Afc east reports regular season

JETS

The Jets' bank account is overdrawn.

Just days after Ravens loquacious linebacker Ray Lewis chirped that Rex Ryan and the Jets might have written a check they can't cash with all of their bold Super Bowl talk, the Ravens ruined the Jets' anticipated season opener by defeating them 10-9 last night at their shiny new stadium.

The loss left the usually-talkative Ryan visibly humbled as he stumbled through his postgame press conference. Ryan had a difficult time doing anything other than meekly crediting the Ravens.

For the Ravens, the win empowered them to giddily tear into their former defensive leader as they crowed in their ebullient locker room after the game.

"Rex put a bull's-eye on them," Ravens running back and former Rutgers star Ray Rice chirped. "Like Ray Lewis said, he put more pressure on them than he did on us. You've got to write a check you can cash, and starting 0-1 isn't going to get you a Super Bowl."

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs said, "I love [Ryan] to death, but we came here and got one tonight. The more physical, the more disciplined and the more prepared team won."

No truer words were spoken in either locker room after the game.

As much as the Ravens beat the Jets, the Jets really beat themselves thanks to 14 debilitating penalties for 125 yards, embarrassingly inept offense (six first downs) and one bone-headed play after another.

"That's not who we are. That's not how we play," an exasperated Ryan said. "That was a joke."

That joke, of course, was on the Jets, who've been talking the talk all summer and when the lights came on last night they tripped over their own feet when they tried to walk the walk.

Consider this snapshot that typified this maddening night: The Jets had 10 penalties for 100 yards in the first half, and that was 16 more yards than they produced in total offense.

Another snapshot: The Jets' offense was an embarrassing 1-of-11 on third down conversions while the Ravens (11-of-19) converted them almost at will on the Jets' defense, which otherwise looked dominant on every other down.

The Jets' special teams put on an epic performance and gave the offense the kind of choice field position that should have led to three or four TDs.

It was *** that *** kind of night for the 0-1 Jets.

The 1-0 Patriots, who play the Jets on Sunday at the new stadium, must have been snickering in front of their TV sets.

The Jets' defense forced three turnovers in the first half yet trailed 7-6 thanks to the staggering number of killer penalties and inept offense.

"There's no excuse to be 1-of-11 on third downs," Sanchez said. "We need to go back and take a look at ourselves. Things need to be addressed."

The series of events that best captured the pathetic plight of the Jets in the first half came on the Ravens' go-ahead drive, which produced the one touchdown of the game.

Jets running back Shonn Greene fumbled the ball away moments after an interception and 66-yard return by Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie -- one of several electric moments in the game for the Jets that were wasted in defeat.

A Braylon Edwards running-into-the-kicker penalty on a 44-yard field goal attempt took the field goal off the board and gave the Ravens a first down. That, along with a pass interference penalty on rookie corner Kyle Wilson moments later on third down, led to a Willis McGahee one-yard TD run and the 7-6 lead with six seconds remaining in the half.

Early in the game, the Jets' defense looked as if it was going to dismantle the Ravens. On the Ravens' first offensive play from scrimmage, Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis and linebacker Bryan Thomas crushed quarterback Joe Flacco in a sandwich sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by Sione Pouha at the Baltimore 11.

The Jets managed just a 23-yard Nick Folk field goal out of it for a 3-0 lead.

When the Jets got close again, they were faced with a fourth-and-one from the Baltimore 10 and Ryan looked afraid to back his offense, opting for a 28-yard Folk field goal and a 6-0 lead with 8:16 remaining in the half.

The Ravens took a 10-6 lead on a 25-yard Billy Cundiff field goal in the third quarter.

A 48-yard Folk field goal with 10:29 remaining in the game cut the Baltimore lead to 10-9, but that's as close as the Jets would get.

The end for the Jets was maddeningly fitting: On fourth-and-10, Sanchez connected with Dustin Keller, who stepped out of bounds just inside the first-down marker to mercifully end the last desperate drive with 36 seconds remaining.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets...r_season_m6daJmK30lvTC00DPnj3wN#ixzz0za7yxjyL

Back in the lazy, crazy, hazy days of training camp, back when they still were undefeated and unexposed, this was the comedy the Jets tried to sell you:

We can win without Darrelle Revis.

Rex Ryan said it. So did Mike Tannenbaum and Woody Johnson. The players, weeks away from having to prove it, went along with it. None of them actually believed it, of course, but that was the company line: We acquired Antonio Cromartie and his sticky interception fingers. We drafted Kyle Wilson, and we think he looks an awful lot like a young Revis.

How's that all looking now, Rex?

"Tonight," the coach said, "was a joke."

He wasn't smiling, of course, and that sound you heard out of 78,127 people as they filed out of New Meadowlands Stadium last night was neither laughter nor glee. That was a genuine grumble, one week into this season of seasons, as they tried to absorb an ugly-as-it-gets 10-9 loss to the Ravens. That was genuine anger. That was genuine angst.

"We're better than that," Cromartie said. "I know I am. I have to be."

You kept hearing Cromartie's name last night, and Wilson's, which is going to be a problem for the Jets if there's more nights like this ahead. You know one of the reasons Revis is so special? Because you almost never hear his name, because teams are too terrified to throw his way. Baltimore's Joe Flacco tried that a couple of times, realized it was useless.

Then he turned his attention to Cromartie. And to Wilson. And it was like a kid taking his first taste of chocolate. You can only imagine how wide the grin was at Tom Brady's house -- and not only because Giselle might have been rubbing his feet while he was watching the fiasco he'll be facing in five days.

"They kept throwing it up there," Ryan said, shaking his head, "and they kept either coming down with the ball in their hands or a flag on the ground."

The pity is that the Jets' defense was brilliant all night, even with Kris Jenkins limping off the field for a second straight year with what looks to be an ominous knee injury. The Ravens averaged exactly 1.4 yards every time they ran the ball. The Jets forced three turnovers. The defense -- 9/11ths of it anyway -- was as special as it says it is.

But Cromartie and Wilson sabotaged the rest. Flacco picked on them mercilessly, consistently finding Derrick Mason and Anquan Boldin, and when he couldn't the two Jets helped him out further. Between them, Cromartie and Wilson were whistled for four soul-crushing defensive holding penalties and a pair of defensive pass interference flags.

"Frustrating" was the word Wilson used.

"Inexcusable" was Ryan's choice.

It was all of that. Look, there were plenty of culprits for this calamity. Braylon Edwards was invisible except for two ruinous penalties that cost the Jets at least eight points. Mark Sanchez looked lost and scared, throwing for 74 yards and absorbing a pair of sacks, and he wasn't helped at all by a Brian Schottenheimer game plan so conservative it could've been co-authored by Glenn Beck.

The wonder isn't that the Jets lost, really, as much it was how close they came to actually winning. Maybe that's the lone beacon of hope they can bring into a suddenly critical grudge match with the Patriots next week.

"It's only one game," Revis said. "It's a disappointing game, but it doesn't mean we can't be the team we believe we can still be."

It was one game, but it bore elements of things we are sure to see across each of the next 15. Chatty opponents, absolutely savoring their opportunities to hit the Jets in their big mouths. Defenses eager to see if Sanchez can show himself to be anything beyond adequate. And quarterbacks who, after last night, will never again even ponder Revis' side of the field as long as the rest of the Jets' secondary looks this porous.

One game, yes. But a season can get away from you in a hurry if you aren't careful.

"I know we can get better," Ryan said. "And I know that we have to get better."

Preferably immediately. If not sooner.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets..._concern_kVh7a1xlbOPrfB4eEwId3O#ixzz0za89uDxP

No offense, that is no Super Bowl team.

No offense, that is no Super Bowl quarterback.

Mark Sanchez (10-for-21, 74 yards) had one last chance to change those opening perceptions with the game on the line and couldn’t deliver last night.

His moment of truth came with 1:37 left, from his 12, down by one. March his team into position for the winning field goal, the way the big boys do it, and send Jets Nation home delirious.

PHOTOS: JETS VS RAVENS ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Sanchez-to-LaDainian Tomlinson for 9 yards on first-and-15. Second-and-6 now. Sanchez avoids a sack by getting rid of the ball as he is falling. Sanchez to Braylon Edwards for 9 yards. Last timeout, 57 seconds left.

Incomplete in the right flat for LT, a bad throw that should have been an easy first down. Sanchez over the middle falls incomplete when Dustin Keller is leveled by Ray Lewis. Incomplete to Jerricho Cotchery and nearly intercepted off his hands. The final indignity: complete by the right sideline to Keller, who heads out of bounds thinking he had the first down but was a foot shy.

Ravens 10, Jets 9, on a night when Ray Lewis & Co. stuffed a purple and gold sock in Jets mouths. On a night when Sanchez and his offense could be called The Mark of Zero.

“Quite honestly, he’s not the only guy that needs to improve,” Rex Ryan said.

He’s only the most important guy that needs to improve.

Eleven times Sanchez attempted to convert a third down, and 10 times he failed. Maybe Ground & Pound can be retrieved at the Lost & Found before Bill Belichick comes to town.

“We really took our turns making mistakes and there’s no excuse for that,” Sanchez said. “This is the ultimate team sport — we all have to [do] it right on every play for it to work.”

The Jets had stayed in the game, even after nose tackle Kris Jenkins hobbled off after injuring his left knee in the first quarter, because they still have enough defense to keep them in every game. They stayed in the game even as they were undisciplined enough to be flagged 10 times for 100 yards in the first half alone, on the way to 14 total flags. They stayed in the game even as Antonio Cromartie seemed to be holding Ravens receivers with one hand and a cheeseburger in the other.

But it was a game only because it seemed as if Sanchez and his offense, rather than Revis, had held out for 36 days.

Sanchez inspired so little trust from Ryan and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer that they ran Tomlinson on third-and-2 midway through the third quarter at the end of a three-and-out. BOOOOO.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/offense_awful_under_sanchez_iW46Ujnltm1OdCcTEWkklL#ixzz0za8MMJfD

 

PATRIOTS

The Patriots [team stats]’ season-opening 38-24 thumping of defending AFC North champion Cincinnati revealed all their strengths as well as their potential Achilles’ heel - a young secondary that struggled in the second half once the pressure on Carson Palmer disappeared as many feared it might.

But by that time their three units had combined to blast the Bengals out of the game, taking a 31-3 third-quarter lead by scoring on offense, defense and special teams. As a group, they were more balanced than Chinese acrobats.

The one cautionary note is that from that point on the Bengals scored three straight touchdowns on drives of 12, 12 and 14 plays. The defense’s inability to get off the field at that point was alarming and brought back sad memories of a year ago, although perhaps they were tired or had mentally checked out. Neither is good, but both are fixable because this is a unit with upgraded speed, and in the NFL speed makes up for a lot of venial sins. If the Bengals hit upon something at halftime for which the defense has no answer, however, then there is more to take away from what happened Sunday than gleeful assurances that the Patriots’ dynasty will last longer than the Ming Dynasty.

QUARTERBACK: A-

Tom Brady looked like it was 2007 all over again. From his first 5-yard completion to Wes Welker on the Patriots’ opening offensive play to the final, nearly eight-minute scoring drive that saved the day, he was in command of the moment, the Bengals’ defense, his new toys like tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, and his more familiar ones like Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Brady was precisely accurate throwing and the few times he was pressured moved fluidly in the pocket to buy time and avoid problems, which was not always the case last year. He ended up spreading the ball around as smoothly as if it was made of oleo, creating pass plays of 20 or more yards for four different targets. He did underthrow Moss in the second quarter on a long bomb that could have been a touchdown and still needs a haircut, but other than that there was little to quarrel with.

RUNNING BACK: B+

This was a solid day for an aging outfit. Laurence Maroney [stats] was on the inactive list due to injury, which puts him ahead of his usual schedule, but Fred Taylor [stats] showed why he was once the most dominating backs ever to rush for over 1,000 yards seven times and NOT be elected to the Pro Bowl (he made it once as an injury replacement). Taylor rushed for 71 yards, averaged 5.1 a carry, gashed the Bengals for a 24-yard gain with a stutter step that allowed his blockers time to get in position and eluded Dhani Jones with a nifty move after Jones plugged a hole at the line on one play that was embarrassing to the Bengals’ linebacker. He also made a beautiful blitz pick-up on safety Roy Williams on a 45-yard completion to Hernandez. If he stays healthy, which he won’t, he’s still dangerous. Kevin Faulk [stats] was reliable as always, making a toes-on-the-sideline catch for a 21-yard gain on third-and-11 when he saw Brady scrambling. The moment Jones came off Faulk to chase Brady, the veteran running back found open space deeper and then made a great catch, the perfect combination of ability and a nimble mind. Sammy Morris’ biggest contribution came from a solid block on Brandon Tate’s 97-yard kick return but it was an important one.

WIDE RECEIVER: A

This was a homecoming for Wes Welker because of his rapid return from last year’s devastating knee injury and he did not disappoint. Although he does not yet have his old level of escapability, he scored twice and led the team with eight catches. But it was Randy Moss who had the best day and not because of his postgame seminar on the Business of Football. Moss’ value was most apparent not from his five catches or even the potential touchdown that was lost when Tom Brady [stats] underthrew him on a bomb, which Chris Crocker broke up only because Moss had to slow up to wait for the ball. His value came in the way his presence affected others. Aaron Hernandez was wide open on his long catch because the safety sprinted down the middle of the field to help double-team Moss, leaving the rookie utterly uncovered. Brandon Tate’s 20-yard catch came on a crossing route in which he ran underneath Moss. Moss took THREE Bengal defenders off with him to the left, leaving Tate completely uncovered running right. And on Moss’ own 32-yard catch, he deftly used his free hand to push past the Bengals’ best corner, Johnathan Joseph, to turn a short catch into a long gain. That’s the effect he has on a defenseand an offense.

TIGHT END: B

This is a solid grade for the two rookies, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, and for Alge Crumpler, who is a road-grader in the running game. The rookies both made their presence felt, Gronkowski with his first NFL touchdown when he beat poor Dhani Jones off the line and out to the flag and the latter with a Randy Moss-aided 45-yard reception in which he showed impressive ability to run after the catch with a snaking route from one side of the field halfway to the other. There hasn’t been this kind of production from the tight end position since Ben Coates left.

OFFENSIVE LINE: A

Helmets off to these guys. This group pounded down the Bengals’ front, opening big holes for Fred Taylor to navigate through and keeping Tom Brady clean. In 35 pass attempts, Brady was HIT only twice and never really was close to being sacked. When the Bengals did blitz, the line picked it up flawlessly. When they wanted to pound Cincinnati with the running game, which they did in the first half, they succeeded. The backs ran for 118 yards and a 5.1 yard average mostly because of the push up front. Dan Connolly, who replaced MIA Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins [stats] went unnoticed, which is a good thing.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A-

Early in the game this rebuilt group with only one holder from the Super Bowl years, was able to pressure Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer. Vince Wilfork [stats] was around him often and tipped one pass that was nearly intercepted. He was also immovable in the run game, which is supposed to be the Bengals’ strength. Mike Wright was most often in the backfield though, putting the initial hit on Cedric Benson before Rob Ninkovich caused the fumble. Wright harassed Palmer several times and held up on the edge surprisingly well. His counterpart, Gerard Warren, was a bit more suspect but overall when the game was on the line they did the two most important things. They took away Cincinnati’s strength - the running game - and caused Palmer significant unease in the first half. But they faded in the second half, growing weary after the Bengals switched to a no-huddle offense. And how could Wright line up at defensive end with his hand AND helmet in the neutral zone on the 1-yard line? What is he, near sighted?

LINEBACKERS: B

Gary Guyton made the kind of game-changing play Tedy Bruschi [stats] used to produce, perfectly reading a route by tight end Jermaine Gresham and jumping in front of him as Carson Palmer was throwing. He had textbook technique, riding Gresham’s inside hip so there was no way the pass could be completed and then picked it off and went 59 yards for a touchdown, a notable achievement for a unit that did not intercept a single pass last season. Guyton split time with rookie Brandon Spikes and was the better of the two. Spikes made a few hits but often looked puzzled, which is often the fate of a rookie inside ’backer in Bill Belichick’s scheme. Jerod Mayo had a dozen tackles but failed to recover a fumble at his feet or pick off a catchable pass, so it remains to be seen if he’s just a tackling machine or a playmaker. Tully Banta-Cain [stats] had half a sack and hit Palmer twice so he was around the quarterback as he must be for this rush to be successful. Rob Ninkovich flattened Cedric Benson after Mike Wright’s initial hit slowed him, jarring the ball loose and then reacting quickly to jump up and recover it at the Bengals 28. Those are game-changing plays and two came from this unit.

