Once he was a force to be reckoned with, an arm to be feared. But after being sacked 233 times over the last five years, and 228 over the past 4 1/2 as a starting quarterback, he has become a punch-drunk fighter with no idea when to pull the trigger or when to duck. His timing is so far off that one of his interceptions, the first ever by his former teammate, Troy Brown, was the result of Bledsoe throwing the ball half a body length behind Eric Moulds.
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Its hard to believe this was written 6 Weeks ago in the Boston Globe. Now people are saying they, are The Team nobody wants to meet if they get to the Play-offs. The accepted reason for The Bills turn-around is Willis McGahee, who through his improving of the running game has given Bledsoe more time and options, and the Defense, less playing time. The Stat that stands out is McGahee has started 10 games and has a record of 9-1 (the loss being to New England) the games he didn’t start and played a very minor role in went 0-5.
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After looking a bit deeper into The Bills, it can be said that maybe little has changed and it’s all a mirage. Without McGahee starting, The Bills average per run was 3.5, with Bledsoe churning out horrendous figures and a passer rating of 74. Since then, with McGahee starting all games, The bills are 3.9 average per run, while Bledsoe has improved by ½ a TD per game, halved his T/Os, reduced his sacks and increased his passer rating to 77. Off the top of my head, I would have expected the figures to be better and after considering the following, it could be argued that there has been no improvement.
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In the 5 games McGahee didn’t start, all losers, 4 of the 5 were against what are now, top 10 Defenses against the run. In all the games since, only twice has a top 10 run Defense been played, winning 1 and losing 1. Meanwhile, Bledsoe played well in one game and a howler in the other. I fully accept that Lee Evans has made a big contribution to the Offense and the Defense is for real. Taking on the No1 run Defense in The Steelers, I don’t think McGahee will be as successful, and as a consequence, pressure will be brought on Bledsoe, leading to the usual turnovers. Like all the Defenses in the League, Buffalo’s will succumb to being on the field too long. It would not be unreasonable in view of all this, to make Pittsburgh a 3-4pt Favourite.
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He’s off his rocker and finally lost his marbles, I hear you say. Doesn’t he know The Steelers don’t need to win and will be resting their players, especially in a must-win game for The Bills. Yes, I do know the facts and yes, a straight-jacket may well be called for Sunday evening along with a restraining order on my accounts. So, onto the job of working out if the perceived drop-off in depth of The Steelers equates to a turn in the spread of some 12pts.
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Regardless of anything, The Bills will carry on their winning recipe of running the ball; their success or lack of it will probably determine the outcome. As can be seen, The Steelers have 6 Linemen and 8 Linebackers to fill the 7 places in their 3-4 base.
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LE A.Smith B.Keisel ................LOLB C.Haggans A.Jackson
NT C.Hoke K.Clancy ................LILB J.Farrior C.Kriewaldt
RE K.Von Ol T.Kirschke ..........RILB L.Foote K.Bell
....................................................ROLB J.Porter J.Harrison.
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I don’t wish to say too much as I think it would be better for people to come to their own view of this, but suffice to say, Haggans and Bell are probably out and Harrison has Flu; like most Teams, they rotate their D-Line. My point is, I don’t think The Steelers have much choice in who plays these positions and question if there will be any difference in their play. Any concern I have about their Secondary is eased by the knowledge that any significant passing by Bledsoe should spell trouble for The Bills. The Offense is somewhat trickier to predict and if there’s an Achilles Heel to my thinking, then its how the O-line plays against what will be a strong Bills Defense. A couple of things I learnt in my coaching days; I actually had quite some success, the culmination of which was bringing The London Loafers to the NW London section of the 1993 Sega-Mega drive, John Madden Final. Anyways, you chance fewer injuries to your O-Line running the ball, and if you are going to run the ball, it’s better for everyone to keep it simple. Like Bledsoe, it wasn’t long ago people were saying Bettis had gone at the game and is indeed retiring next year. My feeling is that Pittsburgh’s O-Line is firing on all cylinders, with the TEs playing their part, I don’t think it matters who is running the ball. Although I am not a fan of Tommy Maddox, he’s hardly what is normally called a 2<SUP>nd</SUP> stringer and wont be asked to do too much anyhow.
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A lot has been said about resting players and playing for nothing, but there is plenty of evidence from the Team, that they intend to make a game of it. I would also point out, although The Bills priority is winning, they would have a game next Week, so its hard to think Buffalo would run up the score. 9 points is a lot when the other Team is only looking for 1. As I am losing at this juncture, odds of up to 4/1 on the M/L will better suit my needs.
