Bills can't avoid beating themselves

by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 8:38 AM EST in Opinion Comment 48 comments

Sans running game, Bills making many mistakes (buffalobills.com)

Oh yeah... now I remember what is feels like to be a Buffalo Bills fan. During the team's bye week, I wrote that the Bills were entering the most important four-game stretch of the season, calling it "make or break". I stand by what I wrote, and through the first three of those four games, the Bills are 1-2. A loss in New England this coming Sunday could very well break Buffalo's season, which got off to a promising 4-0 start. The team has lost 3 of 4 to drop to 5-3 on the season.

It's been bad. The Bills have been kind enough to provide their fans a little throwback to yesteryear, when shoddy play, questionable decision-making and a lack of playmakers led to eight straight seasons of playoff-less football in Buffalo. We're still in that stretch, right? This team is better, there's little question about that - especially at quarterback - but they're unable to avoid making the same irritating mistakes. Welcome to Buffalo Bills football.

The most irritating part? Buffalo isn't playing like Buffalo. For two seasons under head coach Dick Jauron, the Bills remained competitive in games by limiting turnovers, avoiding penalties and playing sound in all three phases - if highly unspectacular. They haven't come close to doing that in their two most recent losses, to division rivals Miami and New York.

Take a look at all the ugly!
Here are some "impressive" stats that the Bills have accrued over the past two games, both losses:

- 14 penalties for 109 yards
- 7 sacks allowed
- Safety allowed
- 3 interceptions
- 4 lost fumbles; 7 fumbles total
- Missed 4th & 1 in opponent red zone (effectively another turnover)
- Bad snap on punt

The Bills have lost these two games - unbelievably, miraculously, and other hyperbolic terms - by a combined 18 points. Guess how many points off of turnovers the Bills have surrendered in these two games? Your insight serves you well, young padawan. The Dolphins and Jets have 18 points off of turnovers the last two weeks against the Bills - which, again, is a pretty miraculous statistic.

This isn't Dick Jauron football
Talk all you want about the Bills' weaknesses, their vulnerabilities, or the fact that they haven't been able to win winnable games. Don't believe for a second, however, that the Jets and Dolphins are better football teams than Buffalo. They're not. Both of these are games that the Bills should have won - and, at the very least, they could have split them without the crap-fest stats list you see above.

I'm not going to sit here and blame any one individual, one unit, or one coach. This is a team issue. The Bills are not doing what their coach has preached over the past two years: protect the ball, limit mistakes, force your opponent to beat themselves. How have the Dolphins and Jets won the past two weeks? They've beaten us by playing Bills football. That's what's most humiliating about this pathetic stretch of football the Bills have put together - we're not practicing what we preach, but our opponents are.

QB Trent Edwards, the main culprit for the team's struggles only in a statistical sense, is stepping up to the plate and taking the blame:

"The onus is on me," Edwards said. "I'm in charge of the football. I'm the person who runs this offense and I need to take care of the ball. That's why they have me in there at quarterback."

The fix isn't a difficult one for the Bills: don't do dumb things. The Bills must now head to Foxboro and emerge victorious in what they've now made into their biggest, most important game of the season. The New England Patriots aren't going to beat themselves; they rarely do. This is a winnable game; the Pats are vulnerable. But they're going to make Buffalo beat them. The Bills can do it; the real question, however, is whether or not the Bills can avoid beating themselves. Get back to basics, Buffalo, and the wins will return. It's really as simple as that.

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Bad conditioning?

I was wondering if one problem (of many) may be the physical conditioning. Most of Bills players seems less athletic than the opposition, they run and react slower, they are often overwhelmed, they are injury prone. And let’s forget the mysterious Lynch illness. Only a selected few are playing at their top: Evans, Greer, Fred Jackson, maybe Kelsay.

by patamunzo on Nov 3, 2008 8:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think so, but I don’t think it matters – fast, slow, hurt or healthy, we can win games if we stop beating ourselves.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 8:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think Lynch's illness was that mysterious

He killed himself trying to chase down the CB on the on the pick 6 (and almost caught him). That kind of overexertion can easily nauseate you, no matter what shape you’re in.

by thefourwinds on Nov 3, 2008 9:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Same Old Crap

Simple as that.

