Bills Gab

I’m not sure if you’ve heard or not, but it’s been anything but calm or quiet around One Bills Drive this week.

Quick recap of this past week’s events. Last Sunday, the Bills were trounced by the Titans, 41-17, giving up 24 points in the fourth quarter. Two days later, Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. pulled the plug on Dick Jauron, firing the beleaguered coach after 3 ½ seasons. Wilson tabbed defensive coordinator Perry Fewell to be the team’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season. On Wednesday, Fewell backed Jauron’s original plan for this week and announced the team will start backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick over maligned starter Trent Edwards.

Amid all the hoopla surrounding the Bills’ busy week, Buffalo will square off against an AFC South opponent for the second straight week, the surging Jacksonville Jaguars. The scenarios coming into this game aren’t much different than last game. The Bills will be on the road, facing a surging team with a dynamic, scary running back. Last week the Titans had won two straight and found their third win in a row over the Bills, while running back Chris Johnson racked up 232 total yards and two touchdowns. On Sunday, the Jaguars aim for their third straight win and hope to do so on the shoulders of running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

Needless to say, if nothing else this should be fun to see if or how the Bills can function in disarray. Jauron had zero effect on the offense, despite having players at wide receiver (Terrell Owens, Lee Evans) and running back (Fred Jackson, Marshawn Lynch). Now Fewell inherits an offense ranked 29th in the NFL.

Buffalo turns, or I should say re-turns, back to Fitzpatrick in an attempt to right the ship. The backup out of Harvard guided the Bills to wins over the Jets and the Panthers in consecutive road games, but lost to the Texans in his last start. Fitzpatrick must find a way, any way, to generate some resemblance of offense. The Bills are averaging fewer than 16 points per game this season, while failing to reach 300 yards of total offense in eight of their past nine games.

Defensively, Fewell has done a lot with very little, thanks to a constant march of players to the infirmary or the injured reserve. Buffalo ranks 9th in the pass defense, but run defense continues to be a problem and through nine games, there’s no evidence to point to the contrary for the rest of this season. The Bills rank dead last in rushing in the NFL. They couldn’t stop the Saints’ Pierre Thomas or the Browns’ Jamal Lewis. They had problems with Miami’s tandem of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. They were shredded by the Jets’ Thomas Jones and torched by the Titans’ Chris Johnson. Now MJD get his turn to wet his whistle.

Jacksonville (5-4) enters Sunday’s contest with the league’s 6th ranked rushing attack led by Jones-Drew, who ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing with 860 yards. Jones-Drew leads the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns, seven of which have come in Jacksonville’s last four games. It’s been over a month (Oct.11th at Seattle) since Jones-Drew has been kept out of the end zone. MJD has been a workhorse for the Jags the past few weeks, carrying the rock 33, 29, and 24 times in three of the past four games. His lone single digit carry came against the Titans when he had only eight carries, but rushed for 177 yards.

The Jaguars have won three of their last four games since starting 2-3 this season. Jacksonville is 4-2 versus the AFC and 3-1 at home with wins over Tennessee, St. Louis and Kansas City. It’s been an all-or-nothing season for the Jaguars; either they’ve won close or lost big. Aside from their 14-12 opening season loss at Indianapolis, their other three losses were by 14, 41 and 17 points. In their five wins, Jacksonville dished out a beat down just once, beating the Titans by 20. Their other four wins have come by seven points or less: Jacksonville beat Houston by seven, St. Louis by three, Kansas City by three and the New York Jets by two.

Missing from the lineup on Sunday for Jacksonville could be two of their best defensive players, safety Rashean Mathis and linebacker Justin Durant. Both were injured in last week’s win over the Jets; Mathis suffered a groin injury and Durant suffered a mild concussion.

On the Bills’ injury front, the offensive line continues to be a game of musical chairs. Left tackle Demetrius Bell suffered a knee injury in last week’s loss to Tennessee, possibly sidelining him for a couple of weeks. That means rookie Andy Levitre will make his NFL debut at left tackle on Sunday. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee) and linebacker Keith Ellison (quad) will be out Sunday, as both players continue to battle injuries. Cornerback Ashton Youbouty is out Sunday as well after suffering a high ankle sprain last week and fellow cornerback Terrence McGee is working his way back from minor knee surgery he had during the bye week. His status remains questionable. It looks like safety Donte Whitner is ready to return from a high ankle sprain.