SECONDARY: B

Early in the game, rookie Devin McCourty and second-year corner Darius Butler stayed tightly with Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens, showing speed and aggression as well as solid technique when the ball was in the air. But later in the game, Butler got worse whiplash than Tom Brady suffered in his car accident from Ochocinco and was left flatfooted when the Bengals receiver gave him a shake move on one play. He also learned it is not only defensive backs who can use their hands when the ball is in the air, having his own slapped away on one route so the Bengals’ receiver could make the grab. Safety Patrick Chung was hitting everything that moved, leading the club with 16 tackles. That many for a safety isn’t always good but it was a vast improvement from a year ago. So was the play of James Sanders [stats] when he got on the field. If the two of them are out there together that’s a lot of size and two lethal weapons. Jonathan Wilhite, who was so often torched a year ago, showed that his position is, as suspected, slot corner. When he was in there he held up well. But before you get too excited this group also was picked apart on three straight scoring drives in the second half to turn a 31-3 blowout into more of a nip-and-tuck affair than it should have been.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B+

When you have a 97-yard kick return for a touchdown and average 27 yards per return on the other three, it’s clear Brandon Tate is a weapon. Teams will have to deal with his speed although to be fair he didn’t have to elude anyone on the TD but the kicker, because he got four big blocks from Sammy Morris, Rob Gronkowski, Dan Connolly and Jarrad Page that opened a boulevard for him. Stephen Gostkowski was only 1-of-3 but was asked to deliver kicks of 47 and 56 yards, which was a bit unfair. Rookie punter Zoltan Mesko’s only chance went 43 yards with no return so you can’t get better than that. Overall, coverage was good, returns were better and Gostkowski gets a pass - this week.

COACHING: B+

Bill Belichick was one step ahead of Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and his defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, all afternoon. Until midway through the third quarter, same was true of their offensive coordinator, Bob Bratkowski. But when the Bengals finally got going offensively, Belichick had no answers. With a 31-3 lead it didn’t matter but it was a bit worrisome that once Cincinnati had enough looks at the Patriots’ defense it scored every time it got the ball except the final time, when it didn’t try.

HEAD OF THE CLASS
1. WES WELKER -- All his hard work in the offseason should be an example to every injured player -- you get what you work for and what he got was a return to form with eight catches nine months after blowing out his knee.

2. GARY GUYTON -- Looked like a faster Tedy Bruschi the way he undercut a route intended for tight end Jermaine Gresham and picked the ball off and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown.

3. YOUNG SECONDARY -- Shaky group last season passed its first test from Ochocinco and Ocho-nitwit.

BACK OF THE BACK
1. BOB KRAFT -- Demanding a public apology from Logan Mankins after getting a private one instead of signing him is putting yourself above the team, dude. How about we practice what we preach?

2. JONATHAN KRAFT -- If business is business, and with the Patriots it always is, stop giving Randy Moss the business and give him what he’s earned -- enough respect to at least talk to the guy about his future.

3. MIKE WRIGHT -- Small thing but how do you line up in the neutral zone at the 1-yard line?

http://bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view/20100914patriots_report_card/

FOXBORO - It was midway through the second quarter, and the Patriots [team stats] led by 24 points. They had successfully executed their offensive game plan, using diverse formations and a mix of run and pass, to keep the Bengals on their heels. It was working.

What about Cincinnati?

All Bengals coach Marvin Lewis’ team could do was trash its game plan and start again. The running game was nowhere. The Bengals trailed by several scores. They needed to pass.

It was at that point, with 8:58 to go in the second quarter, that the Bengals went no-huddle. It was at that point that the Patriots owned them.

“You see what they did?” Pats nose tackle Vince Wilfork [stats] asked. “They went to a no-huddle and put different personnel on the field. . . . They’d sneak a run in here and there, and you have to live with those. But you make ’em one-dimensional.”

If you’re looking for reasons why the Patriots took a commanding early lead in a convincing 38-24 opening win at Gillette Stadium, look no further than the run defense. Look no further than Cedric Benson being held to 6 yards on his first six carries to prevent the Cincinnati offense from having any rhythm and allow the Patriots to build a lead.

The Bengals did play competitively after the first quarter and a half, even throwing on the Patriots pass defense (345 yards) and moving the ball. But the inability to run early or march down the field made it too little, too late.

“We had a couple good third-down stops early in the game, and our offense converted those,” Pats coach Bill Belichick said. “So all those things came together and made it 24-0 or whatever. We were able to play from ahead in the second half, which is a nice position to be in.”

The Patriots defense is young. It is inexperienced. And it had question marks all over the field.

Could they cover Bengals receivers Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens? Could they prevent tight end Jermaine Gresham from exploiting them? Could they stop the run with a depleted defensive line?

By playing tough on Benson’s first six carries, the defense changed the game and answered a big one. When Rob Ninkovich forced and recovered Benson’s fumble, the early domination was complete.

It was clear the Bengals had wanted to pound it early. Using a power formation, mostly the off-set I-formation, Benson ran for 6 yards on his first carry thanks in part to a lead blocker. Yet, on second-and-4, an advantageous running down, Tully Banta-Cain [stats] set the edge and took Benson down, creating the stage for a third-down sack.

Just as important, on second-and-1 from the Cincinnati 29 later in the first quarter, Benson was stuffed for a 1-yard loss when defensive lineman Mike Wright blew up tackle Andrew Whitworth and drilled the running back.

Banta-Cain added another stop for negative yards by busting through a double team, while Ninkovich contributed his forced and recovered fumble thanks to Wright’s refusal to be blocked.

Suddenly, with no offensive rhythm, the Bengals were down and out. Goodbye balanced look. Running back Bernard Scott did gain 35 yards on six carries, but it was mostly during passing situations.

“They made the adjustments they thought would be successful, which they were,” Wilfork said. “They got some plays in. I think they tried, went to the no-huddle, they gave us a few problems. But we came out, did what we wanted to do.”

The second half didn’t go as the Patriots [team stats] wanted, with Carson Palmer and his receivers scoring 21 points.

“They did a good job on a couple of those drives in the second half,” Belichick said.

But because of the tone the ‘D’ set early, it didn’t matter.

http://bostonherald.com/sports/foot...8&format=&page=2&listingType=pats#articleFull



1. Patriots Secondary vs Bengals Receivers. Well, hooray! Devin McCourty showed why he was a first round pick and shut down his side of the field for most of the day. Darius Butler did well on his side of the field and showed his strong tackling skills. Hell, even Jonathan Wilhite contributed well in the slot. Pat Chung knocked some players on their behind and the overall play of the other safeties was solid. Overall, a thumbs up for this absurdly young secondary. Palmer definitely picked up plenty of garbage time yards (51 at the end of the first half), and the prevent defense that was utilized at the beginning of the second half (!!??) padded the stats of the Bengals.

2. Patriots Defensive 7 vs Bengals Running Game. Oh boy. The defensive front seven held Cedric Benson to a 2.9 yards/carry and definitely held up their end of the bargain. However, the main worry was how the Bengals would attack and succeed against the Patriots RDE position- and the Bengals definitely attacked that side of the defense. All of Benson's big gains were to that side, which means the Patriots need to improve the RDE position against the run. Mike Wright does a fantastic job against the pass, but he's a one gap defensive end and isn't much help against the run.

3. Patriots Linebackers vs Bengals Offensive Line. Jerod Mayo showed how well he plays when he's next to a legitimate starter and had a stellar performance. Brandon Spikes had a great "welcome to the NFL" game, but his role seemed pretty vanilla in the defense. Gary Guyton did stellar coming off the bench and made a big play to help win the game. However, one running play at Guyton for 7 yards, after Guyton engaged contact 2 yards after the line of scrimmage, showed why he's not big enough to be an every down ILB. Most plays for the ILBs seemed to be in the middle of the field, which means that they never really engaged with the Bengals' offensive line.

The outside linebackers, however, had a great day. For all the grief I gave about Tully Banta-Cain, I'm starting to like him more and more. He was great at stopping the run and was a nuisance for Carson Palmer all day. Rob Ninkovich showed that he has some untapped potential and should have a career season.

Final Things to Review After the Jump!

Star-divide

4. Patriots Receivers vs Bengals Secondary. Five Patriots receivers had plays for over ten yards. The Patriots definitely had waaaay too many weapons for the Bengals to cover- and no team has anyone who can cover a big tight end like Rob Gronkowski. Wes Welker was a superhero and Randy Moss showed his versatility by catching the ball all over the field. The Bengals secondary is the second best backfield the Patriots will play all season- and the Patriots passed the exam with flying colors.

5. Patriots Running Backs vs Themselves. Kevin Faulk scared everyone with two big drops early on in the game to stall drives- but he redeemed himself as the game progressed. Fred Taylor had one of his best games in a Patriots uniform. The Patriots used the running backs early, but they focused on the same scheme they used in preseason- they used one running back to feature all game. Taylor got into a groove and did well enough to keep the defense honest.

6. 2010 Bill O'Brien vs 2009 Bill O'Brien. The Patriots play calling in the first half was tremendous and they only had two real drives in the second half- one that was stalled by a Dan Koppen holding penalty and one that resulted in a touchdown. He has definitely improved as a play caller with a more diverse playbook and more explosive weapons. Hopefully, O'Brien can continue his great play calling for the duration of the season.

7. Patriots Offensive Line vs ?????.

Will the Patriots miss Logan Mankins? I couldn't tell any difference.

Can Matt Light revert to his pre-2009 form? As of now, YES.

Can Sebastian Vollmer have another fantastic year? Looks like he's ready for one.

Can Dan Koppen stop the defense up the middle? He's mediocre at best. Called for that holding penalty and was facing the weak Bengals defensive tackles. I don't think he can hold against better competition.

Can Stephen Neal stay healthy? Nope. He hobbled off the field and was replaced by Ryan Wendell for a part of the game.

Can Dan Connolly fill Mankins' vacated shoes? From what I saw, he did a fantastic job. High five for Dante Scarneccia and his incredible coaching skill.



Extra Credit:

I'm still not a fan of using the prevent defense with so much of the game remaining. It allows the opposition to get into a rhythm and back into the game- and with two quarters to get into a groove, with that type of talent? Not a good call.

Looking at the new players from the past two years thrust into a starting role: Aaron Hernandez. Rob Gronkowski. Pat Chung. Devin McCourty. Darius Butler. Brandon Spikes. Gerard Warren. Fred Taylor. Dan Connolly. Sebastian Vollmer. Brandon Tate. Rob Ninkovich. Tully Banta-Cain. Myron Pryor. What do all of these players have in common? They were all added in the past two seasons and all had tremendous games.

Speaking of these players, how great do the past two drafts look? Chung, Ron Brace, Butler, Vollmer, Tate, Pryor, Jake Ingram, McCourty, Gronkowski, Jermaine Cunningham, Spikes, Hernandez, Zoltan Mesko. I'm excited about this team's future.

Special Teams? Holy cow. Great on kickoff coverage, great on returns. This unit looks fantastic.

Overall, a great first game. Here's to a great season!

http://www.patspulpit.com/2010/9/12/1684706/patriots-vs-bengals-7-things

The Patriots "managed" to pull out a win against the Cincinnati Bengals. Who looked good and who has plenty of room to improve?

Three Duds

1. Laurence Maroney - Maroney lost the most this game, with the great success of Fred Taylor. Maroney's in a contract year and a great game would do wonders for him- but he can't get on the field. The sooner Maroney returns, the better for him. The longer? Well, it doesn't appear if the Patriots are going to miss him.

2. Dan Koppen - The Bengals have one of the worst defensive tackles pairs in the league and Koppen was mediocre. He should have had a great day, but he didn't. He stopped the Patriots first drive of the second half with a holding penalty. He didn't have a bad day (no one really did on the Patriots), but if I had to single out the low point of the offensive line, it would have been Koppen.

3. James Sanders - Sanders was great on special teams, but for a player being paid like a starter, he should be playing like a starter. On defense, Sanders was a step behind, has tried out "arm-tackling" (a big no-no) and was responsible for a rag-doll act on Bengals' tight end Jermaine Gresham's touchdown. For a player whose biggest redeeming quality was his quiet, mistake-free play, he's making noise for the wrong reasons.

Mentions:

Mike Wright - Wright was abused by Cedric Benson on running plays, but played well against the pass.

Matt Patricia/2nd Half Defensive Play Calling - Fantastic play calling first half, but the prevent defense in the second half is going to lose the Patriots some games down the road.

Studs after the jump.

Star-divide

Seven Studs

1. Wes Welker - He's baaaaaack. What can be said? Showed his fantastic stuff, despite play calling that kept him free from heavy collisions across the middle of the field. Look for him to get an even BIGGER role as the season progresses. He's just getting started.

2. Pat Chung - Chung was tapped on the shoulder to be a starter- and he made some noise. He was always around the ball, always made the sound tackle and was a monster. He's going to be an integral part of this defense, and if he continue to play at this high level, our defense is going to be scary.

3. Jerod Mayo - Playing next to Gary Guyton in 2009, Mayo had a quiet year. Next to Brandon Spikes, Mayo is primed for another great year and is off on the right foot.

4. Brandon Tate - Returning from an injury, Tate showed the impact he can have on this team. 220 Total Yards makes him the yardage winner in this game. If he can continue to be a strong #3 receiver and an elite returnman, the Patriots should have great field position and be able to move the chains all season.

5. Tom Brady - Ho-hum day at first glance, 3 touchdown, 258 yards day on second glance. Brady was unable to connect with Moss on the deep passes, but excelled at the mid-range (15ish) passes. I'd rather see Brady throw for those 15 yarders to set up the run/short passes, but I wouldn't argue if Brady completed those bombs.

6. Devin McCourty - Welcome to the NFL Mr. First Round Pick. McCourty played like a first round pick and proved his worth. I know everyone smiled on the opening play of the game, when he pried the ball away. Look for McCourty to continue to improve as the season develops. Anyone else stoked about our secondary?

7. Fred Taylor - Forgot about him? With Maroney out for the game, Taylor took the ball and ran with it. I'd take his running game any day of the week, especially if he stays so consistent. He was good for 4 yards every time he touched the ball and even managed to break out a big run. That's something the running game has been missing.

Mentions:

Tully Banta-Cain - Started off the game hot, with great pressure and great run-stopping, but I'd like to see him be more consistent for a full game.

Bill O'Brien - Varied his play calling in the first half, but I want to see him coach a couple second half drives to see how he reacts to opposing coaches' adjustments. He had three "drives", one stalled by a Koppen penalty, one for a touchdown, and one at the end of the game where they ran down the clock instead of scoring a touchdown. I want to see him have three real drives.

Vince Wilfork - Big Boy played like a man possessed. He's definitely not slowing down with a new contract. This might be an unreasonable goal, but I still want to see Wilfork play more RDE (Pryor played some NT with Wilfork at RDE this game), in order to make the defensive line stronger.



Misleading statistic of the game: Stephen Gostkowski - 1/3 on field goals. The two Gostkowski missed were 47 and 56 yards. I don't think anyone expected Gostkowski to make the 56 yarder (it had the distance, but not the alignment) and the 47 seemed doomed from the start. It's not like Gostkowski missed a couple gimmes, but hopefully he can rebound next week.

http://www.patspulpit.com/2010/9/13/1684819/patriots-vs-bengals-seven-studs

 

BILLS

Orchard Park, NY (Sports Network) - Buffalo Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny is expected to miss about two weeks after suffering a knee injury early in the third quarter during Sunday's 15-10 season-opening loss to Miami.

"We dodged a bullet there," Bills general manager Buddy Nix told the team's website. "It's not a season-ending injury. He won't need surgery. It'll be about two weeks."

The 25-year-old has had an injury-plagued NFL career since the Bills selected him in the second round of the 2007 draft out of Penn State.

In his rookie campaign, Posluszny shattered his left forearm, costing him all but three games that year. Then in 2009, he missed four games with a broken bone in his arm.

Before leaving Sunday's game, Posluszny had one sack and eight total tackles.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/buffalo-bills/article/114732

n the wake of the Buffalo Bills' anemic offensive performance in Sunday's 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins, I wrote a post imploring Bills head coach Chan Gailey to get back to basics offensively. While addressing the media on Monday afternoon following the loss, Gailey himself made the same observation.

"I've got to get this thing where we can be on the same page and go in the same direction on a consistent basis," Gailey said. "Right now, I felt like we were trying to maybe do too much for this ballgame. I probably had too much in there for them, and we need to get back to basics offensively."

Gailey's not wrong from a schematic standpoint. In the first half alone - as the Dolphins were dominating time of possession and limiting the Bills to just 21 offensive snaps - the Bills employed six different personnel packages, eight different formations, several different types of motion, while using nine different offensive skill players for at least five reps each.

The biggest problem was not the shotgun formation, as I erroneously postulated yesterday. It was simply execution. Trent Edwards missed throws, had throws altered or batted down, got rid of the ball too quickly on occasion, and held it too long on others. The offensive line whiffed on some blocks, missed some assignments, and Cornell Green got beaten by Cameron Wake for a sack. C.J. Spiller was a broken tackle away from a couple of big gainers. Again - that was all just in the first half.

