Lee Evans, Steve Johnson and Roscoe Parrish need to give the Bills more production so that the Bills can get the running game started.  Teams have been packing the box to stop Marshawn Lynch, C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson.  Lee Evans is really off to a slow start this year as he has caught 9 passes for 88 yards (9.8 avg) so far.  Teams often double Evans because they aren’t worried about any of the other WRs on the Bills.  Steve Johnson is in the starting lineup for the Bills opposite of Evans and he has caught 9 passes for 137 yards (15.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Roscoe Parrish has gotten off to a good start for the Bills but he’s on the small side so he will get banged up at some point this year.  Parrish has caught 9 passes for 152 yards (16.9 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  The Bills really need Evans, Johnson & Parrish to step up like they did last week against the Patriots.

The Bills tried to trade 26-year old QB Trent Edwards last week but they couldn’t find any takers so they cut him loose.  Edwards played in 2 games for the Bills this year and he completed 29 of 52 passes (55.8%) for 241 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs (58.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 5 times for 24 yards (4.8 ypc) for the Bills this year.  Edwards played in 34 games in his four years with the Bills and he completed 535 of 878 passes (60.9%) for 5,739 yards with 25 TD passes and 27 INTs (76.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 69 times for 296 yards (4.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  Brian Brohm will now be Ryan Fitzpatrick’s backup in Buffalo.  Edwards likely won’t be out of work too long as he will likely be claimed off waivers.  This move puzzles me a bit as Edwards is still young enough to turn things around.

UPDATE:  (9/29/2010) – Edwards was quickly snapped up off of waivers by the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The Bills played good on offense and special teams in this game but it just wasn’t good enough.  Ryan Fitzpatrick really played well for the Bills in this game as he completed 20 of 28 passes for 247 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 18 yards (6.0 ypc) in this game.  Marshawn Lynch led the way on the ground for the Bills in this game with 13 carries for 79 yards (6.1 ypc).  C.J. Spiller had a breakout game for the Bills yesterday as he carried the ball 4 times for 29 yards (7.3 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 10 yards (3.3 avg) with a TD grab.  He also returned 5 kickoffs for 189 yards (37.8 avg) with a 95-yard TD return.  WRs Roscoe Parrish (5 rec, 83 yards), Lee Evans (5 rec, 54 yards) and Steve Johnson (3 rec, 66 yards, TD) led the way for the Bills in the passing game.  The Bills finished up with 134 yards rushing on 24 carries (5.6 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 28 passes for 240 yards.

Safeties Donte Whitner (10 tackles), Bryan Scott (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and Jairus Byrd (7 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) led the way for the Bills on D in this game.  The Patriots finished up with 200 yards rushing on 38 carries (5.3 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 27 passes for 245 yards.  The Bills are now 0-3 on the year.

The Patriots have beated the Bills 13 times in a row!  But, the Patriots only outscored the Bills 42-34 in last year’s sweep.  For the Bills to have any chance to breaking the losing streak with the Patriots they are going to have to play keepaway.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bills have the ball:  With Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB the Bills will probably be conservative on offense as he doesn’t have the arm to go deep.  That means the Bills will likely try to run the ball a lot in this game.  Even though Marshawn Lynch seems to be the #1 back right now the Bills need to get the ball in Fred Jackson’s hands a lot this week.  Jackson carried the ball 30 times for 137 yards (4.6 ypc) and he also caught 9 passes for 115 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD grab in the two games against the Patriots last year.  The offensive line has given up 7 sacks already this year but Fitzpatrick is very mobile in the pocket which should buy him some time to throw the ball.  The Patriots are allowing 270.5 yards passing per game so maybe this is the week that Lee Evans breaks out.

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Bills have solid DBs so they might decide to blitz Tom Brady more than usual this week.  It might be playing with fire to blitz but if Brady is just sitting in the pocket with time to look around he is going to pick the Bills apart.  The Bills safeties better be ready this week because not only do they have to watch Randy Moss deep but they will also have to deal with rookie TE Aaron Hernandez who is off to a good start to his career.  The Patriots won’t likely run much in this game unless they get a big lead.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 37, BILLS 17

Rookie RB C.J. Spiller is off to a rough start for the Bills this year.  He has carried the ball 8 times for 9 yards (1.1 ypc) and he has caught 8 passes for 31 yards (3.9 avg) in his first two NFL games.  Spiller has had success returning kickoffs though as he has 185 yards on 7 of them (26.4 avg).  The problem that Spiller is facing right now is that Chan Gailey wants to win right now and he feels better going with the veterans he has at running back in Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch. 

