College Football Rankings- The News about Losing

From http://GamblersTelevision.com

The 2007 Buffalo Bills were hit hard by injuries to their defense. On offense 2004 1st round selection JP Losman was relegated to the bench in favor of 2007 3rd round pick Trent Edwards out of Stanford. Rookie Marshawn Lynch broke into the NFL scene and proved every bit as good as a first round pick in 2007. Oddsmakers have set the Buffalo Bills season win projected total for the 2008 season at 7 ½ wins.

When you handicap season win totals you must, I mean must look at the schedule.

Schedule:

The Bills play in the AFC East and that means two games against New England, Miami and the NY Jets. The Bills lost a home date, as they will play as the home team against the Miami Dolphins in Toronto on December 7th. Buffalo plays the NFC West this season with home games against Seattle and the worst team in the division San Francisco with road games at St Louis and Arizona. The Arizona game on October 5th is a tough back-to-back road spot as it’s a cross-country trip and the Bills will be playing the previous week in St Louis. Seattle has lost depth at wideout this season as well as losing their clutch kicker Josh Brown so the Bills could take their home opener. They also play the AFC West with a winnable home game against Oakland and a trip to lowly Kansas City. It will be tough to win at Denver and they draw the Chargers in their home stadium. Every home game is sold out except their final home game on December 28th against New England. Buffalo has a great home field advantage.

Offense:

An immediate improvement will need to come on third down conversions for the Bills to sustain drives. The team has struggled for two years in this category ranking 31st in 2006 and 30th in 2007. It’s all about moving the chains this year for Buffalo. Keep those drives alive! A big target at wide receiver will help the Bills after acquiring 6′ 5″ James Hardy in the second round of the draft. Not only will he help move the chains it gives Edwards a big target to throw to in the red zone. Teams are finally waking up to the fact that size matters at the wide receiver position. Marshawn Lynch had a good rookie campaign rushing for over 1100 yards and scoring 7 rushing TD’s in 13 games last season. He also averaged over 10 yards per reception in 2007 so he is threat in the passing game out of the backfield. He was good at Cal in the passing game so the Bills need to get Lynch the ball more in their passing game. Trent Edwards is the starter and I was impressed with how he handled the pressures of starting in the NFL in his rookie season. He was thrown in because JP Losman was ineffective. The Stanford grad has a full offseason and a training camp to tone his skills as a starting quarterback, get a full grasp of the playbook and to build chemistry with his teammates instead of learning on the fly like last season. Edwards came into minicamp bigger and stronger this year. Lee Evans has talent at the wide receiver position and with Hardy in the lineup will only make Evans better. I like Hardy’s chances of building good chemistry with Edwards because young quarterbacks and young wide receives seem to click in the NFL.

Defense:

The Bills picked up 2 good ones on defense in free agency. Linebacker Kawika Mitchell who was acquired in the off-season from the Super Bowl Champion NY Giants where he finished third on the team in tackles. Big 6′6″ defensive tackle Marcus Stoud was acquired from Jacksonville and will help to plug the run. The Bills are looking to improve in the area of run defense as they ranked 25th in the league last year allowing nearly 125 yards per game. Pro Bowler Stoud will be a big help. Last year the team was snake bit with injuries so with a healthy unit this team will return to good form.

And now to my Selection:

Buffalo has done well in the offseason to address needs and a few pieces will go a long way for improvement in 2008 especially on offense. Starting quarterback Trent Edwards is winning over his teammates with his hard work and dedication over the offseason. James Hardy will be a huge addition to the offense, as the Bills will improve on third downs. Lynch will be used more out of the backfield in the passing game. The defense was hit with injuries last season. With Mitchell and Stoud signed during free agency this unit should hit the good form of 2006 where they only gave up just over 19 points per game and were a top 10 defense against the pass. Their schedule is somewhat favorable. The Bills will contend for a wild card with a 9-7 season.

Play Buffalo Bills OVER 7 ½ wins for the 2008 regular season.

Selection: Over 7 ½ wins in 2008 Regular Season.

Duration : 0:4:45

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