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The Buffalo Bills have been on a downward slide, losing two games in a row to fall to 5-5 for the season. With their hopes of breaking a 14 year playoff drought slowly slipping away, the Bills had every excuse to fold up their tents and give up on the year after the weather event of this past week put them at a real disadvantage. The heavy snowstorm stranded the players in their homes for days, forcing cancellations of vital practice sessions. It also forced their scheduled Sunday home game against the New York Jets to be moved to Detroit and postponed until Monday night. To make things worse, the Jets were coming off a bye week, so they had two weeks to prepare as opposed to the two days the Bills got. Despite all that, the Bills went to Detroit and played an inspired game, excelling in all three phases to blow out the Jets, 38-3. On offense, quarterback Kyle Orton shook off a pair of subpar performances to play a solid game, highlighted by ending the team’s red zone troubles by tossing a pair of scoring passes, to Robert Woods and Scott Chandler, in the first half. The ground game wasn’t spectacular but did enough to keep the Jets honest, and Fred Jackson and Anthony Dixon scored rushing TDs. Dixon also contributed to a special teams touchdown, blocking a Jet punt that Manny Lawson recovered in the end zone for the score. Special teams also contributed a 53 yard field goal by reliable Dan Carpenter, and kept Percy Harvin in check on kickoff returns. Harvin stubbornly kept attempting to run out kicks from deep in his own end zone, and the Bills on most occasions didn’t allow him to reach the 20 yard line.

It was said before the game that the players, cooped up in their homes all week, were anxious to play the game, and the Bills’ defensive unit played like a bunch of caged tigers who were set free. They dominated the Jets all night, containing New York’s rushing attack and shutting down the passing game with seven sacks and an interception. Mario Williams, who is playing his best football since signing with the Bills, had a pair of sacks and was relentless all night. Jerry Hughes, who some NFL coaches are saying is the most impressive athlete on a talented Buffalo D-line, also had two sacks. It was the Bills’ most dominating defensive performance this season. I haven’t always been very impressed with the job head coach Doug Marrone has done in his two years here, but he deserves credit for focusing his players in very tough circumstances, resulting in a great “team” win. By having the game rescheduled to Monday night, the Bills also are put at a disadvantage again this week, as they now have one less day to prepare for an important conference matchup on Sunday against Cleveland and their old defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine. It has to help that they’ll be back in their friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium, with their home fans and the elements hopefully helping to motivate them.

The Buffalo Bills’ 2014 playoff hopes came crashing down to earth on Thursday night with a demoralizing 22-9 loss to the Dolphins in Miami. The loss left the Bills at 5-5 for the season and, of course, still mathematically alive to qualify for the post-season, but after the listless performance by Kyle Orton and the offensive unit against Miami, there’s no realistic chance that this team will win enough games for the remainder of the year to stay in the race. Orton looks like he has hit the imaginary “wall” that critics said he would after he took over the starting job at quarterback. His play in the last 2 games has been excruciatingly ordinary, and with the defense doing its’ usual job of keeping the team in the game, it was depressing to watch Orton and the offense fail to produce a touchdown, and look lost in the second half as Miami rallied to win. The defense didn’t make stops when they needed to, as usual, but they can’t be faulted for the team’s recent slide.  Although they haven’t been a dominating unit, coordinator Jim Schwartz’s defense has been consistent all season and played well enough to win almost every week. They’ve limited opponents’ rushing attacks for the most part, created turnovers and harassed opposing passers well enough to lead the NFL in sacks. Dolphin QB Ryan Tannehill played a conservative but efficient game and burned the Bills all night with quick throws and timely scrambles, and although the Bills sacked him 5 times, he managed to drive his team to a pair of second half touchdowns, while Orton did virtually nothing. Buffalo defied the odds again – they didn’t turn the ball over, and forced two fumbles, yet still lost. The game also featured a couple of staples of contests involving the Bills – mistakes by the Bills, and ridiculous calls by the officials. An intentional grounding call on Orton that gave Miami a safety was questionable, and an interference call against Stephon Gilmore later in the game was absolutely outrageous.

Coach Doug Marrone now has a decision to make. His team is technically still alive for the playoffs and he is personally fighting for his job, so does he stick with the struggling Orton or throw in the towel and give EJ Manuel another kick at the can, to find out once and for all if the franchise needs to try and find yet another signal-caller in the off-season?

For the second season in a row, the Buffalo Bills outplayed the Kansas City Chiefs for most of the day, then proceeded to hand them a win with what now has to be considered “Buffalo Bills football – 2014 edition” – that is, combining costly mistakes, questionable coaching decisions and breakdowns at the worst possible crucial times to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  The Bills blew a 13-3 lead in the second half and lost 17-13. Buffalo’s offensive effort was average, as they struggled to run the ball at times, but had success running at others. Kyle Orton completed some impressive throws at times, and missed the mark on some others. It could be argued that the Bills played well enough on offense, defense and special teams to win the game, but were done in by the two things that have hampered them in the 1 1/2 year Doug Marrone regime – turnovers and penalties. The two turnovers were game-changers, and underscored why the Bills are still the same old Bills, despite what their players say. Bryce Brown took off on what looked like a sure touchdown run only to have the ball knocked loose at the four yard line. The ball bounced directly into the hands of tight end Scott Chandler, but he lost the handle on it and allowed it to bounce out of the end zone for a touchback. After the Bills’ defense made a stand, Leodis McKelvin wiped out whatever momentum that stand might have given his team by fumbling the Chiefs’ punt. Did the Bills’ supposedly dominant defense stiffen up and bail out McKelvin? No, two plays later, the Chiefs were in the end zone on an eight yard Alex Smith run for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown. It’s tough to assign any blame for the defeat on the defense, since they pressured Smith most of the day, sacking him six times, and contained K.C. back Jamaal Charles for the most part. However, at the most crucial points of the game in the second half, they allowed Charles to run 39 yards for a score on fourth down and one, and allowed an 18 yard scamper by Charles right after McKelvin’s fumble. Again, the Bills played what has become their “signature” game – they played well enough to win but gave the game away. It’s that maddening habit that keeps them from getting any respect from the national media, why they aren’t considered real contenders and why, against the New York Jets in their last game, they became the first team with a winning record in NFL history to be an underdog against a team with one win. Most of the pro football experts know what to expect from this team – that they’ll collapse at critical times during games and at some point every season, and the Bills feed that lack of respect by continually delivering those collapses.

Other than letting a sure win get away, did the Bills accomplish anything positive on Sunday? Absolutely they did. After a slow start, their running game started to click, with Brown and Anthony Dixon grinding out good chunks of yardage. The offensive line had a decent game, blocking well enough for the backs to total 111 yards and allowing only a single sack on Orton. McKelvin, before his disastrous fumble, set up the offense in good field position with some nice punt returns. The defense, other than the pair of breakdowns involving Charles, had another good day, sacking Smith six times, with three coming from Marcell Dareus, who is now establishing himself as a solid Pro Bowl-caliber player.

So what kind of grade do the Buffalo Bills deserve at the midway point of the 2014 season? There have been some some exciting highs and disappointing lows, but the club has managed to keep its’ collective head above water with a 5-3 won/loss record heading into their bye week. Here is my analysis of how the Bills have fared, position by position, through eight games and what they’ll need to do to stay on course to earn a playoff spot in the season’s second half:

