Bleed Buffalo

Dwight Jones, North Carolina: Jones is arguably the most highly-touted receiver prospect in Mobile this week and has the potential to sneak into the first round with a strong showing. He hasn’t done much to impress thus far this week and has been knocked for his inability to run fluid routes and create separation from defenders. Nevertheless, the talent is there with Jones and his mixture of size and speed is just terrifying. Jones has the prototypical build of a game-changing receiver. At 6’4, 226 he’s built like Dez Bryant but also seems to have some of the same issues Bryant had coming out of Oklahoma State. His route running needs some serious polish and if the practices earlier in the week are any indication, he needs to learn how to use his frame to break press coverage and adjust to the ball when it’s in the air. Jones seems to be a bit of a project, not unlike his former counterpart in Hakeem Nicks when he was coming out of UNC, but a strong performance in Saturday’s game could be enough to garner some serious interest in the early rounds of April’s draft. .

T.J. Graham, NC State: Graham being number two on this list should tell you that there aren’t many early round receiver prospects present in Alabama this week. That’s no knock against Graham because he is an explosive player who has the potential to be a game breaker for any team that drafts him. Graham’s explosiveness was mostly on special teams however, and caught a career-best 46 passes in 2011 for the Wolf Pack. There’s no doubt he’s a burner and will likely record a top end 40-time at the combine but his future in the NFL will likely never take him out of the slot. At 5’11” 176 he will struggle against press coverage and won’t be a threat to go across the middle. Depending on where he falls (projected 2^nd to 3^rd) he would be a nice replacement for Roscoe Parrish when he almost definitely leaves via free agency this offseason, but it would be a shock to see the Bills take a chance on another gadget player.

Brian Quick, Appalachian St: Quick is an interesting prospect. His size (6’3”, 222) is ideal and he’s done nothing but produce since the second-half of his freshman year. He caught 71 balls for 1,096 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2011 and has the potential to be a solid receiver at the next level. He’s a solid route runner (Stevie Johnson comparison anyone?) but needs work at getting stronger against press coverage. His biggest knock is the lack of competition in the FCS. Quick is definitely a guy to keep your eye on, on Saturday and could be an intriguing pick on the second or third day of the draft for the Bills.

The Buffalo Bills coaching staff had the opportunity to be front and center at the 2011 Senior Bowl as Chan Gailey and his crew coached the South squad. This gave the team a distinct advantage in recruiting and it really showed with their 2011 draft class. Gailey coached three of his nine picks on the South team in third rounder Kelvin Sheppard, fourth rounder Da’Norris Searcy, and sixth rounder Chris White. The coaching and scouting staff will have to recruit from the bleachers this year but they’ll have a talented crop of prospects in front of them at practice this week. Here’s a look at some possible fits for the 2012 Bills offense in Mobile, Alabama this week.

Quarterback:

Nick Foles (Arizona): Foles has the potential to sky rocket up draft boards with his performance this week. He has all the potential of a first round talent and is built like a NFL QB at 6’5” 244 pounds. There were questions on whether or not he would’ve actually been a first-round choice in the 2011 draft if he would’ve come out as a Junior. He didn’t do much to hurt his stock with an impressive senior season with the Wildcats, racking up 4,334 passing yards and tossing 28 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions. Foles also has an extended body of work, starting as a sophomore and passing for 10,011 yards and 67 touchdowns in his three year career. His intangibles are exceptional and received praise by coaches and fellow players alike for his work ethic. He has great arm strength and very good accuracy, finishing the 2011 season with a 69.1 completion percentage and a career percentage of 66.6. His build makes mobility an issue at times however and he seems to have difficulty looking for his second and third reads when his first target is covered. He comes from a mostly spread offense which is always a red flag but has taken snaps from center in a pro-style offense. He missed one game in 2011 with a knee injury and a serious decline from a 7-4 record in 2010 to 4-8 in 2011 is somewhat troubling but can mostly be explained by an absolutely brutal schedule.

Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State): Being categorized in a class with Drew Henson and Chris Weinke is never a good thing when you’re talking about a NFL prospect. Everyone knows Weeden’s story at this point, he abandoned the dream of being an NFL quarterback for a paycheck to play for the New York Yankees. Weeden never made “the Show” and decided to go back to college in 2008 to see if there was any chance he could relive his dream of NFL stardom. His production over the last two seasons is unquestioned, throwing for 4,277 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2010 and 4,727 yards and 37 scores in 2011. He’s a former pitcher so you know his arm strength is where it needs to be and he shows an almost effortless ability to fit balls into tight spots. His sidearm-type throwing motion does cause the ball to come out low in short passing situations which lends itself to batted balls and he does let the ball sail on longer throws so his accuracy is somewhat in question even though his 72.3% completion percentage wouldn’t indicated it. He too is built like a NFL signal-caller at 6’3” 217. Like Foles, he spent the majority of his college career playing out of a spread offense, which is always a big knock against college quarterbacks (except Cam Newton of course), and has very little experience taking snaps from under center. Weeden has impressed scouts during practices this week but the time it will take to make adjustments to the NFL game could prove costly for the 28 year old and will certainly be a red flag for many teams.

Kellen Moore, Boise State: “System quarterback”, “spread quarterback”, “too small” If you haven’t heard it yet, you will hear an assortment of these descriptions of Moore over the next three months. He lacks ideal size (5’11”, 195), arm strength, and overall skill of most quarterbacks in this class. His production in college is unparalleled and he’s been a starter for the last four years for the Broncos. He holds the record for most wins be a QB in NCAA Division I FBS history and has never thrown for fewer than 3,400 yards and 25 touchdowns in a season. His intangibles, preparation skills and intelligence are second to none. Moore’s size and lack of elite arm strength will most likely outweigh his positives however. Even with a good Senior Bowl week, Moore still projects in the middle rounds but might be worth the Bills taking a waiver on if he falls in the right place.

Russell Wilson, Wisconsin: Wilson is almost a carbon copy of Moore in terms of size (5’10” 205). His production isn’t too far off either. He too has been a starter since his freshman year and although his overall production isn’t quite at the level of Moore he too is no slouch in any statistical category. He was named first-team All-ACC Quarterback in his freshman year at NC State (he transferred to Wisconsin after his junior year) after tossing 17 touchdowns compared to just one interception. Although his touchdown to interception ratio over his four year career is tremendous (109 to 30) Wilson’s accuracy in his first three years of college was anything but impressive (57.4 average completion percentage). He curbed that trend in a major way his senior year finishing the year with a 72.8% completion percentage, breaking Colt Brennan’s passing efficiency rating (186.0) with a 191.8 QB Rating in the process. Like Moore, Wilson’s biggest detractor is his size and it may be difficult for teams to overlook that. He does seem to have a bit more upside than Moore however and a strong Senior Bowl Performance could land him in the second or third round in April’s draft.

Kirk Cousins, Michigan State: Cousins fits more of the prototypical build of a NFL QB (6’3”, 208) as compared to Wilson and Moore. The production is there and like the majority of the class he has an extended body of work, starting since his sophomore year. He’s smart (three-time All-Big Ten Academic) and was the unquestioned leader of the Spartans for the past two seasons. He has some trouble making plays outside the pocket and throwing on the run. He shows good patience but is able to step up when the pocket collapses. Has decent arm strength and accuracy but tends to force balls on occasion. The best way to describe Cousins is steady. He isn’t spectacular at much and above average in several areas. He projects to be a mid-round draft pick and a decent developmental quarterback prospect. If given the choice however the Bills would probably be better suited taking a chance on a Foles, Wilson or Weeden before Cousins.

There are many names for it: optimism, promise, confidence, faith or hope. The ability to look forward to the future and know that tomorrow could be better than today and next year may be better than this. Tim Robbins may have put it best while portraying Andy Dufresne in “The Shawshank Redemption” when he said “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” It’s true, hope may be the best of things, having an optimistic outlook on life and the future gives us reason to wake up and look forward to the coming day. For fans of the Buffalo Bills, the promise of hope may have finally run out.

The decimation of hope is nothing new for fans of a franchise that was on the wrong end of the “Music City Miracle” and “Wide Right”. In it’s now 52-year existence the organization has seen the playoffs a total of 17 times and boasts an overall record of 363-413-8. They currently hold the longest playoff draught in the NFL which currently sits at 11 years and will soon enter its 12^th after this season officially ends. The long-held belief throughout sports that “we’ll get ‘um next year” has been vacant from Western New York for over a decade. The feeling of camaraderie and pride in “our team” has been swayed to the other major sports franchise in town for the better part of that decade and threats of the team’s uprooting to Toronto lingers more and more on an annual basis.

