Edwards’ turnovers overturn Bills’ hopes

By Anthony Bialy  |   Monday, November 17, 2008  |  Comments( 99 )

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Restaurateur, car dealership owner, and former professional footballer John Elway used to joke that the reason he led so many fourth-quarter comebacks was that his teams were down so often. Another Stanford signal-caller in Trent Edwards should bring the self-defacing observation to mind without laughing, as he not only put on a weak initial show against the Cleveland Browns but also forgot to finish strong.

After committing a stream of continuous mistakes, Edwards also didn’t start playing well soon enough to give his team a better opportunity to overcome those errors. This game shouldn’t have come down to a long attempt for three, and the fact that the Buffalo Bills found themselves in that position means they will have to claw and pray the rest of the season when it comes to positioning of another kind, namely that for the playoffs.

He kept getting handed chances, too. Edwards was facing a team that specializes in collapses, saw running back Marshawn Lynch finally get the chance to play out of his mind, found himself handed a special teams touchdown, and enjoyed a workmanlike effort from defensive teammates who kept having to get back on the field. And he frittered away all of it, as he appeared to be shell-shocked while delivering a few horrible footballs when he wasn’t leaning virtually entirely on underneath throws that barely deserve the dignity of being called screens.

Things couldn’t have started more poorly: the Bills were minus-two in the turnover battle when the dip was still warm and down three while even indoor beers were still cold, and everything turned unpalatable because this team’s quarterback didn’t show up ready.

It was a horrid early display, as Edwards threw one pick on one attempt, two on three, and three on six; in his defense, he cut his percentage of interceptions in half over that time, although improving to the point where he was committing turnovers on only 50 percent of throws isn’t quite a Pro Bowl rate.

Worst, Edwards’ decisions and actions are getting progressively stranger each game. What would the quarterback like his linemen to do to further contain Cleveland defensive tackle Shaun Rogers on that first pick? Was there any hope that receiver James Hardy could make a play on a ball so badly misfired two attempts later? And how was Robert Royal supposed to reel in a catch with an astute defender lurking just in case of a lazy pass?

The disturbing factor is that Edwards had time to rest and relax in the pocket on all three interceptions. The deflection was a fine play by a particularly athletic nose tackle, but the passer still must be aware of his presence and realize that any lane within Rogers’ arm span is not open.

The second-year man also threw where Hardy was instead of where he was going to be on a sad attempt, and the turnover aimed at Royal was also 100 percent on the passer: Edwards threw the ball like the offense was alone on the field, apparently not remembering that cornerback Brandon McDonald was present.

He also forgot about one of his own teammates, a player who happens to be one of the best at his job: Lee Evans was shut out, an embarrassment to Edwards, the Bills, and the game of football. That appalling fact is simply proof that the passer was fearful of delivering anything even remotely lengthy on a night when his longest gain went for 22 yards. It’s tough to win any game where wide receivers total four completions, and nearly impossible to do so when three of those are made by unheralded rookie Steve Johnson.

Edwards needed to display composure at the start instead of getting comfortable at his leisure, and of course he waited too long to even play competently against Cleveland. His tentativeness put the Bills in tenuous circumstances, both in terms of this game and the season’s remainder. A top quarterback should win with his hands instead of letting hope rest with a kicker’s foot; that’s especially true from long range, and Edwards’ unfocused play means that Buffalo’s playoff hopes are unfortunately clear.
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CommentsComments: 99  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Kegman		06:49 AM
11/18/2008
Scared, timid, meek...the Bills coaching staff and Trent Edwards...that sums it up in my mind. This is a shell-shocked group of ...
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No.2
Steve in VA		07:32 AM
11/18/2008
I agree Kegman. After TE's second INT I was starting to wonder if we should pull him, after the 3rd INT was screaming at the TV ...
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No.3
ddd		07:33 AM
11/18/2008
We'll at least they tried. Did anyone actually think they would actually beat the browns? Not me. The final conclusion is that ...
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