Bills lose pre-season opener in sloppy performance

Nic Harris – looks like he’ll be breathing down Ellisons neck……wouldnt be suprised to see him starting sometime in the season.

Omon – looked quick, and elusive……and also put his head down and finished his runs

Hamdan – did exactly what you want a backup to do……effective……and not careless.

Corner – Solid job on tackling, coverage, and the TD return.

Lindell and Moorman look to be in mid-season form…..

Probably a few others I missed, but Nice write up all in all Brian.

Edwards looked aggressive was a plus.

That Levitre blow up was bad, but he has a lot of time to learn, and that was all leverage, and he can get better. I was pleased that the line looked the part at least physically. They aren’t pansies, they just need to get their techniques down in unison.

Any one see Lynch steal the ball from Jared Cook on the sidelines. Lynch is a funny dude.

In regards to starters on d leodis mckelvin looked terrible until vince young threw him a gift. He was out of position and tackled very poorly especially that whiff on alge crumpler that gave up a first. Not good stuff.

Poz on the other hand looked spectacular and ready to quiet any critics this year he was disruptive and tackled soundly and with authority.

More to say but have to get up early in the morn

Pretty much agree across the board. Some good, some bad, but in the end this was the fist of five preseason games, so we can only take so much out of it.

Top three:

1. First team offense’s execution and comfortability with the no huddle

2. What T.O. means to the passing game

3. Poz’s strong performance

Bottom three:

1. Run game (running backs plus o-line run blocking, including, in my opinion, Lynch – who looked big and slow)

2. Red zone offense

3. Starting D’s one bad drive

No pass rush. I know it’s early in preseason and no one calls blitzes this early, but I still hoped to see the front 4 put some pressure and collapse the pocket.

I was not encouraged by this game, but then again I think this happened last year pre season—the first game was awful and then the rest were pretty smooth.

I think Tony Dungy’s point is true. This is a team that is going to try to outscore teams. We have to put up 25-30 a game and hope that the defense makes a few stops here and there.

I’m still optimistic about the year, just not as optimistic—I’m pulling back from my AFC championship game predictions.

is that the no-huddle looks in order and like the Bills can maybe run it quite a bit this year. I think it is a TON TO ASK of our team, especially with 2 rookie OG’s and a 3rd year QB, but that said, I honestly think Trent can handle it The only question is our OL good enough to allow Trent to use all these weapons he has to play with? Time will tell. But tonight was a pitiful sign. Then again, the only way this OL can go…..is UP! I think Shawn Nelson could be a perfect solution to our red zone blues….Lankster look a step slow and playing things too safe

There were waaaay too many signs that this team might not be any different than what we’ve seen for years.

The OL was absolutely horrible. Wood was fine I guess and maybe Hang too. Walker seemed to be a step slow, but at least he didn’t let his man get to Trent. Bell didn’t look ready to handle any kind of full-time role yet. Levitre didn’t even look like he belonged on the field. That was brutal. That was also some poor run blocking out there. Little to no push by anyone. Of course, dive plays up the middle aren’t always the way to pick up chunks of yards. When the season starts, I will be begging for more outside runs.

Still, same old pass rush where the QB doesn’t have to even worry about getting hit. Schobel is just another guy these days.

Our front 7 has to be the slowest in the league. Its disgusting how different the two teams’ front 7’s look.

Trent looked good out there though. That deeper cross to TO is something I’ve been waiting for for years. Get it downfield! I think what we saw tonight with TO being the main option and Evans being nearly invisible is something we’ll see a lot of this year.

Lankster got toasted on that TD, ouch.

And what might be the most depressing is how flat and passive the team still is. Tennessee came to play and easily won the battles in the trenches. The team still lacks toughness and I think it’ll remain that way under this regime. Guess I will just have to hope something changes here!

That was a pretty rough start to a critical year. If the OL doesn’t improve 1000000%, this team and Trent specifically has no chance this year.

Great write up. The line is definitely a work in progress, when I was watching Levitre always seemed to be getting over powered and pushed back. I hope they work on this a lot. Also I noticed Walker was not that great in run blocking. When you guys look at the tape maybe you can get some extra things but it looked to me like he would get a block but it was always in the wrong direction. I saw a few plays where if he wouldve turned his guy a little more the run would have gotten an extra few yards at least.
Lankster looked spotty to me; you can clearly tell he needs experience and unless by the end of preseason he catches up I think he will only be on the practice squad. He had a couple really good plays and a good pass break up, but that TD he gave up…
McKelvin has A LOT of work to do; i have the exact same thing to say about him as Lankster.
Edwards looked good I thought (I know he had the INT) and I think they are going to have to adapt him with the O-line with having him move more to the right so he can step up into his throws (I didn’t see Wood getting pushed back…).
McGee is solid as ever and Poz for being in only a short amount of time really dominated – those are the two things I was most impressed by.

