Scott Pitoniak's Report Card: Bills vs. Bears
By: Jerry Walsh
Updated: November 7, 2010
COACHING: Liked the defensive game plan that featured constant blitzing of the often shaky Jay Cutler. Also liked the offensive adjustments after it became apparent that the Bills were not going to be able to run the ball against the Bears. I would have kicked the extra point rather than go for two to make it 20-14 Bills in the fourth. Grade: B-minus
OFFENSE: I love Ryan Fitzpatrick’s moxie and brains, but he just doesn’t have to the gun to make some of the throws he would like. His first interception should have been the touchdown that put the game away. Of course, not being able to run the football didn’t help matters. And neither did Fred Jackson’s fumble that led to a Bears TD. Grade: C
DEFENSE: Did a decent job against the run and was effective in blitzing Cutler, though, the Bears QB burned them with his scrambles. Spencer Johnson had a fumble recovery, but the Bills still have just one interception, none by the secondary, and that’s ridiculous. Grade: C
SPECIAL TEAMS: The big news here was that Rian Lindell missed his first extra point in 321 attempts. That proved costly because it prompted Gailey to try for two after the Bills went up 19-14 and that attempt failed. Brian Moorman pinned two punts inside the 20. The Bills didn’t generate any big returns, nor did they get burned. Grade: C
OVERALL: Yes, they played hard again and took the game down to the end. But they hurt themselves by turning the ball over three times and not being able to finish what they started. The Bills finally return to Ralph Wilson Stadium for the first time in more than a month next Sunday, but beating the Detroit Lions isn’t going to be easy. Grade: C
Award-winning columnist and author Scott Pitoniak has covered the Bills since 1985 and has written five books about the team, including the recently published, Buffalo Bills Football Vault: The First 50 Seasons, which is available at any book store, the Bills team stores and Amazon.com. You can read more by Scott at www.scottpitoniak.com .
