Die Hard Sports Fan

The Buffalo Bills needed a victory to fight for their playoffs lives and they got it, hammering the Kansas City Chiefs 54-31 at Arrowhead Stadium.

1st Quarter

Well this game started off with fireworks and it looked like these teams would go back and forth all afternoon putting up points.

The Chiefs started off the game with a touchdown on their opening drive to take the 7-0 lead on a 36 yard TD pass from Tyler Thigpen to Jamaal Charles.  The Bills would be able to match it on their first drive of the game.  On 4th and Goal from the 1, Buffalo went for it and it paid off.  Marshawn Lynch ended the drive with a TD run, the extra point was good at it was a tied game again.

The score is tied 7-7 heading into the 2nd quarter.

2nd Quarter

33 points were put up in this quarter, although 23 of them went to one team.

Bills kicker Rian Lindell made a 21 yard field goal to give Buffalo a 10-7 lead.  It wouldn’t last long though as Kansas City was able to answer the points right back.  After a huge Larry Johnson run, Thigpen threw his second TD of the game on a play action pass.  The Bills defense fell for the fake and left Tony Gonzalez wide open in the endzone.  Chiefs now up again, 14-10.

Rian Lindell would add another FG in this game to cut the lead to one on a 39 yard attempt.

On the very next series for Kansas City, Thigpen’s pass was picked off by rookie CB Leodis Mckelvin.  Mckelvin took it down the sidelines, showing off his great speed, and tip toeing down the sideline before he dived into the end zone for 6.  The Chiefs then added a 45 yard FG by kicker Connor Barth to keep the game close, 20-17.

Lindell would add another field goal and QB Trent Edwards would scramble 15 yards and dived into the endzone for a touchdown to put the Bills up huge by the half.

Going into the tunnel, Buffalo leads 30-17.

3rd Quarter

Edwards would run for another TD, this one being a little bit closer though as he only had to go 5 yards.  Lindell then added another field goal before Kansas City got on the board again.  Thigpen would hook up with Mark Bradley for a 45 yard TD pass.

It looked like the Chiefs had a little bit of life but Trent Edwards led another great drive and threw an 8 yard TD pass to Josh Reed.  Going into the 4th, Bills up a bunch, 47-24.

4th Quarter

Each team put another TD on the board.  Buffalo’s came first on a 17 yard pass from Edwards to TE Derek Schouman.  Kansas City would put one more up too on a 3 yard pass from Quinn Gray to Dwayne Bowe in garbage time.

Bills win this one, 54-31.

Wrap Up

• QB Trent Edwards improved his game this week.  He went 24 of 32 for 273 yards and 2 TDs (0 INTs).  Edwards also ran the ball 6 times for 38 yards and 2 more TDs.
• Marshawn Lynch had another strong game on the ground.  On 20 carries, Lynch had 79 yards and a touchdown.  He also had 5 catches for 25 yards.
• Lee Evans finally got back into the game plan, catching 5 passes for 110 yards.
• Josh Reed in his first game back from injury, also caught 5 passes, for 50 yards and 1 TD.
• After missing the go ahead kick last week, Rian Lindell went 4 for 4 today on FG chances.
• Not only did Leodis Mckelvin have a pick 6, he also had another INT and returned 2 kickoffs for an average of 33 yards.

The NFL.com Game Center: Post Game is attached.

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The Buffalo Bills drop a heartbreaker to the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football by a score of 29-27.

1st Quarter

The Bills started out shaky and that is being kind to QB Trent Edwards who started off the game with 3 interceptions.

However the defense remained strong, despite the short field they had to guard against, they held the Browns to just 6 points on 2 field goals off the foot of kicker Phil Dawson.

Browns led, 6-0.

2nd Quarter

The Browns got out to a fast 13 point lead after a 2 yard touchdown run by Josh Cribbs.  It looked like the game might be over before it even began.

Running back Marshawn Lynch was not just going to roll over and quit though and finally “Beast Mode” was turned on after a beautiful 18 yard pass reception from Edwards.  The play was all Lynch though as he made defenders miss and dragged guys into the end zone.

Rian Lindell was able to cut the lead to 3, after a 26 yard field goal to end the quarter.  

Going into the tunnel at halftime, the Bills were down 13-10.

3rd Quarter

The 3^rd quarter was a back and forth affair that only had 6 points put up on the scoreboard between the two teams.  Lindell and Dawson both added another field goal, so going into the 4^th. Browns still had the lead 16-13.

4th Quarter

After stopping Jamal Lewis for most of the game, the Bills running defense looked strong.  Jerome Harrison changed that in one run as he went 76 yards for a touchdown that gave the Browns a 10 point lead.

It looked like the Bills were going to need another huge comeback to get back into this one but a rookie made it a little easier.  On the kickoff after the touchdown, 1^st round pick Leodis McKelvin took back the return 98 yards for a touchdown!  The game was back to a 3 point affair.

After another Browns field goal, Trent Edwards led a small drive that resulted in 6 after he dove in for a 1 yard touchdown run.  

On the following drive for the Browns, Brady Quinn led his team down the field and sent up a 53 yard field goal attempt that was good.  Browns take back the lead 29-27.

After the kickoff the Bills took over and need some yards.  Edwards threw a good pass to TE Robert Royal and after 3 running plays the Bills had a 47 yard field goal attempt for the win.

Lindell pushed it though and it sailed wide right giving the Browns a 29-27 win.

Wrap Up

Trent Edwards went 16 of 26 for 148 yards, 2 touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 passing) with 3 INTs.

Marshawn Lynch hit the century mark for the 1^st time this season.  He got 119 yards on 23 carries and also caught 10 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.  Beast mode is back!

Leodis McKelvin had a huge game returning the ball.  Not only did he have a 98 yard kick return for a TD but he also averaged 61 yards on 3 chances, having solid returns all night.  

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The Bills unplugged the Chargers to improve to 5-1 on the year, and remain in control of 1^st place in the AFC East.

1st Quarter

The Bills got on the scoreboard (that wasn’t working) first with a field goal by Rian Lindell but Chargers QB Phillip Rivers owned the Bills offense.  He went 10 of 11 for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Chargers up after one, 7-3.

2nd Quarter

The Bills fought back in this quarter as Trent Edwards hooked up with Lee Evans on a fade pattern to the end zone.  Evans caught the ball one handed before getting both feet in.  The Bills also recorded 3 more points on another field goal by Lindell.

Bills go into the tunnel at halftime, up 13-7.

3rd Quarter

The Chargers would battle back to take the lead on a 12 yard TD pass from Rivers to WR Vincent Jackson.  The lead wouldn’t last long though as Marshawn Lynch would get a monster block form Fred Jackson, and Lynch would be able to trot into the end zone for a TD.  

Bills head into the 4^th, now up 20-14.

4th Quarter

No comeback needed in this one for the Bills as they actually had the lead to start the 4^th.  The Bills are able to hold the Chargers to no points in this quarter and add a field goal of their own to hold on and win 23-14.

Wrap Up

The Bills top rush defense held one of the best in the game (LT) to 41 yards on 14 carries.

Trent Edwards went 25 for 30, for 261 yards and 1 TD pass.

On the ground, Lynch had 70 yards, and 1 TD on 19 carries.  Backup Fred Jackson had 9 carries for 33 yards.

In the receving game, Lee Evans caught 8 balls for 89 yards and a TD.  Josh Reed had 3 catches for 32 yards while TE Robert Royal had 4 for 53.  

Greer and Paul Poz led the team in tackles with 8 and 7 respectively.  

The NFL.com Game Center: Post Game is attached.

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The Buffalo Bills came out flat in this one and got blown out 41-17 by the Arizona Cardinals.  Not only did the Bills lose the game to drop to 4-1 on the season but they also lost QB Trent Edwards to a concussion early in the 1st quarter. 

1^st Quarter

After Edwards was lost for the game (and possibily even longer), the Bills offense could get nothing going.  The only score of the 1st, came when Cards QB Kurt Warner threw a TD pass to a wide open Larry Fitzgerald.  After 1, Cards lead 7-0.

2^nd Quarter

The Bills attempted to make this one a ball game but their defense could not stop the Cardinals offensive attack.  Rookie RB Tim Hightower added a 17 yard run for a TD and vetran Edgerrin James also had a short TD run in the quarter. 

The Bills would get two touchdowns this quarter as they tried to get back into it.  The first one came on an absolute strike by backup QB JP Losman to Lee Evans.  The play went for 86 yards and the Bills finally got on the board.  The 2nd TD came on a Losman QB draw from the 2 yard line.

The teams would head into the tunnel at halftime with the Cardinals leading by 10, 24-14 over the Bills after K Neil Rackers hit a 47 yard FG as time expired.

3^rd Quarter

The Bills were able to get the game back to a 1 score game when K Rian Lindell hit a 48 yard FG of his own.  The Cards would not be shut out though in this quarter.  Towards the end of it, Larry Fitz caught his 2nd TD pass of the game and Arizona still lead 31-17 going into the 4th.

4^th Quarter

The Bills would end the game putting up a goose egg in the 4th where they are usually very good.  Neil Rackers hit another FG and Hightower scored his 2nd TD of the game on a short run inside the redzone.  The Cards high power offense was able to overmatch the Bills, winning the game 41-17.

Game Notes

• JP Losman sucks (Sorry not really a stat just had to throw it out there.  I’ll get more into that with the post tomorrow)
• The Bills turned the ball over 4 times in this one, while Arizona didn’t have any. 
• Marshawn Lynch had anothe subpar game with 55 yards on 13 carries.  In his defense though, the Bills started passing more and more as the game went on.
• The Bills also got killed in the time of possesion battle with the Cards holding onto the football for 36:16.
• This is the Bills last game before the bye week.  They take on the San Diego Chargers at home in their next game.

More to come on this game tomorrow.  As you can tell I am not very happy with the outcome or the way the game was played by the Bills in general.

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As most of you know already, the Buffalo Bills improved to 2-0 with a 20-16 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.  They are now tied for first in the AFC East with the New England Patriots.  Big win for the Bills!  They are now 2-0 against playoff teams from last season also.  So who do I have for my “Unsung Hero”?  Who recieves the gameballs?  How did the Bills do overall in my eyes?  Keep the page scrolling for the answers.

GRADES on Bills

Running Game: D+

The running game started off hot but struggled at times after that.  Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch did not combine for over 100 yards.  The Bills as an entire unit averaged a very weak 2.9 yards a carry.  Lynch did come through with the 11-yard TD run, the only real good run on the game.

Passing Game: A

Can’t really say anything bad about a 20-25 day by Trent Edwards.  The final TD drive showed how quick the young QB matured.  Hit Lee Evans on a 37 yard pass on 3rd and 6 and then calm and cool he throws the go ahead TD to rookie James Hardy.  Everyone got involved in catching the football.

Run Defense: B+

Sure they were a little sluggish in the 2nd half but who wouldn’t be after playing in 90+ degree heat.  Held one of the top running back tandeems in the league in Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor to 66 yards.  A job well done.

Pass Defense: B+

Got some decent pass rush and a very timely sack by Kyle Williams helped the grade too.  No pass in this game went for more than 15 yards.  Corner Terrence McGee also came up with a timely INT before the end of the 1st half.

Special Teams: C-

They got fooled!  An outside kick was converted on one of the best units in the NFL.  After the game, Coach Dick Jauron said that he told his players to watch out for the outside kick because he knew it was coming.  Yikes!  The return game struggled a little too.  They averaged under 20 yards on 4 kickoff returns.  Kick coverage was pretty good though.

Coaching: A+

A well prepared game plan.   Didn’t panic when down either.   If offensive coordinator Turk Schonert continues his great play calling, a statue will go up for him soon.  Same goes for the defense in Coach Perry Farwell.  Sorry Bobby Aprils. no love for you today. 

GAMEBALLS

• Trent Edwards: Of course Trent will win one of the honors this week.  How could he not?  Mr. Cool finished the day 20 for 25 with 239 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs.  Did not play like a second year player in this one.
• Ashton Youboty:  Wow!  Really all I can say about this guy.  I didn’t even think he would make the roster for this season and he stepped up big in this one from the starting nickel corner spot.  He only had 3 tackles but they came up at the right time.  One was to stop Garrard for scrambling for a first, and another was a huge hit on another 3rd down play when they ran a screen.  He also had a sack in the 1st quater.

UNSUNG HERO

Rian Lindell.  What!?  You are going with the Bills kicker?  Now wait a second before you jump down my throat.  He went 2 for 2 on field goals with one of them coming up in the clutch.  It happened with the Bills being up by one, 17-16 when he came into the game.  There was about 30 seconds on the clock, when he booted the 45 yard field goal good to give the Bills a 4 point lead.  Why is this so important you may ask?  Well if he misses that kick, the Jags get the ball back in great field postion only needing a FG for the win.  Something as small as a field goal late in the game is sometimes lost in a game like this, but it’s not forgoten here.  Lindell takes the Unsung Hero adward for Week 2.

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The Buffalo Bills game is of course Sunday at 1:00 (eastern) against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The next match up that I am going to take a look at is the two teams special teams which will have a huge impact on the game.  The match up is broken down into 3 categories, Punting (punters and punt coverage), Kicking (Place kickers and Kickoff Coverage) and Return Game.

