Report Card: Week 2, Buccaneers v. Bills

Here is your weekly BLD Report Card for the Buffalo Bills in Week 2 against Tampa Bay:

Quarterback: The no-huddle and Trent Edwards seem to be settling in quite nicely. Trent was able to make two big-play passes for touchdowns to Lee Evans and Terrell Owens. He did throw an interception, but it was the result of an errant throw rather than a bad decision. Another good week in my book. The Mark: B+

Running Back: I almost forgot that he isn’t the starting running back. The Bucs certainly wouldn’t know the difference. Rushing for 163 yards including a 43 yard burst to ice the game, Fred Jackson was again unstoppable. Happily the big fumble that looked like it would change the momentum of the game, well, didn’t. The Mark: A-

Receivers: I wouldn’t say that Owens and Evans pulverized the Bucs secondary, but they did leave some crushing impacts. Each notching his first TD of the season is certainly a step in the right direction. Schouman was Edwards’ favorite target, but won’t be for the rest of the year. The Bills placed him on IR this week. The Mark: B

Offensive Line: The Bills offense put up 438 yards averaging 6.4 yards per play. None of that happens without the offensive line. Black spot, of course, was the injury to Brad Butler (the Bills’ most “experienced” lineman) who is also done for the year. The young line continues to silence the skeptics – myself included. The Mark: A-

Defensive Line: Tampa Bay’s running game was non-existent, thanks primarily to the big boys up front. Stroud and Williams plugged up the line holding the Bucs to 57 yards rushing. Take that Dallas. The Mark: A-

Linebackers: Buffalo didn’t miss Poz quite as much as we thought we might. By that, I mean we merely didn’t suffer from his absence. Marcus Buggs did a fine job filling in, but doesn’t have the play-making abilities that Posluszny has. Kawika Mitchell made a big stop, and Ellison led the team with ten tackles. The Mark: B

Secondary: Buffalo got the big plays they were looking for as Dante Whitner had a 76 yard interception return for a TD and Scott notched a pick as well. McGee again looked fantastic on open-field tackles. The Bills did give up almost 300 yards passing and 3 TDs, however. That having been said, Leftwich had a maddening 50 attempts, of which he completed just over 50 percent. The Mark: B-

Special Teams: Lindell converted all four of his field goals, Moorman had a strong showing, and both Parrish and McKelvin held on to the ball. What more could you ask for? Sure, the Bills probably are the gold-standard for special teams in the NFL, but we’re not going to get a touchdown on returns every night. The Mark: B

Coaching: Another solid job from the coaching staff. Jauron had his team primed for a victory following the Bills third-consecutive Monday Night Football travesty. AVP made some brilliant calls, especially trying T.O. again on a deep bomb after he dropped the first one. Can Jauron finally make believers out of Bills fans? We’ll see next week when Drew Brees and the Saints come marching in. The Mark: B