Execution can be fixed. Talent cannot, and there are certainly some talent deficiencies. Gailey must figure out what his players can do well, and figure that out quickly. His task certainly isn't getting any easier with the Green Bay Packers on the docket in Week 2.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/

The Buffalo Bills' rushing defense was a major point of emphasis over the offseason with the additions of Dwan Edwards and Andra Davis in free agency and Torell Troup in the draft. Early returns on the defensive transition from a 4-3 to 3-4 are still inconclusive, but the Bills' rushing defense was effective Sunday despite a 14-minute difference in time of possession.

Last year, the Miami Dolphins rushed for 250 and 157 yards against the Bills. In each game, the leading rusher - Ronnie Brown in October and Ricky Williams in November - gained 115 yards. Each rusher averaged over four yards per carry. As a team, they ran for 5.6 and 4.2 yards per carry in the two games.

Juxtapose that with Sunday. Buffalo's rushing defense held Brown to 65 yards and Williams to 62. The combined 127 yards is twelve over what each back gained individually against the Bills in a single game a season ago. Yes, they gave up over 100 yards on the ground, but as a team, the Dolphins were held to 3.7 yards per rush.

Star-divide

While it may be true that whenever the Dolphins needed a yard or two for a first down they were able to gain the necessary distance, the longest run on the day was 17 yards. The Bills kept the long run in check all day, allowing only two over 10 yards, and ultimately never allowed a backbreaking scamper despite being on the field for nearly two-thirds of the game.

Time of possession should have killed the Bills' defense. They were on the field for a shade under 37 minutes. In the 11 games the Bills have lost the time of possession last year, they allowed an average of 157 yards on the ground, in most cases allowing the opponent to salt away the game in the fourth quarter. The defense didn't allow that to happen yesterday, keeping the offense in the game despite being behind the entire game.

When the Dolphins got the ball with less than two minutes left, the Bills' run defense forced them to go three and out, giving the offense one more chance. That alone should show you the difference between last year's unit and this year's. At least it was a chance.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/14/1686949/bills-run-defense-didnt-break

Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix took some time Monday to speak to fans at the Monday QB Club. In response to a question regarding reserve guard Kraig Urbik and his ability to play right tackle, Nix made a pointed comment about the current state of the right tackle position. Neither the questioner nor Nix named Cornell Green by name, but it was clear that the questioner was less than impressed with Buffalo's right tackle, and Nix agreed.

"We saw the same game you did," Nix quipped.

Green, signed in March shortly after the retirement of Brad Butler, made his first start at right tackle for the Bills in Sunday's loss to Miami, and most closely resembled a matador while pass blocking. He had his moments early in the game as a run blocker, but was exposed for the liability he is in pass protection once the Bills abandoned the run.

Nix sees the aforementioned Urbik as an option on the right side, though not immediately, as Urbik is still learning the offensive system. He's been with the team a little over a week.

"He's a candidate (to play right tackle)," Nix said. "He played right tackle in college. He started 50 games at Wisconsin at right tackle. He has not played tackle in the NFL. He's played guard, and he's played center. But yes, he's a possibility."

Nix also divulged precisely where Urbik sat on Buffalo's draft board during the 2009 NFL Draft.

"To be honest, when we drafted Eric Wood and Andy Levitre, the three top interior linemen on the draft board were those two and Urbik," Nix said. "Now we've got all three of 'em."

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/13/1687344/bills-gm-nix-not-satisfied-with

There may come a day when NFL teams will consider starting three cornerbacks.

If that day comes, the Buffalo Bills are prepared.

Coming into the season, the team's secondary was thought to be its strength. That played out Sunday, as Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne completed 21 of 34 passes for 182 yards but did not throw a touchdown.

A big reason for that is the play of the Bills' top three corners -- Terrence McGee, Drayton Florence and Leodis McKelvin.

"I thought he did a good job," Bills coach Chan Gailey said of McKelvin in particular. "He ended up breaking up a couple of passes, a couple of big passes for us, critical passes."

Although McKelvin didn't start, he played extensively in the second half, as McGee was not quite 100 percent with a foot injury.

Not that who starts matters much anymore. With an ever-increasing emphasis on the passing game, a team needs at least three cornerbacks it can feel comfortable with on the field.

McKelvin takes it a step further.

"Maybe even five," he said. "They go five receivers, you need five DBs [defensive backs] or five corners out there on the field who know how to cover. ... It helps being deep in that position."

McKelvin is right. According to a study by FootballOutsiders.com, teams ran offensive plays with three or more receivers on the field 49.2 percent of the time in 2009. The usual, two-receiver set was used just 38.6 percent of the time.

The most expensive position in football is quarterback. The next is cornerback. The franchise tag -- which is the average of the top five salaries at the position -- was $9.96 million for 2009.

That's an increase of 138 percent from the $4.18 million tag in 2001, according to a report in Sports Illustrated.

The Bills drafted McKelvin 11th overall in 2008 with the idea he could become one of those franchise-type players. He had a promising rookie season and was a starter going into 2009, but went on injured reserve after breaking his leg against New Orleans in the third game of the year.

He played behind McGee and Florence during training camp, but insisted he wasn't disappointed in not starting.

"Not at all. I knew I was going to have a chance to go in there and make plays," he said. "There's still 15 more games left in the season. I might be starting this week, you never know," he said.

McKelvin has been nagged by a lingering hamstring injury, which is why he wasn't returning kicks against Miami.

"I haven't been able to open up and break out into the open and use my speed as I want to," he said.

That's no small loss for the Bills. McKelvin set a franchise record with 1,468 kickoff return yards as a rookie.

Daily rehab sessions have him feeling close to 100 percent, however, something he'll need to be Sunday against quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' prolific passing attack.

Like most shut-down corners, McKelvin is not short on confidence, in himself or his unit.

"When we start making plays, everybody else just follows," he said. "We just try to feed off each other."

...

The Bills will face a Packers team that suffered a huge blow Tuesday with the announcement that 1,000-yard running back Ryan Grant will be lost for the season after being placed on injured reserve.

Grant was hurt in the second quarter of Green Bay's 27-20 win at Philadelphia on Sunday. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said a day later that Grant's ankle injury involved ligament damage.

"Guess everyone has heard the news," Grant posted on his Twitter account. "Frustrating, disappointing, all the normal emotions."

Brandon Jackson, a 2007 second-round pick, will start in his place.

Defensive end Justin Harrell, a former first-round pick in 2007, suffered a season-ending left knee injury against the Eagles. The Packers signed defensive end Jarius Wynn to take his spot.

...

A former Bills defensive end signed with the Houston Texans on Tuesday, but it wasn't Aaron Schobel. Houston, which lost Connor Barwin for the season during Sunday's win over Indianapolis, agreed to a contract with Ryan Denney.

Denney spent the previous nine years with the Bills before being released after the 2009 season.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article190666.ece

I'm just a hockey guy, so what do I know? I somehow sidestepped Bills' training camp, covered their first practice in the stadium, had virtually no interaction with the players, had no involvement with our NFL preview section and was on vacation last week for the season opener against Miami.

You're just a fan, so what do you know? You haven't attended every practice or been involved in team meetings. You're not privy to their blocking schemes or rationale behind play calling or what they say to the media in private. You haven't watched Trent Edwards or his backups behind the scenes.

I guess that makes us armchair quarterbacks who know little more than what we saw Sunday. Guilty as charged.

Buddy Nix isn't an armchair quarterback. He's an NFL executive. He's been involved in football in one capacity or another for more than 40 years. He was a respected NFL scout under the late John Butler in Buffalo and San Diego. He's not the smartest guy in the room [by his own admission], but he knows football players.

Chan Gailey knows football, too. It said so on his resume. He's been an NFL assistant coach on both sides of the ball. He's coached in Super Bowls. He was an offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh and Kansas City. He was the head coach in Dallas and had a nice run at Georgia Tech. He arrived with years of experience and a fresh set of eyes.

It's with that in mind that you wonder how such astute football minds have failed to comprehend what's painfully obvious to us armchair quarterbacks, that Trent Edwards remains overwhelmed and unsuited to run an NFL offense. He's in his fourth NFL season and looks just as frightened and bewildered in the pocket as he did in his first.

Lee Evans can mince words if he wants, but let's get straight to the point. Edwards should be replaced as the starting quarterback. The Bills aren't going anywhere with him or without him, and he's almost certain to be hitting the bricks after the season. His teammates appear to have little confidence in him, and he appears to inspire little in them.

You would think that Nix and Gailey would have concluded as much during the offseason while breaking down all that videotape and interviewing players, first assessing then addressing the most important position on the field. The only connection they had to Edwards was a stack of damning evidence against him.

I could see it. You could see it. Sister Mary Margaret at the convent could see it. So why didn't the two men in charge of football see it?

Now, once-proud fans in a dwindling base will be forced to endure another torturous season that looks much uglier than many before them.

Edwards is no more effective now than in 2007, when he emerged as a fresh, intelligent upgrade over J.P. Losman. Edwards' career: 60.9 percent completion rate, 25 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in 33 career games. Losman with the Bills: 59.2 percent, 33 TDs and 34 INTs in 42 games.

Gailey can rationalize that the abysmal performance Sunday against Miami was only one game, the first in a new offense under a new regime. Don't be alarmed if he shifts blame elsewhere in an effort to relieve public pressure from his quarterback.

But people around here know better. It's not just one game. It's a pattern of futility that's certain to continue no matter the scheme or regime.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure who should start the final 15 games, only who shouldn't. I'm still wondering why they didn't grab Jimmy Clausen in the second round of the draft or take the gamble on Tim Tebow.Then again, what do I know? I'm just a hockey guy.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article190690.ece

 

JETS

BREAKING: SNY has learned that D'Brickashaw Ferguson was a passenger in the car driven by Braylon Edwards at the time of Edwards' arrest.

Ferguson was not taken into police custody. More on SNY throughout the afternoon, starting with Daily News Live at 5pm. #braylon #jets

Manish also added in that Gholston was also in the car:

D'Brickashaw Ferguson AND Vernon Gholston were in car with Braylon Edwards, according to source. #nfl#jets #nyj

More and more is being revealed. I'm kind of surprised D'Brickashaw was in the vehicle with an allegedly legally intoxicated Edwards driving. Not a great situation to put yourself in after recently signing a new contract.

And Gholston, well let's just say he's in a make-or-break year. Little room for error.

http://www.ganggreennation.com/2010/9/21/1702430/breaking-passenger-in-braylons

Mike Tannenbaum says Braylon Edwards' arrest will not keep him off the field Sunday.

Braylon's actions clearly come under the purview of the league's substance abuse policy," Tannenbaum said. "This is going to have to run its course through the legal system, and any discipline that occurs will be by the league under that program."

I get what Tannenbaum is saying, and I know the CBA prevents the Jets from taking certain courses of action.

Even so, here is what we know.

Edwards allegedly had a 0.16% BAC, twice the legal limit.

It takes somewhere between eight or nine drinks for a 213 pound man to get to that point so it's tough to envision somebody not realizing they were in no shape to drive.

Braylon was out with Donte Stallworth the night Stallworth drove drunk and killed somebody, which one would believe have left a lasting impact.



I'll be honest. I have issues with Braylon playing this game. He is innocent until proven guilty. I think the Jets should go to him directly and ask him to be honest. If he admits he was wrong, they should sit him for this game. If he insists innocence, the Jets should let it play out and make it clear he will be hit harder if he is found to have done wrong.

A relevant analogy would be the University of Florida suspending Carlos Dunlap after a similar arrest just before last year's SEC Championship Game against Alabama.

The Jets need to make it clear what kind of behavior is acceptable. There need to be consequences. You might argue that athletes shouldn't be role models, but the reality is they are. There are more important things than winning a game. The Jets need to set an example.

http://www.ganggreennation.com/2010/9/21/1703136/tannenbaum-braylon-edwards-will

I know, it's the afternoon, not morning. But here's some observations and thoughts from last week's game, as well as a look into next week.

Before we get too into that, let me touch up on the Braylon Edwards ordeal. I want him to stay. Yes, a DWI is a serious offense, and he could have easily killed somebody. No one is defending that. He deserves whatever he gets from the court as well as any Jets/NFL punishments. But Braylon Edwards, before this incident, has shown to me that he wants to stay here. He knows there's only a certain number of returning players, and he wants to be one of them. When you're intoxicated, as many of us can attest, your judgement is clouded, and he did not keep his priorities in order. I can forgive this if it never happens again. If it does, I want no part of this guy.

Anyway, let's get onto my scattered thoughts from Sunday's game:

- During this Moss vs. Revis hype, I kind of thought to myself that Cromartie would have been better suited to cover Moss, leaving Revis on Welker. Let's look at Cromartie: he's huge, and take long strides. Not the ideal stop-and-go kind of corner. He's quick, but being that tall and lanky, it's just not possible to keep up with a superb route-runner like Welker. Revis, however, could. So you take Welker out of the game, leaving a Cromartie vs. Moss matchup. Moss does not run many quick, in-and-out routes. Perfect for Cromartie to deal with, and that's why Cromartie was so successful against Moss. Not to mention, he's probably the only corner who can match Moss's height advantage.

- I was surprised on how badly D'Bickashaw Ferguson played. I don't know if it's because he's trying to help Slauson, but he was beat a few times and got Sanchez wacked. He must play better.

- Brodney Pool, when healthy, is going to be HUGE for the Jets.

- I like this idea of giving the ball to LaDanian Tomlinson a lot early in the season. As the rest of the league wears down, a fresher Shonn Greene will dominate into the playoffs.

- Sanchez is the guy.

- Jason Taylor has heart. You injure an arm, come back in to make the game sealing sack aganst a double team, and re-injure it in the process? That's a team player.

- Steve Weatherford has been awesome.

http://www.ganggreennation.com/2010/9/21/1702076/tuesday-morning-quarterback

The ball hung in the air, Tom Brady throwing deep for Randy Moss -- and Antonio Cromartie was right there to make a game-changing play for the Jets.

With just under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter yesterday, and the Patriots leading, 14-10, Brady went for the kill. But instead of a touchdown to Moss, Cromartie picked off the pass at the Jets' 3-yard line. The Patriots never scored again as the Jets won, 28-14.

"I think that was huge," Nick Mangold said of the interception. "It fires up the defense, fires up the offense. Obviously kept them out of the end zone. It was a huge play in the game."

BOX SCORE

COMPLETE JETS COVERAGE

It was part of Cromartie's spectacular effort covering Moss as Darrelle Revis' second-half replacement. Revis, the superstar corner, never made it onto the field after halftime due to a bad hamstring. So the Jets put Cromartie on Moss.

And Moss had no catches for no yards in the second half.

"You look at him and you think it's not such a good matchup with Randy Moss there," Jets coach Rex Ryan said, "but he did a terrific job."

It was a superb effort by Cromartie, who had a miserable game against the Ravens in the season-opener, committing four penalties.

But this time, after Cromartie's interception, the Jets took over and drove for a Nick Folk field goal, making it 14-13. After a three-and-out for the Patriots, the Jets took over again and scored a touchdown to take the lead for good.

"It was a big play. Our offense was clicking real well going into halftime and we just wanted to get the guys the ball back and just try to make a play from there," Cromartie said. "That's exactly what they did, they went down, they drove down the field, got a field goal, cut the lead down to one point."

Cromartie said that during the week, he watched film on Moss, even though the Patriots' star wasn't going to be his assignment. As it turned out, however, Cromartie had more success than Revis did.

"He stepped up," Revis said. "We have corners who can step in and he did a great job today."


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets...t_corner_XodK0dF4Q9mbW0rd4LkEFL#ixzz10E75ApTe

Dustin Keller served as a perfect symbol of the turnaround performed by the Jets' offense in yesterday's 28-14 victory over the Patriots at New Meadowlands Stadium.

The third-year tight end had a game-high seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown as part of a Jets passing attack that did all it could to erase the memory of last week's offensive disaster.

"It feels really good to be a big part of the offense," said Keller, who set a career high in receiving yards. "When me and Mark [Sanchez] are clicking, it just seems like everybody is clicking. In a couple more games, we get [Santonio] Holmes back, so that will just be one more threat."

BOX SCORE

COMPLETE JETS COVERAGE

Keller's touchdown came on a one-yard pass from Sanchez with 6:16 left in the game. It all but sealed the victory and allowed the 78,535 fans at the game to go home much happier than they did six nights earlier after a 10-9, Week 1 loss to the Ravens.

Keller had just two receptions for 13 yards in that loss, but yesterday he made several big catches to ignite a passing game that accumulated 220 yards, balanced with 136 rushing yards.

