The Bills were looking to finish the season with a win, and a solid 8-8 record. Instead, it was the Eagles that swooped in, and took the W. Philadelphia’s high-flying attack stymied a Bills’ secondary, already without Donte Whitner (flu), and made it a long day for the defense as a whole. The result: a 17-9 loss.
Last week, I commented that the score was not indicative of the way the game was played. On the scoreboard, the Bills looked to have been lambasted, but that was not the case. This week, one would look at the score and think that it was a close, hard fought affair. Not so. The Bills were dominated in this one from start to finish. A key red zone interception by Buffalo was all that kept it from getting potentially out of hand.
Donovan McNabb was methodical, yet explosive. He marched the Eagles down the field on two, 10+ play drives that resulted in 10 points, and was able to complete 29 passes for an impressive 345 yards. Once again, the Bills’ front four were simply unable to generate any type of pass rush. They did have some success with zone blitzes, and were able to get to McNabb four times, including a key pressure leading to the aforementioned red zone interception. However, the zone blitzes were leaving the Bills’ secondary vulnerable, and giving McNabb mouth-watering mismatches to work with. At one point, Aaron Schobel was left 1-on-1 along the sidelines with Brian Westbrook, and Ashton Youboty was also victimized on a wonderful throw, that ultimately iced the game in the fourth quarter.
The Bills offense put together only three solid drives. All of them led to scores, but 3 points will not win you games when you employ a “bend but don’t break” defense. Again, the Bills were unable to punch the ball in, after penetrating the red zone. Another drive, beginning at the Philadelphia 28, was snuffed out on downs. This is an obvious concern for the off-season; a concern that I will breakdown in the upcoming weeks.
Trent Edwards looked sharp on some throws, and very poor on others. In his defense, Philadelphia sustained good pressure on him throughout the day. Another misleading figure; zero sacks for the Eagles. The Bills were unable to slow down the unrelenting pass rush of Philadelphia, and Edwards was harassed more times than he may want to remember. That said, he had the opportunity to make some throws, and was unable to do so. He missed wide, short, and more often high. In fact, this is a recurring theme for the past 3-4 weeks. I attribute some of this to the changing weather conditions, but much of it lies with inexperience.
As ugly as this game was, there were again some positives to take from it. Marshawn Lynch was again, a workhorse. He carried the ball over 20 times, and rushed for over 100 yards for the third time in his short career. Also, young cornerback Ashton Youboty had his first career interception. In fact, one could say that it was Youboty’s first big play since being drafted by the Bills’ in 2006. Perhaps the youngster is ready to make the leap to the nickel back position next year.
Finally, the Bills’ end the season with a somewhat disappointing 7-9 record. Disappointing, perhaps because they dropped their final three games after having been 7-6. However, I feel the season was a limited success. With the multitude of injuries their defense was faced with, and the fact that they began 0-3, I would venture to say that a 7-9 record will sit just fine with many Bills’ fans. I truly look for this to be a playoff contending team next year, and in the coming months, I will lay out my plan for this belief to come to fruition.
Also, to update the Marv Levy situation, BuffaloBills.com has reported that he and Ralph Wilson had discussed a two year plan when he was hired. Once the two years had passed, Levy had every intention of retiring. It seems that this decision was mutual between Levy, and the organization. I’ll update this story as more information is available.
Don’t go anywhere, because the regular season may be over, but the blogging season is just beginning. I’ll have plenty for you in the months leading up to next year. In the meantime…
Go Bills!
