Very pleased with the game, only one concern...

[BlackMetalNinja]

Definitely pleased with the effort the Bills put out there today, especially the Defense with 4 rookies starting. I thought they could win the game, didn't know if they would, but didn't expect them to basically dominate as they did.

My only concern is the approach the coaching staff is taking with Losman. All these short, quick hitting pass plays are about all they are letting him work with. Yes, they threw in a few deep attempts throughout the game, including the pass interference play that lead to the touchdown... But, eventually they have to let him go some and stop protecting him. It won't take long for other teams to catch on, and teams with better defenses than Miami's won't let Buffalo get away with it.

I know they're trying to help Losman evolve as a quarterback and play it safe at this point, but how long do you think they can let that go on?

[YardRat]

Next week against the Jets. I expect them to air it out at the opener.

[kinigirly]

i still don't know how i feel about it. i understand that they saw jp was having difficulty in the 1st quarter, so they say ok lets take some heat off him and let willis do some of the work. they wait it out until jp gets in his groove with the game and then let him take it a little more. its cool to spread it out because it is a rushing game too. but is it babying jp or accomodating the game for him? i dunno. jp is a big boy and from what i've heard he would much rather be given the challenge to work it out. there are games where we absolutely have to rely on multiple and song long passes so taking the pressure off losman is not gonna be an option.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Sorry for the double post... the site is messing up bad for me, must be all the Celebratory post game traffic!

[X-Era]

Definitely pleased with the effort the Bills put out there today, especially the Defense with 4 rookies starting. I thought they could win the game, didn't know if they would, but didn't expect them to basically dominate as they did.

My only concern is the approach the coaching staff is taking with Losman. All these short, quick hitting pass plays are about all they are letting him work with. Yes, they threw in a few deep attempts throughout the game, including the pass interference play that lead to the touchdown... But, eventually they have to let him go some and stop protecting him. It won't take long for other teams to catch on, and teams with better defenses than Miami's won't let Buffalo get away with it.

I know they're trying to help Losman evolve as a quarterback and play it safe at this point, but how long do you think they can let that go on? If Losman throwing short passes all year puts us in the playoffs, Ill take it. Thats said, I dont think it will. Good teams have complete game and we have yet to show we can air it out for wins.

[HHURRICANE]

I totally disagree. They are keeping him from making game losing mistakes. Contrary to others, I thought our OL was terrible. JP made some tough passes with people in his face!! Jauron has done a masterful job of coaching this kid. MASTERFUL.
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[Voltron]

The worst part of his game last year was his short game. Give him the chance to succeed there and then move on to the mid to long balls. I like the tactic by the coaches so far. I am with HHURRICANE, the OL is still not impressing me.

[The_Philster]

They're feeding JP a little at a time. If they were to have him do everything so soon, it would likely backfire ..on the Bills and on JP.

[ICE74129]

BMN, I gotta disagree. They went to the big play right off the bat. We can't protect that long and Losman was 1-6 with guys in his face and taking hits.

When we went short to Med and ran the ball, it opened up the long ball. The pass interference was because Evans was gonna get 6, no question.

This thing will develop soon. I see us doing like phil said and opening up more against the jets at home. So far we put up two good games on the road. The next two are at home and I still see 5-2 as possible

[ParanoidAndroid]

He wasn't checking down AT ALL in the first half; it really looked like he was trying to force it deep to Evans. The second half looked completely different. He hit a few quick passes which were very effective against the blitz.
Perhaps his best play of the game was a quick pass he made when they all-out blitzed and Evans didn't make the adjustment. Had he been looking for the ball, there wasn't anyone near him except the DB who was not in a good position to make a tackle...it was a TD. You might have seen Holcomb give JP a pat on the head for that one.

[Ingtar33]

this is the Rams offence.

It's a LOT of short slants, screens and outs, with a few deeper passes when the safeties cheat.

Though im enjoying the playcalling by the OC. He seems to know how to dedicate himself to the run.

[Kerr]

It was almost impossible for jp to just sit back in the pocket without having someone in his face all the time. The majority of his pass attempts always had someone right in his face, so they had to try to run the ball more, yet without being too predictable and to allow him to make some plays throwing the ball, they attempted more quick throws, which worked out somewhat. The gameplan was for him to air it out, but the offensive line was not allowing him to get comfortable back there, so adjustments had to be done so he could try to have some success.

[casdhf]

It won't take long for other teams to catch on, and teams with better defenses than Miami's won't let Buffalo get away with it.
How many defenses will we play better than that?

[ScottLawrence]

Im as happy as anyone about the Win.

But please don't give me crap on Losman looking good.

