It’s only pre-season. This is what I keep telling myself after each of the Bills pre-season games so far this year. High hopes and expectations are always on the minds of Bills fans at the beginning of every year. “Superbowl man, this is it.” A phrase uttered by Bills fans in August and September all too often. I like to believe it is a legitimate possibility too, but after the start to the pre-season this year, I’m just as nervous as the next Bills fan. Incomplete passes, 2-3 yard runs gone wrong, mediocre defense. It’s all too familiar, and Bills fans myself included are sick of it. We bring in T.O., which I am all for, but now he is out with a toe injury. An injury that seems like nothing to the casual eye, but toe injuries have ended the career of NFL players, Deion Sanders to name one. So all that is running through my mind right now is that T.O. will either be troubled by this injury all year long, or something worse.

Before the first play from scrimmage this year, the Bills had the most promising roster in a long time. Trent Edwards coming into his third year, second as the starter. McKelvin coming into his sophmore year in the league looks promising. Puz seems ready to rally the defense this year and maybe be a real force and leader on defense. Things just seemed to be going our way this offseason, and then pre-season came. Granted we still have a game or two left before we face Brady on Monday night for the opener, chalk up the L for that one. But the team just looks weak so far this year, but its only pre-season. I like the no huddle, but I think Coach Jauron is forcing it a bit too much. Are we seriously not going to huddle all season? Trent Edwards is not Peyton Manning. It does not seem to be working so far, so switch it up. Let Trent and the offense regroup once and awhile and make sure everyone is on the same page. The no huddle, I believe, is all about rhythm. The Bills offense does not seem to have any rhythm. So why not back off, huddle up, and slow it down. Wouldn’t it be more effective if we huddled up and ran a no huddle occasionally? Bill Belichick will know how to beat us if we continually run a no huddle. Fact. He’ll blitz, he’ll drop 8, he’ll zone blitz, he will beat us somehow. However…if we are constantly switching it up and huddling and not huddling, I think we might have a chance.

So let’s hope pre-season finishes strong, and we lose by less than 30 on Monday night in New England. We also obviously have to stay healthy, and I believe some real leaders must emerge for the Bills to be successful. We haven’t had a real leader on the Bills since Jim Kelly. I think if Trent Edwards and Puz can step up and be leaders and lead by example and make big plays, the Bills certainly have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. If none of this happens or only some of it, then expect nothing more than 7-9 and a new coach next year.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Football, General Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.