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Happy New Year to Everyone and the best of luck in the play-offs
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<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
fficeffice" /><o></o>Its hard to believe this was written 6 Weeks ago in the Boston Globe. Now people are saying they, are The Team nobody wants to meet if they get to the Play-offs. The accepted reason for The Bills turn-around is Willis McGahee, who through his improving of the running game has given Bledsoe more time and options, and the Defense, less playing time. The Stat that stands out is McGahee has started 10 games and has a record of 9-1 (the loss being to New England) the games he didn’t start and played a very minor role in went 0-5.
<o
></o>After looking a bit deeper into The Bills, it can be said that maybe little has changed and it’s all a mirage. Without McGahee starting, The Bills average per run was 3.5, with Bledsoe churning out horrendous figures and a passer rating of 74. Since then, with McGahee starting all games, The bills are 3.9 average per run, while Bledsoe has improved by ½ a TD per game, halved his T/Os, reduced his sacks and increased his passer rating to 77. Off the top of my head, I would have expected the figures to be better and after considering the following, it could be argued that there has been no improvement.
<o
></o>In the 5 games McGahee didn’t start, all losers, 4 of the 5 were against what are now, top 10 Defenses against the run. In all the games since, only twice has a top 10 run Defense been played, winning 1 and losing 1. Meanwhile, Bledsoe played well in one game and a howler in the other. I fully accept that Lee Evans has made a big contribution to the Offense and the Defense is for real. Taking on the No1 run Defense in The Steelers, I don’t think McGahee will be as successful, and as a consequence, pressure will be brought on Bledsoe, leading to the usual turnovers. Like all the Defenses in the League, Buffalo’s will succumb to being on the field too long. It would not be unreasonable in view of all this, to make Pittsburgh a 3-4pt Favourite.
<o
></o>He’s off his rocker and finally lost his marbles, I hear you say. Doesn’t he know The Steelers don’t need to win and will be resting their players, especially in a must-win game for The Bills. Yes, I do know the facts and yes, a straight-jacket may well be called for Sunday evening along with a restraining order on my accounts. So, onto the job of working out if the perceived drop-off in depth of The Steelers equates to a turn in the spread of some 12pts.
<o
></o>Regardless of anything, The Bills will carry on their winning recipe of running the ball; their success or lack of it will probably determine the outcome. As can be seen, The Steelers have 6 Linemen and 8 Linebackers to fill the 7 places in their 3-4 base.
<o
></o>LE A.Smith B.Keisel ................LOLB C.Haggans A.Jackson
NT C.Hoke K.Clancy ................LILB J.Farrior C.Kriewaldt
RE K.Von Ol T.Kirschke ..........RILB L.Foote K.Bell
....................................................ROLB J.Porter J.Harrison.
<o
></o>I don’t wish to say too much as I think it would be better for people to come to their own view of this, but suffice to say, Haggans and Bell are probably out and Harrison has Flu; like most Teams, they rotate their D-Line. My point is, I don’t think The Steelers have much choice in who plays these positions and question if there will be any difference in their play. Any concern I have about their Secondary is eased by the knowledge that any significant passing by Bledsoe should spell trouble for The Bills. The Offense is somewhat trickier to predict and if there’s an Achilles Heel to my thinking, then its how the O-line plays against what will be a strong Bills Defense. A couple of things I learnt in my coaching days; I actually had quite some success, the culmination of which was bringing The London Loafers to the NW London section of the 1993 Sega-Mega drive, John Madden Final. Anyways, you chance fewer injuries to your O-Line running the ball, and if you are going to run the ball, it’s better for everyone to keep it simple. Like Bledsoe, it wasn’t long ago people were saying Bettis had gone at the game and is indeed retiring next year. My feeling is that Pittsburgh’s O-Line is firing on all cylinders, with the TEs playing their part, I don’t think it matters who is running the ball. Although I am not a fan of Tommy Maddox, he’s hardly what is normally called a 2<SUP>nd</SUP> stringer and wont be asked to do too much anyhow.
<o
></o>A lot has been said about resting players and playing for nothing, but there is plenty of evidence from the Team, that they intend to make a game of it. I would also point out, although The Bills priority is winning, they would have a game next Week, so its hard to think Buffalo would run up the score. 9 points is a lot when the other Team is only looking for 1. As I am losing at this juncture, odds of up to 4/1 on the M/L will better suit my needs.
<o
></o>Happy New Year to Everyone and the best of luck in the play-offs
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