that’s exactly what I said last night. And Leodis…I love ya man…but you gotta understand the situation. Yes, take the ball out of the endzone. That’s the easy choice. But go down! You HAVE to know the situation. At all times. Sure WR’s dropped passes, and the OL made stupid penalties. That is just part of the deal. But what Leodis did cost us the football game. That and the fact that our pass rush disappeared. I actually thought Kelsay had a great game going until he went out. He was getting some pressure on Brady. Losing him in the DE rotation hurt keeping our guys fresh I thought.

This loss stings. It sucks. It could have been so much different today. Being 1-0, and ending the streak vs the Pats would have been so glorious. But it isn’t. Here we are with 15 to go and we got to win 10 somehow. Sunday can’t come soon enough so I can get this taste out of my mouth

After 4 years this team shouldn’t be a young inexperienced team making mistakes, we hear that excuse every year. The players didn’t pick the team, the players didn’t fire their O-coordinator a week ago, and its not the players fault that they looked like deers in headlights on that final drive. They keep losing games in embarrassing fashion year after year, that’s on coaching/FO.

Only reason we were in that game last night was that the Pats played awful for three quarters, especially Brady who gift wrapped a win for us.

Let’s not forget that McKelvin fumbled it earlier on a kickoff return and Nic Harris picked it up (luckily).

We just need smarter play, that’s all— the Pats are known for that. Let’s not put all of the blame completely on McKelvin.

Hey… Ellison.. anytime you want to cover Ben Watson in the end zone, feel free :)

And TO… don’t be afraid to catch a 3rd down throw.

See? We can play the blame game all day! Let’s just look forwad to next week with anticipation rather than pessimism.

I’ll ask the same question K asked last night: what happened to Josh Reed? Did they even have him in there after the first quarter?

Been quite a while since a Bills TE showed the athleticism and awareness that Nelson did on his TD catch.
More to come, I suspect. A very nice play.

100% efficiency in red zone – how long since the Bills had this kind of stat line?

About the fading pass rush, of course the loss of Poz and Kelsay played a big part in it. We had less quality on the field (especially at LB) and only one backup DE, so they probably got tired quicker.

These young guys are fun to watch, but they need to grow up quickly.

Truer words have never been spoken

I don’t believe in moral victories either, but the Bills played well enough for me last night, that I’m actually in a decent mood today.

Leo, I want you bring that kick out every time in that situation…JUST HOLD ON TO THE D@MN BALL! And for everybody blaming him for costing us the game…I’m sorry, but one play does not determine if you win or lose a football game. It’s all of the plays made/or not made during the game….

I gotta admit though, my most enjoyable moments of the game were when they would pan around the stadium and show the utter shock & disbelief on the Pats fans/players/coaches faces when it looked like were actually going to bring this one home…too bad we couldn’t finish

Allowing Ellison to cover Watson without help is inexcusable, particularly after he had just been burned. I believe we had 6 DBs on the field, so why wasn’t one of them helping on Watson?

I was impressed with AVP’s play-calling, especially when we got in the red zone. He was aggressive, and I even yelled out that we are playing to win! when he called the pass play to Jackson on the TD play.

We all love the throwback uniforms – they’re clearly better. There’s a problem though: the team loses lots of games in them. Lots of games.

I have no evidence at the ready, but i’ve noticed it and said as much as “well at least they looked ‘good’ in defeat.”

last minute collapse aside I was pleasantly surprised how competitive this team was last night. The offense has had absolutely no game time to get comfortable in the no huddle, we had 1 offensive lineman return from last year and we started 2 rookie offensive lineman and 1 that never played a regular season snap.
I thought Ellison played a good game defensively and Poz looked more comfortable in defending the pass. The loss of Poz will hurt. Although not a MLB, I say give Derrick Brooks a look, greater veteran leader and familiar with our style of defense. Schobel looked outstanding as did Kyle Williams and Mcgee.
I would expect the offense to hold the ball more against Tampa and allow the D to be more fresh during the course of the game.
I couldn’t say this before the game yesterday but I am extremely excited about the home opener. I think the fans have a new sense of optimism in this team and it will show on Sunday. Can’t wait to get there.

But I saw enough to be excited about the rest of the season.

Can we please stop raggin on McKelvin? He did the right thing and I think he showed guts not going down with that first big hit. That’s what I want to see in my team, and that’s not something you can coach into a player. Holding onto the ball, going down when you need to, that can be coached or practiced. Toughness is innate.

I thought the no huddle looked good for the first real run. Trent impressed me that he’s got game in him with the scrambles and not even sliding out with defenders baring down – I recall one of those runs he dodged a linebacker and kept going for another 5-7 yards.

The D looked better than I thought they would be, though I agree with some other posters that they looked tired at the end. Losing Poz for a while is going to hurt.

What happened on that play in the first half when NE’s tackle penetrated with hardly a pat – we got a big break there with the roughing the passer call, but that did not look good.

