Crowell cranks up the effort

[shelby]

At the conclusion of the first quarter of the Buffalo Bills' schedule, Angelo Crowell had a heart-to-heart talk with himself.

The man who was left behind by the departed Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher to become the leader of the Bills' linebacking corps, the man who his teammates voted one of the co-captains of the defense, knew he needed to give the fellas more.
Buffalo was 1-3 at the time, and while Crowell's 35 tackles led the team, there wasn't much substance there. No sacks, no fumbles forced or recovered, no interceptions, not even a deflected pass.
"I wasn't peaking then because I was still kind of nursing my injury, so it was more of a mental thing," said Crowell, who suffered a broken leg one year ago this week, an injury he was still recovering from when the 2007 season began. "Now I'm good to go and I'm letting it go.''
Crowell's conversation with himself included one key thought: "I told myself I wanted to make one big play a game, and that's a sack, a fumble, an interception, whatever, because those are the things that ultimately change the ballgame, not how many tackles you've got. When you start getting those other categories, that's what the elite players do is make plays that change ball games.''
The very next week Crowell made an interception against Dallas. Then he forced a fumble against Baltimore, had a sack against the Jets, and last week in Washington he recorded a safety and also recovered a fumble, two plays that were critical to Buffalo's 17-16 victory.
"He's been playing lights out," said strong safety Donte Whitner, whose 72 tackles are a distant third to Crowell's team-high 106.

"It feels good to make plays," said Crowell, whose tackle total ranks fifth in the league behind only Patrick Willis of San Francisco, DeMeco Ryans of Houston, Denver's D.J. Williams and Baltimore's Ray Lewis. "When I'm on the field I try to be the best linebacker I can be out there, no matter who we play. If I just go out there and play, everything is going to come.''
full story (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071208/SPORTS03/712080314/1007/SPORTS)

[Mitchy moo]

GO ANG!!!!!!:brush:

[patmoran2006]

He's come on big-time. He's finally becoming not just a pretty good LB, but an "impact maker".

He definitely outplayed FLetcher last week; though anyone with a soul shouldn't look much into that given what the Skins organization had to go through last week.

Anywhoooo. He's been a force over the past month or so, and though everyone thinks priority #1 on defense should be a DT, I say it's a solid OLB. Put a guy like say a Briggs or Vilma (Who I think will become available) with Poz and Crowell and you have one of the top LB corps in football. Both those guys are athletic and could be forces in this scheme.

[alohabillsfan]

I believe Vilma would love to come to Buffalo and play against the Jets twice a year~ Vilma is a true 4-3 WSB that has been miscast into a 3-4.
He would also be cheaper than Briggs!

As far as DT/CB (it's like the chicken or the egg theory) the only conclusion that I can come to right now with out any review of last years games, is that,

a) Our sacks are down because the DE's/DT's are not producing?
b) Our sacks are down because our corner backs can't cover anyone long enough to give the d-line time? Did the loss of clements hurt more than we realise?

Discuss!

[patmoran2006]

I believe Vilma would love to come to Buffalo and play against the Jets twice a year~ Vilma is a true 4-3 WSB that has been miscast into a 3-4.
He would also be cheaper than Briggs!

As far as DT/CB (it's like the chicken or the egg theory) the only conclusion that I can come to right now with out any review of last years games, is that,

a) Our sacks are down because the DE's/DT's are not producing?
b) Our sacks are down because our corner backs can't cover anyone long enough to give the d-line time? Did the loss of clements hurt more than we realise?

Discuss!
I think it's a little bit of both. But generally the opposing QB has had all day to throw the ball on us. It seems our pass rush is far LESS consistent than it was last year.

Also, I dont know the exact numbers, but teams have had a lot more 3rd and short than they should. It seemed last year we had more opportunities to pin our ears back and pass rush because we knew they were throwing on third down.

I don't know. THe defense hasn't been pretty, but it's kept us in most of the games this year. The offense simply needs to score more points. WHether it's Edwards, Lynch or whomever making the play, they have to step up and score more TD's.