| August 13, 2005 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 11:52 PM |
Preseason Game 1 Observations: Bills @ Colts
Ahhh...boy is it good to have football back and be able to watch the Bills, isn’t it? I won’t rub it in too much since I know many Bills fans here aren’t local and couldn’t see the Bills preseason game.
To start, there were positives and infuriating negatives in this game. In general, I pay little attention to a preseason score or even a win. I prefer to look at the plays and talk about what was done well and what needs work. I don’t intend on listing play by play details as you will no doubt be able to read those elsewhere. Instead, I’ll list my observations of the game and hope to give you enough details to show you where some players stand
Quarterback: The big question on everyone’s mind – how did JP look? A definite slow start...I think it was good of Mularkey to keep him in into the 3rd quarter. The stats will say that for most of the 1st half, JP had no 3rd down conversions. The referees robbed JP and Reed of a good pass conversion in the 1st quarter that would have changed those stats and moved the chains – perhaps even changing the outcome of that drive. Later, in the 2nd quarter, JP would put together a good 68 yard drive, even going for it on a 4th and 1 down, ultimately culminating in a touchdown score to Lee Evans. Overall, JP looked poised and in control. A lot of his inability to move the chains was due to stupid penalties being done by his Olinemen, tight ends and almost every position. This was the most infuriating part of the whole game. Eliminate these penalties, and I bet JP’s slow start doesn’t look so slow. But when you are forced into many 1st and 20 or 3rd and long, you just can’t put all the blame on Losman. I look forward to seeing what he can do when the team doesn’t make it more difficult for him to succeed. Holcomb and Matthews performed satisfactorily. Woodbury is a guy that I’m not sure we should get rid of. Woodbury played special teams and showed that he was tough and quick. Who ever heard of a quarterback playing special teams? Certainly doesn’t happen often, but this guy is tough enough. I like Matthews experience and knowledge, but I’m more in favor of developing Woodbury. I hope we keep him.
Offensive Line: Well, it was a pity that the O-line didn’t get the challenge that they were hoping for since the Colts D-line was decimated with injuries and consisted mostly of backups. Nevertheless, the O-line looked how they should have looked against backups…they looked good. The 1st string O-line picked up the Colts defensive line stunts very well, only allowing one to get through for the only sack against the 1st stringers. Gandy’s name was not heard much throughout the night - kudos to him for handling his position well. A thumbs down to Bennie Anderson who committed back to back penalties, although he did defend well the rest of the time.
The 2nd string O-line was put in when the team returned from half time in the 3rd quarter. As I mentioned in my training camp reports, the backup O-linemen did not fair well and immediately allowed a JP sack/fumble thanks to Geisinger being beat as well as a forced punt on a later attempt with the same lineup. Also, thumbs down to Tucker for getting called with a holding penalty against a 2nd/3rd stringer later in the game. Tucker started for us last year and should be better than that.
On a bright note, Marv Levy mentioned while watching the O-line backups that Jim McNally was quoted as saying that Jason Peters was the best physical specimen at Left Tackle he has ever seen. Coming from a renowned O-line coach with so many years of experience that was an impressive remark indeed! Peters did handle his position well and has shown that he outclasses backup defensive ends consistently. I look forward to watching him progress to the star that I think he can eventually become.
Wide Receiver: Moulds had a relatively quiet night. He was overthrown once or twice by JP – none of which was his fault, but we know what he can do, so it wasn’t a big deal to not see much from him.
Evans on the other hand made some good catches and scored a touchdown for the Bills in the 2nd quarter. I regret choosing Deion Branch over him in my fantasy draft.
Josh Reed was robbed in one important 3rd down play in the 1st quarter that killed a drive. But other than that, he too was a non-entity.
Among the backups, Aiken was superb. He not only made several catches for the team, but also did the intangibles – like good blocking downfield. He was the high man on the field with 32 yards on 2 catches. Haddad also had a good night with 3 catches for 31 yards. Jonathan Smith makes me nervous for some reason. Not only did he not make many of his catches thrown his way (even against 3rd stringer defensive backs) but I winced every time I saw him hit. Tony Brown missed some easy catches that were thrown his way and didn’t help himself at all. Wilson looked good and perhaps has a remote chance of making the team if he can unseat Smith. Personally, I hope this happens as I think he has a big upside and may develop quite well.
Running Back: McGahee looked as solid as ever and boy was I glad when Mularkey took him out early. McGahee gave most of us a scare when he went to the sidelines limping on a short run in the 1st quarter after numerous Colt defenders tackled and fell on him. McGahee returned shortly after for a brief stint and then was taken out altogether.
Shaud Williams took over afterward and looked fantastic. He had several long runs and could have had more if not for penalties negating his effort. His quick acceleration, agility and even strength make for a good, solid combination. Kudos to Shaud for asking his coach last year how he could improve himself for this year…and more importantly, following through on it. Go-getters like him are what make good football players.
Once JP was out of the game, it became a more run-oriented offense to see what they had to offer. Gates came in later and did okay, but nothing really spectacular. Although he’s supposed to have 4.4 speed, he doesn’t appear to have an instant quick acceleration and may need a hole to run through before building it up. I’m not going to be harsh on him yet, however, and will wait to see him in a few more games first.
Reshard Lee was in last and apparently may be currently in last place on the running back depth list right now. He did have a fair amount of good runs at the end, but I would like to see him against better caliber defenders and see how he fares.
Joe Burns didn’t do much on offense but was a monster on special teams. It’s going to be hard to get rid of him with plays like the ones he had on special teams.
Fullback: I didn’t notice much if Damien Shelton was in, but I was looking more for Goldsberry. In training camp, I did report that he seem to struggle in catching passes. In this preseason game, he did seem much better and actually caught 2 passes for 6 yards. I also liked as he fought for 1 or 2 extra yards after. But for Goldsberry to make it on the team, he has to equal, if not surpass, Burns playing in Special Teams. It’s not totally out of the question, but might prove difficult for him.
Tight End: Campbell had a few catches and took a few good hits, but all in all, the tight ends helped in the blocking and weren’t in spectacular plays. There was nothing major to report on any of them.
Overall Offense: Although JP’s slow start may be unsettling to some, it didn’t bother me in the least. The Bills clearly wanted to test JP’s passing skills and ability to read the defense, and chose more often to go to the passing game than to the run game. This was a test for JP to get acclimated to the NFL speed and to put into effect all he has learned. I expect regular season games to have a lot more running with Willis and less reliance on JP to make a special play. Mularkey did the right thing in implementing this game plan to work JP out and have him gain experience. However, thumbs down for Mularkey putting in O-line 2nd stringers in the beginning of the 3rd quarter to protect him. Even though they too were facing 2nd stringers, it doesn’t mean that our O-line 2nd stringers compare with the Colts D-line 2nd stringers. Except for Jason Peters, the O-line was pretty much outclassed and could’ve gotten JP hurt. If the intent was to test JP’s survival skills when a pocket breaks down, that was not a risk worth taking. I sincerely hope Mularkey doesn’t do that again.
On the defensive side, man what a show!!! I hesitate to even say anything here as I don’t know if words can fully describe their dominance.
Defensive Line: All front 4 were dominant at multiple times. Schobel was a monster and Edwards was frequently in the backfield rushing and harassing their QB. The Bills front line also enjoyed a frequent run blitz from the secondary and LBs to help rush and confuse the QB and totally inhibited the run game of the Colts. The stats will show that the Colts were held overall in the negative in the run game. Now THAT is outstanding defense – even if they didn’t face Manning and Edgerrin hardly except for a sequence or two!
The lines’ depth also performed well. Gause played nicely and had a sack in the 2nd half. He is apparently ahead on the curve compared to Ritzmann, though Ritzmann had a nice forced fumble late in the 4th quarter and 2 sacks to accompany that.
Linebacker: Our elite linebacker unit once again proved how good they are by constantly assisting with the run blitz and assisting the front D-line and not letting anyone through. They were taken out fairly early to allow our 2nd unit in who are, in turn, good enough to start on most any other team. They too performed admirably and even showed their speed level in being able to cover wide receivers far down the field and keep up with them.
I was hoping to see more of Ezekiel to rate him, but at this point, I have to say that he would have to perform at a Ray Lewis level to get him into our line backer rotation. We have fantastic starters and fantastic depth. We can put him on the practice squad, but unless something happens to a starter or within our depth, I really can’t see him breaking into our lineup even if he has some good skills.
Cornerback: The secondary had their hands full as the Colts were forced to go to the air to compensate for a lack of a running game. The MVP award was rightly given to Jabari Greer who had an outstanding night. Greer had a beautiful intercepting dive in the 2nd quarter not to mention being featured in several pass defenses. His outstanding closing speed allows him to defend well and may cause him to surprise and deceive an opponents quarterback with that speed. With Kevin Thomas out, the nickel back position is wide open, and Greer is apparently letting everyone know that he intends on remaining in the position. Nate Clements performed well early and had a great tackle in the beginning series of the Colts.
Eric King was also in the midst of plays every time. Although he didn’t stand out a great deal with an interception or many tackles, he was always in the midst of the play and may become the actual person making the tackle if he gets a little faster in reading coverage and can get there a step sooner. Overall, there were no bad things to be said about Eric’s performance. He still is one who appears to have potential.
The rest of the CBs got a chance late. Therrion Fontenot was step by step next to his receiver twice, and yet didn’t show much instinct as the ball was in and out of the hands and almost caught twice in two long bombs thrown to the back up receiver of the Colts. Others like Richardson or Marvin Ward seem to perform decently on coverage as well as continuing the run blitz. In fact, Ward had a sack and showed some good pressure in the plays he was in.
Safety: The Safeties were used to frequently help the run blitz package that Gray prepared for the Colts. In the 1st few plays of the night, Lawyer Milloy came from the right side and laid a hit on Rhodes, who was to pick up the blitz, and sent him to the ground several feet back. Spikes then just beat Milloy for the sack, but Milloy’s play was so outstanding, that I thought he should have got atleast a half a sack out of the play in the stats. Overall, our starting safeties played well. The Colts did have a few long ones get through and in the 2nd half, there was even a blown play where someone didn’t pick up the right man – which led to the Colts only touchdown.
