Week 1 Post-Mortem: Jets exploit Bills, win 48-28

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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Jets/Bills at the Half (Jets leading 27-7)

This was a game where I was expecting the Bills to come out, punch the Jets in the mouth and show the pundits who picked them in the preseason that their faith was not ill-given. The defense was supposed to be vastly better. We were hoping that a healthy Ryan Fitzpatrick, given a full off-season and the mechanical enhancements of QBs coach David Lee was going to mean a significant difference on the offensive side of the ball, especially with a healthy Fred Jackson and Stevie Johnson on the field.

The first series seemed good. The defense was bending, only gave up one first down and got a turnover. And then the wheels fell off. Fitz has been terrible, ending two drives on bad INTs, and C.J. Spiller put the ball on the ground after his best throw of the game, setting up a two-minute drill for Sanchez. Fred Jackson's numbers were bad (Six touches for fifteen yards) and was injured after his best run of the day. The loan bright spot was Spiller, with an incredible run that was aided by bad tackling.

And the defense. The defense has been a hot mess. They can't get off the field on Third Down. More importantly, the secondary battle looks like men against boys. On a lot of the plays, it doesn't look like there are defenders even on the play until after the pass is caught. It would be easy to say that they're making Sanchez look good, but a couple of his passes, the ones that were actually defended (weren't many) have been very well placed. For a defense that was gashed last year by opponents running game, they've only allowed one good run (and have contained the Wildcat efforts of Tim Tebow). But for a defense that was supposed to be so fierce against the passing game and was supposed to rattle Sanchez and the Jets faithful, this has been a terrible performance from the Buffalo Bills.

Oh, and when the Bills didn't turn it over, they gave up a punt return for a touchdown.

Fast Facts

• On six possessions, the Bills have one touchdown, three turnovers (resulting in seventeen points for the Jets), a punt that was returned for a touchdown and a kneel down at the end of the half. The Jets have scored on ever drive since Sanchez ended the first with an interception.
• The Jets are 3 for 4 on third down. The fourth was a questionable spot by the replacement refs and was still turned into a field goal.
• Despite the interception by Revis on the first Bills drive, Stevie Johnson is the leading Bills receiving threat. At the half, he's caught three balls for a total of 26 yards. Spiller had 30 yards on one catch before putting it on the ground.