Preseason Game 2 recap

Observations from Saturday's 12-10 loss to Pittsburgh:

1. How many times are we going to watch stars go down with injuries in meaningless games before a different approach is taken. Luckily it looks like the Jason Campbell injury isn't too serious but losing Marcus Washington could be almost as big. Washington's loss wasn't felt too bad last night but if he misses any regular season games, the defense may have a hard time trying to erase last season's struggles.

2. Speaking of the defense, it looks really good considering the competition at this point but anyone who thinks this defense will be like last year's is going to be sadly mistaken. London Fletcher seems to be a great addition in the middle and seems to be providing a much needed spark.

3. Again, it's only the preseason but Todd Collins looked good when he came in for Campbell and marched the offense down the field for a score while Mark Brunell again looked old. Brunell moved the offense somewhat in the final drive and it wasn't his fault that last pass was intercepted - he can't control his receiver tipping it to a defender - but where he threw the ball was what concerned me. With no timeouts and less than 20 seconds, a long pass down the middle of the field was probably not the right place to throw the ball in the first place. If that pass had been caught, I find it hard to see the offense getting set up and stopping the clock with a spike before time ran out. He should have gone to the sidelines in hopes of being able to get the field goal team on in time.

Despite the loss things seem to be encouraging but we won't have any idea how much impact this work in the preseason will have until the first games are played. The battle for I-95 is up next.

2007 Previews: Buffalo Bills

Note: This is a team-by-team look previewing the 2007 season. These are my official thoughts on how I think things will play out.

Last year: 7-9 (third in AFC East)

Best addition: Derrick Dockery (G, Redskins)

Key personnel losses: Willis McGahee (RB, Ravens), Nate Clements (CB, 49ers)

2007 outlook: When 3 of 4 key, non-drafted additions to your roster are linemen, you'd better hope your running game gets better. The problem in Buffalo though is that they got rid of their stud running back (McGahee) and plan to replace him with Anthony Thomas and Marshawn Lynch. Not exactly what I would call threatening. And with Lee Evans showing he can and will take on any and all challengers and JP Losman finally heading in the right direction, the lack of a running game could really set the Bills back.

It also didn't help that Buffalo let Clements and LB London Fletcher go in free agency but the drafting of Penn State LB Paul Posluszny should soften the loss of Fletcher. Now the defense just needs to see how it can get along without Clements.

Key to success: Obviously it rests in two places: the Thomas/Lynch RB tandem and the secondary. If the Bills can't run or the secondary gets torched regularly, fans in Buffalo will be longing for last year, which really wasn't that great. There are a lot of unknowns for Buffalo heading into this season and if I were a Bills fan I would be worried.

Against Washington: The Bills will come to Washington to take on the Redskins on Dec. 2, the 12th game of the season. It could be a critical one for the Skins as they will have just finished up a two-game road trip against Dallas and Tampa Bay and the following week the defending NFC champion Bears come to town.

Fantasy sleeper: Anthony Thomas. As much as I just criticized him and his production, Thomas will probably be the goal line back in this offense - and as any fantasy owner knows, yards per carry don't count but touchdowns sure will. With Lynch being more of a slasher, look for the Bills to call on Thomas in short-yardage situations. He may not be the answer for Buffalo at RB but he could be your answer as a TD scorer. Look at picking him in the late rounds as a guy who will be starting for his team early and scoring often.