Buffalo Bills In Toronto Blog

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.

New England 20 – Buffalo 10. To be perfectly honest, the score from Sunday’s loss at Gillette Stadium flattered the Bills.

In three short and painful weeks, the Buffalo Bills have gone from being contenders to win the AFC East, to being tossed into the middle of a Wild Card dog fight.

A three-game losing streak will do that to you in the NFL. A three-game losing streak against the rest of the teams in your own division is even more devastating. All of a sudden the Bills find themselves looking up at the Jets and the Patriots, and tied with the Dolphins.

Sunday’s performance in Foxborough was about as bad as it gets. The Bills couldn’t run the ball. They couldn’t stop the run. They got hammered in the time of possession battle. They had a paltry 168 total net yards and Trent Edwards tossed two interceptions. What hurts more for Dick Jauron and his coaching staff is an undrafted rookie running back like BenJarvus Green-Ellis having such a huge day on the ground against the Bills defence.

Die-hard Bills fans will point to all their injuries as the reason they were so ineffective against the Patriots. A more sober Dick Jauron would flat-out refuse to use his team’s injuries as an excuse. Someway, somehow, good teams find a way to fight through their injuries and still win games. For the Bills to make that step from being a “pretender” to a true “contender,” they are going to have to beat teams in their own division.

As a result of their current three-game losing streak, the Bills game against the Dolphins at Rogers Centre in week 14 is far more important than anyone could have ever imagined. To make the play-offs in the AFC will take at least 10 wins. That means the Bills will have to go at least five and two the rest of the season. Over the next three weeks, the Bills will take on the Browns, the Chiefs and the 49ers. In theory, those are three very “winnable” games for the Bills. However, in the NFL, there are no sure things anymore. Especially this season. If the Bills don’t sort out their issues on offence in a real hurry, those three games could either make or break them.

The good news for the Bills is that despite their three straight losses, they still have fate in their hands. The bad news is that all the teams they are going to face the rest of the season have watched the film of these last three losses and have a blueprint on how to beat the Bills.

If you’re Trent Edwards and the Bills, there’s really no sense spending too much time dwelling on the loss to the Patriots. All they can do is get back to work and start preparing to host the Browns at Ralph Wilson Stadium next week in the Monday night game.

A wise old coach once said that “losing builds character,” and “winning builds confidence.”

At this point, the Bills have built up more than enough character to last them for a while. It’s time for them to start winning again and to rebuild their confidence.

In the first two months of the season, the Bills had a 5 and 2 record and looked like a bona fide playoff contender in the AFC.

The first game in November was one that Dick Jauron and the Bills would like to forget. It only took two weeks for the Buffalo Bills to go from the golden boys of the AFC to a team riding a disturbing two-game losing streak. For the second week in a row, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards lacked composure in the pocket and made some poor decisions with the football.

Last week, Edwards had trouble with the Dolphins. This week, Edwards struggled against Kris Jenkins and the Jets defence. Looking anything like the smooth and confident quarterback we all watched early this season, Edwards tossed two interceptions, lost a fumble and was sacked five times. The Jets returned one of Edwards interceptions for a touchdown and scored 10 points off of his turnovers. Marshawn Lynch was battling a flu bug, but that doesn’t totally explain away the Bills complete lack of a running game. If the Bills can’t run the ball effectively, Jauron’s game plan just won’t work. More importantly, if the Bills can’t run the ball, Edwards ends up in way too many third and long situations. In their loss to the Jets, the Bills running game was pretty much non-existent.

While the Bills offence were busy making mental mistakes, Alan Faneca and the Jets offensive line pitched a shut out and did not allow Brett Favre to be sacked once. In other words, the Bills couldn’t run the football on offence and they had no pass rush on defence. In virtually every facet of the game, the Jets outplayed the Bills. Add it all up and the Bills played a brutal home game in a divisional game of monumental consequences.

