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Heck of a game. Here are some of my thoughts after watching.
1) You guys are too hard to Trent Edwards. He did exactly what he had to do to give his team a shot to win. The Patriots lined up in a deep shell, either playing man-under with S help over the top, or playing zone coverage with their OLB dropping to help outside. It was effective, and left them vulnerable to the underneath stuff. Edwards stayed patient and took that, and avoided the mistakes that would have killed them, despite not having a lot of time to build chemistry with the team around him. I like Edwards and think he is a guy you can win with, although I'm still not sure how high his ceiling is. I think at worst he can be a game-manager, and he may be much better than that. I think he deserves an opportunity to grow with the offense.
2) Both Lee Evans and Terrell Owens earned their money, even though they only had 5 catches combined. The Pats game-planned to take them out of the game, and that opened up things for everyone else. That said, the Bills are going to have to do more to get them the ball. I know they want to simplify the offense, but you need to move those players around and motion them to get them looks, as the Pats did with Moss. Right now, everything is new so I give them a pass for staying simple, but they need to expand it or TO and Evans are not going to be pleased. I wouldn't blame them either, you have to find a way to get your playmakers involved.
3) I was impressed with the new interior of the Bills line, but they need to continue to improve. Both rookies played pretty good and Hangartner held up well, and the Bills are more physical up the middle. Bell showed his athleticism, but he has the furthest to go of the young linemen. He needs to eliminate the mental mistakes and play stronger at the point of attack. Bell is very athletic, but he isn't nearly as strong as Jason Peters (although Peters is one of the strongest players OL in the NFL). The Patriots didn't blitz much at all, mainly due to them playing to limit Evans and TO from making the big play, but other defenses will do a better job of bringing pressure and the Bills OL will have to continue to prove up to the test.
4) I was encouraged by the back-end of the Pats defense. I thought Meriweather and Sanders acquitted themselves well at S, and Leigh Bodden had a strong game. I think the back-end of their defense needs to do a better job of reacting to screens and do a better job tackling. However, they have a lot of new players and should improve with time. I think their secondary is going to be OK. The LB were hurt by the loss of Mayo, the best defensive player the Pats have, but still they need to react better, get off blocks and make tackles. Still, it is only week 1 of a long season. I think they were lucky to dodge a bullet with Mayo, who looks like he will be OK. If they lose him they are screwed.
5) That said, I'm not that thrilled with the Pats up front. Though they had 4 sacks, they didn't win enough one-on-one battles againt an inexperienced Bills front (although that is credit to the Bills OL). They still don't look strong pressureing the passer, especially without the blitz. Ty Warren was invisible, although I'll give him a pass since he had multiple surgeries this offseason and is still playing himself back into shape. Wilfork made some plays, but got tired at times. They are definitely a different team without Seymour, who was a force in the late game for Oakland. I'm not going to panic after one week, but the Pats need to improve up front or they aren't going to stop people.
6) I thought the Bills defense was fired up from the get go and was more physical than the Pats. After hearing how the Pats were going to roll over them, they came out and played tough up front. Aaron Schobel may draw some criticism from Bills fans, but he is a very good player when healthy. The rest of the Bills line did a good job againt the run and winning battles up front. The only criticism I have is they got tired as the game went along and weren't as strong in the second half. They were on the field a lot, and it makes me question the decision to deactivate Chris Ellis. They had to expect they would be rushing the passer a lot, and would need bodies to rotate to keep guys fresh.
7) People are critical of the Bills playing Cover-2, but it was sound strategy. They limited the Pats big plays and tackled well. In the end, they came up with the negative plays needed: a Int for a TD, a couple 4th down stops, a missed FG, etc. The Pats rolled up yardage, but the Bills kept them out of the endzone. That is what Indy does effectively, and the Bills LB did a great job helping out on the short stuff. Losing Posluszny was a blow, because he was a tone-setter for you guys. I thought Ellison played great, despite all the crap he takes from fans. Mitchell made a few plays, but he is inconsistent and is probably the guy I would look to replace if the young guys come on (Harris, Buggs). In the end, I think the Bills got away from the cover-2 a little toward the end and blitzed their LB. Brady hit some plays against it, and they should have stayed in their shell since the Pats needed TDs and not FG.
8) I know you guys love Maybin, but he is nowhere near ready. He missed a lot of time, and despite his speed is not ready to play over Schobel or Kelsay. The Pats rode him outside easily when he rushed, an he will need a counter-move. He needs to make up for lost time and work to improve.
9) Donte Whitner played physical in this game. He still didn't make any plays on the ball, but he had a lot of big tackles to limit yards after catch. The Bills secondary did a great job tackling and limiting big plays, and is a strength of the team. The Bills have a lot of speed on defense, like Indy.
10) The Pats struggled to run, but I'm not really worried about that, it will come with time. I thought the backs played well, and was encouraged by Maroney running hard and looking healthy. I credit the Bills for playing strong up front, with their DBs doing a great job coming up to support the run. To be successful playing the Tampa-2 you need DBs who are physical in the run game, and Buffalo appears to have that.
11) I know McKelvin has a lot of ability, but he should be flogged for fumbling. Remember, he fumbled the kickoff prior to that as well, but he lucked out since Harris picked it up and advanced it. This is just the type of thing coaches talk about when they talk about "situational awareness". The one thing McKelvin couldn't do on those kickoffs was fumble. He needs to know that, and if he is going to bring it out he can't be fighting for yards and giving the other team a chance to rip it out. Get down. The coaching staff needs to get that through his head or he can't return kicks when the Bills have a lead. That siad, a heck of a fumble recovery by Stephen Gostkowski, who got bent in half and still held on to the ball.
12) Finally, the Bills displayed a lot of the things they will need to do if they want to win games. They should have won this game. They were physical and showed more poise than would be expected from a young team (McKelvin's mistake aside), and that should be encouraging to Bills fans. However, this was only the first week of a very long season. They were obviously fired up after being dissed all week, but they need to bring that intensity every week. If they do, they will be in the playoff hunt. Otherwise, they are just a team that can play well on occasion.
Good game.
1) You guys are too hard to Trent Edwards. He did exactly what he had to do to give his team a shot to win. The Patriots lined up in a deep shell, either playing man-under with S help over the top, or playing zone coverage with their OLB dropping to help outside. It was effective, and left them vulnerable to the underneath stuff. Edwards stayed patient and took that, and avoided the mistakes that would have killed them, despite not having a lot of time to build chemistry with the team around him. I like Edwards and think he is a guy you can win with, although I'm still not sure how high his ceiling is. I think at worst he can be a game-manager, and he may be much better than that. I think he deserves an opportunity to grow with the offense.
2) Both Lee Evans and Terrell Owens earned their money, even though they only had 5 catches combined. The Pats game-planned to take them out of the game, and that opened up things for everyone else. That said, the Bills are going to have to do more to get them the ball. I know they want to simplify the offense, but you need to move those players around and motion them to get them looks, as the Pats did with Moss. Right now, everything is new so I give them a pass for staying simple, but they need to expand it or TO and Evans are not going to be pleased. I wouldn't blame them either, you have to find a way to get your playmakers involved.
3) I was impressed with the new interior of the Bills line, but they need to continue to improve. Both rookies played pretty good and Hangartner held up well, and the Bills are more physical up the middle. Bell showed his athleticism, but he has the furthest to go of the young linemen. He needs to eliminate the mental mistakes and play stronger at the point of attack. Bell is very athletic, but he isn't nearly as strong as Jason Peters (although Peters is one of the strongest players OL in the NFL). The Patriots didn't blitz much at all, mainly due to them playing to limit Evans and TO from making the big play, but other defenses will do a better job of bringing pressure and the Bills OL will have to continue to prove up to the test.
4) I was encouraged by the back-end of the Pats defense. I thought Meriweather and Sanders acquitted themselves well at S, and Leigh Bodden had a strong game. I think the back-end of their defense needs to do a better job of reacting to screens and do a better job tackling. However, they have a lot of new players and should improve with time. I think their secondary is going to be OK. The LB were hurt by the loss of Mayo, the best defensive player the Pats have, but still they need to react better, get off blocks and make tackles. Still, it is only week 1 of a long season. I think they were lucky to dodge a bullet with Mayo, who looks like he will be OK. If they lose him they are screwed.
