Special to The Era

The Bills ought to be 2-0 right now…but they aren’t, so we won’t
dwell on it. It would be a lot more comfortable to be headed into a
game against the smokin’ hot Saints with an unblemished record.

As it were, 1-1 Buffalo must prepare for the 2-0 Saints, who
are, by far, leading the league with an average output of 46.5
points per game. This knowledge has caused Bills fans far and wide
this week, when asked about Buffalo’s prospects, to suck some air
in through their teeth and mutter “Ehhhhhhh, I don’t knowwwwwww”
with some awfully uncertain upspeak. Can Trent Edwards and the
offense keep up?

Sure, the Saints are tops in the league in points and total
yards (468) per game, second in pass yards (323) and eighth in rush
yards (145), but the Bills are no slouch at sixth in both points
(28.5) and rush yards (154) each week.

Here’s what I’m thinking: When the Bills turned back Tampa Bay
33-20, there were two plays that easily could have led to
touchdowns but did not. These could have made the score of the game
47-20, matching the Saints’ average output.

The plays I’m thinking of are as follows: first, Dick Jauron’s
decision to have Rian Lindell kick a very short field goal late in
the game on fourth down from deep in Tampa territory; and second,
naturally, was Terrell Owens rather ironic drop of a ball that
Trent Edwards couldn’t have handed off to him any more perfectly
than he placed his long throw that dropped right through Owens’
fingers.

You might recall Owens’ comments after Week 1 that Edwards
needed to throw the ball downfield more.

Tweeder in the movie “Varsity Blues” has some advice Owens could
use: “Just catch the ball…Look! A ball, I’m gonna catch it. That’s
all…” Of course, Tweeder was talking to a rather large offensive
lineman on a high school football team, not a highly paid NFL
receiver.

Another 12-4 mark in Week 2 puts me at 24-8 on the year. Here’s
Week 3.

CLEVELAND AT BALTIMORE – Just enough went right for the Ravens,
2-0, to outlast San Diego last week, while nothing’s going right
for the Browns, 0-2. Sorry Cleveland. Headline: Ravens atop AFC
North at 3-0. BALTIMORE 34-13

TENNESSEE AT NEW YORK JETS – J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS! Even
though they are in the AFC East. NEW YORK 26-23

NEW YORK GIANTS AT TAMPA BAY – The Buccaneers are sub-par this
season. If this were golf, they’d be awesome. NEW YORK GIANTS
28-14

GREEN BAY AT ST. LOUIS – Make that the St. Louis Sheep. Steven
Jackson, who rushed for 143 yards the last time these teams met,
could have a big game against the Packers’ defense, but it won’t be
enough. GREEN BAY 34-16

KANSAS CITY AT PHILADELPHIA – Eagles fans are probably excited
to see what Michael Vick has to offer, now that he’s finally
eligible to play. I still, however, can’t help but think all these
quarterbacks can’t be good in Philly, although the Eagles should be
OK this week. PHILADELPHIA 24-13

ATLANTA AT NEW ENGLAND – I would really like to watch this game.
The Patriots are losing their veneer of invincibility. ATLANTA
28-23

SAN FRANCISCO AT MINNESOTA – I’ve heard it said that this
matchup of 2-0 teams is the game of the week. So Far Adrian
Peterson has been floating the boat in Minnesota, but it should be
noted that his career-worst game came against the 49ers in 2007. He
rushed for 3 yards in that game. I highly doubt that will happen
again. MINNESOTA 24-19

JACKSONVILLE AT HOUSTON – The Texans who showed up last week and
rallied past Tennessee were the Texans I was writing about in the
preseason. Hopefully they’re here to stay! HOUSTON 37-17

WASHINGTON AT DETROIT – As much as Washington is struggling
offensively, I still don’t see the Lions finally breaking their
losing streak this week. Rookie starter Matthew Stafford is the
lowest-rated starter in the league and the Redskins’ defense is
currently 10th against the pass. WASHINGTON 16-10

NEW ORLEANS AT BUFFALO – New Orleans bests Buffalo in nearly
every meaningful offensive and defensive category of the game. The
only areas in which the Bills hold an advantage are total points
per game allowed on defense and total rush yards, and they are
narrow margins at that. Run, Fred, run. Ever the optimist, BUFFALO
35-34

CHICACO AT SEATTLE – What did I say about Seattle being healthy?
Oops. CHICAGO 20-14

PITTSBURGH AT CINCINNATI – Look for the Steelers to recover from
their Week 2 loss to the Bears. PITTSBURGH 27-21

DENVER AT OAKLAND – The Broncos crushed the Browns 27-6 last
week, while the Raiders needed the last two minutes of the game to
beat the Chiefs, 13-10. DENVER 28-16

MIAMI AT SAN DIEGO – Believe it or not the Dolphins have won the
last seven matchups with the Chargers. Chad Pennington is also 3-0
against San Diego in his career. If you believe in trends…MIAMI
24-23

INDIANAPOLIS AT ARIZONA – I’m sure you heard the Colts won last
Monday night despite having possession of the ball for less than
one-quarter of the game. Their time of possession was a remarkable
14:53 in a 27-23 primetime win over Miami. Hey, that’s some
efficiency! Peyton must’ve had a commercial to shoot. Arizona QB
Kurt Warner is unlikely to repeat his regular-season
completion-percentage record (26 of 28 last week) against Indy’s
top-ranked pass defense. INDIANAPOLIS 32-28

CAROLINA AT DALLAS – If all we’re going to hear about is
“Jerryland” (told you that’s what Jones wanted all along) then I’m
not even going to watch this game. As people around Dallas begin to
doubt turnover-prone Tony Romo, I’m interested to see how that
situation plays out. DALLAS 24-18