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Week 14: Defense Solid In Victory
Unit bounces back from opening series struggles to keep Cleveland down.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Ryan Fitzpatrick fumbled the ball away on a hit from behind but settled down in tough weather conditions. He finished with 14 completions on 23 attempts for 142 yards. It was a day for the running game and he helped out there as he finished with 49 yards rushing on four carries, including three designed runs.
Grade B-: Got the win but did more with his legs than his arm.
Running Backs:
Fred Jackson put the game away with some good, hard running in the final quarter as he finished with 112 yards on 29 carries.
C.J. Spiller was mixed in more and had eight carries for 33 yards.
Corey McIntyre did some nice things in the blocking game and caught a big 14 yard reception in the red zone.
Grade A: Controlled the ball game on the offensive side.
Receivers:
Lee Evans didn't catch a pass before leaving the game late in the first half with an ankle injury.
Steve Johnson made some nice tough catches and seemed to have his confidence back. He led the team with five catches for 42 yards.
Donald Jones had two catches for 14 yards.
David Nelson made a really nice diving catch for his touchdown. Big time play in less than ideal conditions.
Jonathan Stupar had a big game with three catches for 45 yards including a big run after the catch on a 35 yard play.
Donald Martin had a 13 yard reception.
Grade C+: The tight ends get involved this week.
Offensive Line:
Eric Wood made an easy transition to center and made the right calls as the communication seemed fine.
Cordaro Howard split time at right guard since his shoulder injury wouldn't allow him to play the whole game.
Chad Rinehart got the other reps in what was a bit of a surprise.
Grade B: Gave up two sacks but paved the way for a 4.6 yard rushing average.
Defensive Line:
Kyle Williams had a nice return of a fumble but was quiet the rest of the game.
Marcus Stroud was barely even mentioned as he had just one assist.
Alex Carrington had just one tackle.
Spencer Johnson made two tackles.
Torell Troup had one assist.
Grade D: Didn't do much against the run or in the pass rush.
Linebackers:
Chris Kelsay had four tackles and forced a fumble.
Paul Posluszny had nine tackles but didn't lead the team.
Akin Ayodele did lead the team with 10 tackles.
Arthur Moats had a sack which forced a fumble that the Bills recovered and was in on three tackles.
Grade B+: Kept the short passing game in check and did a good job against the run.
Secondary:
Drayton Florence was called for a costly penalty to give the Browns a new set of downs. He was in on four tackles
Terrence McGee was beaten for a downfield completion.
Leodis McKelvin forced a pass breakup and then picked off a pass on consecutive plays.
Jairus Byrd forced two fumbles by Peyton Hillis, one recovered by the Bills.
Donte Whitner was in on only five tackles but did force a fumble.
Bryan Scott recovered a fumble.
Grade A: Shutdown the passing game.
Special Teams:
Brian Moorman had four punts for a 43.5 yard average and 36.8 yard net.
Rian Lindell hit both short field goal attempts.
Donald Jones had two kickoff returns for 35 yards.
C.J. Spiller had three punt returns for a 13.7 yard average including a 33 yard return.
Coverage Units gave up a seven yard punt return and four kickoff returns for a paltry 11.5 yard per return average.
Grade C: Too many mistakes but the kicking game knows this kind of weather.
Coaching:
Chan Gailey didn't look good when the team took a delay of game penalty coming out of a timeout. He did alter his game plan nicely for the weather conditions and went with the ground game.
George Edwards adjusted nicely after the Browns ran it down the Bills throats on the opening possession.
Bruce DeHaven his unit continues to make some boneheaded plays. The personal foul on Jon Corto right before halftime could have cost them if there were a few more ticks left on the clock. Reggie Corner was called for a holding penalty in the fourth quarter putting them in a hole.
Grade B: The team hasn't run for the bus, they have won three of their last five.
 Bills Blitz
NFL.com Gamebook
Browns Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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