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Four games in the books and the Bills are 2-2 and “if the season ended today” they’d be in a shout for the 6th spot in the AFC. Not bad if you ask me, but things haven’t been perfect. Given the way the season goes, I figured looking back at this first quarter and giving out a few awards (and some thoughts) would be a good way to reset prior to the Titans game this week.
As always, thoughts, comments, rage, tomatoes thrown are always appreciated.
Coaching: For these awards, I’m focusing on the four games played and not for instance how I feel about the staff overall.
- Most Valuable Coach: Donnie Henderson, Defensive Backs – Watching Ron Darby play corner in the pre-season, I was worried that he was going to ‘Reggie Corner’ his way through his rookie season while QB’s tee’d off on him every week. Four weeks into the regular season Darby, Gilmore and Robey are holding it down and I tip my cap to Coach Henderson. Starting with his rehabilitation of the careers of Leodis McKelvin and Aaron Williams and now with the development in such a short time with Darby, the Bills defensive backs are not only holding their own, but because of the quickness of the routes faced making it difficult for quarterbacks to thrive. While the quickness of the routes leaves the defensive line at times out of the play, the smaller route tree is allowing Darby to get a masterclass in re-routing receivers and route recognition at the NFL level. I was ready to give the nod to Coach Roman, but Darby’s ascent has (for now) been amazing.
- Least Valuable Coach: Danny Crossman, Special Teams – Between the penalties nearly every special teams play, the musical chair game being started at kicker, as well as the erosion of return teams we got a lot to talk about. A year ago Crossman was my coaching MVP at this time, because the special teams were playing that well. At this point however there is so many things outside of the punt game that are misfiring Crossman has to get the ship straight. Having a team designed the way the Bills have been, complimentary football is essential for all three phases and right now (outside of punting) that is not the case. C’mon Coach!
Players:
- Most Valuable Player: Tyrod Taylor, QB – Honorable mentions have to go to TE Charles Clay and WR Percy Harvin, but Tyrod is the story of the first quarter. From his first half snap which gave media QB1 Matt Cassel his undefeated record as Bills “starting” QB to the disappointing loss to the Giants, Tyrod has not had a game that leaves me saying, “I don’t think this guy can play the position”. Have there been misreads or misfires? Sure, but any quarterback can have those. What impresses me about Taylor is the fact that he’s truly evolving game to game to game. Mistakes he made vs. the Pats were corrected after the next game – which is great to see out of the first year starter with four years in the league. With 12 games remaining Tyrod has an opportunity to not only take the Bills to the playoffs, but prove right the faith Ozzie Newsome put into drafting him as a QB. Doug Whaley/Rex Ryan should definitely have a thank you card and a bottle of wine ready, because barring some catastrophic regression, I think Taylor’s the real deal.
- Least Valuable Player: Cyrus Kouandjio, T – Up until I got a head of steam typing this, I had penciled in my head that it would be Bacarri Rambo in this spot. With his friendly fire vs Darby I figured that’d be a shoo in. Then I began to think about how Rambo was keeping the fort held down until Aaron Williams was healthy AND that Rambo is only thing keeping Duke Williams off field I had to rethink things. And then I realized there was only one man that could get this spot – Cyrus Kouandjio. I was a big fan of his coming into the draft process and have rooted for him since then to make the next step. However, when I saw him in spot duty for Cordy Glenn (and later Henderson) I realized until he can make a step forward he cannot be trusted to be a starter on the team. In his first three plays vs. the Giants he had two false starts. I really liked what I saw out of him run game wise, but that’s not worth the risk of setting the team back in protection or with penalties that show a lack of concentration. C’mon CK!
Overall:
- Best Play: The Clay Triple Deke – The Dolphins home opener was fun (for Buffalo at least) and Clay’s touchdown was one of the key moments within it. Everything about the play was great – the fake, the protection and most notably his moves to get in the endzone.
Did you know Charles Clay’s got moves? Because Charley Clay definitely got moves. TOUCHDOWN! #BUFvsMIA http://t.co/cu9ohpWDAy
— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2015
- Worst Play: The Cassel Special – Having Cassel start the game as QB of record was bad enough; then you add in an end around with Tyrod as a wideout and a blown play for loss of yardage and you have yourself a play I never, EVER (thanks Jericho) want to see again.
- Best Game: Week One vs Indy – A great introduction to the Rex Ryan era: a lot of physical play on defense and on offense, a penalty (or three) and pressure out the ying yang. On offense it was great to see the debut of the Roman offense in Buffalo and other than the Cassel play it was great to see the throws Tyrod made, as well as the backbreaking run by Karlos Williams to seal the game. Just an overall great experience.
- Worst Game: Week Two vs Pats – The loss to the Patriots wasn’t the bad thing; it was the way they lost – starting with the dumb penalties and ending with the “almost got ’em” attempt at a comeback in the second half of the game. Learning from this game (and its sequel w/the Giants) will tell the tale of the season.
Looking forward, the next quarter will feature:
- The Tennessee Titans, featuring a rookie that’s making plays and a defense that’s far more legit than media has been giving them credit for;
- A Bengals team that seems to have Andy Dalton firing on all cylinders;
- A Jaguars team in London that needs to be beaten or panic will ensue at the disco;
- And a Dolphins team with an interim coach straight out of Varsity Blues, after a bye week (Rex is 1-6 after the bye);
So that’s where I’m at folks. Am I off on any of these choices? Hit me up @RDotDeuce and we’ll chop it up.
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