We have never been able to beat the top 10 teams. O.k.? we know that for sure. No killer instinct (coaches). I know the Fins and Jets are not top 10 teams, however; apparently they realized that these were divisional games and they played decent sound football….we did not.

teams we have beaten this year are a combined 12-28. (good? not at all)

Most victories have been paper thin as stated right here time and time again.

Edwards offense typically gets 2 TD’s a game. This game it was one TD, while giving up a TD that is effectively the game right there. that one throw.

As Brian pointed out, if we don’t stop with the stupid stuff….we will just keep losing and losing

by J2 on Nov 3, 2008 9:24 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Most victories have been paper thin as stated right here time and time again.

I’m not a fan of this argument at all. I’m a firm believer that a win is a win is a win in the NFL, and nothing else matters.

I can say – and truly believe – that the Bills are a better team than the Jets and Dolphins. But because we insist on shooting ourselves in the foot, that statement remains hypothetical. I’m so sick of watching this team beat itself, I’m Marshawn-level nauseous just thinking about it.

Man, this is going to be a bad week.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 9:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yes it is

by J2 on Nov 3, 2008 9:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

especially if we lost to NE

we have to be in desperation mode. 0-3 in divisional play is not playoff material.

by J2 on Nov 3, 2008 9:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that no one in the locker room seems to get pissed…at all? I actually heard Terrence McGee say after the game, “I think we played pretty good…” Seriously?

Brian, I know you like the fact that Edwards is “taking the blame,” but he’s the quarterback, and if he values his job as a starting quarterback in the NFL, he’ll take responsibility after a loss and deflect praise after a win.

Why can’t someone in that locker room step up and say, “We played like crap. Like absolute garbage. I’m disgusted with our play the last two weeks, and we need a serious kick in the ass. We got our ass handed to us today, and everyone in this locker room, myself included, needs to take a serious look in the mirror.”?

I didn’t listen to the entire post game show (couldn’t stomach it), so maybe someone did say it and I just missed it. But quote after quote after quote that I read in the paper is “well we just didn’t make enough plays,” “we need to stop making mistakes,” “we just weren’t good enough today.” Somebody, anybody, get pissed off. Jauron continues to spit out the same ol’ garbage…“Well, we’d certainly like to be 8-0, but we’ll take 5-3.” Of course you’ll take 5-3, because you’re perfectly complacent with mediocrity.

It’s disgusting. The only thing I can hope is that they’re spewing this garbage to the media, but someone is doing some serious ass chewing behind closed doors. I’d love to “bill-ieve” in this team, but I’m struggling to find one single reason why I should. I don’t want to hear that their tied for the divisional lead, because they’re not. They’re in third place, 0-2 in the division, lost 3 of their last 4, have yet to beat a team with a winning record, and now they have to travel TO new england where I think they’re 0 for their last 214 games.

Somebody, give me a reason to billieve. I’m begging you.

by thatguy34 on Nov 3, 2008 9:43 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Brian, I know you like the fact that Edwards is "taking the blame," but he’s the quarterback, and if he values his job as a starting quarterback in the NFL, he’ll take responsibility after a loss and deflect praise after a win.

He must value it then, because he does that week after week. Not sure where you’re headed with this…

Jauron continues to spit out the same ol’ garbage…"Well, we’d certainly like to be 8-0, but we’ll take 5-3." Of course you’ll take 5-3, because you’re perfectly complacent with mediocrity.

