Bills embarrassed by the Raiders

By Connor Byrne  |   Thursday, October 27, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

Buffalo Bills
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I admit it, I was wrong. I was expecting the Buffalo Bills to come out and handle the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. I overestimated the Bills and underestimated the Raiders. The Bills played like a team that didn't seem to care about winning and once again showed that they have no ability to battle adverse situations on the road. Oakland came in as a 1-4 team that was fighting for respectability and played like a dominant force. The final score was 38-17 and even that deficit wasn't really indicative of how bad this beating was.

The difference in this game was the coaching matchup. Raiders' head coach Norv Turner knew exactly what he wanted to do and his team executed his plan. Bills' head coach Mike Mularkey was a complete disaster in this game. Turner allowed his struggling running back, Lamont Jordan, to establish dominance in this game. He rushed for 122 yards and a career-high 3 touchdowns. On the day, the Raiders rushed for 162 yards.

On the other hand, the Bills offensive coaching staff, elected to go back to their putrid ways. Buffalo began the game with an 82-yard touchdown drive that included a terrific balance of running and passing plays. After that, the solid gameplan went straight out the window. The offensive coaching staff decided that this week was an opportune time to shy away from their best player, running back Willis McGahee. In the two previous weeks, McGahee rushed for 229 yards and the Bills went 2-0. This week, Willis ran the ball just 15 times for 50 yards. He averaged only 3.1 yards per carry but was never given a fair opportunity to dominate by his coaches.

In the second quarter, with the Buffalo Bills trailing 10-7, the "brain trust" of head coach Mike Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements, decided to hand off to fullback Daimon Shelton on fourth and goal from the two-yard line. The problem is that Shelton hasn't rushed the ball since the 2000 season. He was stopped at the line of scrimmage and the Bills turned it over on downs. If that isn't evidence that the Bills' offensive coaching staff is a joke, then I don't know what is.

Since McGahee wasn't in the plans in this game, the Bills staff decided to put the game into the hands of quarterback Kelly Holcomb. He played well, completing 19 of 27 passes for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, it seemed like every pass he threw was a little dump off that didn't go anywhere.

Mularkey needs to explain himself for not using rookie receiver Roscoe Parrish in this game. He was making his NFL debut today but was not used on a single offensive play. He saw action on one punt return. The coach should also be questioned for not exploiting a banged-up Raiders' secondary. Their starting corner, Charles Woodson, and starting safety, Derrick Gibson, both went down with severe injuries but the backups were never tested. Holcomb should have been instructed to pick them apart with his top two receivers, Lee Evans and Eric Moulds. Instead, they combined for just 7 receptions for 65 yards.

Another unsettling aspect of this game for the Buffalo Bills is the fact that their entire defense is officially a disaster. The defensive line allowed the Raiders' offensive line to totally dominate them and they embarrassed themselves. They showed no ability to rush the quarterback or stop the run. Raiders' quarterback Kerry Collins was 19 of 27 for 261 yards and a score. He was rarely pressured at all in this game and that's terrible considering his immobility. The linebackers looked terrible as they were absolutely run over. The secondary played their worst game of the year as they allowed the Raiders' third receiver, Doug Gabriel, to tear them up. He caught 5 passes for 101 yards.

Surprisingly, Raiders' star receiver Randy Moss, played in this game. Reports were coming out last week that he would not play because of injury, but he elected to tough it out. Moss ended up catching 3 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown in limited action. Imagine what he would have done to this secondary if he was at full-strength. Bills' cornerbacks Nate Clements and Terrence McGee both played terrible games. It just seemed like the entire defense decided not to show up. On the day, Oakland totaled 416 yards of offense.

With the loss, the Buffalo Bills fall to 3-4. They squandered their chance to take first-place in the AFC East. Next week, they will travel to New England for a nationally televised Sunday night game. At 3-3, New England currently resides in first-place in the AFC East. Expect them to rip the Bills up. As for the Raiders, they improve to 2-4 and will fly to Tennessee to play the Titans next week.
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