Pleasantly surprised, and eating a bit of early in the season crow
Ok, I wasn't able to post until late last week due to a bogus ban, but it was a good thing. I got to pretty much sit and watch the first two weeks of football and come up with my own thoughts on the Bills, and I thought I'd share since I know many of you love to hear what I have to say
Well, where do I start? Let's go with the leader of the team, the QB.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was a backup player who overachieved for a good portion of last year to me, but he has improved so far this season. He has had a few rough starts here and there, but I think he's more comfortable now, and it looks like he's playing to his strengths more now...short and intermediate passes, and his feet are set when making his throws. I don't love his arm, but he's utilizing what he has to the best of his ability, and his toughness and will to win and succeed is top notch. He has shown me that he's very capable so far, so I must eat some crow as of right now. Hopefully he keeps surprising and plays up to his competition which will get tougher.
Another guy who is impressing me is Fred Jackson. He's almost as important as Fitz if you ask me. His YPC numbers are VERY impressive, and he seems to be as good as any year he's played, maybe even more so this season. He and Spiller could be quite the tandem next year and possibly beyond. I was hard on Fred Jackson too, but again, I am being proven wrong. Nice work, Fred.
The WR's seem to be a fairly solid unit, along with the Oline. Obviously Gailey and Fitz are helping by running quicker passing plays than in years past, but they aren't committing huge errors either, so again, consider me pleasantly surprised. Steve Johnson still has work to do on his ball catching skills, but he seems as if he's for real, and I wouldn't mind getting started on an extension for the kid. David Nelson is playing great, and Donald Jones looks capable.
And don't let me forget Scott Chandler. I thought this guy was gonna be a non factor, but he's playing great, and is a significant piece in this offense. Once again, I'm shocked and impressed.
Now, obviously much of the credit for this needs to go to the man in charge, the offensive guru, Chan Gailey. He has obviously identified good young players that can fit into what he's doing, and he's designed a system that will work with them. A huge round of applause for Gailey, who I didn't believe in as far as the X's and O's go.
I won't start to eat much crow on the D, or go into too much detail with them, but I do think they are improved up front, and Barnett looks to be good to go as well. They haven't impressed me yet, but I'll give them some time due to how much progress I've seen from the offense.
I must admit, I am looking like I don't know much when it comes to this team anymore. It seems like my biggest concern is actually this team's biggest strength right now, which is almost mind boggling. We will see what happens in the coming weeks with tougher opponents, and less favorable weather, but I have to say I am very happy with what I have been seeing, and my negativity posting is on hold for a while at least.
I would like to believe that now is the time when we are due to finally knock off a Pats team that has more than owned us lately, but I can't predict it. I'll just say that I will be watching with high hopes that we finally put an end to this ownage. The fact that I believe we have a shot speaks to how much this team has shown me, even though it's only two games in.
Good luck to our team on Sunday, and enjoy everyone...especially the ones at the stadium. Stay loud for four quarters, fellow fans! It's gonna take everything this team and the fans have to finally knock off those Chowdaheads!
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Originally Posted by BruceNolan
