When it was announced that Ryan Fitzpatrick’s injured knee would keep him out of Buffalo’s season finale against the New York Jets, the game, for all intents and purposes, became the opening preseason exhibition game for the 2011 season, a game for player evaluation rather than winning or losing. With that being the case, a number of players – Brian Brohm, Leodis McKelvin, Aaron Maybin, and, by virtue of being inactive once again John McCargo, have taken their first steps toward being moved off the roster. It’s probably a good thing that the Bills wrapped up the season with 2 pathetic losses against division rivals, not only for better draft positioning but also because there should be no false hopes or sugar-coating of how much help is needed to dramatically improve the team’s roster, especially on defense. The Jets opened the game with starter Mark Sanchez at quarterback, but obviously with no intention of letting him throw a pass. They brought in “wildcat” quarterback Brad Smith to run an option offense on third downs, with the idea of also running the ball. Even knowing that the only thing they had to worry about was the run, the Bills couldn’t even slow the Jets down, let alone stop them. Smith ran option sweeps on third down and long twice on the Jets’ first drive, and gained 40 and 20 yards. For the second straight game, the Bills’ defense, as shoddy as it played, got zero help from the offense, which turned the ball over 6 more times, for a total of 13 in the last 2 games. Brohm’s play was particularly disappointing, as he brought back early season memories of Trent Edwards with poor decisions and extremely slow reactions to the Jets’ pass rush. It was interesting to hear post-game talk of Brohm “getting no help” from his offensive line. I’m sorry, but it was the same line that Fitzpatrick has been playing behind, that has been much improved. Fitzpatrick had 5 turnovers last week, but they were all “unforced” errors, rather than the result of any intense pressure. Brohm seemed to be playing in slow motion, and had little or no feel for handling the pass rush pressure, much like Edwards. The ugly season-ending losses by the Bills mean the team will have the third overall pick in the college draft, and they have to look at finding an impact defensive player, either a pass-rushing lineman or a stud linebacker, with that pick.
NFL – Bills’ Game Review
03
Jan