View From 122....Bills VS Lions edition

By FANTASYBOYZ Editor in Chief Corey Bugenhagen

Well just like that the Buffalo Bills 2012 Preseason is in the Books.  The team finished with an unspectacular 0-4 Record.  The games were filled with both physical and mental errors.  So much so that many Bills fans, who were brimming with confidence a mere 3 weeks ago, are now jumping off bandwagons all over Western New York.  While the team certainly needs to get their act together I for one still think the Bills will have a successful season.  Below I will break down the Positives and negatives.

Positives:

YIPPIE WE SCORED!!!!

Finally the first team offense had a solid drive to open the game and marched right down the field and scored.  They even did so without even using Fred Jackson.  CJ Spiller ran the ball with authority and appears to have finally learned that dancing around at the line in the NFL will get him nowhere.  Fitz looked very sharp picking apart the Lion's secondary with an array of quick strikes and a beauty of a fade pass to the corner of the end zone to Stevie J.   That is EXACTLY what I needed to see out of that unit to tell me to not panic about the offense leading into week 1.  Another positive is the emergence of former 1st round bust Leodis McKelvin.  It appears the teams massive patience with him may pay of in a solid nickel corner and stud Special teamer.  I also liked what I saw out of the offensive line as a whole.  I am confident this group will be very good and very deep.   Marcus Easley might have saved his spot on the roster with a spectacular kick return and a hard fought 2 point conversion. 

Negatives:

To me the biggest negative, as I am sure most fans will agree, is backup QB.  Tyler Thigpen is just not a guy that can come in and even keep a team in the game.  He is erratic and his throws flutter.  While he did have a better second half he was playing against 3rd stringers.  While in essence I like the Tarvaris Jackson trade I am also worried it came too late into the preseason.  I can't see any way possible that Jackson will be ready to contribute 1 to even 3 weeks into the season.  Gailey didn't even have confidence to put him out to run a 2 minute drill in a meaningless preseason game.  Add Brad Smith's groin pull and I am really wondering if the team can cut Thigpen right now.   Another negative was the over all pass coverage.  There were open seems everywhere.  I know the first unit was only out there for one drive and no one can stop Megatron but pass coverage has been an issue.  I don't see the linebackers having a ton of ability in this area. 

Overall view:

To me this was the best overall effort from the team of the 4 games and I see it carrying on to next Sunday VS the New Jersey Jets.  My overall prediction has been 10-6 all off-season and I am sticking to it!