For a second straight week, the Buffalo Bills made a few plays defensively, off-setting another in a long line of largely terrible performances this season. While the defense in general deserves all of the criticism it's getting, there are at least a few plays that we can highlight from Sunday's 30-23 loss to the Miami Dolphins. In fact, there were even more than five to choose from this week!
5. Drayton Florence, Jairus Byrd and Aaron Williams snuff out three straight Dolphins red zone passes. In the first half, Miami had opportunities to put up a much bigger lead, but couldn't get anything going in the red zone, with the three aforementioned Bills defensive backs providing tight coverage inside the 10-yard line. Miami settled for two field goals deep in Bills territory, and built only a 13-7 lead.
4. Marcell Dareus sacks Matt Moore for a seven-yard loss. Dareus recorded a sack in a second straight game when he took down Moore early in the first quarter. His solid rookie season continues to look better statistically, as he's now up to 5.5 sacks on the year - a figure that ties the career high that Kyle Williams set for himself just last year.
3. Florence strips Brandon Marshall and recovers his own forced fumble. The Bills forced and recovered three fumbles on the day, with this one providing the least long-term impact, as the Bills couldn't muster a drive after this key turnover.
2. Chris Kelsay sacks Moore, and Arthur Moats recovers. At the end of the first half, Kelsay brought Moore down 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage, forced the ball out, and Moats came up with it. The Bills took the ball down the field for a last-minute field goal try, but Dave Rayner blew a 26-yard field goal to the left as time expired. This was another wasted golden opportunity.
1. Aaron Williams strips Reggie Bush, and George Wilson recovers. Here, finally, was a big defensive play - provided early in a ball game - that the Bills turned around and capitalized on, as C.J. Spiller ran for a touchdown two plays later, giving the Bills a 7-0 lead. For three plays, the Bills looked like the team that got off to a 5-2 start. Then reality set back in. This was a nice - if far too brief - respite.