Do the math. With their loss on Sunday, the Bills fell to 5 and 3 and all of a sudden are tied with the Jets and the Patriots. Next week, the Bills are in New England to take on the Pats in another huge divisional game.

Now is the time of the season where Jauron and his coaching staff have to earn their money. All teams face adversity during the course of a season and there’s no doubt the Bills are seeing their share right now. How they deal with it and how they respond next week in New England will go a long way to determining whether or not the Bills are true playoff contenders in the AFC.

There’s a lot of work to be done. Trent Edwards needs to work on his ball security and his decision making. The offensive line needs to do a better job of providing Edwards protection in the pocket. The Bills need to establish their running game and stick to it for an entire game. The Bills special teams needs to come up with a big, game-changing play.

No one ever said making the playoffs in the AFC was going to be easy. Certainly no one in the AFC is about to do the Bills any favours.

One thing is for sure, the longer the season goes on, the more it looks like the Bills game against the Dolphins at Rogers Centre will be the determining factor in their drive to the playoffs.

Just after the Bills disappointing loss to Miami last week, WR Lee Evans went on Sportsnet Connected’s “Buffalo Beat” to talk about his performance in the Week 8 game. He also discusses his four-year contract extension, and how “electric” it was playing at Rogers Centre during the preseason game in August. Stay tuned for the last part of the segment when Lee goes “Inside the Huddle” (he attended the same high school as Halle Berry… who knew?).

Go Bills!

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Sometimes, numbers and stats don’t tell you the whole story of what happened in a football game. Sometimes, the numbers end up telling you more than you would like to know. Consider these numbers from the Bills loss to the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday; quarterback Trent Edwards was a mediocre 21 of 37 for 227 yards and an interception. Edwards was sacked twice and he also fumbled the ball away twice.

If you go “inside” the numbers, there were a number of reasons for Edwards’ problems in South Florida. First off, the Bills offensive line had major problems containing Joey Porter and the Dolphins pass rush. A key play took place in the fourth quarter with Edwards back to pass in his own end zone. Right from the snap of the ball, Bills left tackle Jason Peters could not contain the ferocious pass rush of Joey Porter. Edwards did himself no favours by hanging on to the ball too long standing in the pocket in his own end zone. With Edwards unable to sense the coming pressure, Porter knocked the ball loose, resulting in a Dolphins safety. That pretty much killed any chance of a Bills comeback.

One of the best trash talkers in the NFL, Porter ended up with four tackles, two sacks and forced a fumble. That’s called backing up your big talk with some big league play.

It wasn’t just the Bills offence that had some issues in Miami, it was the vaunted Bills defence as well. Mark Kelso of the Bills radio network made a great observation during the game. The Dolphins were attacking Bills cornerback Terrence McGee with the raw speed of receiver Ted Ginn Jr. As a result, Ginn had a huge day with seven receptions for 175 yards.

The most disturbing thing for Dick Jauron and the Bills coaching staff was the way the Dolphins dictated the pace of the game in the second half. The Dolphins outscored the Bills 18 to 7 in the second half and had Buffalo responding to what they were doing; instead of the other way around. The Bills ended up with an unacceptable four turnovers in the fourth quarter. You are not going to beat anyone in the NFL with that kind of sloppy football; especially a bitter division rival.

All of a sudden the Bills have lost two of their last three games. With the Patriots win over the Rams, the Bills are now tied with New England for first place in the AFC East. Next Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Bills will do battle with Brett Favre and the Jets in another division matchup with huge implications.

Five wins in seven games doesn’t guarantee anything in the NFL. It certainly doesn’t guarantee the Bills will win the AFC East or even get into the playoffs as a wildcard team. I am quite sure the second the Bills charter plane landed in Buffalo, Jauron and the coaching staff went straight to the facility to start game planning for the Jets. There’s a long way to go before the Bills can start talking about their return to the post-season. No one is about to do them any favours. So that means Trent Edwards and the Bills are going to have beat division opponents. Especially a team like the Jets who are now only one game behind the Bills in the AFC East.