Jauron isn’t the only coach in the NFL to say these things. Not every coach is Bill Cowher, throwing spittle at reporters, or Jon Gruden, making pouty-faces. I highly doubt Jauron is content with mediocrity; there’s no proof to the contrary. I hate the fact that Jauron is blamed when the entire freaking franchise should be getting slapped around by us and the media.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 10:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He must value it then, because he does that week after week. Not sure where you’re headed with this…

I’m merely stating somebody, anybody, needs to man up and get pissed off. It’s great that Edwards, as a young QB, is willing to fall on a grenade for his team, but I expect that out of him. Maybe that’s not fair but I hold Edwards in very high regard as a leader of this football team. I’m not going to praise him for doing something he should do.

Jauron isn’t the only coach in the NFL to say these things. Not every coach is Bill Cowher, throwing spittle at reporters, or Jon Gruden, making pouty-faces. I highly doubt Jauron is content with mediocrity; there’s no proof to the contrary. I hate the fact that Jauron is blamed when the entire freaking franchise should be getting slapped around by us and the media.

There is quite a difference between “throwing spittle at reporters” and saying “We did not play well today. We did not play well last week. We’re making far too many mistakes and our play needs to improve drastically, quickly, or we are in serious danger of missing out on our postseason goals again this year.” You don’t need to swear, drop your pants, or go on a post game rant to admit that your team is playing poorly, and everyone, himself included, needs to step it up.

And I apologize if my previous quote made it appear as if I was only attacking Jauron. If I had the time (I should be actually doing work), or the energy, I would go through the entire team and organization, person by person, and place proper blame where it is due. But, for time’s sake, I’m pointing to Jauron’s continued quotes that “we’ll take 5-2” or “we’ll take 5-3” as something that truly bothers me as a fan. Before the season, would I have taken 5-3 if it was offered to me? Of course. But this isn’t before the season. This team started 4-0 and placed themselves in a very good position to do much better than 5-3 and don’t think it is too much to ask to hear Jauron or anyone else admit that.

by thatguy34 on Nov 3, 2008 10:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

He needs to get a set of balls or something.

by J2 on Nov 3, 2008 10:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No, he doesn’t. He’s said the same thing to the media for years. I don’t know why we should expect him to all of a sudden change. That’s not Dick Jauron’s style.

Personally, I don’t give a rip what the man says to the media. I care about what happens on the field. His team needs to start winning again.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 10:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Your right. It’s not his style and it doesn’t really matter what he says to the media. But, to me, as a fan, it’s annoying to watch how they play on Sunday and then hear that after the game. They appear to play with zero fire on the field and then I hear the same ho-hum quotes after the game.

I’m of the opinion that he’s echoing the same quotes in the locker room and practice field during the week that he is post game. If they don’t play some sort of sense of urgency on Sunday, they can kiss the game, and the playoffs goodbye.

by thatguy34 on Nov 3, 2008 10:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

100% agreed

that’s the stance I’ve taken for a long time w/Jauron.

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 11:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They appear to play with zero fire on the field and then I hear the same ho-hum quotes after the game.

Setting aside the whole “play with zero fire” thing, because I’ve never seen that out of any Bills team under Jauron…

If the “ho-hum” quotes were untrue, I’d be right there with you. But it’s not like he’s lying – 5-3 isn’t a terrible position to be in. Football is an up and down sport for most teams. He’s right. So I guess if you want to dislike his style, be my guest. I like his level-headedness in this regard, and I think if you want to crucify the guy for anything, talk about his on-field decisions, not his demeanor.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 11:49 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Jauron is the HEAD COACH. That’s why he deserves much of the blame. He’s put nearly all of this in place. Sure, the players deserve criticism for the way they’ve played, but Jauron definitely deserves to be blamed. He’s the one who put this team culture in place….

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 11:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You’re playing into the scapegoat philosophy perfectly. I get that you don’t like Jauron, and he deserves some blame – as I said, he’s miles from blameless – but I hate making one or two people a scapegoat. Every player and every coach needs to step up their game/prep. I don’t care if that’s cliche. It’s true.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 11:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Obviously

the entire staff and the team needs to get their collective heads out of their arses. However, at some point, the leader of the team, the head coach, needs to take some blame here. He should be held to a higher standard. When companies go under, it’s the CEO’s and CFO’s and all those other guys at the top that get smoked. Jauron leads the rest of the guys on the staff and his team, so it’s up to him to have the players ready and playing mistake free football. He has to take the majority of the blame simply because of the position he’s in, fair or unfair. I’m not trying to blame him and him only, I"m talking about him being the head coach and what that means.

