Trent Edwards’ first-quarter performance against the Browns in the Monday night game reminds me of that old Texan saying; “that dog don’t hunt.”
Three interceptions in any game is brutal. Three picks in the first quarter of an NFL game is downright unacceptable. I really like Edwards. He’s a solid guy, he worked hard and he has a definite upside. However, right now, Edwards is way off his game and his play is hurting the Bills. I give him credit for bouncing back and putting the Bills in a position to win the game. (More on that in a second.) However if Edwards doesn’t toss three picks and the Browns don’t score 6 points off his mistakes, the Bills likely would have won the game.
Consider the facts.
The Bills special teams had a big game. Rookie Leodis McKelvin electrified the capacity crowd at The Ralph with his 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. What made McKelvin’s game-changing play even more special was the fact that it came immediately after the Browns had scored to take a 23-13 lead.
Marshawn Lynch had a big game. Playing like a man possessed, Lynch ran for 118 yards and he also picked up 58 yards receiving and scored a touchdown. Lynch set up Trent Edwards’ one-yard touchdown plunge with an incredible play. After taking the handoff from Edwards, Lynch showed incredible strength, balance and determination on his gutsy 28-yard run.
After Edwards scored, the Bills had a lead, they had momentum and they had the crowd in a frenzy.
Then Bills killer and Browns kicker Phil Dawson went to work. Dawson calmly nailed an epic 56-yard field goal to give the Browns a 29-27 lead with under two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The Bills still had time, and they still had hope. Edwards stepped up and threw a clutch 34-yard pass to Robert Royal. That was a big time play at a crucial point in the game. Dick Jauron then went mega-conservative and handed the ball off to Lynch three straight times to set up Rian Lindell’s field goal attempt.
It was at this very moment in time that the football gods decided to heap scorn on the Bills and their beleaguered fans. Lindell’s attempt was from 47 yards. Yes, the same 47 yards that has haunted the entire Bills organization since their painful loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XXV. Just like Scott Norwood, the usually reliable Lindell missed his field goal. Wide right.
As Lindell’s 47-yarder sailed wide right the pain of the loss to the Browns began to hit home. The Bills have lost four straight games and five of their last six. They now sit dead last in the ultra-competitive AFC East. The Dolphins keep winning.
With the loss, Dick Jauron and the Bills are staring at the cold, hard facts of life in the NFL. Either the Bills run the table the rest of the season or they will miss the playoffs.
Over the next two weeks, the Bills are in Kansas City and home to the 49ers. Two games that go either way for the Bills. If Edwards and the Bills avoid turnovers and play as hard as they did for most of the game Monday night, they should win.
That would set up a massive showdown with the Dolphins at Rogers Centre on December 7.
If the Bills end up missing the playoffs this year they will point to the same phrase that has haunted them for year: wide, freaking, right.

