Pluses and Minuses: Bills vs Redskins

Pluses:

Obviously my boy Banks. He has get up...the kind we haven't seen and we desperately need to make not-so-special special team. And of course it doesn't hurt when the head coach praises your ability as a receiver during the post game conference.
Quickness of offensive line. I have never seen our offensive line move as fast. From quick snaps to their movements to the tempo of the entire offense.
Play calling was excellent despite the fact that it was a pre-season game. I was worried about K. Shanahan knowing what he is doing.



Minuses:

I wasn't too pleased with the first team defense but I'm sure it will get better once Albert is plugged-in. Run defense looked ugly and that's all I'm going to say about that.
I have zero confidence in Carter's ability to play outside linebacker.
Kelley is a gonner. I don't see what he brings to the table and I really can't justify him being on the team.
Roger still sucks...if the Bills had a decent QB he would have given up a TD.



Anything you guys want to add?

Agreed on all counts. Did Kelly even play? I didn't notice him in the game at all, but I fell asleep midway through the 3rd quarter.

Pluses:
Trent Williams. Been a long time since I've a pass rusher more than adequately stoned and on a consistent basis. Samuels was good until the end but he was on the decline since his knee was acting up on him almost every week.

Albert Haynesworth. Still needs a little discipline, but showing that he can take on the double teams and get penetration easily against the scrub Bills o-line. Also avoided a spectacle when the Bills player (deliberately or accidentally?) went after his knees.

McNabb - speaks for himself. Makes up for a bad series with a good one.

Sexy Rexy - Shows that he can be a competent backup.

CP - runs hard and quick.

Minuses
Last string o-linemen. Not as absolute terrible as the gold standard of turrible, D'Anthony Batiste, but they do not inspire confidence in the least.

Last string defense. Gashed by runs on numerous occasions. I know Rob Jackson was responsible for one of those.

Sexy Rexy - Shows that he too much of a gambler to call upon extended duty.

CP- Still runs "blind" sometimes.

Mystery
Ryan Torain - Runs upright and seemingly clumsily yet still managed big gains.

Kelly has a hamstring injury people.

He didn't play in the game.

^ story of his NFL career. Time to cut him loose

Kelly has a hamstring injury people.

He didn't play in the game.

IMO he's a roster longshot at this point. Even when he's healthy enough to play, I think he's gonna be pretty out of shape.

My Notables:

1) Second Team defense, in particular the front seven looked as good or better than First team. We should have quality depth. Redskins and depth? Say it ain't so!

2) DL- Kemoeatu, Carriker, Haynesworth, Daniels and Holliday played strong and solid. These guys are huge in size combined with their solid technique and play. Great to see our D-lineman playing with great technique again, they were penetrating and keeping blockers at bay. Golsten did a ok job, but his days as the starter might be numbered.

3) LB - Orakpo and Fletcher look great. Carter and McIntosh not so good, they might need more time to get comfortable. Not giving up on them just yet. The good thing is 2nd teamers Lorenzo Alexander, Perry Riley and HB Blades all showed promise.
I would like to see the lineup of OLB's Orakpo and Alexander and ILB's Fletcher and Riley play together. Throw in Haynesworth for Golsten and we might have something special.

4) Rb's -- Wow! What a surprise. Shanahan and Allen brought in some players.

5) WR's - Same as 4 above.

6) QB's - McNabb looked good for the short time we saw him. McNabb to Cooley might be heard a lot this year. Rexy had a mostly positive day except the for the two sure interception/pick 6 throws that landed in the DB's hands and they dropped it.

This was the Bills, possibly one of the worst teams in the NFL in 2010 and we need to temper this win and continue to improve.

This was the Bills, possibly one of the worst teams in the NFL in 2010 and we need to temper this win and continue to improve.

And that's what everyone needs to remember before they start chugging the Kool-Aid. We looked very solid in preseason game #1 against a downright awful team. I'm happy about the outcome, don't get me wrong, but I'm already over it and looking forward.

Pluses:

McNabb as others have stated.

Trent Williams and Stephen Heyer ( yes I said it ) both looked good but the rookie is going to be a beast.

Albert Hanyesworth.

Brandon Banks has speed and acceration, and can add a dynamic to our return game that we have not had in a very long time.

The defense: made some nice adjustments once we got through that first series.

Chris Cooley and Fred Davis

The running game

#36 Darrel Young backup fulback made some really nice lead blocks for our backs


Minuses:

Defense against the running game

The 3rd String Defense

Rex looked good but at the same time made some bad throws that were 50% a time a pick 50% a good play. He almost threw 2 pick sixes, but was ok due to some bad angles by the defense.

John Beck was awful.

Didn't see anything from Dennis Morris #40

Terrance Austin did not do much of anything and I was expecting good things from him

Never have liked Carlos and don't think I ever will.