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Week 15: Team Effort Gives Them Big Home Win
Offense was solid in first half and the defense helps them hold on.
by Steve Saslow
Here are our position by position grades:
Quarterback:
Tyrod Taylor always plays well against Miami and today wasn't any different. He was 17 of 29 for 224 yards and threw the ball well in traffic.
Grade A-: Solid effort although they lost some steam in the second half
Running Backs:
LeSean McCoy got his 10,000 yards and two touchdowns but struggled running the ball in the second half. He was very involved in the passing game and had wide open space to run in the defensive backfield.
Travaris Cadet was the backup today with Mike Tolbert inactive. He had 38 yards total offense.
Grade C+: Needed more from this unit in the second half.
Receivers:
Kelvin Benjamin was limited with his knee injury. He had two catches for 20 yards.
Deonte Thompson was targeted four times with just one catch for 16 yards.
Zay Jones had no catches with two downfield targets.
Charles Clay led the team with five catches for 68 yards.
Nick O'Leary had two catches, both on the opening touchdown drive for 33 yards.
Grade C+: The tight ends were big playmakers from this unit.
Offensive Line:
Jordan Mills was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced the Bills to settle for a field goal when they had a fourth and goal at the one.
Grade B-: Taylor was sacked just twice and there was some holes in the running game but not enough.
Defensive Line:
Kyle Williams had great penetration on the first running play of the game and it went for a two yard loss. He got into the backfield to free up Yarbrough for a big tackle behind the line. He also got great penetration to stop a run for no gain.
Jerry Hughes got into the backfield and had Jarvis Landry for a loss on a sweep but he couldn't bring him down.
Eddie Yarbrough got a tackle for a four yard loss on a play that was setup by a Williams penetration.
Adolphus Washington was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the Bills stopped Miami and on a third and goal run. It led to a Miami touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Cap Capi got a strip sack that was big late in the game.
Ryan Davis got a shoestring sack on Jay Cutler on a 3rd down scramble late in the first quarter that forced Miami to settle for a field goal.
Grade B+: Solid effort from the front four.
Linebackers:
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Preston Brown led the team with 10 tackles.
Lorenzo Alexander had five tackles, a tackle for a loss and good pressure on Cutler's final interception.
Matt Milano got great penetration to stop Kenyan Drake for a six yard loss.
Grade B: Good effort from this unit.
Secondary:
Tre'Davious White was juked by Drake on a big sideline run on Miami's first scoring drive. He knocked down an end zone pass in the fourth quarter. He clinched the win with a final minute interception after Miami recovered the onside kick.
E.J. Gaines was solid in coverage before leaving with a knee injury.
Leonard Johnson was beaten by Jarvis Landry for a third down conversion. He nearly had a pick six but couldn't pull in the ball on a bad pass by Cutler. He had eight tackles.
Micah Hyde had a nice pass breakup of a pass to Julius Thomas in the 2nd quarter. Got great pressure on a safety blitz to force incompletion and a punt.
Jordan Poyer picked off Jay Cutler on a deep pass in the third quarter. He missed a tackle on a screen pass.
Shareece Wright replaced an injured Gaines and got a big interception that setup a Bills field goal.
Grade B: Three interceptions was a nice job from this unit.
Special Teams:
Colton Schmidt banged three of his five punts inside the 20.
Steve Hauschka hit his only field goal attempt from 34 yards out and only three extra points.
Brandon Tate had three kickoff returns for just 38 yards and a two yard punt return.
Coverage Units gave up two punt returns for 33 yards and two kickoff returns for 43 yards.
Grade C: Allowing Miami to recover an onside kick is not good.
Coaching:
Sean McDermott did something his predecessors rarely did. He got a big win in December.
Rick Dennison had the first drive scripted beautifully. He also did a nice job on the Taylor touchdown run when he sent four guys in the formation on the right side.
Leslie Frazier did a nice job getting his defense ready for to get the win.
Grade A: Very nice win for the Bills.
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