Not as optimistic after watching the Bengals game last night.

[HHURRICANE]

Finally had a chance to watch the game last night mainly fousing on the first half. I'm thinking that everyone here needs to temper thier expectations:

1) The writer who said that the Bengals played sloppy was correct. Not every opinion is trying to discredit a Bills fan.

2) Edwards, IMO, played okay, not great. He better start learning to throw away the ball. I find this funny considering he's not Brett Favre and I can't remember him ever making something of a broken play. He just nearly avoided what would have been 2 costly sacks.

3) Cornell Green is a backup. Period. For every good play he completely blows a play.

4) Hardy dropping a ball that hits him in the hands?! WTF?! If this guy makes the roster than he should send a card to Brandon because I really believe that he is the only reason he's still on the roster. This guy should have been cut right after the game.

5) McGee is having a terrible pre-season. I think the million dollars that got stolen from him is taking his mind off of the game. I'm serious.

6) Our D is much worse than I thought. Poz is never going to better than mediocre out there. And we have zero pass rush. Andre Davis was the only guy I remember doing anything out there.

Sorry to be so negative but I was hoping to see a better perfromance.

[HHURRICANE]

One additional point. Chan Gailey might have single handedly won that game for us based on his play calling. I have so much respect for this guy already as an OC. The guy is really working miracles out there.

[plundar]

I agree. The other thing I would add is Special teams. The punt and kick return coverage has been terrible.

[cocamide]

I Agree 100% with everything in this thread so far. How in the hell did our ST get so bad? I can understand our defense being below average, considering they're learning completely knew schemes. I'm not really worried about our offense unless the injuries start piling up again. I'm scared about the depth of our line.

[hydro]

5.) What did a miss? I didn't hear that about McGee?

[OpIv37]

I recorded the game but so far I only caught the first defensive series. The D was horrendous. And it looked like Spencer Johnson was playing NT- wtf?

[Mahdi]

I agree that expectations need to be tempered. Our offense hasn't proven anything yet. When they can get it done against a 3-4 when it counts then and only then will I give them credit.

[ddaryl]

none the less our O is a far cry from preseason O's of recent years, and that alone is a huge positive.

I know this team isn't quite ready for prime time... but I'm feeling the new direction

[mayotm]

I don't think that Edwards was great, but he was better than OK. He was poised, decisive and accurate. Like many, I want to see him do it in the regular season consistently. However, if we are judging him on the Bengals game, calling him OK is not a fair assessment.

[trapezeus]

this is where winning in the preseason is meaningless. I didn't catch the game, but read the box score play by play combined with zoner reviews.

I'd rather have the bills lose 35-20, and showcase a defense and ST that are capable of handling a starting team.

instead it seems like the bills offense is goign to have to carry the burden and with teams pulling their starters, the only reason we won is because our scrubs were better.

I'm still much more optmistic than the redskins game. I have since up'd my 3-13 to 6-10. but i think this team is more entertaining than the jauron teams. and that in my book is a big step forward.

[cpearl]

I think the defense has been very vanilla. Hopefully, they blitz more in the regular season. I would add that i was impressed with the o-line, especially Levitre. He had some great blocks. Green is terrible, but he's a good run blocker. Id also add that Wilson looked terrible at FS - Byrd will be a huge upgrade when back.

[dasaybz]

Finally had a chance to watch the game last night mainly fousing on the first half. I'm thinking that everyone here needs to temper thier expectations:

1) The writer who said that the Bengals played sloppy was correct. Not every opinion is trying to discredit a Bills fan.

I thought they looked very sharp.


2) Edwards, IMO, played okay, not great. He better start learning to throw away the ball. I find this funny considering he's not Brett Favre and I can't remember him ever making something of a broken play. He just nearly avoided what would have been 2 costly sacks.
What game were you watching? This was Edwards best game in a very very long time. IF you are going to sit here and talk about him not being able to make something out of a broken play, you should also mention his excellent pass to Parrish on the sidelines where he steps up into the pocket and makes a perfect pass right on the mark.


3) Cornell Green is a backup. Period. For every good play he completely blows a play.
I saw Green make 1 horrible play where Edwards was completely abused. Other than that, he was fine, the entire OLine gave Edwards plenty of time.


4) Hardy dropping a ball that hits him in the hands?! WTF?! If this guy makes the roster than he should send a card to Brandon because I really believe that he is the only reason he's still on the roster. This guy should have been cut right after the game.
If you are not as optimistic about this team because of Hardy, then your expectations of what he was going to do this year were probably too high.


