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I've been pressed for time the past couple of weeks - and having my computer die on me didn't help matters - and thus this is our first breakdown of the Buffalo Bills' offensive line in quite some time. I did break down the Bills' loss to Miami and half of the loss to Cleveland. No, it wasn't that I couldn't stomach reviewing the rest of the game (after years of eating my own cooking, I have a stomach of steel!), but rather I wasn't smart enough to hit the record button at the start of the second half. D'oh!

Rather than do my usual spiel, I'll review how the linemen have done through what is essentially 4.5 games' worth of film. Also, I'll spend some time talking about the loss to Cleveland in particular.

The Browns game was one in which pretty much everyone - not just linemen--took turns screwing the pooch. Six offensive linemen drew penalties, never mind that there are only five offensive line positions. (Thanks, Kirk Chambers!) At least one lineman screwed up on runs 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14. I only had 15 run plays to review, so on more than half of the running plays I saw, some lineman was doing something badly. It was only marginally better on pass plays, with screw-ups on passes 1, 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 17... of the 18 pass plays in the first half, or just under half. Ugh. Would you be surprised to learn that only Jonathan Scott made it through the first half without a bad pass play? I sure was!

8 of 15 run plays in the first half were C gap runs, either left or right. The Bills only tested the A gap on three occasions - for 8 yards. Yeah, I know, it's not good, but it was nice to see Geoff Hangartner hang with Cleveland's mammoth nose tackle, Shaun Rogers. Along with the two runs each to the right B and left B gaps it was enough to keep the defense honest.

The Bills gave the tackles more help in the first half on passing downs. Demetrius Bell had help on passes 2 and 18, the help on 18 coming immediately after he had been cleanly beaten for a field goal attempt-killing sack. Scott was helped on plays 6, 10, and 17. While it's good that the Bills recognize the need to give the tackles some help, keeping three guys back to block while sending out only two receivers (pass 3) just isn't the answer either.  Kind of hard for Trent Edwards to go downfield in that situation.

And then there were the penalties. Yes, they're young guys. So what? Even young guys can learn to move on the snap count. In their own stadium. With crickets in the background... only replaced by loud boos when the linemen kept making stupid penalties. There's just no excuse for the entire line to be so poorly disciplined.

Through 4.5 games, the Bills had 49 offensive drives, of which only six were successful - meaning they ended with touchdowns. The other 43 drives were killed as follows:

Trent Edwards: 10.5 killed drives
Demetrius Bell: 4.5
Terrell Owens: 4
Kirk Chambers: 3.5
Eric Wood: 3
Fred Jackson: 3
Halftime/End of game: 3
Geoff Hangartner: 2.5
Jonathan Scott: 2.5
Lee Evans: 2
Andy Levitre: 1
Seth McKinney: 1
Derek Fine: 1
Coaching decisions: 1
Josh Reed: 0.5

Leaving out coaching and halftime/end of game situations, here's how drives were killed by positional groups:

Offensive Line: 18
Quarterbacks: 10.5
Skill positions: 10.5

The line is really killing the team. Those five positions have killed almost as many drives as the guys who actually are responsible for handling the ball. I think we kind of knew this would happen, given the rookie guards and a fairly young guy playing center in the NFL for the first time. What's made it atrocious has been the play at the tackles.  Unsurprisingly, the offensive line numbers seem to track right along with the line killing numbers.

I've said before that it's very hard to even get to 75 on pass plays in my grading system. Simply stopping a guy from reaching the QB isn't going to count as a good play, but rather as a decent one. Thus, the bad plays tend to effectively carry more weight, since there are few good plays (generally screens, though things like tossing a defensive lineman down and laying on them counts as good as well) to offset them. With that said, Bell and Scott are below the 73% mark - Scott mainly due to a terrible day playing left tackle in Miami, and Bell largely thanks to a dreadful day in Foxboro. Levitre, Hangartner and Wood all had letdowns against the Browns, which many of you likely noticed as Edwards was having to scramble away from even three-man rushes. Overall, however, their pass protection is decent.