What the Bills should do: That seems to be the million dollar question these days. Fewell inherits an offensive mess from Jauron and as Fitzpatrick goes, so will the offense. Look for the Bills to attempt to generate a balance of pass and run, but don’t be surprised if they lean on the running game to relieve the pressure on Fitzpatrick starting on the road.

What the Jaguars should do: I said it last week and it stands this week: Duh! Run the ball. Jacksonville has one of the best backs in football, so it’ll come as a surprise to no one if Jones-Drew is featured in the both the rushing and passing attack. With the Bills battling injuries in the secondary, that means rookie corner Ellis Lankster could be matched up against Jags leading receiver Mike Sims-Walker. Look for the Jaguars to mix in play action to take some deep shots down the field.

Prediction: Jaguars 24, Bills 17. I don’t believe the Bills will roll over and play dead for the Jaguars, despite the distracting week it’s been for the Bills. I think they’ll play hard for interim coach Perry Fewell and keep this thing close. However, the Bills have been horrible against the run this year and they’re facing another difficult challenge in Maurice Jones-Drew. Look for MJD to avenge last year’s 6 carry, 17 yard outing in the loss to the Bills and guide the Jaguars to their third straight win for the first time in two years.

When Ralph Wilson, team owner of the Buffalo Bills, indicated that there would be wholesale changes within the organization, he obviously included the players as well as the coaching staff and front office, as evidenced by the team’s signing of quarterback Brian Brohm to a two-year contract and releasing third-string QB Gibran Hamdan.

What does the signing of Brohm possibly mean in reference to the QB situation in Buffalo? What comes to mind immediately is that the team has no problems forging ahead without sometimes-starter Trent Edwards. Which in a sense is rather unfortunate as the Bills at one time had considered Edwards the team’s “franchise” QB. His stock started dropping, probably starting at last Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans as he threw 3 consecutive bad passes – the last one intercepted and returned for a Titans score. Not surprisingly, head coach named Ryan Fitzpatrick as the team’s starting QB against Jacksonville this weekend.

What is certainly unknown is where Brohm fits into Buffalo’s long-range plans as no one seems to know who the Bills’ next head coach will be next season; but because Brohm has plenty of upside, he would be an intriguing option for the team’s next head coach. I will safely assume that Fitzpatrick is as good as gone when this season ends; what happens to Edwards is anyone’s guess. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Edwards and Brohm battling for the starter’s gig at QB come training camp next season.

I guess the moral here is that if you ask for something long and loudly enough, then you shall receive. Ok so that’s not entirely true, but right now that’s not the issue. The fact is the Bills have given their fans what they wanted by firing head coach Dick Jauron on Tuesday afternoon. Maybe that huge billboard imploring owner Ralph Wilson, Jr. to clean house just couldn’t be ignored any longer by the Bills’ hall of fame owner.

This season was one big roll of the dice from the outset, and Jauron rolled snake eyes. Last season he was a man of great luck. The Bills started 4-0, and after defeating San Diego ran their record to 5-1. Jauron inked a three-year extension, worth a guaranteed $3 million a year. Buffalo lost eight of their final 10 games and for the third straight season, the Bills finished with a 7-9 record under Jauron. Needless to say, fans were outraged and called for his job almost immediately after season’s end. Instead, Wilson elected to give Jauron one more chance this season.

No matter how ticked off or frustrated with Jauron returning, the writing was on the wall: he had to make the playoffs or he would pay for it with his job. It should come as a surprise to no one that Jauron didn’t make it to Thanksgiving. He signed off on firing offensive coordinator Turk Schonert after the two had, umm, creative offensive differences we’ll call it. He wanted to run the no-huddle offense with the youngest offensive line in the NFL, a line that was starting five new players, three of which had never played a down in the NFL. Jauron also signed off on having Langston Walker starting at left tackle, only Walker was released days prior to the Bills’ opening game. The offensive results have resulted in the Bills being one of the most inept, ineffective offenses in all of football. They rank 29th on offense. They’ve gone 14 consecutive games passing for less than 250 yards and seven straight without amassing 300 total yards of offense.

