Schonert's play-calling mystique takes a hit (buffalobills.com)

Panic.  It's a word that no NFL team wants associated with anything to do with their body of work; unfortunately, the Buffalo Bills can't escape the word today.  The 5-2 Bills, coming off of their second loss in their last three games - to divisional foe Miami, no less - hit the panic button yesterday.  Offensive coordinator Turk Schonert was doing the button-pressing.

Schonert, who in his first season as a play-caller has revitalized what was a historically inept Bills offense, is still a rookie coordinator in this league - and we tend to forget that.  He's turned the Bills into a 20+ point per game team and has developed Trent Edwards faster than anticipated, but he tends to press the action at key points in the game.  In fact, he's forced the action twice this season at crucial junctures - and it's backfired on him both times.  Those games?  Their loss in Arizona, and yesterday in Miami.

The Situation
The Bills were in command of yesterday's game, folks.  Despite a half of poor play and a leaky pass defense, the Bills held a 9-7 halftime lead.  Then the offense promptly took the opening drive of the second half, marched down the field, and an 8-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch gave the Bills a 16-7 lead.  This is where the Bills normally flourish - they've shown the ability to take multiple-score leads and shut the door on their opponents.

But the defense continued to give up big plays, particularly to - of all people - Ted Ginn.  Chad Pennington had his way with Buffalo's pass defense, and within moments of taking what should have been a commanding lead, the Bills fell behind 17-16.

It was during this stretch of the game - and immediately following - that Schonert panicked, and the offense followed their leader.

Schonert presses too early
Let's flash back: the defense has made a couple of nice plays in the backfield, including a sack of Pennington, to cut a Miami drive short.  The score is 16-10 in favor of the Bills.  Three Bills offensive drives later, the score is 25-16 in favor of the Dolphins, and the game is effectively out of reach.  What happened?

Buffalo ran just 13 offensive plays during this stretch.  9 of them were throws.  During those 13 plays, Edwards was sacked twice, lost a fumble, threw an interception (the byproduct of a hit by a Miami defender), and took a safety.  Those plays included a series where the Bills went no-huddle, even though they were down a point and had plenty of time to recover.  Why all the passing?  Why no-huddle?  In short, Schonert panicked - and so did his players.

The Bills got away from the run at a crucial juncture in the game, folks.  What you saw from Buffalo's offense during this 13-play stretch was, in reality, nothing close to the brand of football the team had employed through the first six games this season.  By throwing so much, we're essentially turning our best offensive threat - Marshawn Lynch, who had an outstanding day yesterday - into a blocker.  The panic got to Edwards; our young QB is still young, folks, and was asked to put the team on his shoulders when it wasn't absolutely necessary.  You could see that he was pressing all day, and especially in the second half.

The kicker?  All of this mess happened while the Bills were still within one score of the lead.  The game was on the line, but Schonert choked, and then his players followed suit.

Time to Panic? Not yet.
Look, I'm not calling for Schonert's head here or anything.  He has a knack for calling good plays at critical times.  But that wasn't close to being the case yesterday.  There is no reason for the team to be handing the ball off to Lynch 13 times in a game - he's our best player for a reason.  Use him.

This isn't the first time Schonert has shown his youth.  He got eager in Arizona, and his game plan backfired on him.  It was only when the offense re-committed to the run in St. Louis that the offense woke up and embarrassed the Rams in the second half.  Schonert needs to stop trying to show Edwards off and run his offense - because his offense works.  Trent's play will speak for itself once the Bills get back to basics.

The defense?  I'm not worried.  Yeah, they were bad, but they still had the team in the game.  That may not be enough for many of you, but I'm not concerned.  Once that unit is healthier, I think their play will be more consistent.  That's neither here nor there.  I'm much more concerned with the tendencies I'm seeing from Schonert offensively.  It's time for the Bills to get back to basics on offense - run the ball.  Protect Edwards.  And for the love of Pete, don't panic.

