After a tough loss to a contending Cincinnati Bengals team, The Buffalo Bills’ season is reaching a potential turning point.
Photo by Ed Runyon
At 2-4 with only four home games remaining on the schedule and a trip to Miami looming, the Bills have shown great resiliency handling the injury situations at key positions like quarterback, running back, receiver, cornerback, defensive line, and safety. In each of their six games, the team with the lead in the last two minutes has been ahead by no more than seven points, but Buffalo has won only two of those winnable matchups.
On Tuesday, Coach Doug Marrone emphasized that he saw a lot of effort from his team, but not the consistent performance needed to capitalize on opportunities to win.
“My focus right now with the team and I talked to them about it, is playing each play and trying to play in sync,” said Marrone. “Really, effort wise has been excellent. These guys are playing as hard as they possibly can, but the results haven’t been what we wanted on each and every play. There are lapses, when these things happen. Whether it be like I said before, poor tackling maybe or some other aspect of it or not getting the third downs here and not punching it in from the two yard line.”
Marrone mentioned the fact that of the 84 plays the Bills were on defense, they allowed 311 yards and two touchdowns on 13 of them, but only 172 yards on the other 71 plays, an average of 2.4 yards per play. He also talked about the offense’s miscues, with three of the seven Buffalo’s plays of 12 yards or more being called back due to penalties, and the failure to score with three chances at the 1 yard line early in the second quarter.
“That’s the difference when you get into these close games which we’ve all been in,” said Marrone. “Trying to keep pushing you never know when it’s going to come. We all know what people say, we’ve got to be more consistent down by down by down. I think that’s important for us.”
In terms of special teams, Marrone brought up how the punt coverage team was great until the most important time of the game.
“The first four punts you’re talking about 48 yards in the air and a five yard return where Brian is netting 47 yards, which is outstanding, that’s what we want,” said Marrone. “Then all of the sudden the last punt, he kicks it 51 yards which was fine and we get a 29 yard return and net 22. Next thing you know, you hold them one, two and three and then they kick the field goal to win the game.”
Quarterback Situation Update
While Buffalo attempts to play at a more consistent level, the continuous quarterback questions are different from week to week, but still have a similar tone. After his gritty yet up-and-down performance on Sunday, Thaddeus Lewis received both an X-ray and MRI 0n his sprained right foot, with both coming back negative.While Lewis said that he “should be fine” and the negative X-Ray and MRI were “a great sign”, Marrone said the team would list him as day-to-day.
Photo Ed Runyon
With the Bills adding Matt Flynn to the mix, there is now a veteran at the position with experience. However, Marrone said that if Lewis could not play and the team could not get Flynn ready to play, rookie Jeff Tuel would start and Flynn would back him up.
As far as E.J. Manuel’s return is concerned, Manuel started his rehab on Tuesday, with Marrone giving an update on Manuel’s status on Wednesday.
“I spoke to the doctors and it’ll be four to six weeks from now,” said Marrone. “So the earliest will be four and the latest will be six weeks without any setbacks.”
That timeline would either mean that Manuel could be ready for a home game against the Jets on November 17, or a home game following the team’s bye week against the Atlanta Falcons.
Development of Young Receivers
Photo by Ed Runyon
Without the dependable Stevie Johnson in the slot on Sunday, Thaddeus Lewis had to rely on three youngsters in second-year T.J. Graham and rookies Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin to make plays for the receiving core.
There were mixed results, as Graham caught a 47-yard pass on the team’s first possession to set up a touchdown and finished with four grabs for 74 yards, but Woods only caught two passes for 9 yards on six targets. In his first game since returning from a broken hand, Goodwin caught two passes for 51 yards on three targets, including the game-tying 40-yard touchdown with 1:08 remaining, and 94 yards on four kick returns.
Johnson was testing his back in Wednesday’s practice, though he said Monday that he expects to return to the lineup. Johnson also recognizes the importance of the big play in the passing game for the Bills provided by the speed possessed by the outside receivers.
“I feel like that’s a big element for our offense throwing the deep ball,” Johnson said. “T.J. caught one early, Flash (Goodwin) caught one for a touchdown and now I’ve got to do my part work, work the middle and the outside a little bit and (Robert) Woods can do the same thing. So we should be cool.”
Johnson’s ability to make clutch catches, like the one to beat the Panthers in Week 2, will be needed immensely to open things up for the young receivers. Johnson has 20 catches for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns in his five games played, but only 3 for 18 yards and no scores in his last two games played.
Other Notes
- Rookie safety Jonathan Meeks was placed on injured reserve, designated to return.
- C.J. Spiller sat out practice Wednesday due to his ankle injury, though he is expected to play on Sunday.
- The starting left guard early in the season, Colin Brown has been released, with Doug Legursky taking his spot in the lineup after playing 57 snaps compared to Brown’s 12 on Sunday.
- Brown’s release was followed by OL Mark Asper being promoted from the practice squad to the roster.
- The Bills signed OL Bryant Browning and LB Jacquies Smith to the practice squad.
- The team also released DE Jamie Blatnick.
Photos by Ed Runyon
