Trends and oddball stuff: -First blocked punt in 20 yrs, for a Td, odd thing was the two players involved, Chris Clemons and Lex Hilliard probably should be playing more on offense or defense. -It would seem the key to a high powered offense is to lose Dan Carpenter, for the first time in the Sparano regime, we did not try a FG (I do not think we tried one in the shutout loss to the Bears in 2010) -MMoore's QBR was a whopping 133, -Speaking of which, last ten Red Zone Trips...8 Td's. -That Charles Clay guy, he's pretty good. -JT is 1 sack away from tying Richard Dent and John Randle for #6 all time in sacks, and 4 behind tying Mike Strahan for 5th and have to think he is #1 or #2 in causing forced fumbles -D pitched another TDless gm, first time since 08. -ST's has really picked up it's game, of all of the units, that one has been the most consistent all season long, it should earn us 1 win sooner or later. -DTrain looks like he has hit the rookie wall, his snap and explosion just is not there, Sparano really needs to think about using Lexxy in spots he has been using DTrain. -Odie, who some were calling a bust, has 4 sacks in the last 4 games -Clyde Gates is just not a good returner, at this point it would make as much sense to use Nolan Carroll or to activate Steve Slaton and leave Gates inactive. -D held Fred Jackson to 33 yds rushing Oddball stuff: -Bills dropped 10 passes -YBell said the Bills looked like they laid down -I bet there are empty tagamet packages in the Bills GM front office watching Fitzpatrick fall apart after signing him to that nice contract. -2nd week in a row a player was seriously injured on the opponents' squad, they lost McGee and Donald Jones to serious injuries. -Bob Griese is on a roll, last week he called for Vontae to have a big game, this week Charles Clay -The 2 int's moved us out of a tie with a couple of teams for the lowest number in the NFL, one of them was the Stealers. -Apparently, and lamentably, Odrick's pee wee dance is catching on... -JP Losman saw playing time, so did Tyler Thigpen, but for very different reasons... I loved the fact Sparano could and did, rest the starters by rotating guys in, while Dallas played a knock down, drag out with Redskins, this should give us a bit of an edge for the turkey day game, also think that with a decent lead, Mike Nolan was finally able to do some of the things on Defense we all thought he was going to do heading into 2011, in the last 4 games, we've had 14 sacks? It looked like Nolan played a lot of 4-3 looks once we had the lead. And a shout out to the BC Lions on making the Grey Cup vs the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the coach in my Avy, Wally Buono, probably will lose 4 or 5 guys to NFL camps this January, including maybe a Qb, the first one to make the jump and have a serious chance to start games in the NFL since Buono lost Jeff Garcia to the 49ers in the 90's.
Bills wound up with 33 yds rushing in total, FJax did have 17 of them. first 6 games, opponents had over 100 total yds rushing, now we probably make Top 3 in rushing defense.
I gave you a hard time about Moore last week, but I gotta admit..he looked pretty sharp yesterday. Dropped a nice deep ball on a dime to Clay...made really good decisions... Hard to find fault in a 14/20 game...he pretty much only missed on 2 throws that I can remember, and BM dropped one over the middle on him. So..kudos to you Matt Moore.
Its almost weird seeing them play like this. This is the team I expected from week 1 or at least week 3 once they got some rhythm going. I only wish it started sooner... I have to wonder where to put the blame at this point. The talent is clearly here and coming together. I want to blame coaching, but keeping an 0-7 team going, and getting them to play up to their talent level after such a horrendous start is impressive in its own way. I'm just not sure what to think anymore, but its fun watching some wins either way. The big question becomes...what are the implications of 5-11, 7-9, etc.? Is it just another damning to mediocrity, or is the talent there that a good draft and good coaching from the start puts us in position next year. What to do...what to think...
Nice rundown Pads. Moore playing well has been a surprise to many, he is definitely showing he has a place in this league. However I wouldn't bank anything on him. Look at Fitzy - a guy in the right system, he caught fire for several weeks, got his contract, then all of sudden down to earth. I wouldn't be shocked if Moore is in a similar boat. Would still much rather pursue a draftee like Barkley or RG3. Thomas hitting the "rookie wall" this early despite missing so much time is concerning. High potential, but lots of concerns with him as well. Clay has been a revelation, hopefully he can keep this up and remain consistent. The Dallas game will be interesting, that is probably the best team we will face since our winning streak began. I would caution people reading to much into the Skins taking them to OT, those divisional games can get nasty, Dallas is still a really good team. However, their starters playing essentially two more quarters than us leading into a Thursday game may be important in a tight game. Nice little write up of Clay from Bill Barnwell at Grantland - http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7263999/11-things-loved-week-11
You mention they ran some 4-3 looks. Are you sure that wasn't just a nickel package? That has to be checked a little bit.
They did, 4 down, 3 up, SOLB a step or two closer to the LOS. As for Matt Moore when he first got the job, I said he will improve the Wr's TD numbers because he throws the type of passes that our guys run the proper routes for down in the RZ, and I'm rather glad that this has come to pass, our RZ offense is now quite potent mainly because MMoore is willing to fit the ball into those tight windows down in the Endzone.
Do you know what was the lineup? There's no comparison in terms of pass rush when the team gets off the snap versus sits there and read-and-reacts.
The 3rd LB was either Mitchell or Misi, I'd like to see which one. It's not surprising getting pressure out of that group.
