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OK, now, that everyone has had some time to celebrate the Bills’ big Opening Day victory over the Seattle Seahawks, let me offer up a word of “old school” caution for those who might still be so caught up by the Bills impressive win and news of Tom Brady’s injury that they may think that the Bills can now cruise to the AFC East title.
Long before Bill Parcells famously told the world that “you are what your record says you are”, it was not uncommon for football coaches to tell their teams and the media that “no team is ever as good as it looks when it wins big or as bad as it looks when it loses big”.
While the Bills certainly played well in all three phases of the game against Seattle on Sunday, it would be a mistake to think that they played a “perfect” game or that there isn’t still a lot that they must improve on if they are going to win enough of the tough games that lie ahead to secure a playoff berth this season.
Some of the Bills players on offense, in particular Trent Edwards, seemed to be a bit too “amped up” at the beginning of the game—accounting for some of the drops and high throws from Edwards that led the Bills offense to stall early on. Being “psyched up” and ready to go is very important to getting off to a good start in a game, but it is also important to control that so that your emotions don’t get the better of you and adversely impact your play. That is something that Edwards and the other young players on the team are going to have to learn to do because they may not be able to afford to get off to a bad start in some of the big games that they are likely to play later in the season.
The rain certainly didn’t help matters, but, while the rain seemed to adversely impact both QBs equally, Edwards’ poor performance when it was raining did little to dispel concerns that he may not be able to handle the adverse weather conditions that he is going to have to play in with the Bills all that well. While some of his inaccuracy may have been due to being too “psyched up” at the start of the game, this is an area that he is going to have to continue to work on and improve in.
As good as the offensive line did in protecting Trent Edwards from Seattle’s talented pass rushers, they did not show that they had really improved that much in their run blocking over last season when they significantly less proficient in the running game than in pass-blocking. Except for Marshawn Lynch’s TD scamper and Lynch’s even more impressive 15 yard run when the Bills were backed up on their own 1-yard line, the offensive line did not show that they could get a sufficient push to open up holes for the running game when they needed to most: on third and short and at the end of the game when they were trying to run out the clock. That is something that is going to have to improve quickly if the Bills are to win some of the close contests that they will need to win to make it to the playoffs. Perhaps the return of Jason Peters will help in this area, as Langston Walker returns to his customary right tackle spot.
Nearly as big a concern in the running game is Marshawn Lynch’s continued tendency to “run to contact” rather than “running to daylight”. Something that also seemed to infect Fred Jackson on Sunday as well. As enjoyable as watching Lynch in “BeastMode” can be, the fact remains that far too often he will look for a defender and turn into the pursuit rather than run to the open field. While Lynch can turn a five yard gain into a 12 yard gain with the way that he refuses to let the first tackler take him down when he gets a head of steam, he also has an annoying, counter-productive tendency to run straight into the defense rather than avoiding the pile in short yardage, turning two yard gains for a first down into no gainers, or breaking away from the LBs and DBs when he gets past the line of scrimmage, turning potential big gainers and long TD runs into 4-7 yard gains.
Doing this not only means that he is missing opportunities to gain more yardage and, in the process, not helping the team as much as he could, it is also something that can serve to shorten a running back’s career considerably. While it might have been understandable when he was a rookie, this is something that he really is going to have to try to work on if he is going to maximize his potential, his contribution to the team, and prolong his career.
While Trent Edwards threw a number of balls early in the game that his receivers had no chance to catch, there were also some passes that could have been caught that were dropped—two in particular by Lee Evans. Even though they can easily be excused by Opening Day jitters, the horrid weather conditions and Edwards’ early inaccuracy, there are going to be some games this season where the Bills won’t be able to afford to have as many drops, especially early in the game.
Overall, the offense performed reasonably well, but it is still going to have to be more efficient and more effective—both in putting points on the board and in running time off the clock when it needs to—if the Bills are going to clinch a playoff berth this season. There is still a lot of room for improvement.
Similarly, while the special teams made some very special and decisive plays in the game, they, too, were far from perfect or even as good as they are going to need to be in certain very important areas. Specifically, the coverage teams, especially the kick coverage team, were not that good and showed vulnerabilities that could well be taken advantage of by some of the really good return men and special teams units that the Bills will be facing this season. That’s not to downplay Parrish’s great return, Moorman’s fake FG pass to Denney, or the fumble that Lindell recovered on the subsequent kickoff—all of which served to turn what could have been a tight game into a laugher. But, combined with the blocked FG, those things do show that there is still work to be done if the Bills are going to end up having the top special teams units in the NFL once again.
Finally, as good as the defense was—and it certainly was impressive, especially in comparison to last season—there were also some things that they will have to work on, too. Even though they only allowed 11 yards rushing before halftime and held Seattle under 90 yards rushing for the game, the Bills once again showed a disturbing tendency to give up significant yardage on draw plays on third down. The Seahawks, who don’t have the same kind of quality at RB as some of the teams the Bills will face this season, converted at least three of the few third downs that they converted in the game on the same kind of draw plays that killed the Bills on defense last season. Ladanian Tomlinson, Laurence Maroney, Jamal Lewis, etc. will be licking their chops unless the Bills’ defenders figure out some way to do a better job of stopping the draw play on third down. And, the Bills only have a week to begin to improve on this because next Sunday they will be facing Maurice Jones-Drew, who ran the draw as well as anyone against the Bills last season.
Similarly, while the Bills’ secondary did a good job of shutting down Seattle’s banged-up receiving corps, there were a couple of things in this area that the Bills also need to improve on. Ashton Youboty did a quite creditable job in the nickel-back spot, but it was obvious that Seattle was trying to pick on him. The Seahawks aren’t going to be the only team that will try to test Youboty, particularly early on this season. As good as he was in coverage against Seattle, he will have to continue to improve if he is going to pass those tests.
It also became obvious that, as the game progressed, Seattle began to increasingly look for its tight ends. To some extent this was due to the weakness of their WR corps and the good job that the Bills CBs were doing on their outside receivers, but part of it was also due to the fact that their tight ends were getting open at times. The Bills are going to have to tighten up their coverage in the center of the field, especially if they want to use some of their blitz packages, when they face some of the teams on their schedule that have a top-flight tight end.
These are all important areas that the Bills are going to have to work on and improve in if they are going to earn a playoff berth this season. But, all in all, these are minor criticisms, particularly at this time of the season. And, there is plenty of time for them to show improvement in these areas as the season goes on.
Still, before anyone gets too carried away with the Bills’ impressive home win against Seattle, it doesn’t hurt to keep in mind there is still plenty of room for the team to get better. If the Bills are going to make the playoffs this season, they are going to have to win at least two games on the road and road games are never easy to win in the NFL. If the Bills are going to get those wins, they are going to have to play as well or probably better than they did against Seattle.
But, what they showed on Sunday is that they have the talent and ability to play that well and better. And, that’s not necessarily something that we have seen much from a Bills team the last few years.
Now, let’s see what they can do next Sunday on the road against Jacksonville. It should be a very good test for this team. I can hardly wait!
Long before Bill Parcells famously told the world that “you are what your record says you are”, it was not uncommon for football coaches to tell their teams and the media that “no team is ever as good as it looks when it wins big or as bad as it looks when it loses big”.
While the Bills certainly played well in all three phases of the game against Seattle on Sunday, it would be a mistake to think that they played a “perfect” game or that there isn’t still a lot that they must improve on if they are going to win enough of the tough games that lie ahead to secure a playoff berth this season.
Some of the Bills players on offense, in particular Trent Edwards, seemed to be a bit too “amped up” at the beginning of the game—accounting for some of the drops and high throws from Edwards that led the Bills offense to stall early on. Being “psyched up” and ready to go is very important to getting off to a good start in a game, but it is also important to control that so that your emotions don’t get the better of you and adversely impact your play. That is something that Edwards and the other young players on the team are going to have to learn to do because they may not be able to afford to get off to a bad start in some of the big games that they are likely to play later in the season.
The rain certainly didn’t help matters, but, while the rain seemed to adversely impact both QBs equally, Edwards’ poor performance when it was raining did little to dispel concerns that he may not be able to handle the adverse weather conditions that he is going to have to play in with the Bills all that well. While some of his inaccuracy may have been due to being too “psyched up” at the start of the game, this is an area that he is going to have to continue to work on and improve in.
As good as the offensive line did in protecting Trent Edwards from Seattle’s talented pass rushers, they did not show that they had really improved that much in their run blocking over last season when they significantly less proficient in the running game than in pass-blocking. Except for Marshawn Lynch’s TD scamper and Lynch’s even more impressive 15 yard run when the Bills were backed up on their own 1-yard line, the offensive line did not show that they could get a sufficient push to open up holes for the running game when they needed to most: on third and short and at the end of the game when they were trying to run out the clock. That is something that is going to have to improve quickly if the Bills are to win some of the close contests that they will need to win to make it to the playoffs. Perhaps the return of Jason Peters will help in this area, as Langston Walker returns to his customary right tackle spot.
