With Marshawn Lynch off to Seattle, Fred Jackson and rookie C.J. Spiller will have to handle the load in the running game.  Jackson has carried the ball 20 times for 87 yards (4.4 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 0 yards so far this year.  He will likely get more carries than Spiller going forward.  Spiller has carried the ball 14 times for 49 yards (3.5 ypc) and he has also caught 12 passes for 45 yards (3.8 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  I think the Bills will be fine without Lynch as Jackson & Spiller both have nice upsides.

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.

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 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.

I think the Bills should ditch all three of their QBs for the 2010 season as none of them look like a legit starting QB to me.  26-year old Trent Edwards was handed the starting job and he dropped it.  He played in 8 games for the Bills this season and he completed 110 of 183 passes (60.1%) for 1,169 yards with 6 TD passes and 7 INTs (73.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 14 times for 106 yards (7.6 ypc) this season for the Bills.  He has now played in 32 games in his NFL career and Edwards has completed 506 of 826 passes (61.3%) for 5,498 yards with 24 TD passes and 25 INTs (77.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 64 times for 272 yards (4.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  I don’t like Edwards as a starting QB but the Bills might bring him back as the back-up if they don’t trade him.

27-year old Ryan Fitzpatrick played in 10 games for the Bills this season and he completed 127 of 227 passes (55.9%) for 1,422 yards with 9 TD passes and 10 INTs (69.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 31 times for 141 yards (4.5 ypc) with a TD run this year.  Fitzpatrick has now played in 28 games in his NFL career and he has completed 424 of 734 passes (57.8%) for 4,104 yards with 21 TD passes and 27 INTs (67.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 108 times for 509 yards (4.7 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his NFL career.  Buffalo is a town only big enough for either Fitzpatrick or Edwards…….or neither of them so we shall see if he earned a 2nd year with the Bills.

24-year old Brian Brohm was plucked off the Packers’ practice squad and he actually started a game for the Bills this season.  He played in 2 games (1 start) for the Bills this season and he completed 17 of 29 passes (58.6%) for 146 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (43.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for -3 yards (-1.0 ypc) this year.  The Bills could probably do better than Brohm for a 3rd string QB in 2010.

27-year old Roscoe Parrish has been a fumbling machine this year and it earned him a spot on the bench.  Fred Jackson has taken over his role as the kickoff and punt returner for the Bills.  Parrish has played in 6 games this season for the Bills and he has carried the ball 2 times for 4 yards (2.0 ypc) and he has also caught 1 pass for 25 yards.  Parrish has returned 14 punts for 73 yards (5.2 avg) and 11 kickoffs for 258 yards (23.5 avg) this year.  I have a feeling the Bills will either cut Parrish after the season or trade him for a late round pick in next April’s NFL Draft.  Parrish has played in 61 games in his 5 years with the Bills and he has carried the ball 11 times for 48 yards (4.4 ypc) and he has caught 98 passes for 1,077 yards (11.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Parrish has now returned 108 punts for 1,385 yards (12.8 avg) with 2 TD returns and he has returned 29 kickoffs for 685 yards (23.6 avg).  While Parrish has made some big plays on special teams in the past it’s about time for him to move on.

35-year old WR Terrell Owens isn’t having one of his better years so you have to wonder if he’s near the end of the line.  Personally, I don’t think he is.  He has played in all 9 games for the Bills this season in which he has caught 26 passes for 366 yards (14.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has also carried the ball 5 times for 58 yards (11.6 avg) with 1 TD run so far this year.  I think that Owens can still produce on a team with a decent starting QB which means somewhere else besides Buffalo.  He has suffered from poor QB play as Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick have both stunk it up this season.  Owens has now played in 198 games in his NFL career and he has caught 977 passes for 14,488 yards (14.8 avg) with 140 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 38 times for 255 yards (6.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  I do think that this will be Owens only year in Buffalo but I think some team will sign him next year as long as he ends this year healthy.

Marshawn Lynch was suspended at the start of this season by the NFL and he has been very rusty since his return to action.  Lynch has carried the ball 70 times for 217 yards (3.1 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this season.  He has also caught 17 passes for 123 yards (7.2 avg) so far.  The shame in the Bills’ need to play Lynch is that back up Fred Jackson is clearly outplaying him this season.  Jackson has carried the ball 112 times for 445 yards (4.0 ypc) and he has also caught 20 passes for 177 yards (8.9 avg) with a TD grab.  In an effort not to waste Jackson’s ability they now have him returning kickoffs and punts and he is doing a great job for them.  He has returned 11 kickoffs for 301 yards (27.4 avg) and he has also returned 4 punts for 44 yards (11.0 avg) this season.  Jackson deserves to start at running back for the Bills because it appears that he is just better than Marshawn Lynch.  But, Lynch was a first round pick so the Bills feel the need to justify that pick even if it means losing football games.

Trent Edwards will be back under center when the Bills return off the bye this week against the Titans in Tennessee.  Edwards has been out the last few weeks due to a concussion.  He has completed 91 of 153 passes (59.5%) for 985 yards with 5 TD passes and 6 INTs (73.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 11 times for 102 yards (9.3 ypc) this season.  Edwards has a much stronger arm than backup Ryan Fitzpatrick but he holds the ball too long as he has been sacked 19 times this year.  He’s starting to remind me a lot of Rob Johnson.  Ryan Fitzpatrick has competed 36 of 70 passes (51.4%) for 356 yards with 2 TD passes and 3 INTs (57.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 14 times for 30 yards (2.1 ypc) so far this season.  The Bills will have to make a decision on the QB position after this season so Edwards better step up if he wants to remain the starter in Buffalo after this year.