5) That said, I'm not that thrilled with the Pats up front. Though they had 4 sacks, they didn't win enough one-on-one battles againt an inexperienced Bills front (although that is credit to the Bills OL). They still don't look strong pressureing the passer, especially without the blitz. Ty Warren was invisible, although I'll give him a pass since he had multiple surgeries this offseason and is still playing himself back into shape. Wilfork made some plays, but got tired at times. They are definitely a different team without Seymour, who was a force in the late game for Oakland. I'm not going to panic after one week, but the Pats need to improve up front or they aren't going to stop people.
6) I thought the Bills defense was fired up from the get go and was more physical than the Pats. After hearing how the Pats were going to roll over them, they came out and played tough up front. Aaron Schobel may draw some criticism from Bills fans, but he is a very good player when healthy. The rest of the Bills line did a good job againt the run and winning battles up front. The only criticism I have is they got tired as the game went along and weren't as strong in the second half. They were on the field a lot, and it makes me question the decision to deactivate Chris Ellis. They had to expect they would be rushing the passer a lot, and would need bodies to rotate to keep guys fresh.
7) People are critical of the Bills playing Cover-2, but it was sound strategy. They limited the Pats big plays and tackled well. In the end, they came up with the negative plays needed: a Int for a TD, a couple 4th down stops, a missed FG, etc. The Pats rolled up yardage, but the Bills kept them out of the endzone. That is what Indy does effectively, and the Bills LB did a great job helping out on the short stuff. Losing Posluszny was a blow, because he was a tone-setter for you guys. I thought Ellison played great, despite all the crap he takes from fans. Mitchell made a few plays, but he is inconsistent and is probably the guy I would look to replace if the young guys come on (Harris, Buggs). In the end, I think the Bills got away from the cover-2 a little toward the end and blitzed their LB. Brady hit some plays against it, and they should have stayed in their shell since the Pats needed TDs and not FG.
8) I know you guys love Maybin, but he is nowhere near ready. He missed a lot of time, and despite his speed is not ready to play over Schobel or Kelsay. The Pats rode him outside easily when he rushed, an he will need a counter-move. He needs to make up for lost time and work to improve.
9) Donte Whitner played physical in this game. He still didn't make any plays on the ball, but he had a lot of big tackles to limit yards after catch. The Bills secondary did a great job tackling and limiting big plays, and is a strength of the team. The Bills have a lot of speed on defense, like Indy.
10) The Pats struggled to run, but I'm not really worried about that, it will come with time. I thought the backs played well, and was encouraged by Maroney running hard and looking healthy. I credit the Bills for playing strong up front, with their DBs doing a great job coming up to support the run. To be successful playing the Tampa-2 you need DBs who are physical in the run game, and Buffalo appears to have that.
11) I know McKelvin has a lot of ability, but he should be flogged for fumbling. Remember, he fumbled the kickoff prior to that as well, but he lucked out since Harris picked it up and advanced it. This is just the type of thing coaches talk about when they talk about "situational awareness". The one thing McKelvin couldn't do on those kickoffs was fumble. He needs to know that, and if he is going to bring it out he can't be fighting for yards and giving the other team a chance to rip it out. Get down. The coaching staff needs to get that through his head or he can't return kicks when the Bills have a lead. That siad, a heck of a fumble recovery by Stephen Gostkowski, who got bent in half and still held on to the ball.
12) Finally, the Bills displayed a lot of the things they will need to do if they want to win games. They should have won this game. They were physical and showed more poise than would be expected from a young team (McKelvin's mistake aside), and that should be encouraging to Bills fans. However, this was only the first week of a very long season. They were obviously fired up after being dissed all week, but they need to bring that intensity every week. If they do, they will be in the playoff hunt. Otherwise, they are just a team that can play well on occasion.
Good game.
& 
too!!
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