Dumb, Dumber, and Dumberer

What a slopfest. It was more frustrating to watch the second time than seeing it live. You knew when the mistakes would happen.

The Eagles played a very flawed game. 5 turnovers. Critical penalties. Mental mistakes that led to turnovers and penalties. And missed tackles. Oh wow. If missed tackles were gold, Jarrad Page would be Bill Gates. The coaches didn’t want the players to feel special so they made some bonehead mistakes of their own. This truly was a team loss.

The most infamous moment will be the 4th/1 play where all 6 billion people on Earth knew that the Bills would use a hard count to try and draw us offside. We were out of timeouts. There was less than 90 seconds left and that was the game. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick used a hard count. No one jumped. He used a second hard count and Juqua Parker did jump. Game over. Time for local, national, and international ridicule. The Eagles are idiots.

That moment was beyond frustrating. The great Merrill Reese had the perfect call. The worst part of that was how well we had played for much of the 2nd half. We got down 28-7 early in the 3rd quarter. Mike Vick then took off on a 53-yard run and that seemed to ignite the whole team. In the final 7:17 of the 3rd and all of the 4th quarters we held Buffalo to 76 yards and 3 points. We had 238 yards and 17 points. That doesn’t even include the 53-yard run. Unfortunately, we had 2 turnovers and that killed us as much as the Juqua debacle.

In the end, it was too little, too late. My hope is that the mojo of the 2nd half can carry over to the next game. We won’t know that until Sunday at Washington.

COACHING

Some fans are on Andy Reid for “not having the team ready to play”. There was no lack of effort by the team. We just made a ton of mistakes. Even the mistakes were odd. We had tipped ball INTs. Jason Avant fumbled, a guy who never makes mistakes. Parker jumping offside. Juan Castillo and the coaches told them to expect the double hard count. And yet a 10 year veteran jumps? That’s just insane.

Andy made a couple of decisions I didn’t like. He decided to punt on 4th/4 from the BUF 37 w/ 3:22 left in the half. I’m sure he would say that the offense was struggling at that point, which they were. My problem is that not many punters can pooch kick well from inside the 40. We’ve got a rookie. Is it worth it to rely on him vs Vick/Shady/the WRs? If you get stopped on 4th down, you’re handing Buffalo 17 yards. This was a time when the risk/reward said that going for it was the smart thing to do. Andy got lucky that Jamar Chaney picked off a pass and got the ball back for the offense, but that led to a truly bad decision.

We drove down to the BUF 26 and had :08 left. We had no timeouts. You have two choices there. One is to throw a quick out and pick up 5 to 8 yards and shorten the FG attempt. The other is to kick the FG and not risk anything. Reid stupidly went for option 3. Let Vick try for the endzone and have the clock run out so we get no points. This is a complicated situation. Lots of blame to go around. Reid trusted his veteran QB to act quickly. Problem is that Vick wasn’t playing a smart game at that point. If he’s not making great decisions, then don’t let him deal with that situation. They did and Vick held the ball too long before throwing it away. Now, the refs also looked to be at fault. FOX showed :01 left when a person behind the endzone touched the ball. If that clock was accurate, then we should have had another down. The refs ruled that time had expired and the half was over. 3 points wouldn’t have drastically changed the game, but it would have been a big morale booster going into halftime to be down 21-10 instead of 21-7.

I have no major issues with Marty and the gameplan. BUF took away deep balls so we used a lot of crossing routes and underneath stuff. Smart. Shady didn’t run enough, but the score got bad so we had to open things up. They did get him the ball more in the RZ and I liked the RZ play calls. That area showed promise. It did help that BUF has a terrible defense.

As for Castillo and the defense. The lack of press coverage was highly frustrating. Fitzpatrick is a smart QB. Play off on 3rd/4 and he’ll eat you alive. The Bills were 6 of 6 on 3rd downs in the 1st half and opening drive of the 3rd Qtr when we played soft and they build their 28-7 lead. We got better after that and they didn’t convert another 3rd down the rest of the game. Shouldn’t have taken that long to adjust.

