Matthews a reminder of decade of poor drafting

There are so many thoughts, so many jarring realities, that ricochet through the brain after witnessing a performance like this one. Can we really endure another 14 weeks of this Bills team without suffering some form of permanent psychological damage? I have to confess, the idea of no NFL football next year because of nfl jersey
a work stoppage seems pretty appealing right now.
But in the immediate aftermath of the 34-7 thrashing the Bills took at the hands of the Packers here Sunday, there was one vivid and lasting image. It was of a guy with long, blond hair flowing out of his helmet and the No. 52 on the back of his jersey, roaming free in the Buffalo backfield.
Clay Matthews III.
Wow. Is he done yet? Or did Matthews sack Trent Edwards on the tarmac as he tried to board the team plane? It might be the most dominant defensive performance against the Bills since a young Ray Lewis battered them in 1999 (and yes, it was Clay's namesake and father who picked off Jim Kelly at the end of the Cleveland playoff loss in '89.)
But I digress. Matthews had three sacks Sunday. He was credited with five quarterback hurries. He forced the fourth Green Bay sack when he chased poor Edwards into the arms of Cullen Jenkins. He grabbed Edwards' arm to force a big incompletion.
The only thing Matthews didn't do was knock Edwards out of the game, even though the Bills insisted on letting Edwards play to the final, merciful conclusion. A week earlier, Matthews knocked out Philadelphia quarterback Kevin Kolb in another three-sack performance.
That's six sacks in two games. Chris Kelsay gets six sacks every two years. At that rate, Matthews will break Michael Strahan's league record of 22.5 by midseason. If he keeps this up, the USC product will run away with the Defensive Player of the Year award.
"Unfortunately, I saw a lot of him today," Edwards said. "I know Kevin Kolb saw a lot of him last week. He's a great football player. He gives 100 percent for 60 minutes."
Now, the shot to the gut. The more astute fans spent much of Sunday screaming this regrettable fact at the TV set: The Bills could have had Matthews in the first round of the 2009 draft. They took Aaron Maybin instead.
Sure, the Bills weren't the only ones to miss on him. Matthews went with the 26th overall pick. The Bills also passed on linebackers Brian Cushing, who won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season, and Brian Orakpo, who made the Pro Bowl. So '09 was one of the great all-time drafts for outside linebackers. And the Bills picked Maybin, an end, who couldn't get on the field as a rookie, then became an outside 'backer when they shifted to a 3-4. He still can barely find his way onto the field.
Maybin averaged 14 snaps last year as a rookie. He had 13 in the opener against Miami this season, maybe 12 against Green Bay. He has trouble getting on the field, and off it, too. The officials called Maybin for getting off the field too late at one point Sunday.
OK, the offense stinks, too. One week into his tenure, Chan Gailey benched his star rookie running back, C.J. Spiller, and gave Marshawn Lynch his most carries in a year. If the idea was to showcase Lynch, it went fairly well. Lynch rushed for 64 yards and was the only Bill with more than 40 yards of San Diego Chargers jersey
offense.
But things are grim, indeed. Gailey was expected to make this offense at least average, even entertaining. Two weeks into the new campaign, it actually looks worse. This is possibly the most wretched passing attack since the pre-Kelly days. There's no sign of it getting better any time soon.
"I don't know that I have the answers right now," Gailey said. "It's probably taking longer than I hoped that it would. But we're going to find the answers and make whatever adjustments need to be made. That's my job -- to get it fixed."
Evidently, Gailey didn't grasp the scope of the problem. There's only so much a coach can do. The organization has a multitude of woes, and most of them get back to dubious personnel decisions. James Hardy wasn't his mistake. John McCargo was an inheritance. So were Lynch and Edwards and, of course, Maybin.
That's why it was so distressing watching Matthews run wild against the Bills. The consequence of bad drafting isn't restricted to the Bills' sideline. It's everywhere you look around the NFL. They're playing linebacker in Washington, wide receiver in Philadelphia, offensive tackle in Baltimore.
Miss on enough high draft picks and eventually you sink to the bottom. If you believe the Bills needed to bottom out, take heart. This team appears to be doing that. They actually played well in the second quarter and seemed capable of an upset. The fact that they wound up losing by 27 shows you just how bad it is.
The Bills might be the worst team in the league. Yes, the defense has played commendably the first two weeks. But let's not let it off the hook entirely. It didn't have a sack or a takeaway against the Packers. It hasn't forced a turnover in two games.
Still, the offense is simply abominable. The sooner they trade Lynch, the better. Spiller has struggled badly in his first two games, but you don't take a running back at No. 9 overall to sit him on the bench. Running backs who are picked much later in the draft often become featured backs as rookies. It was wishful thinking to expect Spiller to be a force for this offense. But at the very least, he was supposed to give them an identity. Right now, they have none.
"It's very discouraging," right guard Eric Wood said. "It's terrible. Chicago Bears jersey
We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and find out who we are. Everybody needs to get better. I know I played bad. Based on our production, I'm sure a few other guys did, too. So we need to get the mistakes fixed quick or else we're going to dig ourselves a big hole here."