If you were to break down Jauron by the numbers, I must warn you that the statistics aren’t suitable for those without parental supervision. Consider yourself warned.

o Against the AFC East, Jauron was 8-13
o His record against New England was 0-7
o In his previous three seasons, the Bills were 2-21 against teams with a winning record
o 24-33 in his 3 ½ year tenure in Buffalo
o After a 5-1 start last season, Buffalo finished 2-8
o 5-14 in past 19 games

So Jauron’s last desperate stand comes to an abrupt, yet necessary end in Orchard Park. The NFL is a bottom line league, and the bottom line here is that Jauron failed as the Bills’ head coach. The measuring stick is New England, and Buffalo has never measured up. If you can’t beat the Patriots, you can’t expect to win the division. If you can’t win inside your division, you can’t expect to be taken seriously. While the Patriots have ascended to the NFL’s elite, the Bills have sunk to one of the NFL’s doormats. Whether it’s 7-9 or 3-6, the Bills aren’t a good football team. Under Jauron’s watch, the Bills have been capable of beating bad football teams and incapable of beating good football teams. Last year the Bills beat four nobodies and a good Chargers team. Wins over good teams once in a blue moon doesn’t cut it. Becoming one of only three teams since 1968 to start 5-1 and not the make the playoffs last year surely doesn’t cut it, either.

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell takes over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. How the Bills will finish out the year under Fewell is anyone’s guess. But what we do know is that phase one at One Bills Drive has been completed. The Bills will have a new head coach in 2010. The house cleaning has begun, and I’m sure Jauron won’t be the last one to be shown the door.

When I heard the news of the Jauron’s firing, four words came to mind: It’s about damn time. I condemned Ralph Wilson Jr. for bringing back Jauron last year, and even though nine games have been washed away under Jauron, I have to applaud Wilson for pulling the trigger and canning Jauron in mid season. This just got way too ugly. The loss to Houston two weeks ago and last Sunday’s curb stomping against Tennessee appear to have been too much to stomach for Wilson and company. Now the real work begins.

The Bills have once again underachieved in 2009, and because of it the team has made a stunning move, firing head coach Dick Jauron today. The move was made by owner Ralph Wilson, just a few days after the team was beaten badly in Tennessee.

“I am announcing today that I am relieving Dick Jauron from his duties as our head coach, effective immediately,” said Wilson in a team statement. “I have tremendous respect for Dick and thank him for all of his efforts during these past four years. While this was a very difficult decision, I felt that it is one that needed to be made at this time for the best interest of our team. We will now focus on moving forward and preparing for our game this week in Jacksonville.”

The firing of Jauron means it’s the first time that a head coach has been fired during a regular season since Hank Bullough’s termination, which also came after nine games in the 1986 season. There is no word yet from the organization as to who will serve as interim head coach for the remaining seven games.

Jauron’s job security was on the fence after last season, and the team started 1-4 including an awful loss at home, 6-3 to the Browns. The team is 3-6 through the first nine games. Run defense was a major issue for the Bills, as they ranked higher than 22nd in the league against the run and are currently last in the NFL in that category this season.

Unfortunately folks, by now we’ve all seen this film before. We’ve seen the sequel, the trilogy and even that last movie in the series we knew they shouldn’t have made. However, this Buffalo Bills movie never really has a happy, Disney-type ending. By now we all know better when we see the dark clouds roll in, darkness falls and it starts raining. We know the sun’s not coming back out and the doom-and-gloom feelings take hold.

The Bills mirror a bad horror movie. We all know which way the damsel in distress shouldn’t run or which door she shouldn’t open. We scream at the notion when one of the characters suggests they should split up. Oh sure, the characters made elude the killer for a little while, but we know that safe feeling is false hope. The little of good usually lasts for very little.

Which brings us to the Bills’ latest debacle on Sunday afternoon in Tennessee. Buffalo picked up right where we left them before the bye week. Two weeks ago they took a 10-9 lead into the fourth quarter against Houston, which the Texans erased with 22 points and left with a 31-10 win. On Sunday with the Bills and Titans tied at 17 as the fourth quarter began, Tennessee blasted the Bills all the way back to One Bills Drive outscoring Buffalo 24-0 in the final period and the Titans secured their third straight win, burying the Bills 41-17. In their past two losses the Bills have been outscored 46-0 in the fourth quarter.

