Bills
BILLS DVR REWIND: Small errors keep killing Bills
Let’s start with an apology as it took a day longer than normal to get to the DVR this week. OK, on to what we can only say was a far more spirited effort than we’ve seen in recent weeks. But still not enough.
Looking for a comedy of errors that typifies the Bills’ season? Try this one on. First and 10 from the Jacksonville 38 midway through the opening quarter. Fitzpatrick is back in the shotgun with Freddy Jackson on his right and Marshawn Lynch on his left. Jonathan Scott, on his second play after getting subbed in for an injured Seth McKinney, gets pushed back while pulling right. Marshawn Lynch takes a bad angle as he comes in front of Fitzpatrick for a fake handoff and forces Jackson, who’s leaking to the left for an inside screen, to slow up and change his path.
As Jackson stumbles to avoid Lynch, he catches the leg of the pulling Scott, and both go flying to the ground.
Fitzpatrick still throws to Jackson, who’s now sitting on the ground.
Loss of one.
Those mistakes on first down force second and long, and the Jaguars send a standard four, but while Andy Levitre swivels his head from side-to-side looking for someone to block, John Henderson snakes his way to Fitzpatrick. The worst thing about Levitre’s mistake is that he’s got three rushers to his right and had help behind him left in Lynch, who finally released because he had nobody to block.
Fortunately, Fitzpatrick responds by hitting Terrell Owens on a deep in that got the Bills down to the Jags’ 15 and Buffalo tied up the contest with a field goal.
•••
We’ve been critical of the Bills’ special teams play this season, hinting that the league has started to gain ground on guru Bobby April.
But it’s tough to make chicken salad out of chicken feed (or something like that).
After the Bills tied it at 3-3, the three guys who circled Jags’ return man Brian Witherspoon were Ellis Lankster, Cary Harris and Todd Johnson. If you can rattle of their uniform numbers without a roster, consider yourself a true fan — and think about getting a hobby.
•••
It’s been tough to tell if Kyle Williams has become a solid interior defensive lineman, or if he’s simply been taking advantage of double-teams on Marcus Stroud.
We learned more this week.
With Stroud out of the lineup on Sunday, Williams finished with five tackles, including two for losses, and a huge second-quarter pop on David Garrard that forced an incomplete pass.
•••
The Bills have tried to weed out bad attitudes, but keeping Roscoe Parrish on the roster makes absolutely no sense at this point. How a veteran returner could field a punt inside his own five proves Parrish simply isn’t in it for his teammates.
It’s time to cut ties completely.
Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.
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