $36 million). I found it a little odd that Steve Tasker called his diving miss of a low-thrown Delhomme ball a "missed interception." It was a remarkably tough play to make, and I think Tasker gets a little caught up in not sounding like a homer. It can't be an easy job to do color commentary for your former team.
-- Bills running backs and tight ends combined for a total of one catch for seven yards in the passing game. Shawn Nelson's recovery could be huge for next week's game. San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis torched the Texans for three second-half scores this week.
-- That late reverse to Owens... would've liked to see it go to Evans. For one thing, they've run that play through Owens several times this year, and Evans has been solid on reverses in the last couple years.
-- One of the things we're learning is that there are a lot of bad quarterbacks in the NFL. For a while, the Bills were set to win with a quarterback who was 4-of-13 or something awful like that.
-- I don't have many problems with the way Dick Jauron coached today, and Mike Schopp said it right on the post-game show. These guys could've absolutely quit after that garbage fire versus the Browns.
-- That's all I have to say for now. Sorry. I'm fighting this flu thing pretty hard.
Stat line I enjoyed:
Lee Evans, five catches, 75 yards, TD
-- He's good, and it's nice to see him get balls thrown his way. As long as the opposition is going to keep double covering Owens, keep chucking the ball to Evans.
Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Bills rushers, 30 carries, 52 yards, TD
-- My goodness did the run blocking regress this week, but perhaps its not a new thing. The Bills haven't successfully run the ball since Week Two against a Tampa team that entered the week allowing more rushing yards-per-game than any team in the league not called the Buffalo Bills. They ran alright against the Pats in Week One, but New England is 20th in the league against the run.
Game ball:
Byrd.
-- Again. His interceptions didn't look beautiful, but he's in the right position. Even with a bad missed tackle on the Williams touchdown -- remember, he's a rookie -- he's got an inside look at defensive rookie of the year.
Lastly...
It should be noted that I predicted a 20-17 win in this space last week. Wasn't exactly right, but
Next week:
As much as I want to have fun at work during the bye week, I think the Bills defense won't be able to shut down the Texans, who have won two games on the road (as have the Bills). The Texans are allowing 21-plus points-per-game, and have had a lot of trouble getting to the quarterback. Even if Edwards is back, I wonder if either Bills quarterback has the arm to contend with the November (yes, it'll be November) wind at the Ralph. I'm uncomfortable making a prediction until I know the severity of Andre Johnson's chest injury, but let's assume he's in. Houston 22, Buffalo 13.
Glad to see Jack Nicholson is coaching the Bills now, looks like he lost some weight though.
10/25/2009 8:39PM
what
lucky win jauron gets multi yr extension ha ha
10/25/2009 8:41PM
too long nick
let me sum it up for you. Another meaningless victory against a horrible team that didn't want to win. How anyone can sit and watch this team is beyond me
10/25/2009 9:00PM
The BILLS SUCK!
Do I need to say anything more?
10/25/2009 9:01PM
2 plays from 5-2
McKelvin takes touchback vs. Pats and Parrish holds onto ball vs. Browns and we're 5-2. Two plays away from 5-2. Simply...
10/25/2009 9:01PM
"Homefield Advantage"
I believe the Bills will be in for a long day against the Texans. Remember, we have been horrible at home.
10/25/2009 9:02PM
Maybin
Glad to see Maybin hit the field during garbage time. He seems to have only one move, but I would rather him get some real game experience...
10/25/2009 9:02PM
a win is a win
great effort, defense and I'll even give kudos to Fitz. for not throwing an int. Shame on TO, though. If anybody should be benched, it's him.
10/25/2009 9:04PM
Jauron
If the bills go into the bye week at .500, why does that change the inconsistencies that jauron has shown us in the past? even if the bills finish at .500 at the end of the season, barring a playoff game, he should be gone.
10/25/2009 9:12PM
lots of bad teams
there are alot of bad teams in the nfl and we have one of them. The funny part is two or three of those bad teams will leak into the playoffs
10/25/2009 9:28PM
Who?
Who is this Lee Evans that has emerged in our offense?
10/25/2009 9:31PM
Boring
What a boring game. I was glad to se them win but it came costly to the eyes
10/25/2009 9:41PM
American Football Excitement!
