The writing was on the wall as the second half progressed in the Meadowlands. The Buffalo Bills defense hadn’t found a way to take the ball away from Eli Manning and the Giants and Fred Jackson’s dominance on the ground was faltering.
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s second interception and the subsequent Giants drive put the game away, literally and figuratively. The Bills defense couldn’t muster a stop – they haven’t all season – and the Bills offense hadn’t shown the ability to piece together a long drive. The Giants kicked a field goal and the Bills went four-and-out. Game over.
Some of the Bills’ problems have maligned them for the entire season. They have failed to rush the passer which, in turn, has made it very easy for the opposing passing game to capitalize down the field. That issue also goes the other way, the inability Buffalo has shown in coverage limits the number of blitzes they can use. It’s a vicious cycle. It didn’t help that the Bills defense was without three of their starters along the front seven.
A lot of people have been saying the Bills’ run defense has been bad, but unless I’m watching a different team I’m not seeing it. Outside of a late, 30-yard run, Ahmad Bradshaw was held in check. Sure he scored three touchdowns, but they were all from one-yard out, so I don’t think that can really count against the defense. Frankly, the defense has been stout against the run; it is the pass defense that has been bad.
In addition, Ryan Fitzpatrick had yet another pedestrian outing as the tossed two identical interceptions to Cory Webster. It is a widely known fact that Fitzpatrick’s arm strength is among his weaknesses – although Mike Schopp and the Bulldog would have you think otherwise. Fitzpatrick doesn’t throw the deep ball well, nor does he throw those difficult passes to the sidelines. His pass to Stevie Johnson was exactly that, a difficult fade down the sideline that required touch and the right amount of force, Fitzpatrick underthrew the pass and it was an easy interception for Webster.
Fitzpatrick knows quite a bit of the loss rests on his shoulders, but that isn’t a pass they should have made him throw. Not to make this a diatribe against the WGR post-game, but rather than chase callers and ignore any other view-point than their own, Schopp and the Bulldog might practice something called conversing. You would have thought that pass was the only option in the entire playbook. Yes, it was a bad throw. Yes, it was a risky call. But there were plenty of options available to the Bills other than a pass their QB doesn’t throw well.
The situation the Bills found themselves in presented a few options. They could have chewed clock and played for the points, or they could have taken a strike to the end zone and the win. They chose door number two and paid for it. I don’t subscribe to the theory of playing not to lose, but I also subscribe to the theory of running Fred Jackson into the ground. While the Bills run game was bad in the second half, Fred Jackson inside the 30 is a good bet. The screen game – which had been dormant until the second half – proved effective on the rare times they used it, it is a shame they didn’t try at least one before taking a shot at the end zone.
The point is that the Bills had plenty of options at their disposal besides chucking a jump ball down the sideline. Regardless if the pass was underthrown, Chan Gailey had a number of weapons at his disposal that weren’t explored at the beginning of the set of downs.
Buffalo is a bit banged up exiting this most recent loss but should return some key personnel for week eight against Washington. With Demetrius Bell, Chris Kelsay, Shawne Merriman and Kyle Williams all hoping for a return, the defense should see a bit more consistency while Fitzpatrick will have his blind side protector back.
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