We didn’t do a good job vs their Wildcat. The Ravens are the best team in the NFL vs the Wildcat. They load up the LOS and attack off the edges. We sat in a standard set and let them run. We didn’t get gashed, but they did get a 5-yard TD run out of it on one play. Can’t go base against that look. Dumb.

I’m really upset with Juan for having Asante Samuel on the field on the final series. We knew Buffalo would run. Why on Earth would you put your worst run defender on the field? This makes literally no sense to me. It is beyond stupid. Put Hanson out there. Put a Safety at that spot. As I’ve mentioned before, slide a Safety there and put Keenan Clayton at Safety. Dare the Bills to throw it. Dare them.

I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.

OFFENSE

* 2nd/GL from 2. Motioned DJax over to the left, where Mac was. DJax went up the field. Mac crossed. 3 DBs went with DJax and Mac was wide open for easy TD. Simple play, but nice execution.

* Very inefficient game. Only 2 of 9 on 3rd downs.

* Did go 2 for 3 in the RZ. Promising.

VICK — Odd game. 26-40-315 as a passer. Had 2 TDs. Also had 4 INTs. Ran 5 times for 90 yards. There were times in the game when he was highly frustrating and other times when he was amazing. My biggest beef with Mike is that he needs to be smarter. He was at fault for the pick-6. Kelce missed block of LB that killed the play, but Vick has to know he can’t put that ball over the middle like he did. Take the sack and live for the next play. Think. Value the football. We were down 14-7 at that moment. You don’t just fire passes over the middle.

Vick also made a critical mistake late in the half. Took off running to his left. Had a chance to get out of bounds for a gain of 5 to 7 yards. Would have been 21 or 22 seconds left. Instead he focused on getting yards. He got an additional 5 or so yards, but after the ensuing spike there were just 13 seconds left. We needed the seconds more than the yards. Situational awareness. You have to think in terms of yards vs seconds in that situation. The clock should have been his focus. With 20+ seconds you can throw over the middle and then go spike the ball. With :13, no such luck.

Mike made some great throws. He and Avant were terrific. Those guys have good chemistry. Vick took some shots in the game and fought through it. Lots of issues with guys hitting him/tackling him with shots to the feet and ankles. He limped around at times in the game and afterward, but never came out. Tough as nails.

Misc:

* Early on we had Vick roll to his left. That kept pressure off Watkins and also got Vick out of the pocket.

* Had screen pass picked off on opening possession. Ball was batted in the air and CB got it. Had another pass batted later in the game.

* Took a nasty shot from LB Danny Batten. It was late and helmet to helmet. 15 yds and a 1st down.

* Gave out hand signals prior to 15-yd run by Shady in the early 2nd. Might have been calling an audible. If so, well done. Played worked perfectly.

* Vick was late with pass on next-to-last play of half. DJax was wide open inside the 10. Ball was late (no pressure) and the DB broke it up. Was only a 2-man route. Don’t know why Vick didn’t read it sooner and get ball out on time.

* 53-yd run was a thing of beauty. Thought he might score on that.

* Finally ran Vick in the RZ. Buffalo played that well, but Mike got a couple of yards.

SCHMITT — Very quiet game. We did very little out of the I-formation.

MCCOY — Good game. 11-80 with TD as runner. Long gainer was a 32-yd run to the right side. Got by a DL and used his speed. Thought he might go all the way, but DB made a strong open field tackle. Got his share of RZ touches this week. We handed him the ball on inside run on 1st/GL, but LB stuffed it for minimal gain. TD run was impressive. Went to the left and covered 10 yards. Fought through a couple of defenders to get inside the pylon. Had a huge drop in the mid-3rd. We ran screen out of our own endzone. Shady got the ball and dropped it. Huge area for him to run in. Next play was the Avant fumble so that was a very costly drop. Ran about 25 yards on screen in late 4th just to get a 3-yd gain. Did get the 1st down by doing that. 4 catches for 27 yds.

