Sammy Watkins returned to form Sunday, but it was not enough for the Bills to beat the Broncos. (Photo: Ron Chenoy — USA Today Sports)
BBD Contributor: Paul Banach
The Buffalo Bills visited Mile High Stadium in Denver with playoff aspirations on Sunday, but ultimately fell short as the Broncos held on for a 24-17 victory. The Bills got as close as an attempted onside kick at the end of the game but couldn’t complete the comeback, which all but ends their chances of playing in the postseason.
The offensive unit for Buffalo had a tough time capitalizing on the three turnovers that the defense forced for them. In usual fashion, it sputtered for most of the game until finally picking it up in the fourth quarter, which slightly improved its grades. The defense did not record a sack but played tough against Denver’s Peyton Manning-led offense, giving its offense an opportunity to win the game.
Offensive Players
Sammy Watkins: The electric rookie that has struggled in recent weeks had a nice bounce-back performance against the Broncos. Overcoming an early dropped pass, Watkins proceeded to have a big day, finishing with seven receptions for 127 yards including a few acrobatic grabs. Sammy also showed off the complete package with two very good blocks downfield, most notably on Chris Hogan’s 14-yard touchdown reception. He lost a fumble which slightly dragged his overall performance down. Grade: A
Chris Hogan: “7-11″ made his living on the outside Sunday as he caught multiple passes on the sideline and was able to turn them into big gains. He found the first down marker and moved the chains a couple times which is an invaluable trait. Hogan caught seven passes for 54 yards and scored one touchdown on a 14-yard screen pass in the fourth quarter. Grade: A
Scott Chandler: The 6”7 starting tight end had one of his better games of the season, totaling 81 yards on eight receptions. Chandler did most of his work in the middle of the field as he was often the safety blanket for quarterback Kyle Orton. Grade: B+
Fred Jackson: Jackson looked fresh and healthy as he was able to break a few big runs and churn out good yards after contact. Jackson caught a season-high 10 receptions (mostly on screen plays) for a pedestrian 37 yards, while he ran for another 35 on eight carries. He had more than one big play called back because of an offensive penalty. Grade: B
Bryce Brown: The third-year running back impressed on his limited touches. He only ran the ball three times but gained 11 yards and caught two passes for fourteen yards. Brown also showed his extreme athleticism as he leaped clear over would-be tacklers on two separate plays that went for seven-yard gains. Grade: B-
Robert Woods: Woods made another incredible 17-yard diving catch on a low throw from Orton in the first half, but was mostly a non-factor the rest of the game. He has had a tendency to disappear at times in his young career, but so do all of the Bills wide receivers with the team’s erratic quarterback play. He finished Sunday with three catches for 36 yards. Grade: C+
Seantrel Henderson: Henderson did a decent job getting a push early on in the run game but didn’t get much more opportunity to run block once the Bills fell down by two scores. Henderson is gaining good experience in his rookie season. Grade: C+
Eric Wood: The starting center gave up a sack but you can direct some of that blame to Orton, who basically curled up in the fetal position and ran into the back of Wood while there was still a somewhat clean pocket. Grade: C
Cordy Glenn: The left tackle was able to clear some space early in the run game. Glenn did give up some pressure as Denver recorded five tackles. Grade: C
Kyle Orton: Just by looking at his line of 355 yards, on 38-of-57 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions, you might think Orton had a solid game. He found success in the fourth quarter but was largely ineffective in the first three periods. Orton stared his receivers down, was inconsistent with his accuracy and held the ball too long numerous times. To top it off, he didn’t attempt to go for a first down on a third-and-short scramble where he ended up about half a yard short of the marker. Grade: C-
Kraig Urbik: The starting left guard has seen better days as he was beat for a sack and was also called for holding penalty that negated a big Fred Jackson run. Urbik had played well since entering the starting lineup in Week 6 but had a forgettable performance on Sunday. Grade: C-
Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams did not have their usual pass-rushing success on Sunday. (Photo: Ron Chenoy — USA Today Sports)
Defensive Players
Corey Graham: Graham turned in another good performance as he blanketed Denver receivers for most of the day and was effective in defending against the run. Graham was also called for a unnecessary roughing penalty on an interception return by Stephon Gilmore. He finished with five tackles, intercepted Peyton Manning and also recovered a fumble, continuing his ball-hawking play. Grade: A-
Stephon Gilmore: The oft-maligned cornerback had an impressive outing as he finished with three tackles and one interception. On his takeaway, Gilmore immediately recognized the passing route and was step-for-step with the Denver wide receiver before snatching the ball out of the air. He has been steadily improving over the second half of the season. Grade: A-
Nigel Bradham and Preston Brown: These two linebackers had another solid outing and are being grouped together because their performances were very similar against Denver. Both finished with six tackles and continued to show their strong run-stopping ability. In pass defense, Bradham was very fast in coverage while Brown held his own and is a first-year player that continues to impress on the field. Grades: B
Duke Williams: The second-year Nevada safety filled in for Da’Norris Searcy after an injury, and Williams immediately made his presence felt. Known for his hard-hitting on special teams, Williams laid a big pop on Broncos’ tight end Jacob Tamme which jarred the ball loose for a turnover. Duke had three tackles in addition to his forced fumble. Grade: B
Marcell Dareus: Marcel was instrumental in stopping Denver’s run game but was not able to provide much pressure on Peyton Manning. Dareus made three tackles but was fairly neutralized as a pass-rusher because of the quick-passing attack of Denver. Grade: B-
Mario Williams: Mario continued to play tough against the run, finishing with one stop for a loss and two total tackles. He was unable to disrupt Peyton Manning with his pass-rushing ability as the Denver quarterback made a lot of quick throws. Grade: B
Kyle Williams: Just like his comrade Dareus in the middle, Williams did a very good job of defending the run but did not get too much push into the backfield. He also finished with three tackles. Grade: B-
Aaron Williams: The starting safety finished with three tackles but was beaten a couple times on medium to deep passes. Although he didn’t give up points on any of those plays specifically, Williams has played better games. Grade: C
Da’Norris Searcy: He was not a big part of the game as he recorded one tackle before leaving with a hamstring injury and being replaced by Duke Williams. Grade: C
Unit Grades
Offense: This unit continued to struggle in the red zone and was unable to capitalize on three Denver turnovers. There were a few nice play action and bootleg calls that went for big gains, but throwing the ball 57 times with an average quarterback did not get the job done. Close to 15 screen passes were called, which was more than enough for the opposing defense to start focusing in to stop them. This was especially head-scratching from the coaching staff considering the Bills rarely called screen passes when their most explosive player, C.J. Spiller, was healthy. The third-and-short playcalling continue to be a mystery. Grade: C-
Defense: By all accounts, the defensive unit held the Broncos run and passing attack mostly in check on Sunday. Denver only had 303 total yards of offense, with 173 through the air and 103 on the ground. They also forced three turnovers on a recovered fumble and two interceptions. The defense suffered a handful of penalties that moved the chains for Denver, but it was another very solid day for Jim Schwartz’s defense. Grade: B
Special Teams: It was an unusually bad day for Buffalo punter Colton Schmidt, as he had three kicks for 102 yards, an average of just 34.3 per kick with zero inside the 20-yard line. Kicker Dan Carpenter connected on both of his extra point attempts and nailed a 44-yard field goal through the uprights. Grade: C+
