Avoid the hangover – Preview for the Bills game
By Zoltan Paksa
Maybe this is NOT a ‘run the ball‘ game
Yeah; I know the Bills are 32ndagainst the run. But they were around this bad the last time the Jaguars played against them in Week 11. We thought; Maurice Jones Drew will have 200+ yards and multiple TDs. You remember what happened? MJD started his late season struggle in that game; rushing for 66 yards -by the way he had 10 yards vs. the Bills in ’08 too- so they know how to switch off the Nr. 1 weapon of this team… Not to mention that Paul Pusluszny will play in this game; and he (along with Kyle Williams) were the main reason Maurice had a tough day. Yeah; the Jaguars must use Maurice and Rashad Jennings early to load the box; but when the Bills defense does that; OC Koetter must target their backfield immediately. To be exact: throw the ball to Mike Thomas against (another familiar face) Drayton Florance. I read Mike Sims Walker’s criticism for not getting enough ball; (and he should be involved more in the play calling) but I think the match up Thomas against Florance can be the blueprint for this victory. (Of course for doing that; David Garrard must show up in this game and play at least good). If the aerial assault is effective; that leads the way for the running game; and Maurice and co. can put up big numbers on the ground.
The impact of the ex-players
The Bills have 3 ex- Jaguars on the defense: Marcus Stroud; Akin Ayodele; and Drayton Florance. I’m not expecting much from Akin, he was cut by the Broncos in the preseason and he is starting at the Bills; that alone says much about him and the Bills interior LB position (other then Posluszny of course). You can see above what I think about Drayton for this game (although he is the best cover cornerback of the Bills right now…). Stroud- well I think he can be that X-factor. Maybe he has lost a step; but he will be motivated. He did not play last year versus the Jaguars; he is coming back from an injury; he might try to overachieve; which can turn out good for Jacksonville; if he is really not the same. The important ex-Bill in the Jaguars roster is the now Nr. 2 QB Trent Edwards. If the Jaguars coaching staff is smart they can get important insider information that the tape doesn’t show. It will be interesting to see which team will benefit more from the opponent’s ex-players….