2009:Buffalo Bills 50th Season: What's Right and What's Wrong?

The Buffalo Bills celebrate their 50th anniversary this year.

The Bills came out with a slogan that "It's Amazing How Long A Moment Can Last". Every time I hear that phrase I start thinking about going to games as a kid with my father in War Memorial Stadium. Watching Jack Kemp, Darryl Lamonica, Booker Edgerson, Paul Costa, Ernie Walrick, Cookie Gilchrist, Mike Stratton, Billy Shaw, Dick Bass, George Saimes, and Tom Day. I could go on and on, trust me on that. Asking Mom to make sure she bought the right kind of milk carton so I could collect the Bills players milk bottle caps in the 60's.

Priceless stuff.

The memories of the back to back AFL Championships in the mid-60's. Mike Stratton decking Keith Lincoln with the shot heard round the world. Then there were the OJ Simpson years and the Electic Company line led by Reggie McKenzie and Joe DeLamielleure, that paved the way for OJ Simpson to become the first running back in the NFL to crack the 2,000 yard barrier.

Then we fast forward to the 1990's teams led by Jim Kelly, that won four consecutive AFC Championships but lost in Super Bowl 25,26,27 and 28. I was there to witness 25 and 27. The unbelievable comeback against the Houston Oilers and Warren Moon, in my opinion, the greatest comeback in the history of the NFL. It was orchestrated by Frank Reich.

When the Hall of Fame announced that Owner Ralph Wilson and Bruce Smith were being inducted, there was something magical about that, suggesting that this could be a special year for the Bills. The signing of Terrell Owens, the strong draft class, trading away the prone to be home boycotting summer practice sessions Jason Peters; all signs pointed to a positive year for the Bills.

All of this nostalgia and the annual wishful thinking that is inherant in all Bills fans as we continue to pray that someday, we will win the big one. Now we are coming in to Week 5 of the 2009 season and everybody is scratching their heads and wondering what the heck happened to all of the feel good stories and how the 50th anniversary year would be so special.

SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE BILLS SO FAR THIS YEAR

1) When the 2008 season ended and the 2009 season began, there was clearly some flawed thinking going on within the confines of One Bills Drive. What do you call it—a brain freeze? a brain cramp? a bad day that lasted for months?

The braintrust that is in charge of running the Buffalo Bills organization, (namely Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon, VP of Pro Personnel John Guy, and VP of College Scouting Tom Modrak), determined that they were better off without the majority of their starting offensive line from the 2008 team that started out 5-1.

So, exit stage left—Derrick Dockery, Jason Peters, and Langston Walker and let's plug in some rookies with no NFL experience to protect Trent Edwards. This line of thinking is just plain illogical. Please keep in mind that Trent suffered a concussion already last year, and missed games because of it.

The end result was that the Bills are now very thin on the offensive line. When you have to throw Kirk Chambers in to be a starting tackle, you are asking for trouble.

We are just lucky that one of the six Dolphins sacks last week did not result in Edwards getting injured. Cutting Walker saved some dollars, but left the Bills with little to no experienced people to plug in. Demetrius Bell and Jamon Meredith have upside, and will hopefully get better with experience. There will still be some bumps along the way for them, as well as our other rookies, Andy Levitre and Eric Wood.

At some point in the future, this line has the chance to gel and be quite good. But that will not do Dick Jauron any good when he is no longer the Bills Head Coach. He needed the team to win now and make the playoffs. That seems to be a stretch right now.

2) The team demonstrating the maturity and focus to win tight games.

Clearly the Bills roster keeps evolving every year as a percentage of players will always come and go. But the majority of the team that was retained from last year probably had its share of nightmares over the MNF game losses from Dallas and Cleveland. Who knows, they maybe needed therapy sessions to get over the loss to the Cowboys.

So, why don't we start off the new 2009 season with another MNF contest and bingo, lose it by one point! Now all the Bills rookies can get a chance to taste what the other players have already had the chance to experience. Perhaps there is some giant karma storage area, and the Bills have been storing up their bad karma for a really long time. 

Why can't the Bills win more close games?

I think it comes down to having strong leadership, talented players and a team that can be brought together to focus in crunch time. I always loved watching Marv Levy coach the Bills. He had the ability to get excited on the sidelines and was in to the game.