"They played a lot of cover-two, a lot of split-safety," Keller said. "So the middle of the field was open and they had a linebacker run with me, and I feel I have the advantage in that matchup every time. The second half they started to close the field, so we had to go to some other stuff and we were still successful.

"When you can adjust on the run like that, that's the sign of a good offense."

Keller made two receptions for 34 yards on the Jets' hurry-up drive before the end of the first half that resulted in a field goal that cut the Patriots' lead to 14-10. He recorded big plays on both Jets third-quarter scoring drives -- a 39-yard catch off play-action that moved the Jets from their 12-yard line to the Patriots' 49 on a field-goal drive; and a 21-yard reception that set up Jericho Cotchery's touchdown catch, which gave the Jets their first lead of the game with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/keller_in_flight_for_jets_HuIYiBDprVXyYkzQY9vbdI#ixzz10E7FeTJ8

 

PATRIOTS

With the Patriots adding an influx of youth on both sides of the ball the last two seasons, I thought I would start a rookie/sophomore power rankings series as a way to dissect the youth. What I came up with:

1. Patrick Chung, S, #25 | Drafted: 2nd round, 34th overall, 2009 | PR: N/A

It wasn't hard for me to place Chung at the top of the board. Through two weeks, Chung has 22 tackles to lead the team. The second year safety has been all over the field, playing deep, coming up against the run. He seems to be around on every play and has already established himself as one of the top defenders on the Patriots' defense.

2. Sebastian Vollmer, T, #76 | Drafted: 2nd round, 58th overall, 2009 | PR: N/A

Sebastian Vollmer was also an easy one to put near the top of the list. Vollmer is currently starting at right tackle. While I wouldn't classify his play as elite (I saw him get beat once or twice), it has certainly been very solid. It would be hard for Vollmer to knock himself down this list.

3. Devin McCourty, CB, #32 | Drafted: 1st round, 27th overall, 2010 | PR: N/A

Devin McCourty has had a solid two games to begin his professional career. He did a great job shutting down Terrell Owens in week one, and ditto Jericho Cotchery (who's given the Patriots fits in the past) and at times Braylon Edwards week two. With Darius Butler often victimized, McCourty has kept passes away from his side which is certainly a good sign.

4. Aaron Hernandez, TE, #85 | Drafted: 4th round, 113th overall, 2010 | PR: N/A

I had a difficult time deciding between Hernandez and Spikes in this spot. Ultimately, I went with Hernadez who had a break out game in week two against the Jets. Hernandez finished with 101 yards on six catches. His versatility has also been key, with teams such as the Jets being forced to use a cornerback on him (resulting in other mismatches).

5. Brandon Spikes, ILB, #55 | Drafted: 2nd round, 62nd overall, 2010 | PR: N/A

Like Hernandez, Brandon Spikes had a breakout game of sorts against the Jets. With the Patriots working out of the base 3-4 a lot in the early going, Spikes got his snaps and showed what he has to the league, finishing with nine total tackles.

Six through ten (as well as "just missed the cut" after the jump!)

Star-divide

6. Brandon Tate, WR, #19 | Drafted: 3rd round, 83rd overall, 2009 | PR: N/A

Somebody throw Tate the ball! After starting the year with four catches and a kick return touchdown in week one, Tate was targeted just once against the Jets, a play that resulted in a 17 yard gain.

7. Rob Gronkowski, TE, #87 | Drafted: 2nd round, 42nd overall, 2010 | PR: N/A

Somebody throw Gronkowski the ball! Just like Brandon Tate, tight end Rob Gronkowski has suffered from a lack of targets to him. In two games, he's only been targeted three times that I can remember. Two of these were caught; one for a touchdown and one for a 14 yard gain.

8. Ron Brace, DL, #97 | Drafted: 2nd round, 40th overall, 2010 | PR: N/A

A few weeks ago, somebody probably would have laughed if they saw Ron Brace this high on a Patriots rookie/sophomore rookie power ranking list. In fact, many people would have been on the verge of labeling Ron Brace a bust. Now we all look a little bit silly. Ron Brace got himself into camp and in shape, and has been playing the best football of his professional career. Sunday, he was the starting left defensive end in the Patriots' 3-4 alignment and recorded four tackles.

9. Julian Edelman, WR, #11 | Drafted: 7th round, 232nd overall, 2009 | PR: N/A

Julian Edelman has only played a few actual snaps since the Patriots first preseason game where he dominated the Saints. Against the Jets, Edelman had just one catch. Don't worry though, his production should increase this week, so I don't expect him to be ranked 9th for long.

10. Myron Pryor, DL, #91 | Drafted: 6th round, 207th overall, 2009 | PR: N/A

Myron Pryor, a sixth round pick in 2009, is doing a nice job as part of the Patriots defensive line rotation as a sub-rusher in four man lines. While the Patriots didn't run too many sub-packages against the Jets (and may not against the Bills either), Pryor should still figure to be a big part of the rotation in 2010.

Just Missed the Rankings:

Darius Butler, CB, #28 (41st, 2009): Butler had a terrible performance in week two. He should be able to rebound against

Jermaine Cunningham, OLB, #96 (53rd, 2010): Cunningham looked good in limited action during week two, making a couple of nice plays against the run and nearly coming up with a sack.

Zoltan Mesko, P, #14 (150th, 2010): Mesko is likely so low on this list due to his position. While he has a small sample size (4 punts), currently has a very impressive 45.0 NET average.

Others:

Brian Hoyer, QB, #8 (undrafted, 2010): 2nd string QB has yet to play in 2010.

Kyle Love, DL, #74 (undrafted, 2010): Has seen limited snaps as a reserve nose tackle.

Jake Ingram, LS, #46 (198th, 2009): Rank is due to position: long snapper.
Taylor Price, WR, #17 (90th, 2010): Has been inactive both games.

Brandon Deaderick, DE, #71 (247th, 2010): Has been inactive both games.

Dane Fletcher, LB, #45 (undrafted, 2010): Has been inactive both games.

Tyrone McKenzie, ILB, #53 (97th, 2009): Currently on practice squad.

Rich Ohrnberger, OG, #60 (124th, 2009): Currently on practice squad.

Kade Weston, DL, #66 (248th, 2010): On injured reserve.

Darryl Richard, DL, #90 (234th, 2009): On injured reserve.

http://www.patspulpit.com/2010/9/21/1702174/patriots-week-2-rookie-sophomore

Reviewing those headed in each direction after this afternoon's 28-14 Patriots loss to the AFC East rival Jets ...

MOVING UP

TE Aaron Hernandez: Great effort by the 20-year-old tonight, with six catches for 101 yards. The big one, of course, was the zig-zagging 46-yard catch-and-run at the end of the first half to set up Randy Moss' tremendous 34-yard touchdown catch. But also key is how half of those six catches converted third downs.

P Zoltan Mesko: Two of Mesko's three boots were very solid. One was a booming 56-yarder. Another was one that resulted in a fair catch at the 6-yard line by Jim Leonhard. The effect of the latter was negated by a kick-catch interference call on Kyle Arrington, which had zero to do with Mesko. His other punt, which went 38 yards, resulted in just a 4-yard return by Leonhard. So overall, it was a good evening for the rookie.

DL Gerard Warren: When the Patriots' spotty pass rush was on tonight, it was in large part due to Warren's push on the interior. The veteran wound up taking Mark Sanchez down twice.

SHAKING DOWN

QB Tom Brady: Brady's outstanding first half (13-20, 179 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT) melted away after the break, with the quarterback completing just 7-of-16 passes for 69 yards and two picks in the second half. The first pick appeared to be an overthrow to Moss, while the second was thrown into coverage. No matter how you look at it, the bottom line is that there will be days this season when Brady will have to carry the day, and this was one of them. The Jets defense got the better of him.

CB Darius Butler: Butler was beaten for a touchdown and two-point conversion by Braylon Edwards, and was targeted repeatedly by Mark Sanchez. His frustration boiled over in a couple of pass-interference penalties in the fourth quarter, totaling 39 yards. Many expected a second-year breakout for Butler, but it hasn't come through two weeks.

K Stephen Gostkowski: The kicker missed a very makable 37-yard field goal, after his 32-yarder was negated by a delay-of-game penalty, and that mitigated some of the damage the Patriots did to the Jets early on in the game. Gostkowski's now 1-of-4 on field goals on the year.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2010/09/movers_and_shak_7.html

The hype surrounding the Patriots was pretty significant following their blowout victory to open the season over the Bengals last Sunday. Suddenly, that hype is gone after a second half debacle and 28-14 loss to the New York Jets.

On offense, the Patriots came out and controlled the clock. Brady spread the ball around well to his slot receivers, the Patriots took a lot of time off the clock. However, the drive stalled and the Patriots made one of many miscues on the day. Stephen Gostkowski hit his first field goal, only to have it nullified by a delay of game. On his second try, Gostkowski misssed to the right.

After a three-and-out by the Jets, the Patriots took back over and moved down the field again. Brady made completions to Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, and Aaron Hernandez, capping the drive off with a six yard touchdown to Wes Welker.

Once the Jets got the ball back, they began moving down the field quickly, I'll avoid the details. The last positive part of the game for the Patriots came on a two-minute drive that was capped with a 34 yard one handed catch for a touchdown by Randy Moss. The play, which has to one of the greatest of Moss' career, gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead just before halftime.

It all went downhill from there. The Patriots made Mark Sanchez look good. They made him look great. While the team got a decent pass rush in the first half, it was essentially non-existent in the 2nd. Darius Butler was completely picked apart, and had one of the worst games I've ever seen from a Patriots cornerback. He made two costly pass interference plays, and was constantly targeted by Sanchez. He really couldn't stop Braylon Edwards at all. If there's a positive to all of this, it was that Devin McCourty held up decently well, and was rarely targeted. Still, there's no question that Butler had an awful, awful game.

Going into the game, I was afraid of Dustin Keller on the play action. My fears came true and the team couldn't stop Keller either. I don't know who had Keller the majority of the time, but I'll get a better idea when I go back and re-watch the game (if I have the stomach to). The Patriots also struggled to stop the run in the second half, consistently allowing LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene to pick up those lethal four, five, and six yard games.

The Patriots had an especially lackluster performance in the 2nd half on offense. Tom Brady was inaccurate, he kept missing throws left and right (literally). He also stopped spreading the ball around. It seemed that every time he dropped back to pass, he would try to force a pass to Randy Moss, who was always double covered. It was painful to watch and led to two interception. The Patriots also abandoned the run in the 2nd half. Fred Taylor and BenJarvus Green-Ellis were ineffective. The only yards the Patriots were able to manage on the ground came on Kevin Faulk draw plays. Once the Patriots finally got things rolling and began to spread the ball around, the Patriots were down 28-14 with five minutes left. With the Patriots approaching the end zone, Matt Light (who had a good day overall), was absolutely burned by Jason Taylor, who hit Brady and forced a fumble that was recovered by Bryan Thomas of the Jets, essentially ending the game.

If I took any positives from this game, it would probably be the play of three rookies, one team veteran and one newcomer veteran: Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Spikes, Gerard Warren, Tully Banta-Cain and Jermaine Cunningham. Aaron Hernandez came up huge as a receiver/tight end. He has good hands, is deceptively fast, and is very elusive after the catch. Gerard Warren had two sacks in the game, and really looks like a solid pickup. Tully Banta-Cain made a couple of nice plays against the run and had one sack, although he probably should have had two. Rookie linebackers Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Spikes also played well. Spikes looked solid against the run and Cunningham got a couple of quarterback hurries (one of which led to a sack by Gerard Warren) and also had a couple of nice plays against the run.

Overall, this game reminded me of the 2nd half from last year's week two game against the Jets. I could complain about the referees and their strange double standard when it came to contact in the defensive backfield, but the Patriots were simply outplayed in the 2nd half. I was a little bit worried about the Patriots rising confidence level in the lead up to this game, and my fears came true.

Luckily for the Pats, they should have an easy rebound game against the Buffalo Bills next week. But for the majority of the upcoming week, this one will sting.

http://www.patspulpit.com/2010/9/19/1698526/patriots-humbled-in-28-14-loss-to

 

BILLS

We believed entering the 2010 season that the Buffalo Bills' biggest weakness defensively was their linebackers. Two games into the season, that belief has been vindicated, as the Bills have been brutalized not just by injury at the position, but by opposing tight ends exposing the inherent weakness of the group - pass coverage.

In their first two games, the Bills have allowed Miami's Anthony Fasano and Green Bay's Jermichael Finley to combine for seven catches and 149 yards. That's over 21 yards per reception, even while the Bills have, for the most part, bottled up some excellent wide receivers to this point. The only starting receiver that has averaged more than 10 yards per reception in Buffalo's first two games is Greg Jennings, who had three grabs for 36 yards on Sunday. It hasn't mattered.

Fasano gouged Buffalo for gains of 21, 15 and 8 yards in Week 1, with the 21-yarder setting up a one-yard Miami score. Finley had gains of 34, 32, 22 and 15 in Week 2. By himself, Finley had more plays of 20 or more yards against the Bills than Buffalo's offense has been able to muster thus far this year.

Things aren't going to get any easier for Buffalo. In Week 3, they get to take on New England's dynamic rookie duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The following week, they'll get the red-hot Dustin Keller. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a tight end on Buffalo's schedule that won't cause the Bills problems, so don't expect this trend to cease any time soon.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/21/1701554/bills-finding-it-difficult-to

In two games, the Buffalo Bills' offense has sputtered to an average of 176 yards per game and a whopping 17 points. As everyone knows, they lost both games and are legitimately staring at an 0-4 start.

It was inevitable that Chan Gailey was going to make a move to spark the offense, and that came yesterday when he announced that Trent Edwards was going to the bench in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick. In the short term, Fitzpatrick will take shots down field and use his mobility to try and buy time and create plays; not to mention that the team played much better with Fitzpatrick in the huddle than Edwards last year, so the team may be moderately more competitive in the weeks going forward. It's not like this is the change that will spark the Bills into a playoff run, however. Obviously.

So at 0-2, with hope slipping with each face-melting drive, Gailey turns to Fitzpatrick to stop the bleeding. Does anyone actually believe that he will? Fitzpatrick will always be limited as an NFL quarterback and we have seen what he can produce. He will have his moments and more than his fair share of bad ones, and at the end of it all, he can expect to ride out his last year as a backup in the Bills organization.

However, Gailey misses a golden opportunity here to start Brian Brohm for the next 14 games and see what he can do. This would have been the best scenario for the Bills in the long term, and in the end that is what matters, as this team desperately needs a competent starting quarterback.

Star-divide

Why Brohm over Fitzpatrick? He's three years younger than Fitzpatrick and has the physical tools to be a starter. It's the mental part of the game that gets in his way of being a success. How do we figure out what we have? Throw him in against the Patriots, then the Jets, and let's see what he can do. If he fails, then it is an easy decision - he is an RFA at the end of this year; we let him go and it frees a roster spot. Assuming Edwards is gone as well, then there will be two free spots for two QBs that fit the scheme Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix want to run. If he is successful, we get to re-sign him and bring in other QB to see if he can handle the pressure of having to compete for the top spot. Either way, at the end of the season, we know what we need to know, and a decision can be made either way. Now, we just are left in a limbo.

Now and Tomorrow. I understand that the job of the NFL coach is to win football games. With that being said, it is a 98.9% certainty that Gailey will be the coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2011. Gailey and his coaching staff, under the supervision of Nix, should be focused on ensuring that we see what we have in our all of our young players. I'd rather have a team finish 2-14 with kids out there learning the game than try and plug in the vets to try and put together a win here or there. Stand in front of a podium and say "we are rebuilding." "It will get worse before it gets better, but at the end of the day, we will draft smart, play smart and be better." The Fitzpatrick move screams: "We are close and this can help us win on Sunday." That is the wrong message.

Edwards is still in the mix. By naming Fitzpatrick the starter, if he fails or gets injured, it opens the door for Edwards to step in, and quite frankly, he shouldn't. The Edwards Experiment is over - or at least it should be. He won't be cut or traded, but he won't be re-signed, as he is a shadow of the quarterback that we saw in 2008. What has he done to earn the right to be the backup? A backup should be capable of stepping in and winning a game for you, and Edwards can't do that. He is rattled, broken and mentally fragile, and these two games have cemented the end of him being a regular starter in the NFL. Allowing him to be the primary backup does the team an injustice given his performances in 2009 and 2010.

One thing is certain: unless the Bills get a better performance from their quarterbacks (regardless of who is starting), they will continue to under perform and could be looking at the prospect of a one- or two-win season.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/21/1701038/gailey-misses-opportunity-with

Any Buffalo Bills fan with half a brain knew that the team had very little chance of upsetting the Green Bay Packers in Week 2. They failed miserably in their attempt, falling 34-7 at Lambeau Field. In the process, they accomplished exactly zero of the five major tasks necessary for playing a competitive football game today.

