Bend But Not Break Mentality of Bills Defense is Paying Dividends

by austin91092 on Oct 26, 2009 1:47 PM EDT Comment 2 comments

To be seemingly dominated twice in a season and you hear mumbles. In back to back weeks? Well that would demand outcry. But what about if losing in the stat line does not calculate to a loss? Well that is exactely what happened to Buffalo in weeks six and seven as the western new yorkers found a way to win against the reeling Jets and Panthers.

In the past two weeks, the Buffalo Bills have been outgained by 280 yards (743 to 463). Okay so maybe the offense's numbers would show in their ability to complete third downs? Wrong, as the Bills went 31% and 21% the past two weeks on third downs. It should come to no one's surprise then that Buffalo ranks near the bottom of the league in points (24th) and yards (27th).

So if they are so bad..how can the Bills be finding ways to win. Some would say the overall play of the defense. In response I ask...have you seen the yards they have given up? What the stats do not reveal is that most of these yards were being given up before the offense was in scoring range. The bend but not break mentality of the Buffalo defense has been the team's saving grace. Able to rely on the big play for a stop (9 interceptions the past two weeks), Buffalo has yet to see their opponents convert their yards to points.

So how long can this last? Signs actually point to the trend continuing. With eleven players inactive for Sunday's game in Carolina including Kawika Mitchell, Donte Whitner, and Byran Scott, the Bills are finding ways to make the most with the players on the field. Scott's replacement, Jairus Byrd, has four interceptions the past two weeks (tops in the NFL in that timespan) and has come up big to get the defense off the field.

While the offense has continued to sputter, Fitzpatrick is making an effort to revitalize Buffalo's downfield threats: Evans and Owens. The quaterback frequently looked downfield, connecting with Evans on several occasions including a thread the needle pass for a touchdown. While Owens continues to struggle, he is beginning to draw the attention of defenses as Fitzpatrick has looked his way more often.

It was announced today that Fitzpatrick will be the quaterback against the Texans in week 8

This FanPost was written by a registered user of Buffalo Rumblings. Its views do not necessarily reflect the views of Rumblings' editorial staff, but are just as valued as our own.

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Giving up 300+ yards on the ground is not "bend but don't break," it's "already broken"

In my mind you can’t attribute these last two wins to much more than the opponents bad QB play.

I would love to say these have been forced turnovers, but the truth is that most of these were poorly throw balls that shouldn’t have been thrown.

If the Bills are playing a decent QB that is playing well right now, they lose both of those games and probably by a large margin.

by kgun201 on Oct 26, 2009 6:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If the Bills are playing a decent QB that is playing well right now, they lose both of those games and probably by a large margin.

Well we are going to find out this Sunday if that statement is true or not, sure hope the Bills can keep up with the pass because the Texan’s don’t have much of a run game, just have to make sure we can take advantage of some bad plays and pull out a improbable victory.

"Did you feel you did well against Lindland?" "
Hell no.. I wanted to break the law"
---Rampage

by TearsofaClown on Oct 27, 2009 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs