| December 02, 2004 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 03:36 AM |
Two questions that have nothing to do with the play on the field:One word to describe Sunday’s Buffalo Bills game:
Impressive.
Three thoughts about the game:
MVP: Willis McGahee. At the start of the season, I was the first to defend the use of Travis Henry in order to keep his trade value high. I will admit that the major part of the turn around of Drew Bledsoe has been the insertion of McGahee into the line-up. The kid doesn’t put the rock on the carpet, sees the field very well and let’s his blockers set up their blocks. Who can ask for anything more?
Sunday was proof of something I mentioned last week. It is not about Drew Bledsoe. Mike Mularkey has a responsibility to teach 52 other players (as well as the eight on the practice squad) to learn how to win. That is the best way to make the transition to JP Losman as easy as possible. Losman 2005 = McGahee 2004. Bring him along slowly and let him grow rather than letting him live trial by fire. Wouldn’t it be better to let the kid come into a winning situation and learn rather than face adversity that, in theory, could set his career back? QBs drafted in the first round fail 50% of the time.
Drew Bledsoe appears to want to be the starting QB for the Buffalo Bills next season. Has Bledsoe been great this year? Nope. Has he been better than half of the other QBs in the league? Yup. Should Bledsoe lead this team to a 9-7 season (or better) and he deserves to be brought back next year. Does that mean if he struggles next year he gets to slide? No. The same as the McGahee/Henry situation should apply to Losman/Bledsoe next year. As soon as Bledsoe struggles he should be yanked.
Four Difference Makers:
Genius move of the week: Fourth and one for Buffalo and while Rian Lindell actually makes a field goal from further than 40 yards Coach Mularkey is busy calling a time out? Good move. Inspector Gadget puts the offense back in and Bledsoe fakes a QB sneak and throws a backward pass to McGahee for a 30 yard touchdown.
Genius move of the week II: Leading 17-3 to start off the second half the Bills brain trust orders up an onside kick. If it backfires then Seattle is back in the game and Mularkey looks like a fool. Well, this week Mularkey looks as smart as Bill Belicheck.
A year ago I wrote how Jerry Gray was not qualified to be a defensive coordinator in the NFL. Coaches need time to learn too. The defense, especially in the second half of games, is solid. One weakness of the Levy Years was the inflexibility to adjust at halftime. Not so with Gray who appears to be one of the best at adjusting on the fly.
The turning point of the season was at the very minute that Mike Mularkey showed he was in charge of this team: benching Sam Adams in the home game against Miami. Look it up. Except for the two road games at Baltimore and New England the Buffalo Bills have been solid since that moment.
Five Post-it Notes:
How many Buffalo Bills fans jump off the Peace Bridge if the Bills lose to Miami on Sunday??
To ‘Fins fans everywhere: December 1, 2002.
Ty Willingham was a good coach. He just didn’t beat Southern California and his teams looked putrid not doing it. Equate this rivalry to Michigan-Ohio State and you get the magnitude of three straight 30+ point losses to the Trojans. Losing to “the other” Catholic school on the schedule (Boston College) a couple of times doesn’t help. Can anybody please say, “Hello Urban Meyer”?
The Giants cashed in playoff chips for Eli Manning to get playing time? The goal is winning. For what the G-men have given up for Eli this season, he better be the second coming of Peyton and not Archie.
The thing I would have liked to have been this week: A U2 fan living in New York City. An appearance on Saturday Night Live, an open concert from the back of a truck and the release of their new album! What a week! By the way, catch the new U2 song Miracle Drug.
Six Fleeting thoughts:
1. I’m saying a prayer for the folks in Ukraine. Please figure out a way to settle your election. Civil War would be a terrible thing to your burgeoning country.
2. Think salary cap jail can be overcome overnight? Think again. Look at the Sagarin ratings of the teams who have train wrecked their cap in the last five years. Buffalo is the best at 13. Tennessee (20), Washington (22), Oakland (23), Dallas (24), Tampa Bay (28), Miami (30) and San Francisco (32) are still struggling to get back to resembling proud NFL franchises and probably all of them will for at least one, if not two to three, more years.
3. This just in: Detroit and Chicago still suck and that guy wearing #4 in Green Bay is still pretty good.
4. Still think that Drew Bledsoe will not be starting in the NFL next year? The Bears just signed Jeff “I’ve been out of football for three years” George to be their backup. Look at the dearth of talent at the QB position. Tell me any of the QBs on San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans or Baltimore are better than Bledsoe. Drew Brees and two rookies are not going to fill all of the QB needs in this league.
5. The only downer about the Buffalo Bills beating the St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks in successive weeks? According to the Sagarin Ratings those two teams have played the 27th and 32nd hardest schedule in the league. Ouch. The NFC West is just plain bad.
6. Just think. Bass Pro might get use out of the old Aud before the Sabres get use out of the HSBC Arena. Note to the politicians: Don’t figure out a way to screw this one up. Better yet, quit now!