Why Are You Punting???????????: Trailing 16-7 with 4:21 remaining, Buffalo faced fourth-and-5 on its 35; in came the punting unit. Sure fourth-and-5 is a tough down, but you trail by two scores with the sun setting on the game: all New Orleans had to do was go three-and-out and the clock situation would become impossible. It took the Saints only four snaps to get past the point where they would have been had the Bills gone for it and missed anyway. Two weeks ago, the Bills trailing by 13 on the final play of the third quarter, coach Mike Mularkey ordered a punt from the opposition 39, signaling his players it was okay to quit on the game -- that the priority was containing the margin of defeat. Again this week Mularkey seemed more concerned with containing the margin of defeat, thus deflecting criticism from himself, then trying all-out to win. Tuesday Morning Quarterback asks: if Bill Belichick is trailing 16-7 with 4:21 remaining and facing fourth-and-5, is there even one chance in a million he sends in the punt unit?
And I also noted that the Bills really need to find some new blood for the offensive line -- in fact, it's my belief that this is the greatest reason why the Bills are in an 0-5 playoff drought the last five seasons (and likely to go 0-6). Here's what Easterbrook had to say on that subject:
Worst Blocks: In my preseason preview, I noted Buffalo management's strange indifference to the team's need for offensive linemen. During the past five drafts, the Bills have invested eight No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the glamour positions of quarterback, running back and wide receiver; against only one first- or second-round pick invested in blockers. It's showing, as the Bills so far have a cover-your-eyes-awful offensive line. With the score close in Week 3, Buffalo failed to convert a fourth-quarter fourth-and-1 in opposition territory; the Bills offensive line got zero push. In a close game on Sunday, Buffalo failed to convert a fourth-quarter fourth-and-1 in opposition territory; five Saints hit the runner in the backfield! These were the decisive plays in Buffalo's past two losses, and on both the offensive line might as well have brought out pillows since it lay down on the field. To add insult to incompetency, on the snap before the failed fourth-and-1 against New Orleans, Buffalo failed on third-and-1 -- as the Bills offensive line got zero push. The Bills have only three touchdowns, and some blame the poor performance of new quarterback J.P. Losman. But pass-blocking is so consistently bad, Losman has to start scrambling on the count of "one thousand two." The Buffalo offensive line is going neck-and-neck with the Houston line for the dubious distinction of worst in the league -- but unlike the Texans, this season the Bills expected to go somewhere other than back to the drawing board.
Actually, it's worse than that: the Bills have only spent a first-round pick on an offensive lineman twice since 1995 (when they drafted Ruben Brown). Meantime, they've basically spent three first-round picks in that period on quarterbacks: they traded a first-rounder to Jacksonville for Rob Johnson in 1998; they traded another first-rounder to New England in 2002 for Drew Bledsoe; and they picked J.P. Losman in 2004. (Using, I might add, an extra first-round pick that they had acquired by trading their first-rounder in 2005 to do so.) And don't forget the second-round pick used on Todd Collins in 1995. Four QBs, only one of whom is still here, versus two linemen, only one of whom is still here (2002 first-rounder Mike Williams). Ouch. Now, no one expects them to build their line entirely through the draft, but picking up other teams' castoffs and shoehorning them out of position into the line here (Trey Teague's not a natural center, and boy, does it show when defensive tackles are past him before he's even finished snapping the ball) is not the road to offensive line success.
Man, I oughta be blogging for NFL.com.
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