Post-Mortem: Bills beat Chiefs, Bills 35, Chiefs 17

I'll say what i said at the half; what a difference a week makes. In the fourth quarter last week, Bills fans were hopeful at the strength of C.J. Spiller on the ground, hoping for an incredibly unlikely comeback and wondering what the hell happened to the team that had so much hype during the summer. In the week leading up to this game, the Bills were dealing with questions of the lackluster secondary, the multi-million-dollar prima donna bust in Mario Williams and questions of what's going to happen with Fitz after a less than lackluster performance at the Meadowlands.

This week, the Bills came out and did what they needed to do to the Jets; punch them in the mouth. Things were not perfect for the Bills early on. But things don't need to be perfect for them to get going. C.J. Spiller (15 carries, 123 yards, 2 TD, 3 catches, 47 yards) was an absolute beast for the Bills, gashing the Chiefs time and time again, crushing them beneath his runs. It more than made up for a lackluster start for quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (10 of 19, 178 yards, 2 TD) who struggled early in the passing game before finally capping off a solid drive that started in Chiefs territory after a Matt Cassel fumble with a sharp touchdown reception by Scott Chandler. In Fitz's defense, while he wasn't as sharp as we'd like him to be, the important spot on that stat-line is what's not there; No interceptions.

The defensive line was much improved as well. Free agent acquisitions Mark Anderson and Mario Williams both came up large when the game was still in question, Anderson (3 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 QB Hit) with a big early tackle for a loss while Williams (2 Tackles, Fumble Recovery) capitalized on an Alex Carrington sack, turning into the Bills third touchdown. But it was a complete game by the front line, as Kyle Williams (3 tackles, 2 sacks) had a great game and Marcell Dareus (2 tackles, sack) had a tremendous performance, especially considering the tragic loss of his little brother in a shooting during the week.

But, the defensive line doesn't get that push at all if Cassel can keep moving the ball fast enough to counteract them. The secondary, which was picked apart by Mark Sanchez in week one had a solid game, not giving up very much at all until the game was already decided. The best drive the Chiefs were able to muster in the first half, near the end of it, was spurred forward by a big (and ridiculous) penalty on Da'Norris Searcy on a nasty but unintentional jolt he gave Kevin Boss, knocking him out of the game. It sustained the drive, which finally fell apart with the lone useful Chiefs weapon, Peyton Hillis, getting stripped on his way into the end zone, effectively finishing the half and the Chief's chances of getting back into it.

This was not a perfect game for the Bills. Fitz's early play left quite a lot to be desired and will do nothing to stop the voices who were calling for Barkley watch to begin during the week. The tremendous chemistry that he developed with Stevie Johnson (2 catches, 56 yards, TD) seemed sorely lacking. Stevie was targeted five times on the day, but there were a couple bad passes by Fitz and a bad route by Stevie on what would be the second TD drive (Spiller) with Stevie freelancing on a quick-hit play, making Fitz look bad. Spiller's touchdown certainly makes that seem less villainous, but it's one of those performances where you wonder what would happen against a better team.

All and all, it's a much better outcome this week for the Bills. Sure, it's easy to say that a win is better than a loss, but just as the 48-28 score was not nearly as close as it looks, so too was the Bills 35-17 win this week a lot more of a rout than it seems. But there were still a number of warts on the Bills performance. Fitz needs to improve and sit down with Stevie and figure out how they're both going to do what they need to do.  But, a win is a win and (with the 1-0 Jets still yet to play) the rest of the AFC East is also at 1-1. It means statistically we're all in the same boat. It's just a matter of performing.

Bring on the Cleveland Browns.

Addenda:

• Leodis McKelvin had an impressive 88 yard punt return for a touchdown, making a lot of people remark on how much this was a mirror image of last week's game. Second longest in team history. 
• C.J. Spiller's 2012 campaing marks the fifth time a running back in Bills history has run over 100 yards in the first two games of the season. The other four were Fred Jackson, Thurman Thomas and O.J. Simpson twice.
• Bills defense recorded 5 sacks (Dareus, Carrington, Sheppard and K. Williams [2]) is the most in a game for the Bills since playing the Redskins in TO last year. 

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."

* * *

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.  █


Follow me on Twitter and here at bflosportsman.blogspot.com.