3. Buffalo Bills
When the Bills' wide-open K-gun offense was eating up
yardage in huge
chunks in the early and mid-'90s,
Jim Kelly made an interesting observation. He had been one of
the original run-and-shoot quarterbacks with the old
Houston Gamblers of the USFL, and when Buffalo's attack was
being compared with that
operation, Kelly said, "Don't forget that it's called
the
run-and-shoot for good reason. It's run first and then shoot,
and
there," he said, pointing to Thurman Thomas, "is the
guy who makes it
go."
Thomas, of course, is the brilliant little running back who
has made a career of breaking tackles and bleeding yards
out of no-gainers; his traps and counters were the heart
and soul of the Bills' offense. Well, now Thomas is 31 and
has trouble
sustaining his intensity throughout an entire game. And Kelly is
gone. So is the outstanding center, Kent Hull, who called
the blocking switches and kept everything running smoothly
up front. Andre Reed, the possession receiver, is 33.
That's four potential
Hall of Famers who are either gone or in decline, and that, along
with the fact that Buffalo did nothing in the free-agent
market, is why people are predicting a big slide for the
Bills in
'97.
Well, don't be so sure. They're perhaps not as good as last
year's 10-6 playoff team, and they're certainly different,
but the defense will keep this team in a lot of games. It's
a big switch from the days when the offense scored so
quickly that the
defense barely had time to catch its breath. Last year, as the
attack faltered, the defenders toughened, and a unit that
ranked ninth in the league in total defense is back
intact.
Bruce Smith is unhappy about his contract, more so this
year than ever before, but he has never held back on the
field, and he and Reggie White have given the NFL its
finest defensive end play of the decade. On the other side,
seven-year veteran Phil
Hansen is Pro Bowl-caliber. So is nosetackle
Ted Washington. Pass-rushing linebacker
Bryce Paup, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in '95, has
recovered from
a groin injury that sidelined him for
four games last season. Strong safety
Henry Jones is back from a broken leg.
Chris Spielman is sturdy in the middle. And on and on. It's an
impressive array of stars, but not a young group. So while
the offense won't be expected to carry the load, it's
nevertheless important that it doesn't have too many
three-and-out
series.
Enter Dan Henning, the new offensive coordinator, who says
the attack will be more crunch and less flash. It certainly
makes sense. Third-year quarterback Todd Collins is no
Jim Kelly, but he's durable and courageous. In three starts
and four other appearances spelling Kelly last year,
Collins displayed a good feel on the underneath routes. He
was expected to battle for the job in training camp with
former Raider
Billy Joe Hobert,
whom the Bills had acquired for a '97 third-round draft
choice, but Hobert played himself out of contention, and
now the job belongs to Collins. He'll be fortified by a
two-tight-end, one-back offense that should afford him
maximum protection. There's
also a running game, if Thomas can return to top
form and if first-round draft choice
Antowain Smith from Houston looks as good in the regular season as
he did in the
preseason.
The weak link, as it is with many teams searching for an
identity, is the offensive line. It remains in flux. If the
Bills tumble, this is the unit that will bring them
down.
Long-range prospects for Buffalo aren't encouraging. Ralph
Wilson is one of the league's most respected owners, but
he's in a small market and it's getting tougher for him to
lay out the necessary cash
up front. Big companies aren't knocking at his door. Unlike,
say, Dallas, Wilson can't draw on Nike's promotional
dollars to help him with the big signing bonuses. Bruce
Smith's holdout, which dragged through most of training
camp, will not be the last by
a Bills star. It may be that it is just beyond Wilson's
means to keep his best players happy and prevent them from
heading elsewhere, which is one reason this might very well
be Smith's last season in a Bills
uniform.
It's just another sign that things are changing in
Buffalo.
—Paul Zimmerman
SCHEDULE
SKINNY
Two series of games will determine how the Bills fare this
year. With a schedule that opens against the Vikings, at
the Jets and the Chiefs, and back home versus the Colts,
there's no reason Buffalo can't be 3-1 going into its bye
week. Then there are
the last two
games: home against Jacksonville and a road game against a Packers
team that might already have clinched home field advantage
throughout the
NFC playoffs.
STRENGTH OF
SCHEDULE
NFL rank: 9 (tie)
Opponents' 1996 winning percentage:
.512
Games against playoff teams:
8
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