FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- If the Buffalo Bills are going to break through to the winning side, it's not Terrell Owens and the Bills' passing attack that make the difference -- it's an offensive line that just subtracted its most important part.
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| Andy Levitre could become the starter at left guard as a rookie. (Getty Images) |
One month later, they like what they have, and, while it's early, it's also good news for fans wondering when the string of 7-9 seasons comes to an end.
Maybe it's this year. Maybe it's next. But if the Bills are right -- if they've improved up front as much as they hope and believe -- then they're on the right track toward moving forward.
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Here's why: When it's mid-November or early December in Buffalo you don't win by throwing the football -- you win by running it and grinding down opponents. Buffalo couldn't do that last season. The Bills ranked 14th in rushing. The year before they were 15th and tied for 15th in yards per carry -- which means they were in the middle of the pack, and that's not going to cut it for Dick Jauron and anyone involved with this year's Bills.
They must win, and win now -- and their best and maybe only chance is improving an offensive line that, frankly, was inadequate a year ago.
"The overall plan," said Russ Brandon, the team's chief operating officer, at this week's NFL owners' meetings, "is to build cohesiveness up front for years to come."
Score one for team smarts. Owens isn't the long-term panacea -- an offensive line could be. So the Bills get rid of the disappointing Derrick Dockery and the recalcitrant Peters, who never recovered from a summer holdout, and make sweeping changes up front that could have more of an impact than that guy at wide receiver.
If the season were to open tomorrow, I'd guess the Bills start Langston Walker at left tackle, where he spotted Peters a year ago, rookie Andy Levitre at left guard, free-agent acquisition Geoff Hangartner at center, rookie Eric Wood at right guard and Brad Butler at right tackle -- with veteran Seth McKinney, promising tackle Demetrius Bell, Jonathan Scott and the versatile Kirk Chambers pushing them for playing time.
"Tough, physical and smart players," said Brandon. "We like the mindsets of each and every one."
Tough and physical is what the Buffalo Bills must become if they're going to survive in the AFC East. At the moment, they look like the fourth-best team in a four-team division, and maybe that's where they win up. But if they're going to make a move -- if they're going to break the cycle of four straight losing years -- it's not Owens who gets them there -- it's an offensive line that must grind down opponents.
The Bills think that is possible. In the long run, they think it's probable. But it's not the long run that matters to Jauron. He absolutely, positively must break through to the plus side this season, otherwise he's gone. So the offensive line better be improved, and, frankly, that might not happen overnight.
First of all, it's been turned inside out from a year ago -- with Walker and Butler the only returning starters. But Walker played virtually every game at right tackle, and Butler's 13 starts were all at right guard. So you're talking five positions manned by different people.
Second, there could be two rookies in the starting rotation, and rookie offensive linemen typically take time to develop. Sorry, Dick. I know, the current depth chart shows Chambers at left guard and McKinney at right, but the smart money says Levitre and Wood overcome them by September.
Third, star running back Marshawn Lynch has been suspended three games -- a decision he's appealing –-- which means the Bills might have to face New England, Tampa Bay and New Orleans with Fred Jackson and Dominic Rhodes making the deliveries. Not good. But look at it this way, Buffalo fans: At least you get Tampa Bay and New Orleans at home and have Lynch for the critical months of November and December.
And that's where we will measure how far the Bills have come. Under Jauron, they're 11-16 in November and December, including 2-7 a year ago. That won't cut it. Something must change, and that something is the way the Bills play offense down the stretch.
In three of their past five games a year ago they didn't score a touchdown, and, I'm sorry, that won't cut it, either. It's time to shake things up, and the Bills just have.
Now let's see how far it takes them.