What an exciting football win from the American football team the Buffalo Bills! Next week they take on the Texans from Houston! It will be a battle for the ages as "The boy wonder" Ryan Fitzpatrick from Harvard University battles for the start against Trent "Stanford is an excellent school, too" Edwards for the start against the previously mentioned Texans! Come one, come all to the Ralph, where parking is 10$ and only a mile away, Use the family savings and treat your family to hotdogs and an over-sized pretzel! *beer will cost extra*
The Circus is back.... it's back I tell ya...
10/25/2009 9:43PM
not to rain on the parade....
but uh (cue rain sound)
file under: who cares.
10/25/2009 9:44PM
So...
How bout them Sabres?
10/25/2009 9:59PM
NFL's best kept secret
The Bills are dead last versus the run. Apparently, the Jets and Panthers didn't realize this and preferred to throw the ball 40 times with multiple interceptions, and multiple is putting it lightly.
10/25/2009 10:01PM
NFL's best kept secret
The Bills are dead last versus the run. Apparently, the Jets and Panthers didn't realize this because they preferred to throw the ball 40 times with multiple interceptions, and multiple is putting it lightly.
10/25/2009 10:19PM
????
These guys will get my attention if they can manage to beat the Texans. Oh yeah, by the way, Trent take a good look at your backup. Even he realizes that it's possible to throw the ball more than 5 yard!!!
10/25/2009 10:33PM
Then don't
Then don't watch...let the rest of us be stupid for wasting our time
Stop watching, reading, and posting on websites. You're obviously too smart for the rest of us anyways.
10/25/2009 10:56PM
Go Jauron, my hero
I think The Bills are a good team that has had bad luck. I truly believe that they will put together a string of 6 or 7 straight wins. And then everyone will realize that Jauron is a great coach. And I hope gets another contract extension. Besides, the players love him and will never give up!
10/25/2009 11:08PM
Gr8 Win! Tasker is terrible
Gr8 win for Buffalo, I'm not surprised after seeing CAR struggle against Tampa last week. Also, Steve was a great football player for Buffalo but a terrible commutator. He's no John Gruden and should give it up.
10/25/2009 11:58PM
Jauron
It's fitting for Halloween to have a corpse on the sideline.
10/25/2009 11:59PM
Jauron
It's fitting for Halloween to have a corpse coaching on the sideline.
10/26/2009 12:51AM
Another 'win'...
... vs. a bottom feeder. Maybe they'll string together enough garbage 'wins' (7?) to justify keeping jauron and edwards around for another year.
10/26/2009 1:28AM
Trent Who
Yeah...like the other person was saying " Trent take a good look at your backup. Even he realizes that it's possible to throw the ball more than 5 yard!!! So true "
10/26/2009 3:48AM
re: then don't
You know, you're right, why bother putting negative comments here. It's not about being "smart" or not And if it's about being apathetic about it then you're right. No point commenting if you don't care, right? Right.
Right.
good point.
10/26/2009 4:03AM
If it weren't for the Defense..
Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt Punt, Punt. oh and one more... Punt. What a lousy football team. If you want to watch a football game tune in to other games, if you like watching a team PUNT- go to Ralph Wilson Stadium there you can watch a guy Punt for 3 hours.
10/26/2009 5:00AM
chris draft,jauron, no playoffs
Draft made a few good plays... good free agency pick up. The 'cagey' dick jauron is a class act- but will not be back next season. The ills will finish 8-8, yayyyyyyyyyyy
10/26/2009 7:25AM
How bad is the NFL?
How bad is it when the Bills can be a .500 team?? The difference between the .500 teams and below and those who have a chance to win the SB is enormous! No way we can match up to Minnesota, Pitts, Indy etc
10/26/2009 8:41AM
It's a win but.......
still not much offense, the defense is carrying most of the scoring, so needless to say, my opinion of the Bills has not changed. Although they seem to have better chances with Fitzpatrick, not the best power thrower, but seems to make good decisions. Bottom line, they can beat the bad teams, but this play won't cut it against better teams. They will not finish above .500 unless the offense vastly improves, but I don't see it happening.
10/26/2009 8:47AM
JAURON'S QUOTA
Only 4 more wins and Jauron hits his quota!
10/26/2009 9:12AM
re: ????
You can't be serious are you? Fitzpatrick threw more checkdowns than Edwards ever did and when he tried to go long he grossly underthrew wide open Owens and Evans. He basically had two good throws all day and one went for 2 yards....get excited over that if that makes you happy. I'll take Edwards over this guy anyday.
10/26/2009 9:13AM
Great Game
If you liked watching high school football at its finest.
