The Tennessee Titans put the final nail in the Buffalo Bills’ coffin on Sunday, earning an impressive 23-17 win on the road to keep their own playoff hopes alive. Running back Chris Johnson, who had a big game last week, continued to resurrect his season, rushing for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was a methodical win for the Titans, as they took advantage of 2 Buffalo turnovers while not turning it over themselves, and let their running game, led by Johnson, do the heavy lifting on offense. The Bills’ offense didn’t play terribly, but hurt themselves all day with mistakes, dropped passes, penalties and, of course, the turnovers. As coach Chan Gailey said afterwards, they didn’t execute the fundamentals well enough to win the game. The same thing could be said for the defense. Once again, they didn’t pressure the quarterback, didn’t stop the run, didn’t cover receivers and didn’t tackle well at all.
The Bills have now lost 5 games in a row and the excitement they created early in the season seems like a distant memory. They’ve not only lost the 5 games, they’ve lost the battle of attrition as one key player after another has been lost to injury. Although they are not technically eliminated from the post-season yet, they are at the point where they need to start looking for players who will help them continue to advance as an NFL team next year. Here are some things the Bills need to do the last 4 games:
* Continue to develop C.J. Spiller into a major offensive weapon. Had his second touchdown not been called back on a questionable holding penalty, Sunday’s contest would have been a breakout game for him.
* Work with Ryan Fitzpatrick to improve his accuracy and his ball security skills. The Bills made a major investment in him, now he has to earn those big paychecks by investing the time in improving every part of his game.
* Find out what they have on the roster as far as wide receiver talent. Can Brad Smith develop into a starting receiver? Can Naaman Roosevelt become a more reliable option? Is Stevie Johnson worth investing big money in? Are Derek Hagan, Kamar Aiken or practice squad player Tim Toone diamonds in the rough or bodies taking up space?
* See what their new young defensive players – Marcell Dareus, Kelvin Sheppard, Aaron Williams, DaNorris Searcy, Justin Rogers, Joshua Nesbitt, Arthur Moats, Danny Batten, Kellen Heard and Alex Carrington – do with the valuable remaining game experience. Do any of them step up and make a statement that they might be ready to be an impact player in 2012?
* Find out if the 2 young veteran defensive linemen added to the roster, Kyle Moore and Lionel Dotson, have any pass rush skills.
