Sunday, August 14, 2011

Bills v. Bears - Preseason Game 1

The new intro for BBE, with Fitzpatrick and Stevie putting their gear is on a bit silly. Imagine being asked, "now pull your helmet down and look angry!"

Marcus Easley took the first kickoff return. I did not expect this.

1st and 10
Fred Jackson does his thing with a typical Fred Jackson run for 5 yards.

2nd and 5
Incomplete pass to Scott Chandler. Some believe this was a bit overthrown but after re-watching it, it his #84's hands in the right spot. Tasker called this a bad incompletion. C'mon Steve, let's not overreact.

3rd and 5
Completion to Stevie Johnson on a slant play. Good first down.

1st and 10
CJ Spiller was met right at the line on a run play. Urbik did not hold up his man at all.

2nd and 13
Play-action quick screen to Stevie Johnson who made some moves but ultimately got only a few yards.

3rd and 11
Incomplete pass. Naaman and David Nelson were in the area. Looked like a miscommunication. Nelson was apparently the intended target. Pears held his man up here nicely.

PUNT

1st and 10
The Bears start with a reverse to Hester that goes for a few yards. Terrence McGee pushes him out.

2nd and 8
Dareus broke through the line and was coming at Cutler fast but Cutler underhanded it to his RB only to be stopped by Andra Davis.

3rd and 8
Barnett came in on a blitz but Kelsay instead of going inside, went outside which opened up a running lane for Cutler who ran for a first down.

1st and 10
Chester Taylor runs for very little. Dwan Edwards was in on the stop. I noticed Merriman getting nasty here.

2nd and 9
McGee came in on a CB blitz from the right but the run play went to the left for a few yards.

3rd and 6
Dareus with the sack. Flag on the play. Holding on Chicago by #73. #73 held Merriman who would have likely gotten the sack. Merriman may have still touched Cutler first here but Dareus was the one who really made contact with Cutler. Either way, that's what Bills fans want to see.

PUNT

1st and 10
Fred Jackson stiff arms Charles Tillman and runs left for a nice first down. THe line looked good here.

1st and 10
Jackson tries the middle here but only gains a few.

2nd and 8
Beautiful cut by CJ Spiller who also threw in a spin move for a decent gain. That's the type of running I want to see out of Spiller.

3rd and 2
Brad Smith wildcat time. Just enough to pick up the first down.

1st and 10
Quick slant to Stevie Johnson that was a bit behind Stevie but still caught for a few yards

2nd and 5
Nice completion to CJ Spiller who ran a circle route for a first down. Smooth looking play.

1st and 10
Incompletion to Donald Jones. Pass interference by Jones as well. Fitz and Jones weren't on the same page here.

1st and 20
Nice completion of about 8 yards to Chandler who got rocked near the end of the play.

2nd and 12
Fitz went to Chandler again with a dump off to the outside for a gain of a few yards.

3rd and 7
Screen play to CJ Spiller who comes up just short of the first down. Urbik wasn't good here either.

Lindell boots a 44 yarder through for 3 points.

Johnny Knox had a big kickoff return. Aaron Maybin looked bad here. Aaron Williams somehow caught Knox for the stop.

1st and 10
Chicago put their backup QB in already. Running play that was stopped by Andra Davis.

2nd and 11
Merriman gets the sack who proceeds to do the LIGHTS OUT dance. Kelsay blew by his guy but went too wide.

3rd and 13
Merriman gets ANOTHER sack. He brought Hannie down hard. Merriman is pacing back and forth on the sideline looking like a maniac.

Bears punt..

That's it for the first stringers. The defense keeps some of their guys in longer but I won't go into those plays.

Observations about the rest of the game:


  • Thigpen had a rough outing. Levi Brown looked even worse. There's no chance Levi makes the team and I'll be surprised if he makes the practice squad.
  • Our second unit on the offensive line looked BRUTAL.
  • Johnny White did not get a fair opportunity to show his stuff as he was constantly being met in the backfield.
  • Urbik looked bad. He's got one more week to prove himself. If he has another rough outing, we better go digging through the waiver wire again. 
  • Easley had a bad night on kickoff returns although I don't expect him to be doing this when the regular season begins.
  • The Donald Jones era didn't get off to the best start but I'm not too worried as he had only 1 ball thrown his way (and it was a busted play) with the first unit. Remember, when Stevie was anointed the #2 receiver last year, he didn't have the best preseason and many people questioned  whether he deserved the #2 spot. Let's see this plays out before we rip Jones.
  • I liked the play of Danny Batten and Chris White. Batten, in particular, looked really good.
  • Carrington is looking good as well...
  • Did I mention how brutal the offensive line was as the game went on? I could barely watch the second half.
  • Aaron Williams got beat on a few plays but looked more confident as the game went on, making a really athletic play on an interception.
  • Brad Smith is going to have a very interesting season....
  • Maybin looked brutal. I doubt he survives the first round of cuts after tonight's performance. Chicago's second team offense handled him with relative ease.
  • I can't wait until next week to see how our first team Defense looks against the Broncos. They were dominant tonight. I also look forward to seeing more of the first team Offense. With the field being so sloppy, I doubt either team wanted their starters on the field for long.

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