Contain tight ends Jermichael Finley and Donald Lee. If you're desperate, hang your hat on the fact that Lee, the second tight end, had one catch for a one-yard loss. Finley, however, torched Buffalo's secondary, hauling in four passes for a whopping 103 yards. He was the only Packers receiver with more than 38 receiving yards.

Contain linebacker Clay Matthews. Easier said than done, obviously, but it'd have been nice to see it on occasion, at least. Matthews sacked Trent Edwards three times, upping his season total to six.

Exploit Green Bay's weak offensive tackles. Even after one of those weak tackles, Chad Clifton, left the game, the Bills did not record a sack. Aaron Rodgers had all day to operate, throwing for 255 yards and two touchdowns, and adding 20 rushing yards and another score.

Make plays behind their blitz packages. Green Bay did blitz, believe it or not, even though they probably didn't need to. Edwards netted 62 passing yards. His longest pass completion was a 21-yarder in garbage time.

Produce on third down. Buffalo converted just 4 of 12 third downs offensively, while allowing the Packers to convert 7 of 12. They went three-and-out three times, including their first two possessions.

Maybe it's just me, but a professional football team should be able to accomplish at least one of its major objectives. It's probably not just me, though.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/19/1698691/five-reasons-bills-had-no-prayer

Moments of competent offense and competitive professional football had the Buffalo Bills losing just 13-7 at halftime to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Any shot at a Bills victory slipped through the outstretched hands of receiver Steve Johnson in the third quarter, however, as the Packers capitalized on the ensuing interception and scored 21 straight points to log an easy 34-7 win.

Packers linebacker Clay Matthews logged three of the team's four sacks (a figure that seems very low) on quarterback Trent Edwards, who threw for just 102 yards in defeat. He had two passes intercepted; one was a deflected pass through Johnson's hands, and the other was a should-be-reception ripped from the clutches of Roscoe Parrish. Edwards finished with a quarterback rating of 37.

C.J. Spiller did not log a carry until two minutes remained in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 26 yards on offense. Marshawn Lynch got the start, and the bulk of the work (17 carries, 64 yards) at running back. Lee Evans did not catch a pass, though he did draw a pass interference on Buffalo's lone touchdown drive (capped by a three-yard Fred Jackson score). Buffalo's defense, which once again kept the game close for a time, fell flat on its face in the second half, allowing three scores by Aaron Rodgers - two through the air, and one on the ground.

Buffalo is now 0-2 on the season and looking at a trip to New England next Sunday. Welcome to the second of many, many very long Sunday afternoons this year, Bills fans.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/19/1698010/packers-blow-out-overwhelmed-bills

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Lee Evans spent most of Sunday afternoon running routes for nothing.

Despite being the Buffalo Bills' best wide receiver, Evans didn't have a catch against the Green Bay Packers. How fitting, since the passing game was mostly invisible during a 34-7 beating at Lambeau Field.

The one time Evans was targeted, he drew a 24-yard pass interference penalty on Green Bay All-Pro cornerback Charles Woodson. But Woodson and his fellow defensive backs made sure Evans wouldn't make any more noise Sunday.

It marked the third time in Evans' 98-game career that he failed to catch a pass in a game. He also got shut out in Week 10 against Cleveland in 2008 and Week Six at Baltimore during his rookie year in 2004.

"It is frustrating," Evans said. "Any time you lose a game and don't feel like you contributed to trying to make a difference, it is frustrating. But it's still early and hopefully we can move forward and get past this and get in rhythm and get some wins on the board."

The Bills won't win much with quiet games like this from Evans, who caught four passes for only 34 yards in last week's season-opening loss to Miami.

Evans is usually the primary focus of opposing defenses, and that will be the case even more this season with the absence of a proven No. 2 receiver to complement him.

However, Evans said the Packers didn't do anything special in coverage. There were a few times when they bracketed him with two defenders, but for the most part, Evans felt the defense Green Bay played should have been conducive to making a few catches. Whether he wasn't open or quarterback Trent Edwards didn't find him, Evans' opportunities were severely limited.

"It was pretty clean looks all day," Evans said. "They were trying to just be over the top with corners and run somebody underneath. But nothing really out of the ordinary or too hard to manage either way. It's just offensively we never got into a rhythm, just never got going."

Bills coach Chan Gailey said Evans' absence from the offense was not from a lack of trying to get him involved.

"We had several shots to him called today," Gailey said. "We couldn't get them down the field to him. There were several different reasons, but for whatever reason, it doesn't matter. We didn't get the shots to him that we were trying to take."

Evans didn't see many balls because Edwards didn't have much time to look for his favorite target. When he wasn't being sacked or knocked down attempting to throw, Edwards got chased out of the pocket by Clay Matthews III and a hard-charging Packers pass rush that the Bills' offensive line was incapable of slowing down.

It's hard to catch a pass when you turn around and see your quarterback on the ground or running for his life.

"We just didn't play very well offensively to give ourselves a chance," Evans said. "When we wanted to do some things and switch things up, they did some things defensively and made adjustments and we didn't execute our adjustments very well. We just didn't play very well together.

"Didn't give ourselves a chance. Didn't execute. Didn't play well together."

Evans must be weary of spouting off those familiar refrains after each and every Bills loss, even if they're all true.

No one doubts Evans' ability to make big plays. What is subject to question is whether he'll ever be in an offense that can take advantage of him on a regular basis.

Ever the diplomat, Evans refused to cast blame.

"I think more so than that, you play this game for the people around you," he said. "If it was that easy to sit here and blame one thing or another, then I'd probably be miserable. It's Week Two. We still have at least 14 games left to play."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article195312.ece

 

PATRIOTS

The lowly Buffalo Bills were supposed to be what was good for the ailing Patriots [team stats], and they were. But who knew the Pats defense would be Christmas for the nonexistent Bills offense?

A win is a win, but a win like Sunday’s frankly is not all that encouraging because the Bills came to Foxboro averaging 8 points a game and scored nearly quadruple that number. They saw the Pats’ Maginot Line defense and ran for more than 100 yards by HALFTIME. They scored five of the first six times they had the ball. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how’d you enjoy the play?

In the end, backup quarterback to a backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn’t match the firepower Tom Brady [stats] kept demanding of him, but the Patriots defense had little to do with that. The benching of Darius Butler certainly didn’t solve the secondary’s problems and please do not claim this was “bend but don’t break defense.” This was “hold on to your hat, here they come again” defense.

QUARTERBACK – A-

This time last week, men in thick glasses were calculating the statistical collapse of Tom Brady, insisting the numbers said he was no longer the fourth quarter player he used to be. Statistics are like prisoners of war. You can make them say anything you want if you twist them hard enough. The fact of the matter is while Brady may not yet be quite as dominating as he was before his 2008 knee injury, he is still one of the game’s elite quarterbacks. Sunday he consistently read the Bills defense like it was a “See Dick Run” primer, slicing it to ribbons on his way to a 142.6 efficiency rating and three touchdown passes. Whether or not Brady is still the player he was, the fact remains that if everyone else on both sides of the ball played as consistently and efficiently as he has the Pats would be a.) 3-0 this season, and b.) 4-0 in Super Bowls with him as QB. When there are problems, why do people in this town attack the best player instead of the ones really causing the slippage? Had he not thrown what should have been a pick to open the second quarter into three defenders he would have earned a perfect efficiency rating, but nobody’s perfect. Not even Brady.

RUNNING BACKS – A

This is far from an elite group, but it was yesterday. You rush for 200 yards against an NFL practice squad, and it’s a feat. Do it against a Bills defense that had played well until Sunday, and it must be applauded. BenJarvus Green-Ellis never will make you forget Emmitt James Smith or Barry David Sanders, but Sunday he ran like a Zamboni with shot brakes. Green-Ellis pounded his way to 98 yards and a touchdown by doing what he does -- running straight ahead until someone stops him. Jockey room escapee Danny Woodhead used his head as well as his feet to rush three times for 42 yards and a score and his 22-yard TD run was a perfect blend of vision, patience and quickness. The bad news was that Fred Taylor [stats]’s aching toe continues to plague him. One suggestion: Don’t try the end around in Miami next Monday.

WIDE RECEIVERS – A-

If Brandon Tate didn’t fumble this would have been a perfect grade. Randy Moss scored twice and cleared out two defenders to help free rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski on his scoring catch. His first score came when he beat Drayton Florence off the line and blew by safety Donte Whitner, who bit on a play-action fake and then got whiplash as Moss rolled by. His second came when Reggie Corner gave him a free release off the line and never saw him again. Moss then faked Whitner outside and slanted to the post. By the time the ball got there Moss was surrounded by three defenders, Tate and an official didn’t notice anything but the ball. Tate’s 29-yard reception was a result of freeing himself from Leodis McKelvin with a good move at the line and then reaching up and making a slick grab. Tate’s a threat, but thus far to both teams. Wes Welker continued to get open but struggled to gain the yards after the catch like he once did. Julian Edelman is looking more like an undrafted free agent than he did last year but be patient.

TIGHT ENDS – A

Another big day for some big men. One must hesitate before using Aaron Hernandez’ name in the same sentence with Tony Gonzalez, perhaps the greatest receiving tight end of all time, but his game bears some resemblance. He runs patterns like a receiver and his quick cuts and vision make him dangerous after the catch. One fears he will use that little pirouette one time too many and find himself facing a freight train like Ray Lewis, though. One caution: When safeties were on him in the second half the last two weeks he quieted down. Rob Gronkowski was again a sure-handed big target around the goal line. He and Alge Crumpler made big blocks on BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ 22-yard run late in the fourth quarter. Crumpler peeled off to make a second block downfield. Even Hernandez got physical with a nice block on Danny Woodhead’s 15-yard run.

OFFENSIVE LINE – A+

Any time you rush for 200 yards you know the offensive line dominated. That’s especially true with the Patriots [team stats] quartet of backs because none is a dominating force on his own. Part of the reason Tom Brady [stats] was nearly perfect was that he had enough time for coffee before most of his throws. The one time he had to scramble the line cut everyone down so effectively he got a first down untouched. Even the one time Brady was sacked by Kyle Williams was more of a coverage sack than a breakdown.

DEFENSIVE LINE – C

The Bills have a solid running attack, but it’s not as good as this group made them look. Seldom was the edge held when Buffalo ran outside (which was at some points the fault of linebackers and at others the caving in of defensive ends), and there was too much surge inside. Vince Wilfork [stats] was double-teamed a lot, but more than once was sent tumbling out of position. As for a pass rush, well, Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked only once and hit only three times in 28 attempts. Although it was playing two-gap most of the time, which reduces its ability to get to the quarterback, this unit has got to become stouter if the defense is to improve. Blockers are getting to the second level too quickly and making it hard on a linebacking crew that isn’t the reincarnation of the one led by LT that helped make Bill Belichick’s reputation.

LINEBACKERS – C-

Tully Banta-Cain did not start and then was a no-show, assisting on one tackle but otherwise going unnoticed until late when he pressured Ryan Fitzpatrick into a horribly overthrown ball that was intercepted. In the first quarter he was knocked back so fast by Bills pulling guard Eric Wood it looked like he was a kid learning how to skate without egg crates to help him. Jerod Mayo led the team with nine tackles, a sack and played a screen to C.J. Spiller solidly. Gary Guyton got some pressure on Fitzpatrick with a blitz through the A-gap early but never again. He was one of three culprits on Roscoe Parrish’s 20-yard reception on third-and-18. Tight end Jonathan Stupar beat the linebackers for a 15-yard reception in a play typical of the group’s coverage problems. None of them can consistently cover a tight end, and they often fail to make deep enough drops, opening up too much space for an already shaky secondary to cover. Rookie linebacker Brandon Spikes continues to make some hits you notice but too many mistakes opponents notice, too. Same is true of Jermaine Cunningham, who twice failed to hold the edge on important runs. He took himself out of Marshawn Lynch’s 16-yarder, stepping too far inside and getting buried by fullback Corey McIntyre. A potentially worse play came when Eric Wood pulled out and knocked him straight back, leaving the outside exposed. The only thing that prevented a long gain by Lynch was Brandon Meriweather’s backside pursuit tackle (chest-pounding to follow).

DEFENSIVE BACKS – D+

Don’t be fooled by two late interceptions. This group struggled, none more so than Brandon Meriweather. On the same drive where he made that saving tackle on Marshawn Lynch he totally missed one on Roscoe Parrish and took down Jonathan Wilhite instead on that third-and-18. Then he took an angle so bad on a 19-yard C.J. Spiller run you knew he never took geometry. That play began with Darius Butler running too deep into the backfield, allowing Spiller to blow by him. Butler was replaced by Kyle Arrington in the starting lineup and disappeared again after playing so far off Parrish on a 9-yard completion he had no chance to defend it, and two plays later missed Spiller. Soon after he was a missing person. So was Meriweather much of the time but never more so than on Spiller’s 5-yard TD catch. Buffalo had two receivers bunched wide left. Instead of taking Spiller, Meriweather ran inside Arrington, allowing the Bills receiver to block him while Spiller simply went outside them both while Meriweather ran around the play. That was a technique taught only in Meriweather’s mind. Rookie Devin McCourty had some good moments on Lee Evans but bit on Steve Johnson’s outside move on a 14-yard reception and was beaten by him for a 37-yard TD on an out-and-up when McCourty took the outside fake. Safety Patrick Chung continues to be a strong tackler but was too late getting over to help McCourty, and his end zone interception came on a badly thrown ball with Parrish wide open in front of him at the 5-yard line. Arrington was not lit up like Butler a week ago, but he was soundly beaten several times, failed to get to Ryan Fitzpatrick on a corner blitz that resulted in a 15-yard completion and missed a critical tackle on a 31-yard Parrish reception after nickel corner Jonathan Wilhite was beaten off the line.

SPECIAL TEAMS – D+

Stephen Gostkowski finally made a field goal, but Zoltan Mesko netted only 34.7 yards a punt, with none inside the 20. Worse yet, the kick coverage team allowed C.J. Spiller a 95-yard TD return immediately after Moss’ second score. Jarrad Page was blocked to the outside (and maybe in the back), Gary Guyton was double-teamed inside to create a crease, and Brandon Meriweather was too slow to react to the opening. By the time he got there, Spencer Johnson was off Guyton and knocked Meriweather flat just as McCourty and Gostkowski were missing Spiller in space. Not a total disaster but close enough.

COACHING – C

One would think Bill Belichick could have come up with a way to slow down the Bills’ previously nonexistent offense but apparently not. Buffalo had 14 offensive plays of 10 yards or more. Was Jim Kelly running the K-Gun again? Belichick made a smart challenge of a spot to overturn a critical first down though, and offensively the game plan scored five out of six times in the middle of the game and produced three second-half touchdowns. Bad defense plus good offense equals average grade.

http://bostonherald.com/sports/foot...8&format=&page=3&listingType=pats#articleFull

Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain [stats] insists confidence isn’t a problem for the defense, even after giving up 82 points in the first three games.

“I think we’re a confident team,” Banta-Cain said. “We’re just not consistent yet.”

Though coach Bill Belichick’s team is 2-1, its defense has given up more points to this point than any previous Patriots [team stats] team he’s coached. With overflowing youth, players such as Banta-Cain are hoping the product that allowed Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw for 247 yards isn’t the same one that appears week after week.

“I still think that there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Banta-Cain said. “It isn’t anything where we’re going to panic. I just think that we’re not playing complete team defense. You have flashes of guys playing well in certain departments. Once we put together a complementary game with all those departments, you’ll see a good defense.”

The goal now is for each position group to help one another.

“There is plenty of room for improvement,” Belichick said. “It was a good win, a division win, but I don’t think it was our best game. I don’t think it was a perfect game.”

With a three-year deal signed in the offseason, Banta-Cain is considered one of the defensive stalwarts. So it was a shock to see the pass-rusher not in the starting lineup Sunday, as rookie Jermaine Cunningham was on the field instead.

“I was surprised by it, but I knew I was still in the game plan,” said Banta-Cain, who was part of sub packages. “So, I played a substantial amount of snaps. I just do my job, whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do it.”

Page in fold

Safety Jarrad Page saw extended playing time Sunday, making one tackle but missing another.

Belichick indicated the reserve would continue to see snaps and would “see where that takes us.”

“It was good to get on the field, though I could’ve played better,” said Page, a former starter for the Chiefs who was acquired before the regular season. “There were no issues there. Everything went good communication-wise and with the checks and everything. I’ve just gone out on the practice field and done what they’ve coached me. I guess they like that.”

Not run of mill

Of all the plays in Sunday’s victory, the one that most caught Tom Brady [stats]’s eye was the third-and-5 midway through the fourth quarter when Danny Woodhead squirted 15 yards for a first down.

