Pages

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Buffalo Bills - Defensive Sack Analysis (Through Week 7)

I wanted to break down the Buffalo Bills (3-4 record) and their sacks. Not those sacks you pervert. The defensive stat! The Bills are 4th in the NFL with 23.0 sacks through 7 games.

Getting to the quarterback has been a problem for the Bills in recent memory, so between the sudden emergence of the pass rush and the criticism Mario Williams gets for his $100 Million contract and whether he has earned it or not, I felt like it was time for some research. I wanted to know how likely  it was for the Bills, after a sack, to force their opponent to punt vs. their opponent being able to overcome the sack and get to the first down marker. Here is my statistical breakdown:

Buffalo Bills Sack Leaders:

Mario Williams - 10.0 Sacks (43%)
Marcell Dareus - 4.0 Sacks (17%)
Kyle Williams - 2.5 Sacks (11%)
Da'Norris Searcy - 2.0 Sacks (9%)
Jerry Hughes - 2.0 Sacks (9%)
Kiko Alonso - 1.0 Sack (4.5%)
Manny Lawson - 1.0 Sack (4%)
Jamaal Westerman - 0.5 Sack (2%)

Buffalo Bills Sacks by Quarter:

First Quarter - 4.0 Sacks (17%)
Second Quarter - 4.0 Sacks (17%)
Third Quarter - 6.0 Sacks (27%)
Fourth Quarter - 8.0 Sacks (34%)
Overtime - 1.0 Sack (4%)

Buffalo Bills Sacks - Home vs. Away:

In 4 Home Games - 16.0 Sacks (68%)
In 3 Away Games - 7.0 Sacks (32%)

Buffalo Bills Sacks - While Winning, Losing & Tied:

Winning - 9.0 Sacks (39%)
Losing - 9.0 Sacks (39%)
Tied - 5.0 Sacks (22%)

Buffalo Bills Sacks - In Wins & In Losses:

In 3 Wins - 12.0 Sacks (52%)
In 4 Losses - 11.0 Sacks (48%)

Buffalo Bills Sacks - By Down:

1st Down - 6.0 Sacks (26%)
2nd Down - 6.0 Sacks (26%)
3rd Down - 11.0 Sacks (48%)
4th Down - 0.0 Sacks (0%)

The final breakdown I did was the reason why I wrote this article. I wanted to know how effective sacks were in terms of forcing the opponents to punt when a defense got a sack. I broke it down into two categories.

The first category is: No Ensuing First Downs (This includes punts, turnovers, turnover on downs, anything that leads to the offense NOT passing the first down marker) and First Downs (This includes first downs and scoring plays that passed the first down marker).

For example: If the Bills turned the ball over at their 16 and their opponents went incomplete pass, sack, incomplete pass and then kicked a FG, that would go in the No Ensuing First Downs category because despite letting up points, they got a sack and did not allow their opponents to get a first down. 

If the Bills opponents got 2 first downs on the drive and the sack occurred on the same possession but during the offenses 3rd attempt at the first down, that is all I was recording, the 3rd attempt at the first down. If the Bills opponents got 2 first downs, got sacked during their 3rd first down attempt on that drive and were forced to punt before picking up the 3rd first down, it will logged under the No Ensuing First Down category, not a first down category because I wanted to know what happens AFTER the sack. What happened before meant nothing to me when doing my research

Buffalo Bills Sacks - Leading to No Ensuing First Downs vs. First Downs:

No Ensuing First Down - 19.0 Sacks (83%)
  • Punt - 12
  • Turnover - 2
  • Settled for FG, did not get ensuing first down - 4
  • Game Ended - 1
First Downs - 4.0 Sacks (17%)
  • First Down - 3
  • Touchdown - 1
Of the Bills 23 sacks, 19 of them prevented their opponents from reaching the first down marker. 12 of those 19 sacks resulted in punts, 2 sacks led to eventual turnovers (Kiko Alonso INT vs. Carolina and an Aaron Williams INT vs. Baltimore), 4 sacks led to their opponents settling for FG's, and 1 sack was at the end of the game when Kiko Alonso sacked Cam Newton as time ran out.

Of the Bills 23 sacks, 4 of them did not effect their opponents as they were able to get a first down to keep the drive alive or pass the first down by scoring a touchdown. The 1 touchdown scored on them after a sack was a 0 yard sack split by Dareus & Hughes. The Bills sacked Brady on 1st and 10 and on 3rd and 7, he hit Julian Edelman for an 8 yard touchdown.

