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Week 10: Defense Solid In First Win
The defense made the big play on two point conversion attempt.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Ryan Fitzpatrick was very inaccurate early. He overthrew three long passes in the first quarter badly. He missed Johnson in the middle of the field and Evans. Only threw for 146 yards but avoided the big interceptions and threw a touchdown pass.
Grade C+: Managed the game well enough for a win.
Running Backs:
Fred Jackson had his best game of the year running for 133 yards and catching six passes for 37 more and two scores. He battled through a nerve injury and looked like the Jackson of 2008 and 2009.
C.J. Spiller had a fantastic 16 yard run when he broke a high tackle in the backfield and turned it up field. He left in the 2nd quarter with a hamstring injury.
Quinton Ganther found himself getting more game action than expected in his first Bills game with Spiller out and Jackson banged up. He carried four times for just two yards.
Corey McIntyre was used a lot and helped pave the way for a 4.6 yard average on the ground. He was stuffed on a third and two run.
Grade A: Despite being banged up they made the plays.
Receivers:
Lee Evans made a great catch on a 43 yard bomb that was slightly overthrown.
Steve Johnson had a big drop but came back on the next play and made a big 19 yard reception on a third down play. He finished with only three catches for 37 yards.
Donald Jones got the start in the three wide receiver set and had a big 20 yard reception early but nothing else.
Grade C-: Wasn't their day. Not one pass thrown to a tight end.
Offensive Line:
Eric Wood held his own with the second overall pick in the draft.
Mansfield Wrotto got his first start and gave up a sack on the Bills first possession.
Andy Levitre struggled a bit at times.
Grade A-: Did a great job in opening up holes for the running game until the fourth quarter Kept Fitzpatrick upright.
Defensive Line:
Kyle Williams had a stop for a loss on the first play from scrimmage. Was constantly in the back field on running plays. Was called for a dubious defensive holding on a run play. His tackle for loss on a screen pass later in that drive forced a punt.
Marcus Stroud had four tackles and was downfield in coverage at times.
Dwan Edwards intercepted a tipped pass late in the 1st quarter to stop a Lions drive and was in on seven tackles.
Grade A-: Did a great job of keeping the running lanes closed.
Linebackers:
Chris Kelsay played with some real good emotion. He had some good pressure and drew a holding penalty and six tackles.
Reggie Torbor was beaten for a 12 yard pass play on the first third down of the game. He had five tackles.
Paul Posluszny was a step late getting to Calvin Johnson on a third down conversion. Of course why is Poz covering Johnson? He once again led the team with 13 tackles.
Akin Ayodele was in on three tackles.
Grade B+: Did a great job in run defense but there were some wide open spots over the middle in pass coverage.
Secondary:
Drayton Florence followed Calvin Johnson early but stayed in his coverage most of the day.
Terrence McGee returned to action after missing five games but was used sparingly.
Leodis McKelvin started for McGee even though he was active. He made a great pass breakup in the end zone to keep the Lions out of the end zone with six minutes to go.
Jairus Byrd got pressure on a blitz that led to a sack. He had six tackles.
Donte Whitner had a really nice pass deflection while blitzing on a third down pass in the first quarter. He then deflected a pass in coverage that was picked off by Edwards. He also knocked away a third down pass in the third quarter when he had really good coverage.
Bryan Scott got a huge third down sack that forced the Lions out of field goal range late in the 2nd quarter. Broke up a deep pass to Scheffler late in the fourth quarter. He had seven tackles
Reggie Corner had two tackles, one of them was a beautiful open field tackle to force a punt.
Grade B: Did a decent job but did give up a few big plays.
Special Teams:
Brian Moorman punted seven times for a 42.4 yard average including three inside the 20.
Rian Lindell missed a 41 yard field goal that he hit very well and just went wide right.
C.J. Spiller had a big 29 yard punt return unfortunately he hurt his hamstring on the return and left the game. He averaged 14.7 yards on three punt returns.
Leodis McKelvin took over return duties when Spiller was hurt. He promptly muffed his first punt return. Luckily he was able to kick it out of bounds. He had a 78 yard return for a score called back by a questionable holding penalty on Jon Corto. He finished with a 20.5 yard average on two kick returns and a 6.3 yard average on four punt returns.
Coverage Units did allow 34 yards on two punt returns but held the kick return game into a 20.5 yard average on two returns.
Grade B: Did a solid job but a penalty took a touchdown off the board.
Coaching:
Chan Gailey had an offensive gameplan that involved Spiller a lot but couldn't use it when he got hurt. He did a nice job of sticking with the run game.
George Edwards did some interesting things in coverage having Poz on Johnson on some plays. Otherwise, had a sound game plan and did a nice job against the run.
Bruce DeHaven had his unit ready to play.
Grade A-: Congratulations on their first win.
 Bills Blitz
NFL.com Gamebook
Lions Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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