Best overall performance of the year for Bills.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:Kelly Holcomb got hurt in the second quarter after completing 4 of 6 passes for 25 yards. His last play resulted in a sack and a lost fumble. J.P. Losman replaced him and threw two touchdown passes without throwing any interceptions. He was 9 of 16 for 137 yards and a stellar QB rating of 124.2. Grade B: Losman takes a big step forward.
Running Backs:Willis McGahee struggled as there were little holes for the running game. He gained 66 yards on 20 carries. Shaud Williams finished with -1 yards on three carries. Daimon Shelton didn't open up holes in the running game. Grade F: This unit did not show up.
Receivers:Eric Moulds led the team with five catches but just 26 yards. Lee Evans was the offensive star with two touchdown receptions of 33 and 29 yards. He had three catches in all for 66 yards. Roscoe Parrish didn't catch a pass. Josh Reed caught one pass for 28 yards that helped setup a touchdown. Mark Campbell had a productive game with four catches for 42 yards. Grade B: Made enough plays.
Offensive Line:Mike Williams started at left guard but was replaced by Bennie Anderson after the line was ineffective early. They gave up only two sacks but Mike Gandy appeared to be beat outside on the sack that hurt Holcomb. Jason Peters played well at right tackle. The run blocking struggled, averaging only 2.2 yards per carry. Grade D: Reshuffled line didn't perform well.
Defensive Line:Aaron Schobel remains the hottest Bill as he had two sacks. Chris Kelsay had five quiet tackles while Ryan Denney had five tackles and a sack. Sam Adams did not play. In his place Tim Anderson, Justin Bannan and Lauvale Sape struggled stopping the run but did bottle up enough of the middle to allow the linebackers to make plays. Grade C+: Gave up too many yards on the line of scrimmage.
Linebackers:London Fletcher had his biggest came of the year after a few quiet weeks. He had 20 tackles and his sack forced a fumble that Jeff Posey returned 46 yards. Angelo Crowell was a monster. He had 15 tackles, a sack, an interception and 2 passes defensed. Grade A+: They played as well as they did last year.
Secondary:Terrence McGee had an interceptions along with Rashard Baker who played for the injured Troy Vincent. McGee and Baker also defensed two passes. Nate Clements had five tackles while Lawyer Milloy had 12. Eric King knocked away a pass. Grade B: Allowed only 220 yards and defended well to setup six sacks.
Special Teams:Brian Moorman had a huge day punting in the swirling winds averaging 48.2 yards on five punts, including three inside the 20. The coverage units held Dante Hall in check. He averaged only 3.5 yards on four punt returns. Angelo Crowell had a hard tackle on one return. Hall only averaged 18.7 yards on three kickoff returns also. The Bills return game didn't do much better. They averaged only 16 yards on two kickoff returns and had no punt returns. Rian Lindell missed from 28 and 31 yards on his only two field goal attempts. Grade C: The battle of the returners never materialized.
Coaching:Mike Mularkey had the team ready to play. His fourth down fake QB sneak that blew up in their faces could have been costly. The gameplan seemed to work. Grade B: Now what does Mularkey do at quarterback?
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