I question his courage to be able to play the game......Once he releases the ball he ducks to avoid getting hit....and occasionally it will affect his throw.

His awarness is no good either, and 83 yards?

Are you serious, in his 3rd year in the NFL, and he still plays like a rookie.

I don't see much of anything in JP besides athletic skill, and we all know how much athletic skill Rob Johnson had, look how that played out, hopefully im wrong and he has a solid game this week.

[BlackMetalNinja]

How many defenses will we play better than that?

Baltimore, Chicago, Jacksonville, and probably even Minnesota and San Diego after what I've seen from them so far off the top of my head...

I'm just saying I don't think this pattern will work all season. I understand that it was necessary today... I've been one of the ones saying all off season that the O Line still isn't good enough to properly protect Losman. I'm really hoping the line comes around and allows Losman the time to try and work down the field. I didn't see hardly any crossing routes and balls thrown over the middle at all today. The only thing that got completed were those quick direct throws to our wideouts and the real quick slant plays.

I'm afraid we'll pay dearly against teams like Baltimore with much better secondarys and quick LBs that will be all over those plays in a heartbeat.

As long as progess is made, I'll be happy though, I'll admit I didn't have very high expectations to begin with and I'm still not going to allow myself to get carried away, but the team does look much better than I thought they would at this point.

[RockStar36]

If I have one complaint w/ the game it would be that they limited Losman a little bit to much. But, on the other hand I'll go w/ it because they won and Losman didn't make any game changing mistakes. I was thinking last year that Losman would succeed if they didn't force him to win games, just don't lose games. I think that is what the coaching staff did today. The only thing that will bother me is people ragging Losman for poor stats. I really don't care how many yards he passed for as long as they win. Look at last year's game in Miami. I am happy that they really stuck w/ the running game and pounded it out.

[G. Host]

I totally disagree. They are keeping him from making game losing mistakes. Contrary to others, I thought our OL was terrible. JP made some tough passes with people in his face!! Jauron has done a materful job of coaching this kid. MASTERFUL.
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Exactly. The coaching tossed all of their eggs in one basket and are trying to keep him from getting Todd Collin-itis by not taking chances and not allowing him to make too many mistakes. Not good for fantasy football fans but good for development of a QB over a year behind where he should be.


If I have one complaint w/ the game it would be that they limited Losman a little bit to much. But, on the other hand I'll go w/ it because they won and Losman didn't make any game changing mistakes. I was thinking last year that Losman would succeed if they didn't force him to win games, just don't lose games. I think that is what the coaching staff did today. The only thing that will bother me is people ragging Losman for poor stats. I really don't care how many yards he passed for as long as they win. Look at last year's game in Miami. I am happy that they really stuck w/ the running game and pounded it out.

Exactly he may be become the Trent Dillfer of the Billls but better than becoming the Ryan Leaf.

[ICE74129]

He wasn't checking down AT ALL in the first half; it really looked like he was trying to force it deep to Evans. The second half looked completely different. He hit a few quick passes which were very effective against the blitz.
Perhaps his best play of the game was a quick pass he made when they all-out blitzed and Evans didn't make the adjustment. Had he been looking for the ball, there wasn't anyone near him except the DB who was not in a good position to make a tackle...it was a TD. You might have seen Holcomb give JP a pat on the head for that one.

I agree, that was on Evans. JP made the right read and throw.

[ICE74129]

Im as happy as anyone about the Win.

But please don't give me crap on Losman looking good.

I question his courage to be able to play the game......Once he releases the ball he ducks to avoid getting hit....and occasionally it will affect his throw.

His awarness is no good either, and 83 yards?

Are you serious, in his 3rd year in the NFL, and he still plays like a rookie.

I don't see much of anything in JP besides athletic skill, and we all know how much athletic skill Rob Johnson had, look how that played out, hopefully im wrong and he has a solid game this week.

Well we question your ability to put up a credible post. Its nothing but uninformed, hate filled attacks on JP.

[DraftBoy]

Ice attack the post not the poster

As for Losman he struggled mightily in the first half and came back with a good 2nd half to quiet doubts. I still have questions about him and whether he's a good starter or a Charlie Frye type of guy. Those will be worked out in the coming weeks. His production is not what I want to see but the coaches also are taking it really slow. I think he is almost afraid to get out of the pocket though. He took two sacks that he could of easily eluded by running a little. Somewhat frustrating because that is a reason why we got him. Maybe that too will come with time. Im happy with the win after last week's embarassing loss.

[X-Era]

Exactly. The coaching tossed all of their eggs in one basket and are trying to keep him from getting Todd Collin-itis by not taking chances and not allowing him to make too many mistakes. Not good for fantasy football fans but good for development of a QB over a year behind where he should be.