Melvin Fowler and Duke Preston were abysmal in the run game, each in the 70% range. Hangartner has consistently been in the mid-70s. Amazingly, his two best games have come against some of the biggest and toughest DTs in the league. You've got to love a guy who rises to a challenge. Scott has been better than expected in the run game, coming in just behind Hangartner. Bell has been encouraging and currently has the second-highest run grade of the linemen. Levitre and Wood are both above 75%, which speaks well of their future potential.

On the subject of potential, I mentioned before that some of the coaching staff had Levitre as rated higher than Wood. So far Levitre has shown them to be astute judges of talent, at least in this specific case. He's currently got the highest grades for both run and pass plays.

As the chart below shows, the Bills have been running the ball around the ends and straight up the middle. Don't pay too much attention to the 6.5-yard average in the left B gap, as almost all of it came on one run by Jackson against the Bucs. Take out that one play, and it's more like a yard per attempt. Clearly, Buffalo has run the ball most effectively around the ends, but that doesn't mean the team should give up on pounding it up the middle. Something to remember is that Marshawn Lynch's running style is better suited to running up the middle than is Fred Jackson's.

I don't track how many plays linemen pull, but I can tell you that Buffalo has had some good success with those plays this year. They certainly help account for some of the yardage being picked up on the outside. Something else that has really helped on outside runs has been the play of Shawn Nelson. He doesn't have great stats, but he's getting better and better at blocking. It also really helps that the tackles have killed just two run plays between them.

Through 4.5 games, Edwards has faced blitzes (I define those as five or more rushers) 54 times. He has picked up 363 yards (6.7 yards per blitz), 14 (25.9%) first downs and 3 touchdowns against those blitzes. He'd be doing quite a bit better were it not for an appalling 9 drops, 6 bad passes, and 1 batted ball. Think about that for a second: add the 15 mistakes the Bills have made against the blitz and the first down percentage goes to something like 54% and the yards per blitz would be around 13-15. The Bills have to stop shooting themselves in the foot soon - there can't be much left to hit anyway.

On the topic of hitting oneself in the head with a hammer because it feels so good when one stops, it's well past time for the Bills to put away the rollout pass to the tight end. Defenses aren't falling for it at all. Even when the pass is completed, it is for no gain. Which brings me to another sunny point: Buffalo needs to stop sending receivers on none-yard patterns. Why can't the TE at least go 3 or 5 yards downfield and be tackled immediately there instead of at the line of scrimmage? To my mind, that's a Turk Schonert issue.

It turns out that I had a little more time than I thought I would so here's the first half breakdown for the Browns game. (I'm adding this after Brian did a terrific job cleaning up my drivel so I hope it doesn't cause problems....)

Drive 1

Run 1 Lynch 11 yards through the right C gap

Bell got a ½ yard push on 98. Levitre chucked 98 and then kept 52 out of the play. Hang and Wood doubled Rogers (92) initially. Hang peeled off to hit 58. As soon as he did so Rogers spun away from Wood and almost had a tackle for loss (TFL). Scott got a 2 yard drive on 90 and wouldn’t let him turn. Fine kept 96 shielded from the play.

Bell drew a false start flag, setting up 1^st and 15.

Run 2 Jackson 2 yards through the left C gap

Bell got a 2 yard push on 98 but allowed him to shed the block and make the tackle. Levitre went to the 2^nd level and took 52 on a wide loop away from the play. Hang managed a lateral push on 92 one on one—something Preston/Fowler never could manage—and kept him out of the play by sustaining his block through the whistle. Wood went to the 2^nd level and got a piece of 50 but didn’t lock him up. Scott didn’t get any drive on 90 but kept him busy. Fine did an okay job on 96 while Nelson kept 95 out of the play.

