Camp ending

The Buffalo Bills will be closing out training camp on Wednesday and with that we move another step closer to the regular season.  The Bills will play their third pre-season game this Friday at Ralph Wilson Stadium before closing out against the Detroit Lions.  It’s still a long way before the regular season opener against the Denver Broncos.  Today we’ll talk about training camp and what has transpired thus far.

In not having the opportunity to visit camp this year I am left to judge based on the pre-season games and what I have read.  It seems that overall Dick Jauron is pleased with what he has seen but is always looking for improvement.  If you only look at the two pre-season games the only logical conclusion is that this team needs to improve in many areas.  The first string offense and defense have struggled mightily (although the defense hasn’t allowed many points).

The play of J.P. Losman has been a big concern so far as he has lacked consistency through two games.  The worry I have with him as that maybe he is a slow starter because he struggled in the first part of last season before coming on strong in the second half.  The Bills have a tough early season schedule and they can’t afford inconsistent play from their quarterback.  I think overall that J.P. will be alright he just seems to be a little bit anxious and will come down as the season draws near.

The defense has been exactly what I expected.  I anticipated they would allow a lot of yards and would rely on turnovers in order to hold teams from scoring.  To this point they have lived up to that billing.  I’m extremely concerned about how teams can pretty much do whatever they want against the defense but they are creating turnovers, something they didn’t do last season.  In the next two games this will be an area that I will watch to see if there is any improvement.

A couple of good stories coming out camp are the play of the first and second round draft picks Marshawn Lynch and Paul Posluzsny.  At this point these two guys have been everything they have been billed to be.  Lynch didn’t get too many chances in the first game carrying only two times but this week he ran five times for 16 yards, including an explosive nine yard run.  Lynch is going to add a new dimension to this offense that was missing with Willis McGahee on the team.  Paul Posluzsny has been outstanding so far recording nine tackles and a sack in the first game and four more tackles this week.  The play of Fred Jackson has also been noticeable in the first two games of the pre-season.  In the New Orleans game Jackson showed how strong and fast he was on a 17 yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

The Bills have two pre-season games left to correct the problems and I anticipate they will.  I still expect the defense to struggle considerably this season do to a lack of experience.  In breaking down the Bills defense only Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay, Larry Triplett and the now injured Ryan Denney can really be considered veterans.  The defense is a work in progress that needs to improve every week.