Exactly he may be become the Trent Dillfer of the Billls but better than becoming the Ryan Leaf.

Ghee, your comments are so uplifting.

Thanks but no thanks.

[Meathead]

you cant underestimate the importance of no turnovers

how many more yards does a qb have to generate to make up for one to?

he will get more productive but for now im tickled he has no tos

[RockStar36]

I'm aware that he hasn't turned the ball over and I'm aware that is HUGE. I'm just saying I would like them to open it up a little bit more so that they aren't so predictable. I like the way they ran the ball so much and stuck w/ it. But every once in a while when calling a pass play, throw it farther than 3 yards.

[DraftBoy]

you cant underestimate the importance of no turnovers

how many more yards does a qb have to generate to make up for one to?

he will get more productive but for now im tickled he has no tos


No turnovers yes, but he did cost us the game by running into the endzone last week. That play began at the 8 and as a veteran he should know he should never run into the endzone under pressure. So no INT's or fumbles, but still a mistake that was the winning points for NE. Im not saying the loss is all on him but that mistake is huge.

[TigerJ]

I thought Losman attempted several long passes in the first half. One in particular, I thought he had a chance to complete. Evans got past his man. I don't know whether he was held up a bit or there was miscommunication between Evans and Losman on the play, but i thought Evans might have been able to reach it had he continued going as fast as he had been moving. It ended up a little long. Has a couple of those passes been completed, Losman would have been up closer to 150 yards passing and I don't think we would have seen this thread. Losman was something like 1 for 6 at one point before he realed off several straight completions. If I'm going to be picky, I suppose I could say, I would have started the dink and dunk stuff a little sooner than the Bills did when Losman was struggling and then as he got more comfortable, I would have thrown in some longer attempts. Instead when Losman started completing passes they never went back to the deep throw. Of course, late in the game they were trying to run clock. I'm not complaining though. Losman's going to get his chances to throw deep.

[TigerJ]

It won't take long for other teams to catch on, and teams with better defenses than Miami's won't let Buffalo get away with it.


I'm not really too worried about that. I think Buffalo has enough stuff in their arsenal to cope with that as long as Steve Fairchild has the alertness to see when defensies are cheating, and the willingness to trust JP when he needs to.

[ScottLawrence]

Well we question your ability to put up a credible post. Its nothing but uninformed, hate filled attacks on JP.

I should question the same to you....All your posts are blind praise for JP when he doesn't deserve it.

[TacklingDummy]

I should question the same to you....All your posts are blind praise for JP when he doesn't deserve it.




83 yards against a very weak Miami secondary is pathetic.

[RockStar36]

I like when the Bills win.

[Meathead]

No turnovers yes, but he did cost us the game by running into the endzone last week. That play began at the 8 and as a veteran he should know he should never run into the endzone under pressure. So no INT's or fumbles, but still a mistake that was the winning points for NE. Im not saying the loss is all on him but that mistake is huge.
good point. thats effectively a to level mistake

im still thoroughly convinced the fourth and one gamble was a huge mistake that essentially dictated the outcome so perhaps i dont criticize jp as much as i should for the safety

[BillsFever21]

Im as happy as anyone about the Win.

But please don't give me crap on Losman looking good.

I question his courage to be able to play the game......Once he releases the ball he ducks to avoid getting hit....and occasionally it will affect his throw.

His awarness is no good either, and 83 yards?

Are you serious, in his 3rd year in the NFL, and he still plays like a rookie.

I don't see much of anything in JP besides athletic skill, and we all know how much athletic skill Rob Johnson had, look how that played out, hopefully im wrong and he has a solid game this week.

After the slow start he executed the plays the coaches asked him to make and did it well. He finished the game 10-12 for 75 yards. The playcalling didn't allow him to do much more. The played it safe. And with only 18 attempts and 11 completions you think he's gonna throw for 300 yards? That's not gonna happen on 18 attempts.

[BillsFever21]

83 yards against a very weak Miami secondary is pathetic.

Once again, the playcalling didn't allow him to get many more yards. After the slow start he completed the passes they asked him to make and kept the offense on the field and got some points.

You're not gonna have 300 yards with only 18 attempts. He did what was asked of him.

All you ever *****ed about was his accuracy and that he turned the ball over too much. Through the first 2 games he has about a 65% accuracy rate and no turnovers.

He executed the plays they asked him to make in the 2nd half. He kept the offense on the field, made first downs and put some points on the board. He did what was asked and what was needed.

[Philagape]

I don't care if he has 25 yards a game if he helps us win. He did.

Complaining about yardage in today's game is nothing but more irrelevancy, which is all the haters have ever had.