Pass 1 sack -1 yards

Bell, Levitre and Hang kept 92 and 95 well away from Edwards. Wood helped with 92 and didn’t keep his head on a swivel—which allowed a LB to run through the right B gap. While Wood didn’t cover himself with glory, Jackson’s whiff on the blitz pick up was a play killer. It should have been about an 8 yard loss but Edwards evaded the tackle and almost got back to the line of scrimmage (LOS). Scott was doing an okay job on 90 but when Edwards ran forward in the pocket 90 was able to get in on the tackle.

Pass 2 Jackson 9 yards

The line easily handled the 3 man rush, particularly since Bell had tight end help.

Blitzes: 0

Stacked box: 0

Drive killed by: Bell’s stupid penalty and Jackson’s inept blitz pick up

Drive 2

Run 3 Jackson 2 yards through the right C gap

Scott pulled to lead the play and buried a LB into the pile. Levitre turned out to keep 98 from chasing the play. Hang turned 92 away from the play but didn’t sustain his block. 92 chased down Jackson from behind, which should give you an idea of how slowly the play developed. Wood gave 92 a little push and then wasn’t fast enough to catch 52 at the 2^nd level. Scott got no push on 90 at all, which is what slowed everything down. Nelson sustained his block on 95.

Pass 3 Owens 18 yards against a 5 man blitz

Bell did an okay job on 98. Levitre and Hang stuffed 92 while Wood and Scott stopped 90. Fine and Jackson doubled a blitzer and Nelson handled 95 on his own. It was a 2 WR pattern, which says a lot about how AVP views the offensive line.

Pass 4 Nelson incomplete

The entire offensive line blocked to the left as if it were a run while Edwards bootlegged to his right. The only problem was that defenses have seen this play far too many times to be fooled by it. 90 sat on the edge of the line and just watched Edwards—when he kept the ball 90 went after him, knowing that Nelson was going to be well covered. While Jauron has talked about running a few plays the offense executes well over and over the downside is that defenses look for those plays. Even if Nelson had made the reception it would have gone for no gain. Hey, AVP! Retire this friggin play!

Run 4 Jackson 2 yards through the right C gap

Bell pulled to the middle and whiffed on his block on 50—who made the tackle. Hang turned out and kept 98 out of the play, getting a 3 yard drive in the process. Hang got under Rogers’ pads and drove him two yards. Wood hit 52 in the 2^nd level after chucking 92. Scott again got no drive on 90, who shed his block and was in on the tackle. Nelson again sustained his block on 95 while Fine missed a cut block on 96.

Pass 5 Owens 6 yards against a 5 man blitz

Bell took 95 around the corner. Levitre picked up a blitzing LB. Hang was bull rushed by Rogers, who got inside of his block to hit Edwards. Wood did okay at first but then 99 got past his outside shoulder to hit Edwards. Scott danced with 90.

Blitzes: 2

Stacked box: 0

Drive killed by: play calling—the wasted down (rollout none-yard pattern to the TE) would have been better spent on a 2 yard plunge into the line….which would have extended the drive

Drive 3

Run 5 Lynch 4 yards through the right B gap

Bell got a 3 yard push on 90. Levitre kept 50 out of the play. Hang and Wood got a 3 yard push on 71, though it was mainly Hang that got him moving backwards. Scott got a 3 yard drive on 90.

Pass 6 Owens 7 yards (rollout)

Bell and Levitre blocked like it was going to be a screen to the left. Hang kept 71 turned away from the rollout and Wood stuffed 69. Scott got help from Nelson, which he needed. 95 got outside of Scott’s shoulder and was in position to chase Edwards on his rollout when Nelson popped him.

Run 6 Lynch 4 yards through the left C gap

Bell and Fine sent 98 4 yards in reverse like he was on roller skates. Levitre and Hang doubled 71 and got some push. Wood stood up 69 but didn’t get much push. Scott danced with 95 away from the play. Nelson did an okay job on 96 but 96 shed his block and was in on the tackle.

