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Merry Christmas Everyone
Sorry about being AWOL the last few weeks, but I've been busy helping prep our staff for the NFL draft, and I think my eyes will fall out if I watch some vids of another game.
Just a few points about the last few games, the Bills D, Bills O, and the upcoming off-season.
The Bills defensive improvement has come about for several reasons. One, Schobel and Big Pat have come to play, in fact I think Schobel has finally turned the corner to become a consistent and good NFL DE. He has improved against the run, and he is keeping body contact to a minimum with the OL, allowing him to make plays all over the field. Two, Fletcher's play has improved by leaps and bounds. Three, the backup DL (when rotated in) are beginning to make plays, and earn their paycheck... this D will be something to see if Marcus Jones fully recovers and the Bills acquire a good DT to saddle up next to Big Pat. Three, our CB's are making plays on the ball, and Thomas finally gave us good NB play, forcing QBs to throw at Clements and Winfield for the first time this year. Four, the Bills have adjusted their D scheme slightly, as they have installed a 43 variant into their defensive packages, which features a little "cover-2" occasionally. As a result they are keeping 3 LBers on the field more often when teams go to 3WR sets, and as a result for the first time all season Jerry Grey has been able to force opposing O's to adjust to what he is doing. Finally, the Bills DBs have been aided by very high winds the last few weeks. Last Sunday the wind was howling through Wisconsin at a 30+ mph clip, rendering Brett Favre absolutely impotent.
The Offense, on the other hand has come apart at the seams, as a combination of factors has undone our once mighty unit. First and foremost the O has been absolutely hamstrung by the weather the last few weeks, as our downfield passing attack couldn't cope with the wind and cold. Because of this, the Packers last week, played 8men in the box nearly the whole game, knowing Bledsoe would have trouble with the deep ball. The result was men were getting open deep and Drew couldn't connect (trust me when I say that the wind was so bad you could see the ball change course on simple 10yard passes, let alone 30 or 40 yard bombs). Furthermore, Drew has started to slide backwards into some of his bad habits, as he isn't stepping into his throws, and he is starting to short-arm (semi institutional name [I've heard this called other things] for a flick of the wrist with no real arm or body motion) his passes (Drew always sort of short arms his passes, however he has this tendency to chuck 'n duck when a play breaks down which exacerbates the situation). In addition to Drew's problems we have a minor problem with drops, as our WRs have been dropping a lot of catchable balls the last few weeks. This tends to be a problem which crops up with QBs like Drew and Favre, as late in the season the weather is usually colder, making the ball hard to catch because these men throw so hard... just look at Drew's first INT, it hit Price between his numbers, he failed to catch it... INT. If the weather is better, that isn't a pick, as the ball would stick to Price better (the DB didn't get a hand on that ball, but might have impeded Price from getting two hands on it).
Gilbride, Williams, and Grey will all be back next year (so will Drew... my god people how many good QBs do you think are out there... how many could throw for 4000 yards, jeesh some of this criticism is insane, I recall Jimbo tossing up bigger stinkers in consecutive games, than Drew’s last two... furthermore, Drew played better than Favre in Favre's home stadium so calm down), and what I've seen this season the Bills would be insane not to make FS, OLB, and DT their priorities. Additionally, I doubt JR, Robinson or Centers will be back.
Merry Xmas! Too bad both the Fins and the Pats can't loose, however I'll be rooting for the Pats, so the Jets win the AFCE (with a win in GB) and the Pats and Fins will stay home... hehe that would be a great Xmas present.
Just a few points about the last few games, the Bills D, Bills O, and the upcoming off-season.
The Bills defensive improvement has come about for several reasons. One, Schobel and Big Pat have come to play, in fact I think Schobel has finally turned the corner to become a consistent and good NFL DE. He has improved against the run, and he is keeping body contact to a minimum with the OL, allowing him to make plays all over the field. Two, Fletcher's play has improved by leaps and bounds. Three, the backup DL (when rotated in) are beginning to make plays, and earn their paycheck... this D will be something to see if Marcus Jones fully recovers and the Bills acquire a good DT to saddle up next to Big Pat. Three, our CB's are making plays on the ball, and Thomas finally gave us good NB play, forcing QBs to throw at Clements and Winfield for the first time this year. Four, the Bills have adjusted their D scheme slightly, as they have installed a 43 variant into their defensive packages, which features a little "cover-2" occasionally. As a result they are keeping 3 LBers on the field more often when teams go to 3WR sets, and as a result for the first time all season Jerry Grey has been able to force opposing O's to adjust to what he is doing. Finally, the Bills DBs have been aided by very high winds the last few weeks. Last Sunday the wind was howling through Wisconsin at a 30+ mph clip, rendering Brett Favre absolutely impotent.
The Offense, on the other hand has come apart at the seams, as a combination of factors has undone our once mighty unit. First and foremost the O has been absolutely hamstrung by the weather the last few weeks, as our downfield passing attack couldn't cope with the wind and cold. Because of this, the Packers last week, played 8men in the box nearly the whole game, knowing Bledsoe would have trouble with the deep ball. The result was men were getting open deep and Drew couldn't connect (trust me when I say that the wind was so bad you could see the ball change course on simple 10yard passes, let alone 30 or 40 yard bombs). Furthermore, Drew has started to slide backwards into some of his bad habits, as he isn't stepping into his throws, and he is starting to short-arm (semi institutional name [I've heard this called other things] for a flick of the wrist with no real arm or body motion) his passes (Drew always sort of short arms his passes, however he has this tendency to chuck 'n duck when a play breaks down which exacerbates the situation). In addition to Drew's problems we have a minor problem with drops, as our WRs have been dropping a lot of catchable balls the last few weeks. This tends to be a problem which crops up with QBs like Drew and Favre, as late in the season the weather is usually colder, making the ball hard to catch because these men throw so hard... just look at Drew's first INT, it hit Price between his numbers, he failed to catch it... INT. If the weather is better, that isn't a pick, as the ball would stick to Price better (the DB didn't get a hand on that ball, but might have impeded Price from getting two hands on it).
Gilbride, Williams, and Grey will all be back next year (so will Drew... my god people how many good QBs do you think are out there... how many could throw for 4000 yards, jeesh some of this criticism is insane, I recall Jimbo tossing up bigger stinkers in consecutive games, than Drew’s last two... furthermore, Drew played better than Favre in Favre's home stadium so calm down), and what I've seen this season the Bills would be insane not to make FS, OLB, and DT their priorities. Additionally, I doubt JR, Robinson or Centers will be back.
Merry Xmas! Too bad both the Fins and the Pats can't loose, however I'll be rooting for the Pats, so the Jets win the AFCE (with a win in GB) and the Pats and Fins will stay home... hehe that would be a great Xmas present.
Superb analysis as always!
.....have a very Merry Christmas!
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