Grading the Bills v Dolphins: Game 14

In their seventh straight loss, the Bills were felled by the Miami Dolphins 30-23. Although the Bills made the game interesting late, big errors in the first half from Fitz, big plays given up by the defense and a slew of penalties did the Bills in. The only good news to come from this is that the Bills are within the top-10 draft selection to satisfy major needs in building up their roster for the big 2012 push.

Passing Game: C-

Fitz hot and cold play really showed on Sunday. In the first half, Fitz struggled heavily throwing 3 picks. In the second however, he rebounded with 2 touchdowns. WR Stevie Johnson had another strong game with 7 grabs while WR David Nelson also had a fair outing with 6 catches for 60 yards. Spiller meanwhile took Fred’s role to heart catching 10 passes for 71 yards and a TD. WR Hagan also had a TD reception.

Running Game: B+

Spiller had another stellar performance but definitely got underused. On the ground Spiller had just 12 rushes but went for 91 yards including a nice 24 yard touchdown. RB Tashard Choice meanwhile had 5 carries for 16 yards, but also fumbled the ball (but didn’t lose it) on a crucial third and one.

Blocking: B-

Two sacks were given up, although I was not able to gauge adequately how the offensive line did with pressure as a whole. Clearly run blocking is a major asset the line has while the blocking on passes definitely seemed good in the second half.

Pass Defense: D+

Once again the Bills secondary allowed an opposing QB to record a QB rating over 100 for the fourth time in six games (twice to Matt Moore). Moore completed just half of his 20 attempts, but also had two touchdowns. Drayton Florence broke up two passes and forced a fumble on Brandon Marshall but also had a costly penalty and gave up a big 65 yard TD.

Run Defense: F

Reggie Bush dominated the defense all day long and stymied a late Bills comeback. Bush had an insane day with 25 carries for 203 yards or an average of 8 yards a carry. (Nice balance of run/pass on Miami…) The lone bright spot was when Aaron Williams forced Bush to fumble which the Bills recovered.

Pass Rush: C-

Dareus had another sack while Chris Kelsay got a big sack on Moore, forcing a fumble which Moats recovered. Unfortunately that was pretty much it.

Special Teams: D+

Dave Rayner was only one for two missing from just 26 yards out. Brian Moorman meanwhile had to punt 8 times averaging a fair 48 yards a punt. Justin Rogers looked amazing averaging 33.5 yards on 4 kick returns. Kick and especially punt coverage needs improving.

Coaching: F

Fitz struggled yet Gailey still opted to pass the ball over running with Spiller nearly 3:1. Play calling needs more sophistication if drives are to be sustained. Defensively the new additions are warranted after showing how truly porous they can be. On the plus side (hard to note), the Bills have entered top-10 draft slots (again).

Go Bills!!