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 11:53 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What's so funny...

is that many CEOs of corporations whose corporations fail are the ones who make out like bandits, with multi-million parting bonuses. That’s one of the greatest crimes of our current society. But enough about that…

by thefourwinds on Nov 3, 2008 1:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Lehman Brothers, cough cough

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 3:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Side Bar

The Fed would not let AIG, the largest insurance company in the world, go under. One man, named Cassano, headed up the London branch of the credit default swaps department. He lost $25 BILLION before the company caught on. Fast forward to the bailout. He was fired. As soon as the bailout money was in place, he was REHIRED as a consultant at $1,000,000 per month! GAG GAG

everything goes better with bacon

by keuka121 on Nov 3, 2008 6:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that no one in the locker room seems to get pissed…at all? I actually heard Terrence McGee say after the game, "I think we played pretty good…" Seriously?

What should we expect? This is a direct reflection of the head coach. He shows no sense of urgency and no ability to get angry when something goes wrong. He’s soft and the team plays that way. This is nothing new, and I can’t see it changing any time soon.

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 11:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A) McGee was talking about the defense specifically during that quote. He wasn’t wrong, either – the D did well to hold the Jets to as few points as they did. Recall, if you will, that 10 of the Jets’ 26 points came off of turnovers. A 16-point outing isn’t awful. Neither is a 19-point outing, for that matter, subtracting the pick-6.

B) I wish more people saw the difference between getting pissed publicly and getting pissed in the locker room. We don’t need players going off at the mic. We need them going off in the film room and on the practice field. So if that’s a reflection of their head coach, then I’m all for it.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 11:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I’m not talking about what Jauron says to the media. I’m talking about his game day approach and sideline demeanor. His players follow his lack of urgency and that can kill us. I’d like to see some accountability from the coach. And how do we know the players are getting pissed in the locker room and going off in film study? It sure doesn’t show on the field….

And please, the D stunk again yesterday. Sure, they weren’t as bad as against AZ, but they weren’t exactly sparkling yesterday. After Favre’s gift, we were down 6 with 11 minutes to play. The D that played so well yesterday couldn’t get off the field for the next 8-9 minutes and let the Jets get points to put the game away. That wasn’t a pretty good performance unless mediocrity and losing is the goal.

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 11:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The D that played so well yesterday couldn’t get off the field for the next 8-9 minutes and let the Jets get points to put the game away. That wasn’t a pretty good performance unless mediocrity and losing is the goal.

Well, I didn’t say they played great. Given the situation that they were put in, I thought they played well enough to win. That’s all I’m saying – clearly, it wasn’t a dominant performance, and I don’t believe I colored it in that light.

Believe me when I say that when I disagree with something you or anyone else says, it’s not with mediocrity and losing in mind. :)

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 12:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Believe me when I say that when I disagree with something you or anyone else says, it’s not with mediocrity and losing in mind. :)

I hope not. I don’t want to have to start calling you Dick Jauron. Ziiiiiiiing!

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 12:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Calling ziiiing on your own comment is a little over the top…

by thefourwinds on Nov 3, 2008 1:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ok

didn’t want it taken seriously….

by Kurupt on Nov 3, 2008 3:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

For all you know, I am Dick Jauron. :)

Yeah, but I’m not. He has a sweet job though.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 3:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"For all you know, I am Dick Jauron."

LOL. You only need an evil “BWAHAHAHAHAHA” afterwards!

by thefourwinds on Nov 3, 2008 3:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t see DJ, as that big of a Star Wars fan. He’s more Star Trek.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Nov 3, 2008 6:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now I really want to know which he prefers.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 7:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Think he watches Heroes or The Office?

