LifetimeBillsFan
09-14-2008, 05:15 PM
It wasn't pretty, but this was the kind of game that a team has to win in order to make the playoffs.
It doesn't really matter how the Bills did it. This was a good, solid, tough road win against a good, proud, playoff caliber team in brutally hot conditions on their field. Whatever else you may want to say about individual performances, you can't discount this as a quality win for a young team like the Bills that has playoff aspirations.
There were some very good things that the Bills did and some bad things that they are going to have to work and improve on.
The Good:
The Bills put up points when they needed to in the 4th quarter and their defense stepped up, despite spending a lot of time on the field in the 3rd quarter and getting pushed around a bit early in the 2nd half, in crunch time.
Trent Edwards was very accurate with his throws. He only threw one deep ball, but it was right on target. The fumble was not his fault, although it could, perhaps, be argued that he should have felt the pressure coming. Still, he rebounded from that and made the plays that he needed to make in the clutch.
Fred Jackson didn't put up the kind of Fantasy Football numbers that will get him a lot of attention from the media this week, but he played a terrific game. His hard running, pass catching and tough running after the catch were critical factors in helping the Bills move the chains and keep possession--which helped keep the defense off the field.
Duke Preston--a player that I have been highly critical of in the past--was really solid in relief of Melvin Fowler in the second half. He did a good job of helping Dockery and, in particular, Butler to keep Henderson and Meier from collapsing the pocket in front of Trent Edwards when it mattered most in the 4th quarter.
Roscoe Parrish's big 4th quarter punt return was HUGE, gving the Bills a field position advantage with the game on the line. If the Jags had been able to pin the Bills back in their own territory in a one point game, the Bills might have had a much more difficult time holding onto the lead. Edwards missed Parrish on a deep throw earlier in the game, but Parrish looked to be more of a threat that the defense had to be concerned with in this game than in the Bills' win over Seattle.
Langston Walker was solid again playing on both sides of the offensive line. The value of his ability to move to the left side to spell Peters and play well there simply cannot be under-estimated.
Kirk Chambers did a solid job as well in relief of Peters when he was called on.
Josh Reed made some big catches early, which forced the Jags to adjust their coverage later in the game. He did an excellent job of clearing out for James Hardy on the TD pass, drawing two defenders to him and leaving Hardy against single coverage.
James Hardy is still a "work-in-progress", but he did an excellent job on the TD pass play. Edwards put that ball where only Hardy could get it and, even though Hardy had dropped a high, hard one earlier in the game, he came down with it and managed to get his feet (does he ever have BIG feet!) in bounds. That's what the Bills drafted Hardy to do and he did it in a clutch situation. Not bad for a rookie.
Ashton Youboty--who was that masked man?!!! As good as he was last week against Seattle, he was even better in this game. From being a guy who was starting to get a reputation for being "soft" and not liking to hit people, he might have been the best tackler on the Bills defense in this game. He played a great game.
Jabari Greer had a pretty good game, too. Matched up against a much bigger receiver all day, he didn't back down in coverage at all.
Terrance McGee's interception right before halftime might have been the difference between victory and defeat for the Bills. Even though the Jags picked on him a bit after Greers showed well in the first half, his technique was perfect on the interception and was solid in coverage for most of the game.
Kyle Williams was a real force in the middle of the defensive line as the Jaguars concentrated on taking Marcus Stroud out of the game (there were times when Stroud was getting hit by three blockers!).
This was the second time in two games that the Bills have held a pretty good rushing team to less than 100 yards. While the Jags were banged up in the middle of the line, they have been one of the best rushing teams in the league in recent years and their line played pretty well. Still, the Bills did a pretty good job of containing Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, not letting them find much daylight when they did get to the second-level.
Brian Moorman and the punt coverage team did a much better job this week, containing Jacksonville's promising return man. Moorman's punt pinning the Jags inside their 10 in the 4th quarter was huge.
Rian Lindell bounced back from having a FG blocked last week to hit a huge FG late in the game. Moorman did a great job of getting a bad snap set for him on that kick and Lindell adjusted beautifully to make that crucial kick (if he had missed it, Jacksonville would have gotten the ball with great field position and a had plenty of time to move into position for a game-winning FG attempt). Lindell's kickoffs also helped to keep the Jags return men from giving Jacksonville's offense good field position during the game.
The Bad:
The tackling by the Bills defense left a LOT to be desired! The Bills are going to have to improve in this area and start doing a much better job of tackling if they are going to beat the teams that they are going to need to beat in order to make the playoffs. The Jacksonville and Seattle offenses really didn't punish the Bills for their poor tackling as much as they could have, but there were far too many times in both games when the Bills missed tackles, let themselves be pushed backwards while attempting to make a tackle, and allowed the runner to fall forward for extra yardage while being tackled. There are other offenses on the schedule that will make the Bills pay for that kind of tackling if they do not get better in this area as the season progresses.
Jason Peters might be in shape, but clearly is not in "game shape" yet (if anyone wants to know what the difference between being in shape and being in "game shape" is, all they have to do is look at Peters on this game tape!). Peters may be in shape and know the plays, but he certainly did not play like a Pro Bowler in this game as Paul Spicer pushed him around quite a bit, especially on running plays.
Speaking of running plays, the run blocking is still horrid. While Marshawn Lynch still is running into the pile rather than finding some of the holes that the offensive line are opening, far too often the offensive line is simply not getting the job done in the run game. After Edwards' pass to Schouman for a first down, the Bills just needed to be able to run for one more first down to run out the clock at the end of the game and they could not do it. Lindell and the defense bailed them out with good plays to close out the game, but at some point this season this is going to bite the Bills in the butt if they do not improve in this area. The running game simply has to get better...much better.
Brad Butler didn't have a really bad game, but he did have a couple of really bad series. The insertion of Preston at center seemed to really help Butler settle down and do a better job, but, all things considered, Butler did not have a good game.
Kelsay, Schobel, Bryan and Denney didn't get a lot of pressure on Garrard when they had the opportunity to do so and they were awful in terms of containing Garrard in the pocket. The front seven held Taylor and Jones-Drew to under 70 yards rushing, but failing to hold contain on Garrard in the pocket allowed him to rush for 32 big yards. Bryan had a clear shot at Garrard in the backfield on one of his big runs and not only took a bad angle, but took himself out of the play by whiffing on the tackle as Garrard ran by him. Ugh!
There were a lot of things in this game that Bills need to improve on, but to come from behind in the 4th quarter on the road against a very good defense and a playoff-caliber team says a lot about the quality and character of this Bills team.
There is a lot of room for this team to improve and they are still not in a position where they can take any team on their schedule lightly and still expect to come out with a win, but, in winning a game like this one, they are starting to show signs that they could be a playoff caliber team if they continue to improve at the rate that they should as the season progresses.
A good, tough, ugly, close road victory against a quality team. I'll take it!
It doesn't really matter how the Bills did it. This was a good, solid, tough road win against a good, proud, playoff caliber team in brutally hot conditions on their field. Whatever else you may want to say about individual performances, you can't discount this as a quality win for a young team like the Bills that has playoff aspirations.
There were some very good things that the Bills did and some bad things that they are going to have to work and improve on.
The Good:
The Bills put up points when they needed to in the 4th quarter and their defense stepped up, despite spending a lot of time on the field in the 3rd quarter and getting pushed around a bit early in the 2nd half, in crunch time.
Trent Edwards was very accurate with his throws. He only threw one deep ball, but it was right on target. The fumble was not his fault, although it could, perhaps, be argued that he should have felt the pressure coming. Still, he rebounded from that and made the plays that he needed to make in the clutch.
Fred Jackson didn't put up the kind of Fantasy Football numbers that will get him a lot of attention from the media this week, but he played a terrific game. His hard running, pass catching and tough running after the catch were critical factors in helping the Bills move the chains and keep possession--which helped keep the defense off the field.
Duke Preston--a player that I have been highly critical of in the past--was really solid in relief of Melvin Fowler in the second half. He did a good job of helping Dockery and, in particular, Butler to keep Henderson and Meier from collapsing the pocket in front of Trent Edwards when it mattered most in the 4th quarter.
Roscoe Parrish's big 4th quarter punt return was HUGE, gving the Bills a field position advantage with the game on the line. If the Jags had been able to pin the Bills back in their own territory in a one point game, the Bills might have had a much more difficult time holding onto the lead. Edwards missed Parrish on a deep throw earlier in the game, but Parrish looked to be more of a threat that the defense had to be concerned with in this game than in the Bills' win over Seattle.
Langston Walker was solid again playing on both sides of the offensive line. The value of his ability to move to the left side to spell Peters and play well there simply cannot be under-estimated.
Kirk Chambers did a solid job as well in relief of Peters when he was called on.
Josh Reed made some big catches early, which forced the Jags to adjust their coverage later in the game. He did an excellent job of clearing out for James Hardy on the TD pass, drawing two defenders to him and leaving Hardy against single coverage.