10/26/2009 9:17AM
KAAAAWW
BYRDMAN REAL DEAL...KAAWW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT BOY..KAAAWW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT BOY
10/26/2009 9:53AM
re:????
While I will agree that Fitzpatrick isn't all that great, he buys time in the pocket, doesn't turn it over, can run for some yards, and (and this is the most important) he has the nerve. Edwards lost his nerve a long time ago and I doubt he will ever get it back. When you can't get it back with two high profile receivers then forget it. Edwards has played his last game as a Bill (if not in the NFL) if I were calling the shots.
10/26/2009 9:54AM
More re:???
It is scary. Where we would be with a great, even a good quarter back? Two bad plays away from 5-2 yes, but some of our victories have been on bad plays by the opposition. I want to see wins on good plays. Yes, we have had a few (Evans was great yesterday not to mention Bird - wow, Bird) but on the whole too many bad plays.
10/26/2009 9:57AM
even more re:????
“T” “Oh I dropped another ball” has to go. He isn't even dialing it in. If he keeps going to the outside yesterday on that end around he easily picks up the first down. He would have earlier in the year. Now he looks like he has given up.
10/26/2009 9:57AM
more still re:????
Why is it so hard to throw the ball so he or Evans can run to it? These are NFL quarterbacks - my son played QB in HS and can easily make those throws. I don't get it.
10/26/2009 10:46AM
Trent
If the first concussion screwed up Trent Edwards, maybe the second one will un-screw him. But I think we found quarterbacking worse than the Bills platoon of Edwards/Fitzpatrick- thanks Jake.
10/26/2009 11:09AM
meh
Fitzpatrick is confident now but wait until he has to pick himself up off the ground for the 500th time this year and you will see him begin to lose confidence...it all goes back to the offensive line. Also why are people saying the bills would be 5-2 if parrish didn't fumble? When he fumbled it was late in the 4th quarter and still 3-3, most likely the game would've ended in a tie or the bills would've found another way to lose the game.
10/26/2009 11:44AM
Edwards/Fitz
Lets call a spade a spade. Neither one of the QB's are a long term solution for the Bills. But looking at the way the Bills have played now that both QB's have had time under center, Fitz gives the Bills a better chance at success right now. Also, will there ever be a time where the Bills play "above" the level of their competition? -Chris
10/26/2009 12:33PM
Secondary
Florence looking that good is nothing new. our pass defense's rise to prominence began with him coming in for McKelvin and he hasn't looked bad since.
And as fun as the ballhawks are, we need a Whitner or Scott in there for the run support.
10/26/2009 1:29PM
good game
the Bills played a good game yesturday and yet we still need to stop the big balls throwing deep.
10/26/2009 2:07PM
BOR-ing
PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT. INTERCEPTION. PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT. INTERCEPTION. PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT
10/26/2009 2:10PM
RE: 2 plays from 5-2
Positive thinking ... or 2 plays (take away a pic from each of the last 2 games) and we could be 1-6
10/26/2009 3:19PM
re: Edwards/Fitz
The Bills aren't playing better, the two teams we just played looked more like Lew Port and Starpoint HS. If we can schedule them every week we'll be OK.
10/26/2009 6:58PM
Swine Flu
I hate to tell you this Nick...you have swine flu...stop sugar coating it
10/26/2009 7:03PM
Re: Swine Flu (from Nick)
Actually, went to the doctor's today, and they said it could very well be swine flu, or just any other virus. Because I'm a healthy, fairly-in-shape 27-yr-old, I don't have to get the test. I guess a ton of people have the swine flu, but -- as I was saying -- it's pretty much like any other bad flu. And believe me, swine or not, it stinks.
10/27/2009 9:45AM
espn.com
A serious question: If someone replaced Jauron (24-31 during four seasons in Buffalo) with a wax statue holding an Xbox controller, then had a ball boy press the ASK MADDEN button to make in-game decisions, would anyone notice?
To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 1 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy tips.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 2 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy tips.; tournament; WGR; Jeremy White; Golf; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 3 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy tips.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 4 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 5 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 6 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 7 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala; To prepare you for the WGR Celebrity Golf Tournament 2008, this video focuses on Hole 8 at Tri-County Country Club's course. Video hosts Jeremy White and Steve Warzala will share each hole's layout and strategy.; Golf; WGR; Jeremy White; Tri-County Country Club; Steve Warzala;
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