The Buffalo Bills are benching Trent Edwards and they are going to go with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB starting this week.  The Bills only scored 17 points in the first two games of the year (both losses) and they are averaging 176.0 yards per game.  Edwards has completed 29 of 52 passes (55.8%) this season for 241 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs (58.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 5 times for 24 yards (4.8 ypc) this year.  Bills’ head coach Chan Gailey is switching QBs to try to get a spark for the offense.  Ryan Fitzpatrick played in 10 games for the Bills last year and he completed 127 of 227 passes (55.9%) for 1,422 yards with 9 TD passes and 10 INTs (69.7 QB Rating).  Fitzpatrick also carried the ball 31 times for 141 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run last year.  Fitzpatrick has a weaker arm than Edwards does but he is a better scrambler which is important due to the problems along the Bills’ O-Line right now.

The Bills were simply overmatched yesterday at Lambeau Field.  I almost felt bad for Trent Edwards who seemed like he was getting drilled every other play.  Edwards completed 11 of 18 passes for 102 yards with 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 12 yards (4.0 ypc) in this game.  Marshawn Lynch became the main man on the ground for the Bills in this game with 64 yards rushing on 17 carries (3.8 ypc).  Fred Jackson (9 car, 39 yards, TD) and C.J. Spiller (1 car, 3 yards and 4 grabs for 23 yards) also pitched in a bit on offense for the Bills in this game.  WRs Steve Johnson (3 rec, 31 yards) and Roscoe Parrish (2 rec, 34 yards) led the way in the “passing” game for the Bills yesterday.  The Bills finished up with 124 yards rushing on 32 carries (3.9 ypc) and they completed 11 of 18 passes for 62 yards against the Pack.

OLB Chris Kelsay (8 tackles, 1 QB hit) and ILB Andra Davis (7 tackles) led a poor effort by the D.  The Packers rushed for 91 yards on 27 carries (3.4 ypc) and they completed 19 of 29 passes for 255 yards.  The Bills are now 0-2 on the year.

The Bills played hard last weekend in falling short to the Dolphins at home.  But winning at Lambeau Field is a completely different animal.  The Bills’ D is going to have to be even better than they were last week and the offense is going to have to put points on the board while controlling the clock if they want to have any chance at an upset.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Bills have the ball:  The Bills have to think the Packers are somewhat vulnerable to the running game based on the fact that they gave up 150 yards rushing on 21 carries (7.1 ypc) last week.  But, the Eagles got most of those yards on scrambles by Michael Vick and Trent Edwards is nowhere near his class as a runner.  Still, look for the Bills to try to get C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch going against the Packers this Sunday.  It would also be smart for the Bills to try to throw the ball more on first down.  With Charles Woodson likely locked on Lee Evans, Edwards might be better served to look for Steve Johnson in those situations.

When the Packers have the ball:  The Bills should be blitzing when they get off the team bus.  Because if Aaron Rodgers has time to throw to his guys it’s going to be a very long day for the Bills’ D.  He has so many good receivers that the Packers have a mis-match on almost every play against every team when they decide to throw the ball.  The Bills will leave things to the front seven to deal with Brandon Jackson and the running game because they can’t afford to be creeping the DBs close to the line.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 34, BILLS 6

The Bills want to run the ball in 2010 but it will be near impossible unless they can make teams pay for loading up the box.  That’s where Trent Edwards comes in.  I know that besides Lee Evans he doesn’t have many legit targets in the passing game.  Edwards completed 18 of 34 passes (52.9%) for 139 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (73.0 QB Rating).  That’s just not going to get it done.  The Bills are in a Catch-22 at QB though as they have no one better than Edwards so they might as well roll with him.  Maybe the Bills should throw more on obvious running downs and on first down to loosen up the D to open up things for C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch.

The Bills will be without inside linebacker Paul Poslusny for a couple of weeks due to a sprained MCL.  Poslusny had 8 tackles and a sack in the season opener against the Dolphins.  Keith Ellison will likely replace Poslusny in the starting lineup.  He had 7 tackles against the Fins last Sunday.  Ellison is a bit on the small side at 6’0″, 229 pounds so the Bills might have some trouble dealing with running games until Poslusny gets back.  Ellison is more equipped to play outside linebacker but he will give a good effort while he’s starting inside.