Seen and Herd: Week 3 | Buffalo Bills Vs. New Orleans Saints

The Buffalo Bills had a great opportunity to beat a contender on Sunday.

They had an NFC power at home, in front of a rambunctious crowd, and squandered their chance to legitimize themselves.

Drew Brees entered Sunday as the hottest quarterback through the first two games in NFL history. Believe me, I thought he'd have a field day against the Bills' defense just as much as all the supposed experts did.

I'll gladly admit I was wrong. Very wrong.

Brees didn't play poorly, but he was held under 200 yards passing and didn't throw a touchdown. What? And the Bills still lost?

The offense was given plenty of chances against a defense that isn't exactly stingy.

Where to start?

The first thing on my mind following Sunday's game was how much the offense reminded me of last year's lackluster attack.

Trent Edwards never looked down field (outside of the T.O. shot he overthrew) and was relying on guys like Derek Fine and Josh Reed to make plays on offense. No offense to those two, but we are all well aware that when the ball is in the hands of Lee Evans, Fred Jackson, or Terrell Owens the Bills chances of victory are greatly increased.

Now the big question comes: who's to blame, Edwards or Alex Van Pelt?

I'm going to take the easy way out and say both.

Van Pelt figured that once his defense gave his offense a shot, he could use conservative play-calling to matriculate the ball down the field. Edwards must have felt similar. Beforehand, it sounds like a decent idea.

But whenever you're up against a defense that's susceptible to the big play, you've got to exploit it. And the Bills didn't even try.

Evans and Owens were doubled for most of the game but if AVP can't find ways to get one of those two open on passing downs, we've got problems.

Think about this: Moss and Welker each caught 12 passes against Buffalo in Week One, and you don't think Perry Fewell was scheming for them?

Time to get more creative, Alex.

On to Trent. He's been great at working through progressions, but he must look at read one and read two for more than a split second.  Owens and Evans occasionally found soft spots in coverage that may have required good throws, but those throws need to be made (His hurried decision making may have been due to the offensive line's worst game of the season; they must improve).

Hopefully, and my fingers are crossed, AVP and Edwards will come together to set more lofty goals for this offense. Checking down is fine, but not as much. We've got a long season in front of us.

I could elaborate more on my frustration but you should get my drift. Get the ball to the team's game changers.

Bob the Builder

Defensive line coach Bob Sanders has his front four playing like men possessed. Chris Kelsay had his second outstanding game of the season, Kyle Williams remained pesky, and Aaron Schobel looks to be back to his old Pro-Bowl form.

Their play has inspired the linebackers and secondary to play to their potential, finally.

Keith Ellison took a few bad angles on run plays, but the rest of his corp did an admirable job matching up.

Done Whitner, Bryan Scott, and Leodis McKelvin's injuries are causes for concern, but the defensive backfield as a whole surprised me in coverage. There's talent and promise on defense (forget the 17 points given up in garbage time, they held down the league's most prolific offense all day).

T.O. No Show

We know what happened with Owens on Sunday, and for once in his career he didn't sound off after a embarrassing defeat. Anything negative you hear about his sarcastic/frustrated press conference is totally incorrect—Owens has all the right to be a little angry. I would be, wouldn't you?

Beast Mode returns as Buffalo heads down to Miami to face an 0-3 Dolphins team on Sunday at 4:05. Both squads are in desperation mode, and the Bills need to break their seven-game losing streak against their AFC East rivals to avoid a disappointing 1-3 start.

Seen and Herd to follow.

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