Defense struggled at times but finished the game off strong.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:Tyrod Taylor wasn't a gun slinger in this game but made big plays at big times. He completed just 11 passes in just 21 attempts for a pedestrian 211 yards but he hit some big deep passes to Watkins and threw three touchdown passes while running for one. He had a QB rating of 127.2. He has now thrown a club record 187 straight passes without an interception.
Grade A: Very efficient effort.
LeSean McCoy was the workhorse with 112 yards on 21 carries and took some snaps out of the wildcat. He had big runs of 32 and 20 yards in the game.
Mike Gillislee took his first handoff as a Bills and ran 30 yards to setup the Bills first touchdown. Had to play some when McCoy went out for a spell. Finished with 41 yards on 7 carries and took a snap out of the wildcat.
Jerome Felton whiffed on a block on a McCoy run.
Grade A: Needed big day from this unit and got it.
Sammy Watkins was as efficient as you could be with 109 yards on three catches with just four balls thrown his way. Three of them were big plays including the three yard touchdown reception.
Robert Woods made a beautiful catch for a score than had his foot out of bounds when making a catch. He had two catches for 19 yards.
Chris Hogan had only one catch for 12 yards but it was on the winning scoring drive.
Charles Clay dropped a long third down pass over the middle in the fourth quarter that would have set the Bills up in good shape. He had alligator arms despite being wide open. It would have been a big drop but he made up for it with the long touchdown reception. He had four catches for 66 yards.
Matthew Mullligan was called for a bad holding penalty that wiped out a 21 yard completion to Watkins.
Grade B: Made plays at times but didn't need to be very busy.
Eric Wood.
Richie Incognito did a solid job blocking throughout.
Jordan Mills had a great day against Watt who was moving up and down the line. Also did a nice job on running plays to the right side. Solid fill in effort.
Cordy Glenn was called for a holding penalty on a screen pass.
Kraig Urbik was called for a holding penalty as well.
Grade A: Kept Watt at bay, Taylor upright, and ran well.
Mario Williams was quiet going against his former team getting just one QB hit on his stat sheet.
Jerry Hughes had a big sack that thwarted a promising Texans second quarter drive. Had a big pressure to force an incompletion in the final minutes. Finished with six tackles.
Marcell Dareus was called for a neutral zone infraction on a 3rd and short play giving the Texans a first down. He had a quiet four tackles and too many big runs happened up the middle where he and Bryant should have been.
Corbin Bryant had a solid game with six tackles and a QB hit.
Grade C+: The running game penetrated the line too often.
Manny Lawson was all over the field as Rex Ryan said he got a gameball for being so versatile. He did miss a tackle on one play but had eight tackles and a solid effort.
Tony Steward made a nice open field tackle on a wildcat run that only gained a yard.
Kevin Reddick was just signed and he moved into the lineup for Steward when he got hurt and was beaten for a 15 yard completion. He had two tackles.
Preston Brown led the team with nine tackles.
Grade C-: Poor tackling and lots of yards on the ground early.
Stephon Gilmore made a terrible attempt at a shoulder tackle and Chris Polk bounced off of him for a touchdown. Did a solid job in coverage before leaving with a shoulder injury.
Ronald Darby had nice coverage in knocking the first pass of the day away from Hopkins. He was beaten by Hopkins twice during the fourth quarter tying touchdown drive. Hopkins did seem to push off both times. He had seven tackles but didn't break up any passes.
Bacarri Rambo had three passes defensed and a sack as he was very active making big plays. He fits in well with REx Ryan's defense.
Nickell Robey was active with three passes defensed and five tackles.
Leodis McKelvin filled in when Gilmore went out and had a tackle.
Corey Graham knocked away a pass and had three tackles and a QB hit on a blitz.
Grade C: Hoyer threw for nearly 300 yards.
Colton Schmidt had a decent day dropping two of his six punts inside the 20 and no touchbacks while averaging 45.3 yards on his punts gross and net.
Dan Carpenter missed an extra point and a 50 yard field goal, both off the uprights. He hit three extra points and a game clinching 36 yard field goal. In fairness to him, Schmidt got the laces in instead of out on the missed extra point.
Marcus Thigpen was conservative returning kicks and had a big punt return called back on a holding penalty on Ron Brooks. He averaged 21 yards on four kickoff returns and 8 yards on two punts.
Coverage Units Gave up just one return and it was a 21 yard kickoff return.
Grade D: Ryan expressed confidence in Carpenter after the game but he may be on his way out.
Rex Ryan kept his team focused for the whole game and the penalties were down. A solid win to keep them alive.
Greg Roman decided to use the wildcat early with small results. Gillislee who lost two yards, a double reverse back to Taylor resulted in an incomplete pass to the end zone. McCoy took a 3rd and short snap for a first down. Solid gameplan as they scored four touchdowns against a red hot defense.
Dennis Thurman was caught off guard by the Texans quick snapping the ball. On their first touchdown the Bills weren't ready and two guys were uncovered.
Grade B+: Huge team win.
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