|
|
 |
|
Week 12: Bills Get Things Squared Away In Time To Win
Early offensive struggles were overcome to get comeback win.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Tyrod Taylor just waited too long to throw. He constantly missed seeing open receivers or waited too long to throw it. He then got hot in the second half. His 61 yard bomb to Watkins was a thing of beauty. He ran for a touchdown then let Hunter make a play on a high pass and he was rewarded for it.
Grade C+: He overcame a slow start but needs to play a complete game next week.
Running Backs:
LeSean McCoy was held in check until his career long 75 yard touchdown run to start the 2nd half. There were few holes for him to run before that play. The sledding was tough but he had a nice 25 yard catch and run and made the big run to close out the game on 3rd and 7. He also added a nice 7 yard touchdown run at the end of the first half.
Jonathan Williams had a nice four yard dive on 4th and 1 that setup the Bills first touchdown. He was used as the third down back a lot in this game He had three carries for 12 yards.
Grade B: McCoy may be the best back in the league if he can stay healthy.
Receivers:
Sammy Watkins came back and had a huge catch down field. He played just a little more than half the snaps but had 80 yards on three catches.
Marquise Goodwin made a nice catch to convert a third down but only had two catches for 13 yards.
Justin Hunter had one catch but what a catch it was. His reaching grab for the game winning 16 yard touchdown was a thing of beauty where he used his size real well.
Charles Clay had two catches for 17 yards but one of them converted a big third down in the fourth quarter.
Nick O'Leary could have had a touchdown on the only pass thrown his way but it was overthrown.
Grade C: Undermanned but made a couple of big plays.
Offensive Line:
Jordan Mills was called for a false start penalty and a holding penalty in the first half.
Grade D: They were manhandled most of the first half but played better in the second half.
Defensive Line:
Marcell Dareus finished with eight tackles and two sacks. He was a man on fire.
Kyle Williams missed a tackle in the backfield on first play of the game. Ivory went for 11 yards. He was then offsides on the first play of the second series. He had nine tackles.
Leger Douzable had a big stuff on a 3rd and 1 run to force a punt.
Grade C-: Beaten on the line a lot in this game.
Linebackers:
Jerry Hughes had a quiet five tackles.
Preston Brown broke up a screen play and made a tackle for a short gain. He was called for being offsides that negated a two yard loss. Finished with a team high 12 tackles
Zach Brown had six tackles and helped in a stop for loss.
Lorenzo Alexander disrupted a third down play at the end of the first quarter that resultes in a Dareus sack. He then disrupted a pitchout on 3rd and 1 forcing the ball carrier inside for no gain. He also knocked down a pass.
Grade C+: Solid in pass protection but gave up big yardage especially to Bortles.
Secondary:
Stephon Gilmore was magnificent getting only two tackles which means he did his job in coverage.
Ronald Darby had great coverage on a deep pass to Allen Hurns that fell incomplete on first series. He left the game later in the first quarter when he took a knee to the head and didn't return.
Kevon Seymour knocked away a pass.
Nickell Robey-Coleman made his presence felt on the Jaguars final drive. He had great coverage downfield to force an incompletion of a long pass. He then made the big fourth down tackle short of the first down.
Corey Graham had six tackles and wasn't in position to stop a touchdown when Meeks over pursued on the play.
Corey White played safety early in the game but moved to cornerback when Darby was hurt. He was called for a very costly holding penalty on a third and goal play when the pass was knocked down by Dareus. Instead of settling for three they scored a touchdown on the next play. He was beaten by Sheppard for a 3rd down conversion. He then had good coverage on a deep sideline pass on the next play. He was then beaten by Allen Robinson for a 24 yard catch on the last play of the third quarter.
James Ihedigbo made a nice open field tackle to stop a run for four yards when it looked pretty impressive to start.
Jonathan Meeks was beaten by Marqise Lee for a third down conversion on opening drive. He then over ran the play that Lee scored the Jags second touchdown on.
Grade B+: Gave up two touchdowns bug only 126 yards receiving.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt shanked one punt for 29 yards. He averaged 44 yards on 6 punts with a 40 yard net. None were inside the 20.
Dan Carpenter hit two of three extra point attempts and never tried a field goal.
Brandon Tate had a 43 yard punt return to setup the Bills first touchdown. He also had a 25 yard kickoff return.
Coverage Units allowed only 24 yards on three punt returns. They gave up a 36 yard kickoff return and a 20.3 yard average on three returns.
Jordan Gay only had three kickoffs of five go into the end zone and only two touchbacks. They had one squib kick and one short kick by design.
Grade C: Not a great day for this unit. Tate's return was a spark.
Coaching:
Rex Ryan had his team come out flat once again. This is now an ongoing problem.
Anthony Lynn made necessary adjustments to get the offense moving after a dreadful first half.
Dennis Thurman his unit gave up an atrocious first touchdown drive by the defense. They also struggled for a while in the second half before coming up big in the fourth quarter.
Grade C+: They will take the win.
 Bills Blitz
NFL.com Gamebook
Jaguars Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
|
|
