By Jason Phillips
After a win against the Browns in week 13 the Bills moved to 7-5. This was the first time the team has had that many wins going into December, in 14 seasons. However Bills faced a tough matchup at Denver who is one of the premier teams n the league and could not find a way to win going down by a score of 24-17.
The defense in the game played well. They were able to contain Peyton Manning and the Broncos were forced to get their yards and points on the run game. The issue with this team isn’t the defense they have played well throughout the year. The main reason why the Bills struggle to win almost every game they play in is the inconsistent offense.
At the beginning of the year you looked at the Bills offense and thought they should be able to run the ball consistently during the year with a backfield of four decent running backs, and yet that has not been the case. With CJ Spiller getting injured the team has not able to run the ball as well as before. This year, to me at least, it has looked like Fred Jackson has finally lost a step. Also Boobie Dixon has very little explosive speed, and the chances of him gaining more than ten yards on a rush is very little. With that, the pressure to score has been put on a group of young receivers, and a journeyman quarterback who was taken out and replaced with Tim Tebow during his career. Kyle Orton has done the best he’s could with a subpar group of receivers.
Robert Woods is a slot guy who can’t really produce plays downfield, and Watkins has just been a disappointment. If I hear one more person say he’s just a rookie I might lose it. He’s a rookie we drafted fourth overall in the first round, and gave another first round pick away to get him. He just has not produce consistently during the season. Really, he’s had two good games. Even if he had over 100 yards against Denver he still had a really bad fumble (how can a receiver in the NFL not expect someone to hit him from behind when he’s just made a catch?). The best thing he’s done all year is make commercials for Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
This team just can’t score points and they will never be able to make the playoffs if they don’t. They still have to play the Patriots and the Packers, and most likely will need to win one or both to make the playoffs this year.
The offense is just bad, and the Watkins trade is just biting them in the butt. They could have picked Odell Beckham JR at number 9, and still be able to show up on Thursday of next year’s draft. Now we know EJ isn’t going anywhere, and come on is Kyle Orton going to lead us to a Super Bowl or even the playoffs with the below average guys he has around him on the offense. I don’t think so.
And I’ve saved the worst for last—I haven’t really had much confidence in the play calling throughout the year. People question Marrone’s calls on fourth down, and while some pan out, h’s made some major errors. I won’t go on about Offensive Coordinator Nate Hackett because I went off on him in the last issue.
So that’s why I don’t think the Bills will make the playoffs this year, but maybe they can sign a better quarterback and have a shot next year.
