How We Saw Week 8

Maybe a coach is fired.  Oh, the quarterback may be let got.  

This year's installment is the Buffalo Bills.

After Week 2, the Bills' matchup in Week 8 with the Kansas City Chiefs was going to be the battle of the unbeatens.  An AFC Championship preview!  Winner gets homefield advantage.

Well, that last part may be right.  But, as for the Bills, they've got a long road to hoe.

In their first two games, they beat New England and Jacksonville by a combined score of 69-17.  They were just killing their opponents.  And, after drubbing the Patriots, 31-0, they were proclaimed a team that had arrived.

Since then, they've been 131-72.  In their last two losses, they've been outscored 68-8.  They've scored only one touchdown in their last three road games.  

This responsibility rests on the shoulders of two men.

It should not be a surprise that Gregg Williams is an uninspiring coach.  Looking at him on the sidelines, you'd expect to see him sitting in a rocking chair next to a roaring fire with a Cardigan and a smoking pipe. 

On Sunday night, he must have been smoking something.  Everyone I know has been able to see that Travis Henry is the key to their victories.  Kansas City averages the most yards/carry allowed by any defense in the League.  Conversely, they ranked #2 before Sunday's game in interceptions.  

What do the Buffalo Bills do?  

In the first quarter, they call 11 passing plays and six running plays.

Score:  14-2.

The Bills' answer:  throw MORE.  In the second quarter, they throw the ball 12 times and run it four.

Score:  28-5

At halftime, they still don't get it.  Their first play from scrimmage in the second half:  a 45-yard bomb to Eric Moulds that's intercepted.

Then, the light bulb goes on.  "Maybe we'd better run the ball."  On their second possession of the second half, they run the ball eight times and throw it twice.  They march from their 13 to the Kansas City 9 in 10 plays.  Then, the coaching staff has a fit of amnesia in the red zone.

First play:  Pass to Travis Henry for -6 yards.

Second play:  Pass to Eric Moulds for 11 yards.

Third play:  And this is the killer.  On fourth down, from the four yard line, instead of running the ball, instead of kicking the field goal, they pass the ball again.  

Interception.

To be sure, the other half of this problem is Drew Bledsoe.  After 10 years in the League, he has still not learned to just throw the ball away.  He holds it, holds it, holds it, sometimes as long as four seconds, while the pocket is collapsing around him.  Then he gets sacked or fumbles the ball.

His decision to throw to Moulds on their first play of the second half was a terrible one.  Moulds was double-covered with both defenders deeper than Moulds and on either side of him.  

Bledsoe decided he had to win the game by himself, so threw it anyway.

It is shaping up to be a very long second half of the season in Buffalo.  They play five teams with at least five wins so far in their last eight games.  Four of them are on the road.  It would take a miracle for this team to make the playoffs after their spectacular start.

Yes, a miracle - because, it will take a miracle for their coaching staff, and their quarterback, to remember how to win games with this team.

--Weirdest play I saw all day was in the New York Giants’ 29-17 win at the Minnesota Vikings. Up 17-16, the Vikings blocked a Giants punt at the Minnesota 5. An alert Giant, Wesley Mallard, picked up the ball and ran 20 yards for a first down. It was the key play of the game, even though the Giants didn’t score on the drive. Had Mallard not picked up the ball or made the  first down, Minnesota would have been in excellent position to increase its lead and maybe put the game away. 

--It figured the Vikings would lose. All week I saw stories in every media about the job Coach Mike Tice is doing and his relationship with defensive coordinator George O’Leary. All Giants’ QB Kerry Collins did against O’Leary’s defense was throw for 375 yards. 

--A team that’s for real is the Cincinnati Bengals. In handing the Seattle Seahawks only their second loss, the Bengals proved they could come back and that they have an offense with some punch. The Bengals are 3-1 in their last four games and after seeing running back Rudi Johnson run for 101 yards, one wonders why they need malcontent back Corey Dillon. 

--The Rams have now won four in a row and are looking more and more like a serious contender in the NFC. With the way Marc Bulger is playing, it’s impossible to see Kurt Warner ever getting his quarterbacking job back. 

--Rams Coach Mike Martz has the worst clock-management skills of anyone in the league. Against Pittsburgh, Martz used all three second-half timeouts in the third period.

--The Carolina Panthers are now 3-0 in overtime games this season following their 23-20 win at New Orleans. 

--Good line on CBS Sportsline following Tampa Bay's 16-0 wipeout of Dallas: "The Bucs slapped the Cowboys offense around as if they were Liza Minnelli doing a number on David Gest."

--The wheels have come off in Pittsburgh (2-5), off to its worst start since 1988. The Steelers, known for years for their defense, have given up 30 or more points in four games this season. 

--The Kansas City Chiefs are the first team since the 1973 Minnesota Vikings to start the season 8-0 after having a losing record the year before. The Chiefs were very impressive in blowing out the Buffalo Bills, 35-5, Sunday night.

--The Cleveland Browns have lost two games this season where they didn’t allow a touchdown—a 9-6 Week 1 loss to Indianapolis and Sunday’s 9-3 loss at New England. Cleveland’s habit of replacing quarterbacks during a game isn’t working and Coach Butch Davis needs to decide on either Tim Couch or Kelly Holcomb and leave them in. Neither is allowed to get into a rhythm. 

--How could the San Francisco 49ers look unbeatable in drubbing Tampa Bay one week, then lay an egg against woeful Arizona? Might have something to do with playing on the road, where the 49ers are 0-4.