Pass call hands game to Jets.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:J.P. Losman was playing very conservative averaging less than four yards per pass attempt with a long on the day of 14 yards. He overthrew passes on many occasions. Hit four straight passes on the go ahead touchdown drive but then lost the big fumble to give the game away. He then threw two interceptions for three turnovers in the last two minutes. Grade F: He will never be an NFL quarterback because he's too dumb to feel the backside pressure.
Running Backs:Marshawn Lynch was in beast mode all day long. He took the team on his back and was going to lead them to a win if they just gave him the damn ball to run out the clock. He had 127 yards on 21 carries, maybe Jauron thought 22 would have made him too tired for the last two games. Lynch always runs hard but I never saw him run harder as he constantly dragged defenders for extra yards. Fred Jackson did the same thing on his 11 yard touchdown run carrying defenders the last four yards. He finished with 31 yards on seven carries and six catches for 24 yards. Corey McIntyre caught one pass for no gain. Grade A+: They did their share.
Receivers:It is official the Bills receiving corps stink. Constantly Losman had all day to throw and looked downfield but obviously nobody was ever open downfield. Lee Evans had four catches for 22 yards. Josh Reed had four catches for 43 yards but couldn't haul in a pass that was picked off. Roscoe Parrish who? He can't get open against anyone. James Hardy was hurt early in the game. Steve Johnson had a six yard run and a two yard touchdown catch to go along with an 11 yard grab to convert a third down. Robert Royal caught a pass and dropped one. Derek Fine had two catches. Grade F: These guys just can't do anything downfield.
Offensive Line:The line did a nice job giving Losman time to throw as his three sacks were a result of holding the ball too long. Where have we heard that before? They opened up holes in the running game as they ran for 187 yards at almost six yards per carry. Jason Peters was beaten for two sacks and both forced fumbles. Langston Walker recovered one and the second went for the winning score. Grade C+: Did ok but not enough.
Defensive Line:There was no pressure all day long on Favre and there were holes in the middle of the defense as the Jets ran for 6.9 yards per carry. Ryan Denney had three tackles while Chris Kelsay had only three assists. Marcus Stroud was knocked out of the middle all daylong as there were gaping holes for the Jets to run through. Kyle Williams was also knocked out of many plays. Spencer Johnson had a big tackle for a loss to force a punt. Grade F-: No pass rush whatsoever, Luckily for them the Jets stopped running.
Linebackers:Paul Posluszny had an interception and almost pulled in a second one. He had five tackles and was active in pass defense. Kawika Mitchell was quiet again with four tackles. Keith Ellison did more on special teams than on defense although he had five tackles. Grade C: Average day for this unit.
Secondary:Terrence McGee was slowed by spasms but had a big interception and the pass defense got much better when he came back in the game. Leodis McKelvin had five tackle. Donte Whitner was awful early, he was beaten by Coles for a 22 yard pass play on the opening play of the game and pass plays of 20, 19, and 11 on the 2nd series by three different receivers. The last one for a touchdown. He played better in the second half and led with 10 tackles. Bryan Scott took a poor angle on Washington's long touchdown run before halftime. He had a nice pass breakup in the end zone that held the Jets to a fourth quarter field goal. Ko Simpson was quiet. Grade B: F in the first quarter, an A the rest of the way.
Special Teams:Brian Moorman had a beautiful 63 yard punt early in the 2nd half that was downed at the two yard line and a 52 yard punt downed at the three. Both were downed by John Wendling. Keith Ellison made a nice six yard run on a fake field goal in the first half for a first down. Rian Lindell hit 34 & 48 yard field goals. Roscoe Parrish had a nice 56 yard punt return setting up a Bills touchdown. Leodis McKelvin had a 100 yard kickoff return for a score called back by a Jon Corto holding penalty. Coverage units held Washington to a 22 yard average on kickoff returns. Grade A: Unit showed fire and kept the team in the game.
Coaching:Dick Jauron took full blame for the play action pass play. So he should be fired immediately although that won't happen. When Lynch is taking the game on his back, let him win it for you! Perry Fewell needs to find a way to kick start a defense that plays awful on the opening series. The opening TD drive was way too easy. The whole unit got tricked by Favre's bootleg. Turk Schonert either called a really bad play to lose the game or has had his responsibilities stripped. Either way he's on his way out of town. Why can't they make one play downfield? Grade F-: There should be cleaning house in the offseason if not sooner.
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