Dick Jauron is so stoic, that I wonder if his quiet intensity is sending a message to the players of indifference.

Who will be the next head coach of the Bills?

Maybe it will be an ex-Bills player. Maybe Bobby April. I would love to see a Bill Cowher, or a John Gruden type, but those guys probably are asking for more money than Ralph is willing to spend.

3) Not having a deep enough team to play winning football after the injuries hit.

When Paul Posluszny went down with the broken arm, there was reason to be concerned. He demonstrated last year that he had the ability to plug holes, be aggressive and be a dominating presence in shutting down the running game.

It took awhile for Marcus Buggs shortcomings to be exploited, but once opposition found out he could not shut down the running game, Drew Brees and Chad Henne disdained the pass for a ground game that resulted in 200 plus yard games.

Why throw it when you can run it so easily?

Hopefully the move this week to slide Kawika Mitchell over to the middle linebacker role will help in shutting down the Browns running game. Ashlee Palmer is a young athletic linebacker that likes to hit. Don't forget about Nic Harris, as I think he could help out as well until Posluszny comes back. 

WHAT HAS GONE RIGHT SO FAR FOR THE BILLS IN 2009 SEASON

1) Freddy Jackson continues to emerge as a go to running back. Freddy handled the load very well while Marshawn Lynch sat out the first three games due to suspension. Freddy ran hard, broke tackles, caught the ball well, and never slowed up. I want to see him continue to be featured, and you can ease Marshawn back in.

But a 50/50 split? I am not in favor of it. Freddy is more of a receiving weapon and needs to be utilized more until the inexperienced line is able to create some running lanes for Lynch. Great move by the Bills to sign Freddy to a long contract. That was smart.

2) The defensive line has been doing an outstanding job of generating pressure on the quarterback. From the opener at New England, forcing Tom Brady in to a pick six to the defense scoring against Tampa Bay, this group has stood out. Six sacks last week against Chad Henne were nice to see.

It is critical that the line continues to generate heat on the QB, because there is just too many inexperienced players in the secondary right now and they are getting lit up.

Hopefully Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott will be back soon. No doubt that losing last year's No. 1 pick Leodis McKelvin for the season hurts the Bills. He is a talent and it is hard to imagine how they did not see him in their plans for the entire year.

3) Trent Edwards is still in one piece. His confidence may be shaken slightly, but he is healthy. I like the way that he has run with the ball when he scrambled in the first two weeks. A little reckless perhaps, but he showed some fire and passion when he ran.

I still think he has the chance to get better, but the line needs to give him more time. It would help if Trent, Alex Van Pelt and the wide receiver corps could all get on the same page and recognize when Trent is in trouble that they have to cut short their pass routes and come back to the ball to give him a target.

So now here we are four weeks down into the season, and I am wondering when I will have one of those "amazing moments that last a lifetime" experiences.

Will it be sometime this season?

If the moment turns out to be Leodis McKelvin's fumble on Monday Night Football, that is one moment I can live without, thank you very much.

The Bills offense has to find a way to stay on the field. Pick up enough yards on first and second down to give Edwards and company some easier options to convert third downs in to first downs, keep the clock running and the chains moving. If I see one more of those desperation out of bounds throws that Edwards heaves to avoid the sack, I will scream. They probably don't keep stats on that specific play, but if they did, I would be shocked if the Bills didn't lead the NFL in that statistic.

I would be remiss if I didn't bring up our top draft pick Aaron Maybin. Aaron signed for $17.6 million deal over five years. Four games in to the season and so far our best rookie has registered two tackles.

For those of you keeping score at home, or are in the least bit challenged when it comes to math, that means that Aaron is well on his way to a whopping total of eight tackles this year. Taking it a step further, the Bills can look forward to 40 tackles during his five year career, and wait for this one ... that means he is averaging $440,000 per tackle.

If you attend the Bills game and feel goose bumps or shivers when his name is announced over the P.A. speakers, now you know why. Either that, or it is very cold, and you may be coming down with the flu.

A win against Cleveland this Sunday would be a good way to let the Bills fans heal over these last two losses. It would give the players some momentum coming in to another crucial AFC East contest against the New York Jets the following week.

Let's face it, at this point, all the games are crucial if the Bills have any chance left at all.