5) McGee is having a terrible pre-season. I think the million dollars that got stolen from him is taking his mind off of the game. I'm serious.
McGee looks bad, I'll give you that. But I'm not worried about it because if he starts playing bad all year, we have plenty of depth in case he needs to sit on the bench.


6) Our D is much worse than I thought. Poz is never going to better than mediocre out there. And we have zero pass rush. Andre Davis was the only guy I remember doing anything out there.
Poz is far from mediocre. Is he a superstar? No, but to call him mediocre is stretching the truth.


Sorry to be so negative but I was hoping to see a better perfromance.
Really, you are basing your lack of optimism on Edwards playing average (which he didn't), James Hardy dropping balls, Cornell Green not being on the 2nd team, McGee being bad, and Poz being mediocre?

That's the best you can come up with? If I didn't know any better, I would say that someone is trying to be a drama queen and just want some attention.

[Extremebillsfan247]

I recorded the game but so far I only caught the first defensive series. The D was horrendous. And it looked like Spencer Johnson was playing NT- wtf?They rested Kyle Williams for that game. That was the explanation Chan Gailey used anyway.

[OpIv37]

They rested Kyle Williams for that game. That was the explanation Chan Gailey used anyway.

Ok, so that explains why Kyle Williams wasn't there. The part that still doesn't make sense is why Spencer Johnson was. The guy is too small to be an NT. We'd be better off with Troup, Carrington, Stroud or even Lonnie Harvey, who was still on the roster at the time.

Don't get me wrong- I don't like Carrington or Stroud at NT and Stroud has been pretty good at DE so far. But I think either would be a better option than Johnson.

[HHURRICANE]

5.) What did a miss? I didn't hear that about McGee?

He was involved in a investment scandal that just got settled. Our former DC Gray was one of the bad guys.

[Extremebillsfan247]

Ok, so that explains why Kyle Williams wasn't there. The part that still doesn't make sense is why Spencer Johnson was. The guy is too small to be an NT. We'd be better off with Troup, Carrington, Stroud or even Lonnie Harvey, who was still on the roster at the time.

Don't get me wrong- I don't like Carrington or Stroud at NT and Stroud has been pretty good at DE so far. But I think either would be a better option than Johnson.
Hmm, My guess is that maybe Gailey wanted to get tape on Johnson with the 1s before the season. I don't think we are keeping everyone on the Dline, and it could be possible that Johnson was either showcased to the league (a way of showing other teams his abilities in an effort to spark interest) or he may be one of the guys who has potential to be a cut when we trim down to the final depth chart for the season.

It could be Gailey's little way of leaving no stone unturned in an effort to find the pieces needed to produce wins when it counts. On a defense where he knows there are going to be struggles, it was probably wise to do considering these games don't really mean anything as far as wins and losses are concerned.

On the flipside, maybe he is the guy behind Kyle Williams on the depth chart. That would tell me that Gailey doesn't think Troup is ready, and Johnson is the next best thing. If that is the case, I would be slightly concerned there. lol

[OpIv37]

On the flipside, maybe he is the guy behind Kyle Williams on the depth chart. That would tell me that Gailey doesn't think Troup is ready, and Johnson is the next best thing. If that is the case, I would be slightly concerned there. lol

now that's a scary thought.

[HHURRICANE]

now that's a scary thought.

I had high hopes fro Spencer Johnson but they are fading fast.

[OpIv37]

I had high hopes fro Spencer Johnson but they are fading fast.

I could see him contributing at DE but not at NT.

[northernbillfan]

Nice break down of the game.

I'm about to watch it for the first time and am hoping to disprove some of your analogies.

[bigbub2352]

i have said from day 1 Green is a bum and he is gonna get Edwards killed

our ST is also concerning

and i hate to say it but i have to agree with you about the D and Poz and no pass rush at all

[HHURRICANE]

What game were you watching? This was Edwards best game in a very very long time. IF you are going to sit here and talk about him not being able to make something out of a broken play, you should also mention his excellent pass to Parrish on the sidelines where he steps up into the pocket and makes a perfect pass right on the mark.

That's the best you can come up with? If I didn't know any better, I would say that someone is trying to be a drama queen and just want some attention.

As for Edwards I'm sticking with okay. I think people realize that I'm not exactly anti-Edwards here.

So objectively, he was late on some passes (his one pass to Parrish was a millisecond away from being a TD for Hall) and he hung onto the ball too long on some others.

As for your last paragraph when you actually write some threads out here and take the criticism yourself I'll consider your opinion of me as irrelevent. It's a lot easier to criticize than be criticized.