“We don’t run much on third downs, so when you’re able to do that out of formations like that, (it helps),” Brady said during his weekly appearance on WEEI. “The defense is really focusing on coverages and route combinations rather than stopping a run. And that was a big drive for us. . . . When we need to score, we’re going to score to end the game.”

Tight end Alge Crumpler added, “Put up 38 points? We can do a lot better.”

Rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski grew up 15 minutes from Buffalo but said he was only slightly a Bills fan growing up. And he’s certainly not now.

“It was cool. I liked playing them,” Gronkowski said. “I don’t like them anymore because they’re our rival now. Growing up, you always want to face your hometown team and beat them.”

Visit postponed

The scheduled visit by union president DeMaurice Smith was postponed as Smith attended the funeral of former Broncos player Kenny McKinley. Another visit has yet to be scheduled. Players had been expected to vote on decertifying from the union, a step in the labor battle. . . .

The Pats released Steve Maneri, an offensive tackle originally claimed from the Texans. The former tight end out of Temple was in active for the first three games.

http://bostonherald.com/sports/foot...9&format=&page=2&listingType=pats#articleFull

BenJarvus Green-Ellis carried the football 16 times against the Bills Sunday and the Patriots [team stats] running back’s workload may increase even more in the near future.

Starter Fred Taylor [stats] missed yesterday’s practice for what is presumed to be a toe injury, after leaving Sunday’s game and not returning.

Taylor’s prognosis is not clear, but perhaps the team can afford to be cautious because of the productivity of Green-Ellis.

“Benny is tough,” coach Bill Belichick said. “He seems to always kind of be moving forward on contact and get that extra yard or two. You don’t see him get knocked back very often.”

Green-Ellis, who is also a special teams maven, shrugged off the pounding he took vs. Buffalo, though he rarely ducked from a hit.

“There are going to be bumps and bruises every day we play,” he said. “Just take care of yourself and get ready for next week.”

With the trade of Laurence Maroney [stats], the injury to Taylor and the loss of Kevin Faulk [stats], Green-Ellis finds himself in the meeting rooms with only Sammy Morris and newcomer Danny Woodhead as active players.

But he said the mindset hasn’t changed as he heads into Miami to face a defense ranked 19th against the run.

“However many reps you take, you still have to be ready,” Green-Ellis said.

Dansby happy

Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby left the Cardinals to take his talents to South Florida. Not only is he far richer, Dansby has thrived. He’s made 25 tackles in three games for a Mike Nolan-led unit that allowed 10 points in its first two games.

“Everything I hoped for and more,” Dansby said of the Dolphins. “I checked the personnel out. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. Having the opportunity to play for Bill Parcells and under coach (Tony) Sparano, (there) couldn’t be a better two (people). It’s been everything I expected and more.”

Dansby was asked if the defense has taken on his characteristics yet.

“Right now our unit is tough, we’re smart and we’re disciplined,” he said. “Last Sunday we didn’t have a great outing (in a loss to the Jets) and we knew that. The guys are starting to catch on and pick up (the intensity).”

Brady’s future

Quarterback Tom Brady [stats] has a shiny new contract that is slated to keep him in New England through 2014. He’ll be 38 when his four-year, $72 million extension runs out, though Brady has often said he’d love to play until he’s 40

Yesterday, Brady extended his timetable.

“I’m still a young man, so as long as I’m still effective,” Brady said. “I want to play for a long time. I’d like to think that I’m not at halftime yet.” . . .

The Pats didn’t wait until Saturday afternoon to fill their final roster spot, promoting guard Rich Ohrnberger to the active roster. The 2008 fourth-round pick was cut in early September and placed on the practice squad.

“Rich deserved to be moved up there,” Belichick said.

The spot was created with the release of tackle Steve Maneri, who cleared waivers and is on the practice squad. The Pats also signed former Clemson offensive lineman Thomas Austin to the practice squad.

Wildcat alert

The Dolphins have toned down their use of the creative Wildcat package, with running back Ronnie Brown rushing just 10 times out of it for 24 yards this season.

Yet the Patriots [team stats] aren’t exactly closing the book on it.

“That doesn’t mean they can’t be efficient with it this game,” safety Patrick Chung said. “We gotta be prepared for everything they run.”

Belichick noted that Pat White is no longer around.

“But it’s still a factor,” Belichick said. “Certainly the Dolphins are very good at it. They give you a lot of different looks. It’s hard to prepare for it because each time they do it it’s different. You have to really follow your keys.” . . .

http://bostonherald.com/sports/foot...1&format=&page=2&listingType=pats#articleFull

 

BILLLS

Buffalo Bills linebacker Aaron Maybin says he's not concerned about living up to the expectations that come with being a first-round draft pick.

He is, however, concerned with doing more to help the team win.

"At this point it's not about first-round draft pick and all that stuff," Maybin said Wednesday. "It's about winning football games."

"As far as winning football games and me being in a position to help this team as best I can, I still have some work to do," Maybin said. "I'm man enough to admit that. I can look myself in the mirror and say that, as well as a whole lot of other people. The point in time comes when you have to really put some of that onus on yourself and you have to go out there and make the effort to get things turned around. It's got to come from somewhere."

The Bills need more from their pass-rushing specialist three games into the season. Maybin, the 11th overall pick of the 2009 draft, has yet to get a sack in 19 NFL games. He saw his most extensive action of the season at New England on Sunday, playing 38 of 66 defensive snaps. But neither he nor the rest of the Bills' pass rushers were effective at putting heat on New England quarterback Tom Brady in the 38-30 loss to the Patriots.

"Aaron's one of the guys that has to continue to improve," coach Chan Gailey said. "He needs to be a pass-rush threat for us. We've got to get him to stay strong the whole game. He rushed better the first half than he did the second half. Hopefully he stays strong and rushes better in the second half of games. You should be getting stronger as games go on."

Maybin was on the field a lot in Foxborough, Mass., because the Patriots predominantly used three- and four-receiver sets. The Bills countered with six or seven defensive backs.

Maybin played only 13 of 73 defensive snaps against the run-oriented Miami Dolphins. He received only 8 of 56 snaps at Green Bay.

Last season, Maybin averaged just 14 snaps, or 21 percent of the defensive plays. Maybin's playing time Sunday was the most he has seen since getting 38 snaps the first game of last season, which also was at New England.

At 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, Maybin lacks bulk, which has kept the Bills from using him on normal downs and distances.

"Obviously he's got to get better versus the run," Gailey said on the Bills' Web site last week. "That's the thing that he is struggling the most with right now, is knowing every snap exactly where to play and how to play the run. He can be a good pass rusher for us, but if you're only one-dimensional, it hurts you sometimes. So we have to be able to get him better versus the run. That's what we're working on and then I could see him getting a lot more playing time."

Maybin plays behind Reggie Torbor and Chris Ellis in the Bills' base 3-4 defense. Maybin's playing time may be diminished this week, because the Bills face a New York Jets team that uses a power running game.

"He's making progress but we've got other guys that are obviously doing a better job right now versus the run," Gailey said Wednesday. "His role is somewhat limited. But he's got a big, big role on this football team that he needs to play."

That would be on obvious passing situations. The Bills lost almost a third of their sacks from last year (10 of 32) when Aaron Schobel retired. So far they have four sacks through three games.

The Bills blitzed on only one of New England's 29 pass plays, by unofficial count, no doubt because Brady is notoriously good in beating rushes of five men or more. Brady worked from an empty backfield a lot, but the Bills still could not get to him.

Maybin has by far the best initial step among the Bills' pass rushers, which gives him a speedy outside rush. He had two sacks in preseason, one on a spin move to the inside. But it has not translated to regular-season games. For what it's worth, Bills great Darryl Talley said this week he thinks Maybin is rushing two much from a four-point stance, starting with both hands on the ground. Maybin said he continues to gain confidence in his counter moves.

"I feel like it's all getting better," Maybin said. "The counters and all those moves you use to offset your speed, you have to still play within the continuity of the defense. If you have to maintain outside position, you can't take an inside move and you can't counter inside. With a lot of that stuff, I have to kind of shackle my game a little bit to play within the scheme of the defense and what we need out there, which is we need everybody to play technically sound. So when we do get a little bit of freedom out there, I do like to go to my arsenal of moves and try to throw some things together that guys haven't seen before."

Maybin knows he's going to remain a focus of attention because of his draft status.

"I understand the spotlight and all that kind of stuff," he said, "but I'll say again ... I'm out here trying to do what I can to help this team win football games. So whatever it is my coaching staff asks me to do, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article205540.ece

When you're talking by speaker phone, things can get lost in translation. On Wednesday's conference call, I asked Jets coach Rex Ryan if he could believe the Bills didn't have an interception.

"No, we do not," Ryan said, "and we don't plan on it this week, either."

No, Rex. The Bills don't have one this season.

"Well," Ryan said, laughing. "They can bust out next week, not this week."

The world has been flipped on its head. Three weeks into the season, the Jets are one of three teams that haven't thrown an interception. The Bills are one of three defenses without one.

What happened to that dynamic Buffalo secondary of a year ago? They were second in the NFL with 28 interceptions. The opposition completed 56.8 percent. This year, it's 67.8 percent. Opposing QBs rated at 61.1, second-lowest in the league. Now it's 109.0.

Was it all luck last season, a confluence of opportunity and bad quarterbacks?

"There isn't one specific answer," said free safety Jairus Byrd, who tied for the league lead with nine picks last year as a rookie. "I wish I could tell you. It's a lot of things. There's communicating, getting people in the right places."

OK, they played Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady the past two weeks. But they played well against Brady and Drew Brees last season. Last week, the coaches decided to sit back in coverage rather than blitz. Brady burned them, anyway. Nickel, dime, loonie, it didn't matter. It would help if the front four generated any sort of pass rush, or if Aaron Maybin could get a sniff of the quarterback. But the defensive backs simply aren't making the big plays right now, and they're the first to admit it.

"Our entire secondary feels we let the team down last week," said Donte Whitner. "We had an opportunity to win that game and we didn't play well. It's on us."

"We've got to get better back there," Byrd said. "It is only the third week of the season. But all those yards in the passing game and those touchdowns, that can't happen."

Byrd says he's close to 100 percent after minor groin surgery. But he hasn't looked like the guy who last year became the first Bills rookie defensive back to make the Pro Bowl. Byrd had a clear shot at the Pats' Aaron Hernandez on an end around Sunday and whiffed. He hasn't shown the same nose for the football. Could it be he's thinking instead of reacting?

"It could be mixture of both," Byrd said. "Paralysis by analysis, I guess. We're out there communicating a lot of different formations that can change things in our defense. As long as we can communicate and make things simple, just slow things down and relax out there, I think we'll be better."

Maybe seeing Mark Sanchez can snap him out of it. Last year, Byrd picked off Sanchez twice in a 16-13, overtime win at the Jets, sparking his run of three straight games with two interceptions. The Bills had six picks in that game.

Sanchez threw 12 TDs and 20 interceptions as a rookie. He has six TDs and no picks through three games this year. Sanchez had three TDs, no interceptions and a 120-plus rating in each of the Jets' last two games, wins against the Pats and Dolphins. Sunday, the Jets come to Buffalo looking for the AFC East trifecta.

Sanchez isn't as good as he's looked the last two weeks. And the Bills' secondary can't be as shabby as it looked against the Packers and Pats. They remember what they did to Sanchez a year ago. They believe they can do it again.

"People didn't think the secondary would get six picks off them last year," Whitner said. "Sanchez isn't on Brady's level yet. You can blitz him. He's the key to their offense. If he's playing well, they normally win football games. If he's not, they lose. We know what we have to do."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/jerry-sullivan/article205555.ece

The Buffalo Bills' run defense should receive a boost Sunday with the return of inside linebacker Paul Posluszny.

"I think he'll make it back this week," coach Chan Gailey said of Posluszny, who has missed the last two games because of a sprained knee.

It will be a welcome addition for a unit that gave up 200 yards on the ground in Sunday's 38-30 loss to the Patriots. New England had eight different ball carriers, led by unheralded BenJarvus Green-Ellis (16 carries, 98 yards).

"[It's hard] watching the game at home in your living room while your buddies are out there playing, fighting hard, doing everything they can to win," Posluszny said. "There's nothing worse than preparing all year and then having to miss time."

Of course, that's something Posluszny has had to get used to in his career. The second-round draft pick out of Penn State in 2007 has played a full season just once, in 2008. As a rookie, he broke his left forearm at New England in the third game of the season and went on injured reserve.

Last season, Posluszny again broke his left arm -- again at New England, in the season opener. He missed just four games, and returned to lead the team in tackles.

"Missing time is the worst thing for a player so I'll be really excited if I can get back out there again," he said.

The odds of that will depend on how he makes it through practice this week, beginning today.

"[Rehab] has been going really well. I'm healing up fast," Posluszny said. "As long as I can practice throughout the week, I'll be fine."

Posluszny was hurt in the season opener on the first play of the second half when he assisted on a tackle of Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown. The team initially feared something worse, but the injury was diagnosed a sprain.

Posluszny's timing will be good if he can return this week. Sunday's opponent, the New York Jets, rushed for an astounding 567 yards in two games last season against the Bills.

Buffalo's switch to a 3-4 defense this season has not yielded the desired results. Through three games, they are 27th against the rush, allowing an average of 141 yards per game.

Posluszny, who has shifted from middle linebacker to inside linebacker in the team's new scheme, has led the Bills in tackles the past two seasons. He had 110 in 2008 and 111 last season. His three interceptions tied for the NFL lead by a linebacker last season. He also forced three fumbles.

Before being hurt against Miami, Posluszny had eight tackles and a sack.

"It [knee] feels good right now and I know we still have a couple of days to get even better, which is great," he said. "The more time to heal up and get ready for this game, the better."

...

Former Bills defensive end Aaron Schobel worked out for the Houston Texans but the two sides could not come to a deal, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday.

"The bottom line is we couldn't come to an agreement," Schobel told the paper. "It's late, and I'm not in the best of shape. It would have taken me another week or two to get into [playing] shape."

Schobel, who ranks second on the Bills' all-time sacks list with 78, retired Aug. 16 after the Bills told him he wasn't in their 2010 plans. He waffled on signing with Houston before retiring.

"I appreciate the opportunity, but it's just not meant to be," Schobel told the Chronicle regarding his workout. "I'm retired and proud of my career. ... Part of me wishes it would have worked out. It's just not going to happen."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article204289.ece

Typically, when the Buffalo Bills lose a football game, I'd be inclined to give a game ball to an opponent. Or to a particularly bad Bill during said game. This week, however, despite the fact that the Bills lost to the New England Patriots, I'm doling out a game ball to one of our own - a man who played well. That man is rookie running back C.J. Spiller.

I'm still not a fan of the role that the Bills have carved out for the No. 9 overall pick in last April's NFL Draft. For two weeks, Spiller hadn't played himself into a bigger role, having struggled against Miami and Green Bay. Despite a limited number of touches, however, Spiller finally exploded onto the NFL scene on Sunday with 228 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.

Of those 228 yards, 189 came on five kick returns, with 95 of those on a kick return touchdown in the third quarter to cut New England's lead to 24-23. Having just given up a touchdown on the opening possession of the second half, Spiller's big play was a huge momentum shifter, and allowed the Bills to continue to compete until deep into the fourth quarter.

Spiller's first career touchdown came in the second quarter on a five-yard reception, which at the time gave the Bills a 13-7 lead following a forced turnover. Spiller carried the ball four times for 29 yards, and added three receptions for 10 yards in defeat.

At some point, if Spiller continues to make game-changing plays like he did in New England, his role in Chan Gailey's offense will expand rapidly.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/

New Buffalo Bills starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was productive enough in Week 3 to get the team's former starter released. Taking advantage of a young, inexperienced New England defense, Fitzpatrick threw for 247 yards and two scores - along with two interceptions - in a 38-30 loss. He played well, but was aided by the Patriots' struggles defensively.

Fitzpatrick will receive similar aid in Week 4, when the New York Jets visit Ralph Wilson Stadium. Playing without star cornerback Darrelle Revis and top pass rusher Calvin Pace (both of whom may not be available this Sunday, and will be limited at best), the Jets have struggled to defend the pass, ranking No. 27 in the NFL and surrendering 275 passing yards per game. Joe Flacco (248 yards), Tom Brady (248 yards, two TD) and Chad Henne (363 yards, two TD) have all had solid outings, and each Jets opponent has been able to get at least two receivers six or more receptions through the Jets' first three games.

Aside from Revis' absence, the Jets are also struggling to generate heat on opposing quarterbacks. With just five sacks through three games - one more than the Bills and their fledgling pass rush - Flacco, Brady and especially Henne have been able to dissect the Jets' back seven with relative ease.

