Bills’ hopes of beating Dolphins begin with stopping Ginn

By Anthony Bialy  |   Friday, December 05, 2008  |  Comments( 124 )

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Sorry, Toronto. The city finally gets to host a non-Roughriders Football League fixture this weekend, and it features as its kind-of home team a Buffalo Bills squad that couldn’t have imploded any more stunningly or pathetically. While the fans have to lump it, the players have to set aside the misery, too, so they can participate in an event that happens to include facing the Miami Dolphins. Once the parade is over and the prime minister and Mounties have taken their seats, Buffalo is left with the task of trying to stop a divisional opponent for once; doing so revolves around avoiding a consecutive shredding at the hands of Miami’s efficient passing game.

The best hope for the Bills to limit what the Dolphins do on offense is a percentage, namely the fact that premier cornerback Terrence McGee is now 100 percent healthy. He was around maybe two-thirds to three-quarters power during these teams’ first encounter, which led to regular-strength Dolphin wideout Ted Ginn Jr. accumulating literally about 27 percent of his gains this season during that one afternoon.

Ginn’s 175 yards on the day are even more impressive when one considers he’s only put up 651 for the entire year including his runaway day. But the fact that McGee is fully recovered and in the possession of two healthy knees means Ginn will have trouble having two incredible games against Buffalo this season.

It won’t be the quarterback’s fault if Ginn doesn’t explode again, as Chad Pennington has completed 65.4 percent of his 2008 attempts, a fine percentage that is only ordinary when it comes to a passer who is historically accurate. Cutting him off before attempts is a mildly tricky proposition, too: He has been sacked 21 times this season, a somewhat high total but not alarmingly so, and it’s best for the Bills to target his pass recipients instead of trying to attack him. Specifically, the key for the defense will be restraining the safeties so McGee and either the questionable Jabari Greer or default starter rookie Leodis McKelvin can bump their assignments.

Leaving the deepest players in reserve could hurt run-stuffing efforts, but the benefit is that the safety net will permit Buffalo’s cornerbacks to stick tight with receivers who will be looking to run quick slants and other short patterns. A cautious two-deep zone will provide the primary coverage men with a license to hound and blanket their adversaries. Besides, there’s no better place to play a Tampa-style defense than in a balmy dome.

And the layered pass coverage will lead to better results for the Bills, which will in turn allow this football exchange to go a long way toward healing the wounds caused back when Terrance and Phillip were captured, followed by the bombing of the Baldwin brothers’ residence by the Royal Canadian Air Force. For the contest’s results to go well for both the alleged home team and those curious Canadians in attendance, Buffalo’s secondary has to vigorously contest attempted passes while bullying their intended recipients.

Dramatic instances of defending throws would serve another purpose, too: A victory likely won’t get the Bills closer to the playoffs, so they may as well put on a show for their somewhat distant fans and try to win a public relations battle. Convincing Ontarionites that the neighbors play interesting football is the excursion’s whole purpose, and forceful corner play is fun to watch, not to mention an effective way to slow the Dolphins.
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About Anthony Bialy

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No.1
ba bye		10:21 AM
12/05/2008
OMG, either I can't read for meaning, or... Amir: I left a link for Nica late last night. I think she once met Charlie Parker.
No.2
Kegman		10:23 AM
12/05/2008
AB - interesting conclusions on how to stop the Fish passing game. Personally, I think the Fish will torch our soft-cover...
No.3
10:28 AM
12/05/2008
On paper the Bills should win this game. They should have and would have beaten the Fish in Miami if the brilliant coaching staff...
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