"The cold, sobering reality for the Buffalo Bills and their fans is there is no quick fix for their offensive problems at the midway point of the 2009 season.

There is no magic potion that is going to pull them out of their woeful offensive slump.

Defenses are forcing the Bills to make long marches down the field. They're saying: Prove to us you can go 11 or 12 plays without making a couple of mistakes that derail the drive.

The answer through eight games is resounding: The Bills can't do it.

The Bills are on pace for their second worst yardage total ever in a 16-game season. They're on pace for their second lowest passing yards total and their fewest first downs since the league went to 16 games 32 years ago.

Lee Evans and Terrell Owens are on pace for just 46 catches each, which would be the worst in Evans' six-year career and the second-worst in Owens' 14-year career. Even in 2005, when Owens played only seven games for Philadelphia, he caught 47 passes.

The Bills are seeing mostly zone pass coverage from opponents. Sometimes it's a straight Cover 2 with two deep safeties. Sometimes defenses slide their coverage in either Evans' direction or Owens' direction after the snap of the ball. Both safeties and a cornerback will cover the deep part of the field in what's called a cloud coverage. Sometimes one safety takes half the field and two defensive backs each take a deep quarter on the other side.

Owens caught a lot of passes in Dallas on crossing routes where he got the ball in stride, broke an arm tackle and sprinted up the field for a big gainer. But that pattern works against man coverage. Now when Owens goes over the middle, he has to "sit down" in a hole in the zone, catch a 6-yard pass, get tackled and go to the next play."