Many of the questions that we thought had been answered for the Buffalo Bills are questions again. All the questions we had are still questions. Let's take a look at the Buffalo Bills opening game of the 2012 campaign.
The Good: It is very hard at this point to see the bright side of today's game for the boys in blue. Even the impressive stat line for C.J. Spiller (14 carries, 169 yards, TD) is overshadowed by the fact that he had those touches at the expense of an injured Fred Jackson (6 carries, 15 yards). WR Stevie Johnson (4 receptions, 55 yards, TD) looked good when he got the ball, though his most impressive play was a 29 yard TD in garbage time where he was never touched. Scott Chandler (4 receptions, 38 yards, TD) had a solid game as a safety valve and Donald Jones (5 receptions, 41 yards, TD) was sure handed and, like Chandler, had a solid game. Also, until the last drive, the defense only gave up 89 rushing yards, which is a bright point considering how this Jets team ran all over the Bills the last five times they won.
The Bad: I don't know where to start here, except that it's a little easier because there was a lot of ugly in this game. While the highly-touted defensive line was helpful when it comes to the above-mentioned rushing success, there were no sacks. More importantly than the fact that there weren't sacks, Mario Williams, the highest-paid defensive player, in the NFL was invisible. His stat-line will go down as 1 tackle and possibly 1 hurry (or pressure, or whatever they're calling that stat this year). The linebacking corps also will get a mixed review today, again because of the combination of how (relatively) well they did against the ground game and the fact that the Jets had no trouble finding short routes. I know that can't be blamed completely on them, but they played their part and we didn't hear a lot about them, because by the time they were making tackles, the game was so lopsided that they weren't getting mentioned.
The Ugly: Let's start with the things out of the control of the team. Fred Jackson was hurt early in the game. Before the injury, his game wasn't great, certainly not the M.V.P. candidate numbers we saw before he was injured last year. It looked ugly, but doesn't seem like it was quite so bad. David Nelson (2 receptions, 31 yards) sounds like it could be a much more serious injury from what Chan Gailey stated after the game, but we'll wait and see how tests come back this week. Overall the Bills gave up four turnovers for a total of twenty-four points for the Jets. Finally, on the play that probably was the knock out blow for the Bills, there was a punt return for a touchdown.
The Disastrous: Ryan Fitzpatrick's numbers may be deceiving. Fitz went 18 for 32, 195 yards with three touchdowns and interceptions. It sounds like an even game, but was an absolute horror show. The touchdowns all came after the game was essentially over and the interceptions looked like the worst of Fitz's interceptions last year; badly thrown balls that make you wonder what he was thinking. As bad as the pick six in the second half was (or that the Scott Chandler first down that should have been a pick six if it could have been held onto by the first defender), I focus on the Darrelle Revis pick. Fitz through the pass he was the worst at to the receiver he trusts against the best cornerback in the league. Missing with that pass is criminal. A good quarterback knows what he can do and doesn't make that mistake against the best guy in the league. And while we're on the topic of coverage, the Bills secondary was brutal today. At the end of the second half, the best thing I could come up with was, "Well at least Aaron Williams was close enough to interfere with his guy on third down."
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All in all, it's a bad day for Bills fans. As bad as Fitz was, and he was as bad as we've seen him, it was really only one game. We'll see what comes out in regards to the injuries for Jackson and Nelson, but while today was a shot at the swagger the fanbase had after the big free agent signings and the national football pundits being positive about the Bills' chances at the post season. Also, and as bad as the secondary and defensive line were, they didn't necessarily make Mark Sanchez look good (as terrible as they were when the game felt like it was already over); Mark Sanchez had a very good game, and he had a number of good passes that didn't need to have bad coverage to be completed. Some of them were very good.
Also, remember, next week is the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills have plenty of chance to improve, and while they looked like a hot mess today, the wheels have note quite fallen off yet. █
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