The offense does little no matter who is at quarterback.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:J.P. Losman played one series and got hurt on the first play of the game. He completed his only pass but lost a fumble after injuring his knee. Trent Edwards replaced him and led the team on an 80 yard touchdown drive but did nothing else finishing 10 of 20 for 97 yards and a pick. Grade D: Tough spot for Edwards in his first NFL action.
Running Backs:Marshawn Lynch once again looked like he could be the real deal. His eight yard touchdown run was a matter of wanting it badly as he powered his way into the end zone. He finished with 74 yards on 20 carries. They still can't get him involved in the passing game as he caught just two short passes. Anthony Thomas saw very little action and didn't carry the ball. Dwayne Wright got his first action of the year in garbage time as he ran the last six plays of the game and gained 36 yards. Grade C+: Not the reason for the loss.
Receivers:Lee Evans is officially having a bad year. One catch just won't do it. Peerless Price's second time around with the Bills is officially a bust. Two catches for just 23 yards. Roscoe Parrish managed only two catches of his own as did Josh Reed. Robert Royal did not catch a pass but Ryan Neufeld and Michael Gaines each caught one, he actually started the game in the two TE set. Grade F: Tired of hearing about the depth at receiver. None of them after Evans would even see the field on another team.
Offensive Line:The line gave Edwards a lot of time to throw on the Bills lone scoring drive. They only gave up two sacks and did manage to lead the way for a 4.1 yard per carry average. Kirk Chambers saw a lot of action as a tackle eligible to catch a pass but none was thrown his way. Jason Whittle tore up his hamstring. Grade C-: Didn't do enough like everyone else.
Defensive Line:Aaron Schobel had a ½ of sack but not much else, he was in on five tackles. Chris Kelsay was in on a quiet eight tackles. Jon McCargo had a forced fumble and recovery to stop one Patriots drive at the Bills goal line. Larry Tripplett was a non factor but did have six tackles. Kyle Williams, Tim Anderson, and Jason Jefferson also had quiet games. Grade F: Not enough pressure, not enough run stopping.
Linebackers:This unit took another blow when Paul Posluszny broke his forearm. After that they played a lot of two linebacker sets with John DiGiorgio and Angelo Crowell. DiGiorgio was in on the Bills lone sack and led the way with 12 tackles. Crowell was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty and was beaten for a score. Grade F: Undermanned unit tried hard but didn't do much at all to slow down the Pats attack.
Secondary:Due to injuries at this position the Bills were down to their third, fourth, and fifth cornerbacks and none of them did anything in this game. Jabari Greer got the start and was decimated by Randy Moss all game long as Moss caught two touchdown passes. Ashton Youboty didn't do much at all and neither did Kiwaukee Thomas. The safeties didn't do much either, Jim Leonhard was in on five tackles and Donte Whitner had 11 but they were mostly after big gains. Grade F: Failing grades all around defensively.
Special Teams:Finally a bright spot, the punter! Brian Moorman averaged 49 yards on seven punts including a 75 yard boomer from the edge of his own goal line. With Terrence McGee out Josh Scobey returned kicks and averaged just 22.4 yards on five returns. Rian Lindell had no field goal attempts and hit his lone extra point. Roscoe Parrish didn't get a chance to return a punt. The coverage units struggled as they allowed a 33 yard kickoff return and the lone return. The punt coverage unit gave up 72 yards on three returns by Wes Welker. Grade D: Even the great special teams unit struggled today.
Coaching:Dick Jauron doesn't know what to do with this team anymore thanks to injuries. They were going to open it up but had to scrap the gameplan when Losman was hurt. There was no adjustments. What happened to getting Lynch the ball in the passing game? Why use Chambers as a tackle eligible instead of someone like Peters? Grade F: The offense is in disarray and the defense is decimated.
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