Chris Kelsay Turning In Strong Performances Of Late
by Brian Galliford on Nov 22, 2010 1:10 PM EST
in Buffalo Bills Opinion
Email
Print
Back in late September, when the Buffalo Bills were getting ready to meet the New England Patriots in Week 3 action, word leaked that the Bills had signed end-turned-linebacker Chris Kelsay to a four-year contract extension worth roughly $20 million (with another $4 million in incentives).
You don't need me to tell you how much of a whipping boy Kelsay has been in recent seasons, nor how widely panned the contract extension was. Of late, however, Kelsay - along with many fellow defenders - has seen a noticeable improvement in his play.
The 31-year-old Kelsay has seen a noticeable drop in his stat lines since the Bills began using a mixture of 3-4 and 4-3 looks. Kelsay picked up 30 tackles in Buffalo's first five games, but has just 14 in the five since. He has, however, recorded 1.5 sacks in that same time frame, and more to the point of this post, he's playing much better assignment football and making plays in the backfield.
On Sunday in Cincinnati, Kelsay turned in his best performance of the season, recording a sack (albeit in garbage time) and routinely beating Bengals right tackle Dennis Roland with ease. He blew up run plays in the backfield, dominated at the point of attack (particularly in the second half), and is looking more explosive than he has at any point in his career. Two games do not a career make, but there's no arguing that Kelsay has been very good of late.
45 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Good story K.
He actually has resembled a football player the past few weeks… but I still believe hes the weakest part of our D.
Yes we play all our games at 1 in the afternoon... but Id still like to see "Lights Out!" 8-)
Wake Up Sabres!!! Its officially "Go Time."
I am not K, though I certainly wouldn’t mind his take on this.
by Brian Galliford on Nov 22, 2010 1:25 PM EST up reply actions
Haha, I know.
I was just trying to be funny. Yeah Im hoping to catch his take on it as well.
:-)
Yes we play all our games at 1 in the afternoon... but Id still like to see "Lights Out!" 8-)
Wake Up Sabres!!! Its officially "Go Time."
I don't disagree
He’s played better of late, but its still not enough. Those cutback lanes continue to be there in the run game, although he seems to be playing outside runs better. His pass rush is better than usual, but as we all know, we need more out of OLB’s in this scheme.
I’m happy he’s been playing better. But I don’t know if that’s saying much considering how bad he had been playing. I hope he can keep it up and build off a pair of solid performances….
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Nov 22, 2010 2:29 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
honestly...
i just believe that we need 1 good OLB – i’m hoping that’ll be merriman if we get him healthy and up to par – and kelsay should be a great fit with it.
What I’m looking forward to is seeing the possibly increased production that we’ll get from our other OLB’s when Merriman finally gets to play. And that includes Kelsay.
The Buffalo Bills, finding new and exciting ways to lose since January 8th, 2000.
by CanadianBillsFan on Nov 22, 2010 8:26 PM EST up reply actions
i think you guys are putting way too much faith in a guy who, if he even plays, will have the most minimal of impacts.
by quantumuprising on Nov 23, 2010 8:07 AM EST up reply actions
if K had written this
you would know the end is near!
What we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.
Pigs would be flying around outside.
"Adversity is an opportunity for heroism." Marv Levy.
by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Nov 22, 2010 2:16 PM EST up reply actions
And Satan would be buying a parka.
The Buffalo Bills, finding new and exciting ways to lose since January 8th, 2000.
by CanadianBillsFan on Nov 22, 2010 2:26 PM EST up reply actions
4-3
He plays his best with his hand in the dirt, if we somehow have Bowers slide to us (which probably wont happen), I think we need to permatly make the switch to the 4-3. Bowers, Troup, Williams and Kelsay is a good 4-3 line and with Dwan and Carrington being able to play end or tackle make it that much better.
The 3-4 is here to stay bud. And why would you want to turn Dwan into a sub, he’s been very good for us this year. More to the point, he leads the league in tackles for a deffensive lineman. Why the heck would you want to take him off the feild?!?!?!
