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Week 5: Solid Defensive Effort Kept The Bills In The Game
Early anemic offensive effort wasn't a death sentence.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Tyrod Taylor was very inaccurate throwing the ball but was very accurate with his 26 yard bomb to Hogan on the winning scoring drive. He was lethal with his legs in the second half breaking the club record for most yards rushing in a game by a QB with 76.
Grade B: Showed toughness and great competitiveness with hanging in there and stealing the win.
Running Backs:
Boobie Dixon struggled running the ball gaining just 19 yards on 7 carries. He added three catches for 20 yards.
Cierre Wood had two runs for three yards before leaving with an ankle injury.
Boom Herron led the team with nine carries but only gained 28 yards and did fumble once but the Bills got it back.
Jerome Felton had a carry! He gained two yards on a 3rd and 1 play.
Grade F: Very undermanned but couldn't do anything at all combining for just 52 yards on 19 carries.
Receivers:
Robert Woods made a great block on Taylor's 22 yard touchdown run taking two defenders out. It came after an offensive pass interference penalty on him. He had just one catch for 6 yards.
Percy Harvin was also taken out of the game as he was held without a catch on four targets.
Chris Hogan made big plays down the stretch and led the team with three catches for 52 yards and the winning score. He even threw a pass completing it to Taylor for 4 yards.
Marquise Goodwin made his season debut and doubled his catch total from last year. He caught two passes for 24 yards both converted third downs.
Charles Clay only had one catch for seven yards and was very quiet. He couldn't get his feet down on another long sideline pass.
Grade D: This unit really misses Watkins.
Offensive Line:
Eric Wood was beaten badly on a rush up the middle that blew up a double reverse before Harvin could hand it off.
Seantrel Henderson was called for holding and a false start penalty on back to back plays in the fourth quarter.
Cordy Glenn was called for a holding penalty that was declined.
John Miller returned to the lineup after missing a game with a groin injury and did ok.
Grade D: Bad day for this unit opening up no holes for the backs and giving up four sacks.
Defensive Line:
Mario Williams had a sack when he stunted inside and went in untouched.
Jerry Hughes missed a tackle on a screen pass at the line of scrimmage. It went for 23 yards on 2nd and 18. He had four tackles and no penalties!
Kyle Williams chased down Mariota on a third down scramble to get him out of bounds short of a first down. He also got a sack and four tackles and another QB hit.
Marcell Dareus was bearing down on Mariota forcing his deep pass late in the game to be picked off ending the game. He had five tackles and two QB hits in all.
Grade A: Got better as the game when on.
Linebackers:
Manny Lawson had good containment to knock a first drive end around inside for minimal gain. Finished with three tackles.
Nigel Bradham had six tackles and almost picked off a pass that went through his hands. Made a nice tackle on a Mariota scramble keeping him from getting a first down.
Preston Brown got good pressure on a blitz and had six tackles.
Grade C: Average day for this unit.
Secondary:
Stephon Gilmore had two nice pass breakups during the Titans second series to force a punt. He had four passes defensed in all. Made a nice open field tackle for no gain. Was called for a pass interference penalty on a third down incompletion in the fourth quarter but put an exclamation point on the win with a big interception.
Ronald Darby was solid in coverage once again.
Nickell Robey gave up a 12 yard completion on a 3rd and 11 play that allowed the Titans to keep a fourth quarter field goal drive going. Made a nice open field tackle later in the quarter to force a punt.
Aaron Williams had seven tackles and seemed slowed a bit by his neck injury.
Duke Williams replaced Aaron Williams briefly when he aggravated his neck injury on the opening series. He made a nice open field tackle on an outside pass.
Corey Graham made a tackle for loss on the opening series. He was called for pass interference on the Titans second series on a third down incompletion. Was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty in the fourth quarter but it was a horrible call.
Grade A: Did a nice job holding Mariota under 200 yards when he had time to throw most of the game.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt continues to punt really well. He had a 51 yard average on 7 punts including a 65 yarder. His net was 41.6 and had only one inside the 20 but the Bills lost the field position battle most of the game, he kept it from being worse.
Dan Carpenter hit both extra points which was critical in a one point game. No field goals were attempted.
Denarius Moore had a good punt return but fumbled the ball away. He ended up averaging 13.3 yards on three returns.
Coverage Units Marcus Easley was offsides on the opening kickoff ruining a fumble recovery at the 2 yard line. He also missed a tackle on a 2nd half punt. Tennessee averaged 13.2 yards on five punt returns and returned all three kickoffs by Billy Cundiff and averaged 17.7 yards on them.
Grade D: Only giveaway in this game was by this unit. Schmidt was impressive.
Coaching:
Rex Ryan wanted to get the penalties under control and the team jumped offsides on the opening kickoff. They were only slightly better as they were penalized 7 times for 62 yards. The team came out flat and he takes some heat for that.
Greg Roman had no answers offensively until he let Taylor do what he does best, run the football.
Dennis Thurman had his defense playing very well despite having no help from the offense until late in the game. They were solid in pass coverage and the pass rush improved as the game went on.
Grade C-: Got a win despite a poor gameplan. Slow to make adjustments but they did get the win.
 Bills Blitz
NFL.com Gamebook
Titans Game Preview
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