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At the Half: Bills Suffering From Thousand Paper Cuts

The Bills came into this game with three defensive starters sidelined by injuries, so the worst possible scenario on Sunday would be to lose the time of possession battle. Well, at the half the Steelers have held the ball for more than 21 minutes. The Bills defense hasn't played poorly--they've kept Pittsbugh out of the end zone, but it's hard to imagine that a thin defense won't wear down in the second half unless they get some more help from the Bills offense. And with Ashton Youbounty going down late in the half the Bills are quickly running out of cornerbacks.

Speaking of the offense, the Bills offensive line has to play better as well. outside linebacker James Harrison has surprisingly won his battle against stud left tackle Jason Peters. Marshawn Lynch has actually run the ball adequately, but some of his best runs have been brought back by penalties.

• You won't often hear Willie Parker and Najeh Davenport confused for each other--Davenport outweighs Parker by about 50 pounds and is not nearly as fast, but that's exactly what CBS play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle said during Parker's 21-yard sprint on the first drive of the game. Parker's proving to be a man of his word when he said that he would improve on last week's performance. With 70 yards rushing in the first half he's doing just that.
• Nate Washington has caught three passes including an outstanding snag where he went high and held on while being upended, but he also dropped an easy catch. It's hard to be too angry at a No. 3 receiver who has three catches for 60 yards in the first half.

• Anyone with Jeff Reed in their fantasy league should be very excited. Reed seems to be showing he's put his 2006 funk behind him by connecting on four straight field goals.

• While watching this game, one question that jumps out is whether Cedric Wilson, the Steelers No. 4 receiver, would start for the Bills. The Bills are asking J.P. Losman to take a step forward this year, but it would be nice to give him a better starting receiver than Peerless Price. Without a solid No. 2 option teams can gameplan to stop Lee Evans, which explains why Buffalo has nine net yards passing in the first half. The Bills have only 58 yards overall, less than Washington and Parker each have for Pittsburgh.

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