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Buffalo Sports
DON’T GET ME STARTED on how angry I am following the Buffalo Bills season ending loss to the Philadelphia Eagles 17-9.
Before I vent my anger, the reported whiffed around Western New York that Marv Levy, General Manager of the Bills will announce his resignation following discussions with team owner Ralph Wilson. That will dominate the headlines but not the anger at the way the Bills finished what turned out to be a woeful season.
I’m angry at Marv Levy for hiring Jauron as head coach of the Bills. Jauron has a horrible won-lost record as a head coach in this league. I’m angry with Jauron for hiring Steve Fairchild as offensive coordinator of the Bills. Offensive is the proper word when describing Fairchild’s game planning and play calling. I’m angry with Fewell for allowing so many big plays this season, especially those losses to Denver and Dallas – not to mention the Browns and the Giants who ate up monstrous yards on the ground.
I’m angry at the front office for bringing in center Melvin Fowler who has allowed rushers to pound right through him as if he weighed only 120. I could list a lot of players I’m angry at for the way they performed BUT……..
I can absolve those players because these coordinators required them to play THEIR system rather than putting in schemes that would suit the talents of the players as Ted Marchibroda did when he was the offensive coordinator of the Bills during the glory days.
Naturally – as I have for most of the season – Steve Fairchild is my favorite whipping boy. This guy is leaving – thank goodness. Fairchild’s game planning and play calling has been a mystery to Bills fans. Take Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. When TV announcers know exactly what the play will be….imagine how the defenses must have laughed when they, too, took advantage of the predictability to stuff the Bills.
After the game, wide receiver Josh Reed took the unveiled shot at Fairchild's play calling, citing the fact that the Bills wouldn't spread the offense. He said that defenses knew this and sat on the routes, saying that an 8-year old could call defensive signals.
Fairchild has the creativity and imagination of a wart in the belly button. Look at the Bills, deep in Eagle territory in the 4th quarter. It’s 4th and a couple of chain links. Does he call a QB sneak that certainly makes it? No – he calls a handoff in the backfield and Marshawn Lynch is stopped short of the first down marker. A sneak keeps the drive alive and maybe a tying touchdown (with a 2-point conversion.) That's only one example of scores of others that caused a lot of head scratching. Where is Jauron to over-ride his calls. Mr. "No-Smile" simply stares.
I’m still angry with Jauron for not letting it all hang out in the final game of the season. He had the ball deep, but settled for field goals. Hell, I said – go for it like Belichik does with the Patriots and Phillips with the Cowboys. How many times have you seen the Patriots face a 3rd, and evcb 4th and 5 or 6 between the 35 and 40 yard lines…go for it….and make it. Oh no, now with Fairchild and Jauron. Play it conservative. That’s why so many fans are down on these guys.
Take a look at the season and I hope you’ll agree with me that J.P. Losman and Trent Edwards should not be blamed as much as Fairchild (and Jauron for letting him plan and call the plays.) JP and Trent are victims as are the other offensive players. This was the most predictable, conservative, no excitement offense since the days of Gary Marangi.
Let’s not mince any words. There’s work to be done. When Marv Levy does leave, he (at least) will have has several good draft choices.) Certainly, as coach of the Super Bowl Bills, he had to see what was wrong with the sideliners who kept dealing one blow after another to the team's chances for a playoff berth. Wilson has done his part with spending a ton on the offensive linemen.
Now the work has to be laid out. The person who will become the GM certainly is going to see that the Jauron contingent of coaches (except line coach McNally and special teams coach Bobby April) arent the ones to lead the Bills to glory.
Get a big center that can block guys coming up the middle. Get a defensive lineman and a wide receiver. You can almost predict that Evans will bolt when next season is over. But most of all........
Get an offensive coordinator that will create, with imagination, an offense that will suit the talents of Trent Edwards or J.P. Losman (if he’s still here next season.) Let’s not have any talk of Schonert or Van Pelt. What you’ll be getting with either of them is what you’ve seen in the past two years with Fairchild - a status quo that isn't acceptable.
I’ve already mentioned June Jones of Hawaii. If he won’t take a coordinator’s position…..give him the head coaching job and watch the points come up on the scoreboard with his imaginative offense. If he declines, then make the pitch for Mike Martz who did wonders with the Rams. His offense really moved the ball and put up points.
As for the defense. Make the bold move. Look what’s happened to the Bills once-proud defense. They're looking up from their down at the bottom perch. Let’s get it done. Let’s get somebody that will knock opponents silly next year. How about Jimmy Haslett as defensive coordinator on the team where he made his mark. Haslett has been a defensive coordinator and a head coach.
This coaching staff is as responsible as anyone for the dismal 7-9 showing this season and all the praise that Jauron has been heaping on players during horrible losses has to end. Maybe he’s too friendly with his players. He should have called out Lee Evans who, through his comments, helped create a quarterback controversy. That Edwards struggled in the final 3 games….I wonder if Evans is happy after campaigning so hard for Losman. How aggressively will he be in the off-season or when training camp comes around.
It has not been a good season. They could have been average at 8-8 but the coaches on the sidelines didn’t do their jobs and this 7-9 season is worse than last year's.
As for the final game of the season, it wasn’t a happy one for the Bills. Jauron’s no-guts approach in favor of field goals certainly was a vote of no-confidence in his offense. Rather than giving his might his team a shot of confidence by taking chances, he denied them from going for it and instead continued the predictable and conservative play.
Edwards was 15 of 29 for only 126 yards while his counterpart Donovan McNabb finished with 29 of 41 for 345 yards with one TD and an interception.
There was the bright spot for the Bills – Marshawn Lynch carried 22 times for 105 yards to end a great rookie season. There’s no need to go over the many plays that doomed Buffalo on both sides of the ball.
The Bills defense went south in the last three games when a playoff berth could have been gained. If they didn’t give it up on the ground – they gave it up in the air.
HEY – with the loss to the Eagles there’s another bright spot. The Bills will be picking ahead of Philadelphia in next April’s draft and if other 7-8 teams win their games….then they’ll move up some more. Is that a consolation? Will that make you happy? Or will you become ecstatic knowing that Levy and Wilson will see what fans have seen during this past season and make the moves that will bring respectability to this proud Franchise and City on Don’t Get Me Started.
© Copyright 2008 by Speakupwny.com
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