Checking in on the Bills

Said Gailey: "Pass defense starts with pass rush, we didn’t have a good enough four-man pass rush tonight to help our pass defense. We’ve got to get better there. I thought we played the run a lot better this week, throughout the whole ballgame. But with the ones, I think the ones had 60-some yards rushing against ‘em. I feel like we’re on track run-defense wise. We’ve just got a lot of work to do in the pass coverage and pass rush without blitzing ‘em every snap. " link

via i.cdn.turner.com

Bills head coach Chan Gailey got right to an update about the handful of injured Bills in Saturday night’s game, including Donald Jones who was knocked cold on an illegal hit along the sideline and Johnny White whose head was slammed into the turf on a tackle and had to be carted off strapped on a backboard. Link

The Denver Broncos seemed rather feisty on Saturday night. The Buffalo Bills defense surrendered 21-31 passing for 264 yards and 101 yards on the ground. We might need to adjust our outlook on Denver this year.

In 31 offensive snaps last night - a much higher total than Chan Gailey planned to get in - Bell routinely struggled, particularly with speed off the edge, which rarely gave him problems in 2010. He gave up a sack to rookie Von Miller (pictured) on a pure speed rush, and Elvis Dumervil had his number all evening. We counted four snaps in which Dumervil beat Bell with ease; two of those plays led to Ryan Fitzpatrick throw-aways, Bell held on one that went uncalled, and Dumervil blew up a handoff to C.J. Spiller on another. Link

Tamba and our other OLB's might have a great season opener.

Ryan Fitzpatrick had a bad night by anyone's standards, but especially by someone who needs to prove that he can be our go-to QB for the future. Out of his 16 throws, Fitz only had 6 completions for 44 yards and an interception. While his YPC were decent, the YPA was just awful. Part of it was just poor accuracy. I measured Fitz with 5 bad throws - throws which were incomplete because he threw them inaccurately and wasn't under pressure. That includes his interception. Just to cover the rest of his incompletions, 2 were throwaways when he was about to get sacked. 1 pass was batted, 1 was the Donald Jones hit, and 1 was a well-defended Champ Bailey breakup. Yes, Fitz was under pressure. However, his timing and accuracy were just off in general all night. And that didn't help his teammates.

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Some down-to-earth playcalling from Chan Gailey. Yes, we know you want to run a spread offense. But if your line can't pass-block and your QB can't throw on target, maybe it's worth doing some 12 or 21 personnel formations to try and work your way forward bit by bit. Control the clock. Stop throwing on 1st down and trying to overcome 2nd and 10 or 3rd and 10's.

are some postgame takes from Buffalo Rumblings

A couple of quotes from The Buffalo News:

The result was a 20-pound gain in muscle and a reshaped body for a player the Bills hope will make an impact this season. Carrington is carrying 305 pounds and has shown so much mobility that the Bills started giving him snaps as a rush linebacker the past week.

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The Bills' top pass-rusher, Shawne Merriman, is being held out tonight as a precaution. He has a minor leg ailment but could play if it was a regular-season game, coach Chan Gailey said. That will give some of the younger pass rushers, like Carrington, Danny Batten and Antonio Coleman, more opportunity. In the wake of the release of former No. 1 draft pick Aaron Maybin, the Bills desperately need one of their young rushmen to show something. If Merriman goes down during the season, where do the Bills get their pass rush?

A 305 lb Rush Line backer? Marcel Dareus is still a stud.

Geaux Chiefs