Buffalo Bills: Lack of Pass Rush Costs Them Game to The Patriots

The Buffalo Bills offense had a coming out party on Sunday against the New England Patriots. The defense couldn't keep up their end of the bargain as Tom Brady tapped in to all of his weapons to lead New England to a 38-30 victory in a hard fought game.

C.J. Spiller also had his own coming out party as he scored the first two touchdowns of his NFL career. Spiller returned a kick 95 yards for a score, and also demonstrated his versatility by catching a five yard score from Ryan Fitzpatrick, when he was flanked out wide as a receiver.

Ryan Fitzpatrick led the Bills offense up and down the field all day against a suspect Patriots defense. How good was Fitzpatrick? The Bills never had a three and out drive the entire game until Fitzpatrick threw a first down interception with three minutes left to play. Fitzpatrick was excellent most of the day but the Bills didn't capitalize enough in red zone, while Brady and the Patriots did. That was the difference in this game..

Bills Offense Was Clicking on All Counts Behind Fitzpatrick

Ryan Fitzpatrick refuses to slide when he scrambles with ball

Buffalo Bills fans should get behind Ryan Fitzpatrick. His mentality is akin to that of a warrior when he tucks the ball and scrambles up field. He took on whatever Patriots defender was in the area and never once looked to slide as every yard was crucial in his scramble efforts to convert another first down. His reckless abandon running style should endear him to Bills fans, but we hope it won't result in him getting injured.

The same can't be said for his counterpart however, as he prefers the diva approach, as you will see on the next slide.

Tom Brady Prefers Not to Be Tackled

The Brady Slide

The Tom Brady slide play. Sorry that your uniform got a little grass stain there, Tom. Do you want to put a call in to Gisele now to let her know you are okay and that the Bills didn't hurt you?

We mock Brady because he kills us. 14 straight losses and counting. Make no mistake, the Bills played hard and were in the game all day. Five lead changes in the first half alone.

Brady did his usual number on Buffalo, Brady went 21-27 for 245 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. His QB passer rating was 142.6 which is basically perfect.

Ryan Fitzpatrick put up almost identical numbers, going 20-28 for 240 yards, two touchdowns, but two costly interceptions. The interceptions dropped his QB passer rating down to 92.4, which was a huge upgrade over Trent Edwards.

Bills Offensive Line Did a Nice Job Vs Pats Defense

Andy Levitre loses helmet blocking for Fitzpatrick

The offensive line by and large did a really good job against New England's defense. It must have really killed a defensive guru like Bill Belichick to see the Patriots fail to get a three and out against one of the worst offenses in the league. That shows you how far the Patriots stellar defenses of the past has regressed.

Fitzpatrick was sacked once all day, and only took three QB hits. When he didn't see an open receiver, he took off up field with the ball. With Trent Edwards at the helm, the Bills had combined for three scoring drives and seven sacks in two games. Behind Fitzpatrick, there was just one sack and he led the Bills on five scoring drives. It would have been six had Rian Lindell hit on the 51 yard field goal try.

Fitzpatrick was the missing element that the offense needed. He demonstrated what Edwards can't do, which is use your mobility to make plays and not stand there like a statue. Unless Fitzpatrick gets hurt due to his physical style of play, I can't see the Bills going back to Edwards again. But since this is the Bills we are talking about, I won't say never going back to him. I know better than that.

Where Oh Where Is the Bills Pass Rush?

Kyle Williams gets the only sack of the day vs Tom Brady

Outside of Kyle Williams, the Buffalo Bills pass rush was missing in action. Williams sacked Brady once and was also credited with two QB hits for the day. That was it. Nobody else laid a hand on Brady, as he was basically allowed to stand back there in the pocket and wait for his receivers to get open.

Since Brady has so many different weapons to throw to, he was able to go to his second and third reads and find somebody wide open. The Patriots were able to pull off a number of long drives during the game, that resulted in touchdown scoring drives of 76. 76.74. 59 and 70 yards.The Patriots mixed in enough running plays with the passes that the Bills holes on defense were exposed all day.