Royal, offense fumble away key road game (Associated Press)

For a team that has made a name for itself with excellent fourth quarter play this season, the Buffalo Bills sure fell short of expectations today.

Four second-half turnovers and 18 unanswered points by the Miami Dolphins led to a 25-16 loss for the Bills in their first AFC East matchup of the season.  The Bills remained in the game until late into the fourth quarter, but their unexpectedly sloppy play caught up to them by the end of the game.

Miami deserves credit for this win; they earned it.  Chad Pennington carved Buffalo's defense up to the tune of 314 passing yards.  Ted Ginn Jr. had 175 receiving yards, nearly matching his season total of 177.  The Dolphins were able to make plays on their home field while the Bills tripped over their own feet.

Trent Edwards is M.I.A.
The mystique surrounding Bills QB Trent Edwards evaporated after a miserable performance in Miami.  Sure, he completed 21 of 35 passes for 227 yards; those aren't mediocre statistics by any means.  It was his interception, taken safety, and lost fumble, however, that humbled Buffalo's young signal caller.  His QB rating was a dismal 67.2 on the day; his performance was much worse than that rating.

Lee Evans continued his strong play against the Dolphins; his 116 yards on 7 receptions paced the Bills.  The offense began to struggle, however, when third-down specialist WR Josh Reed left the game with a strained Achilles.

For the first time all season, Edwards had help on the ground.  Buffalo's rushing attack rebounded from a sluggish start to the season in a big way today; unfortunately, playing from behind eliminated their effectiveness.  Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson combined for 102 yards on 23 carries, and Lynch scored from eight yards out to put the Bills up 16-7 early in the third quarter.  The Dolphins, however, dominated from that point forward.

Defense inconsistent, especially against the pass
It was undeniably the Bills' four turnovers that did the team in, but an abysmal performance by the pass defense put the Bills in a precarious position to begin with.  With CB Terrence McGee still hobbled with his sprained knee, Pennington and the Dolphins attacked - and defensive coordinator Perry Fewell couldn't counter.  This was Ginn's best game as a professional by far, and the Bills' inability to shut him down is as embarrassing a stat as any on this day.

As for the Wildcat, it was, essentially, a non-factor.  It was an efficient running play for the Dolphins and led to a few first downs, but in the grand scheme of things, Buffalo had much bigger problems defensively.  Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combined for just 59 rushing yards on the day (including a Williams score); it was Pennington, who has shredded the Bills in the past, that did Buffalo in today.

Langston Walker blocked a field goal in the first half to highlight another highly average special teams effort by the Bills.

Game balls
When you embarrass yourselves on the road as the Bills did today, nobody gets a game ball - even though there were a few nice individual performances today.

Roll call
38 Rumblers showed up to commiserate in this most awful of losses.  Props to WABillsfan, whose hatred for Perry Fewell led to 122 comments, pacing the day.  Thanks to everyone who joined...

StuckInNJ, krytime, Hassanali181, TheK-GunNeedsReloaded, RabidBuffalo, Tatunka, Northern1, Brian Galliford, NJBillsfan, Scoe221, WABillsfan, silverstreak3k, Memphisbillsfan, jdol1568, Cinga, twoeightnine, Thronsen, patamunzo, ccthemovieman, Kurupt, keuka121, SebastianPruiti, D.O., fletcherjd, chaosthepitbull, BeastMode, BillsNorth, Crizal, pozzed51, MonStarr_716, Joe P., Ron From NM, BenAllen, karovda, TheSharp, Gino Parilli, The Buffalonian, GhostDogg47

Buffalo needs to take this one in the chin, realize that they're not immune to playing like crap, and move past it.  So do we.  We'll take a couple of days to look back at this "performance" and move on as well.  With the Jets and Patriots both pulling out late wins against lesser opponents today, this is the worst possible scenario the Bills could have had today.  Bad Sunday, folks.  How the Bills respond is now the biggest key.

