Buffalo Bills Game Day
Reporter Sal Maiorana breaks down today’s Buffalo Bills game against the Jacksonville Jaguars:
SIX POINTS
1. Can interim coach Perry Fewell revive the Bills and coax a victory out of this team in his debut? Dick Jauron seemed to have lost the team the last couple of weeks, so it will be interesting to see if there is renewed vigor. According to ESPN.com., there have been 62 in-season changes since the 1970 merger, and those coaches have a combined record of 137-270-1 in the remainder of those seasons. That’s not a good sign for the Bills, or Fewell.
2. Does playing Ryan Fitzpatrick over Trent Edwards really matter? Fitzpatrick has the third-lowest completion percentage of any QB in the league. Maybe the Bills were thinking that since he led the Bengals to a 21-19 victory over the Jaguars last year that he’d have the magic touch.
3. Will Maurice Jones-Drew become the seventh back to gain at least 100 yards against the Bills? Jones-Drew is a mighty mite with great power. His 737 yards rushing in the first eight games were the most in Jags history. He’s averaging 132 yards rushing in his past four games, scoring a TD in every game, as the Jags have won three of the four. Now he’s facing the NFL’s worst run defense.
4. Can the Jaguars exploit Buffalo’s inexperienced offensive line? More changes for the Bills as rookie Andy Levitre will start at LT and Seth McKinney will play LG as injuries continue to decimate the line. However, the Jaguars aren’t much of a threat as they have a league-low eight sacks and rank 22nd in run defense.
5. Will special teams play a determining factor in the outcome? Rian Lindell has made 14 of 16 field goals, Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee just 10 of 16. Brian Moorman is a better punter than the Jags’ Shawn Podlesh, the return games are pretty even, and the Jags have slightly better coverage units.
6. Are these teams going to play another nail-biter? The Bills and Jaguars have a short history as Jacksonville has been in the league just 15 years, but there have been some memorable games including five that came down to the final three minutes, three of those in the final seconds. Seven of the nine games in the series (counting a 1996 playoff game won by Jacksonville) have been decided by six points or fewer.
BILLS GAME PLAN
With Fewell at the helm, don’t expect much to change on the offensive side because he’s simply not as tuned in to that aspect right now. With Fitzpatrick at quarterback the idea is to try to get the ball downfield more often, and more successfully, and it should help the Bills that Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis is going to miss the game. Still, the Bills need to establish their running game to help Fitzpatrick succeed.
On defense it will be interesting to see if Fewell does some different things now that he’s calling the shots. Dick Jauron was a conservative coach, so maybe Fewell will send some more blitzes and play a little more man coverage. First and foremost, though, he needs to find a way to stop Jones-Drew, the centerpiece of the Jags’ offense.
OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jags WR Mike Sims-Walker: He has become a viable threat with 39 catches for 603 yards and 5 TDs, and he’s working against a banged-up Buffalo secondary.
Bills WR Lee Evans: He is in desperate need of a breakout game and the Jags will be without their best CB, Rashean Mathis.
Jags LB Daryl Smith: He has surpassed 100 tackles on the season for the fourth year in a row.
Bills C Geoff Hangartner: He’ll be blocking DT John Henderson and he has to win in order to give the running game a chance.
Bills LB Paul Posluszny: He is starting to catch some heat because he hasn’t stepped up and made big-time plays. He’ll have chances to make plenty of tackles against Jones-Drew.
REMEMBER WHEN Bills-Jaguars
1998: One of the most memorable games of the Doug Flutie Era came in his first start as a Bill replacing injured Rob Johnson. Flutie sped around left end on a fourth-down naked bootleg and scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left for a 17-16 triumph over a Jaguars team that was 5-0.
2004: Another heart-stopper at the Ralph, but this time the Bills were on the losing end. On opening day, Byron Leftwich threw a TD pass to Ernest Wilford on the final play of the game for a 13-10 Jacksonville victory.
2006: Rian Lindell’s 42-yard field goal as time expired gave the Bills a 27-24 victory at home, following David Garrard’s TD pass to Matt Jones with 28 seconds left that had tied the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
17: Jags are 5-0 this season when they score at least this many points.
101: Points Bills have allowed in the fourth quarter, most in the NFL.
7: Games in a row Terrell Owens has not caught a TD pass, the second-longest streak of his career.
93: Yards receiving needed by Owens to move past Marvin Harrison into fourth place all-time.
5: Straight games Jairus Byrd has intercepted a pass, longest streak by a rookie since Eric Harris of the Chiefs in 1980.
25.2: Percentage of possessions that the Bills have scored on this season.
30: Percentage of times (6 of 20) that the Bills have scored a TD in the red zone, second-worst in NFL.
