Buffalo Bills Learn from Prior Tough Losses to Beat Miami Dolphins
The Buffalo Bills continued their march toward respectability as they beat the first team with a winning record this season, defeating the Miami Dolphins 17-14 in Miami. The victory moves the Bills record to 4-10 and means that they won't be swept in the AFC East this season.
The loss moves Miami to a .500 record at 7-7 and all but eliminates any playoff chances they might have been entertaining. It seemed par for the course that the Dolphins would lose at home, as they now fall to an amazing 1-6 in their home games this year.
Memo to Tony Sporano: Curfew Check or fly in Sunday morning from Tampa Bay. The Dolphins play much better when they think they are on the road.
The Bills used the strong arm of Ryan Fitzpatrick, a strong effort from the improved defense and were opportunistic by creating turnovers to seal the win. The victory seemed to be a testament to all of the earlier close losses the Bills suffered this season, and they showed coach Chan Gailey that they have been paying attention. They made enough plays to win, and that in the NFL is the bottom line.
Nightmare Game for Dolphins Kicker Dan Carpenter
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The dejected Dolphins player in the picture is Dan Carpenter, the usually reliable Dolphins field goal kicker. He came in to the game as the number two kicker in the entire NFL, just one field goal behind the leader. But today, Carpenter looked like he needed to have an apprenticeship because he put an 0-4 stat line for the day.
Sure the kicks weren't gimmes, but the normal strong leg came up short on several efforts. Since the Bills only won the game by three points, each of his misses was crucial. The Dolphins drove down the field with their opening drive content to go for a field goal, which is preciously what their offense excels in. This is par for the course for Miami, as we detailed in the game preview piece earlier in the week.
What the Dolphins weren't expecting was for Carpenter to miss the field goal. The Bills were able to capitalize on the miss and got on the scoreboard first today. Carpenter spent much of the fourth quarter sitting by himself at the end of the bench.
I am sure Rian Lindell can relate.
David Nelson Extends Streak to Three Straight Games with a Touchdown Catch
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David Nelson continues to show maturity beyond his years, as the undrafted free agent rookie caught a touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick in the second quarter to put the Bills on the board at 7-0. The pass took tremendous concentration by Nelson, as the pass literally went right over the top of the helmet of a Dolphins defender and in to Nelson's sure hands.
The catch was not easy, and he was blasted after the catch for an unnecessary roughness call, but still held on to the ball. It marked the third straight game that he has caught a touchdown pass, so if he can finish off the year with a catch against the Patriots and Jets, he will tie the franchise record that Stevie Johnson tied earlier this year.
The touchdown also extended the streak of Ryan Fitzpatrick, as he continues to march toward Jim Kelly's career mark of 18 straight games with a touchdown pass.
Nelson amassed over 60 yards on three catches in the first half alone, but did not have a catch in the second half. That is the kind of production that the Bills needed to see when Lee Evans and Roscoe Parrish went down with injuries. The Bills really made a steal when they plucked Nelson to come in and try out at training camp.
Bills Defense Employs Bend but Don't Break Style
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The Bills used swarming gang-tackling to thwart the running game and different blitz packages to apply pressure on Chad Henne. The strategy worked to perfection, as the Bills held the Dolphins to long third down opportunities throughout the first half.
How effective was the Bills defense? Early in the third quarter, the Bills defense had only allowed Miami to convert just one of their first seven third down opportunities. That is some stingy defense, especially against a potent running attack like the Dolphins have.
In fact, the previously porous Bills rushing defense limited the Dolphins running game to just 65 yards total for the day. That is a serious improvement and something the Bills defensive unit can be proud of.
The Bills are learning their assignments and are seemingly getting quicker to the ball carrier over the past four games or so, compared to the first third of the season. They are lined up in a position to be successful and utilizing the motor of Arthur Moats to make more plays. Donte Whitner, Jairus Byrd, Paul Posluszny, Kyle Williams, and even Chris Kelsay seemed to be playing inspired defense throughout the game.
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Ryan Fitzpatrick Continues to Solidy His Grip on Bills Starting Quarterback
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Ryan Fitzpatrick showed how fearless he is on both of his touchdown passes against the Dolphins. He connected with David Nelson in the second quarter and then hit Stevie Johnson for a touchdown in the third quarter. Both passes were thrown to receivers that were involved in tight coverage, but Fitzpatrick threw such a hard pass that the Dolphins were not prepared to react to the pass. The Bills receivers are used to his gunslinger style, and that is why they were able to come up with the crucial catches they did.
The pass to Nelson was an absolute laser throw, while the pass to Stevie Johnson was Fitzpatrick throwing the ball up and letting his teammate make a play on the ball. It was nice to see some redemption for Stevie Johnson, especially since he was able to catch the pass that turned out to be the game winner. It helped him atone for the drop against the Steelers.
Fitzpatrick was forced to be creative with his feet as the Dolphins applied a heavy pass rush. He was able to scramble when needed and kept the Dolphins defense honest. He wasn't helped by some drops on plays by Donald Jones and Fred Jackson, where both players seemed to have room to run if they had just hung on to the ball.
For the day, Fitzpatrick connected on 16 of 26 passes for 223 yards. He scrambled three times for 19 yards, had two touchdown passes and one interception. His QB passer rating was 98.7. Fitz was sacked twice in the game and he only took three QB hits by the Dolphins defense. Fitzpatrick distributed the ball very well, as he hit nine different Bills receivers during the game. .