[kgun12]

After the slow start he executed the plays the coaches asked him to make and did it well. He finished the game 10-12 for 75 yards. The playcalling didn't allow him to do much more. The played it safe. And with only 18 attempts and 11 completions you think he's gonna throw for 300 yards? That's not gonna happen on 18 attempts.

Let's also not forget there was a 50 yard pass interference. Had Allen not interfered Evans, I think he catches that ball which give JP. 12-19 133 yards and 2 TD's. Not great, however the big stats 0 turnovers and the win!. I think Baltamore won a Super Bowl with a QB with the same type of stats and a great defense. Not staying the Bills D is great yet, but there on their way! Just think when TKO is back! :dance:

[BillsFever21]

Let's also not forget there was a 50 yard pass interference. Had Allen not interfered Evans, I think he catches that ball which give JP. 12-19 133 yards and 2 TD's. Not great, however the big stats 0 turnovers and the win!. I think Baltamore won a Super Bowl with a QB with the same type of stats and a great defense. Not staying the Bills D is great yet, but there on their way! Just think when TKO is back! :dance:

Don't forget about the TD that got brought back too. Now you're at 13-20, 150 yards and 2 TD's.

But Dummy will come up with reasons why he shouldn't have completed passes that he did.

"He got lucky on these passes. He should've been 7-18, 22 yards and 2 INT's"

[kgun12]

Don't forget about the TD that got brought back too. Now you're at 13-20, 150 yards and 2 TD's.

But Dummy will come up with reasons why he shouldn't have completed passes that he did.

"He got lucky on these passes. He should've been 7-18, 22 yards and 2 INT's"

Your right I forgot.

[Ron Burgundy]

I think people are forgetting how good the 2000 Ravens defense was.

We're not there yet. We're really not even close. We've played two games, one against a team with no legitimate #1 wideout (and we still allowed a TON of yards on the ground) and the game today against the newest version of Drew Bledsoe.

[rschepise]

The Bills played this game perfectly. The went deep early to stretch the defense, which, allowed them to pound the ball and throw the screens to Reed, Parrish, and Price. The wanted to utilize high percentage plays to keep the clock moving and shorten the game. They knew that would give them the best chance to win in the heat of Miami and they were also able to keep their defense fresh. This looks like a staff that is much more adept at game planning then last year's staff. I was very impressed with the way the staff handled the game. It wasn't that they were afraid to let Losman win the game, they wanted to do everything possible to shorten the game.

[kgun12]

I think people are forgetting how good the 2000 Ravens defense was.

We're not there yet. We're really not even close. We've played two games, one against a team with no legitimate #1 wideout (and we still allowed a TON of yards on the ground) and the game today against the newest version of Drew Bledsoe.

I agree, however the run defense was pretty darn good today. I think the difference between today and last week is we game planned with TKO last week and weren't prepared to play without him. This week we made the adjustments to play without TKO and it was a sound plan.

[Ron Burgundy]

I like our defense pretty well so far, especially given how young they are.

They've still got a ways to go before even being in the same ballpark as the 2000 Ravens D. That's probably the best defense I've ever seen.

[kgun12]

They've still got a ways to go before even being in the same ballpark as the 2000 Ravens D. That's probably the best defense I've ever seen.

I would agree with that!

[Jan Reimers]

I totally disagree. They are keeping him from making game losing mistakes. Contrary to others, I thought our OL was terrible. JP made some tough passes with people in his face!! Jauron has done a materful job of coaching this kid. MASTERFUL.
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You nailed it, HH. My main concern, with the D and the running game looking much better, is the O line. They simply give JP too little time to throw anything but short, 3 step dump offs.

We're lucky that JP has the quickness and athleticism to elude the pressure and throw the ball away, or scramble around, or otherwise not fumble, or get sacked or intercepted. I thought he did a great job of protecting the ball when on many plays he had absolutely no time to operate.

[Jeff1220]

I like this D, who basically pitched a shut out into garbage time. It wasn't until they went prevent that Miami could really do anything.
That said, I don't expect them to be a top 5 D this year, and certainly don't have the extremely lofty expectations of the Ravens 2000 D (The '06 Ravens D looks closer to this right now than most teams since).
If the Bill are top 10 in D at the end of the season, I'd be really really happy.

[Voltron]

I would agree with that! 85 Bears maybe is the only other D I can think of that was in the same league.

[thesquirrelking]

My main concern, with the D and the running game looking much better, is the O line. They simply give JP too little time to throw anything but short, 3 step dump offs.

Pass protection was less than perfect but the Phins were blitzing on almost every snap in the 2nd half. They were definitely hoping for JP to make a costly mistake, which he didn't.