Run 7 Lynch 4 yards through the A gap

Bell got a 2 yard push on 98. Levitre shoved 71 then took 52 on a five yard tour of the second level. Hang drove 71 back 4 yards. Wood went to the 2^nd level and popped a LB but didn’t sustain his block. Scott didn’t get much push on 69, who got inside of him and in on the tackle. Fine stopped 96 and Nelson crossed the formation to keep 95 out of the play.

3^rd and 2, the line is taking it to the Browns defense and Levitre has a false start. Way to kill momentum, Andy.

Pass 7 INC to Reed against a 5 man blitz

Bell laid on 95 after he slipped. Levitre stuffed a bull rush and wouldn’t let him elevate. Hang stopped 92. Wood picked up a blitzer and kept his arms down. 99 almost got around Scott but Scott got under his pads and pushed him past Edwards. It wasn’t a great pass—it should have been a little farther ahead of Reed.

Pass 8 Nelson INC

Bell stopped 99. Levitre, Hang and Wood stopped two defenders as they tried to twist. Scott stopped 93 at the corner. It looked like a bad pass but in reality Nelson stumbled as he made his break. Maybe it wouldn’t have been completed anyway but I don’t know that you can pin this one on Edwards.

Blitzes: 1

Stacked box: 0

Drive killed by: Levitre’s stupid penalty—with two downs and two yards to go (before the penalty) you’ve got to believe Lynch would have gotten that first down.

Drive 4 (starting at the 1 yard line)

Run 8 QB sneak for 2 yards against an 8 man front through the A gap

The line generated a 2 yard push pretty much across the board. All things considered it was a pretty good effort given where the Bills began the possession.

Run 9 Jackson for 2 yards through the A gap against an 8 man front (Jackson??? WTF??? Where was Lynch?)

Bell got a 2 yard push on 98. Levitre chucked 71 then hit 52 at the 2^nd level. Hang got a 2 yard push on 71. Wood hit a filling 50 but (again) didn’t sustain his block. Scott allowed 69 to shed his block to the inside and make the tackle.

Pass 9 Nelson -1 yard

Bell and Levitre doubled 98. Hang stayed home and picked up a rushing 52. Wood stopped Rogers and Scott kept 69 on the LOS. Edwards never turned his head to the left, where he had Evans open for first down yardage. I’m guessing he was trying to get the ball to Owens and just hoping that he wasn’t committed from the get-go to throw a none-yard pass to Nelson.

Blitzes: 0

Stacked box: 2

Drive killed by: Edwards locking in on the right side of the field

Drive 5

Pass 10 INC—almost a sack

Bell had no one to block. 98 got inside of Levitre and almost got the sack. 98 had Edwards’ legs wrapped up, which led to the terrible pass and killed the play. Hang stuffed a rushing 52. Rogers walked Wood back to Edwards and got an arm on the QB. Scott had help stuffing 98.

Run 10 Lynch 12 yards through the right C gap

98 got inside of Bell but too late to catch the play. Levitre went to the 2^nd level but couldn’t catch 52. Rogers cut inside of Hang and almost had a TFL. Wood popped 50 hard enough at the 2^nd level to keep him out of the play but (again) didn’t sustain (grrrrrrr). Scott got a 2 yard push on 98, who lost his balance and fell. Nelson turned 96 in multiple circles and really made the play.

Run 11 Lynch 2 yards through the left B gap

Bell pulled wide and helped Nelson with 96. Nelson didn’t look like he needed the help and Bell could have picked up one of the filling defenders instead. Levitre engaged in a slow motion cut on Rogers. Hang pulled and took out a filling 50. Wood got inside of 69 and was doing an okay job of blocking him….until Wood was taken out by Scott who was trying to help with 69. 69 then chased the play.

Pass 11 well overthrown INC—Edwards hit while throwing

Bell and Levitre doubled 98. Rogers pushed Hang back into Edwards, disrupting the throw. Wood split his attention between 92 and 69. He probably should have committed to helping with Rogers but he was also ensuring that no one blew threw his gap. Scott stopped 69.