Bills Young Receivers Step Up Their Production
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The Buffalo Bills were without veteran receiver Lee Evans for the first time in a long time. They had to find a way to maintain an effective passing game without him.
Stevie Johnson took on more coverage than normal. The Dolphins were rotating their coverage towards him and it was that rotation that forced Ryan Fitzpatrick into an interception late in the first half.
On the whole, the young Bills receivers accounted for themselves in fine fashion.
Stevie Johnson led the receivers with six catches for 69 and caught his 10th touchdown of the year. David Nelson had three catches for 61 yards. Naaman Roosevelt celebrated his first NFL career catch by winding up with two grabs on the day for 35 yards. Donald Jones had one big catch for 29 yards, where he almost broke it long down the sideline.
194 yards for the quartet is a pretty solid showing. There is a bunch of upside and potential with this group for the Bills future.
C.J. Spiller Turns In 85 Yards of All Purpose Offense
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C.J. Spiller is back to being a multi-dimensional threat for the Bills offense. Against the Dolphins, he picked up yardage on rushing the ball, catching the ball, punt returns, and kickoff returns. All told, he amassed 85 total all-purpose yards.
Spiller had one slick punt return where he eluded one tackler after another, picking his way down the sideline. He demonstrated great balance, speed, and moves as he eluded numerous Dolphins during the return.
He also had a clutch catch split out wide to pick up a first down, keeping one of the Bills drives alive. His punt return led to a Rian Lindell field goal.
Spiller also contributed by providing some nice blocks on Dolphins pass rushers, giving Fitzpatrick more time to throw.
Speaking of Rian Lindell, he was one for one in field goals, which was the difference in the game.
Dolphins Ran More Plays but Bills Won Turnover Battle
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The Dolphins ran more plays than the Bills did, 67 to 55. They outgained the Bills in yardage 326 to 282, and held the ball longer 31 minutes to 28 minutes. But the Dolphins turned the ball over twice, while the Bills turned it over only once, and that was a key factor in the victory.
Late in the first quarter, Chris Kelsay strained to try to get his hand on the ball just as Chad Henne went to release the pass. Kelsay's extra effort resulted in him tipping the pass, which George Wilson was able to step in front of the Dolphins receiver and come up with an interception.
The turnover led to the Bills cashing it in for their first touchdown of the day. When the Bills were losing earlier in the year, they couldn't get to the quarterback. Today, they sacked Henne three times and also were credited with another six QB hits on him. That is a good steady amount of pressure and is a welcome sight.
Bills Secondary has Hands Full with Brandon Marshall but has Solid Day
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Brandon Marshall had a big day with 11 catches for 106 yards. He also did a lot of yapping after his catches, which I suppose goes with the territory. Davon Bess also had a solid day with 9 catches for 78 yards. The duo was responsible for a number of first downs in the second half.
The Bills secondary gave up more yards than normal via the air, but they contributed in other ways. They came up to the line to challenge Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in the running game. They came up to apply pressure on Chad Henne and dared him to throw it long.
Donte Whitner was credited with half of a sack, and Jairus Byrd got a sack as well. On Byrd's sack, he shoved Ricky Williams out of the way before nailing Henne. That play is another example of how much Byrd has grown in physical strength compared to his rookie year. He is really becoming a much more physical player.
Bills leading three tacklers were all secondary members—Drayton Florence, Donte Whitner and Leodis McKelvin. There were also some key passes that were knocked down at the line of scrimmage by Alex Carrington and Bryan Scott. This was a game where the entire defense contributed.
Arthur Moats Continues to Shine in His Rookie Season
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Arthur Moats, the guy that stopped Brett Favre's consecutive game start streak, continued his outstanding play today. Moats was credited with one and a half sacks for the game in addition to getting credit for two other QB hits. His pressure on the quarterback is something that was void in the Bills defense during the first six weeks.
He finds ways to get to the quarterback, and we can only hope that Aaron Maybin is paying attention to see how the rookie does it. If Maybin can put on some more bulk over the off-season, the Bills re-sign Shawne Merriman to a contract (a stretch but we can only hope he gets healthy in the off-season) and with Moats and whoever they draft, that sounds like a formula that could offer up some hope for 2011.
We also have to give credit where credit is due. We were bashing Chris Kelsay pretty solidly, week after week over the first half of the season. But over the past five to six games, he seems to have found his stride and is showing greater comfort in the defensive scheme. He finds way to get to the quarterback and doesn't appear to be giving up containment as much as he did before.
Maybe We Should Chalk this One Up to the Bills Were Due
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For all of the close games that the Bills dropped earlier in the year, this was a game that kind of tipped the scales back closer to even. Dan Carpenter, on most days, would hit at least two of those four. Then again, if you ask Rian Lindell, he should hit the field goal at Kansas City nine times out of ten. That is what he is paid to do.
Going forward, the Bills continue to rotate new guys in to the patchwork offensive line and come out of the game okay. Today was the first start for Chad Reinhart, and he seemed to be effective. The Dolphins did a good job of stuffing the Bills running game, as Fred Jackson only managed to come up 36 yards on 15 carries. Not an average day for Jackson.
The Bills now will go into preparation to face the New England Patriots at Ralph Wilson Stadium the day after Christmas. The Patriots seemingly have won home field advantage in the AFC, but will probably be playing all their regulars. Then the Bills go to play the Jets on the road to close out the season.
I would expect to see the Bills playing hard against both teams as they continue to demonstrate for all to see that they are starting to become a good football team.
Happy Holidays to all Bills fans and best wishes to you and your families for a safe and memorable holiday season and for a joyous New Year.
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