As promised, here is some analysis regarding the three most important things I believe the Bills must figure out by the end of the year. Not for success in '09 (though it would certainly help) but for the future. All stats are from ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.

1. Is Trent Edwards a game-changing quarterback?

First of all, if you haven't read the great quote by Peter King on the Rumblings front page, do so now. So far, Edwards has shown us two good games and two horrible games. Here are his cumulative stats from the first four games:

Just for comparison, here are Edwards' stats from the first 4 games of 2008:

YDS   CMP%  TD  INT   RAT
930   65.5       4     2     94.5

Edwards' stat lines as a whole in '09 are not horrible, nor are they very good. While the jury is still out on whether he can be a game-changing quarterback, he showed signs of being able to take over games with his performance at New England. Not on the level of Brees or P. Manning, who are the best in the business, but he controlled that game effectively when he was on the field. An encouraging sign for sure, but then he followed it up with abysmal performances against New Orleans and Miami. Edwards' biggest issue is that he seems to lose confidence so quickly when the first few series go awry. I wish I knew how much of that was poor offensive line play (more on that in a moment) but for now he looks more like the guy who threw 3 picks in the MNF game against Cleveland and curled up into the fetal position than the calm commander we saw at New England..

In order to take the next step towards convincing us he's our guy, he simply cannot have games like the one in Miami. That Trent Edwards gives the team virtually no chance to win. Even when he plays poorly, which every quarterback does now and then, he still has to do enough to keep us in games and keep the opposing defense from going in to all-out-attack mode. Over the next four games, he'll be expected to play well against Cleveland and Carolina, but he needs to show us he can be at least average (if not better) against the NYJ and Houston.

2. Will the inexperienced offensive line prove that they're all starting-caliber players, and will they gel into an effective unit?

This one is tough to call since there have been so many injuries, but so far things have not looked very cohesive. The Bills are the second-worst team in sacks allowed with 16 - Green Bay has 20 - and are also the second-worst team in penalties committed with 31 - only St. Louis is worse with 32. Unfortunately I've been unable to find individual penalty statistics (if anyone knows where to get them, please let me know!) but I think we can all agree that the O-Line has committed more than its fair share.

As for the players, Wood, Levitre and Hangartner all seem like upgrades so far, and even if the rookies are still looking overwhelmed at times they've shown good potential for the future. Bell, Butler, Scott, and Chambers are tougher to grade due to injuries and limited playing time, though Chambers and Scott have not looked great so far. Ron From NM's posts go into much more depth than I can/would want to, so check those out if you're interested in the nitty-gritty. For now, let's just say it's still a big work in progress, though cutting down the penalties and sacks would be super-duper.

3. Who will emerge as our defensive play maker?

In my first post I listed a few candidates who I thought could break out as a true playmaker, their stats and impressions are below:

Donte Whitner: 23 tackles (14 solo), 2 passes defensed, 1 INT, 1TD
- Whitner, for the short time he has played, has looked great and is the leading candidate for play maker. Let's hope he gets well soon because he has been our best defensive player so far.

Jairus Byrd: 15 tackles (12 solo), 1 pass defensed
- Byrd has looked competent in his first few games. He is 9th on the team in tackles - not bad for a backup. He was touted as a ball hawk coming out of college, so it would be nice to see a few INTs from him by the end of the year if he continues to get significant playing time.

Aaron Maybin: 2 tackles, all solo.
- This guy has been more invisible than Kevin Bacon in Hollow Man, and probably less scary to opposing defenses. Hell, that picture of him at the top of the post is the most visible he's been this season. Joking aside, Maybin is lucky that the rest of the D-Line is playing so well, otherwise he'd be really hearing it from fans.

Paul Posluszny: 6 tackles, all solo.
- Poz seemed primed for a big year, but was injured yet again. The biggest vote for why he's a play maker is that Buggs and the entire run defense have been gashed badly in his absence. Get well soon.

Leodis McKelvin: 11 tackles, 8 solo, 1 pass defensed.
- McKelvin also seemed primed for a good year, but has been out with an injury. He's the guy (as opposed to McGee) who will take some chances and go for the pick rather than play it safe - so we need him in the lineup and creating turnovers.

The Bills rank 26th in the league with 4 takeaways, which is just not good enough. Hopefully the team can get things turned around against the Browns.