The Bills Should Have No Illusions About What They Are

By Ch2 Sports Director Ed Kilgore

Let's start with something positive and go from there;  don't worry, this won't take long.

Jairus Byrd may be just a rookie taken in the second round who missed a good portion of training camp with a sports hernia, but it says here Byrd may find himself in Hawaii as a Pro Bowler.  Heck,  Byrd wasn't even a starter when the season opened.  Yet here he is through the first half of the season with seven interceptions, and fans and players who vote on these things love free safeties who put up numbers, and these are NUMBERS.

It's too bad Byrd can't play offense, because the Bills have gone through a half season with virtually NONE.  Forget the stats, atlhough they'll probably bear this out, but the Bills have the absolute WORST offense in the NFL, and that is saying a lot.  Was Trent Edwards the problem?  The play of backup Ryan Fitzpatrick is making Edwards look good, and Edwards looked anything BUT good before he got dinged for his second concussion at the Jets.

All we hear and read about are how the Bills aren't getting the ball to Terrell Owens and Lee Evans, but I have an even tougher time understanding this;  how they can take maybe their BEST offensive player and practically ignore him.  Fred Jackson had terrific numbers both running and catching the ball until Marshawn Lynch returned from his suspension, and now, it's as if Jackson was never there.

Lynch did have a couple good runs early in the loss to Houston, but all I needed to see was what he did when the game was still up for grabs. Midway through the third quarter the Texans pulled within 10-9 after the defense forced Houston to settle for three after they'd moved over 70 yards to a first and goal situation inside the 10 yard line. 

The momentum of the game was clearly changing, and the Bills needed the offense to at least get some first downs to give the "d" a little rest.  An illegal block in the  back penalty on wr Steve Johnson backed the Bills up to their own 10, when Lynch was caught holding on a Fitzpatrick scramble.  A Fitzpatrick to T.O. pass got the ten yards back to make it third and 3 at the 17, and a perfectly set up screen pass to Lynch, was DROPPED, and the Bills were forced to punt.  The Texans then drove 72 yards to a touchdown to take the lead, and the game was all but over.

I posed that question "why aren't you looking more for Jackson in the passing game?" to Fitzpatrick after the game, and his answer was that Fred was busy on special teams returning kicks.  Busy is right, as Jackson had one kickoff return of 71 yards and AVERAGED 35.6 on five returns.  You can't tell me he's too tired from that not to take advantage of his open field ability and great hands in the passing game.

In short, Jackson should be the starter, with Lynch now spelling him from time to time, not the other way around.

I'm also wondering if Aaron Schobel will ever stay healthy enough for the Bills to get their money's worth out of him as they look to the future, and they'd BETTER be looking to the future.  Schobel was a FORCE in the first half with a sack and a couple third down pressures that forced Matt Schaub to throw incompletions.  After he limped off before the half with a groin injury, the Bills defense simply couldn't get much pressure on Schaub at all.  Combine that with the total lack of offense, and the recipe for defeat was complete.

We're past debating the future of  Dick Jauron as coach of the Buffalo Bills.  Believe it or not, I actually loved the fact Jauron tried the fake punt in the fourth quarter, even though it didn't work.  The Texans were simply ready for it.   There is no question they'll have a new head coach next season, but will Ralph C. Wilson allow COO Russ Brandon to do what REALLY needs to be done as this team heads for a tenth straight season without a playoff berth?

Brandon should be given the green light to bring in an experienced "football man", who would then bring in his own scouting staff and pro personnel people, and obviously, a head coach. 

We can only hope that work is being done very quietly right now as the season continues going nowhere, because the new coach and scouts also have to make sure they get a high first round quarterback pick RIGHT.

Are there really eight games left?