With all the bashing of myself in standing up for the defense last season, I decided to detail for all of those who can't seem to face reality the basics in why we lost all of our 8 games last season.
Partyline is that our D played poorly thus overcoming tremendous offensive efforts by the offense. Drew has been praised for "having to do everything" as well. Did he? So let's see if all that is true, shall we! Let's proceed:
The first game we lost was the very first Jet game which went to O/T.
Perception: D and STs lost the game for us.
Reality:
The defense allowed only 266 total net yards!
Each team had one lost fumble.
The Bills had 2 INTs to the Jets 0.
STs allowed 1 TD in regulation.
Drew's INT set the Jets up at the Bills 19 YL for their 2nd TD on the very next drive!
In O/T, the Bills STs allowed a TD.
Reason for the loss?
Defense: Hardly!
STs: Partly
Offense: Drew's INT setting up a Jet TD at our own 19!
If either the STs regulation TD or Drew's INT don't happen, then the Bills win in O/T. Both share responsibility equally!
In the second loss:
D held Bronco O to 342 total. Portis had just over 100.
Henry fumbled to cost us a win!
Bledsoe played very well.
In the third loss:
Perception: D lost the game for us.
Reality:
Both teams played similarly.
Raiders D allowed 479 total net yards, Bills allowed 495 TNY
Bills held Raiders to 50% 3rd down efficiency, Bills were 47%.
Bills ran 18 times to the Raiders 27, Bills averaged 4.4 YPC
Bills passed 53 times to the Raiders 38 times
Neither team had lost fumbles
Bills had 3 INTs and 5 sacks, Raiders had 0 INTs and 1 sack
Leading by 3, Drew set up a Raider TD w/ an INT giving them the ball at the Bills 32 YL w/ ~ 8 min. to go in the 3rd Q.
Trailing by only 4 points w/ over 8 minutes to go in the game, Drew tosses an INT to Buchanon, the rookie CB, who returns it for a TD. Raiders up by 11.
On the very next drive, Drew gets sacked on 1st and 2nd down losing 12 yards and then throws incomplete on 3rd down forcing a punt.
On the very next drive, Drew tosses an INT on 2nd-and-7 at the Raider 7 YL to ice the game!
Reasons for the loss:
Defense: Played not well, but as well as the Raider D played.
STs: Played OK
Offense: The difference in the game was 3 Drew INTs 2 of which gave the Raiders 14 points on a short field, the third cost the Bills 7 points for a 21 point swing; the only TOs of the game and 5 sacks.
In the fourth loss:
A poor game v. N.E. from top to bottom.
Drew played poorly.
D played poorly
STs played poorly
Coaching SUCKED!!! Major reason for the loss IMO.
In the fifth loss:
The Bills D held the K.C. O, the #1 offense in the league, in K.C., to only 320 yards total offense.
D held Priest Holmes to only 104 rushing yards on a 3.4 YPC avg.
D held K.C. O to only 36% 3rd-down-efficiency.
Henry had 126 yards on 5.3 YPC
STs played well; avg. starting FP for K.C. at their own 25
The lone TO in the game was the difference here!!!
W/ 4:26 remaining, and trailing by only a single point, On 2nd-and-10 from the K.C. 40 YL, Drew throws an INT to end the game!
Reason for the loss:
Just like Henry's fumble in the Denver game cost us that game, Drew's single INT cost us this!!! Completely unnessecary BTW!
In the sixth loss:
Bills held the Jets to 325 total net yards and 7/14, 50% 3rd-down-efficiency.
STs and 2 Drew INTs gave the Jets great field position all game.
Tied at 3, on 1st-and-10, Drew tosses an INT to set the Jets up at the 50 for their first TD putting them up by 7.
Down by that 7, Drew tosses a second INT on the very next drive to set the Jets up for their 2nd TD near midfield at the Jet 42.
On the very next drive, Drew goes 1 for 4 to force a punt.
Other than the 14 points set up by Drew, the D allows only 17 others.
The O only puts up 13 points on the game.
Henry has one fumble, but the only result is an 11 yard change in field position as the Bills get the ball right back.
Only 3 TOs in that game, 2 are Drew's leading to 14 Jet points.
In spite of averaging 4.9 YPC and having had ~ 150 yards v. the Jets in the first game, Henry only gets 17 carries to Drew's 33 passing attempts.
Drew has a 52.7 rating for the game.
Reasons for the loss:
D: played well enough to win easily.
STs: allowed Jets very good field position
Henry: played better than we should expect, wasn't used much.
Drew: Also a factor in Jets great field position, his 2 INTs leading to 14 Jet points the largest factor in the loss.
