Lynch needs to get in synch

[RedEyE]

IMO, the Bills coaching staff had Losman in with Lynch this game to establish timing and fortify Lynch's ability to run behind the line. Lynch just doesn't look comfortable out there. Honestly, I don't think Lynch responded well at all. The Lions DL wasn't even full of starters. It's not to say that Lynch won't make it in this league, but he needs more repitition and that's why I'm certain that A-Train will get the Lion's share of carries against the Broncos next week.

[HHURRICANE]

Lynch looked good to me. Too bad he has to run behind Fowler, Preston and Walker.

[TacklingDummy]

IMO, the Bills coaching staff had Losman in with Lynch this game to establish timing and fortify Lynch's ability to run behind the line. Lynch just doens't look comfortable out there. Honestly, I don't think Lynch responded well at all. The Lions DL wasn't even full of starters. It's not to say that Lynch won't make it in this league, but he needs more repitition and that's why I'm certain that A-Train will get the Lion's share of carries against the Broncos next week.

Maybe the starters should have played the first half?

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I was also wondering why he didn't play more in the preseason.

[RedEyE]

He just needs the added time with the 1st team. I know these things rarely happen overnight, I was just expecting to see more out of him today then in the past 3 games.

[patmoran2006]

LOL..

Im almost out of words which Im sure would make the majority of you happy

[RedEyE]

LOL..

Im almost out of words which Im sure would make the majority of you happy

Whatever it takes Pat.

[evol4276]

as i said before the runs where he didnt do jack he was surrounded by defenders due to swarming the o-line, so good or not there isnt a whole lot you can do about that. on the other ones tho he showed great determination, even the one that got 1 yard in which he hit the wall of "humanity" (stole that from the announcers tonite haha) spun out and pushed and drove to get some positive yardage. the other was his like 4-5 yd run where he like manhandled a defender to the ground and got a lil more yards. noone really mentioned anything of that. that catch and run was a thing of beauty tho. i havent seen the last 2 games but ive seen the clips of the Tenn game and it seems he was surrounded a lot again. I do however expect him to be nervous so its nothing suprising to me for a rookie. I think tonite he showed a bit of whats to come from him and I like it. I just wish they kept the guys on for more than 2 series cuz they were connecting for some good plays.

[RedEyE]

So the majority of you believe that his play tonight was based solely on the poor play from the OL?

[Nighthawk]

So the majority of you believe that his play tonight was based solely on the poor play from the OL?

I don't think it was all the OL's fault, but they just haven't given him enough playing time in the preseason. I did notice that he just isn't seeing the cutback lanes at this point, but that will come with more playing time. Give him a full game and then let's judge him.

[historypete]

The OL is very weak when it comes to run blocking, or it seems that way to me. These guys are playing soft, and that is very distrubing. I hope that changes because if not Lynch and JP are dead men walking.

[jamze132]

So the majority of you believe that his play tonight was based solely on the poor play from the OL?
I wouldn't say his performance sucks just because of the O-line but they do make it harder. Whether or not the line is getting beat due to talent or whatever, they are also getting beat when one of them screws up their assignment.

But one of the other things that I see that is setting Lynch up for failure is the fact that the QB isn't calling the right audible when a run is called. Is it that hard to reverse the called play to run in a different direction? I don't know too many RBs who are going to run through 7-8 defenders on the strong side when there are only maybe 2 guys on the weak side.

[madness]

I think he's still catching up to the speed of the NFL. He seems to be trying to go full speed 100% of the time. I've seen him turn no gains into big gains in college and he had a couple opportunities like that but just wasn't patient enough.

The line also isn't in season form yet which scares me. The opponent's gameplan for the Bills will be same as last year. Stack the box and force JP to pass. This line needs to develop a nasty streak, fast. I'm hoping Butler can take over that RG spot and light a fire under the rest of these guys.