[mayotm]

As for Edwards I'm sticking with okay. I think people realize that I'm not exactly anti-Edwards here.

So objectively, he was late on some passes (his one pass to Parrish was a millisecond away from being a TD for Hall) and he hung onto the ball too long on some others.

As for your last paragraph when you actually write some threads out here and take the criticism yourself I'll consider your opinion of me as irrelevent. It's a lot easier to criticize than be criticized.If that's your idea of OK from Edwards, I'll take Edwards being OK all season.

[trapezeus]

poz is mediocre. he's a middle of the pack LB. That's simply a fact on his play and his ability to stay on the field. he is servicable, but he isn't a game changer.

This is the most pathetic corp of LB's i've seen in a long time on the bills. it use to be an area of strength. But you leave Russ brandon pretending to be a football guy long enough, he'll destroy everything. Case in point. 2009 season.

[Beebe's Kid]

Ok, so that explains why Kyle Williams wasn't there. The part that still doesn't make sense is why Spencer Johnson was. The guy is too small to be an NT. We'd be better off with Troup, Carrington, Stroud or even Lonnie Harvey, who was still on the roster at the time.

Don't get me wrong- I don't like Carrington or Stroud at NT and Stroud has been pretty good at DE so far. But I think either would be a better option than Johnson.

Op, I know you are a man who takes his NT's very seriously, and I agree with you whole-heartedly on this. I can say that Spencer Johnson is one of the guys I wouldn't mind seeing cut. We have to trim fat, and this guy appears, to me anyway, to be apathetic and out of shape. He has been a major disappointment the entire time he has been here, since we took the flier on him.

As far as HH's post...:drama::deadhorse:tired: I think that about covers it.

Your insatiable man-crush on Trent has begun to fry your brain, brother.

He has his best game since '08, and you come with this crap. I like Brohm, and I was pulling for him to win the job. That is not going to happen, which is clear. I want the QB that helps us win...and Chan feel Trent is that guy, and he showed he could be on Saturday. It was preseason, but he did look good.

McGee...come on, man. The guy has been a good CB for us for a while. This is not some rookie we are hoping can play at this level. I agree he looks to have struggled a little bit, but that is why they put those 4 games in front of the ones that count.

Poz, I'll say this for the benefit of the 80% of the posters that want him to be in mid-season form, and racking up 5 sacks per game. Poz is a very solid MLB. He is a tackling machine. He is not the sexy numbers type player, but our defense is much better with him on the field. I know that short term memory is a real issue on this board, but he just had surgery and is slowly getting himself back into playing condition.

He missed 1/4 of our games last year, and still had 110 tackles...with a busted wing. Over a 16 game season that is 147 tackles, or good for second in the league. I don't know if there is some reason that so many feel the need to attack the best players we have, or what these players could do to meet you unrealistic expectations, but Poz is far from a problem on this team. He will be in shape, and will be running all over the ****ing place tackling people, again, this year.

Hardy is not worth the time in commenting on. We have better options at WR that are ready to catch balls, run routes, and be effective today. His time to "blossom" is over.

There is a lot of panic about our defense. That is funny because 4 weeks ago, our secondary was tops in the league, and the defense would be decent given the offense could keep them off of the field. All we really did was get better on D. If anybody thinks that Schobels 10 sacks were more valuable than what we will get out of Dwan Edwards, they're nuts. We added some solid veteran players, and when the whole shooting match comes together, we'll be fine.

Special Teams have looked horrible...good think a large percentage of those players that are covering kicks will be long gone after we trim down to 53. I know that it is Bobby v. Bruce, not the players doing, or not doing, the tackling, right?

It is not mandatory to pick on every player that missed a play. You could take any team, any player, and do the same thing. The argument that we didn't look good, but Cincinnati looked bad is a tired song. If they were sloppy and we were not, I have news for you, that is how EVERY game is won/lost. One team executing their plan better than the other.

[wmoz11]

Troup started at NT and they were probably putting Spencer Johnson in later to see if he could be a guy to fill in there if we released Lonnie Harvey.

[HHURRICANE]

Your insatiable man-crush on Trent has begun to fry your brain, brother.

He has his best game since '08, and you come with this crap. I like Brohm, and I was pulling for him to win the job. That is not going to happen, which is clear. I want the QB that helps us win...and Chan feel Trent is that guy, and he showed he could be on Saturday. It was preseason, but he did look good.

McGee...come on, man. The guy has been a good CB for us for a while. This is not some rookie we are hoping can play at this level. I agree he looks to have struggled a little bit, but that is why they put those 4 games in front of the ones that count.