BROWN — Played very little. Apparently he was being punished for last week’s RZ debacle. I say, good. Players need to be punished for critical errors like that.

D. LEWIS — Had 2 carries for 8 yards. Highlight was 6-yd run in mid-2nd. Showed real good burst on the play. Ran draw from shotgun.

DJAX — 5-86, with a TD. No drops, which was nice. Bills played end around to him well and we lost a couple of yards. Finally turned a WR screen to him into a big play. Great RAC job. Weaved through traffic and delivered a 31-yard TD. Love to see DeSean making big plays with his RAC ability. Next catch was the 2nd play of next possession. Great play design got him the ball in the middle of the field with room to run. DeSean was great initially. He moved fast, but under control so he could read his blocks. Really pissed me off at that point. Got down to the BUF 28. Had a DB in front and the sideline to his right by 3 or 4 yards. Mac and Jason were just ahead, but to his left. It wasn’t likely for DeSean to make it through that traffic, but you never know. He slowed up and then stupidly hopped. He tried to hop by/over the DB and went out of bounds. The sideline doesn’t miss tackles. Never help the defense out. Always go inside. If DeSean gets by that guy, he might have scored. Hard to say. Really frustrating to see that crap on a 4th Q play when you’re down 10. Stuff like that drives me nuts.

MACLIN — “Quiet game”. Only caught 6-54. Did have a TD. Mostly caught short throws. Best catch came late in the half when he caught a pass along the far sideline and made sure to get out of bounds.

COOPER — Played, but didn’t have any catches or highlights.

AVANT — Heaven and hell. Best game of his career with 9 catches for 139 yards. Bad game because he was directly involved in 2 turnovers. Had a couple of 3rd downs where he was short of the chains. Part of that is Jason working back to the ball, but still, he’s got to know that and go beyond the sticks to make sure he gets the necessary yardage. Got us 10.5 yds on 3rd/11. We threw him a short pass on 4th/1 and Jason got us 7 yds. Throughout the game Jason did a great job of getting open and working the middle of the field. BUF took away the deep passing game so we needed Jason to be productive. Final turnover was a bizarre play. He ran quick out from slot. Basic play. It worked early in the game on 4th down. Jason was initially open, but CB on Maclin let him go and jumped pass to Jason. He knocked the ball loose and LB Nick Barnett made the grab. It’s hard to blame Jason on that play, but the ball did hit him in the hands. You always expect a guy like him to make that grab.

His critical error came late in the 3rd Qtr. We were backed up to our 2-yd line. The OL blocked well and Vick threw a strike. Jason caught the ball 30 yards upfield and then ran for more. He had a couple of defenders on him. I yelled at the TV “Just go down”. Guys like him mean well, but that’s when bad things happen. And sure enough FS Jairus Byrd pried the ball loose and the Bills recovered. That led to a FG, their final points of the game. Can’t have fumbles like that. Love the effort, but sometimes you need to know when a play is over and just go down.

CELEK — How the mighty have fallen. Gamebook has him being thrown at 5 times, but only with 1 catch for 6 yards. The catch came on a little dump pass in the 4th. Had a good block of LB Barnett in the early 2nd that gave Shady lots of space. Got 15 on the play.

HARBOR — Quiet game. 1 catch for 3 yards. That came in mid-2nd. Just sat down in hole over the middle. Easy pitch, catch. Lined up in backfield on 3rd/long to help pass protect. Solid block, but ended up on ground and that affected Todd and let his guy get loose. Didn’t seem to get a ton of snaps.

DUNLAP — Got the start at LT with Jason Peters hurt. Solid overall. Sloppy block on 1st Q pass play led to 91 getting a shot on Vick. Very good job on Shady TD run in mid-3rd. Shoved DE downfield. It was draw, so that created initial room. Then went and blocked DB up the field, which gave Shady room to get to the GL. Might have gotten away with a block in the back on DJax’s TD. Did push DB, but it was right at the LOS so I’m not sure if that’s legal or not. Called for holding on 2nd/GL in the 4th. Questionable call. Looked like Merriman was leaning on King as much as anything. While Dunlap had a solid game, Merriman has nothing left so he wasn’t much of a test.

