At the beginning of the season, I decided to find 5 positives during each loss this year.  Unfortunately, I have been doing this regularly.   As I said in the beginning, I will always be a loyal Bill -- and I just can't read all the negative (although accurate) stuff after a loss that make me question my commitment.  So, here I go again to identify 5 positive things (usually players) I saw in the game (and no jokes):

1.  Offensive play-calling.  The checkdowns worked!  The reason for that was that they went deep and targeted Owens and Lee a lot more early in the game -- didn't matter if they caught it -- the defense moved back a few steps.  This is what Van Pelt/Edwards has to learn about playcalling.  You have to open up the field before you do a lot of screens and short passes.

2.  Edwards has the talent.  The first 3 quarters were very competitive.  And that was because the playcalling was unpredictable and Edwards was making all the different throws (mixing it up).  If you looked at the OL for the Titans and the OL for the Bills, you could really see that it is totally unfair to blame Edwards -- he had no time, while Young had as much time as he wanted -- and despite that, he performed well.  Edwards looked like he had all the skills until the last quarter (yes, he was terrible after that). 

3.  Andy Levitre at tackle -- actually, McKinney at Guard.  I don't disagree with Brian that Levitre may not be a left tackle in the NFL, but he showed he was good enough  (don't forget that he hasn't practiced at tackle -- ever!) at left tackle to consider him at right tackle.  Frankly, despite all the talk, I have thought he was the weakest OL (along with the turnstile RT).  Good guards are easy to find (McKinney looked pretty good (I forgive his motion penalty since it was early on in his first appearance)) -- if we fill the tackle positions, the guards will perform better.

4.  Jairus Byrd.  Actually, I think he didn't play that well for most of the game.  However, in the center field INT (anyone could catch that interception), he just happens to be in the right spot.   The great thing about Byrd is that he (and thus the Bills) are starting to have the reputation of takeaways if you go deep -- so, the opponents are going to go deep less.  The field has shrunk -- that makes the defense more efficient.  This actually has happened (I don't see as many deep plays) -- but then we better stop the run........

5.  Action Jackson.  I actually like it that Lynch carries most of the balls (he gets the tough yardage).  Jackson can't do it all, so the Bills correctly are letting him do what he does -- returns, wildcat, receiving, limited carries.  For some reason, Lynch cannot catch anything that is a short distance between him and the QB (hands of stone), which was not his reputation (maybe in Cal, it was much more of an open offense).  On the other hand, Jackson is a great athlete and can do everything.  We need to use him for the special teams, the trickery (his TD pass looked better than most QBs!), the short passes, and the Lynch relief.  Actually, I am always surprised that Lynch and Jackson take turns per series -- I think Lynch should be the 1st and 2nd down back and Jackson be the 3rd down back. 

Frankly, I thought the Bills played pretty well in the first half.  Unlike many other defeats, I was more pleased with their overall play.  I thought the offense, in particular, looked semi-solid for most of the game.