BillsZone's Postgame Report Card: Bills vs. Saints

by Michael J. Thomas

<b><img height="139" alt="JP_Losman_sacked_10_2_05.jpg" hspace="4" src="/mtimages/2005/Saint_100205/JP_Losman_sacked_10_2_05.jpg" width="120" align="right" border="1" />Quarterbacks:</b> Apparently, this rookie quarterback is more much raw than everybody thought. He had another horrible game and it was his 3rd in a row. Losman was 7/15 for 75 yards with 1 interception and no touchdowns. He also ran 4 times for 38 yards. Again, Losman tried the deep ball and overthrew the receiver. Only this time, his bad pass was intercepted. JP is really struggling out there. Almost all of his passes are either too high or nowhere near the receiver. He also needs to learn how to check off his receivers and stop holding onto the ball too long. It appears that learning under Bledsoe may have been a bad idea. Losman is starting to do a lot of the same things that Bledsoe did when he was here. Kelly Holcomb wasn’t much better. He came in with 13 minutes to go and was pretty bad. Holcomb was 3/6 for 28 yards and fumbled the ball twice. It appears that Holcomb isn’t the answer. Either way, Mularkey just needs to pick a QB and stick with it. This musical quarterbacks game isn’t going to work. <b>Grade: F</b>

Running Backs: At least one part of the offense works. Willis McGahee had a really good day and was fighting for the extra yardage every time. He has also gone back to the “run the ball up the middle” style that worked well last season. It’s nice to see him not dance around anymore. McGahee had 16 carries for 84 yards, and caught 2 passes for 17 yards. He was running well whenever he got the ball, except for that 4th down and inches, when he was stopped behind the line. I blame the offensive line more for that play. There were no holes whatsoever for McGahee to run thru, when he needed it. Shaud Williams had 2 carries for 19 yards, including a 12-yard run on a draw play that resulted in a first down. Daimon Shelton had some nice blocks, but dropped a pass. Overall, it was a pretty good day for this unit. The only problem is that the coaches didn’t run the ball enough. They need to learn to stick with it. Grade: B-

Wide Receivers: This time the receivers deserve some of the blame. Eric Moulds dropped at least 2 catchable balls. He also couldn’t get much separation and had a questionable holding penalty call on McGahee’s 40-yard run. Moulds finished the day with 2 receptions for 14 yards. Lee Evans doesn’t seem to be on JP Losman’s radar. He is getting hardly any passes thrown his way. However, he also needs to get open more. Where’s the separation from last year? Evans finished with 2 catches for 27 yards. Josh Reed had a very quiet day. He caught one pass for 14 yards, but it did convert a 3rd down, so that’s always good. Jonathan Smith was the leading receiver of the day. He caught 2 balls for 30 yards. Overall, it was another bad day for this unit. They aren’t fully to blame, but it would be nice if they could actually make some plays to help the rookie quarterback out. Grade: D-

Tight Ends: It looks like the only thing that the tight ends are for is blocking. They have to help the offensive line out. They continue to be ignored in this offense. JP Losman did throw to Ryan Neufeld, but it was a bad pass and hit his chest. The tight ends finished the day with 0 catches for 0 yards. Overall, this is a unit that needs to be utilized better. They were a big part of the offense last year and really helped Drew Bledsoe out. Why can’t Losman throw to his tight ends? They need to throw the ball to the middle of the field anyways. Grade: F

Offensive Line: Man I miss those days when the Bills offensive line could actually give our quarterback some time to throw. JP Losman is getting hurried on almost every play. The pass blocking is atrocious. The run blocking is a little better. They did open some holes for McGahee and Trey Teague made a nice block to spring McGahee for a 25-yard gain on the first offensive play of the day. But then he whiffed on some blocks for Losman and helped contribute in the 4 sacks on our rookie quarterback. The line also blew an assignment when McGahee needed less than a yard to get the first down on 4th down and inches. There were no holes whatsoever and McGahee was tackled for a loss. They also struggled with the dumb penalties. Greg Jerman had a false start. Bennie Anderson had one too, plus a holding penalty. Where is the discipline? Overall, it was another terrible day for this unit. It needs a major overhaul badly. It’s time for Tom Donahoe to stop ignoring this unit. I long for the days when Kent Hull, Jim Ritcher, Will Wilford, and Howard Ballard were manning the line. Grade: F

Defensive Line: This unit just isn’t the same without Big Pat. They really appear to miss his size in the middle. They are letting teams run right up the middle and they don’t have much pass rush. Aaron Schobel proved again why he didn’t deserve that huge contract. He has now gone 3 games without a sack. He’s supposed to be the sack leader on this team and can’t even take the quarterback down. Schobel finished the game with 5 tackles. Chris Kelsay was not any better. He did make knock down a couple passes, but he only had 1 tackle. Ryan Denney was burned by Aaron Brooks with his legs. He did manage to rack up 5 tackles though. Sam Adams appears to be losing it. He fades too easily at the end of the game and really seemed to give up. Adams had 1 tackle. Tim Anderson did a nice job filling in for an injured Ron Edwards. He finished the day with 5 tackles. Justin Bannan struggled a bit, but he still ended up with 3 tackles. Overall, it was another quiet day for the Bills front 4. They are supposed to be the big part of the defense and supposed to shut down the run and pressure the quarterback, but they have been struggling a lot lately. Grade: F

Linebackers: London Fletcher continues to rack up tackles and help keep this defense from falling completely apart. He is all over the field and making some plays, even with a sore hamstring. Fletcher finished the day with 9 total tackles, the team’s only sack, and a pass deflection. Angelo Crowell did a pretty good job stepping in for Takeo Spikes. He finished the game with 7 tackles. But it still isn’t the same as Takeo Spikes. That intensity was definitely missed. Jeff Posey was his normal quiet self. He is still not a factor in the pass rush and is quiet on the field. Posey finished the day with 1 tackle and 3 assists. Overall, it was a quiet day for this unit. They did a nice job keeping Deuce McAllister in check, but appeared to fade at the end of the game when Deuce ran all over the place on the last drive. Grade: D

Secondary: For the 3rd week in a row, this unit did the best overall defensively. Nate Clements was the usual lock down corner that we have grown to love. He did a nice job shutting down his receiver. Clements had 7 tackles on the day. The only negative was that he had a holding penalty, which negated a 3rd down sack on Aaron Brooks. Terrence McGee was beat badly by Donte Stallworth several times. He did make a couple nice plays out there though. McGee finished the day with 4 tackles. Lawyer Milloy was all over the place and made some nice plays even though he was wearing that cast on his thumb. Milloy led the team with 10 tackles. Troy Vincent struggled in coverage and was also beat by Stallworth. He did make 6 tackles though. Overall, the defensive backs didn’t have a bad day. They made tackles when they needed to, but they did get burned with the long ball at times and allowed 3 third downs to be converted in the air. That needs to change for this defense to be respected. Grade: C-

Special Teams: Again, this unit continues to be the top unit on the team. The kick return team did a great job and averaged 36 yards on 6 returns. It was definitely helped by Terrence McGee’s spectacular 82-yard kick return to end the half that ended 3 yards short of the end zone. It was an excellent return and will definitely be on a few highlight reels and blooper reels too. McGee tripped over a Saints player at the 5-yard line and stumbled right before he was able to get into the end zone for the touchdown. He appeared to be out of gas, as he ran for over 100 yards if you add in all the spinning around and breaking tackles that he did. It was still a great play to watch. There was also another great kick return by Jonathan Smith, who ran 64 yards to get to the 40-yard line. The only problem was that Mark Campbell held and that resulted in a loss of 20 yards. Jonathan Smith also returned a punt for 8 yards. Brian Moorman was back to his usual stellar self. He had 5 punts for an average of 53.4 yards with a long of 59 yards, including 2 that were inside the 20-yard line. Rian Lindell barely missed a 45-yard field goal. It had the distance and power, but it shifted wide right and was probably couple feet away from being good. Lindell did a nice job on the kickoffs. Overall, it was another good day for the special teams. The only negative was the penalties. They have to work on eliminating those penalties. Grade: B+

Coaching: This team is starting to fall apart at the seams. They completely gave up at the end of the game and that’s pathetic. The players are not mentally tough, and neither are the coaches. Coach Mularkey gave up on the team when he chose to punt the ball on 4th down when there was only 4 minutes to go in the game. He had to go for it. There was no way that he’d get the ball back with much time on the clock and he needed two scores. But he decided to punt it. That was a gutless call. And it reminded me of the Gregg Williams era. Actually the offense reminded me of the Gregg Williams era too. I swear that I saw Kevin Gilbride out there. Why would you pass the ball on every play when it isn’t working? The run was working and it was a huge part of that first drive, but they chose to give up on the run too early. They went back to it in the 2nd half, but it was a bit too late. The other thing that annoys me is the fact that Mularkey has pulled the rookie quarterback 2 times this year. JP Losman is also struggling with some confidence issues and than you yank him with 12 minutes to go in the game? Come on! If you want a spark, you do it after halftime. You don’t wait until the last quarter. JP Losman should be given a chance to finish what he’s started. He needs that kind of experience. Who knows, maybe they would have come back? As for the defense, they again were out coached. Jerry Gray keeps blitzing on every down, but it’s not working. He needs to find a way to get pressure on the quarterback and it doesn’t look like blitzing is going to do it. Overall, it was another day of the same old. This team looks lost out there. They really need some help. We need a new spark for this team, like McGahee was last year. Maybe Kelly Holcomb is that spark. I don’t know. I still say that the Bills need to take our lumps with JP Losman and figure out if he’s the guy they want running the show. If not, then find a replacement. Either way, stop with the musical quarterbacks! Grade: F