Front Office / Coaching

GM Doug Whaley made the bold move of trading away next year’s top draft pick to move up this year and pick Sammy Watkins, and that move looks like it will pay big dividends going forward. Whaley also did a good job of improving the overall depth of the roster through the rest of the draft and free agent signings. Head coach Doug Marrone hasn’t completely won me over yet as the man who can pull the franchise out of the doldrums and lead the team to a winning season. His quick hiring of Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator after Mike Pettine left to coach in Cleveland was a great move. The Bills’ defense through the first half of 2014 has been even better than last year’s unit. He stayed with special teams coach Danny Crossman and those units have been far better than last year’s, although a lot of the improvement can be attributed to Whaley’s stocking of the roster with better special teams players. Marrone gets high marks for making a quick decision to bench EJ Manuel at quarterback in favor of veteran Kyle Orton, a decision that was also bold and has proven so far to be correct. The negative on Marrone is his inability, to this point, to get the players to stop committing foolish and/or unnecessary penalties and mistakes, many of which have been a result of the immaturity of the players. In my mind, he has to lead this team to a winning record, not necessarily a playoff spot but a record above .500, with enough significant improvement to give fans hope for the future, to save his job. If the team falters to another 6-10 season with a second half collapse, then he gets piled onto the scrap heap of failed coaches along with Chan Gailey, Dick Jauron, Mike Mularkey, etc.

Quarterback

This position obviously has gone through a complete transition from the start of the season. Manuel was benched in favor of Orton, and the move has paid off with the veteran presence of Orton steadying the unit. The offense has been far from a dominant unit, but Orton has shown terrific leadership in guiding the team to 3 wins in 4 starts since he took over. Orton has made his share of mistakes, mostly turnovers and holding the ball a little too long at times resulting in sacks, but for a guy who joined the team after training camp was over and has had very little time to adapt to his teammates, he’s done a great job, with the hope being that he gets even better in the second half of the year. Although he was benched, Manuel’s future should still be bright. He has a good attitude and now gets a chance to step back and learn the position at a much easier pace. He was placed in a very tough spot, with the impending ownership change putting him in a position that if he failed, it could possibly cost a lot of people in the organization their jobs. It was a little too much to ask of a player who didn’t even get a complete rookie year in 2013 to progress, due to injuries.

Running Back

Just as the quarterback position has gone through a complete transition, the running back spots will have a totally different look for much of the second half of the year, although not by choice. Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller went down with significant injuries in week seven against the Vikings, and now Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown will have to carry the load. Dixon was a free agent signee who figured to help mostly on special teams and short yardage situations, but now he’ll get a lot of playing time, at least until Jackson gets back. Brown was inactive for every game until week eight, but now will get a major amount of carries also. He was acquired by Whaley in a draft day trade, a deal that looked questionable when Brown was not dressing each week, but looks like a smart move now. Fullback Frank Summers has been a steady performer as a lead blocker, and with the injuries has even gotten a few touches in the running game that he normally wouldn’t have. Former Dallas Cowboy Phillip Tanner has been added to the roster for depth, but likely won’t stick around after Jackson and Spiller return.

Receivers

Since Orton took over as the starting quarterback, Watkins has emerged as a major playmaker on the receiving corps. He is exactly as advertised when he came out of college – a dynamic player with the ability to score from anywhere on the field. Besides Watkins, Robert Woods has been the other major downfield threat in the passing game. Chris Hogan started the year playing only on special teams, but now seems to have moved past Mike Williams on the depth chart as the third receiving option. Williams has hardly seen the ball since Orton has taken over, and was even de-activated for a game. The Bills need to figure out a way to utilize his talents more in the second half. Another non-contributor has been Marquise Goodwin, who is a top deep threat but can’t stay healthy. The same can be said for Marcus Easley, although he’s rarely ever used as a receiver, but is an important special teams gunner. One player who has to be thrilled that Orton is now under center is tight end Scott Chandler, who has become a favorite target of the veteran QB. The Bills have used some double tight end formations at times, and Orton has found both Chris Gragg and Lee Smith for red zone touchdowns. I’m not a big fan of Smith, who for the most part during his time here has seen very few snaps but always managed to get called for dumb penalties. In the last couple of games before the bye, he was at least trumping his mistakes by making some positive contributions, and it would be a big help if he continues that trend in the season’s stretch run.