Pass 12 scramble for 21 yards

Bell beat 95 to the corner. Levitre pitched into 95 when he tried to get inside of Bell. 92 got inside of Hang and caused the scramble. 69 bull rushed Wood into Jackson’s legs, taking both Wood and 69 out. Scott stopped a rushing LB at the corner.

Run 12 Lynch 2 yards through the left B gap against an 8 man front

Bell got a 2 yard push on 95. Levitre drove 69 1 yard but then 69 shed his block and was in on the tackle. Hang didn’t get much push on 71, who shed his block to get in on the tackle. Wood and Scott doubled a defensive lineman. Wood peeled and went to the 2^nd level but by then there was no one to block.

Run 13 Owens reverse for 6 yards through the right B gap

Bell, Levitre and Hang blocked like it was a run to the left. Wood fired into the 2^nd level and blocked 52 away from the run lane but (yet again) didn’t sustain. Scott sustained his block on 99 and kept him on the LOS. Stupar had no one to block when TO cut the run back to the inside.

Pass 13 INC—pass interference on the defense

The line provided a clean pocket and the defender clearly hit Reed a full second before the ball arrived. I wasn’t at all surprised to see one of the flag happy refs not throw his flag despite the blatant penalty on the Browns. The ref in question had turned and was clearly watching the play so there’s just no excuse for him not to have thrown his flag. Happily, another ref did.

Run 14 Lynch 2 yards through the right C gap

Scott had no one to block. 98 got inside of Levitre (again!) and made the tackle. Hang went to the 2^nd level and popped 52, right next to Wood who popped 50. Scott got a 2 yard pop on 69. Fine kept 96 on the edge of the LOS. After the play 96 threw Fine down which somehow failed to draw a flag. Hmmmm. Who blocked Shaun Rogers? Stupar. Yes, Stupar. Rogers couldn’t believe it either, which probably explains why it worked.

Pass 14 Lynch 9 yards

Bell stuffed 98. Levitre was pushed back to Edwards by Rogers. Hang gave a little bit of assistance to Levitre. Wood and Scott tag teamed 69. A rushing LB never made it near Edwards even though no one blocked him—he just couldn’t navigate the sea of large bodies in time.

With momentum and the ball at the Cleveland 17 Scott has a false start.

Run 15 Lynch -3 yards through the left C gap against an 8 man front

Bell got outside of 98 to set the edge. Levitre went to the 2^nd level and eventually blocked 71. Hang blocked 71 down the line but 71 eventually broke off and went to the 2^nd level to meet Levitre. Wood got a piece of 99 and Scott had no one to block. Nelson, who had done a good job run blocking, was beaten by 53 who made the TFL and killed the play.

Pass 16 Screen to Lynch for 3 yards

Bell sustained his block on 98. Levitre missed his block on 95 and Hang stuck with 71. Wood got too far upfield too quickly. The same ref who wouldn’t throw a flag on pass interference on Reed earlier in the drive watched Wood the whole time with his hand on his flag. It’s like he couldn’t wait to throw it and did—the moment Wood took a step past 5 yards downfield. Scott kept 99 away from the play.

Pass 17 sack for -8 yards against a 6 man blitz

Bell was beaten cleanly by 95’s pure speed for the sack. Levitre took 52 on a wide arc. Hang stuffed 92’s spin move. Wood picked up 93. Scott and Fine stopped 69 and Lynch stuffed a blitzing 23. If Scott hadn’t been beaten like a trailer park wench on a Friday night there was an excellent chance for the Bills to set themselves up inside the 10. The sack instead took the team out of field goal range leading to….

Pass 18 INC—jump ball in the end zone

Bell was belatedly given help from Nelson and stopped 95. Levitre and Hang doubled Rogers. Wood and Scott stopped 69.

Blitzes: 1

Stacked box: 2

Drive killed by: Bell’s sack

And that’s all I’ve got due to being too inept to hit ‘record’ at the start of the 2^nd half. At first blush Wood did seem to do a better job of sustaining his blocks in the second half and Levitre wasn’t as susceptible to inside moves. The penalty flags, of course, continued to rain down on the Bills.