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Nov 3, 2008 8:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My money’s on both.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 9:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

sure

He’s got a pulse right? He must watch both.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Nov 3, 2008 9:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I've never seen Heroes, and have only seen The Office twice. I have a pulse!

by krytime on Nov 4, 2008 1:22 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Have a pulse

Are you sure?

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Nov 4, 2008 6:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Improvement

Something is missing if both Miami and New York have done more to improve in one year than the Bills have in 5 years.

by south123 on Nov 3, 2008 10:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Who says they have? The entire thesis of the article was that the Bills are beating themselves. The Jets and Dolphins are better, but I’ll say it again: they’re not as good as Buffalo. The Bills should have had both of these games.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 10:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Which is saying something

It doesn’t matter if the Jets or Dolphins are beating them, or they’re beating themselves. They’re still not winning abnd thats the bottom line. A team full of talent thats not winning is worth no more than a team of second-stringers that plays their hearts out.

by south123 on Nov 3, 2008 10:26 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thoughts

Couldn’t write anything yesterday. Too pissed.
1. Losing the turnover battle is very much UN-Dick Jaron. If he ever gets upset at anything he should be steaming at this. No one will ever win consistently by losing the turnover count. Brian is right on here.
2. Our run blocking is getting worse. We seemed to run block better last year. Preston does suck, but I hope he stays and Melvin sits. With such a weakness at C, why beat a dead horse by running straight ahead so much? I’m with K in wanting to see much more runs outside the tackles. Pitch it, sweep it, anyway you want, but do it. Marshawn would like that too. Less predictability = more outside runs.
3. On the Jets long 4thQ drive, I noticed our secondary (except for McGee) playing up close to the line more. Like it!
4. What’s with the lousy tackling? WAY too many missed tackles. If that is correctable, then do it soon. How many yards/points did we give to Miami and the Jets just from turnovers/bad tackling?
5. Trent needs to spend more time with Hardy one on one. The rapport isn’t there yet. I’m thinking that Trent needs to get his timing down with Hardy. He needs to know how long it takes Hardy to run a particular route. Also, I’ve seen Trent underthrow Hardy a few times and not put the ball in the proper spot for him. Eventually Hardy will be able to catch the ball in more locations.
6. We need a right guard next year too. The more I watch Marshawn run the more I see him prefering to run right. Even when a sweep left is called, he follows his blockers out and looks for a lane to cut right. I think he cuts better running right than left.
If OBD puts center at 1st or 2nd priority in the off season I’ll be happy. IMO our run blocking will not substantially improve with the players we have now at C and RG. So DJ prefers to operate a low scoring, run first offense. That will not happen until the center of our line is replaced. There are 2 stud centers available next year. Not much in FA. We had better get one of them. Probably will not be there come round 3.
Looks like our new strategy for overcoming the Reed injury is to use Fine to move the chains. Good idea. A 2 TE set. Works for me.

everything goes better with bacon

by keuka121 on Nov 3, 2008 11:38 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agree with you about Trent and Hardy

If you recall, when Edwards was interviewed after the Jags game, he spoke about how difficult it actually has been for him to throw the ball high enough for Hardy to go up and get it over the DB. With consistent work together, they will be able to work it out.

by thefourwinds on Nov 3, 2008 1:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Argggggggghhhhhhh!!!!

THIS IS ALL JASON PETERS’ FAULT!!!!!!!!!!

by MonStarr_716 on Nov 3, 2008 8:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nah.

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by Brian Galliford on Nov 3, 2008 9:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

lol....i know...

but that seems to be the sentiment to alot of posters on other sights, and I’ve seen it mentioned once or twice on here. I really need to stop looking at other blogs around the cuz they really are worthless compared to Rumblings. I’m even hearing speak of switching allegiance to other teams..such blasphemy!

by MonStarr_716 on Nov 3, 2008 10:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs