Buffalo Bills Notebook 9/20

A few thoughts before Sunday’s matchup in Foxboro….

The offense that was supposed to improve from last year’s inconsistency is floundering again. Besides from a few strong runs from Marshawn Lynch, the offense has struggled just to move the chains. Raise your hand if you know who the Bills leading receiver is. I didn’t know either until I looked it up and found it was Roscoe Parrish. This news should trouble Steve Fairchild as J.P. looks lost and confused in the pocket. He is developing a Drew Bledsoe like knack for holding onto the ball and then proceeding to throw it away. To have a chance against Brady and Co, the Bills will need to find a way to attack downfield against a Pats D minus Rodney Harrison (suspension) and Richard Seymour (PUP list)

• It will be a nice sign if the Bills pash rush improves. Aaron Schobel is the active sack leader against Tom Brady, so it would be nice to see Schobel earn his hefty paycheck against the Pats.
• Nice play by Jabari Greer against Hines Ward in place of Ashton Youboty while he was on the sideline. His outstanding pre-season might give him the edge at the #2 CB spot.
• Another defensive standout through two games has been John McCargo. He has looked like a sure-fire 1^st round bust, but has come out hungry this year with 2 tackles for a loss and a sack.
• Dick Jauron has been quiet in response to the calls for Trent Edwards, but throwing the rookie into the mess that is the Bills offense would be disastrous for his development.
• But if JP continues to struggle and the season turns sour, the calls for Edwards are only going to get louder.
• Good running so far by Marshawn and the improved O-Line. He is averaging 4.2 a carry, which is better than Willis’ season average of a dismal 3.9 a pop.
• An interesting development this week will to see what Belichick will throw at JP. He really struggled with the Steelers’ 3-4 Zone Blitz scheme and the Patriots always have something in store for JP. If the Bills can pick up the blitz, look for a few long plays to Evans or Parrish.
• The Bills have an absolutely brutal schedule, I hate to be the analyst that blames the 0-2 record on the schedule but consider this: if the Bills played the Raiders and Vikes like the Lions have, they would most likely win one, if not both games.
• Good news to see that Kevin Everett is doing tremendous will probably walk soon. According to an inside source, Everett is very lucky that great care was given to him and that surgery was able to be performed quickly to save his spinal cord from severing. Thumbs up to Kevin, his doctors, and to the paramedics.