The way the Bills have performed his season in the fourth quarter, we should all be thankful they’ve won three games. Five games this season, the Bills have put up a goose egg in the fourth quarter including four of their past five games. So far this year, Buffalo has been outscored 101-40 in the fourth quarter. That’s a fool proof recipe for losing twice as many games as you’ve won.

There’s really no need for me to insults anyone’s intelligence here. We all know games aren’t won until the fourth quarter, in crunch time when it counts. And no matter how hard the Bills have played for three quarters this season (New England, New Orleans and Houston), everything and anything positive has been wiped away by their inexplicable failure to show up and win when the game matters most. I don’t know any other way to put this; the Bills are the best 75 percent team in the NFL. For those of you that knew that long before reading this, my sincere apologies if I’ve insulted your intelligence.

I’ve seen too much to know I’ve seen enough. As predicted earlier in the week, the Bills mustered up no answers for Titans running back Chris Johnson. Johnson had 132 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving to go along with two touchdowns. His 232 total yards is the most by a Titans player in nearly 50 years. The Bills had virtually no pass rush and as a team, only rushed for 89 yards compared to Tennessee’s 168. Although the Bills’ 296 yards from scrimmage was their best since Week 2 against Tampa Bay, Johnson came within 64 yards of outgaining the Bills offense by himself. Vince Young continues to work his magic resurrecting the Titans from the dead. Young complete 18 of 25 passes for 210 yards, while throwing a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 29 yards on five carries, coming close to outrushing Bills running back Marshawn Lynch who had just 37 yards on the ground.

Despite engineering three scoring drives, Trent Edwards is on the same path that virtually every other quarterback has traveled down since the retirement of Jim Kelly: one foot out the door and the other on a banana peel. Edwards finished the day 18 of 28 for 185 yards and he also finished the game as a spectator. He had his usual flashes of brilliance, hitting Terrell Owens on a few deep passes, hitting Lee Evans for a touchdown and when the game wasn’t in the fourth quarter, Edwards went mistake free. With just under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Edwards threw a terrible pass into coverage that was intercepted by Tennessee’s Vincent Fuller and returned for a touchdown that effectively put the game away,34-17. In a shocking turn of events, Jauron elected to bench Edwards for the remainder of the game and turned to backup Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Continuing with the Bills’ ground-hog theme, Edwards can’t be blamed entirely. The offensive line didn’t allow Edwards much time to throw, while committing five false start penalties. And as is his way, Jauron curiously chose to decline a holding penalty on the Titans and dared the Titans to attempt at 51-yard field goal. Titans head coach Jeff Fisher sent the kicking team onto the field and Rob Bironas nailed the kick. Bluff called.

Jauron’s benching of Edwards tells us a few things. One, he has no faith in Edwards being the starting quarterback of this team and two, this all but seals the deal that the Bills will be in the market for a new starting quarterback in 2010 by the draft, a trade, or through free agency. If Jauron does indeed turn back to Fitzpatrick, that move would go right along with what’s happened to the Bills’ quarterbacks over the past ten years. One by one they were supposed to be “the guy”, from Rob Johnson to Drew Bledsoe to J.P. Losman and now Trent Edwards. One by one, the replacer eventually became the replacee.

Now the Bills stand at 3-6, but the way this season has gone, it feels much worse. I remember hearing this phrase multiple players used after the opening season loss to New England: “we’ve got to learn how to finish games”. Nine weeks later, the Bills are in no way, shape or form capable of finishing a game now than they were back in Week 1.

Buffalo has lost two straight games and now head to Jacksonville (5-4) to face a Jaguars team that will be looking for their third straight victory.

The second half of the season begins on Sunday for the Bills in a place that still makes me cringe and twist in frustration: Tennessee.

I really don’t need to mention anything more that the “T” word because, well, we know what kinds of emotions it evokes out of Bills fans worldwide. Buffalo returns to the scene of the crime almost 10 years later and both ironically and unfortunately, this is the last place we saw the Bills in the playoffs. Let’s hope this time around, the ending is more favorable.

Buffalo returns to action off a bye week with hopes of salvaging what’s been an enigmatic and troublesome season. The Bills blew a 12-point lead in New England in mere minutes on Monday Night to open the season. They played respectably against New Orleans and Houston, only to wear down and eventually break down in close games in the fourth quarter that turned into blowouts. They were embarrassed in Miami and turned in maybe the worst game under Dick Jauron’s watch against Cleveland, but turned in two great defensive efforts that guided the Bills to consecutive road wins in New York and Carolina.

Now the Bills embark on the second half of their season against a rejuvenated Titans squad, but all has not been well in the Music City this season. After starting last season 10-0, the Titans finished 13-3 and clinched the top seed in the playoffs. But Tennessee was upset at home against Baltimore in the Divisional Round and it’s been all downhill from there. The Titans started this season 0-6, failing to score more than 17 points in five of six games and reached the lowest of lows in New England, losing 59-0.

But once you hit bottom, there’s no where to go but up. After the ugly loss against the Patriots, the Titans made some adjustments during their bye week, including benching starter Kerry Collins in favor of Vince Young. Tennessee responded with consecutive victories against Jacksonville at home, 30-13, two weeks ago and last week on the road against San Francisco, 34-27. In the Titans’ two victories, Young has passed for 297 yards and a touchdown, but he’s completing 73.0 percent of his passes and hasn’t turned the ball over. Before Young’s insertion as the starter, Tennessee committed 18 turnovers in the first six games. Of course, when you can turn around and hand the ball off to Chris Johnson, that helps a lot too.

In the last two games, Johnson has rushed for 363 yards and four touchdowns. There’s been no sophomore slump for Johnson and he appears to be establishing himself as one of the game’s best running backs. Johnson leads the NFL with 959 rushing yards and he’s got five scores of more than 50 yards this season. Against the worst rushing defense in all of football, Johnson could put the Titans on his back and win this game by himself. This won’t be the 0-6 Titans the Bills will be facing on Sunday. Though it’s only been two games and they’ve got a long way to go to see .500, the Titans are running the football and they aren’t turning the football over. The defense is beginning to play better as well. In last Sunday’s win over San Francisco, the defense forced four turnovers, including an interception for a score. So let’s recap: good running game, no turnovers, and good defense. Now we’re starting see the Titans of last year.

The Bills enter Sunday’s contest at 3-5 with deflating expectations. Their tumultuous first half of the season featured both difficult and head-shaking losses, numerous injuries (both short term and season ending), and a crippling offense. And I haven’t even mentioned the many splendid decisions made the front office. One of those decisions was signing free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens. His arrival brought excitement and expectations to an offense that had become dull, boring and predictable. Eight games later, Owens has had little to no effect on the offense, totaling only 281 receiving yards and just one receiving touchdown. Now, Owens is dealing with a hip injury and his status for Sunday’s game is uncertain.

What is certain is that quarterback Trent Edwards will go back under center for the first time since Week 6 when he was knocked out of the game against the Jets with a concussion. Edwards missed games against Carolina and Houston, but has been cleared to return to action. How effective he’ll be remains to be seen. In last four starts, Edwards has thrown one touchdown and four interceptions. Edwards hasn’t thrown for more than 230 yards in any of the six games he started. The Bills’ offense ranks 30th in passing and 29th overall.

Despite being the NFL’s 32nd ranked rushing defense, it’s been the Bills 10th ranked passing defense that’s largely been responsible for their two victories in the past three games. Against the Jets and the Panthers, the Bills forced a combined 10 turnovers. Rookie safety Jairus Byrd has been a revelation in the secondary, recording two interceptions in each of the Bills’ last three games. Byrd is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with seven.

The injury news didn’t seem to improve much during the bye week. Owens is dealing with a hip injury he suffered earlier this week and it looks like he’ll be questionable at best going into Sunday’s game. Defensive end Aaron Schobel is dealing with a groin injury he suffered against Houston two weeks ago and it looks like he’ll miss the game, as will linebacker Keith Ellison who suffered a quad injury suffered against the Texans. Cornerback Terrence McGee and defensive tackle Kyle Williams will both be missing in action; McGee is still recovering from minor knee surgery he had during the bye week and Williams continues to deal with a sprained knee he suffered against Carolina.