A thumbs down to Coy Wire. He was frequently late on coverage and even had a stupid penalty on an incompleted pass attempt of the Colts. The refs ruled pass interference, while I myself would have ruled personal foul for Coy hitting the guy when it was clear he had no chance of getting the pass. That was just a stupid play overall and not warranted from someone who’s been in the league for years.
Jim Leonhard also looked good and performed well in special teams. The coaches may want to consider whether he is a capable replacement to Wire. After defending Wire for a few years now, I am ready to let go and say he had his chance and just hasn’t improved much. It’s time to give someone else a try. Leonhard almost had an interception also. As he has been described, he always seems to be around the play and despite his size, acquits himself well on the field. I’m all for giving him more time these next few preseason games and evaluating whether he may replace Wire or not!
Overall Defense: It was clear from the start that Mularkey told Gray to implement a constant run blitz against the Colts. In my opinion, Mularkey knows he has a solid D-line and he knows he has a solid line backing corp and even a backup corp. Instead, he seemed to want to put pressure on the secondary and therefore made sure that the Colts had to pass on almost every play if they wanted to move the ball. Whether he was testing to see if Jabari Greer would step up, or testing the backup cornerbacks and safeties also, Mularkey made sure that the bulk of the pressure was going to fall on them. And admirably they did perform.
Though they allowed almost 300 yards in passing against backup quarterbacks Sorgi and Travis Brown, many of those were in the 2nd half – including the garbage touchdown the Colts had that was allowed by a backup missing his man to cover. That being said, they did not face Manning or his receivers much and therefore performed as they should have. Anything else but a dominating game against the Colts backups would have looked bad on a defense that wants to be considered elite. However, dominating they were – and provided a smile on JP Losman’s face when he was interviewed and asked what he thought about his defense…
Special Teams: This unit continues to be elite. Lauvale Sape made his mark yesterday blocking a punt and running it in for a touchdown much like Jason Peters did late last year. I liked a comment made by Marv Levy, who was adamant on good special teams play while he coached the Bills. He said that the coaches have done an interesting thing with the Bills Special teams unit. Instead of always putting the quickest fastest people on it, they have also placed some big people who just happen to have speed. Jason Peters for example runs a 4.8 at 330 lbs. At that speed, he can outrun a typical, non-track star person – he can certainly outrun me and I’m close to half his weight. Opponents’ teams are put in a quandary. Do they just play their quick personnel to attempt and get down before our lightning quick returners return the balls for good yardage, as is typically done? Or, do they place larger people that can block the likes of Jason Peters and Sape but will be slow to get down and risk having good coverage for the returner? I love the double edge sword our special teams provide and look forward to another great year by them.
Jonathan Smith was tested several times last night both as a wide receiver and on special teams. Though he did okay, I’m really not a fan of keeping him and think we have better talent at both positions that we don’t need to keep him around. Once again, though he only made one return, I thought Leonard performed well here and could contribute if need be. Lionel Gates had the best kickoff return in the game, bringing it back 27 yards. As I mention in the running back section, he doesn’t appear to have instant acceleration like Shaud Williams does, but once he gets going, he gets it. For this reason, kickoff returns might suit him well as he does get a chance to run and kick into the next gear. With Parrish out, I wouldn’t mind seeing Gates back there if he makes the team.
Overall, the special teams looked good, and although I think they had a stupid penalty or two, they more than made up for it in their play and coverage.
One negative note that I noticed and that infuriated me (besides the overall penalties)…In one special teams field goal play, the snap was botched and Moorman was forced to run with the ball. At the point where Moorman made the decision to run, the defender was almost on him and runs right past Lindell to take Moorman down as he begins to run toward the sideline, before he can get to the 1st down marker. Now keep in mind that Moorman ran track and if given a slight edge, can burn another defender. However, when Moorman catches the botched snap and doesn’t have enough time to set it (not to mention there was a defender half way there already). Lindell, who just acted like he was shocked and didn’t know what to do, should have laid a pop or atleast made an attempt to block the defender. Had he done this, Moorman would have EASILY had the 1st down.
Though he did well in his kicks, a big thumbs down for Lindell not reacting quicker and giving Moorman the chance to make something out of nothing. Had Lindell done this, I would have been raving about his good play and what a good night he had. As a result of his inaction, I was left with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. As a professional football player, he needs to be ready for the unexpected and needs to react quicker than that. Moorman didn’t hesitate to react once he realized he was out of time to set. It’s too bad his partner Lindell couldn’t reciprocate!
Overall Analysis: What more can be said? I don’t think anyone can be upset with the performance of the players in this first preseason game. Tasker himself hit a bullseye for me when he mentioned that this game was the best the Bills have looked in the first preseason game for a number of years now. I am looking forward to continue evaluating our backups and undrafted talent and look forward to see JP continuing to mature at the position. Let’s hope this is just the tip of the iceberg in the start of an awesome season!!!