This is classic. You are the king of opinion. You wanted Brohm because he "wasn't" Edwards. That was your only logic 2 months ago. I told you it wasn't happening based on facts which turned out to be correct.

Now somehow you are the expert on Edwards QB performance when all along I've been saying that he is winning the job. I watch alot more football than you, and like Brohm's performance last week, it was okay.

Funny how every one was creaming their pants over Brohm's play last week but the head coach saw it my way.

As for McGee he's had a bad pre-season. That's a fact as well.

As for Poz he's above average based on what? Show me the stats, the games, something that justifies yet another opinion.

Your opinion have yet to materialize on the field.

[better days]

This is classic. You are the king of opinion. You wanted Brohm because he "wasn't" Edwards. That was your only logic 2 months ago. I told you it wasn't happening based on facts which turned out to be correct.

Now somehow you are the expert on Edwards QB performance when all along I've been saying that he is winning the job. I watch alot more football than you, and like Brohm's performance last week, it was okay.

Funny how every one was creaming their pants over Brohm's play last week but the head coach saw it my way.

As for McGee he's had a bad pre-season. That's a fact as well.

As for Poz he's above average based on what? Show me the stats, the games, something that justifies yet another opinion.

Your opinion have yet to materialize on the field.

After Brohms play last week, you said he could be cut. How do you conclude that Chan agrees with your thought on him?

[OpIv37]

Troup started at NT and they were probably putting Spencer Johnson in later to see if he could be a guy to fill in there if we released Lonnie Harvey.

but so far, I only watched the first series and I saw Johnson the whole time. I didn't see Troup on the field at all.

[Mahdi]

I could see him contributing at DE but not at NT.
Sp. Johnson will never play NT. I don't know when you saw this. We were probably playing a 4 man front with him inside.

[Dr. Lecter]

but so far, I only watched the first series and I saw Johnson the whole time. I didn't see Troup on the field at all.
Troup started and was out there.

[dasaybz]

As for Edwards I'm sticking with okay. I think people realize that I'm not exactly anti-Edwards here.

So objectively, he was late on some passes (his one pass to Parrish was a millisecond away from being a TD for Hall) and he hung onto the ball too long on some others.

As for your last paragraph when you actually write some threads out here and take the criticism yourself I'll consider your opinion of me as irrelevent. It's a lot easier to criticize than be criticized.

fair enough

[WeAreArthurMoates]

While Edwards needs to get rid of the ball quicker he still played a good game. He kept the defense honest with some deep passes and looked great using the middle of the field. I agree Green sucks and Meredith will be starting for him before the season's over.

I think people need to relax on the D. They have been playing it extremely vanilla and ran a lot of 4-3 during the game but Troup was out there a lot and played fairly well. We will see a much different D once the regular season begins. Also, the Bengals did not play as sloppy as you mentioned.

[Prov401]

Finally had a chance to watch the game last night mainly fousing on the first half. I'm thinking that everyone here needs to temper thier expectations:

1) The writer who said that the Bengals played sloppy was correct. Not every opinion is trying to discredit a Bills fan.

2) Edwards, IMO, played okay, not great. He better start learning to throw away the ball. I find this funny considering he's not Brett Favre and I can't remember him ever making something of a broken play. He just nearly avoided what would have been 2 costly sacks.

3) Cornell Green is a backup. Period. For every good play he completely blows a play.

4) Hardy dropping a ball that hits him in the hands?! WTF?! If this guy makes the roster than he should send a card to Brandon because I really believe that he is the only reason he's still on the roster. This guy should have been cut right after the game.

5) McGee is having a terrible pre-season. I think the million dollars that got stolen from him is taking his mind off of the game. I'm serious.

6) Our D is much worse than I thought. Poz is never going to better than mediocre out there. And we have zero pass rush. Andre Davis was the only guy I remember doing anything out there.

Sorry to be so negative but I was hoping to see a better perfromance.

I agree with points 3, 5, and 6. ESPECIALLY 5. I've never been a fan of McGee, and he has been having a miserable pre-season. Always has been overrated.

I think Trent played very good. He stepped up in the pocket a few times, made his 2nd and 3rd reads, and delivered strikes. The only play that was scary on his part was that lazy sideline pass that was nearly picked for 6. But I'd give him a B+ in this game.

I have always felt that our defense is going to kill us this year. This might finally be the year that we score 25pts per game, only to have our D give them all up. I don't think we will be as explosive as our 2002 team was with Bledsoe, but I have a feeling we are going to have that type of year. Our D will just keep letting us down series after series. However, I believe we have been extremely reserved in our 3-4 scheme, as well as our blitz. So hopefully we can generate a rush, because if not, I don't care who we have in our secondary, they won't be able to cover Randy Moss for 6 seconds.