One of the three first downs allowed after a sack came when Joe Flacco hit Torrey Smith for 21 yards on 3rd and 18. Kiko Alonso evnetually picked off a pass later that possession to seal the victory for Buffalo.

The other two first downs came on the same possession against the Bengals. Da'Norris Searcy registered a sack on 3rd down but Andy Dalton completed a 23 yard pass to Dane Sanzebacher on 4th and 15. Later that drive, Kyle Williams and Mario Williams split a sack but a face mask penalty on Kyle Williams gave the Bengals a first down.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Thad to the Bone - The Thaddeus Lewis Primer

When the Buffalo Bills drafted EJ Manuel on April 25th of this year, the most loyal, passionate fan base finally breathed a sigh of relief. Whether you wanted EJ Manuel or another signal caller such as Geno Smith, Ryan Nassib or Matt Barkley, the Bills made their decision and we knew that we were going to live and die by the FSU quarterback for the foreseeable future. When you draft a QB in the first round, you hope he's the only QB you see under center for your team for the next 10 years.

Fast forward five months and EJ Manuel is out with a knee injury. The fan base is back to where they were, in a state of mind all too familiar, filled with questions and curiosity as to who will lead the offense going forward.

Is it Kevin Kolb? The QB signed in free agency to battle with EJ Manuel for the starting job? No. Kolb went down with a serious concussion in preseason and won't see a regular season snap this year, if ever again. Is it Jeff Tuel? The undrafted QB out of Washington State who tore up third team defenses in preseason? He was the only active QB on the roster when Manuel went down after all. Tuel came in when Manuel went out and underwhelmed the local fans in a loss on the road to the Cleveland Browns in the national spotlight. He seemed destined to be a career backup but this could be his chance. The days rolled on, rumors circulated, uncertainty filled the cool, crisp air in WNY and Jeff Tuel was still the QB, by default.

There were rumors that the Bills would be interested in bringing recently released, former Buccaneers first round QB Josh Freeman. If that failed, the Bills were working out free agent QB's Dennis Dixon and Pat White as a fall back plan. The day finally came to announce which QB would be taking the snaps from Eric Wood under center and it was none of the above. Tuel, despite spelling Manuel in Cleveland, was not chosen. Josh Freeman signed with the Minnesota Vikings no longer making him an option. Pat White left Buffalo and went for a tryout all the way across the country in Oakland, California for the Raiders. Dennis Dixon was not signed to the active roster, however he was signed a few days later to take the spot vacated by the Bills Week 6 starting QB, Thaddeus Lewis.

Thaddeus Lewis? Now this isn't a huge surprise as the Bills did trade LB Chris White for him in the preseason and he has been in the system ever since but still a surprise by some peoples standards. Thaddeus Lewis was cut when the 53-man roster was finalized, keeping Jeff Tuel in the process, but was able to be stashed on the Bills Practice Squad. It's interesting that the Bills felt Tuel was good enough to be a backup, but not good enough to start and Lewis was not good enough to be a backup, but was good enough to start. It was an interesting decision to say the least but a decision that has been made nonetheless. The Buffalo Bills will return home, after a long week of rest, to face the Cincinnati Bengals fresh off of a victory against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Let's get to know the Bills new starting QB who is looking to do what future Hall of Farmer Tom Brady was unable to do one week prior and that's beat the Bengals.

I wanted to put together an article about Thaddeus Lewis so you can look like a genius at the bar, your Bills get together or your tailgate at the Ralph on Sunday. Here are some nuggets of information you can use at your disposal:

College
  • Was offered scholarships from Michigan State, Pittsburgh, South Florida, TCU and Duke.
  • Went to Duke where he played four seasons from 2006-2009.
  • Set school records for 10,065 yards passing and 67 touchdown passes.
  • Led the ACC his senior year in passing yards, attempts and completions. The ACC is the same conference that EJ Manuel played in at Florida State.
  • His best college game came against North Carolina State his senior year going 40 for 50 with an 80% completion percentage for 450 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
  • He makes very good decisions, protecting the ball as shown by his school record of 206 passes without an interception.
  • The Duke Blue Devils went 10-38 under Thaddeus Lewis, 4-28 in the ACC and 6-10 out of conference.
  • Duke never made a bowl game with Lewis under center but it wasn't because of him that's for sure. He was a good player on a bad team.
NFL Draft
  • Measured in at 6'0, 215 pounds with 32 and 5/8th arm length and 9 5/8th hands.
  • Strengths included - Good decision making. Makes plays with feet when primary targets are covered. Tough, can take a hit and still make the throw while stepping up in the pocket. Throws well on the run. Has deceptive speed. Decent arm strength. Can add some zip on short and intermediate passes.
  • Weaknesses included - Lacks height to play the position. Wind up delivery leads to batted balls and interceptions as it gives defensive players time to react to the throw. Holds on to the ball too long as he tends to be cautious at times. Has decent arm strength but not great. Lacks the accuracy to consistently move his team down the field. Doesn't have great accuracy on deep balls as the ball tends to hang in the air.
  • Projected to be a 7th - UDFA and a career backup QB.
  • 14 QB's were drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft however Thaddeus Lewis was not one of them.
  • Went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft in a very weak QB class that featured Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy.
  • Signed as an UDFA with the St. Louis Rams.
  • The Buffalo Bills passed on Thaddeus Lewis in the 7th round, instead drafting Levi Brown, QB - Troy.
NFL Career (Before Buffalo)
  • UDFA of the St. Louis Rams, backing up 2010 1st overall pick, Sam Bradford. Lewis never started a game in St. Louis.
  • Released by the Rams and picked up by the Cleveland Browns the following summer.
  • The Browns were looking for competition for Colt McCoy, another 2010 NFL Draft pick.
  • Thaddeus Lewis was waived twice and re-signed twice, eventually landing on the Browns practice squad.
  • When Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden went down during the 2012 season, Thaddeus Lewis started the final regular season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
  • In his first NFL season start, on the road, Lewis went 22 for 32 for 204 yards, one touchdown, one interception and also had one rush for three yards.
  • Lewis and his Browns were tied 10-10 at the 11:03 mark of the 3rd quarter, eventually falling to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers 24-10.
  • In the off-season of 2013, Lewis was cut by the Browns and picked up by the Detroit Lions to compete with Kellen Moore for the 3rd QB spot behind Matt Stafford and Shaun Hill.
  • Late in the summer, his time in Detroit ended as he was traded to the Buffalo Bills for LB - Chris White.
NFL Career (With the Buffalo Bills)
  • Thaddeus Lewis' first game action with the Buffalo Bills was against the Detroit Lions in Week 4 of the preseason.
  • Lewis went 7 for 16 for 132 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions and 7 rushes for 51 yards in the game after only being with the team for less than a week. He threw a 79 yard TD pass to Marcus Easley late in the 4th quarter of the 35-13 loss.
  • Lewis was cut by the Bills before the start of the season, losing the backup QB job to Jeff Tuel and was stashed on the teams practice squad.
  • Lewis remained on the practice squad until EJ Manuel went down with an injury in Week 5. Lewis was summoned by head coach, Doug Marrone from the practice squad to the active roster and named the starter for the Week 6 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
So there you have it. All you need to know about the Buffalo Bills new starting QB. Thaddeus Lewis went undrafted in a weak draft class for a reason. Thaddeus Lewis has been a career backup for a reason. Thaddeus Lewis has been cut by two teams and traded by another team for a reason. Does this mean our season is over? No but don't show up to The Ralph on Sunday expecting Thaddeus Lewis to light up a great Bengals defense. His job will be to manage the game, minimize mistakes, avoid turnovers, rely on the run game, and pick up some first downs with his legs. It is not impossible for Thaddeus Lewis to get his first career win in the NFL. There's something about a QB with a "nothing to lose" mentality. If Brian Hoyer can come in and win a few games for the Browns, I don't see why it would be impossible for Thaddeus Lewis to do the same, especially with a great defense and a solid run game.

Here's to Sir Thaddeus Lewis bridging the gap until EJ Manuel comes back from his knee injury. I'll see you at The Ralph on Sunday. Go Bills!

The 6 Types of Fans at the First Niagara Center

I recently attended the Buffalo Sabres vs. Tampa Bay Lightning game at the First Niagara Center on October 8th, 2013. I love sporting events. I have Buffalo Bills season tickets and I'm not one to turn down an opportunity to go to a Sabres game if the opportunity presented itself. At the same time, I do love relaxing and watching sporting events on my couch, alone and far away from other people. The direct reason for this is because at sporting events, I just cant stand some of the people that populate the stands around me.

The Kissing Couple

When I saw Iron Man 2, there was a couple in front of me that kissed 50x throughout the movie, no lie. I was getting furious. They didn't watch any of the movie. I tried to ignore them but I just couldn't. I just couldn't understand why they wouldn't save the $20, stay home and engage in Private Display of Affection instead of Public Display of Affection.

I thought that couple was bad, but looking back, at least the theater was dark, so I'll give them that. The couple in front of me at the Sabres game was worse. They were sitting directly in front of me and they kissed well over 100x. They didn't watch any of the game. There wasn't one time that they looked at each other and didn't kiss. They had their arms around each other, they took a dozen of pictures, with me most likely in the background of every one of them, with an exhausted, disgusted look on my face. They were exchanging phones, probably checking each others inbox's to make sure they weren't texting other people.

When they stood up at the end of the game, I was shocked that they weren't attached at the hip. Man were they annoying. I could do without the kissing couple at sporting events, that's for sure.

The First Date Couple

This leads me to 'The First Date Couple'. I've been there before so I can't criticize these people too much. I think we've all been there before, on a first date in public, whether at a restaurant, the movies, etc. This type of couple is easy to spot and if you are within earshot, you can confirm it quite easily. They're getting to know each other, talking about the third party that set them up, often coming back to this person because it's the only common ground they have. Finally the game starts, the girl asks a question, and whether she's 'playing dumb' or she genuinely has no idea what's going on, it's time for my favorite sports fan to show up.

The guy tries to impress the girl, telling her about the sport, who everyone is and the play-by-play as if he's on a date with Hellen Keller and she can't see the ice herself. The best part about this guy is that he's wrong about 75% of the things that comes out of his mouth. I just sit there, correcting everything in my head that he says incorrectly and laugh to myself at the thought of the girl actually know what's going on and her correcting the same things in her head.

The Obnoxious, Wanna-Be Coach

This guy is the worst. He can be found at sporting events but can also be found at bars too. He was the male in the 'First Date Couple' and was sitting directly behind me. This is commonly known as the "Shoot!" guy. Whenever the Lightning took a shot on net, he yelled "Save it!" and when the Sabres retrieved the puck in their own zone, he shouted "Go!". When the Sabres successfully made it into the offensive zone, he would scream "Shoot!". This obnoxious sports fan usually shows up during the Powerplays but this specific fan didn't care whether the Sabres were even strength, shorthanded or up a man. When they crossed into the offensive zone with the puck, this asshole wanted the Sabres to shoot as if the Lightning goaltender was incompetent and would let in every shot on net.

"Shoot!", "Shoot it!!", "Put it on net!", "What are you waiting for!?", "SLAPSHOT!!", "Come on!".

He sighed in disgust whenever the Sabres attempted a pass, baffled that they didn't listen to him and take the shot on net when there was guaranteed goal to be scored, in his mind at least. When the Sabres finally took a shot on net, he felt that they did so because he demanded them to do it. I know I wasn't the only who wanted this guy to shut up.

This is the type of guy who NEVER played organized hockey, never laced up a pair of skates but played modified floor hockey in 8th grade, was the captain on the worst team, scored one goal and swore ever since then that he should be behind an NHL bench coaching multi-million dollar athletes.

If you are this guy and you yell shoot, more than once a game, go fuck yourself. You are 'that guy' and no one likes that guy. NHL goalies are not incompetent, you can't just cross the blue line on a 1 on 3, shoot the puck and score. When your team finally does shoot and score, I can assure you, it isn't because of you. You yelled 'shoot' so many times that, unless your team gets shutout, you are sure to be right at least once.

The Bandwagon Fan & The Eternal Pessimist

These go hand in hand. This type of fan bashes the home team the whole game despite being decked out in home team gear. This guy has a Sabres hat on, a Sabres jersey and probably Sabres socks on. He bashes the coach, the players, their prospects, their history. The difference between the bandwagon fan and the eternal pessimist is that the bandwagon fan will take a break from the negativity when the Sabres score. He would say how Player A sucks but when that player scores, he swears that player is his favorite player and was all along. If the opponents score, the fan goes back to hating on the Sabres. This is the type of guy you try avoid high five'ing when your are celebrating a goal.

The eternal pessimist is the type of person who just bashed the home team from beginning to end like his ex-wife left him for one of the players on the team or as if he put a lot of money on them 10 years ago, lost the bet and he's still in debt because of it. You catch yourself wondering why this guy spent money on a ticket to come here and be so miserable the whole time? The Sabres could win and he's still not happy, saying they got lucky or the other team was tired from playing the night before and traveling a dozen states away in the dark of the night. You wouldn't catch a high-five from this guy if the home team clinched a playoff spot on his birthday in double OT.

The Drunk Guy

There are a lot of variations of this guy. There are some really cool drunk guys who just have a blast. There are some who get so drunk, they don't know where they are and inevitably fall down the stairs at one point in the night, face first and they don't mind because they're so drunk they don't feel it. This guy usually starts the chants, will get in a fight and yell at the players from the last row in the 300's convinced that they can hear him.

The Wave Guy

This guy one section over was so determined to get 'The Wave' going. He turned his back to the ice, stood up and talked the whole section next to him, our section, to participate. The play was going on, it was bad timing for this type of thing but he was so determined. I threw my hands in the air, but two sections over, it fizzled, every damn time. Screw you Section 319. This guy just wanted to be a part of something bigger. I hope this guy can make his way to the ocean one day, tiptoe into the water, demand the biggest wave and get his wish.

These were the type of people I encountered tonight at a professional hockey game, within 6 rows of me, within in a three hour span. Have you experienced these types of people in any arenas, stadiums or bars? What type of people do you love/hate the most at professional sporting events? Leave a comment and let me know!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Welcome to Silver Lining Sports!

Introduction

Welcome to Silver Lining Sports! Thank you for taking time out of your day to visit my site. I did some blogging a few years back and really enjoyed it so I figured I would get back into it.

What better time to start up my sports blog than during one of the best times of the year? The NFL, NHL, MLB and NCAA Football are all in action, the NBA is a few weeks away and NCAA Basketball will be starting shortly after that. It's a great time to be a sports fan. I knew that I wanted to start a blog, I knew the time was right, but coming up with the right name was holding me up. As of yesterday, I decided on Silver Lining Sports. Why Silver Lining Sports? I'll tell you why.

The Name

The blog would have been created days ago but every name that I wanted; 'There's Always Next Year', 'Where The Buffalo Roam' and 'Blue Collar Sports' were all taken. Those were the three names that I had my heart set on so I had to take the pen to the pad and brainstorm a new idea. I wrote down 10 different ideas but none stood out like Silver Lining Sports. It isn't anything witty or a great play on words or anything like that, but I think it epitomizes sports fans, especially Buffalo sports fans.

The definition of a 'silver lining' is:
  • a comforting or hopeful aspect of an otherwise desperate or unhappy situation.
  • a prospect of hope or comfort in a gloomy situation.
  • a consoling aspect of a difficult situation.
When you ask someone what it's like to be a Buffalo sports fan, the words 'gloomy' and 'difficult' may be common responses. Thankfully for us, we have cold beers, hot wings and good friends to console us through the tough times. For every losing season, there's a high draft pick to save us and a playoff run next year to look forward to. How many times have you heard, "we're one good draft away from making the playoffs next year" or "this coach will turn things around"? That my friends, is the prospect of hope in a gloomy situation. That my friends, is the silver lining.

Demographic

The site is for everyone but I am sure it will be exposed mostly to all of my Twitter followers. I apologize if you got bombarded with tweets, telling you to check out the blog, promising that you'll like it, begging you to give it a chance but I do appreciate you for finally cracking and taking a look at the site. Spread the word, tell your friends! I encourage participation, posting comments, giving feedback, etc. I am even open to constructive criticism but please don't do it anonymously. That's a personal pet peeve of mine. Don't hide behind a fake username. That's no fun.

If you don't like sports, don't like what I have to say or flat out don't like me then don't visit the site. If that's the case, you also probably shouldn't be following me on Twitter. I can be pretty annoying on there sometimes so I understand if you want to unfollow me; no hard feelings.

The site is for sports fans, primarily Buffalo sports fans. I'll write articles about different sports but the primary focus will be on the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres. I'll also write articles on the NFL, NHL and NCAA Football. I'll write a little bit about the MLB and probably next to nothing about the NBA but maybe I can bring someone aboard that likes basketball and wouldn't mind doing some blogging to keep the basketball fans interested.

Material

I will do a bunch of different types of articles. I'll do previews, predictions, projections, recaps. I'll breakdown certain plays, do interviews with people, do long stories laced with facts, research and analysis. Sometimes I'll even whip up a quick article filled with sarcasm and satire just to break up the monotony of the straight laced, fact driven sports articles. I'll give my honest opinion on certain topics, but I warn you, I can't promise that it will be politely correct because sometimes, being politely correct can be robotic. The site and the material will be constantly evolving.

Thank You

Once again, thank you for checking my blog out. I hope you enjoy the site!