Here's to an injury free game Sunday. I've seen quite a bit of chatter about the Bills, some good some bad, some respectful, some disrespectful, some quality talent assessment, and some misinformed fans, and all I'm going to say is you find the aforementioned on every message board. One things for certain, as a Bills fan, seeing all this chatter means one thing: The Bills are once again relevant, and as a Bills fan that's great.
I'd like to give my thoughts about the Bills, I'm not going to act like I know a whole lot about the Pats, outside of a few general observations (Pressure Brady up the middle, so he can't step up, stop Gronk, etc.).
Anyways on to the Bills:
Offense:
I'll start with the good from Sunday's game vs. Indy: Bills weapons played well for the most part and their game plan succeeded even though the Colts did everything in their power to take away Sammy. I think this is attributed to Greg Roman. I remember in camp Rex made a comment about not forcing the ball to one player, if you take one weapon away, the offense will look to beat you another way. One thing I love about Rex, very little coach speak, he held true to his word, and this player Sunday was Percy Harvin. This upcoming game it could be Clay, Harvin again, Robert Wood over the middle, Sammy, or the running game.
On to TT, his game is very efficient, he's going to throw a lot of high percentage balls, and beat you with his legs at least 2-3 times a game. If I remember correctly, he wasn't sacked, in lieu of crappy oline play (I'll get to that). His pros: Good velocity on this throws/live arm, throws well on the run, cerebral in the sense that he really seems to know his role: high percentage throws, efficiency, and don't turn the ball over. If you're expecting a riverboat gambler, and turnovers you're going to be disappointed. The wild card, he certainly seems to have that wow play in him, but is extremely disciplined. Cons: Doesn't throw a very tight spiral (It gets there with velocity, but it's not pretty), seems to have limited vision (Missed a few open WR's), and at times it's one read and take off.
McCoy missed much of the preseason and it seemed to show on Sunday. A few times he appeared visibly upset Sunday, and didn't seem to be on the same page with the oline. I think for 25, more than most backs continuity with the oline is important, because of his running style. Karlos Williams, Fjax's replacement and a 5th rd pick, is a big bodied north south runner that compliments McCoy well. He had a nice 20 something yard TD run.
The online really struggled yesterday, I was very high on 3rd pick John Miller, but he struggled in the run game. I think Eric Wood is very overrated, Cordy Glenn took too many penalties, and Henderson struggled. Hope to see some improvement out of this unit.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bills talent is well documented on the D line, but two players the avg fan doesn't hear a whole lot about are 3rd round pick Preston Brown and 4th round pick Nigel Bradham. Both played incredibly well and are extremely athletic. Bradham is one of the faster linebackers in the league, and hits with authority. I think he finished the game with 8 tackles, 2 for loss and one sack. Getting Marcel Dareus back will be a nice boost for an already dominant unit, imo, he's the best player on the defensive side of the ball, an absolutely dominant force, that doesn't get much attention. I think the key to beating Brady and the Pats is to generate interior pressure, to limit his ability to step up in the pocket.
The secondary is incredibly deep, and I think had something crazy like 11PD yesterday. The Bills should be without starting S Corey Graham who looked like he was on the wrong side of a Buster Douglas Mike Tyson fight, and is concussed. His replacement Bacarri Rambo, had a mental lapse inside the 5 yesterday and allowed Luck and the Colts to get on the board in the second half. Aaron Williams is very gifted, instinctive and has really settled in as one of the young budding safety's in the league. Darby, will start opposite Gilmore, and from what I've seen early on, is prone to give up the big play, is good in coverage but lacks ball skills (although he did have his first INT on a pass from Luck to TY). Gilmore is a very, very good cover corner, but has hands of stone.
Anyhow, that's all I have for now. Oh and Carp kicked well, which is good because Rex was calling him out all preseason.