     
Buffalo Bills (5-1) at Miami Dolphins (2-4)
SB Nation's Miami Dolphins coverage: The Phinsider

You all know the drill around here if you've been here a while - and most of you have.  Each week, we interview the team blogger of the Buffalo Bills' upcoming opponent.  In this case, Matty I, who covers the Miami Dolphins at The Phinsider, was kind enough to join us to talk about his 2-4 Dolphins.  There's more good news: he'll be joining us again tomorrow to break down some key matchups heading into this weekend's game.  For now, Matty I answers three questions:

"The Wildcat" came down to earth a bit last week in Miami's loss to Baltimore.  Was it a product of just playing a really good defense, or do you think the league is starting to catch up to the innovative formation?  Are you sick of answering questions about The Wildcat yet?

Matty I, The Phinsider: Let me answer part two of this question first.  YES!  I'm sick of hearing about and talking about the 'Wildcat' already.  And so are the players and coaches themselves.  I hope that everyone - especially the national media - finally realizes what this formation is.  It's just another formation that will be used a handful of times each game.  It's no different than the strong I formation or the shotgun.  It's not a gimmick and it's not a gadget.  It's a legitimate formation that this team can use because of the personnel they possess and it takes advantage of some of the few strengths that this team has on offense - running back depth and a powerful offensive line.

As far as last week, I think it's a little of both.  Coaches all across the league have been at least spending some time on how to defend it simply because a lot of teams could potentially break it out during the course of the game.  With that said, I think that you have to give credit where credit is due.  The Ravens did an excellent job of coming up with a gameplan to defend it and then executing that gameplan.  Their team speed and football IQ on the defensive side of the ball was just too much for Miami's young offensive line to really overcome.  They couldn't create running lanes for Ronnie Brown or Ricky Williams.  And if there are no lanes, no play will work - not even the 'Wildcat." 

It's all about execution.  The Dolphins didn't execute well at all.

Obviously, Miami has doubled their win total from last season to date, and they're playing much more competitive football this season.  Please discuss your feelings, as well as general Dolphins fan feelings, about head coach Tony Sparano.

Matty I: Well I love Tony Sparano.  and I think most Dolphin fans would agree with me.  He's been better than I even thought he would be.  And I'm not talking about the 2 wins or the decision to have the guts to break out the 'Wildcat" formation - though those 2 things are nice to see.  What I'm most excited about - and all Fin fans would agree - is the culture change in Miami.  This team is suddenly tougher - both mentally and physically.  They have a confidence, a swagger, that we haven't seen since year one of the Nick Saban administration.  The players have an edge to them, a fire and intensity, that stems right from Sparano himself.  And that's what I'm most excited about.

But to be fair, Sparano is still a rookie head coach and has made a few mistakes.  Some people also question a few of his personnel moves - like keeping Ted Ginn off of kick return duty until this past week and keeping two big, physical receivers like Ernest Wilford and Derek Hagan inactive quite a bit on gameday.  And the question will be what happens as the season goes on and the losses pile up.  What happens in year 2 if things get off to a rocky start?  So as fans, we have to take a cautious approach.  But right now, it's hard not to like what we've seen out of this regime - especially Tony Sparano and his coaching staff.

From the looks of it, NT Jason Ferguson could miss this game against Buffalo.  Who fills in at the nose in that 3-4 defense?  Does his likely loss inhibit the contributions of guys like, say, league-leading sack artist Joey Porter?

Matty I: It's looking more and more like that will be the case and Ferguson will probably miss this game.  Filling in as the starter would likely be Randy Starks.  Starks is roughly the same size as Ferguson, but has limited - if any - experience as a 3-4 NT.  He's not a strong as Ferguson and is better suited to be a 4-3 DT or a 3-4 DE.  But it is what it is.  He'll get to work at the NT spot all week in preparation and it'll be interesting to see how he does. 

Backing Starks up will be second year DT Paul Soliai - who has the physical size to be a dominant NT but hasn't shown much of anything.  Expect to see Soliai in at NT a lot of Starks struggles early on.

As far as the effect of losing Ferguson, you'll notice it in the running game.  Ferguson was so good at taking up two blockers and freeing up the linebackers to make tackles for little or no gains.  Last week once Ferguson went out, the Ravens could run the ball basically all they wanted.  However, don't expect the pass rush - Joey Porter in particular - to be limited here.  Porter still had a big day last week and will need to have another big day on Sunday for the Dolphins to hang tight in this game.

Part of my immense respect for Matty I is the fact that he's one of the fairest observers off his team that you'll ever encounter.  So when he says something about the Dolphins, you can take it for truth.  He runs a solid site at The Phinsider, so be sure to check it out if you have a burning question about the Dolphins heading into the game.

I answered some questions for Matty I as well, so if you're interested in those, check them out.  Much more on this matchup later today and throughout the rest of the week.

I've had enough talk of Marshawn Lynch for the time being; here to help change the subject are the three fine AFC East bloggers we chat with each week in our fourth installment of "Around the AFC East".  This week's festivities wrap up as we chat with Matty I, head blogger over at The Phinsider.

    The Dolphins have completely overhauled their receiving corps since last season; former starters Chris Chambers and Marty Booker are no longer with the team.  Can the duo of Ted Ginn and Ernest Wilford do enough to replace those guys, or will your young starting quarterback be looking for more help?

    The Phinsider: Well, I think the first thing I should mention is that being more productive than Chris Chambers and Marty Booker really isn't that much of a challenge.  In 2006, their last full season as teammates in Miami, they combined for 114 receptions, 1424 yards, and 10 touchdowns.  Hardly tough numbers to beat.  While I'm not as confident that the starting two receivers in 2008 will combine for 10+ touchdowns, I wouldn't bet against them eclipsing both the receptions and yards totals.

But here's the thing.  I'm confident that Ted Ginn will become a very good receiver; likely never great, but very good.  And I don't think that a 60-70 reception season with 900-1,000 yards is too much of a reach for him in 2008 (contingent upon at least average QB play).  Ginn's reportedly having a very solid off-season, is becoming a better route runner, and is becoming more aggressive.  That should be good enough if you combine that with his speed and hands (he really impressed me with his reliable hands in 2007; I counted just 1 drop for him last year).  And new WR coach, Karl Dorrell says of Ginn, "there is no question the skill is there for Ginn to be a legitimate No. 1 receiver.  He's very smooth, quick, has good feet. He has all the tools to be a great player. He knows he needs to be a bigger factor in what we do."

The other starting receiver spot will likely be, like you said, Ernest Wilford.  And Wilford has been very impressive if you trust mini-camp and OTA reports from the media.  His great size and terrific hands is just what this offense needs.  He's also a big, physical red-zone target for whoever the QB will be, which is something the Dolphins have lacked for years.  But don't sleep on Derek Hagan.  If the man can just catch the ball with more consistency, he can be a decent #3 wide receiver.  Concentration has always been an issue with Derek, though, since he entered the league.  However, early reports are that he's catching the ball well in practice.  If that can translate to more consistency in games, then I think our top 3 receivers in '08 will be an upgrade over '07. 

After the top 3, though, I get very worried.  But that's a discussion for another time.

Anyone else notice that, outside of New England, the wide receivers/passing attacks in the AFC East are pretty awful?  We're well aware of our issues; the Jets struggled with only Laveranues Coles as a main target; and the Dolphins were worse than both of those attacks combined.

With that said, while I don't think the Dolphins have a receiving threat that will scare the opposition (offensively, anyway - it's a different story with Ginn on special teams), I like the mix of talents that Parcells, Ireland & Co. have put together in their top three of Ginn, Wilford and Hagan.  There's speed, there's physicality and size, and there's the ability to move the chains.  But all three will have to be on their game week in and week out for the Dolphins to have a solid passing attack, and with Ginn's inexperience, I don't see that happening too often.

That wraps up another edition of Around the AFC East.  If you'd like to get back to talking about a certain Mr. Lynch now, you're more than welcome to.