Journey into the abyss continues

by Brandon Mitchell

The Buffalo Bills went into the game ready for war against the New York Jets. Embarrassed back in week one by the Jets at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Bills dug their trenches for heavy warfare. They never stopped digging! They excavated a hole big enough and deep enough for both offense and defense. This was a statement game, and if my ears don't deceive me, it's the same ol' speech and action delivered by the Buffalo Bills. You can dub this one 'Stupid Buffalo Bills tricks.' Since the beginning of last season to the present, there is enough footage to last a complete "Late Night with David Letterman" season.

If there's an award for the biggest bonehead play in a game, just maybe give it to Eddie Robinson. I know it's a team effort, but you have to stand up as a single player when the time comes. Eddie's did and he blew it big time. All time is important in a football game, but you can always count on an individual effort to come up big in a game. I know Eddie must feel the worst out of any player or fan of the Bills. Not that it was a rookie quarterback leading him in a dance, but the fact he lost his football savvy thinking, and fell back on human tendencies. If he was thinking like he should have, Chad Pennington would've been drilled before the endzone. Buffalo would have had the ball with around 97 yards to go, sounds a lot better than "touchdown Jets" doesn't it?

Someone please take Kevin Gilbride aside and tell him how to gain control of his offense. This time he gave up in the second quarter, and tried to resume his so called "balanced attack" in the third. Clearly he is lost when it comes to devising a plan and executing accordingly. What has happened to the passing and the 30 points per game? If you take a close look, Drew Bledsoe is taking more time to find an open receiver. Not that Eric Moulds and crew aren't running routes, it's that they are running the same old stuff from the start of the season with no mix. Teams are looking at film and are making a big dent in the offense's production.

Here's a play that would have any defense off guard. How about a designed roll out for Bledsoe? That's something a defense surely wouldn't see coming. I don't think anybody would see that one coming. Getting back to Gilbride, you know when he has pushed his panic button. That's when Larry Centers starts to catch the ball. That's another good mix up call; get Centers involved more in the game. Do it early, not just when you think things are getting bleak. Most important, I have noticed that the team is burning out early in games. Like a dragster all balls out for a short distance; leaving nothing in the tank physically or emotionally the rest of the game. The more I wonder about their problems and the source, the more I find myself even more confused than the last time I pondered the same thought.

I mean this team really has me thinking about everything, not just one small gray area. Last week I stated that Gilbride must go, and that he is stuck in his own ways. Thinking about the flip side of this subject, can he be changed? And would it be a good thing? You think it might work, then it hits you. If he could he would have by now, and he hasn't, so it's still goodbye to Gilbride.

Here's a drill Jerry Gray can run in practice this week: tie a rope to the face mask of the defensive backs. When they reach the end of the rope, it turns their heads around to catch up on all the action they've had their backs to. Make it a ten yard rope.

It's almost laundry time at One Bills Drive and boy are there some ugly stains to get out.