Tennesee is one of the better teams in the league that looked like they game planned for the game by using a fake punt and letting the starters playing as much as they did. I thought our defense played well considering it was very vinilla regarding game planning or stunts or blitzes (did we? I don’t remmeber one). Our run defense was stout all game against a very good running team. A lot of the misdirection plays will be accounted for with game planning and matchups.

Our D-Line did good. We only got one sack for the game but I thought, for the most part we were getting good push and collapsing the pocket even though they were throwing a lot of three step or roll out passes and not much or any blitzing. LB’s were active and involved especially Poz. Ellison supported the run and well I was impresed how well he played. Our DB’s were for the most part untested with the quick pass game and what looked like vanilla coverage with little or no press coverage. Leo still needs work, he’s starting to get me nervous because he seems to be playing tentative.

Offensively, we all should have known that O-line was going to struggle in their first live action especially against a good D-line like Ten. Wood is a stud!!! Levitre, everyone saw how he got manhandled a few times but I think he will get better. Overall I think they did how we should have reallistically expected. Thank god that we have 5 preseasons games to gell. It was good to see them play the whole half and show improvements even though it was against second teamers.

The no huddle looked crisp and sharp! It’s goiing to be fun to watch, I just hope Lee doesn’t get too pissed that he is going to get fewer balls this year. T.O. is a stud and our TE’s caught a lot of balls. Would have liked to have seen more of Nelson. Our personnel groupings were once again very vinillia. No 4 wide sets, no no back, Dominic Rhodes didn’t even touch the ball.

Special teams were a killer that cost us 14 points and most of you wanting to slit your wrists and say how much this team sucks. Any team that runs a fake punt in the first preseason game on the opening drive is trying to make a statement and I for one would rather save it for regular season ala. fake FG pass for TD against Seattle last year.

I would have liked to win but it’s PRESEASON!

Yikes. Can Maybin really be expected to provide what this team needs? Based on tonight, there’s way more need than the rookie can possibly shoulder. 3rd and 15 and Collins has the time to find Gage for 19 yards? Yikes.

I didn’t mind our DT play, but the ends have to get more pressure.

I liked Langston Walker’s play tonight. He routed his man behind Trent consistently on that drive. I would rather see him blow them up (like our DEs tonight), but if it takes a DE 4 seconds to run around Walker and then come up on Trent, well… that ball should have been thrown already.

Aside from Trent’s decision-making, it sure didn’t look like this team has had an extra week of practice. Jauron and staff must, must do a better job of having this team prepared for game day. It killed us last year, and if it kills us again this year, the team will be building from scratch. I don’t want to wait another 10 years for a playoff game.

I didn’t see the game. Was Nelson in at all in red zone situations? Was he not able to get open?

…and actually better than I expected.
I think alot of people take for granted how good the Titans line is and how young and unexperienced the Bills’ is. Their backup Dline is better than our starters with the exception of Stroud and Schobel if he is healthy and actually plays with some intensity. I know Levitre had some bad plays but he just needs work, Wood was great and to be honest I’m more worried about our pass rush than about the Offensive line right now, because I think the Oline will improve or can be at the least patchwork, but the pass rush was pretty bad.

Played Well:
POZ
Reggie Corner
Terrence McGee
Terrell Owens
Bryan Scott

Pleasant Surprises:
Eric Wood
Nic Harris
Gibran Hamdan
Derrick Jones

Improved:
Derek Fine
Xavier Omon
Demetrius Bell
John McCargo

Needs Work:
Justin Jenkins
Leodis McKelvin
Derek Schouman
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Ellis Lankster
Andy Levitre
Corey Mace
Chris Ellis
Matt Baker

Atrocious:
Bruce Hall

also wanted to say Trent looked pretty good out there from what I saw but he wasn’t really out there long enough. I think 1st team should have had 2 possessions.

but we can’t take for granted how good Trent looked running the first team offense.

I think we all expected the o-line to look over-matched (I didn’t want to see Levitre get picked up and carried into Trent, but hey live and learn…) and the pass rush to be mediocre. We drafted Maybin at number 11 because we realized that the very same status quo pass rush wasn’t going to get it done this year (correction – an older same pass rush). And yes, the o-line needs to pick up their game, generate some push, and do a better job giving Trent a chance to throw, but I think its fair to assume the line will get better as they play more together. But I for one also expected to see a pretty flat first team offense still adjusting to the pace, cadence and calls of the no-huddle. That just wasn’t the case.

