Final thoughts from TO
A pretty entertaining camp by preseason standards Thursday night. Charging fans up to $600 for an exhibition is absurd, but at least they got a good show. Some other observations:
--There is little doubt who was the star of the game. Quarterback Trent Edwards showed the ability that has the Bills excited about his potential. It was nice to see him throw passes beyond 10 yards for a change, too. Even though both sides were pretty vanilla, the Bills' offensive performance was impressive because the Steelers' defense is better than the Redskins bunch the Bills struggled against last week. Only time will tell is the Bills' offense will function this well during the regular season.
--Looks like all that talk about tight end Robert Royal losing his job to Derek Schouman was just that -- talk. Royal has looked better over the past week and his two-touchdown performance Thursday may have helped him nail the door shut on this competition. Also, Schouman was injured in the first quarter when someone rolled up on his left leg while blocking on a kickoff return. Coach Dick Jauron didn't comment on Schouman's injury after the game. We probably won't have any details until the team returns to practice Sunday.
--Like the offense, the Bills' pass rush showed some life after a dormant opener. Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger put up sharp numbers, but defensive ends Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay had him running for his life on several occasions in the first quarter. The Bills also got pressure without having to blitz. The Bills had only 26 sacks last season, so Thursday night was an encouraging sign.
--It's become obvious that special teams coach Bobby April won't be able to keep rookie Leodis McKelvin off the field on kickoff and punt returns. McKelvin didn't have to work too hard on his 95-yard touchdown on a third-quarter kickoff because great blocking kept Steelers from laying a glove on him. But his tremendous speed, acceleration and elusiveness are evident. Terrence McGee's and Roscoe Parrish's kickoff and punt return jobs are safe, but they will have to accept the fact that the return game will be a three-man operation from now on.
---Allen Wilson
