Bills' no-huddle goes nowhere again
Published: August 29, 2009, 10:31 pm
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PITTSBURGH — Is there any way the Buffalo Bills can push their season-opening trip to New England back a couple weeks?
The Bills' offense sure looks like it needs more time to get ready after Saturday night's game in Pittsburgh.
The Bills' no-huddle attack sputtered, stuttered and fell flat against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Quarterback Trent Edwards threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, and the Bills lost, 17-0.
The Bills' starting defense wasn't too bad, all things considered. It forced a fumble. Rookie Aaron Maybin had a sack. It played a vanilla scheme.
But the offense had a second straight woeful outing, coming off a loss last week at Green Bay in which the Bills were outscored, 21-0.
Buffalo held the ball just 8:14 of the first 30 minutes Saturday. The Bills were outgained, 209-50, in the first half.
The end zone remains uncharted territory for the Bills. The first-string offense has had 15 possessions this summer and produced just one field goal.
Edwards passed for just 31 yards and completed 6 of 13 attempts overall. He played the first series of the third quarter then went to the bench for the night.
The Bills (1-3) close the exhibition season Thursday against Detroit at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The season opener against the mighty Patriots is 15 days away, on Sept. 14.
Asked if he was worried about the state of the offense, Bills coach Dick Jauron said:
"Yeah, oh definitely. ... I don't think you ever stop worrying. But yeah, we're definitely worried. We've got to make a lot of improvement and we don't have a lot of time to do it."
All indications are the sprained toe of receiver Terrell Owens, who sat out his third straight game, is improving and he will be 100 percent for the opener against the Patriots. At this point, it looks like Owens better be a savior for the Buffalo passing game.
The Steelers' defense has ranked No. 1 in the NFL the past two seasons. So it wasn't a shock the Bills had a lot of trouble blockingthe Steelers' front.
And the game showed the downside of the no-huddle attack. The Bills' offensive players hurried off the field in 1:03 on the first try, 2:31 on the second, 13 seconds on the third and 1:38 on the fourth.
There were no injuries reported to any of the Bills' starters.
Meanwhile, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger showed why he has won two Super Bowl rings in the past four seasons.
He hit 15 of 19 passes for 168 yards in the first half. He stymied Bills defenders with his ability to shrug off pass rushers. He had a passer rating of 103.5.
Edwards' interception came on a first-down play from the Buffalo 18 at the start of Buffalo's third possession.
Edwards was looking for Josh Reed on a short pass and unloaded wide to Reed's left. Steelers linebacker James Farrior jumped the route and made an easy pickoff — the throw was right to him. Farrior ran untouched up the left side of the field for a 22-yard touchdown return.
Bills left tackle Langston Walker, who struggled to block NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison, was beaten to the outside on the play. But that had no effect on the pass. Edwards had released the ball before Harrison got close.
The Steelers were ahead, 10-0.
"It was a shallow route throw to Josh that obviously didn't get to Josh," Edwards said. "James Farrior wasn't where I thought he was going to be and unfortunately he caught the ball and Josh didn't. That's obviously one of my mistakes I can't make. I'll look at it on tape tomorrow and try to fix it."
The next Bills drive ended when Edwards was off target on a third-and-9 pass for Reed.
The Bills got two first downs on the following possession, with Dominic Rhodes catching a 16-yard pass from Edwards. But that march stalled at the Buffalo 42 when Edwards was sacked on a third-and-10 play by Farrior. Rhodes got an initial block on the blitzing Farrior, but Edwards' first read was not open, and Farrior got around Rhodes on the second try to get to the quarterback for a 5-yard loss.
Edwards was under pressure on the first drive of the third quarter, too, which was a three-and-out series.
On third-and-4, Farrior beat back Xavier Omon's attempt at a blitz pickup, and Farrior hit Edwards as he released the pass, forcing an incompletion.
The Bills' defense forced a turnover on Pittsburgh's first drive of the game. That gave Buffalo nine takeaways in four games.
Defensive tackle Kyle Williams made a good play to create it. Pittsburgh had driven 50 yards to the Bills' 21 with the opening possession of the game. But on a first-down play, Williams slashed into the Steelers' backfield, pushing an offensive lineman back into running back Rashard Mendenhall, who fumbled the ball. Keith Ellison recovered at the Bills' 26.
The Steelers' second drive went three plays and out. Pittsburgh marched 49 yards in 13 plays to a 34-yard field goal on its third march.
Roethlisberger made several great plays in the pocket to move his team 87 yards in 13 plays late in the half. Mendenhall capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run 31 seconds before intermission.
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