2009 Record: 6-10, Fourth in Division
2009 Playoff Record: Did not Qualify
Key Losses: Richie Incognito, Terrell Owens, Aaron Schobel
Key Additions: C.J. Spiller, Alex Carrington, Marcus Easley
I've been pretty generous to most teams so far in previews. Many of them are showing signs of progress, and while they can't all win they all have potential. It's time to take the gloves off and get down and dirty, Buffalo is not showing much to make their fans hopeful this coming season. It's hard to predict that they could actually move backwards from a 6-10 season, but it is possible they not only do that but post the second ever 0-16 season in league history, an inauspicious scenario for new coach Chan Gailey. It looks to be a perfect storm in Buffalo, though, and the Bills could be looking to make league history in the worst possible way.
What's wrong with the Bills? Well, let's start with offense. Everything starts up front with the line, and not only did a line that has been a thorn in the side of this organization not get any upgrades, they actually lost their best lineman in Richie Incognito. The line was woeful last season, giving up 46 sacks and just making it out of the bottom half of the league in rushing yards. They need improvement, and they haven't made any solid moves to improve that line. They only addressed offensive line positions in the fifth and seventh rounds of a horribly crafted team draft, and haven't made any splashes at the position in free agency. Whoever the quarterback is will probably be on the ground a good deal this next season.
Speaking of the quarterback, it remains another position filled with questions. Brian Bohm, Trent Edwards, and Ryan Fitzpatrick have been battling for a starting position for years, and none has stood out as a quarterback capable of leading this team. With a number of quarterbacks available this offseason the Bills once again passed up an opportunity to at least address a position of weakness, but are again settling with what got them to this point in the first place. It's not going to get any better for the Bills at quarterback this year.
The one place it might get better on offense is running back. Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson are both still capable backs, if perhaps a bit injury prone. There's still talk of trading Lynch and that seems like a mistake, even with touted rookie back C.J. Spiller it would seem to be a better idea to go into the season with a wealth of weapons in the one position of strength on this offense. Still, the Buffalo line needs to be better at opening holes for any of the three to have success. Spiller is bringing high praise and Lynch has shown flashes, it may be only hope to count on their success but it is the one bright spot in this offense, receivers included. The Bills are basically going into the season with the same receiving corps as last season except with a fourth round rookie replacing T.O. I'll get into the T.O. hate in a later post, but suffice to say the receiving corps needs all the help it can get, and will probably be yet another weakness.
Defense is a horrible mess. One thing I'll also get into in a later post is teams switching schemes without the right personnel, and this is an example. Green Bay had some good players when they switched to Dom Capers' 3-4 scheme and they drafted linebackers to fit the scheme. Buffalo, on the other hand, had a 4-3 scheme in place with personnel built around it. Not only did they have personnel more suited to be 4-3 ends or lineman than 3-4 backers or linemen, but they spent three picks on defensive ends, one on a tackle, and no picks on backers. This is a mistake, and Buffalo is going to pay for it. They were near last in the league in run defense and they expect the exact same personnel to learn a new scheme and go from 30th in the league to a run defense that can compete in the AFC East, it's not going to happen. They simply have no playmakers on their front seven after losing their best end to retirement and not making any moves to improve. That also hurts them in the sack department, where they were 18th in the league last season. That number could very well go down.
Perhaps the biggest error, though, is in toying with a successful pass offense. The Bills were second in the league in passing yards allowed per game and in interceptions. They didn't have all that many big names in the secondary, they got there based on the coaching and successful scheme of ex-defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. When I get to the Bears I'm going to go on about how good Fewell is and what a difference he can make, and I'll probably do the same when I get to his new team, the Giants. Fewell is a standout coach, he ran a great scheme, and headed a pass defense that gets nowhere near the credit it should because of the team he was on. Congratulations Chan Gailey, way to gut that in order to get your system in place. The one bright spot should be that Jarius Byrd should have a standout year if he's healthy, but this defense should be in disarray until they get some better personnel on the field.
Gailey is making a host of blunders, including tampering with a defense and setting it back to square one instead of building on it. The personnel is wrong, the scheme is wrong, and Gailey's NFL credentials aren't all that impressive. The Bills have a tough schedule ahead of them, and they haven't done even enough to fix their mistakes from last season. It looks to be another long season in Buffalo.
No comments:
Post a Comment