Bills see some reason for hope

[justasportsfan]

"We wanted to see who could do what playing base defense," Gailey said. "That was one of the things going into the ballgame. Let guys play base defense and see where we are. So we didn't throw a lot of blitz at 'em. You're able to see more where your deficiencies are if you just play base and let 'em play and then you can evaluate where we are."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article529735.ece

[better days]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

I think the Bills take two steps forward on defense & one step back on offense this year.

[bf1]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

Be patient. This is rebuilding. They haven't quite hit rock bottom yet. Once they do, LOOK OUT!

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

Be patient. This is rebuilding. They haven't quite hit rock bottom yet. Once they do, LOOK OUT!

LOL the 10 year mantra!

[justasportsfan]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

If we suck using base offense, this means our TE's will be blocking again this year. Sigh!

[BertSquirtgum]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

This bunch of players is a pathetic excuse for an NFL football team.

[trapezeus]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

i wish the headline read, "bills see hope for some reason"

[OpIv37]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

If we suck using base offense, this means our TE's will be blocking again this year. Sigh!

I was just going to say the same thing.

"There were multiple times today when everybody was not on the same page, and it was not one or two things," he said.

It's disconcerting that we were in base offenses and people still weren't on the same page.

[OpIv37]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

i wish the headline read, "bills see hope for some reason"

That would have been more accurate.

The article talks about how the Bills were stronger against the run than last year, but ****ty at everything else.

So where exactly do those reasons for hope come in?

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

That would have been more accurate.

The article talks about how the Bills were stronger against the run than last year, but ****ty at everything else.

So where exactly do those reasons for hope come in?

we HOPE we can get Luck.... hes magical and will solve everything

[BertSquirtgum]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

I do think people believe Luck is magical being that has the power to fix everything.

[mysticsoto]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

I was just going to say the same thing.

It's disconcerting that we were in base offenses and people still weren't on the same page.

I find it disconcerting that in an interview last week, Fitz said that the offense was miles ahead of where they were last year during the same time frame. That having a year in the system made a huge difference. Last yr, in the same time period, he was the backup QB. Now, he's the starter and he's getting 1st team reps constantly after 14 games of experience starting...so where's the improvement???

In all fairness, I don't want to throw all the blame on Fitz. There is plenty to go around. Receivers were dropping balls they should catch. Oline was so terrible Fitz had to rush most the shots. It was an all around failure.

If I have to give the bulk of the failures to one group however, it's the Oline. Their bad plays cause a cascade of bad plays. You rush Fitz, he becomes less accurate (Fitz has a tendency to overthrow when he rushes), or has to throw earlier than he wants to which causes receivers to miss balls they had just barely turned around for, etc.

If we miss on Luck, we need to go LT, RT, RG in '12!!!

[OpIv37]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

I do think people believe Luck is magical being that has the power to fix everything.

If we get Luck, we better get some damn offensive linemen. Otherwise, he's going to end up shell-shocked like Todd Collins, Rob Johnson, JP Losman, Trent Edwards, and every other QB we've had in here since Kelly.

[psubills62]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

Depends on what they're hoping for.

I think this is a good spot to put my thoughts on the preseason thus far, as I don't feel like making a new thread.

My prediction in Cgal's thread is 6-10. I attempted to predict an amount that is slightly lower than what I thought from looking at the schedule, mainly because I tend to end up somewhat optimistic. I'm thinking that I guessed right in this case.

This will sound like the "it's only preseason" mantra, but I think we need to take this specific game with a grain of salt. I was actually thinking of starting a thread last week saying we shouldn't read too much into the Denver game no matter what happens.

First, Merriman wasn't in. He's obviously important to our plans. At the same time, it was good for the defense to play without him, as I don't see him staying healthy the entire season. Second, we play Denver during the season. I didn't see the game so I can't say if Denver played all-out. We apparently just wanted to use our base defense and offense. I think there are things that the coaches can and will do to help our OL (one example was mentioned at buffalo rumblings last season: the guards were pulled on passing plays to try and confuse the defense with moderate success).

One more thing I'd like to mention is that overall our run offense wasn't that bad. 10 carries for 44 yards between Spiller and Jackson, and it sounds like Spiller was OK outside of one lousy run. Not going to excuse that run, just saying that it sounds like he's getting somewhat better at being patient.

Now that those "positive" things are out of the way, the criticisms sound true. From watching a little on ESPN gamecast, I'd say my goat for the game was McKelvin. The guy needs to learn to cover, can't believe he was picked on that often. Would have been nice to get some more pressure on the first or second team (I watched highlights of Brady Quinn, and he wasn't pressured much at all).

The offense is definitely worrisome. This is looking like the times we had Trent Edwards in as starter but we never scored in preseason and thought it would be different in the regular season. Let's hope the team can work some things out. It seems as though some of the issues can be solved with more practice (miscommunications, hopefully receivers improve their hands and we can do something to help out the OL).

Fitzpatrick has not looked good. Hasn't even broken 100 yards total between two preseason games. That being said, we all know he's inconsistent and I don't see him always being this bad during the regular season.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Bills see some reason for hope

If we miss on Luck, we need to go LT, RT, RG in '12!!!

If we miss on Luck, we go Barkley and go after proven OL in the FA which I think the bills will be big players to put in the final pieces.