One thing is for sure—the Bills will be more than a little bit jacked up for their re-match with the Dolphins, December 7 at Rogers Centre.

Bills rookies, including regulars McKelvin and Hardy, visited Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School in Mississauga today, delivering inspiring words and $3,000 in new equipment for the school’s fledgling football program and its excited students. Young players got to meet and talk to their favorite new Bills during the event, which was organized by NFL Canada.  Tickets for the Dec. 7 Miami Dolphins game at Rogers Centre are now on sale! For more information, click here. Go Bills!

As a parent, I know all too well the power and influence of a helium balloon. God forbid if I ever slip up and let one of the helium balloons from a kids birthday party fly away. I would be toast. Little did I know what kind of carnage a few helium balloons were capable of. About 30 minutes before the Bills were set to kick off against the Chargers in Orchard Park, three small helium balloons got tangled up in some power lines across from Ralph Wilson Stadium. Next thing you know all hell breaks loose and the Bills are forced to start the game with no power, no TV, nothing. I have to admit it was odd hearing John Murphy call the game on the radio until power was restored. As a matter of fact, Murph was calling the game over a phone line since they had no power in the radio booth. Not that I was complaining. John Murphy is a treat to listen to call a game on the radio.

As much as I was impressed with the way Trent Edwards rebounded from his minor concussion in week 5, it was the play of the Bills defence that really stood out. Two of the Bills biggest off season acquisitions, Marcus Stroud and Kawika Mitchell, came up with huge games against the Chargers. Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter, the Bills sacked Philp Rivers, stripped him of the ball and Stroud engulfed the ball to give the Bills some much needed life. All of a sudden power, and order, were restored at the Ralph and then the Bills went to work. Edwards led the Bills on a smart seven play 4 minute drive that was capped off with a sweet two yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans on a fade pattern.

The Chargers briefly regained the lead in the third quarter before Marshawn Lynch’s nine yard go ahead touchdown. From that point on the Bills never looked back. With offensive coordinator Turk Schonert shrewdly mixing the run and the pass, Edwards took control of the play clock and control of the game. Edwards was an impressive 25 of 30 for 262 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. I guess Edwards was right when he said he was fully recovered from his concussion after all.

But with all due respect to the silky smooth California bred quarterback; it was the wily old veterans on defence that manned up and sealed this victory. Marcus Stroud and Kawika Mitchell were acquired in the off season to make an impact on defence. Sunday against the Chargers, Stroud and Mitchell made a major impact. Especially the former New York Giants linebacker.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Mitchell picked off a Philip Rivers pass in the Bills end zone and returned it 32 yards. The Bills turned that turnover into a Rian Lindell field goal. Then Mitchell topped that play with just over three minutes left to play in the game. Mitchell blew through the Chargers offensive line, sacked Rivers and forced a fumble at the same time. The Bills defence recovered and this bad boy was over.

Kawika Mitchell ended up with a near perfect game for an NFL linebacker. Seven tackles, one sack, one interception and a forced fumble. That is why Dick Jauron and Russ Brandon decided they needed a player like Mitchell in a Bills uniform. With players like Mitchell making big plays on defence, the stellar work of Edwards, Evans and Marshawn Lynch didn’t go to waste.

Other than the Mitchell sack and forced fumble of Rivers, my other favourite play was Freddy Jackson’s amazing lead block to spring Marshawn Lynch on his nine yard touchdown run. That was the kind of play that gets repeated over and over again in the Monday game film review.

The Bills are 5 and 1 for the first time since 1995. If the Bills play like they did against San Diego; they have a great shot to improve to 6 and 1 next week in Miami. The Bills organization reaffirmed something else in their win over the Chargers. They are a completely different team when Edwards is in at quarterback. This is not meant as a knock against JP Losman, it’s just a fact. The players feed off of Edwards and his calm, cool demeanor. The offence wants to make plays for him, and the defence wants to get the ball back for him. That’s what leadership in the NFL is all about.

There’s no word yet if helium balloons have been forever banned from Ralph Wilson Stadium. I could be wrong, but I think it’s a violation of a long standing Toronto by-law to bring a helium balloon into an NFL regular season game.

Coming off a “minor” concussion in their loss to the Cardinals, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards says he’s good to go for this Sunday’s tilt with the San Diego Chargers. Calling a concussion “minor” is like saying your wife is only a “little” pregnant. Any time your brain is bounced around inside your skull, it’s a bad thing.

Priority one during practise this week for the Bills is protecting the quarterback at all costs. Not only do the Bills need to protect Edwards from getting sacked, but they need to protect him from taking late hits. As Tony Romo found out this past weekend, getting hit after you release the ball is just as dangerous as taking a sack in the pocket. That means the Bills offensive line has to be completely dialed in on all their assignments and protection schemes on every snap of the ball. One missed assignment could result in Edwards being on the receiving end of the kind of hit that gave him the concussion in the first place.

With that in mind, Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson will get a lot of work Sunday at The Ralph. The more Dick Jauron can effectively run the ball, the more he can protect Edwards and keep him out of those dangerous third and long situations. I am not saying Edwards shouldn’t attempt to throw the deep ball. What I am saying is this week would be a good time to establish the running game right from the start and chew up as much of the clock as possible. Now, if everything goes according to plan and the Chargers try to put 8 defenders in the box to stop the run; Edwards can air it out to Lee Evans.

The Chargers have won two of their last three games and are coming off a convincing win over the Patriots. In fact, Philip Rivers and the Chargers looked like they’ve regained some of the swagger they played with at the end of the last season. Even more worrisome for Jauron is the fact the Chargers have beaten the Bills six of their last eight meetings. Even with-out Shawne Merriman, the Chargers have a tough and physical defence. The Bills new and improved run defence will get a good workout Sunday as Norv Turner unleashes the combo of LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles on them. LT and Sproles present an interesting challenge to the Bills defence. Sproles is a flat out speed burner. Much has been made about Tomlinson and his banged up big toe. He still has four touchdowns this season and is always a dangerous threat in the red zone. Defensive End Aaron Schobel looks like a long shot to be in the line-up on Sunday. That could mean Rivers will get more time in the pocket to throw the deep ball to the likes of Vincent Jackson.

Add this all up and it equals the need for a big time game from the Bills special teams. Field position will be key for the Bills this Sunday so Leodis McKelvin and the return team will have to have a productive game. As well, the Bills punt coverage unit will have to fly down the field to try and pin the Chargers deep in their own end whenever possible.

After the Chargers game, the Bills will take on three straight division opponents in the Dolphins, Jets and the Patriots. You could make a strong case the Chargers are the toughest team the Bills have faced this season. If the Bills are going to be a play-off team like they think they are, beating a quality team like the Chargers is key.

Is it any wonder Dick Jauron looks like he is in need of a good nights sleep? Such is life as a head coach in the NFL in 2008.

The football gods giveth, the football gods taketh away.

The Buffalo Bills have lived a charmed life so far this season. They’ve been relatively healthy and they have always found a way to get the job done in the fourth quarter and pull out a win. That’s why the Bills strutted into the University of Phoenix Stadium with an impressive 4-0 record to take on the Cardinals Sunday.

The first quarter had barely started when the football gods dropped the hammer on the Bills. Three plays into the first quarter, blitzing Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson hammered Trent Edwards on a blindside hit. The damage wasn’t done by the initial hit. The damage was done when Edwards’ helmet slammed onto the turf with brutal force.

