Commentary
Sullivan: Resilient Bills 'D' has what it takes away to win
Published: October 25, 2009, 10:08 pm
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Perry Fewell grew up about 15 minutes from here, depending on traffic, in a little town called Cramerton. The Bills' defensive coordinator has great memories of his time there, none fonder than the 3A state football championship team he played on at South Point High School.
Fewell was a fullback on that team, not a star by any means. It was one of those close-knit teams that surpasses everyone's expectations. In fact, they have a 30-year reunion scheduled for Nov. 6. But Fewell said he won't be able to make it.
So it was important for Fewell to do well before the old gang here Sunday afternoon. He had former teammates here, friends and family members, several of whom became coaches, too. He got tickets or sideline passes for at least two dozen of them.
"It's always a thrill to come home," Fewell said. "I wanted to come home and be successful. It was important for me to come here and get a win."
Well, his little reunion was a smashing success. Fewell's defense made him proud, picking off three passes and generally confounding Carolina's embattled quarterback, Jake Delhomme, in a 20-9 victory over the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.
This was not a work of art. They seldom are nowadays with this flawed, offensively challenged Bills team. The Panthers outgained them, 425 to 167. Through three quarters, the Bills had exactly 97 yards of total offense. But once again, they managed to win.
That's two straight, both on the road, lifting them to 3-4 and back in the chase. If they can get past Houston at home next Sunday, the Bills will hit the bye at .500, leaving their befuddled fans to contemplate a possible playoff run.
I'll resist the temptation to get giddy about it. Winning is nice. But this looks to me like another heroic run at 7-9 for Dick Jauron and the fellas. One thing you can never forget when judging the Bills is the utter mediocrity of the NFL, where the unremarkable quality of half the league is always your best friend.
Correct me if I'm off base, but these last three weeks have been the most consistent string of bad quarterbacking I've seen in 20 years — and I'm including the Bills in that assessment.
Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't turn the ball over. He made a couple of big throws to Lee Evans. But in two games, he has completed 45 percent of his passes for 239 yards. Yes, he's 2-0, and he's not Trent Edwards. If a controversy rages, it's understandable. But let's not turn him into Roger Staubach.
The Bills have won two in a row for one main reason: They played smart, opportunistic defense, and the other team's quarterback helped out by throwing the ball right to them. Carolina coach John Fox chipped in Sunday by forgetting that the Bills were last in the league against the run, and abandoned it after halftime.
But give Fewell and his staff credit. For weeks, everyone had been groaning about the run defense, which was awful. Still, people overlooked that the pass defense has been more than respectable.
They've faced an amazing run of bozos, yes, but they also did a nice job against Tom Brady and Drew Brees, two fairly capable QBs, in losses.
Audio slide show: Jerry Sullivan's postgame analysis
Fewell deflected the credit to his players and his assistant coaches. The stats might not be pretty, but the most important stat of all is the one on the scoreboard. Over the past three games, the Bills have allowed 28 points and two touchdowns. If the offense hadn't stumbled over itself against the Browns, we'd be looking at three in a row.
Players keep going down, and somehow they keep teams out of the end zone. They lost Kyle Williams after one series. They're playing without Donte Whitner, Kawika Mitchell, Bryan Scott and Leodis McKelvin. Am I missing anyone? Oh, Marcus Buggs.
Other guys fill in. At times like these, you realize why Jauron likes to collect defensive backs. Drayton Florence has been a valuable addition. He's better at this point than McKelvin. The rookie safety, Jairus Byrd, has five interceptions in his last three games. Your great-uncle could have picked off a couple of them. But the kid is a playmaker.
Then there's George Wilson, who had 10 tackles and another interception in Whitner's stead. It's a wonderful thing when "The Senator" plays well, because it justifies allowing him to launch into his postgame oratories. Wilson was only too happy to let reporters know how they had undressed Delhomme.
"Well, the linebackers moved around in the box to force him to delay the snap count," Wilson said. "In the back row, we tried to make a lot of the coverages look the same. We tried to rotate the secondary to confuse him at the last second. And our front seven got a lot of pressure on Delhomme and made them move the pocket, so it threw the timing of their passing game off.
"That's what the passing game is in this league," Wilson added. "Teams work on timing to get the ball out to beat the good coverage and pass pressure. We've done a good job the last few weeks of preparing for each and every situation that might come our way."
They do prepare. Wilson said the defensive backs are doing even more than in previous years. He said they're meeting in each other's homes three times a week now to watch film.
It must be encouraging to see some of the jokers throwing passes in the league these days. But they'll take a win any way they can get it.
"It's been a hell of a challenge," Fewell said, "because our guys have hung together. They've studied so hard. We haven't always done the right things, but they've worked their hind ends off. We're beat up a little bit, but they just keep putting tape on. My hat is off to them.
"We're just all working together to try to make it work. That's what's happening, we're making it work."
All in all, a successful homecoming. Next week, after two wild, improbable road wins, Fewell and his defense come back to Buffalo, eager to do it again.
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