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Originally Posted by LaTunaNostra
I hear ya..and until we see otherwise, I expect to see JJ play the role that Bill had Martin play in NE that SB year...even though that year the passes slightly out-ratioed the runs, it was play action off a solid run game...
What will be different (and interesting) are what Bill can come up with to minimize what the league knows about Drew they didn't in 96. I mean, like the references to having him run some sprint outs.
That was good news..shows Bill knows he can't do just the same ole same ole with DB.
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Barb here's what drives me insane about Bledsoe... and I this happened last year during the Bill's winning streak...
After one of the games in which they won, the reporters gathered around Drew's locker and asked him the typical questions one hears in a situation like that. One reporter asked why the offense looked better that day and Drew responded with something very close too, "Well we just took what the defense gave us in the passing game. We went with a lot of short stuff and moved the chains."
You see that's the type of stuff that caused Bills' fans to want to strangle the guy.
Starting about week 9 of the 2002 season after Drew, Peerless, Eric and Travis tore up the league for the first half of the season, defenses started taking away what worked for the first 8 games. Namely the long passing game. Drew Bledsoe's Probowl nomination that year was the result of the first 8 games. The last 8 well less than inspiring mostly because defenses made Drew have to go to the underneath stuff. Defenses no longer letting the Bills complete those long passes to Price and Moulds.
Game after game through the rest of 2002, the whole of 2003 and the beginning of 2004... did the Bills nation have to sit and watch Bledsoe become frustrated because he couldn't do what he wanted on the football field. He hates the short passing game... absolutely hates it. You can tell that.
Finally, sometime in '04 he gave in and started taking what the defense gave him.
And then he appears on TV and acts like this newfound success is some sort of revelation when everyone was screaming for him to do precisely that for the two previous years.
My gut tells me in the game against Pittsburgh he decided he was going to go back to his old habits of looking long every play because the Steelers were playing scrubs at corner. But the Steeler defense was still good enough to keep him from completing those passes.