What the Bills should do: keep the Titans offense off the field by sustaining drives and take shots down the field against the Titans’ pass defense that ranks dead last in the NFL. If you want to keep the ball out of the hands of Chris Johnson, the Bills cannot afford to make it an afternoon of three and outs. Finally finding a good rhythm between Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson in the backfield wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

What the Titans should do: Three little words- run the ball. If you’ve got the game’s leading rusher against the game’s worst rushing defense…do I really need to solve the puzzle? Expect the Titans to hitch their wagon to Johnson. I’m guessing Johnson gets at least 20 carries and probably a few scores. I won’t begin to speculate how many yards he’ll rack up, but I’ll guess there will probably be some crooked numbers next to his name in the box score

Prediction: Titans 24, Bills 14. Can the defense find some way to slow or stop Chris Johnson? What will Trent Edwards look like in his first start in nearly a month? Who will or won’t be able to play on Sunday? Coming off the bye week, the Bills are 3-0 under Jauron and they want to start fresh with a good victory. Yes, they’ve won their past two games on the road, but there are too many questions for the Bills going into the game against the rejuvenated Titans. The Titans’ best attribute is running the football and stopping the run just so happens to be the Bills’ worst characteristic. Against the NFL’s best rusher, that’s not likely to change.

The Bills have plenty of issues on offense already, and now the status of Terrell Owens is up in the air, as the wide out missed practice Wednesday because of a strained hip. Coach Dick Jauron said in a conference call that the injury became apparent late Tuesday. Jauron said Owens was very uncomfortable.

The team is coming off a bye week and the wide receiver practiced Monday in the Bills’ first workout following a four-day break. The Bills (3-5) also need to decide Wednesday whether to activate receiver James Hardy(notes) or place him on season-ending injured reserve. He is currently on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list.

The Bills entered the 2009 season with high hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time in the last 10 years. Signing Terrell Owens in the offseason injected enthusiasm into a frustrated and disappointed fan base. That injection of enthusiasm, however, was short lived and has completely worn off thanks to a 3-5 record at the halfway point of the season.

Now, as the Bills get ready to embark on the final eight weeks of the year (and perhaps the final eight weeks of the Dick Jauron tenure) and with the dark cloud looming over the franchise as Buffalo stares down a decade without a playoff berth, it’s time to fish or cut bait in Orchard Park.

Whatever fate that awaits the Bills remains to be seen, but I caution those who view the Bills’ remaining schedule “ manageable” or even “winnable”. Make no mistake about it, this is a difficult eight-game stretch for a struggling football team. The combined 33-31 record of the teams left on the schedule is a bit misleading. If nothing else, this should be interesting to see if the Bills can even make it to their infamous 7-9 mark they’ve boasted the last three seasons. Something to chew on: with the Bills’ being the worst defensive run-unit in the league, they’ll face six of the league’s top rushers that rank among the top 20.

Week 10 @ Tennessee Titans. The Titans are living proof that in the NFL, the fall down the mountain is much easier the climb up. Last season, Tennessee started 10-0 and finished 13-3. This season, however, the Titans lost their first six games and failed to score at least 20 points in five of the six. The low point was a 59-0 walloping at the hands of New England. But coming off their bye week in Week 7, the Titans knocked off division rival Jacksonville to snap an eight-game losing streak dating back to last season. Last week, Tennessee secured their first road win of the year beating San Francisco. The Titans have one of the most exciting and best backs in football, Chris Johnson. The second year back leads the NFL with 959 rushing yards, 491 of those yards coming over the last three games.

Week 11 @ Jacksonville Jaguars. One question comes to mind about Jacksonville: who have they beaten? The answer is one contender and three of this year’s worst teams. Take away their win over Houston in Week 3 and the Jaguars’ other three victories came against Tennessee, St. Louis and Kansas City. Those three teams just mentioned are a combined 4-20 so far this season, and the Jags needed an overtime field goal to beat the Rams and hung on last week to survive against the Chiefs. That said, Jacksonville still presents a threat to the Bills because of running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 11. The Bills held MJD to just 17 yards rushing and 67 total yards in last season’s 20-16 win in Jacksonville.