Nearly as big a concern in the running game is Marshawn Lynch’s continued tendency to “run to contact” rather than “running to daylight”. Something that also seemed to infect Fred Jackson on Sunday as well. As enjoyable as watching Lynch in “BeastMode” can be, the fact remains that far too often he will look for a defender and turn into the pursuit rather than run to the open field. While Lynch can turn a five yard gain into a 12 yard gain with the way that he refuses to let the first tackler take him down when he gets a head of steam, he also has an annoying, counter-productive tendency to run straight into the defense rather than avoiding the pile in short yardage, turning two yard gains for a first down into no gainers, or breaking away from the LBs and DBs when he gets past the line of scrimmage, turning potential big gainers and long TD runs into 4-7 yard gains.
Doing this not only means that he is missing opportunities to gain more yardage and, in the process, not helping the team as much as he could, it is also something that can serve to shorten a running back’s career considerably. While it might have been understandable when he was a rookie, this is something that he really is going to have to try to work on if he is going to maximize his potential, his contribution to the team, and prolong his career.
While Trent Edwards threw a number of balls early in the game that his receivers had no chance to catch, there were also some passes that could have been caught that were dropped—two in particular by Lee Evans. Even though they can easily be excused by Opening Day jitters, the horrid weather conditions and Edwards’ early inaccuracy, there are going to be some games this season where the Bills won’t be able to afford to have as many drops, especially early in the game.
Overall, the offense performed reasonably well, but it is still going to have to be more efficient and more effective—both in putting points on the board and in running time off the clock when it needs to—if the Bills are going to clinch a playoff berth this season. There is still a lot of room for improvement.
Similarly, while the special teams made some very special and decisive plays in the game, they, too, were far from perfect or even as good as they are going to need to be in certain very important areas. Specifically, the coverage teams, especially the kick coverage team, were not that good and showed vulnerabilities that could well be taken advantage of by some of the really good return men and special teams units that the Bills will be facing this season. That’s not to downplay Parrish’s great return, Moorman’s fake FG pass to Denney, or the fumble that Lindell recovered on the subsequent kickoff—all of which served to turn what could have been a tight game into a laugher. But, combined with the blocked FG, those things do show that there is still work to be done if the Bills are going to end up having the top special teams units in the NFL once again.
Finally, as good as the defense was—and it certainly was impressive, especially in comparison to last season—there were also some things that they will have to work on, too. Even though they only allowed 11 yards rushing before halftime and held Seattle under 90 yards rushing for the game, the Bills once again showed a disturbing tendency to give up significant yardage on draw plays on third down. The Seahawks, who don’t have the same kind of quality at RB as some of the teams the Bills will face this season, converted at least three of the few third downs that they converted in the game on the same kind of draw plays that killed the Bills on defense last season. Ladanian Tomlinson, Laurence Maroney, Jamal Lewis, etc. will be licking their chops unless the Bills’ defenders figure out some way to do a better job of stopping the draw play on third down. And, the Bills only have a week to begin to improve on this because next Sunday they will be facing Maurice Jones-Drew, who ran the draw as well as anyone against the Bills last season.
Similarly, while the Bills’ secondary did a good job of shutting down Seattle’s banged-up receiving corps, there were a couple of things in this area that the Bills also need to improve on. Ashton Youboty did a quite creditable job in the nickel-back spot, but it was obvious that Seattle was trying to pick on him. The Seahawks aren’t going to be the only team that will try to test Youboty, particularly early on this season. As good as he was in coverage against Seattle, he will have to continue to improve if he is going to pass those tests.
It also became obvious that, as the game progressed, Seattle began to increasingly look for its tight ends. To some extent this was due to the weakness of their WR corps and the good job that the Bills CBs were doing on their outside receivers, but part of it was also due to the fact that their tight ends were getting open at times. The Bills are going to have to tighten up their coverage in the center of the field, especially if they want to use some of their blitz packages, when they face some of the teams on their schedule that have a top-flight tight end.
These are all important areas that the Bills are going to have to work on and improve in if they are going to earn a playoff berth this season. But, all in all, these are minor criticisms, particularly at this time of the season. And, there is plenty of time for them to show improvement in these areas as the season goes on.
Still, before anyone gets too carried away with the Bills’ impressive home win against Seattle, it doesn’t hurt to keep in mind there is still plenty of room for the team to get better. If the Bills are going to make the playoffs this season, they are going to have to win at least two games on the road and road games are never easy to win in the NFL. If the Bills are going to get those wins, they are going to have to play as well or probably better than they did against Seattle.
But, what they showed on Sunday is that they have the talent and ability to play that well and better. And, that’s not necessarily something that we have seen much from a Bills team the last few years.
Now, let’s see what they can do next Sunday on the road against Jacksonville. It should be a very good test for this team. I can hardly wait!
"Expect rejection, but expect more to overcome it." 
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