When the 2011 season began the belief was that the team would show some improvement from its 4-12 finish in 2010 but still be in place to either draft a developmental franchise quarterback of the future or a left tackle to bolster an unstable offensive line. This team drastically deviated from that plan however, starting the season 4-1 with a high-powered offense that hadn’t been seen since the days of Kelly, Thomas and Reed. In the process the combination of Fitzpatrick, Jackson and a rag-tag crew of receivers staged a thrilling comeback to end a 15-game, 8-year losing streak to the hated New England Patriots. That feeling of pride and hope was, at least for a moment, reborn throughout the community. As quickly as it had come, it was just as swiftly ripped away.

When the Bills knocked off the “dream team” Eagles to hit the 4-1 mark the general feeling in Western New York should’ve been uninhibited jubilation. Although excitement mounted, there was a still a general consensus of cautious optimism throughout the fan-base. This unanimity of a vigilant approach can be circled back to the 2008-2009 season when the team reached the same plateau. To the die-hard fan this approach might’ve been seemed pessimistic and juvenile considering the fact that Trent Edwards was not the signal caller, Fred Jackson was on pace for an All-Pro year, and the defense, although filled with holes, had an uncanny knack for taking the ball away from opposing offenses in clutch situations. This team looked to be the exact opposite of an ’08 team that lacked heart and playmaking ability. This team looked poised to actually make a run at ending that league-worst playoff draught. So what happened?

The logical explanation for the Bills mid-season collapse can be attributed to an onslaught of injuries. During the team’s 7 game skid the Bills lost their heart and soul on both sides of the ball. Kyle Williams was lost for the season after the victory against the Eagles with a mysterious foot injury. Mid-season First Team All-Pro Eric Wood went down with an ACL tear running down a Ryan Fitzpatrick interception against the Cowboys and team MVP Jackson was lost in the embarrassing defeat to the Dolphins. It would make sense that losing your top three players would undoubtedly lead to a downfall but their collective loss exposes a much bigger issue that this organization has dealt with for the better part of the last decade.

Since the beginning of the new millennium and the start of the worst stretch in the organization’s history, the Bills have displayed an unprecedented ineptitude for finding sufficient talent in the NFL draft and free agency. Sure they made a few splashes with trades for Drew Bledsoe and Takeo Spikes and free agent acquisitions like London Fletcher, Sam Adams and Terrell Owens, but their complete ineffectiveness for finding talent in the draft has left the organization almost barren of talent.

Let’s take a look at the 2010 draft for a reference point. Buddy Nix’s first attempt at rebuilding resulted in the likes of CJ Spiller, Torell Troup, Alex Carrington, Marcus Easley, Ed Wang, Arthur Moats, Danny Batten, Levi Brown and Kyle Calloway. While it may be too early to judge Nix’s first draft class, the early signs are anything but encouraging. Of the nine picks, six remain on the current roster and with the exception of Spiller none have made much of an impact. Troup has had difficulty staying on the field, battling multiple injuries including a foot and back injury that made him a complete nonfactor in 2011. Carrington on the other hand has shown extremely brief glimpses of capability. At times it looks like he’s able to get into the backfield and put pressure on the quarterback but only has two career sacks to show for it. He has proved to be somewhat valuable on special teams with a blocked field goal and extra point this season. Easley has never seen a regular season down in the NFL, due in part to a heart condition that sidelined him for all of 2011. Moats seemed like he had some talent after effectively ending Brett Favre’s record consecutive starts streak and becoming somewhat of a presence in opposing backfields. He did however take a step back in his sophomore campaign, showing a lack of explosiveness with increased playing time this past season. Batten lost his whole rookie campaign to injury and didn’t show much when given a chance this season. Wang, Brown and Calloway are all out of the NFL.

Nix’s insistence on building a competitive team through the draft while avoiding costly free agents would seem like a massive failure after his first attempt. Spiller of course is the determining factor however. After a horrendous rookie season that barely saw the former Clemson Tiger on the field, Spiller proved that his explosiveness wasn’t a fallacy. Spiller showed tremendous explosiveness when given a chance after Jackson went down and restored some semblance of hope for Nix’s first class.