James Hardy is still a "work-in-progress", but he did an excellent job on the TD pass play. Edwards put that ball where only Hardy could get it and, even though Hardy had dropped a high, hard one earlier in the game, he came down with it and managed to get his feet (does he ever have BIG feet!) in bounds. That's what the Bills drafted Hardy to do and he did it in a clutch situation. Not bad for a rookie.
Ashton Youboty--who was that masked man?!!! As good as he was last week against Seattle, he was even better in this game. From being a guy who was starting to get a reputation for being "soft" and not liking to hit people, he might have been the best tackler on the Bills defense in this game. He played a great game.
Jabari Greer had a pretty good game, too. Matched up against a much bigger receiver all day, he didn't back down in coverage at all.
Terrance McGee's interception right before halftime might have been the difference between victory and defeat for the Bills. Even though the Jags picked on him a bit after Greers showed well in the first half, his technique was perfect on the interception and was solid in coverage for most of the game.
Kyle Williams was a real force in the middle of the defensive line as the Jaguars concentrated on taking Marcus Stroud out of the game (there were times when Stroud was getting hit by three blockers!).
This was the second time in two games that the Bills have held a pretty good rushing team to less than 100 yards. While the Jags were banged up in the middle of the line, they have been one of the best rushing teams in the league in recent years and their line played pretty well. Still, the Bills did a pretty good job of containing Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, not letting them find much daylight when they did get to the second-level.
Brian Moorman and the punt coverage team did a much better job this week, containing Jacksonville's promising return man. Moorman's punt pinning the Jags inside their 10 in the 4th quarter was huge.
Rian Lindell bounced back from having a FG blocked last week to hit a huge FG late in the game. Moorman did a great job of getting a bad snap set for him on that kick and Lindell adjusted beautifully to make that crucial kick (if he had missed it, Jacksonville would have gotten the ball with great field position and a had plenty of time to move into position for a game-winning FG attempt). Lindell's kickoffs also helped to keep the Jags return men from giving Jacksonville's offense good field position during the game.
The Bad:
The tackling by the Bills defense left a LOT to be desired! The Bills are going to have to improve in this area and start doing a much better job of tackling if they are going to beat the teams that they are going to need to beat in order to make the playoffs. The Jacksonville and Seattle offenses really didn't punish the Bills for their poor tackling as much as they could have, but there were far too many times in both games when the Bills missed tackles, let themselves be pushed backwards while attempting to make a tackle, and allowed the runner to fall forward for extra yardage while being tackled. There are other offenses on the schedule that will make the Bills pay for that kind of tackling if they do not get better in this area as the season progresses.
Jason Peters might be in shape, but clearly is not in "game shape" yet (if anyone wants to know what the difference between being in shape and being in "game shape" is, all they have to do is look at Peters on this game tape!). Peters may be in shape and know the plays, but he certainly did not play like a Pro Bowler in this game as Paul Spicer pushed him around quite a bit, especially on running plays.
Speaking of running plays, the run blocking is still horrid. While Marshawn Lynch still is running into the pile rather than finding some of the holes that the offensive line are opening, far too often the offensive line is simply not getting the job done in the run game. After Edwards' pass to Schouman for a first down, the Bills just needed to be able to run for one more first down to run out the clock at the end of the game and they could not do it. Lindell and the defense bailed them out with good plays to close out the game, but at some point this season this is going to bite the Bills in the butt if they do not improve in this area. The running game simply has to get better...much better.
Brad Butler didn't have a really bad game, but he did have a couple of really bad series. The insertion of Preston at center seemed to really help Butler settle down and do a better job, but, all things considered, Butler did not have a good game.
Kelsay, Schobel, Bryan and Denney didn't get a lot of pressure on Garrard when they had the opportunity to do so and they were awful in terms of containing Garrard in the pocket. The front seven held Taylor and Jones-Drew to under 70 yards rushing, but failing to hold contain on Garrard in the pocket allowed him to rush for 32 big yards. Bryan had a clear shot at Garrard in the backfield on one of his big runs and not only took a bad angle, but took himself out of the play by whiffing on the tackle as Garrard ran by him. Ugh!
There were a lot of things in this game that Bills need to improve on, but to come from behind in the 4th quarter on the road against a very good defense and a playoff-caliber team says a lot about the quality and character of this Bills team.
There is a lot of room for this team to improve and they are still not in a position where they can take any team on their schedule lightly and still expect to come out with a win, but, in winning a game like this one, they are starting to show signs that they could be a playoff caliber team if they continue to improve at the rate that they should as the season progresses.
A good, tough, ugly, close road victory against a quality team. I'll take it!