Last week marked the start of the 2014 NFL season which saw the Bills defeat the Bears in overtime. The Bills got lucky to say the least. Sure they were able to stay with the Bears throughout the game, but without the Bears three turnovers when they were in scoring position the win for the Bills would have never happened. The one thing that concerned me the most was the lack of defensive creativity by new coordinator Jim Schwartz. I watch a defense that had four guys pin their ears back and just rush on the defensive line, and everyone else just sit back in man coverage. Sure that’s fine, I don’t mind not blitzing a ton when you have a defensive line with three pro-bowlers on it. Still you have to get creative and not just have them run straight forward. Make the offensive line think a little bit and confuse them. It’s not that hard they can’t even remember the snap count from time to time. If our defensive plan is just to sit there 50 snaps a game it’s only going to take a decent offensive team to light us up. I know what you’re thinking right now the Bears are one of the best offensive teams in the league, and I agree with that statement. However, in the game on Sunday they didn’t look ready. Several times routes were not being run correctly, and Jay Cutler looked to dump off to Matt Forte on every play as a result who nearly beat the Bills as a result of our outside linebackers not performing well. I mean really guys ten yards on every dump off pass or run outside the tackles. Another thing that I saw was EJ Manuel’s inability to give his receivers a chance to make a catch. I mean Robert Woods saved his butt by making several great snags during the game. EJ just can’t throw the ball where it needs to be. Even on short passes he constantly overthrows and under throws his receivers. That’s something I expected to see today because seriously if you think EJ’s the quarterback of the future than you are mistaken my friend.
Now we’re going to talk about what I think the Bills season is going to be like. I am going to make some bold predictions from here on out about the Bills 2014 season. These are unlikely to happen, but things that should not surprise you if they do. My first predictions (drum roll please) is that all four of the Bills defensive lineman will play in the pro bowl this year. Assuming no injuries Williams and Williams are pretty much locks to get in without a major disappointing season. I also believe Marcell Daruis is trying to prove himself to the Bills as a person who can perform well on and off the field after his troubled offseason. The wild card here is Jerry Hughes who had ten sacks last year and is a former first round draft pick. I think his production will go up this year for several reasons. Once the other three lineman are all going to be focused on allowing him to have many plays where it’s just him and the tackle, and I also think the trend of increased production over his first four years in the NFL will continue to his fifth.
My second bold prediction is that CJ Spiller will be traded by the Bills. My dream trade would be Spiller to the Saint, Falcons, or Patriots for a first round pick that will most likely be late, but will still allow for the Bills to be active on the first day of the draft. I still find that hard to believe, what I find easy to believe is the Bills have four good running backs in Spiller, Jackson, Dixon, and Brown. What I also know is Spiller is in his final year of his rookie contract, and he wants to cash in as much as possible with the career span of about 10 years for the most elite running backs in this league. Also I think the bills front office will realize what a mistake having no first round pick in the 2015 draft is. Also do you really think Spiller will want to resign here? I don’t. Sure we have a now owner now, but that still doesn’t change who’s on the roster. Spiller wants to be the number one guy who gets 20 carries a game, and when you’re competing day in and out for touches that doesn’t necessarily mean you going to get that big contract this offseason.
My final prediction is that Kyle Orton will be the starter by the end of the season. EJ’s not good. Sure he’s big strong athletic and carries himself well off the field, but he makes every throw so difficult for his receivers to catch. He just does not have the accuracy to be successful on the NFL. Please EJ prove me wrong and lead the Bills to the playoffs this year. I just can’t see it happening. Â I think he’s going to throw the ball too many times to players that aren’t wearing Bills jerseys, and throw himself out of the starting job when you have an above average back up ready to come in. Kyle Orton has a career record of above 500 and can get the job done when needs be. EJ can be great, but I just can’t say that will happen from what I’ve seen so far. That’s why I think Kyle Orton is going to be the Bills starter when week 17 rolls around.
By Jason Phillips
