OpIv37's Post-game review

by Bryan Ault

There's only one way to start an article after a game like this:

Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills.

The bipolar nature of this season continues as the Bills offense put on a clinic against the Chiefs. This game was all about Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch and Leodis McKelvin. They were dominant and that's why this game was so lopsided.

However, let's not get too excited. This was against an opponent that entered the game at 1-9 and is in a full-fledged rebuilding cycle. Much work needs to be done if this team is going to make the playoffs (more on that below). Often, in blowouts, the losing team adds points in garbage time when the winning team drops into a soft D. That was not the case today, as 24 of the Chiefs' 31 points came before the Bills opened up a huge lead. The D was really struggling.

Still, I saw something that has been missing in Buffalo for years. With some key injuries on D (Whitner, Schobel, Bryan Scott limited to S/T), rookies stepped up (McKelvin and Corner) and the offense carried the team. Usually, when one unit struggles for Buffalo, it brings the rest of the team down. It was refreshing to see the offense come through and ensure a victory.

The Good:

-Trent Edwards is FINALLY back to form for the first time since suffering a concussion against Arizona.

-Lynch and Jackson both played well.

-The OL played well in both the running game and pass protection.

-Josh Reed was a welcome return as he had a few key catches. It's hard to pin a team's success or failure on one player, especially when that player has pedestrian numbers. But this offense looks COMPLETELY different with Reed on the field.

-Both Schouman and Fine had key grabs. Hopefully that means Royal is on his way out.

-Evans finally got involved.

-The offensive playcalling is much better (more on that later).

-The defense used blitzes and the creep scheme. They even improvised with 3 DE's and 1 DT (Ellis and Kelsay at DE, Stroud at DT with Denney playing next to him but standing upright). Some of the blitzes actually worked (Wilson got a sack).

-Leodis McKelvin was amazing both on D and as a returner. The only unfortunate part about that is that it could be the end of Jabari Greer's tenure in Buffalo (Greer is a FA at the end of the season).

-Reggie Corner played well at nickel and forced a fumble. He did give up some catches to Gonzales, but he was in the right position and Gonzo just made great plays.

-Stroud was solid, although not as dominant as he was against Seattle or Cleveland. He had the fumble recovery, tipped a pass, and recognized a few screen plays that he was able to chase down.

-Chris Ellis had a few pressures. I'm not ready to anoint him the next Bruce Smith or even Aaron Schobel, but it was encouraging to see him show something.

-After the way McGee played in the last two games, Thigpen didn't even challenge him until the game was already out of hand. McGee also made a great play to save a TD on Larry Johnson's long run.

-S/T played well, although I don't understand the purpose of the short kick-offs.

The Bad:

-I am so sick of this D over-pursuing. KC was ready for it with the delayed runs and screens right from the beginning of the game. There is ALWAYS a HUGE gap between the 1st and 2nd levels of the D. On Larry Johnson's long run, Kelsay ran straight after the QB and never even looked at LJ. It's extremely frustrating to watch and it's one of the reasons why this team is surrendering long running plays.

-Our LB's suck, especially in pass coverage. Mitchell got beat in pass coverage by an RB and missed several tackles, including one where he tried to strip the ball from LJ rather than making the tackle. It allowed what should have been a short gain to go for a first down. Ellison gave up some passes and dropped a sure INT. Poz got smoked trying to chase down Thigpen. This is also frustrating, because on paper this unit is solid. In practice, they are not.

-We need Whitner back and Scott healthy because Simpson and Wilson look lost back there.

-Where is James Hardy?

-Note to Jauron: STOP WASTING TIME OUTS!!! This game was out of hand so it was irrelevant to the outcome, but it certainly wasn't irrelevant against Cleveland and it's frustrating that Jauron hasn't fixed this problem after almost 3 seasons.

Op's Over-analysis of the week: offensive play-calling revisited.

In general, I was pleased with the offensive play-calling this week, although there were a few questionable calls. First, the offense used a lot of misdirection plays- ie, the receiver or TE in motion would stop on one side of the formation but they would run to the other side. This made the runs less predictable and I think it was largely successful.

Second, they used different formations, including at least one play with both Lynch and Jackson in the backfield and a Wildcat formation with no QB on the field.

Third, they went for the kill, and it WORKED. The play where Edwards missed Royal in the backfield was perfectly designed and called at the perfect time, and Jauron was rewarded for showing some testicular fortitude and going for it on 4th down. When the Bills got the ball with a 40-17 lead, they were throwing downfield and were not content to just sit on the lead. This is the opposite of the conservatism that Jauron has shown throughout his career and it's exactly what the team needed.

I didn't care for the 3 straight running plays on the Bills' 2nd first and goal situation. It was typical Jauron conservatism and led to a FG. I also didn't understand why the Bills lined up in a spread shotgun formation in the first play after KC scored to make it 14-10. At that point, Edwards still hadn't gone downfield and it was clear that he was still shaky. The pass ended up being a dump off to Royal for a 4 yard loss. It didn't fool anyone and it was a terrible call at the time.

Still, the play-calling was generally a lot more creative and effective than it has been so far this season.

General Comments/Looking forward:

-Despite this win, the playoff picture is still an uphill battle. Baltimore won and has a one-game lead, as does NE. I would have preferred that Miami won that game because I think the Bills have a better chance of beating Miami than they do beating NE. Long story short, the Bills have to finish 4-1 and must beat Miami, Denver and NE to have a shot at the playoffs. Even that may not be enough.

-Note to Marcus Stroud: Great job on the fumble recovery, but next time GET THE HELL ON THE GROUND. There's a good reason why guys who weigh 300+ lbs and wear that much padding don't handle the ball.

-The Bills still haven't beaten a winning team, but they can only play the teams on the schedule. They played a bad team and won big, even with a poor defensive performance. We can't really ask for more than that.

-One encouraging sign for this team is that a lot of young players are contributing or showing flashes: Edwards, McKelvin, Kyle Williams, and to a lesser extent, Schouman, Fine, Corner and Ellis.

-Gonzales pissed me off with the way he acted towards Buffalo at the trade deadline, but I gained a lot of respect for him today. He's still playing hard and trying, even at the end of a blowout game in a terrible season. The skeptics will say he's playing for his next contract, but he's arguably the best TE in the history of the NFL. He could easily skate and still get his payday. I have to give him props for still playing hard.

-Can we all finally admit that Favre makes the Jets a LOT better? The division is pretty much theirs if they finish 3-2 or better, which shouldn't be a problem.

-I still have my doubts about Jauron, but I'm hoping he can turn this thing around so we don't have to go through another coaching change.