The Bills still have trouble defending against good tight ends, and the Patriots gifted two rookies, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski hurt the Bills throughout the game, combining for nine catches good for over 100 yards in receptions, and a score to boot.

The Patriots have no real ground game to speak of, yet managed to pick up 200 yards rushing on 38 attempts. They lost Fred Taylor to a toe injury, Kevin Faulk is already gone for the year, and Laurence Maroney was traded to Denver. The dude with all the names, Ben Jarvis Green Ellis had 16 carries for 98 yards and exposed the lack of playmakers the Bills have at the linebacking position.

Bills Defense Created a Turnover But Needs Poz Back

Jairus Byrd takes this fumble away from Randy Moss in the pile

One of the more memorable plays of the day was the turnover created when Jairus Byrd was able to strip the football away from Randy Moss in the pile, after the players dove together to recover a fumble. The fact that Byrd was able to wrestle the ball away from a much bigger player in Moss, spoke volumes to me about the fortitude of each player involved in the play.

The Bills defense did generate three different three and out drives against Tom Brady and the Patriots high octane offense. That wasn't enough however, as the Patriots were able to convert all three red zone attempts, while the Bills were only able to convert one of three tries in the red zone.

The new look Bills defense lacks a number of playmakers at the linebacking position. The loss of Paul Posluszny and Kawika Mitchell really was evident yesterday. The fill-ins are just not creating enough plays or finding a way to get to the quarterback and force some bad throws. The 3-4 defense was supposed to allow for various forms of blitz packages to wreck havoc on the QB.

But in consecutive weeks, Aaron Rogers and then Tom Brady stood back in the pocket and had all day to throw the ball. Aaron Maybin was supposed to be the pass rush specialist but he can't seem to figure out how to get to the quarterback, and the lack of a bona fide pass rush will be an Achilles heel for the Bills all year long.

C. J. Spiller Explodes With First Two TD's of His Career

CJ Spiller scores his first NFL touchdown

C.J. Spiller finally arrived. He arrived in a big way at Foxboro, exhibiting a number of the skills that the Bills envisioned when they took with the number nine overall selection in the draft.

Spiller had two touchdowns for the game, one via a pass play when he lined up split out wide in the red zone, and the second score came via a 95 yard kickoff return, which was a nice response to a Patriots touchdown drive.

Spiller demonstrated both his power and his speed on the kickoff return. He followed some nice blocks by the Bills special teams players. Spencer Johnson threw some great blocks in particular on the play. Spiller broke through a couple Patriots players and then from there was just a blur as he sped down the final 50 yards to go in to the end zone. That was a big spark for the Bills in the third quarter and brought them right back in the game.

Spiller also had some nice runs in the game, and looked like the player that everyone was so high on during the preseason. I also admired the way he gave up his body to pass block for Fitzpatrick. Very nice game was turned in by C.J. Spiller, and we hope it is the first of many more to come.

Steve Johnson Is Starting To Emerge

Steve Johnson scores on this catch vs Patriots

Steve Johnson looked very comfortable catching the ball from Ryan Fitzpatrick all day. He caught an important touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that brought the Bills back to within eight points down with four minutes to play. Johnson exhibited great balance on the play to score.

He also is showing some very good skills in picking up yards after the catch, which is an element the Bills offense has not often had.

The only problem I had with Steve Johnson was the act he pulled by making a demonstration after his touchdown catch, which drew a penalty flag when the Bills were trying to pull the game at the end. The flag meant the Bills had to kick off from their own 15 yard line, and forced the Bills to try a weird on side pooch kind of kick.

Johnson must have dialed up his inner-Terrell Owens routine to do something so foolish at a key moment of the game. Chalk that up to being a young player not sure how to react in a key moment. Hopefully he learns from his mistake.

Chan Gailey Has the Offense Humming Now, Can He Improve the Defense?

