Buffalo Bills 10
New England Patriots* 20

            I started a new job this week so time to write the article was not easy to come by.  I’m going to paste something I wrote to some family early in the week to serve as my Bills commentary.  Before I do that, I want to revisit something I said after the Chargers game. “5-1 record is great, but we’ll know more about this team after they run the gauntlet of division play”.  Well….. from first to last in just a few weeks.

This may be searching for a silver lining, but remember that two out of three of these games were on the road.  Two out of three of them they pretty much gave away and the other they just didn’t show up for.  The offense seems to struggle against these 3-4 defenses, of course you will struggle against everyone when you cannot block to the point where you have to put your QB in the shotgun on 3rd and 1.  With that said, here’s what I had to say to my family regarding some fans wanting Trent Edwards on the bench.  If you really believe that, then ask yourself this question: “Where does that leave us as a franchise?”… JP will be gone after this year, not that he’s the answer anyways.  Also, before reading this, keep in mind when Losman was in his first few years with the Bills I gave him all the same considerations, most of my friends can attest to that….

     “Edwards sucks and should be benched”, that’s an interesting statement.  Does he suck because he’s turned the ball over the last few games?  Does he suck because he makes poor decisions? Does he suck because he just has no quarterbacking ability?

Or does he suck because the bills have no running game and he’s facing 6 DB’s on most passing plays?  Does he suck because his offensive line has more holes than an O.J. SImpson alibi and he has to make early throws and can’t open up the offense?  Does he suck because he has no reliable check down options at the tight end position?  Does he suck because the Bills are currently missing their best possession/3rd down WR? Does he suck because the Bills are currently three people deep at right guard?  Does he stink because he gets pancaked every time he releases the ball which has already given him one concussion?  Or does he stink because for the second time in three games the bills run the ball 3 times in goal to go situation and then kick a field goal, never giving him a chance to throw for a score?`

    If you’re going to blame Trent Edwards for the struggles of this team, then you have to blame Marshawn Lynch just as much.  Only once has he gone over 80 yards rushing this season.  Is that his fault?  Most would argue there aren’t any running lanes for him.  Well, the line is just as crucial in passing as it is in rushing.  Every person in the media spent the first 6 weeks of this season raving about Edwards maturity and poise.  Now during a stretch of a few bad games EARLY in his career, he has become a bust.  I know, Jim Kelly NEVER played poorly a few games in a row.  Have some perspective on this.  No one is playing well on offense for the Bills and it all starts up front.  When Edwards has been well protected, he has carved teams up.  When you throw with two guys in your face against a dime defense you will struggle.

I will also highly question the play calling that is putting our QB in bad situations.  Why are we always in the shotgun on 3rd and short?  To my knowledge the bills didn’t run a single play-action-pass today.  There was not one screen pass set up to either a RB or Parrish.  This offense has become incredibly vanilla and I suspect that’s because the coaching staff has no confidence in their offensive line.  Juaron HAS to get the ref’s attention on that first drive when apparently he tried to challenge Welker’s catch but the ref didn’t see the red flag.

The personal foul call against Ko Simpson was one of the worst calls in the past decade.  On the Bills on-side kick, it was ruled Buffalo ball, then overturned after a conference.  That late in a game, when you have ruled one way on the field and over turned it, how do you not review that play??  That review has to come from upstairs and they refused to take a look at it! I mean how do you not take another look at that play after having made two different calls on the field?  No, the Bills probably still don’t win the game, but it is highly suspicious to me.  Especially after the Rams filed an official protest because when they played the Patriots, not one penalty was called on New England the whole game. Today they were flagged a whole two times.

I spend enough time following the Bills, I won’t spend any more time fighting ridiculous claims about our YOUNG quarterback.  This is all I have to say about it for the rest of the season.  Dislike him all you want, he still had a QB rating over 90 coming into the game, and has a winning record in his EARLY career.