The Buffalo Bills, finding new and exciting ways to lose since January 8th, 2000.
by CanadianBillsFan on Nov 22, 2010 1:27 PM EST up reply actions
Did we even show a 3-4 look this week?
I can’t remember 1 and i don’t record the games, so I can’t re check.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Nov 23, 2010 12:52 AM EST up reply actions
I missed yesterday’s game, but I remember us being in the 3-4 for most of the game against the Lions.
The Buffalo Bills, finding new and exciting ways to lose since January 8th, 2000.
by CanadianBillsFan on Nov 23, 2010 1:38 PM EST up reply actions
And why would you want to turn Dwan into a sub,
Dwan can play end in a 4-3 see post above.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Nov 23, 2010 12:53 AM EST up reply actions
No Dwan played End in a 4-3 HEAvy/46 adaptation, that was essentially a 3-4 with Kelsay’s had on the ground as the other LB’s still had the positioning and responsibilities of a 3-4.
Theres a BUIG difference between a 4-3 heavy that we ran, in which Dwan was very shacky in, and an actual 4-3. Edwards would be an average DT at best in a 4-3, he belongs in the 3-4.
The Buffalo Bills, finding new and exciting ways to lose since January 8th, 2000.
by CanadianBillsFan on Nov 23, 2010 1:38 PM EST up reply actions
I’m talking this week, he played pretty well
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Nov 24, 2010 2:49 AM EST up reply actions
Edwards would be an average DT at best in a 4-3
He played RDE this week and did a good job in the 4-3.
I can’t remember many heavy looks.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Nov 24, 2010 2:51 AM EST up reply actions
I remember reading that Nix signed him to the extention because of how well Kelsay understood the new system...
As well as his leadership role on this D.
Now at the time I was skeptical of what that ment. I mean after all I understand quantum mechanics, but that doesn’t make me a physicist. So for Kelsay to understand the new system ment little to me because you can understand it all you want, that doesn’t make you good at it.
Although lately Kelsay has been proving that understand the scheme is the first step to being goof in the scheme. I also think that the 4-3 “Heavy” look that we had for about a month might have been aimed at helping Kelsay and Poz understand their responsibilities in the 3-4. After all, all the Heavy set was was a 3-4 with Kelsay with his hand on the ground. And while the first week it came out, Kelsay’s hand was on the ground at the same line as the rest of the D-Line, I could be crazy, but it seemed to me that with every game, Kelsay backed up a bit, looking more like an LB with his hand on the ground than a DE lined up at the point of attack.
Now I could be nuts and have imagined all of that, but I could also be right in thinking that the heavy set was Coach Edwards’ way of teaching his LB’s how to play in the 3-4. By the signs of how Kelsay and Poz have been playing in the last few games, I think it may have actually been a good aproach.
Either way, Our D has improved drastically over the last few games as compared to the bigining of the season. The players are understanding the scheme and playing better in it. Now I just can’t wait to see what will happen once we have Merriman on the feild too. If Kelsay keeps on playing like he is and we add Merriman to the mix we may actually have a pass rush. Wouldn’t that be nice?
The Buffalo Bills, finding new and exciting ways to lose since January 8th, 2000.
by CanadianBillsFan on Nov 22, 2010 1:25 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
That isn't Kelsay.
It’s an impostor that has taken his spot. What we need to do is find where he hid the real Kelsay, and nuke that spot from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Perhaps it is the shift in culture you spoke about in another article.
These guys that used to just plain suck are now playing super hard and super motivated. I thought Poz looked a little more ferocious than normal too. Getting that first win has had to do wonders for player morale.
Going to the Steelers game on Sunday. Looking forward to an upbeat and exciting tailgate party. And a statement win for a team on the rise :)
Poz had a SWEET hit on Benson near the sideline yesterday…
"It’s like I’ve always said, don’t tell me about the labor pains, just show me the baby."
- Buddy Nix
by dnvrBillsfan on Nov 22, 2010 2:50 PM EST up reply actions
If the Bills have an open mind on just mixing in 3-4 looks instead of using it as a base.
