Grading Buffalo’s Sunday performance

By Connor Byrne | Tuesday, November 15, 2005 | ( 0 )

Got something to say?

On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills defended their home territory in a key victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. With their 14-3 win, the Bills snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 4-5. Most importantly, they stayed just one game behind the vulnerable New England Patriots in the AFC East race. Here are Buffalo's Sunday grades...

Offense:

Quarterback = B+. Buffalo Bills' quarterback Kelly Holcomb started slowly and was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a concussion. In his place, second-year man J.P. Losman returned from a four-week hiatus and led the Bills to victory. On the day, Losman was 9/16 for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In this Roethlisberger-esque performance, Losman avoided sacks and made no mistakes.

Running game = D-. Buffalo's starter, Willis McGahee, struggled mightily against the top ten run defense of the Chiefs. On 20 carries, he gained only 66 yards. The rest of the Bills' carriers gained -5 yards on 8 carries. On the day, the Bills averaged 2.2 yards per carry. McGahee did have a couple of nice runs called back on penalties but he spent too much time dancing, and not enough time dashing through holes.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends = B. Bills' receiver Lee Evans caught touchdown passes of 29 and 33 yards. Bills' fans have been waiting all year for him to start playing his game. Keep in mind, it took him until around the halfway point of last year to find his groove. Evans could be a major contributor in a playoff run this year. Tight end Mark Campbell played his best game of the season as he caught 4 passes for 42 yards. Wide receiver Eric Moulds failed to impress as he averaged 5.2 yards per catch. Slot receiver Josh Reed added a key 28-yard catch on Buffalo's first scoring drive. One question remains, where the heck is Roscoe Parrish? No catches on Sunday for the rookie from Miami.

Offensive Line = D. For this game, Buffalo decided to move right tackle Mike Williams over to left guard in place of Bennie Anderson. With this move, they also sent Jason Peters to right tackle. The switch proved disastrous for Williams as he was benched in the third quarter. Anderson came back in and did a decent job while Peters spent the whole game playing well. However, the line as a whole failed to open enough lanes for the running game and their pass protection was weak. After they allowed Holcomb to get hurt, Losman came in and rolled out on just about every pass because this line can't pass protect. If it wasn't for Losman's mobility, the Chiefs' defenders would have teed off on him in this game.

Overall Offensive grade = C+. Truly, it was Losman who saved the day in this game. The running game and offensive line didn't bother to show up. Lee Evans and Mark Campbell did a nice job of finding ways to get open. The main thing for the offense to build upon in this game is the fact that the young quarterback proved he could win a game for a team if he had to. If it wasn't for Losman's performance, the Chiefs may have ended up winning 3-0.

Defense:

Defensive Line = B+. The unit struggled against the run as they allowed the Chiefs 150 yards on 32 carries. However, defensive tackles Justin Bannan, Tim Andersen, and Jason Jefferson played their hearts out and put the clamps down in the second half. Defensive end Aaron Schobel had his second straight two-sack game and reserve defensive end Ryan Denney added a sack. The line proved that they could impose their will on a really good offensive line and pressure an efficient quarterback into making bad decisions. It was among their finest efforts of the year.

Linebackers = A+. Middle linebacker London Fletcher played like a man possessed in this game, as he made 20 tackles and forced a key fumble. Most importantly, he gave the defense the emotional charge that they've been searching for. Weak side linebacker Angelo Crowell continues to make a name for himself as he recorded 15 tackles, a sack, and an interception. Strong side linebacker Jeff Posey played his best game of the year as he recovered and returned a fumble, and added 5 tackles.

Secondary = A. Once again, starting cornerback Terrence McGee came up with a big interception in this game. He continues to show an ability to make plays. After free safety Troy Vincent got hurt, second-year man Rashad Baker stepped in, intercepted a pass, and played a tremendous game. When Vincent returns, the Bills' coaching staff should consider starting Baker instead. He's a young player with a great deal of promise. Bills' corners Nate Clements and Eric King did a fine job in this game of bringing intensity and shutting down Kansas City's receivers.

Overall Defensive grade = A. In this win, some of Buffalo's young crop of talent was instrumental. The defensive tackle trio of Bannan, Andersen, and Jefferson came up large. Young linebacker Angelo Crowell was outstanding, and Rashad Baker, Terrence McGee, and Eric King were terrific out of the secondary. Without a doubt, it was London Fletcher who deserves player of the game honors; what an effort by a guy who has been much-maligned of late.

Special teams:

The kick-coverage units for the Buffalo Bills in this game left nothing to be desired. Chiefs' return-man Dante Hall, one of football's most dangerous weapons, was stymied as he averaged just 18.7 yards per kick return and 3.5 yards per punt return. Buffalo's star kick returner, Terrence McGee, gained 14 yards on his only return of the day. It wasn't a great day to return kicks or punts since the players had to concentrate more on catching the ball because of the swirling winds. Bills' kicker Rian Lindell missed two chip-shot field goals in this game, but the wind was unbearable down on that field. On a less windy day, Lindell would have gotten the job done. ST grade = B.

Coaching:

In this game, there were some good and bad moments from the coaching staff. First of all, when head coach Mike Mularkey decided to go for it on fourth down in the first-half; what was that play call? Kelly Holcomb got the snap and just stood there until he got tackled. Also, why was a flea flicker called on third and ten? That kind of call should never happen on that down and distance. This offensive staff, led by offensive coordinator Tom Clements, tends to get far too cute with the play calling in certain situations. Defensive coordinator Jerry Gray did an absolutely terrific job of managing his blitzes and letting his players go to work. Defensive line coach Tim Krumrie did a nice job of readying his group without their best run-stopper, Sam Adams. Special teams coach Bobby April continues to do a great job as he managed to motivate his guys to stymie Dante Hall on the returns. Coaching grade = B.

Even though the Buffalo Bills passed this test against a good Chiefs team, it will be interesting to see how they fare on the road against a good San Diego team next week. If they can manage to carry some of the good things from this past game into that game, then they could be looking at their first road win of the year. They still have a lot to prove.

Got something to say?