Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
BALTIMORE RAVENS (4-2) @ BUFFALO BILLS (1-4)
October 21, 2007
Press Box Pregame Notes - Since the Bills’ heartbreaking loss to the Cowboys on MNF two weeks ago, much of the talk surrounding the team during their bye week has been regarding the QB situation. J.P. Losman was the #1 QB until suffering a sprained knee. He’s healthy enough to play, but head coach Dick Jauron is going to stick with rookie QB Trent Edwards for this game. And I emphasize this game, because the team is on a week-to-week basis with the position. A couple players have expressed some concern with a possible lack of cohesiveness and familiarity you get with not having a #1, sure-fire starter, but this is what coach Jauron has decided and I agree with him. Initially, I felt J.P. should be the guy if he was healthy (even though Trent really has done well, especially as a rookie), but I don’t believe J.P.’s 100% yet and Trent has been taking snaps for several weeks now. Trent will have his work cut out for him against the Ravens’ 4th ranked defense. Baltimore is especially tough against the run, so Trent will need to make some plays. One player that hopes he takes some shots downfield is big play WR Lee Evans who is only averaging 9.4 ypc. It’s been an understandably conservative game plan with a rookie QB, but I think we’ll see Trent looking downfield more this afternoon ….. This is a game many fans circled on their calendar as the return of former Bills RB Willis McGahee to Buffalo. Some fans have taken it too far with hateful web sites and billboard advertising, but I think the team is looking at it as just another running back to stop ….. I guess I should stop being surprised that the weather is once again perfect. The drive up from the home studio this morning was incredibly colorful. Game time temp was just announced as 66 degrees and there isn’t a cloud in the sky …..
1st Quarter - Both teams went three-and-out on their first possessions, but I have to say — most of the crowd noise came when Willis McGahee took the field. He was loudly booed by the Bills faithful ….. Despite a 15-yard offensive facemask penalty on the Bills second possession, the offense went 70 yards in 12 plays using up 7:58 on the clock. Marshawn Lynch handled the ball six times. With a nine-yard reception, Lee Evans hit 3,000 yards for his career — exactly. He was the 2nd fastest player in team history to reach 3,000 yards and the 9th Bill ever to reach the milestone ….. No huddle seems to have the Bills in a good rhythm ….. Trent’s cadence must really be throwing the Ravens D. They had four offsides penalties in the first quarter. Bills 3, Ravens 0 after one.
2nd Quarter - The Bills finally went for the aforementioned deep ball which resulted in a 34-yard pass interference call against Samari Rolle on Roscoe Parrish. It didn’t look like Samari needed to grab Roscoe as the ball looked to be slightly overthrown, but the Bills turned it into three more points ….. The Ravens are killing themselves with penalties and now a turnover, but the Baltimore D remains tough in holding the Bills to field goals. Rian Lindell just hit his third of the game for a 9-0 lead ….. The Ravens showed some offensive life on a 26-yard pass from Kyle Boller to Mark Clayton on one drive. Then they got Willis McGahee going a little bit on another, but ended up punting on both ….. With 54 seconds left in the first half, the Bills appeared content to run out the clock. Ravens time outs delayed the conservative inevitable. Marshawn Lynch ran off nine yards on third down for a first down, but the Bills didn’t attempt any more offense after that, much to the dismay of the home crowd. The half ended with the Bills ahead 9-0.
Halftime - Kudos to the press box food prep once again. They offered breakfast and lunch today. But I need more than 15 minutes to wrap up my first half thoughts and eat all this great food.
3rd Quarter - So much for stopping Willis McGahee. His 46-yard TD run brought the Ravens to within two. Just like that he’s got 15 carries for 112 yards. How fast things can change ….. The Bills answered with a nine-play, 50-yard no-huddle drive that stalled at the Ravens’ 23. Rian Lindell kicked his 4th field goal. Some nice throws by Trent (13 yards to Lee Evans and 25 to Josh Reed) with good protection being the key ….. After forcing the Ravens out on downs, the deep ball again — 54 yards to Lee Evans on first down. It was a great throw but Lee added to the excitement by making a juggling catch. Four plays and yet another Ravens penalty later, Marshawn Lynch ran in from the one. This was a really important drive for the Bills, both in terms of stretching the field and getting the TD instead of a FG …..
4th Quarter - The Ravens spent over six minutes on a drive and came up empty handed. At this point, Bills fans are hoping history doesn’t repeat itself because when it seemed they had games in control before (eg. Broncos, Cowboys), victory was taken away. The Bills have the ball, the lead (by 12) and nine minutes to go. Let’s see what happens ….. It’s almost like I’m psychic. After two unsuccessful runs, Trent threw an INT which was returned for a TD by Samari Rolle. The TD was called back after review, but at this point you’re wondering if the Bills can hold on ….. Aaron Schobel made a great pass breakup on a halfback pass back to QB Kyle Boller ….. On 4th and 11, Boller hit Derek Mason for a TD to draw within five ….. The teams would trade possessions the rest of the way and fittingly, the game ended on a muffed punt by Yamon Figurs. I lost track of how many he had today.
Final Thoughts - The Bills “finished” today. When I spoke with Terrence McGee after the Dallas loss, he stressed finishing games and today they did just that. You can certainly look at the season thus far and say the Bills could just as easily be 4-2, but perhaps their long road back began today as they improved to 2-4 ….. The Bills offense was pretty successful with the no-huddle and they managed to stretch the field a little bit. Did Trent Edwards pass this test to play next week against the Jets? My guess is yes, but we’ll find out in a few days ….. It was a game of mistakes for Baltimore, 11 penalties for 91 yards. And even though Willis McGahee ran for over 100 yards, he was really only a factor on one drive ….. Before the game, volunteers from Verizon Wireless and the Buffalo Bills Student Leaders were outside the stadium collecting no-longer-used wireless phones from fans to benefit victims of domestic violence. In return, they received a poster of Bills LB Angelo Crowell who teamed up with the aforementioned for the benefit ….. Also prior to today’s game, volunteers distributed 10,000 ribbons and information cards to raise awareness surrounding breast cancer. A group of 36 breast cancer survivors helped welcome the Bills players during starting lineup announcements.
Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo BillsRelated Stories
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