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Week 1: Special Teams Plays Flawlessly In Opening Day Win
Defense makes things real tough for Luck and company.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Tyrod Taylor was ready to play. He was accurate on his passes especially the 51 yard bomb down the right sideline to Percy Harvin for his first career touchdown pass on the last play of the first quarter. He finished for 14 of 19 passing for 195 yards and added 41 yards rushing including a magnificent 31 yard run.
Grade A: Great first start.
Running Backs:
LeSean McCoy struggled thanks to the offensive line struggling to create holes inside. He had only 41 yards rushing on 17 carries and added 46 yards in the air. He had a 12 yard touchdown run called back.
Karlos Williams ran for a 26 yard touchdown on the first carry of his career. He ran with more authority than McCoy throughout the game.
Boobie Dixon had a one yard touchdown run.
Jerome Felton was used sparingly but had a good block or two.
Grade C: Didn't have help from the offensive line.
Receivers:
Sammy Watkins did not catch a pass.
Robert Woods had two catches for 27 yards including a third down conversion.
Percy Harvin was the man making plays offensively in the first half. He had a nice run on a reverse and hailed in a bomb for a touchdown. He led all receivers with five catches for 79 yards.
Charles Clay had a long catch and run was negated by his chop block penalty. He finished with four catches for 43 yards.
Matthew Mulligan was called for a holding penalty that negated a 12 yard TD run by McCoy.
Grade C: Need to get more contribution from this unit.
Offensive Line:
Cordy Glenn was called for two holding penalties.
John Miller seemed to struggle in run blocking as McCoy spoke to him and Henderson about some communication things during the game.
Grade C: Didn't give up a sack but nothing on the ground.
Defensive Line:
Mario Williams got one pressure but was very quiet for the Bills.
Jerry Hughes was called for a personal foul on Darby's interception return. He was also called for an offsides penalty and then a facemask penalty on a fumble that would have resulted in a 20 yard loss near the goal line.
Kyle Williams had one pressure and two assists.
Corbin Bryant did a nice job getting a push in the middle playing for the suspended Marcell Dareus. He made a nice tackle for a short gain on 2nd and long by Gore on the Colts first series.
Grade A: Solid performance from this unit as you would expect.
Linebackers:
Nigel Bradham was faked out by Gore on a run for a 1st down on the Colts first series. He got a sack in the 2nd quarter. Led the team with eight tackles.
Preston Brown had good coverage on the goal line on a third down pass that fell incomplete late in the third quarter. He was called for a late hit on Luck late in the game.
Grade B: Did what they had to do to help the front four.
Secondary:
Stephon Gilmore was beaten by Hilton for a 30 yard gain on a 2nd and 20 pass late in the first quarter. He was solid in coverage for most of the game though.
Ronald Darby was lined up on the left side and the Colts put Hilton there often. He was beaten on the Colts first drive for an 11 yard completion by Hilton. He then knocked away a pass to Hilton later in the drive. Hilton caught a 12 yard pass later in the first quarter. He picked off a deep pass to Hilton later in that drive. Went for a pick that was caught for a first down on a late second quarter drive. Later on in the drive he knocked a pass away.
Nickell Robey knocked a pass away from Hilton in the slot with a big hit late in the first quarter. He had a late sack as well when he caught Luck from behind.
Aaron Williams had the game clinching interception.
Corey Graham left the game after the first play to be evaluated for a concussion.
Mario Butler replaced Darby when he went out in the 2nd quarter and broke up a third down pass that forced a long field goal attempt that was no good. He then broke up a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter. Deflected the pass that Williams picked off to clinch the win.
Bacarri Rambo replaced Graham when he went out of the game. He then went out of the game on the second series but returned. He seemed to be in the wrong spot on the Colts first touchdown.
Grade B+: Solid in coverage against a great passing attack.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt had a great day punting the football averaging 46.2 yards on five punts including two inside the 20. He had a 63 yarder.
Dan Carpenter hit a 41 and 45 yard field goal and all three extra points. His struggles in the preseason are in the past.
Marcus Thigpen returned one punt for six yards.
Coverage Units Chris Hogan had a tackle at the 3 on a kickoff return as they averaged just over 10 yards on three returns. Randell Johnson recovered one of the two muffed punts by the Colts.
Grade A+: Phenomenal performance by this unit.
Coaching:
Rex Ryan challenged the fans and Carpenter and was successful in both instances. Pushed the right buttons to get the opening day win.
Greg Roman had the perfect gameplan for Taylor to succeed.
Dennis Thurman may want to re-think having Gilmore and Darby just play sides but solid performance but his unit.
Grade A: Huge win to start the season.
 Bills Blitz
NFL.com Gamebook
Colts Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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