The formula for winning games for the Buffalo Bills proved itself again in their prime time AFC East battle with Miami on Thursday night. That formula is – when QB Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t turn the ball over, they win. Fitzpatrick has certainly had better games statistically this season, but against the Dolphins he protected the ball, and did just enough to keep the Bills from handing another game over to their opponent. The offensive effort looked a lot like the Bills’ game against Houston a couple weeks ago, with drives stalling and the team settling for Rian Lindell field goals. C.J. Spiller ran and caught the ball for 130 combined yards and sparked the Bills’ offense all night with Fred Jackson out. Fitzpatrick only threw for 160 yards, but kept drives alive with timely passes to Stevie Johnson and Scott Chandler, and helped the defense out by not giving the ball away.
The difference this time was that the Bills’ defense played possibly its’ best game of the season, holding the Fish to 184 total yards of offense, including only 60 on the ground, and recording 3 sacks against rookie QB Ryan Tannehill. The sacks came from Mario Williams, who has come on since his wrist surgery, Shawne Merriman and Kyle Moore, who is making a case to stay in the lineup when Mark Anderson and Chris Kelsay return from injuries. The biggest accomplishment for the defense was that there weren’t any breakdowns resulting in big plays in either the passing or running game. The secondary covered receivers well for the most part, and got 2 big interceptions, from Jairus Byrd and Bryan Scott, to seal the win. It was a game the Bills won because they finally “finished”, as coach Chan Gailey has said.
The special teams had a Jeckyl and Hyde night, providing the team’s only touchdown on Leodis McKelvin’s 79 yard punt return, but allowing Miami’s Marcus Thigpen to return a kickoff for a score. Rookie punter Shawn Powell, however, tilted the scale to the positive side for the bomb squads by placing a punt out of bounds at the one yard line at a critical point of the game. The Bills face another rookie signal caller in their next game, in 10 days, when their improving defense tests the Colts’ Andrew Luck. Unlike Tannehill, Luck isn’t playing like a rookie, so the unit will have to be ready for another tough contest, this time in front of a hostile crowd in Indianapolis.