In the 7th loss:
In foxborough, the Bills D held the Pat O to only 175 yards of total net offense!
STs played OK w/ avg. starting FP for the Pats at the Pat 28 YL on non-TO related drives.
Avg. Starting FP for the Pats off of 5 Bills TOs was the Bills 36 YL!!!
17 of the Pats' 27 points came off of Bills TOs, 2 Drew INTs + 1 Price FUM, giving the Pats an avg. starting FP on those 3 TOs at the Bills' 19 YL!!!
Bills' D held the Pats to only 36%, 4 of 11 3rd-down-eff.
Bills' D held the Pats to only 3.4 YPC and less than 100 yards rushing!
Bills had 5 TOs; Drew 4, Price 1; Pats had 0!!!
Reasons for the loss:
D: Played well enough to win!
STs: Played well enough to win!
O: Bledsoe INTs set up 10 Pat points, Price's FUM set up another 7; 4 Bledsoe INTs gave the Pats avg. starting FP at our 28 YL on 4 drives!
In the 8th loss:
D held the Pack to 33% 3rd-down-eff. 5 of 15
D held the Pack to 223 total net yards
On the Bills' 1st drive of the game, Drew tosses an INT on 3rd-and-4 at the Packer 4 YL to cost us 7.
W/ 9 minutes remaining trailing by 3-0, Drew fumbles on 3rd-and-14 setting the Packers up at the Bills' 39 YL for their sole TD of the game!
On 2nd-and-10 inside the Packer red zone at the Pack 17 YL, Drew fumbles again w/ ~ 1:20 left in the game to cost the Bills a chance at the win.
Reasons for the loss:
D: Played well enough to win!
STs: Played well enough to win; Avg. starting FP at the Pack 28 on non-TO drives. Played as well as Pack STs, perhaps better.
O: Drew's 2 INTs costing the Bills 10-14 points and setting up a Pack TD for a 17-21 point swing in a 10-0 game was the reason for the loss!
So as you can plainly see, and don't believe me by all means, go verify all that for yourself, but as you can plainly see, Drew was almost singlehandedly instrumental in the Bills losing 4-5 games last season!!!
In fact, the Bills also beat S.D. and Miami in the first Fin game in spite of Drew's total inability to lead the team to more than 20 and 16 points, largely b/c of Henry in the S.D. game.
Those are the facts. Funny how different they are from the perceptions, eh!
Partyline is that our D played poorly thus overcoming tremendous offensive efforts by the offense. Drew has been praised for "having to do everything" as well. Did he? So let's see if all that is true, shall we! Let's proceed:
The first game we lost was the very first Jet game which went to O/T.
Perception: D and STs lost the game for us.
Reality:
The defense allowed only 266 total net yards!
Each team had one lost fumble.
The Bills had 2 INTs to the Jets 0.
STs allowed 1 TD in regulation.
Drew's INT set the Jets up at the Bills 19 YL for their 2nd TD on the very next drive!
In O/T, the Bills STs allowed a TD.
Reason for the loss?
Defense: Hardly!
STs: Partly
Offense: Drew's INT setting up a Jet TD at our own 19!
If either the STs regulation TD or Drew's INT don't happen, then the Bills win in O/T. Both share responsibility equally!
In the second loss:
D held Bronco O to 342 total. Portis had just over 100.
Henry fumbled to cost us a win!
Bledsoe played very well.
In the third loss:
Perception: D lost the game for us.
Reality:
Both teams played similarly.
Raiders D allowed 479 total net yards, Bills allowed 495 TNY
Bills held Raiders to 50% 3rd down efficiency, Bills were 47%.
Bills ran 18 times to the Raiders 27, Bills averaged 4.4 YPC
Bills passed 53 times to the Raiders 38 times
Neither team had lost fumbles
Bills had 3 INTs and 5 sacks, Raiders had 0 INTs and 1 sack
Leading by 3, Drew set up a Raider TD w/ an INT giving them the ball at the Bills 32 YL w/ ~ 8 min. to go in the 3rd Q.
Trailing by only 4 points w/ over 8 minutes to go in the game, Drew tosses an INT to Buchanon, the rookie CB, who returns it for a TD. Raiders up by 11.
On the very next drive, Drew gets sacked on 1st and 2nd down losing 12 yards and then throws incomplete on 3rd down forcing a punt.
On the very next drive, Drew tosses an INT on 2nd-and-7 at the Raider 7 YL to ice the game!
Reasons for the loss:
Defense: Played not well, but as well as the Raider D played.
