Bills Zone’s Postgame Report Card: Bills vs. Dolphins

by Michael J. Thomas

Quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe had one of his best games in a while for Buffalo. He showed that with proper blocking, he can avoid the pass rush and still make some great plays. Bledsoe was 15/28 for 212 yards and threw 1 touchdown and no interceptions. He did miss on a couple long bombs, including 1 to Lee Evans that would have probably been for a touchdown, but the wind was at his back. Bledsoe even managed to find a hole and run with the ball on 3rd down and 10, for 11 yards, but Mark Campbell was called for holding. Drew Bledsoe was at his best in the 2nd half, when it counts. Bledsoe took the team downfield and moved the chains while going 9 of 16 for 141 yards and a touchdown to Campbell. Overall, Bledsoe had a solid game and definitely did nothing to lose it. Grade: B+

Running Backs: Welcome to Buffalo, Willis! McGahee had a great game against a tough Miami defense. He started out slow, with only 3 yards in his first 3 carries and then seemed to pick it up by the 2nd half. McGahee had 26 carries for 111 yards rushing and 3 catches for 31 yards. Willis also had several key blitz pickups and blocks for Bledsoe. He was definitely a big part of the win. Joe Burns had 4 carries for 22 yards in relief of McGahee. Grade: A

Wide Receivers: Eric Moulds had another good game. He made some nice plays, including a sweet catch that he bobbled but still brought it in and ran for 30 yards. However, he also did drop at least one pass too. Moulds had 5 receptions for 99 yards. Lee Evans was next with 2 catches for 32 yards; however he dropped 2 passes. His main asset was that the defense had to cover him after Bledsoe threw deep downfield to him in the beginning of the game. They were worried about the big play and that forced them to ease up on the blitz. Josh Reed caught 1 pass for 14 yards and it was a nice 3rd down and 9 conversion. However, you could tell that Bledsoe has lost confidence in Reed as he checked off on his several times. Sam Aiken had one pass thrown his way, but he dropped it. Grade: B

Tight Ends: It was another day where the tight end was involved in the offense. Mark Campbell caught 4 passes for 36 yards, including a nice 5-yard goal-line pass. Campbell and Tim Euhus also were in to make some solid blocks for Willis McGahee. Grade: B+

Offensive Line: Wow! The offensive line can actually block. I don’t have anything bad to say about them this week. They did a solid job run-blocking for Willis McGahee, and also pass-blocking for Drew Bledsoe. The best part was that they completely shut down Pro Bowl DE Jason Taylor. The line only allowed 1 sack on Bledsoe and gave him lots of time to throw. He also had time to scramble around and make plays that he usually wouldn’t make. I don’t know if it is the line jelling or if Ross Tucker and Marcus Price are better than Trey Teague and Jonas Jennings. Either way, I hope it continues. Grade: A

Defensive Line: This line had a great game too. They harassed and pressured Jay Fiedler all day and definitely took advantage against a porous Miami offensive line. Aaron Schobel has his best game yet. He managed to get 8 tackles, 2 ½ sacks, and even force a fumble. He truly showed why he was paid so much before the season. Let’s just hope he can keep it up. Ryan Denney saw more action in the 2nd half and had 4 tackles, helping to keep Sammy Morris from breaking a long one. Chris Kelsay did a nice job pressuring Fiedler and had 2 tackles for the day. The defensive tackles had two halves in the game. In one half, they let Sammy Morris run all over them for 81 yards. However, in the second half, they shut him down to only 10 yards. That would be in part to the benching of Sam Adams. Ron Edwards, who took his place, had 4 tackles, and 2 sacks. He did a great job pressuring Fiedler. Pat Williams also had a solid game, as he managed to get 5 tackles, and also share a sack with Aaron Schobel. Grade: A

Linebackers: Takeo Spikes finally decided to break out. What a great game by him. He had 2 tackles, 1 interception run back for a touchdown, and almost picked off 2 more Fiedler passes. London Fletcher had a quieter day than usual. He only had 5 tackles, but he also forced a fumble that the Dolphins recovered. He was also beat on the Dolphins’ only touchdown. Jeff Posey didn’t do much either and was in on 3 tackles. Over pursuing Sammy Morris killed this unit. Grade: B

Secondary: Nate Clements had solid coverage on Marty Booker and shut him down to only 1 catch for 10 yards. He also had 5 tackles. However, Clements missed an easy pick that he might have been able to take downfield. Terrence McGee was burned a couple times, but nothing big. He finished the game with 7 total tackles. Pierson Prioleau held down Randy McMichael for most of the game and also had 6 tackles. Izell Reese was a goat of this unit, getting a pass interference call in the end zone, that luckily the defense managed to hold them to a field goal anyways. He also had 5 tackles. Rashad Baker had 2 tackles and stripped the ball from Randy McMichael, who managed to recover his own fumble. Grade: B-

Special Teams: Brian Moorman did a great job handling the terrible Ralph Wilson Stadium winds. He had an average of 53 yards on 3 punts with a 59-yarder as his longest. He also managed to kick one of them directly into the wind for 47 yards. Rian Lindell missed a 47-yard field goal into the wind that everyone in the stadium knew he wouldn’t make. However, he did make a 43-yarder. Lindell also kicked 2 out of 4 kickoffs within the 10-yardline, but kicked one of them out of bounds. The coverage was solid all day. There were no big returns. As for the Bills return team, they also did a good job. They didn’t run any kicks back, but they also didn’t lose field position from a bad return. Grade: B+

Coaching: I knew there was light in the tunnel. They built on the end of the Jets game and went right away with the deep pass to Lee Evans. It didn’t work because of the strong winds, but it certainly made Miami lighten up with the blitzing. The offensive game plan was solid. They kept running the ball and held the ball for over 13 minutes in the 4th quarter. What a great way to win a close game. Keep moving the chains and run the ball down their throats. That was the smash mouth we were waiting for. Let’s see if they can keep this plan against the Ravens. I also liked what I saw from the defense. They let the Dolphins score 10 points in the first half, but held them to only a field goal in the 2nd half. The best part was that they shut down the running game and forced Miami to punt 2 out of 3 times. I also was glad to hear that Mularkey benched a star player in Sam Adams, because he was not doing his job in the first half. That’s a great way to get in these players heads. If they don’t do their job, there’s the bench. Overall, it was an impressive win and it was a great way to get some well-needed confidence into this team. Let’s hope they can keep this up and go on some kind of winning streak. Grade: B+