There will be opportunities to make plays through the air, but even weakened, this Jets defense is still very good. Without even considering the exotic blitz schemes that are likely to confuse Buffalo's young, overmatched offensive line, the Jets have a dominant run defense, currently ranked fourth in the league. They're giving up a paltry 62 rushing yards per game. They've also intercepted four passes, recovered two QB fumbles, and Flacco, Brady and Henne have still only posted a collective QB rating of 75.6. Given Fitzpatrick's gunslinger mentality and accuracy issues, the Bills will need to proceed with caution if their plan is to try to beat the Jets through the air

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/29/1719039/bills-fitzpatrick-must-exploit-weakened-jets-d

 

JETS

The Jets' offensive players would like everyone to know that they're in the room, too, that they're not wallflower guests at the party.

When Rex Ryan came to New York with all his bluster and reputation for building suffocating defenses, it was natural for the offense to become the forgotten stepchild.

Defense courses through Ryan's veins. It's the air he breathes, the food he eats.

When Ryan's defense finished last season ranked No. 1 in the NFL and carried the inconsistent offense on its shoulders to the postseason, it was easy for the offense to develop a complex as the neglected child in the family.

To understand how seriously Ryan takes his defense, consider that the day after the Jets' 31-23 win over the Dolphins on Sunday night, Ryan sounded as if he'd lost, grimly saying his "pride was hurt" by his defense's poor performance.

Here's the rub: The Jets didn't lose the game because the offense wouldn't allow them to lose the game.

In a cat-chases-dog turnabout, the Jets' offense bailed out the defense Sunday night, putting up 31 points while the defense was making Miami quarterback Chad Henne look like Dan Marino.

Imagine that: The Jets' offense carrying the defense to victory.

"That," receiver Jerricho Cotchery said, "was a long-time coming."

What's developed inside the Jets' locker room is a quiet, unspoken, healthy competition between the offense and the defense.

It began in training camp. A year ago, the offense was embarrassed by the defense on an almost daily basis in camp. This summer, the offense actually took it to the defense.

Perhaps a symbol of the turn was the Mark Sanchez long scoring pass to LaDainian Tomlinson on the first play of the team's first intra-squad scrimmage.

Two weeks ago, the Jets scored 28 points against the Patriots. They bettered that by three points in Miami. Now the struggling Bills await Sunday in Buffalo.

"We feel like we shouldn't have to play second-fiddle to our defense," right tackle Woody said. "We feel like we're just as capable of carrying this team offensively. That's our mindset, that's our goal. We're a prideful group. This year is a different perspective.

"Yeah, we know we've got a really good defense, but we've got a really good offense, too. We feel like our offense is just as good. Our goal is to be No. 1 in the league on offense. We've set our goals very high offensively. We feel like we have the playmakers to get it done. Why not? We feel like the goal of being No. 1 in league in offense -- total yards, scoring, minimizing turnovers -- those are attainable."

Tight end Dustin Keller, who caught six passes from 98 yards and two touchdowns in the first half against the Dolphins, is one of those playmakers.

Keller said "we're starting to prove" the offense is capable of carrying the defense when needed, adding: "Two [strong weeks] weeks can't set it in stone yet. It's something you have to keep on doing consistently. Right now, we're off to a pretty good start. We're playing pretty well together now."

********

'Tough' 3 out of way

BALTIMORE, New England, Miami.

Long before the season began, those first three games on their schedule stared the Jets in the eyes like a menacing pit bull baring its teeth.

That daunting stretch would set a tone for what course the team might take in 2010, whether it would back up the Super Bowl talk or take disappointing steps backward.

With the Darrelle Revis holdout, receiver Santonio Holmes not available until the fifth game and the bull's-eye "Hard Knocks" placed on their backs, doubts were cast about whether the Jets would be ready to handle the early onslaught of competition.

Losses in all three games or even two of them would surely lead to panic in the streets of Florham Park. Considering that Baltimore is a legit Super Bowl contender, New England has Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and Miami swept the Jets in 2009, an 0-3 start was hardly out of the question and some veteran players knew it.

"A lot of people were pointing to our first three games," right tackle Damien Woody said on the eve of the season opener. "That's a tough first three games. Everyone really wants to see how we're going to perform in those first three games. It's almost like the perception is that our season is make-or-break in those first three games. I don't know if it's make-or-break, but it will tell a lot about our team."

What we know about the Jets through those first three games is this: They're a James Ihedigbo safety against Baltimore away from being 3-0. A couple fewer penalties committed and a third-down conversion or two against Baltimore and mass Super Bowl hysteria would be engulfing the Jets right now.

They'd be a win over lowly Buffalo on Sunday away from having the chance to be 4-0 in the first quarter of the season. As it stands, they can get to 3-1 with a win over the Bills and there isn't a Jets fan alive who wouldn't have signed up for that at the start of the season.

*****

Tight end having Keller start to season

DUSTIN Keller is headed for the Pro Bowl if he continues on the torrid pace he's been on through three games.

Keller, who leads the Jets with 15 catches for 226 yards and three touchdowns, is on a pace to finish with 85 catches for 1,205 yards and 16 touchdowns -- numbers that would surely rank him among the elite tight ends in the league.

"He is such a weapon," coach Rex Ryan said. "We laughed about it and said in training camp that fantasy leaguers should take Dustin Keller. He really is a nightmare to cover."

One week after catching seven passes for a career-high 115 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots, Keller dominated the Dolphins' defense in the first half Sunday night, catching six passes for 98 yards and two TDs to give the Jets a 14-0 lead.

"He opens up a lot for us," running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. "He takes pressure off the running game, he takes pressure off the outside receivers and he's able to control the middle of the field. Linebackers can't stick with him, safeties can't stick with him. It's a tough matchup for people."

The fact that Keller is clearly Mark Sanchez's favorite target is evidence of that.

"He's fun to throw the ball to," Sanchez said. "Dustin and I are growing up together."

****

LaDainian Tomlinson has unofficially taken over as the Jets' lead running back. Tomlinson, quite simply, has performed better than Shonn Greene and that's why he was given his first start as a Jet on Sunday night.

For the third consecutive week, Tomlinson ended up with more rushes than Greene (15 to 10) and more yards (70 to 36).

In three games, Tomlinson has 37 carries for 208 yards and a robust 5.6-yard average per carry while Greene has 30 rushes for 106 yards and a sluggish 3.5-yard average. Tomlinson is also second on the team in receptions with nine while Greene has two.

An early trend has been set and Tomlinson is making it more and more difficult for the coaches to take him off the field because he's still such a dynamic weapon. Further illustrating that Tomlinson is the man is the 45 snaps he took in Miami compared to only 14 for Greene.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/jets_gettin_offensive_DPWP5IZW8ZjDKxSdydjBMI/1#ixzz1116feiuv

 

BILLS

The Buffalo Bills are on their bye week, and as backup safety George Wilson told reporters on Wednesday, the bye week is a time the team uses to self-scout. Using that same logic, I thought it'd be prudent to take a look back at some of the player notes I've jotted down through the first five weeks of the season, combining them into one "couch scouting" post, if you will. We'll start with the defense, looking at a few players as well as a few alignments.

DE Dwan Edwards. Of Buffalo's defensive end group, no player is getting as much playing time, thanks in part to Marcus Stroud's one game missed. Edwards started the season off with solid performances against Miami and Green Bay, but struggled mightily against New York and even Jacksonville. The Bills are using him in all of their defensive packages, meaning he's playing the run and rushing the passer. He's a solid technician with a great feel for the game, but like most of his teammates, he needs to find a bit more consistency in this scheme. It's not saying a lot, but he's probably the team's best pass rusher at this point in time.

NT Kyle Williams. This guy is Buffalo's best defender. He comes to play every week, and is really the only defender that is talented enough to force the offense to react to where he's lined up and his penetrating abilities. The Bills aren't asking him to play the zero technique; rather, he's playing the one technique, shooting gaps and trying to get into the opposing backfield to cause a little havoc. He draws a lot of double teams, and like Edwards, he goes full-bore on 100% of plays. Many readers want the Bills to try to trade him, but he's simply too good to let go.

Star-divide

OLB Chris Kelsay. What's impressed me most with Kelsay through these first five weeks is that he's got a great grasp of the defensive scheme. He knows where he's supposed to be, his length makes him something of a problem when he drops into zone coverage, and again, he hustles. His problems, as always, are athletic-related - he has very little range in coverage and poor change-of-direction skills, which obviously leave him exposed very frequently at his new position. As a result, he's been burned on numerous occasions. He's at his best when he's got a hand in the dirt in sub-packages, but even there he's underwhelming. I'd argue that he has been one of Buffalo's weaker run defenders this season, as well.

ILB Paul Posluszny. It hasn't helped that he missed some games with a leg injury, but Posluszny doesn't yet look comfortable in this 3-4 scheme. Because of the way George Edwards is scheming Williams at nose tackle, Posluszny is still having to deal with guards getting to him at the second level, which is pretty much the opposite of what most expected would happen coming into the season. Poz is struggling to get off blocks and getting caught in the wash very frequently, and the run defense results have obviously been poor. What's more, Posluszny looks lethargic in coverage, often late to read and not athletically gifted enough to compensate. He's not playing as poorly as many want you to believe, but he certainly hasn't been good.

CB Leodis McKelvin. At times, he has been Buffalo's best defender. He plays the ball extremely well going forward, and has several pass break-ups (and, unfortunately, a dropped interception) to prove it. He's a reliable tackler, and clearly the most athletic DB on the roster. His problem remains consistency, as he has been beaten deep on a few occasions and missed assignments on others, leading to some big plays for the opposition. He also continues to take an occasional poor angle in run support; Danny Woodhead's touchdown run in New England is a good example. He's getting better, but not at a very quick pace.

CB Drayton Florence. He graded out fairly well after taking McKelvin's starting spot in 2009, but after beating him out for a starting job this season, Florence's play has slipped overall. He's allowed scores, been penalized frequently, and seems to have lost a step from '09 to '10. Still, because he's a solid tackler and the most physical of Buffalo's cornerbacks, he's been on the field more than any other corner, even when Terrence McGee was healthy. I'm not sure how long that will continue, because Florence has been something of a liability for this defense, even amidst long stretches of very competent play.

FS Jairus Byrd. George Edwards knows this guy's strength, because he's spent most of his time in deep center field playing the pass. He's gotten beat once or twice, particularly when bigger targets get behind the linebackers in zone coverages; Byrd doesn't have the size or the quickness to make plays on the ball when a guy like Marcedes Lewis is standing in front of him. In general, however, teams aren't throwing deep, instead taking underneath throws to try to exploit the linebackers. In run support, Byrd's problem isn't his tackling form or his willingness to be physical; it's simply bad angles. That's correctable, but he has been absolutely torched by some running backs early this season.

SS Donte Whitner. Like Byrd, Whitner's biggest problem remains angles; he's been beaten both against the pass and while defending the run because of his poor angles. Whitner has struggled this season, giving up several big plays. He is Buffalo's best tackler, period - his whiff on LaDainian Tomlinson notwithstanding, Whitner has been very sound in the tackling department. He's made some very big hits, too. Whitner, however, is a safety that needs a lot of help in front of him to play at a high level, and clearly, he doesn't have that help.

The "heavy" defense. Against Jacksonville, the Bills - in an effort to shore up their shoddy run defense - broke out a heavy, almost 4-3 package to try to get more physical at the point of attack. Williams and rookie Torell Troup lined up inside, while Marcus Stroud and Dwan Edwards (spelled by Spencer Johnson and Alex Carrington) played defensive end. Kelsay played outside linebacker, while Andra Davis and Posluszny took "inside" roles, though Posluszny, as the third linebacker, looked like he was playing outside. The results were mixed. Williams and Troup performed rather well inside, but the Bills were beaten at the edge with relative ease by the Jaguars. Cutback lanes were plentiful, as the Bills really struggle to defend the back side against the run. But there were also moments, for the first time in a few weeks, when the run defense was good enough to force the Jags to pass. Expect to see a lot more of this defense, possibly with Kelsay at end once the team gets a little healthier at linebacker.

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/10/14/1750597/couch-scouting-the-buffalo-bills-defense

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has given the Buffalo Bills a glimmer of hope to cling to during their 0-5 start to the NFL season.

The offense has functioned better since Fitzpatrick took over for Trent Edwards after two games.

Fitzpatrick, in fact, ranks sixth in the NFL in passing efficiency, with a rating of 99.9. He has thrown seven touchdown passes and two interceptions the past three games. The Bills' gross passing yards have gone up by 73 a game since Fitzpatrick took over.

Of course, none of that production has produced a victory. But it gives the Bills more hope that they can be more competitive in the coming weeks.

"We've been able to protect a little better, we've been able to throw and catch a little bit better," coach Chan Gailey said Wednesday. "I think he has a great understanding of what we're trying to get done. Obviously, some of the receivers are making some plays. All that ties together to increase your passing game, which you have to have to be successful in this league."

Gailey said Fitzpatrick has done a good job, but the offense has a long way to go.

"We can get a lot better," he said.

Fitzpatrick had 220 yards passing against Jacksonville on Sunday, 128 against the New York Jets and 247 against New England. The defenses of New England and Jacksonville are not as good as those of Miami and Green Bay, which Edwards faced the first two weeks.

Still, the offense looks more fluid under Fitzpatrick, a sixth-year veteran from Harvard.

"I think we've made some progress," Fitzpatrick said. "It was good last week to spread the ball a little bit. Lee [Evans] is making plays, Steve [Johnson] is making plays, and Roscoe [Parrish]. We've got to build on that."

"Fitz will just try to get the ball out any way he can, and that helps," Evans said. "So it comes down to getting on the same page so we can complete more of those passes downfield."

Fitzpatrick has been efficient on first-down plays. He's 29 of 34 for 389 yards with five touchdowns and one interception on first down.

However, the Bills' offense too often has hurt itself with penalties or assignment errors, preventing sustained drives. Against Jacksonville, the Bills had 20 second-down snaps, and 12 went for zero yards or worse. (There were four penalties, six incompletions and two sacks on second down.)

Sometimes the difference simply is talented opponents making plays. Jacksonville's best defender, Aaron Kampman, derailed three different Bills drives on Sunday.

Fitzpatrick has been able to get the ball more often to the Bills' best receiver, Evans, who caught a 45-yard TD strike against the Jaguars. Jacksonville's defense had two deep safeties on the play. Fitzpatrick looked to his right to influence the safety on the left, then came back to Evans down the left sideline.

"The safety on the left was the guy I was trying to influence," Fitzpatrick said. "As he didn't get much width, that opened up the hole for Lee."

Fitzpatrick said the Bills are doing some self-study and some early preparation on their next opponent, Baltimore, during their bye week.

"We'll look at what we've done well this season so far and what we want to continue to focus on," he said. "That's kind of what the bye week's all about, finding the plays we think we'll be most successful at.

"You do a big study of the things you're doing well," Fitzpatrick said. "Obviously from this last game the thing we take out of it is the way Fred [Jackson] ran the ball, the way they blocked for him. That's something that's going to be big for us, just continue to find ways to feed him the ball."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article219215.ece

 

JETS

Here comes the extended breakdown of Monday Night’s action. If you have anything else you’d like me to comment upon, please leave your requests in the comments and I’ll do a follow-up post tonight. (Note: I have already taken note of several BGA questions via the comments/e-mail, which I will also respond to later.)

After the jump, catch my analysis of Sunday’s game, including – but not limited to – comments on Darrelle Revis, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie.

Playcalling

There were several issues in connection with the playcalling this week, so let’s address each one in turn.

At the end of the first half, why didn’t the Jets run the ball inside the five?

Simply put, they didn’t have a timeout. With the conditions the way they were, it might not have been easy to get back to the line and stop the clock (which would also have wasted a down in the process). I actually believe that taking the timeout with 30 seconds to go and having three shots at the endzone – two of which came very close to being touchdowns – was the highest percentage choice.

Why didn’t they run the ball more?

While it may have seemed like the Jets were running all over the Vikings, this was not the case after the first quarter, as a high percentage of plays were being stuffed, leaving the Jets in obvious passing situations. From the start of the second quarter to the midway point of the fourth, the Jets gained 55 yards on 20 carries – less than 2.8 yards a pop. According to the laws of diminishing returns, that average would only have gone down if they carried the ball more and while I accept that this would have at least kept the clock running and shortened the game, it might have led to shorter drives from the Jets, giving the Vikings more chances to get back into the game. As we saw, once they got into a rhythm, they were dangerous. Against a front as dominating as the Vikings, you sometimes have to pass to set up the run and this is the situation the Jets found themselves in once the Vikings started to load up on the running game. Eventually, they were able to go back to the run and Tomlinson broke a 16 yarder, which was followed by Shonn Greene’s 23 yard touchdown on the next play.

Did they blitz too much?

