Bills: The Year of the Rookie
The Buffalo Bills treaded water in 2007, equaling their 7-9 record of the previous year in a season plagued by injuries.
Here's a capsule review of the season.
Top three developments
1. Kevin Everett recovered. Everett's miraculous improvement from his catastrophic spinal cord injury was capped off by his appearance at the Bills' regular-season finale.
2. Trent Edwards emerged. The Bills believe they have come out of the season with their quarterback of the future. If they're right, this is the biggest outcome of the season. There's no denying Edwards was impressive for a rookie.
3. Marshawn Lynch arrived. Given their playoff drought, the Bills cannot afford to miss on a high first-round pick. Lynch showed he's the real thing with 1,115 yards in 13 games.
Top three problems
1. Run defense still stunk. The Bills ranked 25th against the run and got steamrolled in decisive late-season games versus the Browns and Giants. It's the third straight year the Bills have ranked in the bottom eight versus the run.
2. Pass offense still stunk. Not enough weapons. Not enough downfield throws. Not enough imagination. Not enough. The Bills ranked 30th in passing, the fifth straight year they have been in the bottom six.
3. Injuries ravaged roster. The Bills finished with 17 on injured reserve. The most they had in any one year since 1993 was six. Eleven were on IR after nine games.
Team MVP
Marshawn Lynch. "Beast mode" is the perfect description of Marshawn Lynch's running style. Just imagine what he could do if the Bills build a passing game and incorporate him more into the third-down package.
Top three plays of year
1. Lee Evans, 85-yard TD catch, at New York. Evans outfought Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis for the ball and made the clinching score in a 13-3 win. It was the Bills' longest play from scrimmage.
2. Josh Reed, 30-yard reception, at Washington. The pinpoint pass over the middle from Trent Edwards set up Rian Lindell's decisive field goal in a 17-16 decision, the Bills' most significant win of the season.
3. Chris Kelsay, interception in end zone, versus Dallas. Kelsay batted a Tony Romo pass in the air at the Dallas 4 and caught the rebound 5 yards into the end zone. A great individual effort.
Top three negative plays
1. Kevin Everett injury against Denver. It was a terrifying moment when Everett was carted off the field. Fortunately for Everett, the story had a happy ending.
2. Nick Folk's 53-yard field goal for Dallas. The Bills forced six turnovers, returned two of them for touchdowns and got a kickoff return TD. It wasn't enough.
3. Fred Jackson, no gain, on fourth-down screen pass in Cleveland. On a fourth-and-5 play with 15 seconds left with the playoffs at stake, the Bills eschewed a throw into the end zone. The best call the Bills could come up with was a screen to the right, which was swarmed by the Browns.
Avoiding big mistakes
How did the Bills go 7-9 with the 30th-ranked offense and the 31st-ranked defense? One big reason is they did not beat themselves, one of Dick Jauron's big points of emphasis. They finished plus-9 in turnover differential. They tied for the fourth-fewest turnovers in the league. They also set a team record for fewest penalties (78) in a 16-game season. That broke the mark of 88 set last year under Jauron. The Bills tied for the seventh-fewest penalties in the league.
The 'flex' defense
The defense bent, bent, bent and bent some more, but often did not break. The Bills finished fourth in red-zone defense, holding foes to 25 TDs on 56 trips inside the 20-yard line. That helped mitigate all the yards allowed. The Bills allowed the most passing yards in team history Ñ an average of 238.4 a game. They fell 2 yards shy of allowing the most total yardage in team history. The record of 5,809 set in 1983 still stands Ñ barely.
Third and short-handed
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about watching the Bills' offense was seeing it fail in situations when success should have been expected. The Bills converted just 50 percent of the time they faced third-and-1 or third-and-2. They were 20 of 40. That was the third-worst showing in the league.
The failure of the short passing game was seen in third-and-3 to third-and-5 situations. The Bills converted just 36 percent of those plays Ñ the worst in the league.
Highs and lows
Best fire drill: The Denver Broncos got their field-goal unit from the sideline to the field and snapped the ball in the final 10 seconds and beat the Bills with a 42-yard kick.
Best pass breakup: Jabari Greer made the play of his life, knocking the ball out of Terrell Owens' hands in the end zone to foil Dallas' two-point conversion try. Too bad it was negated by .‚.‚.
Worst pass coverage: With seven seconds left in the Dallas game, the Bills played way off the wideouts, and Patrick Crayton caught an 8-yard sideline pass. The Cowboys had two seconds left to kick the winning field goal.
Best open-field tackle: Safety Donte Whitner tripped up the Jets' Leon Washington with 27 seconds left to help save the Bills' 17-14 win at home over New York.
Best trick play: Marshawn Lynch threw an 8-yard option touchdown pass to tight end Robert Royal for the go-ahead score in the win over Cincinnati.
Toughest run: The Dolphins had Lynch stopped cold but he ran through safety Jason Allen for a two-point conversion in the Bills' 13-10 win at Miami.
Worst timeout: Joe Gibbs' back-to-back illegal timeout calls made it easier for Rian Lindell to kick the winner in Washington.
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