PUNTING

BILLS:

The Bills have one of the best punters in the game with Brain Moorman.  He got a ton of work in the first game of the year.  Punted the ball 9 times for a 46.6 average per punt.  Moorman also had a 19 yard TD pass for a perfect QB rating and he also put the ball inside the 20 3 times.  He really helped the Bills pin the opponent deep in their own territory.  The Bills did struggle a little bit on their punt coverage though.  They let up an average of 13.5 yards on 4 returns.  They didn’t let anyone get a huge return, although there was one punt return that went for 21 yards.  A better job on coverage would really help out the field position battle.    

JAGUARS

Seahawks punter Adam Podlesh was able to put 4 punts inside the 20, despite only averaging a 37.0 average on 6 punts.  He also had one touchback.  The Jaguars coverage team was very well and they will have to continue that this week against one of the most dangerous return men in the league, Roscoe Parrish.  They did do a good job against the Titans.  They averaged letting up 7.5 yards a return (with a long being of 8).  Those kinds of numbers will have to continue if they want to keep the Bills out of end zone on special teams.

KICKING

BILLS

Rian Lindell went 2/3 in field goals so far this season.  One of them was blocked though, something that cannot happen in close games.  The Bills last opponent, Seattle, had a pretty respectable average of 26.5 yards on 4 returns with a long of 39.  The Bills are set in the field goal department but again need to improve their coverage team.

 JAGUARS

Josh Scobee went 1 for 2 on his field goals in their game vs. the Titans.  The Jags kick coverage team was very good in the two times they got on the field, holding Chris Carr (of the Titans of course) to a 16.5 average with a long of 21.  Very nice job there and that will need to continue this week. 

RETURN GAME

BILLS

The Bills are loaded with return men.  The starter on kickoffs is cornerback Terrence McGee while the punts are handled by speeding Roscoe Parrish.  The Bills also have an X-Factor in rookie Leodis McKelvin, their first round draft pick.  McKelvin has yet to return a kick or punt in a game.  He is very dangerous though.  He had 8 return touchdowns in college and 1 in a preseason game this year.  McGee didn’t really stand out in the last game seeing as he had 1 return that went for 27 yards.  He has big play capability though.  You have to watch out for him on every play.  Parrish of course returned a punt for a highlight reel TD last week.  The play went for 63 yards.  Parrish also had 6 returns in total that average 20.0 yards a return.  Another big play threat.  All three of these guys are very hard to contain.  

JAGUARS

The Jags return men didn’t do too bad of a job themselves.  Brain Witherspoon had 2 punt returns for that averaged 22.5 yards (long of 29).  He also had a monster game on kickoff returns.  Had 3 returns for 124 yards!  That is good for a 41.3 yards a return average.  He will need to be contained by the Bills to keep him from breaking a long one. 

WHO WILL WIN THIS MATCH UP:

I love the Bills special teams and most weeks I will pick them by a landslide but they might have met their match in Jacksonville.  The Bills overall kicking game is better and I like their return men more but how can you argue with the stats.  It will definitely be a battle for field position all game between these two teams.  It is more of a tossup but there is no way I’m going to call something a tie.  The Jaguars are my pick to have a better game in today’s match up.

Remember if you disagree with anything I said in this article, be sure to put your opintions in a comment below.  Have a good night everyone.

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Hello Bills fans.  The Buffalo Bills fell to the Redskins 17-14 at Fedex field this past Saturday.  I was in attendance for the game and even though it didnt count, it was great to watch the Bills.  The starting offense didnt look so great and couldnt get into a flow.  Trent Edwards did have a nice 18 yard pass to Roscoe Parrish.  The offensive line had two false starts on the opening drive so we had to settle for three.  The defense didnt fare to well but was missing starters Donte Whitner, Angelo Crowell and Terrence McGee.  I take preseason for what its worth.  Its basically for the players that are on the bubble to show what they can do in game situations.  Cornerback Ashton Youboty had a nice interception and then flipped it to Reggie Corner who returned it to the 20 yard line. That setup J.P. Losman’s td pass to rookie receiver James Hardy.  Hardy made up for a drop with a nice 16 yard reception in the endzone.  Rookie Leodis McKelvin shined in the return game taking a punt back 45 yards.  If he would have cut to the right side, he would have scored.  McKelvin also had a 37 yard kickoff return.  He looked impressive.  As always the special teams played fantastic.  The unit forced a fumble on the opening kickoff which was recovered by kicker Rian Lindell.  Although we didnt pull out the victory, I saw some positive things from our team.  I cant wait to see us play at full strength.  Go Bills. 

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