|
Week 3: Offense Put Out Atrocious Performance
Defense's Valiant Effort Wilts In Heat
by Steve Saslow
This was a game where the grades will be easy on the offensive side of the ball. It what was the worst offensive game I've ever seen from the Bills, you can rest assured all units on that side of the ball failed. The defense put up a great effort but wilted from the heat and the fact that they were on the field for 2/3 of the game. Our position by position grades reflect the difference in the play of both sides of the ball:
Quarterback:
Drew Bledsoe had to have the worst game of his career. His QB rating for the first half was 4! He finished with a rating of 18.4 with his 10 of 25 passing for 98 yards and that number was inflated by a garbage time drive. Grade F-: A complete, and total failure.
Running Backs:
Travis Henry left the game with an injury in the second quarter and finished with just 7 yards on five carries. He also dropped a pass and threw an interception. Joe Burns replaced him with Sammy Morris inactive with a groin injury. Burns ran the ball seven times with a little better success gaining 22 yards and catching one pass. Sam Gash gained three yards on one rare carry. Grade F: The ground game is on life support.
Receivers:
Eric Moulds lost his "spit gate" battle with Patrick Surtain. He caught only 2 passes for 30 yards and dropped two other balls. Josh Reed dropped another pass but caught three for 27 yards while Bobby Shaw also caught three passes for 34 yards. Dave Moore did not catch a ball and had only one thrown to him while Mark Campbell caught one pass for one yard. Grade F: Part of the overall meltdown.
Offensive Line:
The line struggled in pass protection and run blocking. They allowed four sacks and the running averaged a whopping 2.9 yards a carry. Grade F: The meltdown started with the Bills losing the line of scrimmage battle.
Defensive Line:
Pat Williams and Sam Adams did the job early but tired late, they were both called for offside penalties. Aaron Schobel had his best game of the young season. He was in on nine tackles and had a sack. Ryan Denney was active as he was in on seven tackles. Chris Kelsay whiffed on a tackle attempt of Fiedler that would have forced an important punt. Grade C-: Stuffed run early, tired late.
Linebackers:
London Fletcher was active with six tackles. Takeo Spikes recovered a fumble and was in on five tackles. Jeff Posey remains quiet with only two tackles. Grade C: At times really struggled with Williams.
Secondary:
Nate Clements loves the Dolphins. He collected two more interceptions in this game and returned one for the team's only score. He had four tackles to and was good in coverage Antoine Winfield was his usual hitting machine making numerous jarring hits. He did get beat by Chris Chambers a few times in pass coverage. Kevin Thomas was called for a big defensive holding call on a third down pass when the game was still in doubt. Lawyer Milloy led the team with 11 tackles. Pierson Prioleau was in on six tackles. Grade A: They kept the team in the game.
Special Teams:
Brian Moorman continues his stellar beginning as he averaged 50 yards on seven punts. Five of them were real good including a 64 yarder but two punts were short. Rian Lindell hasn't had many chanced to earn his paycheck so far this year. He hit an extra point but did not attempt a field goal. Antonio Brown returned two punts for 18 yards and gained 12 yards on a kickoff return. Terrence McGee returned one kick for 17 yards. Grade B+: This unit did its job.
Coaching:
Penalties continue to be an issue and the responsibility falls to the head coach. They had 11 penalties for 84 yards. Why would they call a halfback option down by the goal line? Bad call, bad spot, badly executed. Grade F: Williams better get rid of his trick play book.
 Game Analysis and Review
NFL.com Gamebook
Dolphins Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
|
