Buffalo Bills @ St. Louis Rams preview
Statement time for Buffalo
The last time a team other than the New England Patriots were in first place of the AFC East, was November of ’05 when the Miami Dolphins were an “impressive” 2-1. Well, nearly three years later that is exactly where the Buffalo Bills stand. The Bills are 3-0 for the first time since ’92, the last time they went to the Super Bowl by the way, and will travel to winless St. Louis, who no joke might be the worst football team of all time. Not just the worst NFL team of all time, but the worst football team of all time. They would be 4-and-half point underdogs to the team from “Necessary Roughness.” Good teams don’t lose to a team like the Rams. Are the Bills a good team? They are 3-0 and in first place, but how for real are they? Beating the Rams doesn’t necessarily answer these questions, dominating them might.
The Rams this season have been outscored 116 to 29. Think about that…116-29, that looks like a score in a girls High School basketball game when one of the teams has Candice Parker or something. A HUNDRED-AND-SIXTEEN TO TWENTY-NINE. They haven’t finished a game within 24pts of an opponent. Last week they played a Seattle team, who Buffalo smoked by the way, who was without SIX wide receivers. SIX of them. They were playing with guys right out of the Seattle Suicide Prevention Clinic, and they still put up 37 points and over 400 yards. They’re basically last in offense, with just 202yds a game, and basically last in defense allowing 456yds a game. As a franchise they’ve lost 16 out of their last 19 games. And if that’s not enough, things are getting worse in St. Louis.
They’ve decided that they need to change things. They’ve decided they need a new look. They’ve decided they need a spark. So they’re putting an ex-Pro Bowl QB, Marc “the Bulge” Bulger on the bench, and ushering in a new era of Ram football. They turn the wheel to…Trent Green? That Trent Green? The one with like a million concussions, who was last seen being carted off the field in Miami, looking around like one of those big white guys after Mike Tyson got through with em?……Yea that Trent Green……I have no idea either. Before writing this article I really tried to come up with an explanation for this move and I couldn’t do it. Marc Bulger is not the problem with this team. It’s not “the Bulg” who’s holding back this offense. The o-line has given up 15 sacks in three games. Bulger has been sacked 11 times. He doesn’t have enough time to hold it back. Now, I'm sure he’s not free of all the blame, and I’m sure that a faster, more elusive QB could help improve the situation. But Trent Green? If it were a kid I’d understand. Move in a new direction, breath of fresh air, younger, faster, more durable all that stuff that comes with a young QB. But Trent Green? If you get to close to Trent Green, Troy Aikman gets a concussion. How they think Trent Green going to be better equipped to deal with the pressure I will never know. What I do know is this has Evander Holyfeild situation written all over it. Add to that, much like last week when the Bills played Oakland, St. Louis’s only positive is their run-game, and star RB Steven Jackson. But that plays rite into the Bills hands, because their biggest strength is stopping the run. The Bills might have the BEST run defense in the league. They held Seattle and Jacksonville, two teams with great reputations for running the ball, to 151 total rush yards, for just 3.6 yards a carry. Last week they held the Raiders tandem of Bush and run-DMC to less than 100 yards, a week after they combined for over 300 against K.C. The Bills D should absolutely dominate this game. At this point you just expect their run-defense to be as solid as a rock. And if they are able to send lots of different looks at Green, and get tons of pressure on him, it could get ugly. I would really be shocked if St. Lu moves the ball efficiently.
> Find Buffalo Bills merchandise through Pro Football Fans & get the 2008 NFL scores here as well.
The Bills offense on the other-hand has some questions of its own. They really looked awful through three quarters against the Raiders last week, before catching fire in the fourth. They scored 17 of their 24 points in the last 8 minuets of the game, against a defense that isn’t exactly the 2000 Ravens. And after a season where EVERYTHING has gone right, things finally started to go bad. The injury bug hit Buffalo this week. News on Wednesday was, dynamic playmaker Rosco Parish will be out 4-6 weeks after having finger surgery. Although he isn’t exactly an iatrical part of their offense, he is their third wide receiver, and a threat to make a game-breaking play, every play he is out on the field. That includes of course special teams, where he is as good of a punt returner as there is in the league. He was absolutely vital during their fourth quarter takeover last week, where he caught all three of his balls including a touchdown. No doubt he will be missed. He is expected to be replaced at WR by rookie James Hardy or Justin Jenkins whom they just brought in. They have two catches between them. 1 st round pick Leodis “Mc Lovin” McKelvin is expected to take over on punts. He’s averaging over 25yds per kick-off return.
Bottom line is this a must win game for Buffalo, if they want to be respected and thought of as a good team that needs to be taken seriously. Good teams beat up on the Rams. The Bills need to make a statement and do the same. And remember, after last week I think people are starting to realize that maybe Matt Cassel isn’t Tom Brady, and Maybe the Pats will struggle, the New York Farves looked horrendous on Monday night, and really all season, and the phins are the phins. The Bills don’t play a game within the division till week 8 when they go to Miami, if they can put in work till then, they could be in great position to end the 8-year play-off drought, and bring a Division championship back to Buffalo.
By Liam Whalen
ProFootball-fans.com Buffalo Bills Correspondent