Seen and Herd: Week 2 | Buffalo Bills Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ahh...the sweet taste of victory!

The Buffalo Bills got into the win column Sunday on a glorious afternoon in Orchard Park, defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with big plays on offense and defense.

Yes, you've read correctly, the Bills made the big play in the first half to gain a lead, and again late in the game to secure victory, something we haven't seen that often in the past.

Star in the Making?

Fred Jackson rushed for a career best 163 yards and tacked on six catches for 25 yards, showing that his outstanding performance against New England was no fluke.

Jackson has been the team's MVP through the first two contests. He's racked up 220 yards rushing on only 43 attempts. For you stat guys out there, that's a daunting 5.1 yards per carry. Jackson is on pace for a 344-carry, 1,750-yard rushing season as well as 88 catches for 894 yards, which would eclipse the great 1991 and 1992 seasons of Thurman Thomas and O.J. Simpson's 1975 campaign in terms of yards from scrimmage. Wow.

Marshawn Lynch's arrival in Week Four will return Jackson's role to a back-up one, ruling out any chance of a season with those flashy numbers. (they seemed a bit out of reach anyway.)

Or will it?

Many believe Jackson will split carries evenly with Lynch when he comes back after his three-game suspension. Many even are calling for Jackson to be the No. 1 guy.

Not so fast.

I love Jackson's work ethic, tough running style, and surprising agility through the holes, but envision both of these hard-knock runners in the backfield every week for Buffalo. Talk about a nightmare for defensive coordinators.

If the Bills' offensive line continues to progress, (and it may be tougher after losing veteran Brad Butler for the season) the two big backs will wreak havoc against opposing defenses.

The T.O. Effect

All eyes were on Terrell Owens. We all expected a big game production-wise, and were dying to witness his first touchdown as a Bill.

Owens didn't exactly have a huge game, but his 42-yard touchdown late in the second half electrified the crowd, and more importantly put the game out of reach.

That's one of many things Owens brings to this lineup. A closer late. Sure, last week against the Patriots, T.O. didn't put the final stamp on a upset victory, but last season the Bills didn't have that player who could finish off a game like Owens did against Tampa Bay.

Lee Evans is undoubtedly a terrific downfield option, but without Owens, last year the double coverage he endured hindered him from catching the dagger in the fourth quarter.

Owens' and Edwards' rapport looks as though it's growing week by week.

Owens and Evans create mismatches with any defensive backfield, but the biggest benefit T.O. creates may be in the running game.

T.O. has always been a great blocker. He's one of the league's bigger, more physically-gifted wide receivers and he's not afraid to hit down field on a toss sweep. It showed on Sunday with the high number of pitches the Bills called, although Owens did run into Jackson on more than one occasion. They'll work that out.

Also, Owens helps the run game before the ball is even snapped. I couldn't check on every play this week or last, but it seems as though the Bills are facing less stacked boxes that I can ever remember. It's allowing the young offensive line to gel and build much-needed confidence, because they're not having to block eight and nine defenders.

AVP rolling

Alex Van Pelt coordinated another fabulously balanced game against the Bucs. He leans on the team's strength, its run game, and has given Trent Edwards complete control of the offense.

He's called the right plays on third and long situations, and hasn't forced anything down-field when it's not there—T.O. hasn't intimidated him.

Owens and Evans combined for only four catches on the day, but their two scores made the difference. With teams game planning for the two dynamos on the outside, Edwards has exposed the soft, underneath openings the Bucs and Pats gave him.

No one's calling him Trentative Checkwards anymore. He's got the arm to toss a lovely long-ball, and the brains to know when to do it.

Edwards is fourth in the NFL with a 104.9 passer rating. You've got to love his potential now with some real weapons around him.

It'll be interesting to see how AVP handles another setback along the offensive line.

Play-makers?

Buffalo's defense picked off Byron Leftwich twice, once for a score. Donte Whitner's first-half TD was the first of his career, and hopefully is foretelling what's to come from the former top-ten pick, who now looks more comfortable at free safety.

Whitner is in a spot to make plays, he just needs his athleticism to take over.

Outside of more soft, "prevent-ish" coverage than I'd like to see, the Bills' third line played a very efficient game. They created turnovers, their tackling was good, and for the most part, they got off the field in big situations. Still much room for improvement.

As I've stated since training camp, the Bills have a deep secondary. The verdict's still out on the severity of Leodis McKelvin's ankle injury, but without him in the second half, the defense didn't miss a beat.

Reggie Corner is a player. He may be a bit undersized, but his speed, tackling ability and knack to glue to his man downfield makes him of great value to Perry Fewell's defense.

Remember last year, prior to injury, Ashton Youboty was the defense's best player. He along with Bryan Scott, round out an under-appreciated, not-well-known secondary that gets the job done.

Drayton Florence hopefully returns to a talented lineup this week, for a game when they'll need all the depth on defense they can get.

Linebackers Legit?

For those of you who weren't putting much stock in the linebackers after Paul Posluszny went down last week, you may want to rethink your decision.

I'm not anointing this new group as the next Conlan, Talley, and Bennett trio, but they too, like the secondary, are very underrated.

Keith Ellison, who plays larger than his smaller stature, already has 17 solo tackles, one for a loss. I don't want to hear that it's because teams are running at him, because he's a sure tackler, and his knowledge of the defense has put him the right spots.

I didn't really notice Marcus Buggs on Sunday, and that's a good thing. He had a tackle in the backfield and seemed to captain the defense rather well. Poz certainly will be missed, but Buggs wasn't as big of a liability as I thought he would be.

Marcus Stroud, Chris Kelsay, and Kawika Mitchell remain the team's best pass-rushing threats, as they haven't had much difficulty getting to the quarterback or plugging the run.

I was pleased with the team's overall performance. A solid win, a must win—they need to make Ralph Wilson Stadium a challenging place to play again. The fans definitely will do their part.

What's Ahead?

The high powered New Orleans Saints come to "the Ralph", averaging 46 points per game behind the rocket arm of Drew Brees. He's got talented receivers, running backs who catch out of the backfield, and a coach with a gunslinger's mentality. Huge game for the Bills to prove their legitimacy to the rest of the NFL. Seen and Herd to follow.