Offensive Line

This unit has not been a strength of the team so far, but it is a work in progress and figures to get better in the second half. After Chris Williams was put on injured reserve with back problems early on, the line  had two rookie starters in guard Cyril Richardson and tackle Seantrel Henderson, and both have had their ups and downs. That’s typical for rookies, especially on the O-line, but this unit has had the added handicap of having to adjust to a different quarterback (who plays a completely different style) and now all new running backs. Veterans Eric Wood at center and Cordy Glenn at left tackle have been mostly solid but have even had their own rough moments, which is probably due to all the unfamiliarity among the players on the unit. Guard Erik Pears supposedly grades out as one of the worst offensive linemen in the NFL, but he remains a starter, while Richardson was replaced by veteran Kraig Urbik in week eight. Second round draft pick Cyrus Kouandjio has been the only mostly disappointing player from the 2014 draft class, as he has struggled, but his upside, combined with the fact that offensive linemen generally need time to develop, makes it hard at this point to consider him a bust. Kouandjio’s struggles have been offset by the play of Henderson, a talented but supposedly troubled rookie who has grabbed his opportunity by the throat and cemented himself in the starting lineup. It’s somewhat puzzling that despite the problems on the line, veteran Chris Hairston has had very few chances to show what he can do.

Defensive Line

The defense overall is the strength of this team, and the defensive line is without a doubt the strongest part of that defense. The starting four of Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Jerry Hughes all are Pro Bowl-caliber players. All four have taken their turns being disruptive players, and Dareus in particular is having a dominant year, leading the team in sacks, which is unusual for an interior lineman. What makes this unit really a problem for opposing teams, however, is the play of the four guys who back up the Pro Bowlers – Corbin Bryant, Stefan Charles, Jarius Wynn and Manny Lawson. They are all playmakers, and there is very little drop-off in performance when Schwartz rotates them in and out of the lineup.

Linebacker

This unit wasn’t particularly strong coming into the season, and when Kiko Alonso went down with a freak season-ending injury prior to training camp, all appeared lost. The remaining players have held their own, however, and taken full advantage of the dominating play by the D-line in front of them. Veteran Brandon Spikes was signed as a free agent to help shore up the team’s play against the run, a weakness of last year’s defense. As the starting middle linebacker, he has done just that. Although his statistics aren’t eye-popping, Spikes adds a tough, physical attitude to the unit that it lacked in the past. Nigel Bradham never showed much promise in his first couple of years here, but this season his play has improved dramatically for the most part, to the point where he’s earned a starting spot on the outside despite a one game drug suspension to start the year. Another free agent veteran signee, Keith Rivers, has been mostly steady at one of the outside spots, but the gem of the ‘backers through the first eight games is rookie Preston Brown, who was forced into action when Alonso went down. Brown has made his share of rookie mistakes, but he has made steady improvement as the season has progressed, filling in when needed. With his combination of speed and toughness, Brown has managed to both lead the team in tackles and make some plays in the back end defending passes. Two other veterans, Ty Powell and Larry Dean, are on the roster to add depth and help on special teams. The unit is rounded out by another rookie, Randell Johnson, who has also mostly contributed on special teams. He shows flashes of the same type of speed and power combination as Preston Brown, and could be a diamond in the rough in the future if he continues to improve. It’s clear that Whaley has a “type” of player he looks for when drafting linebackers.

Defensive Backs

The Bills lead the entire NFL in interceptions through the first half of the 2014 season, so their secondary players must be doing an adequate job. The starting cornerbacks have done mostly good work. Stephon Gilmore is supposed to be the team’s “shutdown” corner, and after a slow start his play is improving, and should get even better in the second half. On the other side, Leodis McKelvin has played better than Gilmore, showing great ball skills that he didn’t necessarily have in past seasons as he leads the league in picks with four. Whaley signed Buffalo native Corey Graham to add depth to the secondary, and the veteran has delivered, seeing action at both corner and safety and coming up with significant plays in that playing time. Nickell Robey has picked up where he left off last season as the club’s top nickel corner, while the other reserve corners – Ron Brooks and Ross Cockrell – have made most of their contributions on special teams. Starting safeties Aaron Williams and Da’Norris Searcy have had peaks and valleys, but mostly have been solid. Williams, especially, had the daunting task of replacing the departed Jairus Byrd, a Pro Bowler, and has more than held his own with his play and leadership. With a pair of young safeties going on injured reserve early in the year, Duke Williams has been getting more playing time on the back end than he expected, and has done a decent job, especially with his physical play against the run. Both Aaron Williams and Searcy have battled nagging injuries, so Duke Williams and Graham have had to fill in.

