DON’T GET ME STARTED imagines that Ralph Wilson Jr., was looking down at the dome in Detroit, knowing that this would be the last game under the ownership of the well respected owner of the Bills. Terry Pegula is expected to get
Art Wander
approval of the sale this coming week.
Of course, Detroit being his home town – he owned a piece of the Lions before becoming sole owner of the Bills One would wonder who he would be rooting for. I’m quite sure it would be the Bills. He probably has a big smile on his face as the Bills staged a comeback to defeat Detroit 17-14.
All Bills fans were eager to see what “new” quarterback Kyle Orton would do in his first start for the Bills. In the first half, some wondered if it was worth it to make a change at QB as Detroit’s Lions opened up a 14-0 lead and went in at the half, leading 14-3 with the 2nd TD an interception of an Orton pass by Mathis returned 41 yards for Detroit’s second touchdown.
The sterling play of the Bills defense then decided it was enough, hoping that Orton and the offense could muster some scores. Once again, the Bills run defense was outstanding giving up only 69 net yards. An ecstatic Defensive coordinator Schwarz was carried off the field by his defense after the game a defense that outplayed the Lions D.
Buffalo’s “D” gave up 263 yards while gaining 343 against the Lions. A pass of over 50 yards from Stafford to Tate inflated the total net yards allowed.
It was the story of the first half and second half. The Bills were sluggish in the first half but rebounded with a huge second half effort and finally won it on a very long field goal by Dan Carpenter with 4 seconds remaining in the game.
Fans took a look at the first half stats and maybe weren’t overly impressed. Orton managed 12 completions in 16 tries for 113 yards, many of the short variety. Not bad considering that the Bills managed only 3 points in the first 30 minutes.
But Buffalo’s defense probably felt ignored considering that all of the NFL pundits kept repeating that the Lions had the top defense in the NFL. Stafford might disagree as the Bills sacked the Lions QB 6 times, including 3 by Darius, 2 by Jerry Hughes and 1 by Mario Williams.
Whatever happened in the intermission brought a new, different Orton in the second half. First he led the team downfield, just outside the 15-yard line and with about a yard to go for a first down, Marrone decided to kick a field goal to make it 14-6, down by 8.
In the 4th quarter Orton led another drive downfield and finally, inside the 10, he lofted a pass to wide open tight end Chris. Gragg to close the gap 14-12. Marrone decided to go for 2 and Orton stuck the ball into Fred Jackson’s gut and Jackson roared into the end zone to tie it up 14-14.
Detroit made a big play after that. From his own 15 Stafford rifled a pass to Golden Tate who rambled inside the Bills 40, giving Detroit excellent field position for a TD or a field goal.
The Bills D stiffened and Alex Henery, who earlier missed field goals, lined up for a 50-yarder. His kick sailed wide left with 21 seconds remaining giving the Bills life.
Most everyone was looking for overtime. Everyone except Orton. The QB sent a spiral down the middle where Sammy Watkins made a fine catch at the Lions 39 for a 20 yard gain. Watkins had a great game, with 7 catches.
The Bills and their fans watched the clock trickle down. Buffalo called a time out and decided to bring in Dan Carpenter to try a 58 yard field goal. Earlier he missed from a lesser distance when the kick clanged off the left post.
This time he didn’t miss as it went straight down the middle, over the cross-bar with 4 seconds left and that was the ball game.
Orton completed 30 of 43 for 309 yards and a touchdown and the one interception. Once again, the Bills had double the passes to rushes 43-22. Stafford, was 13 of 31 for 221 yards. But here is a tremendous stat. The huge effort by the Bills defense held Detroit to only one 3rd down conversion in 11 tries while Buffalo’s Orton was 5 of 16.
There does continue to be a big negative and that is penalties. Buffalo was flagged 11 times for the 2nd game in a row, but 9 of them came in the woeful first half.
I imagine that Bills fans simply hoped Buffalo would play well – on the road. They did one better by winning. And now, they have 2 out of 3 wins on the road and can enjoy Monday knowing they will be at least tied for the lead in the AFC East – with New England coming up on Don’t Get Me Started.
Filed under: Don't Get Me Started
Tagged with: Art Wander, Buffalo Bills, Kyle Orton
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