-I predicted a blowout and the Bills kept this game a lot closer than I expected. That being said, I almost wish it was a blowout. It's one thing to get beat by a team that's clearly better- it's another thing to piss away a victory in the last minute in a winnable game.
-**** CJ for the fumble and being basically invisible
-**** Stevie Johnson for yet another inopportune drop
-**** Chandler for 2 penalties (or was it 3?) and a big drop
-The net result of the above was that the experienced guys didn't make EJ's debut any easier. The only one who really came through for him on offense was Fred Jackson, who was the only consistent player on offense.
-EJ made some ****ing terrible plays and some very astute plays- the encouraging thing is that, for the most part, the bad plays came early and the good plays came late.
-Most of Vereen's running was a result of inexcusably bad tackling.
-The pass rush was inconsistent and the "creep" D (no one with their hands in the dirt) was consistently ineffective. This may be because the Bills used to do it and the Jets did it under Pettine before, so the Pats have seen it many, many times.
-That "scrub" Edelmann had no problems getting open against our DB's.
-Kiko played well
-Despite general struggles by the secondary, McKelvin had his best defensive game as a Bill and Leonard was solid.
-The return game was non-existent outside of one play, but S/T coverage and punts were excellent.
-A lot of what happened in this game was Marrone's fault. Far too many penalties (lack of discipline), that stupid early challenge, poor clock management, far too many mistakes (drops, turnovers, missed tackles) even for a young team, sticking with the "creep" despite the lack of effectiveness.
-All that being said, there were some positive developments as well. This game was in danger of getting completely out of hand early, but the players also had the mental toughness to stick with it. And the Bills were able to make adjustments after a slow start. It's too soon to tell, but I suspect (or at least hope) that the early struggles were a result of jitters from a young team, which will go away in time. The lack of talent in the Pats' receiving corps and the inexperience of the Bills make this a really tough game to evaluate.
NOTE TO MODS: My post-game comments used to be an article on the front page- you can do that with this if you want, but I may not have time to do it every week.
-**** CJ for the fumble and being basically invisible
-**** Stevie Johnson for yet another inopportune drop
-**** Chandler for 2 penalties (or was it 3?) and a big drop
-The net result of the above was that the experienced guys didn't make EJ's debut any easier. The only one who really came through for him on offense was Fred Jackson, who was the only consistent player on offense.
-EJ made some ****ing terrible plays and some very astute plays- the encouraging thing is that, for the most part, the bad plays came early and the good plays came late.
-Most of Vereen's running was a result of inexcusably bad tackling.
-The pass rush was inconsistent and the "creep" D (no one with their hands in the dirt) was consistently ineffective. This may be because the Bills used to do it and the Jets did it under Pettine before, so the Pats have seen it many, many times.
-That "scrub" Edelmann had no problems getting open against our DB's.
-Kiko played well
-Despite general struggles by the secondary, McKelvin had his best defensive game as a Bill and Leonard was solid.
-The return game was non-existent outside of one play, but S/T coverage and punts were excellent.
-A lot of what happened in this game was Marrone's fault. Far too many penalties (lack of discipline), that stupid early challenge, poor clock management, far too many mistakes (drops, turnovers, missed tackles) even for a young team, sticking with the "creep" despite the lack of effectiveness.
-All that being said, there were some positive developments as well. This game was in danger of getting completely out of hand early, but the players also had the mental toughness to stick with it. And the Bills were able to make adjustments after a slow start. It's too soon to tell, but I suspect (or at least hope) that the early struggles were a result of jitters from a young team, which will go away in time. The lack of talent in the Pats' receiving corps and the inexperience of the Bills make this a really tough game to evaluate.
NOTE TO MODS: My post-game comments used to be an article on the front page- you can do that with this if you want, but I may not have time to do it every week.
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