2009 Schedule Preview: Week 3 @ the Buffalo Bills
by Saintsational on Jul 20, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
10 comments
The Saints follow up their game in Philadelphia with another trip to the Northeast to take on Buffalo in a week three late game. The Bills finished 2008 with a less-than-mediocre 7-9 record and hope to get over that .500 hump this season. It's been a while, four years to be precise, since these two teams last met in the regular season. The Saints have the misfortune of playing in frigid Buffalo but the fortune to have it scheduled during the mild-weather month of September when it shouldn't be an issue. Let's take a look at what fans can expect against the Saints first AFC East opponent of the year.
Bills Offense
Buffalo has had a pretty action-packed off-season this year and much of that excitement has been on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, the signing of wide receiver Terrell Owens has contributed most to that excitement. Owens is a game changer and inevitable Hall of Famer who always seems to play well in his first year with a new team. T.O. will play opposite wideout Lee Evans, teaming up to create a formidable aerial threat. With former Tulane quarterback J.P. Losman now out of the picture, it will be the responsibility of Trent Edwards to get Evans and Owens the ball, making sure to keep the latter happy on the field. Ryan Fitzpatrick was brought in this year to provide a little competition in camp but the job is Edwards' to lose.
The other big story of the Bills off-season was the trade of offensive tackle Jason Peters to the Eagles. It is that loss of Peters as well as guard Derrick Dockery combined with a lot of other offensive line tinkering that has Bills fans worried about the state of their quarterback protection. Last years team ranked poorly in sacks per pass attempt and this year, things could get worse before they get better.
On the ground the Bills remain strong. Marshawn Lynch continues his duties as the number one back with Fred Jackson and newly acquired Dominic Rhodes taking on backup roles.
This could be a good, early test. If Gregg Williams does suceed in building that blitzing, attack-style defense we've all been promised then they should have no problem exploiting Buffalo's weak offensive line and rattling unproven quarterback Edwards. Allowing him time to throw to Owens and Evans could be damaging to our secondary. Advantage: Saints.
Bills Defense
First round draft pick Aaron Maybin has been tapped to hopefully play alongside veteran Aaron Schobel and be the defensive end of the future, adding talent and depth to a pass rush that has been lacking. Getting the most out of this unit will be a deciding factor in the overall success of the Bills defense for 2009. In the linebacking department, Keith Ellison, Pat Thomas and John DiGiorgio were all signed in the off-season with the hopes of shoring up the middle of the field and offsetting the loss of several players.
One of the bigger hits to the Bills defense this off-season was the loss of cornerback Jabari Greer to our very own New Orleans Saints. Decent against the pass last year, the Bills should still have a solid secondary with Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin and Drayton Florence as well as newly drafted and versatile Jairus Byrd. The secondary is rounded out by aptly named Reggie Corner.
Though the Bills may match up well against Saints receivers, their lack of a pass rush should give Brees time to find the right guy. This will also be a good game to establish a ground attack.
Bills 2008 Season
7-9 Record
Last Meeting
October 2, 2005
| Week 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| Bills | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 7 |
| Saints | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6 | -- | 19 |
Why the Saints Can Win
Brees should have all day to do his damage.
Why the Saints Can Lose
T.O. or Evans could have a great game.
Prediction
Saints 27 - Bills 17
Newly Acquired
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
RB Dominic Rhodes
WR Terrell Owens
ILB Pat Thomas
CB Drayton Florence
CB Cary Harris
RB Bruce Hall
LB Keith Ellison
CB Dustin Fox
DE Marcus Smith
LB John DiGiorgio
WR Felton Higgins
OL Chris Denman
2009 Draft Picks
DE Aaron Maybin
CB/S Jairus Byrd
TE Shawn Nelson
SS/OLB Nic Harris
CB Cary Harris
CB Ellis Lankster
Key Losses
QB J.P. Losman
TE Robert Royal
G Derrick Dockery
OLB Angelo Crowell
OLB Blake Costanzo
ILB Teddy Lehman
CB Jabari Greer
OT Jason Peters
Linkage
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Good News For Us / A Minor Edit
Marshawn Lynch is currently suspended for the first 3 games of the season for gun-possession charges. He is appealing, but it seems unlikely it will be shortened.
Not that Fred Jackson isn’t pretty good himself, but without Lynch, we can focus a lot more on TO and getting to Edwards.
by natde1016 on Jul 20, 2009 8:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Good news
That will help even out our own loss of Will Smith and Charles Grant for this game. Smith will be the bigger loss for us during that stretch. It still remains to be seen if Grant can lose the needed weight and earn a roster spot on Gregg Williams’s defense.
Go Saints!!!! Deuce may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.
by satchmo26 on Jul 20, 2009 12:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lynch/Jackson/Rhodes
That’s one heck of a RB depth chart. Wish I felt as comfortable with ours.
by coldpizza on Jul 20, 2009 10:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I want to see Jenkins, if he starts, shut down T.O. what a great confedence booster that would be
I wish we had Mckenzie here for this one, I would feel better, but it should not matter because we will just outscore them and TO does have a tendency to drop balls. He catches a lot of touchdowns but recently he really has dropped a good amount of passes. Also having a large physical DB and a speed DB is nice to match up with b/c most teams employ a similar 1,2 type WR think Carolina Muhammed and Smith as example. (not saying smith is their 2 just the order size speed)
by Norml912 on Jul 20, 2009 6:18 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
don't count a win yet
Evans and TO in the backfield is a beast and when i’ve seen edwards play he’s been pretty good. Jackson/Rhodes is a pretty good tandem too. If we can shut down Evans or TO, just one, i think we have a good chance of winning. If both have a good day, we’ll be hard pressed to win this one. I think Buffalo has a better chance of beating us than Philly does. We will need to mix/match porter and jenkins on TO and Evans. Keep switching them up so they can’t find a weakness to exploit in our young DBs. prediction: 38-31.
Superbowl bound!!!...I hope? Go Saints! :D
by skinnykinney on Jul 20, 2009 7:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Edwards is the starter, no question. Fitzpatrick was brought in to be the backup. The only way you guys see Fitzy is if Trent is hurt.
Plus I wouldn’t go getting all excited about blitzing Edwards. In the early part of the year teams blitzed him a lot and he tore them up – just ask the Chargers. It’s when teams back off and play an umbrella zone that he can’t get WRs the ball.
The Bills re-signed Ellison and DiGiorgio at linebacker but Ellison was the starter last year.
You don’t mention our other starting safety, Donte Whitner, either.
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.
by MattRichWarren on Jul 21, 2009 7:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I was mostly addressing the changes
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by Saintsational on Jul 21, 2009 9:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
One thing I will mention is that Jabari Greer had the best game of his career IMO against Owens. It was Monday Night a couple years ago and Greer pretty much shut down Owens with minimal help over the top.
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.
by MattRichWarren on Jul 21, 2009 7:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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