MATHIS — Good game. Didn’t have any highlight blocks. Looked really fast running upfield on DJax’s WR screen TD, but didn’t have anyone to block.

KELCE — Up and down game. Very good on the 2nd level, but had some blitz issues. Poor block attempt on 92 led to TFL in the mid 1st Q. Made a huge mistake on Vick’s pick-6. Was supposed to go left and get blitzer. He went way left for blitzer, but it was guy the RB already had. Let LB come free to the inside of him and hit Vick, hurrying throw. Should have been a simple block. Good block of Barnett on Shady’s TD run in the mid-3rd. Sustained the block until Shady was gone. Dareus got by him on pass play and hit Vick, forced throwaway. Problem was Kelce tried to protect both sides and thought Watkins was helping. Danny peeled off to get blitzing LB. Kelce should have blocked Dareus, but momentary hesitation was all Dareus needed to get by him.

D WATKINS — Made his NFL debut and was okay. Lost Dareus on early draw play, but he didn’t affect anything. Good block of Dareus on direct snap to Shady and run. Play went for 10. Bills used zone blitz to fool him on 1st Q pass play. Blitzing LB got by. Almost looked like Danny grabbed the guy’s jersey. Had a good reach block of Dareus on 2nd Q run. Sealed him and that let Shady go right for 15 yds. Big hole. Anchored well in pass pro. Made a critical mistake in the 4th Q. Called for hands to the face on 2nd/GL play where Vick ran for TD. Did a good job of sustaining blocks when he was able to cleanly get his hands on defenders.

HERREMANS — Up and down. Beaten by LB Arthur Moats in the late 1st. Sloppy initial block, then couldn’t stick with it because Harbor and blitzer were on the ground, in his way. Moats hit Vick as he threw and the ball was picked off. Made poor block on Dareus on pass play and he was able to hurry Vick into an errant throw. Showed great hustle on DJax’s TD. Raced 30 yards downfield and blocked DB inside the 5 to make sure DeSean would score. Generally did a solid job in the run game. Good block on Shady’s 32-yd run to his side.

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DEFENSE

* FOX had some ridiculous graphic that Fitzpatrick didn’t get hit til the 3rd Qtr. He clearly got hit with 1:42 on the clock in the 1st Q. Might have gotten hit on an earlier pass play, but they failed to show a replay so I can’t say for sure. We hit him a couple of times in the 2nd Q. The pass rush wasn’t good, but that stat was just dumb.

* 3rd/5. Empty set. Both DTs lined up in 3-technique, meaning the outside eye of the G. That’s pass rush mode. The empty set moved Chaney out wide and left the middle open. BUF ran QB sneak for 9 yds. PIT did the same thing in the preseason. Need to adjust and move one DT to the NT spot when teams go empty.

* Buffalo’s final TD came from the Wildcat formation. They had Brad Smith at QB. He was in the shotgun with 2 RBs. There was TE to the left. One WR was in the slot and Fitzpatrick was way out right. Asante covered the slot guy. Nate Allen went out wide on Fitz. We had a standard 4-3 set with Page walked up over the TE. That meant we had 8 in the box. They had 5 OL, TE, and 2 backs = 8 blockers. They ran right. The OL got push and moved our guys off the ball. The LBs got caught up in traffic. Asante in the slot was useless. TD run for Smith.

I really hated this play. Asante should have gone wide on the QB. That would have given us a better run defender near the formation. We should have attacked off the edges. You attack the Wildcat by sending players off the edge. Ask Ronnie Brown. STL did that to him and killed him. BAL does it when they face the Wildcat. Attack. Smith can pass the ball, but in that case you dare him to beat you by throwing. As I touched on last week, get creative. Pull Asante. Put Nate at CB and Keenan Clayton at S vs that look.