This is the 2nd time that Poz has broke his arm in the first game of the season against the PAtriots, no less. He played OLB at Penn State and I wonder if he is better suited for OLB, rather than the middle. I don’t think he is big enough. The defensive line was very impressive, Edwards has the brains and smarts to play QB, but McKelvin has to realize that the hands team is on the field and it is harder to set up a return. He should have downed the ball. Of course, you can second guess all you want.

Am I the only one who thinks they should trade this guy now? They could get a 2nd round and maybe a player for him. After last night, I’m in love w/ Fred Jackson. Thoughts?

Can’t keep playing the youth card with these guys. Every team relies on some young players. Simply put, the guys we put in the game can’t keep making mistakes to cost us games, no matter their NFL game experience.

Bell lining up in the backfield twice is just dumb. After one time, that should be corrected by him, the coaches and Trent. Shouldn’t Trent or the outside WR see that he’s lined up too deep?

Leo’s mistake wasn’t youth. It was not knowing the situation and trying to do too much.

Five dropped passes aren’t youthful mistakes. Those were veteran mistakes, and killer. Big money WR’s need to make those catches even if they are going to get hit.

I’m so sick of Perry Fewell. Have been for some time. Can this guy at least try to design a blitz that might work? You can’t just bring Mitchell up to the LOS, line up over a Guard, and have him try to bull rush through the guy. That’s not what a blitz should be. It should be designed to actually beat the opposition’s OL and get to the QB. Where are the stunts? Where are the clear outs? If you’re only going to bring 4 or the occasional 5 rushers, at least move them around so they have a chance to confuse and beat the OL. I’m so sick of watching this team have no pass rush, and doing very little to attempt to fix it on gamedays. And should we really be playing the DB’s 8-10 yards off the ball giving them easy completions the final 5 minutes? Why not actually man up on the WR’s and force them to try to beat us, not sitting back and letting them beat us a little more gradually.

Kudos to AVP. He called a great game, and we finally saw some plays that actually had a little bit of a creative design to it. That Nelson TD was well-designed and well setup by the previous long Jackson run where Nelson did the same kick out block that it appeared he was about to do again. The screens were well set up and called at the perfect times. The 3 and 15 screen to Freddie on our last TD drive was a brilliant call. We do need to start finding a way to go downfield more. TO and Evans have to be more involved going forward. It was a little tougher last night with the OL not giving Trent a ton of time or a strong pocket much of the time. TO was doubled all night, and Evans probably wasn’t. Take advantage of that going forward….

There are a lot of goats from last night, not just Leo. Bell, the pass rush, Perry Fewell, the receivers dropping passes, etc, were all to blame as well.

After listening to all the announcers and everyone claim that the Bills were going to get blown out I was very happy to see them stay in it. The game definitely stings – but as I told my friend, after how many years it doesn’t sting as bad as it used to :P
I was really suprised at the drops, but the penalties were terrible. And those penalties weren’t just here and there it was always on a decent gain of around 10 yards or more! The Bills line definitely looked gased come the second half and as a result Brady lite them up – Kelsay suprising had been looking pretty decent, but with only 3 ends, 3 DT that were 100% (I didn’t see much of Spencer – anyone?).
I like Nelson, but I can’t wait for Fine to return – anyone know how long?

Thought we caught a big break on the Wilfork call — at a pretty critical time, too; it cancelled a 1st down in the 4th Q.

 Anyone know if the rule was redefined over the summer? or re-emphasized? or something?

Had the call gone against the bills, I would’ve been in tv-hurling mode.

It was great to see no one on the team (including TO) blame McKelvin for the loss last night. I’m not sure I would’ve been able to do the same in their situation. Leo was right to bring the ball out, but an idiot for not going down as soon as he saw tacklers coming his way. I do not blame the D for giving up those TD’s in the last few minutes, as that’s just how the last few minutes roll in come from behind situatinos. Prevent (cover 2, etc.) only prevents winning!

However, I would like to see Jauron say more than “I have no problem with McKelvin” in the press conference. Um Dick, HE LOST THE FREAKIN’ GAME! Grow a pair and start acting like a coach, otherwise the mistakes will continue!!!

Very impressed with Whitner actually showing emotions after the game, at least he (unlike McKelvin when interviewed) showed that he cares about “winning” games and proving the critics wrong!

Bills 24 Bucs 17

wasn’t McKelvin’s forward progress stopped during that return? Shouldn’t he have been called down?

Dick had our boys ready to play. Trent did his job. many mistakes, but not as many as we expected. Long way to go. let’s not already start hating.

even if they win, we still have to go do our jobs. keep it in perspective gang. it’s just football.

Great game to start the season. we will be fun this year.

go bills

I don’t even really fault him for fighting for extra yardage. He fumbled at the worst moment possible; maybe that’s all there is to it. Leodis is a confident kid. He said after the game he’d make the same play again and again. Just hang onto the ball, kid. It sucks, but let’s not harp on his decision-making.

Boy I fault him for that….