As Edwards lay on the field, the Bills medical staff anxiously hovered over him. The next thing you know, Dick Jauron was helplessly watching a dazed Edwards get carted off the field. The early diagnosis was not good, Edwards has a concussion.

In comes back-up quarterback J.P. Losman. Bills fans’ worst nightmares appeared to be coming true right before their eyes as Losman promptly fumbled the exchange with Marshawn Lynch. All of a sudden the Cardinals had a first down and they had grabbed the momentum.

Losman’s performance was both good and bad at the same time. Losman hit Lee Evans for a beautiful 87-yard touchdown. Losman also fumbled the ball away twice, and both times the Cards recovered. Losman did manage to pull off a nice two-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown. Despite Losman’s decent numbers, the Bills offence never looked as in sync as they did when Edwards is at the controls.

By the time Tim Hightower ran in for a two-yard touchdown, the Cardinals had a 41-17 lead in the fourth quarter. With Edwards out, Losman struggling to hang on to the football, and the offensive line unable to cope with the Cards pass rush; there would be no fourth quarter miracles by the Bills in this one.

In the crazy first five weeks to this NFL season, football fans have seen just about everything. The Bills received a good old-fashioned beating out in Arizona. They also received a very good lesson in what it takes to win in the NFL.

If I was Dick Jauron and the Bills, all I would have to say on the flight back home to Buffalo is: “thank God for the bye week.”

The Bills can now go home, get physically and emotionally healthy, and start preparing to host the Chargers on Oct. 19 at the Ralph.

If Jauron and the Bills are lucky, the extra week of rest will allow Edwards to recover from his concussion. That’s “if.” They are lucky.

As a Yale grad, Bills head coach Dick Jauron has always come across as a very cerebral and calm man. However, Jauron is also an ex-NFLer and I am quite certain that he dropped the odd f-bomb during halftime of the Bills win over the Rams today. Trailing 14-6 at halftime, Jauron and the Bills coaching staff went to work. Besides their motivational speeches, the Bills made some major offensive and defensive adjustments at halftime.

In the first half, Rams running back Stephen Jackson shredded the Bills for 99 yards. In the second half, Jackson could only manage 11 yards on the ground. I thought safety Donte Whitner had a great game and defensive back Jabari Greer put a dagger in the heart of the Rams with his 33-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

With the Bills defence dropping the hammer on the Rams offence, Trent Edwards did what he’s done all year: put points on the scoreboard. Edwards and the Bills offence scored 25 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as the Bills improved to 4-0 on the season. Edwards saved his best work for the fourth quarter and burned the Rams with a beautifully thrown to ball to Lee Evans for a 39-yard touchdown.

I have said it before and I will say it again, Fred Jackson is quickly becoming an invaluable member of the Bills offence. Against the Rams, Jackson made some catches, returned some punts, and ran in for a 22-yard touchdown. On paper, Jackson and Marshawn Lynch didn’t rack up big numbers. But once they got the lead, the Bills running game took a toll on the deflated Rams defence.

The NFL Network’s Jamie Dukes was right — this was a trap game for the Bills. Early in the game, there was every indication that the Rams were going to feed off of the home crowd and get their first win of the season. But there’s a reason the Bills are one of only three teams in the AFC that are still undefeated. This year’s Bills team is a lot tougher mentally than last year’s. That’s not a knock against last year’s team; that’s just an indication of the impact of all the leadership the Bills added in the off season paying huge dividends when it matters most.

That mental toughness will once again be put to the test next Sunday when the Bills travel to Arizona to face Kurt Warner and the Cardinals. At the quarter pole of the NFL season, the Bills are a perfect 4-0. It’s a given that Ken Whisenhunt and the Cardinals will pull out all the stops to make sure the Bills don’t make it to 5-0.

George S. Patton once said: “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” Last year, the Bills didn’t hit rock bottom, though it certainly felt that way as the team was decimated with injuries. This year, Dick Jauron is finding out what his football team can accomplish when everyone is healthy.