When it’s all said in done though, the Bills did what they’ve been doing for the last 12 years. They got our collective hopes up and before we knew it, they dashed any semblance of hope. To say that 2012 is a make-or-break offseason for the Buffalo Bills may be the understatement of the century but it’s also become second nature rhetoric to a demoralized fan base. In his post season press conference Nix let it be known that the front office would dull out some sort of cash in the free agent market to fill the multiple holes on both sides of the ball but to Bills fans it’s getting to the point where these empty promises mean nothing. As a diehard Bills fan for my 25+ years of existence on this blue marble, the doomsday clock has hit one minute to midnight and its put up or shut up time for this franchise.

Just when it looked like this upstart team was coming back down to earth after a beleaguering defeat last week at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, they do this. The Buffalo Bills are 4-1 after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 31-24 on Sunday. Going into the season I had the Bills pegged at 2-3 at this point of the season, with victories against the Chiefs and the Bengals. I guess I was wrong. Instead the Bills now boast their best record since 2008 and have gotten to this point in grand fashion.

Normally a victory over a 1-3 team would be nothing to write home about but there’s no doubt that the Bills victory against the NFL’s self-proclaimed “dream team” was as important as any win this season. The Eagles are loaded with offensive talent, with as many playmakers on the offensive side of the ball as any team in the league. On defense, they lead the league in sacks and rarely use anything more than a four-man rush to get to the quarterback. Their secondary features three elite corners including (with the exception of Revis) arguably the best in the league. More importantly, Philly came into Orchard Park on Sunday riding a three game losing streak, in the basement of the normally stout NFC East, with their season on the line. Taking these factors into account, the Bills of the recent years past would’ve most likely crumbled and ended the day with a 3-2 record. The 2011 Bills are the Bills of years past however.

Coming off what was thought to be a sure victory that ended in defeat against what seemed to be a lowly Bengals team with a rookie quarterback and few offensive weapons, Buffalo could’ve allowed that loss to dictate the rest of their season. Although not likely a common sentiment, one could argue that Sunday was a make or break game not only for Vick’s Eagles but for the Bills as well. A victory against a team with that caliber of talent with everything to lose would right the ship and certainly put the Bills back on track towards playoff contention. A loss however, would further curtail the progress this 2011 squad has made with comeback wins against the Patriots and Raiders, dropping them to 3-2 and possibly in a tie with the Jets for second place in the AFC East. When the dust settled, the Bills remained unbeaten at home and the Eagles walked away with yet another disheartening defeat.

(more…)

I can’t believe I’m indulging your true intention of writing this article by responding to it but I am.

You knew exactly what you were doing when you attacked a fan base that is the most loyal in the NFL…You wanted the attention. Now you are playing the sexism card demanding respect for women journalists everywhere when your true intention was creating a stir and getting your unwarranted 15 minutes of fame.

Now you’re going on local television broadcasts, bearing your cross, to continue the eternal struggle for women’s rights. I’m sure you worked hard in college to get your BS in Journalism and you might actually be a talented writer. Unfortunately for you, your 15 minutes is running out and you will undoubtedly be an afterthought after the Bills beat the Bengals to go 4-0 on Sunday.

Stop playing the role of martyr, stop your relentless pursuit for the “greater cause” and have the guts to admit that this is what you wanted all along. I live in Buffalo, and I found out about your story on deadspin. Congrats, you peaked my interest and moreover, my disgust, which I’m sure is a common trend among these commenters on this message board.

Admittedly, some of the comments on this story and your previous one are over the line, but when you try to play the sexist card you’re just being ridiculous. Every professional journalist deals with extreme criticism from time to time.

The most respected ones deal with it and move forward without putting themselves on the cross. You don’t think other female journalists don’t get the same reaction when they write or say something that a large viewership or readership doesn’t agree with?

Journalists, broadcasters and personalities of different gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation deal with harsh criticism on a daily basis. They’re just professional enough to get past it and continue to speak their opinions even if the general consensus doesn’t agree.

Get off your cross, stop trying to be a symbol of female oppression and just do your job. Be bigger than the stories you create and realize that not everyone is going to share your opinions.

Go Bills!!

Going into the season to say the Buffalo Bills offensive line had issues would be like saying Michael Jasper’s height to weight ratio is a bit askew. The Bills mixed and matched anywhere from three to five different variations of starting offensive linemen during the four week preseason. The root cause for the Bills blocking issues came from a week two preseason matchu pat Mile High against the Denver Broncos. Broncos Pro Bowl defensive end Elvis Dumervil and rookie linebacker Von Miller shredded the o-line play after play. Dumervil made starting left tackle Demetrius Bell look like he belonged guarding the blind side of Chris Greisen for the Virginia Destroyers in the UFL. Andy Levitre’s inconsistent performance in training camp and the preseason earned him a first way ticket to the bench in favor of Chad Rinehart. Kraig Urbik consistently missed blocks and was frequently out of position.

