Ty Law, multiple Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl winner, said yesterday he’s “creeping” closer toward “being 100-percent Ty Law” again.
That can’t be good news for the 2-3 Bills, who play Law’s 2-3 Jets Sunday in Buffalo – regardless of which quarterback the curiously clandestine Bills are going to start.
Despite the fact the Bills were led to a 20-14 win over Miami by backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb, who took over for ineffective and benched rookie J.P. Losman last week, Buffalo head coach Mike Mularkey said yesterday he won’t name Sunday’s starter for “strictly a competitive advantage.”
Ooooh. The Jets’ coaching staff must be quaking into the late hours trying to prepare for both Losman and his 55.9 rating or Holcomb, a career backup.
This has become a rather comical subplot to this game because everyone knows Holcomb is going to start or there’ll be an uprising in Buffalo.
“I think they’re still going to run their offense [no matter who’s under center],” Herman Edwards said.
“I don’t care who plays quarterback,” Jets DE John Abraham said.
“You prepare the same, you prepare for their scheme, not who their quarterback is going to be,” Law said. “They’re still going to play the same scheme and run the same routes.”
Whomever is throwing the ball (Pssst, bet on Holcomb) is going to have to deal with a hungry Jets defense that includes ball-hawking Law.
Law got his hands on the football more times last week than he has all season. He had one interception that led to one of the Jets’ two TDs, dropped another and had a third nullified by a teammate’s penalty.
The problem was – and has been so far this season – that Law is having trouble adjusting to the new rule that has been nicknamed the “Ty Law Rule,” leaving him with four penalties in five games this season.
The rule, which is supposed to not allow a defensive back to make any contact with a receiver outside of five yards from the line of scrimmage, was actually instituted last season after Law stifled Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison in the AFC championship game with some tight-coverage bumping down the field.
“I guess I should take it as a compliment,” Law said of the rule. “But it’s making the job harder. This game is made for the offense. That’s what sells tickets. Pretty soon, every game is going to be the Pro Bowl [where offense is encouraged by some anti-defense rules]. That’s what I’m worried about.
“This is still football. This is not track, not shirts-and-skins basketball, not flag football. I think they’re taking away from the nature of the game when they make these rules. To keep drives alive for some contact when it’s not intentional, I don’t think that’s fair.”
Law has been called for two pass-interference penalties, one illegal contact and one holding penalty.
“I guess if they tagged it after me, I’m the one they look at,” Law lamented.
“His rule,” Edwards said. “I told him, they’re going to look at you harder than anybody else. As soon as you walk on the field, they know your number. Guess what? They’re looking at you. You can’t even bump a guy, you can’t even sneeze on a guy, you can barely touch the guy and they’re going to call it.
“They’re sending a message to the rest of the guys in the league. That’s how this league works.”