Trent was clearly in command of the offense, connecting with TO on some great plays and even zipping a pass into Fine in tight coverage. TO broke some guy’s ankles on the second play of the game. Flat first team offense could have very well been on the list of gripes coming out of this game… but the fact that offense did look so crisp even for a brief couple of plays has me very hopeful that we could be looking at the first dynamic bills offense in quite some time.

Man I like Trent. He just said on BB.com that the INT was all his fault. That’s behaviour of a great qb.

I mean c’mon, Levitre is certainly the reason for it.

and yes, I know it’s way too early to bestow anyone that honor. Hamdan looked good, and more relaxed. For a bit, I thought Losman was back and just doubled the number on his jersey.

why Buffalo seems obsessed with CB’s during the draft. It’s because they realize that their D will never get pressure to the QB. sad.

reminds me of the Bionic Man, in the slowmo scenes, can almost hear that funky sound effect that goes with it. Omon was a pleasant almost shocking surprise, very impressive.

I thought McCargo and Ellis looked awful. It may even be time to put the Ellis project behind us. We NEED these guys to contribute, but it doesn’t look promising, first pre-season game or not. When you get that much PT, you should be doing a few things positive.

Did anyone else notice how the Titans offense just looked more creative? Their run plays seem to have more options for the RB, and those quick hit pass plays.

It is shocking to me for them to run that fake punt. It was a very creative play that would work once at any point in the season. Why would they waste it in the preseason? Every team will see that play and now leave the back-side end in to contain.

It will never work again this year. Seems like a waste.

- I agree with this post, but am beginning to worry about Levitre. A lot of teams were worried about his lack of strength in the Combine, and it showed last night. He looked like a clone of Melvin Fowler getting bull rushed. I am predicting right now that McKinney will be starting at Guard of Butler will be back there before the season begins. And maybe they put Bell at tackle. I didn’t see any holes for the running backs and this is not a good sign for their offense. You win in the trenches.

It’s a bit premature to start saying this guy isn’t good or I’m worried about this just like it’s a little early to say this guy is going to be great. it’s the first preseason game. what we need to see out of these 1st year starters and newcomers, as well as the rest, is gradual improvements from one game to the next. I would have liked to see the offensive starters play more then 1 series. Edwards needs to play more under live situations especially since they are implementing a no huddle approach this year.
The problem with the Bills is it’s difficult to simulate live game situations in the type of camp that Jauron runs. I guarantee that the Titans run a much more physical camp then the Bills and it showed in that they were ready for an actual game. in that case a 5 game preseason schedule should benefit the Bills more in the long run.

OK Looking at the first team Offense and Defence it was not that bad sure Trent Edwards had a pick on his only drive of the game but it was because could not step up in the pocket. Owens did a nice job last night catching 2 passes last night. For the Defence Poz had 2 nice tackles and 2 helpers that was good 4 only 10 plays. The run Defence shut them down the Titans only break was when denny got doubled on a toss play. The second on third Offence did not do a long but the Denfece did hold it down for the offence to try and get them back in the game. Reggie Corner had a nice pick in the 4th to make it 16-21.

this team didn’t get completely overhauled in the offseason. we have the same players in many of the same positions. this team will play in close games again this year because that’s what Jauron teams do. maybe with more focus on offense and a change in their offensive philosophy that will change some of those close losses last year into wins.

He’s far from seasoned, far from established, and far from comfortable with this new offensive scheme and the new talent around him. If they continue to give him 1 series and 3-4 pass attempts a game, he won’t be ready come week 1.

He looked good for the second that we saw him, but I want to know why Matt Baker is getting such an audition? I heard that they took Edwards out because of time, with the Bills D having been on the field for so long. Say what now?!

I didn’t see it happen from the TV feed.

I watched the game and participated in the Buffalo Rumblings game thread until game’s end. After halftime the thread petered out significantly, but Brian and a few other crazed fans were still around to discuss the backups, Levitre’s scary play, the no-huddle, and other miscellaneous bits.

On offense, I was happy with the general execution of the no-huddle attack. All four QBs ran it, and three did a fine job (Baker – ugh). I give it an A. Edwards looked like he was born to run that offense, and for a few moments, I thought I saw Jim Kelly leading that drive, hitting decisive throws and scrambling for first downs. When the interception happened, the mirage buckled, I rubbed my eyes and saw Trent Edwards. I find it notable that Edwards did not throw a single incompletion on his one drive. Three strong completions and the INT.

