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Week 17: Defense Plays Great Again In Victory
Offense very efficient in first half to get win in finale.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Kyle Orton was very efficient in the first half before losing some of his accuracy in the second half. He did fumble the ball away once but threw no interceptions and hit some big pass plays in the first half including the touchdown pass to Robert Woods.
Grade B: Solid win but not enough to bring him back although he was 7-5 as the starter.
Running Backs:
Fred Jackson ran hard and led the way with 58 yards rushing on 18 carries for a 3.2 yard average. Wasn't really used in the passing game catching one pass on three targets for four yards.
C.J. Spiller had five carries for just 17 yards in what quite likely was his last game as a Bill.
Boobie Dixon ran well early and finished with 27 yards on 7 carries along with an eight yard catch.
Grade C-: Rough year for this unit.
Receivers:
Sammy Watkins fell 18 yards shy of a 1,000 yard season in his rookie year. He had 3 catches for 57 yards including a nice 43 yard catch and run on the Bills opening series touchdown drive. He did drop a third down pass late in the game but a roughing penalty gave the Bills a first down.
Robert Woods had four catches for 39 yards including a touchdown reception and a 20 yard grab on the Bills second touchdown.
Chris Hogan had one catch for three yards but it converted a third and short.
Scott Chandler had one catch but it went for 20 yards downfield.
MarQueis Gray had three catches for 25 yards.
Lee Smith had an 18 yard reception on the first pass of the game.
Grade B: Decent day for this unit.
Offensive Line:
Kraig Urbik left the game with a back injury.
Seantrel Henderson was called for a false start penalty.
Cordy Glenn left in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.
Cyril Richardson saw quality playing time for the first time since early in the season. He came in when Urbik went out.
Grade C: Gave up two sacks and little push in the running game.
Defensive Line:
Mario Williams had a sack.
Jerry Hughes had chances at a sack on back to back plays but Garoppolo got away both times for quality runs. He finished with two tackles.
Stefan Charles sacked Tom Brady during a second quarter scoring drive that helped force the Patriots to settle for a field goal.
Corbin Bryant got good pressure on Brady to force a third down incompletion that made them settle for a field goal.
Kyle Williams hit Vereen in the backfield to thwart a screen pass.
Jairus Wynn got a sack on the first drive of the second half. He got a pressure on the next play as well to force a punt. He finished with 1½ sacks and actually got the start for Marcell Dareus at tackle after playing end most of the year.
Grade A: A nice four sack effort.
Linebackers:
Brandon Spikes had no stats as he didn't play much in his return to Foxboro as the Bills were in the nickel a lot of the time.
Nigel Bradham was beaten by Shane Vereen to convert a 4th and 1 pass. He had four tackles.
Preston Brown had five tackles including one for a loss.
Grade B: Good effort by a solid unit.
Secondary:
Corey Graham made a nice open field tackle in the 2nd quarter to stop a 3rd and 1 run short of the first down. He finished with six tackles in all.
Ron Brooks got the start for the injured Stephon Gilmore and Brady tried to pick on him early by throwing his way four times in a row on the Patriots second possession that led to three points. He was beaten for an 18 yard to Brian Tyms, had good coverage on a bomb, gave up a six yard pass and then fell down on a 27 yard catch and run by LaFell. Later in the drive he was beaten for a nine yard completion. He did not knock Patriots backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo for a loss on a 4th and 1 scramble. LaFell has a nice 20 yard reception against him in the third quarter. Was called for a personal foul for hitting a defenseless receiver. He had a game high 9 tackles which isn't what you want from a cover corner.
Nickell Robey was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Patriots first scoring drive, a first quarter field goal. Was called for a defensive holding penalty that kept a Patriot drive alive in the third quarter. Made the final fourth down stop by knocking away a pass. He had five tackles in all.
Aaron Williams broke up a pass to the goal line to save a third quarter touchdown. He had four tackles.
Da'Norris Searcy had six tackles.
Grade B: Only gave up 170 yards passing and no touchdowns.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt struggled punting five times for a 36.6 yard gross and just a 31 yard net thanks to a long return by Amendola. Two did go inside the 20.
Dan Carpenter hit a 48 yard field goal late in the first half. It was his 34th of the season a new club record.
Marcus Thigpen had a 23 yard punt return negated by a block in the back penalty against MarQueis Gray. He did have a 49 yard kickoff return into Patriots territory that setup a field goal. Finished with a 7.3 yard average on three punt returns and a nice 36.5 yard average on two kickoff returns.
Coverage Units gave up a 26 yard punt return to Danny Amendola. Schmidt made perhaps the touchdown saving tackle.
Grade B+: Solid effort all year from this unit.
Coaching:
Doug Marrone stayed true to his conservative roots when he punted on a 4th and 3 play from the Patriots 49 in the first quarter. He then punted on 4th and 1 in the fourth quarter from the New England 43, it was a 26 yard net when fair caught at the 17. Despite his stubbornness on 4th down he had his team ready to play in a meaningless affair.
Nathaniel Hackett had his offense playing efficient football for a half at least.
Jim Schwartz finished the season without giving up a touchdown to the Patriots. He will likely get some head coaching interviews this offseason.
Grade A: 9-7 finish was better than most predicted when the season started.
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