Week 6: Turnovers Cost Bills Game
Turnover ratio turns on Bills in loss.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Ryan Fitzpatrick Was pretty accurate with most his passes but two poorly thrown balls were intercepted. He finished with a QB rating of 88.8 completing 21 of 30 for 244 yards and two touchdowns.
Grade C-: The two interceptions were the difference in a tight game.
Running Backs:
Fred Jackson had another great game. His 80 yard touchdown run was a thing of beauty. He had 41 more yards on the ground the rest of the game though as they went away from the run. He also had five catches for 47 yards
Brad Smith ran the ball four times out of the backfield as he played more running back this week. He had 26 yards on those carries including an 18 yard run.
Grade B+: Should have given Jackson the ball more.
Receivers:
Stevie Johnson seemed to win his battle with Corey Webster more often that not but two underthrown passes were picked off. He had a nice touchdown reception but was mostly kept in check.
David Nelson had a team high 62 yards receiving on four catches including a 32 yarder late in the game.
C.J. Spiller started at wide receiver. The media knew about it but kept it under wraps at the Bills request. He had five catches for 39 yards.
Naaman Roosevelt had the beautiful catch and run for the 60 yard touchdown reception. He didn't catch another pass.
Scott Chandler continues his disappearance act with just one catch.
Grade C-: Besides the big play by Roosevelt a quiet day from this group.
Offensive Line:
Chris Hairston gave up two sacks but they were coverage sacks. He did a nice job for a second straight week before leaving with an ankle injury.
Andy Levitre moved over to left tackle when Hairston got hurt.
Chad Rinehart came in at left guard when Levitre slid over to tackle.
Erik Pears recovered a fumble.
Grade B-: Three sacks given up were more on the QB.
Defensive Line:
Marcell Dareus had four tackles, one for a loss.
Dwan Edwards was in on seven tackles.
Kellen Heard got the start at nose tackle for Williams. He had two tackles.
Alex Carrington had one tackle.
Torell Troup returned to action but did not start. He couldn't stop Bradshaw on his second quarter TD.
Grade D: Gave up too many yards in the running game and got no push in pass rush.
Linebackers:
Spencer Johnson got the start at outside linebacker and had three tackles.
Kelvin Sheppard was in on three tackles.
Arthur Moats had two tackles but did not start.
Danny Batten started at one outside linebacker spot and had five tackles.
Nick Barnett gutted it through his ankle and had six tackles.
Grade D: Undermanned unit struggled mightily.
Secondary:
Leodis McKelvin had a nice pass breakup helping hold the Giants to a FG on their final drive.
Drayton Florence was beaten for a 60 yard bomb to Nicks that led to a Giants second quarter touchdown. He had three pass interference penalties called. The first one saved a touchdown the next two were on the Giants game winning field goal drive.
Terrence McGee didn't seemed bothered by his hamstring as he was in on 11 tackles and defensed two passes.
Jairus Byrd had a quiet game. He was in on only four tackles.
George Wilson had a quiet 10 tackles.
Bryan Scott was very quiet with three tackles.
Grade D: Allowed nearly 300 yards through the air but weren't helped by anemic pass rush.
Special Teams:
Brian Moorman had a 45.3 yard average on 3 punts but a net of just 33 yards.
Rian Lindell hit a 49 yard field goal and all his extra points.
Brad Smith returned one kickoff for 21 yards.
C.J. Spiller had two punt returns for 11 yards.
Alex Carfington blocked a field goal.
Coverage Units allowed a 17 yard punt return and 22 yard average on four kickoff returns.
Grade B+: Not the reason for the loss.
Coaching:
Chan Gailey showed aggressiveness by throwing deep in Giants territory late in the game and it cost them. Still don't mind going for the kill their especially on the road.
George Edwards has no answers on defense when they don't get the turnovers. Another game, another 400+ yards given up.
Bruce DeHaven his unit is the most consistent but wouldn't mind a couple of big plays out of the teams.
Grade C: Tough loss, they seemed ready to play but can't turn the ball over especially on the road against a quality opponent.
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