Bills set to take on Bears sans Owens

I’ll be looking mostly at the offensive line, just because I think it’s really interesting. Will Walker have to resort to a couple of holds like he did last week? Will Butler be an obvious improvement at tackle over Bell? Will Levitre be more aggressive in sustaining blocks? Will the line as a whole communicate better?

Collins had such an easy time because—familiar story—the defensive line got no pressure whatsoever. That has got to change or Cutler will carve the secondary apart like a fat man going after a Thanksgiving turkey.

As for the backup QB roles, I realize that it’s unlikely to happen but I’d like to see Buffalo play Hamdan with the second string and Fitzy with the third. Hamdan had a better night than Fitzy in Canton but was that because Hamdan is better than Fitzy or because Hamdan faced (and played with) third and fourth stringers?

I have a wedding in Batavia to attend this evening. I will be DVRing it again and when I do watch it I will be looking at the OL, Trent, Shawn Nelson, and the DEs. If Ellis is being supplanted by Bryan specifically.

According to the Buffalo News, Cutler is supposed to play into the second quarter while Trent and the rest of our starters won’t play “considerably more than last week” according to the D&C.

Whether it was LeVetrie’s fault or a bad pass, lets see how Trent rebounds. Then lets see the back up QB’s battle it out. Also, the running game, if there is going to be one. Of course this will be a reflection of our O-Line as well. Roscoe is a good one to keep an eye on.

Playmakers, who will step up this game, Youboty, Corner, McKelvin ? Speaking of rebounds, will Poz catch the ball this time, will Lankster cover that corner pass better. Poz will be fine but we need those turn overs.

Special Teams Coverage and field possesion after returns.

I’d like to see our starting line generate some push on running plays. Butler and Wood opened some good holes in camp, I’d like to see if they can do that in a game situation.

Nickle corner – who’s going to step up here?

Demetrius Bell – for obvious reasons. He should be going against 2nd stringers tonight… hopefully he’ll show what he’s learned between now and Sunday.

Fred Jackson – Teams are going to make Trent Edwards try to beat them until he proves he can. That was the reason the field was flooded with DBs last year. If Jackson can generate chain-moving yards against the Bears’ scheme, that bodes well for our first three games.

I’m actually pretty interested in watching Chicago some. For fantasy purposes, I’ve got my eye on Urlacher and Ogunleye because if they’re back to the players they were a couple of years ago, then Chicago might be back to being one of the better fantasy defenses. I’d also like to see whether Devin Hester looks like a real WR who could breakout with Cutler, or a really fast guy who somebody is going to reach on. Earl Bennett intrigues me too. And I’ve actually got 4 Bears on that Mock offseason I’m doing too. DT Jarron Gilbert in the 2nd round, LB Marcus Freeman in the 5th and WR Eric Peterman and FB Will Ta’ufo’ou after the draft. Zach Bowman is a player a lot of us were high on in the 2008 draft and he’s supposedly having a great camp so far. He’s a guy to keep an eye on.

For the Bills, I’m curious to see if Fitz can show anything against the Bears’ good 2nd team defense, especially if the Bills don’t give him any WRs to work with. If Reed sticks with the first teamers without TO and Johnson and Huggins don’t suit up too, then who does FItz have to throw to? And if Parrish and Jenkins only play with the 2nd teamers then maybe it’s time for Nelson to break out in the 2nd half with Hammy?

Brian did a great job covering everything else.

Some other things I’ll be looking for (outside of the obvious):

Ashton “Broken” Youboty. He can be a valuable asset when healthy… Can he make an impact tonight and escape the game unscathed?

Lankster. I’m pullin for him, but he got caught watching that TD last week. The rest of the game he had some good coverage, and he’s a physical player. He makes plays in practice, now its time to do it in an actual game setting. Curious to see if they let him participate in the return game as well.

This Derrick Jones guy. There’s been some talk about him lately, can he make some more plays against backups tonight? And sorry if I missed it, but does anyone know the staus of his practice squad eligibilty?

And lastly, the refs. I know its preseason for them too, but I want to see how quickly they can spot the ball during the no huddle. The league would like them to get set faster, and this could have some impact on the Bills’ tempo.

Let’s hope for the best!

1.) The Jills: Are they in mid-season form yet?

2.) Josh Reed: Me and the Family went to training camp thrusday night. Josh Reed came over to the fence to tape his arm up. My 50 year old aunt took the opportunity to tell him he was cute. He smiled, said thank you, and went back and laughed about it with Lee Evans. How will he respond after getting hit on by middle-aged ladies?

3.) I’ll be looking to see if I can spot Jay Cutler take his insulin shots right on the sideline.

During the game on Thursday night they announced that Vick had signed with the Eagles. I’m seriously hoping that they announce a Maybin signing tonight!