Fast forward to week three of the regular season and it’s a different story entirely. The Bills lead the NFL in rushing after two games, averaging
190 yards on the ground per game. The bottom feeders along the o-line have kept Ryan Fitzpatrick upright and have only allowed one sack all season. Bell has looked nothing short of exceptional protecting Fitzpatrick’s blind side, completely owning Kansas City’s Pro Bowl pass rusher Tamba Hali (14.5 sacks in 2010) in week one. In week two against an Oakland pass rush that sacked Kyle Orton five times and had him on his back all game the previous week, the Bills offensive line didn’t allow the Raiders to touch Fitz. Oakland’s only sack of the game was called back because of an illegal contact penalty.

Over the past five years Buffalo’s front office has dished out millions to likes of Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker, and Mike Gandy to solidify a unit that has consistently been at the bottom of the league in sacks allowed. The combination of Bell, Levitre, center Eric Wood, Urbik and right
tackle Erik Pears has shown encouraging signs of continuity and consistency. It seems that the team has finally found the right formula to a sturdy front five.
Wood was the Bills second first round pick (28^th overall) in the 2009 NFL Draft. The team then selected Levitre in the second round. Those two
have been the cornerstones of the unit entering their third year with the team. Bell was selected in the seventh round of the 2008 draft and has been a project since entering the league. Coach Chan Gailey said numerous times in the offseason and preseason that he expected Bell to breakout in his fourth year in the league. So far, it seems like he was right on the money.

The other two are a bit of a mystery. Pears was signed in mid-December last year and saw time only sparingly at the end of the season. The Bills made no secret of their intentions to upgrade the right tackle position with their intense and very public courting of Atlanta Falcons free agent Tyson Clabo. When the dust settled Clabo decided to accept less money to stay in Atlanta and Pears was deemed the team’s starter. With the exception of one poor play against Hali in week one, he too has been a very nice surprise. Urbik was the biggest question mark heading into the season. He constantly looked out of place on screen plays and had trouble against the likes of Chicago’s Harry Melton and Denver’s Broderick Bunkley in the preseason. Still, Urbik has stood up to the pressure and the criticism and was having a nice start to the season before going down with an injury. Urbik, a former third round pick of Wisconsin by the Pittsburgh Steelers, suffered an MCL injury and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Rinehart will take his place for the time being and if the coaching staff’s fondness of his play during the preseason is any indication, he may not be relinquishing that role anytime soon.

The 2011 Buffalo Bills are a testament to the fact that talent can be found in the last place you look and that certainly seems to be the case thus far for the team’s offensive line. With the exception of the high draft picks in Wood and Levitre, the unit has seemed to make due with a collection of  castoffs and a seventh round pick who didn’t even start playing football until he got to college. Either way the group seems to be gelling and forming a cohesive corps that could be around for years to come. The five starters and key backup (Rinehart) are all 27 years old or younger with the exception of Pears. If the line can continue to open up holes in the run game and keeps its quarterback upright, the skies the limit for the Bills offense.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is tied for the league lead in touchdown passes and currently ranks sixth in quarterback rating. Stevie Johnson has proven he
can be a number one in Buffalo without Lee Evans taking coverage away from him and has been Fitzpatrick’s go-to-guy since he took over week three of last season. Fred Jackson leads the league in rushing yards and rushes over 20 yards and ranks fifth in yards per carry. Fitzpatrick and Johnson have expiring contracts after this season and Jackson may be the most underpaid feature back in the league. It’s time for the Bills front office to use their surplus of money to extend Fitz and Stevie and give Freddy a significant raise.

Both major Buffalo sports franchises have horrible track records of re-upping with their stars before their price tags get too large and they
can no longer afford said playmakers. Fans of both the Bills and Sabres know the sting of losing their favorite players to free agency because the front offices of both franchises dragged their feet and wouldn’t pony up the dough when the time came to shit or get off the pot. Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Antoine Winfield, and Pat Williams are just a few names of beloved star Buffalo athletes who both franchises had opportunities to re-sign, but let walk because they refused to open their respective checkbooks. That trend has clearly been curbed with godsend Terry Pegula’s purchase of the Sabres and the extension given to elite young defenseman Tyler Myers. The Bills on the other hand are stuck with the same stingy owner that has time-and-time-again refused to pay top dollar for athletic talent.

