Is Buggs the best option?
September 16th, 2009 at 10:00 pm by John Murphy under News 4 Buffalo Sports
It’s a tough blow for the Bills, losing defensive captain Paul Posluszny for several weeks. He broke a bone in his forearm Monday night, and after surgery Tuesday, Pos will probably miss six weeks of action. The Bills may have to wait until after the bye week to get him back.
We worried about the team’s lack of depth at LB at cutdown time. And it only took one week for that lack of depth to become a serious issue.
Head Coach Dick Jauron and Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell are solidly behind backup Marcus Buggs as the starter at middle linebacker–they made that clear on Wednesday. Fewell says of Buggs–”He can run the defense. He takes command of the huddle. He’s a smart player. he can come in and be a presence in the defensive front.”
I can’t disagree with that. But I’m just not sure Buggs is the best option the Bills have to man the “mic” linebacker spot. What about moving Keith Ellison over to middle, and playing Nic Harris at Ellison’s spot? Fewell told us today that’s one of the options the Bills have. What about shifting Kawika Mitchell to MLB, and playing Harris in his spot? Again, I’d go for either one of those options ahead of playing Buggs.
How thin do the Bills want to be at linebacker, anyway? How much closer can they cut it? With Posluszny on the shelf, they’re down to two rookies (Ashlee Palmer and Nic Harris) and one second year man (Jon Corto) as the backups. It seems awfully early in the season to have the numbers so depleted at the LB spot.
Any thoughts on solving the Bills LB dilemma? Any ideas on potential free agents who might help?
He’s not the best option, but unfortunately probably the only option.
our defense shut down the saints offense until dick jauron chose to put them back on the field. he is the problem! its 4th and 1, they were down 2 scores with 7 mins to go, WHAT DOES DICK DO, PUNTS THE BALL AWAY! i KNOW they were on their own 30, BUT LAST WEEK WE WENT FOR IT IN OUR OWN TERRITORY AND GOT IT! when Dick did that, he gave the offense another break, when they had a break all game from scoring points! the defense did not want to go back out there, WHEN THEY WERE DOING ALL THE WORK! even if we didnt make it, they wouldve held them to a field goal, AND LESS TIME WOULDVE CAME OFF THE CLOCK! INSTEAD 3 1/2 MINS CAME OFF. 5 mins WOULDVE GAVE US MORE TIME TO RUN MORE PLAYS BEING DOWN 20-7. 2 SCORES, NO MATTER WHAT, IS HARD TO DO WITH 5 MINS LEFT. ITS EVEN HARDER WHEN U GOT 3 MINS TO GO. JAURON GAVE UP WHEN HE PUNTED THE BALL, AND SO DID THE DEFENSE. IF WE GOT THE FIRST DOWN, THE DEFENSE GETS MORE REST, WE WOULDVE BEEN DOWN 17-7, IT KEEPS THE SAINTS DEFENSE ON THE FIELD, WE WOULDVE HAD THE MOMENTUM FROM PICKING UP THE FIRST DOWN AND MAYBE AT LEAST GOT A FIELD GOAL TO MAKE IT A ONE SCORE GAME!! NOW U GIVE THE BILLS DEFENSE THEIR 3RD WIND, BEING DOWN ONE SCORE, TO GO OUT THERE ONE MORE TIME, not 2 MORE TIMES! ALSO WHEN WE DID STOP THEM ON 3RD DOWN, THE RECEIVER OF THE SAINTS WENT OUT OF BOUNDS WHICH STOPPED THE CLOCK AT 3:25 LEFT. DICK JAURON CALLED A TIMEOUT ANYWAYS!!! I SAW THE REFEREE WAVING HIS HANDS BECAUSE HE WENT OUT! DICK HAD THOSE STUPID SUNGLASSES ON AND DIDNT SEE HIM DO THAT!! THEN HE RUNS UP TO THE SAME REFEREE TELLING HIM “I SAID TIMEOUT”!! IF U WATCHED THE GAME, U CAN HEAR HIM SAY THAT! HE THINKS TOO MUCH BECAUSE HE IS AN IVY LEAGUER. WE NEED A “FOOTBALL” COACH. ANYWAYS I THINK OUR DEFENSE IS FINE, EVEN WITH THE INJURIES, THEY GAVE UP WHEN THE COACH GAVE AWAY THE BALL AND PUT THEM BACK OUT THERE… AGAIN. THEY DO NEED TO PUT ERIC WOOD AT CENTER BECAUSE HANGARTNER COULDNT BLOCK A KID YESTERDAY AND TRENT EDWARDS WAS PICKING THE BALL UP OFF THE GROUND EVERYTIME WHEN HE WAS IN SHOTGUN! TRENT DID A GREAT JOB KEEPING THE PLAY ALIVE THOUGH, UNFORTUNATELY HE HAD NO TIME BECAUSE OF THE CENTER. SORRY FOR THE LONGEVITY OF THE COMMENT, i just feel I CAN COACH THE TEAM BETTER, FOR LESS MONEY. TELL RALPH. I WILL PUT THE BEST PLAYERS OUT THERE AT THAT POSITION. U GOTTA PUT PRESSURE ON, NOT TAKE IT OFF. FIRE DICK JAURON AND HIRE MARTY S., JOHN GRUDEN, OR BILL COWHER. THOSE ARE “FOOTBALL” COACHES. NOT IVY LEAGUERS!! OR HIRE ME AND I WILL GET THE BILLS TO THE PLAYOFFS IN MY FIRST YEAR, I GUARANTEE IT! 10 YEARS AND COUNTING. HAVE A GOOD ONE