Bills 2010 Film Review: Week 10 vs. Detroit (Second Half)

A win is a win, and the winless Buffalo Bills were elated to escape with a 14-12 victory over the Detroit Lions to end an eight-game slide in Week 10 last season. In re-watching the second half of this game, however, the Bills did a rather poor job of closing out the win as a team - something that they would rectify in a big way the following week.

Week 10, second half: Bills outscored 9-7, but beat Lions 14-12 - NOTES

• Fred Jackson rips off a 39-yard run. Great execution across the board. Strong blocks from Mansfield Wrotto, Eric Wood, David Martin and, down the field, Lee Evans.
• Andy Levitre seals on a pull, and Donald Jones throws a nice block to open a lane on another nice Jackson run.
• Lions get a blitzer free, but Ryan Fitzpatrick absorbs the hit as he delivers a strike to Stevie Johnson for a catch-and-run first down.

Week 10, second half: Bills outscored 9-7, but beat Lions 14-12 - NOTES

• Jackson takes a shovel pass, ignores his blocking, makes two Lions miss, and walks into the end zone. Martin had a big block downfield. Bills now lead 14-3.
• Akin Ayodele pretty obviously tackles Jahvid Best by his facemask as he shoots a gap, but it goes uncalled. Tackle for loss.
• Donte Whitner turns in great coverage on Brandon Pettigrew. Breaks up a pass for an incompletion.
• On a screen pass to Best, Reggie Corner delivers with a great open-field tackle to force a punt.
• DeAndre Levy beats David Martin to the spot on a Jackson bubble screen, resulting in a loss of yardage.
• Chris Kelsay stacks up Gosder Cherilus, then stuffs Best for a short gain. Had a hand in the dirt, but was essentially a 3-4 alignment. Exemplary run defense.
• Kelsay standing up pre-snap inside, freezes in coverage (missed assignment), Hill finds Tony Scheffler for an easy first down.
• Kyle Williams disrupts a pulling Dominic Raiola, then follows him and brings down Best from behind for a loss of yards.
• Leodis McKelvin returns a punt 78 yards for a touchdown, but a Jon Corto holding call nullifies the score. Unfortunately, it was a good catch by the refs. Bruce DeHaven was not happy.
• Fitzpatrick leaves his chinstrap unbuckled pre-snap. Lions key hard on run, stopping Quinton Ganther for a loss.
• Evans drops a short slant. Julian Peterson with very tight coverage, but it's yet another drop for Evans.
• Lions have bracket coverage on Evans. Chris Houston, trailing the play, nearly picks off a Fitzpatrick underthrow as Evans runs deep. Would've been a tough play without the pass break-up.
• Williams stacks up a double-team, clogging things up for Best. Short gain.
• Jackson squirts through a narrow crease, makes a Lion miss, then gets a great downfield block by Johnson for a nice gain. Wood and Wrotto created said narrow crease.
• Jackson has been outstanding. Extremely elusive, aided by poor Lions tackling.
• Chan Gailey calls a timeout with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter, presumably to kick with the wind. Rian Lindell pushes a 41-yard field goal wide right.
• Kelsay loses contain on a Nate Burleson end around. Whitner misses a tackle, and Burleson picks up a quick 20 out to midfield.
• Williams held as Hill connects with Calvin Johnson. Lions operate out of a Pistol formation, run play-action against a Bills zone.
• Spencer Johnson easily handles Jeff Backus, then brings down Best for a loss.
• Whitner makes a nice open-field tackle on Scheffler to stall a Lions drive.
• Dave Rayner misses a field goal. That'll even up the Lindell miss from earlier.
• Ndamukong Suh easily handles Wood and gets into a run lane. Turk McBride cleans up the play from behind. Jackson loses yardage.
• Lions sniff out a clear-out screen to Jackson, who is brought down for a loss. Play developed too quickly.
• Another screen thrown to Jackson. He's again ahead of his blockers, but churns out 14 yards on 3rd & 13.
• Geoff Hangartner can't erase Suh, who blows up a trap run. Ganther brought down for a loss. Amount of negative plays in this game is absurd, especially when counting penalties.
• Fitzpatrick throws low to an open Jones, who can't keep the ball off the turf.
• Brian Moorman gets a great roll on an otherwise not-so-great punt.
• Lions catch the Bills in a favorable defensive alignment, run a fullback screen to Jerome Felton that picks up big yardage.
• Scheffler beats Bryan Scott in coverage, then absorbs a nice thump from Whitner to hang on for a first down.
• Megatron separates easily from Drayton Florence on a play-action fake, and Florence then misses a tackle. Whitner makes a play-saving tackle as Johnson streaks up the sideline.
• McKelvin makes a great play to prevent Bryant Johnson from scoring a touchdown. Nearly came down with the ball himself.
• Rayner hits a 45-yard field goal to cut Buffalo's lead to 14-6.
• Stevie is wide open on a slant, and drops an easy first-down conversion. Fitzpatrick threw it into the perfect window, but Johnson turned his head too quickly.
• On the next play, Fitzpatrick goes right back to Johnson, who catches and converts for a first down. However, his sideline grab stops the clock while the Bills try to put the game on ice.
• Hangartner and Wood create a nice seam, and Jackson picks up a quick five.
• Johnson, the only receiver on the field, gets wide open on a fly pattern. Fitzpatrick underthrows it, but Johnson still has an opportunity to catch it. He seems to lose the ball on a misty, crappy weather day, and can't adjust to make the grab. Leads to a fourth down.
• Burleson beats Corner with ease for a big first down.
• Another tipped Hill pass. This time, it's Bryan Scott, who might've been called for pass interference without complaint, as he didn't turn his head.
• On 3rd & 3, the Lions run a swing pass to Best. McKelvin buries him for a two-yard loss to bring up fourth down. This has been a very strong half for McKelvin.
• Pettigrew posts up Scott in the middle of the field for a first down. Absolutely no pressure on Hill.
• Whitner comes untouched on a safety blitz, but inexplicably leaves his feet again. This gives Hill time to avoid the pressure and find Megatron, who thankfully dropped the ball thanks to tight coverage from McKelvin.
• Johnson drops another pass. McKelvin was beaten on the play. Whitner dives for the interception, gambling on the play and sufficiently distracting Johnson. A catch is a walk-in touchdown.
• On 3rd & 10, Hill targets Johnson again, who picks up nine on a slant in front of McKelvin.
• On 4th down, Hill has all the time in the world to throw, and Burleson finds himself wide open underneath for the easiest completion of the day.
• Jairus Byrd lays a big hit on Burleson to separate ball from receiver, forcing an incompletion.
• With Lions sans timeout and scrambling to score late, a Bills timeout gives the Lions an opportunity to re-group. On the next play, Johnson gets behind Paul Posluszny, and Whitner is far too late to react. Easy touchdown. Score is now 14-12.
• Hill essentially gives the game back to Buffalo when he throws the two-point conversion out of the back of the end zone. George Wilson recovers the ensuing onside kick, and that's all she wrote.