Bills’ young players make actions count in a game that doesn’t

By Anthony Bialy  |   Friday, August 29, 2008  |  Comments( 91 )

Buffalo Bills
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Who had money on Detroit getting two safeties in one half? In Buffalo on Thursday, the Lions got 14 points in the oddest way possible, and one hyper-compulsive gambler is going to be eating lobster-stuffed steaks three times a day in the Bahamas for the rest of his life with the proceeds from a bizarre preseason bet, regardless of the fact that the end zone in-the-grasp sack was a junky call. Aside from the opponent’s quirky scoring, some nascent Bills wisely used the last pretend game as a chance to polish skills, a positive development that also provided enjoyable moments for fans enduring a typically sloppy preseason closer.

The guy who displayed progress most prominently didn’t have to do so to win a job: Second-round wideout James Hardy ran perfect routes, and it was nice to see him extending his arm to reel in a pass for a sharp second reception. While he only made that pair of catches, he’s advancing at a comic book-level mutated rate.

Meanwhile, fellow rookie receiver Steve Johnson -- a seventh-rounder -- keeps impressing with steadiness, as his eight grabs for 74 yards were the result of latching onto most footballs thrown his way. He’s creating a nice problem for coaches, namely that he’s forced them to realize that the proper decision is to keep six receivers when Justin Jenkins’ fine work is factored; banishing Johnson to the practice squad will discount his ability to make catches and then gain yards, which after all is basically the position’s job description.

Unfortunately, running back Dwayne Wright keeps getting chances to prove he deserves confidence and keeps letting them go; aside from the fact he relinquished two points on one of those safeties, he’s officially enduring a fumbling epidemic. It’s not as if he’s a high-profile top option, a status which would earn him patience; instead of being willing to work with him to cure his malady, coaches are at the point where they’ll have to go with someone they can trust.

On the other hand, emergent defenders judiciously spent the most irrelevant of the irrelevant games improving. Particularly, rookie defensive end Chris Ellis spent the evening making the right reads and getting himself in correct positions; he understandably overcommitted at moments in earlier contests, but he’s now playing as if he has a better sense for where things are headed.

As for short-tenured veterans looking better, Ko Simpson continues to put his injury behind him, evidenced by a deep breakup he forced on the Lions’ first drive after Leodis McKelvin correctly let the wideout go and head into zone coverage. Simpson was joined in reacting properly during the game by Ashton Youboty, who has finally clicked this preseason as his eyes open to what’s encompassing him on the field.

McKelvin is also holding up well on his own, as when he executed a fine lunge on a convincing breakup in the first quarter that would have gone for a huge gain had he not read it properly. It was a reverse of what was expected, as the rookie played fine on defense while making some curious special teams decisions.

It’s not a matter of learning something new in the pros: A punt shouldn’t be fair caught around the player’s own 5-yard line, something Pop Warner kids have already been taught. As for another kicking play that was different yet the same, the punt he fielded near the second quarter’s end at nearly the same spot and tried to return was a college attempt in an NFL atmosphere, as he thought he could juke swarming tacklers and quickly discovered that it wasn’t going to happen even in preseason.

For McKelvin, who also to be fair excelled at special teams when he mistakenly wasn’t letting punts bounce, it was a final opportunity to make bad decisions. That’s the best way to view August football, namely as a chance to react questionably in a live situation.

Because the NFL doesn’t currently permit do-overs in the regular season, Buffalo’s urchins obtained information from experience now so they can do things right next month; in fact, some have actually already gotten demonstrably wiser. When it comes to an uncommonly youthful squad, the fourth preseason game was meaningless but nonetheless useful.

Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!</i>">Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!
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CommentsComments: 91  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
09:41 AM
08/29/2008
Since tomorrow is final cutdown day let’s play who makes the team’s 53 man roster. I know some of you posters have already...
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No.2
jim k		10:11 AM
08/29/2008
that looks about right. sie note...Johnson is going to be the real deal and will push reed for slot reciever if Hardy is #2 wr,...
No.3
Brian		10:26 AM
08/29/2008
looks ok but CB James will not be cut instead i see one of the lbs getting cut maybe costanzo.... others look pretty good
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