Special Teams

The special teams units have played head-and-shoulders better than last year’s units. They count a kickoff return touchdown (from Spiller), a blocked punt by Dixon and a game-winning 58 yard field goal from Dan Carpenter among their accomplishments this year. Adding Dixon and Graham to the roster immediately upgraded all the coverage units. The kicking game has been solid also. Carpenter has been money in the bank on field goals, punter Colton Schmidt may be the most underrated player on the team, as he leads the NFL in punts placed inside the opponents’ 20 yard line, and long snapper Garrison Sanborn has been invisible, meaning all his snaps so far have been accurate. The decision to keep a “long distance” kickoff specialist, Jordan Gay, has worked out alright so far. The “bomb squads” will face numerous challenges in the second half of the year, among them finding out how their young kickers, Schmidt and Gay, handle the Buffalo winter winds. Also, their top two kickoff returners, Spiller and Goodwin, have been injured and McKelvin has had to handle both jobs along with his cornerback duties. A third kickoff return option, Marcus Easley (also a top coverage gunner) has been hurt too. The Bills may want to try to find another option to handle those returns so McKelvin doesn’t get overworked.

The Buffalo Bills went into MetLife Stadium on Sunday, where they’ve never won, and managed to turn their fortunes around in a strange football game in which the final result didn’t match up with the final statistics. The Bills beat the New York Jets rather handily, 43-23, yet only managed 280 total yards of offense. In a game that saw Kyle Orton throw only 17 passes, completing only 10, the Bills’ rushing attack must have been dominant, right? No, they only managed 67 yards on the ground. The difference in the contest was the Bills protecting the ball, avoiding turnovers, while the Jets coughed it up 6 times. Orton’s passes were timely, as 4 of his 10 completions went for touchdowns, to four different receivers. He would have had a fifth if star rookie Sammy Watkins hadn’t been caught from behind while celebrating early on a long throw from Orton. Luckily for Sammy, the Bills scored on the drive on a short run by fullback Frank Summers, and Watkins redeemed himself later in the game by grabbing a short pass from Orton, breaking a tackle and blazing 61 yards for a touchdown. Orton also threw scoring tosses to Robert Woods, Lee Smith and Scott Chandler in directing his team to a third win in four starts since taking over the starting reins from EJ Manuel. Buffalo’s defensive effort was superb, as it’s been in most games this year. They chased Jet QB Geno Smith from the game by intercepting three of his passes in the first quarter. Veteran Mike Vick replaced him but he didn’t protect the ball much better, tossing a fourth pick and losing a pair of fumbles.

All in all, the win was a solid team victory for the Bills, with contributions coming from all over the roster. Running backs Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown, pressed into major duty due to the injuries suffered by Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, didn’t break any long runs but gained just enough yardage on the ground to keep the defense honest and allow Orton to succeed. On defense, the front four recorded 4 sacks and pressured both Smith and Vick into hurried throws all day. The D-line depth showed also, as backups Corbin Bryant and Jarius Wynn got 2 of the sacks, and Stefan Charles had a fumble recovery. The linebackers had a good day, especially rookie Preston Brown, who had 9 tackles and an interception. Stephon Gilmore, Aaron Williams and Da’Norris Searcy also had picks, setting up the offense with good field position all day, which accounts for the Bills racking up a season-high 43 points with such a small total yardage amount. LB Nigel Bradham had a rough day, being called for numerous costly penalties, but he also was a positive contributor, with 11 tackles and a forced fumble. The Bills now go into their bye week with a 5-3 won/loss record and some valuable momentum.