Ryan Fitzpatrick rolled out to his right while tight end Scott Chandler broke free from his blocker and was wide open for an easy first down on the Bills first possession of yesterday's game in Orchard Park. Fitzpatrick missed badly and the ball landed at Chandler's feet. This pattern would repeat itself a few more times before the Bills quarterback made a couple of good passes while avoiding turnovers - something he was unable to do last week.
How did the Bills win yesterday? By running the ball and playing excellent defence. CJ Spiller looked like an NFL number 1 running back, gaining over 100 yards on the ground and scoring 2 touchdowns. The offensive line was outstanding all day, both in run blocking and protection. The much anticipated pass rush showed up as well, registering 5 sacks. Mario Williams recovered one fumble after a sack and was double-teamed most of the time, allowing Marcel Dareus, Kyle Williams and Mark Anderson to keep Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel off balance all day. It was a dominating win - the kind of win that, as the WGR post-game crew pointed out, those who predicted a Bills playoff berth for this year undoubtedly had in mind. The fans were energized and the players responded. It was a great reply to last week's disaster against the Jets.
But, the quarterbacking remains a very large concern. Fitzpatrick just seems unable to throw the ball accurately enough of the time. His pass to Chandler for a touchdown was very well thrown - as were a few others - but there were just too many bad misses, too many balls landing at the feet of receivers, too many times where it seems like the team really doesn't have a quarterback who can lead them to a winning season, let alone the playoffs. The rest of the offence seems solid - even the depleted wide receiver core - and the defence looks much better than last year but without a quarterback who can get it done consistently, it will be a tough road.
The weather was beautiful. The traffic was not. On the way in, from the 219 to Milestrip to Abbott to Southwestern and finally into to Drive 5 took over an hour and we had to park behind the grass practice field which was fine except for getting out which also took about an hour. And a short delay on the Whirlpool Bridge - due to construction. This allowed us a few minutes to absorb the view of the awesome Niagara River gorge and the rapids downstream. Overall, a very good day, a good game and a good trip. And, we were encouraged to have seen only one Romney/Ryan bumper sticker.
In light of the prolonged 1st quarter in MNF last night, perhaps we can hear you chime in about the work of these replacements refs? Have you been noticing the work that the refs do?
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