PARKER — Backup at both DE spots. Fairly quiet game. Wasn’t able to burst off the edge and generate much pressure. Had 1 tackle. Did have one awful moment. On 4th/inches late in the game he fell for hard count by Fitzpatrick and jumped offside. Dumb. Dumb to infinity. And beyond. That gave BUF the 1st down and ended the game.

PATTERSON — Disrupted run play to open 2nd series. Got penetration and just missed TFL. Rolle finished the RB off. Got pressure in the early 2nd. Looked like he hit Fitz just after the ball was out.

JENKINS — More quiet than I wanted to see. Had our only sack of the game and was in on 6 tackles, but Cujo wasn’t as regularly disruptive as I expected him to be. Got his sack in the early 4th. Beat the RG with an inside move and then chased down Fitz. Coverage played a major part in the sack. Fought off cut block to tackle Jackson for no gain in mid 4th.

BABIN — Was better on tape than I expected, but still was up and down. Had 5 tackles, TFL, and hit the QB a couple of times. Chased down run play from behind. Drove the RT back into Fitz’s face on 3rd down, but Ryan was able to get the pass off. Chased down Jackson from behind on run up the middle for short gain. Used spin move to the inside to help stuff run play that came his way in the early 2nd. Got a TFL of Jackson when he fired into the backfield and got him from behind. Used a quick burst and spin move to hit Fitz on pass play late in the half. That’s the play where Fitz forced the ball into coverage and we picked it off. Got sealed on opening play of 3rd Q and that led to big gain for Jackson run. Got sealed on the next play, but thankfully it just went for short gain. Maybe the coaches had him doing something I’m not familiar with. If not, Jason’s an idiot for giving up the edge on consecutive run plays to his side. Once you can live with, but twice in a row?

D TAPP — Started at RDE. Didn’t get much pressure, but did hit Fitzpatrick a couple of times. Credited with 3 tackles and TFL. Got a hit on Fitz in the late 1st Q. Drove the LT back and hit Fitz right after the ball was out. Used spin move to the inside on run play and got Jackson down for short gain late in the 1st half. Hit Fitz in the mid-3rd on a 3rd down and force the pass to go wobbling out. Perfect INT ball, but it fell harmlessly to the ground.

D LANDRI — Solid game. Only listed with 1 tackle, but was active and disruptive at times. Shed his blocker and swallowed up RB for minimal gain on 4th play of the game. Got penetration and had a shot for TFL on RZ play in the early 2nd Q. Couldn’t quite get to RB.

LAWS — Fought through block in the early 3rd to get TFL on run play. Excellent effort. Had a couple of tackles. Almost got RB in the early 4th, but was held on the play and drew a flag. Got in on TFL on 1st down of Bills final drive. Didn’t look like he was blocked, but give him credit for getting to the runner and making the stop.

HUNT — Backup at RDE, LDE. Didn’t really stand out.

CHANEY — Played better than last week. Still wasn’t good, but at least he’s headed in the right direction. Continues to get stuck on blocks and/or get out of position. Had 8 tackles (4 solo). Picked off a pass and deflected another. We need him to make some plays like that. Jamar has that kind of potential. Got off block on first drive and slid over to RB, but then missed the tackle. Made our first LB play of the year late in the half. Dropped into his zone, read the QB, and then went up high and picked off an errant pass. Excellent catch. Showed good hands on the play. Returned it about 10 yds. I was praying for a pick-6. Still has bad habit of taking false steps and getting out of position on run plays. Good tackle of Jackson after he bounced run out wide. Tackled WR after catch and then slung him forward for the 1st down. Tackled Jackson on run up tthe middle that came right at him. Got Jackson on 3rd/4 late in the 3rd and held him short. Forced FG. Batted down pass to start the 4th Q when we lined him up in the A-gap. Got off block and tackled Jackson on run up middle or it might have been big gainer.

ROLLE — Got another start. Up and down game. Credited with 9 tackles (5 solo) and a TFL. Too aggressive at times. Got out of position on some runs because he was being nosy and not taking good angles to the ball. You expect issues like that with a rookie. Got a TFL to open 2nd series. Came upfield quickly to get RB. Chased down WR after short throw on 2nd series. Got caught peeking on RZ run play and Spiller was able to bounce the run out wide for good gain. Rolle should have stopped him for short gain. Hustled out wide and helped get a hit on Spiller on 3rd down pass play where Nnamdi made the initial stop. Good effort on screen pass. Got blocked. As he started to get up saw Jackson near him and Brian just wrapped him up. Nate finished the play off. Made good tackle of WR on screen pass. Minimal gain. Got TFL in the late 3rd when WR caught pass behind the line and fell. Brian jumped on him. Got in the wrong gap on 4th Q run and it almost cost us big time.

FOKOU — Didn’t get a lot of PT because Buffalo so rarely was in a conventional set. Fokou was solid when he was in there. Made a good tackle of Jackson for short gain in the late 3rd. Hustled over from the other side to make the stop. Got in on 3 tackles overall. Shed block and helped tackle Jackson in mid 4th.

COLEMAN — Made good tackle of Roosevelt on catch in the early 3rd. Luckily the Secret Service didn’t intervene. Took over for Page full time in the 4th Q. First play he flew up in run support and got Jackson down right at the LOS. Flew up to help Nate on tackle of WR on crossing route. Wasn’t needed, but it was good to see him there had the guy broken the tackle.

ALLEN — Best game of the year. Not great, but headed in the right direction. Led the team with 13 tackles (10 solo). Had a TFL. Finished several plays in the game, which is something you want a Safety to do. Played aggressively and really seemed to trust his knee. No hesitation. Very good sign. Came up and made solid tackle of Jackson after short run up the middle to open 2nd Q. Generally aggressive in run support. Good tackle of Jackson on screen. Rolle had him down low and Nate came in high and slammed the trio down to the ground. Made a good tackle of Johnson after DRC missed tackle of him. Made a shoestring tackle of Jackson to open the 3rd or that might have been an 80-yd TD run. Good result to get the stop, but needs to be a cleaner tackle in the future. Came upfield on run blitz in early 3rd. Fought through blocker and hit Spiller in the backfield, but couldn’t make the stop. Good effort. Came up quickly to help Laws get TFL in early 3rd. Got his own TFL in early 4th. Bills threw short pass to Jackson. He had to jump for hit. Nate closed quickly and put him down with force. Came up quickly to get Johnson on crossing route after short catch on 3rd down. Stopped him short of the chains.

J PAGE — Slightly less than awesome game. Was in on 11 tackles and it felt like he missed that many as well. Of course that’s not true. He took poor angles and that prevented him from even missing tackles on a few plays. Should have made the tackle on the first play and held RB to a yard or two. Missed tackle and the play went for 7 yds. Did make a solid stop on the next play, also an inside run. Still wasn’t a clean tackle. Blitzed off the edge on 1st/GL. Ran by Jackson, who then had an easy path to endzone. Made good stop in the early 3rd. Flew upfield and got Jackson down for just 1 yd gain. See…Page can do that. Next play he flew up and popped a WR after short catch. Put the guy down hard. Hurt himself on the play and left for snap. Came back and missed tackle on his next play. Flew up in run support and let Jackson go right by him. Ugh. Took a poor angle on screen pass to Jackson in the 3rd and that turned into big gain. Came up quickly to help tackle Jackson on 3rd down late in the 3rd. Missed tackle of WR in early 4th. Play should have gone for 5 yds, but went for 19. On the very next play he missed a tackle of Jackson at the LOS. Easy play. Football 101. No blockers. Just tackle the guy who is almost standing still. Whiff. That went for 10 and got him benched.



ASOMUGHA — Poor tackle attempt on Johnson’s catch/run on early 3rd down. Good effort, bad results. Must solidly wrap up. Made a solid tackle of Jackson on run in the mid-2nd. Was down in the box area on that play. On the next play he had a TFL of Brad Smith when he ran the Wildcat. On next play he tackled Spiller on quick pass play out wide. That led to punt. Very good series for NA. Missed tackle of Spiller in the early 3rd. Took poor angle and then could only grab for one foot when he dove. Dumb penalty on 3rd down. Hands to face. Had them stopped. FG?