I know Fowler has been banged up this preseason but did he just play above expectations last year? I have not been happy with his play at all so far. He seems to be getting dominated on all running plays. Last night, he whiffed on his block which led to Lynch getting stuffed in the backfield and was the first defender to tackle Royal on 3rd down in that second series.

[OpIv37]

So the majority of you believe that his play tonight was based solely on the poor play from the OL?

his worst plays were all ones where the OL gave him no chance. On the ones where he had a chance, he had some nice ones and some not so great, but on the whole, I thought he was good given his limited experience. He broke a couple tackles, looked great on that catch out of the backfield, and picked up the blitz (the latter two being things his predecessor could never quite grasp).

[TedMock]

I think it's a combination of all of the above. Let's face it. 3/5 of the line is new and Preston stinks. The gelling thing is going to take 3-5 weeks of real game action before it's at 100%. Like it or not, that's how it works, and it's very real with offensive lineman. Add that the RB is a rookie, so he has to not only get used to the speed, but also get more comfortable in hitting cutback lanes rather than being afraid to hit the wrong hole. On top of it all, we have a very tough first half of the year in front of us. I think Lynch is going to be very good, but he may not really have a big game until November 11th.

[Oaf]

Lynch looked good to me. Too bad he has to run behind Fowler, Preston and Walker.
That explaination is decent but you must understand that he's gonna be running behind the same offensive line next week and the week after.
There is no use pointing fingers if NO one gets the job done.

Whether is was Lynch's fault, where some blame should be placed, or the Oline (most of it), the fact is we could NOT run on a LIONS defense playing WITHOUT their 2 BEST DTs.

It must feel good to know you prevented injury to your two best starters AND stifled an opposing starting rush attack.

Unless BOTH Lynch and the Oline vastly improve, which obviously can't happen overweek, we'll have another stagnant rushing attack, a la McGahee. This will lead to even more problems for JP and suddenly, what happened to our explosive offense?

I think we will be much better by week 8, but until then it's really hard to forsee us being more than average on offense.

My apologies if that was a little too DOOM and GLOOM for some of you.

[justasportsfan]

Lynch will be fine . We're just saving him to surprise the broncos. :D

[raphael120]

JP is going to have a long season if Lynch and the oline can get the running game going, which throughout this whole preseason, it's shown we have no running game to speak of. those 3rd and longs are direct results from failed running plays...

and will everyone agree that jauron stop it with the worthless HB delay plays? they NEVER work!

[Elminster]

Well, I think it comes down to the following factors:
1)Lynch is a rookie. Other posters have spelled this out, so I won't elaborate further.
2)The offensive line hasn't gelled yet. Worse, Fowler's been hurt and Duck! Preston is at center. He sucks, and it only worsens the whole gelling thing to have different guys out there. Hopefully, Fowler is back for the opener, Brad Butler starts at RG sooner rather than later, and they play together and gell quick enough for our play-off hopes to be viable.
3)We aren't running our full offense. Sure, we've opened up the book more, but I wonder how many options JP has so far as audibles go at this point? If he has a full set, then, yes, it is partly his fault. If not, maybe we'll see things improve in the regular season.

I know you neggers hate it, but all of this TAKES TIME. Time to gell, time for Lynch to get adapted....all that stuff...

[casdhf]

This was the first game where I saw flashes of why we drafted him where we did. I think that A-train will end up starting, but by the bye they'll be splitting carries.

It's not like we're winning the division this season, we may as well work the guy in slowly.

[justasportsfan]

Don't worry, we still have Wright :D

[madness]

Don't worry, we still have Wright :D

Wright looked pretty good in that last preseason game for what it's worth.

[justasportsfan]

Wright looked pretty good in that last preseason game for what it's worth.
My guess is, we'll be having 2 backs set looks. A-Train and Lynch. Lynch of course ends up being the reciever and A-train is not a bad dump off guy either.

Offensively, I'm not worried. It's the D I'm worried about due to the injuries.