Lynch only ran three times, and obviously needs far more carries than that to get cranked up. However on his third carry, there was good news and bad news. The bad news: the line’s run blocking caved; the good news — Marshawn wiggled and did his thing to turn a loss into a gain. Omon seemed like he could be a speller if absolutely necessary. It’s important He didn’t so much make the team last year as Dwayne Wright fumbled his way off the roster. So Omon still needs to have a few good games to stay around.

Lee Evans was only used sparingly — but he was the target on Trent’s big play attempt that went for the interception. Is TO ever ready to prove a point. And Trent is ready to get him the ball. All sides including the fans, seem to be making beautiful music there. Josh Reed had some nice grabs, but inexplicably was lined up on the outside for an endzone comeback route. Playcalling? No Steve Johnson. Felton Huggins could quite possibly be the best player that won’t make the team.

I didn’t notice Wood or Hangartner that much, which means they probably played well. Levitre obviously burped in front of everyone. The tackles seemed to play capably, though I confess I was not looking at the O line in detail. The tackles’ strategy seemed to be allowing the defensive ends to rush around and then push them behind our quarterbacks. It seemed to work for 3-4 seconds, which should be enough time. Next game I plan to watch the O line in more detail.

On defense, someone above mentioned that we seemed to have the slowest front 7 in the league. It sure felt like it last night. The middle of the defense seemed stout — our tackles and Poz were doing their job — but the ends and outside linebackers were not getting to the edge to shut off the corners. This kind of play will lead to outside runs and screen passes KILLING the Bills’ defense. Front 7 Reserves: Nic Harris was around the ball an awful lot while he was on the field. It was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise unimpressive defensive front. Without getting carried away, it’s safe to say that Harris may soon establish himself as the frontrunner to challenge Keith Ellison.

The secondary played well enough to win the game, but they were handicapped by the lack of a front 7 presence as well as Fewell’s scheme of playing a good distance off the ball. Tennessee routinely threw comeback patterns, fades, and other routes designed to find the space underneath the Bills soft-as-a-pillow zone. Kerry Collins’ pass to Justin Gage for 19 yards on 3rd and 14 was a perfect recognition of this defensive strategy as Leodis McKelvin was guarding against the deep pass and could not stop the sideline pattern before it materialized. McGee was never really heard from, which means he committed no penalties and wasn’t burned — while McKelvin was heard from plenty, both good and bad. Corner didn’t have to make an amazing play for the INT, but he did have to make a play, which he did.

I take solace in the fact that Leodis is not just another guy. He is a playmaker, not a solid player. Great cornerbacks are always burned from time to time, and we will likely be gnashing our teeth as his mistakes this year AND crying tears of joy.

Lindell and Moorman stretched their legs. Lindell was 3/3, and hit a 47 and a 52. Moorman’s punts were high and long. He got us out of the shadow of our endzone and past midfield a couple of times.

Poz missing that INT and going crazy. I dont know about you but i wouldnt want to mess with that guy when he is pissed! He was so mad his head was shaking from the aggrivation!

AWESOME

you guys all do realize that the main offensive unit played a total of one series, after not playing football against another team for eight months, right? of COURSE they won’t look as good as possible. defense always dominates in a game where neither team has played much yet. do you ever see shootouts in preseason?

get a grip, everyone. levitre got blown up on one play and you’re ready to toss him? the kid was playing his first reps as a pro, coming off of a season where he was one of the most physically gifted players on the field. it’s going to be a long road, and he wasn’t drafted to be a pro-bowl guard in his first year.

look at the bright side. edwards appeared to be playing well (aside from the INT, which wasn’t all him), TO was moving well, there were some bright moments from new players, lindell and moorman looked good…this was a good preseason game. sloppy, but good amount of reps for the players that need them.

I totally agree but Ryan Fitzpatrick i dont think he is going to be the 2nd QB Hamdan Bite he impressed me last night playing with basicly nobodys besides Huggins

On Music City Miracles they say that the fake punt should be a thing that the future opponents have to gameplan for. Their regular punter, hentrich, was born in the stoneage, they would never call a play like this in the regular season.

I still think that they wasted this creative idea. Would have been nice to have in the back of your mind, just in case…

1.) I don’t believe anyone got hurt, this is a good thing. 2.) The O-Line is a work in progress and needs PT and result ananlysis. 3.) Pass Rush wasn’t evident but there was signs of containment Vs the run. This will simplify our priority list of areas to improve on. Things to watch for the next couple weeks. Remember we practice against our best and are tested against the rest. Tennessee is a very formidable opponent. We get them again when it counts.

The fake punt was the difference maker in the score, don’t forget we did stop there #1 Off. Kind of an arrogant play for Jeff Fisher. He must wanted to win really bad. We have other things to evaluate.