Chan Gailey talks to his receivers in Patriots game

Chan Gailey mixed up the offense and the player packages to keep New England's defense guessing for most of the game. The Bills will need to execute better in the red zone.

They distributed the ball to everyone in the offense except for Fred Jackson or David Nelson, who overall had very little involvement on Sunday. It is a mystery how Fred Jackson could have generated so much yardage last year, has so little to do with this offense.

The Bills picked up 19 first downs on Sunday and converted on five out of 10 chances on third down. 374 yards of total offense is a good day for the Bills. Picking up 134 yards of rushing on 24 attempts is nothing to sneeze at either.

Early in the game, the Bills were faced with a third and 18 yards to go. The telecast then flashed on a stat that the Bills had gone 40 straight attempts without converting on third and 10 yards to go or longer. Ryan Fitzpatrick then promptly hit Roscoe Parrish with a pass, and Parrish made some nice moves to create a 20 yard pass play. Streak over.

Now if Chan can only get George Edwards to figure out a way to put some heat on opposing quarterbacks we have a chance to start winning some games.

Does George Edwards Need To Bench Some Starters?

Tom Brady usually had no one in his face when he went back to pass

When Aaron Schobel retired, the next question everyone wanted an answer to, was where would the Bills pass rush come from? The Bills selected some talented physical types in the draft, but they have not really contributed very much so far. 

You don't really hear the name of Torell Troup very often in the game. Alex Carrington has yet to be active for any game this season, as has John McCargo. Arthur Moats was thought to be a physical player that could put pressure on the QB. Then there is the abyss that is Aaron Maybin. What does George Edwards do to start finding a way to generating some pressure?

Something has to be done. As good as we all believe the Bills defensive secondary to be, the last two weeks have proved without a shadow of a doubt that if you can't find a way to pressure the quarterback, the secondary will get picked apart.

Maybe Edwards needs to give other players a chance, just like Chan Gailey did with his quarterback decision.

Spiller Quiets Patriots Crowd With Dramatic Return

Pats fans are stunned by CJ Spiller's return touchdown

It was nice to see the stunned look on the Patriots fans when C.J. Spiller raced down the sideline and in to the end zone in the second half.

Is it possible that the Patriots fans have been spoiled from the many recent years of success? The Patriots can relish in the fact that they seem to have the Bills number, but from what their defense showed, this team is in for a rude awakening if they think they will be dominating the AFC East this year.

Marshawn Lynch Is Looking Like the Beast of Old

Marshawn Lynch had a solid day running against the Patriots

The Marshawn Lynch of old seems to be returning to form with each passing week. Against New England, Lynch rushed the ball 13 times for 79 yards. Several times he was very close to breaking off a long run, only to get tackled by the final defender.

Lynch was in full "Beast Mode" on Sunday, using his straight arm, and forcing the Patriots to gang tackle him on many of his runs. He broke numerous tackles all day long, and reinforced why he is such a good weapon to have on the Bills roster.

Next Up Is N.Y. Jets? What Do the Bills Do To Get A Win?

Now sitting at the bottom of the AFC East division with a record of 0-3, the Bills face the prospect of facing the New York Jets on Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Jets handled New England in the prior week, so now we get to see how the Bills offense fares against a much better defense.

No word yet if Darrelle Revis will be back, but we assume he will miss the game. It will require a big effort from the Bills defense to contain the Jets rushing attack, and try to force Mark Sanchez in to some turnovers, which he has shown he is capable of doing against the Bills before.

The Bills really need to have Paul Posluszny back. His presence would go a long way towards helping to shut down the running game. The Bills need to keep finding ways to get C.J. Spiller the ball in the open field. There is a ray of hope their Bills fans. We knew this team was not going to be a playoff team this year, but I think everyone saw enough good things on Sunday, that we need to keep supporting the team and getting behind the plan that Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey are trying to develop.

A win against the Jets would go a long way towards helping that plan along to becoming a reality.