The answer would appear to be yes, because they got burned for some big plays which enabled the Vikings to get back into the game without taking too much time off the clock. Interestingly, Favre had a passer rating of 118.2 when under pressure, but had less success when the Jets blitzed but did not get to him. However, maybe this is because he rushed a few throws before the pressure got to him. That is certainly what happened on Lowery’s pick six, for example. If they went into more of a soft zone, perhaps Favre would have been in a better rhythm at the end of the game – he actually only completed two of his last ten. I know we all hated the prevent, but if Favre had marched the team down the field 8-10 yards at a time, then the last three scoring drives would have taken a lot longer and there wouldn’t have been as much time on the clock. Which brings us to…

What happened prior to the two minute warning?

No excuses for this. At 2:47 with no timeouts, they should have gone for a running play that used up more than seven seconds. Even if they went backwards ten yards, that would have been less important that the extra 90 seconds or so that could have been bled off the clock, after they compounded the error by throwing two incompletions before the two minute warning (for which both Sanchez and the coaching staff should take some heat). The good news? They got away with it and perhaps will do the right thing next time.

Quarterback

Once again, Mark Sanchez was able to avoid turning the ball over. Once again, he got lucky at least twice. After throwing downfield for 31 to Braylon Edwards on the game’s first play, he was 0-for-7 on throws further than 20 yards downfield. He also completed just 6-of-19 passes when blitzed. The Jets had -8 passing yards in the third quarter and Sanchez was at least partially responsible for the clock management woes at the end of the first half.

Clearly it was a struggle for Sanchez, especially after a decent first half. Overall, he completed less than 50% of his passes, although several of his incompletions could have been caught. Despite this, he led the Jets to a win, showed unexpectedly bold composure in driving the team through a monsoon at the end of the first half and made yet another clutch throw to Santonio Holmes to help ice the game. In some respects, that makes this performance more impressive than the last few where he performed so effortlessly well.

Offensive Line

The offensive line gave up two sacks, a hit and three pressures this week. Again, those are good numbers against a team like the Vikings, even though they don’t blitz more than four as often as some teams. Damien Woody was beaten for one sack and Matt Slauson was responsible for the other. Slauson has now given up three sacks in five games, but hardly any pressure. In other words, he is doing a very good job overall, but every other game, a veteran lineman (this week: Ray Edwards) has been able to get by him. It’s all part of the learning curve. Spearheading the pass protection effort was D’Brickashaw Ferguson who, left on an island of his own against Jared Allen, didn’t allow a single pressure, hit or sack.

The offensive line got a lot of credit for the fact that the Jets were able to run for 155 yards. 84 of these came on five plays though, so it was actually not as consistently dominant as you might think. Damien Woody had a very good game and he and John Conner threw the key blocks on Greene’s touchdown.

Running Backs

Maybe this week, the running backs deserve more credit for the success of the running game. LaDainian Tomlinson broke/avoided five tackles in the game (having had just nine all of last season) and Shonn Greene added two, as the Jets had 115 of their 155 yards after contact. As mentioned above, there were several long runs that helped boost the total and these usually involved a broken tackle at the line enabling the runner to get to the second level.

One thing I did notice with Shonn Greene was early in the fourth quarter when he converted a third and short play. Greene plunged into the line to pick up three and keep the chains moving. However, had he cut back to the right, there was a huge hole and he probably would have been untouched for a 70 yard touchdown. My first thought was that Thomas Jones probably would have done that. However, Jones doesn’t break as many tackles as Tomlinson these days, so he probably would not have done nearly as much with Tomlinson’s 20 carries. We’ll talk more about Thomas Jones in my Expendables update during the bye week, but I don’t think they’re missing him right now.

John Conner only saw action on five plays this week, but Tony Richardson saw extensive playing time. Richardson was not good this week. Other than on the short yardage play referenced above, I didn’t see him make a key block on 35 plays, was called for a hold and had one bad whiff that led to a loss.

Tight Ends and Receivers

There were a lot of mistakes from the receiving corps this week. Santonio Holmes made some big plays, but also had two drops and a holding penalty. Braylon Edwards dropped a pass too and Dustin Keller – while not officially credited with a drop – saw one pass bounce off his fingertips at the goalline and had another knocked out of his hands by a defensive back, which also happened to Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery. Only three drops officially, but there were certainly a handful of other plays that could have been made.

On the plus side, Edwards, Cotchery and Holmes combined for 13 catches and 157 yards in less than favorable passing conditions. Going forward, that’s going to be a dangerous unit. Brad Smith didn’t get many reps at wide receiver this week, but came up big as a kick returner.

Dustin Keller’s blocking wasn’t very good this week, either, but Ben Hartsock did a solid job in 19 plays. Matthew Mulligan didn’t get into the game this week.

Defensive Line

It was a great job by the front seven this week in terms of stopping the run. Minnesota picked up 92 yards on 24 carries (3.8 yards per carry) and 30 of those came on one play where Peterson got to the outside. Ellis, Pouha and Devito all had solid games against the run upfront.

The Jets recorded four sacks, three hits and 10 pressures and although much of this came from the extra guys they were sending, Ellis did contribute a sack and a pressure, Pryce added a hit and a pressure and Pouha also added a pressure.

Here’s a breakdown of the pressure sent:

Fewer than 4 pass rushers: 12
Four: 12
Five: 16
More than five: 3

Maybe that doesn’t look so bad, until you consider that the 12 three man rushes all came within the last 3:24 of the game.

Linebackers

The linebackers deserve more of the credit for stopping the run this time. Bart Scott had a great game and freed up David Harris, who was constantly around the football in another excellent performance against the run. Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas graded out positively too, although it was Pace who lost outside contain on the 30 yard run by Peterson.

Pace added a sack, a hit and two pressures in his return to the team and could have had a second sack, only to be called for a facemask penalty. Jason Taylor also had a sack and a pressure as he had 31 of his 38 snaps in the second half.

Defensive Backs

Darrelle Revis looked like a shell of his former self by the fourth quarter. He was actually pretty good in the first half, but in the second half he looked tentative on that hamstring and also appeared to show that he is less comfortable in zone coverage than man-to-man. Although Rex said Revis only gave up one catch, he was ultimately responsible for three. Rex might strictly speaking be correct, because on two of them, the Jets appeared to be in a zone, but Revis’ instincts on those two plays left a lot to be desired – and there were two other times where Percy Harvin got away from him but the pass fell incomplete, although one of these should have been a penalty against Harvin.

One of the two plays where Revis appeared to be beaten in zone coverage saw Revis set up to the outside, which suggests that he did not have responsibility for Harvin if he cut across the field (instead picking up any back or tight end that released to the right). It’s impossible to know for sure, but there’s a chance Kyle Wilson was at fault here. Harvin ran right by Wilson, who appeared pre-occupied with where the tight end on the right side of the line was going. He seemed like the most likely person Revis would release Harvin to, but when Wilson didn’t pick him up, Revis had to try to recover and give chase, and looked tentative doing so. The other zone play saw Revis prematurely release Greg Lewis to the safety behind him. Lewis didn’t keep running to where the safety (Leonhard) was and instead drifted out to the sideline, so should have remained Darrelle’s responsibility. I don’t think either of those plays could be attributed to a lack of skill or technique from Revis, but rather poor instincts in that type of coverage. I will reiterate that you can’t 100% tell from the film what the coverage is supposed to be.

Onto better news. Antonio Cromartie had a fine game. Although Moss beat him for a touchdown and a third down conversion (then later added a garbage time catch with Cromartie playing off him), Cromartie did an excellent job overall, breaking up three of the seven passes thrown his way. Brodney Pool was also good, despite dropping an interception, and Drew Coleman, Kyle Wilson and Dwight Lowery all held their own. Eric Smith did not fare quite so well, missing a couple of tackles, but did okay in coverage. Jim Leonhard had a rough game in coverage, giving up a catch on all three passes thrown his way, including a touchdown.

Special Teams

Nick Folk and Steve Weatherford’s kicking was again a big part of the Jets win. The team also got another huge play from the special teams unit, when Brad Smith set up a field goal with an 86 yard kickoff return. It was not all good though. Folk’s kickoffs have been getting progressively worse (more on this to follow during the bye week) and the Vikings had 197 yards on kick and punt returns.

PFF Analysis

I once again contributed to the game recap article for ProFootballFocus.com (which also gives you a sneak preview of some of their player ratings) and here’s a sample quote:

After a traumatic week on and off the field, Brett Favre‘s attempt at a comeback against his former team fell short. Once again, certain frailties in the Jets defensive secondary were exposed, but they made enough plays on both sides of the ball to win their fourth straight … By the time the game was over, you could be forgiven for having forgotten just how dominant the Jets were in the first half. However, inconsistency in the red zone enabled the Vikings to hang around, leading to Favre’s ill-fated comeback attempt, which leaves the Vikings reeling at 1-3 and the Jets atop the AFC East at 4-1.

TJB readers can obtain full access to PFF’s premium stats for $63 this season. The discount available has been increased to 30%. E-mail me (bentdouble@gmail.com ) to obtain a code to enable you to get the discount.

Conclusions

It wasn’t a perfect win, but I’ll gladly take it. This team still isn’t operating on all cylinders, so there is plenty to get excited about. It’s a team which still has plenty of issues, but one which has had enough firepower to win four straight (against some decent teams) and that would appear to have the personnel to fix most of those issues by the end of the season. Many questions remain. Can they remain healthy? How will they respond when next faced with adversity? I’m sure we’ll find out soon.

http://www.thejetsblog.com/2010/10/14/bga-vikings-at-jets/

 

PATRIOTS

The most interesting storyline for me when it comes to the 2010 New England Patriots is how the defense develops in year two of the rebuild. 2009 was year zero of the Belichick Patriots Defense version 2.0, and now in the second season we've started to see some interesting trends emerging as the coaching staff gets to know their new players better and better.

With a hat tip to Mike Reiss we break down the snaps played for each defensive player and try to read the tea leaves as to what it all means after the jump...

Star-divide

The first place to start is here where I've tallied up the snaps played this season based on Mike Reiss' numbers (small margin for error). Here are the trends and observations that stuck out the most, some are obvious, some less so...

Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Jerod Mayo are our best players, playing an average of 98% of the defensive snaps in 2010. Every week it seems like McCourty gets better and it saddens me to think how this team would look if it was Leigh Bodden lining up at the other corner spot. Mayo looks like he has returned to the level he established his rookie year, while Chung is having the breakout season many of us thought he would.

Though he hasn't been used as an every down linebacker Tully Banta-Cain remains one of the most vital pieces of the puzzle (4th overall with 83% snaps played). Jermaine Cunningham has gradually gotten more snaps as the season progressed (26, 23, 28, 53) and that has eaten into TBC's time on the field. Whether that's an indication that Cunningham is surpassing TBC, or they're just trying to keep TBC fresh for pass rushing duties remains to be seen.

Brandon Spikes and Gary Guyton are dividing run downs and passing downs respectfully. It's interesting to see how much less playing time Guyton is getting this year than last year. Clearly Guyton was out of place as a base 34 Mike linebacker. His best place is in pass coverage with occasional blitzing, and even then he can be suspect sometimes. He's one player who needs to show some improvement, especially with so many talented pass-catching tight ends and running backs on the upcoming schedule.

James Sanders was the number one trade bait guy mentioned in training camp, but so far he's played nearly 75% of the snaps. Brandon Meriweather appeared to retake the starting 34 free safety spot against Miami before getting dinged, look for his percentages to climb from 7th overall in the coming weeks. Assuming he can continue to avoid "freelancing".

Ron Brace was slowly building his number of snaps player per game for the first three weeks of the season (18, 46, 25) before seeing only one snap against the Dolphins. It's hard to know if this is a reflection of wanting to get Brandon Deaderick some playing time, or if Brace started regressing against the Bills. His playing time against the Ravens will be something to monitor.

Jarrad Page is another player who has been slowly playing more and more with each game, though the Miami numbers are skewed by the loss of Brandon Meriweather. It will be interesting to see whether it's Sanders or Meriweather whose playing time gets taken away as Page improves.

Like Spikes and Guyton, Myron Pryor and Gerard Warren seem to be splitting pass downs and run downs. When it comes to pass rush Pryor is one player who really needs to start producing. Pass rush isn't just about the linebackers, it's about the interior rushers (Pryor, Mike Wright). Wright has played 51% of the snaps and produced just one sack and four tackles. My pass rush concerns focus on Wright and Pryor moreso than Banta-Cain, Cunningham or Ninkovich. Wright is used in all nearly all passing situations, he needs to start getting to the QB.

Vince Wilfork has to be considered one of the defensive MVPs though he's only playing 68% of the snaps (which is still pretty impressive for a guy once considered one-dimensional). Wilfork can play any position on the defensive line, and teams generally run away from him giving the Patriots an advantage.

Kyle Arrington has gone from just 8 snaps total in the first two games to 86% of the snaps in the last two games. Whether he holds onto the top RCB spot over Darius Butler will be an area to monitor. Butler played in 92% of the snaps in the first two games, but just 14% of the snaps in the last two.

In the big picture it's clear that some roles have been locked down, but the coaches are still experimenting in other areas. Against Baltimore we should get a clearer picture of what the Patriots self-scouting revealed to them. It should be an interesting game to see how this defense will continue to evolve and take shape

http://www.patspulpit.com/2010/10/1...-defensive-personnel-analysis-by-snaps-played

FOXBORO - The trading of Randy Moss and the return of Deion Branch has led many to claim The Great Cancer has been cut away and the Patriots [team stats] have returned to their past. If that’s the case they should have re-acquired Mike Vrabel, Asante Samuel [stats] and Richard Seymour [stats], not Branch.

While it has become popular sport to blame the Patriots’ failure to win another Super Bowl the past six years on the offense, the truth is the opposite is the case. In the three Super Bowl-winning seasons with Tom Brady [stats] at starting quarterback, the team went 10-5 in games in which it scored 19 points or less. Since that last Super Bowl victory six years ago the Pats are 7-17 in games in which they scored 19 points or less.

Lost their soul or lost their defense?

In 2007, the Patriots had only one game in which they scored 19 points or less. They lost that game. It was Super Bowl XLII.

Since then, they are 4-9 in such games, again losing two of every three. That’s not because, as someone around here loves to holler, “The offense stinks!” It’s because the defense isn’t close to what it was and neither Randy Moss nor Deion Branch could do a thing about that.

If one looks at the Indianapolis Colts one finds a similar circumstance. Although people in these parts loved blaming Peyton Manning for Indianapolis’ failures against the Patriots during the local team’s Super Bowl years, the fact is the Colts are 16-27 in games decided by 19 points or fewer since 2001 but 3-3 in the two years they reached the Super Bowl. Take out those two years and the Colts are 10-21 in games in which they scored 19 points or less during what could be called the Brady-Manning era. Lo and behold, the Colts lost two of every three such games and won no titles, just like guess who?

So for all the noise being made on radio and television these days about how Moss’ arrival caused the Patriots to “lose their soul” and how he made them get away from “playing Patriot football” the problem was and remains that the defense has slipped through aging and unwise drafting to the point where it: A) struggles to hold a lead; B) needs to be propped up by the offense far more often than is healthy if a championship is the goal.

Truth be told, “playing Patriot football” was always more about defense than offense. It was about running a smartly risk-averse offense. But one cannot do that if the risk is your defense won’t hold up in close games.

As the Colts have amply proven; as the “Greatest Show On Turf” St. Louis Rams have amply proven; as the K-Gun Buffalo Bills have amply proven, you don’t often win championships scoring points. You win them by stopping the other team from scoring points.

That’s how the Patriots won in 2001, ’03 and ’04 when they went 10-5 with Brady leading the offense on days it scored 19 points or less. It’s how they’ve lost since, going 7-17 in such games since that last championship victory and 4-9 since last returning to the Super Bowl.

By the way, if you think those facts change by pushing it up to 20 points, they do not. Nineteen just seemed to serve as a line of offensive demarcation.

Now it may be more titillating to blame Brady, Moss and the offense for the disappointments, such as they’ve been, of the past five-plus seasons. But the truth is they didn’t lose their soul when Moss arrived and didn’t find it when Branch returned.

The “soul” of their Super Bowl seasons was their defense. If you’re going to lose two out of every three times when you score less than 20 points you’re not going to win many championships because, if you think about it, isn’t that what really separates champions from the rest of the pack?

In these parts we used to say “defense wins championships” because the Patriots had one and the Colts didn’t. Now it’s not that way so the mumbling heads say the offense has lost its soul and can’t score in the second half (do those points count more?) and can’t score “when it counts” (last time I looked, whenever you scored counts). The truth is the defense seldom holds up in a close game.

This year’s Patriots, with or without Moss, will win most of the track meets. But champions win the bulk of the dogfights, too. And dogfights in football are most often won with stout defenses that don’t go 7-17 when points are hard to come by.

http://bostonherald.com/sports/foot...ill_wins_championships_a_point_of_contention/