We need to back off Ryan Fitzpatrick. He is going to be fine for a #2 QB. Let’s save the analysis for when our O-Line gets it together. Remember the first week in camp he looked terrible. That is not the guy backing up Trent. He will be fine give him time.

Derrick Jones looked damn good yesterday. He disrupted a lot of plays in the backfield and got lots of good penetration. Sure he was playnig backups but he looked a lot better than them. The play where he lined up so offsides I questioned his sanity was somewhat hilarious, too.

I think it’s also good to note that the Bills probably used this game to more so evaluate players then just try and win the game out right. They only had the first off in for one series because they already know all of those players are going to make the team.
The thing that really suprised me was how little they used Nelson. I saw him in a few running plays and then he would come out on passing plays. Complete opposite of what they have had him doing in camp…

I have to say Wood looks like a keeper. I enjoyed seeing him finish blocks and stay on his feet. Another I watched and noticed around the ball a great deal was Harris. I thought he would look small lining up at linebacker but he really stuck his nose in there. Honorable Mention goes to Lankster

So I got here a little late and pretty much everything I was thinking has been said – just one thing to add. That fake by Roscoe on the outside. A step and a half inside then down the sideline, literally causing his would-be tackler to fall over… Man, it’s too bad this guy isn’t a good WR because he sure can be fun to watch.

The white on white throw backs looked outstanding!!! Please —some one in the Front Office make a executive decision an go back to the retro uniforms that are classy and have a history behind them. The new ones were introduced during an administration that the vast majority of us would like to forget. They are cursed and have a black cloud always hovering near by. They carry the uniform equivalent of the bubonic plague and need to be burned to release the curse……………………

That photo above makes D-Bell look a good deal like a DE – not out of shape like #71 looked more often than not. I could get used to him playing 1st string. I hope he becomes what the team needs.

My apologies if anyone covered the follwing already…

First of all – I want to know how some of you are able to watch the game, pick out a specific quirk (#73’s left sock was lower than his right sock) on a play, take a slug of your favorite beverage, read the other comments being posted that stroll along at a pace that Flash couldn’t keep up with, eat a chip, formulate a thought, and then type and send? How do some of you do it? I’d like to think that I’m pretty quick, and know football. But the time it takes me to carry out the aforemention process causes me to miss the next three plays. Some of you guys are good…

Also want to make another mention about the NBC broadcast. I did make this comment in the open thread (causing me to miss, yup, three plays). The down and distance kept getting switched with “nbcsports.com.” And every time it flipped, it made me think there was a penalty on the play. It took me awhile to ignore it. Was it like that last year too for NBC games and I just don’t remember?

Did anyone of us think they would go no huddle as long as they did? I didn’t expect that at all, and have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by what I did see.

I’m not worried about the OL just yet.

Those freaking unis looked great, didn’t they? I’m still confused why the Titans were chosen for this game, considering they basically honored the city from where they came from. I think Oakland would have made more sense. They were the team Ralph bailed out, correct?

That punter came close to losing the ball behind his back. If you ask me, I don’t think you’ll see that play run this season, unless of course, you have a punter with longer arms.

To sireric – I forgot who you gave the kiss of death to; was it Huggins or Palmer? Palmer looks wierd with that number 64, but I liked what I saw/remembered from him.

I’ll echo the sentiment of many of you who didn’t care for the front 7’s work, and how slow they were. Collins had roll out plays; my naval lint is faster than he is. That front seven is not fast. Aren’t they supposed to be?

Does anyone know if any player “tweeted” during the game?

I hate Collingsworth – it goes back to my time of hating him as a player. But, I liked him and Al Michaels last night. That’s a good TV duo.

Imagine the look on the faces of those who took Ten -3 while watching the punter run out of the endzone. Gambling is so dumb….

Is Byrd ahead of schedule?

I was on the Alvin Bowen bandwagon at the start of camp. I have switched wagons. I ride now with Nic Harris.

Is Friday’s preseason game against the Bears sold out? I have season tickets, but never go to the preseason games. My group gives ‘em away to whoever wants them. I do hope it’s on TV though.

Roscoe came off the line in a mild jog sticking out one arm throwing a very weak block on the CB, but it was a play action PASS!! Fitzpatrick ends up rolling out and notices his only receiver out there isnt even running a pass route. I understand its the first game, but it was a big 4th down play. This is a receiver that must prove something, although he is very explosive. He has Steve Johnson breathing down his neck and James Hardy returning from injury. Lack of focus like this are the little things that matter. Just wondered if anyone else saw this.