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Scrappy Bills Grind Out Victory in Miami

Lindell (9) boots the game-winner (AP photo)

Nothing in the NFL is easy - especially winning. Riding a three-game win streak and facing the winless Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills were expected by many to roll to an easy victory in Miami this weekend. That didn't happen - the Dolphins controlled the flow of the game and held a 10-2 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

That's when Buffalo's offense finally came to play.

With their backs against the wall, Buffalo's offense - dormant for three-plus quarters - tallied 11 fourth-quarter points to lift the Bills to a hard-fought 13-10 road victory. It wasn't pretty, but we'll take the win. The Bills are now above .500 for the first time since 2004, and they have four straight wins' worth of confidence heading into a Sunday Night Showdown with the undefeated New England Patriots.

Offense Arrives at the Right Moment
Let's be honest, folks: J.P. Losman was downright awful in this game. The veteran quarterback struggled mightily to solve a Dolphins defense that has been awful to this point; he finished the day 12/23 for 157 yards and an interception. As terrible as Losman's performance was through three quarters, he redeemed himself a bit on the team's game-winning drive, completing 4/4 passes for 55 yards on that series.

Marshawn Lynch carried the team as usual. His 85 total yards (61 rush, 24 receiving) weren't spectacular, but it was Lynch grinding out the 8 points that tied the game midway through the fourth quarter. Lynch's tough running has been a blessed constant for the offense, and once again the rookie bailed out the rest of the offense in this one. Lynch did, however, sustain an injury to his lower left leg on the game-winning drive; it did not appear to be a serious injury, but will have to be monitored throughout the week.

Defense, Special Teams Keeps 'Em Alive
The reason that the Bills were able to pull out a victory despite the struggles on offense is simple: the defense and special teams both played well enough to keep the team alive. Despite being forced onto the field for a whopping 37 minutes and giving up 149 total yards to Dolphins RB Jesse Chatman, Buffalo held tough enough to keep the Dolphins from scoring more than the 10 points they got. Take away Chatman's yardage, and all other Dolphins picked up just 120 yards. The Bills were tipping passes all afternoon, and were helped out by multiple drops by Dolphins wideout Marty Booker as well. Chris Kelsay was stellar, playing well against the run and sacking QB Cleo Lemon for a safety in the third quarter.

Discounting one nerve-racking kick return by Ted Ginn Jr., in which a penalty nullified a touchdown, Buffalo's special teams played very well. Roscoe Parrish was particularly important, as he averaged 20 yards on his four punt returns, including a 40-yard return that set up the game-winning points. The Bills' third unit rebounded nicely from an average outing last week against Cincinnati and played a big part in the Bills eking out a road victory today.

Rumblings Game Balls
RB Marshawn Lynch: I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but no Bill is more important to the success of this team than Lynch. He was the one constant for Buffalo's offense, and single-handedly tied the score on two straight runs. Here's hoping he's fully healthy next week...

PR Roscoe Parrish: Don't underestimate the importance of Roscoe's returns in this game - he picked up the yardage that the Bills' offense may not have been able to. He effectively played set-up man for the Bills today, and it paid off nicely.

K Rian Lindell: Time to eat my words. I've given Lindell crap for not inspiring confidence on big kicks, but he drilled the game-winner dead center from 34 yards out. Good job, Rian. We need more of those.

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

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ummm...
Questioning your unwaivering support for Losman after that game?  Miami isn't exactly a juggernaut and he played poorly.  I like Losman but he is incredibly inconsistent

by wolvareen on Nov 11, 2007 6:42 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Re:
I did for a few minutes. Then I remembered he did what was needed to win the game. He certainly doesn't inspire confidence, to be certain, but hey - it's hard to complain too much when he won the game.

Losman at Miami: 12/23, 154 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT
Edwards vs. Baltimore: 11/21, 153 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT

Looks the same to me. Yes, Miami is not Baltimore, but Baltimore isn't Baltimore this year, either. A win is a win is a win. Losman should start next week.

Create a free account to join in the discussion, Bills fans!

by Brian Galliford on Nov 11, 2007 7:32 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Re: Re:
I like Losman and think he should continue to start, but that stats comparison makes Losman look really bad.  Baltimore's defense, while not as good as it has historically been, as you pointed out, is still better than Miami's.  And Edwards is a rookie and those stats are from his 3rd start in the NFL.  Losman is supposed to be the veteran QB, the guy with the experience, the guy playing for his job.  I definitely wish and hope he shows some consistency in leading this offense because otherwise, Edwards might have to get the shot again.

by fletcherjd on Nov 11, 2007 7:52 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

well
Miami was 6th against the pass coming in and Baltimore was 10th, so your argument for that really doesn't hold much weight.  JP played pretty poorly, but he wasn't facing a pass defense as bad as Cincinnati or the Jets.
~K

by Kurupt on Nov 11, 2007 8:43 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

That might be true...
But I would argue that Miami's pass defense ranking is inflated by their 30th ranked rush defense.  Baltimore is 2nd against the run.  So, Baltimore makes you pass by stopping the run and still does a pretty good job of stopping the pass.  It's great that Miami only gives up 184.6 yards passing a game, but they give up 149.7 yards rushing.  Why pass against them when you can run all over them?  That is why the rankings can be misleading.  If you are no good at one aspect, you may have a good ranking at another simply because your opponents just exploit what you are not good at and ignore the other.

Plus, the rankings are just yards per game.  Baltimore gives up ~20 more yards passing per game, but they only give up about half of what Miami gives up on the ground.  And Baltimore has given up 13 passing TDs while making 11 interceptions and Miami has given up 15 passing TDs while intercepting only 5.  Additionally, Miami only has 12 sacks while Baltimore has 21 and Baltimore has 57 passes defended to Miami's 37.  Finally, the most important thing is points and Miami ranks 31st with 28.6 per game, while Baltimore is 12th with 19.8.  I would say Baltimore is easily the better overall defense and better against the pass regardless of the ranking.

Anyway, my point was just that J.P. should be putting up much better and consistent numbers than a rookie with 4 starts.  Like I said, I am rooting hard for J.P., but those numbers are not a positive for him.

by fletcherjd on Nov 11, 2007 10:42 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I wouldn't go overboard...
...on Lindell.  Yes, it was a big kick, but it was only 34 yards.  A decent NFL kicker should be able to make that in his sleep.

by rexob on Nov 11, 2007 9:14 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Yes and no
You really can't take anything for granted. Look at Adam Vinateri's missed 29 yard FG attempt last night. Granted, it was in poor weather, but still...

by kramertoneman on Nov 12, 2007 11:40 AM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Losman
He didnt play great, but neither did anybody else on the offense. Balls were dropped all day. Concerning JP's numbers, if Gaines caught the ball over the middle and took it in JP would've been 13/24, 200 and a TD. If Gaines took in the other one it would've been 2 TDs.

I know, woulda/coulda/shoulda, but all I am saying is that numbers don't really bother me. Along with everything else, the line played terribly, so did the receivers (outside of Lee), and so did JP. To be honest (it was hard to tell b/c there were phins in the backfield all day), Marshawn didn't impress me today. He danced a lot and gave me flashbacks of willis which bugged me out. His goal line and two-pt run were excellent, but overall he did not contribute what you would expect against a run defense that has gotten toasted all year (feel free to argue that it is hard to run when you cant pass, but I didn't see 8 in the box much out of the dolphins, looked like they were playing even).

The defense was great overall, but half the reason they were on the field the entire day was b/c they couldn't get off of it on third down. Run defense was awful to say the least.

The dolphins played well, no matter how it looked it was a big road win (as all are). Looking forward to next week...

by jmorris0823 on Nov 11, 2007 11:36 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Disagree with Game balls
In my opinion there is no dount this game was won by the defense (run defense not withstanding).

And by the way, the two longest win streaks in the NFL at this point: 1. Patriots and 2. Bills (tied with Packers).

by Zumone on Nov 12, 2007 9:00 AM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Losman
Look when the schedules got changed and new england was moved to a prime time event the team started looking past Miami, Plain and simple. J.P. isn't the only one who is guilty the who team could have played better if they weren't looking ahead to the Patsies.

by sireric on Nov 12, 2007 12:44 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

losman
I don't think we have any shot of beating the pats with Losman at QB.  He has never played well in a big game and he will throw INT's.  I say we have 0.5% of winning with Losman at QB and a 6% with Edwards.  Edwards has shown the consistent ability to the move the chains which is something you have to have against the pats.  But, either way they are the Pats and we are the Bills.
MARVelous

by MARVelous on Nov 12, 2007 10:30 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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