It’s time to lock up Poz and Whitner with contract extensions sooner rather than later.
They will get interest from 4-3 base D teams if they hit FA.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Nov 23, 2010 12:57 AM EST up reply actions
The change with Kelsay has been noticeable. Of course, he’s still overpaid even if he plays like this every week, but hey, it’s not my money.
I feel like Whitner has been noticeably better too the past few weeks (since the Raven game).
whitner...
I saw whitner had 3 passes defensed against the lions…..I think that just about ties his career passes defensed total…..so yeah, he has improved….
GO BILLS!
lb or de?
well, even if stats don’t really bear out kelsay’s improved play, it is obvious as you can see him making a big impact from just watching the game live…..
i was wondering though, has he made many plays lined up as a backer?
How often is he lined up as a backer lately?
I don’t know if that really matters or not…. unless he’s getting abused as a backer….
Are we eventually gunna be a real 3-4? cuz, i don’t think he can cover anyone… maybe a little soft zone…..
I wish I had the game to rewatch in slo-mo….
Kelsay picked up 30 tackles in Buffalo’s five games
buffalo’s FIRST five games?
check out my music! http://prophetikmusic.net
Steve Tasker: A website called Buffalo Ramble has dubbed Kyle Johnson "Meatbasket."
Gus Johnson: WWWEOEWWWOOOOOOGGGHOOOWWWW. College Basketball, HA HA.
-Kurupt
The turnaround is all due to my avatar change.
I’m convinced of it.
In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!
Current song recommendation: Ween "Mr. Richard Smoker"
by TheAfghanTwilight on Nov 22, 2010 2:03 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
is it possible
that merriman is having an effect on kelsay’s play… we all were focused on merriman teaching moats but maybe kelsay picked up a few things as well…
also, it was well known that schobel used to work on his own and then head home… he was never a leader and possibly never helped out kelsay really… maybe merriman is teaching a few things to the whole group… just a thought…
as a threat
maybe having Merriman as a real trheat to take away his job has also got him moving
Why so serious?
I think this is (obviously) true for a lot of the Bills players. The team is starting to go in the right direction but that should be how it is after about half way through the season after a regime change.
It is funny – but Kelsay was a freaking beast yesterday – Donte made a few nice plays too. I think all in all this team is starting to understand scheme – trust the scheme and trusting their team mates to do thier responsibliities.
Why so serious? #S.Johnson# - Awesomeness
hey guyz kelsay sacked palmer!!!
see what i did there? anyways, actually hearing kelsay’s name on the loudspeaker at paul brown was incredible. i didn’t know what to make of it, since i hardly ever hear it on tv.
by quantumuprising on Nov 22, 2010 2:29 PM EST reply actions
"Kelsay athletically chased down Palmer"
That quote stands out in my mind from Mr. Tasker. I really have to agree, that while his shortcomings are still noticable, mainly the ability to break down and move laterally with RB, QB, and TE, he has really been solid in run support, esp. yesterday I say a really nice pass rushing move where he took two steps upfield, dipped his shoulder, got inside, and rocked Palmer as he let the ball fly.
I am happy to see him play well, although I still dont think he is the future more then next year maybe.
My take
Chris Kelsay Turning In Strong Performances Of Late
I think Kelsay is performing better, but this is more praise than I believe is merited.
Be miserable or motivate yourself. What's to be done it's always YOUR choice.
Hutch-Tech Class of '76 Buffalo born & bred. Bills fan since 1968.
by MtJulietTNBillsFan on Nov 22, 2010 7:03 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Kelsay 3/4 point stand
Kelsay still misses too many tackles and his angles are a disaster at times but hes better starting on the ground, on the line. I could be wrong.
the area i’d most like to see him improve is setting the edges. just fall down and make a pile of meat if you have to.
by quantumuprising on Nov 23, 2010 8:09 AM EST up reply actions
You should try watching the football games, and then making that claim. Only a fool would say it’s the same old Kelsay if you’ve seen him play of late.
by Brian Galliford on Nov 23, 2010 7:48 AM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Buffalo Rumblings
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