SAMUEL — Bad game. Gave up completions on his side. Terrible day as a tackler, even for him. Wasn’t credited with any tackles. His effort was really poor. Asante was way too casual yesterday. There is a middle ground between being Antoine Winfield and Kate Middleton. Hell, she’d have tackled harder yesterday. Played off on 3rd/5. WR released inside and was wide open. Johnson caught the pass and had free run up the middle of the field. Asante made a terrible tackle attempt. Dove at him, but showed no interest in actually holding on. Slid right off the guy. Sure looked like Johnson pushed Asante away on 3rd down pass play that moved the chains. No call. Johnson’s shove created good separation. Had tight coverage on Johnson on downfield pass in late 1st Q. Ball was incomplete. Had good coverage of WR on 2nd/6 in early 2nd Q. Forced errant throw. It looked to me like Asante was mostly responsible on the short TD to David Nelson. Hanson had the wide zone and player who was out there. Nelson was the only guy near Asante. And Asante was sitting several yards in the endzone waiting to break on the ball. He did, but only after the ball was on the way to Nelson, who was right on the goal line. TD. Made one physical play. BUF had WR pull and try to block him. Strange play. Asante aggressively took on the guy and that forced Jackson to stay inside, where a couple of teammates were waiting. Most other run plays Asante was embarrassingly soft. Tried to tackle Jackson by tapping him with his elbow. And whiffed at that. Bobby Taylor and Deion Sanders think that’s soft.

RODGERS-CROMARTIE — Up and down game. He will chase the ball, but isn’t a good tackler on plays where the ball is in front of him. Got in on 3 stops in the game. Had a chance to make huge play in late 1st Q. Jumped route and got his hands on a pass. With his speed, that’s probably a pick-6, but DRC dropped the ball. Hustled to chase down Jackson after he got loose for long gain on screen pass. Hustled to shove Jackson out of bounds after nice gain on shovel pass. Had chance to tackle Jackson on screen, but whiffed. His presence did funnel Jackson to Rolle. Gave up catch to Johnson on 3rd/4. Played off and was half second late in getting to him, then missed tackle. 1st down. Pressed on the next play and was beaten for short gain on slant, but made them at least earn it. Poor effort on 3rd/short pass play. Gave up the catch, only for a couple of yds. Problem was how passive he was on tackle. Page got the guy down right after the catch, but DRC has to fire over there. What if Page had missed? Played off on next play and WR caught slant for nice gain. Never broke hard on the ball.

HANSON — Played, but didn’t have any standout plays. Credited with 1 tackle.

SPECIAL TEAMS

CHAS HENRY — Punted twice and averaged 36 yards per kick. One was a complete shank. The other came when we punted from our 37, so that was supposed to be a short punt. Unfortunately, it was a touchback. He got the distance almost perfect, but the ball didn’t come back. Went forward.

ALEX HENERY — Generally got good depth on his kickoffs. Only got 1 FG try, but it was right down the middle. That was important to see after last week’s disaster. All kickers are going to miss. Good ones don’t miss much and they bounce back.

PR — DeSean had one PR that looked promising. Got upfield for gain of 20, but then got leveled.

KOR — Dion is still awkward. Just doesn’t have ideal KOR speed. Has gotten smart about what to bring out and when to stay in. Averaged 21 yards per KOR on 3 attempts. Long was only 22 yds so that should tell you he’s doing the same thing each time.

MISC —

* Riley Cooper made good tackle in KO coverage.

* Colt Anderson made great tackle of Smith on 4th Q KO. Pinned the Bills at their 9.

* We attempted an onside kick to start the 2nd half, but it failed. We got a break. Refs hadn’t signaled the play ready to begin so the play didn’t count.

GAMEBOOK