STs: Played OK
Offense: The difference in the game was 3 Drew INTs 2 of which gave the Raiders 14 points on a short field, the third cost the Bills 7 points for a 21 point swing; the only TOs of the game and 5 sacks.
In the fourth loss:
A poor game v. N.E. from top to bottom.
Drew played poorly.
D played poorly
STs played poorly
Coaching SUCKED!!! Major reason for the loss IMO.
In the fifth loss:
The Bills D held the K.C. O, the #1 offense in the league, in K.C., to only 320 yards total offense.
D held Priest Holmes to only 104 rushing yards on a 3.4 YPC avg.
D held K.C. O to only 36% 3rd-down-efficiency.
Henry had 126 yards on 5.3 YPC
STs played well; avg. starting FP for K.C. at their own 25
The lone TO in the game was the difference here!!!
W/ 4:26 remaining, and trailing by only a single point, On 2nd-and-10 from the K.C. 40 YL, Drew throws an INT to end the game!
Reason for the loss:
Just like Henry's fumble in the Denver game cost us that game, Drew's single INT cost us this!!! Completely unnessecary BTW!
In the sixth loss:
Bills held the Jets to 325 total net yards and 7/14, 50% 3rd-down-efficiency.
STs and 2 Drew INTs gave the Jets great field position all game.
Tied at 3, on 1st-and-10, Drew tosses an INT to set the Jets up at the 50 for their first TD putting them up by 7.
Down by that 7, Drew tosses a second INT on the very next drive to set the Jets up for their 2nd TD near midfield at the Jet 42.
On the very next drive, Drew goes 1 for 4 to force a punt.
Other than the 14 points set up by Drew, the D allows only 17 others.
The O only puts up 13 points on the game.
Henry has one fumble, but the only result is an 11 yard change in field position as the Bills get the ball right back.
Only 3 TOs in that game, 2 are Drew's leading to 14 Jet points.
In spite of averaging 4.9 YPC and having had ~ 150 yards v. the Jets in the first game, Henry only gets 17 carries to Drew's 33 passing attempts.
Drew has a 52.7 rating for the game.
Reasons for the loss:
D: played well enough to win easily.
STs: allowed Jets very good field position
Henry: played better than we should expect, wasn't used much.
Drew: Also a factor in Jets great field position, his 2 INTs leading to 14 Jet points the largest factor in the loss.
In the 7th loss:
In foxborough, the Bills D held the Pat O to only 175 yards of total net offense!
STs played OK w/ avg. starting FP for the Pats at the Pat 28 YL on non-TO related drives.
Avg. Starting FP for the Pats off of 5 Bills TOs was the Bills 36 YL!!!
17 of the Pats' 27 points came off of Bills TOs, 2 Drew INTs + 1 Price FUM, giving the Pats an avg. starting FP on those 3 TOs at the Bills' 19 YL!!!
Bills' D held the Pats to only 36%, 4 of 11 3rd-down-eff.
Bills' D held the Pats to only 3.4 YPC and less than 100 yards rushing!
Bills had 5 TOs; Drew 4, Price 1; Pats had 0!!!
Reasons for the loss:
D: Played well enough to win!
STs: Played well enough to win!
O: Bledsoe INTs set up 10 Pat points, Price's FUM set up another 7; 4 Bledsoe INTs gave the Pats avg. starting FP at our 28 YL on 4 drives!
In the 8th loss:
D held the Pack to 33% 3rd-down-eff. 5 of 15
D held the Pack to 223 total net yards
On the Bills' 1st drive of the game, Drew tosses an INT on 3rd-and-4 at the Packer 4 YL to cost us 7.
W/ 9 minutes remaining trailing by 3-0, Drew fumbles on 3rd-and-14 setting the Packers up at the Bills' 39 YL for their sole TD of the game!
On 2nd-and-10 inside the Packer red zone at the Pack 17 YL, Drew fumbles again w/ ~ 1:20 left in the game to cost the Bills a chance at the win.
Reasons for the loss:
D: Played well enough to win!
STs: Played well enough to win; Avg. starting FP at the Pack 28 on non-TO drives. Played as well as Pack STs, perhaps better.
O: Drew's 2 INTs costing the Bills 10-14 points and setting up a Pack TD for a 17-21 point swing in a 10-0 game was the reason for the loss!
So as you can plainly see, and don't believe me by all means, go verify all that for yourself, but as you can plainly see, Drew was almost singlehandedly instrumental in the Bills losing 4-5 games last season!!!
In fact, the Bills also beat S.D. and Miami in the first Fin game in spite of Drew's total inability to lead the team to more than 20 and 16 points, largely b/c of Henry in the S.D. game.
Those are the facts. Funny how different they are from the perceptions, eh!
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