[trapezeus]

poz having a lot of tackles doesn't really do anything for him. Ellison was once our tackling king.

a great top tier linebacker distrupts the play. he actually forces the issue. he doesn't just stand there and wait to tackle the running 4 yards after the carry. He can blitz and get to the Qb. He can keep pace with a RB or an athletic TE in coverage.

Poz mediocrely does that job. as in, he's totally average. great RB's and TE will burn him. decent lines will make him an ineffective blitzer.

Poz needs a superstar on either side of him. Whether its another ILB or a crazy OLB, he needs someone who gets the attention.

[DesertFox24]

I agree the defense is really not looking good right now.

The one thing I will say is lets not judge any one player in particular just yet. We know we are going to struggle this year so lets see how they look by seasons end because it is going to take time for Poz and the other players who have never played a 34 before to get used to it.

For the record I think in time Poz will be a very solid player for us in this defense and will be a lot more than mediocre. keep in mind he missed two weeks of camp and has only played in two preseason games, lets relax on him a bit.

Now what really concerns me is the lack of pass rush that is where I am really scared, and why I hope and pray that Edwards and Bell turn out to be the answers so we can draft defensive front 7 early and often next year.

[HAMMER]

Kick coverage was atrocious, defense was a sieve, offense played well with the exception of a few busted plays early. It's pre-season and means very little, Bills will be better this year, I guar-an-tee,

[Mad Max]

Finally had a chance to watch the game last night mainly fousing on the first half. I'm thinking that everyone here needs to temper thier expectations:
......................................................

2) Edwards, IMO, played okay, not great. He better start learning to throw away the ball. I find this funny considering he's not Brett Favre and I can't remember him ever making something of a broken play. He just nearly avoided what would have been 2 costly sacks.

I'm not a Trent fan, and I thought he was pretty sharp in this one. "Nearly avoiding" sacks is not a negative. Dan Marino and Ben Roethlisberger off the top of my head did that regularly.
......................................................................................................................

6) Our D is much worse than I thought. Poz is never going to better than mediocre out there. And we have zero pass rush. Andre Davis was the only guy I remember doing anything out there.

Yeah the D is going to have some growing pains. "Poz" mediocre though? I think people slight him unfairly because he's NOT Urlacher.

Sorry to be so negative but I was hoping to see a better perfromance.

Maybe you had unreasonable expectations? This team has been abyssmal for a long time, they are not going to look like a Champion right out of the starting gate (with the new Coaching, players). Baby steps. I think this game was a HUGE baby step..camcorder, call Grandma worthy.

[Philagape]

If that's your idea of OK from Edwards, I'll take Edwards being OK all season.

If only they all were against 4-3s that didn't game plan ... :sigh:

[FlyingDutchman]

temper their expectations...? most people are calling for less than 5 wins....

[mayotm]

If only they all were against 4-3s that didn't game plan ... :sigh:That's not the topic of the thread. The thread is about the team's performance against the Bengals. No sane person can argue that Edwards didn't play well. Only time will tell if it translates to the regular season.

[Philagape]

That's not the topic of the thread. The thread is about the team's performance against the Bengals. No sane person can argue that Edwards didn't play well. Only time will tell if it translates to the regular season.

I'm adding to the topic by showing how relative a term "well" is.

[mayotm]

I'm adding to the topic by showing how relative a term "well" is.Knock yourself out chief.

[kelly2reed4six]

I agree. The other thing I would add is Special teams. The punt and kick return coverage has been terrible.
This def. Needs to be fixed!...while I think the defense is a far cry from elite, it certainly doesn't help them when the special teams makes them defend a short field....nearly any defense in this league is gonna suffer when they're special teams does that too them.

[alohabillsfan]

We are really gonna start complaining about an offense that put up 21 points in the first half? Dam, it seems like forever since we did that! How many times in recent past would we have kicked 3 field goals? We have a game changing RB! He will make our Oline better and our QB!

Yes our D was not good and I agree LB's in general suck, but we all should know that this rebuild will take some time to get all the pieces in place.

overall, mildly surprised at the overall teams performance!

[Philagape]

Just watching the DVR now, on the first Bengals drive it was definitely Johnson on the nose between Stroud and Edwards for most of the drive. Troup was there only on the last play.

[Philagape]

On the second drive, Troup wasn't in until the 4th down play.

Most of the third drive is missing :mad: