The preseason seems meaningless for the Washington Redskins, since they don’t have Robert Griffin III, but they’re pleased with the way their defense has looked against NFL starters. The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, have little to be pleased about after getting more or less wrecked by Washington.
Bills vs. Redskins: Buffalo looks dismal, Redskins stay preseason perfect
Washington moved to 3-0 on the preseason in a dominating performance where it out-gained Buffalo by nearly 300 yards. The Bills have a lot to work on, and having QB’s dropping like flies doesn’t help.
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s let Bills blog Buffalo Rumblings sum up the team’s 30-7 loss:
Buffalo’s defense gave up 452 yards. The offense didn’t register a first down after halftime. Seven penalties and two turnovers were committed. Kevin Kolb and Stephon Gilmore got hurt. Week 1 is 15 days away.
Fun! Yes, Kolb is injured after suffering from concussion-like symptoms, E.J. Manuel is still hurt after undergoing a minor knee procedure that ended his preseason, and that means the Bills’ quarterback depth chart right now just has one name on it, and that name is of undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel. Thus, the Bills are working out Matt Leinart and John Beck, but it’s not a pretty situation whatsoever. At least they have two whole weeks to figure it out.
Meanwhile, the good feelings are flying in Washington, where the Skins are 3-0. As Redskins blog Hogs Haven notes, the strong defensive performance bodes well for the team’s first real game:
One of the storylines coming into the game was to see how the Redskins defense would cope against the up-tempo, no-huddle offense that the Bills run. The Redskins open their season on Monday Night Football against Chip Kelly’s Eagles, who run a constant up-tempo offense. When the Redskins managed to get off the field early, they used the tempo to their advantage, giving the Bills defense little time to rest. But on the Bills scoring drive, you could see the defense was tired.
In the red zone, the Bills were playing a numbers game. The Redskins wanted to cover the pass, leaving them with hat-for-hat on the inside. That’s an obvious read for the Bills, who hand off up the middle and score. When the defensive front is tired after an up-tempo drive, they aren’t going to get much push against the run. The Redskins needed to load the box and force the pass on the outside, trusting their corners to make the play.
The Redskins outgained the Bills 452-155. Next up for Buffalo is Detroit, while Washington heads to Tampa Bay to try and close out a perfect preseason.
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