ICON
09-04-2007, 07:49 PM
DEFENSIVE DEFICIENCIES SET STAGE FOR SAD BILLS SEASON
With the exhibition schedule mercifully completed, the final roster cuts made and the 2007 National Football League season days away, a few things are absolutely certain about this year's edition of the Buffalo Bills.
1) The offense is going to score a lot of points.
J.P. Losman and Lee Evans have developed into one of the league's more dangerous deep-ball combos over the last couple years. This is particularly remarkable because every defense knows, or should know, the bomb is coming at some point.
First-round draft choice Marshawn Lynch was largely bottled up as a runner during limited exhibition action but showed signs that he'll provide the most dangerous receiving threat the Bills have had out of the backfield since Thurman Thomas.
The offensive line didn't overwhelm anyone during the scrimmage season, but even an incremental improvement over last year should be enough to turn the rookie into a 1,000-yard rusher and give Losman time to find receivers other than Evans downfield on occasion.
Peerless Price showed signs he might have regained some of his ability to get open in the opposing secondary once in a while. After averaging a fullback-like 8.2 yards per catch last year, three of his four exhibition catches were good for first downs, including a 56-yard bomb from Losman. Price has never been much of a run-after-the-catch guy, so it figures that his numbers will only improve if Losman has time to look for more than one receiver downfield.
Roscoe Parrish, who flashed his game-breaking ability last year, should get more opportunities to do so in 2007. And after several years of teetering on the verge of getting classified as a second-round bust, Josh Reed has settled into his role as a reasonably productive slot receiver.
Yes, Trent Edwards looked terrific, particularly in the preseason finale in Detroit. And that's all the space a back-up quarterback gets at this early date, with so many other players who actually are going to get into games to consider.
With Jason Whittle emerging as the starter at right guard, the offensive line has undergone a 60 percent turnover from last season, with pricey free agents Derrick Dockery at left guard and Langston Walker at right tackle. It shouldn't be shocking that they didn't operate as a seamless wall during the summer, and the line, anchored by left tackle Jason Peters, should only get better as it starts playing full games together.
That's a very good thing, because ...
2) The run defense is terrifying. Even against second-, third- and ninth-string backs, Buffalo's undersized defensive line got pushed around and the linebackers repeatedly bit on the simplest misdirection plays. The defensive backs looked like solid tacklers, which, as we've learned over the last couple of years, isn't exactly reassuring.
And this was against offenses running the most basic of plays -- essentially "hand-off right," and "hand-off left," systems not game-planned to exploit the Bills' weaknesses. Yet it just sort of happened, anyway.
Everything wrong with Buffalo's front seven came together early on in Detroit.
Detroit -- which took the practice game so seriously that it gave a dozen starters the night off -- ran a cutback play up the middle to third-string running back T.J. Duckett. Duckett, previously banished from Atlanta due to his eloquent denunciation of Michael Vick's hobbies, got the handoff and started to the left, thoroughly convincing Buffalo's defensive front, particularly rookie linebacker Paul Posluszny, that he would continue in that direction.
Ah, but that tricky T.J. He quickly switched directions -- or at least as quickly as a 254-pound man is capable -- turning right and lumbering through a hole large enough to accommodate a tour bus. Posluszny, smothered as he was by a Detroit blocker, could only watch along with the rest of Buffalo's linemen and linebackers as Duckett made it 15 yards before being tackled by wide receiver-turned-safety George Wilson.
The Bills would like to rotate their defensive linemen, but injuries and the suspension of defensive end Anthony Hargrove have left them with five capable-at-best bodies -- Aaron Schobel, Larry Tripplett, John McCargo, Kyle Williams and Chris Kelsay at four spots.
There's not a lot out there on the waiver wire, either. There's noted Second Amendment advocate Tank Johnson, but the former Chicago stalwart is suspended for the first eight games.
You hate to second-guess this early -- OK, not really -- but have to wonder why the Bills weren't willing to pay Darwin Walker $3 million for one year, but the Bears, who had the league's sixth-best run defense in 2006, thought he was worth $25 million for five.
3) Buffalo didn't quite throw a blanket over opposing passing games, either. The question of who will replace Nate Clements at corner has been answered: No one.
Detroit, again showing its disdain for the antiquated concept of a fourth preseason game, let J.T. O'Sullivan -- who, for some reason, denies any relationship to the melancholy 1970s singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan -- play the whole game on Thursday.
O'Sullivan -- who is with his sixth team in as many seasons, yet has somehow avoided throwing a single pass in a real game -- looked magnificent in the early going, going 10-of-14 for 116 yards and a touchdown as the Lions built a 13-0 lead by halftime.
With the Bills facing 16 games against teams possessing, for the most part, actual NFL quarterbacks, such an appeasing performance against a career clipboard-holder doesn't exactly instill confidence.
Now comes the guessing. I mean, predicting. The second season of the Marv Levy-Dick Jauron era opens with expectations almost exactly flipped from the first -- a promising offense that will need to compensate for a defense that aspires to lousy.
Losman, Lynch, Evans and the rest of the receivers should have plenty of opportunities to light it up, given the frequency with which they'll have to play catch-up. But they'll get help from the special teams, which again give every indication of being very solid and possibly much better.
Add it all up, mix in a schedule that looks tough, at least on Labor Day weekend, and you get a team that may end up much better than last year's model but without a significantly superior record. If ever a team looked like 8-8, it's this one.
