Week 17 Defensive Scheme Worked Against Fitz, Gailey
Defensive effort sound for their head coach.
by Steve Saslow

Here are our position by position grades:

Quarterback:

Tyrod Taylor did some damage with his legs but not as much as previous weeks. He did gain 51 yards on 10 carries including a really nice 18 yard touchdown run. Through the air he was conservative with the winds but looked to Sammy Watkins early an often. He completed 18 of 28 passes for 182 yards, 11 of them were to Watkins for 136 yards.
Grade B: Did a nice job in his first wintry weather game.

Running Backs:

Mike Gillislee struggled mightily gaining just over a yard per carry and had a big fumble.
Karlos Williams had 24 yards on six carries and a touchdown. He looked real good before going down with yet another injury. This one to his knee that took him out of the game before halftime.
Grade D: Didn't help the offense much.

Receivers:

Sammy Watkins owned Revis Island. He was open early and often leading to a career high 11 catches with 136 yards receiving he went over 1,000 yards. Just an incredible 2nd half of the season for the bonafide star.
Chris Hogan was very quiet with just one catch for two yards. He couldn't get open on a bomb from Taylor.
Greg Salas was targeted five times and had three catches for 41 yards. May be on the roster when training camp starts.
Nick O'Leary dropped the only pass thrown his way.
Chris Gragg had a great block on Taylor's touchdown run.
Grade B: Imagine what Watkins can do with a real #2 on the other side?

Offensive Line:

Eric Wood started a raucous that ended with a personal foul on the Jets.
Cordy Glenn was called for a third quarter holding penalty.
Grade C: No running game and two sacks given up but did give Taylor time to throw a lot of the time.

Defensive Line:

Mario Williams had a sack in his Bills bon voyage.
Jerry Hughes knocked down a swing pass and had good pressure on some other plays.
Marcell Dareus forced Fitzpatrick's second interception with a hit.
Corbin Bryant had five tackles.
Grade B: Did a nice job getting some pressure but gave up a few big runs.

Linebackers:

Manny Lawson was very active during the game. Knocked down a pass before his big interception in the fourth quarter.
Preston Brown had four tackles.
A.J. Tarpley had the game clinching interception in the final seconds.
Grade A: Had two fourth quarter interceptions to help clinch the win.

Secondary:

Ronald Darby couldn't really do anything with his groin injury. He was held off the stat sheet.
Leodis McKelvin had five tackles and knocked down two passes including his big interception in the end zone.
Mario Butler was beaten for the Jets first touchdown by Brandon Marshall. He knocked down a pass late in the game. He had two passes defensed in all.
Nickell Robey was beaten for one reception.
Corey Graham dropped a sure pick six.
Grade B: Did a solid job in coverage.

Special Teams:

Colton Schmidt averaged 48.6 yards on five punts with a solid 44.4 yard net and two inside the 20 under tough wind conditions.
Dan Carpenter missed his NFL leading 6th extra point but did hit all three of his big field goal attempts.
Walter Powell had a 16 yard punt return and kickoff returns of 32 and 20 yards.
Coverage Units allowed just 21 yards on 4 punt returns and kickoff returns for just 24 and six yards.
Grade B: Did a nice job.

Coaching:

Rex Ryan wanted this win even though a loss helped the team's draft position. The team may have not been united this year but they played hard to get the win for their head coach.
Greg Roman continues to go deep on every third and long play to no success. Didn't do a good job with the running scheme against the Jets top run defense.
Dennis Thurman seemed to do a nice job as the Bills D came to play.
Grade A: Ending the season with two straight wins is nice.



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