Few good plays, two bad plays define season for Bills’ blockers

By Anthony Bialy  |   Tuesday, December 30, 2008  |  Comments( 80 )

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Being a member of the offensive line is a thankless job. In the Buffalo Bills’ case, it should stay that way. Secondary running back Fred Jackson’s primary effort to win Sunday's game versus the New England Patriots was a solo performance, as his linemen did too little in terms of opening space. Unfortunately, they paired their unspectacular tendencies with a couple of scandalous blunders that showed why this franchise is once again done in December.

As extraordinarily as Jackson’s day went, there’s little-to-zero sense that the line paved his way; in fact, he often pushed forward teammates that inadvertently served as barriers. Of course, the line found itself in a difficult situation as it faced a tidal wave of Patriot defenders sent its way by overpowering winds. Nevertheless, the blockers didn’t restrain the presented onslaught and instead forced Jackson to earn every inch by struggling through a scrum of humanity.

They balanced failing to consistently spring Jackson by blowing it completely on one huge passing play. More specifically, one-fifth of the line cued the catastrophic moment for the day; it was their turn to cause the single incident that unfolded as poorly as possible for the Bills and completely crushed their momentum and souls. It’s happened during a good percentage of the team’s games this decade, with something horrid virtually always transpiring against the Patriots; on this occasion, Derrick Dockery obliged.

The big-money left guard’s inaction on the Bills’ first drive of the second half, when defensive end Jarvis Green headed through the guard-tackle gap with Dockery barely slowing him, summed up each franchise. Quarterback Trent Edwards can’t be faulted for taking a sack when he was barely done rolling out, although it was still painful for the faithful to watch him get smacked with such vigor that he lost the ball.

Green’s other sack on the day about halfway through the fourth quarter increased his total for the year to two. It’s not as if Dockery had to do much pass blocking on the day, but he nonetheless helped Green keep his season stat line from featuring a notable zero. One person truly can make a difference.

Sticking to same approach, center Duke Preston also joined in the non-fun by being macho tough instead of being dedicated to his job near the first half’s frustratingly points-free conclusion. The thought of shoving a New England Patriot is certainly appealing, and it’s likely that Preston was suitably provoked by something appalling his opponent did, but engaging in extracurricular hostilities is not a proper activity in which to engage when one’s team is in the red zone with the half’s final seconds ticking into oblivion. It’s great that Preston is willing to get nasty and stand up for himself, but he desperately needs to pick his spots.

Instead, Dockery and Preston helped to keep their team scoreless, not to mention that New England’s only excursion to the end zone came after the left guard’s turnover-causing non-block. Their frustrating actions embodied a squandered campaign, but even more important was the way they blocked the one alleged remaining task for this roster, namely preserving Dick Jauron’s job.

The two linemen committed precisely the sort of errors that should have been avoided had they truly cared about keeping Jauron from possibly having to update his résumé. Notably, one of the coach’s relentless themes is that the winner of the turnover battle usually wins the game, and Buffalo of course lost that particular scuffle by a score of one to nothing. Add an inappropriately timed hotheaded play that wasted a shot to score at least once, and the line ended up being naughty during those few moments where it wasn't merely unexceptional. They deserve to remain unacknowledged.
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CommentsComments: 80  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
Amir FaSaad		03:36 AM
12/30/2008
Dockery's errors were ones of omission. Preston's; of co-mission. I'll take co-mission any day. But, Preston should have...
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No.2
07:22 AM
12/30/2008
Amir -- Do you ever sleep? I thought I got up early but you got me beat. Must be the nice weather we are having here in WNY that...
No.3
StillBillsFan51		09:07 AM
12/30/2008
We should brace ourselves to be underwhelmed - again! That's vintage Wilson, and we all know it. We need proven football men,...
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