Fitzpatrick currently ranks third on the team in terms of annual salary for quarterbacks behind his second and third string backups in Tyler
Thigpen and Brad Smith. Jackson signed a four year deal in 2009 worth $7.5 million total and is set to make $1.75 million this season. His backup, former first rounder CJ Spiller, signed a five-year, $25 million contract with $20.8 million guaranteed and up to an additional $12.5 million available in incentives. Johnson ranks second in annual salary in the wide receiving corps by default. He’s set to make $550,000 this year while the team’s slot receiver and most recent addition to the season ending injured reserve, Roscoe Parrish, is set to make $1,025 million in base with a roster bonus of an additional $500,000. Parrish has played in ten games over the last two seasons (8 in 2010) before suffering season ending injuries. Before the season began there was a report that the Bills were in talks with Parrish about a contract extension. A move that would seem unfathomable before the team would extend its number one quarterback and receiver, had it not been for the gaudy deal that Chris Kelsay received in 2010. Kelsay was given a five-year, $28.2 million extension last September much to the chagrin of the team’s fan base because of Kelsay’s consistent underachiever in relative mediocrity in years past (contract information from rotoworld.com). To play devil’s advocate for a moment however, the defensive end turned outside linebacker has looked solid in the first two games of 2011 but I digress.

The fact is the trio of Fitzpatrick, Johnson and Jackson has proven that they deserve to be paid like stars in this league.  The critics may say that Fitz and Johnson haven’t done it for long enough to deserve substantial raises, but their resume from last season and two games thus far in 2011 is nothing to overlook. In 15 games over the last two seasons the Harvard grad has totaled 3,472 passing yards and 30 touchdowns compared to 16 interceptions. Johnson meanwhile has hauled in 94 balls for 1,235 yards and 12 touchdowns in 18 games over that same span. Jackson on the other hand has never gone into the season as the Bills number one running back since he joined the team in 2007. All he’s done in his
somewhat limited role is run for 3,089 yards on 682 carries, which is good enough for 4.5 yards per rush. Jackson is also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for most all-purpose yards in a single season in 2009.

The Bills front office has an opportunity to slowly but surely begin to regain trust and legitimacy in the eyes of their fan base for the first time in the better part of a decade. For years the Buffalo faithful has had to watch an inferior product underperform week after week and watch the
franchise’s stars depart via free agency or trade. Winfield, Williams, London Fletcher, Nate Clements, Jabari Greer, Jason Peters, and, to a lesser extent, Paul Poslouszny have all departed because the Bills refused to pay them. Year after year this community has had to watch as the decision makers have reached and missed on prospect after prospect in the draft. It’s time for Buddy Nix to make a stand and return a once great franchise back to prominence by locking up the players that give them an opportunity to do so.

“I was a late round pick too,” said Chan Gailey after a week one 41-7 blowout victory against the Chiefs at Arrowhead. “Everybody’s got something to prove.” The 2011 Buffalo Bills could not be summed up in a better way than that. A crew of castoffs, undrafted free agents and late-round draft picks make up a Bills roster that constantly has something to prove on a weekly basis.

(more…)

The Buffalo Bills went into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday with a major chip on their collective shoulders. Coming off a shaky preseason which saw the team’s number one offense struggle with consistency, its number one
running back seriously question his role with the team, and their only consistent offensive threat for the better part of a decade shipped off to Baltimore. Combine those issues with a disheartened fan base that questions the owner’s
intentions with every move the organization makes and the 2011 Bills seemed doomed before the season even started.

So how did Chan Gailey’s crew deal with such adversity in their 2011 opener? They went into Arrowhead, stepped on the Chiefs’ throats from the opening kickoff and didn’t let Todd Haley’s team gasp for air until they left the field with a 41-7 victory. Looking like a team possessed, the Bills put up arguably their best performance since their 38-0 thrashing of the New England Patriots in the 2003 season opener.

Fred Jackson controlled the tempo of the game rushing for 112 yards on 20 carries and showing C.J. Spiller who the number one back on this team was. Gailey returned to KC to face the man that fired him a week before the 2009 season began, and didn’t show any mercy for the same man that wouldn’t shake his hand after the Chiefs 13-10 victory against the Bills last season. A defense that ranked last in the NFL against the run and gave up 274 rushing yards to this same Chiefs team a season ago, shut down Jamaal Charles, and held the KC offense to 213 total yards while forcing three turnovers in the process.