Week 12 vs. Miami Dolphins. The last time the Bills and Dolphins met at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo dished out a 38-17 beat down of the fish back in 2007. Last year, however, the Bills laid one of their proverbial eggs up in Toronto, losing to Miami 16-3. Miami has won three straight games against Buffalo, including the first meeting this season in South Beach 38-10. It’ll be the last weekend in November, so here’s hoping the playing field will be covered in white and the temperatures will be somewhere in the low teens. Quarterback Trent Edwards has failed miserably to figure out the Dolphins defense ( 1 TD, 4 INT) the last couple of games and the Bills will surely see a steady diet of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

Week 13 vs. New York Jets (in Toronto). The first Buffalo adventure had everyone in Toronto running towards the hockey rinks, as the Bills stunk it up against Miami 16-3. The second time around could look a lot like the first time as the Jets look to avenge a crushing loss to the Bills in overtime in Week 6, 16-13. The first meeting saw the Jets rush for 318 yards as a team, 210 coming from Thomas Jones. The Jets basically beat themselves in the first meeting, thanks to six interceptions, five at the hands of rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. Odds are pretty good that Jets coach Rex Ryan will have his team fully focused on exacting revenge in the Great White North.

Week 14 @ Kansas City Chiefs. After four games, is it safe to say this is the game you feel most confident that the Bills can win? I’ll be the first to make that leap of faith. Though this game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs have made playing in Kansas City a bit more appealing to the visitors the last few years. Kansas City is one of three teams still looking for their first home win of the season. The Chiefs have scored the fourth fewest points in the AFC and only Cleveland and Tennessee have allowed more points on defense. Again, this game is the most winnable of the remaining eight left. Can the Bills avoid Cleveland debacle?

Week 15 vs. New England Patriots. 12 wins and counting for the Patriots over the Bills, a streak that stretches over six seasons. The Bills had the Patriots on the ropes in Week 1, but failed to deliver the knock out blow and as only Dennis Green could say, the Bills let ‘em off the hook. That was probably their best chance to beat New England this season. This time, Tom Brady won’t be rusty and it won’t be his first game back since suffering a season ending knee injury in Week 1 last year. If the Bills were to stop the Patriots from achieving their 13th straight win against them, it will surely be the high point in a year filled with many lows.

Week 16 @ Atlanta Falcons. A late Christmas present for the Bills or a lump of coal they find at the bottom of their stocking? However you view it, this could be the Bills’ biggest test not named New England. Atlanta has completely reshaped their franchise just a few years removed from their star quarterback, Michael Vick, going to prison and their head coach, Bobby Petrino, quitting on them with a few weeks left in the season to take the head coaching job at Arkansas. Now, Atlanta has Matt Ryan under center and with each passing week, he’s blossoming into the next great signal caller. It also helps to share the same backfield with Michael Turner, who leads the NFC with 10 touchdowns.

Week 17 vs. Indianapolis Colts. Whew! The Bills get a gift from the football gods and face the Colts the final weekend of the season. With the Colts sitting at 8-0, it’ll probably be another few weeks or so before they clinch the division and lock up one of the top two seeds in the AFC playoff picture. This game certainly tilts in the Bills’ favor is the Colts were to rest some of their starters. Here’s hoping we’ll see Jim Sorgi under center and Peyton Manning wearing the headset and holding a clipboard. If Colts head coach Jim Caldwell wanted to rest Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Dwight Freeney, I wouldn’t object either.

It appears that the Bills will have starting quarterback Trent Edwards under center this week as he comes back from a concussion. The QB expects to be cleared to play after missing nearly a month.

Edwards said he felt rested and refreshed after practicing Monday in the Bills first workout since a four-day break because of the bye week. He added he’s “ready to go” but hasn’t been informed if he’ll start Sunday when Buffalo (3-5) plays at Tennessee (2-6).

Bills coach Dick Jauron didn’t speak to reporters on Monday, and has not said whether Edwards will regain his starting job once healthy. Backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick helped the Bills go 2-1 after Edwards was hurt in a 16-13 overtime win over the Jets on October 18th.

All indications are that Edwards will start after he practiced twice last week and continued working with Buffalo’s top receivers, Terrell Owens and Lee Evans, on Monday.

PFT.com reports about now Bills LB Kawika Mitchell talking about former teammate Larry Johnson, who was released today by KC:

For four years, running back Larry Johnson and linebacker Kawika Mitchell were teammates, 2003 first and second round draft picks of the Kansas City Chiefs, respectively. Mitchell now plays for the Bills and is on injured reserve with a torn ACL, while Johnson was waived by the Chiefs this morning. Mitchell clearly doesn’t think too highly of his former teammate. “LJ doesn’t respect women so I have no thoughts about him really,” Mitchell wrote on his Twitter account. “People like that r nothing. At 1 point we were boys.”