Well, that was to be expected. The Browns vs Bills will never be confused with Pats vs Colts or Kelly vs Kosar. Even still, a win is a win and at least the game was a tad better than last year’s epic 6-3 game. Overall, I thought the Bills adjusted well against the Browns rushing attack, which after the first drive, you’d have thought Peyton Hillis would break Adrian Peterson’s single game record. Instead, the Bills were able to contain Hillis; gaining only 59 yards the rest of the way. Again, it’s a win, but I’d like for the team to at least beat a real team at some point this year. Now, for other thoughts:
-Eric Mangini is an awful coach. He is lucky to have coached in the most overhyped market of NYC, and working under Belichick sure helped his stature. So many stupid play calls were made by the Browns today. For one, how could you hand the ball off to Hillis only 21 times today? Um, you’re going against the worst run defense in the NFL and your QB sucks. They should have ran the ball 40 times today. Then, you decide to not go for it on 4th and 1 from the goal line on the first drive? At that moment, the Bills had absolutely no answer in stopping Hillis. If I’m the Browns, I’d rather have the Bills start the game on their own 1-yard line. Then, the cherry on top happened when Jake Delhomme passed on three straight plays, with the last attempt resulting in a fumble. Again, these coaches just always find a way to outsmart themselves-
-Yes, this wasn’t Ryan Fitzpatrick’s defining moment. However, you have to give him credit for managing the game. He wasn’t great, but when called upon, he made the plays, while Delhomme couldn’t. That’s the biggest difference for me today. Both teams played well on defense and were able to run the ball effectively. However, the Browns had to respect Fitzpatrick’s ability to make plays, while Delhomme couldn’t make a play to save his life. Yes, Fitzpatrick isn’t a franchise player and he needs to work on his accuracy, but he made enough plays today, especially on the run. Plus, the guy is lights on third down –
-I really liked the way the Bills alternated carries with Jackson and Spiller. Spiller only had 33-yards on 8 carries, but he had a couple of nice runs to the outside and when you mix in Fred Jackson’s tough, inside running, you have that thunder and lightning approach. BTW, Jackson was a beast today, as he got better as the game went on; gainning 77 yards in the 2nd half. Also, you have to give a ton of credit to Eric Wood. I don’t have the exact stats in front of me yet, but it seemed like the Bills had a lot of success running up the middle on the Browns. It’s not like the Browns are weak up the middle, with the likes of Shaun Rogers. Now, I love Geoff Hangartner, but if the Bills have the same success on the ground for the next 3 weeks against teams who play well against the run, then we may have a center controversy-
-I’m not sure if the Bills know which defensive alignment they should stick with. At times, when they have both Troup and Williams in together, the team seems to play better against the run. However, when they goto a 3-4 defense, it seems like the combination of Chris Kelsay and Arthur Moats on the edges, can make things happen against the pass. OK, they did go against the worst passer in NFL history today, but you get my point. In all seriousness, you have to give Moats credit. The guy played well against an all-pro left tackle, forcing a sack and a fumble. I don’t like to admit it, but I’m happy that Torbor got hurt so we could see what Moats brings to the table-
-I know Jairus Byrd has been a disappointment this year in regards to getting interceptions, but today, he played his best all-around game on the season. He was physical in supporting the run and put on a text book tackle on the Hillis, which forced a fumble in the first quarter. That was a huge play, as the Bills were trailing 3-0 and the Browns had the ball inside the Bills 30. Overall, the secondary had their most impressive game of the year, holding Delhomme to just 86 yards passing. Again, it’s Delhomme, but when you can hold a QB to less than 100 yards and the opposition to just 9 first downs in the NFL, then you’re doing something right-
-The only thing I can really pick on the Bills for, is that this game shouldn’t have been that close. In a span of 10 yards, the Browns fumbled the ball 3 times and yet, the Bills couldn’t recover the football. They also left some points on the board, when they couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone from the Browns 3-yard line. I just would like it if the Bills could blow out a team for a change or better yet, beat down a team with a winning record. Well, they will have their chance for the next three weeks-
-Just a preview for my next article, but for Lee Evans to be out for the year, it is going to answer a lot of questions about the passing game-
-Someone tell Marcus Stroud to make sure that the Bills recover the football before he runs off the field in celebration. Seriously, does he run to the sidelines and then Gailey looks at him and says, “Um, dude, turn around because you’re going back out there, you dumb ass.”-
-How on earth did the Browns beat the Pats and Saints? Oh, right. Jake Delhomme didn’t start in those games-
–So, what the hell happened to this storm of the century that was suppose to hit WNY for this game? Maybe Don Paul and Kevin O’Connell have been in the Buffalo market a little too long? After today’s game, I’m sure CJ Spiller will keep on saying that he’s use to the cold weather because of playing in South Carolina-
-Stop the presses?! A tight end for the Bills actually leads the team in receiving yards? And it’s Jonathan Stupar? Yes, Stupar had three catches for 45 yards, almost doubling his season yardage total. Stupar’s 45 yards receiving was the highest total for a tight end since Derek Schouman had 62 yards against Tampa Bay last year-
-Overall, I think their are two major developments that we can hang our hat on regarding this game:
1) We can finally stop with the bottoming out to get Andrew Luck talk, because that ship has finally sailed. Unless some idiots come out with the battle cry about losing out to have a top 5 pick in order to select Cam Newton or some other player-
2) This was probably the best outing that the 2010 Bills draft class has had this year. Spiller ran well, averaging over 4 yards a carry, and chipped in with a 33-yard punt return. David Nelson had his 2nd touchdown in as many games and has the most receptions by a Bills rookie since Lee Evans in 2003. Don’t #crossthemoats seems to be the best hashtag on twitter weekly, and today, he deserved the twitter fame with his his sack and forced fumble on Delhomme. I have no clue anymore who is starting on the offensive line, but I can only assume that the line consisted of a bunch of young kids, who helped the Bills rush for almost 200 yards today. I’m not saying the draft class has turned the corner, but at least we can say that Buddy Nix had something to do with today’s victory.
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