There’s no doubt that the Bills stepped up to the pressure and flourished in their 2011 debut on Sunday but there’s so much more to be taken away from the opener. Ryan Fitzpatrick looked efficient, completing 68% of his passes and four touchdowns to three different receivers. Fitzy made great use of Scott Chandler and the Bills may have finally found an answer at tight end. Entering the game with one career reception in the league, the former Iowa Hawkeye finished the game with five catches for 63 yards and two scores. If Chandler continues to progress the Bills may have found what they’ve been looking for since Jay Riemersma departed for Pittsburgh in 2003.

On the defensive side of the ball the secondary really stole the show. Drayton Florence, Leodis McKelvin, Aaron Williams, George Wilson, Jairus Byrd and Brian Scott held Matt Cassel to a measly 119 yards and Florence picked him off late in the fourth quarter. Scott was the star of the show and put on a display, leading the team with nine tackles, three of which were for a loss and notched a sack in the process. Shawne Merriman didn’t stand out too
much but the truth was he didn’t need to. Nick Barnett had a solid game and rookie Marcell Dareus may have only accumulated two tackles, but he seemed to be in the backfield all day.

So what is there to really take away from this game? Are the Bills a legitimate playoff contender all of a sudden? Can Ryan Fitzpatrick lead this team to the promise land for the first time in 12 years? It’s still way too early to tell but this victory should not be taken lightly. Some local media outlets and fans still beleaguered from the lack of a playoff contender for over a decade want to attribute Sunday’s blowout win to a Kansas City Chiefs team that struggled mightily in the preseason, lost its offensive coordinator and has a head coach on the hot seat. Like the Bills, the Chiefs too had question marks entering Sunday’s opener but this was a team that led the NFL in rushing on their way to a division championship a year ago. Buffalo went into Arrowhead on Sunday, beat the Chiefs in every facet of the game and came out with a huge win. This is a team that showed major signs of growth and if playing with a chip on their shoulders all season long is what they need to do to continue to improve, so be it. One thing’s for certain however, the Buffalo Bills turned some heads around the league on Sunday and showed what they may be capable of
in 2011.

The Buffalo Bills made some national news this week with one roster move and confused the hell of their local fan base with another. The Bills cut loose former first rounder and infamous draft bust Aaron Maybin on Monday to the delight of the majority of the Buffalo fan community. Maybin failed to total one sack in 27 career games and two seasons with the team, and wasn’t even deemed serviceable to dress for five games during the 2010 season. Maybin signed with the rival Jets yesterday and says being cut by the Bills will somehow magically give him motivation to become a performer for the Jets. Good riddance.

In another roster move along the offensive line, Coach Chan Gailey shocked onlookers as he demoted Andy Levitre to second unit duties at left guard while promoting Chad Rinehart to play with the starters. It was by no means surprising that Gailey would want to address consistency issues along the o-line but it seemed that, that switch should’ve been made at the right guard position where Kraig Urbik has been struggling. Urbik has been the weak point on the offensive line through the first few weeks of camp and had a terrible preseason opener last Saturday against the Bears. The third year pro and first year starter out of Wisconsin was blown back three yards deep in the backfield by Bears reserve defensive tackle Harry Melton who in turn dropped C.J. Spiller for a loss on the play on the team’s second offensive drive Saturday. On the same drive he whiffed on a block on Brian Urlacher who tackled Spiller inches short of a first down on a third and long play. The inconsistent play of Urbik should’ve opened the door for a player like Reinhart to garner some playing time but the demotion of Levitre in favor of Reinhart remains a mystery.

It should be noted that Levitre was back with the starters during practice on Wednesday but it seems as though Gailey plans to use a rotation at left guard for the time being.

The release of Aaron Maybin and the issues surrounding the offensive line aside, the Bills have a game to play on Saturday against the Denver Broncos. The team also disbands from St. John Fisher after a 2:00 PM practice today and returns to the friendly confines of Orchard Park next week. There are still a multitude of questions to answer and with the roster currently standing at 87 players and the first round of cuts right around the corner, it’s time to take notice of some individuals who have not only have a shot at making the team but playing major roles as well. Here’s a look at five players to keep your eye on as the Bills take on the Broncos Saturday.

(more…)