Aug 16, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone watches during the first half against the Minnesota Vikings at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Week 1 has come and gone but let’s face it this Bills team played a lot better than most would have thought. Keeping up with the Patriots and losing on a late field goal may have showed the doubters that this team is moving in the right direction. With that said this Bills team definitely had problem areas that they must clean up if they want to win in this league.
First and most important to me is the penalties. They killed the Bills last week. Drive killers and with this team being so young confidence could lack as big plays and/or scoring plays are negated. Last week this team committed 13 in which 10 were accepted for 75 yards. That is simply unacceptable when you are a team that wants to move the ball quickly down field. To me the coach has to take control of this and just tell these guys how important the yellow flags are. I think Marrone will and we’ll see a little better discipline this week.
Another part of the game that this team needs to get better in is time of possession. Last week wasn’t something fans wanted to see when this team had its fair share of 3 and outs. This team is built to move fast and obtain its first downs to keep the ball moving too wear down their opponents. When that doesn’t happen the defense is constantly on the field and then in turn they are the ones that are tired. I have no problem with this team playing up-tempo but I just think about the what if’s and not staying not the field and keeping drives alive. Let’s see what happens as we move on to week 2.
Lastly and least important to me but is still an issue after week 1 is the running game. With Spiller and Fred in the backfield they should pile up the numbers and always have the defense guessing what’s coming next. Last week that wasn’t the case. I mean these guys combined were ok but nothing like what people had envisioned. Hopefully this week these guys can get back on track and just give EJ more weapons to use whenever needed or their numbers are called.
There you have three things I believe this team needs to work on going into week 2. Like I said I believe the penalties are the major issue and will be watching that for sure come Sunday. What will you be watching?