Billz interactive Depth chart
http://www.buffalobills.com/depth_chart/index.html
With the exhibition schedule mercifully completed, the final roster cuts made and the 2007 National Football League season days away, a few things are absolutely certain about this year's edition of the Buffalo Bills.
1) The offense is going to score a lot of points.
J.P. Losman and Lee Evans have developed into one of the league's more dangerous deep-ball combos over the last couple years. This is particularly remarkable because every defense knows, or should know, the bomb is coming at some point.
First-round draft choice Marshawn Lynch was largely bottled up as a runner during limited exhibition action but showed signs that he'll provide the most dangerous receiving threat the Bills have had out of the backfield since Thurman Thomas.
The offensive line didn't overwhelm anyone during the scrimmage season, but even an incremental improvement over last year should be enough to turn the rookie into a 1,000-yard rusher and give Losman time to find receivers other than Evans downfield on occasion.
Peerless Price showed signs he might have regained some of his ability to get open in the opposing secondary once in a while. After averaging a fullback-like 8.2 yards per catch last year, three of his four exhibition catches were good for first downs, including a 56-yard bomb from Losman. Price has never been much of a run-after-the-catch guy, so it figures that his numbers will only improve if Losman has time to look for more than one receiver downfield.
Roscoe Parrish, who flashed his game-breaking ability last year, should get more opportunities to do so in 2007. And after several years of teetering on the verge of getting classified as a second-round bust, Josh Reed has settled into his role as a reasonably productive slot receiver.
Yes, Trent Edwards looked terrific, particularly in the preseason finale in Detroit. And that's all the space a back-up quarterback gets at this early date, with so many other players who actually are going to get into games to consider.
With Jason Whittle emerging as the starter at right guard, the offensive line has undergone a 60 percent turnover from last season, with pricey free agents Derrick Dockery at left guard and Langston Walker at right tackle. It shouldn't be shocking that they didn't operate as a seamless wall during the summer, and the line, anchored by left tackle Jason Peters, should only get better as it starts playing full games together.
That's a very good thing, because ...
2) The run defense is terrifying. Even against second-, third- and ninth-string backs, Buffalo's undersized defensive line got pushed around and the linebackers repeatedly bit on the simplest misdirection plays. The defensive backs looked like solid tacklers, which, as we've learned over the last couple of years, isn't exactly reassuring.
And this was against offenses running the most basic of plays -- essentially "hand-off right," and "hand-off left," systems not game-planned to exploit the Bills' weaknesses. Yet it just sort of happened, anyway.
Everything wrong with Buffalo's front seven came together early on in Detroit.
Detroit -- which took the practice game so seriously that it gave a dozen starters the night off -- ran a cutback play up the middle to third-string running back T.J. Duckett. Duckett, previously banished from Atlanta due to his eloquent denunciation of Michael Vick's hobbies, got the handoff and started to the left, thoroughly convincing Buffalo's defensive front, particularly rookie linebacker Paul Posluszny, that he would continue in that direction.
Ah, but that tricky T.J. He quickly switched directions -- or at least as quickly as a 254-pound man is capable -- turning right and lumbering through a hole large enough to accommodate a tour bus. Posluszny, smothered as he was by a Detroit blocker, could only watch along with the rest of Buffalo's linemen and linebackers as Duckett made it 15 yards before being tackled by wide receiver-turned-safety George Wilson.
The Bills would like to rotate their defensive linemen, but injuries and the suspension of defensive end Anthony Hargrove have left them with five capable-at-best bodies -- Aaron Schobel, Larry Tripplett, John McCargo, Kyle Williams and Chris Kelsay at four spots.
There's not a lot out there on the waiver wire, either. There's noted Second Amendment advocate Tank Johnson, but the former Chicago stalwart is suspended for the first eight games.
You hate to second-guess this early -- OK, not really -- but have to wonder why the Bills weren't willing to pay Darwin Walker $3 million for one year, but the Bears, who had the league's sixth-best run defense in 2006, thought he was worth $25 million for five.
3) Buffalo didn't quite throw a blanket over opposing passing games, either. The question of who will replace Nate Clements at corner has been answered: No one.
Detroit, again showing its disdain for the antiquated concept of a fourth preseason game, let J.T. O'Sullivan -- who, for some reason, denies any relationship to the melancholy 1970s singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan -- play the whole game on Thursday.
O'Sullivan -- who is with his sixth team in as many seasons, yet has somehow avoided throwing a single pass in a real game -- looked magnificent in the early going, going 10-of-14 for 116 yards and a touchdown as the Lions built a 13-0 lead by halftime.
With the Bills facing 16 games against teams possessing, for the most part, actual NFL quarterbacks, such an appeasing performance against a career clipboard-holder doesn't exactly instill confidence.
Now comes the guessing. I mean, predicting. The second season of the Marv Levy-Dick Jauron era opens with expectations almost exactly flipped from the first -- a promising offense that will need to compensate for a defense that aspires to lousy.
Losman, Lynch, Evans and the rest of the receivers should have plenty of opportunities to light it up, given the frequency with which they'll have to play catch-up. But they'll get help from the special teams, which again give every indication of being very solid and possibly much better.
Add it all up, mix in a schedule that looks tough, at least on Labor Day weekend, and you get a team that may end up much better than last year's model but without a significantly superior record. If ever a team looked like 8-8, it's this one.
Billz interactive Depth chart
http://www.buffalobills.com/depth_chart/index.html