What did we lose monday night besides a W?

     Hello fellow rumblers.  It's been quite sometime since I have posted.  Partly to the fact that rambling on about meaningless pre-season games doesn't fit the fancy of my fingers on a keyboard ( as Poz mentioned awhile back in a well written post).  I also do not understand why some fans are surprised at the Bills performance Monday night.  So many media outlets including ourselves at times had them cited for a 4-12 season, so the only thing they could do was exceed expectations monday night........right?  I am absolutely pleased after watching that game monday night for every reason. 

First off the offensive line was fantastic monday night in scope.  With the Owens signing many of us forgot or didn't know much about Hangartner.  Vince Wilfork was easily Buffalo's biggest problem on NE's defense the last two or three contests.  Watching him have no impact last night thanks to a younger, faster, stronger, and more agile interior front then Buffalo has fielded in many years was awesome.  Putting Bell under the microscope just isn't fair at this point.  I actually felt for the guy Monday Night.  He is after all a 7th round project tackle thrown into starting duties a week before the season on national television against Buffalo's mosted hated rival.  I also believe his lower back is still bothering him.  He really broke down when he got Bull rushed straight up towards the end of the game.  How would any of us play with those kind of conditions?  I do expect a big improvement next week though.

Secondly, I hope as many people as I were surprised to see the beautifully orchestrated screen passes Monday night.  This continues my praise of the young and agile offensive line.  I believe Jauron really has a feel for this team after three years and Van Pelt is on the same page.  Couldn't ask for better play calling from the Booth.  Hats off to Trent for selling the screen better this year as well.  I honestly can't even remember a screen pass in our offense last year?  Freddy is such a snake!

Thirdly,  Trent  played a great game Monday Night.  I also don't think he played a whole lot better than expected in my opinion.  As I mentioned above I don't put one ounce of thought into pre-season performances and for this very reason.  The numbers he put up are about usual for him when the wind isn't blowing and the sun is shining (night games included).   The offense only had the ball for just over 1/4 of the game, so who knows what he could have done if they had managed another 2 or three drive attempts.  And to finish on Edwards.....what's his 40 time these days....haha....made some nice plays on the ground monday night.  I belive those are veteran-like instincts.

more after the jump>>>

The fourth reason is obviously the defense.  I felt the defense really put a cramp in New England's offensive strategy Monday night.  I was also relieved to see them hold NE on 4th downs in our territory.  I've read some articles with Ellison's coverage under the bus, but he made some "football Player" plays (as Gruden likes to say) Monday night.  He also had to play out of position at times after Poz went down.  Buggs also filled in as well as could be expected.  Welcome back Schobel everyone.  Words can't even explain his performance Monday night.  Kelsey's injury should allow us to see a whole lot of Ellis and Maybin this week.  I Bet Leftwich is already cringing at game tape as we speak.  The one aspect of the defense that dissapointed me was the Secondary.  I know we played the most high octane passing unit in the league, but Welker and Moss go for 25 catches?  SOMEthing has to change a bit there for the good of this season.  I hate to think of the numbers if we had our late season pass rush from a year ago.....

 

Lastly, I am both diguisted and secretly happy with the way that game went monday night.  Don't get me wrong I wanted to puke for the last 5 minutes of the game.  But there is no better time for a wake call on how to finish games then week one.  Middle of the season breakdowns become problematic.  Now we can avoid a let down next week as a mentally young team would have been riding high tide for a week already dreaming about just walking to the superbowl.  Granted that game was literally a repeat of 2007 and I myself sat at Ralph Wilson Stadium last year when you could hear crickets after Lindell's last second miss.  I prefer not  to endure another moment like that for awhile.  It's also no secret that Belicheck has no respect for our unit and next time he may think twice about 4th and 2 situations.  One of the oldest sayings that came to mind after monday night was " You have to crawl and fall a few times before you can walk".  Lets hope this team uses that a motivation and I garuntee you Mckelvin will more than make up for that fumble as this season unfolds....the guy has mad potential.  So the only thing they lost out on Monday was a W.  Week one may be the only time a W is not what matters most.