Monday, October 10, 2011

Bills' defense gets Vick all sorts of confused

The Buffalo Bills knew they had a tough task Sunday in defending Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.

Consider the task complete.

Buffalo had Vick’s head spinning all afternoon, forcing him into bad throws and intercepting him four times in a 31-24 victory over the Eagles.

“We were trying to confuse Michael, trying to keep him off balance,” Bills coach Chan Gailey told the media after the game. “You can’t sit there and do one or two things against him and expect to slow him down. We didn’t exactly slow him down. They’ve got amazing talent on that side of the ball.”

Linebacker Nick Barnett had two picks, including one for a score, and George Wilson and Reggie Corner also recorded interceptions for Buffalo.

“We were running some zones, some fire zones, warm blitzes, just trying to get him uneasy and throw the ball,” Barnett said. “We were trying to get him to think too fast. They worked in the first half and we made some adjustments, coaches made some great calls in that second half. We studied the team to do that.”

Vick still managed two passing touchdowns and 90 yards rushing, but that’s what you get with him. The turnover differential was what mattered, as it has all season for the Bills.

“When you get five turnovers and you don’t turn it over but once and the turnover that we gave them, they ended up coming out with nothing out of it right before the half,” Gailey said. “You get 5-1 (turnover ratio), you give yourself a great chance to win.”

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